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Joseph Rubinstein
Entrepreneur and proud Zionist

What Have We Done?

Har Herzl, where our heroes lie.

What have we done? 

How did we agree to this?

After 5 hard years that included Corona, the Judicial reform, October 7th, and more than a year of war – I can’t help but feeling that our politicians have chosen to simply give up on the great project that is Israel.  

In Gaza, 407 of our best and brightest friends, sons and brothers sacrificed their lives in order to meaningfully protect us from the Jihadists that threaten our existence. 

We sacrificed our economy, our day to day lives, our international profile, and our mental and physical health on the assurance that once and for all we would take the meaningful steps needed to ensure our safety and our loved one’s safety. 

Our prime minister vowed to dismantle Hamas, and our security establishment did the same. 

They promised to eradicate those that threaten us. 

Did we achieve that? Did we put down the feral monster that sits at our doorpost? Did we defeat Hamas? Or for that matter did we stop any of the terror threats that keep us up at night?

It certainly doesn’t look that way.

Hamas supposedly has already reenlisted all of the fighters they have lost, which considering the sky high rates of support for them in Gaza is a very realistic proposition.

We agreed to give up Netzarim, which is the main avenue that Hamas will regroup. 

It looks like we may later on agree to give up Philadelphi , which is the main avenue that Hamas will rearm from Egypt (though in fairness, Bibi claims we are holding onto Philadelphi)

We agreed to give hundreds of convicted terrorists per hostage. We are literally trading close to 2000 people that have murdered friends and loved ones of ours for a list of 34 hostages that doesn’t even tell us which hostages are alive. 

We all want the hostages home – I know personally families that have loved ones held in Gaza. 

But, this deal was the most counterproductive course we could have possibly taken. 

Not only did we almost guarantee that many of the 70 other hostages will never come home – after all, the leverage that we just handed Hamas is incredible. Also, we established once and for all that all it takes to break the State of Israel is to take our citizens hostage. 

Our justice system simply doesn’t provide justice. It knows how to freeze bank accounts when you don’t pay the tax man, and how to maintain an economy with a quarter of the population under the poverty line, but keeping terrorists in prison is a bridge too far for our government and legal system. 

We are releasing murderers that killed Ari Fuld, that initiated the Sbarro bombing, that shot and murdered people all across Israel – We are releasing Mahmoud Atallah the terrorist that sexually harassed our female soldiers while he was in jail. 

In short we released people that will unquestionably orchestrate the murders of more Israelis and Jews worldwide. 

Furthermore, we emboldened the Palestinian cause through this pathetic surrender. The calls for our imminent destruction are at a fever pitch. We all have seen how Palestinian leadership is once again calling for more October 7ths. 

Lastly, our dear politicians have put into jeopardy our reservist morale. Which anyways is nosediving. 

How can we justify sacrificing everything if the people in charge make bad deals again and again. 

How can we convince ourselves that sending ourselves or our children to risk their lives will allow for a better future.

Israel so far has succeeded not because of the agreements that our politicians have made but in spite of them. 

There is a very reasonable argument to be made that every single concession we have made has ultimately turned out poorly for us. 

Whether it be returning the Temple Mount, which has been the focal point of intifadas and the justification of terrorism time and time again.   

The Gilad Shalit deal which released Sinwar and hundreds of terrorists. 

We agreed to give Lebanon back to Hezbollah multiple times. 

We celebrate the Oslo accords which left the terrorist outfit of Fatah in power and has led to the murder of countless Jewish people. Fatah literally pays people who commit terror attacks.  

Obviously Ariel Sharon made the pullout of Gaza, which put us into this mess.

Even the famed Camp David accords seem to be failing – for the uninformed, Egypt is amassing their army in Sinai. 

Yet our politicians refuse to learn from the past and charge brazenly forward. 

This new “deal” is just another slap in the face for all that have sacrificed so much for the state of Israel to succeed. 

All this being said, what do we do about the situation we find ourselves in?

  1. If there are US guarantees about this travesty of a deal, we demand our politicians to share as much as they humanly can. Trump was supposed to be on our team and the Muslim world and Third world is celebrating his forcing this on us. This will allow us to reframe the deal globally and just possibly make sure we retain some deterrence that the beepers bought us. 
  2. We collectively demand new leadership, and I don’t mean just Bibi – every single one of the 120 Knesset members and every person leading our security establishment needs to go. They failed catastrophically and we don’t have the time or space to forgive. Moreover, we need people that won’t make decisions like enabling charedi draft dodging to continue because of politics and will act on conscience, not opinion polls. 
  3. We decrease dramatically dependence on foreign actors, including the US, and focus on increasing their dependence on us. This will mean we can more easily take the military action that is needed going forward.
  4. We demand an institution of the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners. If they murdered an Israeli or a Jew, then we shouldn’t let them live. This will possibly discourage Palestinians to kill and will definitely reduce their leverage in any agreement.
  5. We will institute “land for peace” – either give us peace or we take your land. The Muslim world cares the most about territory – so make sure they understand that their territory will no longer be theirs if they start with us. 

I hope I am wrong – theoretically we could bomb Iran tomorrow and reach peace with Saudi Arabia in a week and then this will all be worth it – but it seems that this agreement is not the end of the existential war that we face, but just the beginning. 

About the Author
Joseph is the CEO of Supplyve, a passionate Zionist and a true believer in liberty, justice and the Israeli way.
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