With the atmosphere of incredible tension during recent weeks and in light of the four terrible murders, there’s also something that we can do. As we demand the nation’s security forces to answer with all their strength against the terrorist menace, we in turn must respond by adding more light. This is the only retaliation we can bring against the forces of evil and darkness working against us. They cut life short while we kindle light and ignite new life.
Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry
1.
Someone said last week that it’s unclear whether Israeli Arabs have broken out with a new “spontaneous intifada” in response to the killing of a terrorist who attacked policemen in Kfar Kanna or if they’re still in the middle of the “spontaneous intifada” started after the murder several months ago of the Arab youth Abu Khudir in the Yerushalayim forest. The fact is that it doesn’t matter what is happening: the incident to come will merely be an excuse to start another round of violence. Ever since the Tarpat riots eighty-five years ago, the next terrorist attack has always been just an excuse. These are the same Arab hordes with the same hatred towards the Jewish People, exactly as is stated in Torah, “Eisav hates Yaakov.”
We’re not really talking about rage or turmoil because one of their brethren had been killed. Human life isn’t all that precious to the Arab sector. Murder to preserve family honor or to settle accounts between rival clans is a common-day occurrence among our Arab neighbors. Yet when an Arab youth attacks a police patrol vehicle, threatening the lives of the policemen who shoot him in self-defense, this is perceived as a valid reason to start riots and murder innocent Jews.
However, we already know the Arabs, as someone once said, “The sea is the same sea and the Arabs are the same Arabs.” They live in a culture of murder and bloodshed. To understand the background of violence among them, it’s enough to take a look at what’s happening in the countries on our borders, where the Arabs slaughter tens of thousands of their own people during internal warfare. The problem is the government of Israel, which constantly fails to take tough action against these violent rioters. Instead of eradicating the source of the violence, root and branch, successive Israeli prime ministers have settled for empty declarations on “restoring calm.”
There’s only one true way to restore calm: acting in accordance with the Divine command of the Torah of Israel, which teaches us how we must respond when Jewish cities are under a security threat. The Shulchan Aruch explains exactly why we must desecrate the Shabbos when confronted by “enemies threatening Jewish border cities, even if they’re coming – ostensibly – to take straw and stubble…lest you open the land before them.” To our great regret, there were those who remained quiet when the Arabs were rioting in Yerushalayim and destroyed the city’s light rail, as it was then only a matter of millions of shekels in damages. As a result, they made it possible for this intifada to break loose, and during the last few weeks, it has claimed the lives of four innocent Jews, murdered al Kiddush Hashem.
2.
The Arabs of Yehuda and Shomron have no real reason to complain. Their situation is far better than their brothers on the other side of the fence – those living in countries such as Syria, Lebanon, or Egypt. In Eretz Yisroel, they enjoy excellent living conditions without any danger of death or civil war destroying the lives of tens of thousands. Yet, they continue to complain and engage in acts of murder and fury as if they had a legitimate gripe.
The four Jews murdered in recent weeks were sacrifices of naïveté. We no longer hear about the “sacrifices of peace” – that dangerous and nightmarish peace they tried to shove down our throats over twenty years ago. This time, we’re talking about the naïveté of those people who still claim that if we would just treat our Arab neighbors with a little more kindness and respect, everything would change here for the better.
Just a few weeks ago, the President of Israel, Mr. Rivlin, went to Kfar Kassem to ask forgiveness for the “Kfar Kassem massacre.” He honestly thought that buttering up and bowing to the Arab sector would restore a semblance of calm to the region. However, it is forbidden to show weakness towards the Arab enemy; we must display a firm and strong hand. Instead of submissiveness and surrender, we could have restored security to the streets of Eretz Yisroel months ago by declaring unequivocally that the Israel Defense Forces is the most ethical army in the world. But we will also do everything to protect our citizens, even at the cost of inadvertently causing the deaths of innocent civilians on the opposing side of a military conflict. So it is in all wars: Innocent people are killed, and their leaders must take responsibility for this. For if we concern ourselves with the citizens of our enemies, who will show concern for our own citizens?
It would seem that the Israeli leadership still doesn’t realize where we are. This isn’t Switzerland or Denmark; here you can’t settle disputes with a smile and a cheerful expression. In our neck of the woods, the one who blinks first is considered weak, and immediately thereafter, terrorism rears its ugly head against him.
3.
The recent harsh criticism against Israel Border policeman who took action during the incident at Kfar Kanna has led to media incitement against IDF soldiers and security forces. Just a year ago, several youngsters from Yitzhar destroyed an army tent in response to the demolishing of homes on their settlement, and all the headlines immediately cried out against the appalling “pogrom.” Yet, when Arabs make a real pogrom against soldiers or against an innocent Jew who mistakenly took a wrong turn into an Arab village, the papers speak about “violence on both sides” and the well-mannered media figures ask for a “restoration of calm.”
However, calm can only be restored with a firm deterrent that will put an end to the rampaging Arab terror that makes no distinction between Yerushalayim, Gush Etzion, or Tel Aviv. Just as mafias stop threatening the peace of local neighborhoods when the police use an iron fist to bring quiet to the streets, terror gangs will only cease their threats upon the country’s defense when the security forces employ similar tactics.
The brutal terrorism invading the streets doesn’t differentiate between a two-month old infant and a soldier or a young woman who simply wants to get home safely. Therefore, the time has come for the political leadership in Eretz Yisroel to tell the world in the clearest possible terms that we will speak to terrorists in only one language – and that’s the language of strength. You don’t meet with terrorists around a negotiating table, but by the barrel of a rifle. This is the only way to frighten and intimidate them.
America has not demanded that the United Nations pressure ISIS to come to the negotiating table, rather they are using their military might to destroy them. If so, why does the Israeli leadership take the Obama Administration seriously when it demands that we make every effort to reach a political settlement with terrorist organizations? Hamas is the most bloodthirsty terrorist organization fighting against us today. When they and the PLO speak of “liberating Palestine”, they mean Yafo, Ramle, and Tel Aviv. These are the terrorist organizations with which the government of Israel is conducting negotiations and seeks to reach an understanding.
4.
Yet, with the atmosphere of incredible tension during recent weeks and in light of the four terrible murders, there’s also something that we can do. As we demand the nation’s security forces to answer with all their strength against the terrorist menace, we in turn must respond by adding more light. This is the only retaliation we can bring against the forces of evil and darkness working against us. They cut life short while we kindle light and ignite new life.
The people are waking up and they are thirsty for a message to brighten these times. This is the hour to intensify our activities with full force on the Rebbe’s mitzvah campaigns and bring the message of “For a commandment is a candle, and the Torah is light” to the nation of Israel.
It is specifically now as we battle the divisions among our people, worsened by the terrible Conversion Law recently enacted in Eretz Yisroel, that we must take greater action to strengthen Jewish faith and spiritual might through the Rebbe’s holy mivtzaim, bringing the true light and prompting the best possible response to murderous terrorist attacks.