War Update: Day 23

July 30, 2014

23 days have passed.  The war continues.  Additionally, the conflict has now assumed unprecedented levels on the diplomatic front.  A “misunderstanding” exists between the US and Israel.  That is based on the human suffering in Gaza, which is, admittedly, enormous.  Due to the immense pressure from President Obama, PM Netanyahu is holding the IDF back, but only to a certain point.  Israel’s current goal, expressed almost unanimously (unprecedented since 1973) is the destruction of Hamas’s warfare abilities.  There is much compassion for the many innocent men, women and children who have lost their lives and possessions, but the feeling is that the threat against Israel has crossed every red line.  The primitive missiles were an annoyance, and Israel dealt with them sporadically.  However, the extent and purpose of the tunnels that Hamas has dug deep into Israeli kibbutzim, cities and towns, has made the situation absolutely untenable.

I have to say that in all the previous “operations” that I have personally witnessed—the two Lebanon Wars, Intifadas, and 3 previous Gaza conflicts—I’ve never seen such unanimity both in the general population and in the government.  The estimate is that Netanyahu has something like 85% support.  Even the opposition parties have expressed support for Netanyahu and the importance of destroying the military infrastructure of Hamas.

The tone of the “discussion” between Secretary of State Kerry, President Obama and Netanyahu is also at a harsh level I cannot recall.  Whether the transcript of the Obama-Netanyahu phone call that is circulating widely is accurate or a total fabrication, as the two sides claim, the damage is clear.

This afternoon, Israel agreed to a humanitarian ceasefire for four hours.  Hamas totally rejected it and continued firing missiles.  Why is it doing that?

Hurting Israel is Hamas’s purpose and raison d’etre.  It will not give up until it is forced to. The pressure on Israel to agree to an unconditional cease-fire has bolstered Hamas’s resolve and led it to believe that it will continue to survive.  That in itself represents a victory for Hamas; its ability to harm Israel may be temporarily restrained, but the fight is far from over.

Those are the reasons for the current impasse.  The frustration, both among Israel’s partners and within Israel itself, is very deep.

So what’s next?

I suspect Israel will give in to the pressure.  It has done that before, and will do so now too.  What will the conditions be?  That is unknown at the moment, but along with many other Israelis I don’t believe that, with the concessions that Israel will be forced to grant, Hamas will stop its attacks.  It will restore its firepower, augment it and probably arm itself with even more deadly weapons.

Of course, one can always hope that Hamas has learned a lesson as well, that it will hold its fire, at least for a somewhat longer period of time.  But then it would be untrue to its own purpose—and there’s not much chance of that, in my opinion.

Until radical Islamists agree to accept Israel’s presence in the Middle East, I don’t believe there will be permanent peace in the region.

What is saddest of all is that, if peace really does ever come to this area, it will benefit everyone.  Trade, commerce, education, health—all will be enhanced and will in turn improve everyone’s life here.  Tragically, the radicalization of Islamism has led to more and more conflicts, to more resentment, hatred, to more isolation.  The ones who have suffered the most are the Arabs themselves.  Yes, the suffering in Gaza is immense.  But who brought it upon the general population?  The same people who have brought incredible suffering to Syria, Libya, Lebanon, Iraq and even the US.  It’s the fundamentalists whose philosophy is totalitarian, whose thirst for power is without limit, whose inhumanity towards anyone who believes differently—who dares to be different— knows no bounds.

In Gaza, the responsibility for the suffering cannot be laid upon Israel.  Ultimately, it must be owned by those who are truly responsible for the ongoing poverty and suffering there—those who placed their rocket launchers in and near apartment buildings, in schools, mosques and marketplaces; those who dug tunnels with openings under kitchen sinks, those who teach hatred not only for Israel, but indeed for all Jews.

It’s a human tragedy, one that we in Israel feel intensely because we are in the middle of it.  The deaths of 56 soldiers, each the flower of his generation, the cream of the crop of Israeli youth, hurts terribly.  The injuries of hundreds of others will leave permanent scars.  Israel will discuss its “failures” interminably; videos of the war, the suffering, the crying, will repeat like an endless loop.  That seems to be Israel’s fate.

That is the price and the cost of hate.  In truth, it isn’t only Gazans and Israelis who suffer.  All humanity pays for it.  We are all the worse for all the hate we see and create.

We pray for peace.

(c) 2014 by Boaz D. Heilman 

Three Weeks Into A War

Shalom chaverim (friends),

Twenty days have passed since the current conflict between Israel and Hamas began.  There have been several developments—some surprising, some less so.  At the moment what we’re seeing is cease-fire games.  I call them games because what is actually going on is a stare-down:  Who will stop firing first.  It isn’t enough to declare a cease-fire, one has to abide by it.  In the past 48 hours, Hamas has agreed to five of these, but so far has broken each one by continuing to launch rockets.  The most recent casualty is an elderly woman who couldn’t make it to her shelter in the 15 seconds the Red Alert siren gave her.  Luckily, her injury is considered “only” light-to-moderate.

What is not surprising in this conflict is the sheer chutzpah of Hamas.   The terrorist organization whose declared intent is the total destruction of Israel has been taunting Israel for years.  But I have to admit that it’s hard to understand the logic of an organization that provokes one of the best and strongest armies in the world. 

The current chain of events began on June 12 with the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers and the subsequent search for their murderers in the West Bank.  Israel’s suspicion that this heinous act was carried out by Hamas operatives was confirmed as Hamas began firing rockets from Gaza.  As more and more terrorist sleeper cells in and around Hebron were exposed, Hamas’s political leader, Khaled Mashaal—from his safe and luxurious home in Qatar—ordered an escalation of the rocket fire. 

The day following the discovery of the bodies of the murdered teens, an Arab teenager was murdered by members of a Jewish family of petty criminals.  This horrific act was cause for extreme reaction all over the world, including the firing of hundreds of rockets from Gaza.  Israel responded by ordering strategic air attacks pinpointing rocket launchers, many of which were located in schools, mosques, cemeteries, homes and—as it turned out later—even in one of the Gaza hospitals.

The rocket fire did not diminish, however, and in fact intensified, reaching Tel Aviv and even as far north as Haifa.

It was at that point that Israel decided to launch a ground offensive.

Here is where the surprise that Hamas prepared for us became apparent. 

Following a failed attack by sea commandoes and an explosive-laden drone, on the fourth night of the conflict 13 Hamas terrorists emerged from a hidden tunnel that opened inside Israel.  Headed towards a kibbutz, Sufa, they were detected by an alert IDF lookout who called for an air strike.  Several of the terrorists were killed and others retreated quickly into the tunnel.

As the IDF ground offensive progressed into Shuja’iah, a peripheral area of Gaza City where the largest number of rocket launchers was concentrated, no one was surprised to find that Hamas has been using the civilian population of Gaza as human shields.  No one was surprised to realize that entire blocks of apartment buildings were used as arms warehouses.  In several cases, a single bullet fired into an apartment window from which RPG’s (rocket propelled grenades) were fired caused the entire building to explode in one huge fireball.  Again, no one was surprised to find that scores of houses were booby-trapped, geared to explode at the turning of a door handle, at the tripping of a hidden wire or hidden in baby cribs.

What did astonish everyone was the discovery of scores of tunnels, forming an entire system that was dubbed the Gaza Underground.  Hundreds of shafts opened from inside homes, hospitals and mosques, reaching deep into a subterranean network of burrows, lairs and passageways where weapons were stored, where terrorists could (and did) hide for shorter or longer periods of time, from which they emerged in the hope of killing or kidnapping Israeli soldiers and which—most terrifyingly—extended deep into Israel itself.  Each tunnel was built with cement supplied by Israel, at the cost of millions of dollars provided by international governments and NGO’s (at the expense of the Gazan population, the majority of which remains unemployed and impoverished).

Israel was aware of the many tunnels Gazans had previously dug into Egypt.  For years, weapons and other supplies flowed freely through this system.  What Israel didn’t know became apparent only after 150 Hamas terrorists surrendered and began to provide information about the extent, range and real purpose of new tunnels constructed only in the past two years.

Immediately following the discovery of the first tunnel, the one leading into Kibbutz Sufa, Israel discovered half a dozen more.  Now, in light of the information gathered from the captured terrorists, Israel discovered 30 more.  The demonic plan that emerged was of a mega terror attack, planned for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  The satanic plan called for hundreds of terrorists to emerge simultaneously inside Jewish homes and kibbutz dining halls, there to murder men, women and children and possibly kidnap many others.

This nightmarish scenario is what Hamas prepared for Israel—and nearly accomplished.  This is why Hamas felt strong enough to taunt and provoke Israel.  The terrorist organization was hoping for a situation where a large number of Israeli casualties, combined with a huge toll of killed Gaza citizens and a surge of negative world opinion would combine to force Israel to agree to unthinkable conditions:  The lifting of the siege on Gaza.  If this were to happen, Hamas would be free to arm itself not only with the primitive (yet deadly) rockets it has accumulated thus far, but also with the most sophisticated weapons system it could and would acquire from Iran and Korea, with funds supplied by Saudi Arabia and super-rich Qatar and with the political protection promised by Turkey.

Such a “victory” would make Hamas the de-facto leader of all the anti-Israel factions, outstripping the PLO, Hezbollah and Al Qaeda.  Its power would be unlimited.

In the larger picture, it may just be that the kidnapping of Gil-ad Sha’er, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach, the three teenage boys whose murder precipitated Operation Defensive Edge, was the “miracle” that saved Israel.  Maybe that’s why Hamas was quick to deny responsibility—despite all evidence—for the horrendous act.  The precipitous murder of the boys caused Hamas to fear that their entire plan might be exposed.  In retrospect, they were right. 

The sinister plan collapsed, thank God, due to the ingenuity, motivation and strength of the Israel Defense Force. Almost the entire Israeli population has come out in support of the IDF, sending in tons (literally) of pizzas, gallons and gallons of water, Coke and other soft drinks, thousands of pairs of underwear, socks, toiletries and candies, showering the soldiers with love and care.

Anti-Israel protests all over the world (including Israel) have shown the true face of Israel’s enemies.  The hatred does not limit itself to Israel or the IDF.  Calls for Jews to return to Treblinka, declaring that Hitler was right, that Jews are all bloodsuckers, all show the depth and depravity of the anti-Semitic sentiments held by many of the protesters. 

There is no doubt that hundreds of innocent people were killed in this conflict.  War opens hell’s gates and lets loose all sorts of evil.  But Israel and its soldiers showed the maximum restraint, the maximum discretion, the maximum compassion it could for a population that was hijacked by its own leaders.  But our first obligation is to defend and protect Israel and Israelis. 

Even if and when a cease-fire will be agreed on, Israel will continue its work of demolishing the many tunnels it has uncovered.  What else might happen—how long Hamas will stay in power or what organization might replace it if it falls—remains for the future to tell.  Hopefully, reason will prevail and peace will return.  Will true peace ever come to the region?  I, for one, am never at a loss for a prayer or even a smidgeon of hope.  Certainly everyone here is tired of the situation, of the suffering, of the deep sadness that weighs so heavily on all of us.

But how sad that so much blood was shed yet again in this war that doesn’t seem to end.  How sad that, once again, families are burying their loved ones.  How sad that yet again the flower of a whole generation is nipped in the bud.  How sad that the future appears darker tonight than it did just a month ago.  How sad for Israel and for all humanity.

Looking forward to a brighter day that will yet dawn,

Boaz

(c) 2014 by Boaz D. Heilman

Stations Along The Journey: Mass'ei

Stations Along The Journey

D’var Torah for Parashat Mass’ei

By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman

A person’s life can be measured in numbers: So many years, events, homes and people we’ve known during our lifetime, numbers that at first seem no more than dots along a map, but that together outline and summarize one complete journey.

In retrospect, each journey has a beginning, a middle point and an end.  In reality, however, life is rarely so clear.  Some journeys end before their time; others seem to continue beyond any specific point, even beyond death.

The last portion of the book of Numbers, Mass’ei (“Journeys,” Numbers 33:1-36:13), lists 42 stations and stops along Israel’s journeys.  These begin in Egypt, where the Exodus gained momentum and began.  Following a zigzag line in the wilderness, the Israelites finally reach a point just across the Jordan River, at a point where the Promised Land lies no more than a stone’s throw away.

Each point along the journey brings up recollections:  Here a redemption, there a miracle; at this place or another, a quarrel, or a plague outbreak.  Here, at this oasis, seventy palm trees surround a pool of sweet water, a place of blessing.  But at this other spring, the pool contains only bitter water, arousing the people’s complaint.

42 stations, encampments along the way, encompassing a journey of forty years.  In this span, a generation that began its life as slaves gave way to one that was born in freedom.  More than physical travels, more than postcards from the wilderness, this list describes a spiritual passage in which a ragtag rabble, a mixed multitude of peoples, becomes one nation under one God, following one vision, living by one code of justice for all.

But this is only the beginning.

How many more stations can be counted along our people’s history from that one auspicious beginning?  How many more encampments along a journey that began so long ago and still continues, undaunted, in our own day?

Volumes upon volumes have been written to describe this journey; many more are still waiting to be written. The stations along our travels dot the entire world, and each one tells a story.  Our people’s existence can be measured in miles and eons, crossing oceans and continents; the number of our encampments far outstrips that of our humble beginning.

And the numbers keep growing.  Start anywhere, at any point along our travels and history.  

In our day, we are seeing a parallel to the Biblical exodus.  The zigzag has led our people back to Israel, back to our homeland.  So much has changed in the three millennia, yet we can still tell the story in numbers.

Last Thursday, in Jerusalem, the tenth President of the State of Israel was sworn in.  It was a somewhat muted ceremony, a celebration dimmed by the din of conflict and war.  In the K’nesset building, the home of Israel’s parliament, trumpets and shofar blasts marked the smooth transition of power that is the hallmark of modern Israel’s democratic government.  But in the south of the country, sirens wailed, indicating yet another incoming barrage of missiles fired by Hamas, a tyrannical, fascistic and murderous group bent on our destruction.  In the past 3 weeks, almost 2500 such rockets streaked across Israel’s skies toward civilian population centers, aimed indiscriminately at men, women and children.  Depending on the distance between launcher and approximate target, Israelis have anywhere between no-time at all and 90 seconds to reach a secure space or bomb shelter.

In this latest war imposed on Israel by its enemies, 35 of our soldiers have fallen so far.  Many more were injured, some critically.  Many of them were officers.  Paratroops, tankists or foot soldiers, all had volunteered to serve in the elite divisions of Golani and Nahal, all were battle tried, dedicated and devoted to one another as well as to the higher goal of defending Israel’s right to live in peace and security.

In my own lifetime journey, I recall about a dozen such wars, from the Sinai Campaign of 1956 (I was born after the 1948 War of Independence), through the Six Day War, the Yom Kippur War of 1973, the two Lebanon Wars, the two Intifadas and 3 Gaza conflicts, each harsher and bloodier than its predecessor.

Each of these points is a point in my own journey.  Together they map not only my own life, but also the line of Israel’s continuous existence.  They are etched on the scroll of Israel’s history no less than in the scars on the wounded soldiers’ bodies and souls.

Each station tells a multitude of stories, each with its own a beginning, middle and end. 

Yet the numbers add up to much more than dots on a map.  Separately, they are each a lifetime.  Together, however, they tell the story of one continuous journey.  Begun so long ago, this journey has no ending.  It still continues, still zigzags through a wilderness, from one stop to another, from one encampment and station along the way to the very next.

As the Book Of Numbers concludes, we call out together:  Chazak chazak v’nit’chazek—let us all be strong and of good courage, and we shall all be strengthened.

© 2014 by Boaz D. Heilman