Much debate rages as to who won the latest Israeli Hamas
encounter. Only time will tell what lasting effects, if any, came from this
violent struggle. Yet I think certain things are clear. One is that in spite of
negative international pressures Israel is still independent and powerful
enough to respond to violent aggression.
The world has a difficult time realizing that Jewish blood
is somehow no longer free for the taking. One can always question the tactics
employed by the leadership of the State of Israel. But only the blind, the deaf
and the stupid (of which there is no shortage) can no longer question the
strategic sea change in the Jewish world that the State of Israel has brought
about.
Israel's response to
the Hamas rocket barrage was measured, precise and hopefully successful at
least for the immediate duration. But it should be clear to all, our open
enemies and erstwhile friends, that Israel is not about to go quietly into the
night in order to gain sympathetic points from the deluded and perhaps
anti-Semitic do-gooders of the world. It is not that Israel is Sparta, it is
that Israel spells the survival of an ancient faith and people that has brought
blessing to all of humanity over millennia.
So this latest
episode of violence is merely another footnote in this long thesis of Jewish
survival. The overall picture of the Jewish future has always been weak and
foreboding. But, here we are, here we will be, and we have the right and duty
to act accordingly.
Our enemies are never wrong and even when they are, they
will never admit it. They also are never able to recognize their errors and
defeats. Egypt still celebrates the Yom Kippur war as a victory for Arab arms.
The reality of the War of Independence that took place over 55 years ago
somehow has not sunk in to the Arab psyche.
The wreckage that
Islamic fundamentalism has wreaked in the Middle East and throughout the world
is ignored by the very people who have been most harmed by its presence, rule
and ideology. The Arab Spring has evaporated into the usual Middle Eastern
chaos, bloodletting, anarchy, and renewed dictatorships. How naïve it was for
anyone to expect it to be otherwise.
The society is built
by education, posterity, idealism and vision. It can never be predicated and
constructed on the basis of fanaticism and the destruction of others. Until
that fundamental lesson is learned and assimilated in the Moslem world, it is
going to be a rough ride for all of us for a long time to come. Who would have
thought that the world would have longed for a Shah of Iran, Hosni Mubarak, and
Hafez El Asad? But compared to what we now have, they look to be pretty good.
The inability of the Arab world to really get its act
together creates all of the instability that haunts the region and reaches all
other parts of the world as well. Terrorism may be a tactic but it is never a
strategy. Without strategy and vision, the current situation will certainly
persist.
I entitled this article "The Aftermath" but to a
great extent this is a misnomer. Churchill once said after an Allied victory
over Germany: "This is not yet the
beginning of the end. Hopefully this is the end of the beginning ." It is not clear to me at what stage of our
redemption and rebirth we are currently in. But it certainly is too soon to be
called an aftermath. Patience and fortitude, faith and hope are our main
weapons-the permanent Iron Dome that will be the source of our protection and
defense.
As difficult as it is to counsel patience and the status
quo, it is in my opinion even more difficult to counsel further unilateral
concessions and to formulate starry-eyed peace proposals that lead nowhere. I
would hope that we are certainly at the end of the beginning. Our strength and
faith will lead us to the beginning of the end and a true peaceful and secure
aftermath to our century's long struggle.
