THE WAR OF DISENGAGEMENT

Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry

The tremendous pain associated with the deadly missile attack on Nachlat Har Chabad is twofold. There is the great pain over the tragic loss of life (may G-d avenge their blood), and there is equal pain over the fact that all this could have been prevented if they would have heeded the warnings of the leader of the generation.

1.

Military operations in the Gaza Strip had only just begun when a collection of gentle souls began harassing the political hierarchy about the absolute need to speak with Hamas. It was mind-boggling to see a conglomeration of self-proclaimed security experts, naturally affiliated with the extreme left-wing political factions, calling upon the prime minister to put a halt to the fighting.

Such voices are no longer considered inconsequential in Eretz Yisroel. In the face of a determined effort on the battlefront and far-reaching public support for the military operation, these leftists were not ashamed to express their irrational opinion that we have to talk to Hamas. But of all their claims, the worst one of all was that “Israel only tries the methods of war”, as if we didn’t try by agreeing to withdraw from Sinai, going to the Madrid Conference, Oslo I, Oslo II, the Hevron Agreement, fleeing from Lebanon, and withdrawing from Gaza and the northern Shomron.

This whole series of degrading agreements signed between our representatives and the terrorists, has brought us this ridiculous security situation, whereby people arrange for foreign passports because no place in Eretz Yisroel is immune today from missile attack. In the past, residents in the north would run to the south whenever Hezbollah terrorists fired rockets on northern cities. Then, when Hamas would send another “round” of missiles on southern cities, its residents would flee up north. Today, the circumstances show that both these fronts are being subjected to this missile threat simultaneously. It’s only been six years since the residents of Tzfas, Kiryat Shmona, Teveria, Nahariya, and even Haifa evacuated their cities during the Second Lebanon War. Yet, while they were still licking their wounds from that conflict, residents in the south were enduring the effects of Operation Cast Lead.

Nevertheless, the politicians on the ideological left wouldn’t allow such facts to confuse them. They continued to demand negotiations with the Hamas terrorists – and they really meant it. They even tried to explain to us that we must speak with the “moderates” – strengthening them to combat the extremist elements among the terrorist organizations. Today, it’s already quite clear that there’s no difference between moderates and extremists. All of them have the same frightful objective: the destruction of the Jewish presence in Eretz Yisroel ch”v. However, these facts didn’t seem to deter the left-wing from clinging to their policy of “rapprochement,” which even included speaking with the worst of our enemies, who seek our total annihilation r”l.

It wasn’t for naught that the Rebbe called the “Peace Now” Movement a fifth column, already speaking vehemently against it nearly forty years ago. The Rebbe saw the great danger of these Israeli leftist organizations giving support to the terrorists, enabling them to carry out wanton acts of murder against our fellow Jews.

2.

In fact, while military action in the south progressed unabated, these voices of appeasement were demanding an immediate ceasefire. At first, it remained uncertain whether the Israel Defense Forces would get the green light for a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, but it was clear that this was the only way to stop the Kassam rocket fire upon Israeli cities, once and for all. For some time now, this has ceased to be the problem of just the residents of Sderot or other cities in southern Eretz Yisroel. Today, Hamas’ missile threat reaches as far as Tel Aviv. From the former settlements of Gush Katif, the terrorists aim their rockets at the heart of Gush Dan.

In such circumstances, there can be only one solution: the recapture of the Gaza Strip. The only problem is that those who make policy decisions in Eretz Yisroel today are the same corrupt politicians who supported the “disengagement” from Gaza in the first place. The incumbent prime minister is the same person whose support made the Gush Katif expulsion possible, as did some of his senior ministers, such as Silvan Shalom and Yuval Steinitz.

As long as they refuse to admit their grievous original sin in supporting the expulsion, they will never have the courage to speak about retaking the territory. Therefore, we first must demand that the politicians stop trying to conceal their dirty hands. They must ask forgiveness from those who protected the people of Eretz Yisroel with their very bodies over a period of three decades. This will be the first step towards the possibility of someday returning to Gush Katif and restoring security to the millions of people living in Eretz Yisroel.

3.

Exactly eight years ago, during the early stages of the winter season, members of the Yesha Council set up a protest tent encampment in front of the office of then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The slogan chosen for the protest campaign was “The people don’t want it.” They demanded a national referendum. “Only in this manner can the plan be democratic,” they asserted. This was the general approach that the protest leaders took in the fight against the expulsion. The declarations by defense and security experts warning that “the disengagement will provide a tailwind [of support] to terrorism” was given less emphasis in the public relations efforts.

When tens of thousands of protesters came out for their “face-to-face” campaign activities, they constantly encountered people who explained that in spite of the intense anguish they felt over the greenhouses and the farmers of Gush Katif, they preferred peace and quiet to thriving settlements in Gaza and missiles landing in Sderot. Throughout the struggle against the expulsion, the level of public support for the disengagement plan remained unchanged. Israeli citizens backed the proposal by a sizable majority and continued to endorse the withdrawal process.

The anti-expulsion campaign proved to be a colossal failure. It appeared that the settlers were merely fighting to keep their homes, while only periodically did they bring up security arguments to serve as a convenient background for their adamant and unbending determination to remain in Gush Katif.

The pro-disengagement PR campaign explained to the Israeli public that if we leave Gush Katif, peace will come to Eretz Yisroel and the Arabs will stop firing rockets on Sderot. Confronted by this propaganda machine, the right-wing protesters claimed that “a Jew doesn’t expel [another] Jew” and “it’s unethical to endanger the greenhouses of the Gush Katif farmers.” The citizens of Eretz Yisroel viewed these two powerful campaigns and eventually decided that they preferred to follow the undemocratic path and bring peace. No one bothered to have them really understand the consequences of this process from a defense and security vantage point.

The tremendous pain associated with the deadly missile attack on Nachlat Har Chabad is twofold. There is the great pain over the tragic loss of life (may G-d avenge their blood), and there is equal pain over the fact that all this could have been prevented if they would have heeded the warnings of the leader of the generation. Just eight years ago they called us “delusional,” charging that we sanctify war instead of peace. Today, it turns out that anyone who demanded peace through fleeing from Gaza brought terrorists to the doorstep of the cities of Eretz Yisroel.

One of the few jingles that dealt with the security aspect in the struggle against the Gush Katif expulsion contained the phrase “Ashkelon will burn with fire.” Of course, back in those days, it required considerable courage to get up and make such statements against the entire state-run media that claimed that the disengagement would bring peace and prosperity. Today, it’s not just Ashkelon – it’s the whole country that’s burning with fire. Those who didn’t want the settlers in Gush Katif got missiles at their front door.

4.

Alongside the terrible reality that prevails in Eretz Yisroel today, there are also a few points of light. One came last week from, of all places, the world at-large, proving once more that the Rebbe was correct to say that when the government of Israel does what is in its country’s vital interests, it receives the full backing of the civilized world. On this occasion, even the European Union took the rare step of voicing its support of the government’s actions.

As in the two Lebanon Wars, G-d arranged things in such a way that America was preoccupied with issues of far greater importance to its own interests, such as preparations for the second Obama Administration and dealing with the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. This enabled the People of Israel to take unimpeded and unhindered action against the Gaza terrorists.

This time, there was no need for the Israel Ministry for Foreign Affairs to confront representatives from the world press. Instead, they received full backing for their most humanitarian campaign to restore security to the residents of Eretz Yisroel.

The only remaining question was not what has been done thus far, but how would the military operations conclude? Would the Israeli policymakers decide once again on a limited conflict that leaves the residents of Eretz Yisroel under the terrorist threat, or would it know how to take advantage of world support and finish the job as the Rebbe has demanded in every military conflict throughout the history of the Jewish state – the total defeat of terrorism as the only means of achieving lasting peace?

The answer to that question is, regrettably, now known to us all. Now, less than two months before the upcoming Knesset elections, the citizens of Eretz Yisroel in general, and Chabad chassidim in particular, must send a message to the government of Israel: We will only vote for those who are “the most chareidi” and who support “a complete (and uncompromised) Nation, a complete (and uncompromised) Land, a completeness in all of the Land, together with a complete (and uncompromised) Torah – which all of these are interdependent.”