I was called up to my combat unit on Simchat Torah in the middle of davening. For the first month, I was pulling 8, 12, even 24 hour shifts of patrols and guard duty with just a few hours to sleep in between, and even that was broken up by training. Children of my friends and acquaintances, and even a member of my extended family were killed in the massacre and subsequent fighting.
My wife stopped everything and took over managing The Ari Fuld Project to raise money and provide equipment for IDF soldiers and security personnel after we found ourselves supplied with substandard and inadequate fighting gear.
But there is one issue that has constantly occupied my mind, and that is what happens the day after we eradicate Hamas.
No one I know of is fighting so we can hand over Gaza to the Palestinian Authority kleptocracy, and that includes me. The Ramallah government is comprised of terrorists and criminals who are no different than those of Hamas, other than in aptitude and opportunity. In fact, there are significant indications that Arab terrorist groups within the PA and PA-controlled areas are training to repeat Hamas’s initial success.
Following the maxim of never letting a good crisis go to waste, the Biden administration is trying to turn our impending victory into defeat and use this war to force a “Palestinian state” on us.
Equally troubling are proposals for international entities to administer Gaza, as Israel has repeatedly stated it doesn’t want to rule over 2 million people (despite Netanyahu having stated that the IDF will control security in Gaza indefinitely). Yet we know from experience, the very presence of international entities in Gaza will restrict the IDF’s freedom of action.
Common to these proposals is the failure to address the root problem and, inadvertently, perpetuate the issue indefinitely. Furthermore, there’s a discernible objective: to keep Jews out of Gaza, reinforcing and perpetuating the problem indefinitely.
There really is only one viable long-term solution for Gaza, and everyone knows it.
In the pursuit of a viable, long-term solution for Gaza, one that resonates with the majority of soldiers and civilians, a paradigm shift is imperative. Confronting our politicians’ pre-war conceptzia, embedded misconceptions, is an essential task.
The Gazans have been raised on Jew-hatred; they’ve been schooled in Jew-hatred, and they repeatedly vote for Jew-hatred. No foreign entity administering such a population in Gaza is going to eradicate that Jew-hatred, nor their desire to act on it. Jew-hatred in Gaza will continue as long as the Gazans are trapped in Gaza.
Furthermore, it is clear to one and all that if and when there are no Israelis controlling the ground, the terrorists take over — be that in Gaza, south Lebanon or in Areas A and B of Judea and Samaria.
So, what’s the solution?
The solution is obvious: Gazans must be allowed to emigrate — immediately — to seek a better life elsewhere.
Unfortunately, a morally reprehensible and truly evil idea has taken root: the imperative to continue the imprisonment of Gazans in Gaza and deny them the opportunity to improve their lives elsewhere.
This malevolent idea finds advocates among the Egyptians, the Turks, the Europeans, in the Biden Administration, the United Nations and the Left.
It’s essential to recognize this for what it really is: an evil concept.
Imagine 2 million Gazan citizens, held hostage by Egypt and the world and denied the right to emigrate despite their hopes for a better life elsewhere.
The only humane and practical solution is to allow them to move to other countries, away from the extremist influences, to integrate into other, hopefully more productive societies. Those who don’t wish to leave should be required to prove their loyalty to peaceful life under Israeli rule.
The revitalization of Gaza with Jewish communities is imperative for peace and security.
In navigating the challenge of implementing this vision despite global opposition, a tangible first step should include Israel’s offer of a substantial financial nest egg for each Gazan family in response to proof of their permanent relocation out of the enclave. This emigration fund will provide the needed incentive to help Gazans creatively find their own way to freedom, regardless of the impediments in their way.
Breaking through the ongoing Egyptian blockade to reach Turkey and the European Union nations who repeatedly profess their concern for the “Palestinians” — including the open (or clandestine) Israeli support for their “Exodus” from Gaza — is likely to be an arduous challenge. Nevertheless, this option offers Gazans the chance for a better life. It also offers them, Israel and the entire region the chance for a peaceful future.
Needless to say, this cannot happen unless you, the reader, join with everyone you know to denounce this heretofore truly evil — and morally reprehensible — global policy of imprisoning Gazans in Gaza against their will. Freeing Gaza and a Jewish Gaza is the only way our day after will be a better and safer one.
Together we will win.
