Terrorist Release Psychosis

Yehudit Dasberg was one of the first victims of Oslo. Her daughter and son-in-law were murdered in a drive-by shooting near Gush Etzion. Yehudit and her husband Uri adopted their two babies and have raised them ever since. When Israel began to release terrorists, Yehudit appealed to the Supreme Court. Time and again, the court rejected her appeals. After a number of years and terrorist releases, Yehudit tried a new tactic. She came to the court equipped with a large poster, onto which she had pasted pictures of more than 100 men, women and children. “Do you know who these people are?” Yehudit asked Justice Mishael Cheshin. “These are the Jews murdered by the terrorists that you insisted on releasing.”

The release of the murderers of Jews has become a fact of life. At first, they explained that it would bring peace. Today they tell us that it will strengthen the good terrorists in their fight against the bad terrorists, and that it will help the progress of negotiations. Nobody buys it, but nevertheless – as if it were some sort of heavenly decree – we continue to release them.

Why?

The answer to that is hidden in the realm of our denial of our Jewish identity. We have rejected our Jewish identity and have enlisted the cruelest of our enemies to help us be rid of it. We called it a “peace agreement,” or “separation,” or “disengagement,” or who knows what; but it is all one and the same. It is the drive to purge ourselves of the Land of the Bible and the people faithful to it, the people who interfere with our denial of our Jewish identity.

And it works. We have denied our Jewish identity to such an extent that we now tolerate the murderers of Jews. We release them time and again to preserve our illusion of normalcy.

Return to Jewish values, Jewish identity and the Land of Israel mean a return to Divine morality. Our sages expressed Divine security morality in the adage, “One who comes to kill you, arise and kill him first” (Sanhedrin 72).

It is imperative that we return to the life-giving values of the Torah. Our security culture must be motivated by the principle that potential aggressors will be attacked before they have any chance to cause us harm. The battle must move from within our cities to enemy territory. An aggressive security stance is not only necessary, but also Jewishly moral. When this principle is applied in our security culture, it will, with God’s help, bring Israel genuine and long-lasting security.

 

It is difficult not to laugh when the media widely reports that Kadima will act to prevent the losers in its upcoming primary from defecting to a different party. It is like holding a Weight Watcher’s meeting in the middle of a bakery. The entire corrupt Kadima party is nothing more than a party of defectors.

Those expecting our situation to improve under the leadership of Shaul Mofaz or Tzipi Livni are in for a major disappointment. The “advantage” of Olmert as opposed to his future replacement is specifically the thick smog of corruption that envelops him. The investigations taking place against Olmert have made it difficult for him to pass fateful strategic decisions. In Israel, “brave strategic decisions” are a euphemism for just one thing: the wholesale auction of the Land of Israel, destruction of settlements, and entrusting Israel’s enemies with the security of its citizens.

The new “squeaky clean” prime minister will place himself or herself at the service of those who set Israel’s national agenda (in other words, the “enlightened” leftist elite), and the spring of new peace initiatives will go into full bloom.

Israel needs a social revolution. It needs a revolution that will replace the rule of the leftist elite that undemocratically perpetuates its hold on power. Israel needs a revolution that will empower the Jewish majority to set the national agenda according to its Jewish values.

As of now, the only group making serious progress toward these goals is Manhigut Yehudit.
The preceding column appeared in the Yisraeli newspaper in July 2007. Sadly, it is just as pertinent today.