A Voice from Hebron
by Gary M. Cooperberg

A Choice between Shame or Glory
October 10, 2000
11 Tishrei 5761

During our Days of Awe, Rosh HaShanna and Yom Kippur, we seem to have been dealt our most vicious blows. It was at this time of year that the Yom Kippur War broke out. It was at this time of year that Oslo was signed. And, once again, our enemies have chosen precisely this time of year to escalate the war to new and unprecedented levels from within our country.

This is no accident. The Creator of the Universe has been trying to tell us something. He is the One who has orchestrated these events to take place at this time in order to wake us up to the reality that it is He who is in control and none other. The Living G-d of Israel is our True weapon and He is waiting for us to turn to Him. All of our prayers and supplications during the ten days of tshuva were designed to get us to truly accept G-d as our Father and our King. He can and will save us. But we must first turn to Him.

Arafat is but an instrument being used to test our faith in G-d. He has never possessed any serious power against us. It is we who cause uprisings and terror by fleeing from our obligations as Jews. It is only we who have brought this upon ourselves. Our leaders began by recognizing a fraudulent people as having any kind of rights to any part of our homeland. This led to the resurrection of a low-life terrorist murderer who had no hope of as much as continuing to be a terrorist leader. It was Shimon Peres to rescued Arafat and transformed his image from that of the cutthroat murderer that he is into international statesman and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. It was this Jewish genius who concocted the absurdity of Oslo which effectively established a terrorist state on Jewish soil. It was my governments which nurtured this entity and strengthened the monster by giving it arms and bases from which to attack us from within our own homeland. It was the strong and wonderful Benjamin Netanyahu, for whom so many still yearn to see back in office, who surrendered the hills of Hebron to Arafat, along with the military compound there. Today we are being fired upon from those very hills and by the same weapons and ammunition which we gave to Arafat!

What exactly did Shimon Peres think that Arafat would do with the weapons he gave him? Did he really expect the PLO to protect Israel with those weapons? None of this should be a surprise to anyone. If one places a lamb into a cage with wolves, hoping for peace, he should not be surprised to discover that the wolves have devoured the lamb. Until real peace descends upon this world one would be a fool to trust his security in the hands of murderers. Yet this is precisely what my government has done and continues to do.

My present Prime Minister was looked upon as a military expert who would try to make peace, yet would not shy away from war. He has proven himself to be unwilling to fight for his country. Arafat has gone way beyond failing to live up to agreements. He has initiated an out and out war against Israel. In response the best Barak can say is that he "questions" the sincerity of Arafat's promises. Questions? How can there be any room left for questions? The man has literally declared war against Israel and Barak is still holding out his hand in peace, fully prepared to surrender yet more of our homeland for any further meaningless gesture by Arafat.

One need not be a military genius to know what to do when attacked by an enemy. There are three choices: you can flee; you can surrender, or you can fight back. When your enemy is greater and stronger than you and defeat is imminent, the first choice is to flee. If you are surrounded and that is not an option, then you surrender. But never in the course of human history has there ever been a nation which surrendered to a weaker enemy which declared war against it. Such a stance is nothing short of insanity.

Mr. Barak, read my lips, Arafat and the PLO seek the destruction of Israel. If you do not take back all that we have given to them, they will continue to fight against us until they take all of our country away from us. The longer you wait to see if you still have a "peace partner" the stronger they will get and the more harm they will cause to your people. They have been shooting at us, killing us, and declaring their intentions to wipe out Jewish communities. What are you waiting for? Why are you so shocked to learn that Jews in Nazareth have "taken the law into their own hands?" How long can you expect your people to become cannon fodder and just wait for you to decide when to protect them? The time for strategic defense is long past. It is high time to declare war against the PLO and its followers and brutally destroy them before they destroy us. You want to give them a 48 hour ultimatum? Open the Allenby Bridge and tell them that they have 48 hours to get to the other side before they are annihilated. Announce that any Arab caught throwing stones will be shot on sight. No more teargas and rubber bullets. Show the world that the Lion of Judah has not turned into the pussycat we have been taken for.

The Arabs are not afraid because we have never given them reason to be afraid. Yet we have displayed fear when we have no reason to be afraid. This is our country and it is high time that we have the courage to declare it. What meaning is there to Jewish sovereignty in Israel if our own leaders have no respect for it? If you are not prepared to take risks for the only country we have, not by surrendering to our enemies rather by destroying them, then you are not fit to be our prime minister.

As we approach the holiday of Succot we would do well to heed the prophesies of Zachariah and Ezekiel. The Living G-d of Israel is bringing war to Israel. He is tired of having His Great Name desecrated by a Jewish People who have not the courage to stand up to their enemies. He created us to be His example, and we are failing Him. When the nations come against us, they are, in effect, opposing the G-d of Israel. When we fail to stand up to the challenge we desecrate His Holy Name. It will be in reaction to our failures that G-d Himself will demonstrate His Greatness by letting His enemies gather together to destroy Israel. At this time it will be G-d who destroys His enemies. We can make this Sanctification of G-d even greater should we muster the faith and courage to initiate the battle against our enemies. This is the only challenge which awaits us as we approach the coming redemption of Mankind. The war is coming and we will win. But we must decide how we will win. . . with courage and glory, or with shame and tragedy.