Israel at War. Again.

It's early Saturday morning, October 7th, and my wife and I are sitting on the stairwell in our home with our four-year-old granddaughter listening to the sirens. A boom overhead, a very loud boom. "It's just a game," we reassure our granddaughter, and she laughs. We wait until the sirens stop before returning to the living room.

But this is far from being a game. Just hours before, dozens, maybe hundreds, of Hamas terrorists had driven unimpeded through the Gaza Strip border fence and invaded some twenty kibbutzim and nearby towns. They fired their guns and threw their bombs, murdering over 300 Israeli soldiers and civilians (at latest count) and injuring over 1,500. They abducted an as-yet unknown number of Israelis, including women and children, into the Gaza Strip and their fate is currently unknown.

Hamas captured a number of kibbutzim and entered an Israeli army base. They destroyed at least one tank. They went from house to house on their murderous rampage. They looted and set fire to homes.

By late Saturday night, Israeli security forces had regained control of these communities. Dozens of terrorists were killed after prolonged clashes. Soldiers and policemen were injured; some were killed. Hostages were released. But we are still counting the dead and our citizens are still captive in Gaza.

Israel is at war. Again.

It's early Sunday morning, October 8th. From my home in the Jerusalem Hills, I can hear Israeli Air Force fighter jets on their way to bomb Hamas infrastructure in Gaza. Last night, while watching the television newscast, we could hear the booms of the Iron Dome defense system shooting down Hamas missiles over Tel Aviv. Some of those missiles got through and landed in Israeli cities, causing more injuries and property destruction.

There is one person responsible for what happened yesterday, and it is Prime Minister Netanyahu. He allowed his extremist government to divide the country, to distract us from the real dangers threatening our existence. He was warned that the government's so-called judicial reform and the civilian protests that came in response would be seen by our enemies as a sign that we are weak. And Netanyahu, and his government, refused to listen.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of our finest soldiers and military pilots announced their refusal to report for reserve duty because the government was destroying democracy. Former IDF commanders and security officials spoke out against what the government was doing. And Netanyahu ignored them.

Taken by surprise

Just a few weeks ago, my wife and I saw the film "Golda", which portrayed our late prime minister during the days of the Yom Kippur War, when the IDF was taken by surprise. Even today, there are those who blame Golda Meir for her role in that catastrophe, although top defense officials were much more responsible.

There is no doubt in my mind that one day Netanyahu will be held accountable for what he has done to our country.

But, politics aside, there is something much more disturbing. Israel has the most powerful armed forces in the Middle East. Our intelligence system is regarded worldwide as being one of the best. We take out terrorists with precision strikes, we capture enemy commanders, and we have won the wars that threaten our existence. But yesterday, our military forces failed us.

These are the questions I ask:

·         Why didn't the army know about Hamas's plans, which must have taken months to organize and coordinate?

·         Why did the army rely on a billion-dollar anti-tunnel border system, allowing terrorists to simply drive through the fence to enter Israel?

·         Why didn't the army stop them at the border?

·         Why didn't the Israeli Air Force send our attack helicopters into the skies to bomb the terrorists' easily identifiable white pickup trucks as they sped around the country?

·         Why didn't the army stop the terrorists as they hurried back to Gaza with their Israeli hostages?

·         Why did the army wait for hours to rescue the civilians trapped in their homes as terrorists continued their mission of destruction? These civilians cried out on social media, "Save us!" They spoke with television broadcasters, "I don't know where my family is!" They said they heard Arabic being spoken outside their saferooms. And still the army didn't come.

·         Why did it take so long for the army to regain control of those communities?

·         Why did it take so long for the government to begin to respond with attacks on the Hamas terrorist state in Gaza?

Netanyahu is ultimately responsible for the attack that took us by surprise, but something must be clear. Hamas is a terrorist organization. They are not a humanitarian leadership concerned with the welfare of innocent Palestinians. They are terrorists who don't hesitate to kill women and children. They will stop at nothing in their fight to destroy Israel.

But we will stop at nothing to defend ourselves. Hamas must be defeated, once and for all. We have many days of war ahead, and it will be hard. Painful. Israel will win. Victory will come at a cost and we must be prepared.

This is not a game. This is war. 

Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

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