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| Shiloh Cemetery, Yom Zikaron 2026 תשפ"ז #במותםציוולנוניצחון Their Deaths Command Us to Be VICTORIOUS |
The first time I stood in an Israeli cemetery to bury a friend killed by Arabs was in 1973, Yom Kippur War. Our Betar friends from New York lost two members in that war, one in the very early days and a second after the ceasefire... Hmmm maybe that's one of the reasons I'm so cynical about ceasefires...
In the more than half a century since we made aliyah, I've been in many cemeteries, many funerals and memorial gatherings. Some of the dead were victims of Arab terror or Arab soldiers, while others died from accidents, illness or old age.
There isn't much you can do to prevent illness and old age... they're a natural part of living. Most accidents can probably be prevented, but the babies, children, young mothers and brave soldiers who've been murdered-- victims of Arab terror and cruelty-- and I stress the word MURDERED. In recent years, especially since the horrendously cruel, perverse murderous attack on innocent Israelis of all religions and levels of religious observance, plus some unfortunate guests on October 7, 2023 most of the world, diplomats, media, academics, celebrities and ordinary people have been cheering on and supporting the aggressors--the terrorists and condemning the victims, their families, international Jewry and the State of Israel. This is worse than when Nazis attempted to murder all the Jews (and others they had considered "undesirables") in Europe.
This may confuse some people... It takes more than a military victory to create peace. That's what Israel showed after the totally miraculous military victory in 1967, The Six Day War. We won the military part of the war, but we lost the peace by not acting as victors, by not taking advantage of the power and gifts that Gd gave us.
On paper, according to the amount of arms, soldiers, tanks, allies etc. there was absolutely no way that Israel could win in the spring of 1967. Egypt's Abdel Nasser had been leading the verbal charge of threats:
"We'll throw Israel into the sea!"
Syria had been attacking the small agricultural communities and towns in northern Israel from day one of its short nineteen 19 year existance. During Israel's War for Independence Jordan swept westward occupying what the United Nations had planned as a third country, a second Arab state in the Palestine Mandate, leaving Israel with a zigzagging border that defied topography, logic for something defensible. Yes, they, too, or should I say "three" periodically attacked the struggling State of Israel.
I remember those weeks of threats against Israel very well. They corresponded with my final weeks of high school before graduation. One thing that stood out and I can't forget. Israel had no real allies. Its faux friends sat tsktsking, twiddling their thumbs, quietly expecting Israel's defeat and not wanting to get hurt or find themselves on the "bad side" of the Arabs. In a sense it was a replay of our War for Independence which took place just a few months after the United Nations vote approving statehood. It has always been clear to me that most of the countries that voted in favor of a Jewish State did it only because they expected the Arabs to defeat the Zionists. By voting "yes," they could claim to be kind to the Jews after the Holocaust. Post World War Two it was bad form to be obviously antisemitic. Please remember that the Allies fought Nazi Germany to save/rescue European countries, not to save Jewish lives.
Back to 1967... Timing's everything in war. With Gd's help, Israel moved first and destroyed enough enemy aircraft to cripple the enemy. Within just six, yes, 6 days, the Arab countries which had threatened Israel and then attacked it all surrendered. After that Israel squandered the victory in a dangerously woke policy. If offered "land for peace." Very little of the Holy Land liberated in the war became part of Israel. If I'm not mistaken, the only area that was transferred to Israeli sovereignty was sections of Jerusalem, the Old City and other areas, which had been Jewish owned before the establishment of the state, like Neve Yaakov, Mount Scopus. In addition the borders were "rounded out" to make the city more viable.
The Golan Heights were quickly populated with agricultural communities to protect the Jewish kibbutzim and moshavim which had been attacked by Syria before the war. More agricultural communities were established in the Jordan Valley and northern Sinai, because Agrexco wanted to take advantage of their warm climate grow summer fruit for export in the winter. Our ancient Biblical cities, even those which had a long history, even in the 20th century, of Jewish Life were totally ignored. The anti-religious secular leaders had no feeling for Biblical connections and assumed that the Arabs would be willing to trade "land for peace," as I mentioned before.
The great victory of 1967 was sabotaged by the secular Left ruling Israel, and we're still suffering from this terrible policy. The Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria were established despite government policy, against the will of the government, even the Likud. When Netanyahu announces "new Jewish communities," he's distorting the facts. The truth is that he's offering to finally recognize a few communities which have existed for years, sometimes even decades.
There are two things that must come as a package to bring us true peace. They are TOTAL VICTORY and ISRAELI SOVEREIGNTY over all Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley and Gaza, too. So many of our soldiers died to clear it of terror, and also many innocent civilians. Emptying it of Jews did not give peace. We must settle our Holy Land, act not only as victors, but even more so as the true owners, Gd willing.
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