The Hebrew title Sar HaBitachon is pathetic. Bitachon in Hebrew means "security" and Sar means "minister". What security is Sha'ul Mofaz ministering?



I just came back from Gush Katif, where I have been fortunate to spend a great deal of my time for the past thirty years. The officers in our army cannot look us in the eye. They sit helpless while dozens of missiles hit Jewish civilian and military targets. They sit helplessly due to direct orders from this so-called minister of security. They know as well as we do that something can be done, but they have been told not to do anything - even though 100 missiles have already hit us.



The launchers of these deadly missiles are televised and aired on Israeli television, so it is certainly not a question of finding them, only of eliminating them. The callous policy of abandonment of citizens of Israel by this government is painfully reminiscent of the abandoning of Medhat Yusuf, one of our soldiers who bled to death in the Tomb of Joseph under the orders of an Israeli government. That was the first time that I felt ashamed to be an Israeli.



Today, I am ashamed of the prime minister, of the so-called defense minister of Israel, and of all of those elected to office in order to give us security and protection, because they have deliberately decided not to do so. While Mr. Sharon was off in the United States meeting with President George Bush, the citizens of Israel were under attack.



The demonic plan to uproot thousands of decent, patriotic and loyal citizens of Israel while terror is on the escalation throughout the land is dangerous not because of so-called Jewish extremists, but because of real Muslim terrorists. The are the same terrorists found in Jerusalem, spitting out hate and disclaiming the Jewish rights to the Temple Mount. And it is the same hate that is behind the perpetration of terrorism and the smuggling of weapons of destruction in Shechem, Ramallah and the north of Israel.



Perhaps Prime Minister Sharon and Defense Minister Mofaz are waiting for us to return fire on those who are firing on us, endangering our lives and the lives of our children. Perhaps they are seeking an excuse to confiscate our weapons, given to us under license in order to protect our lives. Perhaps this official restraint is yet another attempt to provoke, in order to smear us with the label of fanatics and extremists.



I invite the ministers, and all of you, to come see us in Katif; to see the children going off to their nurseries and schools, to see the farmers working in their hothouses and fields, to see mothers shopping with their infants. Come and see the children playing, and the dignity of these wonderful Jewish pioneers, who are determined to continue in the direction we have always gone: protecting the Torah, the Land and people of Israel by being the kind of Jews we are supposed to be. Neither the rockets and missiles of hate, nor the disdain and callous abandonment of our government will change us.



Governments come and go. Prime ministers and defense ministers disappear into the pages of history. We, the people of Israel, go on, and we will be here long after them. We are writing glorious pages in the history of our people: endurance, love, humility and belief. Would that the governments and elected officials of our country show the same loyalty to our land and to our people.