The predominant political stance in Israel maintains that no peace can ever prevail in the Middle East as long as the Arabs refuse to accept the existence of Israel. Though the existential convolutions of Israel exemplify the danger enfolded in the peace diplomacy conception, the Israeli public can hardly perceive the extent of the threat arising from a national lethargy that bases hope for peace and security on Arab acceptance of Israel. This passive "pragmatism" has struck such deep roots in Israel that whoever dares to question it is considered an extremist.
The unrelenting terror, which proves the urgent need for national disentanglement from the "peace" process obsession, is paradoxically deepening the grip of the Oslo conception. The national confusion manifested by the Oslo paradox is also reflected in the surreal nature of the public discourse that seems like an intellectual launderette, blending together views, facts and conclusions into a pointless polemic stew. The media-related vocabulary thus continues to define the committed opponents of the peace process as "extremists", even though all their gloomy predictions have been verified all along the gory Oslo road. Likewise, the same vocabulary persists in referring to the "peace" process fanatics as "moderates", despite their direct responsibility for the existential disaster inflicted on Israel by their reckless political escapades.
Years of a bad cultural atmosphere, educational crisis and media brainwashing have corrupted the soul of the nation. The deteriorated state of the nation calls for an urgent "extremist" campaign to evoke the public perception that the advent of peace is not contingent upon Arab acceptance of Israel; rather, that the key to quiet and prosperity is enfolded in Jewish determination to liberate the entire Land of Israel.
The majority of the Land-of-Israel Faithful Camp believes that Israel should content herself with the sliver of land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. But history has time and again proven that there are no discounts reserved for the Jews. It is therefore highly probable that, one way or another, Israel shall have to contend with the challenge of restituting the entire Promised Land to Jewish sovereignty. The decline of Israel, since the concession of Sinai to Egypt, demonstrates the curse incurred by Jewish betrayal of the Promised Land legacy.
Though the Arabs do appreciate the blessing enfolded in the Land, their discernment of the unique bond between the Land and the Jews is suppressed due to common envy, which renders them blind to the existential significance of such an exclusive bond. All documented reports of tourists, exploring the Land of Israel during the era of Jewish exile, emphasize the dismal impression made by the desolate Land on her visitors. The gloomiest impressions are provided by nineteenth century tourists, just a few years before the inception of Zionist settlement. The dismal impressions of the nineteenth century tourists - portraying scenes of bleakness and dilapidation, in which the first Jewish pioneers set up the corner stone to the Zionist enterprise - are a telling foil for the fabulous restoration of the Land by the magic touch of contemporary Return to Zion. With acute existential senses, Arabs from all around detected the magic transformations in the Land and headed to her in droves.
The powerfulness of the Arabs arises from their tenacious grip on the Holy Land; however, their weakness originates in the exclusive link between the Blessing of the Land and the Return to Zion. The history of the Kibbutz movement exemplifies the meaning of the blessing bestowed on the Land. Though the decline of the Kibbutzim is commonly related to changes in social, economical and political circumstances, a critical examination of the ups and downs experienced by the Kibbutz movement discloses a clear correlation between the Kibbutz attitude to Jewish settlement and the extent of their prosperity.
Until the Six Day War, the Kibbutzim headed the enterprise of Zionist settlement and, accordingly, won national and international reputation as a high-quality, thriving community. Following the liberation of Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza), Sinai and the Golan Heights, the Kibbutzim have become fervent enemies of any Jewish settlement within the liberated territories. As professed enemies of the renaissance of the settlement movement, the Kibbutzim have been championing destruction of Jewish towns and villages, displacement of Jewish communities and abandonment of the historical homeland. The betrayal of the Jewish settlement legacy has deprived the Kibbutzim of their parental birthright. Thus, the Blessing of the Land, that had benefited the Kibbutzim, has turned into a curse that impoverished their cultural and material assets.
Israel prides herself on her Western commitment to enlightened values of truth, justice and liberty, in contrast to the autocratic Arab fundamentalism tainted by the blemishes of Oriental fantasy. But the Israeli truth is based on a groggy framework of self-deception, while the Arab fantasy reflects a basic truth. For the Israeli willingness to plunge into escapades of "land for peace" evolves from blind faith in disastrous misconceptions. On the other hand, by foiling all diplomatic attempts to compromise the entirety of the Land, the Arabs are those who teach the Jews an instructive lesson on the principles of Jewish truth. Moreover, the leaders of those Arab countries, which are included within the borders of the Promised Land, persistently proclaim their fear of Israel's aspirations to expand as far as the borders of the biblical Promise. It seems that a latent internal motive drives the leaders of the "Promised Land countries" to preemptively safeguard against the "menace" of Israel's expansion from the Nile to the Euphrates.
Israel is presently abundant with Talmud Torah classes, Yeshivas, Ulpanas, Beit Midrash centers and synagogues. Kosher food is readily available for everyone, and Jewish holidays are officially incorporated in the national calendar. Most ironically, a handful of Zionist pioneers, who severed themselves from the religious fabric, were those who laid the foundation for the blooming of Jewish life in the Land of Israel. The preservation of Jewish life in the Diaspora demands today more self-devotion than that required from the observant Israelis who lead religious lifestyles within the favorable environment of the Jewish state. Community life in Israel is so comfortable that the benefited congregations tend to forget that the prosperity of religious life has been attained thanks to total commitment of the Zionist pioneers to their settlement feat. Moreover, steeped in the pleasures of community life, the Jewish public has sunk to obtuseness and recoils from the hardships involved in pursuit of the Zionist movement's settlement legacy.
The Zionist revolution has indeed succeeded in founding a national home for the Jews, but the willingness to renounce the entirety of the Land is a sure prescription for perpetuating the spirit of Diaspora within the Land of Israel and stalling the momentum of Jewish redemption (Geula). As much as the pioneers' zeal was powerful enough to uplift the Jews from the servile state of the Diaspora to a phase of sovereign nationhood, the nation ought to muster all mental powers required for ascending to the next phase in the course of its redemption. It follows that the struggle for the Land of Israel presently outweighs all other Jewish national goals.
A most instructive proof of the supremacy of the settlement duty over all other biblical commands has been manifested in the Zionist enterprise. For it was the non-observant Zionists - who were dedicated to settling the Land, but estranged from all other religious precepts - who moved the entire process of national redemption forward. In contrast to the Zionist enterprise, Orthodox Jewry - which was locked in the confines of Torah and observance, but renounced the urgency of liberating the Jewish homeland - eventually deepened Diasporic degeneration, as far as manifesting total blindness in the face of rising Nazism.
In the face of historical role-models, who all along beset the nation with the consequences of their feeble-mindedness, strange voices are heard today from among the national and Orthodox religious public, questioning the struggle for the Land of Israel. It appears, again, that, since the biblical Generation of the Wilderness and the Ten Spies who spoke ill of the Land, the nation has not yet recovered from the maladies of skeptic minds, whose fear of humans overshadows their fear of God.
However, Jewish history proves that any Talmudic erudition, any prayer, as well as any blessing are overshone by the sanctity of pioneering feats undertaken by dauntless settlers from the dawn of Jewish history. The survival of Israel is thus contingent upon Jewish understanding that the daring pioneers, who get a grip on the hills of Judea and Samaria, are the most powerful advocates of Israel's right to the Blessing of the Land that secures her existence.
The leaders of Israel ought to memorize instructive lessons of the past, which leave no doubt as to the utmost significance of Jewish settlement throughout the entire Promised Land. The national disregard for the entirety of the Land is Israel's worst enemy. It strengthens her enemies and is liable to turn her blessing into a curse. Therefore, as long as Jews prefer to indulge in recreating the horrors of foreign rule within the heart of their historical homeland, they have no right to pass the buck of their sufferings to any other nation but themselves.
The unrelenting terror, which proves the urgent need for national disentanglement from the "peace" process obsession, is paradoxically deepening the grip of the Oslo conception. The national confusion manifested by the Oslo paradox is also reflected in the surreal nature of the public discourse that seems like an intellectual launderette, blending together views, facts and conclusions into a pointless polemic stew. The media-related vocabulary thus continues to define the committed opponents of the peace process as "extremists", even though all their gloomy predictions have been verified all along the gory Oslo road. Likewise, the same vocabulary persists in referring to the "peace" process fanatics as "moderates", despite their direct responsibility for the existential disaster inflicted on Israel by their reckless political escapades.
Years of a bad cultural atmosphere, educational crisis and media brainwashing have corrupted the soul of the nation. The deteriorated state of the nation calls for an urgent "extremist" campaign to evoke the public perception that the advent of peace is not contingent upon Arab acceptance of Israel; rather, that the key to quiet and prosperity is enfolded in Jewish determination to liberate the entire Land of Israel.
The majority of the Land-of-Israel Faithful Camp believes that Israel should content herself with the sliver of land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. But history has time and again proven that there are no discounts reserved for the Jews. It is therefore highly probable that, one way or another, Israel shall have to contend with the challenge of restituting the entire Promised Land to Jewish sovereignty. The decline of Israel, since the concession of Sinai to Egypt, demonstrates the curse incurred by Jewish betrayal of the Promised Land legacy.
Though the Arabs do appreciate the blessing enfolded in the Land, their discernment of the unique bond between the Land and the Jews is suppressed due to common envy, which renders them blind to the existential significance of such an exclusive bond. All documented reports of tourists, exploring the Land of Israel during the era of Jewish exile, emphasize the dismal impression made by the desolate Land on her visitors. The gloomiest impressions are provided by nineteenth century tourists, just a few years before the inception of Zionist settlement. The dismal impressions of the nineteenth century tourists - portraying scenes of bleakness and dilapidation, in which the first Jewish pioneers set up the corner stone to the Zionist enterprise - are a telling foil for the fabulous restoration of the Land by the magic touch of contemporary Return to Zion. With acute existential senses, Arabs from all around detected the magic transformations in the Land and headed to her in droves.
The powerfulness of the Arabs arises from their tenacious grip on the Holy Land; however, their weakness originates in the exclusive link between the Blessing of the Land and the Return to Zion. The history of the Kibbutz movement exemplifies the meaning of the blessing bestowed on the Land. Though the decline of the Kibbutzim is commonly related to changes in social, economical and political circumstances, a critical examination of the ups and downs experienced by the Kibbutz movement discloses a clear correlation between the Kibbutz attitude to Jewish settlement and the extent of their prosperity.
Until the Six Day War, the Kibbutzim headed the enterprise of Zionist settlement and, accordingly, won national and international reputation as a high-quality, thriving community. Following the liberation of Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza), Sinai and the Golan Heights, the Kibbutzim have become fervent enemies of any Jewish settlement within the liberated territories. As professed enemies of the renaissance of the settlement movement, the Kibbutzim have been championing destruction of Jewish towns and villages, displacement of Jewish communities and abandonment of the historical homeland. The betrayal of the Jewish settlement legacy has deprived the Kibbutzim of their parental birthright. Thus, the Blessing of the Land, that had benefited the Kibbutzim, has turned into a curse that impoverished their cultural and material assets.
Israel prides herself on her Western commitment to enlightened values of truth, justice and liberty, in contrast to the autocratic Arab fundamentalism tainted by the blemishes of Oriental fantasy. But the Israeli truth is based on a groggy framework of self-deception, while the Arab fantasy reflects a basic truth. For the Israeli willingness to plunge into escapades of "land for peace" evolves from blind faith in disastrous misconceptions. On the other hand, by foiling all diplomatic attempts to compromise the entirety of the Land, the Arabs are those who teach the Jews an instructive lesson on the principles of Jewish truth. Moreover, the leaders of those Arab countries, which are included within the borders of the Promised Land, persistently proclaim their fear of Israel's aspirations to expand as far as the borders of the biblical Promise. It seems that a latent internal motive drives the leaders of the "Promised Land countries" to preemptively safeguard against the "menace" of Israel's expansion from the Nile to the Euphrates.
Israel is presently abundant with Talmud Torah classes, Yeshivas, Ulpanas, Beit Midrash centers and synagogues. Kosher food is readily available for everyone, and Jewish holidays are officially incorporated in the national calendar. Most ironically, a handful of Zionist pioneers, who severed themselves from the religious fabric, were those who laid the foundation for the blooming of Jewish life in the Land of Israel. The preservation of Jewish life in the Diaspora demands today more self-devotion than that required from the observant Israelis who lead religious lifestyles within the favorable environment of the Jewish state. Community life in Israel is so comfortable that the benefited congregations tend to forget that the prosperity of religious life has been attained thanks to total commitment of the Zionist pioneers to their settlement feat. Moreover, steeped in the pleasures of community life, the Jewish public has sunk to obtuseness and recoils from the hardships involved in pursuit of the Zionist movement's settlement legacy.
The Zionist revolution has indeed succeeded in founding a national home for the Jews, but the willingness to renounce the entirety of the Land is a sure prescription for perpetuating the spirit of Diaspora within the Land of Israel and stalling the momentum of Jewish redemption (Geula). As much as the pioneers' zeal was powerful enough to uplift the Jews from the servile state of the Diaspora to a phase of sovereign nationhood, the nation ought to muster all mental powers required for ascending to the next phase in the course of its redemption. It follows that the struggle for the Land of Israel presently outweighs all other Jewish national goals.
A most instructive proof of the supremacy of the settlement duty over all other biblical commands has been manifested in the Zionist enterprise. For it was the non-observant Zionists - who were dedicated to settling the Land, but estranged from all other religious precepts - who moved the entire process of national redemption forward. In contrast to the Zionist enterprise, Orthodox Jewry - which was locked in the confines of Torah and observance, but renounced the urgency of liberating the Jewish homeland - eventually deepened Diasporic degeneration, as far as manifesting total blindness in the face of rising Nazism.
In the face of historical role-models, who all along beset the nation with the consequences of their feeble-mindedness, strange voices are heard today from among the national and Orthodox religious public, questioning the struggle for the Land of Israel. It appears, again, that, since the biblical Generation of the Wilderness and the Ten Spies who spoke ill of the Land, the nation has not yet recovered from the maladies of skeptic minds, whose fear of humans overshadows their fear of God.
However, Jewish history proves that any Talmudic erudition, any prayer, as well as any blessing are overshone by the sanctity of pioneering feats undertaken by dauntless settlers from the dawn of Jewish history. The survival of Israel is thus contingent upon Jewish understanding that the daring pioneers, who get a grip on the hills of Judea and Samaria, are the most powerful advocates of Israel's right to the Blessing of the Land that secures her existence.
The leaders of Israel ought to memorize instructive lessons of the past, which leave no doubt as to the utmost significance of Jewish settlement throughout the entire Promised Land. The national disregard for the entirety of the Land is Israel's worst enemy. It strengthens her enemies and is liable to turn her blessing into a curse. Therefore, as long as Jews prefer to indulge in recreating the horrors of foreign rule within the heart of their historical homeland, they have no right to pass the buck of their sufferings to any other nation but themselves.