The recent exchange of 450 unrepentant terrorists for one Jewish kidnap victim, immediately followed by a suicide bus bombing in Jerusalem, is a humiliating defeat for the Jewish people. It presents Israel as a nation totally devoid of backbone and self-respect. Worse, it shows a lack of emuna, or faith, among Israel's leaders, because people of faith, who truly understand what the Covenant is all about, would know how to put an end to the Arab threat.
But rather than dwell on the negative, let's engage in a brief mental exercise. Every great deed begins with a vision, so let's visualize what would happen if Israel were actually ruled by men of truth, who acknowledge the sovereignty of God, fear Him more than they fear their enemies, and trust Him more than they trust their friends. What would a God-fearing prime minister, backed by a similar-minded Knesset and court system, do during his first few days in office?
His first act would be to go to the Temple Mount. In front of worldwide television cameras, he would publicly sanctify the name of God, acknowledge His absolute sovereignty, and declare his government's commitment to live up to the terms of the Covenant.
He would then enumerate his policies. Regarding the Temple Mount, he would say, "This Mount is the heritage of the Jewish nation, the place where God's spirit dwelt among us for hundreds of years. From now on, the Mount is open to every Jew to come and worship. If Arabs resist Jewish worshippers by force, they'll be met by greater force. If they continue to resist, they'll be expelled from the Mount altogether. If they still resist after that, the mosques themselves will be demolished. Also, from now on, all Muslim sermons delivered on the Mount will be closely monitored by Israel. Any preacher who uses his pulpit to promote hatred of Jews will be deposed from his position, imprisoned on grounds of incitement, and barred from ever again ascending to the Mount."
To the Arab population of Eretz Israel, he would say, "Israel has a long history of humanitarianism. But every time we've tried to be humane to you, you've taken it as a weakness and launched still more attacks. Therefore, we will no longer follow this policy. The terrorists among you have demonstrated that their goal is to exterminate the Jews. Also, for every terrorist fighting with guns and bombs, there are many behind him providing the things he needs to continue fighting. Also, your entire population has been trained in anti-Jewish hatred, such that we can no longer trust any of you, since people of every age, gender and occupation have committed terrorist acts. In other words, the war is not between us and a handful of extremists, but between us and the entire Palestinian Arab population.
"We will not tolerate a foreign presence in our midst that seeks our destruction. Since you have no regard for our civilians, we will have no regard for yours. We will go after and destroy the terrorists, no matter how many civilians they're hiding behind. If ground attacks are likely to cause Jewish casualties, we will attack by air. No Jewish soldier will be asked to risk his life for the sake of misguided gestures of humanitarianism."
To the Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, he would say, "God has promised the Land of Israel to the Jews. Not one bit of it will be given away or bargained away. Your status here is that of resident aliens, and your right to live here can and will be revoked at any sign of rebellion against the state or its Jewish character."
To Arab citizens of Israel, he would say, "Our predecessors were very generous in granting you full citizenship, even though you've never borne all of the responsibilities of citizenship. Israel was founded as a homeland for Jews, and we owe no rights of citizenship to non-Jews. From now on, your continued citizenship is conditional on your loyalty to the nation, and any activities seeking to undermine the nation, or its Jewish character, will be grounds for revocation of citizenship and expulsion."
To the Palestinian Authority he would say nothing. Instead, he would order air attacks on all their bases, especially Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah, and destroy all of their armed forces, without exception, and without concern for "collateral damage." This would continue until all the terrorist groups, including the PA, Hamas and Islamic Jihad surrender unconditionally, at which time any survivors will be expelled to other countries. Arafat will not be permitted a burial in Eretz Israel, but any remains that are found will be shipped to his birth country, Egypt.
To the nations of the world, he would say "Israel is dedicated to the service of God. Our mission is to bring the Spirit of God into the world for the benefit of all Mankind. Right now, we are uprooting a source of very great evil in our midst, which threatens not only us, but you as well. This source of evil is against life itself, and seeks destruction for its own sake. Don't be seduced by its false arguments, or take its side against us, lest God's judgment come upon you."
He would then address individual nations and institutions.
To the United States, he would say, "We respect your nation and value our mutual friendship, which is beneficial to both of us. But it has to be a relationship of equals. It can't be a master-servant relationship, because Israel serves Hashem, and no nation can serve two masters at the same time. Please don't mistake us for beggars looking for handouts. We bring as much benefit to you as you bring to us."
To the European Union, he would say, "The history of the Jewish experience in Europe is well known. Since we're more interested in building the future than bemoaning the past, we're willing to put that aside for now, and maintain normal diplomatic and trade relations with you. But we neither want nor need any help from you regarding our relations with our Arab neighbors. Staying out of it is your best bet."
To the United Nations: "You started out with high hopes as an international forum where nations could discuss their differences. But your big mistake was to open membership to all nations, whether they shared the UN's original values or not. Now, your General Assembly is largely controlled by brutal and corrupt dictatorships who despise both your values and ours, and who continually pour out resolutions that have no relation to truth or justice. Israel has been repeatedly singled out as the target of one racist resolution after another, while nations that are guilty of enormous crimes are never mentioned at all. Sadly, we have to conclude that the UN has been fatally compromised, and is no longer able to play a constructive role in the Middle East. Therefore, we will give it no further cooperation, nor permit it to operate in our territories."
To Egypt: "We signed a peace treaty with you, and we made many concessions to get the treaty, but we've received few benefits from it. Now, you're openly assisting our Palestinian enemies by letting them receive arms and supplies from tunnels that begin in Egypt. You can easily close down those tunnels. If you fail to do so, we will regard it as an act of hostility against Israel, releasing us from our obligations under the treaty. Israeli forces will seize the territory and close down the tunnels themselves, and you will not get the territory back again."
To Syria: "As long as you harbor dreams of destroying Israel, we have nothing to say to you at all. The Golan is ours and will remain ours. The only thing we promise is that if you keep your side of the border quiet, we'll keep our side quiet."
And finally, to the Almighty: "We thank You for the many good things You have done for us, and pray that You will find us worthy to receive Your blessings in the future. We know that we are still far from the spiritual level You want us to attain, but it is our firm intention to continue to grow in knowledge and understanding of You, and to stay on the path of spiritual development that ultimately leads to union with You. Please enlighten our souls and guide our footsteps and make our path easy, so that we can fulfill the purpose for which we were chosen. Amen."
But rather than dwell on the negative, let's engage in a brief mental exercise. Every great deed begins with a vision, so let's visualize what would happen if Israel were actually ruled by men of truth, who acknowledge the sovereignty of God, fear Him more than they fear their enemies, and trust Him more than they trust their friends. What would a God-fearing prime minister, backed by a similar-minded Knesset and court system, do during his first few days in office?
His first act would be to go to the Temple Mount. In front of worldwide television cameras, he would publicly sanctify the name of God, acknowledge His absolute sovereignty, and declare his government's commitment to live up to the terms of the Covenant.
He would then enumerate his policies. Regarding the Temple Mount, he would say, "This Mount is the heritage of the Jewish nation, the place where God's spirit dwelt among us for hundreds of years. From now on, the Mount is open to every Jew to come and worship. If Arabs resist Jewish worshippers by force, they'll be met by greater force. If they continue to resist, they'll be expelled from the Mount altogether. If they still resist after that, the mosques themselves will be demolished. Also, from now on, all Muslim sermons delivered on the Mount will be closely monitored by Israel. Any preacher who uses his pulpit to promote hatred of Jews will be deposed from his position, imprisoned on grounds of incitement, and barred from ever again ascending to the Mount."
To the Arab population of Eretz Israel, he would say, "Israel has a long history of humanitarianism. But every time we've tried to be humane to you, you've taken it as a weakness and launched still more attacks. Therefore, we will no longer follow this policy. The terrorists among you have demonstrated that their goal is to exterminate the Jews. Also, for every terrorist fighting with guns and bombs, there are many behind him providing the things he needs to continue fighting. Also, your entire population has been trained in anti-Jewish hatred, such that we can no longer trust any of you, since people of every age, gender and occupation have committed terrorist acts. In other words, the war is not between us and a handful of extremists, but between us and the entire Palestinian Arab population.
"We will not tolerate a foreign presence in our midst that seeks our destruction. Since you have no regard for our civilians, we will have no regard for yours. We will go after and destroy the terrorists, no matter how many civilians they're hiding behind. If ground attacks are likely to cause Jewish casualties, we will attack by air. No Jewish soldier will be asked to risk his life for the sake of misguided gestures of humanitarianism."
To the Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, he would say, "God has promised the Land of Israel to the Jews. Not one bit of it will be given away or bargained away. Your status here is that of resident aliens, and your right to live here can and will be revoked at any sign of rebellion against the state or its Jewish character."
To Arab citizens of Israel, he would say, "Our predecessors were very generous in granting you full citizenship, even though you've never borne all of the responsibilities of citizenship. Israel was founded as a homeland for Jews, and we owe no rights of citizenship to non-Jews. From now on, your continued citizenship is conditional on your loyalty to the nation, and any activities seeking to undermine the nation, or its Jewish character, will be grounds for revocation of citizenship and expulsion."
To the Palestinian Authority he would say nothing. Instead, he would order air attacks on all their bases, especially Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah, and destroy all of their armed forces, without exception, and without concern for "collateral damage." This would continue until all the terrorist groups, including the PA, Hamas and Islamic Jihad surrender unconditionally, at which time any survivors will be expelled to other countries. Arafat will not be permitted a burial in Eretz Israel, but any remains that are found will be shipped to his birth country, Egypt.
To the nations of the world, he would say "Israel is dedicated to the service of God. Our mission is to bring the Spirit of God into the world for the benefit of all Mankind. Right now, we are uprooting a source of very great evil in our midst, which threatens not only us, but you as well. This source of evil is against life itself, and seeks destruction for its own sake. Don't be seduced by its false arguments, or take its side against us, lest God's judgment come upon you."
He would then address individual nations and institutions.
To the United States, he would say, "We respect your nation and value our mutual friendship, which is beneficial to both of us. But it has to be a relationship of equals. It can't be a master-servant relationship, because Israel serves Hashem, and no nation can serve two masters at the same time. Please don't mistake us for beggars looking for handouts. We bring as much benefit to you as you bring to us."
To the European Union, he would say, "The history of the Jewish experience in Europe is well known. Since we're more interested in building the future than bemoaning the past, we're willing to put that aside for now, and maintain normal diplomatic and trade relations with you. But we neither want nor need any help from you regarding our relations with our Arab neighbors. Staying out of it is your best bet."
To the United Nations: "You started out with high hopes as an international forum where nations could discuss their differences. But your big mistake was to open membership to all nations, whether they shared the UN's original values or not. Now, your General Assembly is largely controlled by brutal and corrupt dictatorships who despise both your values and ours, and who continually pour out resolutions that have no relation to truth or justice. Israel has been repeatedly singled out as the target of one racist resolution after another, while nations that are guilty of enormous crimes are never mentioned at all. Sadly, we have to conclude that the UN has been fatally compromised, and is no longer able to play a constructive role in the Middle East. Therefore, we will give it no further cooperation, nor permit it to operate in our territories."
To Egypt: "We signed a peace treaty with you, and we made many concessions to get the treaty, but we've received few benefits from it. Now, you're openly assisting our Palestinian enemies by letting them receive arms and supplies from tunnels that begin in Egypt. You can easily close down those tunnels. If you fail to do so, we will regard it as an act of hostility against Israel, releasing us from our obligations under the treaty. Israeli forces will seize the territory and close down the tunnels themselves, and you will not get the territory back again."
To Syria: "As long as you harbor dreams of destroying Israel, we have nothing to say to you at all. The Golan is ours and will remain ours. The only thing we promise is that if you keep your side of the border quiet, we'll keep our side quiet."
And finally, to the Almighty: "We thank You for the many good things You have done for us, and pray that You will find us worthy to receive Your blessings in the future. We know that we are still far from the spiritual level You want us to attain, but it is our firm intention to continue to grow in knowledge and understanding of You, and to stay on the path of spiritual development that ultimately leads to union with You. Please enlighten our souls and guide our footsteps and make our path easy, so that we can fulfill the purpose for which we were chosen. Amen."