A civil war is one of the biggest nightmares of the Jewish people, but it is not something unheard of. On the contrary, fighting between Jews has followed us throughout history, and often for good reason. In Israel, a civil war is called milchemet achim, which means "a war of brothers", and the Tanach (Bible) tells us of many such wars.
For instance, at the end of Shoftim (the Book of Judges) we learn that all the tribes of Israel went to war against the tribe of Binyamin at Givah. At that time, the tribe of Binyamin was almost totally annihilated because they adopted the atrocious ways of the Canaanite nations. In Melachim (the Book of Kings), we learn of other wars between the tribes. The Israelite tribes were eventually exiled from the land as punishment for following the ways of other nations. At the time of the second Temple, the Maccabees fought the Hellenists, Israelites who wanted to corrupt the Jewish people with Greek culture and idolatry.
In modern history, there were Jews who assisted our enemies. For instance, the kapos in the Shoah, to save their own skin, assisted the Nazis. During the foreign rule by the British, there were Jews who enlisted in the ranks of the British police. The Haganah actively took part in what was called "the Season" - short for "hunting season" - in which Jews were sent out to hunt other Jews and hand them over to the British. A boy from Haifa named Yedidiyah Segal, who was a member of the Irgun, was abducted by the Haganah and tortured to death at their hands.
During the War of Independence there was the shameful incident of the Altalena, in which Yitzhak Rabin commanded the bombing of an Irgun ship that was bringing soldiers and weapons in order to liberate Jerusalem. 18 Jewish soldiers were shot dead while swimming to shore from the burning and sinking ship. No inquiry was held for the violation of international law forbidding shooting soldiers in the water. The next day, David Ben-Gurion, speaking on the podium of the new Knesset, praised "the holy cannon" that sunk the Altalena.
Menachem Begin, who was head of the Irgun at that time, and was on the Altalena while it was being bombed by the Haganah, ordered his men to refrain from returning fire, thus avoiding a civil war. In tears, Begin called on his men to enlist in Ben-Gurion's army, thereby surrendering to Ben-Gurion's demand to control the fate of the nation.
The arms that the Altalena brought in to liberate Jerusalem went down in the shallows of the sea of Tel Aviv, along with the dream to unite Jerusalem at that time. Menachem Begin's unrealistic sentimental notions of brotherhood caused him to choose a questionable unity with Jews who were not loyal to our values. This resulted in a divided Jerusalem and set the precedent for choosing a false political unity, rather than achieving our national goals.
Again and again, civil war in Israel is forced upon us by those who are not loyal to Jewish values and sovereignty, and who are not afraid to lift their hand against their fellow Jews. At the same time, they point a finger at loyal Jews whom they claim are a threat to the unity of the nation and manipulatively take advantage of sentiments that they themselves do not possess. And so, Jerusalem fell to the hands of the Jordanians, the Sinai was given over to the Egyptians, pork is sold in the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and our land is being given over to our enemies - all in the name of "Jewish unity".
Unity of the Jewish people is important as long as we are united by our loyalty to HaShem and His Torah. Unity in treason to HaShem can only bring tragedy to our people. There will be no war of brothers, but only because those loyal to HaShem, to His land and to His Torah stand strong and do not give in to the weakness and emptiness of those Jews who are willing to give up our national heritage. In the end, they will join us or they will disappear into history like all those before them who took the path of assimilation.
We are determined to have a proud Jewish country in Israel based on Jewish values. The land is ours, as set down in the Bible, as God's gift to the Jews. We will not give our inheritance over to our enemies in the name of a false unity with those whose goal is to erase the holiness of our nation and land. We will stand strong with our convictions and they will be forced to acknowledge that we are here to stay.
For instance, at the end of Shoftim (the Book of Judges) we learn that all the tribes of Israel went to war against the tribe of Binyamin at Givah. At that time, the tribe of Binyamin was almost totally annihilated because they adopted the atrocious ways of the Canaanite nations. In Melachim (the Book of Kings), we learn of other wars between the tribes. The Israelite tribes were eventually exiled from the land as punishment for following the ways of other nations. At the time of the second Temple, the Maccabees fought the Hellenists, Israelites who wanted to corrupt the Jewish people with Greek culture and idolatry.
In modern history, there were Jews who assisted our enemies. For instance, the kapos in the Shoah, to save their own skin, assisted the Nazis. During the foreign rule by the British, there were Jews who enlisted in the ranks of the British police. The Haganah actively took part in what was called "the Season" - short for "hunting season" - in which Jews were sent out to hunt other Jews and hand them over to the British. A boy from Haifa named Yedidiyah Segal, who was a member of the Irgun, was abducted by the Haganah and tortured to death at their hands.
During the War of Independence there was the shameful incident of the Altalena, in which Yitzhak Rabin commanded the bombing of an Irgun ship that was bringing soldiers and weapons in order to liberate Jerusalem. 18 Jewish soldiers were shot dead while swimming to shore from the burning and sinking ship. No inquiry was held for the violation of international law forbidding shooting soldiers in the water. The next day, David Ben-Gurion, speaking on the podium of the new Knesset, praised "the holy cannon" that sunk the Altalena.
Menachem Begin, who was head of the Irgun at that time, and was on the Altalena while it was being bombed by the Haganah, ordered his men to refrain from returning fire, thus avoiding a civil war. In tears, Begin called on his men to enlist in Ben-Gurion's army, thereby surrendering to Ben-Gurion's demand to control the fate of the nation.
The arms that the Altalena brought in to liberate Jerusalem went down in the shallows of the sea of Tel Aviv, along with the dream to unite Jerusalem at that time. Menachem Begin's unrealistic sentimental notions of brotherhood caused him to choose a questionable unity with Jews who were not loyal to our values. This resulted in a divided Jerusalem and set the precedent for choosing a false political unity, rather than achieving our national goals.
Again and again, civil war in Israel is forced upon us by those who are not loyal to Jewish values and sovereignty, and who are not afraid to lift their hand against their fellow Jews. At the same time, they point a finger at loyal Jews whom they claim are a threat to the unity of the nation and manipulatively take advantage of sentiments that they themselves do not possess. And so, Jerusalem fell to the hands of the Jordanians, the Sinai was given over to the Egyptians, pork is sold in the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and our land is being given over to our enemies - all in the name of "Jewish unity".
Unity of the Jewish people is important as long as we are united by our loyalty to HaShem and His Torah. Unity in treason to HaShem can only bring tragedy to our people. There will be no war of brothers, but only because those loyal to HaShem, to His land and to His Torah stand strong and do not give in to the weakness and emptiness of those Jews who are willing to give up our national heritage. In the end, they will join us or they will disappear into history like all those before them who took the path of assimilation.
We are determined to have a proud Jewish country in Israel based on Jewish values. The land is ours, as set down in the Bible, as God's gift to the Jews. We will not give our inheritance over to our enemies in the name of a false unity with those whose goal is to erase the holiness of our nation and land. We will stand strong with our convictions and they will be forced to acknowledge that we are here to stay.