I have grown silent. I do not write articles on Israel's situation as I once did. One reason for this is that the problem that I had, for a long time, concentrated on and felt was not being given sufficient attention - the development of nuclear weapons by Iran - is now at 
A hope for the end of the conflict seems Utopian, to say the least.
the center of the world's concern. After reading and thinking so much about the problem, I sense I really do not know enough, and I do not have the proper inside information to recommend a course of action.
To insist upon Israel's preempting Iran when the US is in such a better position to do so does not make that much sense. Even to insist on the US preempting Iran militarily is not a course that it is possible to wholeheartedly recommend. For Iran's response - and that of Hizbullah and possibly Syria with it - will be directed at Israel. And I have no way of assessing what the damage might be, and whether or not, in fact, it will provide the pretext for Iran's using weapons of greater destructive power than we now know it to have.
These are questions not for an amateur "opinionizer," but for those within the Israeli and American military and political establishments to properly assess.
Another reason for my silence is the stagnant political situation in Israel. There is almost unanimous disapproval of the Olmert government without, at present, a means to topple the coalition. This sense of stagnation connects, too, with another even larger area of stagnation - that of the political relations between Israel and our neighbors. After the withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza brought about more Arab hostility, it is understood by almost everyone in Israel that the Arabs, and especially the Palestinians, have no real intention of living in peace with us.
Hostility on a low flame, which we have now, is perhaps the best we can hope for. A hope for the end of the conflict seems Utopian, to say the least. There is, instead, the sense that we will have to struggle against Arab efforts to destroy us for generations to come.
Moreover, our stalemated situation with the Arabs has as its parallel the whole Western, and primarily American, war on terror. That war is not being won in Iraq. And the prospects before us seem to be either an American retreat, which will make our situation more dangerous, or an American persistence in a situation where it has no real ally, no hope of true popular victory. The Western world as a whole seems threatened and unable to properly respond to the threat.
My silence comes also out of my sense that I have nothing very special to say. Others know more about the situation than me. Others have insights and understanding I cannot possibly have.
So, it seems the weight of argument says I should be silent. Only there is another voice which says each Jew is required to make his own small effort, to try and help the Jewish people and Israel, to try to serve God. As my old teacher David Herzberg used to say, "We are obliged to make the effort (hishtadlut)." Thus, I write here, thus I break the silence here, and try to think of what possible message I can give that might be of help to our people. What message do I have that we need now?
We must not despair, must not lose hope.
I think if I had one thing to say to the Jewish people and Israel now, it would be that we must not give in. We must not despair, must not lose hope. We must remember that our struggle is long and that we bear with us the gift and the burden of generations of Jews who have struggled to remain alive as Jews - and the gift and burden most especially of those who have fought and sacrificed to bring us to a Jewish state in the land of Israel.
I suppose the one message I have is the very commonplace one that we must not give up hope, nor lose heart; we must, instead, continue to build and create in the land of Israel.
A hope for the end of the conflict seems Utopian, to say the least.
the center of the world's concern. After reading and thinking so much about the problem, I sense I really do not know enough, and I do not have the proper inside information to recommend a course of action. To insist upon Israel's preempting Iran when the US is in such a better position to do so does not make that much sense. Even to insist on the US preempting Iran militarily is not a course that it is possible to wholeheartedly recommend. For Iran's response - and that of Hizbullah and possibly Syria with it - will be directed at Israel. And I have no way of assessing what the damage might be, and whether or not, in fact, it will provide the pretext for Iran's using weapons of greater destructive power than we now know it to have.
These are questions not for an amateur "opinionizer," but for those within the Israeli and American military and political establishments to properly assess.
Another reason for my silence is the stagnant political situation in Israel. There is almost unanimous disapproval of the Olmert government without, at present, a means to topple the coalition. This sense of stagnation connects, too, with another even larger area of stagnation - that of the political relations between Israel and our neighbors. After the withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza brought about more Arab hostility, it is understood by almost everyone in Israel that the Arabs, and especially the Palestinians, have no real intention of living in peace with us.
Hostility on a low flame, which we have now, is perhaps the best we can hope for. A hope for the end of the conflict seems Utopian, to say the least. There is, instead, the sense that we will have to struggle against Arab efforts to destroy us for generations to come.
Moreover, our stalemated situation with the Arabs has as its parallel the whole Western, and primarily American, war on terror. That war is not being won in Iraq. And the prospects before us seem to be either an American retreat, which will make our situation more dangerous, or an American persistence in a situation where it has no real ally, no hope of true popular victory. The Western world as a whole seems threatened and unable to properly respond to the threat.
My silence comes also out of my sense that I have nothing very special to say. Others know more about the situation than me. Others have insights and understanding I cannot possibly have.
So, it seems the weight of argument says I should be silent. Only there is another voice which says each Jew is required to make his own small effort, to try and help the Jewish people and Israel, to try to serve God. As my old teacher David Herzberg used to say, "We are obliged to make the effort (hishtadlut)." Thus, I write here, thus I break the silence here, and try to think of what possible message I can give that might be of help to our people. What message do I have that we need now?
We must not despair, must not lose hope.
I think if I had one thing to say to the Jewish people and Israel now, it would be that we must not give in. We must not despair, must not lose hope. We must remember that our struggle is long and that we bear with us the gift and the burden of generations of Jews who have struggled to remain alive as Jews - and the gift and burden most especially of those who have fought and sacrificed to bring us to a Jewish state in the land of Israel.
I suppose the one message I have is the very commonplace one that we must not give up hope, nor lose heart; we must, instead, continue to build and create in the land of Israel.