"Not enough and much too late" is the sense one gets after hearing the findings of the Winograd Commission investigating the preparations for and handling of the Second Lebanon War. Too late for the young men who valiantly gave their lives to protect this country, yet were betrayed by self-serving leadership. Too late for the civilians of the north trying to rebuild their communities abandoned by a government that denied them financial help for so very long. Too late for the families incorrectly asking if their sacrifice and pain was for naught, because a corrupt administration made them forget that their

"Not enough and much too late" is the sense one gets.

sacrifice saved Jewish lives.


Ehud Olmert's days are numbered, thank G-d. Yet, in the midst of all the focus on sweeping away all that is corrupt and self-serving one can easily forget that Prime Minister Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Chief of Staff Dan Halutz are not the disease. They are just the symptoms.


The findings of the Winograd Commission hint at the disease that led to the corrupt Israeli leadership. Sequestered deep within the 171 pages of the report, we find the following:


"Some of the political and military elites in Israel have reached the conclusion that Israel is beyond the era of wars. It had enough military might and superiority to deter others from declaring war against her; these would also be sufficient to send a painful reminder to anyone who seemed to be undeterred; since Israel did not intend to initiate a war, the conclusion was that the main challenge facing the land forces would be low-intensity, asymmetrical conflicts. Given these assumptions, the IDF did not need to be prepared for 'real' war."


The 1973 Agranat Commission investigated the failure of Israel's Labor government to prepare the nation for the Arab aggression that came to be called the Yom Kippur War. Their conclusion pointed to wishful thinking, which they called the Conseptsia (the Concept), that convinced the Israeli leadership and army hierarchy of that time that Israeli military superiority assured the nation of decades of peace. All that was shattered on that tragic Yom Kippur of 1973.


Over forty years later, we can see how that same misguided wishful thinking has led Israel into one tragedy after another. It began with the ill-fated Oslo "Peace" process and culminated in the Second Lebanon War. Hoping, wishing and believing that we had entered into an era of peace allowed Israelis to ignore the fury of Yasser Arafat's speeches and the murderous fire of the guns that we gave him. It gave permission for a government to cut back on critical security concerns as, after all, "we are living in a time of peace." It also convinced the people to support a vision-less party and a corrupt Prime Minister.


It also permitted a cynical Ariel Sharon to destroy the homes and dreams of thousands of Israelis, in order to offer a "humanitarian gesture" as a sign of strength. That misguided and cruel gesture was quickly revealed to be what it truly was, a sign of deep weakness. That weakness began the descent of this country down the slippery slope into the recent war.


We live in a world of masks and delusions. Believing in a peace even when it does not exist is preferable to thinking that peace may not presently be attainable. Believing in one's puffed sense of power and strength is preferable to thinking about the threats that surround us. Believing that our enemy truly wants to dialogue and talk, even though all

Believing in a peace when it does not exist is preferable to thinking.

that he desires is to lash out and wound, is preferable to the silent fortitude of standing in constant vigilance.


Joshua and Caleb faced the same disease. Joshua, blessed by G-d, had the courage to stand against them. Where did Caleb receive his vision and courage? We read, in the verses describing the entrance of the spies into the Land of Israel, the following: "And they went up into the south, and he came unto Hebron. ...Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt." (Numbers 13:22) The spies enter together, but one individual goes first to Hebron - Caleb. It is there that he was given the clear vision and the far-reaching sight of the forefathers.


My family and I recently spent a Shabbat in Hebron with several friends from our Jerusalem neighborhood. The Shabbat prayers at the Tomb of the Patriarchs were incredibly powerful and moving. The spirit and simple courage of all the people that we met was inspiring and intense. The incredible sense of community that had been created within those little pockets of settlement amidst a sea of hatred and suspicion was astounding. Yet, the most powerful sense during that Shabbat was that in Hebron all the masks have been removed.


The Arabs in Hebron never made any pretense of peaceful intentions. The local imam, as an example, declares in his sermons how he had asked Allah why were the Arabs cursed with all these Jews. He then said that he realized that in the past a "great European country" tried to rid the world of these monkeys, but could not because they were spread throughout the world. Now, he declared, they were all focused in one place, ripe for slaughter.


No more masks and no more pretense.


I had several run-ins with some of the so-called Christian peace observers who stood around waiting to take pictures of Jews harassing Palestinians. I walked over to two of them and said, "Have you gotten any pictures of Jews being attacked by Palestinians?"


The Danish gentleman said, "No, that never happens."


I asked how he thought that Jews have ended up in the hospital with knife wounds and bullet wounds if they are never attacked. His friend, an English fellow, said that he simply does not know of any such incidents. The Danish peace observer, on the other hand, murmured quietly, "Maybe it was because the Jews have been so aggressive."


These "neutral Christian observers" could understand why Palestinians would murder and maim as a result of Jews spitting at them or calling them names, yet they could not understand Jews spitting at or calling Palestinians names as a result of being shot at, killed or maimed. The masks in Hebron are all off, and bias and prejudice have been bared.


The Jews we met had also lost any facade or fantasy regarding the situation of the Jewish people in this land. They were not befuddled or clouded by the notion discussed in the Winograd Commission findings that "Israel is beyond the era of wars." Such a

Our country is being forced to look at all the lies and deception.

clear vision of the enemy, though, is invariably wrapped up with zeal and anger, yet most of the people we met had a clear and simple sense of destiny.


Visiting Hebron on Shabbat was an experience cluttered with intense emotions and frightening awareness. On the one hand, I felt my soul uplifted by the emotional experience in the Machpela Cave (the Tomb of the Patriarchs) and by spending Shabbat with individuals with burning passion and quiet determination. On the other hand, I felt my soul being seared by the anger of confronting the unmasked and unbridled hatred of the Arabs, and the condescending and vile disdain of us by their European allies.


We are living in a time when our country is being forced to look at all the lies and deception we have had to swallow and endure over the years. Some will see and others will prefer the blindness. In the end, it is comforting to know that many people with the clear vision and perspective of Joshua and Caleb remain steadfast in the much-maligned Jewish city of Hebron.