Over the last 75 years, Israel has had to employ different strategies against its belligerent Arab neighbors, including operations and wars, peace treaties and economic incentives. With Jordan and Egypt, a cold peace has largely worked, but when it comes to the Arabs in Gaza and Judea and Samaria, one thing is certain, the current path is not the right one.
In the words of Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. The State of Israel is 75 years old. Abraham was 75 years old when G-d told him to leave everything he knew behind. We too in our 75th year, need to take a new path to finally fulfill our purpose here in our land. To survive and thrive in our country, we need a new plan, a new solution, a new vision. We will have to return to our roots, to our justification for being in this land, and to our enormous potential on so many fronts.
In order to achieve this lofty goal, we must dramatically change course. This is not a time for minor adjustments to a bad strategy. As great and prescient rabbis such as Rav Eli Sadan and Rav Reuven Sasson have been saying for months now (on the divisions before the war, and the massacre of October 7 and the ensuing war), all recent events are G-d’s actions through historical processes to push us toward a new reality.
The birth pangs of this new reality have been extremely painful, and we are still trying to process all of it. But the faster the Jewish people moves toward its purpose, the quicker the birth will be. Therefore, we need to establish this new vision and work toward it now.
Here are the five essential aspects of the new vision:
1 Unconditional defeat of Hamas and Hezbollah. And Iran.
The first step is to defeat the axis of evil of our day-- Hamas-Isis-Iran…it’s pure evil, and we must defeat it unconditionally and completely. Hamas will not remain with any military or political power. They will be wiped off the face of the earth—like Sodom and Amalek. After, or concurrent with our war in Gaza, we will defeat the other enemies. These will not be easy battles, but we will triumph because we have built a strong army that was waiting to fight a conventional battle rather than asymmetrical warfare.
Our soldiers are strong, our home front is steady, our allies are proving to be on the right side of history, and we have nowhere else to go.
2. Full territorial control of Gaza, Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley, Jerusalem (including the Temple Mount) and all cities and villages in Israel.
Soon after our military objectives are achieved, the full annexation of all territory captured in 1967 must take effect. Of all of the entities that could take over and run these areas, Israel is the nation with the greatest economy, skills and abilities. There is no other entity in the region capable of doing so. Egypt, the natural candidate for this role, has said repeatedly that it is not interested.
Israel did not start the wars in which it took control of the territories in Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley and now Gaza, but where it controls the land, it builds roads and infrastructure, housing and industrial parks. The land is developed and the economy grows. Neighboring countries benefit because they can trade with us. Tourism is successful and the additional immigrants that arrive in Israel each year will settle the land.
The Israeli people are a true light onto the nations, and they are best poised to make beneficial use of the territory. It is possible that that the large Palestinian Arab cities will have some type of local control…perhaps along the lines of Mordechai Keidar’s eight ‘Emirates’ solution. But they will not be citizens of Israel and there will not be a Palestinian Arab state. We have to think outside the box, and dispel failed ideologies such as a two-state solution or disengagement. No more Jews are leaving their homes. We will exercise sovereignty over the land in its entirety, and that includes post-war Gaza, Judea and Samaria, and every inch of Jerusalem, and find creative solutions to the problem of the governance of large Palestinian Arab tribal populations.
As I was writing this, I saw the members of Knesset going out of the showing of the Oct. 7 horror videos. They were speechless and in shock. I hope they will remember those images and that we will be able to count on their support when we bring forward laws and plans to annex all of the land of Israel and deal with our enemies appropriately. We will not allow any other solution that involves hostile Arabs living in our midst or on our borders.
3. The Gazan refugees will have to relocate to third countries.
The world has had to deal with refugees for hundreds of years. Most recently there have been millions of refugees from Ukraine and Syria. The agency responsible for refugees from conflict areas is the UNHCR.---except in the case of the Palestinian Arabs who have their own agency (UNRWA) whose goal is not to resettle them but instead to keep them in perpetual refugee status. This too must change. The UNRWA mandate is over, and the agency should be defunded and disbanded effective immediately. All refugees from Gaza should be resettled in third countries. It may be possible for a few thousand people to remain in Southern Gaza but not more than that. Jewish settlement will return, and Israel will revive the agricultural successes of Gush Katif.
It may be also possible and necessary to help some Arab “refugees” in Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem emigrate to other countries. There are many places in the Arab world where they can live and work in tranquility. If Egypt doesn’t want to accept them, it can at least help them make the transition to other countries within a reasonable time period. The Arabs have launched countless wars against Israel…This is the final one and they will end up losing their land.
On the domestic side, Arab citizens of Israel will have to be loyal to the country, and not against it. There will need to be stricter criteria in this regard, together with a massive educational systemic overhaul. There can be no support for Palestinian Arab terror among members of Knesset or Arab Israelis, and no anti-Jewish state movements or activists allowed into the country.
4. The Torah will be a guiding force in the nation, the nation will embrace its heritage, and our non-Jewish partners will join us.
The country will encourage Jewish identity and Jewish practice, without forcing anyone to adhere to a particular lifestyle. People will know they are in a Jewish country. There will be a feeling and appearance of tradition in the public sphere and freedom of thought and practice for every person in the private sphere. We will never forget who we are. Children will learn history and the Bible and Talmud, and the people will have a love for and pride in their country as never before. Even if not religiously observant, Israelis will want the Jewish religion to be part of their lives here. A new spirit of Jewish pride has already rushed back into the country. People are interested in learning about and observing mitzvot, and renewing their commitment to Jewish life.
Everyone will support the settlement of the land--the religious Zionists and the secular settlement groups who have done so much to promote territorial integrity. They will get to travel and explore and cherish the entire land including the natural wonders and archaeological heritage of our people. They will appreciate the sacrifices of the settlement pioneers—they will realize that they were right, and that they were defending the rest of the country—just look at the sacrifices of families like the Marks who lost their father to a terror attack and now their brother in the war.
Already-- every sector of society has found new love and appreciation for those they did not know or even disdained one month ago. The non-religious appreciate and admire the sacrifice and dedication of the haredim, who lead Zaka to recover the body parts of their loved ones, and MDA to rescue and treat the injured—jobs that no one else is capable of doing. The Haredim love the soldiers and want to celebrate and dance with them. Many are even joining the IDF. The religious people see how much the secular kibbutz members love the land, and how the land responded by producing such amazing food. In the army and on the home front, the divisions have all but disappeared.
Clearly, much of the Bedouin community and all of the Druze community are in this boat together with us. Israeli Arabs like Yoseph Haddad are with us too. Am Yisrael (and those who have made covenants with her) is one big family and we have great love for each other. It can’t be helped.
5. Israel will be a light onto the nations.
With the ability to finally live in peace, we can focus on the technological innovations that have improved the lives of millions around the world. We can spend our money and our best minds on peaceful projects. We will be a blessing to the entire world. We will build the most wonderful diverse and giving society. It will be modern but based on our tradition. Jews will see their future here. The world will look back on the War of 2023 and be glad we chose to take a different path. But we must not be afraid to take it.
May Hashem fight with us and turn the tide of the war more quickly and miraculously than our wildest expectations. In the words of the Prophet Ezekiel (16:60).
But I shall remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I shall establish for you an everlasting covenant.
וְזָכַרְתִּ֨י אֲנִ֧י אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֛י אוֹתָ֖ךְ בִּימֵ֣י נְעוּרָ֑יִךְ וַֽהֲקִמוֹתִ֥י לָ֖ךְ בְּרִ֥ית עוֹלָֽם:
Julie Bloch Mendelsohn is a political scientist and International attorney