Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar are the heads of the Sovereignty Movement
August. Everyone is on vacation. The children are home. The heat is heavy. Who has Gaza on their mind right now?
But precisely now, when it seems that everything has slowed down a little, things are happening in Gaza that we cannot afford to ignore.
Here is a worrisome report by Hallel Bitton Rosen from two days ago:
«“Several Hamas terrorists crossed into the yellow zone overnight after being identified by IDF surveillance. They stole engineering equipment and returned to the red zone without fire being opened on them.
The soldiers went up the chain of command to request authorization, but senior command refused to give the green light.
Moreover, during the past week, more than 65 incidents of crossings into the yellow zone in the Gaza Strip were recorded, and in none of them was fire opened. This is three times the number of incidents recorded during the period before our soldiers’ hands were tied.
A senior security official: ‘Hamas is testing us, exactly as it did before October 7. What happened last night could have ended with a soldier being kidnapped.’"»
So, while we are on vacation - time is working for Hamas.
Hamas has not disappeared. It is using the time. It is rebuilding its strength, testing our limits, and waiting for the next opportunity.
At the same time, another process is unfolding, no less serious: the diplomatic process is moving forward. The “Board of Peace" has already begun operating, and the roadmap that could, G-d forbid, lead to a Palestinian Arab state - first in Gaza and later in Judea and Samaria - continues to advance.
And all of this is happening while the Israeli public is busy with vacation, while the political system is naturally entering the campaign for the upcoming elections.
This is understandable. The elections are approaching, parties are preparing, primaries are taking place, and politicians also need to focus on their political future.
But precisely during this period, we must not lose sight of the national future.
Engaging in elections cannot come at the expense of dealing with the questions that will determine the future of the State of Israel:
-How do we end the war?
-How do we prevent Hamas from rebuilding its strength?
-And how do we stop a diplomatic process that could lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state?
The elections will come. The political battles will come. The primaries will also end.
But the security and diplomatic reality is not waiting for us.
This past Thursday, the Cabinet halted, at least temporarily, the process of the Road Map. It certainly deserves credit for that.
But a temporary halt of the Road Map is not enough.
The Road Map must be stopped for good. Now.
We cannot advance a process that takes us, step by step, toward a diplomatic reality that contradicts the goals of the war and the vital interests of the State of Israel.
And this is where responsibility ahead of the upcoming elections also begins.
These elections are crucial.
The Right cannot afford to commit political suicide - neither by splitting into ever-smaller factions nor through reserved slots that do not guarantee effective political power.
The Right must go into the elections united, strong, and focused, so that it can determine the direction - rather than wake up after the elections to a reality that has already been decided for it.
We have already paid a heavy price for losing our vigilance. We have already paid a heavy price for division.
That is why we must not take our foot off the gas.
We must continue to pressure the Cabinet. We must continue to sound the alarm. And we must work with all our strength to ensure a victory for the Right in the upcoming elections.
We can engage in politics. We must not allow politics to distract us from history.
Because we must never encounter the next October 7 only after it has already begun.
This time, we must be awake beforehand.
