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Monday morning in Israel, the last 20 living hostages held by Gazan terrorists were released to their loved ones. The remains of just four hostages were returned, and while Hamas has claimed trouble with locating the rest, as of this writing, four more bodies are set to be repatriated. An Egyptian team has entered Gaza to “facilitate” recovering Israel’s abducted dead.
Just last week, the CUFI Action Team was with the Hostage Families Forum Sukkah of Hope in Washington, D.C. We spoke with 10/7 survivors, hostage families and policy makers, all who were gathered to advocate for the release of the hostages. That in one short week so much can change is a testament to the resolve of our two great nations. As Action Fund Chairwoman Sandra Hagee Parker said in her remarks at the event, “Love is not what you say, love is what you do.” Thank you for doing with the action fund, it would not be possible without your continued support.
The Simchat Torah War
Over the past two years, more than 2,000 Israeli civilians and soldiers were killed, and more than 13,000 were wounded. Tens of thousands of Israelis were forced to flee their homes, and hundreds of thousands were called up to serve their country on multiple fronts.
The enemy suffered immense losses – both quantitatively and qualitatively. The actual numbers are difficult to come by in the context of Gaza, as those that are available are clearly manipulated. Ultimately, tens of thousands of Gazan terrorists were killed, Hamas lost control of Gaza, and Hezbollah was largely eviscerated (which resulted in the fall of Syria’s butcher, Bashar al-Assad).
Likewise, the arrogant, corrupt and evil leaders of Iran and Qatar learned – the hard way – that they cannot use proxy terrorist organizations to shield themselves from the consequences of their actions. Tehran’s nuclear program has been set back years, and Qatar’s fantasies of existing beyond Israel’s reach have been set straight. We also saw that, as we made clear, freedom for the hostages runs through Ankara and Doha – and without pressure on their leaders, the war would continue and may still continue if Ankara and Doha do not force Hamas to follow through on the plan’s entirety.
Israel achieved its war aims. With the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob going with them to battle their enemies for them, the people of Israel have achieved victory. But it is ultimately not on the battlefield where Israel feels the warmth of her success; it is through the unbroken chain of knowledge, law and tradition that God gave the Jewish people at Sinai.
This week, the Children of Israel will conclude and begin anew their annual cycle of reading the Torah. The same was true of the day the hostages were taken and the massacre took place.
Defeating their enemies yesterday enables them to read the Torah today. That is Israel’s victory.
From Alcatraz to San Tropez
Three plus years ago, one of the central talking points of the anti-Israel crowd was that Gaza was “the world’s largest open-air prison.”
Now, go online and you’ll see alleged drone videos of Gaza before the October 7th war, and man…. it was really nice…. And not just for a prison; it was apparently the Jewel of the Mediterranean….
Of course, none of that is true. Gaza could’ve been that - Israel left Gaza in 2005, citing the “disengagement” as a test case for peace - but instead that society decided to invest its time, effort and resources into killing Jews.
The Palestinians didn’t build a Jewel on the Mediterranean, and Israel didn’t turn Gaza into the largest open-air prison, either. The reality is that Gaza became one massive terrorist encampment, set to engage in total war with Israel. And then they launched that war. And then they lost that war.
Let the Goldstoning Begin
But Israel’s enemies cannot allow Israel to “win.” Likewise, the international humanitarian cartel tends not to appreciate victorious Jews.
So, there will be investigations, and hard-hitting (read: edited to achieve the desired result) reporting. And here’s the thing: does anyone really have any doubt as to their conclusions? Does anyone really think Al Jazeera and CNN, using Palestinian “stringers” will report the truth? Or that the United Nations and its proxies will ever treat Jerusalem with objectivity?
No… To all of it.
From Amnesty International to the New York Times, every adjudicator or reporter is going to be seeking to tell a story that paints Israel as the aggressor and lays responsibility for absolutely nothing on the Palestinians. This, in turn, helps enable Palestinians to cling to their supremacist from the River to the Sea fantasies, and raise yet another generation of perpetually aggrieved wannabe refugees. And that’s how war transcends generations.
Ending this never-ending Palestinian cycle of hatred, violence and defeat requires the process. The hatred is taught from birth. But the violence is enabled only through the largesse of criminal regimes in Tehran, Ankara, and Doha. So, where do we go from here? We go there. We go to the root of the evil. We bring the regimes that have waged decades of war against the Jewish people to their knees.
Sincerely,
The CUFI Action Fund Team |
