On Friday, at the time of the afternoon prayer that a person died, the governor of Iraq at the time, Alhajaj Ibn Yusuf (reigned 694-714), armed from head to toe, entered the main mosque of the central city in southern Iraq called Kufa.
After a long hour of tense silence, while surveying those present with a penetrating and serious look, and after removing his red bonnet from his head, he declared: “I swear by Allah, O people of Iraq, that I see before my eyes heads that have ripened and that the time has come to harvest them.”
This happened after previous and severe warnings given by the governor to the Iraqis not to abandon their agricultural lands in the villages, to continue working, and not to move to the big city. They disobeyed his orders and continued to flock to the great city. And he kept his promise.
The intolerable reality, in which prominent terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, call for the physical destruction of the State of Israel, threaten and carry out, at their will and when they decide, attacks and firing missiles or sending drones (Shark rig) , towards the State of Israel, must change.
Last week we witnessed the entry into a defensive situation, at the initiative of Israel, in which the citizens of Israel were denied their basic rights, such as the right to life and security, freedom of movement, and the right to property and a decent livelihood. This is due to a fear, which was probably justified, that the terrorists of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza would carry out an attack or shoot at Israeli territory, as a response to the arrest of their leader in the West Bank, Basim al-Saadi.
And what happened in Gaza at the same time as the alert and the paralysis of the south? Life in Gaza continued as usual. People went about their day’s work, the beaches were open and people drove as usual. It was an intolerable situation combined with the helplessness of the Israeli government. The Minister of Defense announced that if there is no peace for the citizens of Israel, there will be no peace for the citizens of Gaza. In response, Hamas and Jihad panicked, folded their flags and surrendered! really.
Israel has tried in the past, far and near, to reach different, not to mention unusual, arrangements (transferring cash in suitcases), with these terrorist organizations, but the reality on the ground hits us time and time again.
Rounds of concentrated fighting, together with preventive actions, repeated attacks, mainly of sand piles, international political activity (led by Arab, European and American), and the mobilization of the Egyptian government, did not mature into a reasonable arrangement that would bring peace and relaxation to the residents of Israel and perhaps a little prosperity and positive development on the Gaza side .
Israeli governments for generations, from the days of Eric Sharon (and the disengagement in 2005) to the last Bennett government, have been and still are throwing sand in the eyes of the public. They failed one after the other in finding a solution to the Gaza question or at least reaching a long-term “hodna”.
As I recall, the statements of the Prime Ministers and Defense Ministers, as well as those who saw themselves as potential Prime Ministers, spoke in loud and determined language about what they would do to the terrorist leaders in Gaza and how only they would react strongly to any shooting from the Gaza Strip (oh, oh, oh… the terrorists were scared ).
In practice, no prime minister dared to take the decision and the responsibility and act, either politically or militarily, in order to create a new equation against Gazan terrorism.
The preferred treatment of those responsible on the Israeli side of the situation was to give sedatives, especially to the Israeli public, and show them that the situation is under control, while the real situation is one of continuing colossal failure. Moreover, the terrorist organizations and Iran tirelessly study and monitor Israel’s actions and reactions and build their next moves accordingly.
The offensive initiative against the Islamic Jihad, as manifested in the current “Dawn” operation, is positive and necessary, but it is in a sense too little too late. Less than 24 hours have passed since its beginning and already runners are running to talk about the goals achieved and the feasibility of its quick end.
It is true that certain achievements have been achieved, the most important of which is the non-joining of the Hamas organization in the fighting. Let’s not get confused. Hamas did not join for its own reasons, and it has quite a few of them, and not because it became a “Zion Lovers” organization.
Lapid and Gantz have a clear interest in ending this round as quickly as possible, as they see themselves as legitimate candidates for the Prime Ministership in the upcoming elections in October. Jihad also knows this very well and will try to raise the price it will ask for the cessation of hostilities.
The terrorist organizations in Gaza and other places do not rest on their guard, but strive and do their best to strengthen their power and capabilities vis-a-vis Israel. Iran’s support for these organizations is unqualified and stems, in part, from the Iranian idea of surrounding Israel with its emissaries, and on the day of the order to activate all of them and cause enormous damage to Israel and perhaps, God forbid, annihilation.
The State of Israel invests its best resources in building its strength and power. Israel’s defense budget has already reached 100 billion shekels. The budget of all the terrorist organizations in Gaza does not reach 1% of Israel’s budget. Is it conceivable that the State of Israel will defend itself to know?
Another layer of defense and another layer of defense and another laser cannon, and presenting all these defense layers to President Biden and bragging about them, while all our enemies around are increasing and strengthening the capabilities and quantities of accurate missiles they possess.
This approach brings Israel to stagnation and weakness and the search for the lost currency under the lantern. The paralyzing fear, for fear of multiple casualties, of the political echelon, of activating the land army, was and still is in our minds.
This paralyzing fear is also expressed in the political sphere, but here it is a fear of the settler lobbies. No government, since the Oslo Accords, has dared to take a bold and significant political step towards the Palestinians that would lead to long-term peace.
Of course, the Palestinian leadership, in Gaza and the West Bank, is fully complicit in the failure, its guilt is clear, and it also bears a heavy responsibility for the security and the serious economic-social situation of its citizens.
The time has come, as Alhajaj Ibn Yusuf announced at the time, to initiate and act. to be the leaders and not the led.