Toying with Israel

It's amazing how the Gazans are toying with Israel. At the very moments of this writing, rockets are once again falling on Sderot and on the Gaza-area villages. Our government - if it acts at all - will perfunctorally bomb some sand hill in the south of Gaza so as not to ruffle any feathers in Cairo or in Washington. The Gazans declare ceasefires twice a day, then violate them four times a day. Our sniffling leaders do nothing. Why? Hashem has tied their hands.

Many here in the south of Israel are clamoring that the Government lacks backbone; that's only a symptom. What the Government lacks is emuna. Emuna would give them the strength to declare - by deeds and nort by words - that this is our land and we will build it and defend it and our citizens as we see fit. The strength of emuna is what creates deterrence, not macho declarations by double-chinned politicians who cannot control their own bodily urges, much less deal with the enemy. So what has happened? Hashem has put Israel in a situation where the government has lost control.

The government here is afraid to react to Hamas and friends, for the following reasons:

1. They don't want to anger Washington or Cairo.

2. They're afraid of a war opening up on a second front, namely in the North, for Assad and Hizbulla would love such a conflict right now.

3. The government itself doesn't believe in its absolute right to build in and settle our entire G-d given country.

4. As long as the simple southerners of Sderot, Beer Sheva, Ashkelon and Ashdod get bombed and not the atheist-elite sidewalk cafes of Tel Aviv, it's no big deal.

What the government doesn't realize is that the showdown with Assad and Hizbulla as well as with Gaza will come anyway. And, with September 20th fast on the way, if the PA succeeds in gaining UN recognition, a war will break out anyway. So what must we do?

We must throw ourselves in Hashem's arms with real teshuva. We must gird ourselves with emuna and rid ourselves of the appeasement mentality. We should not be afraid of international isolation. The Torah promises that isolation is the key to our security, Vayishkon Yisrael betach badad (Devarim 33:28), Israel shall dwell securely alone.

When you fear One, you fear no one.