Over the recently ended Jewish holidays, many of us swore to ourselves that we would improve; stop smoking, start eating healthier, start working out. We really meant it, but things came up, it got put off, etc. Procrastination strikes again!
Another prime example of chronic procrastination is the State of Israel’s stance on the Gaza Strip.
Despite the thousands of rockets from Gaza that have rained down on Israel in recent years, there always seems to be an excuse for why we are not eliminating the terror stemming from Gaza, once and for all.
One time the excuse is Iran, another time it’s Hezbollah, the next time it’s the international community. Then it’s because there’s a right-wing government, or a left-wing government, or a transitional government.
This procrastination only makes things worse, increasing the threats against us and delaying the inevitable, at the expense of the country’s southern residents.
We find ourselves in a situation in which incendiary balloons are being sent to our children in the morning and to our farmers in the afternoon; rockets are fired at our towns at night. A sovereign, powerful country like the State of Israel cannot accept such an absurd reality.
The people of Israel want and need but one thing: victory.
The Israeli government must cease procrastinating and “tolerating” rockets that are being fired on its citizens with near impunity.
We need to erase terms like “sporadic rocket fire” from our lexicon and end the habit of reacting to bombs with a sigh. Terrorism is terrorism, and it needs to be fought.
It is unacceptable that the State of Israel is allowing itself to be held hostage by vile terrorist organizations, which are bolstered by Islamic extremist states like Iran and Qatar, as well as by some European countries.
Peace is made with enemies, but with defeated enemies. It is for this reason that Israel needs to work tirelessly to eliminate terrorism and create deterrence. The terrorist groups in Gaza need to understand that there is a high price to pay for their actions. That firing even one rocket will cause Israel to unleash the full force of its armed forces.
The current reality of continuous escalations that threaten the lives and daily routines of Israeli civilians, whatever the scope, cannot continue. It is unacceptable that civilians need to run to bomb shelters at the whim of genocidal terrorists. It is unacceptable that our children are growing up with trauma and the looming threat of rockets flying over their schools.
We need victory. We need Israeli victory. We need it now.
Dov Trachtman is a resident of Sderot and the digital media manager for the Zionist organization Im Tirtzu.
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