Hamas has given us a truly precious gift. No amount of money can buy it, and its value exceeds money. This gift is completely unintentional because Hamas never gifts us anything. It’s not what we asked for, and even if it were offered to us, no sane person would have accepted it.
Yet here it is. And by “we” I mean a gift to Israel, to Jews living outside of Israel, to the United States, and to all people living in Western civilization.
Hamas opened our eyes. It gave us the gift of sight.
For Israel, this gift is no small thing.
the house itself is divided
On the eve of the barbarism, Israel was a society riven by divisions between left and right, secular and religious, Mizrahim and Ashkenazim, and pro-judicial reform and anti-judicial factions. It is no longer discussed in the media or on the streets.
On the eve of the barbarism, many Israelis believed that coexistence with Hamas was possible on the basis of peace through prosperity, since Hamas seemed to care about the economic well-being of its people. It’s a fantasy.
On the eve of the barbarism, many Israelis believed in a “two-state solution.” That too will no longer be discussed, because our eyes have been opened. The barbarians will use any means possible to kill us. That obviously includes their own nation.
Hamas didn’t just attack, it carried out and documented the massacres with joy and pride. That’s a message we understand. We understand Hamas’ intentions. We also understand that Hezbollah has 150,000 rockets and intends to use them against us. It is also clear that Iran is developing a nuclear bomb for use against Jews. The unthinkable is already here. Hamas gave us that vision.
This gift is also available to Jews outside of Israel. Jewish allies and friends are not really this or that. Jews were the first to support Black Lives Matter, but how does that group view Jews? Name the gay organization that stood up for Israel against barbaric murders please. But there is no question that Jews are the biggest promoters of gay rights.
And, of course, it is no exaggeration to say that the universities that enroll large numbers of Jews in order to integrate into America have been, and continue to be, extremely uncooperative towards Jews, both on campus and around the world. . We are currently reading about American Jews buying guns in record numbers and a possible shift to the political right after voting Democratic for 100 years.
Are these Jews visible now? Have they embraced the gift of sight?
For the United States, the past 10 days have seen dozens of attacks on U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq by Islamic extremists aided and financed by Iran.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations threatens the United States in a public speech. Many Americans have embraced the gift of sight, but has Joe Biden? Just recently, the United States launched two airstrikes against Iranian weapons facilities in Syria, but President Biden has made no threats or promises to Iran. Iran is threatening the US, not the other way around. Has America embraced the gift of vision?
Finally, for all the people who live in or have benefited from Western civilization, the hundreds of millions of people on every inhabited continent on Earth, the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, For billions of people, please do the following: Do you think that Islamists, fundamentalists, people who believe in the need for global Islam only attack Jews and nothing more?
Do you think they are going to leave Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists to continue with non-Islamic faiths? The Swedish people feel they can successfully integrate the more than 1 million Muslim immigrants from the Middle East and Africa. I wonder if there is one?
Do the people of Paris, London and Berlin really believe that the violent demonstrations against Israel and the alarming rise in hate crimes against local Jews will leave them alone? Do Brazilian Evangelicals and Argentine Catholics support savagery or civilization? All of these people have received many benefits through Western civilization, but will they protect it now?
All these groups are endowed with the gift of vision.
Let them not be deceived. Don’t let them confuse you that barbarism has only befallen a few people living in an obscure corner of a small nation in the middle of a chaotic region of the world. and to them “send not knowing for whom the bell tolls; it will cost you” (John Donne, 1624).
The author, an Israeli lawyer, is the father of three sons and grandfather of one grandchild, all currently serving in the Gaza Strip and the Lebanon border.