Israel the Sabra State: Tough on the Outside, Soft in the Center?

IAF F-16 in Flight (Image Credit: Moshe Milner/Government Press Office of Israel

We are between the holidays of Purim and Pesach. What is the common thread between them? Liberation from our slave masters and surviving a would-be holocaust… An old joke describes Jewish holidays as follows: “The goyim tried to kill us; Hashem saved us — so let's eat!”

The media in Israel is abuzz with the official government acknowledgment of one of our great military/intelligence feats in modern time: the discovery and destruction of Syria's nuclear facility ten years ago.

At the time Israel was mum and so was Syria. We did not want to provoke a war with Syria by rubbing their loss into their faces, and they did not want to admit the debacle. Total cooperation.

Apparently given that broken Syria today no longer poses a military threat to Israel, it was decided to finally take official credit — a clear message to Iran, home of the original Purim miracle. Can miracles happen twice? The Haman-wannabe mullahs in Shushan likely don’t want to find out. Israel took out the nuclear program of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 1981, the Syrian one in 2007, and is preparing to take care of the Iranian one in the near future. Which is more amazing: the fact that tiny, beleaguered Israel can pull these super-sophisticated and bold operations off as no one else can, or the fact that so many want to destroy us, all of us, for no logical reason, just like Haman of old?

Soft Centers

Israel is famously excellent at dealing with existential threats on her borders and beyond. We can all be very proud of that.

However what about deep inside our borders? None of our politicians or security leaders have an answer to the "lone" Arab killer that waits for his (or her) next Jewish victim. This increasing problem baffles our leadership on every level.

No carrot or stick used to date has stopped the increasing threat and boldness of our enemies. Anyone driving on Israel's roads near Arab areas or waiting at a bus stop realizes that they have already won an important victory.

We are hiding from them. We are in distress. They live secure and free in our land; we only wish we could enjoy the same feeling. Have they not won total victory short of hoisting their flag over our heads (which they do often enough)? Is this a situation totally out of our hands? Is it a curse of nature? In recent days, three young Jews were murdered by "Palestinian" Arabs. Two were run over by a terrorist in a car; evidently the young soldiers were not standing in the “proper place” behind the bus stop barricades. The murderer previously spent time in an Israeli jail, yet his family swears it was a traffic accident.

Two days later another young Jewish man was attacked by a knife-wielding terrorist in Jerusalem. This father of four was murdered by a father of two. The killer previously spent time in an Israeli jail as well, but the Israeli authorities felt it was wise to grant him a work permit to enter sovereign Israeli territory in order to support his family. He hit the jackpot - he gets seventy-two virgins and his family will never have a financial concern ever again. They will be granted a very generous stipend as they proudly take their place among the Palestinian elite. You can know a lot about a culture by their heroes. Jews adore scholars, philanthropists, defenders of the weak. Our “neighbors” frown on all of that as mere examples of inherent weakness. As they scornfully say, "Jews love life — we love death, so we will win."

Full Measure of the Law

After each of the many such murders, our politicians mouth the same words of indignation and anger, promising that the "full measure of the law" will be used against the perpetrators. Sounds like a Perry Mason show.

Our politicians should be told who our killers really are, and that we are not simply facing a crime wave but something very, very different. They know it, I am sure, but still do not have the courage to tell it like it is.

It is so much easier for them to cover the land with walls and bus stop protection. It is also much easier to send our brave pilots to bomb the enemy far away.

The battle against the enemy-within for the streets of Israel requires a far different kind of courage and character. The one leader who had just that courage, insight, and love of Jews yelled it out from the rooftops as best he could. He was shunned and demonized by our elites - the ones that extend working papers to poor “Palestinians” and build walls. But have no fear: the "full measure of the law" is hard at work on our behalf.