The Culpability of the Religious Parties
1) Are the religious parties oblivious of the fact that Israel is in a war for its survival? Are they ignorant of the fact that the distinction between soldiers and civilians in this war has no validity?
2) When the United States Atom-bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki and killed tens of thousands of civilians in each city, they did what was morally correct, for they thereby shortened the war. Had the war continued, it would have required a U.S. invasion of Japan. Millions of casualties on both sides would have resulted. Similarly, when the Allies napalmed Dresden and killed a hundred thousand civilians, that bombing was morally justifiable, for these civilians aided and abetted the Nazi war machine. Is the government of Israel waiting for a mega-attack on Tel Aviv?
3) When a nation is it war, when its survival is at stake, its government must do all it can to destroy and disarm the enemy in the shortest possible time; and if this requires killing civilians, it must do so or be replaced. Are the religious parties ignorant of this truism?
4) A government that cannot protect its citizens ceases to be legitimate or worthy of the people’s support. Why have the religious parties failed to proclaim this truth?
5) A government that does not exact vengeance for the murder of its citizens has no sense of justice. Why have the religious parties been silent on this matter?
6) A government that refrains from killing Arab terrorists who murder Jewish civilians for fear of killing Arab civilians does not understand the principles of war and should be replaced by one that does. Why haven’t the religious parties explained—again and again—that Arab civilians are responsible for their own deaths if they fail to flee from Arab terrorists?
7) Polls indicate that 70 to 80 percent of the Arabs called “Palestinians” support suicide bombers. Why haven’t the religious parties been in the forefront of proclaiming the obvious truth that these Arabs—especially by supporting Fatah or Hamas—are committed to Israel’s annihilation? Why haven’t the religious parties explained that Israel has no obligation whatsoever to these Arabs, that the government’s only obligation is to minimize Jewish casualties, and that if this requires bombing Arabs’ cities and their missile factories, so be it?
8) Are the religious parties afraid of world opinion? Don’t they know that regardless of what Israel does in its self-defense, it will be savaged by the media? Israel was denounced for killing 50 Arabs (mostly terrorists) in Jenin during Operation Defensive Shield. Better that 500 were killed if that would have eliminated only one of the Jenin terrorists that subsequently murdered more Jews.
9) That one has to make such truisms explicit indicates a widespread corruption of common sense in Israel. It also indicates that Israel’s government, with the complicity of the religious parties, is led by moral cretins or cravens.
10) Even while Jews are murdered, the government retreats from Jewish land, terminates its control over terrorist strongholds, and does this without serious or sustained protest by the religious parties!
11) The religious parties remain silent while the government negotiates with Israel’s genocidal enemies. They blink while the government dignifies Jew-killers, magnifies their contempt for Israel, and thereby incites them to murder more Jews.
12) An inept and uncaring government has demoralized the people, but no one is more culpable than the religious parties.
13) If the religious parties cannot do better than their secular counterparts—which are steeped in intellectual and moral decay—then it’s time for the religious community to formulate and pursue new ways to promote the lofty principles and values of Torah Judaism.
