We know what the answer is, but we just don’t want to do it

What can you say about someone who knows how to end their suffering but refuses to do it? Most of us would point to a masochistic tendency, fear of change, even if it’s good change, or just plain delusion – believing that things will work out in the end, even though they haven’t up until now.

This is Israel’s dilemma. For the last 75 years of her existence, we have tried to do everything by the book, please those who have been calling the shots and try as hard as we could to get the world to like us. It hasn’t worked!

Someone who also recognized this conundrum decided to take out a half-page private ad in today’s Jerusalem Post to articulate the quandary that keeps us in “stuck mode,” never able to fully move towards a normal existence, without having to do the juggling act of keeping everyone happy while trying to best protect ourselves. 

It’s always best to start at the beginning, and that is exactly what the author does. Speaking about the myth of Palestine, he presents the case that Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Koran and was not inhabited by Arabs until the 7th century of the common era, “when they arrived as conquering hordes after Jews had already been living there for thousands of years.”

It is with this backdrop that the case is made for a narrative that has been driven by a lie but which, nonetheless, has been wholly swallowed by everyone, including many Israeli leaders who have been willing and ready to compromise on land promised to them, per their own scriptures. Why? Because they felt obligated to accommodate another state whose habitants are not the rightful inheritors. But the writer goes one step further with the assertion that all of this is nothing more than a “ruse to kill Jews.” In other words, Palestinians don’t want the land solely for its value but, rather, as a means to get rid of those residing here whose ethnicity is abhorrent to them.

Some might think that’s a heck of a claim, but for those who have been paying attention since October 7, it’s one that is hard to refute. To back up the assertion, the writer refers to the “stolen land of Jordan,” which should have been the home for all Palestinians and Gazans, but which, instead, was redistributed by imperialist forces of Europe and the U.S. Given all of this land swaps by the same people who, today, are trying to convince Israel, after its worst massacre ever, that a two-state solution is still on the table, the writer expresses the absurdity of seeking justice from the ones who have perpetrated this scam from its inception.

Perhaps the boldest statement of all is the belief that the governments of the U.S. and Europe really don’t care about Israel’s survival, and it is on that basis that the writer suggests that the best course of action is to go it alone, because, in the end, there simply is no pleasing those who don’t want us here anyway. Reminding us that we have spent “five agonizing months watching the murder of Jewish soldiers, the author points to Jewish politicians and generals posturing before the world as Israel burns.” 

No doubt that these things are painful to read, but it is worthwhile to confront their veracity because what is being said is that we are fighting a “futile and counterproductive” war that will not lead us to the victory that continues to elude us year after year. The question is asked, “Why are we fighting on the enemy’s terms? Why shouldn’t we determine what’s best for us and then do it?”

In the author’s estimation, taking prisoners is not to our advantage, a fact known by Gazans who are all too happy to surrender, “knowing that by doing so, they will survive and be granted the opportunity to kill Jews again.” After all, isn’t that the purpose of prisoner swaps?

The writer’s advice on how to proceed is first to do what needs to be done. That, according to him or her, is to “sweep away the present Israeli establishment, including the political class, bureaucracy, military leadership, heads of intelligence services, the judiciary and the vast majority of those in the media, replacing them with others who will swear allegiance to maintaining the security of Israel and its Jewish population.”

In short, throw all the bums out and start with a clean slate. Further advice given is to close all embassies, not located in Jerusalem, annex all lands to the borders of contiguous countries as well as the Sinai Peninsula and resign from the crooked UN, which has done nothing but cast blame on us as the evil actors. Most importantly, find new friends – which necessitates the termination of our alliance with the U.S. and Europe, and, by all means, become militarily self-sufficient. 

While there is a lot of wisdom to this pricey personal ad, does anyone think that these suggestions will be heeded? Who would even be able to implement such gargantuan, gutsy moves of stripping the authority from those who have been called our leaders but clearly failed to do their first and most important job of protecting us? Does such a bold individual exist? If so, none of us are familiar with that person.

Candidly, all of these proposals are based on common sense truths that every Israeli knows but which no one will implement. If you’re asking why, it’s because the thought of “going it alone” is so frightening and so daring, that no one is willing to risk the ensuing global reactions of what it would mean to be the consummate pariah, the social outcast, rejected by all and hated even more than at this very moment as cries to gas the Jews are, once again, being heard.

Someone might ask, “So, if that’s the case, what do you have to lose?” And, of course, that makes sense, but Israel’s problem stems from the centuries'-long need to be accepted, either within the nations of others or as people who have established their own homeland. In both cases, it hasn’t happened. The world, its many organizations and governing bodies has not fallen head over heels in love with Israel, nor are they likely to do so anytime soon.

So, if there is one man or woman out there who has nerves of steel, enough personal confidence and the assurance of righteous and honest conviction, please step forward, because we need your superpowers right now. 

But, in the absence of such a unique specimen, we can and should turn to the best and most effective slate-cleaner of all – the one who “brings one down and exalts another”(Psalm 75:7) because, in the end, it’s all in His hands anyway!