|
Trending Topics
|
Source: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/israel-hostages-victory-gaza-war
Israelis Won't Stand for Anything Short of Victory in Gaza
(Tablet) Gadi Taub - Something fundamental changed in Israel on Oct. 7. We were reminded of the mortal danger that fantasies about our neighboring enemies pose to our survival. This in turn awakened in us a fierce determination to prevail and a spirit of self-sacrifice we thought we no longer had. The ferocity of Israel's instinct for self-preservation is manifest now like it has never been in our lifetime. Very few Israelis will agree to a retreat from Gaza that leaves the Nazis on our borders. I've interviewed reservists who are demanding to stay in service until the job is done. One of them, who is also an evacuee from the Gaza envelope, said his children asked him why he's back from the front if they all can't return to their home. "Call me up for a month, call me up for two months, call me up for two years," he said, "I'll come." A forum called Mothers of IDF Soldiers has just published an open letter to President Biden. "We are an organization of mothers of IDF soldiers, who are now serving on the front lines in the war for our national survival....We accept the inherent risks our sons and daughters take, but we cannot accept placing their lives in unnecessary danger due to concerns for the enemy population....Israel has to keep fighting until...Hamas is defeated, and our 136 hostages are freed." You will not convince mothers or fathers who have assumed the risk of losing their sons and daughters - not to mention those who have already sacrificed a child in this war - that Israel can just leave Gaza without victory.