The kidnapping of the three young men, with all the pain it entailed, suddenly revealed the wondrous beauty of the people of Israel. Concern for the fate of the kidnapped throbbed in every Jewish heart. Crowds from all walks of life left everything and gathered to pray. The heated debates were pushed aside.
In one terrible moment, we returned to what we were – one people, within whom one heart beats.
There is much talk about the tendency to divide within us, and this week's Torah portion also deals with this. But it turns out that the natural state of the Jewish people is unity. Sometimes the tendency succeeds in opening cracks in it, but one jolt immediately returns us to the original state of unity and mutual responsibility.
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How moving it was to hear the words of the families of the kidnapped. These are people from diverse places, with different backgrounds, but they all prophesy in one style: Thank you to the people of Israel, keep praying, we feel your embrace.
The nobility of the families' souls, who have no complaints or criticism, but only infinite love, melts every heart.
Deterrence, not defense
Unfortunately, there are those who, precisely at this difficult time, are looking for someone to blame, but instead of looking for the coin where it was lost, they are looking for it under the flashlight.
The culprit is found: hitchhiking. If a vehicle is shot at, there is immediately a culprit: the fact that the vehicle was not protected. If terrorists infiltrate a settlement, the blame lies in the failure to build a wall around it.
This, they believe, is what it means to be a 'free people in our own land' – to shut ourselves in, to defend ourselves, to fortify ourselves, and to be afraid. Our enemies will roam freely everywhere, and we will surround ourselves with barbed wire, watchtowers, and security guards, and we will be afraid to walk in our homeland or ask for a ride.
It is clear that caution is required and defensive systems are also needed, but the mindset that always seeks the answer in the defensive arena, instead of in deterrence and offensiveness, is the source of the problem.
In last week's parsha, we learned that if the inhabitants of the land live in "fortresses," it is a sign that they are weak, while when they are "in camps" (in open cities, without walls), it is proof that they are strong and rely on their strength.
Those with the same view also claimed that it was impossible to defeat terrorism. We remember this great chorus during the bloody Oslo days, what a mockery it was of the demand, 'Let the IDF win.' And now, as soon as we let the security forces do the work, and they entered the cities of Judea and Samaria in Operation Defensive Shield - terrorism was almost completely defeated. If it is now starting to raise its head, it is only because the same mistake of 'political horizon' and other nonsense is being repeated.
Kidnapping is foreseen in advance
When we surrendered to the Shalit deal, it was clear that the next kidnapping was a matter of time.
Every farmer knows that if a fox managed to get into a chicken coop and devour chickens, it will try to do it again. Success is the strongest incentive, and sadly, the terrorists succeeded.
The only way to prevent kidnappings is to prove that it doesn't work, and conversely, that the price will be terrible for the terrorists and their senders. Israel needs to respond with tremendous force – the exact opposite of all the preaching from our 'friends' around the world who call on us to respond with 'proportionateness.'.
A full-force response is required here, one that will leave all the terrorists stunned, beaten, and crushed.
And, if the kidnapping was intended to free terrorists, the affair must end with more terrorists imprisoned behind bars.
• Rabbi Menachem Brod's column is published in 'Conversation of the Week''
