Chasing the terrorists is very important, but building new settlements is more important.

February 16, 2018   

המרדף אחרי מחבלים, שופכי דם יהודים, וחיסולם – חיוניים ונחוצים. קודם כול, כדי למנוע מהם להוסיף ולטבוח ביהודים, וגם כדי להעביר מסר ברור שדם יהודים אינו הפקר. אבל הפגיעה במרצחים אינה נותנת תשובה אמיתית ונחרצת לטרור, כי החינוך לשנאת ישראל יצמיח עוד ועוד מפגעים.

It should be remembered that Arab terrorism is not like criminal offenses, where you look for the perpetrator on duty. The terrorists are not individual criminals. They are emissaries of the Arab people against our very existence in the Land of Israel. They have a goal – to make our lives miserable, to discourage us and to make us retreat and abandon the lands of our country.

The real answer is to prove to them that they are achieving exactly the opposite. They must see that every attack causes us to put down even deeper roots in the land of our ancestors. Every Jewish body becomes a symbol of Jewish determination, and leads to the establishment of another settlement and another neighborhood.

The Arabs need to receive a clear and consistent message that terrorism only strengthens us, in the sense of "and when they punish it, it will increase and it will break out.".

The correct response

Some argue that it is wrong to link the two. With an air of naivety, they say: "We want to build, build; but what does it have to do with the attacks?" This is an idle claim, behind which lies a desire to prevent Jewish construction. Because logic says exactly the opposite, and this was the policy at the beginning of the new settlement in the Land of Israel. Many cities and towns were established in the wake of terrorist attacks, as an expression of our determination to hold on to our land.

Imagine a reality in which the government announces the establishment of a town or neighborhood in memory of every terrorist victim.

First, it is a right thing to do in itself, which would allow the public to direct its pain and anger into channels of building and strengthening. But also in terms of the message to the enemy – it was the most effective message.

If our enemies saw that every attack leads to the establishment of another Jewish settlement and neighborhood, they would not be rejoicing in the streets and handing out candy following the terrorists' success in shedding Jewish blood. They would quickly realize that woe betide that success (from their perspective). On the contrary, we would grit our teeth, grow stronger, and know that "in your blood I live.".

True comfort

And indeed, Jewish tradition advocates the notion that the proper commemoration of our loved ones is by building and doing the things that were dear to the hearts of the fallen. When Jews are murdered, for whom the building of the Land of Israel was the essence of their lives – there is no proper commemoration than a new wave of building in the ancestral domain.

This is also the true comfort that can be given to their families, seeing that their sacrifice was not in vain, and that out of the heartbreak and pain, new life was created, and "children play in the streets" of the new neighborhood, which was built in their name.

After years in which the call to act in this direction was a cry in the wilderness, there is now a sign of the government's willingness to follow this path.

The government's decision to regularize Havat Gilad, following the murder of Rabbi Raziel Shevah, and the government secretary's announcement of the intention to approve the Har Bracha city building plan, in response to the murder of Rabbi Itamar Ben-Gal - are definitely the right step.

We just need to ensure that words become actions and a permanent and consistent policy.