In those days, twenty years ago, the country was in turmoil following the unfortunate decision called the disengagement plan. A year later, on Tisha B'Av, over eight thousand Jews were expelled from their homes, thriving communities were destroyed, graves were moved.
Propaganda wizards and 'security experts' have brainwashed us into believing that a better and safer future awaits us.
This plan seemed illusory from the start. Anyone with common sense understood that it would bring disaster upon us. Most of the public opposed it, and many good people pointed out the serious dangers inherent in it. But the leaders of the plan promoted it predatorily, and the media supported it without reservation.
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From stones to bus explosions
But even the most ardent opponents of the move did not imagine how accurate their predictions would be. Who dreamed then of tens of thousands of missiles being launched from the Gaza Strip to Jerusalem, to Tel Aviv and to the Haifa area? Who imagined that infernal tunnels would be dug on such a massive scale? Who imagined that an army of 'favorites' would be formed in Gaza to occupy Jewish settlements and carry out a horrific massacre of their residents.
We were told that after the disengagement, if rockets were launched at Israeli settlements, there would be a harsh and deterrent response. We were told that withdrawing from the entire Strip would give us international legitimacy to return to war. And all those who promised us these nonsense continue to blabber in the studios.
The vast majority of the public has already disillusioned itself. It is clear to them that the disengagement plan was a terrible mistake. And yet there are those who stubbornly refuse to admit their mistake, hiding behind arguments that supposedly terrorism emerged from the Gaza Strip even before the disengagement.
This statement is reminiscent of the claims of the supporters of the Oslo Accords, in light of the wave of terror that erupted in its wake, that 'there has always been terror.' This is a deliberate deception and an attempt to confuse public opinion. Indeed, there has always been terror, but its scope was extremely limited and we were also able to fight it. The Oslo Accords tied our hands, removed the IDF from the city centers in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, and then terror grew to monstrous proportions.
Before Oslo, we faced terror with stones and knives, while the Oslo Accords brought upon us a wave of horrific bomb attacks on buses and in city centers, which resulted in more than a thousand casualties. That is exactly what this agreement caused - instead of dealing with stones and knives, we were forced to deal with suicide bombers carrying explosive belts.
We have no choice.
Gaza was never a paradise either, but before the Oslo Accords we had control over the terrorist elements there. Oslo, which began with the slogan 'Gaza and Jericho first,' removed the IDF from the cities of the Gaza Strip, and then terrorism began to flourish. And yet, as long as we controlled the crossings and the Philadelphia axis, terrorism from Gaza was relatively limited and contained. As soon as we left there, we accepted the crazy death industry that had been created there.
The public now understands these simple facts, despite attempts to confuse minds.
That is why the majority of the public demands that the war continue until Hamas is completely destroyed and terrorism is uprooted. This is a difficult and long operation, which will exact a heavy price, but we simply have no choice, if we are to survive. And may God help us.
