Try to imagine a reality in which the idea of having a bar mitzvah at the Western Wall is unthinkable. The Wall is across the border, and there is no way to get close to it. Even the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb can only be dreamed of, because they are also under the control of the Kingdom of Jordan.
Anyone who sets off from Netanya heading east will arrive within a few minutes at the sign: "Stop, border ahead." The distance from the Mediterranean Sea to Qalqilya is only 14 kilometers, an area that has been defined as the country's "narrow waist." The biggest security nightmare is the fear of an Arab invasion at this point, which would cut off the north of the country from its center.
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In the north, the Syrians sit on the Golan Heights and shell the settlements and kibbutzim spread out beneath them. When they feel like it, they shoot at fishing boats in the Sea of Galilee or set fire to grain fields. In the three years before the Six-Day War, 140 Jews are killed by this shooting and many more are injured.
When there was no 'occupation''
This was the reality of our lives before the Six-Day War. In those days there was no problem of 'occupied territories'. There were no settlements in Alon Moreh and Efrat. No one dreamed of Ariel. There was only one small problem – the fact that we exist. And that is what the Arab nation aspired to eradicate.
The young cannot understand the intensity of the great anxiety that surrounded the inhabitants of the country and the Jews of the world, in view of the sharpening of swords in Arab capitals. This was absolutely no game. The Arab leaders spoke openly of the destruction of Israel and the throwing of all the Jews into the sea.
Then the great miracle occurred, which left the entire world in awe. Within six days, the small Jewish people, surrounded and threatened, managed to repel their attackers, drive them back many kilometers, and stabilize the front within safe borders. An indescribable joy flooded hearts at that time.
Together for victory
Crowds of Jews, from Israel and around the world, flocked to the holy places: to the Western Wall, to Rachel's Tomb, to the Cave of the Patriarchs. With reverence and immense excitement, Jewish feet walked on these precious pieces of land, the heart of the Land of Israel. These are the regions of the land within which the Bible took place, where the judges, prophets, and kings lived and worked. This is the Land of Israel from which we were expelled and to which we have returned, by the miracles of God.
But then they fell into the trap of Arab propaganda, as if the conflict between us and the Arab world was the 'occupation', and that if we only agreed to give up the territories we 'conquered', true peace would be established here and we would live in a 'new Middle East.' Years of experience have proven that the entire policy of concessions was ridiculous and naive, a blind walk into a pitfall. Every concession only pushed peace further away, increased terror, and planted more hopes in the hearts of our enemies that they could drive us out of here.
Now we are given a golden opportunity to repair the serious damage caused by the policy of appeasement, which created expectations in the world for the establishment of a terrorist state in the heart of the land. Just as we won the Six-Day War by the grace of God, so we must be united in the fight to complete the task, to uproot the Gaza terror state from our southern border, and to make our hold throughout Judea and Samaria permanent and absolute, until true and complete redemption.
