Engage the Dis–Engaged: Sustaining the Pioneers of Greater Israel

Oslo has failed, as did the original Camp David. Israel has made many concessions and many Jews have died and many, many, more have been injured. The members of Israel’s political establishment have no answers. They caused the mess and they are only making it messier. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, long an advocate of settling the Land of Israel (let us not harp too much on his expelling the Jews from Yamit in the Sinai), has embarked upon a program of separating the Jews of Eretz Yisrael from the hostile ‘Palestinians’. He and his cronies reason that if you can’t negotiate with them, give it away! Of course with this line of reasoning a new precedent is being set, i.e. that all the Arabs of Eretz Yisrael have to do is continue their violence against Jewish targets and, in return, the Israeli government will eventually withdraw and even give the perpetrators vacated houses and roads for free! The Prime Minister has even gone so far as to offer to give up densely Arab populated areas in pre 1967 northern Israel (so much for the tale of the loyal Israeli Arab). Logically, it seems, from Arab babies to bombs to Gentile immigration, slowly but surely we are witnessing a disintegration of the Jewish state.

It is now in vogue in government circles to talk about transferring Jews out of their homes and businesses. A government that can destroy synagogues and imprison a Jewish father of 7 children indefinitely without trial (Noam Federman) has no problem throwing its citizens out of their homes. The barometer has been set. What was once a poorly kept secret is now out in the open. The official security policy of the current Israeli government is, “What will the Gentiles say?”.

Are you one of those who feel differently? Do you believe that Israel’s security and future as a Jewish state must be based in the belief that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish People as is G–d’s will? Do you believe that those who live in the land who detest Jews and any form of a Jewish state must be encouraged and if necessary forced to leave in order to save our country? If you do, you are against the official policy of the current government of Israel!

In Jewish history, there have been many precedents where the good Jews overcame their evil adversaries. They beat the odds. They defied logic. We celebrate many holidays for this very reason. In modern history the very establishment of the State of Israel is such a case. It is now a well–documented fact that the state came into being due to the endless pressure from the Irgun and Lehi fighters against the British occupiers and the Arab murderers of Eretz Yisrael. The United Nations vote for or against a Jewish State in Eretz Yisrael didn’t matter because the pressure exerted by the Jewish freedom fighters was what brought the vote in the U.N. into being. All this was done at a time when the governing Jewish leadership in Eretz Yisrael had abandoned the Jews of Europe to Hitler and were preoccupied with pleasing their British bosses by beating and turning over Irgun freedom fighters. History repeats itself.

Once again there has arisen a group of pioneers who are prepared to live in dire conditions in order to settle the land of Israel for eternity. When Ariel Sharon speaks of retaining settlement blocs, he is omitting dozens of villages all over Yesha. He means clearly that he is ready to destroy 10, 20, and 30 year old communities that were established where Jews lived before we were exiled. Just as the so–called right wing was never ready to destroy any of the Yesha communities until recently, the same can happen again in further stages. There is no red line. Settlement blocs can crumble just as easily once the smaller more isolated communities are destroyed. Each precedent breaks another taboo. There is a clear plan — call it a conspiracy — to disenfranchise the brave settlers.

For years now, the leftist dominated media has portrayed the settlement movement in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza as a bunch of parasites. They have continuously opposed past housing subsidies, reduced income tax rates, etc, for the new communities. Of course figures lie and liars figure. One would have been very hard pressed to find a major newspaper, radio show, or television show depict the kibbutzim that are perpetually bankrupt and constantly receiving bailouts from the government as parasites. Legitimate tax breaks for the Negev and northern communities such as Kiryat Shemona were seldom criticized either.

Then came the first Intifada that put the Yesha communities on the defensive. The success of the Intifada, mainly because the right wing government of then Prime Minister Yitchak Shamir refused to do all that was necessary to stop it, resulted in a Labor party victory at the polls in 1992. Yitchak Rabin and Shimon Peres brought us the infamous Oslo accords in 1993 and with it guns for the terrorists.

Now the big lie is that the settlements are not defendable or not worth the cost. This again is because the army has its hands tied by a timid government. The reward to the murderers is to destroy settlements. It all sounds so simple. Sharon and his cronies will put Israel into more debt to the United States by begging for funds to relocate people. At the same time, they plan to leave all the buildings, houses, and infrastructure as an additional gift to the thugs. But what if the great Jews don’t want to leave? What if they can’t be bought?

Almost 4 years of non–stop terror including infiltrations and non–stop shootings have not deterred the brave pioneers of Yesha. The overall population has been rising. Even rescinding the tax breaks hasn’t stymied the settlement enterprise. So much for the argument that most of them are there because of the preferential finances. Now they are being threatened with forced expulsion. The possibility, G–d forbid, of Jew versus Jew is increasing. Many are talking about massive, passive resistance. The long war of attrition has begun.

The current government of Israel will do all that they feel is necessary to expel Jews from their homes. Beating people and forcing them out is definitely one of the options that they are prepared to do. In the last several months we have seen the tune up preparations. Soldiers and police have dismantled small outposts — many with people living there. They have even destroyed a few synagogues. In many cases, the authorities were met with huge resistance. In some cases, after the authorities were successful in dismantling a location, the residents returned and rebuilt again. The longer the dismantling effort takes the harder it is to implement.

Everyone has a role to play in saving Eretz Yisrael. If you live outside of Israel and don’t agree with the government of Israel’s actions, organize a petition. Tell your local synagogue that you don’t want Israel Bond money to be used to throw Jews out of their homes in the Land of Israel. Ignore the leftist and apathetic voices who say that you shouldn’t meddle if you don’t live here. Peace Now and their ilk have no problem raising millions of dollars to further their cause of self–destruction. In Israel, there are those who can provide spiritual guidance to a Nation badly in need of a truly Jewish perspective. There are others who can provide great efforts in organizing legal demonstrations. The most important components are the actual residents of the embattled communities. Any businessperson knows that the economic climate cannot be good if the very physical survival of a community is in question. The residents of these communities need to have outside assistance for a number of reasons: If they can spend less time trying to sustain themselves financially they will be able to withstand a lot of outside pressure. Morally they will feel stronger knowing that many Jews both in Israel and the Diaspora are with them.

We’re looking for a few good Jews

For several years, we at the B’Ahavat Yisrael organization have made food deliveries to needy families in Yesha one of our main activities. In light of the current situation, we have committed ourselves to doing all we can to supply food, cleaning supplies, and toiletries to sustain the needy in these communities. We are currently providing various options to contribute to these brave pioneers. If you can commit to one of the programs on a monthly basis it will help us to reduce our advertising costs and make our purchasing and distribution more efficient, as the more commitments we have in advance the easier it is for us to plan each week.