ITAI’S SPECIAL BULLETIN
Sunday, October 8, 2023
By: Joseph Puder
Simchat Torah, Saturday, October 7, 2023, was a day that will live in infamy to paraphrase FDR about the dastardly attack on Pearl Harbor. The Hamas unprovoked attack on Israeli civilians is a far dastardlier attack since Hamas terrorists invaded the homes of innocent Israeli civilians and murdered men, women, and children, including elderly Holocaust survivors. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists indiscriminately murdered people in the street, in a nature concert, and in the privacy of their homes. It was a Nazi-like massacre that killed over 750 Israelis, wounded over two thousand, some critically, and dragged untold number of Israeli hostages from their homes to Hamas built attack tunnels. For Israel, this catastrophe is more devastating than the initial failures and casualties that occurred on the Yom Kippur War. This time the catastrophe occurred on Israeli soil, and it involved defenseless civilians.
While this is not the time to affix blame for the disaster, one thing is clear; fixed “conceptions” are the root cause of Israeli failures. On the eve of Yom Kippur 1973, Israel’s military planners relied on the conception that the Bar Lev line along the eastern shore of the Suez Canal was unbreachable, and that Israeli air and armor power will demolish the invaders. That “conception” fell apart when the Egyptians used water pumped to weaken the earth work on which the Israeli fortifications stood, and used anti-air, and anti-tank missiles supplied by the Soviets.to hit the Israeli tanks and aircrafts. The 2023 version of the “conception” similarly relied on the wall/fence surrounding Gaza, on which billions of dollars were spent, replete with electronic surveillance instruments to stop any attempted Palestinian breach.
The Jewish state faces a critical moment. The people of southern Israel have suffered long enough from Hamas and PIJ unprovoked attacks that disrupted their lives. They are demanding that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) remove the Hamas threat once and for all. To do that, however, would require a massive incursion into the Gaza Strip and possibly a considerable number of casualties, including the likelihood that Hamas would murder the Israeli hostages. On the other hand, leaving Hamas in place is a guarantee of future attacks on Israel. Iran, Israel’s implacable enemy, is certain to resupply the Hamas and PIJ terrorists with even more lethal weapons. The dilemma Prime Minister Netanyahu faces is unenviable.
The only light coming out of one of the darkest days (October 7, 2023) in Israel’s history, is that it is forcing the internal feuding in Israel to end. The country is closing ranks, and a unity government is likely to emerge shortly. Such a government will have the support and confidence of the entire population. It will provide Prime Minister Netanyahu with full backing for whatever decisions are made regarding the response to the atrocities committed by Hamas and PIJ. Israel needs to reclaim its deterrence if it is to avoid other fronts against Israel to emerge, including from Hezbollah in Lebanon, Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, and the mixed cities within Israel.
The Interfaith Taskforce for America and Israel (ITAI) mourns the devastating losses in human lives Israel has suffered and sends its condolences to the families whose loved ones were brutally murdered by the Nazi-like terrorists’ animals. ITAI prays for the collective healing of the Jewish nation, and the speedy recovery of the injured who are in hospitals throughout Israel. Finally, we call on the international community, and especially on the Biden administration to do its utmost to press Hamas to release the innocent hostages, including the American citizens among them, and return them back home to Israel. What the Hamas terrorists have done in taking the hostages to Gaza is a war crime.