‘I’ve been called back up,” one of my closest friends told me. He’s been a reservist in the IDF since making aliyah two years ago. “Where will you be stationed and for how long?” I asked. He had no answers for me; they had only informed him that it was imminent.
The news felt like a blow to the gut. “I’m not ready for this,” I thought. It seemed like just yesterday he had been released from his first tour in Gaza, even though it had already been a few months. And he’s not the only one who’s being called back up. There’s a sense that the country is gearing up for the next round.
Who am I to complain in all of this? The truth is I’ve never set foot on a battlefield. I have no inkling of how hard this is for my friend and all of the other brave men and women who are protecting us. But my initial, albeit selfish, reaction was that I didn’t want him to go back.
Most of us have gotten used to routine life. Things have been much easier with all of our neighbors home. We haven’t had to make food trains or carpools to help single parents manage family life. Who wants to go back to that reality?The majority of the country is quiet despite the regular random acts of violence that crop up. Sure there are daily rocket attacks from the North and South, stabbings and shootings throughout Judea and Samaria - but that’s normal life here.
In addition, we in Israel are not used to such a protracted war. We know how to do quick, overwhelming victories. That’s what we’re good at - the kind where we preemptively strike, and the whole incursion is over before you know it. The fact that this has lasted as long as it has makes us seem weak on the world stage and makes us question if we are still the military superpower we once were.
Not to mention, it feels as if the entire world hates us and thinks we’re committing genocide. Nothing strikes at our core more than claiming that we’ve stooped to the level of the Nazis. Even if it isn’t true, people believe it. Maybe if we stop, the world will like us again. Perhaps it’s better if we quit while we’re ahead, so to speak.
For Israel's future, the war must end
All of this sounds reasonable, but it’s dead wrong. We have no choice but to see the war through to its completion.The soldiers need to finish what they’ve started for their own well-being. Many have returned home in need of therapy. This is not only due to the trauma of war.
The majority have not come home suffering from PTSD, although some unfortunately have. In fact, Israel’s soldiers are known to cope better than other countries with the tribulations of war. This is because, as a culture, we acknowledge that, like other injuries, psychological wounds heal over time. But this time our soldiers have been struggling with the fact that they might not be permitted to finish the job. Leaving Hamas in place torments some of our best.
As counterintuitive as it may be, much of the Arab world would like us to finish the job as well. Countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia would love it if Hamas and Hezbollah were taken out of the equation. They are also targets of those Iranian terror proxies. And if these terror cells were wiped out, the moderate Arab states know that we could focus on solving the Palestinian problem with no distractions.
The most important reason to finish this war is because a future exists without all of this terror. Even though it may seem backward, more fighting is required for there to be less fighting.
But we can all see a world where Israel’s neighbors are unable to strike us at will. It’s not hard to imagine a peaceful Jewish State, one where its citizens don’t become acclimated to daily death. We know where the source of the problem lies and we can root it out, once and for all. When these terror groups no longer exist, the chance for peaceful coexistence becomes plausible.
The reason to finish this war is not just for utilitarian purposes. We must press on for all those who have fallen, been wounded, and who are still in captivity in the hands of our enemies. There are many who will never go back to the normal life that we crave; it’s because of their ultimate sacrifice that we must not become complacent. None of us want this, but it is our reality. And we must not disgrace the memory and sacrifice of those who have given up so much, by stopping now.
The writer is a rabbi, a wedding officiant, and a mohel who performs britot (ritual circumcisions) and conversions across the world. Based in Efrat, he is the founder of Magen HaBrit, an organization protecting the practice of brit milah and the children who undergo it.