Gary Cooperberg, September 8, 2004

The problem with so many of our Jewish leaders is both their lack of faith in G-d, and their incredible ignorance of basic Jewish morality. The founders of this country, from the very outset, created a very strange terminology for the battlefield. They called it "purity of arms." While those who formulated this odd concept may have thought it the highest morality, it most certainly was not conceived by Jewish sources, nor was it truly a moral concept. Weapons, like it or not, are implements for killing. There is no "purity" involved in such an effort.

War is always a dirty business. Although Shimon Peres believes that war must be avoided at all costs, he is wrong. As terrible and undesirable as war may be, there are times when we have no choice but to go to war. King Solomon stated in Koheles, "There is a time for peace and a time for war." One of G-d's names is "Shalom," peace. But he is also called "Ish Milchama," Man of War.

When Israel is attacked by her enemies, it is wrong for her not to go to war and to defeat her enemies. It is wrong for her to "negotiate" with those who seek her destruction. For to do so would be to imply that she is willing to, at least partially, self-destruct. Why else would she negotiate with murderers? We are not at war with terror. We are at war with Moslems who will never tolerate a non-Islamic entity in the Middle East (and maybe not anywhere else for that matter). The first step in winning any war is to recognize that you are at war and to know who your enemy is. Our leaders are afraid to be honest with themselves whenever they talk about "peace partners" in reference to our Arab enemies. Worse, they are aiding and abetting our sworn enemies every time that they refer to "Palestinians." The only reason that concept was established was to use it as an excuse to replace Jewish Israel with Arab "Palestine." It is treasonous for a Jew to lend credence to this plot by using deceptive terminology which gives credence to the rights of a fraudulent entity, especially since those rights threaten Jewish lives.

The War of Independence of 1948 has not yet been won. It is still being fought on many fronts. The most dangerous front is right inside our own borders. And the worst reality is our unwillingness to root out the evil in our midst! One would imagine that, after so many suicidal terrorist attacks, our government would wake up to the fact that living with such "partners" is hazardous to our citizens. It should be obvious that our government has an overwhelming priority obligation to protect the lives of its citizens which are being taken on our streets by Arab murderers. Rather than be concerned about fences and where to construct them, it would make a lot more sense to simply remove our enemies from our midst. Instead we worry about the rights of our enemies! Enemies, in time of war, have no rights! Any Jewish leader who shackles our police and soldiers from protecting Jewish lives by expressing concern for the rights of our Arab enemies is a participant in the effort to destroy the Jewish state.

At long last a rabbinical council, made up of true Torah sages, had the courage to openly declare Jewish morality which clashes with other moralities. They stated:

"There is no need to avoid hitting or even killing 'Palestinians' who are not involved in terrorism when this will harm the efforts to defend Israeli lives," the statement reads. "Jewish Law provides that during war time, such as that which we are now experiencing, there is no difference between the populace and the army. If a danger arises to Israeli soldiers or to civilians, Jewish ethics teach that our lives take precedence over others."

Already we have Knesset members calling upon the Attorney General to investigate whether there are grounds to prosecute these rabbis. It is extremely annoying to have Jewish morality conflict with the twisted morality of Jewish ignoramuses. It is time for a truly religious Jewish leadership to arise and undo the terrible mistakes made by past Jewish leaders who were devoid of knowledge of authentic Jewish morality. We have been at war since even before we rebuilt our state. It is time to recognize that war and to win it decisively. To do less is to help our enemies destroy us.

Gary Cooperberg is a resident of the Jewish community in Hebron, Israel.

Copyright © 2004 Gary Cooperberg