How did strong, invincible Israel become engulfed in war? - opinion

I am not sure how much more television updates I can cope with on what is happening to our people; the pain of parents telling of their last conversations with their beloved children – hearing their last breath and then the final shot.

The trauma of those whose children and grandchildren have received callup orders knowing how many have been killed in the very first days of the war.

How did we, the strong invincible Israel arrive at this place? How could we, with our superb internal and external intelligence services enable barbaric murderers to enter our territory, unabated, and begin the campaign of killings that continue until today?

Yes, I know, this is not supposed to be the moment to ask these questions but will that moment ever arrive and even if it does, so what? The chances are that no one will take responsibility as no one did on that fateful Lag Ba’omer Meron disaster when 45 men and boys were crushed to death and 150 were injured, a number critically, while endeavoring to leave the mountain.

Does it matter who takes responsibility? Will it make a difference to the parents of those 260 beautiful youngsters who were brutally mowed down while enjoying a music festival in the desert?

What happened to our watch? Were our leaders enmeshed in the judicial reform to the point that no one was guarding our borders? Was the question of the mehitza (gender partition in prayer) in Tel Aviv more important than the preparations taking place in Gaza for the mass murder of Israelis?

We are meant to be a compassionate people yet the parents and families of those who have disappeared or have been killed cannot find anyone with whom to speak; someone to answer their questions and simply to listen to those in dire need of comfort and support.

My late beloved husband John and I came on aliyah 25 years ago. We had come home and felt at home throughout the years. We joined our son, Michael and his family, who came here in the mid-’80s. While I do not have a son or grandson in the army I have two granddaughters living in the center of Tel Aviv. One married recently who, on our chats, told me how she and her husband were in their ma’amad (shelter) when there was a loud bang and the whole ma’amad shook. A rocket had hit a building within spitting distance of their apartment.

But Tel Aviv falls into insignificance in relation to what the inhabitants of the South who, up until this moment, continue to experience a horrific existence with each day becoming more fraught. We hear of how residents have to lock their doors and remain for 24 hours and more in the space of their safe room for fear of the terrorists roaming the area with the sole aim of killing as many Israelis as possible.

Israel became vulnerable

Back to the beginning: how did this happen to us – the invincible Israelis? Is it history repeating itself? Have we not learned from our past that when Jew fights Jew it is the beginning of the end of our being an independent nation?

Our enemy sees our vulnerability and acts accordingly. Is this not what is happening to us right now?

Yair Lapid, leader of the opposition, spoke of the need to form a National Emergency Government; Gantz followed a day later – has there been a response from Prime Minister Netanyahu? Yes, as this is being prepared for publication the details of a “small war cabinet” are being ironed out. Netanyahu would do well to follow one of his illustrious predecessors – Menachem Begin, who initiated a national unity government prior to the Six Day War.

Right now our hearts and our thoughts are with all those who have suffered unimaginable loss. We feel for those who are still in their “bunker-like” safe rooms seeking protection, not only from the rockets but from the barbaric Hamas terrorists who are seeking their death. One reporter compared what is happening now to the Holocaust. For sure the Hamas emissaries who are killing men, women, and children, taking hostages – whether they are old, young, physically or mentally disabled – remind us of how six million Jews’ lives were ended in a bestial manner.

Last, but by no means least, our thoughts are with those whose children and grandchildren are being called up to defend us. When a close friend of mine phoned to tell me that her 25-year-old grandson had just left for his IDF service and was, likely, to be entering Gaza – I found myself crying with her.

Yes, I have lived here for 25 years but never have I known a time of such pain and anguish. 

The writer is chairperson of Israel, Britain and the Commonwealth Association.