Netanyahu must sanctify God's name so Israel can beat Hamas - opinion

These are very tough times for the people of Israel, and certainly the toughest times we’ve known in the course of your premiership. And I hope it is clear to you that your image as Mr. Security is permanently over.

I don’t blame you personally for what has transpired, but there is still one thing you can do which has the potential to restore some of the glory to our country and our people.

Contrary to the many who’ve despised you for years and whose hatred of you verges on insanity, I believe that you want the good of Israel above all else. I believe you spend your nights grappling with ways to help our country in its different challenges.  And not many doubt your intellectual abilities which few others can match. Your downfall, and the downfall of all of us stems from your inflated ego.

Your principles were logical and sound. You, like many of your predecessors, knew well that there can be no negotiations with terrorists. Your own brother sacrificed his life in the rescue at Entebbe. That was perhaps the last moment of glory for Israel.

And while you argued well, and repeatedly, that bargaining with terrorists was a non-starter, you allowed populism to overrule your logic when you traded more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for the soldier Gilad Schalit. 

You knew that it was a colossal mistake, but your need for popular approval overcame what you knew to be the good of the country, and you relented. It took very little time until the number of victims of terrorism perpetuated by the very prisoners released in the deal multiplied. Yes, the people were foolish, but you knew better, and should have held strong. You conceitedly believed that you were such a superior leader that the benefit of contributing to your popularity would make it worthwhile.

IN THE effort to change the Israeli image as a conquering army, the Left invented a reality in which the Arab’s world main concern was the well-being of the people. They reasoned that if the people are able to make a good living and have a decent life, their love of killing would dissipate. They were also happy to rewrite history when required. They were averse to seeing Israel as the strong conqueror. It did not jive with the modern liberal image of the new Israeli to which they strived.

The upper ranks of army officers were sent abroad for higher degrees to learn about containment and acceptance. They claimed we needed an elite small army with highly developed technology. Any army officer, however excellent, who did not share this goal, or who had a different vision of Israel’s purpose, was systematically stopped in his tracks.  

That happened under your watch too. And “Mr. Security” turned into “Mr. Cautious.” Perhaps you didn’t really believe in Israel’s right to this country any more that your Left leaning rivals.

Why has Netanyahu never mentioned a word of faith in God?

I know the most about your beliefs from what you have omitted from every speech I have ever heard in which you addressed the nation of Israel. I waited hopefully each time, to hear one word of faith, one allusion to the God of Israel, the Holy One Blessed be He, but it seemed you were reluctant to even mention Hashem (God) lest you be somehow diminished. If there was ever the vaguest such mention, I must have missed it.

Perhaps it is not a coincidence that the United Sates is the single superpower in the world today. The first pilgrims who went over to the New World were searching for religious freedom. And America remains today one of the most religious countries, while upholding freedom of worship. A politician would not wince in embarrassment to invoke God’s name as you seem to. Some of the celebrities who came here to the US to support Israel, speak proudly with strong belief in God, even as the journalists fail to translate the parts which give them unease.

But at this precise time, when we see endless evidence on social media of Jews being strengthened by our holy Torah in countless ways, and even bereaved families affirming their love of God, and hundreds of soldiers, secular and religious alike, crying out to Hashem, you are the lone atheist in a foxhole. Would your ego suffer a fatal blow if you were to acknowledge our Father in Heaven?  

I won’t kid you. Your glorious days are likely behind you. It won’t be too long before you are replaced, regardless of what you say or do. But you still have a chance to make a significant difference. You can take your share of responsibility for the tragedies that have befallen us and ask the nation to join you in beseeching God for the help that even the most qualified prime minister and army cannot achieve alone. 

Sanctifying God’s name before the people of Israel and the whole world could be the single most important deed of your long career and this could bring the greatest achievement in our fight to defend the people of Israel.

The writer is a longtime resident of Rehovot, religious mother of five, who has worked in the hi-tech defense industry for decades.