The Fern Sidman Commentaries:
November 27th, 2006: "AND THE INSANITY RAGES ON"

As Israelis continues to mourn those who have been killed by Kassam rocket attacks in Sderot and the western Negev region, the government of Israel has once again acquiesced to the voice of Hamas terrorism. Apparently, Israel learned few lessons during the summer of 2006 in its war with Hezbollah terrorists.

According to a report by Arutz Sheva on 11/26/06, "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Saturday night agreed to withdraw all troops from the Gaza area and cease anti-terrorist actions in return for a halt to terrorist attacks from the region." The report goes on to say that, "Two days ago, the government rejected a proposal by terrorist organizations that they halt rocket fire, but not other terrorist attacks, in return for a total halt to counter-terrorist actions by Israel throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The latest Palestinian Authority (PA) offer includes a ban on suicide bombings and other attacks but only from the Gaza area, and it does not mention the smuggling of arms and terrorists. Israel’s promise to stop retaliating against terrorists in the Gaza area also does not refer to similar activity in Judea and Samaria."

It has also been reported that, "Between Friday and midnight Israeli time Saturday night, Arab terrorists had fired 12 rockets at the western Negev, one of which scored a direct hit on a Sderot house whose residents had gone elsewhere for the Jewish Sabbath. Saturday night’s cease fire agreement came hours after Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas leader based in Damascus, threatened a new and more violent Intifada if Israel does not give up in six months all parts of the country that were re-gained in the Six-Day War in 1967."

So much for Hamas promises of a cease fire and so much for the promises made by the government of Israel to protect its citizens. The Kassam rockets will keep reigning down on Sderot and more Jews will be killed. Everyday life for the citizens of Sderot will eventually come to a complete halt. Hamas does not want "peace". What they want is a break in the hostilities in order to re-arm, to give themselves more than ample time to continue their arms smuggling operations and to re-group for the next round of fighting. They need a break from Israel’s counter terrorist actions.
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If all of this sounds familiar, we need only hearken back to the summer of 2006 when the hostilities emanated from Hezbollah in Lebanon. The deeply dug in and well fortified Hezbollah terrorists claimed a major victory over Israeli forces, yet southern Lebanon was devastated. Hezbollah also needed some breathing room to re-arm and re-build southern Lebanon. They needed a grace period to continue to shore up support from the Shiite population in Lebanon. And who, of course, was right there, waiting with bated breath to accommodate them? Under pressure from the United Nations and the world, it was Israel who readily acceded to Hezbollah’s demands. There is no question that all UN resolutions pertaining to peace in that region will be broken when Hezbollah is ready for a second round of fighting.

While Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, still remain captive by Hamas and Hezbollah, the Israeli government under the leadership of Ehud Olmert, has now seen fit to repeat the same mistakes with Hamas as it did with Hezbollah. According to an Arutz Sheva report of 11/26/06, "Hezbollah has re-armed to pre-war levels, according to TIME Magazine, fulfilling intelligence forecasts and negating government claims of a victory that severely weakened the terrorist group. The magazine confirmed numerous media reports since the United Nations Security Council ceasefire resolution last August that Iran and Syria have been re-rearming Hezbollah. A recent British newspaper report quoted United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) troops that the terrorist group can operate freely at night, when the UNIFIL troops do not operate because of the danger. Smuggling of Iranian weapons from Syria to Hezbollah terrorists has been rampant since shortly after the ceasefire. The magazine cited western diplomats as disclosing that Hezbollah now has 20,000 missiles, twice the number acknowledged by the IDF admits."

And so the insanity rages on. The same Israeli leadership that was responsible for Israel’s defeat by Hezbollah is now masterminding a similar plan for defeat of IDF forces in Gaza. How eager the government of Israel is to meet the demands of those who openly seek our destruction. In the days and weeks ahead, Hamas will also continue to double and triple their amount of Kassam rockets and the attacks will be evenly deadlier. Threats by Hamas leadership to escalate hostilities must be taken seriously. The leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah know that time is on their side.

While the abysmally ignorant and self hating Israeli government continues to concoct plans that will hasten the destruction of the State of Israel and its inhabitants, we as a people must recognize these actions as "wake up calls" from the Almighty G-d of Israel. We must know that the times that we are living in are indeed the times of "Chevlei Moshiach", the birth pangs of our righteous Messiah. We must know that prophecy tells us that the star of Ishmael will rise before it falls and that these birth pangs can be long and excruciatingly painful or they can be short and abbreviated, yet it depends on us. Only through a sincere return to G-d, only through adherence to the commandments of the Torah can we emerge victorious. It is a time for us on both a personal and collective level to demonstrate Jewish pride. It is time to speak out against a government of Israel that has carefully crafted the demise of the Jewish State. It is time to vocalize our opposition to those in the international community who would pressure us to acquiesce to terrorism.

In the Torah portion that we read this past Shabbat, "Parshas Toldos", we learn that while still in the womb; Jacob and Esau struggled mightily with each other. We learn that Jacob wanted to get out of the womb as soon as possible, not only to ensure that he had the birthright that rightfully belonged to him because he was formed first, but more urgently, he needed to separate himself from the evil that Esau represented. He needed to remove himself from being in close quarters with someone who personified rebellion and hatred towards Hashem and His Torah. So too, do we, the Jewish people need to recognize that we are surrounded by those who seek our destruction, those who are contemptuous of the ways of G-d, and those who embody foreign concepts that are in direct opposition to the concepts of our Torah. We, too, must separate ourselves from those insidious forces and forge a path of self preservation, a path of Jewish strength and power combined with the willingness to do the will of G-d.