The Israeli army is one of the most morale armies in the world. That statement is true, though our enemies will quickly disagree with it and their supporters will scoff at seeing it in writing. We have clearly defined rules of engagement and our soldiers are reminded of these rules regularly. There is a long list of things a soldier must do before he takes the shot to kill. Other than during an actual war (and there are rules there too), a soldier is commanded to warn a terrorist or suspected terrorist. The exception, thankfully, is if the soldier feels that his life is in imminent danger. And if it isn’t, the soldier knows that his misjudgment will bring him to trial.
Thanks to the Elor Azarya case, many soldiers will now hesitate to shoot a terrorist (even one who has already attempted to murder someone), lest some leftist be waiting for the opportunity. Lest some leftist raise the cry that the soldier, who has dedicated three years of his life to serving this land, that the soldier to “rot in jail.”
In less than 24 hours, the Palestinians are threatening to swarm across our borders. They call it a “march of return” or a “million man march”. What do they want these “million” men to do? (Never mind that there aren’t a million men in Gaza…sometimes, I wonder if there is even one). They want them to illegally storm the border of a sovereign nation. The leadership of Gaza wants them to overwhelm our soldiers in sheer numbers with the goal of getting as many of those “men” across the border. Armed with whatever they can bring – guns, knives, explosives, axes, they have one order only. Should any of these attackers manage to circumvent our border, they have instructions to kill. Anything. Whatever. Have a nice time.
There is no return policy. They are not returning to Israel (none of them was born here and most likely none of their fathers or mothers were born here). And, should then manage to get into Israel, there’s no return policy there either. None of those who get across the border are expected to return to Gaza. They’ll die in Israel or on the way to Israel and that’s okay for a culture that loves violence and death. That’s the plan; that’s the scene they want. Palestinian leadership wants pictures of dead bodies littering the field and for once, in the interests of our people, we should give it to them.
Tomorrow is being called Black Friday in Israel. We know what is likely to happen. Even now, Arab nations are drafting the next UN resolution to condemn us. The only question is the number of bodies we will be accused of providing this time. If 50 die, we will be accused of killing 500. If 500 die, the resolution will state 5,000. This is what they did in Jenin; this is what they do during every war.
The heavens are cooperating, doing their part. A massive dust storm is blowing in, even now. The air is dirty and laden with dust. Soon, muddy rain will fall. But the Palestinians who march are not listening to the heavens, to a God who loves life, light, freedom.
Tomorrow night, the Jewish people will sit down and celebrate freedom. Nothing less. Tomorrow is the anniversary of our leaving Egypt, leaving slavery. It is the beginning of our becoming a sovereign nation – over 3,000 years ago. As we prepare our homes today, the Palestinians are preparing their weapons. We clean our stoves, refrigerators and floors; they polish their knives and their guns. The difference between our worlds has never been more clear than it is at this moment, as the heavens storm above us all.
For most Israelis, there is nothing that we can do to stop what will happen tomorrow. All we can do is dig deep into our faith and push the fear away. All we can do is pray for our sons and daughters. And, for mothers like me, with guilt and shame, I can think God for my youngest son having finished the army and returned home just a few months ago. And we can prepare our homes for the Passover holiday – because that is the ultimate sign of trust in God, in Israel, in our leaders, in our soldiers.
But there is one more thing that we can do – we can call on the government today. This moment, to announce that the rules of engagement have been changed for the next 10 days. Any Palestinian, any man or woman or child, approaching the border fence, any border fence, will be assumed to be armed. Will be assumed to intend violence.
And the moment, that individual touches the fence – that’s it, really – just TOUCHES the fence, our forces have orders to shoot to kill. No, we will not yell out “STOP!” in Arabic and English and Hebrew. We will not fire in the air. Forget firing at their legs. Shoot to kill.
Thousands of years ago, the Jewish people were born and tomorrow, perhaps hundreds or thousands of Palestinians will choose to die. It was our choice to have faith, choose life, and leave Egypt; it is their choice , to choose death if they attack us.
That simple. Change the rules of engagement now. The Palestinians are banking on what they consider our cowardice. They don’t think we have the guts to shoot them down in mass numbers and that our hesitation will enable them to attack us. They’ll come tomorrow in vast numbers, across fences and through tunnels. In the water and over the hills. And the only way to stop them, the only way to protect our children, our lives, our country is to change the rules of engagement today.
Shoot to kill. Nothing less. Approaching our borders means you want to kill us. Our laws, the Torah, the Ten Commandments, all that Judaism and Christianity are based on, demands that we protect ourselves. That we kill in order to stop them from murdering us.
Change the rules of engagement now.
Article source: http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Islamic-State-claims-suicide-attack-on-shrine-in-Afghan-capital-546660
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