1. The return of the yeshiva to Homesh in northern Samaria is the beginning of the correction of the crime of displacement from there in the summer of 2005. If any logic was presented in the Gaza Strip, Jewish settlements were destroyed in northern Samaria as the beginning of the end of settlement and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The outcome in the Gaza Strip was expected, at least to speakers who were portrayed as delusional in light of promises of increased security, more than it was when Jewish settlements flourished there. The displacement from the Gaza Strip fulfilled the aspiration of Europe and parts of the United States and within it for a withdrawal to the 1949 lines, before the Six Day War. We even took out our dead. Today there is a political entity there with a government, territory, army, outlet to the sea and border with Egypt.
Is Hamas exploiting its resources to improve the lives of the population? Fever. An Islamist entity was established there, which in practice maintains a worse regime of terror than Iran. The meager resources are used to store weapons and make foolish threats against Israel, which cost lives. Since the displacement, Israel has embarked on many rounds of fighting, which have shut down the Israeli economy and life in the country over a cumulative period of many months. The damage to the Israeli economy and the security of its citizens is very great, and the return we thought we would receive in international relations was never paid. Moreover, even now they accuse us of occupation.
In the absence of Jewish residents, the army leaves. The Menashe Brigade is the only one that is not on the ground in the same way as in other parts of Judea and Samaria. The only permanent factor is what Zionism has taught: the borders of security are like the borders of the plow and the settlement
2. In Judea and Samaria, on the other hand, Israel does not control more than 90 percent of the Palestinian population. They have a governing authority with expanded autonomy, "an entity that is less than a state," in Rabin's words, that "independently manages the lives of Palestinians under its authority," with a budget and ministers, economy and police, education and more. In many ways, the Oslo Accords, which ceded Area A and B to the Palestinians, ended Israel's 1967 occupation. The IDF is not present in the Palestinian cities, but is in the envelope to protect Israel from the development of a terrorist entity similar to the one in Gaza, and also to protect the Palestinians from a hostile takeover by Hamas.
The march to Homesh, photo: None
Area C and Jerusalem remain. And here we must learn from history and from the necessity of our existence in the region: Israel cannot defend its existence without its hold on these parts of the land. Indeed, all the Jewish settlements are located there. This is also Rabin's legacy, as expressed in his last speech. It created separation from the population, but not from the regions of the country. Precisely in places where there is some friction between Jews and Palestinians, there is relative quiet. Compare Gaza to Hebron and Nablus. Three different cases with interesting conclusions.
3. The displacement from northern Samaria led to a severe weakening of security. The PA lost control. In fact, it never ruled the territory alone, but was helped by us (which does not prevent it from spreading lies about us in the world). In the absence of Jewish residents, the army leaves. The Menashe Brigade is the only one that is not on the ground in the same way as in other parts of Judea and Samaria.
In this way, an army will never be a permanent factor. It is mobile, and depends on the security and life needs of the country. The only permanent factor is what Zionism has taught: the borders of security are like the borders of the plow and the settlement. In order to hold on to the land, we need pioneers who will live a life of toil and creativity. To ensure this, the army will come.
From Chumash you can see Hadera all the way to Tel Aviv. I have often told Italians that from my window, in the historic center in the heart of Rehovot, you can see with the naked eye the Binyamin and Beit El mountains (as well as the Jerusalem mountains).
In front of me is Modiin, followed by Ramallah! Do you really think we have learned nothing from our bloody history? I asked them. Did you think we would abandon the heart of Israel to a terrorist entity that would rule the coastal plain and the lowlands from the back of the mountain? Anyone who enters Israel by flight sees that the plane continues eastward from the sea and makes a U-turn east over Samaria in order to land. A Palestinian teenager with a shoulder missile is enough to shut down our airport. So what if we intercepted it with Iron Dome?
4. Would Ukraine have survived the war with Russia without its enormous territorial depth? The idea that in the age of missiles there is no need for ground depth does not rely on an examination of reality. Think about the difference between Sderot and Tel Aviv in terms of walking time to the shelter.
Ukrainian soldiers. Would Kyiv have survived without strategic depth?, Photo: AFP
Moshe Dayan explained in his book "Forever Eat the Sword" the necessity of settlement for security: "Only if there is a Jewish civilian population in large blocs, such as the Jordan Valley, Gush Etzion and the back of the mountain in Samaria, will IDF units be able to be present in these areas not as foreign occupiers, but for the purpose of ensuring the peace of Israel, whose dense population is concentrated in a narrow sector, on the Mediterranean coast" (and thanks to Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen for the reference). Settlement in Judea and Samaria, as well as in the Jordan Valley, is therefore Israel's security belt. The pioneers in these communities prevent with their bodies the turning of the mountain's back into a second Gaza, and the lives of the residents of the center into hell.
5. But we must not be satisfied with security arguments alone. We must also talk about the discourse of our rights. First of all, these are parts of our ancient homeland that foreigners took over while we were exiled from it. Our right to live in Tel Aviv stems from our first right to Samaria and Jerusalem, the cradle of the Bible, and to become an independent nation in its own land. Ha Baha Thalia.
Many times I have tried to read the first Rashi in the Torah in political terms. Why did the Torah begin with "Bereishit Bara" and not immediately with mitzvot? That if the nations say to us, "Listen, you, who have conquered the lands of seven nations!", we will answer: "The whole land of the Almighty is, He created and gave straight approval in His eyes; He willingly gave it to them, and He willingly took it from them and gave it to us." Rashi wrote this a thousand years after the destruction. The Land of Israel had already become a dream, and near his residence began the First Crusade, in which many Jews were murdered.
And from the depths of the exile, this genius of generations predicted that one day we would return to Israel, and then we would need this argument in the face of foreigners who had taken over our homeland.
Dr. Yaakov Herzog (our president's uncle), a brilliant spokesman for Israel and a member of the Foreign Ministry, asked back in 1968: "How will the nations of the world accept this claim?" and replied: "The answer is that the problem has to do with historical perception... If it is materialistic, the argument 'Listim you' catches; But if the concept is in the spirit of faith, the world will have to accept that from the house of Israel came the concept of providence and the foundation of man in the institution of providence - and this concept has no existence without the Land of Israel."
"And that's the argument," Herzog continued. "The fundamental problem, therefore, is whether we continue the argument 'you are listic,' or grasp Jewish uniqueness... And then there's a chance they'll accept us as part of the Middle East." Then he added an important note that guided me as an ambassador: "It seems very unpolitical and irrational. But I, who have been involved in policy for 20 years, am more convinced today than before that this is the key." Indeed, there is no Zionism without Zion.
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