For about a week now, the IDF has been operating deep inside the Gaza Strip – a carefully planned military operation carried out professionally, determinedly and with dedication to the mission.
The fighting is difficult and complex, mainly because we are dealing with a terrorist organization operating in an urban area with a civilian population, which limits the IDF's freedom of action and maneuver. Despite this, the enemy suffers losses and retreats, and our forces achieve the goals set for them. It turns out, therefore, that when the enemy is not underestimated, but rather studied and prepared for it, it can be decisive.
Indeed, the unwillingness, impatience and loss of the ability to understand and read the enemy, what its leaders and commanders say to their people in Arabic (who studies Arabic with us today?...), to know its beliefs, its ideology and the background from which it came and grew – all these contributed to the eclipse of lights that struck us and led to disaster. That is why we were so surprised by a murderous attack that contradicts all logic – our logic, of course – according to which Hamas is deterred, because it knows that we will respond harshly that will bring it down and bring terrible destruction to the Gaza Strip.
The failure to learn and understand the enemy is compounded by the sin of arrogance and contempt for the enemy. Hamas is undoubtedly a generation behind us. It lacks advanced technological means, aircraft, artillery and armor. This is an ignorant and backward mob, brainwashed and bloodthirsty. Nevertheless, the mass also has significance, as we saw in the events of Black Saturday, and gangs can keep a secret from Israel's intelligence capabilities, show daring and surprise us.
But just as we must not underestimate the enemy, neither should we exaggerate its power, nor should we be gripped by primal fear of it, which leads to paralysis and stagnation.
The fear of the enemy's capabilities, and especially the possibility that in the war against it we will pay a high price, paralyzed the IDF and prevented it from entering Palestinian cities in the West Bank, which had become a hotbed for murderous suicide bombings. But then came the terrorist attack at the Park Hotel, and it turned out that those who refrained from acting due to fear of casualties paid a much heavier price, and what is more important - it also turned out that the dark forecasts did not match, and the IDF struck the enemy.
The same is happening today in Gaza, and it will happen in Lebanon if the IDF finds itself in a confrontation with Hezbollah. True, war in Lebanon is no small matter, but when it comes to an existential struggle forced upon us, no person with eyes in his head should have any doubt about the outcome.
Every war is difficult and painful, and every achievement comes at an unbearable price. After all, for Israel, unlike its enemies, every space is a whole world. But when we have our backs to the wall and we fight an existential war, we have the power to meet the price and allow the IDF to defeat the enemy. This was the case in all of Israel's wars, even in the Six-Day Victory War, in which we lost 779 of our best fighters. Still, we fought and won.
For many years, Nasrallah built on one card: not on the quality of his men or the weapons at his disposal, but on Israel's fear of paying the price of war and victory. This fear paralyzed us and tied our hands. But in the current reality, this is no longer an obstacle to removing the threat we find ourselves facing in the south and north.
True, war in Lebanon is no small matter, but when it comes to an existential struggle forced upon us, no one with eyes in their head should have any doubt about the outcome
The price of war, if forced upon us, will be heavy. Hezbollah has an arsenal of missiles that can damage and cause casualties, and it has ground forces that will make it difficult for the IDF. But the bottom line is that the IDF is simply better and stronger than Hezbollah, certainly with a stronger and stronger Israeli company behind it than Nasrallah imagines. Therefore, the price Hamas is paying today will pale in comparison to the price Hezbollah will pay, and Gaza will look like a blooming garden compared to Beirut if Nasrallah continues to light fires on the northern border.
Therefore, we must not underestimate the enemy, but we must also not fear it, and when we are determined and united in the struggle for our existence, Hamas and Hezbollah simply have no chance of standing up to us.
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