There has been a lot of talking about Israel and America at war with Iran. Between bringing down the Islamic regime, bringing down incoming missiles shot at Israel from both Iran and Lebanon (putting aside, for now,  the missiles fired at neighboring Muslim countries), and US President Donald Trump just talking, there is a lot being said. What one might not notice is that there is also a fair amount not being said. We have not really heard much about Gaza of late. We have been busy there, but likely not as busy as we should be, because no doubt Hamas is as busy as they can be recovering, reorganizing, and replenishing. All that is of importance, and should be dealt with appropriately. My concern is more about what is coming ahead, what is going to be the main event in our battle for a safe and secure state of Israel. That is, Judea and Samaria, and of course, Jerusalem. 

To the point – we need to go further in shutting down any threat coming from the Arab population in Judea and Samaria. I have no doubt that Israel’s security services are making a major contribution to our protection. They make arrests, they uncover weapons.  When things happen – and they will – our response needs to be more than it has been. What has been has not been enough. Blowing up houses and prison terms are not cutting it. The move toward the death penalty for terrorists is a good start. An additional option would be to deport the families of convicted terrorists. They have no place here. 

The time to do this is now. We are in a position we have never experienced before, in the history of the state. For the very first time, the United States is blatantly and unabashedly siding with Israel against the Arabs. The balanced,  “honest broker” position was always what was expected – and provided – by every previous administration. The issue, of course, was always oil. It is why Harry Truman imposed an arms embargo on the region when this war for our independence began; in 1973,  the Arabs made oil a weapon, and began to increase prices and cut back on production. Give the Arabs what they want, because they have the oil, was the policy. A significant part of this war is oil, its access and its cost. It impacts all industrial nations. That is a lot of people. 

This is what we knew would happen, what we all feared. My apologies to any and all who think we should have cut another deal with Iran so that you might power your cars or heat your homes for a few dollars less. That deal makes us here – and you there – more vulnerable to eventual attack. Israel has fallen into that pattern over and over. The last almost 40 months (!) have shown us how we can no longer settle for less than the privilege of victory granted every other victor of armed conflict: we dictate the conditions for peace. That includes Judea and Samaria. The manner in which we deal with the threat there now will significantly affect our ability in the future to deal with it when things really hit the fan. 

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)