Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called “A Dream And An Honor.”The soldiers of the IDF are so motivated and effective, because they are generally at peace with themselves as a moral Jewish Democracy who stand for whatās right in the region and in the world. Especially after the extermination of 6,000,000 Jews in the Holocaust, the IDF are truly holy warriors that defend the Promised Land of Israel and the Jewish people globally. I think FIDF is a wonderful opportunity to give back to the soldiers as they dutifully serve to protect all of us.
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called “Goading The Bull In Ukraine.” A few years ago, Israelās former Foreign Minister, Avigdor Liberman (Soviet-born) cautioned about Israelās indecision on handling the existential Iranian nuclear threat:
We need decisiveness, determination, not whiningā¦no agreement will stop them. If you want to shoot, shoot, donāt talk.
These days, there is a similar situation with Russia and the U.S.ās threats over Ukraine: too much senseless political bantering and ultimatums that is only ratcheting up tension in the world. The result is that Russiaās ominous military machine including 100,000 troops have surrounded Ukraine (the 2nd largest country in Europe) on three sides and are poised to attack, yet there is a ridiculous song and dance being played out on the world stage In the end, the question is whose strategy will prove to be the winning one: Russiaās daunting finger on the trigger or even an actual devastating invasion of resource-rich Ukraine to try and safeguard their flank on Eastern Europe or the U.S. gambling that Russia will get mired in a no-win Afghan-like military foray that will bankrupt them financially and morally. As we await the answer to this, the world is learning to disregard and disrespect those that talk bull and goad the bull rather than decisively confronting the threat. We canāt afford the consequences to world peace and stability.
Yet, we have failed miserably at the next BIG thing in defense: hypersonic weapons!
Both China and Russia have hypersonic weapons ready to use on us.
China even claims they can use they can use their hypersonic missiles with heat seeking technology toĀ destroy our most advanced fighter aircraftĀ the F-35 and F-22.Ā Ā Ā Ā
Now at best, the U.S. Navy is hoping to be able to perhaps deploy hypersonic weapons by 2025-2028.
In the meantime, the U.S. is vulnerable to its adversaries at a time when Russia and China are rearing their militaries for confrontations in Ukraine and Taiwan, respectively.
And that could be only the beginning, if we don’t get our military R&D together and fast.
How could this happen with all the money we spend on defense?
Eyes wide shut like Pearl Harbor and 9/11 all over again! š
Over the course of our history, the Jewish people have grown from a passive and helpless people during 2,000 years of exile to become, once again, an assertive and strong nation in the Land of Israel as we once were in the days of Joshua, King David and the Maccabees.
In the end, we need to be as faithful as āJacobā and as strong as āIsrael.ā As we learn in the Torah and from the rest of Jewish history: inside every Jacob, who just wants to serve G-d in peace as the āPeople of the Book,ā there is also a determined, strong, and brave Israelite fighter and innovator who can stand up for his people and his faith.
While David Ben-Gurion was the politically savvy founding father of the modern-day State of Israel, Menachem Begin was the military genius who brought the Jewish people from British subjugation to being a free people in our own land.
In the end, the Jewish peopleās fight for freedom from oppression and for an independent homeland, even the willingness to accept a partitioned land along with the desire for peace, required both the political fight that Ben-Gurion brought to the worldās governments as well as the military struggle that Begin was expert at against both the British overlords who refused autonomy under the mandate and to the Arabs who refused partition. Further, this underscores the stark contrast between the Jewish struggle and that of the Palestinians who have incessantly rejected negotiation and any opportunities for autonomy and peace, including at Oslo, Camp David, and Taba, as well as after Israelās full withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 that was followed by Hamasās terror tunnels, kidnappings, incendiary balloons attacks, and rocket barrages on Israel civilian population centers.