The State of Israel: Obstacle or Key to Jewish Destiny?

By Moshe Feiglin

Translated from the Ma'ariv NRG website.

On the morning of Holocaust Memorial Day, Israel announced that it would allow the transfer of fifty million dollars worth of weapons and military aid to the Presidential Guard of Abu Mazen. Does anybody doubt that these weapons will ultimately be used against us? Reality has proven time and again that Jews are murdered as a result of these weapons transfers. So why do we allow them to continue?

"How did the Jews of the Holocaust era allow the Germans to do what they did?" the brave Israelis arrogantly proclaimed. "After all, they knew where they were leading them. Weak-kneed pushovers!"

And what about us? We clearly understand that Jews will be killed with these weapons. What are we doing about it? It seems that as we mark the 59th year of Israel's independence, the blood of the Jewish People is still cheap. It is only natural that the Arabs of Gaza must be supplied with weapons and that in half a year or so those weapons will kill Jews. Then we will supply them with more weapons to protect us from the weapons that we gave them today, that were supposed to protect us from the weapons that we gave them yesterday. That's just the way it is; we have no control over it. We must come to terms with this Russian roulette, absolve ourselves of any responsibility and hope that we or our loved ones will not pay the price.

Luckily, we can still demonstrate. And there actually were demonstrations just before Holocaust Memorial Day. They were even stormy. Proud and strong Israelis blocked traffic, burned tires and even got arrested. They are not pushovers -- why should they pay almost one thousand shekels per month for their university tuition? But demonstrations against the weapons being transferred to Gaza? About the Jews that will die? Why demonstrate? It is a fact of life that a certain percentage of Jews will be killed in terrorist attacks. It is like the sun that rises in the east. Have you ever seen a demonstration against the rising of the sun?

After Israel's news announced the weapons transfer, Holocaust survivor and former Knesset Speaker of the House Dov Shilanski was interviewed. "For me," he said, "the State of Israel is the guarantee that the Holocaust will never happen again." I deeply respect Dov Shilanski, but I could not understand the basis of his opinion: Israel's military strength? That has turned out to be disappointing, at the very least. Anybody who can't figure out why should drive over to Sderot. The exile mentality that has changed? It has only gotten worse. We have recently encountered a new mass-murderer who unabashedly announces his intentions to destroy Israel. "Let the Germans give you a state," he says. "Why do the Arabs have to pay the price of your Holocaust?" And the brave, new Israelis have no answer. They are helpless. Just like the Holocaust Jews whom they ridicule, they desperately wait for the redemptive strike on Israel's crowded population center.

According to all logic, Shilanski is wrong. The State of Israel that denies itself to death is leading us toward another Holocaust. If I did not believe in G-d, I would get my family out of Israel post haste. But I believe in the G-d of Israel and His Nation. I believe that G-d's will is that we remain in Israel. I believe in the Bible and in the prophecies that reassure us that the final redemption will be eternal.

The question is not if we will survive, but what will be the price. And that depends on us. When we flee our Jewish identity and destiny, our enemies flourish. I believe that when we connect to our national identity, new, fresh forces of life will awaken within our Nation. It is then that we will understand the importance and power of our State. We will understand that although the State of Israel had been used to deny Jewish destiny, it is actually the tool that expresses it. When we connect to our destiny, we will do much more than merely exist or survive. And nobody will dare dream of destroying Israel.