Op-Ed: ‘You Do Not Fight A War To Free Hostages. You fight A War To Destroy The Enemy’

“We Don’t Negotiate with Terrorists”

By Shmuel Sackett and FrumNews

The news has been devastating r”l. Each morning, as we open our computers or look at our phones, we hear 5 names, 8 names, 11 names… from Jerusalem, Pardes Chana, Karnie Shomron, Ra’anana, Bet El… all young men… whose lives ended before they even began.

Everyone asks: “When will this end?” – as if someone will answer; “Next Tuesday at 10:30.” Really??? Let’s be perfectly honest. Nobody has the answer to that question, especially not our Israeli politicians, who prefer attacking one another to addressing the issues at hand.

Here’s are three main problems:

• You cannot win a war when one eye is focused on the enemy and the other is on social media, the UN and Joe Biden.
• Regardless of how modern and well-trained the IDF is, the advantage goes to Hamas because we are fighting in their “backyard”! They have time to set booby-traps, road-side bombs and prepare tons of surprises for when our brave men enter the streets.
• The internationally accepted “rules of war” are not being followed by Hamas terrorists. From the first attack on October 7th – this has been a one-sided arrangement; Israel follows all the rules while Hamas breaks all of them.

Why should Hamas end a war like this? They set the rules, force us to play on their field, and don’t care about world opinion… a victory on all three levels!! Israel, on the other hand, is busy with public relations, diplomacy and legal opinions… and they expect a war like that to end in victory?

If Israel’s leaders want to end – and win – this war, here is what they must do: Fight to win! This war and Milchama was forced on us, Israel did not ask for this war and we certainly didn’t start it, but we have the power to end it by conquering Gaza and bringing Hamas to their knees. No more sending soldiers into buildings… blow them up first by dropping bombs from airplanes! No more driving through the streets of Gaza until the IAF (Israel Air Force) has leveled the place. No more mixed messages; “we will stay in Gaza”, “we will not stay in Gaza…”

One more thing – and this is very, very painful to write, but needs to be stated in very clear terms: You do not fight a war to free hostages. You fight a war to destroy the enemy. When that has been accomplished, and Hamas – and their supporters – have been totally obliterated, you free as many hostages as you possibly can. Yes, I realize this sounds cruel, but, in reality, it’s the opposite. The current game-plan of trying everything to “Bring Them Home” has cost the lives of over 389 IDF soldiers in Gaza and, unfortunately, that number is growing. Had the Knesset allowed the IDF and IAF to do what needed to be done first, on October 8th. Then there would have likely been far less casualties and far more freed hostages.

So… you want to answer the question of “when will the war end”? – first, answer the question; “When will the war start?” I assure you – a war run according to the rules above won’t be a repeat of “The 6 Day War” but will introduce a new concept to the world: “The 2 Day War”.

May Hashem bentch our dear IDF soldiers with total victory by annihilating the enemy, conquering Gaza and freeing Eretz Yisrael from destructive forces – once and for all.

Am Yisrael Chai!

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Shmuel Sackett is the founder and director of the Am Yisrael Chai Foundation and The popular Yerushalayim Dream Raffle