Researcher Dr. Mor Altshuler takes a clear-eyed look at the stark messages of October 7 and examines why the Left has returned to the same destructive course, one that endangers the future of the State of Israel.
The views of Dr. Mor Altshuler, a researcher and columnist, are deeply rooted in the Jewish and Zionist heritage, as are her areas of academic expertise. It is from this foundation that she draws conclusions she considers essential to the future and continued existence of the Jewish people in their homeland.
Altshuler, too, sees the country’s military and political leaders falling back into line with the doctrine of withdrawals and concessions, driven by the belief that technology can compensate for the absence of strategic depth. From this perspective, the land of our homeland and the blood of our soldiers become little more than bargaining chips to be traded away.
“The great mistake military leaders make is believing that when a new dimension emerges, such as cyberspace and technology, everything else becomes irrelevant. That is simply not true. Warfare today takes place above ground and underground, in the lower atmosphere with drones, in the skies with aircraft and missiles, including missiles that travel beyond the atmosphere, and in the new dimension of cyberspace. War is being waged on every front, and to claim that strategic depth is no longer important because other means are available is to misunderstand the nature of warfare in the twenty-first century. Anyone who thinks otherwise was given tragic proof of their error on October 7.”
“Ultimately, war is about territory, and strategic depth remains critically important. Advanced technological capabilities only make warfare more brutal, difficult, and deadly. We face distant enemies such as Iran and nearby ones such as Hamas, and the war is becoming increasingly complex and demanding. We must confront them with every available tool across every dimension.”
To those who believe that we now live in an era of agreements, international guarantees, and regional alliances capable of compensating for a lack of strategic depth, Dr. Altshuler recalls the famous scene from 1938, when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain waved an agreement with the tyrant Hitler and declared that he had secured “peace for our time.”
“The era of agreements that our enemies have no intention of honoring is over. We cannot keep being sold the same stale promises. The only ones who will defend the State of Israel are the people of Israel. And because warfare takes place across every dimension, we need strategic depth even more than we did in the past. Missiles from Iran have not diminished the threat posed by our nearby enemies, as October 7 has already demonstrated.”
Altshuler often reiterates her conviction that “the Almighty is the greatest strategist of all.” In her view, the proof lies in the borders of the Land of Israel as determined by G-d, which make the Jewish homeland defensible.
“The fathers of Zionism followed the Bible,” she emphasizes. “They were faithful Jews, committed to the vision of the ingathering of the exiles and the redemption of the land. The Land of Israel is the only place where the Jewish people can achieve national revival and redemption. That is why the Zionist movement sought to realize a vision cherished by generations: a return to the Land of Israel.”
Where Has the Zionist Left Gone?
What has happened to the descendants of Zionism’s founding fathers, who today turn their backs on pioneering and the vision of redeeming the land? Why is it that despite the brutal clarity with which the enemy revealed its intentions on October 7, and despite the existential danger posed by an enemy state controlling the heart of the country and its population centers, do left-wing figures continue to embrace the dangerous fantasy of partitioning the land?
“The Left lives in repression and denial. Its ideological world has shattered. The utopian vision of ‘territories in return for peace’ keeps collapsing, time and again, yet its adherents find it difficult to admit they were wrong. So they shoot the messenger,” Altshuler replies.
“There is an immaturity here that prevents them from confronting reality, causing them to fall back on their old, familiar default position. Professor Gershom Scholem said of the messianic believer that when his dream is shattered, he disconnects from reality and clings to the dream. These people have seen their messianic dream of peace shattered, yet instead of waking up and choosing reality, they resist it. This is not a matter of malicious intent, but of a deep fear of looking reality in the eye and telling the young: “We taught you to believe in misguided ideas and gave you false hopes, and now you are paying the price.”
The result is a repetition of past mistakes that led Israel to contract, retreat, and withdraw. “Our children pay the price when they are sent back to fight, time and again, in places we have already conquered. If we do not change our approach, this tragedy will never end.”
Against this backdrop, we ask Altshuler to assess where these developments may lead, but she is reluctant to make predictions.
“I do not know which forces will prevail here, but my position is that ‘from the river to the sea, the State of Israel will be free.’ That is the bare minimum, given that generations ago we relinquished the eastern side of the Jordan. I am reminded of the words of a Be’eri resident who said on October 8: ‘It’s us or them.’ The same conclusion applies to Judea and Samaria. They must not be allowed to remain on this land, our ancestral inheritance, when they themselves constitute a landmine beneath our feet.”
In her assessment, voluntary emigration is unlikely. More likely, painfully, is war. “It will be extremely difficult because, under our watch and with American backing, they have built an armed, trained army in Judea and Samaria, just a short distance from Afula, the communities of the Sharon region, and Petah Tikva. The Muslim belief is that a Jew cannot own land and be free, so they will continue to pursue their plot to destroy us. Our destruction is their deepest aspiration, and they will not abandon it.”
As the Biblical verse says, “With one hand he did his work, and with the other held his weapon.” Altshuler concludes: “We must settle the land and continue settling it, even when it hurts. We must also become the majority in Judea and Samaria, and in time, formal recognition of sovereignty will follow. We must secure control of the strategic high ground.”
Altshuler views the expansion of settlements during the outgoing term as a welcome development and an existential necessity that must continue in the years ahead.
This article was originally published in Sovereignty Journal, Issue No. 20 (October 2026). 📖 "Click here to read the full issue