Confronted by a world that views the handover of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority as a solution, we must demand our complete, sovereign, and moral return to the Gaza Strip. Only then can it be deemed a victory.
The people of Israel demand victory, and already now we must ask ourselves and the Israeli leadership: What is victory and what will the situation be at the conclusion of this war?
Posing this question already at this stage of the conflict is crucial, especially in light of the voices emerging from the international community, led by the United States, suggesting that at the end of the war, Israel should hand Gaza over to the Palestinian Authority.
Common sense cannot accept the notion that our beloved sons and daughters will endanger their lives in a challenging and demanding war, only to ultimately be the silver platter upon which Gaza will be handed to some foreign entity, certainly not to the hands of the murderous terrorist authority of the PLO, the organization that has emblazoned on its banner the objective of “liberation” of the land from Israel’s possession and the establishment of a state on its ruins.
We cannot wait until the day after the end of the war. The demand to return to Gaza and assume permanent control over it must already be sounded in a loud voice now.
The longer we delay this demand of ours, the more foreign and Israeli voices will seek to fill the void created by our hesitation, and demand the opposite and reinforce their policy as the only realistic alternative.
Now is the time to proclaim loud and clear:
Without Israeli control in Gaza, the victory will not be considered a real victory. The struggle is for the land, and only a loss of land (which was never theirs in the first place) will be considered by our enemies as a defeat.
Without Israeli control in Gaza, the communities adjacent to Gaza will not return to their homes and kibutzim.
Without Israeli control in Gaza, the message of weakness conveyed by the withdrawal will resonate strongly with the Arab population of Judea and Samaria, as well as with the Arabs in other parts of the country who will consider joining in the murderous barbarism.
Without Israeli control in Gaza, the Arab children will continue to study from those same school books that produce generations of ISIS terrorists.
Without Israeli control in Gaza, we will hear more and more incitement from the mosques.
Without Israeli control in Gaza, the public's trust in Israel's security, justice, and government institutions will decline to nonexistent.
Without Israeli control in Gaza, we will not be able to return and settle the Gaza Strip, which is an indivisible part of the Land of Israel.
Without Israeli control in Gaza, we cannot provide a moral response to the theft of our land by foreigners.
The world knows deep down that the only response to the brutal.pogrom we have endured, the slaughter we have suffered, and the burning we have experienced, is to return to our land with full sovereignty.
After the Six-Day War, the entire world cheered for us. Now, if we do not continue and complete the task after a pogrom of this kind, they will scorn us.
Only Israeli control in Gaza will constitute the necessary resolution of the war.
We call upon the government of Israel: Arise and come to your senses! Perform your moral and historical duty!