an open letter

The State of Israel was facing an existential threat for the first time since the War of Independence. We must realize that the three kidnapped youths saved the State of Israel.

The many tunnels that were discovered by the IDF were much more than terror tunnels to avoid the IDF. They were elaborate systems created to attack Israel, cause catastrophes, and conquer land. If the IDF did not attack Gaza at this point then Hamas would have had the capabilities to attack the south of Israel and kill 1000s of people before the army could respond to such an attack.

This bloodbath would have taken place under the cover of 1000s of rockets being shot at Israel. This would have caught Israel off guard and cause a major wound to the Jewish state

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So why did they wait? Maybe they were waiting for a rainy day. Perhaps they were negotiating with  Hezbollah to coordinate an integrated attack of missiles from the north ... and maybe even have them create Tunnels leading into Northern cities ... In such a scenario Israel would face tens of thousands of deaths, destruction of cities and neighborhoods. This assumes that the Arabs of Judea, Samaria and some Israeli Arabs didn’t join the fray. In addition, the air force would have been useless  since everyone dug underground and would be laughing all the way to Jerusalem.

We were saved because of two things that they and ourselves could never have imagined would take place.  No one  believed that the abduction of three boys would  unite the nation in activities that would  lead to an offensive, returning prisoners to jail, and preparing the ground work to destroy the terror infrastructure in Gaza.  Secondly no one  believed how successful the Iron Dome would be.

Everyone from the  left all the way to the  right downplayed the rhetoric of the Islamic radicals and their call to conquer and destroy Jerusalem. We ignored their determination to build a military system smarter, stronger and  perfect for crushing the people of Israel. We all saw what happens when ten fighters emerge from a tunnel and when the army was prepared. Imagine what it would have looked like with hundreds of terrorists emerging from the same tunnels when no one was expecting it!!!

If not for Ayal, Naftali and Gilad there would not be tens of thousands of troops in the south discovering the tunnels and saving countless lives. Their death saved our country, freedom and lives.

To all the soldiers - we love and embrace you to no end. You have mustered courage and bravery! All the Jewish people care and pray for you. We thank our boys for defending us and catching our enemy off guard. You are allowing our state to survive as well as settle accounts with the murderers who seek our destruction.

And one word to our citizens on the home front -when  you hear the code red, you will enter the safe room and smile. When you hear a „boom“ - laugh. These noises are the  screams of frustration coming from  Gaza as Israel crushes their  ingenious plan prematurely and exposes the evil that could have taken place. Recognize that all the  damage that  is happening to us now is nothing compared to what was planned.

Yoni