Six days after the “Three Weeks War,” our goal is to carry on, with all the more determination, the mission to bring about a great awakening among the Jewish people.

 

      At this time, the Jewish people are at the height of a harsh struggle for their very survival in their land, a struggle over their right to sovereignty.

 

      Israel’s ability to stand strong depends not just on economic and military might, but on inner, spiritual resilience – readopting the values of the Zionist vision: settlement, aliyah, education, security, sovereignty.

 

      ● We must overcome our weariness and frustration from the war.


      ● We must overcome the feeling that no more Zionistic tasks or challenges remain.


      ● We must overcome our inclination to place our own ego before national goals.


      ● We must overcome the detachment of Israeli society from the faith of Israel and our Jewish heritage.

 

      We must act, with the goal of spreading a new/old message. We shall continue to focus our activities on the political sphere and on settlement.

 

      There is nothing novel about our ideas. They are simple and known to all. Yet, in face of the prevailing weakness, we must go back and engage in such activities with increased vigor, on the foundation of the vital Jewish roots that are the generative source of the entire Zionist enterprise.

 

      We have to clarify who the Jewish people are, where they came from and where they are headed, what their task is in the world and what place Eretz Yisrael has in the fulfillment of their destiny.

 

      Our survival depends on our making this clarification. Without it, the Zionist idea remains dried up and sterile, with no past and no future. For lack of a vision, the goals of Zionism become unattainable.

 

      The illumination of our Jewish heritage, when applied to the foundation of the return to Zion, affords a different, profound dimension to the entire Zionist idea.


 


      We have to remind all to demand:

 

      Eretz Yisrael in its explicit biblical boundaries – “from the deserttothe Lebanon, from the Euphrates River as far as the Mediterranean Sea” (Deuteronomy 11:24) – belongs to the entire Jewish people for all time.


      ● The State of Israel must practically apply full sovereignty to all sections of Eretz Yisrael. It mustn’t give any part of it to any foreign power. Any transfer of part of Eretz Yisrael to the nations is a grave crime devoid of legal force.


      ● We demand of the State of Israel to do its duty – to expand settlement and to ensure to Jews security and free movement throughout all parts of Eretz Yisrael.


      ● When the enemy sets out to call into question our right to Eretz Yisrael, the government must employ a strong, wise hand in order to uproot every desire of this sort at its source.


 


      Essential Security Policy:


 


      ● Israel must establish strong borders that allow it strategic depth and prevent any threat to points of settlement in Eretz Yisrael.


      ● Israel must preserve independence of military action and must reject all external dictates.


      ● Israel must crystallize a forceful security concept that is undeterred by “ethical” or political considerations from executing any action essential to the security of the country and its residents: “If someone rises to kill you, kill him first.”


      ● Israel must take the initiative in its war on the enemy, employing the element of surprise.


      ● It must push the terrorists and Arab states into a perpetual state of being on the defensive.


      ● It must punish hostile forces with expulsion and harsh court sentences.


      ● Most important, it must create a public atmosphere of readiness for the struggle, and of self-sacrifice on behalf of the people and the land, without fear.


      ● It must foster an atmosphere of integrity and humility, purity and holiness.


      ● We must remove ourselves from every international framework or institution whose decisions degrade the glory of Israel.

 

      Let us conclude with a prayer for the welfare of our wounded soldiers, for the speedy rehabilitation of the North, and for the “rehabilitation” of the political and military leadership of the Jewish people.

 

      Send responses, remarks and comments to Datya Yitzchaki, spokeswoman of the Eretz Yisrael Faithful, at [email protected]

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Yehudit Katzover is one of the founders of Women in Green. This essay was written in Hebrew and translated into English by Sally Zahav.