As instructed by the political echelons and state attorneys, the army is sending signals that may encourage a third Intifada, which we will only be able to quell at a high cost in blood.
And everyone who saw the photos of the running soldiers wondered: Isn’t the Israeli army strong enough to deal with those mobs?
A few weeks ago Israel engaged in Operation Pillar of Cloud. Israel was led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, who had pledged four years ago that when they would be at the helm of the government, they would not stop a military operation midway, as the previous government had done in Gaza, but they would end the reign of Hamas. Now, their time had come. With 75,000 reserve soldiers outside Gaza ready to go, the Netanyahu government stopped them, while Hamas continued to fire rockets at Beer Sheva, Ashdod and Tel Aviv, and it even tried to hit Jerusalem. And everyone who saw the rockets and photos wondered: Isn’t the Israeli army strong enough to crush Hamas?
Thousands of illegal homes are being built by Bedouin in the Negev and Arabs in the Galilee and in Jerusalem. Hundreds, nay, thousands, of court orders have been issued for their removal, yet the authorities do not enforce the court orders and the Israel Police does not provide security for such enforcement. And everyone who sees the construction and reads the court orders wonders: Isn’t the State of Israel strong enough to enforce the law?
The same holds true for taxes, property assessments and social security payments. Israeli Arabs pay much less than their share even compared to Jews in the same socio-economic brackets. Isn’t Israel strong enough to enforce the law?
The answer is that the state is strong but lacks power. Its leaders lack power, the inner characteristic that would allow them to use their strength. They lack the steeled determination that does not for a moment lose sight of national goals and that uses our great strength to realize them, and to defeat all our enemies.
That is why we formed
Otzma L’Israel – Power to Israel. We want to actualize our dormant strength, not have it wasted by leaders who lack determination. We want to crush Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran – not verbally but in reality. We want Israel to be able to enforce its laws in Arab communities without fear. We want Israel to have an inner strength that will be echoed by its outer strength and to have both of these, together, reflect our determination and Israel's power.