Tisha B’Av, the day commemorating the destruction of the Jewish people’s national home, is chillingly intertwined with the destruction of the Jewish communities of Gush Katif and Northern Samaria. The IDF officer responsible for planning the disengagement operation did not consult the Hebrew calendar, and the evacuation was originally scheduled to begin on Tisha B’Av itself. Once the significance of the date became apparent and public criticism followed, the operation was postponed by one day – to the Tenth of Av.
Perhaps even more troubling is the fact that, instead of moving from destruction toward renewal and rebuilding, we went from one destruction to another.
The demolition of thriving communities and the expulsion of their residents, carried out to the cheers of terrorists, amounted to yet another wall being torn down in our national home. Yet this was not the first breach. It had begun with the Oslo Accords, when thousands of armed terrorists were brought into the Land of Israel and parts of our homeland were handed over to terrorists and murderers.
The naivety born of weakened resolve and a loss of connection to our roots led us from the withdrawal from Lebanon to the Second Intifada, from the disengagement from Gush Katif and Northern Samaria to the Second Lebanon War, and ultimately to the October 7 massacre.
One retreat led to another, and Israel’s weakening national spirit encouraged terrorism, the murder of Israeli civilians, and strengthened our enemies’ belief that the State of Israel could ultimately be destroyed.
There is a direct line connecting the withdrawal from Lebanon and Hassan Nasrallah’s infamous “Spider’s Web” speech to the kidnappings at Har Dov and along Route 105. There is a direct line between Ehud Barak’s concessions at Camp David and the outbreak of the Second Intifada; between the withdrawal from Gaza and the abduction of Gilad Shalit; and between the Shalit prisoner exchange – which released more than 1,000 terrorists, including Yahya Sinwar – and the October 7 massacre.
When you flee from confrontation, you eventually meet it on your own doorstep-or in your own living room.
The dark joke about the Bedouin who, after being struck by a train, jumps up to smash a whistling kettle because “you have to kill them when they’re small,” reflects an uncomfortable but important truth when confronting terrorism and guerrilla warfare.
The rockets would not simply “rust on their launchers,” as former IDF Chief of Staff and Defense Minister Moshe (“Bogie”) Ya’alon once remarked. If we fail to confront a threat when it first emerges-if we merely attempt to contain or minimize it-we will inevitably face it later under far worse conditions, often only after suffering a devastating surprise attack, as we ourselves experienced.
People ask why this war has lasted so long. The answer is simple: we spent more than thirty years making mistakes, and correcting them takes time. Israel has achieved extraordinary successes on every front and has significantly strengthened its standing as a regional power. Yet the mission is not complete.
Some may ask, “Shall we forever live by the sword?” The answer is that in the challenging region in which we have chosen to live, we must remain vigilant and prevent our enemies from rebuilding their strength and threatening us.
When Israel is strong and proactive-when, as it is today, it is perceived as a formidable power-it creates deterrence. That deterrence enables us to pursue “peace through strength,” reaching agreements that genuinely serve Israel’s interests rather than agreements that begin with Israeli withdrawals in exchange for pieces of paper filled with promises that will never be fulfilled. Such deterrence requires constant maintenance through prevention and enforcement against every attempt by our enemies to rearm and threaten us.
This is Israel’s new security doctrine, and it should continue to guide our actions. It abandons the longstanding concepts of “containment” and “quiet will be met with quiet,” which shaped Israeli policy for many years, and instead seeks decisive victory through proactive and offensive measures designed to prevent and deter enemy aggression across all fronts.
This doctrine also promotes peace with our neighbors-but, as noted, peace through strength. A peace based on reciprocity: “They give, they receive.” This principle guided the recent “20 Points” agreement in Gaza and is reflected in the understandings currently taking shape with the Lebanese government. Israel is reshaping its security borders not through withdrawals or territorial concessions, but by securing strategic areas and establishing buffer zones along each of its borders.
Israel has already returned to the evacuated communities of Northern Samaria and expanded them further, fulfilling the biblical blessing: “May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times over” (Deuteronomy 1:11). In the next stage, may we also witness the restoration of Jewish communities along the northern perimeter of the Gaza Strip.
So, on the eve of Tisha B’Av, we remember not only the destruction of the Temple, but also the devastation we experienced on October 7, two and a half years ago. We also remember how we rose from that moment of destruction to the reality we see today-a reality marked by significant victory.
We remember that after every destruction comes renewal, and after every exile comes redemption.
May we continue to rebuild our land and the cities of our God.
May we remember, and may we continue to grow stronger.
Am Yisrael Chai.
