Tonight begins the holiday of Succot.
Hamas terrorists kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit on June 25, 2006. The Red Cross has never been allowed to visit him, nor have any of the so-called human rights groups agitated to visit and deliver messages from his family.
Hamas is an IslamoNazi movement whose charter blames the Jews for both World Wars, quotes generously from the notorious Jew-hating Tzarist forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and advocates the annihilation of Israel and the genocide of the Jewish people.
This is the duly elected government of the Arabs who live in Gaza. In short, Hamas represents the will of the people.
Apparently, Israel has concluded a deal with Hamas. In return for Gilad Shalit--I assume an alive Shalit--Israel will set free 1,027 terrorists. Those Arabs with blood on their hands are, according to published reports, excluded from this deal.
Seraphic Secret hopes that Gilad Shalit will be set free, reunited with family and countrymen who yearn for his release from a captivity in what must be a living hell.
However, we are dismayed that, once again, Israel has put herself into the untenable position where terrorists dictate the terms of the deal.
What has happened to the country that executed the brilliant raid on Entebbe? What happened to the military that, against all odds in 1973, crossed the Suez Canal, fought a blood soaked hand-to hand battle at the Chinese Farm, and then encircled the entire Egyptian Third Army?
Within twenty-four hours of Shalit's--or any Israeli's--kidnapping, the Jewish State's response should be simple and ruthless:
1. Every crossing into Gaza is sealed. Nothing goes in, nothing goes out. Nothing.
2. Electricity to Gaza is turned off.
3. Drones and special forces will relentlessly target and assassinate Hamas leaders wherever they might be--including their families.
Currently, the problem for Israel is that she has no credible deterrence against terrorist kidnappings. The IslamoNazis know that in the end Israel will trade hundreds if not thousands of terrorists for one or two Jews or Jewish corpses. No matter how you look at it, the terrorists are playing a winning hand.
Initiating such hard-line measures will bring international condemnation.
So what?
When Israel fights by the rules she is condemned with lunatic vigor.
The truth is, if Israel just went ahead and acted as she should against a genocidal Islamist enemy who has been at war with Judaism since the 7th century, the oh-so-self-righteous Europeans and international human rights groups would quickly retreat, intimidated by the Jewish State's no-nonsense approach.
As to the charge of disproportionate force: That is the very point of warfare, to bring overwhelming force against the enemy in order to effect his collapse and unconditional surrender.
There is no deterrence without disproportionate force.
And to guard against future cases like the Shalit deal, Israel must reevaluate her military doctrines in order to put Hamas and all terrorists on notice that the price paid for terrorism against Jews and the Jewish State is too fearful--even for Islamist nihilists who adore death.
