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Photo: Reuters
Riots in Jerusalem. The religious faith connects stone throwers and rocket launchers
Photo: Reuters
Photo: Zehavit Shasha
MK and former Defense Minister Amir Peretz
Photo: Zehavit Shasha

Israelis just want a routine life

Op-ed: Israel can act firmly against terror and work with the same determination to bring about a comprehensive peace agreement, which will change the reality in our region for the sake of all citizens.

During our Friday dinner, an air raid siren cut through the air. We hugged our grandchildren and ran to the basement. A minute later, we heard an explosion, a rocket landed - and we went back to routine.

 

 

I thought about the residents of Jerusalem's Jewish neighborhoods, who are now forced - due to the ongoing stone and Molotov cocktail throwing - to consider the route they should take. I also thought about the worshippers arriving with a lot of faith and fear in their hearts, and all they are praying and hoping for is the return of a simple life's routine. And so, as the events unfolded around my dinner table, the national picture became much clearer.

 

Here in Sderot as well, all the residents with the steadfast spirit are hoping for is that this simple thing called "a life's routine" will become more stable. And it is clear to everyone that the fuse passes between Jerusalem to Sderot, reaching Gaza.

 

The question is whether we can disconnect the fuse between the stone throwers and the rocket launchers, or does the religious faith connecting them force us to neutralize the sparkle on both sides of the fuse. This fuse is the essence of our existence and the essence of their existence. This fuse conceals the threat, and this fuse contains the solution.

 

The rocket which hit Sderot on Friday night. It is clear to everyone that the fuse passes between Jerusalem to Sderot, reaching Gaza (Photo: Roee Idan)
The rocket which hit Sderot on Friday night. It is clear to everyone that the fuse passes between Jerusalem to Sderot, reaching Gaza (Photo: Roee Idan)

 

For thousands of years, no one has succeeded in crushing our faith as a Jewish people. Since the days of the Bible to the Holocaust, we did not abandon our desire to live "as a free people in our country." We must face the fact that a people can be oppressed, communities can be oppressed, but religion and faith will continue to whisper incessantly.

 

These days mark the defeat of the moderate religions vis-à-vis radical terror organizations like the Islamic State, which use religion as an authorization for enslavement, rape and shocking acts of murder. It is precisely in the face of these images that we must try to regulate our relations with the moderate Islamic states, which could become our allies in the future.

 

I have no intention of preaching to the government because I know how complicated the situation is. I was in the same place as a former defense minister, when you have to decide about the extent of the response in real time. I disagree with those who argue that the security forces were not allowed to complete their work during Operation Protective Edge, and that in Jerusalem we are also sending our forces to operate with their hands tied.

 

The military campaign alone is insufficient. Without a diplomatic campaign, no mission will be completed, and this mission is under the prime minister's full responsibility. Each time, we realize that Benjamin Netanyahu's declarations about his willingness to make bold diplomatic moves will remain futile. Precisely because he regained the Israeli voters' trust in the recent elections, he must act sensibly and responsibly, without any political considerations and only with the State of Israel's best interest in mind.

 

Our duty, as people who hold a different opinion, is to convince the public that we can act firmly against terror and work with the same determination to bring about a comprehensive peace agreement which will change the reality in our region, so that every citizen - regardless of religion, gender and sex - will enjoy the simple routine the State must provide him and his children with.

 

Knesset Member Amir Peretz (Zionist Union) is a former defense minister and a resident of the rocket-battered town of Sderot.

 


פרסום ראשון: 09.20.15, 14:19
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