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December 31, 2024
Sondra Oster Baras
Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that another year has gone by—another year of seemingly unending war, tragedy, loss. There are still 100 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza. While at least 36 have been murdered, it is not clear how many of the remaining 64 are still alive. Hamas has been defeated — their leadership has been decimated and so many of their physical infrastructure, both below and above ground, has been destroyed. But they remain unwilling to release our precious hostages.
So many soldiers have fallen. My own nephew, Amichai Oster, fell on New Year’s Day, the first soldier to fall in 2024. Today, as we approach New Year’s Day 2025, so many more have lost their lives or have become permanently disabled by their war injuries. It is so hard to wrap our heads around all of it.
As we look towards the future, towards the new year, we hope and pray that this war will end soon, that our hostages will come home, that our soldiers will come home, that our people will be safe and secure. We pray that our enemies will be defeated.
During the past few months, the IDF has scored remarkable achievements, killing Sinwar and Nasrallah, the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, detonating thousands of pagers and walkie talkies belonging to Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon and Syria, taking control of most of Southern Lebanon. Assad fell in Syria, an amazing event directly attributable to Israel’s successes on all fronts.
But the future is far from clear. Hamas terrorists are still attacking our soldiers in Gaza and the Syrian rebel leaders are Sunni Islamists, linked to El Qaeda. The Houthi rebels in Yemen are still sending missiles and armed drones to Israel. Iran is still working on its nuclear program. And just last week, RPG missiles and other sophisticated weaponry was discovered at terrorist enclaves in Samaria.
A popular saying in Israel is that we are a villa in a jungle. Israel, the villa, is beautiful, peaceful and peace-loving, a wonderful place to live. But it is surrounded by a jungle of ferocious beasts—terrorists, monsters like those who attacked southern Israel on October 7th, vicious armies, despotic leaders, millions of people who are eager to drive every last Jew into the Sea.
For decades, we believed we had conquered the jungle. While we were well aware of the dangers that surrounded us and the IDF was constantly developing new weaponry, new tactics and better training, we believed that our superior military force created the deterrence needed to ensure that we would not be attacked.
But all that came crashing down on October 7th. Until then, we believed we were in control of the jungle. Or at the very least, that we had built enough barriers to ensure that the jungle would never reach the villa.
There were many over the years who believed we would succeed in disappearing the Jungle, That the various peace plans that had been floated over the years, all of which entailed territorial withdrawal, was all that was needed to tame the jungle. Give the beast some land, the theory went, and the beast will become a kitty-cat.
Today, Israel is grappling with its new reality. But the essential question that we all face is not that different than before. Should we try to tame the jungle, or at least control the jungle? Or is it best to erect barriers to ensure the jungle does not encroach upon the villa.
I am not sure what the correct answer is but I do know that the Israeli Government and the IDF are far more determined to protect the villa than ever before. In the north, the IDF has taken control of vast areas of Lebanon and Syria and insists that it will not leave some of these areas unless and until we can be assured that our border is protected. They have learned the lesson that a barrier is not enough without ensuring a defensive perimeter on the other side of the barrier. The Defense Establishment is also determined to maintain a perimeter area in Gaza.
But then there are those who say we must find ways to disappear the jungle or at least to control it. They are looking for allies in Syria such as the Kurds or the Druze, who are truly interested in an alliance with Israel and who could assist in so many ways to ensure a quiet border with Israel. These two people groups also want to benefit from Israeli support.
Unfortunately, most of the western world remains in denial that there is a jungle. They believe they can talk to crazy terrorists and reform them. They still believe that a gift of land will make the jungle disappear.
We are at a critical time in our history and in the history of the world. We are fighting for our lives like never before. But we need the help and support of the free world. Nations should not stand with the terrorists nor should they block Israel’s ability to defend itself.
This is my prayer for the New Year: That God will bless our efforts to protect our people, to keep the jungle at bay and perhaps even reduce its presence. That God will open the eyes of leaders everywhere to understand the evil that surrounds us and to join forces with Israel to defeat and destroy that evil.
And a word about Judea and Samaria. Our jungle is not on the other side of a fence. It is right here — in our backyards, across the road, in the next town. We will do everything in our power to defeat our enemies. We will not be cowed.
“Shall the sword devour forever?” (II Samuel 2:26) is a verse that we refer to often in Israel. And the consensus today is that we will be living by the sword for years to come. We pray for deliverance and will rejoice if we can finally put away our swords in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy (2:4):”They shall beat their swords into plowshares.” But until that time, we will continue to battle against the jungle. Thank you for joining us in that battle. Thank you for daring to face reality and stand with Israel, despite the evil that surrounds us all.
https://youtu.be/GaEP3Bb64W8
Shmuel reveals the true miracle of the war of the Maccabees.
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