Israel is currently faced with several challenges, domestic and foreign, which seem at first glance to be insurmountable.

Domestically, the ongoing saga of the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas is boiling over. Concurrently the war against terror rumbles on without any respite. These two crises, combined with the added calls for elections and political accountability, fuel an already volatile atmosphere.

As though these problems were insufficient, we also face the implacable imbecility of a lame-duck US President, an aspiring Democratic candidate and a UN totally subverted by the axis of evil and appeasing fellow travellers.

Add to this toxic mix a media subverted by Orwellian untruths and you have a perfect recipe for chaos, surrender to terror forces and in the near future a world where once again hate rules supreme.

The bottom line both in Israel and the rest of the democratic world is whether we lie down without a fight and accept the inevitability of a new jihadist world order or whether we stand and resist.

The plight of the hostages presents an impossible dilemma.

The agony and desperation of the families whose loved ones are held in Gaza by Hamas and associated terror groups cannot be imagined. Their campaign on behalf of the kidnapped hostages is understandable. Unfortunately this has attracted controversy mainly because parts have been hijacked by groups with differing agendas.

Some demand a unilateral capitulation which includes a complete withdrawal from Gaza and the resurrection of Hamas and associated terror groups. In addition, it means the release from Israeli jails of a thousand or more murderers who, without a doubt, would resume their murderous rampages. This happened when the last so-called deal for one hostage was consummated. Hamas has already made it perfectly clear that it envisages future pogroms and massacres.

Additionally, Sinwar, the Hamas leader has surrounded himself with human hostage shields. Therefore we are faced with letting him escape with the few remaining live hostages. It is an untenable situation especially when one knows with certainty that surrender to terror demands inevitably leads to further such outrages. Those who advocate appeasing terror groups and their enablers seem to remain impervious to any sort of realization that it is the murderers rather than the victims who are guilty of crimes against humanity.

Of course, the media and two-faced political leaders have already decided that Israel is the guilty party and deliberately put the onus on it for refusing to kowtow to terrorists. Joe Biden who has just been on vacation for two weeks blames Netanyahu for “not doing enough” to rescue the hostages. One can only treat his comments with contempt, given his Administration’s abject failure in Afghanistan and also his abject failure to prevent illegals (including known terrorists and criminals) from infiltrating the USA.

Other groups who have latched on to the demonstrations are those calling for elections now and accountability on the part of those responsible for the security lapses on 7 October. These are valid demands but they should wait until the current war is successfully concluded. Undoubtedly there must be a reckoning for failed policies prior to 7 October and subsequent actions. Unfortunately, those whose aims are to engender chaos and disunity prefer to display it now much to the delight of all who relish the spectacle of Israel being pilloried for every imaginable sin.

The Israel Labor Union (Histadrut) declared a general strike whose sole aim seemed to be to wreck the Israeli economy instead of showing solidarity with the war against Hamas. Without a doubt, the terror leaders in Gaza, Lebanon, Qatar, Tehran and elsewhere are rejoicing at the sight of striking Israelis absolving them of any culpability.

Adding lethal fuel to the fires of social unrest are the irrational pontifications, admonitions and unctuous proclamations from all quarters of the democratic world. No sane Israeli expects any sort of solidarity from those nations which themselves are models of hypocritical rhetoric and habitual supporters of the ongoing anti Israel resolutions at the corrupt United Nations. However, the least that could be expected from the diminishing number of true democracies was some sort of understanding of the threats facing civilized societies today.

Pious declarations that “Israel has the right to defend itself” are hollow and insincere when in the next breath those uttering them demand an immediate halt to the campaign before the murderers have been eliminated.

One day after the brutal murder of six Israeli hostages the UK Government announced suspension of 30 arms sales licenses with more under review. Despite frantic denials that this did not constitute any sort of embargo the fact is that “perfidious Albion” has once again shown its true colours.

At the same time a report in the Washington Post revealed that Kamala Harris might be “open to imposing new conditions on future aid to Israel.” This “straw in the wind” of possible future action merely confirms what most in Israel already suspect. A Harris/Walz White House will be in thrall to the hard left and pandering to the jihadist lemmings. The Harris appointed director of Arab outreach is on record as claiming”the Zionists control US politics.”  As Biden demonstrates his incompetence and Harris displays her even worse detachment from reality there is no doubt unrestrained rejoicing in those places where future terror plans are being hatched.

As Hamas and friends issue a call for all Palestinians to mobilize against Israel the UN Secretary General finds it impossible to condemn Hamas by name. Eleven months after 7 October the UN Security Council will finally debate the plight of the kidnapped hostages. Don’t expect anything more meaningful than insincere expressions of hot air and condemnations of Israel’s war against terror.

Iran is trying to turn Judea and Samaria into another Gaza by smuggling weapons to its surrogates for use against Israeli civilians. That is why the IDF has been conducting security operations in the territory. Pre-emptive action is critical to ensuring that the heartland of Israel does not become another area from which lethal terror is directed at civilians. One would think that this elementary fact might resonate with all those who claim to have the Jewish State’s best interests at heart.

Unfortunately, once again, logic flies out the window.

The UN Secretary General who can’t bring himself to blame Hamas for terror against Israelis demands an instant cessation of Israel’s security operations.

The UK is “deeply concerned” that Israel is trying to defend its citizens.

The USA declares that “Israel must immediately rectify its conduct.”

Sundry other foreign ministries issue similar sentiments.

What other nation faced with 80 years of unrelenting hate and terror is admonished to not fight back? What sort of a message does this send to other threatened nations? It is this collective collapse of intestinal fortitude in the face of naked aggression which will at the end of the day spell doom for Europe and then other continents.

A perfect example of the deranged syndrome infecting certain sections of the Israeli left is provided by a news report last week.

Ehud Olmert, a former failed Prime Minister, who was incarcerated for a time, continues to demonstrate an unerring ability at manipulative meddling. It appears that he and the late unlamented Yasser Arafat’s nephew have been “negotiating” with the aim of delivering a peace proposal that is too good to turn down. This priceless piece of self-delusory ego tripping was apparently agreed upon and touted as the ultimate panacea that would lead to peace on earth and the heralding of good will to all humanity.

Its basic premise is a return by Israel to the 1949/1967 armistice lines with minor adjustments. Some 4% of territory will be ceded to Israel with a corresponding percentage of territory handed over to the “Palestinians.” Jerusalem will again be divided with the eastern part of the city part of a Palestinian capital. The UN Security Council would guarantee freedom of worship and a sort of international trusteeship would administer affairs.

This cockeyed concoction of a peace agreement can only be the product of sick minds and delusional appeasers working hand in hand. The tragedy is that it may very well be embraced by those currently demanding an Israeli surrender to terror, self-loathers and most certainly will be heralded by all those in the international community who are totally detached from any sort of reality.

It is not hard to understand why we face irreconcilable challenges.

Even before the official announcement identifying the bodies of the returned hostages, the inflammatory rhetoric had already begun. Wild accusations started circulating, blaming Benjamin Netanyahu for nothing less than the direct murder of the six hostages.

Through our tears and with hearts shattered six times over, here’s a sobering truth that cuts through the emotion: Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar doesn’t want a deal right now. He needs the hostages to ensure his survival and to keep extorting us. His strategy is to wear us down, to prolong our internal conflicts indefinitely, stretching them out for months and years to come. As long as possible. And we’re playing right into his hands.

The public, guided by the “Kaplan protesters” – meaning the masses protesting in Kaplan St. in Tel Aviv, and the understandably distraught families of hostages, unwittingly dances to the tune of Sinwar, the chief executioner. While no one can stand in those families’ shoes or criticize them, they’re unknowingly actors in a play Sinwar has written and continues to direct. Although Hamas is the murderer, the blame and protests are directed at Netanyahu and his ministers, as if they were the killers. This only gives Sinwar more reasons to dig in his heels. In this case, it’s not God hardening Pharaoh’s heart, but the public – awash in a flood of uniform media messages – failing to see that they’re hurting the hostages more than helping them.

Instead of tens or hundreds of thousands gathering at the Egyptian and Gaza borders, or thousands protesting outside Qatari embassies worldwide, crowds are massing at the wrong address. The hostages aren’t being held in the city of Caesarea or Tel Aviv’s Ayalon road. Believe it or not, despite his many critics and undeniable missteps, even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to bring the hostages home.

Israel agreed to President Joe Biden’s proposal and even its revisions. It might agree to further updates, but Sinwar isn’t interested. So Netanyahu and his government, whose negotiating positions can be debated, aren’t really relevant right now. That is unless someone’s willing to agree to Israel’s complete surrender and total withdrawal from Gaza “lock, stock, and barrel.” Even then, the international community won’t give Israel the green light to return to the Philadelphi Corridor. Even if the world turned upside down, and the weapons caches, Hamas terrorists, and rockets waiting in Sinai for Israel’s withdrawal made their way back into Gaza – which has become a modern-day Sodom.

The most clear-headed response to the execution of the six hostages by these new Nazis came from Washington. President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris declared Hamas guilty and vowed they would pay. The question of how they’ll pay should be answered in Israel. We should set the price. The first step, which I proposed here two days after the Oct. 7 massacre, is to pass a law to bring Hamas and its collaborators to justice. We should conduct an expanded “Eichmann trial” against them – a trial that will expose, over time, the full scope of the atrocities Hamas has committed here in the last ten months and stretching back decades.

The second step is to make it crystal clear that Israel will permanently maintain a security buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip, along the border. The loss of this “holy ground” is the surest way to make the Hamas scums understand there’s a price for their murderous actions. Additional steps include further dividing the Strip into smaller, controlled areas and continuing to hunt down Hamas leaders in Gaza and worldwide. We should pursue them just as we did the murderers of the Munich Olympics athletes during Operation “Wrath of God” in former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir’s time – terrorists who also killed their hostages.

Netanyahu has done many things throughout his many years in office. In my opinion, the scales are tipped against him in the balance of failures versus achievements, but now he plays a fateful, Churchillian role. He is facing terrible pressure from the hostile American government, which is also using at least some of the domestic subversion against him, and he is facing attempts at sedition, wild incitement, unbridled slander, and a public, which, although it is a minority, tries to burn the country in time of war as if there is no tomorrow and there are no enemies. He does all this in front of the majority of the hostile media, defeatist Chief of Staff and Minister of Defense who coordinate too much with the Americans and the corrupt justice system that does not lift a finger against the thieves of the state, the rebels, and the instigators, in a blatant display of hypocrisy and standing in favor of the rebels. This could be Netanyahu’s great and historic hour. His whole life so far, his whole career, all the mistakes he had to learn from—everything is now draining to a climax. A climax in insisting on eliminating Hamas, destroying Gaza, and proving that it does not pay to massacre the Jews in the State of Israel, and also a climax on the Iranian issue, which is now reaching the final stage of developing atomic bombs. If he stands up to the pressure and does what is assigned to him, which he knows very well, he will go down in history alongside Churchill, because not only the fate of Israel vis-à-vis Islam is now at stake, but also the fate of the Western world that has fought against that enemy. Israel defeating Hams may provide proof and a personal example that extreme Islam can be defeated, so Netanyahu’s role is twofold. We are in a critical period. We have the ability to turn it into a great period, our most beautiful hour. Today I am strengthening Netanyahu’s hand and keeping my fingers crossed for him.