To our super-heroic reservists and soldiers:
I don’t know whether to thank you first – or apologize. I am grateful to you, your spouses, your families, your fellow employees/employers/colleagues, for your unfathomable sacrifices. And I want to apologize. My government, the Knesset, and I haven’t done enough to show our appreciation, support you financially or emotionally, and, most important, give you the united country we all deserve.
Fortunately, democracies constantly reinvent themselves, forever finding opportunities to improve. In that spirit, I address you tonight, to explain clearly and honestly why we will renew the fighting in Gaza aggressively after President Trump ends his Middle East visit on May 16.
In the spirit of national unity, paralleling your willingness to do whatever it takes to win this war, no matter where you stand politically, I organized a cross-party consultation before presenting my plan to you.
Because we all were targeted on October 7 – and every day since – I asked our new chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, to brief the cabinet. We are your duly elected government. Additionally, voluntarily, echoing the patriotism that led the Likud’s founder, Menachem Begin, to join a national-unity government in 1967, I then invited others to assess the plan thoughtfully. They included former defense minister Yoav Gallant, former chiefs of staff Herzi Halevi, Gadi Eisenkot, and Benny Gantz, and former major-general Orna Barbivai, who, before becoming a Yesh Atid and Blue and White MK, was the first woman to serve as the IDF’s second-highest-ranking officer.
Israel's former leaders debate Gaza plan
Raising the stakes, I asked for their unanimous consent before mobilizing so many of you reservists and soldiers in this next round. We debated for hours. Without spilling operational details, these experienced soldiers made valuable suggestions, which Lt. Gen. Zamir’s staff is incorporating. Ultimately, all supported our strategy.
True, the ultra-Orthodox parties started boycotting votes on coalition legislation until we pass a law exempting yeshiva students from military service. I agreed not to advance any such law while all of you fight these next three months. Those from the opposition reciprocated graciously, promising to support our coalition in the Knesset as you fight, while encouraging protesters to stop for now. All of Israel must unite behind this effort to defeat Hamas and free every hostage.
Admittedly, we debated the hostage question most intensely. Everyone agreed that:
• Hamas is solely responsible for their ongoing suffering, and – although I diplomatically stayed quiet – protests should take place abroad, targeting Qatari embassies and properties.
• We all wish we could free the hostages immediately.
• No one truly knows whether military pressure or diplomacy will work, but we’re hoping the IDF’s plan – and your heroism – will break this heartbreaking logjam.
My friends, I understand that many of you wonder, What’s new? Why bother fighting? Aren’t we returning to the same Gazan stalemate? Note, we’re far stronger now. President Trump supports us in Gaza. He won’t force us to stop and start, sputter and sidestep. We can now create a humanitarian zone, hold territory as we clear it of terrorists, and distribute aid only to civilians, not to Hamasniks who resell food at abusive markups.
Ultimately, we aim to create enough pressure so a weakened Hamas frees the hostages. Then, we can do what’s most needed to avoid another October 7: destroy Hamas’s tunnel system and eviscerate its military infrastructure.
Your heroism, ingenuity, and courage have vindicated previous war plans, defied outside experts with the gains already secured, and given us new advantages in this renewed fight. Iran, the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas sag limply before the world, weakened.
We just finished Israel’s most searing yet inspiring week. This Remembrance Day-Independence Day felt particularly fraught as wildfires devoured so many forests earlier waves of young superstars, our beloved halutzim, pioneers, planted lovingly, bravely, decades ago.
On Remembrance Day we stood united, Left and Right, religious and nonreligious, Jews, Druze, and Bedouin fighters alike. As some in local ceremonies observed, in our nation, among our people, we raise our children to love strangers whom we never had the privilege to know. When mourning them, we vow to be worthy of them while savoring every day in our rebuilt old-new land.
Even as we still have daunting work to do – and you face painful sacrifices ahead – we already proved that the terrorists failed. Israel’s spirit won’t break. We the people of light and life defeated the cultists of darkness and death.
I know how you danced and sang, hugged your loved ones, and barbecued, on Independence Day. Each followed your own special ritual, cherishing our little miracle in the Middle East in your own way. And now, I know how hard it is to temporarily put aside the beautiful lives you’ve built – and celebrated – to plunge back into this ugly but necessary war. I marvel at how many of you already showed up and will keep showing up: not for me but for us; for your buddies, your families, and our future.
I wish I could promise you that this is the end of this horror. I can’t. Our enemies are relentless. But I can vow that, going forward, I will do my best to unite, not divide, to explain, not just demand. I hope to be worthy of you, our extraordinary next generation, and those who nobly made the ultimate sacrifice so we can continue to protect the West, while fulfilling our Zionist dream to be a free nation in our homeland.
The writer, a senior fellow in Zionist thought at the Jewish People Policy Institute, is an American presidential historian. His latest books, To Resist the Academic Intifada: Letters to My Students on Defending the Zionist Dream and The Essential Guide to October 7th and its Aftermath, were just published.
