Rise Up, Gideon!

TRUST IN HASHEM, NOT THE WORDS OF MEN!

***This post is under constant update. Scroll down for new stuff.***
***Have you done your teshuva today?***

Carl in Jerusalem reports via JPost:

The JPost is reporting that most of the 'security cabinet' is opposed to an expanded ground operation, which the IDF has requested. This is not good. The government is 'center-left' and as a result, most of the 'security cabinet' is center-left to left. Furthermore, not all of the members of the 'security cabinet' have experience in military matters. Watching them override the army's recommendations is not comforting. Also, in light of Hezbullah's weapons deployment in the Bekaa Valley, it seems unlikely that Israel can vanquish Hezbullah without a ground operation there. A ground operation may also be necessary in Tyre in order to put a stop to Katyusha rockets raining down on Haifa.

All in all, the 'security cabinet' decision shows a lack of intestinal fortitude (I would have left the decision in the army's hands) and possibly the beginning of the end of Israel's new-found deterrence capability of the last two weeks.

THIS IS SCARY STUFF. VICTORY IS TAKING A BACK-SEAT TO POLITICS. ISRAEL WILL NOT SURVIVE IF SHE STAYS THIS COURSE! NOW IS THE TIME FOR THE IDF TO BE THAT ARMY OF STIFF-NECKED, PROUD JEWS WHO REFUSE TO TAKE ORDERS THEY KNOW ARE HARMFUL TO THE COUNTRY. NOW IS THE TIME TO BE LIKE GIDEON, TO BE THE ONE WHO LISTENS TO HASHEM, NOT THE DISPARAGING VOICES AROUND THEM! NOW IS THE TIME TO BE LIKE YHOSHUA, TO RISE UP AND PROCLAIM, "AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSEHOLD, WE WILL SERVE ADONAI" NOT THE POLITICIANS IN ISRAEL OR ABROAD! RISE UP, IDF! YOUR G-D IS WITH YOU, AND HE CAN AND WILL PERFORM MIRACLES IN YOUR MIDST IF ONLY YOU PUT YOUR TRUST IN HIM WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART, SOUL, AND STRENGTH! PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, TRUST IN YOUR G-D!!!!

"Behold, I have put before you life or death, blessing or curse, therefore CHOOSE LIFE SO THAT YOU MAY LIVE!!! ...On this depends the length of time you will live in the land Adonai swore he would give to your ancestors Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov." (D'varim 30:19-20; emphasis mine)

Rabbi Lazer Brody calls for teshuva:

Each one of us will soon see how a soldier's success or failure on the battlefield was dependant on the people that soldier fought for. We are responsible for his success and safety. That means that we can't sit at home, eat potato kugel on Shabbos, give a few token dollars to the emergency fund, and say, "What, me worry?" Hashem demands tshuva from each of us, whether we're in Tzfat or in Dallas and Los Angeles. Our tshuva could save the life of a courageous Golani guy who's in a firefight with the Hizbolla this very second. Let's get moving! Each of us knows what he or she has to do.

And provides news to motivate us:

There's no one to depend on but Hashem. Tshuva and prayer are the order of the day. For those who are still asleep, Israel is fighting for its very survival. The Egyptian, Syrian, and Iranian armies are on highest level alert. Hear O Israel, wake up!

Israpundit posts the words of Israeli Army Captain Uri Lavie, spoken to his troops before going into Lebanon [via Ha'aretz]:

This is our time to rise to the challenge, put on the helmets and the bullet proof vests and make sure that the northern border is secure.

We shall fulfill any mission in a most effective manner, in face of any challenge.

If we shall not fulfill our mission we shall forfeit the right to exist.

We shall not lose this war, which we did not start.

Our duty is to serve as a defense force of the Jewish People, and to secure the peace of mind of the civilians in northern Israel.

If we shall not do it, no one will do it in our place.

For two thousand years we waited for the establishment of the Jewish State, and we are not going to roll back because a bunch of terrorists assume that they can scare us.

He who cannot defend Liberty does not deserve Liberty.

If we will not be able to fight until our last drop of blood, in order to secure the Liberty of our People on its own soil, our People will not enjoy Liberty.

There is time to talk and there is time to act. At this time, when missiles and Katyushas afflict the North all the way to Haifa, in addition to the two kidnapped soldiers, the ten soldiers killed and the dozens injured, it is time to fight and not to talk. We are the force, which has been chosen to fight, and we shall perform in the most effective manner.

I will be the first one to enter the battle and the last one to come out, and will do everything in my power to get you out alive and well. On Friday, with G-D’s help, we will rejoin with our families. However, I cannot do it alone. Once we cross the northern border, you should exercise full alert and full responsibility toward your fellow soldier.

KEEP THE IDF SPIRIT GOING STRONG:

Stillruleall at Jumping on the Bandwagon eulogizes a friend and fellow soldier, Amichai. Baruch Dayin Ha'Emet.

IsraLuv at Sabra at Heart posts a video with pride in support of the IDF:



Rock of Galilee gives us the IDF opinion on the most recent Security Cabinet ruling:

I spoke with a soldier yesterday and he feels that there was a media bias against the ground offensive from the beginning. The media was against sending in ground troops and that was how they slanted their stories. Once we were in Lebanon already they made it seem like we had already won, to get the public against the idea of staying there. I don't know what their agenda is here, but the only way to win a war (as everyone knows) is to send in ground troops. Without that we'll start getting shellacked again in another 6 months.

If the government would support our troops the way the people support the troops, this would be a much happier country.

GO, IDF, GO! Don't listen to the will of men; trust in the promises of HaShem!!!

DEBKA's analysis of the IDF ground ops in Lebanon prove that hitting the UN "observation post" was a very good thing, indeed:

The holier-than-thou tone of outrage taken by Annan is surprising when it generally known that many UN missions are exploited as the cover for foreign agents, often hostile, to carry out spying operations in war zones. The inadvertent Israeli air strike revealed the fact that the UN force in Lebanon includes Chinese observers. One was killed along with an Austrian, a Canadian and a Finn. The presence of Chinese observers keeping an eye on the combat in South Lebanon has never before been reported.

Our intelligence experts compare the incident to the inadvertent US bombardment which destroyed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1998, killing a number of Chinese “diplomats.” It was discovered that from that building the Chinese had operated sophisticated surveillance to track the performance of American warplanes, missiles and smart bombs.

GO, IDF, GO! TRUST IN HASHEM, NOT THE WORDS OF MEN!

Israpundit ponders the will of the Zahal and suggests (if not demands) that supporters of Israel call for the formation of a new government in Israel IMMEDIATELY.

Israel National News Reports: Cabinet Update: Okay To Call Up Three Reserve Divisions Although the Security Cabinet has yet to okay more ground operations, they have called up more troops to relieve the ones currently fighting in the north. May HaShem use this call up according to His will, and may He continue to war in the heavenlies on behalf of His land and His people!

HaShem

Israel

IDF

war

Lebanon