Ariel Sharon pushed through the Gaza disengagement. But religious Zionists share responsibility. For decades religious Zionists argued the land issue with the secular Left solely from the security perspective. Instead, religious Zionists should have fulfilled their biblical responsibility of a massive “Faith in the Torah” outreach to the secular Left to attain a truly Jewish state.
Instead of a faith outreach to their secular brethren, religious Zionists opted to reach out to evangelical Christians. They hoped their own faith, buttressed by evangelical dollars, would save the “greater Israel” land concept. Instead, it was a formula for disaster.
Messianic Age scriptures are wrongly applied now to justify this alliance. The Tanach speaks of strangers in the Messianic Age bringing their wealth to Jerusalem, thus acknowledging their subjection to Israel. But I assure you that evangelical Christians feel no subordination to Israel in any way. Their missionary agenda is still very much alive. And they have great confidence that many Orthodox settlers, overwhelmed by the evangelicals' Christian love, will yet convert. But that is another article.
Some of the most vociferous opposition to disengagement was raised by Zionists living in the U.S. This was great, but if they were living in Israel it would have been more effective. They could have made a decisive difference. If 70,000 Jews had lived in Gaza instead of 9,000, it would have rendered disengagement impossible.
Let's face reality. Gaza was doomed because not enough religious Zionists were willing to settle there. Israel is fast becoming a post-Zionist State. Thankfully, it is still a haven for oppressed Jews. But Israel has to be much more. Israel has to be filled with Zionists whose biblical ideals gave them no rest until they went home to Zion.
Many believed the Divine alarm clock sounded in 1967 when God gave Judea, Samaria and Gaza to Israel. What did religious Zionists do with this gift? Not enough! A final warning sounded with the Gaza disengagement. Unless religious Zionists act soon, most or all of Samaria and Judea, Israel's heartland, could go the way of Gaza.
Protests have failed. Hundreds of thousands of evangelical-donated dollars will fail. But if Zionist faith added 400,000 Jewish settlers in Samaria and Judea, it would render any further land giveaway impossible.
New Israeli elections and a new government are likely. Divine providence could reward such Zionist faith with an open door for active settlement while the U.S. and Western Europe are tied up in other crises.
Further, many secular Israelis are having second thoughts about ceding the West Bank. Why? Despite predictions of violence, even civil war, the evicted Gaza settlers showed great respect for the IDF at the cost of tragic personal loss. The settlers came off with high marks. A large influx of religious Zionists now could shift Israel's political stance to a Zionist-Right orientation that would take the necessary steps to stop terrorism. But more is at stake than just the Land issue. A Jewish state with traditional Jewish values is hanging in the balance.
Then there is Israel's reported violence — 3,500 annual rapes, 220 murders, over 40,000 offences involving bodily harm, all caused in part by youth with “gel in their hair and knives in their pockets.” And there are 13,000 drug use arrests and 10,000 drug trafficking arrests, reflecting the high degree of drug addiction in Israel.
More abominable is Israel's notorious sex trade, one of the worst in the world. True, two-thirds of the prostitutes are non-Jewish women, immigrants from Russia. However, one-third of them are Jewish. But the patrons of these prostitutes are Israelis, both secular and religious. “Two Isolated Nations” must cease to be. Religious Zionists no longer can live in isolation. Modern Israel's moral norms are a horrific reflection on a people of Torah background.
And so a large influx of religious Zionists is needed to save the moral integrity of Israel. Torah lovers, take notice. Israel, the modern miracle of Hashem, is sinking fast morally. Meet the Torah challenge of faith: immigrate to Israel. Then initiate a people-loving outreach to bring the secular Israelis to an appreciation of Torah principles. By increasing their faith in Torah principles, many will also embrace Israel's Torah Land rights.
The results of a Harris Poll conducted among North American Jews were presented last June to the Jewish Agency's Board of Trustees. Six percent of those polled said it is likely that they will move to Israel in the coming five years. Six percent of over 5.5 million Jews in North America would mean over 330,000 Jews moving to Israel within five years.
The earlier figure of 400,000 additional religious Zionists living in Samaria and Judea in the near future to avoid disengagement is certainly within the realm of reality. Even if some settled elsewhere in Israel, just living the concept of “Religious Right activism” — promoting Torah moral social standards in Israel — would shift the electorate to the political Right. Accept the challenge — a Torah Israel, one with Torah principles and Torah-defined borders, is at stake.
With the advent of Nefesh b`Nefesh, the organization dedicated to revitalizing North American aliyah by removing or minimizing the financial, professional, logistical and social obstacles that potential olim face, immigrating to Israel has become that much easier. In the words of Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, Nefesh b'Nefesh co-founder, “You don`t just bring new immigrants here and drop them off. We help them thrive and succeed, and then they`ll bring their family and friends. We`ve had too many horror stories in the past of failed aliyah that trickle back home and turn people off....It`s not just bringing in more bodies, but rather giving a sense of family and a shoulder to cry on and someone who can give them answers..."
After nearly 2,000 years the Jewish people stand at a pivotal point in history. For centuries, prayers of return to the Land have risen daily. Now, by a choice of faith, olim have become Hashem's answer to these centuries-old entreaties. Saying these prayers today can become more than words. They can become dynamic acts of faith. As a non-proselytizing Christian friend, I view with awe the rendezvous of the Jewish people with their God in Zion.
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