By David Israel, JEWISH PRESS 17 December 2023
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant./Ministry of Defense
Dozens of IDF war martyrs’ families on Sunday sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war cabinet ministers stating, “We, the families of IDF soldiers who fell in the war since Simchat Torah, parents, spouses, and children, have lost what was most precious to us, but we are proud of the fallen and the legacy of heroism they left behind: they went into battle without hesitation and fought bravely and selflessly, out of love and confidence in Israel’s eternity, to save lives and protect the people and the homeland from the cruel enemy who came to annihilate us.”
The forum members (whose names are enclosed in the Hebrew petition below) reminded PM Netanyahu of his promise, “I say to all the families of our dear ones who fell in the war: we are doing everything to be worthy of their sacrifice and heroism. We will not stop before the mission is completed! There is no substitute for victory! To the last terrorists – all of Hamas are condemned to die. The IDF will continue to control Gaza’s security to prevent terrorism.”
The families’ letter continued: “In the name of the fallen, we turn to you now and bid you to keep your promise, to be worthy leaders for this nation and continue the war until the day of victory. Do not pause until all the goals have been achieved.
“You have a mandate to fight, you do not have a mandate to stop in the middle! This is the legacy of the fallen and it is our obligation to the living. Only continuing the war forcefully will bring victory and also force Hamas to release the remaining hostages, with God’s help.”
The PM said at the start of Sunday’s cabinet meeting: “I would like to respond to the dear families, the testament of the fallen is what guides us. We will fight to the end. We will achieve all of our goals: eliminating Hamas, releasing all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza does not again become a focus of terrorism, incitement and attacks against the State of Israel. We will continue to fight until the end on behalf of the fallen and to ensure our lives here in the Land of Israel.”
The forum stated the tasks that must be completed before victory can be declared:
- Eliminating every last Hamas terrorist
- Clearing the Gaza Strip of weapons
- Total Israeli control over all of the Gaza Strip
- Returning the hostages to their families
The above list of priorities contradicts the recent effort on the part of a group of families of the hostages, directed and financed by the same left-wing group that carried out the Kaplan Street demonstrations, to stop the war now and pursue the release of the hostages.
https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/calgarys-mayor-made-a-shameful-decision/
The mayor of Calgary, Canada refused to attend the city’d Jewish community’s anuual Hanukkah lighting because she claimed it was “politically motivated,” aimed at raising support for Israel;s genocide of the Gazans, and to oppose efforts to achieve a ceasefire and end the fighting,” (this is not a word-for-word exact quote, but she did say words to that effect), The Jewish community issued a response that the Hanukkah celebration was a religious and not a political celebration, that every previous mayor of Calgary had attendedthe event since it was first held in1989. They also saw “overtones of antisemitism ” in the mayor’s “shameful” response. Canada has a serious antisemitism problem.