News from the Middle East Forum July 13, 2023
PHILADELPHIA – July 13, 2023 – Middle East Forum leaders yesterday joined Knesset members from both the ruling coalition and opposition, Israeli government ministers and security officials, and members of the U.S. Congress in re-launching the Knesset Israel Victory Caucus (KIVC) in Israel’s 25th Knesset, and calling for new strategies to defeat Israel’s enemies.
The Forum presented KIVC co-chairs MK Ohad Tal (Religious Zionism) and MK Evgeny Sova (Yisrael Beitenu) with its Gaza Victory plan, a major policy paper authored by Brigadier General (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser that challenges Israel’s passive “mow the lawn” Gaza policy and lays out a plan for Israel Victory via military, economic, and cultural initiatives. The Caucus will focus its efforts on implementing the plan.
“In today’s reality, it is time to talk about victory,” said National Missions Minister Orit Struck. “For too long we have talked about managing [the conflict]. It is time for our country to focus on victory and defeating our enemies.”
“We used to know how to win,” said MK Tal. “Unfortunately, Israel’s mentality has changed since the Oslo Accords. We stopped demanding of ourselves to win. But wars only end with a winner and a loser, and we need to stop acting like our existence here is in doubt.”
“There should be no difference between the coalition and opposition on this issue,” said MK Sava. “The moment this issue will be debated in the Knesset committees, you will find the full support of the opposition.”
“There can be no peace until Israel’s enemies acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) by video. “I appreciate the commitment of the Middle East Forum and the Knesset Israel Victory Caucus toward these goals.” Added Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN): “I congratulate the strong Knesset Israel Victory Caucus and let them know support for the Jewish state is stronger than ever in the United States.”
“A recent survey found that 66 percent of Palestinians believe Israel will not celebrate its 100th anniversary,” said Forum director Gregg Roman. “The Palestinians see Israel as weak, transient, and, above all, easy to defeat. For Israel to end terrorism and achieve victory, it must show the Palestinians, in actions and deeds, that Israel is strong, robust, and enduring. Israel must break its enemies’ will to carry on fighting by forcing them to accept that they can never destroy Israel.”
The Middle East Forum promotes American interests in the region and protects Western civilization from Islamism. It does so through a combination of original ideas, focused activism, and the funding of allies.
The Forum’s Israel Victory Project seeks an Israel Victory over the Palestinians to end the Arab-Israel conflict: peace for Israel and advancement for Palestinian society.
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This is a very important policy objective. Hopefully it will gain the momentum necessary to make it more than a headline. As to MK Sova’s claim that
It would be a welcome relief to see if this claim holds true that the whole opposition would support this measure. Unfortunately, I doubt that Sova speaks for the whole oppostion anymore than Tal speaks for the entire govt.
It would however be a remarkable breakthrough to have the two sides come together to support any policy objective, but it would be an exceptionally significant break with the established governing blockade in Israel for such a breakthrough occur in support of this plan.
Kuperwasser’s plan provides an altogether necessary change in the governmental toleration of the terror war being waged against Israeli citizens day after day, year after year, with only moments of established calm between the bloodlettings. The past acceptance of such things must be ended. With or without the support of her ‘allies’, Israel must establish her own sovereignty as being supreme, the defense of her own citizens as being beyond negotiation, and terrorist enclaves within her borders as being beyond any toleration.