If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no violence.
If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel.
From Jon Medved's A 'Family' at War:
While it may seem strange to feel at war while living in the eerily peaceful atmosphere of Jerusalem, just a 90-minute drive from battle-scarred northern Israel, all it takes is a quick glance around our synagogue to know that, yes, our families are fighting for their very lives. With so many of our sons and daughters in the thick of the fight, this war is our war.
In front of me, Bob Rosenschein's two boys are missing from their regular seats and are sitting instead inside tanks. Steve Zerobnick's son is a commando, Asher Ostrin's son is in field intelligence, David Arnowitz's daughter is training soldiers, Yaron Shor's boy is in the air force, Meir Fachler's son just started basic training, and Howie Kahn's son Eli has emerged as one of this war's first heroes, retrieving an enemy grenade and throwing it back to kill two Hezbollah terrorists.
Perhaps I am more affected by all of this because I am the father of three teenage boys and one girl. My oldest son, Momo, 19, will be inducted into the IDF next week. My second son, Yossi, 17, just got his first call-up notice, and my son Itamar, 15, will not be far behind.Herein lies a great secret of why we fight, why we have gone to war after the kidnappings of three Israeli soldiers. Why 90-plus% of the Israeli public backs this war. Because our army is our kids, and Jewish kids will not be kidnapped and slaughtered ever again without there being hell to pay. Because we will no longer sit idly while our enemies openly call for our destruction and amass the means to carry out their threats. Because we refuse to accept as normal a life where we must be afraid of a missile landing on our porch while we drink our morning coffee. Because this war is not being fought over territory, but our right to exist. It is for this that we fight the war critics call "disproportionate."
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