Ceasefire – No! Surrender – Yes!

I made Aliyah with my wife and children 35 years ago, in July 1990, and shortly after that, we were greeted by Scud missiles, thanks to Sadaam Hussein. Here’s how it played out: A month after we began our new life in Eretz Yisrael, Hussein sent 140,000 Iraqi troops and 18,000 tanks into Kuwait (on August 2, 1990). President George Bush (the first one…) spent the next few months planning and coordinating an American response and “Operation Desert Storm” officially began – with aerial bombings – on January 17, 1991. Hussein responded by sending his first scuds into Israel on the following day! I often joked that it was his way of saying; “Welcome to Israel, Sackett family… when are you moving back to New York?” I must state that, 35 years later, we are still here – Baruch HaShem – and its Sadaam Hussein who is in a much different place!! Ok, back to the timeline.

On Feb 24^th, the land campaign began and, according to official statistics, over 92,000 US Marines entered the war with “boots on the ground”. Iraqi soldiers began suffering heavy causalities and world leaders started demanding a ceasefire. Although America’s ground campaign lasted only 100 hours, the aerial bombings continued relentlessly. President Bush and Defense Secretary Dick Cheney refused to entertain the thought of a ceasefire, demanding instead that Sadaam Hussein surrender. A 10-point surrender agreement was drawn up and the US promised that their bombings would continue until the Iraqi leader accepted all 10 of the conditions. At first Hussein accepted 3 of them, then 5, and finally he accepted 7 of the 10 conditions. The United Nations began screaming that the US needed to accept Iraq’s 70% acceptance of the plan, but Bush and Cheney said no. And then – Defense Secretary Dick Cheney made the most incredible statement ever: “In the history of the world, when did the loser ever dictate terms to the winner?” He continued; “This war will not end until Iraq accepts all 10 of our conditions… the last one being complete and total surrender.”  Fast forward to April 11, 1991 – the day when Iraqi President Sadaam Hussein accepted all 10 conditions and officially surrendered, ending the Gulf War at 10pm EST – less than 3 months after America entered the war.

That is what I want to happen in Israel. Not for Trump or Qatar or the UN to broker a ceasefire with Hamas but for the savages from October 7^th to surrender. They get zero say in the matter. They get no benefits, money or compensation. Nothing positive will be done for them; they will accept every one of Israel’s terms – which obviously includes the release of every hostage (living and dead) – and they will get on their knees, put their hands behind their heads and surrender to the army of HaShem.

People tell me that I am living in Fantasyland since this will never happen, yet my answer is quite simple; It will happen… the day we start believing that Eretz Yisrael is HaShem’s land and He has trusted us to conquer, settle and build it. Part of our responsibility is in making sure that Jews are protected here, which means that enemies must be annihilated and not simply asked to “play nice” for 60 days. This is why there is just one solution and its not called “ceasefire”. Rather, the term is called “surrender” with no deals or plea-bargains. May that happen soon!

Am Yisrael Chai!