Mothers and fathers of soldiers demand: Define the goals of the war NOW
We, mothers and fathers of the soldiers, demand that the government define and clarify the goals of the war, and the exit plan. We cannot endanger the lives of soldiers, hostages in Gaza, and innocent residents without knowing what for.
Why is this important?
We all agree that Hamas's military and operational force must be neutralized in order to ensure the safety of the residents of South Israel, and the rest of the country's citizens. But the lack of clarity regarding the combat strategy, the exit strategy and the goals of the war only grows as the war continues. Every day that passes, soldiers are killed, fighting endangers the lives of the hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza with no prospect of release, and innocent people are killed in Gaza every day. Gadi Eisenkot said, at the funeral of his son Gal who fell in battle in Gaza, that "we will do everything to be worthy of you." To be worthy of all those who sacrificed their lives, we must now define the objectives and strategy of combat and the exit strategy.
If the government is satisfied by hollow slogans – those going to combat risk their lives in vein. The lack of strategy only costs us more and more lives. The government will not be able to cover up the October 7 failure with endless fighting and an ongoing state of emergency that harms the army, the home front, civilians and the economy. War – and war – is a means to a political end. Therefore, the government must define a realistic political goal for the war.
We, mothers and fathers of soldiers, refuse to let Gaza become the new Lebanon. We refuse to have our sons serve for years, deep within Gaza. The government must define the objectives of the war immediately, and ensure minimal risk to the soldiers, hostages and innocent residents of Gaza.
The political vision of the “full-on right wing” government is a return to the occupation of Gaza. But the purpose of this war is to restore security and secure the existing border – not to conquer, occupy, dispossess, expunge and settle.
The war is for the purpose of restoring security and ensuring the peace of the sovereign border, not for the purpose of occupation, dispossession, expulsion and settlement. Occupation of Gaza will not happen in our name, is not for us, and is not something for which we will give up the lives of our children.
As historian Yuval Noah Harari wrote: The residents of Be’eri and Sderot, Kfar Gaza and Ofakim should know that after victory, the government will unite them and restore their security rather than dividing them into “first-class” and “second-class Israel” – and then abandoning them all.
Join us in demanding that the government define the goals of the war and reflect them to the public now!
