Eliana Benador: Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi on the War Against Hamas

Despite having lost almost 70 young soldiers during this war and after 3,488 rocket attacks between July 8 and August 10, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still insists in negotiating with the Hamas terrorists.

Meanwhile, a fiery Israeli-born Rabbi from Monsey, New York, is becoming the lightning rod trying to do “kiruv,” salvaging Jewish souls from the grip of unorthodox Jewish currents and a ramping liberalism.

He addresses thousands each week, getting rave reviews. His audiences encompass men and women of different ages, economic background and cultural origins.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he speaks during a joint press conference with Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon (L) at the defense ministry in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on August 2, 2014. Israel will continue its military campaign in the Gaza Strip for as long as needed and with as much force as necessary,Netanyahu said. AFP PHOTO/GALI TIBBON 

Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi is having increasing success in social media and an impressive hit count on his English, Spanish and Russian websites.

During a recent visit to New York, Mizrachi was kind enough to accept my invitation for an interview about the situation in Israel. Here is what he had to say:

So Many Jews are Democrats. How Does Judaism Identify with Democracy?

"Democracy is the antithesis of Judaism. It is one of the most corrupt political systems in the history of mankind and the exact opposite to what G-d prescribes and says in the Torah. For instance, the Torah says the leader has to be a perfect person, not a handsome movie star, or a multibillionaire. One of the greatest Jews, Moses, raised and groomed as the adopted Pharaoh’s grandson, was a shepherd who stuttered, and was not rich. On contemporary Israeli TV he would never have been able to make it and certainly he would not have become the most legendary leader in history.

"The Torah does not say that the majority should rule the minority just because they are the majority. On the contrary, it states that the minority must rule the majority for the simple reason that if you take 500 people, a maximum of 50 will be wise, clever, smart, or genius. The rest will be average or below average.

Demonstrators wave Israeli flags as they participate in an pro-Israeli demonstration outside of the Israeli embassy in central London on November 15, 2012, which took place amid escalating tensions between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip. The demonstration, along with a counter demonstration by pro-Palestinians, was staged after, according to a Hamas spokesman,the death toll in over 24 hours of Israeli air strikes on Gaza rose to 16, and militants fired more than 380 rockets at Israel, killing three people. Credit: AFP/Getty Images 

"Therefore, by the rules of Democracy, the ignorant would dictate the experts how to run the military, the economy, politics, and the justice system. In other words, the ignorant who are the majority and maybe are unable to read or write their name, would be in a position to decide for the people who have education, experience, and true leadership skills. That doesn’t make sense.

"In the vast majority of countries, the masses are not educated. For instance, if the Arabs were run by their ignorant majority, instead of the educated minority, we would be in an even more dire situation.

"Anyone with a clear mind can see that Democracy is a self-defeating, suicidal, and corrosive system of governance."

And, About the Current Situation in Israel?

"Abu Mazen and his people, regardless of their opinion about Israel, concluded that they have to reach some kind of political agreement to end this conflict.

"Hamas, their supporters, and the people who voted for them have decided to fight this war against Israel. They do not want a solution because their leitmotif is to annihilate all Jews and Israel.

"While it may have been possible to make peace with Mazen and his partisans, Hamas’s intentions will never change and therefore any political solution will be doomed from the onset, making it impossible to conquer some peace at least for the next 10 to 20 years.

Palestinians burn the Israeli flag during a protest against the Israel's military action on the Gaza Strip, on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 22 Palestinians, hiking the Gaza death toll to 99 as global efforts to broker a truce to end the worst violence in four years gathered pace. Credit: AFP/Getty Images 

"That is why the problem must be solved in a war, because we must fight for our survival. There is no other solution."

Your Opinion on Negotiating With Hamas?

"It is impossible trying to do civilized politics with Hamas, which is a terrorist organization.

"The conflict is based on their religion, which orders them to annihilate Jews and destroy Israel. Killing Jews is urgent for them because Israel is right in their midst.

"They are also holding slaughtering orgies of Christians, and as history repeats, the world is emphatically demonstrating their deafening silence.

"Muslims who do not obey the strict rules of sharia, or are from a different denomination, are also victims of serial butchering massacres at the hands of their savages.

Abu Obeida (R), the official spokesperson of the Palestinian militant group Ezzedine al-Qassam brigade, the armed wing of Hamas, give a press conference on July 3, 2014 in Gaza City. Islamist Hamas movement, whom Israel has blamed for the kidnap and murder of the three teenagers in June, said it held Netanyahu's government directly responsible for the killing of Abu Khder. 'You will pay the price for your crimes,' it said. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED ABED 

"The barbarians do not care about life and they are proud to die, they don’t mind if tens of thousands of their people die. In average, they give birth to so many children that they show total indifference to how they live, who dies and how many die.

"The Koran tells them to destroy all Jews and that’s their agenda. How can you make any agreement with people who have this kind of agenda?

"There is, obviously, no other solution than be strong and disregard the complaints of the world, their politics, and their hypocrisy.

"No matter who would have to deal with this kind of threat - the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, or any other country - it is sure that their response to it would be much more crushing than Israel’s.

"Remember what King Hussein did in Jordan during Black September in 1970, when the Palestinians tried to demonstrate against him? He killed them all in one single day and nobody heard a single complaint.

"In principle, in order to to minimize risks, an attack should be done from the air. A massive military action should solve the problem. In the Middle East, all else is a waste of time.

"If someone is coming to kill you, you must kill that person first.

"In a situation like the current one in Israel, where the government sends troops to face such a deadly enemy, the Torah explains that one is not allowed to risk Israeli soldiers to save the enemies who are seeking to destroy us.

"The Israeli military target the Hamas terrorists and if these decide to use their own women and children as shield to protect themselves, ethically speaking, they are solely and directly responsible for the death of their human shields. Not Israel."

AP Photo 

As part of the ethics of self-defense as appears in the Torah, Mizrachi explains further:

"Should a thief enter your home to steal and should he aim at you, at first, you should try not to kill him. Nonetheless, if you realize that he still could kill you, you must aim to neutralize him in an act of self-defense. However, once the thief is on the way out with the bounty, one cannot shoot him on the back, given that there is no longer a life-threatening risk.

"This is a rule of absolute self-defense, naturally also applicable in the case that a Jew wants to kill another Jew.

"When it comes to a Hamas terrorist, after unsuccessfully trying to kill you, and he is on his way out of the tunnel, at any rate, one has to shoot him because one knows he will return to finish the job and he will continue attacking others.

"Their agenda is to destroy the Jews and to destroy Israel. So there is only one solution."

Is There Any Way to Make the Israeli Government do What Needs to be Done?

"Since it is a Democracy, there is not much to do until next elections. If people made the wrong choice, they are going to suffer the consequences.

"Given that Netanyahu is morally challenged, he always gives in to pressure from the left and from President Barack Obama. A phone call would suffice and he would immediately forget the sacrifice of almost 70 soldiers who were murdered by Hamas.

"Obama, Germany, France or the rest of the world are Netanyahu's concern. If he would care about the Jewish people, the job would have already been done, but he is still 'negotiating.'

"In a different country, the army would take over and place the prime minister under house arrest for 'being a risk to the people,' so the army would continue the job with or without him.

"The only thing that can be done is if half a million people put tremendous pressure on him and rally from morning to night, and tell Netanyahu 'Finish the job. If not, your political life is finished,' until he gets it.

"Netanyahu is no Itzhak Shamir [the former prime minister], who would have already finished the job, regardless of what the world says or thinks.

"If Shamir was the prime minister, Hamas would be history now. The problem is the poll-addicted politically correct leaders."

Mizrachi illustrates with great clarity the ethical path that Israel should follow in the war against Hamas according to the over-three-millennia-old Judaism. The Torah and its uplifting teachings stand tall when compared to the Koran. This one, on the contrary, sends their followers to annihilate the dhimmis or non-Muslims, Jews and Christians alike, including Muslims who choose not to follow Sharia to the letter. Therein lies the insurmountable and abysmal differences between Judaism and Islam, civilization versus barbarism.

Eliana Benador: strategist consultant, adviser, opinion writer, and speaker, was founder of Benador Associates and is head of Benador International, based in Geneva, Switzerland. Her website is www.elianabenador.com. You may follow her on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook.

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