(Chofetz Chaim Al Hatorah, Devarim):
The Torah teaches us not to resist the nations even when they fight against us. We must follow in the footsteps of Yaakov Avinu in his encounter with his brother Esav. As the Ramban writes in Vayishlach, all that happened between Yaakov and Esav happens to us constantly with Esav’s children. We must adopt the methods of that tzaddik, to make the three preparations that he made: prayer, a gift, and escape through war, that is, to flee to safety. As long as we walked on that well- tread path, G-d saved us from their hands. But since we have strayed from the path and new leaders have arisen who chose new methods, leaving behind our ancestors’ weapons and adopting the methods of our enemies, we have fared worse and worse, and great travails have befallen us.
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In response to the desire of the secular Zionist leaders to develop a nation like all the nations, the Chofetz Chaim cited the following prophetic warning to the People of Israel:
The Zionist leaders claimed that we can have a successful and lasting return to the Land without fulfilling the Torah. In response to this claim, the Chofetz Chaim would remind the people that even before we entered the Land, the Giver of the Land told us that our stay in this sacred place is conditional upon our fulfillment of the Torah.
The secular Zionist leaders also claimed that we do not need to fulfill the precepts of the Torah in order to develop a great nation in the Land that would gain the admiration of all the other nations. In response to this claim, the Chofetz Chaim cited the following message that Moses gave to our people when we stood at the border of the Land: