[By Rabbi Yair Hoffman]
Jerusalem is in tears. The tragic murders of four holy people in a Har Nof shul today has the entire nation of Israel and their Jewish brethren across the world in a state of despair. In Gaza, they handed out candy in celebration. In the meantime, for the past several weeks Hamas and Abbas of the PA have been encouraging Arabs to use every means at their disposal to riot.
But there is an approach that could work, and it lies in the American model in the aftermath of the second World War. How did the United States deal with a nation that grew up under the dark leadership of the villainous tyranny of the Nazis? The answer? Believe it or not, it was the policy of DeNazification as implemented by the now little known, General Lucius Clay.
What did DeNazification involve? Firstly, it involves stopping Nazi newspapers and broadcasts. But it primarily involved a combination of implementing what is known as the carrot and the stick.
The idea was to eliminate the scourge of Nazism and its vile philosophy through trials, prosecution, and replacement. The lists of Nazi party members were obtained.
Every German citizen was categorized into one of five categories: Major Offenders, Offenders, Lesser Offenders, Followers, and Exonerated Persons.
Major offenders were either sentenced to death or to prison for many years. Textbooks were rewritten, censorship was applied. Nazi imagery was made illegal. In short,– an end was put to the Nazi hero-worship.
And then there was the carrot. Millions of dollars were poured into education, and industry. Germany’s national infrastructure was rebuilt and modernized. Mercy and moderation was given to lesser offenders and followers.
General Lucius Clay oversaw the entire program with remarkable impartiality. But more than this, he cared for the well-being of post-war Germans. When the USSR blockaded West Berlin, it was General Clay who orchestrated the Berlin Airlift.
What were the results? Germany once again rejoined the family of nations. It became one of the strongest democracies in Europe and a supporting member of NATO. They have also been a strong United States ally since the end of DeNazification and they have been very supportive of the State of Israel.
Germany recognized the debt of gratitude that they owed to General Lucius Clay. He was given an honorary doctorate from the Frei Universitat of Berlin, became an honorary citizen of Germany in 1953 and even had one of the longest streets in Berlin named after him. Germany appreciated what he had for her.
The modern parallel to DeNazification is something called DeTerrorization.
The first thing that should be done is to use Israel’s existing technology to jam all inciteful radio and television broadcasting.
This program would also implement both the carrot and the stick in the Palestinian territories. Support for terrorism and the hero worship would come to a complete end. The textbooks calling for the killing of Jews and the destruction of Israel would be eliminated. Payments by the government to families of a terrorist would stop. In short, anyone with a background of support for the killing of innocents or for other terrorist acts would be removed form any position of leadership.
They would be replaced with a new crop of leaders comprised of those untainted by terrorism.
And then comes the carrot. A new infrastructure would be built and new system of education would be developed. Medical schools, schools for emerging technologies and a Palestinian silicon valley.
But rebuilding Germany without the program of DeNazification would have been fruitless and indeed counter-productive. The same is true with De-Terrorization. One cannot build a new infrastructure for a people that on a second’s notice will form an alliance with a terrorist organization. One cannot build a relationship of peace with those who support kidnappings of young high school boys.
It is time, in light of these attacks on innocents, these vile kidnappings and murders, that we launched such a program. Now is the time to completely knock out Hamas and all organizations like it. It will be a politically difficult decision to make, but it is the only manner in which a lasting peace can be forged.
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13 Responses
The only way Hoffman’s idea can be implemented is through a bloody reoccupation process of Gaza and the West Bank. Israel would have to take them over by force. And then the Arabs will be on a war footing not interested in carrots or sticks but rather suicide vests and bullets.
I strongly disagree. You miss out on one important fact.
Germany’s churches were not the source of Nazism and Germans were never big Christian believers so re-education could work in schools and media.
The source of the problem in Eretz Yisroel are the mosques, the vicious imams, and very, very gullible Arabs – not the schools who are only influenced by their “religion of peace”.
Neither carrots nor sticks will turn off the hatred of these descendants of Hagar.
There is one and only one solution and it was expounded by a great visionary who was assassinated twenty four years ago.
The Israeli Government must stop the persecution of the chareidim.
They must ban all Jews from ascending to the area of the Har-Habayis.
Reb Meir Kahana HY”D, was right after all.Move them out of East Jerusalem as a first step.
Death penalty reintroduced for certain crimes.
Any terrorist will will have the entire block of homes demolished “and a Government order “may not be rebuilt”.
Every person killed or injured in a terrorist attack, will warrant approval for additional housing.
Gaza- Mosques to be shuttered.
All UN facilities to be shuttered.
Target all hamas, plo, etc heads, underlings, stone throwers, anyone with masks to be jailed, etc
And whose yahrtzeit was last week
Rabbi Hoffman:
You’re a smart learned man. “eisav soneh lyaakov” it’s ikvesa d’mshicha. Rav Twersky Hy”D and I’m sure the others were kedoshim before they were called kedoshim. They were karbanos for klal yisroel. These happenings are inevitable before moshiach comes. The world is blinded, muted, intellectually and morally handicapped when it comes to the israeli situation. And it will be until the coming of moshiach. We have to daven that moshiach shud come soon soon. Umein!
why are people hiring arabs ,who come from neighborhoods we wouldn’t walk in even in broad daylight,to work in our stores,schools,neighborhoods so they can plan their attacks?
jerusalem mom:
All the areas can learn from the belz area. You have groceries, yeshivos and batei knesot here that dont have one arab worker. You have bachurim, evreichim, special ed kids as delivery guys. There are ethiopian goyim on shabbos and during the week but no arabs. The only arabs around are from the building sites all around by outside companies.
BDE what a tragedy to hit klal yisroel.
Have we not had enough non-stop tzaros in the past year?
Has klal yisroel come together-as a nation-yet to do teshuva?
then what do we expect?
We have a major problem in today’s generation it’s called FACING REALITY. What happens today when tragedy strikes C”V? we block it from our faces and say “what does Hashem want from me? ” I have nothing to do with this tragedy that occurred to us C”V
But the truth is that we really do get the wake up call from Hashem to do teshuva we just can’t admit it to ourselves. So we leave Hashem no choice but to keep on sending us wake up calls.
with tears in my eyes, I beg everyone-myself included-to wakeup & do teshuva-together as a nation-how much worse must the situation get (parts of my siddur are waterlogged from tears of non stop crying for klal yisroel) when will we finally wake up & return to Hashem as a nation together? have we not had enough tzaros in the past few years of non-stop horrific tragedies?
TIME FOR TESHUVA!!!
NO MORE SIGNS OF TRAGEDIES NEEDED FROM HASHEM if we all start teshuva now we won’t need any more of these tragic wake-up calls from Hashem
May all neshamas have an Aliya
No arab should be allowed in a jewish area justr like a jew cant walk in an arab area, if thousands of jews will enforce the sickening governmet will have no choice, all citizens shall arm themself and be ready to shoot before your killed
#9 Sam Klein – cries for Teshuvah w/o specifics falls on deaf ears. Of course we have to do Teshuvah. Even without such tragedies we need to do Teshuvah. As long as the Beis HaMikdash is not rebuild we still have not rectified the Chorban.
If you can’t give advise on what to do Teshuvah on maybe it is better not to say anything.
One thing is for sure, we can all do with a little more learning and G’milut Chasidim.
I am now sitting on a low chair and getting ready to say Eichu.We are now in the midst of chuban bais hamigdosh.
Yes there are many areas that demand tshuva from kllal yisroel,but why were we punished now so harshly.What was the terrible act that caused such CHARON AF.Why were these Tzadikim slaughtered in tallis and teffilin, something that we did not witness since AUSHWITZ.
My dear children – the answer is very simple:Yidden are presently forbidden to enter the area of the HAR HABAYIS
קשה מיתת צדיקים כחורבן בית המקדש
Please for our own sake let all of us Gedolim and ketanim
be Moicha for this Chilul Hashem:
Some guy who called himself “emesayid” said:
“What was the terrible act that caused such CHARON AF[…]? [… T]he answer is very simple: Yidden
are presently forbidden to enter the area of the HAR HABAYIS.”
So, according to someone who is such an anav that he didn’t write his name on his explanation of the
reasons Hashem gives us tragedies, we are being punished for going on Har Habayis even though we’re not
allowed to. Tell me, who goes on Har Habayis, and is that really worse in Hashem’s eyes than the other
things they do?
(I assume he didn’t mean that we’re being punished BECAUSE Yidden aren’t allowed on Har Habayis –
we’re tamei anyhow.)
As for “קשה מיתת צדיקים כחורבן בית המקדש,” the only way that would be relevant is if we had destroyed the
Beis Hamikdosh.