From Sun Tzu's Art of War to Jews of Judea and Samaria
The residents of Yesha (Judea and Samaria) would do well to read this carefully.
From Asher KerenThe identity of Sun Tzu is disputed by scholars, to the point where it is not generally acknowledged that such a person ever existed. One thing, however, is beyond dispute – there exists an ancient Chinese work of military philosophy and strategy called the Art of War, attributed to a Chinese general named Sun Tzu.
Also beyond dispute is the fact that military historians and strategists, even today, consider the Art of War to be a sort of bible that must be followed. As most generals of present and past indicate, follow the Art of War and succeed in conflict; abandon the principles of the Art of War and invite almost certain defeat.
Where do the Jewish settlers, in their conflict with the world and, indeed, with many of their own people and government, stand with regard to heeding the lessons taught in the Art of War?
1. Sun Tzu – "If you know the enemy and you know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles."
Have the settlers ever organized a serious research project discussing the lost battle of the Disengagement? Has introspective and orderly discussion, with articles of analysis and details, ever been published describing the events that led up to the Disengagement? Have the settlers learned anything of the mistakes made so that repetition can be avoided in the future? Have the tricks and manipulations perpetrated by the government and the courts, the army and the media, that allowed the army and police to simply walk in, destroy and evict, been systematically studied? Zero for the 'settlers'.
2. Sun Tzu – "If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near."
Credit must be given to the Shomron Local Council for its great efforts in bringing thousands of Leftist VIPs from both Israel and abroad to the Shomron to see personally, often for the first time, the settlement enterprise and to meet the settler populace. As many Tel Aviv Leftists have admitted after their first ever visit to Samaria, the Shomron hills really are Tel Aviv's own backyard. It may not be enough, but it is certainly a giant step in the right direction. One for the 'settlers'.
3. Sun Tzu – "All warfare is based on deception."
This is perhaps one of the most difficult rules for the settlers to grasp. I have lived in Yesha for well over twenty years and it is my experience that they are real and true believers – in the God of history and therefore in Zionism. It is in their very nature to believe, which is why they believe in the God of history and in Zionism. If they were naturally cynical and doubtful, it is highly possible that they would believe neither in the God of history nor in Zionism – they would be more like the hareidim or the leftist secular – they would certainly not be 'settlers'.
Due to their natural disposition as well as the education that naturally derives from this disposition, it is almost impossible for them to grasp that a Jewish, Zionist government - the symbol of God's returning His people to their homeland – would actually seek to harm them through deception and lies.
Because of their natural trust in and participation with the Zionist entity, they cannot grasp the evil tendencies of the country's leaders. Therefore, they cannot understand that there is no such thing as a 'fair fight'. The government will continue to grant them small victories, while planning their ultimate defeat, and the settlers will not understand how it happened.
This is especially true of the "Mamlachti" adherents, who have lost almost all ability to understand nuances and deviations. While wholly committed to the State of Israel, it should somehow also be possible to trace and to comprehend the roots of deceit that are a part of the political Zionist tradition as well. Zero for the 'settlers'.
4. Sun Tzu – "No leader should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no leader should fight a battle simply out of pique."
Before the Disengagement, thousands poured into the welcoming grounds of Kfar Maimon, not far from the embattled Gush Katif. Poised to march on, their leaders mysteriously called off the protest. The 'settler' troops were sent home.
Time and again young Yesha teens are sent to do battle with para-military forces about to evict a settlement or destroy some 'settler' homes. Why do the parents (the leaders) allow for this? Why should young people, especially young women, be exposed to a battle lost from the outset? Why allow these youngsters to be detained or worse? Does it assuage the guilt that must be felt by the parents that do little or nothing? Sending teen aged children in lieu of adults to wage a battle against superior and often cruel forces is a sign of weakness, not strength. Zero for the ''settlers.
5. Sun Tzu – "He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight."
With regard to this rule, realize that once the military and police forces arrive to dismantle an outpost, home or settlement, no amount of 'settler' troops can ever change the outcome of the battle. It is a lost battle from the start. Piling thousands of youth and the occasional adult into a community that is about to be evicted will almost always result in sure defeat. It is a tragic waste of energy and time and a tragic blow to 'settler' hopes. Even a million will not be able to stop for good the Israeli army or an Israeli government desiring to destroy a community and evict its residents. The battle must be fought and won way before the government forces are sent to a settler community. Zero for the 'settlers'.
6. Sun Tzu – "So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak."
See 4 and 5 regarding avoiding the strong. There is another strong force of those that would uproot the settlements – the Supreme Court of Israel. The goal is to avoid its strength and to increase its weakness, until that time that it may again become a respected and vital organ of the Israeli democracy.
It is common practice that the 'settlers' or their leaders take their case, or defend their case, in the Supreme Court of Israel; in over ninety percent of the cases, they lose. Why do they continue appearing before the Supreme Court? When the court makes a decision against the legal arguments of the 'settlers', it sets dangerous legal precedent. It is possible to weaken the Supreme Court through a massive refusal to appear before the judges of the court. If this means loss of a case without proper legal representation, then so be it. In any case the 'settlers' most often lose.
It is not illegal to lose a court case through lack of representation. It is illegal to deny a court decision, but this is not the course of action being proposed. What is being proposed is to stop acting the part of the willing victims of a Supreme Court that is totally one sided and without an ounce of objectivity. Do not play their game. Do not suppose that democracy or even the rule of law is best served by entering into an unholy alliance with systems that are unabashedly political and with agenda. Let all future Supreme Court decisions against Jewish settlement contain a paragraph explaining that the court issued a one sided decision without any legal representation for the 'settlers'. It is important that it be recorded as such.
If the Supreme Court demands a legal representative appears before the court, then appear. State very simply that there is nothing to be said and that the court can render a decision without any attempt by the 'settlers' to influence the ruling through legal argument. The 'settlers', further, will abide by all court decisions. Again, let it be recorded as such.
Refusing to appear, or refusing to engage in legal battle, should wield a body strike against the current patterns and methods of the Supreme Court. For all those Israeli citizens and politicians that care about their country, the fact that the Supreme Court has become anathema to a large and growing populace, should cause a significant enough political demand to make the necessary adjustments to even out the playing field. Without full conformity, the Supreme Court, as it stands today, will be rendered weak and it will be far easier to restructure its agenda.
Perhaps, in time, entering the Supreme Court seeking a positive decision for the Jewish community in Judea and Samaria will have at the outset, before the case is heard, a 50-50 chance of winning. That sounds like a chance for true justice. Zero for the 'settlers'.
7. Sun Tzu – "To win 100 battles is not the height of skill; to subdue the enemy without fighting is [the height of skill]."
Same as number 6 regarding the Supreme Court, but it can also be applied to the media. Why do many pro-Yesha people still continue to purchase certain newspapers that are vociferously anti-Yesha in outlook? Why support institutionalized anti-Yesha sentiment? It makes no sense, especially as there are today several worthy and informative newspapers that are pro-Yesha and in dire need of financial support. Many 'settlers' do purchase only the latter media alternatives, but not yet enough. One-half for the 'settlers'.
8. Sun Tzu – "To move your enemy; entice him with something he is certain to take."
The Israeli government, as well as all governments, has a limited amount of energy and the Israeli public in general has even less energy. No matter that it often seems as if nobody else cares about a destroyed and evicted outpost or settlement, it is a false impression. Besides the radical Left, all Zionist citizens wince every time another outpost is taken down. Many even argue in justification of the government actions, but in their Zionist gut it hurts deeply. It is a giant dissonance within the overall Israeli public and world Jewry in general that has not been understood or taken advantage of as of yet.
The settlers should establish one hundred outposts for the sole purpose of letting them be publicly destroyed by the Israeli government. Outposts that are established PRECISELY for the purpose of enticing the government to take them down are a powerful marketing tool. The intention is not to establish Jewish settlement, but to erode slowly but surely the anti-settler sentiment that has been growing since the Oslo accords, to regain the sympathy of a tired and often numb Israeli public.
LET the government take and take and take; LET the government destroy and destroy and destroy – as long as this ploy is used properly to develop again pro-settler sentiment; the kind of general sentiment that was felt in Israel since 1967 and up through the Oslo accords. This ploy may also prove advantageous to the Israeli government, as they will be able to show the hostile world that they are not willing to allow the settlers to plant communities at their own whim and that they are 'tough' with the settlement movement. It can be done – it just needs to be done with proper thought and preparation, and with the best marketing agency that money can buy. And if, just if, the government smells the ploy and stops taking down these rogue outposts, the gain is double! They can be quietly settled. Zero for the settlers.
9. Sun Tzu – "Put the army in the face of death, where there is no escape – and they will not flee or be afraid; there is nothing they cannot achieve."
This is perhaps one of the most crucial lessons of battle that the settlers do not understand. The settlers, after all, believe that they are living in the time of Redemption, perhaps even the time of the Messiah. There is an escape! It is an eschatological escape that prevents them from really feeling the heat of the battle – that prevents them from entirely grasping that their backs are against the wall. Any time a rabbi says "Hayo lo tihiye" ["an eviction will not happen"], he is voicing a deep Messianic sentiment that actually provides the settlers with an escape mechanism, a reliance on something other than their own strategy and will of purpose – and they are subsequently weakened.
It is not relevant at all if we are or if we are not living in Messianic and Redemptive times. As Jews, we always pray that we are and that we can hasten the coming of these times, but that is a far cry from actually RELYING on an assumed knowledge of God's ways that is actually arrogant and dangerous.
Our Rabbis and teachers MUST eradicate all talk of Redemption and the Messiah on a practical level. Believe in it but NEVER mention it, especially in the heat of battle.
The Disengagement proved an act of certain death for some citizens of Sderot and other Southern towns and cities. A Disengagement from large areas of Judea and Samaria will further cause, God forbid, certain death for Israeli citizens ranging from Jerusalem to Afula. The settlers should ponder that truth and not the eschatological escape route as they enter into battle. If that somehow can be accomplished, they will not lose the battle and there will be nothing that they cannot achieve – as did the entirely trapped generation of giants that founded and settled the modern State of Israel. Until this mental switch thoroughly becomes part of the religious and intellectual culture, however, another zero for the settlers.
10. Sun Tzu – "Make forays into fertile country in order to supply your army with food."
Why is it that the failed leaders of the Disengagement are still, for the most part, leading the settler troops today? There was an attempt by several fresh and fertile settlers to influence far more greatly the policies of the YESHA Settler Council. In practice, however, their voices have been stifled and silenced. Zero for the failed 'settler' generals.
11. Sun Tzu – "Though an obstinate fight may be made by a small force, in the end it must be captured by a larger force."
The battle for Judea and Samaria is also a battle for the Golan Heights, Jerusalem and large parts of the Negev. This is not a battle that can be won alone by the small but admirably obstinate force of the settlers. All over Israel, there are hundreds of thousands of citizens that fully recognize the dangers of surrendering the lands of Judea and Samaria. There are entire communities in Beit Shemesh, Jerusalem, the Golan, Ra'anana, Netanya, the Krayot in Haifa, Ashdod, the Modi'in area, Rehovot and Gadera that are devoted to the cause. There are also very many Jews abroad that are large and vocal supporters of the movement. These people are for the most part educated, ideological and devoted individuals that MUST carry the larger battle if success is to be gained.
The settlers have been made the focus of an anti-Zionist local movement and an anti-Israel global campaign. Because it is first and foremost the homes of the settlers that are being threatened, it is natural that they lead the path to battle; but they must concentrate greater effort as well on bringing in the larger forces in a coordinated and total campaign. Zero for the settler generals and their non-settler supporters for allowing the settlers to bear the total weight of battle alone.
12. Sun Tzu – "The art of war is of vital importance to the State."
It is one of the most basic and central assumptions of the Jewish settler population and many other Israeli and Diaspora Jews that the continued presence of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria is a critical security requirement for the entire State of Israel, and indeed, for world Jewry.
Why, then, are they not studying more carefully the Art of War?
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