Michael Oren
Times of Israel, July 11, 2024
“Israel is losing the north, but the loss will not be of land alone. Endangered, too, is the state’s commitment to defend all of our citizens irrespective of their place of residence, to preserve our precious human and natural resources, and to deter our enemies.”
In contrast to English, in which people who can’t get their bearings straight become disoriented – literally, they fail to find the east – in Hebrew, we say “ma’abedim et ha- tzafon,” they lose the north. The expression could not be more appropriate. With each day of mass displacement, deadly rocket and drone fire, and failure to take on Hezbollah, Israel is losing the north.
For nine straight months, beginning on October 10, Hezbollah has been pummeling the north. Thousands of rockets, exploding drones, and anti-tank missiles have been fired at border villages and at cities as far south as Tiberias. Dozens of Israelis have been killed and wounded. Just this week, Hezbollah barrages hit both the Golan Heights and the Lower Galilee, killing three civilians.
Fearing an October 7-like attack by Hezbollah’s Radwan terrorists and a repeat of the mass flight of Israelis from the north during the 2006 Lebanon War, the government ordered the evacuation of civilians living within five kilometers of the border. Firing well beyond that line, however, Hezbollah has driven many others from their homes. The once vibrant city of Kiryat Shmona is now a ghost town and much of Metula lies in ruin. Some 80,000 Israelis have been displaced or, more accurately, uprooted from their workplaces, their schools, and communities. Levels of family violence, substance abuse, and divorce have soared. …SOURCE
Michael Oren, formerly Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Knesset Member, and Deputy Minister for Diplomacy, is the founder of the Israel Advocacy Group and the Substack, Clarity.