Asleep at the Wheel...

The following was caught on camera during the 3rd day of the anti-"disengagement" march to Gush Katif, where 40,000 Jews were being held under siege, surrounded by 20,000 military and police personnel:

"I want arrests and I am telling you to use water cannons without holding back. Don't call me, just use the cannons. Shit on them. Let them burn. Use the cannons and batons. Hit them on their lower body and work the way you know how."

- Negev police commander Brigadier-General Nisso Shacham, telling a Border Police chief Deputy-Commander Roni Ohana to use violence against anti-expulsion activists.

Learning of the footage and the Channel 10 program, Shacham explained his statements were made in a closed conversation with a senior officer following a number of days without sleep, expressing remorse for his harsh words. He said that this was not his usual style of speech, and that he was "tired" when the recording was made. (Excerpted from Israel Insider)

About two weeks ago, the following was said by Ehud Olmert at the Israel Policy Forum dinner in the US, as the motivation for Israel's "Disengagement" plan (and his support of it):

“We are tired of fighting, we are tired of being courageous, we are tired of winning, we are tired of defeating our enemies….”

One can't help but notice the similarities here. Both the police officer who sanctioned violence against innocent civilians, as well as a government official who supports the destruction of Jewish communities and expulsion of thousands of Jews in Israel is out of an overwhelming sense of tiredness.

This tiredness is not merely from physical exhaustion, but a tiredness that comes from having lost sight of the justness of our cause - of the right of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel - and of the desire to just live in peace, regardless of the concessions that need to be made to bring it about.

I can only suggest that those who feel "tired" go home and get some rest, and let those who are still strong in spirit and who still believe in the rightness of our cause take over the responsibility of leading our nation.