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SaveTheWest.com contributor writer Erez Winner, who spent 25 years in the Israel Defense Forces and retired as a colonel, argues that a new war has broken out — one that we have not yet begun to deal with in a serious, comprehensive fashion.
Breaking News: A new war has broken out.
This new war is not making headlines around the world. Instead, it is slowly expanding beyond the borders of the Middle East and creeping into schools, businesses, and communities around the world; often, without anyone noticing.
This new war is just as serious as previous wars fought in the world, since its aim is the delegitimization of Western society, starting with the delegitimization of the State of Israel. As Prime Minister Netanyahu very recently described, the three greatest threats to the State of Israel are: the missile and rocket fire directed at Israeli populations, Iran’s nuclear program, and the systematic campaign to delegitimize Israel.
This intellectual war (the war to delegitimize the Western society and Israel’s existence) is difficult to discern from the other threats because it is not carried out in recognized battle fields, and shots are not fired, at least not those that are seen. Taking that into consideration, the dangers are no less than the wars that we have known and, at the end of the day, perhaps even more. There is a systematic attack that is being carried on against the Western society and the state of Israel, with the intent to harm its right of self-defense, thus, endangering the very existence of the Western world.
Unlike previous attacks, these activities are often not being carried out by governments or internationally recognized terrorist groups, but are being carried out by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) throughout the world, alongside European governments and the European Union. While hiding under the guise of an NGO’S, the UN and especially, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), are also a basic part of the problem.
Often this new battlefield that the Western society and the state of Israel, in particular, are forced to engage in, goes completely unnoticed. However, the reality of the threat rises up from time to time when there is an attempt to prevent an Israeli diplomat or representative from visiting various countries in Europe, when an embargo is declared on Israeli products or industrial ties, or when academic or cultural institutions boycott Israel and its citizens. This is not an Israeli problem, but a worldwide issue that needs to concern the whole of Western society. Just lately, we had a good example when the UNHRC called the on U.S. government to stop using its armed drones in Afghanistan.
While some might view this as a preferred battlefield compared to the traditional one, it in fact poses a greater threat to the existence of the Western society than those battles waged in uniform. An army’s job is to protect its citizens. However, there is a universal judicial process currently being carried out, which the Israeli Defense Forces already term “lawfare.” It is an attempt to implement an environment wherein commanders and decision makers will be declared war criminals, resulting in limitations imposed on the operations of the forces in the Western countries who are fighting against terror organizations.
One must ask, “What does the Western world do in order to contest and respond to such threats?”
The answer: Not much.
First of all, the Western world has not yet recognized the severity of this threat, and sometimes considers this behavior as a legitimate exercise of a democracy. Second, many governments in the Western world are governed by leftists with a very weak belief in the Western civilization, supported by the main stream media and the “political correctness” disease. There are many private organizations in Israel and abroad that are dealing with these issues and carrying out various campaigns in response to these threats. However, these numbers are small and isolated.
During the past few years, there has been a concerted effort to expose this threat and those standing behind it. This activity, which is mainly carried out by private organizations and figures, has exposed organizations and the budgets used in order to establish the delegitimizing campaign against the State of Israel and other Western countries. This knowledge has contributed to the creation of democracy self-protection awareness campaigns and focused efforts to respond to them, even if partially and in a limited fashion.
These activities are far from enough and suffer from a great structural weakness: the activities are carried out by divided efforts and in response to events that occur (i.e. the Goldstone Report) and are not conducted in a continued and flowing effort. In addition, there is a lack of coordination and cooperation between the private organizations (which are operating both within Israel and in other parts of the world) and governmental efforts. As a result of this disunity, even the little that is being carried out gets lost in the effort and does not create the desired result from between the various activities. As a result, there is a great need upgrade and modernize this approach.
The Western world, and especially the State of Israel, must designate one body which will be responsible for concentrating all of the responses to these threats to Western civilization, and give it a budget that will suffice to accomplish the goals. A supervisory clearing house body like this will operate with the coordination and cooperation between the various groups who are already operating. Alongside of the governmental/public efforts, it is important to know how to utilize the expertise of the organizations that are not connected to the government: The key capabilities should be:
- The capability of engaging various civilian pro-Western organizations to work together for the common goal.
- The capability to work with various groups, particularly those who are also working in a similar fashion.
- The capability of working without traditional diplomatic limitations.
Proper coordination will enhance the effectiveness of the activities.
The challenge of stopping the intellectual threat to Western civilization is very large and spread out. Therefore, efforts must be unified and the response must begin by designating the responsibility to a particular body. In addition, the entire response must include a number of factors including (but not limited to): continued research, creating an operational plan (yearly, monthly, and during crisis), and working within the realm of defined local activities and the continuous distribution of written materials.
Such a response is affordable and possible, as is written, “it is not hidden from you and it is not distant.. it is not in the heaven.. nor is it across the sea.. rather the matter is very near to you-in your mouth and your heart –to perform it.” (Devarim/Deuteronomy 30, 11-20).
The West should start now!
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