He Picked The Wrong Jew To Murder

Torah demands that we slay human monsters who have no regard for humanity, not subdue or neutralize them. The notion of detaining a murderer and then releasing him in a few Ramadan cycles to prey again is beyond perverse. The Jewish response to total corruption is a bullet in the head, and the most basic fundamentals of Judaism confirm this. Judaism does more than assure the right of self-defense. Halacha requires that we pre-emptively strike before an attack.

Unfortunately, Israel’s politicians and the ever-growing “hasbara machine” are always touting Israel’s willingness and commitment to endanger Jewish soldiers to protect Arab civilians. We will never have a total count of how many precious Jews were lost to this mad philosophy. The same Judaism that abhors misplaced violence, demands and celebrates the application of proper use of force against the enemy.

The Arabs continue to prey on Israel’s Achilles heel, knowing that they can get away with an extraordinary tally of murdered Jews without a proper Jewish response. And even when Israel’s thresh-hold is reached, they know that any response will be muted. After all, they understand that even armed Jews are afraid to use their guns, lest the government imprison them for over-reacting. Even when assaulted, many armed Israelis have shown a reluctance to pull their weapon. 

And in urban areas, the timing is terrible. An Arab armed with a kitchen knife will always have the element of surprise over an armed citizen or soldier. The famous experiments are tragically replicated in Israel, where highly trained security personnel are gutted by Arabs with knives, who close the distance before they can unholster their weapons and fire. And far from the reputation abroad of Israel being a “gun friendly” country, anyone who lives here knows that the laws are extremely draconian. Only the elitists and an ever shrinking populace can legally obtain guns today, and those who are given guns are given a small leash.

Fortunately, not everyone in Israel is affected by these corrupt notions of self-restraint. Consider the heroic action of Yonatan Azarihab last week, a true Jewish warrior, with a beard and kipah to boot. An Arab Amalekite stabs him in the neck and leaves him for dead. On this occasion, the terrorist chose the wrong target. This beautiful Jew reacts in a most extraordinary fashion. He pulls the knife out of his neck, against the most rudimentary basics of street survival (for fear of bleeding out). He proceeds to chase down his would-be-murderer and kills the Amalekite beast with his own weapon.

Purim approaches, and the mandatory reading of Parshat Zachor will compel us to revisit and our eternal war with our age old enemy, Amalek. It would behoove us to celebrate and internalize the actions of great Jewish gibborim (warriors) past and present who dealt with Amalek appropriately.

I only wish I could have seen the Arab’s face when his “victim” rose up and slaughtered him before sending his evil soul to face the true judgment. Clearly, this holy Jewish warrior is obviously made from something else. The kind of stuff that Samson was made of. A normal country would hire him and have him share his internal fire with young soldiers in training. A portrait of righteous zealousness and unrelenting ferocity (common sense and self-preservation be dammed) against our accursed enemies, may they all be destroyed. If more Jews had this tzaddik's DNA, the Arabs would run screaming towards the Mediterranean.

Yonatan is a new Jewish hero for our times, and his actions should inspire more opportunities for gevurah. May he live and be well. And may his mesirut nefesh be the catalysts to reawaken the fire of King David.