Soldiers of the Yom Kippur War for Peace in 2014
Ayala Emmett
We are soldiers of the Yom Kippur War of a wide political spectrum who want to support the government to achieve a decent agreement with Palestinians to separate the two nations. We call on friends who support our mission to support us.
Several days ago I received an e-mail from a soldier of the Yom Kippur War. The e-mail has been circulating a petition among soldiers and commanders of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The circulated petition from which I quote in the epigraph and bellow has been sent to soldiers to join the Million Hands for Peace to support the government of Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu to achieve a peace treaty with Palestinians and a two states solution.
We at the Jewish Pluralist said that this website “will give space to a wide and diverse variety of Jewish voices, American and Israeli, committed to Jewish values and ethics. It will be concerned both with living traditions of Judaism, and the contemporary problems of Jewish (and non-Jewish) life in America and Israel, locating itself within the long history of Jewish concern with justice, peace, and human dignity.” Accordingly we give voice to the Israeli soldiers of the Yom Kippur War who want to support the Israeli government “to reach a decent agreement with Palestinians to separate the two nations.”
Soldiers of the Yom Kippur Armored Unite שריון have been sending around a petition since February 26, 2014 for a peace and two-states agreement. In the petition to their comrades of the Armored Unite, the organizers “call for action to urge the government of Israel to explore every possible way to achieve a treaty of separation between us and the Palestinians.”
“This Call for Action, was initiated by a group of soldiers and commanders of the Armored Unit שריון that was the first to cross the Suez Canal in the Yom Kippur War, but our call goes out to all the soldiers of the Yom Kippur War.
“We ask those who identify with the mission of this e-mail document, to send it to others and return the questionnaire giving details about your unit and the kind of activities you are willing to take on.
“Who are we? We are soldiers of the Yom Kippur War of a wide political spectrum who want to achieve a decent agreement with Palestinians to separate the two nations.
“We have now a unique opportunity to achieve an agreement that will allow for a decent co-existence for both sides that will allow each side to focus on its people’s issues and ensure them security and economic prosperity.
“We should not repeat the mistakes of the past—before the Yom Kippur War our leaders had an opportunity to prevent a war that had such a devastating outcome of a high price in lives and injuries and left a deep national wound that has yet to heal. The opportunity to prevent the war was not used because our leaders were over-confident and guided by party politics.
“To continue the current situation is a bad choice. It would enshrine a realty of conflict between the two nations that has no future and continues to extract a high economic and social price.
“The solution is two states for two nations and a treaty of co-existence. The way to do it is to actively support an ongoing negotiation by the government.
“We call on American friends who support our mission to support us. For more information and ways to support the Soldiers of the Yom Kippur War for Peace please copy the following into e-mail and send to: l3004@orange.net.il