ISRAEL is already at war with Iran, and the stakes go far beyond the Middle East, one of Israel’s most influential MPs warned last night.
“We are the front line of a war agent radical islam,” said Sharren Haskel. “We cannot give up. We cannot be defeated. If Israel fails, the next front will be Europe and the streets of Britain.”
One year ago today, the 40-year-old mother of three young girls was enjoying the Jewish New Year holidays with her sister in a tranquil Kibbutz near the Sea of Galilee.
A fully qualified veterinary nurse with a degree in international relations, Sharren was first elected to the Knesset in 2015, at the age of 31.
Speaking from her home in Kfar Saba, central Israel, she recalled how the serenity of that holiday was soon replaced by panic, sorrow and anger after Hamas launched its dawn attacks
“By 8.30am we knew something very bad was happening,” she said
“I was desperate to get back. My oldest girl was three and her twin sisters were just one year-old. There was a big call for the Arab population in Israel to rise up – we didn’t know what would unfold, or even if the roads were safe.”
Soon the brutal reality emerged as Hamas terrorists live-streamed horrific videos.
“Hamas had started live-feeding from people’s phones and showed how they were murdering them.”
As a former army commander who saw combat with border guards during the second Intifada, every instinct screamed to join the fray.
“I usually carry a gun,” she said. “But on that holiday weekend, I had left it in a safe in Jerusalem.
“We never thought something like this could happen, not in our wildest dreams. We are still numb from the shock today.
“The thought that people needed help and I could do nothing for them was very frustrating.”
Even peace activists like Vivian Silver, who had spent decades organising job training programmes for Gazans and ensured they were paid fairly in Israel, were not spared.
“I went to her home in the Be’eri kibbutz. It was completely burnt.
“It took a few months to identify her – they had to sift through the ashes to find enough of her to conduct a DNA test.”
Since then Israel has been consumed with getting back 250 hostages and ensuring that Hamas can never again carry out terror attacks.
“It is devastating and heartbreaking to see these civilian deaths. But this is war, and war is a very ugly thing,’ she said.
“We did our best to avoid it. The price we paid for avoiding war in Gaza was October 7. Avoiding a confrontation with Lebanon cost us the destruction of cities and towns and the displacement of 60,000 men, women and children. But in the end war didn’t avoid us.
“When you see protestors chant ‘Intifada’ or ‘from the river to sea’, these are no calls for peace. They are calls for war. And if they want war. Well, guess what? This is what war looks like when Israel still has its hands tied behind its back .”
She said the international community must take its fair share of the blame for civilian casualties.
“The international community has known for decades that Hamas had infiltrated UNRWA, was making its military headquarters and command posts in UNWRA schools and UNWRA hospitals,” she said.
“They know that Hamas uses human shields. We have mountains of evidence. They turned a blind eye.”
Swiss NGO UN Watch has backed Israel’s claims, revealing that UNWRA’s union chief was terrorist Suhail al-Hindi, a close associate of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Today Israel faces two challenges: a military one and a cultural one.
“We are already at war with Iran; with its influence, its weapons, its proxies on all our borders, from Syria to Lebanon and Gaza,’ she said.
“Iran needs to be eliminated as a threat, not only to Israel but to the entire region.
“If Israel is eliminated we will see Iran become one of the world’s biggest producers of nuclear weapons. Who do you think its next target will be? The answer is Europe.”
Asked whether Israel can overcome war on all fronts including Iran, she replied: “If we have an existential threat it is our responsibility to deal with it. The longer we wait, the more dangerous it will be for my children.
“What drives our forces isn’t hatred or fear , but love. This is what has driven us to overcome every time our enemies have surrounded us and threatened to annihilate us. We are on the right side.”
But winning the global narrative is still more difficult.
“Many of us feel that our allies are turning their backs on us. Look at the UK. In the first month of Keir Starmer premiership, he put more money into the discredited UNRWRA , and then banned export licenses.
“You can’t say you stand against terrorism on one hand, and pay for terrorist’s salaries on the other.
“We feel betrayed.”
A cultural war was coming.
“People who believe in freedom, in equality, in women’s rights, minority rights, should know that this is what is at stake now,” she said.
“If more international leaders got less frightened by the loud voices that represent evil, we would be in a better world. “
