Tal Hartuv: “And God saw it was bad”

Charged to save Humanity, pimply teenagers delivering pizza the night before, put on a uniform and hunted death in the torched kibbutzim and rubble.

At 6 a.m., on the 7th of October, in the year 2023, the earth was formed and full. The trees surrounding the little sleepy kibbutzim and towns near Gaza had recently been plucked for the Feast of Sukkoth. Morning had broken and a blackbird spoke. Like that First Morning, Humanity was at rest.

It was long ago when God called the light, “day” and darkness “night.” He did it for Humanity, by drawing a line in the sand. He did it so His children all over the world would know right from wrong, good from evil, dark from light, and life from death.

And there was evening and there was morning, and God saw it was good.

At 6.30 a.m., on the 7th of October, deceptive tranquility hovered over the sleepy kibbutzim and towns near Gaza. It was the calm before the storm. Without warning the Tsunami struck.  Evil swelled and Evil bulged, washing away the line that God had drawn in the sand. A wave of death crashed down upon the unsuspecting Jewish people at rest.

Those who had erased the image of God from their face frenziedly moved from house to house. They bludgeoned husbands shielding their wives, tore toddlers away from their mothers, beheaded babies, chopped up children, and torched entire families. Onwards they charged to a festival where God’s children  – from 26 nations – were shot, raped, kidnapped, and dragged off to hell while the music played on.

God was not surprised, nor were the People of Israel. For years, taxpayers had been rewarding terrorists with millions of dollars and euros. Governments turned a blind eye, arguably believing that money can buy a change of heart. But it was their money given in good faith – arguably – which covered the cost of carnage today, and carnage of days gone by.

Rampaging through the kibbutzim and towns on the 7th of October, 2023, were the butchers of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Al-Aksa Bridge, and Fatah – factions of the PLO. The leader of the PLO,  Mahmood Abbas, is a savage in a suit. Frequently welcomed onto the podium at the United Nations, he holds his speech with his blood-stained hands and spews out lies and perpetual, degrading victimhood: and he is received with a standing ovation.

UNRWA, (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), has received billions over decades. Way back in time, UNRWA was tasked with providing employment, education, and immediate aid to the innocent civilians of Gaza. Rather than offering the Palestinians empowerment, they shackled them in perpetual and festering victimhood. The UNRWA curriculum teaches Palestinian children how to hate and murder Jews. The graduates of this Nazi education are among those that slaughtered our people on the 7th of October, 2023.

UNRWA has swallowed up billions. There is no accountability as to where the money has gone. The only fancy cars in Gaza are the Toyotas belonging to some of the 30,000 UNRWA Palestinian employees. Unsurprisingly it was UNRWA vans that were found in the torched kibbutzim and rubble of towns near Gaza.

And there was evening and there was morning, and God saw it was bad.

At 4 p.m., on the 7th of October, in the torched kibbutzim and rubble of towns near Gaza, those who carried the image of God began to arrive at the scene. Charged to save Humanity, those pimply teenagers delivering pizza the night before, put on a uniform and hunted death. They found UNRWA diplomas in the pockets of terrorists. Other of God’s creatures combed the bushes and found babies’ heads strewn among the geraniums. And as they bagged those heads, they sobbed and wept and fell to their knees.

And there was evening and there was morning, and God howled.

At 6 p.m., on the 7th of October from the torched kibbutzim and rubble of towns near Gaza, news began to break out all over the world. Journalists used their God-given platforms to convey what they had seen. But they too choked and wept at a horror that made them mute. In place of language, the flag of Israel was raised in a unified declaration of outrage, defiance, love, and solidarity. The blue and white colours of the foundation of Western civilisation were beamed on monuments, towers, and buildings. Leaders of nations offered unequivocal support, something Israel has never experienced since rising from the ashes, somewhere back then.

And there was evening and there was morning, and God was comforted

At 10:45 a.m., on the 10th of October, reports broke out on Sky News. In place of the frantic and grief-stricken faces of the past two days, was a face erased of the image of God. It was that of the Hamas’ Head of Political and International Relations. The world listened as he spewed his hate. Appalled that he was given a platform, some Righteous Among the Nations spoke up. The vast majority of viewers stayed silent, reasoning to themselves that there are always two sides to the story. That was a turning point. From then on, in the name of balance, anchors raced to provide platforms for those who use mind-boggling unethical gymnastics, to rationalise the slaughter of Jews.

As the BBC belched out Goebbels, Brown Shirts in grey suits and other respectable attire, joined forces with savages and moved through the streets of civilisation. While they called out for the Final Solution in the name of free speech, Jewish people ran for their lives. The mob ebbed and flowed passing those very same monuments, towers, and buildings which at night still shine (until now, at least) with the blue and white flag of the foundations of Humanity.

And there was evening and there was morning, and God raged.

On October 11, 2023, Israel formed a war cabinet. It was an unforgettable mark on the calendar. Although Israel knows civilian casualties are an inevitable result of every war, they are never the objective. To avoid as many deaths of innocents as possible, Israel went beyond the rules of war. We have tap-bombed buildings, dropped warning leaflets, and ensured a humanitarian route for refugees. And while thousands of innocent civilians run for their lives, Hamas tries to stop them, and the world plugs its ears to the cries of the hostages yet demands a proportionate response. A proportionate response would mean that our children would need to torch the exact same number of families in their homes, behead the exact same number of babies, and execute the same number of hostages – while using the victims’ phones to livestream their murder on Facebook. How dare darkness egg us on to erase the image of God. We, the People of the Book, know the divine warning. A proportionate response is something we will not do.

And there was evening and there was morning, and God warned

The blood of the raped and tortured hostages no longer cry out from the ground. They are the forgotten voices covered up with Palestinian self-degrading perpetual victimhood and the lies that it’s all about land.

Israel’s commission is to be a “light to the nations.” This means Israel must do justice and love mercy. By hunting down these savages, the Jewish nation seeks to do that very task. Israel’s Casus belli is for the sake of Heaven. It is to restore the image of God and draw again that line in the sand.

And God said, “Let there be light.”

Author bio: Tal Hartuv is an author and guide at Yad Vashem. She is also a survivor of a Hamas machete attack. You can visit her website

Feature Image Credit: Jenny Milne