IDF Chief of Staff Gantz briefs soldiers.

Watching media reports of the incessant attacks on Israel over the last few days is simply terrifying. Through speaking to dozens of Israeli friends and family members, I get the feeling that across the political spectrum, the nation of Israel is united in its resolve to stop these attacks.  The people of Israel – from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – simply want to live a normal life, and until terror is defeated that simply can’t happen.

The Israeli government is undergoing a “diplomatic public relations campaign to explain that Israel is acting in self-defense against military targets, because the continued rocket barrage had become intolerable.”  Israel now faces the threat of terror daily.This situation of Jews being hunted and slaughtered has been a mainstay throughout Jewish history, and now yet again, even with a Jewish state, Jews face an enemy devoted to wiping them off the face of the Earth.

Here are some remarkable quotes which carry relevance for this unique period which Israel is facing:

• “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven… A time of war, and a time of peace.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1,3,8b

• “We were not created in order to teach morals and manners to our enemies. Let them learn these things for themselves. We want to hit back at anybody who harms us. Whoever does not repay a blow by a blow is also incapable of repaying a good deed in kind.” – Ze’ev Jabotinsky

• “It is always aimed at us, and we must respond. We must end this abuse of ourselves, at all costs. And it is very easy. They spit in our faces without fear, ‘in passing’, for no reason – not because our insulters are blessed with courage and want to pick a fight with us, but because this pleasure is so cheap for them: they will spit at us and go on their way, and nothing will happen. We must accustom them to the thought that from now on this pleasure will come at a hefty cost.”  – Ze’ev Jabotinsky

• “The truth is that if Israel were to put down its arms there would be no more Israel. If the Arabs were to put down their arms there would be no more war.” –  Benjamin Netanyahu, 2006

• “We make war that we may live in peace.” – Aristotle

All decent people must join together in hoping and praying that Israel wins a quick decisive victory in this war and for the safety of all of the soldiers and people of Israel.

Ronn Torossian is an entrepreneur, philanthropist and activist.