October 225, 2023, "The War"

My 173rd post on The War

The closest translation of the Hebrew word in the photo would be “he/she will remember”. In English it is pronounce Yizkor. On specific holidays during the year there is a special service embedded within the general prayers for that holiday called Yizkor. Those who have lost a direct relative - father, mother, sister, brother, son, daughter, etc. - will remain the synagogue to say a prayer in memory of their deceased loved one. On this day, in Israel it carries much, much greater meaning. Tonight started the 24 hour observance of Israel’s Memorial Day. It is the day the entire country remembers those who paid the ultimate price in defense of the country. In nearly every family there is a loved one who was either killed in one of the wars or was killed as a result of a terror attack. Observance started at 20:00 (8PM) this evening with sirens going off around the entire country. For one minute, everyone stands in silence throughout the siren - traffic stops and people get out of their cars, buses stop, people walking in the street stop… All the restaurants are closed. Movie theaters, night clubs and bars are closed. Over the radio all you hear is solemn music or interviews with families remembering loved ones and telling their stories. On TV there is no “entertainment”. ALL the channels are dedicated to interviewing families that lost a dear one or friends who lost a comrade in combat. Tomorrow, all day, the cemeteries will be filled with families visiting the grave sites of those they lost.

As you might have guessed we went to a special ceremony this evening dedicated to the Lone Soldier that died in the current, and all past, wars. The photo you see above is one I took before the start of the ceremony which was held in a movie theater auditorium with more than 500 people in attendance. The flags on the candles represent the countries from which many of the Lone Soldiers came from. In the current war, so far 30 Lone Soldier have died in combat, about ½ of whom were actually born in Israel. A soldier serving in the IDF is classified as a Lone Soldier if they have no immediate family living in Israel. Unlike, the US Armed Services, the IDF relies on the support the soldiers get from their families to fill in many of the “missing pieces”. Because the country is so small the soldiers get leave, depending on circumstances, as seldom as once every two months or, in some cases, each weekend. When they arrive home their families do their laundry, prepare special meals, etc. so the soldiers can catch up with friends and sleep. Lone Soldiers do not have a family or home to return to. So, the organization to which I was Chairman for four years provides much of the essentials missing without having a family.

At the ceremony, we saw pre-recorded messages from President Herzog and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. There were prayers, solemn songs sung and parents of departed Lone Soldiers telling the stories of their loved ones. I cried through most of the ceremony.

Tomorrow, sirens will go off again at 11:00 for two minutes. Once again, the entire country will come to a halt as everyone remembers someone special that is no longer with us.

This article provides a great description of the Lone Soldiers, what they do and backgrounds of those from the USA that died in the current war. The woman pictured in the beginning of the article is Rose Lubin (Z’’L) from Atlanta, Georgia. I went to visit her family as they sat shiva (7 days of mourning) here in Jerusalem. Despite having no family in Israel there were more than 1,000 people at her funeral. Of those, 95% never met Rose or her family, but Lone Soldiers are considered “holy” in this country where everything you see or touch seems holy.

This evening, right around the time the sirens went off for Memorial Day observance, other sirens went off near the Israeli town of Sderot as rockets were fired from Gaza. This follows a separate rocket attack from Gaza this morning in the same area. Early this afternoon, Hamas fired rockets from Rafah, targeting the Kerem Shalom aid crossing. They were all intercepted, which surprises me since I did not think that Iron Dome could respond so quickly to rockets fired over such a short distance. No damager or injuries were reported from either attack. Early this morning rockets fired from Gaza penetrated Israeli airspace and landed in the city of Ashkelon. One rocket blasted through a home, seriously injuring some of the family members. They were taken to the hospital with light injuries. No casualties were reported by the IDF in the past 24 hours. But the IDF did release a statement saying that 766 IDF soldiers have died in action since October 7. Most died that day and the two days after.

There are now three distinct areas of active IDF operations in Gaza - Jabaliya (northern outskirts of Gaza City), Zeitoun (southern outskirts of Gaza City) and eastern Rafah. In Rafah they continue to uncover tunnels and associated rocket launchers, often defended by a handful of Hamas operatives. In all three cases, civilians in the area were warned and given ample time to evacuate before the IDF troops entered the areas. In Zeitoun, the IDF has noted attempts by Hamas to regroup and form fighting units. Efforts continue to prevent Hamas from reforming. Similar operations are ongoing in Jabaliya. The IDF continues to find tunnel entrances and armories, which seem to be in every other building in Gaza.

A small number of kamikaze drones were fired by Hezbollah at the northern Israeli city of Nahariya, about 15 km from the Lebanese border. They landed on one of the most beautiful beaches in the country, but did no damage. Then this evening missiles were fired by Hezbollah near the northern city of Kiryat Shmona. Hezbollah announced that it has started using some new missiles called “Jihad Mughniyah”, named after one of its architects behind missile design. Supposedly it carries a great explosive capacity.

US Army Central Command reported the destruction of three drones launched by the Houthis early this morning.

The IDF opened a new border crossing in the northern part of Gaza to provide a second northern route for aid. This one is closer to the sea which should help serve the civilians evacuating Rafah for the humanitarian corridor. It is sorely needed as Egypt is still withholding aid at the Rafah border as well as the Kerem Shalom border crossings. In the case of Kerem Shalom the truck drivers realize that the crossing is coming under fire and they are afraid of being hit by a rocket.

Egypt is sending mixed messages. In the same day their foreign minister announced that the Rafah Operation could jeopardize the peace treaty with Israel. Then in a subsequent interview he said that the Peace Treaty was not in question. And today he announced that Egypt will join South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel at The Hague. I guess we will see in the coming weeks what they really intend. Or maybe the IDF should break down the barriers Egypt erected in the Sinai and let Gazans flee into the Sinai? (excuse the sarcasm)

There is a strange report in The Washington Post saying that the Biden Administration has offered intelligence information, including details on the location of Hamas leaders in Gaza, to Israel in exchange for Israel avoiding an full scale operation in Gaza. This has everyone here scratching their heads. If the US really has this intelligence, then why wouldn’t it be sharing it with Israel, particularly because it offers a chance to shorten the length of the war… and probably reduce civilian casualties? And if it doesn’t have this information, why would it be making this statement? Some people here are insisting that this is a bluff. Others that it is duplicitous. I just find it very strange… and a bit irresponsible.

The New York Times reported today that based on Israeli intelligence sources it is believed that Yahya Sinwar and the remaining Hamas leadership is not in Rafah but located in an underground bunker at a depth of 15 stories below surface in the vicinity of Khan Younis. The reason why often these stories appear in the US press is that Israeli papers come under censorship, particularly in classified information. But if an Israeli military official leaks to a US based newspaper it does not come under censorship.

Today, an Arab driver for a private ambulance company was caught trying to conceal eight terrorists while transporting them from a town in Judea/Samaria (West Bank) into Israel.

Chief of Staff Herzi HaLevy gave an address today on Memorial Day to the country. In it he said that “he failed” the country on October 7 and takes responsibility. Already, the Chief of IDF Intelligence has resigned. All expect HaLevy to resign at some point where there is a “lull” in operations and a clear handoff can be made, although he (nor anyone else) has specifically said this. What angers many of the anti-government protesters is that Prime Minister Netanyahu insists, in his speeches, that he had no responsibility for failures on October 7. This is nonsense as they were his policies that enabled Hamas to accumulate enormous funds and use them to build the terror infrastructure. He also fought numerous ministers during his long tenure over their insistence to take military actions against Hamas. I believe that once the IDF reaches a certain stage in its operations in Gaza, perhaps after taking over all of Rafah, it will be time and you will see much of the country in the streets demanding new elections and Netanyahu’s resignation. But, this is my opinion only.

Prime Minister Netanyahu also delivered a speech today right before the onset of Memorial Day. In his message he said the IDF is about ½ complete with its mission in Gaza. There are still many tunnels left intact or to be uncovered, and some of the residual terrorist operatives continue to regroup. Netanyahu has come under fire on a lot of issues, but perhaps the largest is the lack of a “day after” plan. I cannot judge this properly. Netanyahu has his issues but he is a very bright strategist. So I have to believe that he has something concrete in mind. But, Israel cannot announce it. First of all, no Palestinian would accept any plan proposal that emerged from Israel. Some other entity would have to push for it, and Israel would have to appear to reluctantly agree. Secondly, not many Arab entities would assume some level of administrative control while Hamas terrorists are still armed and capable of launching assassinations and attacks. Hamas’ power will have to be diminished much more for that to evolve. Even today, the Palestinian Authority often asks the IDF to enter parts of Judea/Samaria (West Bank) because they are afraid to encounter Hamas. So I, for one, believe that there is a plan being discussed in tight quarters but not being released for public consumption nor being discussed with the USA at this time. And the reason that the Israeli Government would not discuss this, at this time, with the USA is that during much of the Obama Administration, discussions which Israel thought were behind tight closed doors often got leaked, either intentionally or accidentally, to the press. And many staff members still in the State Department were appointed during the Obama Administration.

Meantime, anti-government protestors attempted to block Prime Minister Netanyahu’s motorcade in Jerusalem today as he was leaving security meetings there and returning to Jerusalem. I, for one, think that on a day as solemn as this one they should refrain from such divisive protests. But that is just my opinion.

Well, Eden Golan, who represented Israel at the Eurovision Competition came in fifth place in the competition. When taking into account the popular voting done by viewers only she came in second. But, judges carry about half the weight in the competition and they graded her very, very low. This was quite political in nature. But the winner was the Swiss entry. You can see the winning performance of Nemo singing “The Code” here. It is abundantly clear to me that I am too old as I personally found nothing in this performance that appealed to me. Good thing they didn’t choose me as a judge.

Here are some recommending viewing/reading:

• Perhaps the most important one is this one. I highly recommend reading this article which appeared in The Free Press. It is a speech given by Douglas Murray, a British-American correspondent who delivered this on receipt of the Alexander Hamilton Award.

• And here is a seven minute interview conducted on CNN with former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that is worth the short view.

• Finally, if you have a lot of spare time on your hand, here is a link to that interview I mentioned yesterday by US talk show host, Dr. Phil, conducted with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Here is a link to that interview. The video is about an hour long.