Today’s Image
I do not think that you need my help in identifying this image. Today is Yom Yerushaliym in Israel. It is a minor holiday. Everyone works, schools are in session, stores are open, etc. According to the Jewish Lunar Calendar, it was on this day in 1967 that IDF troops liberated the Old City which was previously occupied by Jordanian troops since 1948. Jews were forbidden from praying at the Western Wall between 1948 to 1967. All synagogues in the Old City were destroyed and Jewish Cemeteries vandalized. There is a march that will have much flag waving and singing. It will start in the newer part of the City then weave through the Old City, with a lot of singing and speeches at the end.
This wall is known as The Western Wall, or some call it The Wailing Wall. It is the last remaining intact wall that was built around the holy temple by King Herod in about 55 BC. There was a “First Temple” built by King Solomon about 1,000BC that was intact until it was destroyed by the Babylonian conquerors in about 540BC. As I remarked in an earlier post, King Cyrus of Persia permitted the Jews in exile to return to the Land of Israel to re-dedicate and re-build the holy temple. But King Herod, a Roman Citizen and who claimed Jewish Descent, rebuilt the second temple. It stood exactly where the Dome of the Rock stands today. If you ever visit Israel, you should take what are called the “Tunnel Tours” adjacent to the Western Wall. You go down far below ground level to see the bottom of the Western Wall and many artifacts from the period of Hasmonean Jewish Kings and then the Romans. The wall you see in this photo is only the top half of the wall. It extends below ground an equal depth so it gives you as sense of magnitude of the actual size of the Temple Mount and the Temple.
Today, Moslems are permitted on top of the Temple Mount to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is to the right of the trees, but can’t be seen in the photo. Jews can only go to the top at specific hours of the day and that are forbidden from praying there.
A Brief Interruption - Addendum
I realized that I might have left you hanging yesterday…. Not ALL the hostage families are participating in the daily protests, blocking traffic and setting fires on the highways. There is a fraction, that show more understanding for the government, and do not protest like this. They realize that the government must balance the following needs of the country:
recover the hostages,
enable the residents of the south and north to return to their homes with a feeling of security and that can only happen with Hamas eliminated as a military and governing power,
respecting the sacrifices made so far by the IDF soldiers that fought in Gaza, were wounded and some killed,
respecting the IDF soldiers that would have to risk their lives to recover the hostages,
the impact on future fighting as a result of releasing hundreds of convicted terrorists with “blood on their hands” who will most certainly try to repeat their vicious attacks after being released.
So it is not so simple as the hostage families wish to make it.
A second item I managed to skip over…. There are three border crossings with Jordan. Two are for Israeli citizens and tourists only. The third is over the Jordan River across the Allenby Bridge. There BOTH the Palestinian Authority and Israel maintain checkpoints serially managed. The IDF has the ability to pull over vehicles or other items in order to inspect for arms smuggling which is a common occurrence. Then, if someone is a returning Palestinian Arab, they go through the PA checkpoint. If they are entering Israel they go through the Israeli managed checkpoint. It works quite well. I have crossed it no less than five times, each way. I think that it could be a model for how the Rafah Border could work.
And finally….. I was born in the USA and was draft age during the Vietnam War. I enlisted in the US Navy and was then discharged. I never saw combat. So I understood what the Anti-Vietnam War protests were about. I also understand that the USA had no real business fighting that war and should have pulled its troops out earlier. We got stuck there because of the French Colonialists. So I have some understanding what it means when the Biden Administration says that “you shouldn’t get bogged down in a conflict forever”.
With some due respect, the Biden Administration is totally clueless on the real situation here in Israel and the Middle East, as a whole. For the USA, the countries of Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan are many thousands of miles away from US territory. It is possible for the USA to decide one day that fighting these wars makes no sense and it is time to pull out. To wit, the USA pulled out of Afghanistan in probably the worst way they could. Hamas forces in Gaza and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon are NOT thousands of miles away. They are less than 1 kilometer away from us. We are stuck in this quagmire fighting them regardless, since they have made it their mission to either die a martyr or kill Israelis. We cannot withdraw our troops and “call it a day”. We have not known peace for more than 100 years. That’s right, the first time the Arabs rose up and slaughtered Jews in what is now Israel was back in 1929, then again in 1936, and then ongoing until 1948, then again in 1967 and again in 1973 and again in 1982 and again in 1989 and again in 1996 and again in 2001 and again in 2006 and again in 2014. So we are IN THIS, so please President Biden and your staff, stop giving us military advice since it has been very bad advice AND stop telling us that you are trying to help us avoid getting into a “quagmire”.
We have been in a “quagmire” since the end of the 19th century here in the Land of Israel. And, except for a few of us, we have nowhere else to go. Despite what those college students at Columbia would like you to think, less than a couple hundred of us are from Poland. The vast majority of us (not me) were either born in the Middle East and North Africa, or our parents were.
Hamas Gaza Rockets
No rockets launched from Gaza crossed into Israel in the past eight days.
Casualties
No IDF casualties were reported in the past 96 hours.
Gaza Operations
The IDF announced that it has launched a new “focused” operation on the Gaza town of Bureij in central Gaza. This would be the second time the IDF infantry has entered this town. The first was back in January. Like the operation in Jabaliya, troops are entering the area based upon intelligence gathered through questioning of the locals about Hamas forces re-congregating there. These kinds of operations are going to be going on for the next year or more. The IDF conducts operations like this, but on a smaller scale, in Judea/Samaria (West Bank). It is how the country has evolved to “manage the problem”.
And while this new focussed operation starts a different one is coming to a close. The IDF announced that it is wrapping up a one and one half week operation in a Gaza City neighborhood, Sabra. During the operation the IDF destroyed much of Hamas infrastructure and killed Hamas combatants defending that infrastructure. And today the IDF Corp of Engineers completed the demolition of a 1 ½ kilometer (one mile) tunnel buried 23 meters (75 feet) deep. You can see a video of the explosion here. The tunnel connected the neighborhood of Gaza City to an opening just outside the Netzarim Corridor, that road the IDF constructed traversing Gaza, about mid way. The troops also found and destroyed rocket depots and an SA-18 anti-aircraft missile launcher. I think it is the first one found in Gaza. During the 1 ½ week long operations the IDF troops came under fire by RPGs. More than 70 unique Hamas operations facilities were destroyed in the neighborhood during the operation along with dozens of Hamas combatants killed.
Lebanon Operations
The IDF and the government have pretty much reached the end of their patience regarding Hezbollah in the north. There are rumors, and I believe them, that there is likely to be a MAJOR increase in Israeli attacks on Hezbollah positions throughout south Lebanon, enough to potentially, but hopefully not, launch a full war. We can no longer live like this. Hezbollah initiated the attacks on Israel and continues them for eight months.
Besides Chief of Staff Herzi HaLevi going to the north to meet with the IDF troops, today War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz announced he is also heading to the north to meet with members of the community and the IDF troops there. During his speech he alluded to his position favoring reaching a deal in Gaza so the IDF can focus on the upcoming fight in the north.
Meanwhile, fire fighting teams, more than 24 of them, have been dealing with the huge number of “out of control” fires in Israel’s north. Today for the first time in five days they announced that they have the existing fires under control.
Hezbollah launched six kamikaze drones that crossed the Israeli border. All were neutralized by Iron Dome.
Aid
The World Central Kitchen announced today that it has served more than 50 million meals in Gaza since it suspended its operations in April after the unfortunate accident resulting in the death of some of their staff. It has now resumed full operations in Gaza.
Hostages/Ceasefire
Israeli forensic experts examining the bodies of the recovered dead hostages announced today that, in some cases, they see clear evidence of execution. The government announced today that altogether 250 living and dead people were dragged into Gaza during the October 7 attack. Of these 120 remain in captivity. Of these 43 have been officially declared dead, leaving 73 having unknown disposition. Many in the government think that there are much more than 43 of the remaining hostages dead.
Today, the Israeli negotiating team has present Qatar government officials with their full, detailed hostage/ceasefire proposal, following most of the outline provided by President Biden in his “Three Stage Deal” speech. Receipt of the details were confirmed by Qatar.
CIA director William Burns and White House Mideast czar Brett McGurk have departed the USA heading to Cairo and Doha to see how they can assist in the negotiations. While all of us appreciate the dedication of these two men and the Biden Administration in trying to reach a hostage/ceasefire deal, I fail to understand how they spend so much time and resources like this.
The official leader of the Israeli negotiating team was interviewed on one of the national TV networks, before departing for Cairo. He was asked about the “Three Stage Deal”. He replied that “this is it”. There will not be any better offer made to Hamas…. “We went as far as possible”.
Meantime, Hamas official Osama Hamdan says that the terror group cannot agree to a deal that does not secure a clear Israeli position on a permanent ceasefire and complete withdrawal from Gaza. As I have said for the last seven months, there is no way an Israeli government - left, right, center, with Netanyahu, without Netanyahu - could ever agree to such a thing.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu by phone today calling for an end to the war in Gaza. He did not mention a word about recovering hostages as a part of the deal, even though there is more than one French national being held hostage in Gaza. I guess that the French have a different set of priorities and values. According to reports here in Israel, Netanyahu briefed Macron on the details of the “Three Stage Deal” and said that the deal does NOT include a permanent ceasefire, but discussions relating to a permanent ceasefire in stage 2.
Politics/Protests
Yesterday one of the ultra-orthodox political parties in the coalition announced that they would support whatever hostage/ceasefire agreement the War Cabinet supports. The second ultra-orthodox political party did the same today. Both parties cited the Talmudic priority of life and the urgency of recovering hostages. My view on this is that it is first and foremost, their way of saying that they will not fight this initiative like the two extreme right wing parties in the coalition. Secondly, I believe that by citing Rabbinic Precepts on the Jewish View on dealing with hostages is not only accurate, but also intended to make both of the two extremist parties look bad. Both the extremist parties have a council of rabbis that lend their counsel to the party leaders. It will be hard for those rabbis to deny the many rabbinic precepts regarding the importance or recovering hostages.
There are accusations coming from the White House that Prime Minister Netanyahu may be deliberately prolonging the war in order to stay in power and keep his government together. This same accusation has been made by some here in Israel on the left of the political spectrum. I don’t see it the same way. Netanyahu has a well documented history of NOT being decisive. He prefers to postpone difficult decisions until there is no other choice. I presume that this is because he believes that events sometimes overtake the scene and make decisions easier. I don’t know. I think that things are taking longer than they should, primarily the Rafah Operation which should have been launched back in February, because he is indecisive and he has a difficult time given his coalition structure to make hard decisions. It is easier for him if events force decisions on him.
In Your Copious Spare Time…
While it is a bit off topic, I recommend that you read this article written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali appearing in The Free Press. If you prefer you can listen to her podcast on Apple Podcast here or on Spotify here. Hirsi Ali was born in Somalia, a moslem woman. She escaped with her family and took refuges initially in The Netherlands. She now lives in the USA and is on the staff of The Hoover Institution at Stanford University. She has been invited to speak at several Universities in the past, but students led violent boycotts against her speaking on campus. No such thing as Free Speech on Universities anymore.
Here is an article describing why the Palestinian leadership never assumes blame any of its many, many mistakes are ever its own fault. It appeared in The National Review.