War
Soldiers on Gaza street
April 7th will mark six-month mark since the beginning of the war with Hamas.
The undeclared war with Hezbollah in the north is still ongoing but so far limited to exchange of rocket and artillery fire. Over 100,000 Israelis are still “unhomed.” 60,000 from the north and another 60,000 from the south. The government is unclear when these ‘unhomed” can safely return to the places they’ve left. The IDF is still fighting in Gaza, although with a vastly reduced number of soldiers.
The 134 hostages have still not been released from Gaza. Negotiations have broken down for their release.
So far 253 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the IDF went into Gaza on Oct 27th.
Over the recent Purim holiday, traditionally a time of merry-making, many Israelis refrained from a free-wheeling celebration, and rather than wishing each other a Happy Purim said Have a Meaningful Purim instead. For how could someone be happy when Israeli soldiers were fighting and dying in Gaza. And 134 Israelis were languishing in captivity in Gaza.
According to Ynetnews, one of the important technology breakthroughs brought about by the war was the Oron spy plane that could identify a target’s face in the West Bank, a convoy of weapons in Syria, a missile launch site in Lebanon, and a Hamas target in Gaza all at the same time.
The Israeli Air Force's (IAF) latest spy plane, the Oron, which has become fully operational was rushed through the approval process by Defense Ministry officials who were able to utilize the urgency brought about by the war in Gaza to streamline the approval process, normally a months-long affair, into a few days.
Israel’s Oron spy plane
Gaza
IDF troops in Gaza
Israel returned to the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on March 18th. In a surprise move, Israel surrounded the hospital and then went in, neutralizing over 150 Hamas terrorists and capturing as many as 800, according to some sources.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the Al-Shifa hospital symbolizes how Israel’s operation in northern Gaza has already created new conditions and provided the military with the ability to enter a place that once was deemed too dangerous to access.
According to reports by the IDF, the terrorists and Hamas commanders are still entrenched in the medical complex and where the fighting continues. Although on Thursday night, according to Channel 11TV’s military correspondent Itai Blumental, the IDF spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari seemed to indicate that the Al-Shifa operation was drawing to a close after a week of fighting.
The fighting in Al-Shifa hospital uncovered vast supplies of arms, over $3 million in cash in various currencies, and intelligence from computers and safes that provide names and locations of Hamas fighters and sympathizers.
At Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Ynetnews reports that many of those captured have provided valuable intelligence information to Israel. This information, according to the IDF, will be used to ferret out other Hamas cells in Gaza, determine their location, locate where booby-trapped bombs were placed, where the weapons depots were located, and where terrorists were hiding.
According to Ynetnews, the Al-Amal hospital in Gaza was also struck in repeated raids by the IDF forces in Khan Younis. Reportedly, new tunnels were discovered, some of which reach the nearby Nasser Hospital. As part of the operation in the neighborhood, 50 terrorists were apprehended and are being interrogated.
One of the captured terrorists, Mohamed Abu Mohamed Qassam admitted to killing Israelis on a kibbutz, he didn’t know which one, and taking one young woman into a bedroom of a kibbutz house and raping her. Then with other terrorists taking her into Gaza. Abu Mohamed showed regret over the rape but no regret over killing Israelis.
The IDF says that Hamas terrorists use Al-Shifa hospital to fire at IDF troops thus endangering personnel in the hospital. Other captured terrorists admit that Al Shifa was a terrorist headquarters.
IDF in Gaza’s Qatari build Hamad neighborhood
The IDF has also been operating in the Hamad neighborhood of upscale six-story buildings mainly occupied by the upper crust of Gaza’s society, including many Hamas leaders. The neighborhood was built with funds provided by Qatar.
The IDF has flushed terrorists out of their hiding places in the luxury apartments, uncovered arms caches and explosives. The fighting has seen the destruction of many of the luxurious buildings.
The IDF has come under criticism for not invading Rafah at the beginning of the campaign rather than waiting until the end. Knesset Member Yoav Hendel, who fought in Gaza as a reserve combat soldier, told a Channel 12TV panel that Rafah should have been first on the list. And Israel should be fighting with Hamas in Rafah rather than the US in Washington.
According to the Jerusalem Post, a poll this week showed that 82% of Israelis support Netanyahu’s call for an offensive against Hamas in the southern Gaza town of Rafah despite US opposition.
UNRWA school in Gaza
UNRWA schools were inculcating Gaza students with hatred of Israel and the Jewish people, according to’ Impact-se’, the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education, a group based in the UK and Israel that monitors school curricula around the world with a particular emphasis on the Middle East.
Imact-se has determined that the textbooks used in Gaza’s UNRWA schools show maps of the Middle East with Palestine not Israel, extol the battles of Fedayeen against the IDF and says it takes courage to wear an explosive suicide vest. An Islamic Studies textbook described the goal of Jihad as “terrorizing the enemy and achieving martyrdom.”
Zvi Yehzkeli, Arab affairs reporter for Channel 13TV, has said that the IDF has killed Hamas number three, Muhamed Issa, considered the Hamas Military Chief of Staff. But, said Yehzkeli, Hamas says the death of Issa is not as important as Hamas fighting a PR battle for international opinion, and apparently winning.
Channel 11TV’s Bluementhal also reported that Israel had also taken out many middle level Hamas operatives and one other top man, Raad Thabet, the head of manpower for Hamas and one of the brains behind Hamas strategy.
Also, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Thursday night that Israel had used 30 tons of explosives to destroy a 2 1/2 kilometer tunnel that connected north and south Gaza.
And the UN Security Council this week passed a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. The US, in a controversial move, abstained rather than issuing a veto of the vote.
Israelis were quick to criticize the US, wondering if they had not changed their policy supporting Israel. Others said this was just another way the US was pushing back at Israel for not coming up with a plan to end the war.
According to Channel 12TVs Sulamin Massada, members of Israel’s war cabinet harshly criticized Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not pushing harder for a ceasefire and negotiating a hostage release. Both Gen. (ret.) Gadi Eizenkott and Gen. (ret.) Benny Gantz said that Netanyahu was not doing enough to insure the return of the hostages.
North
Hezbollah continues to bombard the north of Israel. On Thursday, rockets fell across the upper Galilee but most were either neutralized by the Iron Dome or fell in open areas.
Zahir Bashara, left, factory hit by rocket on the right
However, a rocket barrage hit Kyriat Shmona on Wednesday, March 27th, killing 25-year-old Zahir Bashara, a factory worker from the Druze village of Ein Qiuiyye. Three other people were also injured in the attack.
Yesterday, a winery in the northern settlement of Avivim was destroyed by direct rocket attack. No one was injured. The owner of the winery said this was the fourth time his winery was hit be rockets.
Israel has been responding to the rocket attacks by hitting Hezbollah targets deep in Lebanon. On Tuesday, according to Nir Dvori military correspondent for Channel 12TV news, Israel hit a warehouse in Lebanon’s Beka that housed Hezbollah attack drones and other weaponry. According to Drori, this attack led to a Hezbollah barrage on the Israeli settlements in the north.
And, according to the Times of Israel, the IDF said it had struck a “military building” in Habbariyeh, five kilometers from the Israeli border with Lebanon, killing a “significant terrorist” of the al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya group, along with several other operatives who were with him in the building.
On Tuesday, Jamaa al-Islamiya head Sheikh Mohammed Takkoush told the Associated Press that the group was closely coordinating with both Hezbollah and Hamas along the border with Israel
Also on Tuesday, the IDF carried out an airstrike near the northeastern town of Zboud, which is more than 110 kilometers from the border, and was Israel’s deepest target Israel had hit in Lebanon since the war against Hamas started on October 7.
According to Reshet Bet radio, Aryeh Dekel, head of security in Kryiat Shmona, has sent out a message to those residents of Kyriat Shmona who have been evacuated from the norther city to stay where they are, in hostels, hotels and with family, and not return to Kyriat Shmona until there is quiet in the border town.
This situation in the north has kept Israelis on edge, according to one analyst. Like a black storm cloud filled with thunder and lightening, but as yet no rain. Some ask if the soldiers recently released from duty in Gaza will soon be recalled to arms and sent to the northern border to fight Hezbollah.
Israel has lost eight civilians as well as 10 IDF soldiers and reservists in the battle with Hezbollah. Hezbollah has named 251 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon, but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 42 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 50 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed.
Some pundits say that the cycle of violence seems to have no beginning and no end. Hezbollah has said they joined the fight to support Hamas in Gaza, but they’ve also said they would continue fighting even when Hamas agrees to a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, the IDF announced that they have begun war games in the north simulating a conflict with Hezbollah.
Hostages
Uriel Baruch who was killed on Oct 7th and his body taken to Gaza
The family of Urial Baruch,35, who was taken captive from the Supernova music festival on October 7, was informed that he had died in Gaza.
134 hostages, both alive and dead, abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza. 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November. Four hostages were released prior to that and three hostages have been rescued alive by troops. The bodies of 11 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military.
Recently, former Gaza hostage Amit Soussana, an Israeli lawyer, testified in an interview with the New York Times that she was sexually assaulted while in captivity. Her testimony includes difficult descriptions of sexual violence and cruelty.
Soussana told the New York Times that she’d been held 40 meters (about 120 feet) underground in Gaza and sexually abused by her captors.
Pundits say the other women, many young and attractive, are being passed around as sex-slaves. True or not, that may well be the case. Other women, released as part of a prisoner exchange in November, tell of similar abuse.
The families of the hostages continue to protest. This week four relatives of hostages were arrested in Tel Aviv when they blocked Begin Boulevard to draw attention to the plight of their husbands and wives and sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, grandmother and grandfathers. Every day that passes, say the families, is another day that a hostage dies from starvation, disease or torture.
Meanwhile, the negotiations for a ceasefire and release of the hostages has stalled, again. Hamas has, according to Ron Dermer, a spokesperson for PM Netanyahu, taken the US abstention of the recent UNSC vote, to call for an immediate cessation of Israeli fighting in Gaza, as a sign to encourage Hamas, to give them a pat on the back, prompting Hamas to keep the hostages because the Hamas strategy to decimate Israel on the stage of world opinion seems to be working.
Israel withdrew the team negotiating the hostage release from the talks in Qatar. However, according to Raviv Drucker of Channel 13TV, Israel has left a number of team members behind to carry on the talks, only the big names, like Mossad chief Danny Barnea and others have been pulled back.
However, experts agree with Dermer. As long as the world seems to be against Israel, pressuring Israel to stop the fighting, Hamas sees no reason to release the hostages or agree to a ceasefire. Hamas, say the experts, now believes they can stay in power after a ceasefire that will be imposed upon Israel. Some pundits speculate that Hamas may never release the hostages but rather keep them as a human shield. This, say the pundits, would prevent Israel from bombing suspected Hamas hideaways, where the hostages are held and where Hamas leaders are ensconced. And thus protect the lives of leaders like Sinwar.
According to Ynetnews, the leader of Hamas abroad, Khaled Mashal, discussed the negotiations for a hostage deal, and claimed that "the organization's leadership is conducting a negotiation battle no less fierce than the battle on the ground.
“We will win on the ground and in the negotiations." He added, "In the talks, we insist on stopping the aggression, a withdrawal from Gaza, returning the displaced people to their homes, mainly in northern Gaza, and providing all the necessary assistance." Mashal said that Hamas will not release the hostages "until we achieve the goals."
West Bank
Lone gunman, left, firing at bus. Bullet-proof glass hit on right.
Three Israelis were injured, one seriously, when a lone gunman opened fire on cars on route 90 in the Jordan Valley on Thursday. The three injured were men traveling in a private vehicle. The gunman also opened fire on a school bus. One 13-year old was injured by shards of glass. Luckily, the bus had bullet-proof glass and steel reinforced sides.
The gunman was identified as a member of the Palestinian Authority’s security organization. Observers say this is not the first time a Palestinian policeman or security member has opened fire on Israelis. Others point out that as a rule the PA has been very helpful in reigning in terrorist attacks on Israelis. They also point out that this is the Moslem month of Ramadan when religious fervor runs high.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority has replaced the old cabinet and the new cabinet will begin operations on Sunday. The new government is an attempt to show the international community that the PA can help run Gaza once the war is over.
Terrorist’s car destroyed near Jenin
Since Oct 7th, especially during Ramadan, that began March 10th, the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the Police special units, have been battling suspected terrorists in the West Bank. Israeli forces went into Jenin and held a two-day running battle with terrorists. According to the Times of Israel, three Palestinians were killed, two gunmen in a drone strike, one who hurled explosives at troops, during an arrest raid in Jenin. On Thursday the IDF went into a refugee camp in Nablus seeking wanted terrorists. And during the week, two terrorists were taken out by an armed drone near Tulkarem.
Israel also seized a weapons supply and manufacturing plant in Jenin. The IDF says that the weapons were supplied by Iranian operatives who snuck them into the West Bank.
The Police also say they broke up an Iranian arms smuggling operation and arrested an Iranian operative who was tasked with recruiting terrorists to attack Israeli targets.
West Bank Iranian supplied explosives and weapons
Across the West Bank, since Oct 7th, the IDF have arrested about 3,6000 wanted Palestinians, including more than 1,600 affiliated with Hamas.
According to Ynetnews, as part of the activity of the Israeli forces, advanced weapons originating from Iran were seized including rockets, explosive charges, mines and RPGs. In addition, 50 pistols, 33 M4 type rifles, explosives, 13 anti-tank missiles and 25 hand grenades were found. Also, the IDF released the news the Iranian security forces responsible for the smuggling attempt were the Special Operations Division of the Revolutionary Guards, headed by Jawad Afari, former Quds Force commander in Syria.
The arms smuggling activity was exposed and thwarted by the Shin Bet and the IDF. Israeli security forces also detained for questioning Palestinian officials who were working to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli targets.
The investigations also revealed information about the recent activities of Munir Makdeh, a Palestinian resident of Ain al Halwa in Lebanon, who has been known for years as someone who works for Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and continues to attempt and promote terrorist attacks.
It appears that Makdeh recruits elements in the territories of Judea and Samaria for the purpose of carrying out terrorist attacks and promotes the smuggling of Iranian weapons and financing in a variety of axes to the squads he recruited.
Anti-Semitism
Steven Spielberg speaking at the UC ceremony
USC bestowed its prestigious University Medallion on the 56,000 Holocaust survivors who have provided testimony to the USC Shoah Foundation, which Spielberg founded three decades ago.
At the ceremony, film producer/director Steven Spielberg warned on Monday that “the machinery of extremism is being used on college campuses,” and lamented those killed in Israel and Gaza. Spielberg was being honored for his Holocaust remembrance work by the University of Southern California.
“We see every day how the machinery of extremism is being used on college campuses,“ Spielberg said. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. And I am increasingly alarmed that we may be condemned to repeat history, to once again have to fight for the very right to be Jewish.”
Spielberg also said that Jewish people could ‘rage against heinous acts’ by terrorists and decry deaths of Gaza civilians.
According to the JTA (Jewish Telegraph Agency) The US Department of Education is opening a discrimination investigation into the University of California, Santa Barbara a month after Tessa Veksler, its student government president, who is Jewish, shared images of campus activists targeting her with inflammatory signs.
According to the JTA, some of the signs held the words, “You can run but you can’t hide Tessa Veksler,” one sign read. “Tessa Veksler Supports Genocide,” multiple signs declared. “Get these Zionist[s] out of office,” another read, with yet another accusing her of being “racist” and “Zionist.”
Politics
According to Ynetnews, the Biden administration is looking into funding a "Palestinian peacekeeping force" in Gaza after the war.
According to Ynetnews, the American newspaper "Politico" reported that officials in the administration of US President Joe Biden are holding "initial talks" on stabilizing the situation in the Gaza Strip after the war, including a proposal to the Pentagon to help finance a multinational force or "Palestinian peacekeeping teams".
According to the report in "Politico", from two sources in the US Department of Defense, the options being considered do not include placing US soldiers in the field.
Earlier, US President Joe Biden came out and said that some of the Democratic party’s left-wing progressives, “might have a point,” when it comes to Israeli actions in Gaza.
Progressive politician Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said that what Israel is doing in Gaza is ‘Genocide.’ Political observers say that Biden knows that an election is in the offing and that he’s trying to broaden his base by criticizing Israel.
White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said that the US has not changed it’s position on the Israel war with Hamas. But some pundits on Israel TV pointed out that perhaps Kirby hadn’t read the UN Security Council resolution that called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
“There was no mention of the hostages,” in that resolution, said one pundit. “How is it possible that the US position hasn’t changed if they’ve allowed a resolution to pass that didn’t even mention the release of hostages?”
Following the UN Security Council resolution, Israel’s PM Netanyahu, who has slipped badly in the polls, decided not to send two government representatives, Ron Dermer and Tzachi HaNegbi, to the US to discuss a possible Israeli army incursion into Rafah.
The US has said that Netanyahu cancelled sending representatives to the Rafah talks in Washington not as a protest over the US abstention on the UN vote, but to play to his base.
On Thursday, Netanyahu decided to reverse his own decision and allow Dermer and Hanegbi to go to Washington. They are expected in Washington next week.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant has been holding meeting with US Sec. of Defense Lloyd Austin in Washington. Gallant is trying to secure more arms and ammunition for Israel. Pundits say that without the US airlift of ammunition Israel would run out of artillery shells, precision bombs and rockets for the Iron Dome.
On Thursday, respected military journalist Ron Ben Yishai wrote in the Ynetnews that the US expects Israel to abide by US requests to limit strikes in Rafah or there might be a slowdown and even a halt to the US airlift.
Ben Yishai wrote that Gallant arrived in Washington to a gloomy atmosphere, but by the end of the talks had convinced the US that Israel would increase humanitarian aid, emphasizing that there was no famine in Gaza. Gallant said that he favors a Palestinian Authority presence in Gaza as part of the Day After scenario but admits that as of now no Day After plan is in place.
According to Ben Yishai, in conversations at the Pentagon and the White House, it was hinted to Gallant quite clearly that if Israel does not meet the demands of the Biden administration regarding humanitarian aid and does not quickly reach an understanding on the issues of "the day after" and the entry into Rafah, the administration will not be able to pass and approve in Congress Israel's aid requests. These include the $14 billion that Biden promised at the beginning the current war that has not yet been approved by Congress.
Gallant also reportedly told Sec. of Defense Austin that Israel must disband the four Hamas battalions now in Rafah in order to depose Hamas and neutralize a Hamas threat to Israel.
The Ynetnews report, in part quoting the Wall Street Journal, also stated that the US will not stop Israel from entering Rafah but that Israel must hone its attack to limit civilian casualties.
But on the issues that bother the administration in Washington, the parties have not yet reached understandings and agreements, and therefore, the crisis with the US is still ongoing.
Some Israeli media reports speculate that Israel will enter Rafah sometime in April.
Earlier in the week, Gen. (ret.) Tomer Heyman, speaking to a panel on Channel 12TV news, said that Netanyahu has now decided to pick a fight with the US rather than going into Rafah and flushing out Hamas.
Israel Beitanu leader Avigdor Leiberman, a harsh Netanyahu critic, has said that Netanyahu is only driven by self-interest. The longer he stays in power the longer he stays out of jail. Netanyahu is on trial for multiple charges of breach of trust, accepting bribes, and fraud The trial has been going on since 2019.
The Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, is going on a six-week spring break, from April 7 to May 19. This puts off any decisions on any political issues off until early summer.
According to Leiberman, “This shows “…disconnected government officials who do not deserve to lead the government.”
According to the political observers, the recent statements by US Senator Shumer that Netanyahu should be replaced may have affected Israeli support for Netanyahu but not in the way Shumer intended. Israelis saw Shumer’s statements as an attempt by the US to interfere in Israel’s internal politics.
According to Yaakov Katz, editor of the Jerusalem Post, that is not to say that Netanyahu is popular. “Senator Chuck Schumer must have decided last week that he wants to see Benjamin Netanyahu remain Israel’s prime minister for years to come. Otherwise, it is hard to understand what the senior senator from New York thought he would achieve when calling for new leadership in Israel while drawing an equivalence between the country’s democratically-elected government, and the terrorist organization in Gaza that the IDF has been fighting for the last five months.
“This has nothing to do with what someone’s opinion might be about the prime minister. There is legitimate criticism of Netanyahu and strong feelings that he should have stepped down years ago. There is no doubt that Netanyahu needs to be held personally responsible for the, failures that led to this war and it is even possible that had he done so, the October 7 massacre could have been avoided. He was the prime minister for the last 15 years (except for one) and he set the policy that allowed Hamas to grow in strength.
Still, says Katz, it is not Shumer’s place to lobby to replace Netanyahu. “He is the democratically elected prime minister of this country and the way for him to be replaced is for the Israeli people to do so at the ballot. It is not the place of a US senator.”
The Draft
Ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students
Israel has been in a turmoil this week over the proposed administrative order that would allow ultra-Orthodox men to study into the age of 35 thus preventing them from being eligible for the draft.
According to the Times of Israel, a government resolution from June 2023 instructing the IDF to temporarily not draft ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) students despite the expiration of a law governing the matter will itself expire at midnight on March 31.
Yoav Gallant, Israel’s Minister of Defense, has said he would not support the law. And Israel’s Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara has said that there are elements of the order that are so problematic her office could not defend that it if called upon to do so.
According to the State Attorney’s Office, there are some 63,000 enrolled yeshiva students who will be legally subject to the draft after April 1. Some 1,500 ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) yeshivas currently receive funding for approximately 56,500 of those students.
Netanyahu has been accused of asking to extend the order to stay in favor with the ultra-Orthodox parties in his coalition who have threatened to bolt, and thus bring down the Netanyahu government, if the order is not approved by the high court.
On Thursday, Netanyahu asked for extension after extension from the high court, lastly asking for a 30-day extension to draft an order that the court would approve.
As it stands now, the draft law for ultra-Orthodox men will go into effect on April 1st. The order would affect nearly 50,000 ultra-Orthodox men who are now Yeshiva students.
Economists say the present system is unsustainable. With its high birthrate, the Haredi community, which makes up 13% of the Israel, is the fastest-growing segment of the population, at about 4% annually. Each year, roughly 13,000 Haredi males reach the conscription age of 18, but fewer than 10% enlist, according to the Knesset’s State Control Committee, which recently held a hearing on the matter.
Meanwhile, according to Ynetnews, the High Court voted on Thursday to freeze the support for yeshiva students who must enlist for the draft starting April 1st when the temporary administrative order expires. As of now, yeshiva students receive state support for their time spent in the yeshiva.
The Times of Israel reported that, “In a dramatic step, the High Court of Justice issued an interim order barring the government from funding the monthly stipends of at least some ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students after April 1, as the legal framework for deferring their military service will no longer exist.
“Yeshiva students who did not get a military service deferral after July 1, 2023, and who have not presented themselves for conscription will now be ineligible for the monthly stipends, the court ruled.
“Those who received exemptions before that date will still be eligible, although their stipends will also likely be shortly cut off if the government does not pass a new legislative framework for them to obtain military service exemptions.
“According to Thursday’s High Court decision, the funds paid by the state to Haredi yeshivas for students who have not received a military service deferral and who have not presented themselves for conscription since July 1, 2023 — when the previous law regulating deferrals expired — will be frozen.
“This will lead to a shortfall in funding for 1,257 yeshivas currently receiving funding for some 49,485 enrolled students who were receiving annual military service deferrals, according to figures presented by the State Attorney’s Office to the High Court last week.
“The reduction in funding varies, but according to the figures presented by the State Attorney’s Office, the funding for some 371 yeshivas with some 36,000 enrolled students will be cut by 30 to 70 percent, and by an even higher rate for 31 of those yeshivas.”
Israel has long been plagued with the issue of the draft of ultra-Orthodox men, an issue that has been dealt with time after time with temporary administrative orders that have been extended year after year with no law ever passed clearly defining the terms of the ultra-Orthodox exemption from the draft.
The issue has become a matter of public debate since Oct 7th when secular and modern Orthodox men and women went into battle while the ultra-Orthodox stayed safely in their study halls.
Lately, the IDF has said they are faced with a short-fall of soldiers and could use the ultra-Orthodox men. As of now, according to reports, less than 10% of the men eligible for the draft agree to go into the army.
The High Court has said that it would consider the issue of the draft sometime in May when a final decision on the draft of ultra-Orthodox would be made.
Red Sea
Iranian supplied weapons to Houthi rebels
China, Iran and Russia participated in naval maneuvers in the Red Sea this week. According to observers, this is yet another indication of the ‘unholy alliance’ between the three nations.
According to Media Line, “Since the Houthis took control of Sanaa, Yemenis have been suffering from what the United Nations describes as the worst humanitarian crisis, with widespread poverty and unemployment…Yemenis had hoped peace talks would resolve the economic crisis, yet Houthi military actions in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea have indefinitely delayed these negotiations, crushing hopes for prompt economic relief.”
The Houthis continue to attack ships in the Red Sea and even launch rockets at Israel.
The US has responded with airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
Meanwhile, the US State Department has imposed sanctions against Iran-
backed Houthi financier Sa’id al-Jamal whose network, according to the Jerusalem Post, provided funding and transportation of weapons for the terrorist group.
The US Treasury Department has said that Sa’id al-Jamal, an Iran-based Houthi financial supporter, directs a network of front companies and vessels that smuggle Iranian fuel, petroleum products, and other commodities to customers throughout the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.”
According to Media Line, Iran, which sponsors the Houthi rebels, thinks the war in Gaza will bring about a new world order. Iran’s president Ebrahim Raise appears to believe that the war in Gaza will accelerate various processes in the global order. He said that after the war, the new world order will be “very close and achievable.”
According to a report in the Jerusalem Post, Iran is interested in joining with Russia and China in a trade axis. And that Iran doesn’t care much about the tactics in Gaza or a ceasefire, but cares more about the grand strategy. Iran, according to the report, is happy to see the war go on and on.
In Iran’s view, the war in Gaza is part of a larger process. It could be seen as a precursor to a major global conflict.
Editorial
Is this the end? One Israeli, an American-born pulpit rabbi, wonders with trepidation if this war in Gaza marks the end of the Jewish state?
The world seems to be ignoring the fact that Israel is the victim, he says. The world seems to have forgotten which country was invaded where 1200 people died at the hands of Hamas terrorists, with.some of those killed butchered mercilessly, some of those killed burned to a crisp, some of those killed raped and tortured. The world seems to have forgotten the 242 who were kidnapped and the 134 who still remain in Gaza, whose fate, or even if they’re still alive, is unknown.
The world seemed more focused on those Gazans who are being accidentally killed by the IDF in airstrikes and battles to destroy Hamas. And the world seems quite willing to accept as gospel the numbers thrown out by the totally unreliable Hamas backed Gaza Health Authority.
Hatred of Israel seems to be sweeping the world like a brushfire, burning Israel’s good name to ash with hardly anyone brave enough to stand in the way and try to put out the fire. Some think this hatred is just old animosity dressed in different clothing. But the disguise isn’t very good, say the observers.
There’s an old joke about going to the Western Wall and talking to God. “So, you like talking to the wall?” quipped one pundit. And added, “That’s what the situation appears to be today. Israel talks to the world and it is like talking to the wall.”
The world doesn’t want to hear that Israel is the victim, or that Israel is trying not to kill innocent civilians. The world doesn’t want to hear that Hamas is using the people of Gaza as human shields.
All the world seems to want to do is reiterate the numbers of Gazans killed and worry about the fate of those Gazans left alive.
The world seems to conveniently forget that if Hamas is not destroyed, or at least significantly weakened, they will again invade Israel when they feel the time is right, repeating the massacres and outrages they committed on Oct 7th.
The world seems to think that Israel is expected to allow Hamas to survive to strike again. Allow evil to flourish.
But Israel is not interested in playing that game. Netanyahu, who is growing increasingly unpopular for his self-interest and political games, has support from the mass of the Israeli public that Hamas must be destroyed. That the present war in Gaza is justified. That entry into Rafah is necessary. Even Israel’s President Isaac Herzog says the IDF must go into Rafah. And must find Hamas leader Sinwar.
The US effort to pressure Qatar to pressure Hamas to agree to a deal on a cease-fire has not worked. Hamas Politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh was in Tehran this week talking to Iranian leaders. Perhaps, says one analyst, he’s trying to find out if he can relocate from his palatial estate in Qatar to an equally suitable mansion in Tehran. Or, says another, just gloat over the fact that Hamas is winning the war of world opinion while fighting Israel to a stalemate in Gaza.
Whatever the case, while there does seem to be an opera going on, the final act seems far from over and the, pardon the politically incorrect reference, fat lady is still in her dressing room, waiting to be called for her final ariah.
One pundit said it seemed as if the taste for a parallel universe was getting popular. There were TV shows like Constellation, Bodies, Three Body Problem , Severance, The Peripheral, that had a theme with parallel universes.
And then there was the Gaza war and Israel. Depending on who was viewing the conflict a parallel universe appeared. Israelis saw the conflict one way, those against the war another. Each in their own parallel universe. Neither aware of the other’s perspective.
According to Alon Goldstein, writing an opinion piece in Ynetnews, the war in Gaza concluded over a month ago when the IDF scaled back its troops by 80% and now conduct small-scale, surgical actions.
Goldstein also claims that the people of Gaza are not starving to death. “That the pace of humanitarian aid entering the Strip is at an all-time high. Hundreds of trucks are delivering supplies from the south and east, and recently through a new passage opened by the IDF from the north. This is in addition to dozens of aid airdrops, courtesy of the U.S., Arab states and several European nations.”
According to Goldstein, “contrary to the claims of their cynical politicians, the manipulative narratives spread by their envoys in European capitals and the beliefs of their naive and misled sympathizers in the United States.”
“Yet, these sympathizers are too lazy to dig for the truth. But their laziness is not the only issue; they also fear the truth, which if revealed, would embarrass the distorted narrative they've embraced.”
Parallel universes. And we’re still waiting for that “oversized” lady to sing the final notes.