Maybe Tomorrow...
862 Days since Oct 7,2023 Massacre
War and Peace
Inaugural meeting of Board of Peace
According to commentators in Israel, US President Donald Trumps Peace Plan is stuck in a quagmire. Only one country, Indonesia, has agreed to provide troops to patrol Gaza. Other countries have mouthed support but have not specified what support or when it would arrive.
According to the New York Times, President Trump’s Board of Peace is to convene and inaugurate Phase II of his Peace Plan on February 19th in Washington D.C.. But members of the board object to the presence of other members of the board. Israel objects to Qatar and Turkey.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar will represent Israel at the upcoming meeting.
One commentator says having Qatar and Turkey and their leaders involved would be a disaster. “Both are supporters of the Moslem Brotherhood, a terror organization bent on Israel’s destruction.”
Israel also objects to any involvement the Palestinian Authority in Gaza. Critics, like ultra-right Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotritch, say the PA still supports families of terrorists imprisoned or killed by Israel.
According to the Times of Israel, PA President Mahmoud Abbas was not invited by the US to attend the inaugural Board of Peace meeting in Gaza.
According to The Guardian newspaper in Britain, “most western democracies won’t touch Trump’s Board of Peace…key US allies like France, Germany, the UK and Canada” are among those expected to stay away from the meeting.”
According to The Guardian the Board of Peace, created last year by a UN security council resolution was intended to focus only on implementing a 20-point Gaza peace plan. But observers say the Board is increasing looking like a Donald Trump fiefdom, allowing him to wade into other countries affairs as he sees fit. Not once in the Board of Peace’s charter is Gaza ever mentioned.
Channel 11TV Kan Broadcasting’s military correspondent Etai Blumenthal said that many countries have said they would send troops but so far only Indonesia has agreed. Blumenthal said that many countries backed out when they realized their troops would have to fight.
However, according to reports, Indonesia has agreed to send 7000 troops as part of the International Stabilization Force. 87%, roughly 242 million of the Indonesian population identify as Muslims. 29 million as Christian, according to a fact sheet provided by the Indonesian Ministry of Religious affairs in 2022.
And according to the International Mission Board, Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world. No western, primarily Christian country, has yet to agree to be in the Stabilization Force.
Some commentators question the effectiveness of an Indonesia force confronting fellow Muslims in Gaza.
According to Reuters, US officials say at least 20 countries will attend the first Board of Peace meeting on Feb 19th in Washington. President Trump is expected to announce a multibillion dollar fun for Gaza. And he is expected to give details of which countries have agreed to send troops to the Gaza stabilization force.
On Thursday Feb 12th the Times of Israel reported that according to both an Egyptian and a European diplomat neither Egypt nor the European Union will train police officers in Gaza who are affiliated with Hamas.
This follows reports that Hamas is seeking roles for its 10,000 police officers in the postwar Gaza.
Under US President Donald Trump’s plan for the territory, both Egypt and the EU have been preparing to expand training of Palestinian police for deployment in Gaza. This move also authorizes the deployment of a temporary International Stabilization Force that would support and work alongside a “newly trained and vetted Palestinian police force.”
According to Reuters, a primary concern is disarming Hamas fighters who have been reluctant to give up their weapons. Under Trump’s Gaza plan, Hamas members who commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries, under the plan.
According to Israeli news sources, Hamas has said they categorically refuse to turn over any weapons. According to the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent, Hamas has vowed not to lay down it’s weapons until Israel’s “Elimination.” Disarming is a key condition of the US-backed ceasefire.
Hamas political bureau co-chair Khaled Mashall told Qatar’s Al Jazeera in December that “disarmament for a Palestinian means stripping away his very soul”.
According to the British Jewish Chronicle, the IDF is drawing up a new Gaza offensive in case Hamas refuses to disarm.
The Board of Peace meetings will also include detailed reports on the work of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, which was established to take over the day-to-day civil administration of Gaza Strip from Hamas. The committee announced its members and held its first meeting in January.
However, The Board of Peace’s High Representative for Gaza, Nikolay Mladenov, has said that the Technocrats Committee cannot enter Gaza because of ceasefire violations. He was speaking at the 62nd Munich Security Council meeting held from February 13-15.
Also, according to Ynetnews, Egypt’s President Sisi has reshuffled his cabinet. Some observers call this a consolidation of military power at home and more importantly a retreat from a regional alignment.
According to Ynetnews, while Trump and Netanyahu discuss the future of regional defense and the containment of the Iranian axis, Sisi’s Egypt is doubling down on a playbook of repression, electoral fraud, and proxy games.
“The appointment of Hussein Issa as a deputy prime minister for Economic Affairs in Egypt is a bureaucratic shell game designed to satisfy the IMF’s demand for “coordination.”
“In reality, no amount of coordination can fix the Egyptian economy where the military continues to monopolize the private sector and where the state’s answer to infrastructure failure, like the catastrophic floods currently plaguing provincial cities, is to arrest the photographers who document the damage.”
Also, according to the Jewish News Service the tacit alliance between Israel and Saudi Arabia against a common enemy in Tehran was the basis for the success of the first Trump administration’s ability to make the Abraham Accords a reality in 2020.
Then, the Abraham Accords also raised the possibility of the entire Arab and Muslim world coming to terms with the permanence of Israel, as well as the possibility that the Saudis, who consider themselves the guardian of Islamic holy places in Mecca and Medina, might embrace formal recognition of Israel.
However, the JNS reports that a week after the 12-day war in June, between Israel and Iran, the threat of Iran building a nuclear bomb in the near future no longer hangs over the Saudis. The crippling of Tehran’s nuclear facilities, and stripping it of its air defense and much of its missile arsenal, proved an enormous victory for Israel and America, says the JNS report.
And, according to President Trump, this strike on Iran largely removed the prospect of an existential Iranian nuclear threat that had been hanging over the Jewish state for the last 20 years.
However, many in Israel doubt the nuclear threat was completely eliminated and are hoping a new attack on Iran will do even more to erode the threat of a nuclear Iran.
Also, according to Ynetnews, US President Donald Trump said Thursday that President Isaac Herzog “should be ashamed of himself” for not granting a pardon to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is standing trial for alleged fraud, bribery and breach of trust.
Asked by reporters at the White House whether Netanyahu is responsible for the security failures that allowed Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack to unfold, Trump responded, “I guess everybody’s responsible,” before noting that it was a “sneak attack” that “nobody else would have seen coming.”
He went on to again hail Netanyahu as “a very good wartime prime minister,” touting their joint successes against Iran
Gaza
Gaza City in dust storm
Fighting continues in Gaza. Hamas terrorists continue to test the IDF, popping up out of tunnels and firing at IDF troops.
Anti-Hamas militia entering Gaza tunnel
On Saturday Feb 14th Israel TV’s Channel 13 showed photographs of the Gaza Abu Shabab ‘Popular Forces Against Hamas’ militia entering a tunnel in Gaza. Commentators said the group was using equipment supplied by Israel’s security forces and that the anti-Hamas militia was working with the IDF and the Shin Bet.
According to the Times of Israel, on Monday Feb 2nd, The IDF says it killed four Palestinian terror operatives who approached troops near the Gaza ceasefire line in the Strip’s north earlier today.
According to the military, the four were “operating near the Yellow Line,” which separates the areas of Gaza controlled by Israel and Hamas, and were approaching reservists of the Alexandroni Brigade “in a manner that posed an immediate threat.”
On Monday Feb 8th, the IDF said that Hamas had violated the ceasefire. Israel views the violation as severe but will continue to enforce the Trump 20-point Peace deal, the military stated.
“Immediately after identification, the troops eliminated the terrorists in order to remove the threat,” the army said.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the IDF announced on Monday Feb 9th that for the second time in a week, Hamas terrorists used a tunnel to try to penetrate Israeli defense lines in Gaza,
The attempt was made in eastern Rafah, which is within the Israeli side of the Yellow Line, the 53% of the Gaza Strip currently under IDF control.
During the incident, four Hamas terrorists exited a tunnel and opened fire on the 7th Armored Brigade. The soldiers returned fire, killing the four attackers.
However, on Saturday Feb 14th Channel 13TV’s military correspondent Or Heller reported that a number of terrorists emerged from a Gaza tunnel. They were spotted by IDF soldiers who called in an air attack that neutralized the terrorists.
Woman in Gaza past Doctors Without Borders sign
Meanwhile, according to the Times of Israel, the Doctors Without Borders organization has suspended activities at Gaza hospitals because of the presence of gunmen. This is the first time the group has admitted that there were gunmen in the hospitals.
Arbel Yehoud surrounded by Hamas soldiers
Also, in a Channel 12TV interview, released hostage Arbel Yehoud said she was sexually assaulted ‘almost every single day. She also said she attempted to commit suicide while in captivity.
North
The IDF continues to strike at Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. According to the Jerusalem Post, the IDF struck several Hezbollah tunnels used as weapons storage facilities across Lebanon.
IDF strikes Hezbollah in Lebanon across multiple locations, targeting military infrastructure and operatives in southern and northern regions.
On February 5, 2026, the IDF struck Hezbollah weapons depots and underground storage facilities in southern Lebanon, including the area of Kfar Tebnit, following evacuation warnings.
The strikes were part of a broader campaign to dismantle Hezbollah’s capabilities, with the military citing violations of ceasefire understandings.
Recent operations have focused on Hezbollah’s artillery and engineering units, including the elimination of Ahmad Ali Salami, the group’s head of artillery, and a senior air defense operative in southern Lebanon.
According to the JNS, on Feb 9th, Israel Defense Forces troops arrested a senior terrorist from Jamaa Islamiya, a Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated terrorist organization, during a targeted raid in Southern Lebanon overnight Sunday, the military announced on Monday.
Also, according to the Times of Israel, the IDF captured Atwi Atwi, a senior military Hezbollah commander. a top Hezbollah figure, in a raid in Lebanon.
The targeted raid followed intelligence indications “gathered in recent weeks” according to the military. The terrorist “was apprehended and then transferred for further questioning in Israeli territory,” the statement continued, adding that weapons were found in the structure in which the terrorist was apprehended.
Also according to JNS, Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror army opened a second front against Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after the Hamas attacks in southern Israel, launching rocket and missile attacks on Israeli communities.
During the war, the Sunni Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya joined Hezbollah’s terror campaign, coordinating attacks on Israel from Southern Lebanon The fighting ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal on Nov. 27, 2024, which required Hezbollah’s disarmament and the deployment of the Lebanese army to ensure a monopoly over all arms in the country.
On February 13, 2026, the IDF confirmed it struck a Hezbollah operative involved in repairing military infrastructure in southern Lebanon, reinforcing its ongoing efforts to disrupt rebuilding activities.
Ehud Yaari, veteran Arab Affairs correspondent on Channel 12TV said that Hezbollah has no intention of disarming.
The IDF has conducted a sustained campaign since late January 2026, with 87 airstrikes in January alone, more than double the previous month.
These operations span north and south of the Litani River, targeting tunnels, weapons production sites, and command structures.
According to the Jerusalem Post, US Military’s CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper praised the Lebanese army for discovering and dismantling a Hezbollah tunnel network in southern Lebanon.
West Bank
PA President Abbas (right) counselor Muhammad al-Hajj Qasim (left)
The PA announced a draft constitution. According to the Times of Israel, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas received a draft of a document that would transition the PA to a full-fledged state.
And, according to AFP,, on Feb 11th, Jewish settlers demolished 15 Palestinian homes, say residents. Palestinian water provider workers were assaulted.
A Palestinian man stands on the rubble reportedly demolished by Israeli settlers in Al-Duyuk Al-Tahta, a village on the outskirts of Jericho
“About 50 settlers arrived, forced everyone out of the houses, and began demolishing them. Then they took everything — even the chickens,” village resident Mustafa Kaabneh, who has lived in the area for nearly two decades, told AFP.
He said most of the settlers were armed and masked and were accompanied by an Israel Defense Forces vehicle before returning with a bulldozer. The military did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
According to the Times of Israel, Israeli settler violence and harassment in the West Bank displaced nearly 700 Palestinians in January, the United Nations said last week, the highest rate since the Gaza war erupted with the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack.
The number of such attacks rose by 27 percent in 2025 compared to the previous year, according to data recorded by the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet security agency. The IDF recorded 867 incidents of nationalistic crime and settler violence in 2025. The total for 2024 was 682 incidents.
According to the Times of Israel, critics have accused the government, described as the most hardline in Israel’s history, of shrugging off the attacks.
And, AP reported that on Sunday Feb 8th, Israel’s security cabinet approved measures that aim to deepen Israel control over the “occupied” West Bank and weaken the already limited powers of the Palestinian Authority.
The measures announced on Feb 8th included canceling a prohibition on sales of West Bank land to Israeli Jews, declassifying West Bank land registry records to ease land acquisition, transferring construction planning at religious and other sensitive sites in the volatile city of Hebron to Israeli authorities, and allowing Israeli enforcement of environmental and archaeological matters in Palestinian-administered areas.
According to AP, more than 700,000 Israelis live in the “occupied” West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 from Jordan and sought by the Palestinians for a future state. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in these areas to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.
The Times of Israel also reported that the US has stressed opposition to the talk of Israel of expanding control and essentially annexing the West Bank, after Israel’s security cabinet’s steps. The US called this a “dangerous escalation.” The EU and other Arab states have also joined in the condemnation.
According to the Times of Israel, Energy Minister Eli Cohen said that Israel’s latest moves in the West Bank amount to ‘de facto’ sovereignty.
Ultra-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotritch, who represents the settler community, has cabinet-level authority over settlement polices and has vowed to double the settler population in the West Bank.
Red Sea
Aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford strike group
The showdown with Iran continues as the US sends a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East. According to AP, the USS Gerald Ford is the largest aircraft carrier in the world
US negotiators have been meeting with Iranian officials as the US assembles a huge armada in the Middle East. Observers believe that this ‘gun boat diplomacy’ has brought Iran to the negotiating table.
On Tuesday, Feb 17th, negotiators will meet again, this time in Geneva, with Oman officials as moderators. Speaking at a US base in North Carolina on Friday February 13th, US President Trump said it has “been very difficult to make a deal” with Iran.
Iran has said it would consider ‘nuclear compromises’ if removal of sanctions were put back on the table.
Trump also said that “Sometimes you have to have fear. That’s the only thing that really will get the situation taken car of.” Trump also said that “Regime change in Iran would be the best thing that could happen.”
On Sunday Feb 15th, the Times of Israel reported that Israel’s PM Netanyahu and US President Trump agreed to ‘Full Force’ economic pressure campaign against Iran, including the option to block oil exports from Iran to China.
However, even as US President Trump says that the sides are talking and there would be a ‘good deal’ in the future, skeptics think that ultimately the US will attack Iran.
According to Reuters, the US is planning a weeks-long campaign against Iran and expects Iran to retaliate, leading to back and forth strikes and reprisals over a period of time.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have warned that in the case of strikes on Iranian territory, they would retaliate against any US military base. The US maintains bases throughout the Middle East, including in Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Turkey.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi said that the Iranian missile program cannot be negotiated. He claimed the missiles were only for ‘defensive purposes.’
Meanwhile, an Iranian official has told his staff to shoot all of their missiles that they have at Israel and other targets if attacked. Iranian officials also say that If Iran is attacked their response will be world-wide.
Gen (ret) Tomer Hyman, former head of military intelligence, said that Israel must stop the Iranian rockets before they hit Israel. He also said that Iran has rebuilt its missile arsenal faster than expected. Hyman said, however, that neither Hezbollah nor Hamas posed serious rocket threats at this time.
Gen. (ret) Zvika Haimovich, an expert in rockets, said that Iran’s rockets are a problem for Israel. However, Gen (ret) Yitzchak Ben Yisrael said that Iranian rockets do not pose an existential threat to Israel at this time. But would if the rockets carried nuclear warheads.
Israel’s PM Netanyahu flew into Washington on Tuesday February 10th to meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and then US President Donald Trump. Reportedly the three-hour meeting with Trump discussed the Iranian crises with Netanyahu making the case that Iran stop its nuclear development program, stop its production and deployment of ballistic missiles and lastly, stop state sponsored terror.
It was unclear if US President Trump agreed to demand Iran stop their ballistic missile program. Iran has stated that categorically that they would not. Trump has said the negotiations might take as long as a month.
According to Ynetnews, Israel now faces strategic uncertainty. It is unclear what, if anything the US President will do. However, Trump has made it clear that Israel is not to act alone and strike at Iran.
According to Channel 12TV, reporting on Saturday Feb 14, US special envoys Witkoff and Kushner have said it is hard to get a ‘good deal’ out of Iran, and emphasized that Iran must agree to US terms and that the US will not agree to any changes.
Channel 12TV also reported that while the US President had agreed to reposition the USS Gerald Ford and the strike group to the Middle East he is still undecided on his next move. Analysts say it will take approximately three weeks for the USS Gerald Ford to arrive in the Middle East.
However, President Trump told the media on Saturday Feb 14th that if Iran thinks that they can give us a good deal, we can do that. “I think the negotiations will succeed,” said Trump. “If not it will be a very bad day for Iran.”
And, according to to Ynetnews, Israeli security officials have said that Iran has tried cyberattacks hundreds of times against senior Israelis in the past few months.
On Sunday Feb 15th, Ynetnews reported that back in December 2025 US TV station CBS reported that US Pres. Trump told Israel’s PM Netanyahu he backs an Israeli strike on Iran’s ballistic missile program if the talks fail.
CBS News further reported that in recent weeks, senior figures within the U.S. military and intelligence community have begun internal discussions about how Washington might assist in the event of renewed Israeli strikes on Iran.
Politics
Israel’s PM Netanyahu at Knesset Feb 2, 2026
According to a poll for Zman Yisrael, The Times of Israel’s Hebrew language site, more than half of Israelis do not believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s account of his decisions as premier leading up to the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023 attack.
This week, the Prime Minister issued a 55-page report that claimed he sought tough action against Hamas but was opposed by his security chiefs.
According to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu’s report left out meetings days before the massacre where he had urged quiet on the Gaza front. This while denying clear evidence that he’d received reports over several years about Hamas’ plans to invade southern Israel. Evidence that also shows repeated public statements Netanyahu made taking credit for not pushing a large scale military operation in Gaza.
Yashar party leader former chief-of-staff Gen (ret.) Gadi Eisenkott accused Netanyahu of “fabricated defenses”. He asked the state comptroller to review the full meeting of the ministers. Eisenkott says Netanyahu’s published report is a misleading account of discussions before the Oc 7th massacre.
The poll says 51% of those questions don’t believe the prime minister’s account. 39% said they believed it. 11% said they didn’t know.
Another poll asked if they believed the opposition’s claim that the 55-page document was cherry-picked for positive news ignoring Netanyahu’s blame. 47% said they believed the opposition. 32% said they believe Netanyahu. 21% didn’t know.
Also, 47% did not believe Hamas would be disarmed, 28% thought it will be partially disarmed, only 12% thought Hamas would be completely disarmed, and 13% didn’t know.
And, a recent Channel 12TV poll showed 57% of Likud’s coalition respondents thought that should the next election end in a deadlock, as have five of the previous six elections, then a national unity government should be formed. This would see the Likud-led coalition joining with the Yesh Atid led opposition parties.
However, only 43% of Opposition anti-Netanyahu parties were in favor of a national unity government.
In the poll, Arab parties running together would garner 15 seas, Former PM Neftali Bennet 19, Avigdor Leiberman’s Yisrael Beitenu 10, Sephardi ultra-Orthodox Shas 10, Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid 8, UTJ (Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism) 8, former Chief-of-Staff Gadi Eisenkott’s Yashar 8, Gen. (res) Yair Golan’s The Democrats 8, ultra-right Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit 7. PM Netanyahu’s Likud 27 seats. A combination of 61 seats must be assembled to win the election of the 120 seat Knesset.
The next national election must be held by October 2026, though if the Knesset disperses early, it will be held earlier.
On another issue, according to the Times of Israel, Israel’s high court has pressed Justice Minister Yariv Levin, one of the architects and main proponents of Judicial Reform, to convene the Judicial Selection Committee that is responsible for appointing new judges. The committee has not met in over a year.
Levin has resisted the convening of the committee because, according to analysts, he objects to some of the committee members who he reportedly feels will not allow him to appoint judges amenable to Likud positions.
Justice Alex Stein has said that Levin’s refusal to fill dozens of empty posts is hindering law enforcement and leading to the release of murder defendants and other violent criminals.
According to the Times of Israel, there are currently 44 judicial positions awaiting appointment in courts across Israel, with another 21 expected to become vacant by the end of this year. Attorney General Baharav-Miara, said there will be 65 empty posts by the end of 2026, including four on the Supreme Court.
Last month, Baharav-Miara accused Levin in a court filing on the case of assuming “out of thin air” the authority to veto judicial appointments.
In another High Court ruling the High Court of Justice on Wednesday Feb 12th, ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to explain why he hasn’t fired Itamar Ben Gvir as national security minister, amid an ongoing court case over the far-right politician’s practices and policies in office.
In the ruling, signed by five Supreme Court justices, the court demanded Netanyahu “explain why he should not order the removal” of Ben Gvir from his ministerial post. The court gave Netanyahu and Ben Gvir until March 10 to submit their responses.
Ben Gvir responded that the justices were seeking to “fire the nation. It wants to fire millions of voters and deprive them of the right to vote… It won’t happen, they have no authority, there won’t be a coup.”
According to Ynetnews, Likud Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs said that ordering the termination of a serving minister who is not under criminal investigation crosses a ‘red line’ and such a ruling would constitute “a clearly illegal order.”
The High Court ruling is based on a 68-page opinion filed by Attorney General Baharav-Miara that accused Ben Gvir of inappropriately intervening in police operations through a “continuous , sometimes sophisticated, system of pressure” on police officers.
Police Chief Danny Levy (left) Minister Ben Gvir (right)
Ben Gvir has a history of racist statements and a criminal record, including a conviction for supporting a Jewish terror group. Ben Gvir claimed he had changed, but the Attorney General said that was not true, and regularly interfered on police matters.
Recently, the High Court ruled in favor of a police officer who claimed she was not promoted because she had criticized PM Netanyahu. The court told the police that not promoting the officer for political reasons was illegal.
Observers point out that all of the moves by Ben Gvir and Levin only support the push by the Netanyahu government to use the Judicial System and the Police to further a political agenda.
Arab-Israeli protest against killings
According to the Times of Israel, 47 Israeli Arabs have been killed so far in 2026, a rise of 300 percent since 2017, with only four cases solved by the police. Almost all in either crime related shootings or family feuds. Arab leaders have blamed ultra-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who is in charge of the police, for purposefully allowing the killings to go on.
According to the Times of Israel, on Jan 31, Saturday night, tens of thousands of protesters, Israeli Arabs together with Jewish Israelis, took to the streets of Tel Aviv in an outpouring of frustration against the government. They marched from Hostages Square to Habima Theater, waving black flags and accusing the state of leaving its citizens for dead.
Habima’s vast square has seen its fair share of Saturday night rallies against the government, largely driven by Tel Aviv’s large swath of secular liberal Jews, distraught over the country’s right-wing turn under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Arab-Israeli protesters also blocked roads and intersections.
Also, according to Ynetnews, Israel’s president Yitzchak Herzog is seeking clarification from Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu after US President Trump said that Herzog “should be ashamed” for refusing to pardon the prime minister. Ynetnews says this raises concerns over sovereignty and political interference.
The Trump statement came shortly after PM Netanyahu had left a meeting with US President Trump. Herzog is said to wonder what provoked Trump to insult him and if Netanyahu was behind then this insult he had crossed a red-line. Herzog said that the Trump statement was an both and insult to him and to Israel.
Commentators on Channel 12TV said that Herzog was the president as was his father before him and while he may not be a strong president of Israel he still had the country’s, as well as his own family’s, reputation to protect.
Pres. Yitzchak Herzog (left) PM Netanyahu (Center) Pres. Trump (right)
According to Ynetnews, an Israeli official said “there is a difference between criticism and insult, and what we heard from Trump was an insult. Someone clearly stirred him up.”
Netanyahu submitted a formal request for a pardon to Herzog in November. Experts say Herzog cannot legally pardon Netanyahu because he has yet to be convicted of any crime. Netanyahu has been granted one postponement after another and only rarely makes a court appearance thus preventing the trial from progressing.
Police car overturned during riot in Benei Brak
Also, according to the Jerusalem Post, on Sunday Feb 15th, a riot broke out in the ultra-orthodox neighborhood of Benei Brak near Tel Aviv. Two female soldiers who were shopping in a local grocery store while in the neighborhood visiting an ultra-Orthodox IDF soldier. They were set upon by a mob and had to be rescued by police. Video footage showed mostly ultra-Orthodox teenagers and young men chasing the women. A police car was overturned and a police motor scooter set ablaze. The Jerusalem Post reported that 28 Haredim (ultra-Orthodox) were arrested. One policeman was injured. Those arrested were all released. Some to house arrest.
Two IDF female soldiers hustled from a mob of rioting Haredim by police
Israel’s chief of staff Eyal Zamir has said that IDF soldiers were free to move about the country in their uniforms anywhere they wanted and should not be placed in precarious situations because of their army service.
The Haredi community has frequently taken to the streets to protest the draft exemption law that has roiled that community. The IDF says they are short manpower and over 20,000 draft-age Haredi men resist being drafted.
Antisemitism
Protesters against Pres. Herzog in Melbourne
According to the Jerusalem Post, on Thursday Feb 12th, protesters rallied in Melbourne against the visit of Israel’s President Yitzchak Herzog to Australia following the massacre at a Hannukah celebration on December 14th Jews at Bondi Beach where 15 people were killed.
There were also protests in Canberra and violent protests between protesters and police in Sydney.
In the poster above citing Herzog as a “War Criminal” one clearly sees that the “Socialist Alliance” has printed the poster. Observers say that in answer to the question if Palestinians were involved in or leading the protest, the answer was clearly no, that the Socialist Alliance was behind the protest.
The Socialist Alliance’s website calls themselves “ a democratic society run by and for working people, not the greedy, destructive capitalist elite that now rules. We put people and the planet before profit, the millions before the billionaires. We believe that a society based on this principle is entirely realistic, and necessary if humanity and the planet are to survive.”
Like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vt., the Socialist Alliance has taken on the Palestinian cause. Palestinians are not needed as these groups aim to influence society and elections through mass protests and demonstrations aimed at a change in the political system.
One observer says it is unimportant what the cause is as long as it gets headlines. “Where were they when Iran was killing thousands? Were they in the streets?
Groups like the Socialist Alliance have attracted young Jews to what they see as a just cause, even if that cause is against Israel and other Jews. One critic blames Bernie Sanders for lighting the fire that has spread across the globe selling socialism as an alternative to the cushy lifestyle most of these middle-class kids enjoy.
Graffiti that appeared on a Melbourne University campus on Thursday calling for the death of Herzog has been referred to the police, the university said.
There is no indication that the graffiti was connected to the planned protests.
Protest in Australia against Israel’s Pres. Herzog
Herzog, on a four-day trip to Australia, said on Thursday Feb 12th that there was “frightening” antisemitism in Australia.
“There is antisemitism. It is frightening and worrying, but there’s also a silent majority of Australians who seek peace, who respect the Jewish community, and of course, want a dialog with Israel,” he said in an interview with Australian television network Channel Seven.
Also, according to the Times of Israel, antisemitism in the UK has reached near record levels with 308 incidents reported in 2025, twice the amount in 2023.
And according to the Times of Israel, the American Jewish Congress (AJC) found that 55% of Jews polled avoided specific behavior that would identify them as Jews. 1/3rd of the population reported being targeted.
Editorial
What happens If the world turns it’s back on Israel? If US President Trump decides to forego any attack to neutralize Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic missile program, or initiating and supporting of terrorist organizations? Then who is there left?
A recent NPR article by Atlantic’s write Robert Kagen pointed out that US President Trump has more or less neutered NATO. The EU countries now find they’re on their own. According to the article President Trump’s approach has placed the US in a weakened position. Superpowers like China and Russia see the US without wold-wide support. The 20 countries that once considered the US an ally now have no one else but themselves to rely on.
According to the New York Times, last week, at the Munich Security Conference, European leaders were talking about “de-risking” from the United States, citing President Trump’s unpredictability.
Also at the conference, US Sec. of State Marco Rubio said that Europe is a friend but “it must change.” He echoed the Trump administration’s talking points about the threat of Western decline. “We want Europe to be strong,” Rubio said.
Then there’s Israel. PM Netanyahu has, according to Ynetnews, decided that it is in Israel’s best interests to rely less on US military aid. Some critics say this will weaken Israel in Iran’s eyes, and Israel’s other enemies, since they will see Israel would be alone, without US weapons supply or back-up.
These critics point out that over the course of the War in Gaza the US sent between $16-20 Billion in arms and ammunition and supplies to Israel. Apparently, PM Netanyahu believes Israel can stand alone.
Israel today Israel receives US foreign Aid to the tune of $3.8 billion a year in military credits. This amount is composed of $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF), which must be used to purchase U.S. defense equipment, and an additional $500 million for joint missile defense programs like Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow.
Israel’s Finance Minister, ultra-right wing Bezalel Smotritch, has long said that Israel has no need for US assistance. Commentators think that Smotritch’s believe that Israel can control all of the West Bank, which is relatively simple considering Israel has a powerful army well positioned in the West Bank, to mean that Israel can exist as an Island in a Moslem Sea without support from the US is a delusion.
Experts ask, “Where does he think the engines from Israel’s Merkavah tanks come from? Of the F-35 jet fighter/bombers? Or the bunker-buster bombs? Or the US financial support in developing the Iron Dome, Iron Beam, and Arrow-3 missiles come from?
Then there is the Global Intifada that has crept into the Jewish community. Progressives have followed the lead of Sen. Bernie Sanders and called for cutting off all aid to Israel. A not insignificant number of Jews have joined in protests against Israel.
Some observers ask if Israel can still rely on the support of the Jewish community around the world, and if they can, how long will that support last? The trend seems to be denying Israel’s right to exist. Claims of Genocide committed against the Palestinians in Gaza appears to be the cement that binds these anti-Israeli groups together.
Also, the Times of Israel reported that Qatar is the largest foreign source of gifts and contributions to US universities. Over $1.1 Billion was given in 2025. Some commentators say this money was used to fund anti-Israeli protests in US college campuses.
Take away the war, and that claim may fade from the headlines. As long as the fighting goes on in Gaza Palestinians will be killed and added to the growing number. Now Israel reported that the death toll in Gaza may indeed be in the tens of thousands. Some ask, what else has the Netanyahu government kept from the public?
Protest in Tel Aviv’s Habima Square calling for State Inquiry into Oct 7th massacre
A recent Times of Israel poll found that most Israeli’s don’t believe the Prime Minister’s account of his Gaza policies before Oct 7th.
Recent reports state that the PM had never believed Hamas was planning to attack Israel, even up to the morning of the attack. Netanyahu has long opposed a formal state inquiry into the background of the Oct 7th massacre.
To the extent that this week Likud politicians like culture minister Micki Zohar said that the word ‘massacre’ should not be used in the title of a bill establishing a national day of commemoration for the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. Zohar argued that using the word “massacre” reflects a narrative of “victimhood. But critics say the real reason is that the word “massacre” reflects badly on Netanyahu.
This week Netanyahu tried once again to cast the blame for the Oct 7th massacre on the Army and the Shin Bet and the Mossad. Former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant called Netanyahu a “liar” Other critics say Netanyahu is a coward who was afraid to admit he was responsible for the massacre.
Some commentators ask if Netanyahu can be trusted to guide the country? Can the public turn to him for support? This as he slowly takes power away from the courts, from the attorney general’s office, and uses the police to quell any dissent.
The NPR article talks about Trump doing these things, using the courts, the Judicial System and the Police, including his own private ICE militia, to take control of the USA.
Some observers say that their names, Trump and Netanyahu, can be interchanged in regard to these activities. NPR says the USA is already in a dictatorship. Observers in Israel say the same about Netanyahu. Two men who hold an iron grip on everything that goes on. And of course they are both correct in everything they do. “Just ask them,” quipped one observer.
Once, long ago, according to an analyst, the difference between the Irish and the Jews was that the Irish believe in whiskey and the Jews believe in the Messiah. So, given ideas like those of Netanyahu and Smotritch, who can Israel turn to in time of need? Only the Lord. But like praying at the Western Wall, you’re talking to a wall unsure if there ever will be an answer and if so one that is clear and understandable.
Who can I turn to
When nobody needs me.
My heart wants to know,
So I must go
Where destiny leads me.
With no star to guide me
And no one beside me.
I’ll go on my way
And after the day
The darkness will hide me.
But maybe tomorrow
I’ll find what I’m after,
I’ll throw off my sorrow
Beg, steal or borrow
My share of laughter.
‘Cause with you I could learn to
With you on a new day.
But who can I turn to
If you turn away.
With you I could learn to,
With you on a new day.
But who can I turn to
If you turn away.
(Lyrics by English composer-lyricists Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley)