Verdi’s Requiem performed at the Tel Aviv Opera
Opera master Dan Etinger chose to perform Vardi’s Requiem, with 165 members of the orchestra and choir and four soloists on stage, as a sad homage to those killed during the War in Gaza. So far 234 soldiers have died since Oct 27, and 570 security personnel since the Hamas invasion of Oct 7th when approximately 1200 Israelis were massacred and over 240 taken hostage. 2855 soldiers have been injured, 1,326 are still hospitalized, 27 in serious condition.
According to the IDF rehabilitation unit, since October 7, an average of 60 new injuries per day. The estimate: by the end of the war, 78,000 disabled IDF soldiers will be cared for in the wing, and by 2030, the number will reach 100,000
A few hundred meters from the Opera House was Hostage Square where families of hostages have kept a vigil since Oct 7th.
Also, on Friday, according to Reshet Bet radio, a 36-year-old terrorist reportedly affiliated with ISIS, opened fire with a handgun at at bus stop at the Re’em junction near Kyriat Malachi, and began firing. He killed two people and seriously wounded two others, moderately wounding still others. He was neutralized by an armed civilian. A cursory investigation showed he lived in the Shuafat E. Jerusalem refugee camp but was originally from Hebron. The army sealed off the area looking for other terrorists and even posted armed police at the entrance to Beer Sheva 70 kilometers away to prevent any further attacks.
Hostages
Hostage Square, Tel Aviv, 128 days, 12 hours, seven minutes, 25 seconds
On Wednesday, the Israeli news was filled with reports of the “Golden Hand” operation; the successful and daring rescue of two hostages held in a family’s second floor apartment, guarded by three Hamas terrorists, in south Gaza’s Rafiah area.
During the raid, the three Hamas guards were eliminated and snipers and Hamas terrorists in adjacent buildings were neutralized by the Israel Air Force. Armored vehicles then carried the hostages to a waiting helicopter
Fernando Maman, 2nd from left, and, Luis Har far right with wives.
where they were flown to Tel HaShomer Hospital for examination. They were released on Thursday.
The two, Fernando Maman, 61 and Luis Har, 70, both originally from Argentina, were kidnapped from kibbutz Nir Ytzchak on Oct 7th. Both men said they were frequently hungry and never received any medication. They also reported they’d seen female prisoners abused sexually.
The rescue took weeks to plan and nearly 1,000 security personnel from the Shin Bet, the IDF special ground troops, and other organizations, with the Israel air force providing covering fire, took part.
Representatives of hostage families on way to Hague
On Thursday, a group of hostage families flew to the Hague to file a complaint before the International Criminal Court against the leaders of Hamas who perpetrated the massacre and are still holding 132 hostages in Gaza.
Meanwhile, talks to free the hostages and call a temporary ceasefire were held this week in Cairo, with delegates from the USA, Egypt, Israel, and Qatar (representing Hamas). At weeks end no agreement had been reached although according to Ynetnews the Israeli representatives said there had been “progress.”
Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported that the summit, which was attended by Mossad chief David Barnea, CIA chief William Burns, Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamal and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani, resulted in regression, not progress.
Ehud Yaari, Channel 12TVs Arab Affairs correspondent, said that PA (Palestinian Authority) leader Abu Mazen had flown to Cairo for talks, something very unusual, according to Yaari, since the 87-year-old Abu Mazan rarely travels any more.
Also, former former PA Gaza security chief Mohammed Dahlan, now based in the UAE, has said that he is not interested in being involved in Gaza politics. He thought that the time had come for the PA to find younger voices. Dahalan did meet with Hamas officials to try to reach some arrangement between the PA and Hamas.
Former Meta COO Sandberg, left, talks to freed hostage Agam Goldsteing-Almog
Meanwhile, former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg has been in Israel filming a documentary, “Screams Before Silence,” about the abuse Israeli hostages suffered at the hand of Hamas.
Among other victims, Sandberg interviewed 17-year-old Agam Goldstein-Almog, who was freed in a hostage exchange, who says she was raped at gunpoint.
Gaza
Egyptian border fence along Rafiah in South Gaza
The war in Gaza continues. Israeli forces have concentrated their fighting on Khan Younis and are now reportedly preparing to enter the heavily populated Rafiah area.
Rafiah now holds approximately 1.4 million Palestinians, many who have fled, under Israel’s urging, from fighting in the north. According to one source, Rafiah is “so crowded that if you throw a stone you hit someone. Imagine what a bomb or artillery shell would do.”
Israeli military leaders have said that Rafiah is the next target in the goal of destroying Hamas and capturing Hamas leader Sinwar.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that Israel will go into Rafiah within two weeks to get the remaining Hamas brigades if a diplomatic solution is not found.
“We are using the Hamas intelligence we’ve captured against them. We will get him dead or alive, sooner or later,” said Yoav Gallant Israel’s Defense Minister.
Egypt worries that the Palestinians in Rafiah will stampede over the adjacent Egyptian border fence and pour into the Egyptian sinai. To prevent this Egypt has moved up forty tanks and ground troops to prevent this influx of refugees in the event of an Israeli military move into Rafiah.
While some military experts say that Rafiah is the key to the war in Gaza, Gen (ret.) Israel Ziv told Channel 12TV that “Rafiah isn’t Stalingrad. If anything Khan Younis is.” Ziv also said that “Where would the million people in Rafiah go?…I think there should be a diplomatic solution with Egypt.”
The international community has warned Israel not to invade Rafiah. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have demanded a ceasefire and have warned Israel to stay out of Rafiah. Germany and France have voiced fears of a humanitarian catastrophe should Israel enter Rafiah. And US Sec. of Defense Lloyd Austin has reportedly told Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that Israel must safeguard the civilians in Rafiah.
Ynetnews reported that in Belgium, Justice Minister Paul Van Tighelt confirmed that Hamas was using Belgian NGOs established for humanitarian aid to funnel finds to Hamas.
The Times of Israel reported that in the USA, Senator Chris van Hollen, (D. Maryland), accuses Israel of war crimes in Gaza. “Kids in Gaza are dying from the deliberate withholding of food…that is a war crime…what will President Biden do?”
Also, Israel has been warned by British Foreign Minister David Cameron that “Israel must insure that aid reaches Gazans or Israel will breach international law.”And US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said that Israel must now allow flour into Gaza.
Martin Griffiths, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said on Thursday that the UN does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization. “To us…this is a political movement. difficult to uproot such an organization without a diplomatic solution that includes their ambitions.”
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the UN said “What is brutal murder of civilians if not terrorism?”
In the fighting in the tunnels beneath Khan Younis, the IDF uncovered a sophisticated data center. This is only one such data center, used as a server farm, that the IDF has uncovered. Intelligence garnered from these computers is, according to the Army Spokesman’s office, greatly aiding Israel in providing information and finding targets in Gaza.
One of the details uncovered was that Mohamed Washaw, an Al-Jazeera journalist, was listed as a senior commander in a Hamas anti-tank unit.
IDF special forces discover Hamas data center in a tunnel beneath Khan Younis
Another detail reportedly found among intelligence material in the computers was security footage of Yeheh Sinwar and his family moving through tunnels under Khan Younis.
Hamas Leader Yeheh Sinwar moving through underground Khan Younis tunnel
The Army Spokesman’s office released the footage with commentary aimed at Gazans showing that the leadership moves around unhindered underground while above ground the Gazans suffer from the effects of the war.
The IDF also reported discovering underground apartments and offices and safes with documents and millions of dollars and shekels in cash. As well as sacks of flour and other foods provided through aid trucks into Gaza.
Small protests were held in Gaza with some saying Sinwar was a “rat hiding underground” while the rest of Gaza suffered. Others called for the removal of Sinwar and Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haneiah from power.
Channel 13 TV news reported that the IDF has also evacuated hundreds of people from the Nassar hospital in Khan Younis to a safe area. Some Hamas operatives were found among them. The IDF said that, in contrast to the raid on the Shifa hospital, no shots were fired when the IDF entered the Nassar medical facility.
On Thursday, the Army Spokesman’s office announced that Israel had entered the Nassar hospital searching for Israeli hostages or their remains.
Zvi Yehezkeli, Channel 13TV’s Arab affairs correspondent said on Wednesday that cracks are beginning to show in Gaza. That Gazans held a demonstration that was broken up by armed Hamas operatives.
According to Yehezkeli, if Israel starts spreading money around, offering rewards for information leading to the locations of the hostages, this might be the break Israel is looking for to separate the mainstream of Gaza from Hamas control..
And Alon Davidi, mayor of Sderot, told Channel 13TV news that 36,000 residents of Sderot are spread across over 80 hotels and hostels throughout Israel. He was filmed telling the residents of one hotel that the government has agreed to allow them to stay in the hotels until July. He hoped that by then Sderot would be safe.
He said that PM Netanyahu has to act like a parent and take responsibility for the disaster that happened on Oct 7th. “He has to take responsibility.” Davidi said he would not advise citizens of Sderot to return home until it was safe to do so.
Media reports that cases of domestic violence have been reported among those in the hostels and hotels. One pundit said that was to be expected when an entire family has been forced to live in one hotel room for over four months.
North
Sgt. Omer Sarah Benjo
One Wednesday morning, Sgt. Omer Benjo, 20, was killed in a fatal barrage on an IDF base near Safed. 8 other soldiers were also wounded. The IDF responded with a wave of attacks in Lebanon, where at least 4 deaths were reported. According to the IDF the rockets were aimed at the army’s northern command headquarters.
On Wednesday a mother and her son were seriously injured in the Galilee city of Kyriat Shmona when a rocket hit near their car. Both are still hospitalized in serious condition.
Ultra-nationalist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has called for the IDF to invade Lebanon and destroy Hezbollah.
According to Prof. Eyal Ziser and Shaked Shadeh, writing in the Jerusalem Post, Hezbollah chief Nasrallah made a serious and perhaps fatal mistake thinking that the war in Gaza would be short and then conditions both in the south and the north would return to normal.
Ynetnews reports that the IDF is considering a “serious” response to the Hezbollah attack that would go beyond artillery fire and air force attacks in south Lebanon.
The IDF has long said that as soon as the war in Gaza was over they’d turn their attention to neutralizing Hezbollah in Lebanon.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the IDF has said that Hamas has begun returning to north Gaza, the area Israel left to concentrate on central and south Gaza reestablishing governmental and military presence.
Hezbollah chief Nasrallah told Lebanese newspapers he would not let up on his attacks against Israel until the IDF withdrew from Gaza.
And, according to Reuters, France has delivered a written proposal to Beirut aimed at ending hostilities with Israel and settling the disputed Lebanon-Israel frontier.
The proposal calls for Hezbollah and other groups to withdraw 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border. However, the plan would allow Hezbollah terrorists to remain well within a UN-mandated buffer zone.
According to Reuters, the plan aims to end fighting between the Iran-backed group and Israel at the border. The hostilities have run in parallel to the Gaza war and are fueling concern of a ruinous, all-out confrontation.
Hezbollah has reportedly rejected the French proposal.
Opposition leader Benny Gantz told Channel 12TV that not only is Hezbollah guilty for the attack that killed Sgt. Omer Benjo but also the Lebanese government that allows Hezbollah to operate.
Get. (ret.) Amos Yadlin told Channel 12TV that Nasrallah doesn’t understand that Israel has taken off the gloves. And that once the war in Gaza is over the north will look different. Yadlin said that the West doesn’t understand that this is what’s going to happen. First Hamas in Gaza and then Hezbollah. He said that Hezbollah has already built up a huge bill and that Israel will collect.
According to Prof. Salman Zaka of Zeev Hospital 170 residents of the north have been injured since the start of the war. It has also been reported that 18 soldiers and residents of the north have been killed.
Amit Sofer, head of the Merom Galilee counsel told Channel 13 TV news that he’d met with IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi who toured the north on Wednesday.
Sofer said he’d told Halevi that he couldn’t ask the residents who have been evacuated to return home until the Hezbollah Redwan military force has been pushed back beyond the Litani river. If Israel didn’t deal with Hezbollah, said Sofer, another Oct 7th is just around the corner.
According to Ynetnews, Israel’s response to the recent shelling from Lebanon was an Israeli air force attack on Ali Mohammed al Dubas, 48, the second in command of the Hezbollah Radwan military unit that is positioned along the Lebanese Israel border.
On Thursday, Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire. Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister, said Israel is going to continue to increase the attacks on Hezbollah forces. “We are only at stage one of ten,” Gallant told a press conference. “There is still a lot more we can do.”
Anti-Semitism
Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Seattle, WA in late October 2023
According to a recent survey released by the AJC (American Jewish Congress), quoted in NPR and other media outlets, 93% of those Jews polled and 74% of the Americans, thought that “anti-Semitism was a very serious problem” in the USA today.
63 percent of those American Jews polled say they feel less secure in the US. A rise of 22 percent from last year’s survey. Nearly half (46%) of Jewish respondents say they've changed their behavior due to fear.
According to Holly Hafnagle, AJC’s director for combating anti-Semitism, “Those changes include "avoiding publicly wearing, displaying things that might help people identify them as Jewish… Such items might include a Star of David or a yarmulke.”
The report also said that other changes include avoiding certain places, events or situations out of concern for their safety or comfort. Many also said they've avoided posting material online that would identify them as a Jew or reveal their views on Jewish issues.
According to the Associated Press, AJC CEO Ted Deutch said, “This year’s study shows us very clearly that antisemitism that was really just a simmering flame is now, especially since October 7, a five-alarm fire.”
The Times of Israel reported that, “There is a growing awareness of antisemitism with most American Jews and three-fourths of the general public now believing antisemitism is a problem in the US, according to the AJC. That number increases for non-Jews who know someone who is Jewish. About 90% of Americans said everyone is responsible for fighting antisemitism.
According to Ynetnews, Noah Lederman, a student at Columbia University, said that the pro-Palestinian demonstration “All Out For Palestine Protest” was organized and endorsed by 80 campus groups. He said he’d reported to the NYPD, since the protest took place outside the University gates, and that he’d been roughed up for wearing an Israel flag and t-shirt and skullcap.
Super-bowl ad. Dr. Clarence B. Jones (left) Robert Kraft (right)
Billionaire Jewish businessman Robert Kraft, an ardent Israel supporter, and owner of the New England Patriots NFL football team, spent an estimated $7 million on video ads against anti-Semitism during the recent super-bowl. One of the commercials, sponsored by Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism, featured a conversation between Kraft and Dr. Clarence Jones, the speech writer for Martin Luther King who wrote King’s famous “I Have A Dream…” speech.
The Israel government also took paid for commercials that aired during the Super Bowl.
On the other hand, according to Ynetnews, a Dutch court has ordered a halt to exports of parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel.
A move was also made to keep Israel from competing in the Eurovision song contest. However, the Eurovision committee turned down the request.
Celebrities like Lev Shreiber and Helen Mirren also objected to Israel’s exclusion from Eurovision.
And in the UK, the Jewish group CST reported that anti-semitic incidents had reached an all-time high. 4,103 incidents were reported to the group. And also in the UK, the Labour party has suspended one of its members for anti-semitic statements.
West Bank
IDF jeep in West Bank town of Jenin
According to the Times of Israel, Omar Fayed, a senior Hamas official involved in West Bank attacks, was arrested in Jenin. Since the start of the war in Gaza, over 3050 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank, including 1350 affiliated with Hamas.
The Times of Israel also reported that Israeli security forces foiled two separate stabbing attacks. One in Jerusalem when a terrorist tried to stab an Israeli policeman, and one near the West Bank village of Husan. In both instances the terrorists were neutralized.
The Times of Israel also reported that the Jewish population in the west bank had risen 3% in 2023 to reach 517,000, not including Jerusalem’s 220,000 over the “green line.”
And, Israeli settlers reportedly pelted Palestinian vehicles with stones and sprayed drivers with tear gas near the west bank village of Bizzari north west of Nablus.
On Thursday, according to Ynetnews, the IDF arrested 12 terror suspects in the West Bank. The IDF also uncovered and dismantled 6 underground arms workshops.
Red Sea
Houthi Rebels
Houthi rebels’ military spokesman Yahya Saree told a Yemen TV station that the Houthis have not struck any ships in the Red Sea in the last week since none were spotted that were affiliated with Israel. However, on Tuesday, Houthi rebels targeted the Greek owned Star Iris flying the Marshal Islands flag.
Last week the US and Britain struck multiple targets in Yemen in response to the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. Reportedly, the giant Maersk shipping company has said they have no plans to resume using the Red Sea shipping lanes.
Israel has begun to ship goods from abroad to the port of Dubai and from there truck the goods overland to Haifa.
Iranian ship carrying weapons for Houthi rebels
Also, on Thursday the US CENTCOM reported that on Jan 28, 2023 they’d intercepted a ship carrying Iranian supplied arms to Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Politics
The US and Arab allies dropped a bombshell on Thursday. They announced that they expect that a Palestinian state will be declared in the next few weeks. Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu was part of a chorus of Israeli officials decrying the move.
“Now is not the time to reward the Palestinians for a massacre,” said the Prime Minister. Finance Minister Bezalel Shmotrich said that giving the Palestinians a state now was like giving them a reward for the Oct 7th massacre.” And ultra-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir said that a move to establish a Palestinian state “will never happen.”
Gideon Saar, minister without portfolio, said that a Palestinian state should not be declared unilaterally. “Both sides to the issue have to meet and talk and reach an agreement.”
Pundits say that some of the pressure coming from President Biden’s camp is because this is an election year and the establishment of a Palestinian state would look good in the Biden presidential election campaign.
According to the Times of Israel, Moody’s rating agency has lowered Israel’s credit rating from “stable” to “negative.”
Moody’s warned that ‘public finances are deteriorating,’ and predicted that there would be a ‘materially higher’ debt burden amid war in Gaza. Moody’s said the lowered outlook was due to ‘risk of escalation’ with Hezbollah.
Following the Oct 7th Hamas attack, S&P Global Ratings lowered Israel’s credit outlook from stable to negative on risks that the Israel-Hamas conflict could broaden.
Fitch, the last of the big three US ratings agencies, placed Israel on negative watch over risks from the conflict on October 17.
Prime Minister Netanyahu says the the downgrades are only temporary and will rise again following the war.
However, Yaacov Frankel, chairman of the Bank of Israel (Israel’s equivalent of the US Federal Reserve Bank) has said that Israel needs to take action before Moody’s lowers Israel’s credit rating even further.
Speaking on Channel 12TV news, as well as other news outlets, Frankel said that the budget needed to be revised to reflect the needs of the economy in the face of the economic demands of the war. He thought that the budget items listed as ‘coalition money’ should be cut out and rather transferred to payment for war needs.
As of now billions of shekels are being sidelined in the ‘coalition money’ for Haredi education and settlers’ use. Frankel said that both Fitch and S&P have yet to issue their latest ratings and Israel should take positive steps before they do.
Shaul Amsterdamsky, economic correspondent for Channel 11 TV Kan said that Israel had had four months to fix the economy and didn’t. He echoed Frankel saying without a plan the rating would continue to drop.
At the same time, there has been a call by Israeli politicians to draft Haredi men into the army. As of now most Haredi men have a draft deferral. However, according to Gen (ret.) Yedidya Stern the IDF is short of soldiers and that now is the time for the Haredim to join up. Speaking on Reshet Bet radio, Stern said there was no reason why the Haredim can’t be moved from those who do not fight to those that do.
A channel 13TV poll on Sunday showed that should elections be held today, opposition leader Benny Gantz’s coalition would garner 68 seats compared to 48 seats in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s present coalition. Netanyahu’s Likud party would only receive 18 seats with Gantz National Unity party receiving 37. At least 61 knesset seats out of 120 are needed to form a government.