Tuesday 17 October - Gaza War - Aggregation & Commentary (live)

Gaza, October 2023. What did you think “Never Again” meant? 

Thank you, President Biden. So far, the current administration has deterred Hezbollah and Iran from launching a major attack against Israel, allowing the IDF to focus on Hamas Gaza. The US has already airlifted armaments needed to replenish our stocks and pursue the war, and it will ask Congress for a supplemental military aid package so that Israel can purchase weapons from the US.

On Wednesday, the president will make an unprecedented wartime visit to our country, displaying courage and steadfastness. Military coordination (two aircraft carriers), financial support, diplomatic backing (blocking a Putin-Russian resolution at the Security Council yesterday that would have called for an immediate ceasefire, which would be to the advantage of Hamas), and his personal presence

Keep in mind Secretary of State Blinken is not only here but took part in a war cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv.  Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was just here. He met Israeli leaders face-to-face to “underscore the unwavering support of the US for the people of Israel and commitment to ensuring Israel has what it needs to defend itself.”

This support buys Israel the time to prepare appropriately for the next stage of the war.

Assuming the administration stays the course – Biden will go down in history as the most pro-Israel president. In my book, the only pro-Israel president in history (but that’s for another time).

I think we are about to drop in the polls again – I take this as a good thing. Had the 10/7 Hamas attack cascaded into an all-out defeat for Israel and the butchery of its population, I am confident that every Holocaust museum in the world would have built an annex to memorialize “another six million” or so dead Jews. I would rather crush Hamas, deter future Palestinian Arab aggression, and emerge victorious from this war than be dead and sympathetically memorialized.

Here are some polls put out by Gallup today.

The satanic, hard-to-kill Hamas mastermind responsible for the deaths of more Jews than any other anti-semite since WWII is not a household name. Here, in Hebrew, is a background brief about Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Masri, AKA Mohammed Deif, presented by Yoni ben Menachem, the veteran Arab affairs expert. 

How to follow events in Israel in English -  Beyond relying on the major outlets (discerningly, I pray), my go-to source for Israeli news in English is the Times of Israel.  

Haaretz (a post-Zionist publication with some fine Philo-Zionist writers and good original reporting) and The Jerusalem Post (an annoying website, though good reporters and editors doing their best) are sensible back-ups. On TV, i24 is worth checking. Look for Calev Ben David's program.

Prayer for our soldiers ...