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 ...

Monday 16 October - Gaza War - Aggregation & Commentary (live)

 

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

Today’s Israel Today (page 17, Hebrew) reports that because of the condition of the remains, it could take weeks, perhaps months, for forensic pathologists to identify all the victims of Hamas’s butchery. So far, 532 bodies have been identified. The Times of Israel writes, Awaiting ID, the bodies of Hamas’s victims are stacked on racks in outdoor containers. Haaretz (Hebrew) covers the story here. 

"כולנו רוצים לזהות את החללים כמה שיותר מהר, אבל לא במחיר של טעות"

The Economist pitied Israel on the first day of the war. That was then. Now, on the third day of the war, the magazine’s empathy and patience have evaporated. “The fact that a lot of children in Gaza, Palestinian children, will die in an attack—even if it’s legal—is destructive for Israel’s legitimacy around the world.” The anti-Israel weekly intoned. “Israel must balance retribution against Hamas with the laws of war.”  

JoeTruzman at the Long War Journal has a piece about the specialized Hamas unit likely holding Israeli and American hostages. He notes that "Islamic Jihad claims to have over 30 hostages under their control, whereas the Popular Resistance Committees have confirmed through a message on their Telegram channel that they, too, possess hostages. Moreover, a distressing video released by the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades [associated with Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah] exhibits an injured individual accompanied by a terrorist, seemingly en route to Gaza."

He also covers the seizure by the IDF of EFPs, RPGs, and other munitions from

Hamas with Iran's fingerprints all over them. "Hamas’ possession of EFPs and the existence of EFP factories is a strong indication of support from both Hezbollah and Iran. EFPs are known as a signature weapon of Iranian proxies and clients."

Speaking of Iran, Robert Malley is expected to face a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee about how he ran his office as the Biden administration’s special envoy to Iran. Malley lost his security clearance, and there are suggestions some of his aides had unseemly ties with Iran. By the way, in retaliation for Hamas's attack on Israel, the Biden administration and Qatar reportedly "re-froze" that $6 billion in Iranian assets sitting in South Korea that had been released in the recent hostage exchange.

There goes the love. Veteran journalist Gary Rosenblatt sums up the thinking of two keen observers of the Israeli scene, Micah Goodman and Yossi Klein Halevi, on losing the world’s sympathy so soon into the Gaza war. Halevi said, “Israel must do whatever is necessary to reverse the image of Jewish helplessness that it has borne since Oct. 7, with the utter failure of the army, intelligence, and political system to protect its citizens.” Goodman explained, “We want Madonna and Bono to love us, but we want Hezbollah and Hamas and Iran to panic when they think of us,” he said. “The problem is that there is a zero-sum game between these emotions of love and fear.” You have to choose between them. “What we do to restore the fear will erode the love,” he figured. “And if we try to keep the West’s love, we won’t restore the fear of us in the Mideast.”

Not unexpectedly B'Tselem is trying to pull Hamas's chestnuts out of the fire so they can live to fight another day. They are telling Israel:

It is something to remember if you contribute to B'Tselem or the philanthropies and foundations that support B'Tselem. 

A Canadian-based progressive Muslim religious society (yes, there apparently is such a thing) has issued a statement signed by scores of imans denouncing Hamas and its antisemitism. The stationery of the Global Imams Council identifies Najaf, Iraq, as its headquarters. Perhaps it is some kind of oasis in Iran-dominated Iraq. Any sign of a reformation in Islam, no matter how slight, is genuinely welcome.

Mass demonstrations in New York, London, Paris, and elsewhere in the Western world took place Sunday to support Hamas. While many Muslims participated in these rallies, so did considerable numbers aligned with the Left (Jeremy Corbyn spoke at the London protest). 

Leftists have shown an uncanny ability to bridge the gap between Islamic fundamentalism and progressive politics.

 (see picture left).