Shalom all,

Israel Update – Day 24 of the War.
Jerusalem under fire! Two weeks ago, rockets were fired at Jerusalem. Most Jerusalemites and media pundits were of the opinion that Hamas did not intend to target Jerusalem and that some missiles went astray. The false sense of security expressed by many that Jerusalem was “off limits” was shattered this afternoon when a barrage of rockets were launched towards the city and surrounding areas. Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile Defense System was able to intercept the incoming missiles and no injuries were reported. The rocket attack came during certain Knesset meetings, with Opposition Leader Yair Lapid stating, among other things, that he would give his full backing to any government attempts to return the 239 hostages being held in Gaza. Lapid, who is usually critical of actions taken, or failed to be taken, by the present coalition government, added: “The State of Israel must not stop and must not let go until we kill six people (whom he named specifically)…All six have to die. Until they die, Israel will not have avenged the murdered of Be’eri and Sderot, Kfar Aza and Ofakim. Until they die, the Middle East will not understand that we are not messing around.” Finally, something that Lapid and I can agree upon.

Avigdor Liberman, the head of the Yisrael Beytenu (“Israel is our Home”) Party, also urged stronger military action against the Hezbollah, the terrorist group in Lebanon that is backed by Iran. He said, “We can’t wake up one day to a heavy salvo of missiles flying towards Haifa and Tel Aviv…We can’t finish a war without tossing Hezbollah beyond the Litani [River in Southern Lebanon].” It should be noted that the tension in the north of Israel is due to the cross-border incidents and rocket fire from the Hezbollah, who is still playing “cat and mouse” with intermittent launches and provoking responses from the IDF in various forms. <https://www.jns.org/rockets-fired-at-jerusalem-as-knesset-factions-meet/>

Interestingly, notwithstanding the ongoing cross-border incidents, Najib Mikati, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister, said that he fears an escalation and is trying to keep Lebanon from entering the war. He is cautious about the future, which “depends on regional developments.” He stated: “For now Hezbollah has managed the situation rationally and wisely, and the rules of the game have remained constrained to certain limits”. <https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/lebanon-pm-says-hezbollah-is-acting-wisely-says-he-is-trying-to-avoid-joining-war/> Mikati, who is on good terms withe the Hezbollah terrorist organization, did not comment on the repeated threats of Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of the Hezbollah, who has repeatedly threatened to blanket Israel with missiles. Present estimates are that the Hezbollah has about 100,000 missiles pointed in our direction. It is highly doubtful that Hezbollah will abide by “the rules of the game”, if push comes to shove and it receives instructions from its puppeteer, Iran, and enters the war, willingly or reluctantly.

Shani Lock was said to be one of the organizers of the Rei’m music festival that took place near the Gaza border. She was kidnapped by Hamas and her naked body was paraded in the back of a truck in the early hours of Black Saturday. Her family reported that she is no longer alive. Shani was born in Germany but raised in Israel and held dual citizenship. A video of her being taken to the Gaza Strip following the Hamas invasion and killing spree of Black Saturday was circulated over the internet. According to Shani’s cousin, Ruthie: “We received an official notification yesterday from the IDF and the ZAKA (emergency response organization), which included a letter stating that a bone from the base of a skull was found that matches Shani’s DNA. The doctors determined that a person could not live without this bone, leading them to conclude that she had passed away. They consulted with two additional experts and a rabbi on the matter.”

An announcement of her death was posted by her family, along with photos of Shani. <https://www.timesofisrael.com/german-israeli-shani-louk-seen-paraded-by-terrorists-in-gaza-confirmed-dead/?utm_campaign=daily-edition-2023-10 30&utm_medium=email&utm_source=The+Daily+Edition> German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, upon hearing of Shani’s death, wrote on a social media platform: “Like many others, she was brutally murdered. This shows the full barbarity behind the Hamas attack – who must be held accountable…This is terror, and Israel has the right to defend itself.”

Whose war is this? A telephone conversation took place last night between Israeli P.M. Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden. According to a post on social media, Biden said that the two leaders spoke “about developments in Gaza — we discussed efforts to secure the release of hostages and help Americans in Gaza leave safely, and I underscored the need to immediately and significantly increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza. I reiterated that Israel has every right to defend its citizens from terrorism and a responsibility to do so in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law which prioritizes the protection of civilians.” (Emphasis mine)

While Biden was pressuring Netanyahu to provide MORE humanitarian aid, his Vice-President, Kamala Harris, was interviewed last night on “60 Minutes”. She, of course, parroted the expressed “demands” of her boss, but went further and revealed the intentions of the U.S. and what is expected to follow after this present war is over. Note carefully her words: “Israel, without any question, has a right to defend itself. That being said, it is very important that there be no conflation between Hamas and the Palestinians. The Palestinians deserve equal measures of safety and security, self-determination and dignity, and we have been very clear that the rules of war must be adhered to and that there be humanitarian aid that flows.” We need to point out to the Vice-President, and, apparently, to a host of other politicians wherever they may be, that the Jihadis do not play by the “rules of war”. These people kill indiscriminately – they rape, behead, burn, desecrate and kidnap civilians, as well as soldiers. Israel has sustained the worst attack and loss of life in a single day since the Yom Kippur War in 1973, and the Holocaust before that. We are in a war! and we are told, indeed, pressured, to “immediately and significantly increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.” Are we to also include the “self-determination” of the “Palestinians” as part of our military efforts? By the way, the “conflation between Hamas and the “Palestinians” already exists.

I wonder how gracious the U.S. would be if an enemy, sworn to the destruction of America, would slaughter over 1,400 U.S. citizens today. Has it not learned the lessons from 9/11? An enemy needs to be defeated, not cuddled. The U.S. went after bin Laden with a passion, pursuing every option available to it, until he was found and eliminated. The IDF Spokesman said last night that we will pursue the leader of Hamas until we get him. The best thing that could be done for the civilians living in Gaza is to bring about the speedy elimination of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. We were pursuing that end and closed the borders of the Gaza enclave so that no one could go in and no one could go out. I’ve already indicated in previous updates that there would be a price to pay for receiving support of different kinds, including weapons and supplies, following Biden’s visit here for a few hours. The price was for us to listen to Uncle Sam, to open the borders that were closed, at least the Rafiah crossing with Egypt, and supply the “Palestinians” with abundant humanitarian aid that is gobbled up by Hamas.  U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, during an interview yesterday with CNN, said that one of the purposes of the humanitarian pauses that the U.S. is pushing for is to help bring about the safe release of the hostages. The exact opposite is true. It only provides assistance to Hamas and strengthens its resolve to continue to fight and to continue to attempt to dictate terms for the release of hostages. 

Let’s try to put things in perspective. Israel has a population of 9.4 million people. The U.S. has a population of 340 million people, 36 times more than Israel. On Black Saturday, 1,400 people were killed in Israel by Hamas and its ilk. If we multiply that by 36, the number would be 50,400. That is the number of people who would be killed in the U.S. by blood-thirty terrorists and another 8,604 people would be taken hostage (239 hostages here times 36). How do you think the American people would respond to that? How open would they be to listening to other countries telling them how to conduct their war against those who slaughtered their people and took multitudes prisoner? Just a thought.

And when this war is over, the push will be for the establishment of a unified, “Palestinian” State, that includes Gaza and the area presently under the control of the “Palestinian” Authority. https://www.timesofisrael.com/pas-premier-says-ramallah-wont-take-over-gaza-without-plan-that-includes-west-bank/ 

Yahya Sinwar, the Head of the viper called “Hamas”, repeated that Hamas is willing to release all of the hostages for all of the “Palestinian” prisoners being held in Israeli jails. This is another psychological ploy of Hamas, who knows that the families of those taken captive will pressure Israel, as much as possible, to make the deal of “all for all”. The goal of Hamas is to stop the IDF advancement into the Gaza Strip. Hamas released a video of three Israeli women being held hostage. One of them read a pre-scripted text condemning P.M. Netanyahu and the government for not getting them released from captivity. It was not exactly a good public relations video for Israel, but is great for Hamas. P.M. Netanyahu remarked that the release of the video was a “cruel psychological warfare campaign by Hamas-ISIS.” In his response, seemingly to the women in the video, he said, “I embrace you. Our hearts are with all the captives. We are doing everything to bring everyone back home.” <https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hkvjrx6za>

On a happier note, during the present offensive inside Gaza, the IDF was able to free one of the abducted soldiers, who served as a lookout on the Gaza border. In its statement, the IDF said: “Ori Megidish was released during ground operations. PVT Megidish was kidnapped by the Hamas terrorist organization on October 7th. The soldier was medically checked, is doing well, and has met with her family. The IDF and ISA will continue to do everything it takes in order to release the hostages.” Ori’s aunt had these words to say about Ori’s release: “We are excited and grateful to the All Mighty, to all the people of Israel, to our soldiers…It is thanks to our prayers that she is freed…There is no one like the people of Israel, and no one like our soldiers. we thank all of them. There is nothing like our Ori. Your are strong, you are our hero and we love you and are waiting for you right here”. I’ll leave it at that.

“There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, Who rides the heavens to your help.” (Deuteronomy 33:26)“The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.” (Psalm 28:7)

Bless, be blessed and be a blessing,

Marvin