Shalom all,

The steady increase in the number of IDF deaths since the beginning of the ground offensive has now reached 173. The total number of IDF deaths since October 7th stands at 506. 

At the stroke of midnight, Israel, like every other country in the world, bid farewell to 2023 and looked forward to 2024. Unlike prior years, however, New Year celebrations were few and far between here. Some Israelis who were still making an effort to celebrate, could relate to the statement in Francis Scott Key’s, The Star-Spangled Banner, “And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air”. What they saw were not fireworks of celebration, but rather, missiles of destruction. Portions of the night sky were lit up with a rocket barrage – at least 27 of them – that were indiscriminately launched by Hamas from the Gaza Strip into civilian-populated areas in the center of the country. Two thirds of those missiles were intercepted by Israel’s air defense systems, while the other 9 fell in open areas. The IDF posted, in part: “While 129 Israelis are still being held captive by Hamas in Gaza, Hamas also decided to start 2024 by launching a barrage of rockets at Israel…There is no ‘happy’ New Year until they are all home.” Some of the rockets that were intercepted can be seen here. If this were to happen in your country, how do you think your government would respond? 

Negotiations that leaves Hamas alive and in control of Gaza is a “bandaid solution”. – Sometimes, during the course of communicating facts and realities, we simply need to make the obvious explicit! Former Israeli Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Mark Regev, during an interview on Fox News , did exactly that. He made it clear that if Hamas were to surrender, the war could be over right away. He added:  “There’s no point in doing half measures. Because if we do half measures and Hamas stays in power, we’ll just have another war in the near future…[An] artificial ceasefire ahead of time [is] just a bandaid solution condemning us all to another Gaza War in the near future… The real solution is the destruction of Hamas’s military capabilities and the end of their rule over the Gaza Strip.”

Hamas understands that, as well. But, we are dealing with a fanatical, blood-thirty, murderous terrorist group, who are committed to the destruction of Israel and whose representatives have stated publicly that they would re-enact October 7th again and again. So, the likelihood of Hamas surrendering is close to nil. Maybe some of them might take matters into their own hands and eliminate their leadership, so that Israel doesn’t have to do it. Still, many Hamas leaders live abroad and, they live very well. It is doubtful that they would willingly give up their lifestyles of residing in 5-star hotels in foreign countries, like Qatar, or Turkey, in order to bring about an end to the fighting in Gaza, which is far removed from them.

In the meantime, the IDF is pressing forward with its ground offensive and discovering weapons of Hamas in almost every civilian facility, whether it is a medical facility, an educational facility or simply a residential facility. And, despite the IDF’s successes in finding and destroying much of the terrorist tunnel infrastructure, there is still a vast number of tunnels criss-crossing the Gaza Strip, which provide ample locations in which to hide. So, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, along with their bodyguards and military units, still have lots of holes to crawl through.

Lawsuit filed against a number of defendants, including various Israeli defense organizations, by Nova survivors for NIS 200 M. – The Israel Defense Forces, the Shin Bet (Security Service) and Police were named as defendants in a lawsuit filed today by 42 survivors of the Re’im music festival. The 42 plaintiffs in the lawsuit  are seeking Two Hundred Million Shekels (approximately US $55,555,000) as damages for the alleged negligence of the defendants. They allege, among other things, “The disaster [of October 7th] could have been avoided at so many points in time…One phone call separated the plaintiffs’ lives and the integrity of their bodies and souls from the destruction of their lives.” We should be careful not to form opinions about the responsibility of the defendants. The filing of a lawsuit, in and of itself, is not sufficient render judgment in favor of the plaintiffs. They still have to prove their case, which has a number of aspects to it. (The first to plead his case seems right, until another comes and examines him. – Proverbs 18:17) But, why file the lawsuit now? Wouldn’t it have been better to wait until the war was over before creating another potential, financial burden on the government and on the legal department that has plenty of other matters to deal with at the moment?

Is the “Unbreakable Bond” between the United States and Israel beginning to break? – In a speech by Israeli President Isaac Herzog before a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress on July 19, 2023, he stated, among other things, “Our bond may be challenged at times, but it is absolutely unbreakable.” There is no question that a special relationship exists between Israel and the United States. There is also no question that the relationship is now being strained because of the Gaza War. For that, we can blame both President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu, both of whom allow politics – with its positions, power and prestige and … pride, to enter into their thinking processes and decisions.

This is Israel’s war, that in a certain sense is being fought on behalf of all democratic nations that want to avoid the influence and possibility of a “Hamastan” being formed inside their borders. Our friend, Uncle Sam, is helping by supplying much-needed ammunition to fight the war, as well as military support by U.S. warships and aircraft carriers in our backyard. But, as friends often do, Uncle Sam is trying to persuade Israel how to conduct the war (cut back on troops inside the Gaza Strip; provide humanitarian aid to the people there – even though most of its ends up in the control of Hamas, including fuel, which is needed to keep the fresh-air systems working inside the tunnels and thus prolongs the war; be careful to protect the civilian population while you’re trying to locate terrorists who use the civilian population as human shields, and, don’t take too long to finish up the war).

Ynetnews, referring to a report in the New York Times, wrote: “According to a report in the New York Times, the relations between U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have become increasingly strained. Biden spoke with the prime minister 14 times recently. ‘Every call is tense and sometimes sharp,’ U.S. officials told the Times, often describing them as difficult but constructive. The tone insiders used was along the lines ‘Look, man, you’ve got to do more about this or take this more seriously.’ The administration believes Israel has a right to self-defense, the threat from Hamas must be removed, humanitarian aid to Gaza must be increased and civilian casualty numbers decreased. Although Biden’s officials have been highlighting the latter points, the president publicly at least, spoke more of the first two.”

Is it possible that the impending departure of the USS Gerald Ford, the newest and largest U.S. aircraft carrier, along with the five warships that are part of its fleet, is the result of that “strained” relationship? Purportedly, the return of that carrier to its base in the U.S. is consistent with its deployment schedule. But, the departure of the USS Gerald Ford also takes with it the “deterrent aspect” that its mere presence in the region was able to convey. Would it have been so out of the ordinary if, because of the “unbreakable bond” between our two countries, the U.S. would allow the carrier to remain in the area until the Gaza War was over? After all, Uncle Sam and Uncle Izzy are supposed to be friends, right? And friends don’t abandon friends in the middle of their difficulties. Or do they?

Well, it’s a new year. We should hope that we can fix the problems that occured in the year that just ended.

The Dry Bones Blog – 31 December, 2023

Bless, be blessed and be a blessing.

Marvin