Shalom all,

‘Twas a time to remember, of sounds and of lights,

With sirens and booms that kicked off the night.

We gathered in a sealed room, and when an hour had passed,

We were allowed to go out and finished our dinner, at last. (MSK)

My wife and I decided to visit our daughter in Jerusalem and to spend Rosh Hashana (the Feast of Trumpets – Leviticus 23:23-25) with her. The normal 2-hour drive from Haifa to Jerusalem ended up taking 5 hours, as we were stuck in a major traffic jam that resulted from the downing of a Hezbollah missile that landed on the side of the highway. Interestingly enough, my brother-in-law was travelling north along the same highway and got stuck in a traffic jam going in the other direction, but for the same reason.  We arrived in Jerusalem shortly before the air-raid sirens were set off, signaling that missiles were on their way from Iran, which were blown up air by the Iron Dome air-defense system. Amazingly, there were no injuries from the exploding missile, except for one Arab, who was killed instantly when the main body of an exploded ballistic missile fell on him. (See attached video.) 

Sirens and missiles have become the new daily reality. Today rounds out a full year since the brutality and horrors of October 7th. Heart-wrenching stories of the events of that day have filled the tabloids, at least in Israel, with the countdown to a year having begun in earnest about a month ago. The day following the onslaught of the Hamas terrorist organization, that was joined by the “Palestinian” Islamic Jihad, and so-called unafilliated Gazan riff-raff, their cousins in the Hezbollah joined “in sympathy” with Hamas. Missiles began to be launched against Israel from Lebanon, minimal at first, then slowly, but steadily escalating to the point of massive missile barrages, that totaled over 8,000 during the course of the year. What country in the world would permit that for a day or even a week? Tens of thousands of Israelis had to leave their residences in the north because of the never-ending assaults by the Hezbollah against Israel. And then, in one massive strike carried out by the Israeli Air Force that eliminated the leadership of the Hezbollah, in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, the face of the Middle East suddenly changed. Israel was returning to who she was in the past. The war in the north had to end. The terrorist enemy needed to be defeated. Israel needed to re-establish “deterrence”. And it knew how to accomplish its goals. Hassan Nasrallah, the general secretary of the Hezbollah, was killed when Israel unloaded over 80 tons of bombs on the buildings that were on top of his underground bunker. Israel then proceeded to eliminate Nasrallah’s would-be heir, his cousin, Hashem Seffiadin. Israel followed up with a ground offensive, openly sending soldiers into Lebanon for the first time since the end of the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

The critics of Israel’s actions in Lebanon continue to blindly push for a diplomatic resolution to the war with Hezbollah. In a brilliant article by Lani Kass, entitled “Live by the Sword, Die by the Sword”, which was originally published by Real Clear Wire and re-published in The Gateway Pundit, she makes the obvious explicit, pointing out how the U.S. has failed to understand what has been staring them in the face for decades. Kass stated, in part: 

“The celebrations that erupted across Lebanon, Syria, and Iran in the wake of Nasrallah’s demise demonstrate how misguided the U.S. approach is. Key facts— providing context and clarification—are blithely ignored…The U.S. should rejoice that Israel is avenging them [for Hezbollah’s terrorist activities against the U.S. – my clarification]—something we’ve failed to do, the bounties on Hezbollah leaders notwithstanding…In 2006, Israel went to war to end the then-ongoing Hezbollah barrages. The U.S. and UN orchestrated the ceasefire, urging UNIFIL to enforce it. Current calls for a ceasefire are THE definition of insanity: Doing the same thing repeatedly, naively expecting different results. (emphasis mine)

“Israel is now conducting a multi-phase campaign. Phase 1 destroyed Hezbollah’s command, control, and communications. Phase 2—the air campaign—is ongoing. Both are classic décapitation strikes—akin to the 1967 Six Day War and U.S. Operations Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. If there is a Phase 3—a ground campaign—it will push Hezbollah north of the Litani, per the 2006 UNSCR.”

Notwithstanding the West’s failure to understand the nature of the conflicts in the Middle East, President Joe Biden continues to say that Israel’s response in Lebanon should be proportionate. Apparently, he never watched “The West Wing”, where the President (in the T.V. series) called for a disproportionate response.

Israel was well-aware of Hezbollah’s intentions to carry out an October 7th-style invasion in the north of Israel. Well-equipped, terror tunnels were discovered under Lebanese communities that are close to the border with Israel. Elite units of the IDF were able to enter into Lebanon, discover and destroy most of those tunnels.            

Air strikes, no matter how powerful, cannot completely end terrorist activity. The job must be done on the ground. So, Israel began its ground offensive this past week, quickly engaging and eliminating hundreds of Hezbollah terrorists. But, these early victories have come at a price, with a dozen members of the IDF being killed during the first 5 days of fighting. 

While Israel is fighting multiple fronts, some so-called democratic countries are upset that is taking the initiative and fighting back against terrorism and even call for an arms embargo on Israel. Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, took a strong stance against such a move, stating: “Today, Israel is defending itself on seven fronts against the enemies of civilization…As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilized countries should be standing firmly by Israel’s side…Yet President Macron and other Western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel…Shame on them…[The] axis of terror stands together…But countries who supposedly oppose this terror axis call for an arms embargo on Israel…What a disgrace!” He added that Israel will win against the terror axis “with or without their support…But their shame will continue long after the war is won…Rest assured, Israel will fight until the battle is won – for our sake and for the sake of peace and security in the world.”

The seven fronts that were mentioned by Netanyahu are: Gaza, Lebanon, Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”), Yemen, Syria, Iraq and, of course, Iran.

With the passage of a year from Hamas’ invasion of communities in southern Israel, an invasion which resulted in the slaughter of 1,200 people and the taking of 251 captives, some 40% of whom are still being held hostage, the big question of the day is: How will Israel respond to the missile attack last week by Iran? Despite the fighting that is taking place on the six other fronts, it is clearly understood that Iran is the one pulling the puppet strings of its proxies. The attack of several hundred ballistic missiles launched against Israel last week cannot pass without a response and Israel has indicated that its response will be severe.

The Jerusalem Post lists various targets: surface-to-surface missile sites; drone launch bases; air defense sites; and economic infrastructure, such as oil facilities. But, an attack on oil facilities could affect the interests of other countries, such as Russia and China, as well as others who are not supportive of Israel. However, an attack on Iran’s nuclear  project is actually the most sensible. Notwithstanding that its nuclear facilities are well protected, Israel has the capability of attacking those sites by stealth fighter jets (F-35s) along with others, as well as a long-range missile strike that would minimize risk to Israeli planes and pilots. Such an attack would have to be massive and do more than just knock out key areas in Iran. It would need to cripple Iran’s military capability to prevent it from effectuating a broad-range response. Destroying Iran’s nuclear program would accomplish a number of important objectives for Israel. First and foremost, it would eliminate, at least for a long time, the most serious threat to Israel. Destruction of both the nuclear facilities as well as Iran’s ability to seriously respond would be a “loss of face” that will have a widespread impact on Iran’s proxies, such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, as well as restore Israel’s deterrence position vis-a-vis Syria, Iraq and the “West Bank”.

The country is anticipating Israel’s response. It could be tonight, possibly tomorrow. A year has passed since October 7th. A year of continuing national trauma, of individual trauma, of the pain and anguish over the loss of loved ones, of deferred hope of seeing hostages returned alive, of life-changing wounds from bone-crushing bullets, of memories that haunt survivors of carnage and war, of car rammings and concerns of fifth-column uprisings, of demonstrations calling on the government to act to return the hostages, when Hamas is unwilling to let them go. 

All this, in the interim period of soul searching between Rosh Hashana (the Feast of Trumpets / Jewish New Year) and Yom Hakipurrim (the Day of Atonement) – the ten days of repentance, prayer and acts of charity. We look forward to a new year, one where Israel will call out to God and our enemies will fear the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever. (Psalm 121)

We need to keep our perspective right and our fixed on Him, Who is invisible. Don’t let what you don’t know take away from what you do know.

Bless, be blessed and be a blessing. If you fast on the Day of Atonement, may it be an easy one.

Marvin

p.s.: Just as I was getting ready to send this out, this was another missile attack on Haifa. According to early reports, missiles landed in four places. Some direct hits, one approximately 1.5 kilometers from us. There is property damage, but no immediate reports of wounded.