Features
The Israeli dentist who got to know people like Yahya Simwar and thousands of other Palestinian prisoners better than anyone
By BERNIE BELLAN I wanted to depart from the usual post-event analysis of what happened on Saturday, April 13 in which so many pundits have been engaging. After all, by the time this is read, Israel may have struck back against Iran, so to engage in speculation as to how Israel should respond to what Iran did that day will probably be largely outdated.
Instead, I want to write about an article that appeared on the Haaretz website on Sunday, April 14. Now, if you’re not familiar with Haaretz, I’ve been referring to that news source many times over the past couple of years – not because of its political orientation – which is decidedly leftist, but because it often contains the kind of analysis you’re just not going to see anywhere else.
The particular article that snagged my attention had this headline: ‘I Asked Sinwar, Is It Worth 10,000 Innocent Gazans Dying? He Said, Even 100,000 Is Worth It’
The person who gave that quote is someone by the name of Yuval Bitton. I doubt you’ve heard his name before. Bitton was head of something called the “Intelligence Division of the Israel Prison Service.”
The article consists of an interview Bitton recently gave, in which he recounts his career working within the Israeli prison service, where he had the opportunity to interact with some of the most dangerous terrorists Israel had taken prisoner over the past 30 years.
What was Bitton’s backround? you might wonder. He was a dentist!
But it turns out that, as a dentist, he was able to enlist the trust of even the most embittered enemies of Israel – not to confide anything that would be considered any sort of information relevant to security, but to talk more openly about their feelings. The reason, as Bitton explains in the interview, is that when he was examining someone’s teeth, his patients would let their guards down – not out of fear of Israeli intelligence, but our of fear what their fellow Palestinian prisoners might hear what they said.
Here’s an excerpt from the interview in which Bitton offers a fascinating insight as to how he was immediately able to tell whether a prisoner was Fatah or Hamas. The interviewer explains that “While preparing for this interview, I found an item from 2005 in which you (Bitton) explained the differences between the teeth of prisoners who are affiliated with Fatah and those who are members of Hamas.”
Bitton: “The teeth of Fatah inmates are in poor condition, whereas Hamas prisoners maintain hygiene and purity. Theirs is a religious way of life. Ascetic. With rigid discipline. They pray five times a day, don’t touch sweets, don’t smoke. There’s no such thing as smoking in Hamas. You see a 50-year-old prisoner who is entirely free of any signs of illness. No tooth decay. I’d say, ‘You’re Hamas? They would say, ‘Yes, how did you know?’ ‘By the teeth,’ I replied. A very basic insight.
“Everything has meaning – it’s the same with regard to their way of life, for example. At 9 P.M., there is a total lights-out in the prison’s Hamas wings; in the Fatah wings they watch television all night.”
Interviewer: “At that time you were an inquisitive dentist, with good diagnostic skills. How did you end up as an intelligence officer?”
Bitton: “There was an intelligence officer I knew who hung out a lot in the clinic, which is a supposedly safe place for prisoners. They feel free to talk there, because their organizations aren’t monitoring or eavesdropping on them. He saw that I was talking to them all the time, and I also talked with him about all kinds of insight that I had about them. He realized that I could be a platform for recruiting sources and suggested that I join the prisons service intelligence division.”
In time, Bitton moved up the ranks to the point where he actually became head of Israel Prison Intelligence. It was in that capacity, he explains, that he realized what a terrible mistake it would be to release (Hamas leader in Gaza) Yahyha Sinwar in what became the swap of 1,026 Palestinian prisoners for Gilad Shalit.
Bitton offers some fascinating insights into the differences between the mindsets of Fatah and Hamas. At one point he notes, referring to differences between Fatah and Hamas: “Fatah talked about the 1967 borders, about the occupation, about the Palestinian people. To me, the Hamas inmates would say, ‘There’s neither 1967 nor 1948. There are no borders and there is nothing to talk about. You are on Waqf land, Muslim sacred ground, and you have no place here.’ “
He goes on to describe the realization by members of Fatah that Hamas members would have no hesitation in killing them the same as they would kill any Israeli. That happened in 2007 when Hamas – which had been cooperating with Fatah in governing Gaza to that point, suddenly turned on Fatah members.
Bitton says: “We [Israelis] were taken by surprise by the horrific disaster of October 7. I’m certain that in Fatah they weren’t surprised. They’d already seen it happening – they’d already seen how people were thrown off the roof, without a drop of mercy. How they [Hamas] tied Fatah activists, still alive, to cars and dragged them through the streets until they died. From Hamas’ point of view, members of Fatah are not their brothers. So what if they are Muslims too? They are an obstacle on the road to achieving the goal: a sharia state.”
He continues. Members of Fatah warned him: “Hamas will do to you what they did to us. You’re cultivating Hamas, injecting money into Gaza, humiliating Fatah, but in the end they will do to you what they did to us.”
And, in one particularly blood-curdling story, Bitton describes Sinwar’s absolute barbarism:
“There was a high-ranking Hamasnik in prison whom Sinwar suspected of collaboration. When he got out, they hanged that person in the city square and brought his 9-year-old son to watch. Is there anything crueler than that?”
I tell these stories here not to remind that Israelis live in a “very tough neighbourhood,” which is the phrase we’ve so often heard used to describe how very dangerous it is for a non-Muslim country to exist surrounded by Muslim countries – which we all learned many years ago, but to point out the importance of getting inside the minds of your enemies.
Has Israel miscalculated time and time again when it comes to misperceiving the intent of its enemies? Yes. We now know how badly Israeli intelligence misinterpreted clear signals that Egypt was going to launch an attack across the Suez Canal in 1973, and it didn’t take long to understand that, once again, Israeli intelligence and especially Netanyahu totally missed clear signals of what Hamas was planning on October 7.
And now, we’re hearing that, once again, Israeli strategists never thought Iran would react the way it did when Israel decided to bomb Iran’s consulate in Damascus.
I’ll end this particular article by referring to the incredible contribution that the U.S. – aided by other countries, including Britain, France, and especially Jordan, made in coming to Israel’s aid on April 13.
Reports are still filtering in about the weaponry that was used to prevent anything but the smallest number of Iranian missiles from reaching their targets in Israel. The Americans deployed new counter missile systems that had never been used in real-time situations previously – enabling them to launch counter weapons high into space to intercept Iranian missiles.
Without the aid of those other countries Israel would have suffered much worse on April 13. Yet, what I am afraid we will see is an even further insistence on the part of Netanyahu and the right wing fanatics who support him to thumb their noses at their American allies and entrench themselves even further in the ongoing series of mistakes they’ve made since October 7.
And our major Jewish organizations, including CIJA, B’nai Brith, and our Jewish Federation will say nary a word in criticism. As Yuval Bitton explains so well in that Haaretz interview, if it’s anything Ithe Israeli government and the Israeli security apparatus is very good at, it’s totally misinterpreting opportunities how to properly engage with your enemies.
Features
Skipping breakfast: Does it help you lose weight or is it bad for your health?
Breakfast is known to be an important meal – and yet many people leave the house without it. But what are the consequences for your health if you skip breakfast?
Whether it’s because of time pressure, to lose weight or because you’re not hungry yet – many people skip breakfast in the morning. There are different opinions. But to really have full energy for your next round at Betamo casino Canada you better not skip this very important meal.
Skipping breakfast: A good idea to lose weight?
Skipping breakfast is a common weight loss tip. Provided that you save the calories for breakfast and don’t eat them with another meal. This assessment is supported by studies:
A meta-analysis from 2023 found a significant correlation between skipping breakfast and a reduction in body weight.
A study from 2020 shows similar results: Skipping breakfast had a slightly positive effect on weight loss.
Another analysis from 2019 also shows that the study participants who skipped breakfast had a small – but significant – weight reduction of just under half a kilo.
However, these studies only show slight effects on weight and appetite. What’s more, some of the scientists also point to negative effects.
Skipping breakfast: What speaks against it
There are many voices that clearly speak out against skipping breakfast. For example, Anja Bosy-Westphal, President of the German Society for Nutritional Medicine, told Zeit magazine that skipping breakfast does not help to maintain lost weight in the long term. “People who skip breakfast for a long time are more likely to be overweight,” explains the expert. The effect persists even if other unhealthy habits are ruled out as the cause.
Skipping breakfast increases the risk of diabetes and obesity
In order to maintain your weight and eat healthily, you should therefore eat breakfast. Bosy-Westphal goes on to explain that glucose and energy metabolism work less efficiently in the morning. “If I eat the same meal once for breakfast and once for dinner, the blood sugar level rises less in the morning.” On the other hand, more calories are burned immediately after eating.
In the evening, the effect is reversed and we store more energy. The expert is generally in favor of never skipping a main meal. However, if someone “absolutely” wants to do this, for example because they are intermittent fasting, she says it should ideally be the evening meal.
Eating breakfast regularly has a positive effect on blood sugar levels and prevents diabetes. Conversely, according to Bosy-Westphal: “The more often you skip breakfast, the higher the risk of developing diabetes”. This is because eating early in the day helps the body to adjust the metabolism correctly and reduces the risk of obesity and metabolic diseases.
Increased risk of cardiovascular disease
Another negative effect associated with skipping breakfast is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. A study from 2023 shows: A late first meal of the day (for example, by skipping breakfast) is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Every hour later (9 a.m. instead of 8 a.m.) increased the risk by 6 percent.
Skipping breakfast to lose weight: A good idea?
Whether skipping breakfast really helps you lose weight is controversial – some experts even suspect the opposite. At the same time, the scientists point out that breakfast is not the only thing that matters. This is because the participants who ate late drank more alcohol, went to bed later and ate more irregularly compared to those who ate early.
Skip breakfast: This is the recommendation of the DGE
The overall study situation is not clear. The results are partly limited by methodological weaknesses such as small study sizes and the fact that physical activity was not recorded. The German Nutrition Society (DGE) therefore does not currently give a clear recommendation as to whether skipping breakfast helps with weight loss or not:
At present, no scientifically validated statement can be made regarding the relationship between meal frequency and body weight regulation in healthy adults, so the German Nutrition Society (DGE) makes no recommendation in this regard. The energy balance is decisive for the development of body weight.
Features
How often you should cycle per week to get fit
Cycling is an excellent way to get or stay fit. But how often, how long and how intensively should you cycle to achieve this?
What does it actually mean to be fit? The word “fit” means nothing more than “suitable”. However, we generally understand “fit” as a certain level of training that is not only healthy, but also makes many everyday things easier for us – for example, just catching a streetcar or playing tag with the children. Last but not least, basic fitness can be a basis for more ambitious training or sporting goals (a long bike ride, a 10-kilometer run or similar).
Cycling is basically a very good way to get or stay fit, as it trains our endurance and most major muscle groups, is easy on the joints and, in terms of intensity, is easy to control. Numerous studies also show that cycling is healthy and a good option for building up fitness. But who should cycle how often and for how long is very individual and depends above all on the current state of training and health. So you will be calm after and can focus completely on National Casino.
This is how often and how fast beginners should (be able to) cycle
Let’s assume that you want to do something for your fitness again after a long break from sport. The best way to start is to take stock: grab your bike and go for a ride to see how long you can keep going and at what pace. If you haven’t exercised for a very long time or have never done so regularly and/or suffer from pre-existing conditions, you should check with your doctor beforehand whether and how much strain you can put on your cardiovascular system.
After taking stock, you should start training slowly. In the beginning, it is enough for beginners to cycle on flat terrain for 20 to 30 minutes about three times a week.
Now for the right intensity and the right pace: For (re)beginners, the following applies: If you still have just enough air to keep yourself entertained while riding, then you’re on the right track. If you want, you can of course also train with a heart rate monitor, where the target heart rate for most people is around 120 to 130 beats per minute. However, as the exercise heart rate is very individual and depends on many factors such as age, training condition, etc., intensity control via the “conversation test” works at least as well.
If you are riding on flat terrain, you will probably reach a speed of around 18 to 20 kilometers per hour in calm conditions.
Building fitness means building new habits
This training area is called the foundation area, by the way, and this is precisely your most important goal: laying a solid foundation for your fitness. Continuity is crucial, especially at the beginning – so really try to cycle three times a week – even if it’s only 15 minutes, that’s still better than not cycling at all. This will help you get into a steady rhythm and each time you cycle it will be easier for you to get going.
According to studies, it can take up to three months for new habits to become so integrated into your life that you find them as easy as brushing your teeth – so keep at it!
If you then have no problem sticking to the basics for around 30 to 40 minutes three to four times a week, you will have built up a solid base level of fitness. This will also help you achieve the WHO’s recommended exercise target of at least 150 minutes of exercise per week. Once you have reached this basic level of fitness, you can of course always increase your training, depending on your goals.
Combining cycling with strength training
Cycling is very good endurance training. However, it is also important for our health and fitness to train our strength. Otherwise, as we get older, we lose muscle mass, which can lead to back pain and the like, but also promotes weight gain – because muscles use energy and therefore calories even at rest. Strength training also improves your performance on the bike.
All it takes is 10 to 15 minutes two to three times a week. And you don’t have to go to the gym or buy any equipment. Classic exercises such as push-ups or squats are very effective and anyone can easily do them at home.
Tip: There are many practical apps with short workouts that strengthen the entire body, for example the free app Seven – 7 Minute Workout (for Apple or Android devices). It gives you suggestions for exercises and – especially important for beginners – shows you the correct exercises to do.
Features
Sleepmaxxing: Sleep better with these tips
Sleepmaxxing is trending on social media: targeted tricks and habits are designed to make your sleep as restful as possible. We explain what the hype is really about.
If you’re active on social media, you’ve probably heard the term “sleepmaxxing”. At the end of 2024, this tag already had 98.6 million posts on TikTok. This term, which literally means “maximizing sleep”, i.e. “getting the most out of your sleep”, is all about getting the perfect night’s sleep. From an optimized sleeping environment to the ideal evening routine, nothing is left to chance with Sleepmaxxing – all for the purpose of perfect nightly rest for your next round of TonyBet Canada.
Sleepmaxxing – what really works?
As is so often the case with health tips on social media, the Sleepmaxxing methods should also be taken with a grain of salt. Most of the popular tips for better sleep are not scientifically proven and will definitely not be the panacea they are promoted as on TikTok and the like.
However, some behaviors can actually help you improve your sleep quality or fall asleep faster. Here are some tips that can help you sleep better.
1. evening routine for better sleep
Fixed bedtimes and other rituals can benefit the quality of your sleep. Regular rituals help your body to adjust better to sleep. You can try out these methods, for example:
- Fixed bedtimes: If possible, go to bed at the same time every day and get up at the same time – even at the weekend. This stabilizes your sleep rhythm and the hormone balance that controls your tiredness.
- Avoid screens in the evening: The blue light from cell phones, laptops and televisions inhibits the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. Put your cell phone away at least an hour before going to bed and try using blue light filters if you like.
- Relaxation rituals: Reading, meditation or a warm shower can help you to calm down more quickly.
- Sleeping tea instead of caffeine: Avoid coffee or energy drinks in the evening. Instead, opt for herbal teas with valerian or lavender.
2. create the ideal sleeping environment
Your sleeping environment can have a major impact on the quality of your sleep. Your environment has a big impact on the quality of your sleep. With a few adjustments, you can significantly improve the conditions for restful sleep:
- Darkness: Sources of light at night disturb your internal clock. Darken your bedroom as much as possible or use a sleep mask.
- Quiet: Noise can interrupt your sleep. Earplugs or a white noise app can help combat noise.
- Cool temperature: The optimum sleeping temperature is between 16 and 19 degrees Celsius. You should briefly air your bedroom twice before going to bed.
- Comfortable mattress and pillow: A sagging mattress or the wrong pillow can massively affect your quality of sleep. Make sure your back and neck are well supported and find the right type of mattress for you.
3. diet and exercise for better sleep
Those who live healthily also sleep better: diet and exercise can influence your sleep. Diet and exercise also have a major influence on your sleep. The following tips can contribute to a healthier sleep:
- No heavy food before sleep: fatty or highly seasoned foods can put a strain on your digestion and disrupt your sleep.
- No alcohol to help you sleep: Although alcohol makes you tired, it worsens the quality of your sleep and makes for restless nights.
- Regular exercise: Exercising helps you to sleep better – but intensive training directly before bedtime can keep you awake. It’s therefore better to schedule your workout for the morning or afternoon.
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