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Seizing Defeat from the Jaws of Victory
IDF soldiers are seen following the liberation of Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel from Hamas terrorists. Photo: Reuters/lia Yefimovich
JNS.org – The war in Gaza, “Operation Swords of Iron,” is a tale of two battles. The battle on the ground is going very well, with IDF units slowly, deliberately and successfully dismantling Hamas’s command and control in northern Gaza, while simultaneously laying bare the shameful hypocrisy of an organization that is content to utilize human shields however and wherever they can be found.
We have killed thousands of terrorists, captured almost 1,000, seized vital intelligence and control assets located in previously thought-to-be impregnable locations.
We have surprised and shocked Hamas not only with the vehemence of our engagement but also with a game plan that thankfully does not repeat past practice. We have confused and confounded our enemy with deftness, agility, and above all, breathtaking coordination among our military forces. And we have achieved this great success with far fewer casualties than many had feared.
What other than our success on the ground could send Hamas to seek relief, using the hostages they have taken as bait and leverage? Fair enough, it’s what one would expect.
But what we should never expect, yet are seeing playing out before our eyes, is a response by our leaders that seems far less reflective of the reality on the ground.
Our leadership is prepared to accept a paltry return of hostages, a return obviously crafted so as to elongate the hiatus in the fighting, disrupt the momentum and morale of our soldiers, and above all, endanger our soldiers and their efforts.
A confident government, leveraging off a successful army, would be demanding, not asking, for the following conditions in order to effect any kind of a hiatus in the fighting:
1. First and foremost, we must be talking about releasing all hostages, not 50 or 70 or some time-release formula that might produce 100. If there is to be a deal, it is for everyone. And at once. Otherwise, the Israel Defense Forces just keeps going.
2. The status of the hostages must be verified before we agree to release any terrorists from our prisons (The leadership’s insistence that the releasees are not murderers is a bit disingenuous. This is only the case because their plans were thwarted.). For lack of a better alternative, this might have to be done in conjunction with the Red Cross.
3. The swapping of hostages for terrorists takes place over one day, during which there will be no shooting by either side, and aerial surveillance will continue.
4. The bodies of IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul must be returned as part of this swap, as well as civilian Avera Mengistu, who may or may not still be alive.
Why is this seen to be unachievable, even naive? We are strong, we are willing to fight on and on, and the people of Israel are unrelenting. The calls for releasing hostages now are understandable and searing. Any of us caught in the hell of waiting and worrying about loved ones would likely do the same.
But we also have to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that Israel could survive, and survive without existential threats on our borders.
The souls of these magnificent soldiers, as well as the 1,200 brutally murdered on Oct. 7, cry out, not for vengeance but for justice and for the protection of Israelis too numerous to count against continued terror, horror and barbarism.
As I write this, on Thanksgiving Day no less, the deal has been announced and approved by our government, but somehow not yet fully approved by Hamas. Shockingly, that which had previously been agreed to by Hamas, such as visitation by the Red Cross to all abductees is being reneged upon.
Have we no experience in trying to negotiate with these murderous slimeballs? Do we really think that even the terrible deal that was negotiated will be honored?
Wait until, inevitably, Hamas starts shooting during the truce. Will we turn the other cheek or downplay the violations? You can set your watch by all these things happening.
I say: Stop the music! No Red Cross, no deal. Thanks, it was a good effort, but we too have reneged and changed our minds.
The real risk of the deal that our leaders have made is that it will inevitably sap us of the drive, desire and determination to proceed with the dismantling of Hamas. This of course is Hamas’s game plan, which it will implement with a long-term schedule of hostage releases, the last of which will be scheduled for a week and a half before Moshiach comes.
The whole idea is brilliantly cynical, but why should we be party to it? Why should play into the hands of our despicable enemy and its fellow travelers around the world?
The great irony of the war is that our success has brought us predictable condemnation, but also immense respect in the Arab world. Why else would Hezbollah be so tepid in its efforts to be part of the “resistance?” Any Lebanese watching the footage of the ruination of Gaza City has to think more than twice about the prospect of that happening close to home.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is justifiably proud of his standing up to and resisting the entreaties of foreign leaders, particularly American presidents, to acquiesce in the appeasement of Iran.
But the situation Israel now confronts is of a more intense and imminent order, and the presence of that same degree of steadfastness is certainly questionable.
Yes, there has been a lot of contact and jaw-boning, but what we really need is a digging in of our leadership’s heels that says, yes, we want hostages returned, of course, we do, but we must absolutely do that in the context of achieving the cleansing of the toxicity that exists along our border.
Removing Hamas is our preeminent and nonnegotiable goal. Any machinations that could threaten achieving that goal must be thwarted.
I shudder to think what this country will feel like if we wake up one day to the realization that the great sacrifices made by us to eliminate the evil at our border have been in vain.
May we show the same clarity, commitment and courage that our soldiers have. We owe that to them, to the murdered, and yes, to the hostages as well.
The post Seizing Defeat from the Jaws of Victory first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students
Haredi Jewish men look at the scene of an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem, Israel, on Nov. 23, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad
Israel’s military said it would issue 54,000 call-up notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students following a Supreme Court ruling mandating their conscription and amid growing pressure from reservists stretched by extended deployments.
The Supreme Court ruling last year overturned a decades-old exemption for ultra-Orthodox students, a policy established when the community comprised a far smaller segment of the population than the 13 percent it represents today.
Military service is compulsory for most Israeli Jews from the age of 18, lasting 24-32 months, with additional reserve duty in subsequent years. Members of Israel’s 21 percent Arab population are mostly exempt, though some do serve.
A statement by the military spokesperson confirmed the orders on Sunday just as local media reported legislative efforts by two ultra-Orthodox parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to craft a compromise.
The exemption issue has grown more contentious as Israel’s armed forces in recent years have faced strains from simultaneous engagements with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, and Iran.
Ultra-Orthodox leaders in Netanyahu’s brittle coalition have voiced concerns that integrating seminary students into military units alongside secular Israelis, including women, could jeopardize their religious identity.
The military statement promised to ensure conditions that respect the ultra-Orthodox way of life and to develop additional programs to support their integration into the military. It said the notices would go out this month.
The post Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel’s new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a “grave mistake” that he said would benefit the terrorist group Hamas.
Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel’s military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his “next steps” but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.
Smotrich’s comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.
“… the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas,” Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as “logistical support for the enemy during wartime”.
The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.
The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to U.N. estimates.
Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.
PRESSURE
Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.
The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.
The post Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
Australian police have charged a man in connection with an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshippers in the building, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the nation’s Jewish community.
There were no injuries to the 20 people inside the East Melbourne Synagogue, who fled from the fire on Friday night. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in the capital of Victoria state.
Australia has experienced several antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.
Counter-terrorism detectives late on Saturday arrested the 34-year-old resident of Sydney, capital of neighboring New South Wales, charging him with offenses including criminal damage by fire, police said.
“The man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire before fleeing the scene,” police said in a statement.
The suspect, whom the authorities declined to identify, was remanded in custody after his case was heard at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday and no application was made for bail, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Authorities are investigating whether the synagogue fire was linked to a disturbance on Friday night at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne, in which one person was arrested for hindering police.
The restaurant was extensively damaged, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for Australia’s Jews.
It said the fire at the synagogue, one of Melbourne’s oldest, was set as those inside sat down to Sabbath dinner.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog went on X to “condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together”.
“This is not the first such attack in Australia in recent months. But it must be the last,” Herzog said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incidents as “severe hate crimes” that he viewed “with utmost gravity.” “The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community,” Netanyahu said on X.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late on Saturday described the alleged arson, which comes seven months after another synagogue in Melbourne was targeted by arsonists, as shocking and said those responsible should face the law’s full force.
“My Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort,” Albanese posted on X.
Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by antisemitic vandalism and arson. The incidents included a fake plan by organized crime to attack a Sydney synagogue using a caravan of explosives in order to divert police resources, police said in March.
The post Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue first appeared on Algemeiner.com.