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Message from Israel: A Different Planet
By ORLY DREMAN Prepare yourselves and your tissues before reading. Before they go into battle, our soldiers are asked to write farewell letters to their loved ones in case they will not return.
They write that they do not regret anything and if they die then it is for their country. They ask their relatives and friends to remain happy, to be good people and to touch hearts and celebrate life. They thank their parents for the values they instilled in them and how it fulfills them to participate in saving the country. For them family and friends are everything and they wish the tragedy will make them stronger people.
Three weeks ago we experienced the “Entebbe” operation over again with the heroic rescue operation of four hostages, among them Noa Argamani whose picture at the moment of being brutally kidnapped by Hamas became world famous. T.V broadcasters were drowning in their tears. The rescuers were worried that the women in captivity might be pregnant and were ready to bring back a mother and a baby because nine months have passed and we don’t know how many of the young women who were raped gave birth and are still alive. We so needed that rescue day and when the lifeguards on the beaches announced the good news live, the crowds were overwhelmed and cheered loudly. It was a day of national pride. There is no recovery for any of us if we do not bring them all home. There are still one hundred and twenty hostages in Gaza, maybe fifty are alive. At least we do not have any more holidays till Rosh Hashana in October, since it is very difficult to go through a holiday when they are not back home. The hostages were moved from place to place and when they were notified that they are to move again they were scared because they had already become accustomed to it. One weekend we had great happiness and the following weekend we had a dozen killed. Several weeks earlier a few bodies of hostages were also returned by heroic actions of our soldiers. It feels absurd to say those families received a grave “as a present” since it was not obvious that the bodies would be brought back. The mood in the country changes instantly as it does when the sun sets on Memorial Day and then immediately we start celebrating Independence Day.
Some of our friends tried to take a trip abroad “to breath a little”, but they were not able to enjoy themselves. They felt as if they were on a different planet. To illustrate, a friend of mine took a trip to Thailand, when a British tourist heard her speak Hebrew she was brutally beaten.
After the Holocaust the revenge was to build a country. Now we should build a big and strong south and be united. We have what our brethren the Holocaust survivors could only dream about- a country and an army of our own. The survivors chose to look forward. With the loss, the bereavement and the orphanhood they chose to build a new life. I hope our people can imitate them. Thousands of Holocaust survivors experienced Oct 7t.h. They had more emotional strength than the youngsters at the Nova festival or the kibbutzim.
The Hamas wants us all dead. We give them a finger they want the whole hand. If two months ago they were ready to accept just the end of the war, now they are back to their original goal that Israel will cease to exist. They still want to burn us, murder us and dance on our grave. Seventy percent of the humanitarian aid given to Gazans the Hamas steals, which leaves their needy citizens with only thirty percent. They also threaten that they will not receive food and medicine unless they join them in their military struggle. Therefore, it is not surprising the four rescued hostages were found in the homes of both a doctor and a journalist. If Hamas wants a cease fire they must return our hostages. Unfortunately, they indoctrinate their children to hate all Jews and to want to exterminate them.
Many Israelis have dual citizenships but they do not leave the country. We love our country. We are patriots and loyal.
Whenever a baby is born, at the Brit we bless the child that by the time he grows up he will not have to go to the army. I desperately have to say that we cannot keep this promise. We live in chaos, desperation and fear. This country is facing collapse. We are bankrupted in every area. We are facing an existential threat led by Iran that also supplies Hezbollah, Hamas, the Hutim in Yemen and the Shias. Their plan is to carry on a war of attrition for some years until they destroy us. How do you fight a guerrilla warfare against an ideologically armed body? It resembles how the Americans were in Iraq 20 years ago and had believed they accomplished their mission but a democracy was never established there. The Hamas is surviving even though they were badly hurt and they are still the landlords in Gaza. Some of the residents of the south were told they could return home like in “Shderot” (2 miles from the Gaza border), but they are still suffering from artillery just as they did for dozens of years even before Oct 7th. They drive with their car windows open so they can hear the sirens. They feel cheated; where is the victory they were promised? Let’s face it: We will not attain “complete victory”.
In the north for nine months now Hezbollah has been the main threat to Israel….burning the north of the country with hundreds of missiles each day. Tens of thousands of Israelis will not be able to return home even when the hostilities are over because their homes, farms and businesses are destroyed. Small animals do not survive the fires and the bigger ones can run but have no food since almost all the forests are burned down.
In addition, there is the problem of education with the pupils in the north who were not evacuated. They studied under sirens – running to shelters. It was a lost year. Parents do not know where to register their kids for school in September…- to the place they were moved or will they be moved again? The teachers and students experienced major losses. The main goal of the present educational system is not academic right now, but to build personal and community strength.
In the West Bank we see daily parades of armed terrorists creating havoc, trying to reach our populated centers half an hour away and they are dealt with. There is Iranian money flowing to those areas -meant to promote attacks against civilians.
On the international level- the U.N deliberately falsifies the facts. They report tens of thousands less humanitarian supplies going into Gaza than what really does.
What “land” are they fighting about? When was Palestine born? Did it have currency, history, a leader? The answer to all the above is NO. They are not fighting over land, it is their ideology to kill all the Jews.
I would like in this context to mention the bereaved grandparents who built the country, fought in its wars in order to provide their descendants a safe place. However, the nightmare occurred and left these grandparents broken hearted.
On Oct 7th three of my cousins who lived far away from the kibutsim on the Gaza border heard what happened, immediately took their M16s and drove to kibbutz Beeri. They fought against the terrorists for many hours and saved 100 residents. The three did not live there, they were not called for duty but volunteered. Menachem and Itiel received the Israeli Prize in the name of their brother and uncle Elchanan who was one of the three who fought, but did not survive. In the prestigious ceremony for the Israeli prize speech Menachem said:” We believe in our way, together we shall continue this wonderful journey of the Jewish people because we deserve it.”
All those pro-Palestinian young Western supporters of Hamas do not understand that they are exploited. At the end the Palestinians will get rid of them too since Jihad wants to exterminate all the infidels who are not Muslims, including Christians, Buddhists, Hindus etc. One could ask why are these Westerners not fighting for women’s rights in the Muslim countries… women who get murdered for not covering their faces completely or not obeying their husbands.
In spite of the turmoil prevailing in Israel today, the apartment market in Israel has risen 82% because Jews in the diaspora are beginning to feel the anxiety of antisemitism. They feel Israel is safer than the diaspora.
To conclude, we are strong and have resourcefulness in extreme situations even though we have differences of opinion. I believe we are an eternal nation and we shall not give up.
This has proven to be true for thousands of years, where the Jewish people even when they did not have a homeland prevailed despite centuries of antisemitism and oppression.
Your job North American Jews, is to invite your non Jewish friends to stand with the Jewish people internationally and in Israel.
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Netanyahu says he is formally seeking the pardon Trump requested on his behalf
(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is formally seeking a preemptive pardon of the criminal charges he has long faced, saying in a video address ending his prosecution was needed to bring unity to a divided nation.
“I am certain, as are many others in the nation, that an immediate end to the trial would greatly help lower the flames and promote broad reconciliation — something our country desperately needs,” Netanyahu said in the speech on Sunday as his attorneys filed a petition with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who is responsible for granting pardons.
Netanyahu’s speech comes weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump wrote to Herzog advocating a pardon, which Herzog said he could not consider because Israeli law requires the accused or his family to make the request.
Netanyahu has three legal cases open against him, on charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust. They relate to allegations that he accepted lavish gifts in exchange for political favors and that he used his position to secure positive media coverage. The trial in the cases began in 2020 and has proceeded in fits and starts, with hearings routinely canceled as Netanyahu attends to Israel’s affairs, including the multi-front war and a protest movement that Netanyahu and his allies allege has been stoked through foreign interference.
In his speech, Netanyahu did not acknowledge guilt and said, as he long has contended, that the charges against him were political in nature. He alleged that crimes had been committed in the case against him. He also cited Trump’s advocacy on his behalf.
“President Trump called for an immediate end to the trial so that, together with him, I could advance even more vigorously the vital interests shared by Israel and the United States, within a time window that may never return,” Netanyahu said.
Herzog’s office said it would consider the pardon request in accordance with Israeli law. Netanyahu’s critics lambasted the request, saying it amounted to another assault on country’s legal norms by the prime minister, whose right-wing government has led an effort to overhaul the judiciary.
“I call on President Herzog: You cannot grant Netanyahu a pardon without an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse, and an immediate withdrawal from political life,” tweeted opposition leader Yair Lapid while making a video address of his own.
Netanyahu’s request comes as the country nears elections that must take place within the next year. Netanyahu was reelected most recently in 2022, after the charges against him were in place.
A previous prime minister who faced legal charges, Ehud Olmert, resigned before being charged and requested a pardon only after being convicted and jailed.
The post Netanyahu says he is formally seeking the pardon Trump requested on his behalf appeared first on The Forward.
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After facing criticism, Dublin tables proposal to rename Herzog Park — for now
(JTA) — A proposal to rename a Dublin park that honors one of Ireland’s most famous Jewish emigres has been tabled following criticism from the Israeli president and the Irish prime minister.
But the bid to rename Herzog Park could be revived if the Dublin City Council’s naming committee follows a different procedure, the council’s chief executive said in a statement on Sunday, a day before the planned vote.
The park was renamed in 1995 for Chaim Herzog, the son of the first Irish chief rabbi who became Israel’s sixth president in 1983, seven years after famously ripping up a United Nations resolution that declared “Zionism as Racism.” His son, Isaac Herzog, is the president of Israel today.
Pro-Palestinian activists called for the park to be stripped of the Herzog name during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, citing Chaim Herzog’s role as a prominent defender of Zionism. Last year, activists covered all references to the Herzog family at the park with Palestinian flags and added placards with the name “Hind Rajab Park,” referring to the 6-year-old Gaza girl killed during the war who has become a symbol of pro-Palestinian advocacy.
The campaign came amid staunch pro-Palestinian sentiment in Ireland, where Israel recently shuttered its Dublin embassy, citing “antisemitic rhetoric of the Irish government,” including its recognition of an independent Palestinian state and its support for anti-Israel resolutions in international bodies during the war in Gaza.
Isaac Herzog’s office had expressed concern about the renaming proposal, saying that it believed the park’s new name would be “Free Palestine.” It said in a statement on Saturday that stripping the Herzog name from the park would harm “the unique expression of the historical connection between the Irish and Jewish peoples” and undermine the legacy of Chaim Herzog, whose father supported Irish independence and who himself fought in the British Army during World War II.
“Removing the Herzog name, if it happens, would be a shameful and disgraceful move,” the statement said. “We hope that the legacy of a figure at the forefront of establishing the relations between Israel and Ireland, and the fight against antisemitism and tyranny, will still get the respect it deserves today.”
On Sunday, Ireland’s prime minister, Micheál Martin, stepped in, condemning the renaming proposal and calling for its withdrawal.
“The proposal would erase the distinctive and rich contribution to Irish life of the Jewish community over many decades, including actual participation in the Irish War of Independence and the emerging state,” he said in a statement. “This proposal is a denial of our history and will without a doubt be seen as antisemitic. It is overtly divisive and wrong.”
Later in the day, reports emerged that the council was indeed withdrawing the proposal, which had by then drawn condemnation from Jewish groups around the world as well. In a statement, the council’s chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, confirmed that the proposal would not come up for a vote at Monday’s meeting.
Shakespeare said the council’s commemorations and naming committee had not followed the “statutory procedures” required for a “secret ballot” to approve a renaming and that he would be sending the proposal back to the committee for reconsideration. He offered an apology without addressing the content of the criticism surrounding the proposal.
“On behalf of the Executive of the City Council, I wish to apologise for this administrative oversight,” Shakespeare said. “A detailed review of the administrative mis-steps will now be undertaken and a report furnished to the Lord Mayor and Councillors.”
Herzog Park is located in a neighborhood of Dublin that is home to other symbols of the city’s bygone Jewish past. It sits near the intersection of Zion Road and Orwell Road and is located a short walk from the city’s progressive synagogue, Orthodox synagogue and a new Chabad center, which recently opened Ireland’s first kosher restaurant in decades to acclaim from both Jewish and non-Jewish diners.
The City Council is also involved in a proposal to build apartments on the site of the Orthodox synagogue, which the Jewish community put up for sale several years ago amid what local Jewish leaders said was a shift toward secularism among the city’s Jews.
“Herzog Park is more than a name on a sign. For the neighbouring Jewish families and schools, it is a place filled with memory, and a quiet reminder that our community has deep roots in Dublin,” Yoni Wieder, who was inaugurated as Ireland’s chief rabbi last year, said in a statement.
“When the park was named in honour of Chaim Herzog in 1995, it was a recognition not just of one man, but a chapter of shared Irish-Jewish history. That history has not changed, and it cannot be undone by motions or votes,” Wieder said. “The Jewish story in Ireland deserves to be acknowledged, not quietly removed.”
The post After facing criticism, Dublin tables proposal to rename Herzog Park — for now appeared first on The Forward.
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Palestinian-American teen from Florida freed from Israeli detention after 9 months
(JTA) — A Palestinian-American teenager was freed last week after nine months in an Israeli detention facility, following advocacy for his release by 27 Democratic lawmakers.
Mohammed Ibrahim, 16, of Palm Bay, Florida, was arrested in February while visiting his family in the West Bank. Israeli officials said he had thrown rocks at Israeli settlers, an allegation that Ibrahim and the Council on American-Islamic Relations denied.
Ibrahim initially confessed to throwing the rocks, but later said in an affidavit that he had confessed out of “sheer fear” after he claimed that the “interrogator threatened that if I did not comply, he would instruct the soldiers to beat me,” according to the Associated Press. Israeli law considers stone-throwing a serious offense punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
After a recent hearing in his case was delayed, he was released on Thursday. His family told the BBC that he had lost weight and was suffering from conditions sustained during his detention.
Ibrahim’s detention was first reported by the Guardian in July after his cousin, 20-year-old Palestinian-American Sayfollah Musallet, was killed during a confrontation with Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
The detention and killing took place amid flaring tensions in the West Bank, including sustained attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages and farmers, that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has denounced.
In October, a group of 27 Democratic lawmakers signed onto a letter urging Rubio to pressure the Israeli government to release Ibrahim.
“We write with grave concern regarding the detention without trial of Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim. Mohammed is a U.S. citizen from Florida who was reportedly blindfolded, handcuffed, and arrested on February 16th, 2025 when Israeli forces reportedly entered his family home in al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya at 3 a.m.,” the letter read. Some of the lawmakers called attention to Ibrahim’s cause subsequently, as well.
In a statement to the BBC, the state department said it was providing consular support to Ibrahim’s family, adding that “the Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens.”
The post Palestinian-American teen from Florida freed from Israeli detention after 9 months appeared first on The Forward.