Six Days of Miracles
29 May 2011 Leave a Comment
in Background to Israeli current events, Israeli Life, Modern Israeli history
Forty-four years ago Israel fought for its life, and not only survived but improved its security situation dramatically. In addition, it liberated Jerusalem and the Kotel (the Western Wall) and Yehuda and Shomron (Judea and Samaria). Many say that winning the war was miraculous, and it was. As Orthodox Jews we believe that G-d gives people special gifts – whether it is brains, or strength, or courage – and it is obligatory for us to use these gifts in order to help ourselves and others. The brains and strength and courage that the IDF soldiers used to fight and win the war so long ago were gifts used at an especially dangerous time for Israel. Many people don’t know this, but the Israelis were so afraid of massive casualties, that they dug graves in the public parks in preparation for war. G-d helped also – it is inexplicable to me why the Arabs didn’t coordinate their forces to attack at the same time, which would have made it much harder for the Israelis to win.
Some “basic” history first. The Jewish Virtual Library has a good background here. I learned some things for the first time, including the fact that the French (no surprise) and the Americans (a big surprise) imposed an arms embargo on Israel at the time. Israel fought for its life alone – except for G-d of course. I also did not know that Israel asked Jordan not to attack, but they did not listen. I wonder what would have happened if they had listened – would we still be blocked from going to the Kotel? Camera provides a succinct timeline for the events leading up to the war. The reunification of Jerusalem is detailed here. The Arab refusal to admit its defeat and its refusal to negotiate for peace (which has lasted until this day) is described here.
For those military buffs out there, the History channel did a special on the Six Day War as part of its Battlefield Detectives series. I watched it all (and I am not a military buff!) and found it fascinating. I didn’t know that the Israelis had such extensive intelligence, that the IDF knew where the real Egyptian planes were parked and where the dummies were parked. The Israelis also knew when the airforce would be at its most vulnerable – not at dawn, which conventional warfare says, but later in the morning, when the airforce let down its guard. I also didn’t know what “flying under the radar” really meant in those days – flying at less than 100 feet!!! G-d also helped the pilots that day, because there was absolutely no wind – every bomb hit its target. I also learned about the spy Eli Cohen’s (z’l, may his memory be a blessing)contribution to Israel’s taking over the Golan Heights.
Now for some video: footage from the war including air strikes and tank attacks. Parts of it are set to music that I know by heart, from my kids’ favorite movie….
Video with both scenes and audio from the IDF’s capture of Har Habayit (the Temple Mount) interspersed with modern pictures of people at the Kotel (Western Wall).
Old Leftists Never Die, They Just Send Annoying Letters
27 May 2011 Leave a Comment
in Background to Israeli current events, Israel Update, Media matters
I guess Bibi Netanyahu’s wonderful speech to Congress, and his jump in the polls at home in Israel were too much to bear for some people, and they needed to grab some headlines in the other direction.
This morning all three major English websites had an article about some prominent leftists who have sent a letter to the Europeans urging them to vote for a Palestinian state in the UN.
When you read the text of the articles, though, some interesting facts come to light. First, the numbers are laughable. Ynet says “more than twenty” and Haaretz says “more than a dozen” leftists signed this letter. I could fit them all around my dining room table (if they dared to come to my house, that is…)
Second, when you look at the biographies of the “notables” specified, you will see that not one is younger than 60! (Note the picture on the Haaretz site – young Arabs. I guess the real pictures would look too much like the parody of peaceniks from Laugh In).
The left wing in Israel, although prominent in academia, is a dying breed. The young people in Israel are more right wing now than they were in the past – for a very simple, but sad, reason. They grew up with suicide bombers blowing up busses. The university students of today were young teenagers when Arafat spit on the Oslo Accords, and did what he had planned to do all along – make war on Israel. They remember the riots, and the terrorist attacks at cafes and pizza parlors – and some of them even knew people who died.
Not One False Note
24 May 2011 2 Comments
in American politics, Background to Israeli current events, Israel Update
If you haven’t seen it already, I urge you to see the whole speech by Bibi Netanyahu to the Congress today (scroll down a bit for the video).
There wasn’t one false note, and not one iota of apologetics. He clearly expressed Israel’s friendship and gratitude to the United States, he congratulated the American people on killing Bin Laden, he stressed the common values of democracy that we share, and he pointed out that the 1 million Arabs living in Israel enjoy more rights than the other 300 million Arabs in the Middle East.
In addition he expressed Israel’s positions on the peace process:
1) The reason there has not been peace in the Middle East is because the Arabs will not recognize a Jewish state.
2) Jerusalem will never be divided again, and will be the capital of Israel.
3) We will never go back to the pre-1967 borders, even after a peace agreement, although Israel will be willing to negotiate swapping of territory.
4) We will never accept the Arab refugees into Israel, they will need to be absorbed by the Arab countries.
5) We must have control over the Jordan Valley.
6) We will not sit down at the negotiating table with Hamas, which is the equivalent of Al-Qaeda.
In addition to these points, he said something that no other Prime Minister has ever said, especially in such a public forum. He said that the Jews living in Yehuda and Shomron (Judea and Samaria) are NOT occupiers, but we are living in our ancestral homeland.
The warm reception in Congress was overwhelming. There were so many standing ovations that I stopped counting.
In a way it is ironic, but the fact that the current American president is so anti-Israel has been the best thing to happen in a while, in terms of making our Prime Minister state the facts so clearly.
Just Because You’re Paranoid…..
24 May 2011 2 Comments
in Musings
Tell me, what are the chances that when Ahmadinejad visits an oil refinery to dedicate it an explosion goes off? Well, that’s what happened today in Iran.
Even if he wasn’t paranoid before, this would do it….
Another Sign of Impending War in Israel
20 May 2011 2 Comments
in Background to Israeli current events, Israel Update, What were they thinking?
President Obama’s speech last night, with his statement about Israel returning to the 1967 borders, is another sign of impending war here in Israel, but not in the way that the Arabs hope for.
The political experts will analyze both his speech and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech next week in Congress to death, spinning it one way or another, but the important thing in understanding what happens in the Middle East is not to concentrate on America or Israel’s words, but the Arab reaction to those words, and more importantly, their actions.
Hamas has already rejected Obama’s speech, saying that Obama favors Israel. The Fatah faction has called for an emergency meeting to discuss it – not exactly a positive reaction. Even when he supposedly “gives” them what they “want” – it is not enough. This is typical, and is the core point to consider when looking at modern Israeli history.
The Arabs will never accept Israel’s right to exist, and they will go to war against us again and again. They cannot compromise – it is always all or nothing with them. Since we here in Israel will not give in and just commit suicide, there will always be ongoing conflict. They refused to compromise when the UN partitioned the region in 1947. After the unsuccesful attempt to drive all of the Jews out in May 1948 , (which they have the nerve to complain about, even now) instead of learning to live with the Jewish State, they decided to try again 19 years later. The Jews defended themselves again, and won. This paved the way for the Jews to be able to unite Jerusalem and visit the Kotel (Western Wall) for the first time in 19 years, and it enabled me and 300,000 other Jews to be able to live in Yehuda and Shomron (Judea and Samaria).
Now Obama has stupidly raised the Arab expectations again. They will wait in growing frustration for him to “do something” to make Israel go back to the 1967 borders. (Common sense says that if Obama sits and watches Assad kill thousands of his own people without doing anything, it is crazy to think he will go against Israel for building houses. Then again, if we were dealing with common sense the whole region would be at peace) When he doesn’t, they will explode and attack us, again.
The real question is how widespread the next war will be. It might be “just” an operation in Gaza to stop the inevitable rocket fire from there. It might include riots and terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria – what the Arabs are calling the third intifada. It might include rocket fire from Hizballah in Lebanon. Or, it could be an even wider conflict which includes the Arabs from Syria and Egypt to pile on. The worst case scenario is all of these things together – which will represent a re-enaction of our War of Independence – with one major difference. Instead of attacking a state with 600,000 citizens, including many refugees from the Holocaust, poorly trained and without its own weapons industry – the Arabs will be attacking a country with 7 million people with the best trained army in the world (and yes, better than America’s for the one main reason that we are always fighting for our lives. Fighting thousands of miles from home is not the same kind of thing as fighting in your own backyard to protect your family).
The most ironic thing, of course is the fact that Obama said what he did to try to further the “peace process”. Not only will this not bring peace, but Obama will lose support of many Jews and pro-Israel Americans. For a short time he may gain support of the Arabs, but when they see his inaction they will start to complain, and their support will dwindle too.
Sounds Great To Me!
19 May 2011 1 Comment
in Background to Israeli current events, Israel Update
Danny Danon has a great idea, explained here in his opinion piece in the New York Times.
There Are No Liberals in a Foxhole
16 May 2011 5 Comments
in Background to Israeli current events, Musings
It may be true that there are no athiests in a foxhole, but I think that you can add that there are no liberals in a foxhole either. (For my younger readers who may not understand the expression, a foxhole was a trench used in World War I. The fact that there are no athiests there refers to the fact that even people who claim they do not believe in G-d get religion very quickly when fearing for their life.)
I thought of this yesterday as I listened to the news in Israel. When I heard about the Syrians tearing down part of the fence in the Golan and entering by the hundreds, and the fact that the IDF fired at them and killed at least one, I expected the usual liberal wringing of hands at the death of a (supposedly) unarmed man. Instead I heard most of the radio personalities express over and over, “How could this happen?” or “I don’t think we have ever seen something like this!” It took me awhile to understand what I was hearing, but after about an hour it clicked.
These radio announcers (almost all left-wing, to varying degrees) were scared. They were not concerned about the death of the Syrian, they were frightened that the IDF was not prepared for this incident. Underneath the fear there was a bit of anger too.
I guess when you know the IDF has your back, you can afford to criticize and harp on every incident and take the sides of your enemies, in the self-righteous belief that you are only concerned about human rights. It is really easy to bash the soldiers when they keep the wolves from the door, but if those wolves get too close for comfort, then things begin to look very different.
As I posted in my series about the change to the right in Israel, being right-wing and pro-Zionist is becoming more popular and more accepted for a variety of reasons. Waking up to the fact that there is a real threat is one of these reasons. It seems that even our left-wing media is starting to get there.
Same Arabs, Same Sea
15 May 2011 2 Comments
in Background to Israeli current events, Israel Update, Israeli Life, Terror
Yitzchak Shamir, the former prime Minister of Israel, had an expression. “The Arabs are the same Arabs, the sea is the same sea”. He used this expression when people would try to convince him that there was a chance for a “new Middle East” and that we could somehow make peace with the Arabs, distinguishing one group from another. He refers of course, to the fact that the Arabs wan’t to destroy the State of Israel and push the Jews into the Mediterranean Sea.
Today is what the Arabs call “Nakba” day – the catastrophe. They refer to the English date of the Israel Independence Day. Today they “commemorated” by doing what they did 63 years ago – trying to kill Jews.
An Arab from Kfar Kassem went on a rampage with his truck, killing a 28 year old and injuring 17 in south Tel Aviv this morning. He rammed pedestrians, 15 vehicles including a motorcyclist, hit a bus (thankfully empty of passengers), and slammed into an iron fence guarding an elementary school. He then ran from his truck and started to hit passersby. Eyewitnesses said he was shouting “death to the Jews”. He was subdued by two Israelis and taken into custody by police.
He now says it was an “accident”.
In Gaza a group tried to go over the fence into Israel and the IDF shot at their legs, injuring some. In another part of Gaza, near the fence, a person trying to set a bomb was killed by the IDF.
In the north Arabs from Syria flying Palestinian flags crossed over the fence in the Golan and were fired upon by the IDF. Many have entered the Druze village Majdal Shams. As of this writing there are some Israelis injured and one Arab dead – although there is no confirmation yet about the numbers. Many reporters are talking about IDF’s failure here to expect this and prevent the Arabs from entering.
Arabs are also trying to enter Israel from the Lebanese border and the IDF is firing at them.
Arabs are rioting in Kalandia.
