20 Tammuz 5778
3 July 2018
The News on the Israeli Street
Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .
–A Palestinian terrorist stabbed an Israeli in Silwan. The victim, currently listed in serious condition, was evacuated to Hadassah Hospital. Another stabbing was thwarted at the Sha’ar Binyamin industrial zone when a terrorist was captured by alert security personnel.
–Palestinian terrorists using Molotov kites and balloons have set fire to the Pura Nature Reserve southeast of Kiryat Gat. 10 other fires were set yesterday at such places in southern Israel as Hamdat Hadaron, Netivot (beside a kindergarten), and Nahal Shikma where more than 200 dunams of agricultural crops were burned.
A torched field near Nahal Shikma after the fire there yesterday.
Everyday, farmers on the Gaza border are submitting claims to the Tax Authority for losses from the fires. Yesterday, 105 claims involving more than 5000 dunams–estimated at 8.5 million shekels–were turned in by farmers on kibbutzes alone.
–Numerous attacks took place along the border yesterday with Palestinian terrorists continually attempting to breach the fence (see Today’s Blog below).
–In Judea and Samaria, Palestinian terrorists attacked IDF soldiers in Al-Khader, and Israeli civilians in Beit Ummar, Karmei Tzur, Hizma, at the Tunnels Checkpoint, Azzun, Hevron, and Tekoa
Finally, the Knesset acts . . .
A new law was approved by the Knesset last night which will deduct money to be paid to the PLO from taxes collected, in the amount of money paid by the PLO to terrorists’ families and terrorists themselves who are incarcerated in Israeli prisons.
More simply, Israel will not pay the Palestinians money that can be used for financing terrorism.
Why it took so long for the Knesset to act is anyone’s guess, but the lack of action became a source of intense embarrassment to Israel following actions by the U.S., Australia, and other countries to withhold funds from the PLO as long as it funds terrorists and their families.
The difference between Trump and Obama? . . .
The U.S. State Department announced yesterday that 50 companies have told the U.S. that they intend to reduce or sever economic relations with Iran before U.S. sanctions take hold in a few months.
This information was revealed at almost the same time as it was revealed that as part of the Democratic Party Iranian Nuclear Weapons Appeasement Agreement, the Obama Administration unbelievably granted citizenship to some 2,500 Iranians–primarily the family members of government officials.
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In response to the report, the US Department of Homeland Security refused comment, and Jeh Johnson, Obama’s Secretary of Homeland Security “could not be reached.”
Some price relief for Israelis . . .
With the price of gasoline dropping by a few agorot this week comes the additional good news that Daiso Japanese discount stores are coming to Israel. Known for their excellent service and immaculate cleanliness (two things sorely lacking in Israel), everything in each Daiso store will cost only 10 shekels.
Will the new “draft law” bring down the government? . . .
The new law that passed its first reading in the Knesset last night:
—would create specific, increasing recruitment targets for the haredim (ultra-orthodox)
—would impose economic sanctions on yeshivas (schools) that do not meet their recruitment targets
—would be repealed if the haredim do not meet their recruitment targets for three consecutive years
Yaakov Litzman, the Knesset head of United Torah Judaism, said that if the law passes a second and then a third reading (thereby becoming law), United Torah Judaism will leave the current coalition.
You can be sure, dear reader, that PM Netanyahu will do everything within his power to stop that from happening.
In an ominous sign . . .
The Knesset approved last night the transfer of power within the Holy Sites Committee from Miri Regev and Ayelet Shaked to PM Netanyahu and Yuval Steinetz.
To put this a different way, two people who opposed the plan to change the layout of the Western Wall plaza in order to appease the Reform and Conservative Movements are off the committee, and two who support the change are on.
TODAY’S BLOG:
“Sometimes we are too humane.”
Four Palestinian terrorists attempted to infiltrate the Gaza border yesterday in order to kill or possibly kidnap Israeli soldiers. Fortunately their assault was intercepted by an IDF patrol at the border.
In the ensuing gunfight, three of the terrorists were seriously wounded and the fourth was captured.
Why is your humble servant telling you about this?
Because of what happened next.
Believe it or not, the most seriously wounded terrorist was treated by IDF medics on the scene and then airlifted to Soroka Hospital in Beersheva where doctors this morning describe his condition as “moderate.”
It is just amazing that a terrorist tries to kill an IDF soldier, is shot in the attempt, is saved by an IDF medic, and then treated with priority at an Israeli hospital.
Next week, he will be out of the hospital and back on the border trying to kill more soldiers.
I was thinking about this episode this morning in relation to a trip my wife and I took to Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem last week. As we walked into the Memorial building there, printed on the wall were the IDF mission and doctrine of warfare. Heavily stressed was the idea of “purity of arms”:
“The soldier shall make use of his weaponry and power only for the fulfillment of the mission and solely to the extent required; he will maintain his humanity even in combat. The soldier shall not employ his weaponry and power in order to harm non-combatants or prisoners of war, and shall do all he can to avoid harming their lives, body, honor and property.”
We then ventured outside to where the battle took place.
In case you don’t know the story of what took place at Ammunition Hill in 1967, you can read about it here.
Suffice it to say in this blog today that 36 courageous Israeli fighters were killed in Israel’s ultimately successful effort to dislodge Jordanian troops that were entrenched in bunkers and trenches at the site.
Trenches like this one at Ammunition Hill held Jordanian soldiers who were shooting downhill at Israeli soldiers coming uphill. Each trench was protected by machine-gun nests.
As we moved from trench to trench, my wife and I discussed the fact that the 36 Israeli soldiers would not have died had the Israeli military decided to bomb the location. General Uzi Narkiss decided to forego the aerial attack because of the Hill’s proximity to Arab civilian areas. It was an early Israeli expression of “purity of arms.”
However, upon seeing the incredible courage it took for the soldiers to attack a superior force lodged in bunkers and trenches on the top of a machine-gun infested hill, my wife simply said: “Sometimes, we are too humane.”
Indeed we are. The Israeli Air Force should have blasted the Hill to smithereens, and as for that wounded terrorist currently sits in a hospital bed in Beersheva being nursed back to health, I’ll leave it to you, dear reader, to make the call.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.