Yom Rishon
Sunday
3 Av 5782
July 31 2022
Photo of the Day
Leo Messi with Lior Raz (aka Doron Kavillio in Fauda) this morning.
Click here to see the Paris Saint-Germain team at “SaveChildsHeart” this morning.
Also, click here for a previous OneIsrael blog about this wonderful organization. Save A Child’s Heart provides lifesaving surgery to children all over the world.
The News on the Israeli Street
Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .
Palestinian terrorists attacked Israeli motorists with Molotovs, “rocks”, and IEDs on Road 458 near El Muayyir, between Ein Samia and the Kochav HaShahar quarries, between Hizma and Adam, and just south of Lanama to name a few locations.
Palestinian terrorists attacked a military vehicle with Molotovs at Bir Zeit.
Palestinian terrorists attacked a tourist bus leaving Jericho, and regular buses at Turmos’aya and on the Gush Etzion-Hevron Road.
Palestinian arsonists set fire to fields at Rimon.
Palestinian terrorists attempted to carry out a ramming attack by breaking through the military checkpoint at the Ma’ale Hever Junction. No Israelis were wounded; the terrorists escaped into the Palestinian settlement of Bnei Naim.
Palestinian terrorists attacked the fence that is going up around the Palestinian terror capital of Jenin again. There are a number of Islamic Jihad cells which are attacking the fence on a daily basis.
The government continues to Palestinianize Israel . . .
As of tomorrow, the work reform approved by our outrageous government calls for Israeli labor laws to apply to Palestinian workers. Palestinians’ work permits will be in the name of the employee and not in the name of the employer; in short, the Israeli labor laws will apply to the Palestinian workers.
As part of this move to give Palestinians social rights, Palestinians from Gaza who are employed (usually on an hourly or weekly basis) will now be entitled to pensions from the Israeli government.
Yes, you read that correctly.
The daily Corona update . . .
3,322 Israelis tested positive yesterday (out of 14,043 tested) bringing to 43,636 the number of active patients in the country.
The positive test rate was 23.66%; the coefficient of infection was 0.79%.
325 Israelis are seriously ill; 106 are critically ill—92 of these are on ventilators.
11,356 have died–7 since Friday.
Again, very few Israelis are being tested, but of those who are, 25% of them are infected with the virus.
TODAY’S BLOG
“Cold Hearted And Brave”
Maj. Gen. Herzi Halevi–the likely new IDF Chief of Staff.
We are now down to the two final candidates for the new IDF Chief of Staff to replace outgoing Gen. Aviv Kochavi. Those two candidates are Gen. Herzi Halevi and Gen. Eyal Zamir.
The two generals have distinctly different strategic philosophies reflecting their backgrounds. Halevi began his service in the Paratroopers and so prefers an air/technological approach to warfare; Zamir on the other hand comes out of the Armored Corps and prefers a land-based strategy. All along, it has been known that our “Defense” Minister Benny Gantz prefers Halevi, while Zamir is preferred by opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
Thus, there is very little doubt that in the coming days Gantz will announce that Halevi has been chosen.
Halevi is 54 years old and was born in Jerusalem–and is the first orthodox Jew to have served as head of Military Intelligence. He holds a BA in Philosophy from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and an MA in International Resource Management from the National Security University in Washington.
Here are some highlights of Halevi’s career:
*He began his service in the Paratroopers Brigade serving eventually as the commander of the anti-tank company in the 101st Battalion as part of Israel’s counter-guerilla campaign in southern Lebanon.
*He commanded special forces on operations deep within enemy territory including the famed operation to kidnap Mustafa Dirani.
*At the beginning of the second intifada, he was heavily involved in fighting terror strongholds in Judea and Samaria as commander of the elite Sayeret Matkal unit.
*In 2007, he returned to the Paratrooper Brigade and led the “Red” Brigade in Operation Cast Lead in northern Gaza.
*In 2014, he was appointed chief of the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate.
This photo of Halevi on the phone is somewhat ironic in that he is known as a man of few words.
*In 2018, he was appointed Commander of the Southern Command.
*Last year, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff.
According to sources within the IDF, he is known for “standing his ground” and for being “cold-hearted and brave.”
Let’s hope that is true. It’s hard to imagine that “humanitarian” Benny Gantz would prefer an IDF Chief of Staff that is “cold-hearted”, but that is precisely the type of Chief of Staff that we need.
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.