Yom Reva’ee
Wednesday
12 Iyar 5783
May 3 2023
The Quote of the Day
Efrat Amram whose house was hit (and car destroyed–note the tow truck in the background) during one of the many attacks on Sderot in the last 48 hours (photo: Arutz Sheva).
Efrat Amram, a resident of Sderot whose home was hit by a rocket fired from Palestinian Gaza on Tuesday, had this to say in an interview with a reporter from Arutz Sheva:
“Two minutes after my husband returned from daycare with our two daughters, the Red Alert sounded. We didn’t even take our daughter out of the stroller, and managed to reach our fortified room because it’s close to the front door . . . The explosion was right at the entrance of the house. Many of the house’s windows shattered, and walls were damaged. The electrical appliances were destroyed when the main power cable was hit by shrapnel . . . It was really a huge miracle that we were not killed.”
Amran proceeded to castigate the Netanyahu government:
“There was no response. We need to put an end to this. It’s not my role to know what the end is, but raising children for twenty years in such a reality is simply incomprehensible. This is no longer a matter of rounds of fighting, but a day-to-day reality. We need to eliminate senior terrorists in Gaza and create deterrence, absorb every way that will bring us back to deterrence and security in our hands.”
“There was no response.”
See Today’s Blog below.
The News on the Israeli Street
The war in Judea and Samaria.
The latest mini-war may have ended along the Gaza border–but the war in Judea and Samaria continues unabated.
Run-over attack:
A Palestinian terrorist tried to run over a soldier at the Al-Khader Junction. Fortunately, the soldier was not wounded. Unfortunately, the terrorist was only shot in the leg.
“Rock”, Molotov, and IED attacks:
Palestinian terrorists attacked Israelis on the Hosan Bypass Road between Al Khader and Beitar, on the Gush Etzion-Hevron Road near the Asher Palmer memorial, on the road between Tapuach and Migdalim, near Avitar, at Kiryat Netafim, on Road 443 near Beit Horon, between Talmon and Deir Ivzia, on Road 60 near Luban al-Sharqiya, and at numerous other locations.
Smuggling:
Inspectors at the Kerem Shalom Crossing seized guns, silencers, and bullets which were being smuggled from Gaza into Judea inside pieces of furniture.
Netanyahu’s exclusion of Ben Gvir . . .
Is Itamar Ben Gvir the Minister of National Security or not?
Yesterday, PM Netanyahu excluded Ben Gvir from the security assessment meeting to determine what should be the response to the missiles and mortars being fired from Gaza.
He excluded him because Ben Gvir is the only person in the security cabinet who would have had the guts to stand up to Netanyahu and in this case demand a powerful response to the ongoing attacks.
No Ben Gvir, no dissent, no response.
Last night and again this morning, Ben Gvir has threatened to leave the government if he is ever excluded from a security assessment again.
TODAY’S BLOG:
Whatever Deterrence Israel Once Had Was Lost Long Ago
The call to come to a demonstration tonight in Sderot to protest the shameful response of our government to the missile fire on Sderot and surrounding communities.
As usual, the IDF spokesman has egregiously understated the number of missiles and mortars fired at southern Israel in this latest mini-war. The last number the IDF spokesman published was 22. According to various news channels, “more than 100” were fired.
We here at OneIsrael have pieced together reports from residents and believe the number is 114–though this too may be fewer than the actual number because the IDF has deliberately obscured the number of missiles fired in the volleys on Ashkelon.
You may be asking why the IDF deliberately obscures the numbers. The answer is simple: the IDF and the government do not want the Israel public to know the extent of the attack so that the public will not demand a greater response.
How many times have we been down this road?
Too many to count. Every mini-war with the terrorists in Gaza ends the same way–with the terrorists still standing and still shooting missiles at us.
When will the next mini-war break out? It is completely up to Hamas and Islamic Jihad–both of which know that Israel lacks the will to respond.
Whatever deterrence Israel once had was lost long ago.
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.