Yom Shabbat
Saturday
22 Adar I
March 2 2024
A SPECIAL NOTE
Your humble servant returned to Israel last night after being away since January 4. Two hours after returning, incoming missile sirens were heard in Ashkelon and Zikim. This morning, we awakened to bombing in Gaza and continual booming off the coast here in Ashdod.
In short, not much has changed since we left.
During our two months away, we have been greatly heartened by the support we have seen for Israel.
In January, in our university community in northern California, we met with my Israel Matters group (contact me via oneisrael@gmail.com if you would like to join) and briefly participated with some of them in working with the fantastic campus students and faculty for Israel who have been maintaining a remarkable booth in the local Farmers’ Market every Saturday in support of Israel–especially in support of returning our hostages. More than this, they also organized a run/walk for the return of the hostages.
In February, we traveled throughout southern South America to urban areas and remote locations (hence the difficulty in posting a daily blog). Along the way, we met scores of Argentinians, Chileans, Brazilians who adamantly support Israel. On a cruise we took from Buenos Aires to Santiago, dozens of Americans and people of other nationalities expressed their firm support for Israel.
In Argentina, we visited the AMIA Jewish Community Center where a Hezbollah terrorist murdered 85 people in 1994. Their memory has not been forgotten as their photos are on the wall facing the street. Israeli flags were flying high over the compound.
In Uruguay, we visited the unique beachside Holocaust Memorial.
In Chile, in places as remote at Puerto Chacabuco and Puerto Montt, people denounced Hamas and wished Israel the best.
In Brazil, a major rally in support of Israel took place in Sao Paulo. In Rio de Janeiro, we even saw Israeli flags flying over some of the kiosks on Copacabana Beach. We met a large group of Jews wearing kipas in our hotel which had set up a special kosher table for them in the dining area. As at everywhere else, we talked endlessly about Israel.
This is not to say that we didn’t see support for the Palestinians–in graffiti form. We saw large pro-Palestinian signage in Valparaiso Chile, and along the outer wall of the Grand Synagogue in Rio. But such graffiti was very few and far between especially considering the intense anti-Israel media coverage–especially in Brazil.
But all in all, we have returned to Israel greatly bolstered by the exuberant expressions of support from the people we talked to.
Israel is not alone.
UPDATE 2:00 PM
On the Ground in the South
*582 IDF soldiers, policemen, and first responders have died since October 7th. 242 of these are IDF soldiers who have fallen in Gaza since October 27 when the ground offensive began in Gaza.
*HamISIS posted a video yesterday purporting to show that 70 of the Israeli hostages are dead. It is because of videos like this that the government is now demanding a list of “live” hostages before any more negotiations take place.
*Intense fighting continues in all sections of Gaza despite recent troop withdrawals. According to the IDF Spokesman, more than 450 terrorists were killed in the last 24 hours, and more than 13,000 terrorists have now been killed overall.
More from the IDF Spokesman:
“In central Gaza, the battle team of the Nahal Brigade eliminated about twenty terrorists throughout the last day. Also, the IDF fighters of the ‘Ghost’ unit continue to operate and in the last day the forces eliminated a number of terrorists using an innovative means of attack.
The IAF attacked the launch area from which the launch was made towards the Ashkelon-Zikim area last night; a terrorist squad was eliminated that loaded weapons on a vehicle that was driving near our forces.
Other targets including launch pits and terrorist infrastructures used by the terrorist organization Hamas were eliminated. The fighters of the 7th Brigade’s combat team continue to operate in the west of Khan Yunis and in the last day they eliminated terrorists and located weapons in the space between them: explosives, grenades, Kalashnikov type rifles and vests. In addition, in a sequence of airstrikes, the brigade’s fire complex directed aircraft that eliminated eight terrorists.
The 215th Fire Brigade prepared an aircraft that attacked and killed three terrorists in the Rimal neighborhood. In addition, in response to yesterday’s launches into Sderot, the forces directed an aircraft that attacked a terrorist infrastructure from which the launches were carried out.”
On the Ground in the North
*In February, Hezbollah fired 780 missiles into northern Israel.
*3 Hezbollah terrorists were killed in an IAF attack in Bankura, Lebanon (between Tzur and Rosh HaNikra). Apparently one of the dead was a senior member of Hezbollah.
*5 more Hezbollah members were killed in Ramiya in southern Lebanon.
On the Ground in Judea and Samaria
There has been another attack in Samaria at Ali–near the place where two Israelis were murdered two days ago. In that attack, 16 year old Uria Hartum (16) and Yitzhak Zeiger (41) gunned down by a member of the PLO police force–the 51st terror attack carried out by the PLO in recent years.
Other attacks in the last 24 hours occurred on the Jerusalem-Gush Etzion Road, between Tapuach and Ariel, at the north Ma’ale Lavona Junction, Hizma, and at Avni Hefetz.
The Mis-Statement of the Day
“In the coming days we are going to join with our friends in Jordan and others and fly airdrops of additional food and supplies in Ukraine and open up other avenues [of delivery] in Ukraine . . .”
President Biden, delivering a short prepared statement in the White House Oval Office yesterday about “aid” to Gaza.
We all know that Biden has lost it–a fact confirmed by daily misstatements on every conceivable subject.
Biden might want to choose a different airdrop partner. The last Jordanian airdrop dropped most of its “aid” into the Mediterranean. Yet another airdrop two days ago inadvertently dropped its “aid” into Israel.
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.