Yom Shnee
Monday
22 Adar II 5784
April 1 2024
May Their Memories Be For A Blessing
Sgt. Sivan Wail.
Sgt. Sivan Wail, 21, from Ra’anana, was a fighter in the Egoz Unit and died from the same thermobaric RPG explosion that killed another of his comrades, Alon Kudriashov, two days ago. Wail survived for two days before passing away.
Sgt. Nadav Cohen.
Sgt. Nadav Cohen, 20, from Haifa, was a fighter in the 77th Battalion.
With the deaths of Sgts. Wail and Cohen, the number of IDF soldiers who have fallen in the Gaza ground operation is 256. All told, the number of soldiers, policemen, and first responders who have fallen from October 7th until now has passed 600.
The Quote of the Night
“This is the same group of anti-government kaplanists who are now playing with the families of the hostages. This is an orchestrated and organized protest to overthrow the government. I also have complaints about the Prime Minister, my son was killed! But now is the time? We in the families of the fallen strengthen the government until complete victory. All this endangers the abductees and dishonors the memory of the fallen. Did my son fall and die for those anarchists who light fires and block roads?”
Eyal Butzhak, the father of Capt Oshri Moshe Butzhak who was killed in Gaza.
The anti-government movement has completely taken over the protests of the hostage families, and sadly, the scene is suddenly just as ugly as it was before October 7th.
The Video of the Day
UPDATE 9:00 AM
Breaking News
*PM Netanyahu’s hernia surgery went well last night. He is awake and talking to his family this morning. It is expected that he will remain in the hospital for 48 hours.
*A terror attack in Gan Yavne last night: a Palestinian terrorist from Dura near Hevron stabbed three men before being killed by a citizen. The three victims are in “serious” condition this morning at Kaplan Hospital. The terrorist had been living and working in Israel illegally since October 7th.
In the South
*A missile attack on Eilat at 1:30 am last night: one missile made it through air defenses and struck near the naval station. No one was wounded, but undisclosed items were damaged.
On the Ground In Gaza
*It appears that the IDF has pulled out of the Shifa Hospital complex overnight:
Part of the remains of the Shifa “Hospital” compound this morning (photo: IDF).
Some weapons that were found this week in the Shifa Maternity Ward:
Medical equipment for helping pregnant women? (IDF photo).
*Our soldiers in Gaza are facing ever more sophisticated weaponry. The Egoz unit that was hit two days ago resulting in two IDF deaths and 5 more critically wounded was the result of a thermobaric RPG.
What is a “thermobaric” RPG?
A thermobaric RPG (also known as a TBG-7V) round.
From a weapons report:
“The front part of the rocket body deforms ‘on hitting a solid obstacle. A shaped-charge jet penetrates 30-40 mm of armour, piercing a hole exceeding the calibre of the warhead. Then it works just like any other FAE (Fuel Air Explosive). An initial charge releases and disperses the fuel (most likely powdered aluminum), the fuel mixes with air, and then the second charge ignites the dispersed mixture. The result is a high temperature, high volume, and high pressure explosion. It produce a sustained blast wave that is very effective against personnel regardless of body armor and shelter. If confined inside a fortification the initial blast will be followed by reflective shock waves and then as gasses cool by a sharp drop in pressure, a partial vacuum.”
On the Ground In the North
*It is now being reported that senior Hezbollah commander Javad Shahimi was killed in the Aleppo attack several nights ago.
*An IAF strike on a vehicle in the area of the Lebanese village of Kunin killed Hezbollah terrorist Ismail Ali Elzin, a key operative in the anti-tank unit of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force.
April 1st News
*The minimum wage went up at midnight.
Hourly, the new wage is 32.3 shekels ($8.75 at the exchange rate this morning) while the monthly rate is 5,880 shekels ($1594). Obviously, this is not enough to live on, but better than it was.
*The Ultra-Orthodox Draft is supposed to start today, but everything is in a state of confusion to say the least.
There are some 1750 yeshivas and kollels in Israel at which more 170,000 students study. Supposedly, those who fail to enlist will lose their funding–but this may happen on an individual and yeshiva/kollel level. It is expected that the funding for some 60,000 of the 170,000 will be stopped.
It is estimated that between 40-50 million shekels per month will be stopped–which is a drop in the 1.7 billion shekel annual budget for yeshivas/kollels. Monthly state payments to yeshivas range from 855 shekels a month per student to 475 shekels (depending on the level of study).
But this is based on how many refuse to enlist and this is based a myriad of factors. For example, just because a person is called to enlist does not mean that he or she can be enlisted. A person can be disqualified for physical reasons or for other reasons.
And what about enforcement? It is completely unclear how the Court’s decision will be enforced–both in terms of ultra-orthodox enlistment and in terms of financial payments.
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.