Saturday
Yom Shabbat
18 Tevet 5785
January 18 2025
BREAKING NEWS 5:00 PM Saturday:
A terrorist attack in Tel Aviv (16:30 pm): two Israelis stabbed in south Tel Aviv near the Florentine neighborhood; the Palestinian terrorist was apparently shot and killed by a civilian. The terrorist was 19 years old from Tulkarm in Samaria and has been working illegally in Israel. This follows a ballistic missile fired from Yemen that was shot down over Tel Aviv this morning (10:18). Another Houthi missile was intercepted in the Eilat area (15:39).
UPDATE 8:00 AM ISRAEL TIME
The View from Ashdod
Cabinet ministers and the general public here were shocked yesterday when it was revealed that most of the terrorists serving life sentences for egregious crimes who will be released will go to Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem.
This is contrary to what was being said about all of them being deported to Turkey and Qatar.
Remember that 1750 terrorists are going to be released in the next 6 weeks if Phase One of the Ceasefire/Hostage Agreement proceeds smoothly. 750 of these are terrorists who have been sentenced in Israeli courts to long or life sentences. This morning the entire list of them has been released (you can access the entire list at https://www.gov.il/he/Departments/DynamicCollectors/is-db?skip=0.
Here are three random examples:
Of these 750 Palestinian terrorists, 290 of them murdered Israelis.
For example, remember the Fogel family massacre that took place on March 11, 2011:
This gruesome bloody massacre took place in the Fogel family home in Itamar. The two murderers, Amjam and Akim Hawad, proudly confirmed this account of their barbarism in court:
“The two entered the children’s room, told eleven-year-old Yoav, who had been awakened by their entry not to be afraid, then took him to a nearby room, slashed his throat, and stabbed him in the chest. Hakim Awad then strangled four-year-old Elad with Amjad Awad stabbing him twice in the chest. The two next entered the parents’ room, and turned on the light, waking them up. The parents then struggled with the attackers. Ehud Fogel was repeatedly stabbed in the neck, and Ruth Fogel was stabbed in the neck and back and then shot when the suspects saw that she was not dead. The suspects then left the house. They feared that the shots had been heard. When they went outside, they saw a patrol vehicle, but realized that they had not been discovered when it did nothing. The two then argued over whether to withdraw or carry out attacks in other homes, with Hakim insisting that they return immediately to Awarta, and Amjad arguing that they should return to the home and steal another weapon. Amjad then re-entered the Fogel home. When 3-month-old Hadas began crying, Amjad stabbed her, fearing the cries would attract attention, and then decapitated her.”
Amjam and Akim Hawad are scheduled to be released.
How long will it be until we see scenes such as that above at the Fogels’ funeral?
Not long. The IDF revealed in the Cabinet meeting that a staggering 82% of all terrorists released return to terrorism immediately.
At the Cabinet meeting yesterday, PM tried to allay Minister’s objections by pointing out that:
*The IDF will remain in the Philadelphi corridor.
*Israel did not commit to a permanent ceasefire.
*The IDF will remain in the buffer zone around the perimeter of Gaza.
*Presidents Biden and Trump guaranteed American support to Israel should Israel need to return to fight in Gaza.
Frankly, it seems highly doubtful to OneIsrael that the war will resume after 6 weeks. The only scenario in which war may resume is if Hamas breaks the ceasefire during Phase One.
Two final notes about the agreement: Tourism Minister Haim Katz demanded that in light of amnesty being given to all the Palestinian barbarians, President Herzog should immediately issue a pardon to all soldiers who fought and are still fighting in Gaza for any alleged actions they may have taken. There has been no answer from Herzog’s office.
Second, in light of the agreement, Defense Minister Yisrael Katz canceled all administrative detention orders that have been placed against Jewish community members in Judea and Samaria.
So it goes in Israel on this sunny Shabbat morning where we wish all of our soldiers and you dear readers:
Shabbat Shalom!
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.