1 Elul 5780
21 August 2020
The Idiotically Ludicrous Quote of the Day
“We have changed the equation in Gaza. We know how to target not only buildings and infrastructure, but also those who act from them.”
Israeli so-called “Minister of Defense” Benny Gantz, assuring regional leaders in the South that Israel has every thing under control.
Your humble servant doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. 40+ fires started by explosive balloons yesterday; more than 15 missiles fired at southern Israel last night–and not one terrorist has been killed or wounded and nothing but empty buildings and sand dunes have been “attacked.”
Benny Gantz is just as effective as “Defense Minister” as he was as IDF Chief of Staff--which is to say that he is buffoonishly and dangerously ineffective and has no idea of what he is doing.
The Photo of the Night
A photo of a house that was hit by a missile in Sderot last night.
The News on the Israeli Street
Palestinian terror in Judea and Samaria in the last 24 hours . . .
A 9-year-old girl was badly wounded in the head by a “rock” that hit her family’s car on the Abod Bypass--she was evacuated to Tel Hashomer Hospital. She is listed in “serious” condition today.
Other motorists were assaulted by “rocks” and Molotovs at the T-Junction in Gush Etzion, near Deir Nizam, and at Kiryat Arba among more than 2 dozen places.
More terror on the Lebanese border . . .
In addition to the violence in the South, there was an attempted infiltration of the northern border from Lebanon yesterday.
Another 3-man terror squad was repulsed by IDF fire. According to Lebanese reports, one terrorist was wounded.
The daily Corona (Covid-19) update as of 8 am this morning:
There are 99,599 confirmed cases—an increase of 1,630 since this time yesterday
74,579 of these confirmed cases have recovered—an increase of 1,487
398 are in critical condition–the same as yesterday
114 of the most critically ill are on ventilators—a decrease of 4
795 have died–an increase of 14
There are 25,020 active cases.
Total Corona dysfunction continues:
In the first place the above numbers show that the Corona spread has not slowed and that Israelis are dying in the double digits everyday. Despite this, openings proceed, and restrictions loosened.
In the second place, we had the example of the Breslav yesterday. As you may not realize, tens of thousands of ultra orthodox men and women travel to the Ukraine every year during the holidays to visit the grave of Rabbi Nachman. They plan to do so again this year despite the obvious possibility that they will take Corona with them and infect Ukrainians, or catch Corona in the Ukraine and infect Israelis when they return.
The obvious decision would be to halt all such travel to the Ukraine, and in fact the National Security Council, Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Health convened an emergency meeting last night to do just that.
But guess what?
When the vote was taken, the Minister of Transportation, Miri Regev, vetoed the cessation, so as of this morning the flights are still on.
Therein lies the problem in Israel. Multiple agencies and departments and people with vested interests have all combined to undermine the country’s response to the virus.
More on the Israel-UAE “peace agreement” . . .
There is no doubt whatsoever that the F 35 deal with the Emirates will be signed and that it was part of the deal from the beginning.
With PM Netanyahu’s knowledge and acquiescence.
Apparently, the F 35 deal is even greater than is being reported. According to a senior spokesman in the UAE: “The agreement is much bigger than you think in Israel. We began working on the deal for the planes six years ago, but were told it was only possible in the context of peace with Israel.”
Once again, the spokesman stressed: “In signing the agreement, we have removed annexation from the agenda and ensured a two-state solution.”
A few hours later we had this gem from UAE Foreign Minister Anwar Gergash who further declared (as we predicted): “The cessation of the idea of annexing the territories is a condition for the agreement with Israel. We expect commitment to our demands on the matter.”
Commitment to our demands? What exactly has PM Netanyahu signed on to? Note how the UAE now feels that it has leverage to make demands on Israel whenever it wants.
Sovereignty but no “sovereignty”? . . .
In an extremely interesting development, Zvi Hauser, Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, met with the local heads of councils in Judea and Samaria yesterday.
It is sildenafil citrate medicine, which enhances blood flow near reproductive levitra sale area. The Acai berry contains lots of fat, and even if most of the female uk viagra fat is considered healthy, all people with nutritional competence know that too many simple carbohydrates mess up our cells. A dose is taken in alternating day through injection. buy sildenafil tablets These include cheap viagra pill amerikabulteni.com different kinds of designer stimulants desoxypipradrol, MDPV, mephedrone, geramine and different designer sedatives such as premazepam and methylmethaqualone.
In that meeting, Hauser told them that “a referendum law” pertaining to Judea and Samaria was introduced in the Knesset last week. The law would have the same effect on Judea and Samaria as a similar one had on the Golan Heights years ago.
Specifically, the law would require a national referendum before any of the 130 Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria could be “ceded” to “Palestine”. Ceding would also apparently require approval by at least 80 Knesset members.
More about “sovereignty” . . .
With this morning comes a prediction that President Trump will indeed sign on to some sort of sovereignty statement about Judea and Samaria before the American election in November.
The prediction comes because such recognition is the last remaining unfulfilled promise that Trump made at the outset on his term in office. These are the other nine that he has fulfilled:
*Recognizing that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel
*Moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem
*Declaring Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights
*Defunding the UN Agency for “Palestinian refugees”
*Recognizing that the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are not illegal
*Signing an executive order fighting anti-Semitism
*Signing legislation against funding terror and BDS
*Killing the nuclear deal with Iran
*Normalizing Israeli relations with Arab countries
Any way you look at it, this is an impressive list.
Extremely impressive.
Good environmental news . . .
It appears that Israelis are reducing their use of plastic bags with a 76% drop following legislation two years ago that forced Israelis to pay for each bag we use.
That 76% drop resulted in a saving of 22,000 tons of plastic being dumped into the environment.
TODAY’S BLOG:
Missile Barrages Strike Sderot
The attack at 11:29 pm targeting Nirim and Ein HaShlosha. There was a barrage of at least 4 missiles fired.
The attack on Sderot a few hours later:
The attack at 2:31 am this morning. At least 11 missiles targeted Sderot.
It was another night of violence on the Gaza border with more than 15 missiles fired at the men, women, and children of southern Israel.
11 missiles targeted Sderot alone.
The IDF spokesman, as usual, gave out false information about the second attack early this morning claiming that seven missiles had been fired and six intercepted.
Click here to see the Iron Dome intercepts yourself.
Aside from 4 people who were injured trying to make it to a bomb shelter, who knows how many people, especially children, were traumatized in the attacks?
If the missiles were not enough, residents of southern Israel were also hit with 42 more fires yesterday from explosive balloons.
The scene on Road 85 yesterday as a fire swept across the highway.
By the way, the OptiDefense Laser weapon shot down 16 explosive balloons yesterday. This is good news–but obviously with the most fires ever (42), we need many more lasers.
Missiles and fires, fires and missiles: such is life along the border with Gaza.
There is no relief in sight from the cowards who run our government.
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.