Yom Shishee
Friday
13 Tevet 5783
January 6 2023
The Absolutely Correct Quote of the Day
This is a portion of the remarks made by Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan today during the absurd Security Council discussion about Minister of National Security Ben Gvir’s recent 13-minute visit to the Har HaBeit:
“For years the Palestinians have orchestrated and advanced a poisonous campaign to obliterate any connection between the Jewish people and the Temple Mount.
Tragically, the Palestinian terror authority prefers violence over tolerance. They are so intolerant that they not only want to ban Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount but also Jewish visitors. It is pure antisemitism.
Minister Ben Gvir’s recent visit to the Temple Mount was not an incursion to Al Aqsa or another provocation. It was in line with the status quo.”
Jews are permitted to visit the holiest site in Judaism. It is the right of every Jew. Israel has not harmed the status quo and has no plans to do so.”
The Pathetic Quote (LOL) of the Day
Yesterday, former PM Yair Lapid (the prime minister who took one junket after another during the last 18 months) responded to criticism that as the leader of the opposition, he and his wife should not have flown off to Paris for the weekend while momentous events were taking place in Israel.
Lapid wrote this on Facebook (emphasis mine):
“On Wednesday night I worked until late, as always. On Thursday I went for a weekend with Leah. Thursday to Sunday morning. I don’t know if I deserve it, but I’m sure she does. It was the craziest year-and-a-half of our lives . . . We didn’t have big plans. To see an exhibition, to have a romantic dinner, to walk a lot. But then it turned out that a lot of people had a lot of things to say about it. They decided that if I’m not here for two and a half days, that means I’m not committed to the struggle for Israeli democracy. I hate to defend myself and I hate to complain, but there is a limit.
My whole life is dedicated to the fight for Israeli democracy. There is nothing more important to me. I have lost millions of shekels and added a head of white hair, but I do not regret it for a moment. The fight for the sanity of the State of Israel is a sacred task. It is a great privilege to lead the people who have decided that they will not give up. It does not occur to me for a moment to back down, give up or make compromises. It did occur to me that after leading a military operation, an agreement with Lebanon, a tense daily management of the campaign in Jenin and Nablus, a difficult election campaign – I want to take two and a half days to breathe for a moment, think for a moment, walk hand in hand with my lover through the streets of Paris and ask her how she is coping.
I paid from my own money for the plane tickets, we paid for the small apartment near the Eiffel Tower, and also for the meals . . . I understand that there are those who suspect me of enjoying myself. They are right. . . We both needed this trip like air to breathe. On Sunday, I return to continue the struggle with all my might, until we topple this terrible government . . .”
Have you ever read a more narcissistic rant?
Poor Lapid. He had to work late, pay for his own plane tickets, rent his small apartment, and even pay for his own food!
And what about those accomplishments?
Leading a military operation? (what operation, Lapid has never come clean about his IDF service, but it certainly was not leading in combat); the agreement with Lebanon? (there is no agreement with Lebanon–only one with the U.S. that conceded everything to Lebanon); the campaign against terrorists in Jenin and Shechem? (the reason this was necessary was because Lapid and Gantz let the situation spiral out of control); a difficult election campaign? (let’s feel sorry for Lapid being a politician).
Radio broadcaster Yevgeny Zarubinsky had this to say about Lapid’s Paris vacation: “Macron has not been to Paris as many times as Lapid in the last two years.”
The News On The Israeli Street
The war in Judea and Samaria.
Shooting attacks:
Palestinian terrorists opened fire at the IDF pillbox at Jit in Samaria. No Israelis were wounded.
Palestinian terrorists opened fire at Rash’elts.
Palestinian terrorists opened fired at the Rabbi of Har Bracha. He was not wounded.
In all of the above shooting attacks, the terrorists escaped.
IED, Molotov, and “rock” attacks:
Palestinian terrorists attacked at Har Huma, between Avni Heifetz and Einav, at Khirbet Samara, on the Gush Etzion-Hevron Road near Beit Omer, Anatot, Hizma, Hawara, and at numerous other locations.
New restrictions on Israelis by the Biden Administration . . .
It is being reported today that the U.S. is preventing any Israeli pilot who holds a foreign passport (a passport other than one from Israel or the U.S.) from flying the F35 stealth airplanes now in Israeli possession.
Yes, you read that correctly.
As you may not know, most Israelis hold more than one passport–including a passport from a country in the European Union. As an example, your humble servant’s wife holds three passports: Israeli, American, and Bulgarian. She has a Bulgarian passport because her mother was born in Sofia. In any case, she would not be eligible to pilot one of Israel’s advanced aircraft.
TODAY’S BLOG
2022: A Horrific Year Of Terrorism Here In Israel
2022 was a horrific year of terrorism in Israel. Just how horrific it was can be seen in a report today from Hatzalah, Rescue Without Borders SSF (click here to see the video from which these statistics and the photos below are taken).
According to Hatzalah:
7386 terror attacks were mounted against Israelis last year (around 20 per day).
31 Israelis were murdered.
734 Israelis were physically wounded (who knows the toll in emotional trauma).
31 Israelis became widows or widowers.
67 children became orphaned.
These are the Israelis who were taken from us by Palestinian terrorists:
Note the age of each.
And:
Some of Israel’s best and brightest.
And:
Shot and stabbed to death.
And:
Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers–an unimaginable loss.
It is so easy for people outside of Israel to condemn Israelis for fighting against terrorism. But unless a person lives here on the forefront of that battle, your humble servant believes that one has no right to criticize or condemn.
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.