Yom Shnee
Monday
18 Adar
February 26 2024
Special Notice:
OneIsrael continues to post blogs in intermittent and abbreviated form because of our remote location. Thank you for your understanding.
UPDATE 3:00 AM
240 IDF soldiers have now given their lives for Israel since the Gaza ground operation began.
The two soldiers whose deaths were announced today were:
Staff Sgt. Ido Eli Zrihen, 20, of Jerusalem, a fighter with the Givati Recon Unit in southern Gaza.
Staff Sgt. Nerya Belete, 21, from Shavei Shomron also a fighter with the Givati Recon Unit in southern Gaza.
Left: Nerya Belete, Right: Ido Zrihen (Photos: Times of Israel)
May the memories of these brave soldiers always be for a blessing.
These soldiers represent a microcosm of the disproportionality of those who have fallen with far more coming from Judea/Samaria and Jerusalem.
Two Quotes of the Day
“We need to be rational, the mere release of terrorists in a hostage deal will cause many more deaths than the number of hostages.”
Israel Oman, Nobel prizewinner in Economics
Oman is right. As badly as we want our hostages back, previous terrorist releases have been disastrous for Israel.
“Anti-semitism is hatred of Jews. ‘Islamophobia’ is a crock term invented to stop criticism of Islamic extremism–including Muslim anti-semitism.”
Douglas Murray
As usual, Murray is spot on.
The Ongoing Hostage Negotiations
*Israel has demanded from HamISIS a list of hostages that are still alive. HamISIS has refused. Netanyahu is also apparently demanding that any Palestinian prisoner who was involved in murdering Israelis be deported to Qatar.
*HamISIS has demanded that Israel allow the return of residents of northern Gaza, and the IDF’s complete evacuation of Gaza.
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.