Yom Reva’ee
Wednesday
28 Iyar 5784
June 5 2024
The Photo of the Day
Thousands of Israelis mass at the Sha’ar Shechem (Nablus Gate) today for the start of the Jerusalem Day march through the Moslem Quarter down to the Kotel (Western Wall).
The march was a huge success with huge throngs of dancing and singing marchers participating.
Click here for a live update (listen for the singing).
However, even Jerusalem has become a source of controversy insofar as the Israeli “Left” is concerned.
This morning, the new head of the Labor Party, Yair Golan, proclaimed that Jerusalem should be divided again into an Israeli section and a Palestinian section.
In the Cabinet meeting this morning to mark Jerusalem Day, Benny Gantz’s “State Party” refused to attend.
We have often written here that many of the problems in this country can be traced back to Moshe Dayan’s handing over administration of the Temple Mount to the Islamic Wakf after the 1967 war. That egregious act emboldened the Palestinians and Jordanians and set in motion many of the problems we have today.
On the Ground in the North
A Hezbollah suicide drone exploded on a soccer field in the Druze town of Hurfeish the Lebanese border this afternoon. 11 Israelis were wounded, 4 critically. No sirens warned residents of incoming drones.
On the Ground in the South
Where things stand in Rafah as of this hour.
What you can see is that previous reporting about the IDF making it all the way to the Mediterranean along the Philadelphi Axis was somewhat premature. We are nearly there, but not quite.
*Last night, an anonymous IDF soldier (face blurred) appeared on Israeli TV and severely castigated the mainline news media for making it appear that the IDF is somehow “losing the war.” According to this soldier, the IDF is moving at will through Gaza killing hundreds of terrorists and taking hundreds more in the captivity after their surrender. According to him, our soldiers have fought heroically and successfully at every encounter with HamISIS.
*In Cairo yesterday, the Egyptians actually had the chutzpah to demand that Israel begin to pay for all of the “humanitarian aid” going into Gaza.
The Status of the Hostage Deal
Despite leaks from all sides, the terms of the hostage deal have been cloaked in mystery by PM Netanyahu. Because of that, Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, is threatening to topple the Coalition unless Netanyahu releases the details.
Not surprisingly, War Cabinet members Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot are supporting Ben Gvir and are asking Netanyahu to present the deal to the entire political-security Cabinet. This is not surprising because they hope that once Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich see the details, they will leave the government and thus pave the way to new elections.
Whatever the case, HamISIS appears to have once again rejected the proposed deal because Israel does not promise to end the war. In fact, the Israel War Cabinet unanimously voted yesterday to demanded that the U.S. give Israel a guarantee that the war will not come to an end if a hostage deal is signed.
More Israeli Insanity
Minister of Defense Gallant announced today that 200 terrorists captured on October 7 will now be released because of IDF prison conditions. The remaining 500 are going to be transferred to prisons which have “improved medical facilities” and “cell conditions.”
Can you believe this?
In addition, the Attorney General’s Office informed the High Court that Chief of Staff Hertzi Halevi decided to establish an advisory committee that would examine the claims regarding the conditions of incarceration under the responsibility of the IDF.
Just unbelievable.
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.