Yom Shabbat
Saturday
14 Tammuz 5784
July 20, 2024
May His Memory Be For A Blessing
Yevgeny Perder, 50 years old, was killed in Tel Aviv yesterday.
Yevgeny was killed after shrapnel from the Houthi attack hit him while he slept in his apartment. He immigrated to Israel by himself from Belarus in 1999 after serving in the Russian Army.
Once here, he enlisted in the IDF where he served in combat and continued serving as a reservist after his time of service ended. He is survived by a sister and a niece who followed him to Israel.
In the opinion of OneIsrael, it is about time for the Houthis in Yemen to wiped off the map.
Quotes of the Day from U.S. Secretary of State Blinken
“Iran is a week or two away from the breaking point of producing nuclear fissile material for nuclear weapons.”
“We’re inside the 10-yard line and driving toward the goal line in a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.”
The incoherence of the Biden Administration is evident everyday.
What is the point of Blinken reporting on Iran? To suggest that time is running out to attack the nuclear sites in Iran? Certainly, he is not suggesting that the U.S. is going to attack those sites, so who is left?
Israel.
What is the point about the 10 yard line? To suggest that Israel needs to make more concessions to the barbarians in Gaza?
Attack and concede. This is what is swirling around in the heads of the Bidenites in Washington.
The View from Ashdod This Morning
Since about 4 am this morning (it is now 9 am), there has been extremely heavy aircraft activity. Most of the planes seem to be flying north, but to where we don’t know.
On the Ground in Gaza
*The IDF Spokesman:
“As part of the joint attack by the IDF and the Shin Bet last night (Thursday), an IAF fighter jet attacked terrorists who were staying at the UNRWA compound in the Zeyton area. This compound served as the headquarters of the Hamas Gaza City Brigade. In the attack, the terrorist Adel Hamediya was killed. He was the military intelligence officer of the Gaza City Brigade.
Hamadia has been working in his position since 2019 and helped plan the October 7 massacres. In addition, he has been responsible for directing offensive activities towards our forces, and forming the intelligence picture about IDF forces on the ground in Gaza.”
*It is being reported that 25 terrorists were killed overnight in the Nuseirat, Boreij, and Sheikh Radwan neighborhoods.
On the Ground in the North
Hezbollah launched more than 100 missiles and drones against northern Israel communities yesterday:
08:50: Abirim, Fassuta, Zarit, Shomera, Netua, Shtula
09:28: Margaliot
10:55: Sde Meron, Sassa, Zivon
12:00: Metulla
12:13: Gornot HaGalil, Even Menachem, Zarit, Shomera, Goren
13:12: Idmit, Arab Al-Aramshe, Cabri, Avdon, Ya’ara
13:29: Manot, Neveh Ziv, Eilon, Avdon, Mi’ilya
15:59: Misgav Am
16:07: Ma’ayan Baruch
19:31: Ayelet HaShachar, Ramot Naftali
20:23: Ayelet HaShachar
The missile fire has continued today:
07:29: Manara
Nonstop missile and drone fire.
The Fallout From the Houthi Strike on Tel Aviv
The IDF General Command has been busy dissembling since the attack.
The latest excuse is that even though the drone was tracked for over 9 hours on its way to Tel Aviv, “human error” led to the belief that “the drone was from a friendly country” and therefore not intercepted.
Say what?
Pure unadulterated horse crap.
Is the IDF trying to tell us that there are “friendly countries” that can buzz over Israel/Tel Aviv with drones?
Just unbelievable.
To further try to paper over its acute negligence, the IDF announced yesterday that “since the beginning of the war, 9 months ago, the Houthi rebels have launched over 200 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and TALsim towards Israel. So far, one TALsim hit and one UAV hit have been detected. Most of the air threats were intercepted by American forces from Centcom and the Israeli Air Force.”
Unfortunately, this dissembling does not help Yevgeny Perder.
The “Big” News from The Hague
First a little context.
Previous rulings from the International Court of Justice:
• 11 judges vs. 4: Israel is obligated to end its presence in the territories as soon as possible.
• 14 judges vs. 1: Israel is obligated to immediately stop the settlement policy – and evict the settlers.
• 12 judges vs. 3: All states are obligated not to recognize the situation resulting from Israel’s illegal presence in the territories, and not to provide aid that would preserve the situation created.
• 12 judges vs. 3: International organizations, including the United Nations, are obligated not to recognize the situation resulting from Israel’s illegal presence in the territories.
• 12 judges against 3: The UN, and especially the General Assembly and the Security Council, should consider the ways and steps required to put an end to Israel’s illegal presence in the territories as soon as possible.
So in this context, was it any surprise at all that the Court “ruled” yesterday in an advisory ruling that Israeli communities in the “West Bank” and “East Jerusalem” are illegal, and should be dismantled immediately?
Of course not.
By the way the ruling was read out for over an hour and a half by the president of the Court, Lebanese Judge Nauf Salam–who has built his career on castigating Israel.
Obviously, the ruling will probably bolster the BDS movement but will have no effect on the 500,000+ Israelis living in Judea and Samaria and the 350,000+Israelis living in eastern Jerusalem.
PM Netanyahu summed up the feelings of most of us yesterday when he tweeted:
“The Jewish people are not conquerors in their own land – not in our eternal capital Jerusalem, not in the land of our ancestors in Judea and Samaria. No false decision in The Hague will distort this historical truth, just as the legality of Israeli settlement in all the territories of our homeland cannot be contested.”
By the way, your humble servant can only hope that the ICJ decision has the effect of spurring Israel to declare sovereignty over Area C of Judea and Samaria and immediately annexing it to Israel.
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.