Yom Chamishee
Thursday
4 Av 5784
August 8 2024
UPDATE 9:00 AM ISRAEL TIME
The Situation on the Ground in Israel and the Neighborhood
What we have going on now is an endless series of threats and counterthreats from Iran/Hezbollah/Houthis on one side and Israelis on the other.
If you do this, then we’ll do that.
To Hezbollah: if you hit our civilian areas, we will hit Beirut.
From Iran: if you have a ceasefire and withdraw all forces from Gaza, we won’t attack.
And on and on.
We in Israel are continuing our normal lives as much as possible, but we want this current “crisis” to end.
The Quotes of the Day
In Detroit yesterday, pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted the speech of Kamala Harris yelling that she supports “genocide.” Harris finally stopped her speech saying “If you want Donald Trump to win – keep saying it. If that’s not the case – I’m talking now”.
To put it a different way, “If you want the genocide to continue, vote for Donald Trump. If not, vote for me.”
This comes as it was reported in various media yesterday including the New York Times that Harris would support a total arms embargo on Israel.
If Harris’ comment and probable action if elected are not enough, we also had this comment from her Vice Presidential running mate Tim Walz yesterday: “When I’m having a tough day …. I think, Ilhan Omar is in Congress, and I smile.”
As you know, Ilhan Omar is one of the most vehement anti-Israel members of Congress.
The bottom line is that a Harris presidency means the end of meaningful support of Israel.
On the Ground in Gaza
From the IDF Spokesman:
“The IDF and the Shin Bet killed a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip who was involved in directing attacks in Judea and Samaria.
In a joint operation by the IDF and the Shin Bet, on July 24, the Gaza hideout of terrorist Nayal Sakal was attacked.
Just now, information has been received that Sachel had been eliminated.”
On the Ground in the North
Four barrages of Hezbollah missiles numbering some 50 in total hit communities in the north from Metulla to Shlomi. Hardest hit was the area around Tzfat, especially at Meron.
No Israelis were wounded in the attacks.
On the Ground in Judea and Samaria
The IDF Spokesman:
“A Palestinian terrorist ambush of our forces near the community of Bekaot in the Bekaa and Emekim Division was thwarted.
Terrorists fired at the settlement ‘Bekaut’ in the Bekaa and Emekim Division. From the assessment of the situation in the field it emerged that the terrorists tried to draw our forces into an ambush.
Later in the day, fighters from Unit 636 who were in an ambush eliminated an armed terrorist. After that, it was decided to close the area until it was fully cleared, this for fear of a ramming attack and IED explosives.
During subsequent scans, engineering forces and trackers of the Bekaa and Valleys Brigade located and destroyed four explosive devices along with other electronic devices that were planted there.
There were no casualties to our forces.”
And so it goes this morning
in the land of milk and honey . . .
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.