Sunday
Yom Rishon
1 Nisan 5785
March 30 2025
The Quote of the Day
In the past few days, various officials have floated the idea that we made be close to normalization with Lebanon.
Yesterday, the commander of the Lebanese army, General Rudolf Heichal reported that his forces had arrested “several suspects” involved in launching of rockets to Israel saying that such launches only serve Israel.
Except that is not exactly what he said.
Heichal said that “the launching of rockets to the occupied Palestinian territories serves the occupiers.”
In other words, all of Israel including Kiryat Shmona and the other areas hit are “occupied Palestinian territories.”
Normalization with Lebanon in the offing? Not likely.
UPDATE 8:00 AM ISRAEL TIME
The View from Ashdod
Imagine this. You are lying in bed looking at the ceiling, the other side of which is the flat roof of house. Suddenly out of nowhere, a heavy bowling ball crashes on the roof over your head, rumbles as it “bounces” across the roof, and then explodes.
That is about as close as your humble servant can come to describing what happened repeatedly here in Ashdod last night as the IDF campaign in northern, central, and southern Gaza continued and broadened.
One fact you can be sure of: whatever we experienced here in Ashdod was 10 times worse in Ashkelon, and 100 times worse in Sderot and the communities on the Gaza border.
On the Ground in Gaza
On the Hostage Front:
Manny Goddard: May His Memory Be For A Blessing
The IDF issued this announcement yesterday:
“Over the past few days, as part of an IDF and ISA operation in the Gaza Strip, the troops located and recovered findings associated with the body of Manny Menachem Goddard, who was murdered and kidnapped by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization on October 7, 2023. Despite the recovered findings, his body is still being held in the Gaza Strip.
The findings were retrieved from an Islamic Jihad outpost area in Rafah.
After an identification process conducted by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine and the Israel Police, IDF representatives informed the Goddard family and will continue to support them. The IDF continues to make efforts to locate and fully recover his body.“
It remains unclear what was found. One report cites “artifacts”; another says “remains”; however as the IDF notes, his body is still unfound.
*The hostage situation remains murky at best. Hamas is claiming that it has accepted the Egyptian proposal (which is close to the latest Witkoff proposal) which calls for 5 living hostages to be released in return for extending the ceasefire until the end of Passover (April 19).
Whereas in the past, Israel might have quickly accepted this, the situation on the ground here has changed. Many of the families of the hostages are demanding that all of the hostages, living and dead, must now be released. Yesterday, the government seems to have countered the “5 live hostage proposal” with a demand that 10 live hostages must be released.
*Hamas terrorists fired three mortar shells at IDF forces operating on the outskirts of Khan Younis yesterday; the launch site was quickly destroyed by the IAF. Attacks on the Abbasan neighborhood of Khan Younis continued throughout the night.
*In another incident, an IDF D9 bulldozer ran over and detonated an IED–thereby saving ground troops in the area. You will recall that it was President Biden who stopped the delivery of D9’s to Israel–and President Trump who ordered them delivered.
*An IAF drone eliminated 3 terrorists west of Gaza City.
*The IDF Spokesman:
“IDF troops have begun conducting ground activity in the Al Janina area in Rafah, in order to expand the security zone in southern Gaza. As part of the activity, the troops dismantled Hamas terrorist infrastructure. At the same time, the IDF and ISA continue to carry out aerial strikes on Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip.
Among the terror targets struck over the past weekend were weapons storage facilities, rocket launchers, military structures from which terrorists were operating, and additional terrorist infrastructure sites.
During the strikes, dozens of terrorists were eliminated, including terrorists who had launched mortars towards Israeli territory.”
*By the way, do you remember the apparently anti-Hamas protests which erupted in Gaza a few days ago? The streets are quiet now, after Hamas summarily executed 6 of the protesters yesterday calling them “Zionist collaborators.”
On the Ground in Judea and Samaria
From a spokesman for the Border Guards this morning:
“Border Guard agents from the Judea and Samaria region, directed by the Shin Bet, killed a wanted man who was involved in an attack against security forces in the village of Tamon in the Menashe Brigade.
A short time ago, Judea and Samaria Border Guards, together with IDF fighters from the Menashe Brigade in the village of Tamon, operated under precise intelligence guidance from the General Security Service to arrest a wanted person in terrorist activity against the security forces.
Border Guard agents arrived in a hurry to locate where the wanted person was hiding. The wanted person began attempting to escape the compound while armed with an M-16. The forces responded with accurate fire and killed him.”
On the Ground in Yemen
The U.S. Air Force continues to wreak havoc on the Houthis with several dozen more attacks yesterday.
Apparently, the focus of the attacks has somewhat shifted. The residences of senior Houthi officials are now being obliterated along with those leaders inside.
It will take a lot of “wreaking havoc” before the Houthis stop firing missiles at U.S. vessels and at Israel. It doesn’t take much for a missile to be fired from a portable ballistic missile launcher.
The World’s Orwellian Redefinition of Words
The Quote of the Day above in which the Lebanese general describes Kiryat Shmona and by extension all of Israel as “occupied Palestinian territory” reminds us how the world has distorted words to suit its narrative.
Words like “apartheid”, “genocide”, “ethnic cleansing” top the list but there are many more.
Here are a few examples:
Keeping Israeli citizens away from Palestinian terrorists who want to kill them: The world calls this “apartheid”.
Israel’s war against terrorist murderers: The world calls this “genocide.”
Palestinian raping of Israeli women: The Palestinians and their friends call this “resistance”.
The murderous terrorists who slaughter and burn Israeli children, women, and men: The world likes to call them “freedom fighters.”
Butchered Israeli infants and children: The Palestinians and their friends call these “justifiably killed Israeli soldiers.”
Israeli civilian hostages kidnapped and held in Gaza tunnels without adequate food or medical care: The world likes to call them “prisoners of war.”
The elimination of Palestinian terrorists who murdered Israeli civilians and soldiers, and are still trying to kill IDF soldiers: The world likes to call this “massacring Palestinians.”
The borders around Gaza: The world likes to call these “concentration camp walls.”
The IDF moving civilians out of harm’s way: The world likes to call this “ethnic cleansing.”
Jews returning to their ancient homeland, and Jews who never left Judea and Samaria over the millennia: The world like to call them “colonizers.”
Jews living in Israel: The world like to call them “occupiers.”
Arab migrants who came to Judea, Samaria, and Gaza over the last few hundred years: The world likes to call them “indigenous Palestinians.”
The Gazans who elected a Hamas government in 2007 and participated in the October 7th attacks: The world likes to call them “oppressed.”
Palestinian terrorists who try to murder Israelis and are killed, or who are killed while killing Israelis: The Palestinians and their friends like to call them “martyrs.”
The people who supply terrorists with food and other necessities to continue fighting against Israel: The world calls them “human rights activists.”
Demonstrating and protesting to support murderous Palestinian terrorists: The world calls this “showing solidarity.”
Stopping weapons from entering Gaza used to kill Israelis from land and sea: The world calls this “besieging Gaza.”
Singling out Jewish products not to buy, and singling out companies that support Israel to not invest in: The world calls this “boycotting and divesting.”
Calling for the destruction of Israel: The world calls this “freeing Palestine”, and “liberation.”
And so it goes in Israel this morning . . . so far . . .
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.