Yom Rishon
Sunday
29 Tevet 5782
January 2, 2022
The Photo of the Day
A spectacular double arch rainbow yesterday near Palmahim.
With rainstorm followed by sunshine followed by rainstorm followed by sunshine, Israel has become the land of amazing rainbows.
The Israeli Food of the Day
Jachnun. Perhaps the quintessential Yemenite food that has swept Israel.
What is it? Neither bread nor a pastry, it is simply made of flour, white sugar, and water which is rolled out very thinly, slathered with butter, and then rolled up into the oblongish shape you see above. Then it is cooked at a low heat overnight with eggs.
Traditionally, it is then served with tzug, a hot red or green sauce. Your humble servant prefers to eat it with sweet fig preserves. It is almost always served on Shabbat, and anyone driving around Israel on Saturday will see numerous roadside stands serving jachnun.
The Video of the Day
Unfortunately, with Corona raging out of control here again, Corona testing facilities are popping up everywhere. One of the popular places to receive a “speed test” is at cinema complexes such as the Cinema City at the Big Shopping Center here in Ashdod.
The News on the Israeli Street
The daily Corona update . . .
5,472 Israelis were confirmed with Corona yesterday bringing to 30,617 the number of active cases in the country.
The positive test rate was 3.95%.
185 Israelis are hospitalized with Corona. 101 Israelis are in serious condition, with 27 in critical condition on ventilators.
1 person died yesterday bringing to 8,244 the total number of Israelis who have died from Corona.
According to the Health Ministry, a country-wide lockdown will be ordered when the number of hospitalized reaches 1500. This seems like a long way off, but at the rate at which Corona is surging it is difficult to predict when this might happen.
Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .
Palestinian terrorists attacked 2 buses in the Hizma area wounding 2:
Click here to watch a 15 second video of a “rock” attack on one of the buses from a passing car on the road yesterday–note how the glass on the bus’s windshield shatters. How the bus looked after it stopped:
Palestinian terrorists threw 3 Molotovs at the IDF post near Halhul on the Trans-Yehuda Road.
Palestinian terrorists attacked Israeli motorists between Chomesh and Shavei Shomron, in Huwara at Einbus Square, between Havat Gilad and Yitzhar, at Luban a-Sharqiya, and at Tekoa among at least a dozen other locations.
IDF forces from the Ephraim Regional Brigade captured a terrorist who drove the stabber to the Giti Avishar Junction two days ago.
Thank you to Josh at Rescue Without Borders SSF/Rescue Judea and Samaria for the above information.
The protest continues . . .
The same photo we included several days ago of some of the protesters at the military prison where our Givati officer is being held.
More than 3,000 reservists, soldiers’ parents, and civilians sent a letter of IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi demanding the release of the officer who has been sentenced to 5 days in a military jail for firing on terrorists as they were attacking Israelis.
The letter states in part:
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“We, fighters, reserve officers, families of soldiers and ordinary civilians are protesting strongly against the lax fighting spirit that the senior command is transmitting to the field. Why [has the IDF] . . . chosen to prosecute officers for operational mistakes, when what they all have in common is a striving for contact?
This is of particular concern in the light of repeated incidents . . . Last Saturday evening, terrorists fired dozens of bullets at an IDF position near Nablus. The force did not return fire, and nothing was done in the face of this serious incident.
What is the message to soldiers in the field? Why is the IDF trying to weaken and tie the hands of the warriors who strive for contact and try to prevent a terrorist attack? Why is any soldier who seeks contact and tries to prevent a terrorist attack liable to stand trial? The senior command is expected to back the fighters and not encourage hesitation and passivity. . . The officer should immediately be released from this shameful imprisonment.”
Amen. The leaders of the Mothers’ March intend to protest outside the prison until the officer is released.
Significant economic changes happening today . . .
*The retirement age for women is being increased by 4 months to 62 years and 4 months. It will continue increasing for the next 11 years until it reaches 65.
*Soldiers’ salaries are increasing by 50%, from a base salary of 1,642 shekels a month to 2,463 shekels–eventually rising to 3,048 next year.
*For senior citizens over the age of 70, the social security supplement increases by approximately 500 shekels a month:
Happy seniors are seeing their social security allotments raised today (photo: Mishan).
*For some the 110,000 Holocaust survivors in the country, the monthly supplement increases from 3,991 shekels per month to 6,500.
*The tax on sugary drinks increases 1 shekel per liter, and 0.70 shekels per liter of diet drinks.
*Property taxes are rising across the country by an average of 1.92%.
*The price of electricity is rising by 4.9% while the price of water is decreasing by 1.6%.
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TODAY’S BLOG
“Is There Any Other Country In The World That . . .?
Let’s walk through the sequence of events during the last 48 hours.
On Thursday, Islamic Jihad in Gaza ordered its members to go underground because an “escalation” was imminent. The terror organization said specifically that it would attack unless Hisham Abu Hawash–an Islamic Jihad terrorist who has been on a hunger strike for 139 days–was immediately released from Israel’s Assaf Harofe Hospital.
At 6:55 am yesterday morning, at least two missiles (probably 4) were launched out of Gaza. One exploded off the coast near Palmachim just south of Tel Aviv; the other exploded about a tenth of a mile off the coast of Tel Aviv. Your humble servant and everyone else in the Tel Aviv area was shaken by the huge blast impacts.
Almost immediately, the usual cowardly IDF and government spin operation went into effect with senior IDF officials declaring that the missile firing was “inadvertent”, and stating that “sources in Gaza” said that the launches were “weather related”. The IDF General Command also reported that the Egyptians were letting it be known (after no doubt being frantically contacted by the IDF) that Hamas was not interested in “an escalation.”
Meanwhile, the terrorist factions in Gaza issued more threats telling the residents of Israel along the Gaza border should “escape before it was too late.” Islamic Jihad proclaimed “The moment of truth has arrived and the big explosion is on its way and calm is behind us.”
The IDF General Command summoned the usual motley cast of characters to an “urgent meeting” at which a number of options were developed the ultimate point of which was to respond to the shooting at Tel Aviv —using Hamas’ words–without being dragged into “an escalation.” The IDF concluded that it was up to the “political echelon” to decide what to do.
Which was to “attack” Hamas “rocket-making facilities” (aka empty buildings and land again). Of course, whatever targets were chosen were relayed to Hamas in advance so that no terrorists would actually be in the buildings. This morning, Israeli television is repeatedly showing a large explosion that took place in Gaza–without showing what if anything was hit.
Hamas on the the other hand is crowing that its forces fired anti-aircraft missiles at IDF helicopters.
At the same time, our ever-pusillanimous government has rushed out the information that Hisham Abu Hawash–the terrorist in the Israeli hospital–is actually doing better; his condition “has stabilized” and all of his family is around him. The message to Islamic Jihad is clear: “Please, please, please, we are begging you to not shoot missiles at us again.”
So what is the bottom line here?
Terrorists in Gaza fired high-impact missiles that narrowly missed hitting Tel Aviv. They did so with complete impunity knowing that our IDF General Command and government would not do anything to retaliate in a meaningful way.
Once again, we are left asking the question: is there any other country in the world that would tolerate such attacks on its sovereignty and citizens?
Of course not.
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.