Yom Shishee

Friday

15 Elul 5783

September 1 2023

May His Memory Be For A Blessing

By all accounts Maxim was an exemplary soldier and an exemplary human being.

He immigrated to Israel from the Ukraine when he was 14, and at age 18 enlisted in the IDF as a lone soldier. He served in the 282nd Fire Brigade.

Six months ago, he donated bone marrow to save a 12-year-old boy’s life. One of his commanders said: “An extraordinary young man, always with a smile on his face, always happy to help everyone.”

Another light in Israel has been put out by a loathsome Palestinian terrorist.

The Photo of the Day

The egregious comparisons being made between PM Netanyahu and Adolf Hitler have crossed a line. Not only are they indecent, they are also inciting anarchist leftists to violence.

Yesterday, Netanyahu’s Likud Party filed a police complaint against the placard you see above. 

As Coalition Minister Gila Gamliel said: “The violent discourse in our country is escalating; today we were exposed to the shocking image that compares Prime Minister Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler. This is a blatant incitement that could harm human life; we must act against it and stop it immediately.”

The News on the Israel Street

The war in Judea and Samaria.

The runover attack yesterday.

The runover attack which took place yesterday is symptomatic of a system in this country gone haywire. It is a system which is more interested in providing income to Palestinians than to providing security for Israelis.

The terrorist yesterday who murdered Maxim Mulchanov had a permit to work in Israel (more about this in today’s blog below).

At 5:55 am, he walked into Israel (it remains unclear whether he went through a legal crossing or entered illegally). Shortly thereafter, he acquired a truck which had apparently been left for him by his Israeli employer.

Supposedly, he was to drive the truck to a construction site in Gan Yavne which is located beside Ashdod.

He then drove around central Israel for some time–getting as far as Gedera.

Then he drove east on Road 443 and saw the group of 4 soldiers at a bus stop beside the highway at the Maccabim checkpoint (the soldiers were on their way to Modi’in). He made a u-turn in the road, and went back and ran over them, killing Maxim and badly wounding the others.

He then proceeded to drive another 6 miles to a second checkpoint at Hashmonaim. Fortunately, the soldiers at that checkpoint had gotten word from the Maccabim checkpoint about what had happened there and were ready for him. They killed him as he tried to ram them.

The questions that remain this morning:

How did he enter Israel?

How did he get the truck?

How was he able to drive willy-nilly around the country looking for victims?

Why wasn’t he killed at the Maccabim checkpoint?

And on and on.

Elsewhere last night:

17 wanted Palestinian terrorists were captured. Dozens of IEDs were discovered in Ezbabada. 

Shooting attacks:

Palestinian terrorists fired on Israelis at the Rihan outpost of the Menashe Brigade.

IED, Molotov, and “rock” attacks:

Palestinian terrorists attacked Israelis at Halhol, Yata Bardala, on the Gush Etzion-Hevron Road near the archaeological area, Al Aruv, Tekoa, Hizma, Hawara, and near Peduel.

Warnings issued to Israeli travelers . . .

As you undoubtedly know, more than a million Israelis will be traveling outside of Israel during the upcoming high holy days from Rosh Hashana to Simcha Torah.

The Foreign Ministry issued this map yesterday of places for tourists not to go–or if they do go, to take extreme security precautions:

School begins today! . . .

The really big news on the Israeli street is that the school year begins this morning after a teachers’ strike was averted at the last minute.

Your humble servant’s early morning walk takes him past three schools–all of whose entrances today were festooned with balloons with music playing in the background and a table of refreshments.

Each entrance was also covered with dozens of police to hopefully ward off any possible terrorist.

2.5 million Israeli children are on their way to 5,560 schools this morning. This number includes 181,000 first graders, 140,000 12th graders, and 300,000 special ed students.

In total, there will be 231,000 teachers and staff to receive them.

Best wishes to all for a successful school year!

TODAY’S BLOG

The House Next Door: Israel’s Insane Construction Scene

Your humble servant was interested to see that the Palestinian terrorist who carried out the murderous attack yesterday had a work permit, and was working at a construction site in Gan Yavne (located beside us here in Ashdod).

It immediately brings to mind the incredible situation at the house next door to us here in Ashdod.

About four years ago, a French family of seven bought the beautiful house next door known locally as “the White House” because of its columns and Jerusalem stone, and almost immediately decided that they did not like the construction of the house inside or out.

They moved out to rent a nearby apartment and undertook the de-construction of the house, hiring workers to rip apart the entire inside of the house, tear down the columns, and rip off the Jerusalem stone which adorned the outside.

At first, the contractor who was in charge brought in waves of Palestinian workers–mostly from Hevron. When I say “waves”, I mean there were three or four separate crews of about 8-10 workers each who alternated doing the work. Generally, the workers arrived at about 6 am every morning and left at about 6 pm every night.

But it turned out that the workers did not go back to their homes every night. Instead, they stayed illegally in an apartment somewhere here in Ashdod or in house in Gan Yavne.

Whenever we called the police to come and check out what was going on next door, we were told “we will check it when we have time.” No police ever came. After all, Palestinians can be found on corners all over the industrial section of Ashdod waiting for a contractor or private citizen to come and give them a job.

During the first period of 2 years, the contractor had a toothless “shomer” (night watchman) sleep in the deconstructed house. We named the shomer “Bob” because he looked like Bob Marley complete with long dreadlocks.

Shomer Bob was from Libya, had somehow crossed Egypt, and made his way into Israel. Despite being a Muslim, he had a particular fondness for alcohol and was constantly at our door asking for a beer or some other libation.

As I said, Bob was the shomer for about two years. As it turned out, he had a girlfriend in Tel Aviv that he visited every weekend. Suddenly one day, Bob disappeared. When we asked the contractor what happened to him, he told us that he had been arrested by the police for domestic abuse.

Thereupon another shomer appeared at the house. His name was Wael–and he was from Gaza. Like Bob, Wael usually slept in the still massively deconstructed house but would go home to Gaza on holidays.

All the while, the Palestinian crews kept coming and going–alternately redoing some part of the house, and then undoing what they had done.

Finally, Wael had a falling out with the cablan (contractor), and left to work at another construction site.

Three months ago, when it seemed that reconstruction of the house was going nowhere, the contractor dismissed all of the Palestinian workers, and instead hired 2 Chinese workers. During these three months, the Chinese have accomplished what teams of Palestinians could not accomplish (or purposely did not accomplish) during years on the job.

Still the house is far from unfinished–and at last conversation, we were told that it would probably take another 6 months. Of course, we were told “it will take about 6 months” four years ago.

The bottom line is that large numbers (read “tens of thousands”) of Palestinians from Hevron, Qalqilya, Tulkarm, and Gaza are continuously roaming around Israel from construction site to construction site. Some of them have work permits, but many are here illegally. Even the ones who have permits completely disregard the conditions of the permit by not returning home every night. 

This is the context of the situation of yesterday’s terrorist.

It is simply astonishing that more terror attacks do not occur everyday in Israel.