Yom Rishon
Sunday
16 Tishrei 5784
October 1 2023
The Photo of the Day
Her Sukkot message addressed to the IDF Chief of Staff is one of solidarity and unity.
The News on the Israeli Street
The war in Judea and Samaria
Palestinian terrorists attacked and wounded an Israeli shepherd east of Ramonim Square.
Shooting attack:
Palestinian terrorists fired on Israeli civilians at Kibbutz Merav. No Israelis were wounded.
IED, Molotov, and “rock” attacks:
Palestinian terrorists tried to murder Israelis at Psagot: 1 terrorist was killed another critically wounded; between the small Yakir Junction and Rabbah, Dorot Farm, Al Moayyir, on Road 443 west of Beit Horon, Hizma, Ma’ale Lavona, between Adam and Sha’ar Benyamin, between Shilo and Ofra, Al Aruv, on the Gush Etzion-Hevron Road near Halhol, and at another 2 dozen locations.
Thanks to Rescue without Borders SSF for the above information.
TODAY’S BLOG
A Religious War?
First it was the egregious interruption by anti-government “protesters” at the Yom Kippur service in Tel Aviv last week.
Last night it was the defacing of Sukkot in Tel Aviv:
One of many sukkot defaced with graffiti in Tel Aviv last night.
What is happening here?
Moshe Gafni, the head of United Torah Judaism, and a member of the government put it this way today:
“I met with the heads of the economy many months ago, and they explained to me that the reform is a difficult problem and what will happen to the economy if it passes. A long time has passed since then and the economy is excellent–in terms of the high-tech sector, the deficit, and government expenditures and revenues.
I said to them then that they are not really against the judicial reform nor anything similar to that; what you are doing is waging a religious war against the religious public.
What we saw on Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv is the proof.
When you try to pray the Yom Kippur ‘All Vows’ prayer in Dizengoff Square, and the leftist people come and pull the tassels of those who are there and shout “Shame” at them we are in the midst of a religious war!
To repeat, their war is not economic, not security-based, and not about society; it is a religious war.
To some degree, Gafni is exactly correct.
In almost every direction we look this morning, we see hatred of the orthodox made manifest whether it is the graffiti above, or the disruption by male leftists at a film for orthodox young women last night.
Yet, it would be erroneous to jump to the conclusion that all of those opposed to the government feel this way.
That most Israelis do not want a religious war was perhaps emphasized by the anti-government protests last night in Tel Aviv. Take a look at this photo from the blockage on the Ayalon Freeway. What do you notice?
What do you notice?
What you should notice is that very few protesters were there. The recent tens of thousands have been replaced by dozens.
Why?
The organizers of the anti-government protests know why.
They issued a statement on Saturday bemoaning that following the Yom Kippur incident, there has been “a low turnout” of protesters for events and that the image of the anti-government protests has been dealt “serious harm.”
But notice the wording of the statement (emphasis mine):
“Friends, we need you for the march today. Our situation is not good, we are few in the face of a problematic reality. The protest has been pretty badly hit by the public criticism of the opposition on Yom Kippur and the disagreements which were sparked among us, between good activists who went to an extreme and fought against the messianics’ takeover of Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv, and the leaders, who themselves were rightfully shocked from the loss of support from the public.
Especially now, more than ever, we must raise our heads, support and give strength and encouragement, and leave the air conditioner and Netflix, to come to Kaplan dressed in black, already at six-thirty, in order to march with us and continue to warn of the messianic and deceptive fascism which is quickly taking over Israel.”
Can you believe it? Even after what happened on Yom Kippur, the hatred of the religious permeates the statement of the leaders of the anti-government movement: “messianic and deceptive fascism.”
To sum up, yes there are obviously anti-government “protesters” on the left who are waging a war against the religious public, but no, hopefully, that war is not one that most Israelis on the left want to wage.
The next few weeks will tell the tale.
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.