Tag Archives: gaza

I begin this posting with a caution about how “current” it will be when you read it. This may seem to be a strange statement. But it is an honest and necessary one, in light of the current situation, which is so very, very fluid. That instability, that shifting dynamic, …

What has unfolded in Gaza should not really surprise anyone willing to face up to the inclement realities. After all, it was not only entirely foreseeable, but easily foreseen. The nightmare stories of the Likud are well known. After all, they promised Katyusha rockets from Gaza as well. For a …

In the past couple of weeks, while we have been having a family health crisis, it has not been quiet and peaceful at all on our borders and within country. The worst attack was a combined shooting and stabbing at Ariel Junction, scene of several previous attacks. A soldier, Gal …

In my last posting I discussed Israel’s failure to be tough enough – to create an environment of deterrence – with regard to terrorists residing in Judaea and Samaria, and inside of Israel. I noted to myself then that I needed to follow up with a similar discussion with regard …

MEDIA STATEMENT. 25 March 2019. Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and voting in the UNHRC. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the peak representative body of the Australian Jewish community is deeply concerned by reports of renewed rocket fire from Gaza, which has caused injuries and loss of property in …

The air in Israel is heavy with tensions, but in many instances, for the wrong reasons. We are subject to so much nonsense: unfortunate sparring between persons in the political sphere; undue attention to the trivial. Perhaps what is currently happening is inevitable during a campaign, but I would prefer …

It would seem futile to conduct yet another indecisive round of fighting, only to return to yet another tense and sporadically violent interbellum for several years—until the next major flare-up of fighting…  Military assessment warns of high risk of war with Gaza – The Times of Israel, Feb. 13. 2019. …

I puzzled for a while over the name for this posting. For I might just as easily have referred to PA hysteria, or hate, or delirium. All apply. Dr. Moti Kedar, in his recent op-ed “The Palestinian Civil War,” provides a translation of an article by one Ra’afat Mara that …

“But why does he have to make provocations with these declarations of his?!” I was shocked to hear this sentence come out of the mouths of my Jewish American relatives. Yes, they were referring to Trump (who they hate) and to the Jerusalem Declaration. I love my relatives but they …

Once inconceivable, the dismantling of UNRWA; the naturalization of stateless Palestinian residents in Arab countries; and the emigration of Palestinians from Judaea-Samaria & Gaza are slowly emerging as realistic outcomes  Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth – Sherlock Holmes, in “The …

I want to begin with a request for assistance for the Legal Grounds Campaign, which I co-chair.  We are running a campaign to have Israeli citizens living here in Israel sign on as members (no cost). We hope to secure a large membership base: this will increase our effectiveness as …

There is no greater irony than the spectacle of scores of ex-senior security officials, who spent their adult life defending Israel, now promoting a political initiative that will make it indefensible.   I used these very excerpts in an article I wrote some thirty months ago, entitled “Imbecility squared”, addressing …

On November 11, there was a ‘botched’ Israeli special forces raid near Khan Yunis in Gaza. We cannot know exactly what the mission intended, but Nour Baraka, a regional commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (military wing of Hamas) was one of those killed in the exchange of fire. Following …

In my last posting, I wrote about hope – and I still have hope. We should all have hope. However, while we are in a better place than we were several days ago, we still have a long way to go. A good deal depends on the good will and …

It’s been tough going on the political scene these past few days. By yesterday, stories were changing almost hourly as tensions built. Conflicting reports emerged simultaneously from various media sources. After (former) Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman submitted his resignation last Wednesday, because of his frustration with Israel’s failure to stand …

Last week, the United Nations General Assembly’s decolonization committee, which includes all 193 member states, adopted nine resolutions against Israel, and zero on the rest of the world. New Zealand voted for 8 and abstained on one. In contrast, Australia voted no to 6 of the resolutions and abstained on …

The problem in Gaza is not operational. It is conceptual!  If the Israeli leadership persists with its perception of the Palestinian-Arabs in general, and the Gazans in particular, as potential partners in some future peace arrangement, rather than perceiving them as they perceive themselves–as implacable enemies, whose enmity towards the …

Our government’s premature willingness to stop the attack on Hamas yesterday was distressing and infuriating. Several people confessed to me that they found it nauseating. And I understood. Over the course of many months, we have tolerated too much aggression emanating from Gaza: the fires started in the south, in …

The escalation in the violence emanating from Gaza on the very day after Israel permitted the transfer of millions of Qatari-sourced dollars into the coastal enclave underscores the futility of persisting with conventional wisdom. The escalation in the violence emanating from Gaza on the very day after Israel permitted the …

How many times in the last weeks have I written that war with Hamas in Gaza was inevitable and surely coming? And how many times did that expectation fizzle, in spite of what was happening at the fence? On Sunday night, events turned in a blink. An elite IDF special …