Bibi Requests a Pardon and other Israel Updates November 2025

Prime Minister Netanyahu

It has been about 6 weeks since my last blog and I am overdue to write a bit.  It has simply been a very busy period (which is a good thing).  Unfortunately,  unpaid hobbies have to take a back seat to paid work...

That being said, there are all kinds of interesting things going on here in Israel and I thought I would take this opportunity to write about a few of them.

Netanyahu Pardon Request

As you might have read earlier today, Prime Minister Netanyahu submitted an official request for a pardon to circumvent the  conclusion of his trial.  This is being viewed in Israel as a "legal earthquake," especially by his supporters - who have been towing Netanyahu's line that the case against him has been "falling apart" and he is about to be exonerated. In fact, the submission is carefully  worded by Netanyahu so that he does not directly say he is asking for a "pardon."  He states that for the sake of the country, he is willing to "end the trial and bring about unity in the country" (with all charges dropped and no admission of guilt).  

I thought I would provide some added colour and commentary to this.  First of  all, for those of you who have read my blog sections dealing with the Netanyahu trial in the past, the evidence against Netanyahu is overwhelming (in at least in two out of the three cases).   This blog has stated all along that this case would never wind up with a verdict.  It would either end with a plea bargain deal, a pardon - or worst case (from a procedural point of view) some type of legislated end to the trial. I came to these conclusions because the State had to demonstrate a very high likelihood of getting a guilty verdict before proceeding with the trial and the State, in this case, went through three different preliminary inquiries to do that.  Netanyahu's legal team has tried every trick in the book to delay the trial and especially his cross-examination.  During the actual cross examination sittings, he has had to leave early for every type of reason ranging from urgent State meetings - to - yes - a dental hygienist appointment.  But now that the war is on a much slower burner, the Court has asked to run the trial three days a week and get it finished.  It is nearing conclusion.

Netanyahu's best chance for a favourable plea bargain deal was earlier on - before his cross- examination.  His lawyers apparently submitted a request to open discussions with the State prosecutor's office - but the parties could  not agree on terms.  The State wanted to insist that any plea bargain deal include a term that Netanyahu be convicted of offences including Moral Turpitude (like a felony conviction).  This would preclude Netanyahu from running again for office.  He was unwilling to agree.

Now the trial is getting closer to a conclusion.  Netanyahu's cross-examination is close to ending.  Once it is over, there will be reply evidence from the State - and then closing argument.  Although Netanyahu's team says that the trial would otherwise continue for "years" - this simply does not seem to be the case.  The end is nigh as they say.

So, to use a football analogy - Netanyahu's team decided  now was the right time to throw a "hail Mary" - or since it is Israel - let's call it a "Hail Miriam."  Of course, he sprinkled his request with language that he would rather continue on with the trial until the end and that this is really for the good of the state.  But c'mon - we can easily look past that language.  This is clearly a very desperate move.  Elections are coming up before the end of 2026, Netanyahu's trial is still ongoing - and he and his team know or suspect that they have a very small chance of winning the trial.  

As you may recall, President Trump has become involved personally - by requesting a pardon for Netanyahu on several occasions ("Believe me, I know all about the importance of pardons for innocent, unfairly framed public figures and politicians...")(Okay, he didn't really say that...).  Trump's involvement included the unprecedented step of sending a formal letter from the White House to the State of Israel asking for a pardon.  ("I am asking for a friend....").   The response from the President of Israel was two fold - (1) In Israel - the person seeking the pardon has to submit it themselves; and (2) unlike the U.S. you cannot get a blanket pardon in Israel -  you can only get a pardon where there has been a conviction and/or an admission of guilt.  The Presidential pardon powers in Israel are much more limited than in the U.S.  (I won't get into this at any length now but I will say that anyone with money who always wanted a pardon in the U.S., even a prospective one, probably has the best chance of getting it now under the current administration.....so start setting up those "GoFundMe" pages if you haven't done so yet...).  Although in fairness, Presidents Obama and Biden  also handed out  pardons like Halloween candies....

So Netanyahu was left with three choices.  One was to legislate his trial away.  While some of his partners might have supported this - some wouldn't and it is doubtful he could get a majority in the Knesset for that - even with his "totally right wing" government.  The second choice was to cut a soft plea bargain deal - but the State is not prepared to go along. He has been trying to replace the Attorney General but it is a difficult process  in Israel since there are procedural hurdles to follow.  A friendly AG might be more inclined to give him a better deal.  For now the State still wants there to be a significant conviction as part of any deal.  The third alternative is a pardon.  Generally, under Israeli law, Netanyahu would need to agree or be convicted of some offences to then get a pardon.  So this might form part of a three -way negotiation with the State prosecutor and the President - whereby there would be a conviction and a pardon all as part of a package.  

Should be very interesting   But I continue to maintain that there will never be an actual verdict in this trail - other than a negotiated one.  And I do now say that the end of  this trial, one way or the other, will come before the next election, scheduled for October 2026.

Ultra Religious Military Exemption

As the next election approaches, the ultra-religious have been clamouring to take advantage of their current position in government - and get a law that exempts most if not all of the ultra-religious from the army.  This has been a major issues for quite some time in Israel.  I am not going to get into extensive detail - perhaps that is for another blog.

In short, together with the founding of the State, Israel's first Prime Minister Ben Gurion entered into an agreement that a small number (I think it was 15,000) of  the most committed ultra-orthodox students would be granted a military exemption  to continue  their studies for the sake of Judaism and the State.  Much like the state might exempt  certain exceptional athletes, artists, musicians  or other incredibly talented people in different disciplines (even though these people generally still serve in the army).  However, over the years - the numbers exploded and the ultra-orthodox came to view the deal as meaning that none of them are obligated to go to army.  Their numbers have climbed disproportionately and the army needs manpower (and womanpower).  And other Orthodox Jews serve in the army - even claiming that they are required to do so by Jewish religious law - to defend themselves.

The Supreme Court of Israel has ruled on several occasions that the State cannot exempt all the ultra-religious as this would be unfair - to the rest of Israelis.

This whole issue  has been a hot potato since the ultra-religious form a significant part of Netanyahu's coalition and  are demanding a new exemption bill as a condition of supporting Netanyahu.

So this week, one of Netanyahu's Ministers, Boaz Bismuth, presented a "Draft Bill" that more or  less makes it possible  for most ultra-religious to avoid army service.  The problem is that even Netanyahu's own Likud members do not seem willing to support the bill, let alone some of the other coalition partners.  It may be that the whole government will  collapse over this issue - and this will send the country to the polls ahead of schedule. Perhaps this is how  Netanyahu would like things to happen - so that he can partially run against the exemption bill - even though his own government is proposing it.  Or perhaps he will run and say that he tried to pass it but needs even  more right wing support from the Haredim to be able to do so.  Hard to say.

War Picture

Although things in Israel are on a  "slow burn" in terms of all  of the conflicts, nothing is really settled.  Hezbollah is trying to rearm and rebuild in the North  while Israel is trying to help the Lebanese establish a government  without Hezbollah and with some level of stability.  There have been skirmishes in the north and things could develop into more significant fighting at any time.

Likewise, Syria is very unstable.  They are not in any position to open large scale fighting with Israel (unless backed by Turkey or  Iran) but the instability may well lead to hostility.  Israel is very much hoping that Syria can reach some level of stability and then perhaps everyone can  try to move to a deal whereby Syria joins the  Abraham accords.  I am not sure whether this is a fantasy at this point in time  but let's hope that it is something possible that is getting closer.

Iran is "rebuilding" and hoping to rearm and making threats to "completely destroy Israel" the next time around.  So until the Iranian regime falls and is replaced by something that actually cares for its citizenry, Iran is  likely to be an ongoing threat to Israel and to the rest of the word.

Gaza

Reports from earlier today state that Hamas is consolidating its power over many areas of Gaza, collecting taxes and reestablishing its authority.  Part of the Trump deal was that Hamas would not run Gaza and that international authorities would ensure that this was the case.  But no international bodies are coming forward and Hamas is trying to rearm. Some voices in Israel are stating that Israel may have to completely occupy Gaza in order to replace Hamas with an authority that can run the strip in a way that is conducive to a long term peace arrangement.

Judea and Samaria

Meanwhile, there are reports of quite a bit of unprovoked violence by residents of Judea and Samaria (referred to by some as the "West Bank.").  My blog is not part of  "hasbara" and I call a spade a spade.  Those who are launching unprovoked attacks against Palestinian residents in Judea and Samaria - are basically Jewish terrorists.  Sorry if you don't like the language.  In my view, they should be arrested immediately and subject to the full weight of the law. Perhaps it is not surprising that these things are taking place since the current Minister for Police Affairs - Itamir Ben  Gvir - is himself an extremist who was deemed unfit for military service.  It may only be that with a change in government - the State will take proper action to stop these attacks.

Increasing Tourism

Since the end of the war (or the pause  in the war, if you prefer), more and more airlines have resumed flights to Israel and more and more  tourists are arriving.  We had an incredibly warm November - with temperatures in the range of 28c (83F) through most of the month.  Apparently, many tourists arrived, which was great for the economy and  for the mood in the country.  I hope that we will be able to continue with this relatively stable situation and that more and more tourists will arrive - and enjoy the many wonderful things that there are to see and  do here.

Direct Flights

Air Canada has  now been flying direct between Tel-Aviv and Toronto and will soon expand to include Montreal.  I will be taking advantage of one of those  flights tomorrow on my way back to Toronto.  Interestingly it is now 12 hours and  10 minutes  from Tel Aviv to Toronto.  I am quite sure that it was closer to 11 hours 30 minutes when the Dreamliners first started flying from Tel-Aviv to Toronto.  Not sure why it is longer now but I'm fairly sure that I remember correctly.

As you may have heard, Air Canada  is changing its Aeroplan system effective January 1, 2026, and making it much more difficult for many  people to gain frequent  flyer status.  Essentially, they are moving to a system that will  be based almost exclusively on dollars spent rather than miles flown.  So for those  of us who mainly fly back and forth between Toronto and Tel-Aviv - or other similar long distance commuting trips - it will be very difficult  to get the same status.  

I am hoping that I will make Air Canada's "Super-Elite" status by December this year - but that will probably be the last year I can do it - unless there is some other dramatic change.  Unfortunately, there are no better  options - since El  Al  is not flying direct to Toronto  and I would  prefer to  avoid transferring if I can.  I have had  no choice since October 2023 but I am now thrilled  to have an option to fly direct, even if it is a  bit more expensive.

Worldwide Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israel Activism

Given that there are only  about 15-16 million Jews in the world and more  than a billion Muslims, it is perhaps not surprising that the Jewish State of  Israel is very unpopular around the world. That is not to say that Israel does not have Muslim friends - in fact the Abraham accords have demonstrated that  several Muslim countries are happy to be friendly with Israel - and we hope that will be the case for more and more of the Muslim world.

But there are certainly a percentage of Muslims that fall into the extremist camp - and many of those seem to have emigrated to various countries around the world and are now supporting  and advocating for anti-Semitic and Anti-Israel policies.

Since October 2023 - Toronto has seen all kinds of outrageous anti-Jewish acts including attacks and vandalism on schools, synagogues, Jewish owned stores, restaurants and businesses - and demonstrators in Jewish residential neighbourhoods - and all kinds of other actions including "encampments" at universities.  Generally, this has all been met with silence by anti-Israel Mayor Chow (who just last week raised a Palestinian flag at City Hall - but refuses to attend the annual Walk for Israel event).

Much of this has also taken place all over the U.S. and in many other countries.  It's astounding that New York City, the city with one of the world's largest Jewish populations (think Warsaw before World War  II) has now elected a pro-BDS, anti-Israel mayor.  Frightening.

While it is easy enough to blame Israel and its current government, I don't think that "blaming the victim" is the proper approach to dealing with extremists. These "demonstrators" who cover their faces and shout violent slogans, take over universities and other public property - should be arrested and punished.  The constitutional right to protest does not include the right to harass, to advocate violence or to "occupy" public and private places and certainly does not include the right to commit acts of vandalism and violence. At a minimum any "encampments" or "demonstrations" in inappropriate places should immediately be broken up and cleared - wherever they occur.

Chanuka Coming - Donuts Are Here

As I have written in some past blogs - the big sign of Chanuka approaching is the sudden appearance of every possible kind of donut across the country.  Donuts with every possible topping, filling and colour. We don't really have any Chanuka decorations and certainly no "Chanuka bushes" (I think that is mostly limited to the U.S.) but we have donuts everywhere.

Interestingly, potato latkes (which always represented Chanuka for me as I was growing up) are not nearly as ubiquitous as donuts.  I guess neither of them are particularly healthy - but I have always had a soft spot for fresh latkes. Both of  my grandmothers (z"l) used to spoil me (and my siblings) whenever they had the chance by whipping up a batch - seemingly an unlimited quantity.  My mother also knew how much we loved them and would make them from time to time - especially during Chanuka. Maybe I will get a chance to make some for my parents while I am in Toronto this time (I tend to make a bit of a mess but my cooking is pretty decent).

Here in Israel, it falls on me and my wife to make them now - which we enjoy doing once or twice a year. One batch of spicy Yemenite latkes with hot peppers and "hawaij" a curry type mixture - and one batch Ashkenazi style with matza meal, salt, pepper and maybe a bit of sugar and baking powder.

We will probably buy a few donuts since neither of us feel like deep frying a batch of donuts.

Recommendation of the Day for those Visiting Israel

Hula Valley  Nature Reserve

I thought I would end this blog with a special recommendation. If  you are in Israel between November and March  - there is one activity that I would strongly recommend as something that is truly amazing.  Israel is home to the Hula Valley Nature reserve - which is a massive bird sanctuary in northern Israel - near Kiryat Shemona.  Hundreds of thousands of migratory birds  stop here on the way from Europe to Africa.  Many of them are European Cranes but there are also a range of other types of birds including flamingos, European Hoopoes (Israel's national bird) and all kinds of other birds. 

The sanctuary offers a special mini-bus tour that holds about 40 people per bus, booked  in advance, and takes place starting about an hour before sunset.  (There is also a sunrise tour - but I haven't been on that one). The bus is cut in half so that all forty people are facing one side.  The tour takes people behind the scenes to areas  where the public is generally not allowed.   You are able to see  thousands of birds arriving in the area for the evening.  It is an amazing spectacle.  We have had the good fortune of  doing this twice - including once in November 2025.  Both times, I can only say that it has been awesome and I am ready to go again any time.  (Including with visitors - we will be happy to take you if you would like to join us).

I appreciate that there are many more things to write about, especially since I haven't been writing as often.  But I am going to call it a day for now and say that I hope to see many of you  soon - whether in Toronto, Israel or elsewhere in the world.

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Deal Has Been Signed - Hostages Are Coming Home

I was in the local convenience store this morning, getting a few items that we  had forgotten earlier.  We were talking with the cashier - who said - "it is the first day in two years that he has actually seen several people smiling."  And that about sums up the type of night we had - with the news about a cease fire that has been reached.

In my last blog, I wrote that we were hoping for a deal soon.  That was in July.  Here we are, more than three months later, and we seem to have finally reached some sort of deal that will see the return of all of the live Israeli hostages and an end to this current war with Hamas, at least for now.

I have not had the chance to go through the deal in detail yet - I am not sure it is even available in full.  However, I think we can take several key points from the detail:

1. All of the live hostages will be returned immediately, as early as Sunday or Monday of this week, all at once. No more deals of releasing one or two a week or anything like that.  This was apparently not something that Hamas had been willing to agree on earlier - though I am not sure anyone really knows.

2. In return, Israel will release some prisoners from its jails (these are mostly, if not all, convicted murderers and terrorists  who have killed or tried to kill Israeli civilians).  However, Israel (for now at least) won't release some of the highest profile prisoners (like Marwan Barghuti) and won't return the bodies of Yahyah Sinwar or Mohammad Def. 

3. Many of the subsequent details have yet to be agreed upon.  However, Israel will pull back its troops from some of their current positions and Hamas will agree that a new - international supported entity will take over the administration of the Gaza Strip - even though that may take time to implement.

4. President Trump used his extraordinary influence (or whatever else) to get Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and others onside. I don't think we know what he promised each of them at this point, though I am quite sure that it is something significant. It remains to be seen how harmful these promises may turn - some articles claim that Trump agreed to supply Turkey and Egypt with new, very sophisticated military airplanes.  Apparently, there are also stronger assurances of defence for Qatar - though I am not sure Qatar has agreed, in exchange, to stop sponsoring worldwide terrorism.

I am sure that more details will emerge in the coming days.  For now, we are hoping that the initial phase goes ahead as planned and that the 20 hostages will come home alive and that they can be rehabilitated.  Many of them have probably been tortured, starved and suffered all kinds of injuries, physical and psychological.  Israel is also seeking the remains of the other 28 hostages who were captured but Hamas is claiming that it only has 13-15 of those bodies at this point.

I am definitely concerned about the prospect of terrorist attacks - in Israel and around the world at Jewish sites in the coming days - especially with so much of the BDS and terror supporting crowd opposing this deal.  I hope that our security forces here and around the world will be on full alert and will prevent or minimize any such attacks.

Meanwhile in Israel, the deal itself still has to approved by Israel's cabinet, which is expected to take place tonight.  By all accounts, it is anticipated that the deal will pass by a significant majority.  Cabinet ministers Ben-Gvir and  Smotrich still have not announced their positions, but they may well oppose the deal.  However, this will not bring about the fall of the government, since there are enough votes to pass the deal and keep the government in power, for now.

What's Next:

Israel is due to have elections by October 2026.  It is unlikely that Prime Minister Netanyahu would ever be in a better position to win an election than he would be shortly after the return of all of the hostages and so there is a strong prospect that elections will take place earlier.

There is one "little" problem - Bibi's criminal charges.  One option is  a plea bargain deal.  However, I don't believe that the State Prosecutor is prepared to recommend a deal that Bibi could live with - i.e. the dropping of all the charges - or a guilty plea to some very inconsequential offences.   The Prosecution continues to insist that, at a minimum, Bibi plead guilty to offences that are deemed more serious under Israeli law and would bar him from running for office for 7 years, even if he avoids jail time.

An alternative would be a pardon from the President of Israel - Isaac Bougie Herzog. Up until recently, President Herzog maintained that he would not grant an unconditional pardon.  However I believe that Herzog may now be willing to provide one under conditions that are much less severe.  In other words - we could see a guilty plea of some sort, combined with a pardon - that would free Netanyahu to run again.

Ultimately, once Netanyahu has received a pardon - he may be willing to leave public office at some point.  I believe that he would like to first secure a peace deal with Saudi Arabia - but that is pure speculation on my part.

Many Israelis, a large majority according to many polls, would like to see a  full public inquiry into what happened on October 7, 2023 - with every issue, every failure and every event subject to full examination.  Only with this type of inquiry will we be in a position to address security issues and strengthen our borders and our military readiness. For now, Netanyahu has strongly opposed this type of inquiry.

Other Stuff to Mention

There are so many things that I could write about since so much has been taking place.  But I have been very busy - with personal celebratory events (thankfully), with work and with many other things.  We are in the midst of the last holiday of the holiday season - the holiday of Sukkot - which is also known as the "time of our happiness."  It culminates in the holiday of Simchat Torah - the "Rejoicing of the Torah" but that is also the day on which the horrible massacre of October 7th occurred.

Our Rosh Hashanah was a bit more low key than usual with a few of our family members out of the country.  Days later, we conducted our Ra'anana Yom Kippur tefillot (prayer services) outdoors in one of the family's backyards - with about  50 participants.  It was intimate, inspiring, participatory - and particularly comfortable (weatherwise this year). Yom Kippur, the day of  awe, is  actually quite awesome in Israel - to see the country come to a complete standstill - other than people taking the streets to walk or bike around.  

We were a bit slow off the mark to get our Sukkah put up - but we managed to stop by the  annual Ra'anana sukkot market - buy a lulav set with an etrog - that we could wave around in all the different  directions - and now the sukkah is ready for an event or two.

Around the World

The news of all kinds of outrageous anti-Semitic and  anti-Israel activity around the world is simply shocking.  

In Canada, our extremist Prime Minister (yes it is fair to call him extremist on this issue) has recognized a Palestinian State - without negotiations, borders, concessions, terms....  In fact, just a year prior, the House of Commons voted down such a step.  But the Prime Minister did not put it to a new vote. Prime Minister Carney, bolstered by some even more extremist cabinet ministers, like Minister Anita Anand, has joined the ranks of some of the most extreme anti-Israel world leaders - in places like Ireland, Sweden, Spain and Turkey.  I think one can only say that this is frightening, sad and very concerning about where Canada might be headed in the future. And do not think that this is only an issue affecting Israel and the Jewish community. Supporting Muslim extremism can have disastrous long term consequences in a range of other issues.

There were several demonstrations across Canada by pro-Hamas agitators mixed together with extreme leftists (those in the Syd Ryan /CUPE camp) - in support of the October 7, 2023 massacres - and very little outrage, that I saw, other than from the leader of the opposition Pierre Poilievre and a handful of others.  Imagine widespread demonstrations across the U.S. or Canada in support of the 9/11 attacks. Or commemorating the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in a positive way.  That is what we are talking about.

In a North York High School, on October 7, 2025, the two year anniversary of the October 7, 2023 massacres, Earl Haig High School played the Canadian national anthem - "Oh Canada" on its speaker system in Arabic.  Yes this is true! The principal explained that this was organized by a  student group, that they were commemorating "Islamic Heritage Month" and that they didn't know it was related to October 7th.   Give me a break!  It's obscene.  Simply obscene.  A celebration of, indeed, an encouragement of  the terrorism that took place on October 7, 2023. 

We have seen attacks on synagogues, Jewish high profile figures, university students and other Jews and  Jewish institutions all over the world since October 2023 - even while leaders in some places - rail on about "islamophobia."  This is simply unjustifiable.  I hope that countries like Canada and  others will take steps to assure the safety of their Jewish communities in the face of these vile activities. But often, these issues require leadership from the top. We need leadership that will make it clear that  these types of activities - from shutting  down universities to vandalizing Jewish owned businesses - to protesting outside synagogues are not permitted and  will stopped. And the perpetrators will be prosecuted, fully.

I hope that the current deal will  bring about a change for Israel and for its friends and allies around the world.

Sports News

I can't write one these blogs without a few sports comments.

First of all, Israel will be playing Norway and Italy on Saturday night and Tuesday night respectively in World Cup qualifying games.  These are crucial games if Israel is to have any chance of making it to the World Cup. There has been a great deal of pressure on FIFA from anti-Israel countries and some football players to try and expel Israel from FIFA.  But to date, FIFA has rejected these demands.  Israel's chances of qualifying are still quite low - since Norway is a very strong side but I think that it is fair to say that these are some of  Israel's biggest football games in quite a while.

Last night, as I was watching  the breaking news from Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt and Washington D.C., I was also watching the Blue Jays clinch a trip to the MLB American League Championship Series - a best of seven semi-final - with the winner going to the World Series.  It was super exciting and I am hoping that I will be able to get to an ALCS or even a World Series game in the coming weeks.

While this is not sports news - I wanted to mention that those same anti-Israel  protagonists -  especially Ireland and Spain, have been clamouring to kick Israel out of the annual Eurovision song competition.  Fortunately, Germany and a few others have apparently stood up to this pressure and  refused to given in to this anti-Israel sentiment and kick Israel out.  So as of now, Israel will participate in the 2026  Eurovision contest - Israel placed second last year - winning a large majority of the popular vote

Airline News

Air Canada is scheduled to restart direct flights to Israel today - almost as if they knew that this is when the war would end.  I always believed that Air Canada (unlike so many other airlines) would only begin flying when there was a cease fire deal.  Now there is one - and perhaps Air Canada will now be back on track with regular direct flights.

There is so much more to write but my time is limited. I wish everyone a Chag Sukkot Sameach. Hoping that the deal with proceed, that the hostages will be returned and that the war will end and usher in many years of expended peace with all of Israel's neighbours.

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Israel Update July 4, 2025 - Close to a Deal with Hamas?

I arrived back in Israel last Friday, shortly after President Trump had declared a cease fire between Iran and Israel.  I had to scramble to find a ticket to Israel and wound up flying on Arkia Airlines from Athens.

Getting to and From Israel

In case you are thinking of flying Arkia - my suggestion would be to try to find something else if you can. 

I arrived in Athens via Air Canada and was supposed to have about four hours until my Arkia flight.  Of course there is no baggage transfer agreement so I had to go through Greek immigration (which had a long line-up but moved quickly), pick up my suitcase (which wasn't too bad) and then go check in for the Arkia flight.  Surprisingly, when I got to the Arkia counter, I was offered the chance to get on an earlier flight (almost 3 hours earlier than scheduled).  I asked if I would have enough time (only 45 minutes left according to the flight schedule).  I was assured I would be fine so I took the earlier flight - no extra charge.

From the check-in counter, I had to go through the Greek exit security (Immigration).  The line-up  was unbelievably long and very slow.  Pylons everywhere directing people to walk up and down temporary aisles.  Every few minutes, the authorities would call out an airline and destination and take people out of the line-up into an expedited process.  "Anyone on the Air Canada flight to Toronto? Come with me..."  As I was waiting in line, I noticed that we were only about 30 minutes before departure time, but nobody was calling out Arkia passengers to Tel-Aviv.

I finally got through this line up at 12:55, which was exactly the boarding time for the flight.  But still no call for Arkia passengers.  I still had to go through personal security (the x-ray machines etc.,).  By the time I left the whole area and headed towards the gate - it was about 1:15.  I got to the gate - and no worries - there was a whole line-up of Arkia passengers waiting in line.  Boarding was delayed.  We would still need to take a bus to the plane and then board.

Ultimately, the "earlier" flight that I was able to get on - left 1.5 hours after its revised scheduled time - which was about 4.5 hours after its original scheduled time.  So I actually wound up leaving about half an hour before my originally scheduled time even though I was put on an earlier flight.  Meanwhile the flight that I had been scheduled for originally wound up about two and a half hours late.

For this privilege, I had to spend about $600 - the only way available to get to Israel - during that period of time. (That was just the cost of a one way Arkia ticket from Athens to Tel-Aviv).

Since last week, several airlines have resumed flights to Israel but so far it is mainly the Israeli carriers and a handful of others - Arkia, Israir, Tus Airlines and of course El Al.  Several other airlines have announced that they will be resuming service but at all different dates. From my quick look at the Ben Gurion Arrivals board today - there are flights showing for Air France, Fly Dubai, Delta and some other airlines - though some of these may be code shares with El Al or other airlines.

Over the coming months, it certainly appears that more and more airlines will resume service as long as the security situation continues to improve.  I understand that British Airways, Wizz Air, Air Canada, American Airlines and several others have cancelled their service to Israel until well after September 2025.  If you are planning to come to Israel (let's say for a wedding and a Hina or something like that....), the only airline you are really going to be able to count on for the coming months is El Al, which has demonstrated that it will continue to fly to Israel even in the most difficult conditions - albeit at very exorbitant prices.

It is likely that Arkia, Israir, Tus Airways and Blue Bird airways will also continue to fly - especially from Cyprus or Athens - and maybe  from Rome. These may all be fine as long as you don't mind lengthy delays and sky high baggage charges. After that, some of the airlines that have been willing to bring back their service more quickly than others have been Aegean Airlines (Greece), Fly Dubai, Emirates, Ethiopian Air and Lufthansa.  Several other airlines have scheduled dates for return in August 2025 including United Airlines - but I think it is going to be questionable for now to rely on United.  For Canadians, we may well not see Air Canada resuming its Tel-Aviv service until deep into the fall or even sometime until 2026 but hopefully, with a pending cease fire, Air Canada will resume sooner rather than later.

Gaza War

As of the time I am writing this article, indications are that Hamas is prepared to accept or mostly accept - a cease fire deal for 60 days proposed by President Trump and his negotiators.  I am not going to get into all of the specifics here other than to say that the deal apparently calls for the immediate release of 8 live Israeli hostages by Hamas, followed by the release of 15 bodies.  2 more live Israeli hostages would be released 60 days later, with information provided about the remaining hostages at some point along the way. Estimates are that between 20 and 23 Israeli hostages are still alive and that Hamas is holding a total of approximately 50 hostages in total - including those who are no longer living.

Israel would release hundreds of Hamas prisoners, many of whom are facing lengthy prison sentences for violent terrorist attacks.  Negotiations would continue over the coming 60 days for a settlement of all outstanding issues.  If negotiations fail, hostilities could resume though President Trump is apparently providing "personal assurances" that the war will not restart.  Of course there is nothing more reliable than the word of President Trump - so the Hamas terrorists will certainly take comfort knowing that they have the President's promise.  (You can read this any way you like, depending on your politics).

The war with Hamas will not go down in Israeli history as one of Israel's great victories.  Israel suffered tremendous losses initially - civilian and military losses - and whole villages were wiped out by Hamas even though they will now be rebuilt. While Israel was able to assassinate many Hamas leaders and destroy a significant part of Gaza, Israel was not able to recover the hostages militarily, defeat Hamas or end, definitively, its rule in Gaza.

881 Israeli soldiers have been killed since October 7, 2023 and close to 6,000 have been injured.

The war has also caused a high rate of casualties for Palestinians in Gaza, although the breakdown between military and civilian casualties is difficult to ascertain.  While the Hamas "Gaza Health Ministry" claims that more than 59,600 Palestinians have been killed, there is a great deal of uncertainty when examining any claims made by Hamas.  We do not know how many of these Palestinian casualties were Hamas fighters, though it is likely to be a fairly high number.

It does appear that as the war has progressed, the proportion of Palestinian civilians being killed relative to the total numbers of casualties has been growing -  even though the numbers are likely not as as high as those reported by Hamas.  We also know of several cases where Hamas claimed that Israeli troops opened fire on groups of civilians - and it turned out that the reports were completely false (even after they were reported as true by the BBC, for example).(The BBC later recanted and apologized).

Unquestionably this war has been a disaster for Hamas and for the Palestinians living in Gaza.  But it was also the culmination of several smaller wars started by Hamas over the past several years since Israel disengaged from Gaza in 2005 and Hamas took over the Gaza strip.

Ultimately the only long term solution for the Palestinians in Gaza is going to be having a government committed to resolving issues peacefully with Israel rather than militarily.  Hopefully that train has not left the station.  Continued Hamas rule will only lead to more violent confrontations with Israel.  President Trump's plan of "voluntary relocation" coupled with building a riviera in Gaza might be dismissed as a pipedream (or a war crime) but the geography, topography and location of Gaza does create endless economic possibilities if Gaza were to be run in a collaborative way with Israel.

Other Regional Developments

Israelis were hoping (and continue to hope) for a regime change in Iran and the emergence of a new Iranian government willing to make peace with Israel.  One of Israeli's leading Iranian experts, Benny Sabati, who was born in Iran and lived there for several years before emigrating to Israel, predicts that within 3 to 5 years, Iran will have diplomatic relations with Israel.  He believes that the current Iranian regime will fall during this period of time.  Let's hope that he is correct. A  change of regime in Iran could lead to very significant developments in the Middle East and a future with much more  stability.

President Trump and  Israeli officials are openly talking about trying to add Lebanon and  Syria to the Abraham Accords.  I think the talk about Syria is likely somewhat premature since it will be difficult to resolve the dispute over the Golan Heights.  During President Trump's first term, he recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan  Heights (which Israel first captured in the 1967 Six Day War).  Syria is not about to enter into a peace arrangement with Israel that sees Israel continuing to hold the Golan Heights - and Israel is  not about to give up the Golan  Heights to a Jihadi-led, ISIS inspired neighbour.  If Syria gives up its dream of taking back the Golan Heights - at least for now - perhaps a peace deal can be signed but I am not holding my breath on that one.

Now that Assad is out of the picture in Syria and Hezbollah has been weakened, there may be no impediment to Lebanon coming to a deal with Israel.  A stable Lebanon, with the restoration of Beirut as the "Paris of the Middle East" would be a very exciting development - not just for Lebanon and its people but for the whole of the Middle East.  It this were to happen, it would be a direct result of one of the clear victories in Israel's current war - the tremendous weakening of Hezbollah as a regional force, one which controlled and terrorized the people  of Lebanon for many years.

Meanwhile, if Iran sets out to rebuild its nuclear program as quickly as possible, there may be a second round of this war between Iran and Israel, though it may be a year or two down the road.  The alternative for Iran will be a negotiated solution with the United States and Israel - and perhaps the Iranian leadership will start to falter afterwards. In the short term, it  is hard to predict which way this will go.  In the long term, we have to be optimistic that the people of Iran will be able to shed themselves of this horrible dictatorship.

Bibi's Trial

One cannot overestimate the impact of Prime Minister Netanyahu's current criminal trial on all of  these matters. Bibi is currently in the midst of his cross examination, even though last week he asked the court for a two week hiatus to deal with "security affairs."  The court agreed so the cross-examinations will not resume until the week of July 14th, I believe.

We are clearly at the "meat" of the trial - the cross-examination, and Bibi has no interest in having this continue.  It is embarrassing, excruciating and by most analysts' accounts that I have read - unwinnable.  Accordingly, Bibi had his lawyers contact the state prosecutors last week to feel out the prosecution for a plea bargain deal. (His lawyers later issued a denial that they initiated the contacts).

It appears that all of the lawyers, on both sides of this trial, recognize that Netanyahu is highly likely to be  convicted on at least some counts if this ever gets to a verdict. As  I have said previously, I do not believe we will ever see a verdict in this case.

If a conviction,  as part of a verdict or a plea bargain deal, carries with it the designation of "Kahlon" or "moral turpitude," Netanyahu, under Israeli law, would be barred from running for office for several years.  He is not prepared to agree to that.

On the other hand, the state is not prepared to agree to a guilty plea to only more minor offences, especially since the prosecution feels very confident that it can get a conviction with "Kahlon."

One way of trying to change this reality for Bibi has been a campaign to oust the current Attorney General, replace her with someone more "Bibi-friendly" and then negotiate a deal that is more palatable.  Bibi and his Likud party  have been trying to do this - but they face several legal hurdles and conflict of  interest allegations that are making it difficult to replace the AG.

A second alternative, floated by some of Bibi's Likud party members just last week, would be to legislate an end to the trial.  This would be shocking.  Even some Likud members have indicated that they would not support it  And the Israeli Supreme Court would surely strike it down.  I am hopeful that this idea is a non-starter. Netanyahu would need an even more right-wing government to have a chance at pulling this off.

A third idea, and I think one that is most likely at this point, is a negotiated plea-bargain deal combined with a pardon from President Herzog.  This type of  deal might allow Bibi to plead guilty to more serious offences (which would save face for the prosecution) but with a pardon, he would still be able to run again.  The issue is that this could cause somewhat of a crisis for the justice system.  The State would have to demonstrate that it obtained some concessions from Bibi in exchange for the pardon, even though the pardon would be coming from the President rather  than the State.  So Bibi will have to give something to get this type of deal - and I am not really sure what that could be.

There is another alternative.  The current Israeli government might fall, even without a plea bargain deal in place  for Bibi and he may hope that an election will give him a government more willing to help him deal with his criminal challenges. In my view, that is probably a risky strategy.  I think we are more likely to see  a deal in place before an election is called.

I am not going to spend much time dealing with President Trump's tweets calling for Israel to "free Bibi from his trial" as if this were a purely political trial. Fortunately, Israel is not a banana republic (not yet anyways) and none of the actors involved in Bibi's trial (the judges, the prosecutors etc.,) are going to be moved by Trump's calls.  It is more likely that Trump's tweets show a certain desperation on Bibi's part as he tries to enlist the help of Trump to get him out of his legal predicament.  In fact, a number of Israeli commentators speculated that the tweets were written by Bibi himself based on the language used. I am not in a position to comment one way or other but it is an extraordinary level of interference by President Trump into Israel's domestic affairs.  Then again, Bibi himself did everything he could to help the Republicans defeat Obama, Biden and Harris - so interference in domestic political affairs for Bibi and for Trump are par for the course.

Mood in Israel

Israelis are a resilient lot - they have to be to survive in this area of the world.  The 12 day war with Iran was quite frightening.  Many buildings were destroyed. 29 people were killed and more than 3,200 were injured.  But the war was perceived as a major military victory for Israel - perhaps one  of  historic proportions.

The war with Hamas has been going on since October 7, 2023  and over the past few weeks, Israelis have been receiving reports of soldiers dying in battle almost daily.  I believe that the majority of Israelis are hoping that this war with Hamas will end as soon as possible and that things will start to improve.  In other words, I think there is a combination of despair over how things have gone in Gaza but cautious optimism about the future.

Concerts and events have reopened. The airport is gradually increasing its capacity.  I am hopeful that by the end of August (big event time for us...), things will be even better than they are now.

Sports News

I do not have too much to write about sports as the moment.  But I thought I would mention a couple of things quickly.

The Israeli men's national football (soccer) team is trying to qualify for the 2026 world cup.  Israel is in a group with Norway, Estonia, Italy and  Moldova.  On June 6, 2025, Israel beat Estonia for the second time.  Israel will play Moldova on September 5th in Moldova and it will play Italy on September 8, 2025 in Hungary.  It will also play Norway  on October 11, 2025 in Oslo.  Israel lost its first game to Norway but as of now, still has a chance to make it into the 2026 World Cup.  It looks like the road will go through Rome - (Israel will have to beat Italy) but stay tuned.

Israeli TV does not broadcast very many baseball games - but I couldn't resist streaming last night's Blue Jay game.  The Blue Jays swept the New York Yankees in a four game series, featuring a gazillion runs, which moved the Blue Jays into first place in their division.  Even if that is only temporary and even though it is only July, it was still pretty exciting. There may be some very meaningful baseball games for Toronto fans to watch in October.

I think that is about it for now - but I wanted to share these thoughts and wish everyone  a Shabbat Shalom, a happy Fourth of July, a belated Happy Canada Day - and a celebration of all the great events that our family has in July - birthdays, an anniversary etc., Hoping for some good news in the coming days including the return of our  hostages, the cessation of hostilities and maybe even an Israeli election call.

Israel, Iran, the U.S. and More - June 22, 2015

Fordow Nuclear Plant, Iran

I left Israel on June 9th with the intention of coming to Toronto for about 2 weeks - and getting back to Israel on June 23rd.  Although I wrote, in my blog on May 30th about the possibility of something major happening, including a possible attack on Iran by Israel, I had no idea about the possible scale, timing and implications of the operation that would be carried out.  Now, here we are, less than one day after the U.S. has stepped into the fray with its attacks on three Iranian nuclear sites - and there is much to write about.

Some Comments about the Operation

As I have discussed previously, it is hard to view this as an "attack" or an "aggression" by Israel.  Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been fighting a multi-front war with Iran and its proxies, which was all initiated by Iran.  Iran was responsible for funding and training Hamas and Hezbollah, for arming the Houthis and for supporting other terroristic attacks against Israel worldwide.  All while threatening that it was finally about to destroy Israel.  In context, Israel's operation that started on June 13th, 2025 (6-13 for  those who like to think about this biblically  - being the  total number of mitzvoth according to Jewish tradition) is really a counterattack in response the multi-front war initiated by Iran including Iran's own ballistic missile attacks against Israel.

There was a significant indication that Iran was racing towards rolling out a nuclear bomb - and its stated intention was to use it.  Since Israel's attack, various international  sources have confirmed that this was the case. So the perceived urgency on the part of Israel - was that Iran was getting "too close for comfort" to using a nuclear weapon against Israel - something Israel couldn't wait for. 

The initial stage of this counterattack was carried out by Israel with near perfection, according to most reports and was historic, dramatic and brilliantly effective.

As you know from various reports, more than 30 top Iranian commanders, including the head of the Air Force, the head of the Army and the head of the ballistic missile program, were all killed on the first night of the operation.  This apparently included the use of Mossad agents and AI to lure various Iranian senior officers into a mass gathering, at which they were attacked and killed.  Together with this, Israel established air superiority and has carried out attacks on Iranian military targets, nuclear sites, missile launch sites and other equipment. Many Iranian nuclear scientists have also been killed.

Iranian Response

Since June 13th, Iran's primary response has been to launch ballistic missiles, drones and other missiles at Israel.  According to an article in the Jerusalem Post written moments ago, Iran has launched approximately 500 ballistic missiles at Israel since June 13th and close to 500 drones.  Most of these missiles and almost all of the drones have been intercepted.  However, a significant number have hit Israel.  Most of these missiles have targeted civilian targets.  Among the hardest hit locations have been the Soroka Hospital in Beersheva, the Rambam hospital in Haifa, a mosque (the Al-Jarina Mosque) in Haifa and several residential buildings in Ramat Gan, Bat Yam, Rishon L'Tzion, Nes Ziona and other places.  A large research facility was destroyed at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, much of which housed advanced cancer research facilities.  More than 25 Israelis have been killed, several hundred people have been injured (it may be over a thousand at this point) and more than 25,000 property damage claims have been filed by Israelis with the Israeli government.  (The Israeli government covers a significant amount of the property damage in these circumstances).  Unlike the Hamas-controlled hospitals in Gaza, the Israeli hospitals did not house any military bases, missiles or army equipment.  Iran's primary attacks have been against civilians.

On Saturday June 21, the Iranians began using additional types of missiles including missiles that they have purchased from North Korea - that can change directions and evade the U.S. THAAD systems and the Israeli anti-ballistic missile systems - at least some of the time.  Some of these missiles have included Iran's "Haj Qasem" missiles which are armed with cluster bombs and  massive warheads. At least two or three of these have landed in Israel and caused massive damage.  The deadliest missile used so far by Iran is the Hwasong 10 from North Korea - named the Khorramshahr by Iran.  This is apparently the missile that hit the Soroka Hospital last week. It carries more than 1,500 kilograms of explosives.

Although Israel has been defending against these missile attacks - with the help of the U.S., Jordan and other regional allies, some of these missiles  have still been getting through and causing quite a bit of  damage.  Israel has been attacking missile storage sites, launching  equipment and other targets, but it is quite likely that Iran still has significant capacity to  cause severe damage with various types of ballistic missiles.

Israel has an alert system in place and usually have 10-13 minutes to get to the nearest bomb shelter (or in-house "safe room") if the missiles are coming from Iran or Yemen, and less time if they are coming from Lebanon.  Since 1991, Israeli buildings are all built with at least one thick-walled concrete room per floor (or per unit) with a heavy metal door - than can withstand shrapnel, hits to other parts of the building and other types of attacks.  These safe rooms cannot withstand direct hits. But the vast  majority of Israelis who have been in safe rooms when their buildings have been hit - or when nearby buildings have been hit -  have suffered only minor injuries.

I should note that Iran has hit other targets, including an Oil Refinery in Haifa and some targets about which details have not been released or published.  Still it is apparent that the vast majority of targets have been civilian.

The U.S Entry

As you may know, according to many different world reports, only the U.S. has the type of bunker busting bombs that would be necessary to  destroy some of the Iranian nuclear facilities - including the Fordow nuclear plant which was 90 metres below ground in central Iran.  Fordow has or had more than 3,000 centrifuges and was being used to enrich uranium to near-bomb grade of close to 90% U-235.

President Trump said in a statement earlier today that the Fordow plant has been "obliterated."  I hope that he is right - but I am not sure that the U.S. has the full damage assessment yet.  Reports are that Iran has already produced approximately 500 kilograms of near weapons-grade uranium and the Iranians claim that this uranium was moved to a secret location before the U.S. attacks.

In my  view, it is more likely than not that this whole operation was jointly planned with the Israelis from the outset.  It seems unlikely to me that Israel would have embarked on an operation against Iran, on this scale, while knowing that it could not destroy the Fordow plant itself.  

President Trump was under intense pressure from different elements of his party. The "hawks," including Lindsay Graham and others were pushing Trump to "seize the moment" and help Israel destroy the nuclear plants.  In their view, it was a necessary step not only to protect Israel - but to protect the whole world - including, in particular, U.S interests in the region, from a nuclear armed Iran.  The evangelical wing, including ambassador Mike Huckabee, were pushing Trump to act because it was "God's will."  Weighed against this, Trump was  getting an earful from "isolationists" and anti-Israeli voices including Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon and Marjorie Green.  In the end, he sided, as we know with the hawks and evangelicals - and with the Israeli right.  To the extent that one might wonder about a particular angle by considering the voices who are advocating it - it seems that any rational decision maker - when faced with a unified position coming from Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon and Marjorie Green - might wish to decide exactly the opposite of whatever they are proposing.

In an interesting interview that I heard recently, a former Israel ambassador indicated that even the JOCPA (the nuclear deal with Iran that President Obama had signed) was only going to buy the world some additional time - and still would have permitted Iran to develop a nuclear weapon eventually. In other words, even those on Obama's team recognized that the JOCPA was a very flawed deal.  However, even through Trump ripped up the deal during his first term - Trump did not replace it with anything - nor did he attack Iran militarily.  So he left Iran sailing towards a nuclear bomb, at a much faster clip - and now had to deal with the consequences of that policy. Granted in the intervening period - President Biden took no  discernible action on this file. In short, there is enough blame to go around between Obama, Trump and Biden, but President Trump was now the one to take the courageous decision to destroy these plants (or at least try to).

What Now?

At this point, we are waiting to see how Iran will respond to the U.S. attacks.  Iran sent a barrage of missiles to Israel just hours after the U.S. attacks and some of them landed in Israel, causing significant civilian damage and  injuring many Israelis.

But Iran and its leadership have a choice to make at this point.  If they decide to "go all in" in a war with the U.S. - that is almost certainly going to end in disaster for this Iranian regime.  They have been weakened militarily by Israel's attacks since June 13, 2025 and, according to most reports, they do not seem to be in any position to take on the U.S. Army.  However, since at least some of the leadership are fanatic, suicidal and not necessarily realistic about their prospects, they may decide to go this route and hope that other countries join or assist them (Russia? North Korea? China? others). In my view, this would be a dangerous escalation but is really not likely to end well for Iran.  I would hope that someone will  deliver this prognosis to the Iranian Supreme Leader - but he may not be in any mood to hear it - or to listen to it.  This might draw President Trump and the U.S. into a  war to a greater extent than they had hoped, but I believe that it will be, primarily, a campaign of aerial and missile attacks. Hopefully, the Iranians will not be able to produce and deploy a nuclear weapon during the course of this fight.

A second option is for the Iranians to effectively "surrender" to the U.S. and agree to U.S. terms for a cease fire.  I believe that this is highly unlikely at this point.  It would result in the disintegration of the Iranian regime and it would be humiliating.  It is apparently not a consideration for the current Iranian leadership even if things continue to deteriorate.

A third option would be, what I would call - a hybrid.  It is possible, in my view, that Iran will attack some U.S. bases but to a limited extent - with relatively minimal damage.  This would allow Iran to claim (to the Iranian public and the world) that it had responded to the U.S. attack with "devastating results" and was now ready to negotiate.  If the U.S. were to decide that it could "live with" the damage caused - this might be a way out for both parties.  If the Iranians go too far and actually damage U.S. interests significantly - they will be met by a massive response from the U.S. Nevertheless, I think that this is the most realistic possibility for a quick end to the situation, provided that the Iranians are willing to end their nuclear program and agree to U.S. inspections as part of a deal.

One Israel-based commentator noted earlier today that the Iranians made exactly this type of "least worst" deal when ending the Iran-Iraq war.  They publicly characterized it as drinking a cup of poison to save the regime.  

If Iran does not find a way to negotiate a resolution, the continuation of the current war is likely to devastate Iran and bring about the downfall of the current regime.  The difficulty then becomes figuring out how Iran can govern itself without descending into a chaotic civil war or anarchy.

It is possible that other players will become involved and will threaten the use of nuclear weapons - and try to cause this conflict to spread.  I believe that the chances of this happening are relatively low since I do not believe that Russia or China want to go "all in" at this point - to hope a fanatical Iranian regime - despite the lip service that they might pay to that possibility.

Situation in Israel

As of last night, the Homefront Command in Israel announced the full emergency measures were in place.  No gatherings of more than 30 people, schools and universities closed - and most establishments closed other than those designated as "essential."

The airport was officially closed last night - however, it was reopened (partially today).

For Israelis looking to get back to Israel - and yes, many thousands are, some Israeli airlines have organized "rescue" flights. El Al, Arkia and Israir are asking people to sign up and are prioritizing them according to various factors including  any  humanitarian issues (need for medicine or medical treatment, family situation etc.,.)  In English, these flights are being called "repatriation flights" but in Hebrew the word is "chilutz" which means rescue.  

This means that I could agree to be "rescued" from Canada and  make my way back to Israel by flying from one of several destinations chosen by El Al - including Rome, Larnaca (Cyprus), Athens and some yet to be named U.S. cities - likely New York and Los Angeles.  However, this would, of course, be a one-way flight.  Given that I have certain work commitments in July, including some trials that I am running in Toronto, it would be risky to go back to Israel indefinitely at this time (irrespective of the potential physical danger, which I am less worried about). 

Some Israelis are coming back to Israel by boat. For example, I have some family members who are getting on a cruise ship from Cyprus and taking a 15 hour cruise back to Israel.   That actually sounds like fun - as long as the accompanying navy destroyer can protect the cruise ship from any  incoming missiles.  

It would probably seem surreal to be on a cruise ship, complete with its fine dining restaurants, gambling rooms, swimming pools and perhaps even some entertainment, while on the way back to Israel to face the uncertainty  of nightly missile attacks. 

For those looking to leave Israel, the options are limited.  I read that El Al would now be departing with a maximum of 50 passengers on a range of flights though I am not sure how easy it is to get a seat on these flights.  Some birthright groups and others left Israel on those same cruise ships - to Cyprus - and picked up flights from there  

The magnanimous and considerate Canadian  government has offered to provide a free bus ride for Canadians from Tel-Aviv to Amman.  From Amman, they are "on their own" though the Canadian government will try to help people find flights from Amman to other locations and eventually back to Canada.  I spoke to someone yesterday at Synagogue - who told me that their family member took one of these rides to Amman and has now been told that the next available flight out is July 3rd, 2025 - or about 11 days from now.  

My understanding is that Amman does not have the types of shelters that Israel does and his being hit with occasional pieces of missiles that have been shot down. As well, the Jordanian airport has been opening and closing depending on the situation.  Even though Jordanian falafel is apparently quite good, I would rather wait in Israel and take my chances in the Israeli shelters. But maybe that's just me...

In contrast to Canada, by the way, the U.S. has been organizing flights for U.S. citizens from Tel-Aviv to Athens.  Americans can register with the U.S. government and wait to be notified of an available flight. Beats a bus ride to Amman, in my view, even though the falafels at the Ben Gurion airport (if any of the food places are open) might not be as tasty as those in Amman. (Though in Israel they will be Kosher).

Religion

I couldn't finish this blog without mentioning at least 2 or 3 religious references.

For one thing, many observant Jews were convinced that the U.S. attack would take place this week to coincide with the dates in the  Biblical story of Purim on which King Achashverosh decreed that the Jewish of Shushan (modern day Iran) and surrounding areas could defend themselves with arms against those who were seeking to kill them.  Okay the date did not work out exactly as planned -  but considering that the operation was planned months ago  for  6-13 - this may well have been a consideration.

I am part of a social media group that discusses "leining issues" (issues relating to the reading of the weekly Torah portion. There was a whole discussion - about what happens if a forced synagogue closure causes a shul to skip the weekly Torah reading.  Does it do a double reading the next week?  Apparently, the halachic answer was that you read the entire previous week's portion as the first aliyah, combined with the first aliyah for that week.  That is a lot of Torah reading!  Everyone has their own priority list of issues to consider when dealing with ongoing missile barrages.  (Other Israelis are preoccupied with which items they need to keep in the safe room - in ready-to-go bags - in case the building is hit by a missile and  destroyed). 

Lastly - I note that Prime Minister Netanyahu found quite a healthy dose of religion over the past few days.  Just now, I heard him explaining that he wrapped himself in a Tallith, visited the Kotel and said "Shema Yisrael" just before authorizing the Israeli operation.  He said that he repeated this gestures in thanks yesterday after hearing from President Trump that the operation had been a success. This is fascinating coming from an avowedly secular Prime Minister.  Perhaps the more cynical among us might wonder if he is trying  to appeal to his Orthodox supporters to bolster his support -  but surely Prime Minister Netanyahu could not be that cynical...could he?  I leave that to you to determine.

Conclusion

We remain hopeful that our planned family wedding for September 4th will go ahead along with all of the other events including the aufruf, Hina and Shabbat dinner. Hopefully, there will be some kind of deal in place - with Iran and Hamas, the war will be over and the hostages will be back home.  And I hope that I will have been able to go back and forth at least once or twice between now and then.

There are many things that I have not covered  in this blog - just too much going on - so I will save some material for next time. In the meantime, I am hoping and praying for the safety of our Israeli armed forces in carrying out their operations, for the safety of Israeli civilians all over Israel (Jewish, Christian and Muslim - all of whom have been targeted by Iranian missiles), for the safe return of the  hostages and an end to the Gaza war  and for an end to this war that results in many years of peace in the Middle East. Shavua Tov.

Israel Attack on Iran June 13 2025

Since my last post just before Shavuot (May 30, 2025), I have been accumulating material for my next blog.  I was planning to cover a number of topics including flights and various things going on in Israel.  Perhaps towards the end  of this blog, I can add in some of those items.  But given the events that have taken place since last night, I thought that there was a pretty compelling need to put this together as soon as possible.

Israel's Attack on Iran

As you know by know, Israel launched at major attack on Iran last night at approximately 2:30 a.m. last night (Israel time).  The attack is still ongoing so the results are not yet clear.  This appears to be the  start of a major war but it remains to be seen how Iran will respond and how long this will go on. I wanted to write about a few aspects of this.

As you know from reading my blog (hopefully), it is not my goal to write "propaganda" or "hasbara."  I try to sift through news that I pick up from various sources and use that to discuss particular situations.  I do pick up quite a bit of information from Israeli sources since I regularly watch and listen to Israeli news and radio channels.  But I do also pick up news from a variety of other sources on different ends of the spectrum so I try to provide some amount of balance.

I want to tackle a few issues.

Why Attack Iran?

There are several reasons for this attack.  The Israeli government has also announced a series of war "objectives" and then there are other speculated reasons.  I will try to cover some of this.

1. Historical Threats from Nuclear Program

The Iranian Ayatollah regime has been explicitly threatening Israel with destruction for many years.  Iran has been building a nuclear bomb program and indicating in no uncertain terms that the plan is to attack and destroy Israel with it.  Israel has been facing this clouded existential threat.  Prime Minister Netanyahu has been warning for years that Israel would not permit Iran to develop a nuclear weapon and attack Israel with it.  U.S. Presidents, including Obama, Biden and Trump have all stated that they would not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.  Obama sought a diplomatic route.  Trump, in his first term, dismantled the diplomatic route.  On this file, Biden did nothing.  The result was that Iran has been racing towards finalizing its nuclear program - and according to the IAEA, just this week (the world's nuclear watchdog), Iran was not complying with its commitment to nuclear safeguards and was on the verge of producing nuclear weapons.  Given Iran's repeated threats, Israel had to view this as a real, existential threat.

2. Iran has been fighting Israel since October 7, 2023

It is quite clear that the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023 including the Hamas massacres of civilians, kidnapping of hostages and destruction of homes and business was supported and funded by the Iranian regime.  The Iranians trained the Hamas terrorists, in many cases at training camps in Iran and funded them.  But Iran also armed and activated the Hezbollah forces in Lebanon and Syria on Israel's borders, who have also been fighting with Israel since October 7, 2023.  Further, as you know, Iran has been supplying the Houthis in Yemen with long range ballistic missiles to fire at Israel regularly.   Although Iran has only attacked Israel "directly" twice since October 7, it fired hundreds of ballistic missiles, drones and cruise missiles on both of those occasions.  So although Iran has not been directly involved since Oct 7 with attacks from its own territory, it has been running a four-front war against Israel and Israel's response, until now, has been relatively minimal as against Iran itself.

3. Perceived Opportunity

The success of Israeli operations against Hezbollah, a key proxy of Iran, has left Iran with a vastly reduced proxy threat to  Israel from the north.  Moreover, Israel's responding attacks on Iran in April 2024 apparently caused significant damage to Iran's defence forces.  The political situation in Syria has minimized the perceived threat of Syria  becoming involved in the  conflict. Given  the combination of these factors, the Iranian closeness to completing its nuclear program and a more sympathetic U.S.  government, Israeli government officials determined that a narrow window was open for this attack.

Israeli Statements and U.S. Position

Prime Minister Netanyahu stated today that he gave the order to carry out the attack in November 2024.  He stated that the original date was supposed to be in April 2025, but the operation was pushed back.  According to Netanyahu, with the collapse of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Iranian leadership redoubled its efforts to complete the nuclear bomb program and were threatening to use it.  Netanyahu claimed that he has been trying to get support for this type of attack since 2012 but did not have the political support, either domestically or from the U.S.  Implicitly, he has suggested that the "green light" only came after Trump's election in November 2024.

President Trump and other U.S. leaders have stated that the U.S. was not involved in these attacks - but knew about them. First of all, I don't really believe that Israel went ahead with this operation without active support, approval and encouragement of President Trump.  It seems likely that President Biden was not willing to authorize this type of operation.  Secondly, President Trump's tweets have underscored the message that he was threatening Iran that something "terrible" would happen if Iran did not agree to a nuclear deal that was acceptable to the U.S. Thirdly, the U.S. is still calling on Iran to drop its nuclear program, come to the table and reach an agreement.  But for Iran, it is hard to  imagine that this looks like an inviting offer at this point. Prime Minister Netanyahu stated that the date, June 13, 2025, was selected months ago and that President Trump was kept fully apprised.

Preliminary Reports

From reports to date, from across the world, the Israeli operation to this point, has been devastating.  A large number of senior Iranian military and political leaders have been eliminated including the head of the army, the head of the air force, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and others.  Estimates are that more than 30 military and political leaders were targeted and killed.

Israel has been attacking Iranian nuclear facilities, missile depots and other military operations.

Just now, Israeli news is reporting that Iranian missiles are "self-destructing" all over the country - and that is being compared to the "beeper" operation with Hezbollah. I have no way of verifying these reports at this point, but they are fascinating.

It is unclear how long this operation will take but Israel appears to be targeting all of the different Iranian nuclear facilities including those that are deep underground.

Stated Objectives

The Israeli government has claimed that the war has several objectives.  First of all to significantly degrade the Iranian nuclear  program and set it back several years.  Secondly, to destroy much of the  Iranian ballistic program to minimize Iran's ability to attack Israel (itself or by using the Houthis).  Thirdly, to target the Iranian military leadership to force Iran into a change of position with respect to its ongoing war against Israel.  

Other Objectives

The Israeli government has stated that it is not attempting regime change in Iran.  However, Israel has targeted as wide range of Iranian political and military leaders.  Moreover, the current regime, much like Hamas, has stated that its long range goal is the  destruction of Israel.  Israelis do not believe that to be the general sentiment of  the Iranian people and generally believe that if there were a regime change in Iran,  Iran and Israel could have a peace deal in place.  Israelis point to the fact that under the Iranian Shah, Israel had peaceful relations with Iran. It seems to me that Israel (perhaps with the help of the  U.S.) will do everything possible to enable the Iran people to rid themselves of this oppressive regime.  A stable, free, more secular Iran would create a dramatic opportunity for long term middle eastern stability.  It remains to be seen  whether this is realistic or possible.

Cynical Objectives

While I did suggest in a previous blog that Netanyahu would do everything possible to avoid his ongoing trial (and current cross-examination). there does seem to be fairly wide bi-partisan (or multi-partisan) support in Israel at this time for this attack - especially with the latest reports of how close Iran was getting to deploying nuclear bombs to be used for offensive purposes. Israel has been fighting Iran now indirectly since October 7, 2023 with Iran paying a very small price for all of the destruction and damage that it has caused to Israel. I think the Israeli leadership came to a determination that the only way to end the war with Hamas and Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was to get "behind the curtain" to the real decision maker and orchestrator of the war against Israel.

What's Next

Israel is continuing its attacks across Iran as I write but is also now anticipating a massive Iranian response.  I guess we will have to stay tuned and see what happens.  Hopefully, Israeli defences, supported by the Americans, will be able to repel any counter attacks with minimum casualties and damage.

Other

The Israeli national airport, Ben Gurion Airport is currently closed to all traffic.  The civilian authority  has ordered all schools, restaurants, clubs, concert venues and other public places of large gatherings closed including synagogues and other places of worship. Airlines from across the world have announced indefinite cancellations of flights to and from Israel.  

I am currently in Toronto with a flight scheduled for the 22nd of June, via Athens.  It remains to be seen whether that will be possible. I have real concerns that anti-Israeli sympathizers, including protestors, rabble rousers and terrorists, will target Jewish institutions across the world - even here in Toronto and I hope that the police and security forces will stop up the level of security for these places.

I am going to leave my discussions of other issues for future blogs.  For now, I hope that this situation is resolved as quickly as possible - hopefully with a stable end to the entire war, a return of the hostages, a peace deal with a new Iranian regime - and a completely changed Middle East.  Okay, it's okay to hope for a lot.  But  given the changes in Syria and Lebanon, we have every reason to believe that change is possible and within reach.

Shabbat Shalom

Pre-Shavuot Update 2025

It is the weekend before Shavuot 2025 and I thought it was time to try and put together a blog covering a variety of things in no particular order.  There is much to write about - too much, in fact - and I have been very busy with remunerative work - so less time for the hobby of writing blogs. But I will try to cover a bunch of items and leave some for later.

1. The Hostages and the Gaza War

I should really start with the hostages.  There are still 58 Israelis being held by Hamas, of whom, it is believed that 20 are alive.  This week marked 600 days since the attack and massacre by Hamas on October 7, 2023.  While President Trump's designee, Steve Witkoff, has been making all sorts of efforts to strike a deal between Hamas and Israel, both sides seem reluctant to agree.  This week, there were some hints from all sides that a deal was imminent but this morning Hamas rejected the latest proposal from the U.S., after Israel tentatively agreed to it. The hostages are being held in brutal, inhumane conditions.  The more time that passes, the less likely it is that the remaining live hostages will survive.

The war is also taking a significant toll on the lives of Gazans - and for Israeli soldiers - both regular soldiers and reservists.  It does not appear that Hamas has any interest in a cease fire deal other than one that will leave it in power - ready to rebuild for another attack.  For Israel, there is little appetite for a deal that will leave Hamas in power in Gaza.  As several U.S. Senators said this week  - when fighting against a band of terrorists - the goal is the surrender of the terrorists - the same goal that the U.S. pursued when fighting Nazi Germany in World War II (and Japan as well).  

If Witkoff is not able to broker a deal, Israel may well expand its operations in Gaza in an effort to force a surrender.  This is a daunting task - especially since Israel is dealing with an enemy that would rather die than surrender (in many cases)  In short, this war may continue for quite a while.

2. World Pressure

As time goes on and a deal seems remote, the casualties in Gaza are continuing to mount.  France is now leading the charge to start pressuring Israel economically and politically - to end the war.  Some of the other protagonists include Spain, Great Britain and Canada.  France and  several other countries have pledged to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian State next week - though it is unclear what the defined boundaries or other parameters will be.   It would obviously be helpful  for these same countries to exert their influence to cause Hamas to release the hostages and push for the end  of the war - and to allow food and supplies to be transferred to the Gaza civilian population (Hamas has been confiscating food and  supplies for its own use up until this week - when a new mechanism was put into place to supply civilians directly with food). 

At the same time, the current Israeli government is isolating Israel more and more from the rest of the world and this could have significant  consequences for Israel in the short and long term. 

3. The Houthis and Iran

Israel is also fighting a war with the Yemen-based Houthis (who do not even share a border with Israel).  They are promoting themselves as the defenders of the Palestinians - which for them, means, firing ballistic rockets at Israel sporadically.  As  you may know, Trump reached a deal with the Houthis and agreed not to attack them in exchange for an undertaking by the Houthis not to attack U.S. ships.  So Israel has been left with the task of fighting the Houthis and defending against the barrages of Iranian-supplied ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis. 

Yesterday, we were in an elevator, in the middle of the day, when a missile siren went off, signifying that  there was an incoming ballistic missile, sent by the Houthis.  Fortunately, it was shot down. though we had to wait in a safe bomb shelter room for about 10 minutes. 

Just weeks ago, a Houthi missile got through the defence systems and landed near Ben-Gurion Airport.  That missile hit about 45 minutes after I took off from Israel en route to Athens.  As a result of that attack, most foreign airlines cancelled all of their air traffic to Tel-Aviv.  Some airlines have now restarted their service but many others have extended their suspensions of service.  For example, British Airways, Ryannair, Wizz Air and others all announced they would continue to suspend their service to Tel-Aviv.  I note that Air Canada, not long after the recent Canadian election (see my last blog) announced that it would not resume service before September 2025, which is one of the latest proposed dates from any airline that I have seen.

Israel's fight with the Houthis is, of course, a proxy fight with Iran.  As Trump is negotiating a new JOCPA with Iran, he seems to also be playing "good cop bad cop" with Iran and threatening to allow Israel to attack Iran and try to take out its nuclear program if a deal is not reached.  It may be that Trump's game is more "good cop" than "bad cop" as it seems likely that he will push Netanyahu not to attack at this point.  However, in the case of both Trump and Netanyahu, things are quite unpredictable.

4. Netanyahu

As you know, Prime Minister Netanyahu is in the midst of his criminal trial - which is coming to the most crucial part of the trial - next week - the cross examination of Netanyahu is set to begin as early as Tuesday or Wednesday next week. Despite all of his bravado, I find it hard to believe that Netanyahu is anxious to go through this cross-examination.  Much of his testimony in chief, as reported, was unbelievable and incredible.  I believe that the prosecutors are salivating at the opportunity to cross examine Bibi and I also  believe that he knows it will be very uncomfortable.  He may well pull out all of the stops to derail or postpone the cross-examination.  What could that include?  Just about anything.  A sudden illness (real or imaginary).  The break up of his current governing coalition.   The launching of a sudden attack on Iran.  Or even some kind of plea bargain deal.  I think it is likely that something big is going to happen this coming week - just in time to stave off this cross-examination.  This should be an incredibly pivotal week for Israel.

5.    Eurovision

As you might know, Israel finished 2nd in the annual Eurovision song contest last week that took place in Basel Switzerland.  This was a politically charged contest with some of the European countries pushing to expel Israel and prevent it from participating.  

The Israeli contestant was Yuval Raphael, a singer who had survived the Hamas massacres on October 7, 2023 by hiding under a pile of dead bodies and pretending to be dead herself. She faced demonstrations and boos from Pro-Palestinian/ Pro-Hamas agitators.  The panel of judges, representing each participating country, awarded Raphael/Israel a total of only 60 points (out of 32 scoring countries).  Only Azerbaijan awarded the first place award of 12 points to Israel.  Several countries gave Israel no points -  and most countries awarded very low point totals to Raphael/Israel.

However, the Eurovision contest also involves audience voting by country.  Here Israel finished in first place overall - which included winning the full 12 points from the audience in several countries including Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and others.  In fact, Israel came in 2nd place in Ireland, a country whose current policies have been among the most anti-Israel anywhere.  Israel also came in first place in the voting in Australia (which participates in Eurovision even though it is a bit far away from Europe) and Spain, two other countries whose leadership has been virulently ant-Israel. Overall, Raphael/Israel wound up finishing second in the contest, which was a really strong result.

Much of the music in any given Eurovision contest is quite awful - shlocky, poppy, minimally complex and often annoying.  But you can watch the Israeli entry - Raphael's powerful  "New Day Will Rise" and come to your own conclusions -  especially by comparing it to the winner, JJ and their song "Wasted Love" from Austria.  Last year's winner "The Code" by non-binary  and stridently anti-Israel performer Nemo from Switzerland - was also fairly  atrocious (in my humble opinion)

Israelis get really excited about this event and watch it in droves, even though so many of the performances are usually insufferable.  But Israel's participation the contest has become a political hot potato - especially with the increasingly large Arab/Muslim populations in so many European countries that are looking for any opportunity to delegitimize Israel.

6.    Flight Routes

As I touched on earlier, the options for getting back and forth from Israel are fairly limited.  For my most recent flight - I flew Air Canada to Athens and then El Al to Israel.  I had a long wait in Athens  - about 9 hours - so I decided to get a day room a the Sofitel Hotel - conveniently located rate across from the arrival doors at the airport.  Not exactly cheap but it offered some well needed rest.

So many airlines  have cancelled their flights - that it is really hard to predict who might be flying on any given day.  Only El Al has consistently flown back and forth - and taken full advantage of supply and demand - to charge record prices - and earn record profits.

It will be interesting to see what consumers do once this is all over.  On the one hand, El Al has charged exorbitant, outrageous, even usurious prices.  On the other hand, it is one of the only airlines that has continued to fly.  Some consumers may stay  away from El Al  when there are other options - as a response to the crazy pricing.  Others may appreciate that El Al has continued to serve the Israeli public - even at a high cost.  I have no idea what will happen - but, for now, El Al is continuing to fly and is earning record profits.

Of course I wish they were still flying back and forth direct from Toronto or  Montreal to Tel-Aviv - but they cancelled those flights well before the war broke out.

7. Nova Exhibition

While in Toronto recently, I attended at the Nova Exhibition, which will be in Toronto until June 22, 2025.  After that it is moving to Washington D.C. It will actually open in Washington on June 14, 2025.

The Exhibition is a huge installation of artifacts, videos, testimony from survivors and victims (collected from their cell phones in many cases) of the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacres at the Nova festival.  The Exhibition is quite powerful and well worth attending.  Allow about 2-3 hours if you go.

8. Sports News- Ice Hockey

As you probably know, there is one Canadian team  left in the  NHL playoffs this year.  The games will all be at 8 p.m., starting on Wednesday June 4th, 2025 - which means 3 a.m. Israel time.  In Israel, they are being  shown live on channel 59, which is better quality then my streaming services.

The Edmonton Oilers, of course, include the best player in the world, Connor McDavid.  McDavid is probably the most  exciting player I have ever seen play (and I have watched a lot of hockey).  But he still hasn't won the Stanley Cup.  Hopefully this will be his year.  One of his teammates is Zack Hyman, a player who attended CHAT (the Community Hebrew Academy of  Toronto).  Some people are hoping that if the Oilers win the Cup, Hyman will bring it to CHAT for a visit. Unfortunately, Hyman was injured in game 4 of the semi-finals against Dallas and required surgery.  Looks like he will be out for the rest of this year's playoffs but hopefully he can still come out on the ice and kiss the cup if the Oilers win.

Given the Jewish/Israeli theme of my blog - I also wanted to mention another Israeli/Jewish hockey player - Zeev Buium.  Born in San Diego, California, Buium, is the son of two Israeli parents.  He has dual citizenship and is apparently the first Israeli to play in the NHL - he plays for the Minnesota Wild and saw some action in the playoffs this year.  Buium played for Team USA in the World Hockey Championships this year.  He scored one goal and had three assists - and helped the USA win the gold medal for the first time since 1933 in the World Ice Hocky Championships.  (Canada flamed out with an embarrassing loss to Denmark, despite icing a roster that included Sid Crosby and Nathan McKinnon).

I'll try to watch as many of the Oilers' games as I can - hoping to see a Canadian team bring the cup back to Canada.  I did have tickets lined up for game 3 of the finals in Toronto if the Maple Leafs had been able to make it - but as you may know, they lost 4-3 in a 7 game series against the Florida Panthers.  Yet again, another disappointing year for Toronto.

9. Shavuot

The holiday of Shavuot beings on Sunday night.  This marks 50 days since Passover started -and commemorates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people.  More recently, the holiday has been known for being the only Jewish holiday  where everyone eats dairy (and maybe has some fish).  I will be making some cheese blintzes on Sunday  -  I try to make them in a way that is as close as  possible to the way that my grandmother z"l used to make them.  I find the cheese blintz recipe on toryavey.com to be as close as it gets.

We were at the supermarket this morning and there was a huge run on cheeses and dairy products of every possible kind. It was very hard to find ricotta cheese for the filling.  We  also visited a wine store - and they were, not surprisingly, pushing white and  rose wines.   We picked up Rose wines by Gvaot and Tulip's White Franc - which looks like a Rose but is technically not.   We also bought some white wine from Castel (the La Vie en Rose line) and a Sauvignon Blanc from Psagot. We have to make some decisions about what to serve for an important upcoming Friday night dinner in August. We have already picked out the red wine that we will serve.

Shavuot can mark the start of some really  intense heat in Israel - and the predictions are that it will be very hot across the country tomorrow and  Sunday.  In Ra'anana, the current prediction is about 30c for tomorrow - while in Tiberias (T'veria) it will be a balmy 36c.  Apparently it will "cool down" by Monday but let's hope that the air conditioning  holds up.

That's about it for now.  It should be a very eventful week or two in Israel with all kinds of things going on.  I am hoping for the safe return of all of the remaining hostages and for some kind of deal or end to this war. Especially hoping for the safe return of all of our soldiers including some family members that are in Gaza and other areas.  Wishing everyone a happy and  healthy Shavuot.