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.
