I have had a look and it has been about three months since I have written a blog. So I thought it was time for an update. I plan to cover a range of topics - not necessarily with significant depth - but there are so many things going on here that I thought it would be worthwhile covering a few of them. Things are quite busy at work (my day job) so it is hard to devote a great deal of time to an unpaid hobby - as important as my updates might be. I will try to include some headings so you can skip to whatever you might find interesting....
1. Getting to and from Israel
I thought I would start with this one - since some of you might be planning or thinking about planning trips to Israel in the coming months. Since October, 2023, "commuting" has become extremely challenging. As you might know, Air Canada suspended its service to Israel on October 7, 2023 as did many other airlines. Only El Al continued its service to Israel uninterrupted as did a handful of other airlines - including Emirates Airlines. (Though has you know, El Al had cancelled its direct Toronto service more than a year ago in any case).
Air Canada has announced that it will be resuming service effective April 8, 2024, but there is still no end to the war in sight - so I guess what I would say is "I'll believe it when I see it."
Over the years, as you may know, I have been doing my best to fly Air Canada as often as I can. The Aeroplan program is better than the available alternatives and Air Canada has been the only airline with direct service since El Al cancelled its direct service to Toronto.
So since October, I have tried to find ways to get to Israel from Toronto by combining Air Canada and El Al. I have flown through Rome, Amsterdam and London with these combinations. These were challenging connections to say the least, especially if you have luggage. Since there is no sharing agreement between airlines, you have to land, exit the airport, collect your baggage and then check in again. I would say that the Rome airport was reasonably efficient - especially for Canadian passport holders - as they have a quick line for holders of passports from certain countries, including the EU, U.S. and Canada. Amsterdam was a disaster. The immigration line alone there took more than an hour.
In London, the exit was almost as quick as Rome - but then I had to take a train - (way, way, way down) to switch terminals. The whole process took forever.
Considering everything, I was prepared to make the best of it and arrange a few more flights via Rome. The problem is that the connection is great leaving Israel going back to Toronto. But from Toronto - you have to plan on spending a day in Rome.
Okay - things could be worse. For one of my flights, I locked up my baggage and spent a day in Rome. I went for lunch at a Kosher Tunisian restaurant - (which was interesting - but I probably should have gone with the Kosher Italian food instead....) and walked around the city for several hours. I managed to visit the Trevi Fountain, several other sites and, ultimately, a great gelato place.
But more recently, all of the airlines have upped their fares considerably. To fly via Rome this time, the fares were over $3,000 Canadian for economy class, with a lengthy delay. I couldn't find any other reasonable alternatives.
So I wound up trying Air France via Paris - with a 1.5 hour connection in Paris. It sounded questionably optimistic but it was less than 1/2 the price of other alternatives. The flight itself from Toronto to Paris on Air France was fine. Reasonably comfortable seats, decent entertainment system and fairly good service. We arrived in Paris a bit early - but... sat on the tarmac for almost an hour and missed the connection. So me and seven other Israelis - my "lonsmen" (actually there were no women in the group so it was really only lonsmen) were put on an alternate flight - the next day. We were given vouchers for a hotel near the airport, vouchers for food at the hotel and at the airport - and instructions for a free shuttle to and from the hotel.
I suppose things could be worse than an overnight in Paris. After resting for a while in the hotel (a medium end airport Moxy Hotel), I shared an Uber ride with some of my fellow Israelis and headed off to the Eiffel Tower. From there, we walked over to the Left Bank area, taking in the sights and sounds of Paris along the way. It was quite an inconvenient stopover but we made the best of it. I have applied for the EU compensation (which is supposed to be 600 Euros for the missed connection, at the fault of the airline) but let's see if that arrives.
On the way back to Toronto - I am travelling through Amsterdam with one of my family members and we have an overnight there. The alternative is paying 3-4 times as much. So we will see how that goes.
For now, all of this has meant fewer Aeroplan points, travelling without any benefits - and very inconvenient connections. There are El Al flights through New York and other cities in the U.S., though the prices have also increased dramatically. I am also not a big fan of transiting through the U.S. if I an avoid it - due to the incredibly long and inefficient security (especially compared to most of the big European airports). As well, the El Al loyalty program is terrible comparatively.
All in all, these are small problems compared to challenges that Israel is facing with an ongoing war. Our soldiers are in constant danger including our standing army and our reserve soldiers. The civilian population is also under threat of terrorist attacks, missile attacks, and other threats. The Northern border is in a state of all out war - or close to it. And of course all of the areas surrounding Gaza have been devastated. So my concerns about getting to and from Israel - are minor in comparison to everything else. But for people considering coming here, I thought it might be worth writing about the options.
I have also seen available flights on Ethiopian Airways, Emirates/Air Dubai and Lot Polish. Some of these flights can include total flying time of 30-40 hours with lengthy stopovers in different places - sometimes with two or three connections.
So I have joined the Air France loyalty program and used the opportunity to practice my French a bit. "Un vin rouge s'il vous plait"....and "Un autre vin rouge s'il vous plait...". Merci. Actually there was more - "un cognac s'il vous plait" - Air France is well stocked with beverage options.
2. The Government
The current Israeli government is facing a wide range of challenges and grappling with many different fault lines. As you may know, it still has a 64-56 coalition majority. None of the coalition partners have anywhere else to go, ideologically, so I would be surprised if the government were to collapse any time soon notwithstanding the apparently vast unpopularity of the current leadership.
One of the most interesting issues - is the enlistment of the Ultra-Orthodox (the "Haredim"). A whole megillah could be written about this issue. The short version is that the first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben Gurion, agreed to a "compromise" with the ultra-religious community back in 1948 whereby a relatively small number of yeshiva students would be exempt from military service to be able to continue their religious studies full-time.
Over the years since 1948, through various coalition deals, the number of exempt ultra-orthodox has ballooned greatly - to the point where the entire community of ultra-orthodox Jews have been granted exemptions from the army, provided that they study in yeshivahs.
Various court challenges were brought by different groups - and the Israeli Supreme Court decided, on several instances, that these arrangements were not fair - since different classes of citizens were being treated differently. The Court gave the government time to negotiate and enact a law to address the situation. But the ultra-religious have been having none of it and have been demanding a blanket override law - a "notwithstanding clause" if you will - that exempts all of them permanently - even while their population is growing at a dramatic rate relative to the non-haredi population.
This current government is made up of close to 25% ultra-orthodox members - which demanded support for this exemption as a term of supporting Netanyahu.
Now the Supreme Court had given the government until April 1, 2024 to enact a law to address the situation. While there have been negotiations - there is no law - and nothing close to a law. So the Court has stated that effective April 1, 2024, the government will need to cease funding any yeshivas that are not sending their students to the army.
Needless to say the Haredim are promising full civil disobedience.
The ultra-religious parties are threatening to quit the government but they have nowhere to go. No other party will give them a better deal. Causing an election now is almost certainly a recipe for disaster for the ultra-religious (and perhaps for the rest of the extreme right wing). So it seems like they are going to huff and puff quite a bit - but it is hard to imagine that they will actually blow the house down (i.e. cause the government to fall).
Even so, this promises to be a fascinating issue to watch in the coming weeks.
3. The War
It is hard to know what is really going on with respect to the progress of the war. There are reports across world wide media - and there are daily reports from the Israeli military spokesperson and various Israeli media outlets.
According to one report I read yesterday, that seemed reasonably reliable, Israeli intelligence had estimated that there were about 30,000 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters before the war. Revised estimates seem to put the numbers closer to 40,000-45,000.
Israeli reports of dead, injured and captured Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters total between 25,000 and 30,000. So Israel seems to believe that it has immobilized approximately 3/4 of the fighting forces that it was facing. It seems that the majority of the remaining forces are in Rafiah -which is likely to be the final area of fighting - even as other fighting continues across Gaza.
Note that the Hamas "Health Ministry" claims that the number of dead Gazans is around 30,000. That number includes civilians and fighters. In other words, if Israel's numbers are correct and the number of dead fighters in the range of 20,000-25,000 - the number of dead civilians is actually quite low for a conflict of this scope and nature, which includes urban fighting with Hamas using its people as human shields.
That is not to say that anyone feels good about dead Gazan civilians. But this is hardly a "genocide" or the intentional killing of civilians. Gaza has a population of approximately two million. If Israel was setting out to kill civilians intentionally, the numbers would be in the hundreds of thousands. But Israel is not Russia - or Syria - or other constituent member countries of the UN that routinely carry out those types of massacres but only vote to sanction Israel.
While Israel is fighting a messy campaign in Gaza against a ruthless terrorist army, it is also fighting a major war with Hezbollah on Israel's northern border with Lebanon. This war has been escalating constantly since October 7, 2024. As of today, Hezbollah and Lebanon have not decided to unleash a full scale war with Israel - which would involve sending thousands of rockets all over Israel. In response, Israel would almost certainly flatten Beirut and many other Lebanese cities. So far, Hezbollah has been fighting an aggressive war, launching RPGs and killing many Israelis - while shelling a range of northern Israeli cities. In response, Israel has been shelling Hezbollah locations, launching air raids and attacking Hezbollah locations across Lebanon. But it has not launched a full out attack on Beirut or turned the fighting into a "full-scale war." But effectively, there is a very dangerous war going on in the north and thousands of Israelis have been displaced from their homes and cannot return.
Cities like Kiryat Shemona are ghost towns - with only solders and various armored units in place.
Many Israelis believe that Israel will need to launch a full out war with Hezbollah before this all ends - to push Hezbollah back from the Israeli border to where it should be (in line with UN resolutions). The only other alternative is a negotiated arrangement with Hezbollah whereby Hezbollah would agree to move back from the border. This does not seem to be close.
4. The Hostages
As you know, it is believed that Hamas is continuing to hold approximately 130 Israeli hostages. Some reports have indicated that anywhere from 30 to 50 of these hostages have been reported dead. But the family members of these hostages - and indeed - all Israelis - continue to hope that all of the hostages will return to Israel alive.
Some of the released hostages have provided detailed reports of the atrocities they faced while in Hamas captivity - including sexual violence - which is still being denied in some circles of pro-Hamas supporters. The New York Times, to its credit, has recently published extensive details of many of these atrocities.
Many Israelis are calling on the government to do everything it can to win the release of the hostages - even if that means making an unpalatable deal with Hamas. But the Hamas demands are not just unreasonable - there are completely unacceptable - not just to Netanyahu but across most of the Israeli spectrum of opinion. Hamas has stated quite publicly that it would like to take a "pause" and then do this again - on an even bigger scale.
So is is unclear what kind of deal, if any, can be made with Hamas. In my view, Israel will need to launch a full scale operation in Rafiah and destroy the remaining Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighting forces. There really aren't many other choices.
5. World Response
At the outset of the war, President Biden visited Israel, sent aircraft carriers and demonstrated complete support for Israel and its response. It is hard to imagine that any President (including the orange headed guy) would have demonstrated such significant support for Israel at a time of crisis.
But as the war has progressed, the relationship with the United States has unquestionably deteriorated. For one thing, Biden has been losing support to Trump. Some commentators have claimed that this is because of the Israel-Gaza file. I'm actually not convinced - since it is hard to imagine that the Republicans would be better for the pro-Gaza crowd. But the perception seems to be that Biden needs to shore up his left, "progressive" wing - which means putting more distance between his government and the Israeli leadership.
President Biden now seems to be intent on "rewarding" the Palestinians for this massive terror operation by setting up a Palestinian State, perhaps even unilaterally. While this is not yet official U.S. policy - there is a definite sense that this is emerging as a U.S. option.
Granted, Prime Minister Netanyahu is part of a very extreme government that has no interest (and probably never has had any interest) in reaching any kind of agreement with any Palestinians. So that does not make things easy for Biden or anyone else.
But the real narrative here - is that Israel is dealing with a very extreme, radical, movement, intent only on Israel's destruction, that launched an all out war on October 7, 2023. There is no proposal by Hamas or by the Islamic Jihad for peace or anything close to it. Historically, we know what must be done to fight these types of regimes. They must be defeated completely. It doesn't seem to me that this war will end until Yihyah Sinwar and his henchmen are caught, dead or alive and until Hamas effectively surrenders.
I believe that President Biden would get much more traction pushing for that result - even as a negotiating tactic. If Hamas understands that the U.S. will support Israel in finishing off the Hamas military, whatever the cost - for Israel and for Gazan civilians - Hamas will lessen its demands dramatically and perhaps even surrender. But failing to veto a UN resolution calling for an "immediate cease fire" is a completely unhelpful move. Just imagine supporting a call for a U.S. cease fire while the U.S. was fighting the Nazis.
As for Canada - the situation is completely embarrassing, ridiculous and at all odds with any reasonable morally supportable position. Perhaps that is where the Canadian leadership figures it will obtain its votes or perhaps they have simply shown their true colours. But joining the company of Ireland, Turkey, Iceland and other anti-Israel protagonists is just not a well thought out position for Canada - which may well face its own security challenges down the road as the numbers of extremist Muslims in Canada continue to rise. So far, Canada has seen a massive growth in anti-Semitic activity - which has included blockading bridges in Jewish neighbourhoods, demonstrating outside synagogues, attacking Jewish owned stores and businesses and a whole host of other activities.
Instead of unequivocally condemning these incidents - the Federal government has used some very questionable language and has exacerbated the situation. For the Jewish community at least, it is quite clear that Canada is in drastic need of a change of leadership.
All of this aside, Israel drastically needs its own change of government though that is unlikely to happen any time soon. Nevertheless, the response from this current Israeli government to the October 7th attacks by Hamas would have been pretty much the same from any Israeli government that might have been in power, in my view. Israel needs to destroy the threat from Hamas, find a way to return the hostages, or as many of them as possible - and only then move to considering a long term solution for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
6. The Holidays
On a lighter note (in some ways), Israel celebrated the holiday of Purim last week. Unfortunately, I picked up a case of Covid while visiting the City of Lights - and had to skip my usual Megillah reading. I usually read chapter 8 - and sometimes 9 and 10 here at our shul in Israel.
We still received a few nice mishloach manot (Purim gift baskets) including one really interesting one. Friends of ours gave us a "do-it-yourself" Tabouleh kit - with fresh vegetables from Israeli farms in the vicinity of Gaza. It was quite a fun and thoughtful idea and we enjoyed putting it together.
I ate my share of hamentaschen, even while under the weather. There was definitely a subdued feel to Purim in Israel this year as I am sure there was in the Jewish community throughout the world.
It is now time to start getting ready for Pesach though we still have a few weeks. Enough time for a trip back to Toronto before the holiday and maybe a chance to get some work done.
I think that is about all I am going to cover for now. I know there is lots more to say and hopefully I will have the chance to write another blog shortly.
We are continuing to hope and pray for some good news here in Israel. We have lost so many of our soldiers - 598 as of the time of writing of this blog - and so many more have been injured (more than 3,100). Since this is a people's army - that means that we all know someone who was injured or killed in the fighting. We know of friends and neighbours and their children who are now stationed in Gaza or on Israel's northern or eastern borders. And unfortunately, we know of people from our city, our synagogue, our children's schools and other places that have been killed or injured since October 7, 2023.
At this time, I think the best we can do is hope that the Israeli army can win a decisive victory or otherwise cause Hamas to surrender as soon as possible and we can then look to how to deal with the broader conflict with a long term view.
On a final note - I have to point out that Israeli clocks are officially moving ahead by one hour tonight - yes we are finally "springing ahead" - a few weeks after North America. So as I finish off this blog - and perhaps watch a bit of the Leafs-Capitals game before going to sleep - it is with the unfortunate knowledge that I will be losing an hour of sleep tonight.
Shabbat Shalom and best regards from Israel.
