Day 8 of War - Increasing Escalation

We are the midst of day eight of a war with Hamas/Gaza, which is a really a war with several parties, including Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and the Palestinian Authority, even though parts of this war have not yet started.  I don't write this as a scare tactic but rather as my best assessment of where we are currently.

I am not going to recap in this blog the full extent of the massacre conduct by Hamas terrorists last week. I will say that over the past week, we have learned more and more details of the extensive planning that went into this attack with the clear aim of murdering civilians, taking hostages, looting and other outrageous acts. More than 1,300 Israelis were murdered and more than 3,000 were injured - all of this conducted by the official government that runs and controls the Gaza strip -  Hamas - which announced its actions as a "declaration of war" on Israel last week.

Since last week, Israel has launched extensive air raids on Gaza and has killed several of Hamas' senior military commanders. Hundreds of thousands of Israeli troops have been called up and many are massed at the border of Gaza, prepared to enter if and when they receive the order to do so.

Although Israel has warned residents of northern Gaza to leave and take shelter in the south - and has threatened to begin a ground option "at any time" - the extent and nature of the pending Israeli operation is yet to be determined. It is clearly a top priority for Israel to destroy the entire network of Hamas tunnels, weapons and communications facilities and everything else that Hamas has built up underground across Gaza.  How exactly Israel plans to do this remains to be seen. However, Israelis across the political spectrum are largely unified and view the complete destruction of Hamas' military capabilities as an imperative and the key war aim for Israel.

Other Fronts

As we know, Hamas is funded, trained and supported by Iran as well as Qatar and to some extent, Turkey.  Hamas also works closely with Iran's proxy, Hezbollah, which controls Lebanon and parts of Syria.  Hezbollah has pledged, at least in some form, to support Hamas in this war.  It may well be that Hezbollah and Hamas have a detailed plan as to how and when Hezbollah will get involved.  Or perhaps Hezbollah is playing it by ear. 

Since the war  began, Hezbollah has been slowly increasing its involvement - just enough to avoid starting a full scale war. They have fired unmanned drones, missiles, rockets and other weaponry at Israel but in small quantities. Today, Hezbollah stepped up its attacks. In the morning, they fired an RPG that killed one  Israeli and  injured five others. Later this afternoon, they fired another RPG that killed two more civilians.  As I have been writing this blog, Hezbollah has fired 7 more RPGs at Israeli troops. Israel has answered these attacks with air strikes and other retaliatory measures, though still on a relatively restrained scale. However, at this point, it now seems to be a question of when, rather then if, Israel will be in a full scale war with Hezbollah and Lebanon. This may well erupt completely today or tomorrow.

Lebanon has a massive storehouse of missiles, drones, rockets and all types of other weaponry. Hezbollah has thousands of Hezbollah fighters gathered near the border and it seems very unlikely that they will  decide to stay out of the war. The US has two aircraft carriers in place, one in the Mediterranean off the coast of  Israel.  It is unclear what role the U.S. will play in a fight between Israel and Hezbollah, but President Biden's speeches suggest that the U.S. is likely to use its air power if Israel is attacked by Hezbollah/Iran.

To the east of Lebanon, thousands of troops are now ready in Syria, some from Syria and some from Iraq. So far, these troops have fired a few times towards Israel. There are suggestions that Hezbollah would rather attack Israel from the east - and have Syria serve as the war theatre rather than Lebanon. However, Israel is not buying this. If Israel is drawn into an all out war with Hezbollah, Israel will almost certainly flatten parts of Beirut and other areas in Lebanon. That threat may be the one thing that is restraining Hezbollah so far.

Palestinian areas in Judea and Samaria including groups in Jenin are also threatening to get involved, all to help spread the army thinner. Right now, this does not seem to be a major threat but it may develop into one.

The major player behind all of this is clearly Iran, which is controlling the strings of everything that is going on. It is unclear whether Iran is interested in joining this war, though it has threatened to destroy Israel for many years.  The U.S. aircraft carriers may be a deterrent here but we simply don't know what Iran has planned as part of this war.

Stories of Bravery    

There are hundreds of stories of incredible acts of bravery that took place last week by police officers, soldiers, civilians and others. I wanted to mention a few.

In the kibbutz of Nir Am, the leader of the Kibbutz's Readiness Forces, Inbal Lieberman (26), received an early notification of an impending attack. She sprung into action, got all of the forces up and ready and developed an action plan and spread the forces (12 of them) to different stations across the Kibbutz. With her direction, the Kibbutz forces held off and killed waves of Hamas terrorists - until Israeli enforcements were later able to arrive and engage the remaining Hamas forces further. No civilians were killed at Nir Am, one of the few developments that suffered no civilian casualties and was not destroyed by the terrorists on Saturday October 7, 2023.

Another story involves Yair Golan, who is a former Knesset member for the left wing Meretz party. He is also a retired Major General in the IDF. He is  61. He received phone calls from different people early Sunday morning about kids who were trapped at the Nova party - and were reporting that Hamas terrorists were massacring people. Described as a "one-man army," Golan wasted no time. He grabbed a weapon, got into his car and sped to the area. In what sounds like scenes from a Mission Impossible or James Bond movie - he raced to locations provided to him by trapped party-goers, using their cell-phones. Along the way, he killed several Hamas terrorists. He loaded up his car, drove the kids to safety and went back to pick up other groups. It is unclear how many he brought to safety but the stories are simply astounding. Earlier this year, Golan was being called a "traitor" and "anarchist" by some Likud members since he opposed Netanyahu's attack on the judiciary. Now many of those same members are saluting his bravery and thanking him.

I also want to mention the story of Moran Tagdi, a police officer who took control of a dangerous situation involving a group of Hamas terrorists fighting from the rooftop of a two story complex in one of the Kibbutzim.  A group of officers and soldiers were involved in an intense gunfight with Hamas terrorists who had grenades, RPGs and other weapons. Tagdi came up with a plan - and told the other officers to continue to occupy the attention of the terrorists. She sent Whatsapp messages to her kids, telling them that she loved them, since she didn't know if she would survive. She took two fighters with her. They snuck around the rear of the building, made her way up the stairs and killed the three terrorists.  

There are hundreds of other stories but the stories I have cited caught my attention his week. Many stories didn't turn out as well. One Israeli commando apparently killed more than 40 Hamas terrorists himself over a period of three hours before he ran out of ammunition and was killed himself. Another group of Kibbutz Readiness forces tried to fight back but were hit with rocket launchers by Hamas and were all killed - and unable to stop Hamas pillaging, murder and hostage-taking in their kibbutz. More than 250 Israeli soldiers and more than 40 police officers were killed fighting back.  

It is evident that even in the face of a massive surprise invasion by terrorists intent on carrying out all kinds of heinous crimes, there were many points of light in the form of brave police officers, soldiers and civilians who acted quickly and saved lives.

Hostages

As you probably know, there are more than 140 hostages  in Gaza, of all different ages, taken by Hamas. We have very limited information  about them or their whereabouts. It may be that the IDF is trying to rescue some as we speak - though so far - Israel has only managed to retrieve some bodies of hostages who were either killed in Hamas captivity or whose bodies were taken by Hamas for negotiations. We have not heard about any efforts by the Red Cross or any other "humanitarian" organizations to try and release these hostages. President Biden met personally with family members of some of the hostages. While Israel always makes it a key priority to rescue its hostages, it is facing major challenges  in the  context of this current war.  I have to believe that the army is taking whatever steps it can but this is a very difficult  situation.

Personal

We appreciate the many warm messages we have received. Things are extremely stressful here. The war is threatening to spin out of control and grow into a much wider regional conflict. We are concerned for the safety of family members, friends, neighbours, community members and  others - and there is a great deal of uncertainty how long this might go on. It could be several months or longer.

Israel is determined to remove Hamas from Gaza as a threat and to ensure that Gaza cannot threaten Israel militarily.  It is also determined to capture or kill all of those who were responsible for the heinous terrorist acts committed last week. Both of those goals may take a while and may lead to months and months of fighting - while Israel may also have to fight one or two additional fronts at the same time.  

We hope and pray that this will all end quickly and successfully for Israel, however one might describe "success" in these circumstances, given what has taken place so far.

 

Day 6 - Israel's War with Hamas: Some Comments and Updates

We are in the 6th day of Israel's war with Hamas - that was launched by Hamas on Saturday October 7, 2023.  Israel military and political spokespeople are talking about a "lengthy war" that it is still in its very early stages.  Israel has been talking about completely limiting the military capabilities of Hamas as a war aim - in other words, the destruction of the organization.  The key to Hamas' military and communication capabilities is its massive network of deep, hidden, tunnels under Gaza.  Israel would need to destroy most of this network including the munitions being stored there and the leadership hiding there.

One question is whether Israel can actually accomplish this objective and if so, what the cost would be - in terms of lives of our soldiers, civilian casualties on both sides and other costs.  We would like to think that between the U.S. and Israel - there would be remote weaponry that we could send - drones, robots, whatever, to do much of  this work.  But I am concerned that sending large numbers of our young soldiers to booby trapped tunnels will cost us a very heavy price in young lives.  I hope that our military leaders have appropriate plans, using the newest technologies available that make sense.  

Extent of Saturday's Disaster

When I first wrote an update on Sunday, the extent of the atrocities that had been perpetrated by Hamas was not yet clear.  We are still finding bodies, gathering information and learning about what took place.

I am not going to get into great detail here as the information is now available in many different places including extensive articles in the New York times, the Jerusalem Post, The  Israel Times, and  many other  news  outlets.  But I want to mention a few things.

As you probably know by now, Hamas terrorists crossed into Israel by  breaking through security fences in twenty different places. There are estimates that more than 2,000 terrorists crossed into Israel and this number may be closer to 4,000.  (As  of yesterday, Israeli authorities report that they have more than 1,500 bodies of dead Hamas terrorists in Israel)

The terrorists spread out and went to several destinations.  One group of at least four white SUVs, loaded with terrorists and weaponry, including RPGs, grenades, and mass quantities of ammunition  went straight to the Nova music festival - an outdoor music festival being attended by more than 2,000 young people.  They opened fire from four different directions and began massacring concert goers.  Many tried to get into their cars and leave.  Some succeeded but many cars were destroyed by terrorists by gunfire, grenades, RPG fire and other means. Others tried to flee by foot. Some tried to hide in nearby Kibbutzim, buildings or different  places. The terrorists spent hours hunting down these young concert-goers. There are reports of rapes, mutilations, and other unspeakable horrors. More then 260 people were murdered and many were taken prisoner, though we still don't have an exact count.

Some of the people who hid themselves managed to survive and others managed to escape in vehicles.  But when the army was later able to get control of the area - the scenes of carnage were horrific. Bodies everywhere, burnt out cars, many with people who had been shot. Unspeakable horrors. Many young people were taken prisoner, some injured, loaded on to vehicles and taken to Gaza.

Other groups of terrorists went directly to the 22 towns, settlements and Kibbutzim that are nearest to Gaza. Many of these places have some defence forces in place but they were overwhelmed. With standing forces of 12-15 soldiers, they could not hold off arriving groups of 100-200 armed terrorists at each location. The terrorists began going from house to house murdering the occupants, setting fire to the homes, and looting property.  In some cases they took hostages. In most cases, they murdered all of the occupants including young children, elderly, men and women. In some cases, people were hiding in their bomb shelters, which are supposed to have impenetrable doors. Where the terrorists could not get in, they tried to use explosives to break down the doors or they set fire to the whole house. Some people died of smoke asphyxiation.  Some opened the doors to get air and then were attacked.  Most of these communities had Whatsapp groups and people were sending messages to each other warning them. But nothing could be done to save them.

From what we now know, it took the army eight hours, if not more, to take control of these towns and kibbutzim. But by then, it was far too late. The damage had been done. The people had been massacred. The towns and  kibbutzim were completely destroyed. It was nothing less than a slaughter and an unmitigated disaster for all of those communities, for the army, for all of Israel, for Jewish people everywhere - and indeed, for all people of goodwill who oppose violence and terrorism.  

We now know that more than 1,200 Israelis have been killed since Saturday by Hamas and more than 3,000 have been injured. The civilians who were killed range from infants to seniors in their nineties. More than 150 have been taken captive of all ages. We do not know exactly how many captives there are and we do not  know how many are still alive.  

Included in that number are 222 Israeli soldiers as of this morning and more than 50 police officers.  Most of the soldiers are young people between 18 and 21 who were serving as conscripted soldiers.  Some were killed in a training base near Gaza while they were still in their beds.  

Today there are reports that aside from murdering and massacring civilians, the terrorists also looted homes and stole credit cards and bank cards which they have now been using to make purchases.  Israeli banks are taking immediate action to stop this after receiving numerous complaints.

Israel's Response

At the time it launched these attacks, Hamas "declared war" on Israel. Hamas is the governing authority of Gaza and  controls all aspects of life in the  Gaza strip. This is really the equivalent of one neighbouring country declaring war on another and Israel has little alternative but to fight this war.

Israel has stated its objectives as eliminating the military capabilities of Hamas, tracking down and  eliminating those responsible for these attacks and atrocities and taking steps to ensure that there will be no more attacks on Israel from Gaza. Israel has called up more than 330,000 reserve soldiers to add to its standing forces of more than 170,000. These forces are not all destined for Gaza. Israel has used some of these forces to strengthen its northern border (with Lebanon/Hezbollah) and some to strengthen its Northeastern border (with Syria). Other forces have been sent to Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank"). Israel's initial response has been a massive air force campaign to attack military and strategic Hamas targets from the air.

Israeli forces have sprung into action and have still been fighting pockets of terrorists in and around the Gaza strip - included suspected reinforcements from Gaza that may have been sent through tunnels or in other ways.  Many soldiers have fought for their lives to fend off Hamas terrorists, protect and rescue civilians and take whatever action is needed to help defend their country. And sadly, many have been killed in action.

At some point, Israel will need to attack the  Hamas underground. I am not a military strategist and I have no idea as to how and when they will move to this next phase but I am praying for the welfare of our young soldiers - who are - all of us.  Our family, our extended family, our friends' children, fellow synagogue members, residents of our city - the army is made up of everyone in Israel - the people - and these brave young  people are the ones supporting us, risking their lives and fighting for the future of this country.

Hostages

We also know that Hamas is holding at least 150 hostages and the number may be as high as 200. We do not know how many are being held, how many are alive, what condition they are in or where they are. Israel has always made the rescue of hostages its highest priority and I believe they are looking at all possible options including negotiations, rescue attempts and other efforts. They also believe that Hamas believes that the hostages are "assets" and will want to keep them alive to trade for Hamas prisoners later.  For obvious reasons, I think Israeli officials are saying little about their actual efforts, which, I assume, should not be taken to mean that they are ignoring this pressing challenge.

What Now?

It is unclear what may develop in coming days or even coming hours or minutes.  Yesterday, we were glued to the news for most of the day.  At about 8 p.m. Israel time, there were reports that Hezbollah had unleashed a large number of unmanned drones that were headed to different targets across the  country.  It appeared that we were about to open a second massive front with Hezbollah. According to many commentators, this will mean thousands and thousands of missiles sent to Israeli residential areas, all at the same time in an effort to overwhelm missile defence systems. It turned out to be some type of false alarm.

Hezbollah has apparently floated some test balloons. Some Hezbollah fighters were sent over the border in the North on Tuesday.  Israel killed five of them. In other incidents, Hezbollah has fired RPGs, artillery and other weaponry at Israel but in isolated incidents. Some commentators have speculated that they are doing the "bare minimum" to show that they are "supporting" Hamas but not enough to enter the war. We simply don't know if Hezbollah plans to enter this war or not. If it does, Israel will have no choice but to attack and destroy targets all over Lebanon - and that will be a very heavy price for the country. Hezbollah may not care - and Iran (which controls Hezbollah) may care even less about the fate of Lebanon but we must hope that Hezbollah does not see this as a worthwhile action. That being said, as of now, it seems to me that there is a fairly high probability that Hezbollah will be involved in the coming days or weeks - or any minute, really.

World Support

President Biden gave a speech on Tuesday in which he spoke about the horrible acts that Hamas had perpetrated.  He tied these acts to the long history of  anti-Semitic acts and massacres that the Jewish people have faced  throughout history. He was empathetic and  emotional. He pledged full U.S. support for Israel to defeat Hamas and he backed up his pledge by sending immediate assistance including the U.S.S. Gerald Ford to the area and a pledge of various military equipment and supplies. By most accounts, it is the strongest U.S. statement of support for Israel ever during war time. Israelis (including Israeli politicians) across the political spectrum have thanked President Biden for this show of support and in some cases, have stated that they were wrong about the way they viewed Biden. Secretary of State Blinken also delivered an outstanding address this morning, which was empathetic, emotional and  unwaveringly supportive.  I would recommend watching both of these statements, though I don't have the links handy.

By contrast, the Israeli media is showing clips of former President Trump, from an event yesterday, attacking Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israeli defence minister Gallant, the Israeli army, Israeli intelligence and ridiculing Israel's preparedness. Among other things, Trump claims that this "never would have happened if he was still President" but cannot point to anything specific he would have done (or not done) that would make this a true statement. I would also recommend that you watch these comments.

Sorry - it is not my intention, generally, in this blog to delve into U.S. politics - but I am writing about how these things are being reported from an Israeli perspective.  

From Canada, we hear that one of Canada's largest unions - CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees), which represents 700,000 public service employees - has been releasing statements that can only be viewed as justifying and supporting Hamas attacks.  Quite appalling.  The president of CUPE Ontario, Fred Hahn, has doubled down following the criticism,  On Saturday, Hahn issued tweets about the Hamas massacres of civilians using "#resistance" in his Thanksgiving message.  How anyone could imagine that support for the wanton massacre of civilians is legitimate or "resistance" is simply mind boggling - and frightening. Sickening.

We have heard very little from Prime Minister Trudeau, other than a handful of statements that sound like the statements he and his government issue after any events involving Hamas. On the other hand, it was heartwarming to see so many Canadians gather in Toronto for a pro-Israel rally and there were some very powerful speeches at that rally. There have also been pro-Israel rallies in cities all over the world.

At the same time, Israel is in a very difficult situation. While faced with the imperative of clearing out and defeating Hamas terrorists, the terrorists have significant support in the Gaza strip which is densely packed with civilians.  This is expected to be a fight against guerilla warfare - and the effect on civilians in Gaza will also be devastating.  There are bound to be large number of civilian casualties and at some point, that will shift world opinion against Israel. Israel needs to find a way to destroy the underground tunnels and  Hamas storage and command facilities as quickly as possible while minimizing the civilian casualties - and that is a major challenge. Even if Israel is successful, there will be a vacuum in Gaza and it is unclear what would happen next.  But this is all for a later conversation.

Volunteering

Israelis across the country have  sprung into action - donating blood, putting together packages of supplies for soldiers, helping others in all different ways and, in general, answering calls to help in whatever ways might be needed.  We also see that people around the world are offering financial and other forms of assistance. Magen David Adom, the UJA, the Association  for the Welfare of the Soldiers of Israel and so many organizations are seeing a swell of financial support.  As well there are private initiatives to raise money directly to help groups of soldiers and supply them with more modern and update equipment, food deliveries and other necessities.  All of this is heart warming.

Political - Israeli

After four days of negotiations, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced a deal last night with Benny Gantz to form a limited duration war-time cabinet.  This meant bringing in some experienced military leaders to Netanyahu's coalition and that should add some much needed input to the decision-making process and operational capabilities. I am not aware of all of the details of what has been agreed upon.  So far, Yair Lapid and his party have not joined this coalition, nor have other opposition parties. The war cabinet may well expand in coming days. For now, this first war time cabinet arrangement does seem like it will offer a significant increase in competence and reason to the current government.

Personal

Needless to say, this is all very difficult, on everyone  here. The macabre nature of these attacks is sickening and devastating. So many lives were lost - so many people massacred -  while at a  music festival - or in their beds or in shelters in their homes. The reports are gruesome and hard to process.  The psychological effect on all of us is overwhelming and difficult to process. Many of  us are looking for ways to deal with this mixture of feelings of loss, anxiety, frustration, anger, guilt and apprehension. Some people are sending around suggestions.  

We are extremely concerned about all of our brave soldiers and the dangers they are now facing. They are  our family, our friends, our  neighbours.  They are defending our homes.  We hope and pray for their safety.

And of course there is the stress of not knowing if and how this war may escalate.  If Hezbollah gets involved, we  will be in a full blown two front war that will unquestionably cause major damage in Israel, even if the damage in Lebanon is much worse. There is also concern about Iranian threats, which seems more remote - though Iran has repeatedly threatened to "wipe out" Israel over the years. The U.S. aircraft carriers in the region may help deter this type of escalation -  or they might provoke it.  

Air Canada has suspended flights to Israel until at least October 18, 2023 and most other world airlines have done the same. El Al is still flying, though they cancelled all of their direct Canadian flights some time ago (well before all of this began). Emirates, Fly Dubai, Bluebird Airways (Greek) are still flying out of Tel-Aviv and today's departure list shows Austrian Airways and Lufthansa operating flights as scheduled.

Of course I am also trying to get some work done. My Canadian clients do not know where I am (some do but most don't) - and a Zoom or Teams call can be interrupted by a sudden missile alarm, requiring me to move to a safe room. These are small problems, of course, next to what so many people in this country are facing. I appreciate that. But I am simply mentioning that all of this affects people in so many different ways.

How to Survive - Logic of a grandmother

A woman and her husband managed to survive after being held  hostage all day by five Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Ophakim. The terrorists entered the house and started yelling "Allahu Akhbar" ("God is great") and told her and her husband to go upstairs. She decided to try to talk to her captives. She offered them coffee or tea. She asked them about their families. She says that she figured if they were hungry, her chances would  be worse - so she asked if she could make them some food and offered to cook them whatever they wanted. At one point, they pointed guns at her and her husband. She started saying "Shema Yisrael" and told them they would be better off keeping her and her husband as hostages. She asked them their names, ages, what they do. She then offered to teach them a song by Lior Narkis, an Israeli  singer. She continued to distract them in all different ways until, almost 8 hours later, her  son, (a commando officer) arrived with a group of other  commandos, entered the house, by surprise, from the roof and the back door - and managed to kill all of the terrorists. Rachel and her husband were taken to the hospital but survived unscathed. Obviously, most stories in Israel from Saturday did not end as well as this one. Rachel, her husband and her son have been interviewed a few times on different channels explaining how this lucky and quick-thinking grandmother was able to survive and save the lives of herself and her husband. I guess it helps to have a commando son with friends but they had to remain alive for quite a long time until they could be rescued.

Thanks

I want to say that we appreciate all of the messages of support - calls, emails, Whatsapp messages from friends  and family near and far.  These are stressful and dangerous times but we are hoping for the best. I am still hoping to attend a family Bat-Mitzvah on Saturday  Oct 21, 2023, though the prospects are not looking great. For now, I am here with my family, friends and the people of Israel, hoping that we can win and end this war as  quickly as possible - while realizing that we may be in for a long-haul fight.

Day 3: Israel War with Gaza - Limited Update

It is day 3 of the latest Israeli war with Gaza.  I am not a full-time reporter so there is a limit as to how much time I can spend writing these updates. But I wanted to share a few items.  

Numbers Update

First of all, as you might have read, the Israeli government is reporting that more than 700 people have been killed and more than 2300 injured.  Included in this number - more than 260 young people were murdered at a "Nature Party" early on Saturday morning.  Hamas and Islamic Jihad claim that they are holding more than 140 prisoners in Gaza.  It is unclear how many of these people are alive, how many are injured - and if injured, how seriously.  This includes young children, elderly, and others.

In response, Israel has been launching significant air force attacks on the Gaza strip - which reportedly includes a range of military targets including Hamas bases, weapons store houses and other facilities.  Gaza authorities report more that more than 400 Palestinians have been killed.  However, Hamas sent, by its accounts, some 1000 terrorists to Israel to carry out these attacks.  Israel has killed or captured more than 250 of them.  In short, just because a press service reports that a certain number of Palestinians were killed, that certainly does not mean that they were civilians - even though some civilians may have been killed.

Israeli Areas - Surrounding Gaza

The cities surrounding Gaza  -  22 different towns and cities - suffered severe and devasting damage and losses.  Israeli authorities report that all of these areas are now in Israeli control.  However, there are still isolated Hamas terrorists and groups of terrorists hiding  in unknown places.  Israeli forces are combing these cities, door by door, to look for terrorists.  They are also looking for civilians who may still be hiding or injured.  Sadly, they are still finding bodies of those who were murdered.  The army reports that some mines and other delayed timer devices were left in some places in these towns and cities - so they are being very cautious.  Since Saturday morning, Hamas has apparently sent additional reinforcements and Israeli forces have fought and defeated these groups wherever they have encountered them. 

Missiles

Hamas continues to fire thousands of missiles at civilian areas across Israel.  We had one alarm this morning  and spent some time in the shelter.  We heard a very loud noise - that sounded like one missile made it through the Iron Dome system but it is unclear where it landed.  Later, Hamas fired another barrage of missiles and one was a direct hit on a house in Ashdod.  There are reports of injuries from  that hit.  As I write, missiles are being fired by Hamas at locations all over the country though, fortunately, few of them are hitting targets.

Preparations

More than 300,000 reserve soldiers have been called to report to duty.  Israel is in a state of mass preparedness outside of Gaza, on its northern border, in Judea  and Samaria (the "West Bank") and other areas.  Just about everyone  we know between the ages of 21 and 30 who are eligible for reserve duty have been issued an "Order 8" - and order to report too duty. It is truly frightening.

It is unclear at this point what military decisions will be made. A massive ground assault on Gaza is a definite possibility but Israeli officials will have to weigh carefully whether they can actually win this type of war against guerilla forces that are hidden among civilians in densely populated areas.

Israel is also making military calculations with respect to the possibility that Iran-backed Hezbollah might open up a second front against Israel from the North.  This would be a massive escalation of the the conflict and would lead to tremendous damage in Israel and across Lebanon. It may also involve Syria and  Iran.  We certainly hope that things will not head in this direction, but Israel must be prepared for this possibility.

Political

I don't really have very much to report here.  There was apparently a meeting between Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning to discuss some type of expanded government - but nothing has been resolved.  It is too early to discuss any type of resolution and it appears that we are likely to be in for weeks, if not months, of fighting before any resolution is possible.  There are few countries with the ability to influence Hamas - other than Qatar and Iran - and to a much smaller degree, Egypt.  But Hamas has nothing to offer now, other than the return of the prisoners that it is holding.  They have launched a self-defined "war," killed more than 700 Israelis, mostly civilians, and injured more than 2300.  Israel will certainly proceed with a massive response of some sort.

Prisoners and Hostages

This is a very difficult situation for Israel.  The government would like to take every possible step to rescue every single one of the hostages - and hopefully most if  not all of them are alive.  But faced with the potential loss of thousands of additional lives if steps are not taken immediately, the government is faced with some extremely difficult decisions.  We hope and pray that all of the prisoners are returned home safely as quickly as possible.

The Streets

The homeland authority in Israel is advising people to remain in their homes and stay near bomb shelters.  Many stores, especially supermarkets and pharmacies, are still open - but many other places are closed.  Highways are fairly deserted.  The airport is still operating but fewer and fewer airlines are flying to Tel-Aviv.  As of this morning, El Al, Turkish Airlines, Emirates and a few others were still flying.  But most European, North American and Asian airlines have suspended their service.   On a personal note, I now have no idea when I will be back in Canada.  I was supposed to fly this Thursday.

Psychological Impact

This attack has had a severe psychological impact on Israelis across the country.  With such high numbers of casualties, almost everyone seems to know someone who was killed or injured.  Beyond that, there is a sense of disappointment, anger and frustration at the apparent failure of  intelligence, preparedness, operations and defence.  Further, the Prime Minister and senior leadership continue to be AWOL.   Prime Minister Netanyahu has not held any press conferences or taken other steps to address the public - other than one brief statement.  None of his senior cabinet ministers have filled in.  For many Israelis, it feels like the ship is moving along without a captain.

Israelis are glued to news stations to stay updated and most of the news is not very good.   So that also has a significant impact on people.

That being said, the military leaders have shown great determination.  Other Israelis, including Prime Minister Bennett and other former members of the government have been actively assisting the army, visiting people in hospitals and helping in other ways.  Despite the current lack of political leadership, there is a real sense that Israelis will pull together and deal with this massive threat.

Summary

I do  not plan on doing this every day - and there are numerous news sources out there for up-to-the- minute updates.  Since today is Canadian Thanksgiving, work issues were less pressing and I had a bit of time.  I will try to provide further comments and updates in the coming day though that will depend on being  able to find the time.   

We thank everyone for the warm notes of support and kind wishes.  We are hoping for a quick but decisive end to this situation though we are realistically prepared for something that will take a while. I wish everyone all the best and hope and pray for the safety of our soldiers and civilians in this difficult period.

 

Hamas Launches Surprise War on Israel from Gaza

It is very difficult to write anything today but I think it is important to provide some kind of update from my perspective, here in Israel.  There is still a great deal of uncertainty - about everything that happened yesterday, about what is happening today and what is going to happen in the coming days, weeks and even months.  I am not going to be able to address much of that uncertainty but here are a few of my comments.  Whatever I am writing now is based on information as of Sunday morning, October 8, 2023 at  noon - or 5 a.m. EST.  Information is likely to updated throughout the coming days and beyond.

The Hamas Surprise Attack

As you have probably heard, Hamas, the terrorist group that runs the Gaza trip, launched a major surprise attack against Israel yesterday morning.   It was Simchat Torah in Israel - the day of "Rejoicing of  the Torah" - one of the happiest days on the Jewish calendar, when observant Jews are in synagogue - singing, dancing and marking the end of the fall Holy Day period (which runs from Rosh Hashanah until the end of Sukkot).

From available information, the Hamas attack was carried out in several different ways.  One part of the attack was to launch thousands of missiles directed at civilian areas across the country.  Secondly, waves of Hamas fighters broke down border fences and crossed into Israel and drove towards 22 different Israeli towns and small cities surrounding or nearby Gaza. Other Hamas groups used paragliders and landed in different locations from the air.  Still others arrived from the sea.

The goal of these attacks was to target civilians primarily and to kill or take hostage as many people as possible.

Some groups of  these Hamas terrorists arrived at a "Nature Party" where hundreds of young Israelis were our partying.  Mostly  teenagers and others in their early 20s.  The terrorists opened fire on these unarmed kids and killed many of them.  Several were injured, many severely.  Some were taken captive by Hamas and apparently brought back to Gaza.  There is video footage of some of the murders, some of the hostage taking - posted by Hamas personnel.  We don't yet know exactly how many people were killed at this gathering, how many were taken hostage and how many are still in the hospital. Many are missing - and their parents, family members and friends are doing everything possible to try and find them. (Since the time I started writing this, a group of these people was found hiding - more than 30 - who were thought to have been killed or taken hostage - they seem to be fine, physically.  Most of them are apparently foreign workers from Thailand).

Other  Hamas groups went to most of the 22 different towns and cities and began going from door to door, breaking in to homes and killing civilians.  In some of these towns, police and reserve soldiers grabbed their weapons fought back. In one case, a father grabbed his weapon (he was a reserve duty soldier) and killed two terrorists in his living room).  Many police officers were killed in these exchanges. Some people went and locked themselves in their bomb shelters - which have extremely thick,  inside-locking  doors.  Many civilians were killed as well as some soldiers and police officers.  A large number were also taken hostage, again, apparently brought to Gaza.

Some Hamas groups attacked certain military bases - including, in particular, one training base, where several military personnel were killed including at least one new recruit.   

Other terrorists may have hidden themselves somewhere.  We still don't know exactly how many entered Israel,  how many are still here, or what else they have planned.  Israeli official reports indicate that more than 250 terrorists have been killed and many more captured.

As of now, Israeli reports indicate that between 400 and 450 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority civilians. More than 2000 people have been injured, many of whom are still in serious or critical condition. At least 100 Israelis have been taken hostage and brought back to Gaza.

There were three different hostage situations within Israel that took all day to resolve - including one where more then 50 people were being held in a Kibbutz  dining hall.  In another situation, terrorists had occupied and were holding the Sderot police station.  According to reports this morning, all three of those situations were resolved and the hostages were released.

For Israel, this was one of the harshest days Israel has had to deal with in its history.  Some 50 years ago, Israel faced a surprise attack on Yom Kippur.  It was devastating and it was an existential fight for the country.  At the time, Israelis were genuinely worried about being  overrun completely.  The fighting, however, in that war, primarily involved Israeli soldiers fighting against  Syrian and Egyptian soldiers.  Ultimately, in that war, the army prevented large scale attacks against civilians.

In 1948, Israeli also grappled with  an  extremely harsh and difficult situation,  which was also genuinely  existential  - and included attacks on and massacres of civilians.

Yesterday's attack was quite different from those situations.  For one thing, so far, the primary target, initially, has been civilians.  The attack was intended to show Israelis that the army cannot protect them from Hamas terrorists.  Although Hamas  "declared war" on Israel yesterday in an "official statement" - it has no illusions that it can pose an existential threat to Israel.  However, it can and did cause severe damage to civilians, to morale and to Israel's military "deterrence."  

Hamas leaders, over the past few months, apparently met with Hezbollah and Iranian leaders. It may be that Hamas is hoping that this war will be expanded and that Hezbollah and Lebanon from the north will get involved - and perhaps even Iran.  So far that is not the case, but Hezbollah has a vast array of sophisticated missiles waiting in Lebanon and if Hezbollah becomes involved, with the backing of Iran, Israel will face an unprecedented type of war.

How Did this Happen?

Hamas carried out a well planned surprise attack.  However, it would seem that Israeli forces are generally geared up to prevent exactly this type of attack.  There are drone and  satellite patrols along the border fence with Gaza.  There are constant marine patrols in the water aided by satellite and drones. And there is constant monitoring of the airspace.

Moreover, there are countless military bases nearby with soldiers ready to spring into  action. 

One rumour making the rounds alleges that Iran launched a cyber attack and shut down our military intelligence systems at the time of the attack yesterday morning.  I have seen  nothing to corroborate these claims.  In any case, cell phones and other communication systems were apparently still working.

I still do not understand how the army was not able to deploy large numbers of troops, immediately, to the cities and towns that were being attacked. For hours, residents of many of these cities were making calls on their  phones, trying to get military help while hiding and trying to protect themselves from the terrorists. It took several hours for help to arrive. I am sure that this will be the subject of examination and inquiry in coming weeks, months and years.

What Next?

Israel is facing many severe  challenges. There are more than 100 captured Israelis who have been brought to Gaza - and it must be at the highest order of priorities to rescue as many of these people as possible.  They are likely to be dispersed in different places in Gaza and this will be no easy task.  

Israel is still working to ensure that all of the 22 cities that were attacked are cleared of terrorists. From reports this morning, there are still some terrorists hiding in these cities - and some who have travelled elsewhere. Finding and neutralizing all of these terrorists is another one of the highest priorities. 

A third priority is securing the land, water and air  borders with Gaza to ensure that more terrorists cannot continue to enter Israel. The security fence is being rebuilt and large numbers of troops are bolstering the  border.

Beyond  these immediate steps, Israel is dealing with a "declaration of  war" from Hamas and will need to launch a full scale offensive to defeat  Hamas. This may take some time to plan and execute, but we would have to anticipate one of the largest scale operations that Israel has ever seen - likely to be launched in the coming days or weeks, if not in the coming hours.

Loss and Tragedy

TV, radio and social media are filled with footage, photos, videos and stories of loved ones who were murdered, injured and taken prisoner.  More than 350 people have been killed  - including at least one high ranking military commander, a mayor, more than 25 police officers and many sons, daughters, spouses, parents, grandparents, and children. The grief is incalculable - as is the anger, frustration, upset and disappointment from so many Israelis. The hospitals are working around the clock to deal with overwhelming numbers of injured.  People are frantically trying to find out what has happened to loved ones who are missing - and to figure out if they have been hospitalized, taken hostage, or  murdered - or maybe they are still hiding somewhere and their phone batteries have died.

Resolve

I would like to say that we have heard or seen reassuring messages from the current Israeli leadership but generally, members of the government have gone AWOL.  There was a brief statement from Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday - but otherwise nothing. The government will need to pull itself together and show resolve and determination very quickly. Opposition leaders, including Ganz and Lapid, have offered to join a temporary "War Cabinet" with Netanyahu - however, so far nothing has come of it. There is quite a bit of concern that Netanyahu is running a government with a range of inexperienced and incapable ministers - from his own Likud party (from which many of the most experienced and capable leaders have left over the past few years) as well as  from two ultra-religious parties (with no military experience) and one ultra-nationalist party (with limited military experience).

Benny Gantz's party (sitting in opposition) includes several experienced military personnel as well as  other experienced former Likud members.  Lapid's party (also sitting in opposition) also includes several experienced personnel. For the sake of the country, it seems that it would make quite a bit of sense for Netanyahu to try and work with these experienced personnel rather put the country at the mercy of his current incompetent and extremist team, who do not seem to have the capacity or capability to manage this properly.

Personal

We were planning to go to shul yesterday for Simchat Torah.  At 6:30 a.m., we were woken up by sirens and had to go to the bomb shelter.  We don't usually open the TV on Shabbat or Holy Days but decided to do so and see what was going on.  We soon began to see the scale of the attack. The government asked people to refrain from gathering in large groups. The mayor of Ra'anana went from shul to shul, early in the  morning, letting people know about the situation. I think it is one of the only times that I have missed going to synagogue on Simchat Torah other than  due to the Covid outbreak.

A missile landed on the street where one of our family members lives. She was in a shelter and is fine but others were seriously injured and a building was destroyed. Another missile hit and destroyed an apartment where a cousin of ours used to live. The current tenant was in a shelter and is fine - but the place has been destroyed. Another family member updated us - to let us know that one of her good friends - just married last year - was killed in battle yesterday.  

Unfortunately, we are likely to hear many of these stories in the coming days.

Many airlines have announced suspension of flights to and from Israel, including Air Canada. So my status at this time is a bit up in the air. I was supposed to fly to Toronto this week but I will have to see how things develop and what if any flights are available - and whether it makes sense to go. I have some specific occasions that I am hoping to attend as well as some work that would best be done in person. But in the circumstances, my plans may have to change.

I have to add that I saw a completely obscene message from the current Mayor of Toronto, who above all referenced "Palestinian Pain and severe loss of life" in her statement about the attack yesterday. This is the type of statement she puts out on a day on which hundreds of civilians were massacred, many at point blank range, by terrorists?  By way of contrast, President Biden offered his complete support for Israel to take whatever measures necessary to deal with the situation. Prime Minister Trudeau offered a much more "lukewarm" statement condemning the attacks. Israel received more helpful messages of support from France, Germany and several other countries.

Despite Biden's reassuring words, there is quite a bit of concern that the ongoing  arrangements between the U.S. and Iran, including the recent release of large amounts of money, have emboldened Iran to ramp up its support for Hamas and Hezbollah.  We may hear more about this down the road but a policy of isolating Iran and boycotting it  would  be much better for the worldwide fight against terrorism than a policy which in any way bolsters and emboldens this extremist Iranian regime.

I'm not going to add comments about other events and stories at this time as it just wouldn't be fitting. Instead I am simply going to add that we are hoping  and praying for the safety of our soldiers, our security forces - and everyone else - as we head into a very uncertain and challenging period that we have now entered.   

After Yom Kippur 2023 - 5784

Shana Tova and "almost Chag Sameach."  Yom Kippur has come and gone and we are now gearing up for the holiday of Sukkot, which starts on Friday night. I didn't get a chance to write a blog before Yom Kippur - and much has happened since then - so I thought I would put this together and  cover  off a variety  of topics.

Yom Kippur in Israel

I suppose we are not supposed to think of Yom Kippur as a "fun" holiday - after all how much fun can it be to  fast (no food or water) for 26 hours while spending 7-8 hours in Synagogue (even more  for  some), much of that standing up?  But Yom Kippur is really a special day - wherever we might be observing it - and all the more so here in Israel.  Here in Israel, pretty much all traffic stops  across the country, other than emergency vehicles and  some non-conformists (it is not "illegal" to  drive).   The airports are closed - and just about everything else is closed.

For the past  15 years or so, we have been participating  in a small community service.  It has been held, at different times, at different people's homes, at a shul we have rented out (that shul itself rents out a school gym because it has too many people to fit in its building).  Usually it is a five or ten minute walk from our place in Ra'anana.  This year, that meant spending  about 10 minutes each way 6 times, in 31-34c heat - with high humidity.  As we were walking through the streets, we passed by many different people on their way to shul, many dressed all in white, from head to toe.  Very few actually wearing suits, which is a good thing in light of the heat.  

Of course we also saw  hundreds of kids with their bicycles, some  accompanied by parents or other adults, many on their own, taking advantage of the car-free streets to ride around the city - or even to go and ride on empty highways.  For those who are observing Yom Kippur in a religious way and  for those  who "observe" in a non-religious way -  it is a special day for all.

For Israel, our service is somewhat unique.   Although we cover most of the traditional  liturgy, including the Torah readings, haftarah readings and different prayer services, using traditional tunes ("nusach") our service is a fully egalitarian, Conservative ("Masorti") service.  While egalitarian is the norm in most Conservative and Reform congregations in the U.S. and Canada, it only represents a small minority of  the shul-going public in Israel.  Here the vast majority of synagogues follow Orthodox traditions and are decidedly non-egalitarian.

With the higher than normal heat, an outdoor service - and the fact that I was the one leading Kol Nidrei and Neilah this year - as well as as assisting with the morning services,  I have to say that I was a bit thirstier than usual this year.  But we made it through, I was able to get a reasonably decent sound from our Shofar at the end - and we enjoyed a tasty community break-fast with our fellow congregants.

As we were walking home, we could already hear the sounds of clanging metal bars as people were starting to assemble their Sukkot -  temporary booths for the festival of Sukkot which starts only four days after Yom Kippur.

Now on a side note - even though I should have been all "shul-ed out" by this point - I decided to turn on the Park Avenue Synagogue stream and watch the PAS Neilah service.  (Sorry to my Toronto Beth Tikvah community...).  That was about 12:30 a.m.  at night here - well after the holy day had ended in Israel.  Although musical instruments in a shul are not necessarily my thing (I don't really know of many, if any other conservative shuls that use them other than PAS), I have to say that it is a real pleasure to watch Hazan Azi Schwartz.  It was really a musical treat.

In addition, Rabbi Cosgrove ran a flawless service.  I was particularly moved by his near closing discussion of the Unetaneh Tokef prayer, which forms part of the Musaf service in the morning of  Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.   Unetanah Tokef is the "centrepiece" of the Yom Kippur Musaf service -  and, among other things, the source for Leonard Cohen's "who by fire."  In very short - I think you could probably still watch the service on the PAS site if interested - Cosgrove - explained that the final lines of the prayer "Prayer, Repentance and  Acts of Charity can cancel the harshness of the decree" is intended to mean that by doing great things with the time we have in this world - we can lessen the harshness of the reality that  our time is limited and there is a great deal of uncertainty - even if we can't change those facts themselves.  I hope that does some justice to Rabbi Cosgrove - but I thought it was really a wonderful and meaningful discussion near the very end of Yom Kippur.

Some Current Events

As  usual, there is a great deal going on here in Israel, and I will just comment on a few things.

Tel Aviv Yom Kippur Incident

I could write a whole blog about this one but here is my very short version.  A group called "Rosh Yehudi" - the Jewish Head (Probably taken from a Yiddishe Kop ) - announced that it wanted to run an Orthodox prayer service in Dizengoff Square.  The Tel-Aviv City council authorized the service provided that there was no mehitzah put up - i.e. that there was no physical barrier erected between men and women - which is a normal feature in an Orthodox shul.  The Tel Aviv City council noted that there are some 500 shuls in Tel-Aviv, mostly Orthodox and that the City Centre is a public place, open to all, without barriers.  Rosh Yehudi tried its luck in court and lost.  The court upheld the ban on erecting a mehitzah in a public square.  Well wouldn't you know it, Rosh Yehudi and its Rabbi (who has gotten himself  into all kinds of trouble with a torrent of homophobic comments) decided to show up and run the service with a mehitzah anyways, in Dizengoff Square - the heart of Tel-Aviv.  Many people in the square decided to sit wherever they pleased and disregard the mehitzah.  It turned chaotic and became a huge disruption.  TV and radio stations are discussing it around the clock.   And now Itamar Ben-Gvir, cabinet member from the Religious Zionist party (and current Minister of National Security in the Netanyahu government) has announced that he is going to bus in hundreds of worshippers and run a service with a mehitzah in Dizengoff Square  in defiance of the court order on Thursday night.  Even some of his coalition partners, including Simcha Rotman (who is fairly extreme himself) and Bezalel Smotrich (who is an off the charts fanatic) are calling Ben-Gvir's plan "provocative" and "unnecessary."  If Ben-Gvir goes ahead - things may get  completely crazy in Tel-Aviv on Thursday night.  Some Ben-Gvir supporters called "the Family" (as in the Mafia family) have announced they will come and  "participate."  Among other things, Ben-Gvir is really trying  to  ignite a religious war - there  is no other objective way to look at it.   **Breaking news update - Ben-Gvir or his spokespeople have announced that he has cancelled his proposed event for Thursday night.  I would imagine that for Ben-Gvir this amounts to a tactical delay rather than  any kind of change in policy.

US Visa Waiver Program

As you might know, Israelis have generally required visas to visit the U.S. unless they have another  passport that is part of the Visa Waiver Program.  It can be notoriously difficult for Israelis to get their U.S. visas and  can often take months if not years to set up appointments and get through the process.  Over the past few years, U.S. Ambassadors to Israel have been working with Israeli politicians including Bennett, Shaked, Lapid, and  now Netanyahu to get Israel into the VWP.  One challenge is that Israel would be  required to treat all Americans equally when they arrive in Israel - including Palestinian Americans living in the West Bank and in Gaza - even those who might be a security threat.  Nevertheless, Israeli officials announced this week - that the program will come into effect as early as October 2023 - and Israelis will no longer need visas to visit the U.S.  U.S. officials have called the announcement premature - but it looks like it is coming.  Maybe we  will now run into some  fellow  Israelis when  visiting New York City?

Israeli-Saudi Arabia Normalization

Prime Minister Netanyahu is on an all-out blitz campaign to try to bring about a  peace deal and "normalization" with Saudi Arabia - at as low a cost as possible.  Certainly, some Israelis have already been showing up in Saudi Arabia for events - and planes are flying over Saudi Arabia from Israel as we speak.  

We do not know all of the details of what is being negotiated.   But the Saudis have apparently been demanding  that Israel make significant concessions towards the  Palestinians and that the Saudis are able to develop a "peaceful" nuclear program.   Netanyahu's coalition partners  have stated quite clearly that they will oppose these concessions.  So Netanyahu is in a bit of a spot - as he tries to juggle U.S. pressure to agree to a deal with domestic pressure to get a deal without giving up anything.   I'm not convinced the deal will happen that quickly - but it would be a major foreign policy accomplishment for Netanyahu and for Biden.

Canada's Parliament Honours a Nazi War Criminal

Canada made the news around the world this week - especially in Israel (as well as Russia and Poland and other places) when the Canadian speaker of the house dredged up a Ukrainian war criminal (former member of the SS - volunteer Ukrainian brigade) and introduced him in the Parliament as a  "war hero" while President Zelensky was visiting from the Ukraine.    Quite sickening really - one would have thought somebody would do a background check. The truly sad part of the story is why Canada admitted so many war criminals after WWII and failed to prosecute them or extradite them.  Very embarrassing. And Sad.

Yom Kippur War Commemoration

As you may now, this year marked the 50th  Anniversary of the Yom Kippur war, in which Egypt and Syria launched a major surprise attack against Israel - causing massive casualties in the Israeli armed forces - and  leading Israel to fear for its existence, especially in the early days of  the war.  Only after several days of fighting, Israel managed to turn things around  in the Golan and in the Sinai.  By the end of the  war, Israel had a strong upper hand - even though the Americans and USSR stepped in and prevented Israel from inflicting serious damage to the Syrian and Egyptian armies.  Israel lost close to 2,700 soldiers in that war, its second highest total  number of  casualties - after the Israel War of Independence  in 1948.

Needless to say, there have been quite a large number of TV shows, movies, radio shows and other media discussing and analyzing different aspects of the war.  I watched one show on Monday night which was put together by Yehoram Gaon, a well  known Israeli singer.  It focused on musicians who spent the 1973 war entertaining troops near the front lines, not knowing whether the soldiers they were entertaining would ever return.  The show included footage of Canadian singer Leonard Cohen z"l, who flew to Israel when the war broke out and spent close to a month singing for soldiers during the war.  It also included footage and interviewers with a whose-who of the Israeli music industry - Gidi Gov, Shlomo Artzi, Chava Alberstein and many  others played prominent roles.   There have been many other shows - about Golda Meir and Moshe  Dayan,  about all of the losses that Israeli suffered, about the link between 1973 and the subsequent peace deal with Egypt and about many other topics.  Unfortunately, I am too busy to watch all of it - but there are some really interesting angles and discussions being presented.

Other Movies

Of course that was an intentional segue.  As you will recall if you read my last blog - I mentioned two of the "Jewish-themed" movies that were being released. I hadn't seen them at the time.

I had a chance to watch Golda late Saturday night - a day before Yom Kippur.   It is a very dark movie.  It is not a biopic about Golda.  Rather it only deals with  how she handled the Yom Kippur war in October 1973 - and how she responded to a commission of inquiry in Israel a year later.  Helen Mirren does an excellent job of bringing  Golda to life - which seemed to be quite an authentic portrayal.  

Many of the scenes show Golda Meir smoking - just about everywhere - in meetings,  in her bed, while speaking to doctors - or while receiving treatments for cancer.   There are many close ups as things seem to have been frozen in time at key parts - perhaps to emphasize the existential importance of some of the decisions Meir had to make.  I don't think it is fair to say that the movie dumps the blame for the war on Meir - certainly Moshe Dayan, and other army officials seem to have made some disastrous errors - the film suggests.  The movie also suggests that Meir laid the groundwork for a future peace deal with Sadat by insisting on recognition and face to face meetings to end the conflict.  Overall, I thought it was an interesting film, even though it has its flaws.

One criticism has been that there are scenes in the movie with background Arabic and Hebrew discussion and no sub-titles.  Maybe that will be corrected.  I understood the Hebrew but I can certainly see how that would be  frustrating.  Another criticism is that it is ultimately a war movie, but with little or  no war footage.  In any case, as a time-limited character study of Golda and how she handled a serious crisis, I thought the film did a good  job.

It would take quite a stretch to tie in this blog to the other recent movie I saw - Adam Sandler's "You are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah."  I am generally not a huge Adam  Sandler fan - and I have to admit I was tempted to turn this off after about  five minutes.  The target audience is probably 11 to 15 year old girls and I guess that is not quite my category.  But as they say, I wanted  to see what all the yichus was about - so I stuck it out and  watched the whole thing.

There are quite a number of cringey scenes, Sandler humour (often not in the best of taste - but maybe suited to 11 to 15 year-olds) - and lots of scenes of the stereotypical bar and bat mitzvah "spectacles" - of the type that one might find in some very wealthy communities particularly in the U.S.  I thought the crazy Israeli DJ - "DJ Shmuly" was a character that I have seen before at bar and bat mitzvahs while my kids were doing a version of the circuit in Toronto.  The Rabbi was also an interesting character - trying to find new and "hip" ways to appeal to the kids.   

I actually thought that the ending was fairly good, if predictable (I won't spoil anything) and the movie wound up being "not as bad as I thought it might be" at the start. Sandler himself was pretty good as a father and some of the other characters performed well.  I wouldn't really want people watching this movie as their only exposure to bar and bat mitzvahs and thinking that this is what it is all about - but the reality for many Jews  whether in North America or in Israel - is that many of these events are all  about the party.

Sports

Israel is aiming to make it into the FIFA 2024 Euro Soccer championships.  They have a reasonable  shot and play some huge games on October 12, 2023 vs  Switzerland and October 15, 2023 vs. Kosovo.  So still a few weeks to go - but these are some enormous soccer matches for Israel's national team.  

In other  interesting news, Israel has been chosen to host the World Under 19 Soccer Championship Finals in 2027.  That should be very exciting.

I have been staying up late this week watching the Blue  Jays try to secure  a spot in the MLB playoffs.  So you know where to find me at 3 a.m.  Israel time - at least for one or two more days.  Hard to watch those games here - without a proper streaming service, though I do have one that seems to work most of the time.

That's about it  for now - time to go and put up the new "downsized" sukkah - for a much smaller crowd this year.  Forecast in Israel is for some very hot weather until at least Monday or Tuesday and then some nice Sukkot rain - scheduled to start even before we say the annual "prayer for rain."   

Wishing  everyone  a joyous, fun Sukkot holiday and a Shana Tova!

Pre-Rosh Hashanah Blog 2023/5784- From Israeli Supreme Court to the Israeli National Soccer Team

There are so many things going on in Israel that it is difficult to keep up.  It would be nice to leave my law career and  become a full-time blog writer - but things are busier than ever in my real world -  so don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen.  That (and maybe some travelling) explains the limited number  of articles that I have written lately.  But as Rosh Hashanah approaches - I just could not avoid writing about yesterday's Supreme Court hearing - one of Israel's most monumentous days in its 75 year history - from a legal point of view.  I will try to keep my discussion of the hearing reasonably short and touch on a  few other topics as well before wrapping up with some Rosh Hashanah thoughts.

Supreme Court of Israel Hearing on "Reasonableness"

It would probably take a 10 page blog, at least, to cover this properly but here is the relatively short version.

The Israeli Supreme Court consists of 15 judges.  In most cases, only some of the judges sit in panels for hearings.  The Chief Justice, along with other members, selects the number of judges, in odd numbers to hear cases.  Usually, it is not more than 11 judges, for very serious issues.  So for example, earlier this year, 11 judges sat together to decide whether Aryeh Deri, the thrice  convicted fraudster, could serve as a cabinet member in the  current government.  The ruling was 10-1 against Deri.

As I understand it, yesterday was the first time in Israeli history where all 15 judges took part in a hearing.  For those interested in legal issues - this was like a national championship event of Supreme Court advocacy.  Don't  worry I will  tie in the sports analogy a bit later.

As you might recall, maybe even from reading one of my previous blogs, the current Netanyahu government passed a "Basic Law Amendment" which removes the power of the Israeli Supreme Court to quash (void or nullify) government actions and decisions on the basis of extreme unreasonableness.

There is a long history about how the Supreme Court of Israel came to have this power but it has been a part of Israeli jurisprudence since  the 1950s.  As you may know, Israel does  not have a written  constitution but does have a series of "basic laws."  The short version of all of this discussion is that the Israeli Supreme Court, over time, expanded its jurisdiction to conduct "judicial review" of other legislation using the  "basic laws" which it elevated to quasi-constitutional status.  This means that the Israeli Supreme Court decided (led by then  Chief Justice Aharon Barak) that it had the power to cancel laws or decisions put forward by the Knesset if they violated the basic laws.  One of the main tests was whether the law or action proposed was "extremely unreasonable."  This has been part of the Israeli legal landscape for more than  20 years and maybe closer to 30.  The Supreme Court views this power as one of the checks on the power of a Knesset majority government - which could, otherwise, effectively enact any laws or measures, including those which might trample on the rights of minorities.

But unlike the situation in Canada, for example, where there is a written  constitution that gives the Supreme Court these  powers expressly, the Israeli Supreme Court accrued these powers over time, through precedent, or "took them" as opponents might say.

So the current Netanyahu government decided to try and "set the clock back" or, in other words, overturn 30 years of judicial precedent by enacting a law to reduce the powers of the Court.  They called it a "Basic Law Amendment" to try and give it quasi constitutional status.

Opponents of the legislation  brought a petition to the Supreme Court to strike the law.  In another  bizarre historical first, the Israeli AG is supporting the petitioners and the government retained its own private lawyers.

So yesterday, the Supreme Court conducted a marathon 13 hour session to  hear arguments about what they should do. 

As you might know from reading my blogs - this  type of constitutional, academic, political, philosophical hearing - is the type of hearing that I would have loved to watch and hear (if  not participate in) in its entirety.  Alas I was swamped with other deadlines - and could only watch and listen to parts of it.   But it was riveting!  

Some of the  questions being  discussed....

Where does the  Israeli Supreme Court derive its power to overturn government legislation?

How are the rights of minorities protected in Israel?

How can  the Basic Law be amended? 

Where is the proper balance in a modern democracy between the legislative arm and the judicial arm of government?  

If you weaken the judiciary - is it only the voters that can "oversee" the legislature?

My "short" summary is that I have no idea what the Court will do with this.  It is extremely difficult and complicated and there is no easy answer.  One popular prediction is that the Court will send it back to the Knesset with a need for "amendments" but won't strike  it out entirely.  I do think it will be a split decision and we may wind up with as many as five or six different opinions.   It is almost certain that there will be several hundred, if not thousands of pages to read. 

Apparently, we  can expect a decision within two months, so maybe I will  write  a longer blog analyzing that when in comes out.  I could go on and on about the  hearing but  it would take  me a full day and I'm not even sure you would want to read all of it.  Some of you might...

One of my "mentions of the day" which has attracted quite a great deal of press attention in Israel - is the Netanyahu government's lawyer Ilan Bombach, who asserted that Israel's "hastily drawn Constitution" does not give the Supreme Court the rights it has exercised over its history.  That led to a heated and fascinating exchange.  There is a bit of truth to what Bombach asserted but far more rhetoric, exaggeration and spin than truth, in my view.  We will see if his advocacy approach was effective.  In my  experience, one has to be cautiously assertive, even forceful, while trying to avoid insulting the judicial panel hearing the case outright - but then again, I'm not the one appearing at the Supreme Court.

Sports News

On the same day that the Supreme Court had its hands full - the Israeli National Soccer team played a huge game against Belarus - in its ongoing campaign to earn a spot in the 2024 Euro Soccer Tournament.  A few nights before, Israel had eked out a tie against Romania.  Israel still has to play four more  games - two relatively "easy" ones -  two more difficult.  Sometimes the "easy" ones are the hardest to win.  The games will be  played in October and November - and will determine whether  Israel earns a spot  in the  June 2024 tournament.  From my research, it looks like Israel has not actually played in a major world  soccer tournament since 1970.  There is still a long way to go  but Israel's late goal victory over Belarus yesterday was a huge step forward for the Israeli side.  So the Israeli soccer team was playing some of its most meaningful soccer ever while the Supreme Court was hearing one of its most consequential cases.   Did that tie it in enough?

Entertainment

I was hoping to watch the latest "Jewish Double Header" that so many people  are talking  about - "Golda" and  "You are so not invited to my Bat Mitzvah."  I wanted to include discussions  of both movies in my blog - but that will have to wait until next time.  Very different types of content, of course, - but I'll let you know if there  is a way to tie the two together - other than temporal proximity of their respective release dates and the fact that there is  some  type of Jewish theme or content to both movies.  If you have seen one or both, I welcome all comments.

Podcasts

I used my subway and airline travel time rather productively in June and  July and into  August and listened to all 70 episodes of an Israeli podcast called "The Party of Thoughts."  This is a political, philosophical podcast that addresses contemporary (and not so contemporary) issues in Israel including the nature of the country as a  Jewish and democratic country, competing philosophical ideas about modern democracy, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and many other issues. It is led by Micah Goodman, a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, and Efrat Rosenberg Shapiro, an excellent and very experienced moderator.  In Hebrew, it is called "Mafleget Hamachshavot" and is available on Spotify.  Goodman and Rosenberg try to  explain different sides on many different issues and try to present a wide range  of viewpoints with empathy, understanding and respect.  They are both self-described Orthodox Jews but many ideas are discussed with a very liberal  bent.  Different podcasts examine  ideas of Jewish religious leaders - from Biblical times through Rambam, Hassidic Rabbis, and more contemporary Jewish thinkers  from Rabbi Avraham Isaac Cook to modern day Rabbis.  Others deal with Israel's legal development and history including Israel's current constitutional status.   Many other issues  are addressed.

The podcast is all in Hebrew - so you should only try to tackle this if your Hebrew is up to the challenge.   If you are interested, Micah Goodman has given a number of lectures in English on YouTube and some are very good.  I wouldn't say that I agree with everything on these podcasts - but I found many of them to be thought provoking, reasonably balanced - and filled with all kinds of references and discussions - of historians,  philosophers, theologians, political scientists and others.  This is not confined to Jewish thinkers or ideas - but includes discussions of far Eastern ideas, Plato, Marx, Rousseau, Hobbes, Locke as well as many other philosophers and other thinkers.  I learned quite a bit and really enjoyed it.  Thanks to my daughter for  the suggestion.  It is apparently a very popular podcast in Israel, listened to many different people, including many on different sides of the political spectrum.

Ultimately, Goodman and Rosenberg propose various types of compromises - for dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the current constitutional crisis in Israel - and other issues.  Again, I'm not saying I agree with their proposals  but they are very interesting.

Holidays

I supposed it is now time to get into High Holyday mode.  I have been a bit slow off the mark because of general busyness with my work -  and  some travel and family occasions (happy events).  I don't  have any particular role for Rosh Hashanah (in the past, I have  often read some or all of the Torah readings or lead services) - other than to make a few dishes - including a honey apple cake - thanks to Tori Avey's delicious recipe.

For the following week, I will be leading Kol Nidrei and Neilah tefillot at our community services in a friend's  backyard - so if you (or anyone you know) happen to be in Ra'anana and  would like to join an egalitarian liberal service - let me know.  

That's about it for now - I wish everyone a happy and  healthy New Year - with hopes for good health, peace, less political  tension, more moderation - and lots of laughter.  Shana Tova.

First Step in Israel's "Legal Revolution" - "Reasonableness" Bill Passes

There is much to write about today's events in Israel.  Unfortunately, none of it is good news.  The Israeli Knesset today passed the third and final reading of a bill - called the "reasonableness law."  This was the first major bill that is a part of a collection of proposed laws put together by the current Justice Minister Yariv Levin.  The laws are intended to weaken the power of the Israeli Supreme Court dramatically, reduce its independence and enable the Knesset to override decisions of the Supreme Court (even after the party in power has hand-picked the justices).  

The right in Israel calls this all "judicial reform" while everyone else, from centre-right to left calls it a "legal revolution" or even a "coup."  

I have read various articles attempting to explain away these various proposed changes.  Some commentators have used the United States as the barometer for analyzing the changes and claim that if it only moves the Israeli legal system towards the system in the U.S., it must be a good thing.  Given the recent news about influence peddling in the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as the types of decisions the U.S. Court has been releasing, it seems hard to imagine that anyone who is sincerely interested in an independent and robust judiciary would be using the U.S. as a model.  Sorry to offend my U.S. readers.

Others have argued that changing Israeli judicial precedents through legislation is only a way of "restoring balance" to the system and balancing out the power of the judiciary against the power of the other branches of government.  But the Israeli Supreme  Court has actually interfered with the government on relatively few occasions.  For the most part, Prime Minister Netanyahu and the various right wing governments that he has led have enjoyed a great deal of freedom of action and have seen relatively little practical interference from the Israeli Supreme Court even though members of the current government that he leads argue that the country is "ruled" by the Supreme Court.  

But the concern in Israel - and the impetus behind the demonstrations is not one particular bill or law.  If the only law being proposed by the current government was this "reasonableness" law - (which is intended to change Israeli common law and bar judges from using "unreasonableness" or "extreme unreasonableness" as a grounds for judicial review of legislation of governmental action), then the Israeli public might not be so riled up.  

But the current government has 64 seats.  15 of those seats are from the Religious Zionist Party which is mostly made up of xenophobic, homophobic, fascists who would like turn Israel into an Iranian type regime, run according to their version of halacha - Jewish religious law.

Another 17 Knesset Members are from ultra-religious parties.  While these members are mainly interested in obtaining financial support for their religious institutions and their constituents, most of them would also like to see a State ruled by halacha.

Of the remaining 32 Likud members in the current governing coalition - there seem to be several more who are supportive of these extremists.  Yariv Levin, the current Minister of Justice, is one of these members.  His presentation in January 2023, that I have written about previously, was nothing less than a proposal to disembowel the Supreme Court of Israel and leave it with little power to serve as an independent judicial arbiter.

Just yesterday, the leader of one of the Religious Zionist parties, and the current Minister of Internal Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir stated that this "reasonableness law" was only the first step - the appetizer - and that the whole main course was yet to be served. Last night - he said "the salad bar is open."  

Surely, of all people, Israelis know what can happen to a democracy when fascists start passing laws.  It can happen quickly and dramatically.  And a sizeable number of Israelis recognize this and are out in the streets demonstrating and protesting.  In fact, they have been demonstrating since January 2023 when Levin first announced his plans - in a press conference that reminded me of a scene from one of the Batman movies where the villain announces his plans to take over the world.

Some have characterized Prime Minister Netanyahu as the "adult in the room" and argued that he would not let Israel become undemocratic.  But Netanyahu has his own concerns.  He is in the midst of a criminal trial and looking to end these proceedings and avoid jail time.  So while some Likud members were pushing him to try and reach some kind of compromise - his right fascist flank was threatening to leave the government and cause it to fall if he were to agree to any kind of compromise.  As a result the third reading of the bill passed 64-56.  No Likud members dared dissent for fear of being the ones to bring down the government.  The opposition Knesset members boycotted the third vote and the bill passed 64-0.

Senior members of Netanyahu's government are talking about next steps.  They have many different plans.  Firing the Attorney General and other non-political office holders in Israel without any concern about judicial interference.  Dismantling the Israeli bar association.  Putting the convicted criminal Aryeh Deri back into office as the Minister of Finance.  Passing a law to allow the current government to appoint all of the judges instead of using a balanced committee.  Passing a judicial override bill to overturn any decisions of the Supreme Court by a simple majority.  And even these laws are only a few of the more than 82 laws that members of this government are proposing.  Oh I forgot the proposed "discrimination law" that allows a company or an individual to refuse to serve others (LBGTQ+? Arabs? Secular Jews? Women?) because of "religious reasons."  (Granted this type of law has been upheld twice in recent years by the current U.S. Supreme Court but I think that was related to my earlier point...)

As a result of all of this, hundreds of thousands of Israelis are protesting.  Two days ago, more than 50,000 Israelis began a two day march from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem - where they arrived in time to protest all day today in front of the Knesset along with hundreds of thousands of others.  But the bill passed anyways - and there are more bills to follow.  I anticipate that the protest movement will now ramp up the type and volume of protests.

One of the discussions has centred on military service.  Israel has a "people's army" where everyone is conscripted (even though there are many exemptions).  Afterwards, people serve in many different roles in a voluntary capacity.  Many of the volunteers, including Israeli fighter pilots and many others, have announced that they will refuse to appear for purely voluntary missions.  The number of military personnel sharing these sentiments has been growing.  The right wing response is that the army should be totally separate from politics - and that soldiers should report for duty no matter what.  In fact, some would like to pass a new law to deal with these issues and penalize those who refuse to appear for duty.  But the social contract that binds the soldiers to the state and to reporting for duty is based on their understanding that they are reporting to a democratic regime.   A large number of Israeli soldiers will refuse to report for duty if the perception is that they are serving an autocratic regime.   

How and where do we draw the line?  Israeli soldiers do not want to harm the state and want to defend it at all costs from external enemies.  But they do not want to carry out illegal orders or serve as accomplices for a regime that makes illegal or immoral decisions.  We may not be there yet - but in a government that includes 15 far right extremists, some of whom are cabinet members - soldiers are concerned that there may not be any judicial oversight to actions they are now asked to carry out.  That has already started to happen to the Israeli police forces - which are now being overseen by Ben-Gvir.

This government's short-sighted legal "revolution," enabled by Netanyahu out of fear for his own freedom, is causing economic problems as well.  Companies, including Israeli high-tech companies, are talking about leaving or reducing their investments in the country.  Individual Israelis are talking about leaving and finding work elsewhere.  The Israeli Shekel has sunk dramatically against other currencies (it fell by approximately 10% today).  There is a great deal of uncertainty and it is likely to get much worse.  Sadly, it appears that Netanyahu's legacy will be one of severe damage to Israel's unity and its fabric as a vibrant democracy - all in the interest of saving his own skin.  One commentator called it "Hanina o Heres" - "Pardon - or Destruction" meaning that Netanyahu would either get himself a pardon or he would take down the whole society with him.

All of this comes just two days before Tisha B'Av, one of the saddest days on the Jewish calendar on which we remember and commemorate the destruction of the first and second temples in Jerusalem.  The standard and traditional Jewish Rabbinical explanation - is that the Temples were destroyed (in 586 B.C.E. and then again in 70 C.E.) because of "baseless hatred" between different Jewish groups.  In an address this evening in Israel, one of the opposition leaders, Benny Gantz, warned that we must learn from the lessons of Tisha B'Av and find ways to work out our differences rather than take actions that could lead the country to an ever greater crisis.  Sadly, there is no sign, at this point, that Netanyahu's current government has any interest in approaching these matters reasonably.

I normally try to include some other comments in my blogs about different issues but I think I will leave that to my next blog.  Unfortunately, I have probably been watching and listening to far too much news and that is not giving me a warm and fuzzy feeling to end on a humorous note.

For those fasting this coming Thursday, I wish everyone a meaningful fast and I hope that Jewish people everywhere, though especially in Israel, will take the time to think about where we are today and what we need to do to stop things from deteriorating further.