News Digest — 6/26/24
Fire Breaks Out Near Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital In Jerusalem
A fire broke out on Tuesday evening (25th), around 10:00 pm in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya and quickly spread towards the Ofrit base and Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital.
Dozens of teams of firefighters from all stations in the Jerusalem district were dispatched to the scene, and were later joined by teams of firefighters from the central district.
The firefighters, with the assistance of IDF troops and police officers, fought the fire and created a line of defense in and around the base, as well as a perimeter defense circle around the hospital, in order to prevent the fire from entering the hospital and the base and causing damage.
After three hours, the crews were able to contain the fire.
The police are investigating a suspicion of arson, as it is believed the fire broke out following the throwing of firebombs.
IDF Eliminates Senior Islamic Jihad Terrorist
An IAF aircraft directed by IDF intelligence, on Tuesday (25th) struck and eliminated the terrorist Fadi Al-Wadiya, who served as a significant operative in the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.
“As part of his role, Fadi Al-Wadiya developed and advanced the terrorist organization’s rocket array and was a central figure in the terrorist organization’s knowledge of electronics and chemistry,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.
On Monday (24th), IAF aircraft guided by military and Shin Bet intelligence struck two buildings in Al-Shati and Tuffah in northern Gaza which served the Hamas terror group.
The terrorists who were in the buildings were involved in planning many terror attacks against Israel, and some of them were involved in holding hostages and took part in the October 7 massacre. The IDF noted that the buildings were part of a school compound which Hamas used as a shield for its terror activities.
As part of the preparations for the strike, a number of steps were taken to reduce harm and risks to civilians in the area, the IDF stressed.
In a statement, the military added, “Hamas consistently violates international law while systematically using civilian structures and the civilian population as human shields for its terrorist activities against the State of Israel.”
Gantz Says, ‘Israel Can Destroy Hezbollah In Days’
Speaking at a conference, Benny Gantz claimed that Israel can destroy Hezbollah’s military in just days.
With the escalation of Hezbollah’s almost daily attacks on Israel’s northern border, Israel’s military has been bracing for a possible all-out war with the Lebanese terror group.
US officials expressed concerns that Hezbollah, armed with sophisticated Iranian missiles, could breach Israel’s Iron Dome and seriously compromise Israel’s security.
However, Benny Gantz, former Defense Minister and IDF Chief of Staff, speaking at the 21st Herzliya Conference at Reichman University, expressed confidence in Israel’s ability to defeat Hezbollah.
He said, “We can bring Lebanon completely into the dark, and take apart Hezbollah’s power in days.”
However, Gantz said the real challenge and goal was to return Israeli evacuees to their homes by September 1st.
He explained that the aim was to “return the southern and northern residents to their homes, even at the price of escalation.”
Gantz explained that Israel’s price “will be heavy. We need to back up our institutions. We need to be ready for major incidents of harm [to the public]. We should try to avoid it, but if we need to do it, we cannot be deterred from it.”
He concluded, “We cannot let Hezbollah keep threats close to the northern border: we need to get the northern residents back by September 1st.”
In addition, Gantz said that building alliances, including through normalization with the Saudis, was essential for deterring Iran.
“We still have the opportunity of normalization with the Saudis and other states, to build what we started to build, the Middle East air defense, to form a stranglehold on the Iranian axis,” he said.
In addition, Gantz said a main priority would be “to build up Israel’s defenses and to be ready for ‘the judgment day’ of stopping Iranian nuclear weapons.”
Gantz also said he supported a hostage deal, even if it meant a temporary cessation of the war.
He made the analogy that it took the US 10 years after 9/11 to eliminate Osama Bin Laden, and there was time to neutralize the October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar.
Israel Will Act To Restore Security In The North – Amb. Michael Oren
With the start of Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7, Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon launched an utterly unprovoked assault on the Galilee. Rockets have rained on Israeli towns and villages, tens of thousands have been displaced, dozens killed, and vast swaths of territory set ablaze. Eight months later, entire cities stand abandoned and countless acres of farmland are uncultivated or burnt. If left unchecked, Hezbollah could soon render half the country uninhabitable.
Israeli counter strikes have killed hundreds of Hezbollah terrorists and destroyed many of their emplacements, but such actions will have little effect on an organization that unflinchingly lost thousands fighting in the Syrian civil war.
A full-scale war in the north will differ profoundly from Gaza. Among Hezbollah’s 150,000 rockets and missiles are those that can hit any target – airfields, military bases, oil refineries, the Dimona nuclear reactor, even Israel’s southernmost port of Eilat. Hezbollah has all of Lebanon in which to maneuver, and logistical lines stretching across Syria.
Moreover, any war with Hezbollah is likely to involve rocket fire on Israel from Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Yemen, as well as missile onslaughts similar to that launched against Israel on April 13 from Iran. Israel can’t be expected to respond passively, firing at the incoming rockets until its Iron Dome interceptors run out.
The anguish of northern Galilee is simply unsustainable and must be ended, even at an exorbitant price. In the previous conflict with Hezbollah in 2006, Israel distinguished between Hezbollah and Lebanon. Today, though, Israel regards Hezbollah and Lebanon as one and war will be on both.
The writer is a former Israeli ambassador to the US and Deputy Minister for Diplomacy (New York Post)
After Benjamin Fell In Gaza, His Parents Made Aliyah From France
Master Sergeant (res.) Eliahou Benjamin Elmakayes came to Israel alone from France about 10 years ago out of his great love for the State of Israel, where he wished to build his life. On November 8, he was killed in the Gaza Strip. Now his parents are moving to Israel to live as he would have wanted, in Jerusalem.
Benjamin, who served as a reservist in the Engineering Corps, fell in battle in Gaza. He was 29 years old at the time of his death. His parents decided to follow his path, and next week they will make Aliyah to Israel through the Jewish Agency and The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Benjamin is the youngest son of Marlene (Shoshana) and Lucien (Israel). He is also survived by five brothers and sisters. “We were very close, perhaps because he was the youngest of my six children,” his mother said.
In 2010, at the age of 15, Benjamin left his family in France and came to study in high school in Israel. After completing his matriculation exams, he returned to France, but his longing for Israel determined his path. He immigrated to the country in 2014 and volunteered for combat service in the Engineering Corps as a lone soldier.
After completing his service, he worked in a security firm in Jerusalem, and he planned to marry his girlfriend, Yoana. When the war broke out, he was called for reserve duty in Gaza. “We were very worried,” his mother said. “At the end of October we saw him in Israel. We had a celebration and were filled with joy and excitement. We did not know this happy moment would be our last together.”
A few days after their reunion, on November 8, Benjamin fell in the Gaza Strip. After the Shiva, the family returned to France, but in their hearts they had already decided to make Aliyah. “HIs dream was that we live with him in Israel. We will build our lives in Jerusalem, the city that Benjamin loved more than anything,” Marlene said.
The chairman of the Jewish Agency, MG (res.) Doron Almog, said: “Benjamin’s legacy and the spirit of his service give us pride and inspiration.” Yael Eckstein, president of The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, added: “We will continue to accompany the family in their adjustment process in the country.”
Minister of Immigration and Absorption of Israel Ofir Sofer expressed happiness over the Aliyah of the fallen soldier’s parents.
“The parents of Benjamin Elmakayes, who immigrated alone to enlist and defend the homeland and fell in battle, continue their son’s path. A few months ago, I met Marlene and Lucien at an Aliyah fair in Paris and was moved to tears when they told me they were about to make Aliyah. I am glad this day has come. Our office will assist them in every way necessary to adjust to Israel as well as possible,” he said.
Pro-Palestinian Protesters Are Proving Why Israel Is Needed – Mijal Bitton
The virulence of college demonstrators is only intensifying the fear American Jews are feeling. The more the protesters demonize Israel, the more they reawaken Jewish identity and strengthen Zionism. We have found that too many of our allies here at home refuse to speak up when Israelis are murdered or when American Jews who care about Israel are excluded from polite society.
Last week, protesters in Lower Manhattan targeted an exhibit dedicated to the memory of the hundreds of young Israelis murdered or kidnapped from the Nova music festival. They unfurled a banner proclaiming “Long Live October 7” and held signs declaring that Zionists “are not Jews and not human.” Days earlier, crowds chanted “kill another Zionist now” across from the White House in Washington.
But paradoxically, every day since October 7, I have also seen how this rise in anti-Semitism and anti-Zionist rhetoric is inspiring Jewish pride and solidarity with Israel among so many young Jews. These young Jews share the life-altering experience of deep disillusionment with previous professional or social homes. Nearly every young person I know has had a (former) friend express sympathy for Hamas, been the recipient of anti-Semitic comments on social media or seen overt antisemitism in their neighborhood.
Multiple Jewish university students are rediscovering that they belong to a rich history of Jews who experienced othering and expulsions but whose greatest strength was in each other. They are rediscovering the millennia-old Jewish rituals and community structures that nourish belonging and they are rediscovering Zionism.
This is not surprising. The Zionist dreamers of the 1800s and 1900s were motivated to build a Jewish state by the realization that their neighbors in an “enlightened” Europe were incubating a hatred so dangerous it could lead to their genocide. For most of us American Jews, Zionism is the belief that Jews have a right to self-determination in their historic homeland. At the heart of Zionism is the security in having at least one place in the world that never closes its doors to displaced and oppressed Jews.
The latest Pew study on Jewish Americans shows that for 82%, caring about Israel is an important or essential part of what being Jewish means to them. The protests unleashed a relentless anti-Semitic wave in America, but they also have awakened Zionism in the hearts of American Jews who now understand that Israel is at least one place on Earth that can truly guarantee that Jews will always be welcome.
The writer is the spiritual leader of the Downtown Minyan in New York City and a sociologist of American Jews..
