It is my practice to begin postings with news of a terror attack, when there has been one. And sadly, this is the case now. This attack, however, is particularly difficult to report upon.
Meir Tamari lived in the small town of Hermesh in the northwest Shomron (Samaria). He had moved there four years ago when he married his wife, Tal, who grew up in Hermesh. The couple had two children, aged one and three and had just finished building their home.
On Tuesday, May 30, Palestinian Arab terrorists murdered Meir Tamari, HYD (may Hashem avenge his death).
His car was overtaken not far from Hermesh by a car with forged Israeli license plates, and he was shot at close range by a long weapon. He was still alive when medics rushed to help him but had to be pronounced dead by the time he had been brought to the hospital by helicopter.
His 32nd birthday was the very next day. Family that had intended to celebrate with him gathered instead to bury him. Person after person described him as always kind, always helping others.
His wife mourned (emphasis added):
“This is a reality that does not make sense. It does not make sense that our sweet children will not get to see your light, to experience you more, grow with you and learn with you – your goodness and your giving. We were supposed to grow old together and have more children. To do so many things. Now I’m alone with them…
“All that remains for me to do is to instill your values in our children, and I hope I will succeed… We are supposed to live in Israel safely and be able to return home to our families safely. Any other reality cannot be accepted.”
She carried her one-year-old son on her back as she spoke.
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What Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, had to say about this attack is painful, and important (emphasis added):
“This is very difficult…Our heart breaks together with that of the entire family…It hurts so much to say this now, but we all understand: The writing was on the wall. We could have prevented this terror attack. This terror attack occurred just meters from a checkpoint which, if it were active, this terror attack would have been prevented.
“We begged that the checkpoint be reopened, we warned that we would pay in blood, and we were not answered. If the government of Israel had not caved to international pressure and removed the security checkpoints, including this checkpoint, Meir would be here with us today.”
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/372126
And so, one of the lessons we must learn is to put the lives of our people first, and to stand strong against international pressure.
Dagan called for a major security operation. And his call was echoed by Gush Etzion Regional Council Mayor Shlomo Ne’eman: “Our country is at war. And we expect a real war against a brutal enemy.”
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The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which is believed to be affiliated with Fatah – the major faction of the PA, claimed responsibility for the shooting. The two terrorists who were in the car fled from the scene in the direction of Jenin. They have not yet been apprehended although in due course they certainly will be. My hope, as always in these cases, is that when they are apprehended there is a gun fight and they are killed.
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But there is yet more to this story. Tal Meiri’s mother, Dalit, married Benjamin Horgen a year ago. Horgen’s first wife, Esther, was murdered by terrorists in December 2020. Hear Benjamin describe the situation in the video here:
In the role of grandfather to the young Meira children, Benjamin stands ready to be there for them as they now are without their father. Struggling with his own memories, and devastated anew by Meir’s death, he rises to the need.
This is what we do in the face of tragedy.
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And there is yet something else we do in face of these tragedies: We strengthen our hold on the land.
“We will increase settlement, both to honor God and to strengthen the State of Israel,” Dagan said.
MK Orit Struck (RZ), Minister of Settlements and National Missions, sounded a similar theme: “…The terrorists do not understand how much we, like you Meir, love this country. Dear Tamari family, the entire nation of Israel embraces you in your pain and is committed to shining even more strongly the light of Meir.”
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And with this I segue to happy news about the yeshiva in Homesh (not to be confused with Hermesh), which Struk specifically alluded to.
As part of the horrendous “Disengagement” law of 2005, not only were 21 Jewish communities in Gaza evacuated, so were four Jewish communities in the northern Shomron – Homesh being one of them, along with Sa-Nur, Ganim and Kadim.
In March, the Knesset repealed the laws that forbid Jews from entering these communities, and in May, IDF Central Command head Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fuchs signed an order allowing Israelis to reenter Homesh and placed the site within the jurisdiction of the Samaria Regional Council.
It is important to note the Fuchs did this on orders of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (Likud).
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For many years, during the time of the “disengagement,” a yeshiva operated in Homesh with great and painful difficulty. It was shut down by the IDF and reestablished in meager facilities again and again by Jews who maintained they had a right to study there.
Now the yeshiva is being established legally and permanently. Its location has shifted slightly to land within Homesh that is state-owned; there can be no challenge to the legality of the location. This move – accomplished overnight on May 29 by volunteers – is to be greatly celebrated; it is one important victory. Jewish development in Sa-Nur, Ganim and Kadim is sure to follow, one step at a time.
IDF Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch told JNS earlier this month that this was a “good start” but did not go far enough.
“The 2005 so-called Israeli ‘disengagement’ from Gaza and parts of northern Samaria played into the territorial aspirations of the Palestinian Authority—to create ever-increasing Arab-dominated territories that are entirely ‘Judenfrei,’” said Hirsch, who served for 20 years in the IDF Military Advocate General’s Corps.
“Revoking the Israeli legislation that facilitated this fundamentally racist practice is a good start, but it is not sufficient. This government should make all the preparations necessary not only to repeal racist laws but to also ensure the application of Israeli law throughout Judea and Samaria.”
https://www.jns.org/israel/homesh/23/5/29/291186/
As they say, from his mouth to God’s ear.
Here you see Yossi Dagan affixing a mezuzah to the yeshiva door.
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Naturally (I would have been shocked if it were otherwise), the US government was “deeply troubled” by this move. Said U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, “Advancing Israeli settlements in the West Bank is an obstacle to the achievement of a two-state solution.”
I would say that when the US State Department – which is no friend to Israel whatever its declarations – is “deeply troubled” by our actions it means we are doing something right. Let us have the strength to continue.
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All of this said, I must close by alluding to a situation that is potentially very dire, as Iran inches closer to having nuclear weaponry. The world (the US included) has chosen to turn a blind eye – one of the stupidest, most self-destructive moves imaginable.
Whatever one thinks of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in other regards, he is the one who has had foresight on this issue and has attempted to arouse the world, again and again. It may well turn out to be that whatever the politics, he will end up being the right person in charge at the right time.
For years we have been slowing down the progress of Iranian military development via various covert acts of sabotage and more – making it difficult for Iran to continue that development without a frontal attack. We have also regularly attacked Iranian installations and weaponry located in Syria.
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On May 22, Defense Minister Gallant warned at the Herzliya Conference of the Institute for Policy and Strategy, that a new sector of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards is involved in arming merchant ships with drones and missile systems.
“This is a coordinated and planned policy, designed to threaten the shipping and flight routes, both military and civilian, and to create a situation of declaring a permanent threat in the maritime space.”
At a military ceremony yesterday, Gallant said: “In light of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report stating that Iran possesses a sufficient amount of enriched uranium for two nuclear bombs, the threats facing the State of Israel are growing and intensifying and we may be required to fulfill our duty in order to protect the integrity of Israel. “The tasks are heavy and the challenges are great. The reality in which we find ourselves is complex, but the State of Israel, the IDF, and all the security forces will know what to do to ensure Israel’s security in the present and also in the future.” (Emphasis added)
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/skafti883
Iran is on the edge of having nuclear weapons, but they have not yet taken that final fatal step. Let no one imagine otherwise: Gallant is serious, just as Netanyahu is serious, about not permitting Iran to go nuclear. We would prefer to have international cooperation but will go it alone if necessary.
Gallant’s comments are also released for their deterrence value: If the Iranians know that Israel is serious, they are more likely to think twice.
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A recent AP report indicated that Iran was building an underground nuclear development facility so deep that even the US bunker busters would not be able to reach it and it would be immune from attack.
Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud), who heads the National Security Council, said otherwise this week: While these news bunkers would complicate an attack, he said there would still be solutions:
“What is possible to say about this matter is that there is no place that can’t be reached.”
May the Almighty grant our leaders steady commitment, inner strength and considerable wisdom.
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I close with this model of a leader lacking commitment, strength and wisdom:
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was supposed to stop in Israel in the course of an upcoming Mideast trip but has decided to cancel the Israel leg of his visit to the area.
A senior Israeli political official cited by the Jpost said that “it is impossible to ignore the sensitive timing” of Blinken’s cancelation.
“…the Americans are trying to drop the Iranian issue from the agenda until the elections. They realized that the nuclear issue cannot be stopped without military activity in Iran.”
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-744941
You know what they say: Stupid is as stupid does. This is the dangerous ultimate in kicking the can down the road.
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© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
