Once again, read to the end and share as widely as possible, please!
As Israel fights a hot war, we must fight the war of disinformation, refuting the lies that are already being circulated by Hamas and its supporters.
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A major step was taken last night as, finally, an emergency unity government has been formed in an agreement between Prime Minister Netanyahu (Likud) and Benny Gantz (National Unity Party), who, until yesterday, was head of the opposition. This is a turning point in our situation.
Full and serious discussion as to how we came to find ourselves in our current situation will have to wait until after the war. But it is clear, unequivocally, that the tensions over judicial reform and the major street demonstrations led our enemies to conclude that we were divided and thus weak.
The unity government is a major corrective and sends an important message to those enemies.
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Arrangements that have been set in place for the unity government are for the duration of the war:
Gantz’s National Unity Party has been brought into the government. There will be a special War Cabinet consisting of three voting members, Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Gantz, who served previously as chief of staff and defense minister. Sitting in on the meetings will be two non-voting observers, Minister Ron Dermer (Likud), and MK Gadi Eisenkot (National Unity), a former chief of staff.
Additionally, five members of the National Unity party will be added to the broader security cabinet; they will be ministers without portfolios, which means they are accorded the status of ministers but without any specific authority conferred upon them. Amongst the five will be Benny Gantz, Gideon Sa’ar, and Gadi Eisenkot.
There will be no legislation or government resolutions advanced in the Knesset during this time that are not related to managing the war. Everything else is on hold.
https://worldisraelnews.com/netanyahu-gantz-agree-on-unity-government/
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There is room for Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), should he change his mind and decided to join. At present he has declined to participate because of the presence in the government of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionists) and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (Otzma Yehudit). There is a great deal I might say about this, but in the spirit of the moment, I will pass for now. But in due course, oi vey.
Commented Ben Gvir: “I laud unity, now we need to win.”
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Last night, the three addressed the nation (all emphasis added).
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/378330
Netanyahu said, in part:
“The people of Israel are united and today their leadership is also united, we put aside all other considerations because the fate of our country hangs in the balance.
“We saw the beasts, the barbarians with whom we are fighting. We saw children bound and shot in the head, men and women who were burned alive, young women who were raped and butchered, fighters whose heads were cut off, in one place they put people together in and placed spare tires around them so that there would be flammable material and burned them alive.
“We are fighting with all our might on all fronts, we have gone on the attack. Hamas is ISIS and we will crush and eliminate it just as the world crushed and eliminated ISIS.”
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Gallant said, in part:
“This was a murderous attack, more serious than any other terrorist attack that has ever occurred in the world. Thousands of terrorists attacked with the goal of looting, killing and slaughtering. I have served the State of Israel as a soldier and fighter for 47 years, I have seen many difficult events, I have never seen such an event.
“These things were only stopped by one thing, the bravery of the fighters. I passed through the area for the last three days, I was in the towns, in the kibbutzim, I met the fighters who came out of the battles, I heard their stories, I heard about the fighters who charged first, fell, their comrades followed them and continued until they killed the terrorists.
“This will not continue…And I say – we will wipe this thing called Hamas ISIS Gaza off the face of the earth.”
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Gantz said, in part:
“Israel is in one of its most difficult hours, these are fateful days, its friends, its families were murdered and kidnapped by a cruel enemy, an enemy that needs to be exterminated by all means and without any qualms. Our standing here, shoulder to shoulder, is a clear message to our enemy, and more importantly a message to all the citizens of Israel, we are all together, we are all mobilizing, we are all mobilized.
“…make no mistake, the State of Israel is the strongest country in the region. It has the most powerful army and the best people. This power is being felt in Gaza and, if necessary, in Lebanon they will feel it and the whole world will see it. Our enemy’s share will be blood, fire and smoke.”
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Gantz referred to the best people, who are here in Israel. We are, quite honestly, amazing. The spirit of volunteerism, the eagerness to help, and to give comfort to others, is profound. This, too, is part of our healing as it promotes unity and lifts morale.
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We are still searching for the missing, and burying our dead There is a rush now to bury as many as possible before Shabbat. The number of dead is now up to 1,300.
The situation is surreal. Everywhere I turn, there is sadness and worry and mourning. At one moment there is news about someone who is missing and at the next moment news about his funeral.
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I stop here to call your attention to the organization Zaka, which does holy work. Its members – 3,000 volunteers – go into the heart of horror. They help the wounded and retrieve the dead, insuring them devoted care and proper burial. In Judaism honoring of the dead is a great mitzvah.
Now Duby Weissenstern, Zaka CEO, has put out an urgent appeal because they are running out of supplies: rubber gloves are almost gone, and they are out of body bags. They no longer have protective gear – helmets and body armor – for their volunteers who are operating under fire, working alongside the IDF to bring out bodies. Blood from victims must also be gathered and buried along with the deceased, but they have run out of paper for absorbing the blood.
You can see a short video appeal from Duby here, with the button for donating.
https://chesedtoday.com/campaigns/zakaceo/
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We are struggling with the unbearable reality of Jewish hostages – including babies!! – in the hands of Hamas. Hamas says they have 100+ hostages, but we don’t know. Some estimate that the number is smaller, but the thought of babies in the hands of Hamas tears the heart.
Sherry Markson of Sky News Australia was brought to tears (as were many broadcasters) as she spoke:
“They show no mercy to the elderly, the women, the children – the babies – kidnapped, captured and led away by men who sneer at them, while being led away…”
https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/rkygyfxwt
I heard a report from a reliable analyst about the cheering of the people, the celebrating, that went on in Gaza when their terrorists were seen bringing in Jewish captives.
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Along with the unimaginable despair of people whose loved ones are being held by Hamas, there is a lack of clarity that greatly exacerbates the situation: In a handful of instances there is solid evidence of someone’s captivity. Like the Nazis, these monsters have taken videos of their captives, proud of what they are doing. In some cases, there were witness: Terrorists were seen dragging someone away.
But when someone is missing it cannot be concluded that he is captive. Perhaps he was murdered by terrorists, but his body has not yet been found. The search for bodies is being conducted in the arena of Hamas rocket attacks.
Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch has been appointed as Coordinator for the Captives and the Missing by Prime Minister Netanyahu.
His first task has been attempting to get a clear picture of the situation. The US has a direct interest in this situation: Among the captives, President Biden has confirmed that there is a small number of American citizens. The US is reportedly sending hostage negotiation experts to Israel, in order to assist in the attempt to recover captives. They will serve in an advisory role.
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We have not yet entered Gaza, even though our mobilized forces (the great majority of the 360,000 who have now been called up) are at the border. There are several reasons for this:
First, the dead must be located and buried. And the presence of any further terrorists eliminated. There are, as well, plans to set in place and troops to be properly equipped.
But beyond all of this I think is one major reason: We are bombing the hell out of Gaza in order to soften Hamas to the maximum possible before sending our boys in, and to eliminate launching sites.
Since we began, 6,000 bombs have been dropped, some weighing as much as 4,000 pounds. We are hitting command and control targets, strategic military infrastructures, munitions production sites, intelligence assets, terror leaders, naval assets and rocket arrays.
We have never hit this hard before, and we have just begun.
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Hamas is continuing to launch rockets. A couple of days ago, Ashkelon was hit hard, and yesterday there were rockets over Haifa. At first thought to be an attack from Lebanon, the final determination was that the rockets came from Gaza.
Today there is a report that Hamas is rationing its use of rockets – apparently saving them for use when our troops begin their ground invasion.
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One stunning piece of information that was revealed yesterday was that when Hamas terrorists entered southern Israel, their intention was not just to kill and capture Jews, but to seize and hold on to land in the south of Israel. They were driven back and failed in this completely. Thank Heaven.
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An official statement has come out from Hamas calling for global mobilization against Israel this Friday, October 13.
Khaled Mashal, who led Hamas from 2014-2017, echoed this, calling for Muslims to “take to the streets” on Friday in a global protest against Israel: “To all scholars who teach jihad…this is a moment for the application [of jihad].”
There are varying expert opinions as to how serious this is likely to be. In the judgement of Robert Greenway, director of the Center for National Defense at the Heritage Foundation, “It is an unambiguous global call to arms. It will be heeded. There will be blood.”
https://www.jns.org/hamas-calls-for-worldwide-mobilization-against-israel-on-friday/
National Security Minister Ben Gvir has his eye on the Israeli Muslims in our mixed cities, who in many instances constituted a fifth column in 2021 during hostilities with Hamas. On Tuesday, he instructed the Defense Ministry to purchase over 10,000 firearms to quickly arm local security guards and increase the civilian protection during the war against Hamas.
“The head of the Samaria Council, Yossi Dagan, signed an arms deal for the purchase of hundreds of improved assault rifles to reinforce the defensive squads in the council’s settlements.
Dagan said at the signing of the arms deal: “Together, we are an iron fist! We strengthen the defensive squads and will stand together and defend Samaria and the entire State of Israel.”
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I turn now to the north and the exceedingly serious question of whether Hezbollah is going to open another front in this war. They have been testing the waters for some time now.
Yesterday, there was a major alert when it was thought that there had been an infiltration into Israeli airspace of Hezbollah combat drones and manned paragliders. Sirens sounded throughout the Golan and the Galil. But it turned out to be an error.
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Hezbollah has drawn a red line with regard to an attack on Israel: If the IDF enters Gaza, they have declared, they will attack to defend Hamas. And so, it is expected that there will likely be some rocket response, but the question remains as to how serious it will be.
There are several factors mitigating against a serious attack by Hezbollah.
As Yaakov Lapin has written, Hezbollah, in the course of testing the waters, is “discovering a high degree of Israeli operational readiness and determination.” This was more than had been expected. Not so long ago, minor provocations were being ignored by Israel, but this is no longer the case.
What is more, there is no room for a surprise attack, as the IDF is already mobilized and on very high alert.
Lapin quotes Yossi Kuperwasser, former head of the Research and Assessment Division of Israel’s Military Intelligence, and a senior research fellow at Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy:
“We definitely can handle two fronts once the military is deployed and mobilized; this is not a big issue. We already paid such a heavy price that you cannot threaten us with paying heavy prices.”
The Lebanese population is definitely not keen on a major confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel, as this would wreak havoc on civilian areas, which is where Hezbollah stores its rockets.
https://www.jns.org/hezbollah-tests-waters-in-the-north-to-find-firm-israeli-readiness/
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With all of this, there is one other factor that may sway Hezbollah away from attack, and that is the incredible backing we are receiving from the US. I am, quite frankly, astounded as to how solid it seems to be.
The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, a force of six warships headed by the US Navy’s largest and most advanced nuclear aircraft carrier, arrived in the eastern Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday. It sends a very clear warning to Hezbollah. Some military equipment has already arrived and more is on the way.
Today Secretary of State Antony Blinken came to Israel. At a press conference in Tel Aviv, he spoke about his Jewish family and their experiences with pogroms and concentration camps.
Netanyahu had shown him pictures of the Hamas atrocities, to which Blinken observed, “Images are worth a thousand words. These images may be worth a million.”
Then he went on: “And yet, at the same time that we’ve been shocked by the depravity of Hamas, we’ve also been inspired by the bravery of Israel’s citizens. The grandfather who drove over an hour to a kibbutz under siege armed only with a pistol and rescued his kids and grandkids. The mother who died shielding her teenage son with her body, giving her life to save his; giving him life for a second time…
“The people of Israel have long and rightly prided themselves on their self-reliance, on their ability to defend themselves even when the odds are stacked against them.
“The message that I bring to Israel is this: You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there by your side.” (Emphasis added)
Let Hezbollah’s Nasrallah ponder this.
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I add here in closing that: ”The United States has reached a ‘quiet understanding’ with Qatar to put a hold on the scheduled transfer of $6 billion to Iran in exchange for five Americans released from detention on Sept. 18.
“’The American move comes as the U.S. and Israel scrutinize Iran’s role in funding and training Hamas,’ CBS News reported.”
https://www.jns.org/us-qatar-reach-quiet-understanding-to-stop-6-billion-to-iran/
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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.
