I begin with a painful note about losses in Gaza:
“Ten Israeli soldiers, including two commanders, fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Nine were killed during a Hamas ambush in the eastern Gaza City neighborhood of Shejaiya.
“Seven of the nine soldiers were from the Golani infantry brigade, while the remaining two were members of the IDF’s elite Special Tactics Rescue Unit 669.
“Late on Tuesday afternoon a Golani force was clearing buildings in the heart of the Shejaiya Kasbah when Hamas terrorists set off an explosive device, opened fire and threw grenades at them.
“The troops sent in to support them were also ambushed, leading to a pitched battle lasting some 3 hours.”
The final casualty on Tuesday, in a different battle, was from Battalion 614.
https://www.jns.org/ten-idf-soldiers-kia-in-gaza-including-9-in-shejaiya-ambush/
Top: L-R: Maj. Roei Meldasi, Lt. Col. Tomer Grinberg, Sgt. Achia Daskal, Maj. Moshe Avram Bar On, Cpt. Liel Hayo; bottom: Staff Sgt. Oriya Yaakov, Sgt. First Class Rom Hecht, Maj. Ben Shelly, Sgt. Eran Aloni, and Col. Itzhak Ben Basat. (Courtesy; combo image: Times of Israel)
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Wednesday was a painful day, with multiple funerals. And news of another soldier, Master Sergeant (res.) Elisha Levinshtern, who fell in battle.
Col. Itzhak Ben Basat, 44, head of the Golani Brigade chief’s forward command team, is the most senior IDF officer to have been killed in the ground offensive against Hamas. He was very close to retirement from service when the war broke out and decided to remain in the army for the duration.
Another senior officer who lost his life was Lt. Col. Tomer Grinberg, 35, the commander of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion (pictured below).
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said on Wednesday, “the commanders who fell in battle are an expression of our spirit.
“Yesterday we experienced a difficult incident, but it is an incident in which one force found itself in distress and many forces and senior commanders went into the fire, into the danger — commanders at the front — because this is what we teach in the IDF.”
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The price is high, and Israel’s heart is heavy. But determination is not in the least diminished. At least 115 soldiers have been killed in action in Gaza since the start of the IDF ground operation; 442 Israeli soldiers have died since the war began on Oct. 7.
President Isaac Herzog eulogized the fallen troops as the “best of the best, heroes among heroes who fell in battle to defend their people and homeland and leave behind a gaping absence… in all of our hearts.”
See more:
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Yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyahu visited soldiers of the 504 human intelligence unit in Gaza, where Hamas captives are being interrogated. He told them:
“We are continuing until the end, until victory, until the elimination of Hamas. Nothing will stop us.”
He was alluding to international pressure. And it is this subject to which I devote the remainder of this posting.
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Had it not been important to begin this post by honoring our fallen, I would have given it a different title: “Will the Real Joe Biden Please Stand Up!!”
Actually, I am not sure how he would describe himself. It depends on context, you see. (Forgive the innuendo: it fits here.)
On Monday night, Biden attended a Chanukah party at the White House. At that time, he declared himself a Zionist and offered supportive words to Israel. I wrote about this in my last post. At that time, Netanyahu declared:
“Following an intensive dialogue with President Biden and his team, we received full backing for the ground incursion and blocking the international pressure to stop the war.”
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But a day later, on Tuesday night, Biden spoke at a very upscale fundraiser, and his tone was both different and distressing. Among his comments (emphasis added), with mine interspersed:
“…when we [he and Netanyahu] were both young men, he was at the embassy here and I was a senator. I said, ‘Bibi, I love you, but I don’t agree with a damn thing you have to say.’ That remains to be the case.
“He’s a good friend, but I think he has to change and — with this government. This government in Israel is making it very difficult for him to move.
“You know, Ben-Gvir is not what you would call someone who — this is the most conservative government in Israel’s history — the most conservative. I’ve known every, every, every single head of state in Israel since Golda Meir. And I’ve known them because I’ve spent time with them many times.
“And this is a different group. Ben-Gvir and company and the new folks, they — they don’t want anything remotely approaching a two-state solution. They not only want to have re- — retribution, which they should for what the Palestinian — Hamas did, but against all Palestinians. They don’t want a two-state solution. They don’t want any- — anything having to with the — the Palestinians.
”Because there [referring to the railroad planned to run from India all the way to Israel] — we have an opportunity to begin to unite the region — unite the region…But we have to make sure that — that Bibi understands that he’s got to make some moves to strengthen [the PA] — strengthen it, change it, move it. You cannot say there’s no Palestinian state at all in the future. And that’s going to be the hard part.
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So, he is for that two-state solution, and thinks the PA has to be strengthened to make it happen. We know this already.
It is colossally stupid, but I will come to that later. The offensive part, really offensive, is that he is saying Netanyahu MUST be on board with this. He doesn’t like it that there is a right-wing coalition in place that is not for a two-state solution, and he fingers Ben Gvir in this regard in the “most conservative government in Israel’s history,” while in fact the vast majority of the coalition (or likely the coalition in its entirety) is against a two-state solution.
What he is suggesting is that Netanyahu modify his coalition to make it more amenable to the “two-state solution.” That is, get rid of Ben Gvir.
What he chooses not to recognize is that Israel is a sovereign state. He is out of bounds to attempt to intervene in the makeup of a coalition and to insist upon what the prime minister of that state must do. Very badly out of bounds.
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But let us continue:
“…And, folks, look, if you think about it, one of the things that Bibi understands, I think, now — but I’m not sure Ben-Gvir and his War Cabinet do, who I’ve spoken to several times — is that Israel’s security can rest on the United States, but right now it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of the world supporting it. But they’re starting to lose that support by the indiscriminate bombing that takes place.”
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Whoa!! First, he is suggesting that Israel must adhere to what the international community expects in order to secure support. There is a not-so-subtle threat buried in these words.
But to suggest that Israel is doing “indiscriminate bombing” is an outrage, a libel. Israel is more careful in warfare than any other nation in the world. We warn civilians so they can get out of the way before an attack on Hamas, we made a safe corridor for them. We allow in stores of humanitarian aid, even though it inhibits our efforts because Hamas gets much of it. We attack with vigilant care. What Biden does not mention is that civilians are hurt because Hamas chooses to use them for human shields, operating in civilian areas, including in schools and mosques and hospitals. Biden doesn’t say Israel is doing a damn good job in an impossible situation.
I will note here as well that I have seen reports from the Israeli government about how it keeps the US informed on the care it is taking to avoid civilian casualties. That is, Biden darn well knows the bombing is not “indiscriminate.”
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And then, finally, we have this (he was speaking in some good part to Jews, Jews who tilt left if they are there to give him big money):
“So, those of you who have family back in Israel, you saw what happened when Bibi tried to change the Supreme Court. Thousands of IDF soldiers said, ‘We’re out. We’re not going to participate. We’re not going to support the military.’
“That wasn’t any outside influence. That came from within Israel.
“So, folks, there’s a lot to do — a whole lot to do.”
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This last is perhaps most offensive of all. There’s a lot to do? He’s suggesting, is he not, that unrest on the left in Israel be stimulated as a counter to Israel’s right-wing government opposition to “two states”?
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At the same time that he says all of this, please understand, he speaks about how obscene the behavior of Hamas is and how determined the US is to stand with Israel.
Yesterday (Wednesday) we had this from White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby (emphasis added):
“They have published online maps of places where people can go or not go. That’s basically telegraphing your punches! There’s very few modern militaries in the world that would do that! I don’t know that we would do that!
“Sometimes in war, your best plans, your best execution of those plans doesn’t always go the way you want it to go – doesn’t always go the way you expect it to go. We know that from bitter experience and our own military, no matter how precise and targeted we tried to be in Iraq and Afghanistan. There were times when we caused civilian casualties as well.”
There was “a clear intent by the Israelis — an intent that they have admitted to publicly — that they are doing everything they can to reduce civilian casualties.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/381920
Well mazel tov, and thank you for the honesty, Mr. Kirby, and for making it clear that the Biden administration does know that there is no “indiscriminate bombing.”
And so, who is Joe Biden and what can we depend upon?
A day after his very distressing speech on Tuesday, he made a statement about how he will certainly be with Israel until Hamas is taken down. And so we see that his messages are schizoid.
Why did he say the things he did on Tuesday? Because he was playing to potential left-wing voters. His tone on such occasions leaves us with a sense that he just might walk away from continued support.
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And there is an exceedingly disturbing element to this situation. Questions have been raised about why the soldiers who were ambushed in that building on Tuesday were sent into it, when it might have been bombed from the air. A number of reasons have been offered but one reason that has been suggested is that it was because the building was in a civilian area.
If it is the case that we lost nine of our best because we knew the US was watching and demanding a caution that was not reasonable, it is simply not acceptable. Not acceptable? It is enraging and painful.
And it is something that is not required by international law. (US Secretary of Defense Austin has acknowledged this.)
Kirby speaks of the extent to which we are going when he says, “They have published online maps of places where people can go or not go. That’s basically telegraphing your punches!”
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I fervently hope that Biden means it when he says he will be with us to the end.
But just as fervently do I wish that the US would let us fight this war as we judge best, knowing that we are the most moral army in the world.
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And then, when this war is over, we will deal with the next step, which is making absolutely certain that the PA does not take over in Gaza.
I will be devoting a great deal of attention to this!
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Keep praying to Heaven for Israel, my friends. Pray for the strength and wisdom of our leaders, for the safety of our boys, and for the rescue of our hostages. Pray with a heart filled with hope.
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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.
