I am writing this at the close of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day – officially in Israel, Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day. It is always a very painful time. Every year, during official ceremonies at Yad Vashem – the World Holocaust Remembrance Center – six survivors are chosen to tell their horrific stories; then, accompanied by a relative, they light a torch.
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This Yom Hashoah is different, however, because we are also remembering the hideous massacre of 1,200 innocent Israelis by Hamas on October 7.
The comparison was inevitable – for that massacre was the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust, a massacre that we had imagined would never happen again. The point has been made over and over.
Yet there is an enormous and critical difference: The State of Israel exists now. During the Holocaust, Jews were defenseless. Today we have the Israel Defense Forces, the IDF.
During the Yom Hashoah ceremonies last night, the story was told of a Holocaust survivor here in Israel. He was visited by a grandson who is serving in the IDF. “I thank God,” said the survivor, ”that I have reached this day when I see you carrying a gun.”
For this is the difference between then and now.
Let us be clear about it: There is no difference between the Nazis and Hamas in terms of intent and desire to kill all Jews. Hamas is inspired by the Nazis; copies of Hitler’s Mein Kampf, translated into Arabic have been found in homes in Gaza. Hamas makes no secret of its intent to repeat the October 7 massacre again and again.
The difference lies in us, the Jewish people. We are no longer defenseless. We have a powerful army that is, at the same time, the most moral army in the world.
We must bless that army, support it, and remember always that our fight is a righteous fight, a holy fight, to protect and defend the people and the state.
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We have been having an horrendous time completing our mandate to eradicate the evil force of Hamas so that it can no longer threaten us. Not because we lack the military power and acumen, or the will, but because there are those in the international community who do not want us to win, who try to limit our actions by making absurd and hypocritical demands of us. These are demands that would be made of no other nation.
Primary among those attempting to shackle us are Joe Biden the American president, and Antony Blinken, who in his role as secretary of state speaks for the Biden administration. Demands are made regarding protection of and humanitarian assistance to the enemy civilians in Gaza that are neither tenable nor reasonable. They serve as tools in their attempt to constrain our efforts to take out Hamas.
Just last week, Blinken, in a visit here, declared that the US could not support a major IDF operation in Rafah – necessary for taking out four Hamas battalions and blocking weapon smuggling – because the Americans have not seen a credible plan for protecting the civilians. According to Blinken, protection of these civilians must be our first priority. This is ludicrous. At one point previously he actually declared that even one civilian death is too many.
Following Netanyahu’s private meeting with Blinken last week, I read that it was contentious and was glad to learn this. It is as it should be.
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I share here an illuminating video of Madeleine Albright when she served as secretary of state in the Clinton administration. Please see this and share it broadly. The exposure of the hypocrisy of Blinken’s current position is stunning:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1T5JRVR53Eo
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The point must be made again and again that while Hamas is evil personified, its commanders are very definitely not stupid; they are adept at subterfuge and manipulation. What is most unfortunate is that the world is content to accept (indeed to utilize) their falsifications. Aside from the essential fact that the majority of civilian deaths result from the Hamas practice of using civilians as human shields, there is their deception regarding how many civilians have actually been killed: Statistics provided by the Gaza Health Ministry are accepted without a demand for independent confirmation.
In this regard, the following information provided by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies is of particular interest:
“The Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health can’t provide names of more than 10,000 of the 34,000 it says have died during the war with Israel, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies reports.
“’While the Health Ministry conceded earlier this month that it has “incomplete data” for nearly one-third of the deceased, this is the first admission that it lacks an essential data point necessary to establish these deaths have even taken place.’”
See more here and share:
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Of late, Hamas, with world cooperation, has been presenting the possibility of a hostage agreement as reason to delay or cancel plans for the operation into Rafah. I have been writing about this latest deceptive stratagem.
It has been a maddening time. Our government insisted that that we indeed were going into Rafah, but there was no sign that we were on the way to doing so. There was a hesitation, reported rumors about two times that Netanyahu cancelled the operation, etc.
The bottom line is that Hamas has been playing us. This is clear to anyone with eyes to see. They would take days to respond to a negotiation offer – even an offer that included several new Israeli concessions – and then finally would reject it. But this was never the end of the game. We are going to keep talking, said the Hamas leaders following the rejection, maybe we will come up with a new proposal.
This was dangled in front of us with intent of making us afraid to go into Rafah because maybe, just maybe, we might be able to bring out the hostages if we waited.
News commentator Amit Segal maintains that Hamas – at no point – would have agreed to a deal that did not include a complete ending to the war.
“Sometimes things are much simpler than they seem. Hamas has not revoked its demand, even for a single moment since November, that the next hostage will be released when Israel ends the war. We… have deceived ourselves. We told ourselves fables, fought, demonstrated in the streets. This exists only in our heads.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/389451
There is no question that Netanyahu would have been thrilled to actually bring the hostages home and was thus eager to give the situation every chance of succeeding. But it is very likely that he faced the fact some while ago that Hamas was not serious. There were other factors he had to deal with.
There have been major street demonstrations by families of hostages and others (largely on the left) supporting them; they demanded that Netanyahu put the hostage deal first even if it meant abandoning the operation in Rafah. He understood what their response would be if they believed that Hamas would have eventually struck a deal, but we ruined the possibility with that Rafah operation.
Far more significant still was the enormous pressure being brought to bear, primarily by the US, as well as others. I suspect none of us will ever know quite how intense that pressure was.
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Segal, cited above, alluded to Hamas’s demand that the war end for a full hostage release. And indeed, this is the message that Hamas released yesterday, Sunday (emphasis added):
“We affirm the desire to reach an agreement that meets the national demands of our people, ending the aggression completely, leading to a complete withdrawal of IDF from the Gaza Strip, increasing aid, rehabilitating the displaced, starting reconstruction, and completing the prisoner exchange deal.”
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/skx1z4hfc
I have read a couple of reports indicating that Biden attempted to assure Hamas that if they would agree to a two-part hostage deal, with a temporary ceasefire stipulated in the first part, he would arrange for Israel to maintain the ceasefire permanently by the second part of the agreement. I have no final confirmation on this, but understanding what I do about Biden, I believe it is very possible. Joe Biden’s middle name is duplicity.
But enough is enough is enough, and yesterday Defense Minister Gallant told IDF troops that action in Rafah was imminent.
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So determined was the US to prevent our Rafah operation by stimulating a hostage deal, that even yesterday, with reports that the hostage talks were collapsing, CIA chief William Burns was on his way to attempt to save the day.
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This leads us, then, to last night’s Yom Hashoah ceremonies and the address by Prime Minister Netanyahu. As we marked the Shoah and its lessons, all of the above was on everyone’s mind.
Netanyahu’s remarks were precisely what we needed to hear:
“Eighty years ago, in the Holocaust, the Jewish people were totally defenseless against those who sought our destruction. No nation came to our aid.
“Today, we again confront enemies bent on our destruction.
“I say to the leaders of the world, no amount of pressure, no decision by any international forum, will stop Israel from defending itself.
“As the Prime Minister of Israel – the one and only Jewish state – I pledge here today from Jerusalem on this Holocaust Remembrance Day: If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone. But we know we are not alone because countless decent people around the world support our just cause. And I say to you, we will defeat our genocidal enemies. Never again is now!” (Emphasis added)
See a video of his remarks, which were delivered in English – as they were meant for the world – in the midst of his Hebrew presentation:
GPO
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Nothing is simple however:
On Sunday afternoon, before the Yom Hashoah ceremonies, Hamas had launched rockets from the Rafah area towards the Kerem Shalom crossing at the very south of Gaza, the main entry point for humanitarian aid.
Four soldiers were killed, and several others wounded.
Hamas took credit.
Kerem Shalom crossing was closed but has since been re-opened. The fact that Hamas is trying to prevent humanitarian aid from being brought in should not be overlooked.
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-799923
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Today, Monday, Israel began preparations for the Rafah operation in earnest. It is likely that the Hamas missile attack, the largest in some time, was a motivating factor in the decision to move ahead decisively.
The area of Al Mawasi, which is east of Khan Yunis, adjacent to the Mediterranean, has been set aside for civilians from Rafah, along with areas of Khan Yunis. Preparations involve not just tents but humanitarian services such food distribution and medical aid.
By 8 AM this morning the IDF had begun dropping flyers, sending text messages, and making phone calls with instructions on the areas that need to be evacuated, and which routes to take to a designated humanitarian zone.
The first stage of the evacuation of some 100,000 people will be from eastern Rafah. This includes the Rafah crossing into Egypt and the location of three of the Hamas battalions, Yabna, Shaboura, and East Rafah. Thousands have already moved out.
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Biden was quick to voice his total opposition. Blinken, I read, demanded an explanation. Demanded? The nerve of us to refuse to take orders from the US.
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And here we have the final kicker. Just hours ago, Hamas – blaming Netanyahu for everything – was threatening we would find the going very tough in Rafah.
At approximately 6 PM here, Hamas was saying negotiations were finished and they would not be participating any longer.
By roughly 8 PM, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh spoke with the Prime Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and with the head of Egyptian intelligence Abbas Kamel and informed them that Hamas had agreed to the ceasefire proposal.
According to deputy chairman of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, the proposal includes a complete withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced to northern Gaza, and an exchange of “prisoners”, i.e., the return of an unspecified number of hostages in exchange for terrorists in Israeli prisons.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/389511
An unnamed Hamas source told Saudi TV that, “We agreed to a proposal that includes a permanent ceasefire and a complete lifting of the blockade. Amendments were made to the proposal with American guarantees.”
Please note the part about American guarantees. This corresponds with the rumors I cited above about Biden making promises.
“…an unnamed Israeli official cited by Ynet charged that ‘the Egyptians unilaterally stretched all the parameters so that Hamas would agree,’ adding that the terms were unacceptable to Jerusalem.”
A former senior security officer said that the proposal Hamas is referring to doesn’t exist.
https://www.jns.org/hamas-quits-ceasefire-talks-in-cairo/
From the Israeli side this is not being taken seriously. It is a ruse, not the terms that Israel had agreed to. The one thing that Netanyahu has been adamant about is that even if there is a ceasefire for a duration as part of a hostage deal, it will be temporary, and we will do the Rafah operation.
Officials here will “study” the Hamas proposal, and then reject it. Hamas will then tell the world that they were for negotiations, but Israel wanted war.
And the families of the hostages, many of them will go crazy in the streets, firm in the belief that if only we would accept the Hamas deal, they could see the return of their relatives.
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In the meantime, Israel is moving ahead in Rafah – nothing has changed. A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office indicated that the War Cabinet decided unanimously to push ahead with the operation.
Tonight we “conducted precise, targeted strikes” against Hamas terror targets in the east of Rafah. This is a precursor to ground operations.
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-800163
The PMO statement indicated that Hamas’s latest truce offer is “far from Israel’s obligatory demands.”
“At the same time, Israel is also sending teams to hold talks with mediators in an attempt to find a deal that meets Israel’s demands…”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-may-6-2024/
This effort to find a deal that meets Israel’s demands is necessary so that we are not accused of refusing to negotiate. But it is quite clear that anything that meets our demands will be rejected by Hamas.
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Further news will follow in my next posting, of course. My comment here is that we should take note that Hamas responds to power, not to attempts to negotiate or conciliate. A lesson to be learned. It is time for us to have spines of steel, to remember who we are.
Fervently do I hope we move ahead speedily in taking down Hamas in the Rafah area.
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Keep praying to Heaven for Israel. Pray for the strength and wisdom of our leaders, for the safety of our soldiers, 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.
