Video: IDF eliminates deputy commander of Islamic Jihad rocket force (IDF Spokesman)
As these lines are written, Operation Shield and Arrow refuses to be gathered to his ancestors. The atmosphere of victory on our side was replaced by a slight embarrassment when the barrages of fire from this ephemeral and annoying organization refused to die, but, on the contrary, began to intensify. One such barrage hit a house in Rehovot last night, killing one of its residents and injuring at least 7 others.
Here, too, on our side there are scenes of civilian destruction and jihad has finally tasted Israeli blood. That doesn't mean we lost. This means that an Israeli victory is an elusive, difficult and almost utopian event, while jihad needs only one good fall to be satisfied. This is the so-called asymmetric confrontation. In these types of conflicts, you have to know exactly how to enter and when exactly to leave. If you have no intention of entering Gaza and pulling all the terrorists out of their burrows, try to keep things as short as possible, achieve your achievements immediately at the opening and strive to finish as soon as possible. That's what it looked like for the first two days of shield and arrow, until what usually goes wrong went wrong.
We must not forget that Jihad is the weakest player in the neighborhood, the smallest, most runny kid that everyone takes off his nose whenever he wants. The fact that such an ephemeral organization troubles a superpower like Israel whenever something doesn't feel good should disturb us all. The fact that Hamas benefits from these rounds is not encouraging (we will return to it later).
The IDF, Air Force, Shin Bet and Military Intelligence are proving considerable progress from round to round. The level of accuracy increases, the intelligence is truly breathtaking, and the ability to disrupt and thwart attacks, launches and intentions before they are carried out is unprecedented. No country in the world can drop a precision bomb late at night into three different apartments in three different areas in the heart of the world's densest strip and kill three of the senior terror leaders who try to harm it within five seconds. Not even the United States.
The level of accuracy increases. IDF attack in Khan Yunis, May 11, 2023 (Photo: Reuters)
The pictures of the children who were killed are heartbreaking and should have been avoided, but with all the sorrow and cliché involved, those who hide behind women and children will not clean. They launch hundreds and thousands of rockets indiscriminately at our children, and they do so after we evacuated the Gaza Strip to the last inch, in the hope that a Singapore will be established there on the Mediterranean. Instead, we got Hezbollah's southern branch. All they need to do so that the blockade is created and their children can grow up in peace is to stop the terror, to recognize Israel's right to exist and the agreements made between it and the Palestinians. It's big on them, apparently.
All this is possible only because Israel has an independent, fair and valued judicial system, investigation and enforcement. If the law to revoke the independence of the judiciary (the Judicial Appointments Committee) had been passed in the same bitter and hasty week in which Defense Minister Yoav Galant was fired, at this very moment many IDF officers and fighters would have been exposed to the possibility of international arrest warrants.
No, this is no exaggeration. Israel is a true pioneer in the laws of war, especially the asymmetrical struggle against terrorist organizations sheltering behind civilians in densely populated urban areas. The High Court of Justice legalized targeted killings, and this training has been adopted around the world. Our MAG Corps enjoys a good and reliable reputation in the world. She accompanies the IDF and is under the supervision of the High Court of Justice, which is considered a legal beacon and role model worldwide. As soon as we give politicians the opportunity to topple this tower, it will collapse on our heads and crush the global bulletproof vest that we have enjoyed since the establishment of the state.
Good to know (promoted)
The secret to improving your sex life – now on special offer
Contributed by "Gavra"
The pictures of the children are heartbreaking. The daughter of Khalil Bhanati, who was killed in an IDF attack (Photo: documentation on social networks according to section 27A of the Copyright Law, section 27A of the Copyright Law)
Will this stop the Bibists from continuing to incite against the High Court? Of course not. Will this spoil their thesis that Aharon Barak is the modern evil Haman? Of course not. A few weeks ago I told here how it was the High Court of Justice that allowed, after decades of delay, the construction of the Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem, which was blocked by the Shas interior ministers. Here is another little story, which testifies for the umpteenth time that the Supreme Court has no appeals. Not political, not economic, not racist or otherwise.
Hila Alroy is the (excellent) health correspondent for Channel 13. In 1996, she petitioned the High Court of Justice against Interior Minister Yigal Amir, demanding that Prime Minister Rabin's assassin be stripped of his Israeli citizenship and not allowed to vote in the Knesset elections.
Alroy was based on a clause in the Citizenship Law, which states that the Minister of the Interior may revoke the citizenship of a person who has committed an act that constitutes a breach of allegiance to the State of Israel. According to Alroy, the assassination of a prime minister is such a breach of trust, and there is no reason not to revoke Amir's citizenship and allow him to vote in the Knesset elections, after murdering the person who was duly elected in them. The High Court heard the petition by an activist panel: Justice Aharon Barak, Justice Yitzhak Zamir, Justice Mishael Cheshin. This ensemble threw (sorry, Halo) Elroy from all the stairs. She was also required to pay expenses (NIS 3,000).
The ruling is structured for Talpiot and was written by Justice Zamir (Barak and Cheshin joined). He refuses to enter the discretion of the interior minister, who refused to revoke Amir's citizenship. He defended Yigal Amir's fundamental right to citizenship and voting, even though it is not enshrined in a Basic Law. Here is a sentence from it: "However, the minister decided that in the circumstances of the case, this is not enough to justify the denial of a basic right, even if it is the right of a murderer. It is clear that this is not because of the honor of the murderer, that he is placed where he is, but because of the dignity of the right."
Hamas has grown stronger beyond recognition. Yahya Sinwar on Al Quds Day in Gaza, April 14, 2023 (Photo: Reuters)
Nurturing Hamas
Let's go back to Hamas. It's no secret that Netanyahu promised at the time to topple the Hamas regime in Gaza, and as soon as he came to power, he did the opposite. The last person to try to undermine the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip was Ehud Olmert in Cast Lead, but he was already a lame duck and it didn't help. This week I reviewed the list of IDF military operations against Hamas and its partners in the Gaza Strip since 2004 (on the eve of the disengagement): rainbow, days of repentance, first rain, blue sky, lightning strike, southern arrow, summer rains, clear as wine, hot winter, Cast Lead, Pillar of Defense, Protective Edge, closed garden, black belt, Guardian of the Walls, dawn, shield and arrow.
What happened to Hamas in the times between these 17 glorious operations? It has grown beyond recognition. From a small, weak, insecure and ephemeral organization, it stands today confidently on its feet, with an arsenal of thousands of rockets, air and naval capabilities, a well-trained and equipped fighting force, cyber capabilities in development and quite a bit of sophistication. Hamas strengthened at dawn and strengthened in the current operation, shield and arrow. He's not deterred, he's not folded, he's not frightened. He has cracked the system and dances at all weddings: pretends to help jihad (but he doesn't), convinces the Egyptians that only he can bring calm, flirts with the Iranians to increase aid, exports terror to Judea and Samaria, gains popularity among all Palestinians and grows stronger.
Today there is an officer in the IDF, not a senior officer (I believe he is between a major and a lieutenant colonel) who will be the chief of staff on the day when we have no choice but to launch Operation Defensive Shield in the Gaza Strip. Today he is a battalion commander in the Golani, in the paratroopers or in the armored forces. In the future, it will have to eradicate the hornet's nest in Gaza at a price in blood: the number of dead will be tens of times greater than we would have paid if this operation had been carried out in 2004, or today. Every year that passes increases Hamas's power and ability to harm us. It is not yet defined as an existential threat, but at this rate one day we will wake up and find Hezbollah on the fence of Ashkelon. It would be an unimaginable strategic disaster, but we won't have time to set up a commission of inquiry.
The decision to fire him seems even crazier today. Yoav Galant, May 9, 2023 (Photo: Ministry of Defense, Ariel Hermony)
Netanyahu will no longer be here either. What will be here are graves. Very many graves. Unfortunately, the current Israeli government, the full-fledged right, sees Hamas as a profitable asset. In order to maintain the separation between Gaza and the West Bank, it is willing to raise a monster. In order not to maintain the appearance of political negotiations with the Palestinians, it is letting this time bomb continue to tick. But in the end it will explode.
In retrospect, Netanyahu's decision (probably not Benjamin) to fire Defense Minister Galant on that bitter and hasty night of March 26 seems even crazier today than it did in real time. The Israeli government today does not have a political-security cabinet worthy of the name. Many of his ministers have no experience whatsoever, others have not. The cabinet is rarely convened and is not in the "loop" of real decisions. The same was true of "Shield and Arrow." Netanyahu uses the cabinet like an ancient bonboniere, occasionally summoning some remote minister to pamper himself, and we haven't even talked about Aryeh Deri, a regular invitee, who is not even a member of the government.
What remains is Netanyahu and Galant. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a permanent cabinet member by law, was not present at the event. He even spluttered between the Lag B'Omer campfires as the pilots took off in 40 aircraft in preparation for the opening blow of the operation. I would not be surprised if, sometime in the future, it turns out that Ben-Gvir took part in Israel's campaign of deception against jihad, against his will. Foolish paddle.
Scattered between the bonfires of Lag B'Omer. Ben Gvir (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Almost the same goes for Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. He, too, was seen in a bonfire in Kedumim on the eve of the operation. We will not elaborate on Minister of Construction and Housing Yitzhak Goldknopf. Once upon a time, Netanyahu used to hold cabinet meetings for the record. Let ministers gush out, lecture their learned positions, drain pressure and cultivate orphaned egos. Today, that, too, is almost non-existent.
So Galant, the only real partner he has on the security issue, was fired that night only because he warned about the potential damage of the regime coup on the security establishment. The crowds that poured into the streets that night did not protest for Gallant the man. They protested against Gallant's dismissal, the phenomenon. They succeeded in halting both the dismissal and the coup. They saved the State of Israel, at least temporarily. They must not fall asleep, they must not let go. On the other side are people who are looking for weaknesses. They haven't given up, yet.
To Barber Beerburs
Here's what Propaganda Minister Galit Distal Atabrian had to say this week: "We have reached the truly surprising conclusion that forty years of deep state manpower of the left that is rooted in all state institutions, and we have seen it in recent months, we have seen it in the police that are not subject to our authority, we have seen it in the army, we have seen it in the prosecutor's office, in the judicial system, in the media, everywhere there were dormant nests of the left and the radical left that were simply waiting for the leap of Mr. Barak who came and said, My democracy is committing suicide, and all these nests have been implemented."
She was right: On the night between Monday and Tuesday of this week, these leftists crawled out of the dormant nests, put on uniforms and set out to defend their country. There were pilots, drone operators, cyber warriors, intelligence personnel, ISA personnel, fighters of all kinds and types, air defense personnel, ICT and defensive cyber personnel, combat support personnel and many others. They were headed by Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano, the head of the Southern Command, another outstanding officer, an illustrious son of religious Zionism, who had recently tasted the blow of Bibism ("Toledano is not one of ours," they declared. Why? I don't know. Maybe because Brigadier General Winter was not promoted). I allow myself to estimate that a significant portion of those who took a direct or indirect part in Shield and Arrow participated in the protest against the legal coup with their bodies or spirits. They were the so-called anarchists, terrorists, freckles, mobsters with a squadron, the seed of Satan, the sons of Amalek, you name it.
They did not hesitate for a moment. Some of them are reservists (mainly in the Air Force, but not only). There is a direct correlation between the most militant groups of the protest (pilots, commanders, cyber) and involvement in Operation Shield and Arrow. Still, none of them refused or thought of refusing. I don't want to imagine what would have happened if that despicable law on changing the composition of the Judicial Appointments Committee had been passed by the Knesset. One way or another, as soon as the ceasefire is restored, they will go back to being the same ones they were before and the Minister of Communications will return to sending them to hell. The butterfly will become a cocoon again.
A glorious son of religious Zionism. Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano (Photo: IDF Spokesperson)
Let's go back for a moment to the thought of the lady with the printer, whose salary we pay so that she can pat us as she pleases. Let's ignore the antisemitic terminology she used ("dormant nests", etc.). She spoke of "forty years of the Deep State of the Left." Soul, the left ruled here for 29 years. In 1977 there was a makeover. Since then, the right has ruled here almost all the time.
Next: "The police who are not subject to our authority." Madam, the police are subject to the law. If you want a private police, go to Hungary, Turkey or Romania of the Securitate.
Next: "Waiting for Mr. Barak's start": Is it Ehud or Aharon? Let us know whose commands to obey next time.
And last but not least: "Left-wing personnel rooted in all state institutions": Do you have a Semitic list? Why don't you prepare? After all, you've already received a printer. Start with Avichai Mandelblit, Roni Alsheikh and Kobi Shabtai. These are the most successful agents of the left, as far as I know. It's just that they're all right-wing, religious, and Netanyahu's appointees.
But Distel-Atabrian is not alone. Here, for example, Shimon Riklin, one of the main thinkers of Bibism and the anchor of Channel 14, tweeted this: "An army that sees its overarching mission in advancing women. An army that can't find room for enterprising officers like Winter. An army preoccupied with gender and its transformation. An army that intervenes in politics and threatens an elected political echelon not to promote bills in the field of justice. It is an army that will celebrate the elimination of three terrorists at the cost of hundreds of rockets on Israel. And he will say that this is a great victory. It's not."
טלי גוטליב הפיצה נתוני פייק על השכר של עובדיה. עמותת "כנפיים של קרמבו"(צילום: אתר רשמי, כנפיים של קרמבו)
Well, Mr. Ricklin. There are quite a few lies here (the army does not intervene in any coup), but above all of them is the fact that you are confused: those who brag about killing the terrorists are Netanyahu and Galant. The army is doing its job. It turns out that between the discussions about gender and the non-promotion of enterprising officers, this army initiated a brilliant, precise, razor-sharp and deadly operation. He does it every day in the various casbahs in Judea and Samaria, he does it in the skies of the entire Middle East, and also in the seas, and underwater, and everywhere. And you, you just jerk it off.
And then there was Irit Linor, who in the same indulgent tone Shinkinai announced on Channel 14 that the nickname attached to the pilots, "Freckles," was "inappropriate, they are mobsters with a squadron." She received a standing ovation from the studio audience. At the very same time, the same pilots were in the air, over Gaza, or Syria.
A little earlier, MK Tali Gottlieb attacked the wonderful association "Krembo Wings", disseminated fake data on the salaries of its employees and taunted those who do holy work here instead of the government, while the same government throws tens of billions of shekels at the least productive sectors in the country, instead of really helping those who really need help.
All this happened after it became clear that Yaakov Bardugo was the mastermind behind the idea of sending May Golan to the post of consulate in New York, and after the person chosen to represent Israel on Europe's feast day was government pyromaniac Itamar Ben-Gvir. He insists on going to all places where he is not needed, and not to be where he is needed (for example, the struggle against protection in the north, or governance in the south). Europeans, not surprisingly, cancelled the celebration.
The mastermind behind the idea of sending May Golan to New York. Yaakov Bardugo (Photo: Reuven Castro)
What's wrong with Miami?
The warnings of a multi-front campaign have come true. At least as far as Benjamin Netanyahu is concerned. The prime minister is currently fighting a split battle on an unprecedented number of fronts: threats from coalition partners (mainly Ben-Gvir), ultra-Orthodox pressure, the collapsing economy, his credit rating in danger, the advanced trial (Ari Herro's testimony greatly worsened his situation), the disconnect with the US, the retreat in Israel's international status, the protests, the polls. At least one burning façade has calmed down a bit recently. The son, Yair, whose traces were lost shortly after Galant's crazy dismissal.
According to information I received, the junior is staying in Miami. He returned there from Puerto Rico (he apparently also had a training trip to Hungary). He talks to senior businessmen in Florida about work. Yes, he is looking for work. Florida. Helping him with personal connections and referrals is Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump's son-in-law and one of the Abraham Accords bridesmaids. Kushner remembers Netanyahu's youthful grace, apparently. Lovely on his part (no cynicism).
The young Netanyahu presents himself as an expert in digital marketing (social networks, etc.), emphasizes that he came to Miami for an extended period of time and is looking for a full-time job. His resume is pretty empty and resembles Goldknopf's military resume or Smotrich's economic resume. He covers it up with his experience. It's not officially documented, he says, but he worked with his father on many campaigns and succeeded. He gained very important and valuable experience.
He's right. All these descriptions are accurate. If we ignore for a moment what the poison machine produced by the Bibists here, in the field of marketing they have quite a few receipts. It's true that the junior has signed on to a few other, more embarrassing things related to his various social media pursuits, but let's hope he's turning over a new leaf. I know quite a few successful Israeli businessmen who are willing to open a business in Florida where he will be the only employee and pay him as much as he wants on condition that he does nothing and stays there. One way or another, good luck, Yair. Your success is evident, our success.
Your success is evident, our success. Yair Netanyahu (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Bezalel's troubles
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich did a victory interview round this week. I listened to his words. It was impossible not to be impressed by the self-confidence, eloquence, juggling quotes and numbers he emitted at a dizzying pace of fire. The only problem is that all this is completely disconnected from the real economic reality.
Smotrich is convinced that the spitting that the Israeli economy is now absorbing across the entire front is a blessing. The International Monetary Fund cut its growth forecast for the Israeli economy directly because of the dangers of a legal coup, and Smotrich ignores it. They don't even know about the reform, he says. At this time last year, the International Monetary Fund poured a huge basket of flowers and praise on the Israeli economy, which showed the best performance in the world, the positive cash flow in the world, the lowest inflation in the world and a real chance of getting a credit rating raise to the best level in the world.
All this has passed, dissolved in the disturbed regime coup that Smotrich and his government tried to bring upon us. Along the way, it turns out (from a report by the Chief Economist at the Ministry of Finance) that the situation among the ultra-Orthodox is getting worse. The number of Haredim who are unable to converse in English, who do not have matriculation eligibility or minimal general education, is increasing. Smotrich and his government know the numbers and, despite the devastation they predict, continue to incentivize the ultra-Orthodox to cancel it instead of work.
Bezalel Smotrich is a very talented man. One must pray and hope that at some point he will wake up from messianic hallucinations and be free to understand the real situation. Yes, he is an extreme right-winger, an ideologue of the halachic state and quite a racist, but I want to believe and pray that at the end of the day he will not want to be a signatory to destruction. At the current pace at which things are progressing, this signature will fly there sooner than expected.
Disconnected from the real economic reality. Bezalel Smotrich (Photo: Image processing, Reuven Castro)
The longer the uncertainty surrounding the regime coup continues, the greater the damage. Investors continue to flee, high-tech companies continue to register abroad, large banks continue to attract investment, international conferences continue to be canceled, people are planning relocations, and the global economy's confidence in the start-up nation that is becoming a third world country is rapidly collapsing. This can still be saved. It's time.
Therefore, the protest must not be stopped. The question is, what do we do with it? The primary and primary purpose of the protest is to block the legislation related to the regime coup. Its secondary goals are to build the liberal-democratic camp in the medium and long term and, in the future, to take action to strengthen our fragile democracy. I am convinced that a significant portion of the hundreds of thousands of protesters will also be happy to overthrow the government, but that is not what they took to the streets for. So far, the protest has succeeded in undermining the legitimacy of the government, damaging its public standing, but not toppling it. That's the opposition's job.
In the meantime, the protest must maneuver in a difficult situation of dialogue at the president's residence. Netanyahu wants to turn these discussions into the modern version of the Trajtenberg Commission. Lapid, Gantz and Saar are sitting there unable to extricate themselves. They don't want to be blamed for blowing up the contacts, but they know that Netanyahu's goal is to mess up the protest and it's a trap. So what do we do?
The tension between the protest leaders and the opposition leaders is increasing. It is not easy to hold such a huge protest on the back burner. This is an expensive operation, NIS 2-3 million a week, financed by donations from citizens, but also from many businessmen involved in the struggle for democracy (and that's a good thing). So how do you deal with the success so far, and the danger of decline in the future? Complex question. The intention is to keep the elite units of the protest in constant activity (brothers in arms, war, cyber, pilots, reservists, high-tech personnel, etc.), to call on the public only when necessary. At the moment, the protests continue at least until the end of May. Then we'll see.
The incredible energy isn't going anywhere. Demonstration against the legal revolution, May 6, 2023 (Photo: Reuven Castro)
At the moment, there is no reason for sourness. The current protest is the largest in Israel's history and one of the most successful. In fact, apart from the public protest that Moti Ashkenazi began after the Yom Kippur War, there was no protest with such a dramatic achievement of blocking legislation at the last minute, preventing the dismissal of a defense minister and radically changing the public agenda.
There is no reason to panic and convey distress. The incredible energy that burst into the streets isn't going anywhere. These wonderful Israelis, who came out en masse to fight for their country, will come out again the second it turns out that someone is trying to put them to sleep in order to inject the poison into the body of democracy.
On December 21, 2018, the Maariv newspaper published an opinion column of mine titled "As the breadth of the scale." In my remarks, I described a sequence of events that could be interpreted as if Prime Minister Netanyahu allegedly gave a bribe to Adv. Amit Marari through her partner, Adv. Eyal Yinon. I reiterate that I did not attribute to the Prime Minister any intention to give a bribe to Attorney Marari or to Attorney Eyal Yinon – even today I do not claim so.
Moreover, and in light of the Prime Minister's statement and testimony that he did not know Adv. Marari and did not know that she was the spouse of Adv. Eyal Yinon and was not involved at all in promoting the legislation in his case, I retract the description in the publication regarding the "situation that was created" retroactively, and in light of the Prime Minister's testimony, things should have been presented differently.
- news
- Opinions and interpretations
Tags
- Hamas
- Benjamin Netanyahu
- Bezalel Smotrich
- Yair Netanyahu
- Ehud Barak
- Galit Distel-Etbrian
- Operation Shield and Arrow
