Lonny's War Update- October 219, 2023 - May 12, 2024 (cont)
Day 219 (cont) that 132 of our hostages in Hamas captivity
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**
“I’ve never met them,But I miss them. I’ve never met them,but I think of them every second. I’ve never met them,but they are my family. BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”
There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks
*4:50pm-north- hostile aircraft intrusion- Ein Yaacov, Karri, Yehiam, Gaaton*5:05pm- South- rockets Sderot, kibbutzim Ibim and Nir Am*8:10pm-immediately following the beginning on Memorial Day-South- rockets Sderot, Kibbutzim Nachal Oz, Nirim, Ibim*9:05pm- South - rockets kibbutz Kissufim
***Tonight, Israel Memorial Day started and it continues till Sundown tomorrow when Independence Day begins. This year, both days will be different from all others that have come before. This year, more than any before, the whole nation is truly in mourning and still in the midst of trauma. Every year for the past many, I have gone to the Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony which I believe is the most important ceremony of the year (I write more about this below). And on the morning of Memorial Day, I go with my wife and daughters to a Military Cemetery in Rehovot. That is where my wife's boyfriend (two year before we met) Itzhik is buried. He was killed a few weeks before he was to get out of the army. Each year, I am humbled by the solemnity of the Ceremony in the cemetery as I am surrounded by the thousands of families who have paid the ultimate price for us to live in Israel. This year, because of all that has happened caused my wife to consider not going because of all the pain and trauma that we are all going through and also to be with the families who have lost so much since October 7. In a situation like this, I keep my thoughts to myself as my wife needs to make this decision on her own. She decided that we will go and I am totally with her on this. Due to the too many families who have become bereaved families this year, the Ministry of Defense put out an announcement to enable the bereaved families to enter the cemetery first so there won't be a situation that they cannot get to the grave of their loved ones. This type of announcement has never been given before and it is chilling to think about.
As Memorial Day ends, the celebrations of Independence Day begins. We normally stay at home and watch the Main festivities that take place on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem from our TV and the following day, the favorite thing for Israelis on Independence Day is to have a barbecue, at home, at the beach, in the forests, everywhere and anywhere that we can. This year is entirely different and there is no festiveness in the air. For the opening of Independence Day, instead of watching the torch lighting on TV, I will be going to the Independence Day Ceremony of the Families of Hostages where they will be extinguishing torches instead of lighting them. The lighting of the torches is typically done by people who have been chosen by a committee to have this honor for having contributed to Israeli society. This year, I am in full agreement with the families of the Hostages that there is nothing to celebrate and extinguishing the flames is the symbolism that is needed.Due to my day tomorrow of going to the Military Cemetery in the morning and the Hostage Families Independence day later in the day (2 hour drive each way), I expect that my updates will be reduced tomorrow. Of course, I will update about any major things that may come up.
Hostage Updates
My brother’s FB post- The best way to pull the Hamas-Israel negotiations out of the deep-freeze is for Israel to put a proposal on the table that demands the release of all 132 hostages over a maximum two week period in exchange for the end of the war, Israeli redeployment out of Gaza, deployment of the Israeli army on the Israel-Gaza border with enough force to prevent another Hamas attack against Israel. The proposal will also have to include a very significant released of Palestinian prisoners including many serving life sentences. They will be released in parallel to the release of the Israeli hostages. Israel must tell the US and Egypt that this proposal is predicated on Egypt with the assistance of the US Corp of Engineers ensuring that the Gaza-Egypt border is hermetically sealed from smuggling and that US inspectors be stationed at the Rafah crossing for an extended period of time. If one rocket, drone or mortar is fired into Israel after the release of hostages and prisoners, Israel would be free to take significant military action in Gaza. In the absence of what should happen - Israeli agreement to transfer Gaza to an acceptable Palestinian body intent on materializing the two-states solution, the above is what is possible.
Families mourn murdered hostages before Memorial Day; rallies urge deal; 3 arrests::Protesters rallied across Israel in tense demonstrations on Saturday evening, mourning hostages murdered on and after Hamas’s October 7 massacre as the country prepares to mark Memorial Day and Independence Day this week, and calling for the government to resign amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
Police arrested three protesters out of dozens who managed to block Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway after a Hostages Family Forum protest and an anti-government protest converged.
Many of the protesters were family members of hostages held by terror groups in Gaza, including Ayala Metzger, daughter-in-law of hostage Yoram Metzger, who was detained and later released. Law enforcement brought a bus to the scene in order to carry off detainees. Police used water cannons and mounted officers to disperse a crowd of demonstrators gathered above the highway, outside the Azrieli Towers. The crowd chanted against the police, accusing them of acting at the behest of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Earlier in the evening, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum held its weekly rally in Tel Aviv, with a focus on families of those who were murdered in Hamas captivity. Richelle Tzarfati, the mother of the murdered hostage Ofir Tzarfati, whose body was recovered last December, called the coming Memorial Day “the most difficult Memorial Day since the establishment of the state.” “The State of Israel must place the return of all our [slain] hostages and victims to rest as an overarching national goal! Do not relax and do not rest until our loved ones return to their final rest in the safe bosom of their homeland,” said Tzarfati, who buried her son in Kiryat Ata after IDF troops returned his body to Israel.
The parents of slain soldier Itay Chen, who was killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7 before his body was spirited into Gaza, have not been able to lay their son to rest. “Ahead of Memorial Day, I received many requests to participate in various memorial ceremonies. But the only ceremony that I need to partake in, and unite with the memory of my child, the state did not give me,” said his mother, Hagit Chen. “The state didn’t bring Itay back, didn’t allow me a burial.”
The hostages were kidnapped on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages, mostly civilians, amid many acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Renowned French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy also spoke at the rally, noting that Israelis would honor “those who did not fall, the hostages held in the Gaza tunnels” on Memorial Day along with fallen soldiers and victims of terror attacks. link
As Memorial Day ends, the celebrations of Independence Day begins. We normally stay at home and watch the Main festivities that take place on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem from our TV and the following day, the favorite thing for Israelis on Independence Day is to have a barbecue, at home, at the beach, in the forests, everywhere and anywhere that we can. This year is entirely different and there is no festiveness in the air. For the opening of Independence Day, instead of watching the torch lighting on TV, I will be going to the Independence Day Ceremony of the Families of Hostages where they will be extinguishing torches instead of lighting them. The lighting of the torches is typically done by people who have been chosen by a committee to have this honor for having contributed to Israeli society. This year, I am in full agreement with the families of the Hostages that there is nothing to celebrate and extinguishing the flames is the symbolism that is needed.
Hostage Updates
My brother’s FB post- The best way to pull the Hamas-Israel negotiations out of the deep-freeze is for Israel to put a proposal on the table that demands the release of all 132 hostages over a maximum two week period in exchange for the end of the war, Israeli redeployment out of Gaza, deployment of the Israeli army on the Israel-Gaza border with enough force to prevent another Hamas attack against Israel. The proposal will also have to include a very significant released of Palestinian prisoners including many serving life sentences. They will be released in parallel to the release of the Israeli hostages. Israel must tell the US and Egypt that this proposal is predicated on Egypt with the assistance of the US Corp of Engineers ensuring that the Gaza-Egypt border is hermetically sealed from smuggling and that US inspectors be stationed at the Rafah crossing for an extended period of time. If one rocket, drone or mortar is fired into Israel after the release of hostages and prisoners, Israel would be free to take significant military action in Gaza. In the absence of what should happen - Israeli agreement to transfer Gaza to an acceptable Palestinian body intent on materializing the two-states solution, the above is what is possible.
Families mourn murdered hostages before Memorial Day; rallies urge deal; 3 arrests::Protesters rallied across Israel in tense demonstrations on Saturday evening, mourning hostages murdered on and after Hamas’s October 7 massacre as the country prepares to mark Memorial Day and Independence Day this week, and calling for the government to resign amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
Police arrested three protesters out of dozens who managed to block Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway after a Hostages Family Forum protest and an anti-government protest converged.
Many of the protesters were family members of hostages held by terror groups in Gaza, including Ayala Metzger, daughter-in-law of hostage Yoram Metzger, who was detained and later released. Law enforcement brought a bus to the scene in order to carry off detainees. Police used water cannons and mounted officers to disperse a crowd of demonstrators gathered above the highway, outside the Azrieli Towers. The crowd chanted against the police, accusing them of acting at the behest of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Earlier in the evening, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum held its weekly rally in Tel Aviv, with a focus on families of those who were murdered in Hamas captivity. Richelle Tzarfati, the mother of the murdered hostage Ofir Tzarfati, whose body was recovered last December, called the coming Memorial Day “the most difficult Memorial Day since the establishment of the state.” “The State of Israel must place the return of all our [slain] hostages and victims to rest as an overarching national goal! Do not relax and do not rest until our loved ones return to their final rest in the safe bosom of their homeland,” said Tzarfati, who buried her son in Kiryat Ata after IDF troops returned his body to Israel.
The parents of slain soldier Itay Chen, who was killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7 before his body was spirited into Gaza, have not been able to lay their son to rest. “Ahead of Memorial Day, I received many requests to participate in various memorial ceremonies. But the only ceremony that I need to partake in, and unite with the memory of my child, the state did not give me,” said his mother, Hagit Chen. “The state didn’t bring Itay back, didn’t allow me a burial.”
The hostages were kidnapped on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages, mostly civilians, amid many acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Renowned French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy also spoke at the rally, noting that Israelis would honor “those who did not fall, the hostages held in the Gaza tunnels” on Memorial Day along with fallen soldiers and victims of terror attacks. link
Gaza Fighting
Blinken urges Israel to lay out postwar plan: 'We want to make sure Hamas can't govern Gaza again'::US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Israel needs to have a plan for postwar governance in Gaza; otherwise, he says, there will be “a vacuum that’s likely to be filled by chaos, anarchy, and ultimately by Hamas again.”
In an interview with CBS’s “Meet the Nation,” the top US diplomat says that while Israel might have some “initial success” in a potential military operation in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, the “high cost to civilians” would not be worth it.
Furthermore, he says that without a plan for who will take over Gaza after Hamas is defeated, Israel “will be left holding the bag on an enduring insurgency because a lot of armed Hamas [fighters] will be left, no matter what they do in Rafah.”
“If they leave and get out of Gaza, as we believe they need to do, then you’re going to have a vacuum that’s likely to be filled by chaos, anarchy, and ultimately by Hamas again,” he says. Blinken’s comments echoed previous statements from the Biden administration encouraging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to develop and announce a so-called “day after” strategy for who will rule Gaza after the war.
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi reportedly tore into Netanyahu during security consultations over the weekend for failing to make such a plan.
Netanyahu and his government have long faced criticism over their refusal to make a plan for the management of the Strip after the war, and the prime minister has refused to hold substantive cabinet discussions on the matter due to concerns they could collapse his coalition.
Netanyahu has rejected efforts to include the Palestinian Authority in postwar planning, arguing that the more moderate foil to Hamas, which publicly backs a two-state solution, is no different from the Gaza-ruling terror group in that it too refuses to accept Israel’s existence and promotes hatred of the Jewish state.
“We have the same objective as Israel,” Blinken states. “We want to make sure that Hamas cannot govern Gaza again. We want to make sure it’s demilitarized. We want to make sure that Israel gets [Hamas’s] leaders… We have a different way, and we think a more effective, durable way of getting that done. We remain in conversation with Israel about exactly that.”
The Washington Post reported yesterday that the Biden administration has offered to give Israel “sensitive intelligence” on the whereabouts of senior Hamas leaders if it agrees to hold off on its long-promised major military operation in Rafah. -- it doesn't seem to matter who tells him or how many times, Netanyahu, in his arrogance, belligerence and his non stop prioritizing his political future above anything else, is responsible for everything that led up to October 7 and will be responsible for forcing us to remain in this same situation of trauma and still keeping Hamas in power. link
- Egypt refusing to coordinate with Israel on entry of aid in Rafah ::Egypt has refused to coordinate with Israel on the entry of aid into Gaza from the Rafah Crossing due to Israel’s “unacceptable escalation,” Egypt’s state-affiliated Alqahera News satellite TV reported on Saturday, citing a senior official. The official also said that Egypt held Israel responsible for the deterioration of the situation in the Gaza Strip. On May 7, Israeli forces seized the main border crossing at Rafah, closing a vital route for aid into the besieged enclave. Israel did so as it began operations against Hamas in the Rafah area, and as negotiations for a hostage deal and truce floundered. The military says Hamas has used the crossing for terror purposes. It is widely believed arms and other banned items are smuggled into the Strip from Egypt.
The United Nations and other international aid agencies said the closing of the two crossings into southern Gaza — Rafah and Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom (after rocket attacks targeted that crossing) — had virtually cut the enclave off from outside. Red Crescent sources in Egypt said shipments had completely halted.
Israeli sources told Channel 12 that Israel wants to bring in aid but cannot do so without Egyptian cooperation. Israel fears the Egyptian refusal to coordinate the entry of aid will bring intense international pressure on Israel and harm its ability to operate in Rafah. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Friday “every day that crossing is not available and usable for humanitarian assistance, there’s going to be more suffering, and that’s a deep concern to us. We urge the Israelis to open up that crossing to humanitarian assistance immediately. That aid is desperately needed, and we urge them… to be as careful, precise, and discriminate as they can.” Meanwhile, Israel ordered new evacuations in Rafah, instructing tens of thousands more people to move as it prepares to expand its military operation closer to the heavily populated central area, in defiance of growing pressure from close ally the United States and others. link
Blinken urges Israel to lay out postwar plan: 'We want to make sure Hamas can't govern Gaza again'::US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Israel needs to have a plan for postwar governance in Gaza; otherwise, he says, there will be “a vacuum that’s likely to be filled by chaos, anarchy, and ultimately by Hamas again.”
In an interview with CBS’s “Meet the Nation,” the top US diplomat says that while Israel might have some “initial success” in a potential military operation in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, the “high cost to civilians” would not be worth it.
Furthermore, he says that without a plan for who will take over Gaza after Hamas is defeated, Israel “will be left holding the bag on an enduring insurgency because a lot of armed Hamas [fighters] will be left, no matter what they do in Rafah.”
“If they leave and get out of Gaza, as we believe they need to do, then you’re going to have a vacuum that’s likely to be filled by chaos, anarchy, and ultimately by Hamas again,” he says. Blinken’s comments echoed previous statements from the Biden administration encouraging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to develop and announce a so-called “day after” strategy for who will rule Gaza after the war.
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi reportedly tore into Netanyahu during security consultations over the weekend for failing to make such a plan.
Netanyahu and his government have long faced criticism over their refusal to make a plan for the management of the Strip after the war, and the prime minister has refused to hold substantive cabinet discussions on the matter due to concerns they could collapse his coalition.
Netanyahu has rejected efforts to include the Palestinian Authority in postwar planning, arguing that the more moderate foil to Hamas, which publicly backs a two-state solution, is no different from the Gaza-ruling terror group in that it too refuses to accept Israel’s existence and promotes hatred of the Jewish state.
“We have the same objective as Israel,” Blinken states. “We want to make sure that Hamas cannot govern Gaza again. We want to make sure it’s demilitarized. We want to make sure that Israel gets [Hamas’s] leaders… We have a different way, and we think a more effective, durable way of getting that done. We remain in conversation with Israel about exactly that.”
The Washington Post reported yesterday that the Biden administration has offered to give Israel “sensitive intelligence” on the whereabouts of senior Hamas leaders if it agrees to hold off on its long-promised major military operation in Rafah. -- it doesn't seem to matter who tells him or how many times, Netanyahu, in his arrogance, belligerence and his non stop prioritizing his political future above anything else, is responsible for everything that led up to October 7 and will be responsible for forcing us to remain in this same situation of trauma and still keeping Hamas in power. link
The United Nations and other international aid agencies said the closing of the two crossings into southern Gaza — Rafah and Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom (after rocket attacks targeted that crossing) — had virtually cut the enclave off from outside. Red Crescent sources in Egypt said shipments had completely halted.
Israeli sources told Channel 12 that Israel wants to bring in aid but cannot do so without Egyptian cooperation. Israel fears the Egyptian refusal to coordinate the entry of aid will bring intense international pressure on Israel and harm its ability to operate in Rafah. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Friday “every day that crossing is not available and usable for humanitarian assistance, there’s going to be more suffering, and that’s a deep concern to us. We urge the Israelis to open up that crossing to humanitarian assistance immediately. That aid is desperately needed, and we urge them… to be as careful, precise, and discriminate as they can.” Meanwhile, Israel ordered new evacuations in Rafah, instructing tens of thousands more people to move as it prepares to expand its military operation closer to the heavily populated central area, in defiance of growing pressure from close ally the United States and others. link
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah
West Bank
Politics and the Region
- Ahead of Possible Order to Stop the War: Netanyahu Convened Discussions on the Issue::
Against the backdrop of Egypt's announcement of its intention to support South Africa's petition to the International Court of Justice in The Hague::
Throughout the day (Sunday), discussions took place with the participation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - regarding concerns over an order to stop the war being issued by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, against the backdrop of Egypt's announcement of its intention to support South Africa's petition. Israel estimates that the Court in The Hague will issue it an order to cease fighting, and is therefore waging a battle in an attempt to block the move. About half of the judges were inclined to issue the order even before the operation in Rafah, which lacks American backing, as reported last night by Tamar Almog on the Sabbath News. Israel emphasized the humanitarian steps it is taking and improving - the issue that most concerns the Court. The implications of an order that the Court may issue: legally binding, but not enforceable. However, such an order would make it very difficult to receive support, arms supplies and vetoes in the UN Security Council.
Egypt has decided to support the petition filed by South Africa against Israel. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced today that the decision was made due to "the escalation of Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, the destruction of infrastructure in the Strip and the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land." link
- Egyptian FM says peace treaty with Israel is a 'strategic choice' -- report::The peace treaty between Egypt and Israel is a “strategic choice,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is quoted as saying during a press conference, seemingly contradicting earlier comments from Cairo that the pact was at high risk.
“The peace agreement with Israel has been Egypt’s strategic choice for 40 years, and it represents a main pillar of peace in the region to achieve peace and stability,” Shoukry is quoted by the Turkish Anadolu news agency.
He adds that there are “set mechanisms” for dealing with any violations of the treaty, according to Anadolu. His comments come after a senior Egyptian official told The Associated Press that Cairo had lodged protests with Israel, the United States and European governments, saying the Rafah operation has put its peace treaty with Israel — a cornerstone of regional stability — at high risk.
Yesterday, the Israeli military began calling on Palestinians in additional neighborhoods of Rafah to evacuate the area, as it pressed on with an operation against the Hamas terror group in the city in the southern Gaza Strip. link
- Amid war, Israeli and Palestinian peace activists take annual joint memorial online - Controversial Memorial Day commemoration, filmed in advance this year, will be virtual to avoid having all-Israeli crowd, with West Bank Palestinians barred from Israel since Oct. 7.
(Lonny's note: This event is probably one of the most important events every year. Despite, or maybe because of it, this year is particularly difficult but all so important that we support and attend this Memorial Day Ceremony. Every year, I listen to the tragic stories of people from both sides dying and being killed as told by their loved ones who have lost so much. This year, everyone has been touched and scarred by October 7 and the last 7 months. Every year, I am inspired by the family members who have chosen a different path from vengeance and violence. They choose the path of hope, of understanding, of shared pain and a shared belief for a better future. )
Who among us, this year more than ever before doesn’t need that inspiration, that hope that we can all have a better future?
As I have for the past many years, I will be attending this year’s Memorial Day Ceremony of the Forum of Bereaved Families and Combatants for Peace. Due to the war, the entire ceremony will be online.
On the night of Sunday, May 12, while tens of thousands of Israelis attend Memorial Day ceremonies in public spots across the country in remembrance of the country’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror attacks, others will sit in their homes in front of their computer screens, participating in a virtual alternative event.
The Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial ceremony, now in its 19th year, is organized by the left-wing group Combatants for Peace and by the Parents Circle — Families Forum, a grassroots organization of bereaved Israelis and Palestinians.
The assembly, which its organizers say is the largest peace event organized jointly by Israelis and Palestinians, has been controversial since its inception in 2006, but has also drawn increasingly larger crowds over the years, both in person and online. Last year, 15,000 attended the ceremony at Tel Aviv’s Ganei Yehoshua Park, and 200,000 watched it online from around the world, according to organizers. While right-wing politicians have called participants “traitors” who “sit with terrorists,” organizers maintain that the ceremony aims to supersede the traditional Memorial Day discourse that “war and death are inevitable and necessary,” and to present an alternative narrative that puts human lives at the forefront.
That message may resonate with many in the region and around the world in the aftermath of October 7 and the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. “It’s an eye-opener for many to know that even though the conflict is ongoing, there is a group of people who see each other as equal human beings. The loss and the grief are equal for everyone,” said Eszter Korányi, the Israeli co-director of the movement. “We want to showcase an example that it’s possible to cooperate and even to meet in this very painful place of loss from the two different sides of the conflict.”
Her words were echoed by her Palestinian co-director, Rana Salman.
“We have been stuck in this same cycle of violence for many years, and every time we lose loved ones from both sides,” Salman said. “This is an opportunity to say out loud on stage to the world that we want this to end and we need to find a solution. Because something so tragic happened, [the conflict] is back on the table and people are discussing it.” In 2023, after entry permits to Israel were initially withheld, the High Court of Justice ordered Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to allow some 150 Palestinians invited to the joint ceremony to enter the country from the West Bank.
This year, the ceremony can only be attended online. In “normal” previous years, it would be held in person, and relatives of victims of the conflict, both Israeli and Palestinian, would take the stage to give speeches about their lost loved ones and the need for peace, interspersed with musical performances by artists from both communities.
Since Israel has revoked all entry permits to Palestinians after October 7, no resident of the West Bank will be allowed to attend in person this year. Organizers therefore decided to take the event online rather than hold an event for Israelis alone. The format will remain the same, comprising speeches and music. The 2022 joint ceremony was split between Tel Aviv and the West Bank’s Beit Jala, after being held primarily online for the previous two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s ceremony was pre-recorded on May 8 before an audience of 250 people. It will then be streamed online on Memorial Day Eve .
Organizers predict that on the night of the broadcast, hundreds of thousands will view it from around the world, and they are hopeful that the ongoing conflict will attract an even larger attendance than usual.“If this war was going on somewhere else, nobody would care, honestly,” Korányi remarked.
“But because this conflict is interesting for the whole world, we need to have a voice saying something else. There are so many loud voices saying Israel is right, Palestine is right, Jews are right, Arabs are right. We need to form a coalition to say that we need to choose people, and we need to choose peace and humanity beyond everything else,” said Korányi.
No escape from reality
The Hamas atrocities of October 7 and the war in Gaza will take front and center at the ceremony this year. The war broke out on October 7, when Hamas-led terrorists carried out a devastating attack on southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 252 hostages, while committing acts of wholesale brutality. Israel’s subsequent offensive, aiming to destroy Hamas and free the hostages, has killed over 34,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. This figure cannot be independently verified and does not differentiate between civilians and Palestinian combatants. Israel says it has killed over 15,000 Hamas fighters since the war began and around 1,000 inside Israeli territory on October 7. In addition, 271 soldiers have been killed since the ground offensive began, in Gaza and amid operations on the border.
Among the Israeli speakers are Yonatan Zeigan, son of Canadian-Israeli peace activist Vivian Silver, who was murdered on October 7 in her kibbutz in near the Gaza border, and Michal Halev, mother of Laor Abramov, a DJ from New Jersey who was murdered at the Supernova music festival. The Palestinian speakers will include Ahmed Helou, who lost 60 members of his extended family in Gaza in the ongoing war.
Amid the despair of the war, Combatants for Peace leaders say they have witnessed an uptick in their ranks, as many search for a sliver of hope in a seemingly endless and intractable conflict.
On the Israeli side, the left-wing group had attracted new members even before October 7, during the months of rallies against the judicial overhaul, when its activists took to the streets to protest the government and its policies in the West Bank, and rubbed elbows with other demonstrators.
“Many had heard about us, but when they stood next to us in the demonstrations, they wanted to hear more,” said Korányi. link The Forum of Bereaved Families is an organization that does want to grow, they do not want more members. They are among the bravest people we have on both sides of the fence who have chosen to stop being enemies, to end the call for revenge, hate and war. In the worst of times which we are living through today, it is hard to see and feel the pain on the other side. The Forum reminds us that there is no difference in the tears of parents mourning their child or the cries of a child reaching out for a parent they will never see or feel again. It is only through recognition of the others' pain, the acceptance that each side has its own narrative that is deeply engrained in their lives and their culture and it is alright to not agree with the other's narrative but it is the most important thing to find the common ground, of which there is a lot, and to pave a way together for a better future for us all and put an end to the seemingly endless cycle of killing, violence and war.
- In 1st, PM accepts some responsibility for Oct. 7: 'I hold myself and everyone on this' : Netanyahu coaxed into admission in interview with Dr. Phil after insisting for months he’d wait for post-war commission before speaking of own role in failing to prevent onslaught.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared for the first time to take a personal degree of responsibility for Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught, which his government failed to foresee or prevent, coaxed into the admission in an interview with television psychologist Dr. Phil.
Netanyahu was asked about his responsibility for the onslaught in an interview with US media personality Phil McGraw on the “Dr. Phil Primetime” show. broadcast Thursday.
“There are some people, including some Israeli people, who want an explanation for how October 7th happened. Some have given explanations. Some in the military, some from the political side. Are they owed an explanation? Have you given an explanation to the people of your point of view?” Dr. Phil asked.
“But I think right now, our goal is one to achieve victory,” he added. Pressed as to whether there were military or political failures, Netanyahu responded, “There were failures.”
“The government’s first responsibility is to protect the people. That’s the ultimate enveloping responsibility. People weren’t protected. We have to admit that,” he added.
“Do you hold yourself to that standard that you failed in some way?” Dr. Phil asked. “I hold myself and everyone on this. I think we have to examine how it happened. What was the intelligence failure?” Netanyahu responds, indicating that he views intelligence chiefs as particularly responsible. “We can delve into it. But I think the important thing right now is to make sure that we don’t have another failure because the greatest failure would be… if we don’t complete [the counter-attack], if we allow these murderers to be there and to get control of Gaza again… I’m focused right now on achieving this victory,” he adds.
Netanyahu went much further than he has in the past when responding to the question.
In November, he told CNN, “Did people ask Franklin Roosevelt, after Pearl Harbor, that question? Did people ask George Bush after the surprise attack of [September] 11?” Top defense officials have come out in the aftermath of Hamas’s massacre of some 1,200 people and abduction of 252 more and have said they bear responsibility for what unfolded. Israel’s military intelligence chief became the most senior official to resign last month in a move likely to be followed by other security officials at some point. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has also accepted responsibility but he is one of the few in the political echelon to do so since October 7, as Netanyahu has insisted on waiting for a state commission of inquiry to make determinations regarding the culpability of the government — one which he insists cannot take place while the war is ongoing.
This stance has exposed him to criticism from opposition lawmakers, members of the National Unity party — which joined the coalition on an emergency basis after October 7 — and media pundits. One of the slogans frequently directed at Netanyahu by the anti-government protests movement has been “You’re in charge. You’re guilty.” The premier was also asked on Thursday about his latest rift with US President Joe Biden who threatened on Wednesday to withhold offensive weapons from Israel it is launches a long-pledged major offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
“I’ve known Joe Biden for many years — 40 years and more. We often had our agreements, but we’ve had our disagreements. We’ve been able to overcome them. I hope we can overcome them now,” Netanyahu said.
“We will do what we have to do to protect our country, and that means to protect our future. And that means we will defeat Hamas, including in Rafah. We have no other choice,” he asserted.
Later Thursday, the security cabinet reportedly approved the expansion of the IDF’s operations in Rafah. Hebrew media reports described the expansion as “measured,” but it risks a collision with the Biden administration. In an apparent shot at Biden and others, Netanyahu told Dr. Phil that some world leaders privately tell him that Hamas needs to be destroyed, but “when they are faced with all this propaganda, all this madness in the campuses… they begin to fray, some of them. But I don’t fray. We’ll do what we have to do to protect ourselves.”
Asked further about the anti-Israel unrest at US universities, Netanyahu said Hamas’s stated aim of destroying Israel “is not resistance.” “You have a lot of ignorant people, who I’m sorry to say, whose sense of history at best goes back to breakfast, not even that. They don’t have the faintest clue what Hamas is,” the prime minister said, citing Hamas’s treatment of LGBTQ individuals and women.
“When they say ‘from the river to the sea,’ that’s wipe out the State of Israel. They’re supporting genocide. Now, this is a sorry state of American education… There’s a deep rot and a bankruptcy there,” he added.
Dr. Phil then asks Netanyahu about surging antisemitism in the United States, which the premier blames on “a fusion of radical Islam and the ultra-anarchist left.”
“The only thing they agree on is that Israel has to be destroyed and America has to be destroyed,” he said. link - watch the interview here- I'm sure that I could go on an on about some of the things that Netanyahu said in this interview, but I won't. I will be brief and only make a few comments specifically about this interview. The title of this article is the most unsettling: "PM accepts some responsibility for Oct. 7: ‘I hold myself and everyone on this’" He absolutely did not take responsibility, not even a little. With every opportunity, here as well as every time since October 7, he has diverted the discussion away from that question, but only after he attempts to pin the blame on all of the security services and their heads. It's fine for their heads to bear responsibility but not for the person who has been the head of the Israeli government for most of the last 2 decades. He likes to use the analogy of Roosevelt with Pearl Harbor and Bush with 9/11 to say that to look for the person(s) responsible during the crisis is the wrong thing to do. Who says? If that person is the one directly responsible, he should be show the door and not be the one to try to fix all that he broke. And when asked about early elections (not in this interview), he says that elections in time of war is a present to the enemy. Really? Did the UK give Hitler a gift when they got rid of Chamberlain and brought in Churchill? During WW2, the US had 2 presidential elections: one before the US was in the war and the other was in 1944 during some of the worst battles of the war. When a leader is bad, the people know it and should be enabled to do something about it especially in critical times. In the interview, Netanyahu talks about victory, which he always does. However, none of the interviewers asks him what victory means for him in this horrible war.
When Netanyahu is asked about the antisemitism in the US, he chooses catch phrase excuses of “a fusion of radical Islam and the ultra-anarchist left.” The left always have to be the enemies for him. At least here, he specified the ultra-anarchist left, which does have some legitimacy. What he fails to mention is the billions of dollars that Qatar has invested in American Universities over many years, the same Qatar that he cuddled up with so closely begging them to continue to send the billions to Hamas. He fails to mention the incredibly well oiled propaganda machines of Hamas, together with Qatar and Iran (all parts of the Radical Muslim Brotherhood that has been outlawed in many parts of the world including Arab countries) and how he literally killed the budgets of all of our Public Information (Hasbara) offices and services that used to serve Israel so well and even quite recently had the best English Speaking Public Information people, Eylon Levy (who reported directly into his office) fired because his wife didn't like the fact that Eylon was active in the anti-judicial overhauls that Netanyahu and his gang were trying to force on the country. In a cabinet meeting last month, he was asked about the Public Information people and why didn't Israel have a better service to compete with what Hamas is doing, Netanyahu said, without flinching or embarrassment, that he barely had any ministers who could string 2 words together in English. A day or two later, Eylon Levy was fired. Need I say more.
- Ahead of Possible Order to Stop the War: Netanyahu Convened Discussions on the Issue::
Against the backdrop of Egypt's announcement of its intention to support South Africa's petition to the International Court of Justice in The Hague::
Throughout the day (Sunday), discussions took place with the participation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - regarding concerns over an order to stop the war being issued by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, against the backdrop of Egypt's announcement of its intention to support South Africa's petition. Israel estimates that the Court in The Hague will issue it an order to cease fighting, and is therefore waging a battle in an attempt to block the move. About half of the judges were inclined to issue the order even before the operation in Rafah, which lacks American backing, as reported last night by Tamar Almog on the Sabbath News. Israel emphasized the humanitarian steps it is taking and improving - the issue that most concerns the Court. The implications of an order that the Court may issue: legally binding, but not enforceable. However, such an order would make it very difficult to receive support, arms supplies and vetoes in the UN Security Council.
Egypt has decided to support the petition filed by South Africa against Israel. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced today that the decision was made due to "the escalation of Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, the destruction of infrastructure in the Strip and the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land." link - Egyptian FM says peace treaty with Israel is a 'strategic choice' -- report::The peace treaty between Egypt and Israel is a “strategic choice,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is quoted as saying during a press conference, seemingly contradicting earlier comments from Cairo that the pact was at high risk.
“The peace agreement with Israel has been Egypt’s strategic choice for 40 years, and it represents a main pillar of peace in the region to achieve peace and stability,” Shoukry is quoted by the Turkish Anadolu news agency.
He adds that there are “set mechanisms” for dealing with any violations of the treaty, according to Anadolu. His comments come after a senior Egyptian official told The Associated Press that Cairo had lodged protests with Israel, the United States and European governments, saying the Rafah operation has put its peace treaty with Israel — a cornerstone of regional stability — at high risk.
Yesterday, the Israeli military began calling on Palestinians in additional neighborhoods of Rafah to evacuate the area, as it pressed on with an operation against the Hamas terror group in the city in the southern Gaza Strip. link
- Amid war, Israeli and Palestinian peace activists take annual joint memorial online - Controversial Memorial Day commemoration, filmed in advance this year, will be virtual to avoid having all-Israeli crowd, with West Bank Palestinians barred from Israel since Oct. 7. (Lonny's note: This event is probably one of the most important events every year. Despite, or maybe because of it, this year is particularly difficult but all so important that we support and attend this Memorial Day Ceremony. Every year, I listen to the tragic stories of people from both sides dying and being killed as told by their loved ones who have lost so much. This year, everyone has been touched and scarred by October 7 and the last 7 months. Every year, I am inspired by the family members who have chosen a different path from vengeance and violence. They choose the path of hope, of understanding, of shared pain and a shared belief for a better future. ) Who among us, this year more than ever before doesn’t need that inspiration, that hope that we can all have a better future? As I have for the past many years, I will be attending this year’s Memorial Day Ceremony of the Forum of Bereaved Families and Combatants for Peace. Due to the war, the entire ceremony will be online. On the night of Sunday, May 12, while tens of thousands of Israelis attend Memorial Day ceremonies in public spots across the country in remembrance of the country’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror attacks, others will sit in their homes in front of their computer screens, participating in a virtual alternative event. The Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial ceremony, now in its 19th year, is organized by the left-wing group Combatants for Peace and by the Parents Circle — Families Forum, a grassroots organization of bereaved Israelis and Palestinians. The assembly, which its organizers say is the largest peace event organized jointly by Israelis and Palestinians, has been controversial since its inception in 2006, but has also drawn increasingly larger crowds over the years, both in person and online. Last year, 15,000 attended the ceremony at Tel Aviv’s Ganei Yehoshua Park, and 200,000 watched it online from around the world, according to organizers. While right-wing politicians have called participants “traitors” who “sit with terrorists,” organizers maintain that the ceremony aims to supersede the traditional Memorial Day discourse that “war and death are inevitable and necessary,” and to present an alternative narrative that puts human lives at the forefront. That message may resonate with many in the region and around the world in the aftermath of October 7 and the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. “It’s an eye-opener for many to know that even though the conflict is ongoing, there is a group of people who see each other as equal human beings. The loss and the grief are equal for everyone,” said Eszter Korányi, the Israeli co-director of the movement. “We want to showcase an example that it’s possible to cooperate and even to meet in this very painful place of loss from the two different sides of the conflict.” Her words were echoed by her Palestinian co-director, Rana Salman. “We have been stuck in this same cycle of violence for many years, and every time we lose loved ones from both sides,” Salman said. “This is an opportunity to say out loud on stage to the world that we want this to end and we need to find a solution. Because something so tragic happened, [the conflict] is back on the table and people are discussing it.” In 2023, after entry permits to Israel were initially withheld, the High Court of Justice ordered Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to allow some 150 Palestinians invited to the joint ceremony to enter the country from the West Bank. This year, the ceremony can only be attended online. In “normal” previous years, it would be held in person, and relatives of victims of the conflict, both Israeli and Palestinian, would take the stage to give speeches about their lost loved ones and the need for peace, interspersed with musical performances by artists from both communities. Since Israel has revoked all entry permits to Palestinians after October 7, no resident of the West Bank will be allowed to attend in person this year. Organizers therefore decided to take the event online rather than hold an event for Israelis alone. The format will remain the same, comprising speeches and music. The 2022 joint ceremony was split between Tel Aviv and the West Bank’s Beit Jala, after being held primarily online for the previous two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s ceremony was pre-recorded on May 8 before an audience of 250 people. It will then be streamed online on Memorial Day Eve . Organizers predict that on the night of the broadcast, hundreds of thousands will view it from around the world, and they are hopeful that the ongoing conflict will attract an even larger attendance than usual.“If this war was going on somewhere else, nobody would care, honestly,” Korányi remarked. “But because this conflict is interesting for the whole world, we need to have a voice saying something else. There are so many loud voices saying Israel is right, Palestine is right, Jews are right, Arabs are right. We need to form a coalition to say that we need to choose people, and we need to choose peace and humanity beyond everything else,” said Korányi. No escape from reality The Hamas atrocities of October 7 and the war in Gaza will take front and center at the ceremony this year. The war broke out on October 7, when Hamas-led terrorists carried out a devastating attack on southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 252 hostages, while committing acts of wholesale brutality. Israel’s subsequent offensive, aiming to destroy Hamas and free the hostages, has killed over 34,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. This figure cannot be independently verified and does not differentiate between civilians and Palestinian combatants. Israel says it has killed over 15,000 Hamas fighters since the war began and around 1,000 inside Israeli territory on October 7. In addition, 271 soldiers have been killed since the ground offensive began, in Gaza and amid operations on the border. Among the Israeli speakers are Yonatan Zeigan, son of Canadian-Israeli peace activist Vivian Silver, who was murdered on October 7 in her kibbutz in near the Gaza border, and Michal Halev, mother of Laor Abramov, a DJ from New Jersey who was murdered at the Supernova music festival. The Palestinian speakers will include Ahmed Helou, who lost 60 members of his extended family in Gaza in the ongoing war. Amid the despair of the war, Combatants for Peace leaders say they have witnessed an uptick in their ranks, as many search for a sliver of hope in a seemingly endless and intractable conflict. On the Israeli side, the left-wing group had attracted new members even before October 7, during the months of rallies against the judicial overhaul, when its activists took to the streets to protest the government and its policies in the West Bank, and rubbed elbows with other demonstrators. “Many had heard about us, but when they stood next to us in the demonstrations, they wanted to hear more,” said Korányi. link The Forum of Bereaved Families is an organization that does want to grow, they do not want more members. They are among the bravest people we have on both sides of the fence who have chosen to stop being enemies, to end the call for revenge, hate and war. In the worst of times which we are living through today, it is hard to see and feel the pain on the other side. The Forum reminds us that there is no difference in the tears of parents mourning their child or the cries of a child reaching out for a parent they will never see or feel again. It is only through recognition of the others' pain, the acceptance that each side has its own narrative that is deeply engrained in their lives and their culture and it is alright to not agree with the other's narrative but it is the most important thing to find the common ground, of which there is a lot, and to pave a way together for a better future for us all and put an end to the seemingly endless cycle of killing, violence and war.
- In 1st, PM accepts some responsibility for Oct. 7: 'I hold myself and everyone on this' : Netanyahu coaxed into admission in interview with Dr. Phil after insisting for months he’d wait for post-war commission before speaking of own role in failing to prevent onslaught.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared for the first time to take a personal degree of responsibility for Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught, which his government failed to foresee or prevent, coaxed into the admission in an interview with television psychologist Dr. Phil.
Netanyahu was asked about his responsibility for the onslaught in an interview with US media personality Phil McGraw on the “Dr. Phil Primetime” show. broadcast Thursday.
“There are some people, including some Israeli people, who want an explanation for how October 7th happened. Some have given explanations. Some in the military, some from the political side. Are they owed an explanation? Have you given an explanation to the people of your point of view?” Dr. Phil asked.
“I think we’re going to have to give a thorough explanation. We’re going to have to have a thorough examination once the war ends of exactly what happened, how it happened and who made it happen. That’s something that you have to do,” Netanyahu said. “But I think right now, our goal is one to achieve victory,” he added. Pressed as to whether there were military or political failures, Netanyahu responded, “There were failures.”
“The government’s first responsibility is to protect the people. That’s the ultimate enveloping responsibility. People weren’t protected. We have to admit that,” he added.
“Do you hold yourself to that standard that you failed in some way?” Dr. Phil asked. “I hold myself and everyone on this. I think we have to examine how it happened. What was the intelligence failure?” Netanyahu responds, indicating that he views intelligence chiefs as particularly responsible. “We can delve into it. But I think the important thing right now is to make sure that we don’t have another failure because the greatest failure would be… if we don’t complete [the counter-attack], if we allow these murderers to be there and to get control of Gaza again… I’m focused right now on achieving this victory,” he adds.
Netanyahu went much further than he has in the past when responding to the question.
In November, he told CNN, “Did people ask Franklin Roosevelt, after Pearl Harbor, that question? Did people ask George Bush after the surprise attack of [September] 11?” Top defense officials have come out in the aftermath of Hamas’s massacre of some 1,200 people and abduction of 252 more and have said they bear responsibility for what unfolded. Israel’s military intelligence chief became the most senior official to resign last month in a move likely to be followed by other security officials at some point. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has also accepted responsibility but he is one of the few in the political echelon to do so since October 7, as Netanyahu has insisted on waiting for a state commission of inquiry to make determinations regarding the culpability of the government — one which he insists cannot take place while the war is ongoing.
This stance has exposed him to criticism from opposition lawmakers, members of the National Unity party — which joined the coalition on an emergency basis after October 7 — and media pundits. One of the slogans frequently directed at Netanyahu by the anti-government protests movement has been “You’re in charge. You’re guilty.” The premier was also asked on Thursday about his latest rift with US President Joe Biden who threatened on Wednesday to withhold offensive weapons from Israel it is launches a long-pledged major offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
“I’ve known Joe Biden for many years — 40 years and more. We often had our agreements, but we’ve had our disagreements. We’ve been able to overcome them. I hope we can overcome them now,” Netanyahu said.
“We will do what we have to do to protect our country, and that means to protect our future. And that means we will defeat Hamas, including in Rafah. We have no other choice,” he asserted.
Later Thursday, the security cabinet reportedly approved the expansion of the IDF’s operations in Rafah. Hebrew media reports described the expansion as “measured,” but it risks a collision with the Biden administration. In an apparent shot at Biden and others, Netanyahu told Dr. Phil that some world leaders privately tell him that Hamas needs to be destroyed, but “when they are faced with all this propaganda, all this madness in the campuses… they begin to fray, some of them. But I don’t fray. We’ll do what we have to do to protect ourselves.”
Asked further about the anti-Israel unrest at US universities, Netanyahu said Hamas’s stated aim of destroying Israel “is not resistance.” “You have a lot of ignorant people, who I’m sorry to say, whose sense of history at best goes back to breakfast, not even that. They don’t have the faintest clue what Hamas is,” the prime minister said, citing Hamas’s treatment of LGBTQ individuals and women.
“When they say ‘from the river to the sea,’ that’s wipe out the State of Israel. They’re supporting genocide. Now, this is a sorry state of American education… There’s a deep rot and a bankruptcy there,” he added.
Dr. Phil then asks Netanyahu about surging antisemitism in the United States, which the premier blames on “a fusion of radical Islam and the ultra-anarchist left.”
“The only thing they agree on is that Israel has to be destroyed and America has to be destroyed,” he said. link - watch the interview here- I'm sure that I could go on an on about some of the things that Netanyahu said in this interview, but I won't. I will be brief and only make a few comments specifically about this interview. The title of this article is the most unsettling: "PM accepts some responsibility for Oct. 7: ‘I hold myself and everyone on this’" He absolutely did not take responsibility, not even a little. With every opportunity, here as well as every time since October 7, he has diverted the discussion away from that question, but only after he attempts to pin the blame on all of the security services and their heads. It's fine for their heads to bear responsibility but not for the person who has been the head of the Israeli government for most of the last 2 decades. He likes to use the analogy of Roosevelt with Pearl Harbor and Bush with 9/11 to say that to look for the person(s) responsible during the crisis is the wrong thing to do. Who says? If that person is the one directly responsible, he should be show the door and not be the one to try to fix all that he broke. And when asked about early elections (not in this interview), he says that elections in time of war is a present to the enemy. Really? Did the UK give Hitler a gift when they got rid of Chamberlain and brought in Churchill? During WW2, the US had 2 presidential elections: one before the US was in the war and the other was in 1944 during some of the worst battles of the war. When a leader is bad, the people know it and should be enabled to do something about it especially in critical times. In the interview, Netanyahu talks about victory, which he always does. However, none of the interviewers asks him what victory means for him in this horrible war.
When Netanyahu is asked about the antisemitism in the US, he chooses catch phrase excuses of “a fusion of radical Islam and the ultra-anarchist left.” The left always have to be the enemies for him. At least here, he specified the ultra-anarchist left, which does have some legitimacy. What he fails to mention is the billions of dollars that Qatar has invested in American Universities over many years, the same Qatar that he cuddled up with so closely begging them to continue to send the billions to Hamas. He fails to mention the incredibly well oiled propaganda machines of Hamas, together with Qatar and Iran (all parts of the Radical Muslim Brotherhood that has been outlawed in many parts of the world including Arab countries) and how he literally killed the budgets of all of our Public Information (Hasbara) offices and services that used to serve Israel so well and even quite recently had the best English Speaking Public Information people, Eylon Levy (who reported directly into his office) fired because his wife didn't like the fact that Eylon was active in the anti-judicial overhauls that Netanyahu and his gang were trying to force on the country. In a cabinet meeting last month, he was asked about the Public Information people and why didn't Israel have a better service to compete with what Hamas is doing, Netanyahu said, without flinching or embarrassment, that he barely had any ministers who could string 2 words together in English. A day or two later, Eylon Levy was fired. Need I say more.
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