🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 498, 2023 - February 15, 2025 🎗️

  

🎗️Day 498 that 73 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!!!”

We’re waiting for you, all of you.
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.

#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope

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 and Death Announcements

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Hostage Updates 

• ‘I’m great, I’m great, I have a daughter’: Sagui Dekel-Chen ‘all smiles’ as he’s told of birth

  

  

  On a whiteboard, Dekel-Chen writes: “Bari, Gali, Shachar, thanks for keeping me safe. Dad’s on his way.”
  
  

  Hamas gunmen parade hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen on a stage before handing him over to a Red Cross team in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on February 15, 2025 (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

  According to Channel 12, Sagui Dekel-Chen was “all smiles” as Israeli officials notified him that he has a one-year-old daughter.

  Asked about his medical condition, the network says Dekel-Chen replied: “I’m great, I’m great, I have a daughter.”

  His wife Avital Dekel-Chen tells Channel 12 of her joy to see Sagui released and her delight that he now knows he has a third daughter.

  She says she will tell him she is so sorry it took so long for him to be freed, and that “all of Israel is with him.” She says, “There are more little children waiting for their fathers” and that Israel “must do all we can” to get all the rest of the hostages home.According to Channel 12, Sagui Dekel-Chen was “all smiles” as Israeli officials notified him that he has a one-year-old daughter.

  Asked about his medical condition, the network says Dekel-Chen replied: “I’m great, I’m great, I have a daughter.”

  His wife Avital Dekel-Chen tells Channel 12 of her joy to see Sagui released and her delight that he now knows he has a third daughter.

  She says she will tell him she is so sorry it took so long for him to be freed, and that “all of Israel is with him.” She says, “There are more little children waiting for their fathers” and that Israel “must do all we can” to get all the rest of the hostages home

  A video published by the military shows released hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen reuniting with his wife Avital and his parents at an IDF facility near the Gaza border for the first time after 498 days in Hamas captivity.

  In the video, Sagui finds out the name of his third daughter, who was born two months after he was abducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

  “Do you remember what you called her?” Avital asks Sagui, referring to the girl’s baby bump nickname.

  “Mazal!” he exclaims in surprise.

  “So that’s what she’s called, Shachar Mazal,” Avital responds.

  “It’s perfect,” he says.  video

• Iair Horn flown over stadium of favorite soccer team Hapoel Beersheba
  Released hostage Iair Horn, who is a fan of Hapoel Beersheba, asked to fly over Turner Stadium, the home ground of the soccer club, en route to a hospital in central Israel.
  The Israeli Air Force pilots who were airlifting Horn from an army base near the Gaza border obliged. video of helicopter

  
  

• En route to Israel, freed hostage Sasha Trupanov learns of father’s death on October 7

  After 498 days in captivity, Trupanov informed his beloved father Vitaliy among over 1,200 people killed when Hamas launched its coordinated assault on southern Israel
  Alexander "Sasha" Trupanov, one of the three hostages released from Gaza on Saturday, was informed during his journey back to Israel that his father, Vitaliy Trupanov, was murdered by Hamas during the October 7 attack, his family confirmed. Trupanov, 29, from Tel Aviv, had been unaware of his family's fate throughout his 498 days in captivity. He was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his mother Yelena, grandmother Irena Tati and girlfriend Sapir Cohen. While the three women were released in the November 2023 hostage exchange, Sasha remained in Gaza, held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

  

  Sasha Trupanov handed over to Red Cross in Gaza

  (Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed)

  His father was among the over 1,200 people killed when Hamas launched its coordinated assault on southern Israel.

  His family expressed both relief and grief upon his release. "Seeing Sasha today strengthens us and gives us hope for the long rehabilitation process ahead," they said in a statement. "This is a moment of immense relief for us, for his friends and for all who prayed for his return."

  However, before Trupanov was officially updated on his father’s death, his family acknowledged the emotional weight of the news. "We do not know if he is aware that his father was murdered on October 7. This revelation will change his homecoming from a day of immense joy to a day of deep mourning," they said, asking the media to respect his privacy as he begins his emotional and physical recovery.

  

  Vitaliy Trupanov

  Friends of Trupanov gathered at Kfar Maccabiah near Tel Aviv to watch his release unfold, cheering, clapping and shedding tears as they saw his first images outside captivity.

  He was freed alongside Iair Horn and Sagui Dekel-Chen, both kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, where Trupanov had grown up after immigrating to Israel with his parents at age three. He later studied electrical engineering at Ben-Gurion University and worked for Amazon before the war.

  On October 7, he had traveled to the kibbutz with his girlfriend to visit his parents when Hamas launched its deadly attack.

  As Trupanov and his fellow hostages return, Nir Oz continues to grapple with its losses. The kibbutz released updated figures detailing the impact of the October 7 massacre, revealing that: 57 residents were murdered, including at least seven who were kidnapped alive and later killed in captivity, and that 11 hostages remain alive in Gaza, while nine bodies are still held by Hamas.

  A total of 76 Nir Oz residents were taken hostage, including 40 women and children who were freed in November 2023. So far, nine hostages have been released in the latest deal, with seven bodies recovered in Israeli military operations.

  

  Sasha's mother Yelena, girlfriend Sapir Cohen and grandmother Irena Tati

  In total, 117 Nir Oz residents—children, elderly, women and men—were either murdered or abducted on October 7, making up more than a quarter of the kibbutz’s population.

  Trupanov was previously featured in multiple propaganda videos released by his captors, in which he spoke under apparent duress about poor conditions in captivity.

  After his release, he was transferred to IDF forces inside Gaza before crossing into Israel, where he underwent medical evaluations and reunited with his family—now learning the devastating news of his father’s fate.

• Israel said readying for three hostages to be freed Saturday, still pushing for more

  Netanyahu meets defense brass as report indicates bid to pressure Hamas into expediting releases of six others in first stage; don’t get your hopes up, Arab diplomat cautions

  Hamas said Thursday it would release three Israeli hostages as planned Saturday, backing off a threat to delay the next release of captives after accusing Israel of failing to meet its obligations to allow tents and shelters, among other alleged violations of the truce.

  Israel was reported to be pushing for further live hostages to be released in the upcoming days, but a senior Arab official told The Times of Israel that it was unlikely that Hamas would deviate from the original timeframe of the agreement.

  Underscoring the fragility of the ceasefire and hostage release arrangement, a rocket was fired from Gaza for the first time since fighting halted last month, reportedly killing a Palestinian teen inside the Strip and drawing the second Israeli military strike in as many days.

  In southern Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz spent several hours huddling with top military commanders and security officials Thursday evening, as Jerusalem reportedly sought to pile more pressure on the Hamas terror group to begin releasing hostages sooner than previously agreed.

  Israel has said it will resume fighting if the hostages are not freed, and appeared to endorse US President Donald Trump’s demand that all hostages be freed, not only the three scheduled for release Saturday, reflecting growing concerns over the condition of captives held in Gaza for nearly 500 days.

  Hamas said it held talks in Cairo with Egyptian officials and was in contact with Qatar’s prime minister about bringing into Gaza more shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble — its key demand in recent days. It said in a statement that the mediators had pledged to “remove all hurdles.”

  Netanyahu’s office earlier denied a report that it would let mobile homes and earth-moving equipment into the Strip, calling it “fake news.”

  There is no entry of mobile homes or heavy equipment into Gaza, and there is no coordination for it,” Netanyahu spokesman Omer Dostri said.

  Nonetheless, Egyptian media aired footage showing trucks carrying temporary housing and bulldozers on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing with Gaza. They reported that the trucks were heading to an Israeli inspection area before crossing into Gaza.

  Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou later confirmed to The Associated Press by phone that three hostages would be released on Saturday.

  Under the terms of the ceasefire that went into effect last month, 17 hostages are still slated to be released under the deal’s first stage, nine of whom are believed to still be alive. Recent weeks have seen the group release 16 Israelis and five Thai hostages under the arrangement, which also requires Israel to free some 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners, including hundreds of terrorists serving life and long terms.

  Even as the hostage releases appeared to get back on track, a rare rocket launch Thursday afternoon briefly raised concerns that the sides could decide to resume fighting.

  Footage showed the rocket appear to strike inside Gaza. According to Palestinian media reports, the projectile landed in the Nuseirat area in the Strip’s center, killing a 14-year-old boy.

  A source in the Hamas-run police claimed the rocket was an unexploded Israeli ordinance that had ignited and fired into the air while it was being moved away from a residential area.

  The Israel Defense Forces said it struck the source of the launch in the Bureij camp in central Gaza. On Wednesday, the IDF said it carried out a drone strike against Gazans attempting to collect a smuggled UAV in Rafah, killing one.

  At the IDF’s Southern Command headquarters in Beersheba, Netanyahu met with defense brass for over 4 hours to examine the IDF’s operational plans “for various scenarios,” an Israeli official said. Attending the meeting were Katz, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, and incoming chief of staff Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, Shin Bet director Ronen Bar, and head of the IDF Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman.
  

  Israeli officials were expecting Hamas on Friday to name the three it intends to release over the weekend, Channel 12 news reported.

  According to the station, which did not cite a source for the information, Jerusalem was also pushing mediators, Qatar, Egypt and the US, to pressure Hamas to expedite the release of the other six living hostages ahead of their scheduled release dates on February 22 and March 1.

  Israel has been pushing to speed up the releases since Saturday, when hostages Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami were released looking emaciated. Freed hostages have recounted being subjected to torture, starvation, and inhumane living conditions by their captors.

  A senior Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel that Hamas was not expected to release additional hostages either on Saturday or in the immediate days that followed, as this is not what was stipulated in the agreement.

  “We got Hamas to agree to release the hostages on Saturday, after it was threatening not to release any of them. To assume that they will go beyond that would be a stretch,” the diplomat says.

  The fragile ceasefire was thrown into doubt on Monday when Hamas announced that it wouldn’t release any hostages on Saturday as planned, accusing Israel of preventing aid from reaching the Strip, which Israel denied.

  Trump then warned that “hell” would break loose if Hamas failed to release all the hostages being held in Gaza by Saturday. The terror group is holding 73 people kidnapped from Israel on October 7, 2023, including at least 35 bodies. It is also holding two civilians who entered the enclave around a decade ago, and the remains of a soldier killed fighting there in 2014.

  
  The 17 hostages slated to be returned in phase one of the Gaza ceasefire deal as of February 8, 2025 after the first five rounds saw 16 captives freed. Row 1 (L-R): Ariel Bibas, Kfir Bibas, Shiri Bibas, Sasha Trufanov; Row 2: Shlomo Mantzur, Ohad Yahalomi, Oded Lifshitz, Tsahi Idan; Row 3: Hisham al-Sayed, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Yair Horn, Omer Wenkert; Row 4: Itzik Elgarat, Eliya Cohen, Avera Mengistu, Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov. (All photos courtesy)

  
  

  Following Trump’s remarks, Netanyahu said Israel would resume “intense fighting” in Gaza if Hamas did not return the hostages by Saturday noon. Israel then put out a series of conflicting statements saying Hamas must release “our hostages,” “nine hostages,” and “all of them” for the ceasefire to continue.

  Despite the tough talk, Israel had reportedly sent a message to Hamas through Egypt and Qatar that the deal would continue if the terror group released three hostages as scheduled on Saturday.

  Appearing to confirm the climb-down, government spokesman David Mencer told reporters Thursday that Hamas must release three live hostages Saturday.

  “If those three are not released, if Hamas does not return our hostages, by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end,” he said.

  US hostage envoy Adam Boehler argued Thursday night that Hamas only agreed to walk back from its threat not to release three hostages this weekend because of Trump’s threat.

  “At the end of the day, the president has seen movement, and who knows what would happen if he wasn’t there,” Boehler told Fox News.

  “But it’s not enough,” he clarified. “We still have seven Americans that are there, and we’re not going to stop until that’s [not] the case. I hope that Hamas is hearing loud and clear from the president united states that they’ve got to address that issue immediately.”

  Asked if Trump’s threat remains in place, Boehler responded, “That’s the current message of the president United States.”

  But the hostage envoy then added that Trump “reserves the right to change or adjust as he sees fit.”

  The threat to the future of the ceasefire had drawn thousands of Israeli protesters onto the streets this week, calling on the government to stick with the deal and bring the remaining hostages home.

  
  Families of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip and supporters attend a silent protest calling for their release outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem, February 12, 2025. ( Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

  Serious doubts remain over subsequent stages of the deal, which have yet to be negotiated. Netanyahu’s office on Thursday confirmed for the first time that it was not involved in negotiating future phases for the release of the remaining hostages and a lasting end to the war.

  “Israel is not negotiating right now on the second stage in the deal,” Dostri said, pushing back after Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee head Yuli Edelstein, a Likud MK, said that Israel is “unequivocally dealing with the second stage of a hostage release deal.”

  Negotiations on a second phase of the agreement, which mediators had hoped would see the release of the remaining hostages as well as the full withdrawal of IDF troops from Gaza, were supposed to begin last week in Doha, but an Israeli team returned home on Monday, two days after arriving.

  Mediators have warned Israel that the rest of the deal’s first stage could be at risk unless negotiations begin in earnest on phase two of the deal, Channel 12 news reported. Israel could send a delegation next week, the station said.
  

  The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

  Hamas freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that.

  Eight hostages have been rescued alive by troops, and the bodies of 40 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.

  

  Protesters block the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, calling for the release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, 13 February 2025. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

• Released surveillance soldiers hammer IDF chief for ignoring their warnings in lead-up to Oct. 7

  
  IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (left) meets with former hostage soldiers (from left) Naama Levy, Agam Berger, Liri Albag, and Karina Ariev, February 14, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
  
  

  Channel 12 publishes additional quotes from the meeting held earlier today between IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and the four female surveillance soldiers who were released from captivity last month.

  
  

  The network says that the meeting at times was very tense with the soldiers repeatedly criticizing the IDF’s conduct in the lead-up to October 7.

  
  

  “How can you say you knew nothing? How did you not prepare for this attack? How did this happen? We warned you all! We saw it with our own eyes. We did our job as we were required to and we warned, but you dismissed us,” one of the soldiers told Halevi, referring to the repeated alerts that surveillance soldiers issued regarding intensifying Hamas activity along the Gaza border that was dismissed by their male superiors.

  
  

  Halevi responded that it was “unacceptable” that the soldiers were dismissed in the manner that they were. “We teach all our commanders to treat every soldier and every complaint very seriously. You performed commendably.”

  
  

  “You abandoned us. Our friends at the base fought alone and no one came to save us,” one of the soldiers responded.

  
  

  “While we were held in Gaza, there were times when we were saved at the last minute. We almost died as a result of the IDF bombings,” one of the soldiers said.

  
  
  
• Released female hostages were treated like maids, male captives still held being abused

  
  

  Channel 12 publishes new testimony from the female hostages released last month, along with another testimony from released hostages about the conditions under which remaining male captives are being held.

  
  

  One of the female hostages was held in the home of a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative and was tasked with taking care of his children.

  
  

  Another female hostage was held with a family. The father was married to several women and was very violent toward the hostage, treating her like a maid. One of the man’s wives grew close to the female hostage staying by them and would try to protect her, even offering to do chores in her place.

  
  

  The female hostages said that their captors began feeding them in the lead-up to their release. For four days leading up to that day, the captors had the hostages practice the “speech” they’d give during their propaganda release ceremony.

  
  

  As for the hostages still in captivity, testimony from those who have returned reveals that one of them heard about one of his relatives being killed over the radio.

  
  

  Another hostage has been shackled by his legs since his abduction and has been subjected to terrible physical abuse.

  
  

  Another hostage was beaten so badly at one point that he lost consciousness, and his fellow hostages thought he was dead.

  
  

  Unlike some of the other hostages who have been released, many of those still being held have not been given access to a radio or TV or the outside world.

  
  

  They are told by the captors that no one in Israel is fighting for their release. One of the hostages still being held was told that his wife had moved on and that he has no one to come back to.

  
  
  
• Freed hostage Ofer Calderon hospitalized due to pneumonia

  
  Freed hostage Ofer Calderon raises both hands and blows kisses to friends outside the Sheba Medical Center on his return to Israel, February 1, 2025 (Eyal Hadani/AFP)
  
  

  Ofer Calderon, who was released two weeks ago as part of the hostage deal, contracted the flu earlier this week, which has deteriorated to pneumonia, Hebrew media reports, adding that he has been hospitalized as a result.
  
  

  
  
• Hostages Forum announces ‘500th Day Fast’ to be held Monday

  The Hostages and Missing Families Forum announces it will hold a fast to mark 500 days of captivity for the hostages remaining in Gaza.

  
  

  The fast will be held on Monday and will last 500 minutes, from 11:40 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. At the end of the fast, a rally will be held at Hostages Square.

  
  

  “This fast is nothing compared to the suffering they are experiencing there, but it is a day of identification and solidarity that strengthens the hostages and amplifies the cry of those whose voices cannot be heard,” the Forum says. “There is no more time — we must act immediately to bring everyone back.

  
  

  “We cannot let this agreement collapse; we must continue to use this momentum to reach a swift and responsible agreement for everyone!”

  
  

  
  

Gaza and the South

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Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

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West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel

• Freed Palestinian prisoners greeted by families in Ramallah
  

  Palestinian prisoner Waddeh Bazrah, 43, is greeted after being released from Israeli prison in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
  
  
  Palestinian prisoner Waddeh Bazrah, 43, is greeted after being released from Israeli prison in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
  Photos released by AP show Palestinian prisoners greeted in Ramallah by their families.
  
  
  Many of the prisoners were convicted of involvement in terror, including deadly attacks.
  
  
  
  Palestinian prisoner Hassan Awis is greeted after being released from Israeli prison, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Politics and the War (general news)

• Secretary-General of the Arab League: If Palestinian Interests Require, Hamas Must Step Out of the Picture
  In an interview with Al Arabiya, Abu Al-Ghait stated that the Palestinian Authority should take control of the Gaza Strip. "There is Hamas, which Israel tried to eliminate, but failed to do so," he said. According to him, Hamas must accept the Authority as the governing body: "This force on the ground must agree."
  
  Ahmed Abu Al-Ghait, Secretary-General of the Arab League, said in an interview with Al Arabiya today (Wednesday): "Abbas has declared that the Palestinian Authority is ready to return to the Gaza Strip and take responsibility for the area immediately after the cessation of hostilities. What's the problem? There is Hamas, which Israel tried to eliminate, but failed to do so."
  
  "After a war that lasted 15 months, they did not succeed, and therefore this force on the ground (Hamas) must agree with the Palestinian Authority and there must be an international vision. If Palestinian interests require, Hamas must step out of the picture," added Al-Ghait.
  
  Several Arab countries, led by Egypt, have taken on a new plan by the Palestinian Authority for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, with a total investment of approximately thirty-one billion dollars. Based on this proposal, Gulf countries along with Egypt are expected to formulate a counter-proposal to the "relocation-construction" plan presented by President Trump at the conclusion of the Arab summit convening in Cairo on the 27th of this month.
  
  King Abdullah, who is currently visiting the U.S. and met with the American president, agreed to accept about 2,000 sick children from the Gaza Strip into his country. On the other hand, Egyptian President Al-Sisi remains firm in his position and is not willing to accept Palestinians from Gaza into his territory at this stage.
  
  The tension between Egypt and the U.S. is the greatest in three decades, according to Egyptian sources quoted in the Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. The sources also claimed that "the implementation of Trump's threat to stop aid to Egypt would render the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt meaningless."
  
  Last night, Al Arabiya reported that the visit of Egyptian President Al-Sisi to Washington has been postponed until further notice. In Cairo, there is anger over statements from Israel and the U.S., and a clear message has been sent to Washington, demanding clarifications from the U.S. regarding Trump's statements about imposing sanctions.
  
  According to the report, Egypt has two plans for the reconstruction of Gaza without displacing Gazans. It is claimed that Egypt has provided more than one response regarding Trump's plan for Gaza in recent days and has refused three proposals that included displacement.  link

• The White House did not respond to several requests for comment on this story.
  

  US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking on Thursday, referred to the coming Arab meeting, saying: “Right now the only plan — they don’t like it — but the only plan is the Trump plan. So if they’ve got a better plan, now’s the time to present it.”
  Spokespeople for Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the UAE and Israel did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
  Buffer Zone
  Clear plans for Gaza’s post-war future have already proven hard to develop, as they require positions on contentious debates regarding the territory’s internal governance, security management, funding and reconstruction.
  Israel has already rejected any role for Hamas or the Palestinian Authority in governing Gaza or ensuring security there. Arab countries and the United States have said they do not want to put troops on the ground to do that.
  Gulf states, which have historically paid for reconstruction in Gaza, have said they do not want to do so this time without guarantees that Israel will not again destroy what they build. Israel is unlikely to make guarantees that prevent it from acting against threats from the territory, if they should arise.
  Jordan’s King Abdullah emphasized to Trump on Monday at their meeting in the White House that he was working with Saudi Arabia and Egypt on a Gaza plan that would work, a Jordanian official said.
  
  US President Donald Trump (R) meets with King Abdullah II of Jordan during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on February 11, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP)
  In televised comments after the meeting, Abdullah said the countries would review an Egyptian plan and “we will be in Saudi Arabia to discuss how we can work with the president and the United States.”
  Reuters could not immediately reach Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi for comment. After Abdullah’s meeting with Trump, Safadi said: “We are now working on crystallizing the Arab plan.”
  Initial proposals shared by the three Egyptian security sources relating to reconstruction and financing appear to be in advanced stages.
  A buffer zone and physical barrier would be erected to prevent tunnels from being built across Gaza’s border with Egypt. As soon as the rubble is removed, 20 areas will be established as temporary living zones. Around 50 Egyptian and other foreign companies would be brought in to carry out the work.
  Financing would involve international and Gulf money, a regional source with knowledge of the matter said. A potential fund could be named the Trump Fund for Reconstruction, an Arab government official said.
  However, the most difficult issues regarding Gaza’s governance and internal security remain to be decided, the official said.
  Forcing Hamas out of any role in Gaza would be critical, said the Arab official and the three Egyptian sources.
  Hamas has previously said it is willing to cede government in Gaza to a national committee, but it would want a role in choosing its members and would not accept the deployment of any ground forces without its consent. Israel will be loath to agree to such terms.

  The three Egyptian sources said that while nothing in the plan was very new, they believed it was good enough to change Trump’s mind and that it could be imposed on Hamas and the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas.
  
  ‘Not pleased’
  Saudi annoyance over Gaza had already been building before Trump’s announcement.
  
  The kingdom had repeatedly said normalization with Israel was conditional on a path to creating a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
  
  That stance hardened as Saudi public anger grew at the destruction and death in Gaza in the war brought on by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel. In November, the crown prince publicly accused Israel of genocide during an Islamic summit and doubled down on the need for a two-state solution.
  
  Frustration was running high in the kingdom over the ongoing war, two regional intelligence sources said.
  
  Washington appeared ready to ignore Riyadh’s demand for two states. The day before his Gaza announcement, Trump was asked whether a normalization deal could proceed without a two-state solution. He said: “Saudi Arabia is going to be very helpful.”
  
  Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, had held meetings in Riyadh in late January. Two senior diplomats said Witkoff laid out a three-month timeline for the normalization process.
  
  US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, left, and US National Security Adviser Michael Walz, walk back after speaking to the media outside the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, February 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
  But Saudi frustration quickly turned into surprise and then anger when Trump announced his Gaza idea. “He is not pleased,” a source close to the Saudi royal court said of Prince Mohammed’s reaction.
  
  The level of anger was quickly evident in state media broadcasts — which analysts say are often a measure of official Saudi viewpoints — with television news reports personally excoriating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
  
  “They are outraged,” said Aziz Alghashian, a Saudi analyst familiar with official thinking, describing the mood among senior Saudi officials. “This is outrageous. More than frustration, this is on another level.”
  
  Many experts say Trump may be using an old bargaining ploy from his diplomatic playbook, setting out an extreme position as an opening gambit for negotiations. During his first term, he often issued what were widely seen as over-the-top foreign policy pronouncements, many of which never came to fruition.
  
  Still, it has complicated the normalization talks.
  
  Former Saudi intelligence head Prince Turki al-Faisal, who holds no current role in the government, said in a CNN interview last week that if Trump visited Riyadh, “I’m sure he will get an earful from the leadership here.”
  
  Asked if he could see any prospect of normalization talks advancing with Israel, he said: “Not at all.”
  


• Israel dresses freed prisoners in Star of David shirts, writing: ‘We will not forget or forgive’
  
  

  The Israel Prison Service dresses Palestinian prisoners set for release in shirts featuring its logo, a Star of David and the sentence in Arabic: 'We will not forget or forgive,' February 15, 2025. (Israel Prison Service)

  In an apparent tit-for-tat for Hamas’s hostage release theatrics, the Israel Prison Service has put on its own spectacle.

  It now shares that it has dressed the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners set for release today in shirts featuring its logo, a Star of David and the sentence in Arabic: “We will not forget or forgive.”

The Region and the World

• Arab countries scramble to offer Trump an alternate proposal for post-war Gaza
  Egyptian plan would see terror group Hamas sidelined in governance of coastal enclave; issue to be discussed at end of month in Riyadh
  Saudi Arabia is spearheading urgent Arab efforts to develop a plan for Gaza’s future as a counter to US President Donald Trump’s ambition for a Middle East riviera cleared of its Palestinian inhabitants, 10 sources told Reuters.
  Draft ideas will be discussed at a meeting in Riyadh this month of countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Proposals may involve a Gulf-led reconstruction fund and a deal to sideline Hamas, five of the people said.
  Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies were aghast at Trump’s plan to “clean out” Palestinians from Gaza and resettle most of them in Jordan and Egypt, an idea immediately rejected by Cairo and Amman and seen in most of the region as deeply destabilizing.
  The dismay in Saudi Arabia was aggravated, sources said, because the plan would nix the kingdom’s demand for a clear path to Palestinian statehood as a condition to normalize ties with Israel — something that would also pave the way for an ambitious military pact between Riyadh and Washington, shoring up the kingdom’s defenses against Iran.
  Reuters spoke to 15 sources in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and elsewhere to build a picture of the hurried efforts by Arab states to pull together existing proposals into a new plan they can sell to the US president — even potentially calling it a “Trump plan” to win his approval.
  All the sources declined to be identified because the issue involves international or domestic sensitivities and they were not authorized to speak in public.  

One Arab government source said at least four proposals had already been drafted for Gaza’s future, with an Egyptian proposal emerging as central to the Arab push for an alternative to Trump’s idea.

The Egyptian Proposal

The latest Egyptian proposal involves forming a national Palestinian committee to govern Gaza without Hamas involvement, international participation in reconstruction without displacing Palestinians abroad, and movement toward a two-state solution, three Egyptian security sources said.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Palestinian representatives will review and discuss the plan in Riyadh before it is presented at a scheduled Arab summit on February 27, the Arab government source said.

The role of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, widely known as MBS, is shaping up to be key.

“We are telling the Americans we have a plan that works. Our meeting with MBS is going to be critical. He is taking the lead,” a Jordanian official said.

The crown prince had a warm relationship with the first Trump administration and is increasingly central to Arab ties with the United States during the new Trump era.

Long a major regional partner of the United States, the crown prince is expanding Saudi Arabia’s relationship through business and global power politics. 

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is holding a conference in Miami this month, which Reuters revealed Trump is expected to attend. Riyadh is also expected to host his upcoming talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to end the Ukraine war.

• Iran bars Lebanese planes from bringing back stranded citizens after Israeli ‘threat’
  Tehran says flights can resume when Beirut lets in Iranian planes; Lebanon stopped an Iranian plane from landing following an IDF warning against cash transfers to Hezbollah
  

  Iran barred Lebanese planes from repatriating dozens of Lebanese nationals stranded in Iran on Friday, in response to Lebanon’s refusal to let an Iranian flight touch down at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport, following what Tehran described as an illegal Israeli threat.

  Lebanon blocked the flight Thursday following a statement by the IDF that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was using civilian flights to smuggle cash to Hezbollah. The IDF said it would use “all the tools at its disposal” to enforce a truce that requires Lebanon to halt arms transfers to the Iran-backed terror group.

  Beirut’s move elicited protests by the Iran-backed terror group, a minor partner in the new Lebanese government.
  

  Iran said Friday that it would forbid Lebanese flights to land until its own flights were cleared to land in Beirut.

  The standoff has left dozens of Lebanese citizens stranded in Iran for three days after attending a religious pilgrimage. They had been due to return to Beirut on Iran’s Mahan Air before Lebanon barred the plane from landing.

  Without mentioning the IDF statement, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Friday that “the threat by the Zionist regime to a passenger plane carrying Lebanese citizens has disrupted normal flights to Beirut airport.”

  Baghaei condemned what he said were Israel’s “gross and continuous violations of the principles and rules of international law and violations of Lebanon’s national sovereignty.”

  He also called for the International Civil Aviation Organization and other world bodies “to stop Israel’s dangerous behavior against the safety and security of civil aviation.”
  

  Lebanon’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on Thursday it had “temporarily rescheduled” some flights, including from Iran, until February 18 as it was implementing “additional security measures.”

  That date coincides with the deadline for Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon under the November 27 ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah. The withdrawal deadline had been pushed off from January 26. Israel is reportedly seeking to extend its stay in certain areas past the deferred deadline.

  During the nearly 14 months of fighting war ended with the ceasefire, Israel repeatedly accused Hezbollah of using Lebanon’s only airport to smuggle arms from Iran.

  In September, Lebanon’s transport ministry ordered an Iranian aircraft not to enter its airspace after Israel warned air traffic control at Beirut airport that it would use “force” if the plane landed.

  The ceasefire required Hezbollah to vacate southern Lebanon, and let Israel act against imminent threats by the terror group. On Friday, Israel struck what it said were Hezbollah weapon caches in south Lebanon.

  The war was sparked when Hezbollah, unprovoked, began attacking Israel on a near-daily basis on October 8, 2023 — a day after fellow Iran-backed group Hamas stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages. The war with Hezbollah displaced some 60,000 residents of northern Israel.
  

  Iran leaves dozens of Lebanese stranded

  Iran’s ambassador to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani, told Iran’s state television on Friday that Iran would allow Lebanese planes to land only if Iranian flights were allowed to travel to Beirut.

  “For sure, the Lebanese government’s request will be accepted, but on condition that they do not impede Iranian flights,” he said.

  Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Joe Raggi told Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed on Friday that his ministry was working to resolve the issue with its Iranian counterpart.  full article

Personal Stories

Yarden Bibas' sister: 'Ever since the terrorists told him about Shiri and the children, he tried to understand'

After 484 days in captivity, Bibas was able to hug his sister Ofri, and his first question was about the fate of his wife and children; She talks about his condition, his consciousness, the hell he experienced and the struggle that will continue as long as Shiri, Ariel and Kfir are still in the Gaza Strip    

Ofri Bibas Levy was at a meeting when the IDF officer assigned to assist the family called her. It happened on Friday, on the afternoon of January 31, and he cautiously alerted her that an unofficial list was circulating online with the names of the hostages expected to be released the next day, including the name of her younger brother, Yarden Bibas. An hour of rapid heartbeats passed before the phone rang again. It was the officer, and this time he announced to her: “Yarden is on the list. He’s coming home.”

The first thing she did was tell her children. “I told them that Uncle Dodgey was coming back,” she shares. “I explained to them that I was going to meet him, and that they would be with Dad during this time. I told them that we were very happy, but that Ariel, Kfir and Shiri still hadn’t returned. I was in a whirlwind, and since I’m a practical person, I immediately thought about logistics. What would I do with the children? How would I leave them? It was Shabbat, and there was no kindergarten and no social settings. There was great excitement and also a lot of concerns, which didn’t go away until the next day, when I saw him leave there and I began to understand what he had been through."

Among the thousands of stories, footage and tragedies of the October 7 massacre, the Bibas family has become a symbol. For more than 70 weeks, millions of Israelis – and who knows how many more around the world, have been following with concern, uncertainty and hope the fate of Yarden and Shiri Bibas, and their children Ariel and Kfir, the youngest in Hamas captivity. This cruel story remains open, since Shiri and the children have not yet returned, but the release of the father Yarden from the hands of Hamas terrorists is the beginning, perhaps, of the healing journey that he and his family so desperately need.

Nine days after he returned to Israel from captivity in Gaza, Bibas and his family are trying to complete the puzzle whose pieces have been scattered over the past 16 months. In an interview with Ynet, Ofri Bibas Levy, Yarden's sister, who was released from the hospital on Monday, tries to explain as much as possible about his condition, his consciousness, the hell he experienced and the struggle that will continue as long as Shiri, Ariel and Kfir are still in the Gaza Strip. 

"For us, nothing is over," she clarifies. "We are at the height of the event." Regarding Hamas' announcement that it is suspending the hostage release deal, she says: "This is exactly what we feared after the negotiating team did not leave on the 16th day of the first phase as agreed in the outline, and in light of the latest statements." 

Ofri is indeed beginning to form a certain picture of what happened to her brother, but the details and gaps that need to be filled in are enormous. "Every day, Yarden discovers new things, good and bad," she says. "There's so much information to fill in, the gap is crazy. There are 16 months that need to be bridged. Every day he finds out about a friend who was kidnapped or murdered. Either he asks, or things come up in conversations. He mentions something and I fill in the details. We do everything slowly, at his own pace.

Ofri Bibas Levy

"It's important for us to give him back his sense of control and independence. Show him that what he wants and what he needs is important. He's the center. We do everything to help him get back to being a person with choices, with desires, with rights. For example, he met some of his friends, and also members of our family and Shiri's, but I try to arrange the times in such a way that it's slow, one by one and not together. I make sure he wants it and is ready. We surround him, protect him, with him all the time. And yes, there are times when he asks to be alone. He's a modest and private man, and it's hard for him to grasp and deal with the fact that he and his family are known to everyone. The photos, the details, the stories. "For someone who has come out of such a disconnection into all this, it's a lot to absorb."

You are not alone anymore

Bibas-Levy left her home in the north for the center that same Friday, after a phone call from the officer who told her that Yarden was returning. Early the next morning, she was already on her way to the meeting place with him in the Re'im camp. 

"I traveled with the psychologist who accompanied us on behalf of the army, who managed the psychological integration process," she recalls. "The trip passed quickly, mainly in thoughts and conversations about what I would say to Yarden when I saw him for the first time, and what he might say to me. While I was watching the broadcasts and preparing for the ceremony in Gaza. Somehow it calmed me to see that they were creating a relatively sterile area, a large plaza clean of the Gazan crowd."

As soon as she sat down in the family room at the Re'im base, she saw Ofer Calderon on the screen getting out of the terrorists' vehicle to join the Red Cross teams. Two minutes later, Yarden also left. 

"It took us a second to realize that it was him. Yarden is a relatively shy guy, and this is not a situation that was comfortable for him in any way. But he walked with his head held high, strong. Before he got on stage, they asked him to stop, take a picture and wave, but he didn't listen to them and kept walking," she said.

Yarden Bibas surrounded by Hamas terrorists (Photo:  REUTERS/Ramadan Abed  )

According to her, "It really bothered us that in various places in the media they analyzed his body language and focused a lot on the tragedies in the situation. In general, all kinds of interpretations focus on the tragedy associated with Yarden and the family, and that makes me angry. Be happy that he came back and he's alive, and that he came out strong and upright and proud. Beyond that, we still don't know about the fate of Shiri and the children, and we hold on to hope until the last moment and won't give up on it."

What did you say to each other in the first hug? 

"I told him, 'You're not alone anymore.' That's what came out of me. The first thing Yarden said was actually a question, about Shiri and the children. I understood that he understood the situation as we understand it, that there is concern, but that we don't know. He came out in the same place where we are, and that was reassuring because we didn't have to mediate too much for him. We reassured him that there is no certainty, that we hope, and that despite the concerns, we are not giving up. We didn't have any more certain answers, but I could also give him hope. It's clear that, until his family arrives, he is still there, on October 7. He came out while he was still there that day, that is, that's all they had there. That memory." 

What else remains with you from the hug? 

"It was all so surreal. Since last year we've been seeing pictures of families hugging their loved ones who were released, and it's as if they've caught me there. It still doesn't sink in that he's here. I still can't believe he was there, and that Shiri and the children aren't here. Nothing has been processed," she says.

"He also remembers in detail the day they told him they were supposedly not alive, before the video was released. Since then he's tried to understand whether it's true or not. Whether it's psychological terrorism or if there's truth to it. Through the terrorists, and the hostages he met, he's tried to understand, and all this time he hasn't stopped hoping. That's what kept him going. We all still hope that it's all lies and that they'll come back to us. It's a very complex struggle."

The Bibas famil celebrates Shavuot in 2023 (Photo: Private)

A week after returning to Israel, Bibas sent a message through the media, in which he directly addressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said: "Bring back my family, my friends, bring everyone home. As long as my light is still there, everything is dark here." 

Ofri emphasizes that "he formulated it all by himself. It was important to him that they knew he formulated it. It's amazing to see the clarity and memory of those who came out of there. No one imagined they would come out with so much strength." 

Which Yarden did you get back? 

"Yarden came back and it's him, but it's not him either. Not the same Yarden. We're not who we were either. First of all, he's very thin. I saw it when he got out of the car. He's a big, broad guy, and the clothes kind of covered it up, but he lost a lot of weight. After the first meeting, we laughed at him for asking for a Bamba.

"The truth is that I can sit down and talk to him. After a year and four months I send him a text message on the phone. I am not afraid for him at any given moment. I know that he has eaten and slept and that he is showering. These are basic things that we did not know. There is still a lot of uncertainty ahead of us, and we will still have a lot to deal with, but Yarden is here and he is strong. He is not the same Yarden, but his humor, the same kind of jokes. On the day of the statement I made in Sheba, he laughed at me, 'My vegan and dairy sister – what does your connection to the struggle have to do with it?'. That is him."

Getting along with the kidnappers

Throughout the entire period of captivity, Yarden Bibas was held in tunnels and was barely exposed to the media. Yet, his family was amazed by the details he knew and how informed he was. "He knew that the October 7 event was on a large scale," she says. "He knew about the demonstrations that were taking place. He knew about the war in the north and the evacuees. They were constantly mixing up the hostages, so he met others, and through them he learned things. For example, he knew about Trump's involvement. It's amazing. On the Friday before the release, he saw a broadcast on an Arab channel that they were supposed to be released. He tells quite a bit, but there are still a lot of things that we don't know about what happened to him," according to his sister.

Yarden was held at the beginning of the captivity with Ofer Calderon, during the weeks in which the conditions that they were held in was described as extremely terrible, in cages, under unbearable psychological terror. Later, they were separated, and before the release they were held together again.

Ofri Bibas Levy (Photo: Herzl Yosef)

Bibas Levy talks about conditions when they were held in the tunnels. "They were held underground. He described to us the humidity and the mold and the darkness. They slept on mattresses on the floor. Of course, hunger was a major issue, and they received water rations. Their lives were in the hands of those who were guarding them. One way to deal with this was to try to get closer to them and, indeed, he came out of there speaking fluent Arabic. They spent most of the day sleeping, they simply slept most of the time and only woke up for food, when it was available. Here and there they also played cards. They talked a lot among themselves, the kidnapped. Already at the base in Re'im, Yarden told how much he cared about us. 

"He told the kidnapped people who were with him about us. He mentioned that he had told about his nephews, so I told him that he had another nephew who was just born. He looked at me with a surprised look, I showed him pictures and he got excited," she said. 

Last May, there was a feeling that the parties were getting closer to signing an agreement. In Gaza, too, preparations were already being made. "This was before we entered Rafah," says Ofri. "Yarden said that according to the feelings, and according to what the terrorists told them, a deal was signed. That was the understanding. They really started to organize themselves physically. As we know, it exploded. How terrible."

After being released from the hospital, Bibas moved to Kfar Maccabiah. He will not be able to return to his home in Nir Oz, at least until the reconstruction of the destroyed kibbutz is complete. "Kfar Maccabiah is an intermediate stage, short or long, we don't know, but it is of course not the final home. It will allow his parents to be with him and continue his care," explains Bibas Levy. "The physical rehabilitation is obvious, but it is also the easier part. The coping that will take them years is for the rehabilitation of the soul. We see them smiling and laughing, but the rehabilitation will take a long time."

Peak of fragility, peak of struggle

Bibas Levy, herself a mother of three small children, carries the weight of the struggle to return all the hostages on her shoulders. From her home in northern Israel, she has been everywhere: demonstrations, rallies, meetings with ministers, discussions in Knesset committees, marches, speeches at various events and, of course, numerous interviews with the media. Even now, just a few days after her brother finally returned from hell, for her nothing has stopped: "The struggle is not over for us, we are at the peak of the event. We will not stop fighting for Shiri and the children, nor for the rest of the hostages. This is what we, the families, promised each other, and this is what will happen."

That is a lot of responsibility. "I'm trying to find the balance between home and the public campaign and my desire to be with Yarden. It's not easy, it requires a lot of concessions from all kinds of directions, but the struggle is still ongoing. Nothing is over. There's always a feeling that everything could stop at any moment. Everything is fragile, and the risks are very high," she says.

"This reality is difficult and cruel for the families, the public, and of course the hostages who are waiting. We are starting to see them returning, which is wonderful, but the feelings are mixed. The urgency to get everyone out as quickly as possible is obvious, but instead of speeding their return, we are delaying talks about the second phase. What else needs to happen? Why would three released hostages be released in such a terrible state? So we'll be shocked and realize again that they don't have time? It's like we knew that dozens of hostages had been murdered, and then when the murder of the six came in the summer, we discovered what their nutritional situation was and we were shocked. 

"In the first releases in this deal, the hostages seemed fine, but it's clear that they are not okay. The gap between the physical and what they are going through mentally is like an abyss. The decision-makers know very well what is happening there, about the abuse, the starvation, the danger to their lives. They know everything, and they are not doing what is necessary to save them. Semantics are not important. We must get everyone out of there as quickly as possible, both the living and the dead. We must end this nightmare."

In the meantime, the cabinet convened on Tuesday, and the delegation in Doha did not discuss Phase II. "I wish I could say that I am surprised. This is consistent with all the conduct and the dragging of feet, as if there is time. So we will wait a few more days. We are counting a week as if it is nothing. For people in the government it is nothing, for those who are there, it is life or death."

How do you comment on the various statements, for example by Bezalel Smotrich, who said that "there will be no pressure to take steps in exchange for the release of the kidnapped?"

"I really have no words anymore. How dare he? One hand on the keyboard welcomes the return of the hostages, with the other hand they oppose Phase II, prevent the return of others and are proud that they torpedoed the previous deal. I do not know by what moral standards they are living. True, the deal is bad. No one thinks it is good. But it saves lives. This is what you, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, who are members of this government, have managed to bring. You couldn't have done better than that. I don't know if you tried.

"Let's finish this and bring everyone back, and then we'll deal with whatever comes our way. The war with our enemies will never end. The idea that some deal or other will end it or prevent it is simply lying to us all, and to themselves. It is exploiting the suffering of the hostages for agendas that I no longer understand.

"In the end, by the way, they are making a lot of noise, but the responsibility lies with the prime mnister. It was and remains with him. To threaten Hamas now, which could delay the next round of returns, when all that needs to be done is the opposite, to promote everyone's release is infuriating. How is it possible that we, as citizens of Israel, are pinning all our hopes on the president of the United States, Donald Trump? We don't need to trust anyone else."

Speaking of the prime minister and ministers, did anyone talk to you after Yarden's return?

"The prime minister didn't talk to us, nor did the president or any of the ministers. Benny Gantz contacted us, but no meeting has taken place yet. Hili Tropper, who is in contact with the family, wrote to me. The rest didn't call to congratulate Yarden on his return or ask how he was doing. They don't want to face him and look us in the face, but they don't have the right not to do it. It won't be pleasant, maybe it's not an image for an election campaign, but they have to deal with the consequences of the decisions they've made over 16 months. Even if we don't agree to talk to them, it's their duty to do it and let us choose. As far as we're concerned, we won't stop. We just won't." link

  

Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages

Between a Good Leader and Taxidermy Product

Prof. Asa Kasher

Professor Emeritus of Professional Ethics and Philosophy

at Tel Aviv University, Israel Prize Laureate in General Philosophy.

Once, in a faraway country, I visited a special natural history museum. A spacious hall featured taxidermy products. Stuffed animals, life-sized, in everyday poses, in full colorful splendor. The sight remained etched on my memory.

I am reminded of these taxidermy products every time I follow the decisions and statements made by some of the prominent figures in Israeli politics, and particularly one of them, the most prominent of them all, absorbing the possibility of this taxidermy product turning into a poison machine.

A successful leader, all the more so an excellent leader, is supposed to possess distinct qualities and virtues: dedication to the good of the public, loyalty to a comprehensive and consistent conception of state and civic affairs, adherence to the historical vision of the state, absolute moral discipline, strict adherence to the ethical demands of the role, ability to make decisions based on thorough preparatory work carried out by a professional staff, willingness to openly bear responsibility for ever decision with all its consequences, modesty, and recognition of the duty to create public trust in the leader possessing these traits.

These are the qualities and virtues of a good leader. All of the opposite traits are present in a leader who belongs to the taxidermy family.

Holding the public good as his top priority is the mark of a good leader, more important than any other personal or public benefit. Self-interest is the top priority of a leader who belongs to the taxidermy family.

Loyalty to a strong and justified value-based conception in matters dealing with state and citizens is the guiding beacon of a good leader. Absence of a stable value-based conception and the willingness to adopt an opportunistic conception for the needs of an empty ego dominate the leader who belongs to the taxidermy family.

Visible adherence to the historical vision of establishing an exemplary state and maintaining a model society is evident in the major decisions of a good leader. Complete indifference to the historical vision and exclusive interest in current issues characterize a leader who belongs to the taxidermy family.

Conduct governed by moral principles, and first and foremost the duty to preserve human dignity, is expressed in the behavior of a good leader. Habits such as lying, breaking promises, ulterior motives, association with immoral elements and disregard for integrity are expressed in the conduct of a leader that belongs to the taxidermy family.

Strict adherence to the values and norms of mandatory professional and organizational ethics, thus expressing the outlines of his senior role, with its accompanying responsibilities and duties, is evident in the conduct of a good leader. The habit of ignoring the demands of fairness and integrity, among other values and norms of ethics, is evident in the conduct of a leader who belongs to the taxidermy family.

The ability to manage the complex system for which he is responsible, based on the data, assessments, and recommendations of a professional, experienced, and sophisticated staff underlie the judgment of the good leader. Numerous improvisations, excessive self-confidence, and disregard for professional realms underlie the failing activity of a leader who belongs to the taxidermy family.

The opposite of willingness to bear full responsibility, the opposite of modesty, and the opposite of success in creating broad and stable public trust characterize a leader who belongs to the taxidermy family.

It breaks our hearts to see the hostages in the hands of the enemy, living under extreme and immediate danger, subject to the antics of a leader who belongs to the taxidermy family, instead of them being brought back home by a good leader.

Acronyms and Glossary

COGAT - Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories

ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague

IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague

IPS - Israel Prison System

MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp

PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen

PMO- Prime Minister's Office

UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission

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