War Musings #75: The War is The Result of Dangerously Incorrect Israeli Policies Since Our 1967 Victory

The Land is all ours in terms of History and 1967 Victory, but successive governments have failed to declare Israeli Sovereignty which has caused our enemies to get stronger and more confident. That's why we are forced to fight successive wars for our very survival.

The Land is all ours in terms of History and 1967 Victory...

Europe's and many other countries' policy as reported here, EU moving toward implementing sanctions on Israeli West Bank settlements, ambassador confirms, is the price of Israel's waffling on our rights to all the Land, Judea, Samaria, Jordan Valley and Sinai which were liberated 59 years ago this week in the Six Days 1967 War. If the government of the time had proudly and confidently declared full Israeli Sovereignty ריבונות over every inch/centimeter of it, the world would have understood it and accepted it. But The State of Israel responded with shocked embarrassment and even "disgust." With few exceptions, making a better straighter road between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and expanding the Jerusalem borders to include the Old City, Mount Scopus and Neve Yaakov, which had a lot of Jewish owned land, nothing else was made officially Israel.

Farms, agricultural communities mostly for export were begun in the Golan, Jordan Valley and northern Sinai, but Israel didn't declare sovereignty there. Our misguided successive governments just kept offering to return the land in exchange for peace. Menachem Begin foolishly followed Labor policy and gave away the Sinai, Israel's perfect buffer zone, to Egypt. Arik Sharon and his followers used that precedent to justify his Disengagement, destruction of Gush Katif. And all it did was to increase the attacks on Israel. Yes, that was after no more Israelis were in Gaza. Their hatred and aggression, as you must know, only got worse after Israel's withdrawal, because they saw Israel's weakness and lack of self loyalty.

I was 18 on the outbreak of the Six Days War, and I remember how awed the world was at our miraculous victory. It was squandered by successive Israeli governments. When will we ever learn....?

Twenty Years Since Disengagement- Deja Vu- The Elephant in The Room

From my blog post Opening Old Wounds, Disengagement, Part 1

There have been so many articles and youtube videos about Disengagement in the media. They mention all aspects of it, and I didn't notice any claiming that it had been a good policy decision. Thank Gd for that. 

I wrote a "letter to the editor" to the Jerusalem Post concerning the articles I had read in the paper and the magazine. This post is based on that letter which, as of today, hadn't been published. 

I was very pleased/impressed by the great variety and quantity of articles in last Friday's paper about twenty years since Disengagement, but maybe I missed something. It's a very big elephant in the room, especially for someone who has lived in Israel since 1970. I'm referring to Menachem Begin's "Camp David Accords," which is to blame for Israel's withdrawal from the Sinai and the total destruction of all Israeli communities, Yamit and others there. Disengagement was clearly modeled on it, and both Begin and Arik Sharon were Prime Ministers from the Likud. Yes, just like the Likud elections slogan: "Only the Likud Can Do It." Voluntarily destroying Jewish communities, especially agricultural ones, had been a "red line" for the Labor Party. 

Close to a half century after Menachem Begin proudly announced his "achievement," I still consider it the most insanely dangerous decision in Israeli history. As we've seen since then, Israel doesn't know how to negotiate wisely. Why didn't he insist on keeping all of the moshavim and towns in Sinai as proof of peace?

Menachem Begin, Ariel Sharon and Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu were/are plagued/cursed with a desire to show the world that they're reasonable moderates and as a result they do what they consider "diplomatic," generous endangering the security and existence of the State of Israel. 

I'll never forget Begin's speech afterward the withdrawal/destruction of Jewish communities in which he claimed that the remaining and new Israeli communities in Gaza and nearby would be forever, fully recognized forever by the world as part of Israel. 

Gush Katif was to be the replacement of the Sinai for Jewish settlement. For example, Neve Dekalim was named for the destroyed Moshav Dikla. 

Twenty plus years ago, I was incredulous that the anti-Disengagement organizers didn't use Begin's speech in the campaign. I tried to contact them about it but failed.

Tzachi Hanegbi, whose mother Geula Cohen left the Likud over the withdrawal, described the agreement as the precedent for legitimizing Disengagement.

For many of us, the scars of Begin's Sinai withdrawal have only gotten more prominent with Disengagement and Bibi's unending destruction of Jewish communities throughout Judea and Samaria.

Hamas/Gaza War Musings #50: Deja Vu, Yet Again-- Will Israel Ever Learn?

This post is based on my last night's "Gnite" on Facebook. That's a message I write most nights before going to sleep. Sometimes I haven't a clue what my fingers are going to type out, and sometimes I find myself elaborating on what has been filling my head, generally something to do with the WAR.

I think it's extremely important to remember that Israel's WAR FOR SURVIVAL has a number of fronts. From what I understand, the northern front is now quiet. But what does that mean? Did our enemies surrender?

Just a few weeks ago Israel decided that the time had come to try to destroy Iran's nuclear development, which seemed impossible, since we don't have strong enough bombs to go deeply enough. Also Iran immediately began bombing Israeli cities, and our Iron Dome and other defensive "machinery" only partially prevented destruction and death in Israeli cities. After the USA completed the bombing of Iran's nuclear development center, utilizing the damage that Israel had accomplished. This front also quieted down without anything that could be called a surrender by Iran.

Now Israel has returned to fighting in Gaza, Deja Vu.

Early in the war, I'd read in the newspapers and internet interviews with IDF reservists on the southern front who'd say it's the second, third or fourth time ... or more, they've battled and taken over the same sections of Gaza. After each of the previous wars, Bibi who was usually (or always) Prime Minister at the time, would declare that we "won," and the Gazans/Hamas/or whatever you want to call them had been stopped and "know that we're stronger." Then we'd leave, the terrorists would return and within a year or two or three, they'd attack us yet again.

Of course 20 years ago, when Arik Sharon ordered Disengagement, we were told that if the Arabs dared to attack us ... we'd be back. Obviously that was a very empty threat.

In the past twenty years, since the Israeli Government destroyed Gush Katif and turned thousands of hardworking Israelis into refugees, destroyed homes and successful businesses, we've been attacked, bombed, suffered rocket attacks and then the perverse, violent, murderous massacre and kidnapping on October 7, 2023. Arik's Disengagement failed completely.

How many wars and how many dead Israelis will it take for Bibi to get/comprehend the message? We need a TOTAL VICTORY. The enemy must surrender. It's suicidal to make a "deal" with those terrorists. And he's not even demanding that every single solitary hostage alive and dead be returned before he'd even "talk." Bibi Netanyahu doesn't know how to negotiate. He just surrenders.

I know that this may sound "cruel," but someone ought to tell the yellow "bring them out at any cost" crowd two simple things:

    1- their campaign is showing the terrorists how to break us. Just kidnap Israelis and Israel will fold.

    2- Bibi and the IDF aren't holding the hostages. They should have focused their demonstrations on the Red Cross, who've never even visited the hostages.

There won't be peace until we fight to win, to destroy the enemy and to do this we must stop the woke "humanitarian aid" and the ridiculous counterproductive "warnings" which undermine the effectiveness of our fighting and endangers our precious soldiers.

OK, I said it. I could say more... maybe next week. Gd willing...

Hamas/Gaza War Musings #39: Bibi Makes Arik Sharon Look Good

 

I wrote a version of this the other night on Facebook before I went to sleep. Many of you already know that I write a "Gnite" post before going to sleep. 

This war is driving me crazy. It seems like we'll be at war forever...

We have a government that's afraid to win. Yes, they're trying "appeasement," which doesn't give security, doesn't give a victory.

Bibi won't do anything without the permission of the USA, and that was even when anti-Israel Democrat Joe Biden was the president. Now he wants Trump's permission/support.

Bibi Netanyahu has given up our sovereignty, Israeli independence.

Deja vu to those of us who study the Tanach/Bible. One of the most repeated messages from the Nevi'im, Prophets is not to depend on foreign countries; then that meant Assyria and Egypt. Now it's the USA. Gd will only help us if we only go to Him and not to foreigners.

That's how we won so quickly and resoundingly in 1967; we had no foreign ally. In 1973 we almost lost, but then Arik Sharon, in his life's greatest action:

Sharon replied, "You don't know? We will cross the Suez Canal and the war will end over there." Sharon arrived at the front, to participate in his fourth war, in a civilian car.[44] His forces did not engage the Egyptian Army immediately, despite his requests. Under cover of darkness, Sharon's forces moved to a point on the Suez Canal that had been prepared before the war. In a move that again thwarted the commands of his superiors, Sharon's division crossed the Suez, effectively winning the war for Israel.[17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Sharon....

Today we don't have an Arik Sharon, who later destroyed his good name by initiating Disengagement, removing the IDF and Israeli citizens, dead and alive from the Gaza Strip. It was his undoing, and we're paying the price decades later.

When he was good, he was very, very good, but when he was bad, he was HORRID!

The Leftist, American trained mafia which has been running the Israeli defense establishment in recent decades promotes yes-men, and a military leader like Arik Sharon would have been retired young and not welcomed as a reservist in recent decades. Remember that the Yom Kippur War was over half a century ago.

In recent years, decades maybe, potential IDF top officers are sent for training and instructions from the USA. Please remember that the USA has never fought a war in the USA, for its survival. Its specialty is fleeing under fire, leaving its soldiers to be captured and die. That's how it has left foreign countries in recent decades. Israel copied it in Lebanon. I wish is was a "joke;" it's the truth.

Yes, very depressing

Very dangerous

Israel is a tiny country with many enemies and no reliable human and diplomatic allies.

Gd won't help when we do what we've been doing... I keep reading this warning in the Bible, Isaiah, Jeremiah and more...

Israel must produce its own weapons, made from Israeli parts. Military industries will bring money into our coffers. The USA has a rule, that if any part of a weapon is from the states, we can't market the weapon without American permission. Over decades they've offered us "parts" to destroy our industries and economy, to make Israel depended on them. They don't give us anything from the goodness of their hearts. It's to tie us up.

I don't see Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu as strong enough to change any of this. Think about it. He's not new to the position as Prime Minister. Actually, he's the longest serving Prime Minister in the history of the State of Israel. You should know what that means...

There's no one to blame for this mess other than Bibi and the Left he has been afraid to act against. Pay attention. Listen carefully. Bibi's oratory is on the Right, but his policies are firmly Left. Arik Sharon in his good days built up the Land of Israel, including the very neighborhood I live in. Bibi can't compete with Arik, doesn't come close.

Letter to Jerusalem Post -Close, but no Cigar- "Five Words for When the War Ends"

In last week's Jerusalem Post, there was an article, Five words for when the war ends, that almost hit the nail on the head, but the writer wanted the head to also hit the nail. That's why the writer, Sherwin Pomerantz doesn't get "the cigar."

On one hand he admits that he and his fellow "dreamers" should admit that they made mistakes in supporting dangerous policies, like Disengagement, trusting the PA to govern properly and the Oslo Accords. Yes, Pomerantz admits that they should say those "five words:" 

"I'm sorry, you were right."

Unfortunately, after that he wants us to say those words, too, for... honestly, I can't figure out what we did wrong. The latest government coalition finally began to act against the judicial dictatorship proposing judicial reform. Pomerantz blames us for causing the demonstrations against the reform, even though he admits in his article that the judicial needed to be reined in:

"On this same subject, the leadership of Israel’s Supreme Court in the years prior to 2022 also needs to say to all of us, “I’m sorry, you were right!” Their arrogating power to themselves to regularly override the prerogative of the elected representatives of the people to make laws was, in itself, a festering wound that culminated in the push by the Right last year to “take the country” back at they liked to say."

Pomerantz claims that the pro Judicial Reform demonstrations made Israel look weak and vulnerable which caused the Hamas terrorists to attack on October 7. He totally ignores that his friends, the "dreamers," had been calling for reservists, pilots and ordinary soldiers to refuse their army duty. That gave the terrorists the confidence to attack. He and his "dreamer" friends caused us to experience a nightmare that isn't over yet after over 100 days!

Why did the Jerusalem Post publish such a piece?

Here's the letter I wrote to the Jerusalem Post. So far it hasn't been published, and I don't know if it will be. I probably should have saved and edited it the next day to make it clearer and reread the article another few times:

Sherwin Pomerantz almost gets it, OK let's say partially gets it. I have a decade more than him here in Israel, which I'm mentioning, since he made a point saying that he's here forty years in the blurb identifying who he is and why he considers himself qualified to voice these opinions. 

Pomerantz starts off very well admitting that he and his fellow travelers erred in supporting Disengagement, trusted the PA to develop a Singapore in Gaza and thought the Oslo Accords something wonderful should say to those of us who disagreed:

"I'm sorry, you were right."

But then he shows that he still doesn't get it. He can't get a handle the importance of Judicial Reform on the unjust justice system here where, as we just saw in the recent high court action, eight unelected "justices" claim the right to overrule/veto the votes of millions of Israelis, because of politics-- OK they used a euphemism "reasonableness," meaning they just don't agree with the ideology. He's blaming brave Yariv Levin and other coalition MKs who were sent by Prime Minister Netanyahu to Reform the Judicial System, without the backup of Bibi's legendary oratory skills and hasbara. (My guess is that they had been sent to fail, but that would be the topic of a longer letter or an op-ed or whatever.)

It's unreasonable and unrealistic to think that those who control our Department of Justice will voluntarily agree to follow the law, the rule of the Knesset.

The anti-reform demonstrations were funded and led by the same --follow the money-- as those who funded the "crime minister" anti-Bibi demonstrations a few years before. It was the anti-reform and anti-religious demonstrators that were tearing the country apart, like they ripped the prayer books on Yom Kippur. This was not the fault of the government.

And I hate to break it to Pomerantz, but our President Herzog's job is not to be the "national leader." It's more like an American Vice President for formal things and meeting ambassadors. When Biden gave great honors to Herzog during his visit, while pointedly refusing to invite Bibi, it was a diplomatic insult to our PM, actually interfering with internal Israeli affairs. 

Just to clarify, I'm not a Bibiist and didn't vote Likud. I think that his time to retire has long passed. There are many talented potential national leaders in the coalition.

 

 

The Likud's Time Bomb

Likud-Wikipedia

It's very deja vu hearing all of the complaints frustrations from veteran, loyal Likud MKs once they recognize that yet again there are hardly any senior positions remaining for them. Those who've worked hard and shown their loyalty to Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu and the Likud, some for decades, have had to accept low-ranking or made-up positions, or none at all, as the good stuff has not only gone to coalition partners but also new and relatively inexperienced Likud MKs. At the same time they're not getting any younger. OK, they're not as old as the newly crowned King Charles of England who's barely a year older than Bibi himself.

Charles always knew that as long as he outlived his mother he'd get the crown, but it's not so simple in politics.

Please look at that chart above, which I copied from Wikipedia. Party leadership usually lasts about a decade. OK, yes, I know that Menachem Begin had been a party leader much longer, first Cherut, then GaHa"L and then finally a decade in the Likud. But the Likud party was cobbled together for the 1973/4 elections, and four years later was Begin's first victory and term as Prime Minister. He resigned/retired in 1983 and was replaced by Yitzchak Shamir who was party head for ten years, and then Netanyahu took over. 

Besides the six years of Arik Sharon seriously marred by his notorious Disengagement Plan, for most of that time and until today Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu has been leader of the Likud and Prime Minister of Israel. He was young when he took over the party, all of fourty-four 44 in October of 1993, and now there are many, many talented and aging Likud MKs younger and waiting in the wings for their chance to head the party. It doesn't look like they'll ever get the opportunity. Instead of competing against each other for leadership, there's Bibi holding onto those reins. He first grabbed them when they were still in school.

Anger and frustration are bubbling close to the surface. And it's not healthy for the party to have one leader for thirty years. It reminds me of, if you'll excuse the expression, dictatorships.  OK, I said it. What do you think?

Terror has Returned to Israel's South, Courtesy of Gazan Terrorists

life in the shelters Life on the border with Gaza - things people may not know (but should)

a house hit by Gazan rocket Life on the border with Gaza - things people may not know (but should)

These pictures are used with permission from the facebook group,  Life on the border with Gaza - things people may not know (but should).

While we here in Shiloh had a nice quiet, pleasant Shabbat, Israelis living in the south, near Gaza and not so close to Gaza were attacked by Gazan terrorists. At first when I turned on my computer and saw some posts from friends, I hadn't a clue to what they were referring to.

Shavua Tov! Southern gals, are you all ok? We even had a siren in Beit Shemesh!

But then I found out that hundreds and hundreds of rockets had been fired at Israel by the Gazan terrorists. Some actually hit homes and people and did major damage.

At present Israel has a "lame duck" government, since there isn't a new coalition yet. But since there will probably be a similar one to what we had with a lot of the same political parties and ministers, there's no excuse for inaction. We're angry. The country has been through this too many times before.

Gaza was given "independence," and in exchange Israel got just more terror. Arik Sharon and his Disengagement Plan only increased the terror. The foreign backers of the Gazan terrorists have given them more and more weapons/rockets and worse.

In a few days we're celebrating Israeli Independence Day 71, and I pray that we act like a proud independent country and destroy our enemies, Gd willing.

Waiting to Hear That USA Won't Interfere in Foreign Elections

Yesterday I heard part of the press briefing by Sarah Sanders. In it she discussed the allegations of foreign interference in American elections, most notably the 2016 presidential elections. Of course she condemned any interference very firmly.

But I was waiting for her to say that she also condemns American interference in foreign elections. Especially during Obama's reign and even before, American officials backed Israel's Left wing parties in an attempt to get the Likud out of office.

That's how Labor led by Ehud Barak won in 1999. They unseated Likud and Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu with the help of American campaign experts. The wording of Barak's slogan about leaving Southern Lebanon was very familiar... And the damage the fleeing from Lebanon did was horrendous.

It took ten years for Netanyahu to return to power, and those ten years were among the most notorious in the History of the State of Israel. Arik Sharon's inexplicable turn Left to Disengagement, which placed Gaza in the firmly in the hands of Hamas terrorists who are at present burning Souther Israel with their incendiary balloons/kites etc, then Ehud Olmert who was tried and convicted for corruption.  Since then, the Israeli public has made it clear that although Netanyahu may not be perfect, they prefer him, head of Likud, as Prime Minister. But that didn't stop Barack Hussein Obama, during his presidency from supporting Bibi's opponents.

According to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), the State Department gave $349,276 in U.S. taxpayer-funded grants to a political group in Israel to build a campaign operation, which subsequently was used to try to influence Israelis to vote against conservative Benjamin Netanyahu in the March 2015 election for prime minister.
In the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report about the State Department’s action, Chairman Bob Portman (R-Ohio) said, “It is completely unacceptable that U.S. taxpayer dollars were used to build a political campaign infrastructure that was deployed — immediately after the grant ended — against the leader [Netanyahu] of our closest ally in the Middle East.  American resources should be used to help our allies in the region, not undermine them.” 

Of course, this hand nothing to do with Donald Trump, but it still would have been nice for him to admit that Americans have done the forbidden and he promises that under his leadership it won't happen again.

Disengagement Part 2, Something Unexpected

Here's Part 2 of my Disengagement series. See Opening Old Wounds, Disengagement, Part 1.

Nitzan, Gush Katif Memorial, The "price" of Disengagement

Last Friday, early during my visit with Menachem Begin Heritage Center employees to the Gush Katif Visitors Center in Nitzan, suddenly something hit me. I hadn't thought of it before at all.

I'll never forget how during the horribly tense times before the forced evacuation of Jewish communities and homes actually happened, I corrected those saying that it was a matter of 8,000 (whatever the exact number) families. I kept saying that we had to stop the precedent of Disengagement to protect Jewish life in Judea, Samaria, the Golan and Jordan Valley, even later on the rest of the State of Israel.

It was just too clear to me that a successful sic destruction would whet the appetite of those who were against Jewish life/communities in all of these places to destroy even more. And in the first flush of Disengagement, during the rule of Ehud Olmert, if I remember correctly, there was an announcement that the new maps had been drawn, and lists of the next communities to go...

Yes, I remember a government official/minister on television, looking drunk with the power of life & death happily announcing that more of the Land of Israel would be judenrein very shortly. And that included Shiloh, which then was considered small, unimportant and isolated.

But here we are over a decade later thriving. Gush Shiloh has grown enormously, as have most other Jewish towns, communities and cities in Judea/Samaria.

Despite the precision/efficiency of the army in dragging people from their homes, packing their possessions and bulldozing the houses, schools and more, the country was ripped apart and in pain by the sight of IDF solders crying and obviously traumatized by their cruel orders.

The government had put more effort into planning the destruction of Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron yishuvim included in Disengagement, than in the "day after." There were prefabricated homes set up for only a small fraction of the families. Others were crowded into small hotel rooms and rented apartments. And don't forget that the Arab terrorists in Gaza reacted to the proclamation of Disengagement, the destruction of Gush Katif by launching rockets at Israel's south. This had been going on from before the actual destruction.

Over time, as the victims of Disengagement, slowly and painfully tried to rebuild their lives, talk of destroying mine and my neighbors got softer and softer. The true price of Disengagement was/is a lot higher than the State of Israel had ever imagined it could be.

Some of the Left still pays lip service to the idea that our communities can be easily destroyed for a "peace sic agreement," but as second and even third generation Jews in Judea/Samaria build homes here reality mocks their plans.

It becomes clearer every day that Disengagement was a cruel, evil mistake. It certainly didn't bring peace, and it may have kept Arik Sharon out of "jail." But Gd then took away his power in a stroke to remind us all Who's really in charge. Davka, the ramifications in terms of Jewish life in Judea and Samaria are something else. Disengagement showed the State of Israel that we aren't chess pieces that can be easily manipulated.

My biggest complaint about the "message" from the Gush Katif Visitors Center is that when they listed communities where people moved to, they leave out the Netzarim group in Ariel and all of the many in various yishuvim of Judea/Samaria. That inaccuracy makes it very clear that the leadership didn't and don't see us all as one group with the same needs, but that would be another blog post, not as upbeat. 

Opening Old Wounds, Disengagement, Part 1

On Friday as part of the program I participated in with the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, we visited Nitzan, where there is a visitor's center which attempts to explain Disengagement. I wasn't the only English language blogger there. Click to read what Ilana wrote.

Notice that I wrote "which attempts to explain Disengagement." That's because that entire chapter of Israeli History is so awful and so inexplicable and can't be logically explained, certainly not in a nice way.

The area marked in Green is Gush Katif

One of the younger participants in the tour, which was for Begin Center employees, volunteers, retirees and their families, asked the perfect question. I can't remember her exact wording, but this is the gist of it:

"What was the reason for Disengagement?"

Our guide couldn't give an answer, so I just had to raise my hand. I prefaced my answer by saying that I'm probably the oldest person present, which wasn't countered by anyone. My husband, who is older than me, had decided to stay in the hotel and not join us.

With few exceptions, the other participants were a generation or two younger than me, so I began with a bit of history. After the 1967 Six Days War, besides Jerusalem, the only parts of the Land liberated which were settled by government decree were the Golan Heights, the Jordan Valley and Northern Sinai, which actually included what was later called Gush Katif. All of those areas/communities were for agriculture, not for Biblical, historic sentiment.

And in those days, when the Labor Party ruled, the business end of agriculture was a monopoly. Exports were only via Agrexco, which was closely entwined with the Labor Party. The big attraction of Northern Sinai and the Jordan Valley was their climates. Summer fruits and vegetables can grow there in the winter, a potentially very big money maker, especially since Israel is much closer to Europe than the competing agricultural countries in the Southern Hemisphere.

After the surprise 1977 change in the party ruling the government, when Menachem Begin's Likud took over, there were many economic changes. One of them the was end of the monopoly. Agrexco had competition, and the Left/Labor Party was not happy about it at all. The agricultural communities in Gush Katif were doing very well. As our guide told us, 10% of Israel's exports were from Gush Katif, and the numbers were growing.

That was the gist of my theory, and the guide listened and said she hadn't thought about it quite like that.

To continue with what happened here in Israel:

Apparently, the Left had something over Prime Minister Arik Sharon, and like the famous line in The Godfather, it was an offer he "couldn't refuse."

Sharon, the Bulldozer, announced that his government would destroy Gush Katif and hand the land over to the Arabs ruling Gaza. The campaign the residents and Moetzet YESHA organized was totally ineffective. 

Anti-Disengagement protests

Sharon even left the Likud with most of his ministers when the Likud's members voted against Disengagement in a referendum, which he had promised to obey.

The scars of the גירוש Girush, Uprooting, banishment, displacement, exile or whatever you want to use as a translation, are still very painful, even though most of the families have done their best to establish new lives and homes.

Most of the families, if I'm not mistaken, are now living in communities  with their former neighbors. I considered this a mistake then and haven't changed my mind.

Disengagement is in the same awful category of Israeli self-made tragedies, when the government pitted Jew against Jew, Israeli against Israeli as the horrendous Altalena Affair.

I have more to write about this, including a new idea that hit me when I was at Nitzan.

In the meantime, I'd like your reactions to this article. Please feel free to tell me in the comments, thanks.

Will There be Real Changes in American Policy Towards Israel?

The big question here in Israel and among many American Jews is whether or not the Trump administration will change American policy towards Israel. One great improvement, which isn't actual policy, is attitude.

Obama couldn't hide his genuine antipathy towards Israel and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Even when Obama would read pro-Israel speeches and say the "right words" it was clear that his heart wasn't in it. He absolutely glowed when with Arabs, especially  Mahmoud Abbas. And don't forget that he had vowed to help establish a "Palestinian state" during his term in office. It was the failure to do so that spurred his vicious anti-Israel move in the United Nations and Kerry's awful parting speech while "lame duck."

Contrary to what the New York Times and international media would like people to believe, not all American Jews support J-Street and oppose Jewish life/communities/building in Judea Samaria. Davka, the most committed Jews, the Torah observant ones who have the higher birthrates, totally oppose the extreme Left J-Street and support full Jewish Life and Sovereignty in all of the Land of Israel. On the whole, they are totally embarrassed by American policy. They are proud and happy to have David Friedman as American Ambassador and look forward to the United States' moving its Embassy to Jerusalem.

Pence: 'Trump seriously considering embassy move'

These strongly Jewish American Jews also support building, including news communities, in Judea, Samaria, the Golan and Jordan Valley. And they mourn the destruction of Amona, Gush Katif, etc.

In all honesty, I wouldn't dare predict what Trump will do vis a vis Israel.  At present, he is under so much pressure and opposition to everything he does, good and bad.

Whatever happens, it won't really affect the State of Israel, because our fate and future are in our hands, not those of foreign leaders. Therefore the very best thing the State of Israel can do is to declare complete Israeli Sovereignty over all of the Land we hold. It doesn't matter what anyone says. The stronger and more confident we act the more respect and support we will get from the world, and the more support Gd will give us which is most important. That's the true lesson of Passover, which is in only two weeks.

Remember that the Sea only split when Nachshon stepped in.

Davka, Ofra

Evacuation of Amona in 2006,
Nati Shohat/Flash 90, Arutz 7

Ever since the Israeli Government's destruction of nine permanent, sic, houses in Amona, a "suburb" of Ofra, eleven years ago, I've been troubled by the fact that davka Ofra, which has always been a "conventional" government supporting aka mamlachti community has become the target of "Peace Now's" favorite weapon, the Israeli Supreme Court.

On February 1, 2006, after a protracted legal battle, some 10,000 Israeli police officers, border guards and soldiers arrived at the illegal Amona outpost in the central West Bank to demolish nine of the settlement’s buildings, in accordance with a court order. (Times of Israel)

Ofra, the first post 1967 Six Days War Jewish community in Samaria, the hills north of Jerusalem, where the Kingdom of Israel had been located after it split from Judea as told in the Bible, Kings, Chronicles and Prophets, has never been known for anti-government extremism.

Although the original garin, group of people, who had planned a Jewish residential presence in Samaira had wanted to live in Biblical Shiloh, they cooperated with the government and moved to what is today Ofra. That decision/concession is a significant cause/source of today's problems. There is not enough unclaimed government land in that area. Davka, there is more than enough unclaimed government land in the Shiloh area.

A couple of days ago, the unthinkable happened. Lovely new Jewish homes, owned and lived in by Israeli families were seized and destroyed by the Israeli Government.

A bulldozer destroys a home built on private Palestinian land in the West Bank settlement of Ofra on March 1, 2017. (AFP Photo/Menahem Kahana) Times of Israel

Protesters on the rooftop of a home during an operation to evacuate nine homes in the Jewish settlement of Ofra, in the West Bank, February 28, 2017. (AFP Photo/Menahem Kahana) Times of Israel

For those who managed to survive the trauma of Disengagement still trusting the Israeli Government, I wonder if they have finally realized, accepted the frightening fact that the government is working against its best interests, against the raison d'etre of the Zionist Movement and the Establishment of the State of Israel.

By dividing the Land of Israel into different "priorities" and levels of "legitimacy" the government has caused the legitimacy and existence of the entire of the State of Israel to be endangered.

Davka the community of Ofra which began by symbolizing Jewish strength, pride, settlement and renewed Zionism has now become an endangered community, davka, endangered by its very respect for and obedience to the State of Israel.

Critical Theological Difference Between Judaism and Biblical Criticism

I consider Biblical Criticism, including theories published by many archaeologists, to have theological agendas. Over the years I've been puzzled by various comments to blog posts here claiming that "God promised not to destroy Israel." And over and over I've had to say that such a thing isn't true at all. It's certainly not Jewish. It is written all over the Bible that if we don't behave, follow Gd's Commandments/Mitzvot, Gd will punish us, cause our Kingdom to be invaded, exile us, cause drought etc.

This week in Matan at Dr. Yael Ziegler's class she mentioned something that helped explain why I keep hearing this totally incorrect "comfort."

Dr. Ziegler explained that Biblical Critics do not connect the Bible's fifth book, דברים Devarim, Deuteronomy 28:36 to the previous four. It's davka in that book that we read of the Tochacha, the threat/warning, reward and punishment the Jewish People will receive from Gd.

1And it will be if you obey the Lord, your God, to observe to fulfill all His commandments which I command you this day, the Lord, your God, will place you supreme above all the nations of the earth.		אוְהָיָה אִם שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לִשְׁמֹר לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת כָּל מִצְו‍ֹתָיו אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם וּנְתָנְךָ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ עֶלְיוֹן עַל כָּל גּוֹיֵי הָאָרֶץ:
2And all these blessings will come upon you and cleave to you, if you obey the Lord, your God.		בוּבָאוּ עָלֶיךָ כָּל הַבְּרָכוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וְהִשִּׂיגֻךָ כִּי תִשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ:

{and if you disobey Gd}

32Your sons and daughters will be given over to another people, and your eyes will see [this] and long for them all day long, but you will be powerless.		לבבָּנֶיךָ וּבְנֹתֶיךָ נְתֻנִים לְעַם אַחֵר וְעֵינֶיךָ רֹאוֹת וְכָלוֹת אֲלֵיהֶם כָּל הַיּוֹם וְאֵין לְאֵל יָדֶךָ:
33A people unknown to you will eat up the fruit of your soil and [the result of] all your toil. You will be only wronged and crushed all the days.		לגפְּרִי אַדְמָתְךָ וְכָל יְגִיעֲךָ יֹאכַל עַם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדָעְתָּ וְהָיִיתָ רַק עָשׁוּק וְרָצוּץ כָּל הַיָּמִים:
34You will go insane from the vision before your eyes that you will behold.		לדוְהָיִיתָ מְשֻׁגָּע מִמַּרְאֵה עֵינֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר תִּרְאֶה:
35The Lord will strike you on the knees and on the legs with a terrible skin eruption from which you will be unable to be cured; [it will eventually cover you] from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.		להיַכְּכָה יְהֹוָה בִּשְׁחִין רָע עַל הַבִּרְכַּיִם וְעַל הַשֹּׁקַיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא תוּכַל לְהֵרָפֵא מִכַּף רַגְלְךָ וְעַד קָדְקֳדֶךָ:
36The Lord will lead you and your king whom you will have established over you, to a nation unknown to you or your fathers; and there, you will serve other deities [made] of wood and stone.		לויוֹלֵךְ יְהֹוָה אֹתְךָ וְאֶת מַלְכְּךָ אֲשֶׁר תָּקִים עָלֶיךָ אֶל גּוֹי אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַעְתָּ אַתָּה וַאֲבֹתֶיךָ וְעָבַדְתָּ שָּׁם אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים עֵץ וָאָבֶן:

I suggest reading the entire chapter and more. It's so obvious that Judaism, Gd's relationship with the Jewish People, is a religion that requires that we fulfill our responsibilities towards Gd or we will be seriously punished.

It's not that Gd won't forgive us or doesn't love us. He always loves us, but forgiveness depends on our doing Teshuva, repenting completely. Teshuva, Repentance isn't a simple verbal apology. It requires acting properly when confronted with the same sort of situation as the sin.

Sins can be acts against Gd and His Commandments, against other people or against the Holy Land of Israel. 

Zionism and the subsequent Establishment of the State of Israel, regardless of its legal imperfections were extremely crucial Mitzvot, because it is the responsibility of the People of Israel to return to the Land. Gd would not facilitate the return if we hadn't taken the first steps, yes, very much like Nachshon's stepping into the Red Sea, which then split to allow the Jewish People to escape Egypt.

Unfortunately, and Gd willing not tragically, since the stupendously miraculous 1967 Six Days War, the reactions of the State of Israel and most of the Jewish People have been incorrect.

• Not only hadn't there been a declaration of Jewish Sovereignty over all of the Land liberated in the war, but most, including the Holiest spots, like the Temple Mount, Judea and Samaria were "held in escrow" to "pay" the Arab enemies for a "peace treaty."
• Not only wasn't there massive government supported settlement of the Land liberated, but they did their best to stop it and have destroyed Jewish communities and homes on numerous occasions. 
• Not only wasn't the Land annexed, but most has already been gifted to Arabs.

And this is why I greatly fear Divine Punishment and a new exile, Gd forbid.

Only the Likud Can... רק הליכוד יכול

רק הליכוד יכול

Rak HaLikud Yachol

Only the Likud Can

PERSONAL SECURITY
TRUE PEACE
FREE ENTERPRISE/MARKET
Only The Likud Can
Nationalist Camp
Jabotinsky Institute

Even when the Likud campaign staff came up with that catchy tune and phrase the unintended negative implications of the words resounded to us pragmatic cynics still reeling from Menachem Begin's surprise Sinai withdrawal, destruction of Yamit and numerous smaller communities. Davka, he the supposed extreme Right wing politician, had crossed every red line the Labor Party never dared to contemplate.

Don't forget that Arik Sharon was the Likud's Prime Minister when he announced the horrendous Disengagement Plan that unilaterally destroyed more Jewish communities and gave their Land to the Hamas Arab terrorists in Gaza.

Amona's 2006 house destruction and traumatizing police violence was  while Ehud Olmert ruled Israel in the name of the then comatose Arik Sharon. At that specific time, they called themselves the Kadima Party, but both had reached power as members of the Likud.

And here we are, deja vu, again with pastoral Amona in the sites of the Leftist Israeli Supreme Court. This time, they are out to destroy it. Families have been forced out of the homes they've lived in for years, schools and businesses shut by the government.

Netanyahu as Prime Minister and Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) as Minister of Justice haven't broken the hold of the Israeli Courts, which although they aren't elected by the people, somehow have been given the right, legal status that allows them to override the laws created by our elected officials, Members of the Knesset. To me this is not a true democracy, and it's immoral.

Arutz 7

At least Bibi had the decency to instruct the police to leave the horses and "special units" in their stables.

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