Israel's Military Versus Netanyahu and Knesset Situation

Nadene Goldfoot                                              

Fareed Zakaria's GPS Sunday morning program opened with a discussion about the Israeli soldier who is in hot water for shooting a Palestinian. Fareed said this has caused Israel's Defense Minister  to be fired and that there is a feud between the Generals (Alufeem)  and Netanyahu.  He was replaced with Avigdor Lieberman causing the lawmakers to be against the appointment.  Moshe Yaalon had resigned, accepted as a good defense minister who had in a year calmed a big uprising.  .Moshe is one who sides with the military.

The decision by Netanyahu comes from dealing with the politics of the moments, the centrists, which brought about choosing a hawk like Lieberman.  The question is, will he continue to uphold their strong moral values?

 What happened was that a 19 year old IDF Sgt Elor Azria, French Moroccan, shot a wounded Palestinian attacker while he was lying down on the ground in Hebron (18 miles south of Jerusalem)  on March 24th of this year.  The soldier has been charged with  violating the rules of engagement without justification.  The terrorist showed no immediate threat for anyone.  He had shot and killed Abdul Sharif, 21.  He was charged with inappropriate military conduct.

 This is where Abraham buried his wife, Sarah.  He bought a plot of ground which included a cave which is where he buried her.  Today a mosque stands over the site.  Hebron was one of the Levitical cities as well as a city of refuge under the Israelites.  The screw-up in finally allowing Jews their Jewish Homeland-20% of the promised land,  made sure that Israel would not get their ancient homeland.  Religious reasons?  Political reasons?

This was just before Passover.  He was allowed to have one night with his family Friday at the start of Passover.

Hebron

Hebron is in Judah, what Westerners call the West Bank,  and is a city with important history to Jews.  It now has become a Palestinian city and has had 7 months of Palestinian violence against Israelis.

 People on the right thought this was unfair to arrest a soldier who shot a terrorist, and thought this was like executing military personnel unfairly.  A video caught the scene.  Minutes earlier, Abdul and another terrorist were stabbing and wounding a soldier.  They were shot by a soldier.  Evidently, while down, the soldier shot Abdul again in the head without good reason as he was down.

The lawyers for the soldier said that he may have thought the terrorist was wearing explosives.  The facts came out that had he already been checked for a suicide belt, but no one in the video shows actions exhibiting any caution towards him.  The far right want the soldier released.

However, who is angry with the soldier?  The Top military brass of Israel.  They have strongly condemned his actions.  This happened during a wave of violence beginning in October which killed 201 Palestinians and 28 Israelis.  Most all of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks.  The sentence came on Monday which said it had located and destroyed a tunnel that went from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, first discovered since the Gaza war in 2014.  The military has a strong code of Jewish ethics and keeps to it.  The tunnel  was built by Hamas terrorists.   32 tunnels had been discovered including 14 that extended into Israel.

This gets to my point today.  There are 2 levels of operation for nations in the world; political and religious venues.  What is each platform?  Have they always been in sinc with each other?  Israel was created as a much needed Jewish state after 2,000 years of it's population being beaten up for being Jewish by the world's religions and politics.  It's important to keep to the values.  Being a democratic state in the midst of none, they must allow the whole gamut of political parties, but the Knesset must stand behind the values of Judaism, which is highly moralistic.  They always have maintained their high moral values, especially when involved in the past wars with the terrorists of Gaza.   I can understand a young soldier in the heat of battle being scared enough to keep shooting, something so easy to do with his finger, but it was wrong to shoot a man when down when he could be taken alive.

Resource:  http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/israel-soldier-who-shot-wounded-palestinian-charged-with-manslaughter
Newsweek
The Guardian 

Palestinians Fly Flag in Washington While Compatriots Shell Southern Israel

Nadene Goldfoot

Hamas has asked other militant groups in Gaza to stop firing at Israel, but asking hasn't stopped them. Today terrorists set off a bomb on the border near IDF troops on a routine patrol. Then they were seen handling explosives. One was shot and killed and the other two were wounded.


Five more mortar shells were fired into southern Israel today from either the Popular Resistance committees or the Alliance of Militants from different Palestinian factions who claimed responsibility.


They seem to be getting their ammunition from the Egyptian border. Egypt patrols the 9 mile boarder with Gaza, but not very efficiently.


While southern Israel was being shelled, Palestinians were raising their flag with permission in Washington D.C. at their diplomatic mission amid applause from a small group of officials.

Florida's Ros Lehtinen is opposing the move to recognize Palestine. “Raising this flag in DC is part of the Palestinian leadership’s scheme to manipulate international acceptance and diplomatic recognition of a yet-to-be-created Palestinian state while refusing to directly negotiate with Israel or accept the existence of Israel as a democratic, Jewish state,” she charged in a statement.

This certainly is chutzpah to me. Here they are shelling Israel while flaunting their flag in the USA, buttering up the future voters to uphold their demand to become a state without having to go through any peace production with Israel. The USA held its ground once. I pray they will not allow this to happen at this time until an actual peace is not only stated in English but upheld in Arabic as well.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110118/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians

http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=204222

What This Next Flotilla Is Trying To Do

Nadene Goldfoot
Five groups are gnashing their teeth in competition to get rid of Israel. Turkey has turned against its old friend as it is turning towards its compatriots. The Palestinians are led by Hamas in Gaza who are terrorists bend on destroying Israel. Iran has threatened to do bodily harm to Israel with atomic weapons it has or soon will have. The Hezbollah terrorist group is trying to take over Lebanon and is an outlaw group shunned by western states. If this isn't enough to join against Israel, Syria is also a part of the act. Its dictator, Basher al-Assad said in an interview with BBC that the Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara had ruled out any prospects for peace in the near future. That's as if they were ever thinking along the lines of peace.

They're all together in their endeavors against Israel in the next upcoming flotilla threatening to break Israel's blockade of Gaza. Hezbollah is acting together with Turkey. The Hezbollah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has declared: "If the Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide," which shows that their hatred isn't just about nationhood but religion as well.

A Palestinian businessman, Yasser Kashiak, is organizing this next upcoming flotilla. He lives in Lebanon and is known for his connection to terror groups. He says he is the sole organizer but Hezbolla disagrees. None of these groups is interested in humanitarian aid, which is not necessary, but in breaking Israel's blockade of Gaza. They're trying to see which of their groups are the strongest.

This time Israel is prepared for the worst. She's not about to be pushed into a corner and give in with the blockade that is keeping her safe. This is a struggle for life, and Israel has no 72 virgins to gain if she dies. The word of the day and the year is L'Chaim! To Life! She has to do what she must to live. Right now that means stopping this flotilla. Netanyahu feels that the flotilla is trying to get weapons to Hamas. They no doubt will have them on board a ship. That's what building tunnels were all about; getting weapons in. It wasn't for smuggling in potato chips.

Reference: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-s-cohen/the-hezbotilla_b_616362.html?view=print by Ben S. Cohen: The Hezbo(ti)lla
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100623/ap_on_re_mi_ea/gaza_blockade
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/ipc_e097a.htm-lots of detail sent from AIPAC
http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/levant/entry/hezbollah_acts_local_thinks_global

Israeli soldier's Letter to a Palestinian Family in Gaza

Part of a letter sent by a reserve Israeli soldier

I can surmise that you are intelligent and educated and there are those in your household that are university students. Your children learn English, and you are connected to the Internet. You are not ignorant; you know what is going on around you. Therefore, I am sure you know that Qassam rockets were launched from your neighborhood into Israeli towns and cities. How could you see these weekly launches and not think that one day we would say "enough"?! Did you ever consider that it is perhaps wrong to launch rockets at innocent civilians trying to lead a normal life, much like you? How long did you think we would sit back without reacting? I can hear you saying "it's not me, it's Hamas".

My intuition tells me you are not their most avid supporter. If you look closely at the sad reality in which your people live, and you do not try to deceive yourself or make excuses about "occupation", you must certainly reach the conclusion that the Hamas is your real enemy. The reality is so simple, even a seven year old can understand: Israelwithdrew from the Gaza strip, removing military bases and its citizens from Gush Katif. Nonetheless, we continued to provide you with electricity, water, and goods (and this I know very well as during my reserve duty I guarded the border crossings more than once, and witnessed hundreds of trucks full of goods entering a blockade-free Gaza every day).

 Despite all this, for reasons that cannot be understood and with a lack of any rational logic, Hamas launched missiles on Israeli towns. For three years we clenched our teeth and restrained ourselves. In the end, we could not take it anymore and entered the Gaza strip, into your neighborhood, in order to remove those who want to kill us. A reality that is painful but very easy to explain. As soon as you agree with me that Hamas is your enemy and because of them, your people are miserable, you will also understand that the change must come from within.

I am acutely aware of the fact that what I say is easier to write than to do, but I do not see any other way. You, who are connected to the world and concerned about your children's education, must lead, together with your friends, a civil uprising against Hamas. I swear to you, that if the citizens of Gaza were busy paving roads, building schools, opening factories and cultural institutions instead of dwelling in self pity, arms smuggling and nurturing a hatred for your Israeli neighbors, your homes would not be in ruins right now.

 If your leaders were not corrupt and motivated by hatred, your home would not have been harmed. If someone would have stood up and shouted that there is no point in launching missiles on innocent civilians, I would not have to stand in your kitchen as a soldier.

You don't have money, you tell me? You have more than you can imagine. Even before Hamas took control of Gaza, during the time of Yasser Arafat,millions if not billions of dollars donated by the world community to the Palestinians was used for purchasing arms or taken directly to your leaders bank accounts. Gulf States, the emirates - your brothers, your flesh and blood, are some of the richest nations in the world.

If there was even a small feeling of solidarity between Arab nations, if these nations had but the smallest interest in reconstructing the Palestinian people - your situation would be very different.

You must be familiar with Singapore. The land mass there is not much larger than the Gaza strip and it is considered to be the second most populated country in the world. Yet, Singapore is a successful, prospering, andwell managed country. Why not the same for you? My friend, I would like to call you by name, but I will not do so publicly. I want you to know that I am 100% at peace with what my country did, what my army did, and what I did.

However, I feel your pain. I am sorry for the destruction you are finding in your neighborhood at this moment. On a personal level, I did what I could to minimize the damage to your home as much as possible. In my opinion, we have a lot more in common than you might imagine. I am a civilian, not a soldier, and in my private life I have nothing to do with the military. However, I have an obligation to leave my home, put on a uniform, and protect my family every time we are attacked. I have no desire to be in your home wearing a uniform again and I would be more than happy to sit with you as a guest on your beautiful balcony, drinking sweet tea seasoned with the sage growing in your garden.

The only person who could make that dream a reality is you. Take responsibility for yourself, your family, your people, and start to take control of your destiny. How? I do not know. Maybe there is something to be learned from the Jewish people who rose up from the most destructive human tragedy of the 20th century, and instead of sinking into self-pity, built a flourishing and prospering country. It is possible, and it is in yourhands. I am ready to be there to provide a shoulder of support and help to you. But only you can move the wheels of history."

Regards, Yishai, (Reserve Soldier)
Resource: Sent from Cousin Denise Bremridge (partial letter)
[Originally published in Hebrew in Maariv - an Israeli daily newspaper]