War of Revival

 Nadene Goldfoot                                               

                                                    Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has ordered the armed forces to use the name “War of Revival” in official events and documents, complying with a request from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to formally rename the war that began on October 7. Until now, the military had referred to the war as “Swords of Iron,” the name assigned on October 7.

The Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023 served as a vivid reminder of terrorism’s continued relevance as a form of political violence that can have far-reaching, strategic implications on regional and international security. 

More than a month after Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel and infiltrated the country by air, land and sea on Oct. 7, the region stands on high alert amid fears of a wider conflict and thousands dead on both sides of the Israel-Gaza border.  according to the Israeli prime minister's office, more than 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, with 6,900 others injured.

Soldiers attend the funeral of Captain Liron Snir, 25, an Israeli soldier who was killed in the northern Gaza Strip amid the ongoing ground operation of the Israeli army against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Nov. 22, 2023.James Oatway/Reuters

Israeli officials say 383 Israel Defense Forces soldiers have been killed since Oct. 7, including 68 since the ground campaign began as of 11/22/2023.

On Nov. 22, Israel's Cabinet approved a deal that would allow for the release of at least 50 hostages -- women and children -- over the course of a four-day pause in fighting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. As a part of this deal, 150 Palestinian prisoners will also be released by Israel. Netanyahu said in a release the "Israeli government has approved the outline to the first phase" of bringing hostages home.  Three Americans -- including a 3-year-old -- are expected to be part of the initial group of hostages that will be released, according to a senior administration official. The deal was negotiated between Hamas, Israel, Qatar and the United States. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Nov. 12 at least nine Americans remain unaccounted for.                  

David and Varda Goldstein pose for a picture while holding-up photos of 
their 3 grandchildren, Gal, Tal and Agam, and their mother, Chen, who 
were kidnapped on Oct 7th deadly Hamas attack as they await more 
details on the hostages deal in a hotel on Nov. 22, 2023 in Tel Aviv, Israel.. Amir Levy/Getty Images

Israeli officials have said Hamas is believed to be holding 236 hostages in Gaza.                   

Natalie Sanandaji, an American survivor of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack in Israel, joins "CBS Mornings Plus" to share her story two years later.

As of now, it has been 2 years and 2 months since the attack. What IDF was calling Swords of Iron is now to be known as War of Revival.

Israel has been involved in several major conflicts and military operations throughout its history, many of which have formal names: 

• War of Independence (1948–1949): The first major war following the establishment of the State of Israel.
• Six-Day War (1967): A brief conflict with Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.
• War of Attrition (1967–1970): A prolonged conflict between Israel and Egypt, the PLO, Jordan, and Syria.
• Yom Kippur War (1973): A surprise attack by Egypt and Syria on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.
• Lebanon War (1982): Israel's intervention in the Lebanese Civil War.
• Second Lebanon War (2006): A conflict involving Hezbollah in Lebanon. 

Resource:

israelAM

https://abcnews.go.com/International/timeline-surprise-rocket-attack-hamas-israel/story?id=103816006

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1057610X.2025.2528318#abstract

Hezbollah Hit By Israel -Iran's Declaration of War With Israel and USA

 Nadene Goldfoot                                  

Update:  CNN just announced that Iran said they are at war with Israel and the United States. 12/29/25  I believe this was also on last night's news as well.  

Update: 12/30/25;6am;  My contention is that Iran certainly will and already has been rebuilding their missile program, and with confidence, has declared war with us.  Trump and Netanyahu's meeting in Florida's Mara Largo isn't keeping up with the latest news. abc good morning news scroll

https://thehill.com/policy/international/5664503-iran-president-war-us-israel-europe/

6:30am:  Trump and Netanyahu are also expected to discuss Iran, whose nuclear capabilities Trump continues to insist were "completely and fully obliterated" after U.S. strikes in June.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump are meeting at Maro Lago in Florida today. The topics will undoubtedly include the Hamas non-disarmament, Israel remaining in control of 51% of Gaza, the growing Iranian ballistic missile (and possibly nuclear) threat, the return of the remains of the last Israeli hostage, and more.

Israel launched a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets across Lebanon on December 26, 2025,, including training sites, weapons depots and other infrastructure. The IDF said that one of the main targets was a training and preparation compound used by Hezbollah’s elite

Radwan Force, where operatives conducted live-fire drills and other weapons training and planned attacks.  Its main mission is to infiltrate the territory of Israel, with specific attention to Galilee and northern Israel. The IDF said about 15 Hezbollah targets were struck in southern and central Lebanon, more than 10 Hezbollah military sites north of the Litani River.  Why did Israel hit Hezbollah?                                    

     Freezing their assets caused protests

Hezbollah, meaning "Party of God," is a powerful Iran-backed Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, operating as a "state within a state" with significant political, social, and military influence in Lebanon, particularly in the south and Beirut's Shia areas, and actively opposing Israel and Western influence in the Middle East. Formed in the 1980s during the Lebanese Civil War with Iranian backing, it functions as a key regional proxy for Tehran, controlling a massive arsenal of rockets and missiles, and has a history of attacks against Israel and Western targets, leading many countries, including the U.S., to designate it a terrorist organization.                 

                         Iran's Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah 

Hezbollah is primarily backed by Iran, which provides significant funding, weapons, and training, viewing the Lebanese Shia group as a key regional proxy to project power against Israel and U.S. interests. 

Syria also offers support, particularly for Hezbollah's military operations, making them a crucial part of Iran's "Axis of Resistance" with other groups like Hamas and the Houthis. 

Decades of Conflict (Pre-2023) 

• South Lebanon Conflict (1985–2000): Hezbollah was the primary force opposing the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon. Israel withdrew in May 2000.
• 2006 Lebanon War: This major conflict was sparked by a Hezbollah cross-border raid on July 12, 2006, which killed three Israeli soldiers and captured two others. During the 34-day war, Hezbollah fired between 3,970 and 4,228 rockets at northern Israel, hitting cities as far south as Haifa.
• Isolated Incidents (2006-2023): There were various low-level border conflicts and isolated attacks during this period, including a significant rocket barrage in August 2021 in response to an Israeli airstrike. 
• Hezbollah began near-daily attacks on Israel starting October 8, 2023, in support of its ally Hamas, a day after the October 7 attack on Israel. This conflict led to mass displacement in northern Israel. 
  • Frequent Barrages: From October 8, 2023, to November 2024, Hezbollah launched approximately 1,900 cross-border attacks using rockets, anti-tank missiles, and drones.
  • Majdal Shams Attack: On July 27, 2024, a Hezbollah-launched rocket killed 12 Israeli civilians, including children and teenagers, near a soccer field in Majdal Shams.
  • Intense Rocket Fire (Sept-Nov 2024): Following a period of intense Israeli strikes that killed much of Hezbollah's top leadership (including Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah), Hezbollah launched massive retaliatory rocket barrages, including hundreds of rockets fired at northern Israel in a single day.
  • Targeting Tel Aviv: Hezbollah claimed to have targeted sensitive Israeli military intelligence headquarters near Tel Aviv with rockets. 
  • Wars and conflicts involving Hezbollah
  • Lebanese Civil War 
    • 1983 US embassy bombing in Beirut
    • 1983 Beirut barracks bombings
    • War of the Camps
    • War of Brothers
  • South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000)
  • 1986 Rue de Rennes bombing
  • September 1992 South Lebanon clashes
  • 2000–2006 Shebaa Farms conflict
  • 2006 Lebanon War
  • 2008 Lebanon conflict
  • Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy war
  • Syrian civil war 
    • Hezbollah involvement
    • Spillover in Lebanon
  • Iranian intervention in Iraq

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radwan_Force

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Hezbollah_conflict_(2023%E2%80%93present)

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 

Terrorist Tunnels in Gaza Discovered

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                           

                    Underground  Tunnel discovered dug from Gaza to Israel

In September of this year of 2013, Israel shipped in 1,244 truckloads of construction materials to Gaza so that they could build things they would like to have more of such as  homes, schools, hospitals, roads, and parks.  Instead, they have used the materials to build tunnels.  These tunnels are used to bring in weaponry to use against Israel.  Israel had been wary of allowing such shipments to go in, but from outside pressure, bent their decision and allowed it, and this is how they are repaid.

It was the Egyptian army who discovered the latest tunnel. It is used for smuggling weapons and attacking Israelis.  It went from the Gaza Strip to the Sinai Peninsula.  In another description it extends from the southern Gaza Strip to the Egyptian border.

 Egyptian Al-Ahram newspaper reported that they arrested 72 people in Sinai for involvement in a bomb attack tat killed 2 and wounded 5.

Egypt and Israeli delegates are getting together to discuss this problem.  The Egyptian army has been working to destroy Islamist terrorist cells that have formed in the Sinai since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in 2011.  Militants from Gaza have been attacking Egyptian civilians and soldiers in the Sinai.

It was on October 10th that a large, very high and deep tunnel was discovered going from Gaza right into Israel.  Hamas claims they are responsible, and of course they are.  They are the leaders of Gaza.  "The Hamas spokesman said the tunnel had been dug in an effort to force Israel to release some of the thousands of Palestinians in Israeli jails. Former Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was captured and brought into Gaza through such a tunnel in 2006."

We have already started releasing prisoners who are murders from jail as requested to meet the conditions of  the peace table with Abbas.  Finding this and with the way the Palestinians glorify their killers is a huge turn-off in continuing such a practice.  It was to be used to kidnap Jews and also  to allow terrorists into Israel to kill Israelis, for that's what they have done in the past.  

Resource:  http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=12815
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152779163027316&set=a.279044817315.179332.73528002315&type=3&theater
http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/69956/hamas-claims-responsibility-for-large-terror-tunnel/

What Palestinians Died in Gaza?

Nadene Goldfoot
April 16, 2001, the first rocket was fired from Gaza into Israel.  

On November 14, after 12 years of having been shelled by Gazan terrorists, Israel warned, begged help from the UN,  and were ignored by the world.  They were forced to retaliate with Operation Pillar of Defense, and as a result killed 178 Palestinians.

Only 169 of the casualties were ever identified.  It was found out that 101 were terrorists, with 71 of these affiliated with Hamas.  17 were affiliated with Islamic Jihad, 6 were members of the Popular Resistance committees, 3 were Fatah terrorists, 2 belonged to the Army of Islam, 1 was a PFLP terrorist and 1 was a Salafist terrorist, which are the most extreme Muslim faction.

 68 people were  civilians.  This amounts to  the fact that 60% were  terrorists   What these terrorists do is place their launching pads for their rockets, mortars and missiles among civilian population in order to have further ammunition against Israel by saying, "See, they hit our civilians."  Civilized countries do not put their civilians in harm's way, regardless.

Even in this the terrorists are still terrorizing Israel by misconscrewing the numbers.  The terrorist groups published a smaller number of actual terrorists and made the civilian number larger just to defame Israel.  Then they had the chutzpa to add the names of those who died in other circumstances to the death list in order to vilify Israel.

Since 2001, the terrorists have fired 12,800 rockets and mortars into Israel.  44 Israeli civilians were killed since 2006 and 1,687 were injured.  In 2006, 9 were killed and 371 injured; in 2007, 10 were killed and 578 injured; in 2008, 15 were killed and 611 injured.   By December 27, 2008, Israel had enough and followed up with Operation Cast Lead.  63% to 75% of the Palestinian casualties were men of combat age.  Total casualties amounted to 1,400 in the 22 days that Israel had to go into Gaza.  . 308 of them were under age 18.   5,000 were wounded.  The terrorists managed to kill 10 IDF and 3 Israeli civilians.

The Palestinian terrorists were unperturbed.   In 2009, 2 were killed and 11 injured; in 2010, 5 were killed and 35 injured; in 2011, 3 were killed and 81 injured.  Then in 2012, 1,822 rockets, mortars and missiles were fired into Israel.

March 9-14, 2012, Israel held Operation Returning Echo where they pinpointed Zohair al-Qaisi, the Secretary General of the Popular Resistance Committees. Along with him, another terrorist companion was killed as well as a nearby civilian.   This led to the Palestinian retaliation with the terrorists shooting 300 plus Grad missiles, Qassam rockets and mortar shells into Israel.  177 of them hit Ashdod, Ashkelon and Beersheba.  23 civilians were injured.  Israel shot down 56 rockets out of 71 attempts.

Israel takes all the steps possible to protect their citizens while the Palestinians put them in harm's way on purpose.  This is why there is a difference in fatalities.  Israel may have suffered less deaths, but have been under attack since 2001 with indiscriminate shelling coming into civilian populations without anyone stepping up to stop it such as the UN.  It happens to be against international law.  This has been war.

I note that the Palestinians have been accepted into the UN under a nonmember observer state while the Palestinians  refuse to recognize Israel as a state.  Is this their reward for shelling Israel and not making peace for the past 12 years?

In Bethlehem, which is in Judah (West Bank and under Fatah rule), thousands of Christian tourists are celebrating the birth of Jesus, and the Muslims are celebrating the UN's recent recognition of an "independent Palestinian state."  Considering how the Christians are being treated in Egypt under their new Muslim Brotherhood politics, it won't be long before things change for the few Christians in Bethlehem.  I don't know why the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, the Palestinian Archbishop who was born in Jordan, mentioned that the road to actual freedom was still long, but....the birth of the state of Palestine.  I have a feeling he is expecting more attacks on Israel, especially for Jerusalem, as it is a telling statement.  For a religious man, he is not hiding his political feelings.

Reference:  http://www.idfblog.com/facts-figures/rocket-attacks-toward-israel/
http://www.dailyalert.org/ Arutz Sheva: 60% of Palestinian Casualties in Recent Gaza Fighting Were Terrorists;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_2012_Gaza%E2%80%93Israel_clashes
http://www.ict.org.il/ResearchPublications/CastLeadCasualties/tabid/325/Default.aspx
http://imeu.net/news/article0021968.shtml
Oregonian newspaper 12/25/12 Front page, In Bethlehem, two reasons to celebrate by Dalia Nammari, AP
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/29/palestinian-un-recognition-vote-passes_n_2213980.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sezF3GN09jA  IDF going into Gaza  by Ariel Siegelman, an IDF, possibly in Operation Cast Lead, uploaded in 2010.
Added 1/7/13 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whole-truth-about-the-Israeli-Palestinian-conflict/338446719503483

All Is Not Quiet on the Western Front

Nadene Goldfoot
The month of March saw terrorists from Gaza fire over 200 rockets into Israel over 4 days after terrorists Zuhir Musa Ahmed and Mahmoud Ahmed Mahmoud Hanani were killed.

Fire broke out in the Eshkol region in Southern Israel after it was hit by high trajectory firing into the Israeli territory.  IAF aircraft retaliated by striking 2 direct hits on  weapons storage sites  in northern and southern Gaza on yesterday.

Before, on Sunday the aircraft took out a terrorist tunnel with direct hits.  This came about in retaliation to being hit by a Qassam rocket in the south late Sunday night, exploding in the Eshkol Regional Council.

Friday morning another fight took place between IDF troops and a Gaza terrorist as they were trying to infiltrate the western Negev from Gaza which took the life of a young Golani Brigade soldier.

All this shooting was supposed to have been under a cease fire maintained by Egypt, but for the terrorist groups, only seems to mean that  they just do not fire barrages.  They shoot just as it suits them to remind Israelis that they can do it which disrupts the lives of those in Southern Israel.  How would you like to be the sitting ducks?

April showers brought 10 rockets fired at Israel in 9 separate attacks, two being launched from the Sinai in Egypt this time.  3 were Grad missiles aimed at Eilat on the Red Sea coast.  Some residences suffered from shock.  This happened on the 4th.  On the 8th 2 Qassam were fired into the Sdot Negev in the morning and a rocket was fired at Sderot in the evening.  The Color Red alarm sounded in the city once more.  Sderot has taken upteen hits.  On the 14th Fatah fired a rocket at night with CARE International detecting it coming from east of Jabalia which exploded prematurely.  They did it again the next day with Qassam rockets coming into the Sha'ar Hanegev and Ashkelon areas.  The 22nd, 23rd and 30th also had Qassam rockets fall into the areas.

May is supposed to bring flowers but the Ashkelon area only got another Qassam rocket and Israel decided to retaliate by hitting a tunnel in northern Gaza on the 1st.  Another Qassam rocket shot into Sdot Negev again on the 9th and that brings us to the 15th with a Qassam rocket fired in the morning into Sha'ar Hanegev area.

In this we see that Israel is the target of constant attacks.  Israel retaliates once in a while aiming at the cause, not the people.  Yet we are seen as the bad guys.  Go figure.  What kind of logic is this?  England is being very anti-Israel with many Brits supporting the Palestinian "liberation struggle against Israeli imperialism" as some see it.  This is the same British Empire who conquered and subjugated other countries, controlling over 1/4 of the world at one time where "the sun never set on the British Empire."  Queen Elizabeth II is into her "diamond jubilee" and has never visited Israel yet.

Senator Barack Obama flew into Israel vowing that if he became President he would work towards ending the Israel-Palestine conflict "from the minute he was sworn into office."  He didn't let on that he meant he would work to push Israel back to indefensible lines from 1967 which would mean untold amounts of Israeli lives to be lost. No, it's not popular to be supportive of Israel, but we are anyway.  They're the ones getting attacked and shelled and why?  For existing.

Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel,_2012
Arutz Sheva news@israelnationalnews.com IAF Hits Weapons Storage Sites in Gaza by Elad Benari 

Fences That Save Lives

Nadene Goldfoot                                                               

Like the poet, Robert Frost said, "Good fences make good neighbors."  Israel has been in the doghouse for having built fences, however.  There is an excellent reason for building them that other countries also in the act of building do not have.  It's to save the lives of Israelis from the many radicals that intend to kill them.  Not many countries have this reason for building their fences.  The "Good Neighbor Fence" between Israel and Lebanon has been there doing it's job.  I drove to it several times between 1980 and 1985.  That's when Major Hadad, head of the Christian militia of Lebanon and Israel were good friends and he helped to patrol the border.  His R &R time was spent in our army hospital many a time.
                                                                           

The United States is building fences along the border of Mexico to keep out illegal immigrants who have been taking advantage of the ease in gaining entrance.  There is no other way to prevent incursions into Israel other than shooting to kill.  This is a far better way.  I'm sure other countries would use death, it's so much cheaper.

There are checkpoints in Israel along the fences, some of which are cement.  Many explosive belts from suicide bombers were found.  This has cut down the attacks and the population feels much safer.  Usually schools have been a goal of these attackers.  They've had no hang-ups in who they kill inside Israel.
                                                                               

Jews actually have bad memories of being really fenced in, which the Palestinians are not.  The fences are not locking them in, just keeping the path closest to citizens blocked so it's not so easy to kill them.  Back in  Italy in about 1179 the Vatican issued the edict to keep Jews in ghettos, and they really were locked in at night.  Thus, this turned out to be the beginning of keeping us in one place.  If it wasn't for our strict kosher laws of cleanliness, we would have died out long ago.  Russia had the same idea which resulted to keeping Jews in "the Pale of Settlement."  We weren't allowed inside Russia proper without special conditions accompanied by special passes.  We never on any occasion wanted access to the rest of the world like other people had with the idea of killing anyone.  It was just normal reasons like business, touring, buying, and visiting that Jews would have liked to be able to do that was denied to them.
                                                                             

Israel border that is saving their lives;
up to keep out Palestinian terrorists

So don't lecture us on not treating people fairly!  Our whole religion involves such things.  We don't dwell on what happens to us when we are dead but when we are alive. Judaism is a religion of Life, L'Chaim!   The old adage, we'll treat you fairly and you treat us fairly  still exists.  The one thing we won't do is get down to the level of our adversaries, though.


Resource: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4227342,00.html
http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2000/issue3/jv4n3a2.html

Young Israeli Rabbi Murdered in Drive-By

by Nadene Goldfoot

A drive by shooting occurred in Israel Thursday where a young rabbi was murdered. Rabbi Meir Avshalom Chai of Shavei Shomron, 40 years old, was hit and killed. He was the father of seven children. This happened in what the general public calls the West Bank. It lies in the Northern Samarian hills so is in what Israelis call Samaria. The West Bank Barrier is planned to enclose on the Israeli side all of the Central-Western Shomron settlements except for the three northernmost, Avnei Hefetz, Einav, and Shavei Shomron, and four Northern Shomron towns, (all the remaining ones other than the two southernmost, Hermesh and Mevo Dotan), but not any of the Mountain Communities. About 20,000 Jews live there, and the area makes up about 10% of Israel.

Israeli Special forces surrounded the Nablus homes of the three Alesa martyrs Brigades operatives in order to arrest them for the murderous attack. The men refused to come out after being called to come out. The terrorist hid in his room and sent his wife out to the soldiers.

In such cases where there is a threat to the troops and a wanted militant refuses to surrender, IDF forces are permitted to open fire in order to neutralize the threat. The risk factor was very high in this operation. The IDF knew that the group that these three belonged to were highly skilled, had firearms and posed a threat.

They followed IDF regulations and first fired protest dispersal ammunition, then fired at the walls, and only lastly fired at the militants. The result was that the troops opened fire and killed them. They can't afford to fool around. Knowing this, a fourth wanted militant turned himself into the Palestinian authorities. Notice here that the Palestinian police were not on top of this as they should have been. It was up to the Israeli soldiers to find these murderers.

In one of the homes, the soldiers found two hidden rifles and two guns. They were taken to the police laboratories to check if they were used in Thursday's attack.

The killers were 38 and 39 years old. One's wife was also wounded in the operation, probably the one sent out by her husband who could have been in the line of fire.

What we see is an Israeli Rabbi murdered in cold blood. The terrorists are using this just as bullies do. They are angry that Israel has punished the killers and are condemning Israel and causing "dangerous escalation" in the West Bank. Israel then gets the blame in the news for self protection.

Interestingly at the same time of this terrible event, passengers on an American airplane were fighting a terrorist of their own who was trying to blow up the plane. One wonders if there was any planned synchonization here, or just an abundance of terrorism happening just before Christmas.

Resource: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1137753.html
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Sattelite?cid=1261364507807&pagename=JPost%2FJPArti
Additional information very worthwhile to read: article by Victor Sharpe
http://www.ruthfullyyours.com/2009/12/25/ehud-baracks-dismal-record-victor-sharpe/
BBC News Sat 26 Dec 2009

Peres Behind J. Street

by Nadene Goldfoot

President Shimon Peres is behind J Street claims David Bedein, my old friend from Safed. David is now a journalist who heads the Israel Resource Review. He's in Washington , DC to speak to congressmen. J-Street is a very liberal US Jewish lobby seen by many of us as anti-Israeli. It's trying to replace AIPAC.

J-Street is made up of all the leftist NGO's who are tying to restart the Oslo process. The Peres Center for Peace is behind the scenes. It moderated most of the discussions in their recent convention. Their aim is to get congressmen to support the Oslo process.

J-Street is promoting the idea that Fatah is a reliable partner for peace, and many of us realize it is not. They're for the Oslo way and establishing a Palestinian state even though there is no peace or acceptance of Israel or that Abbas has no say over Hamas in Gaza who would take it over.

Bedein will be explaining the situation with videos and books by the Palestinian Authority that show they are not moderates, but are militant and constantly inciting against Israel. There are congressmen who seek the truth. Bedein is speaking out at his own expense as the Israeli government is gun-shy about doing this. They may not even understand J-Street's damage they are causing Israel.

Some of these J-Streeters also need to see David's presentation and realize that they are on the wrong side of the street. We don't need our own people being bamboozled into looking through rose colored glasses and not seeing the oncoming traffic heading their way.

Resource: Arutz Sheva by Gil Ronen http://www.israelnationalnews.com/SendMail.aspx?print=print&type=0&item=134130

Laughter and Shock Over Katyusha Attack From Lebanon-Or Shock and Awe in the Middle East

by Nadene Goldfoot

The joke is tht Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman is charging Tel Aviv with the Katyusha attack of October 27th on their own Kiriyat Shimona that really came from Lebanon. He says they're attacking themselves just to keep up tensions.

That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Does he really think people will buy that? Perhaps his own kind will, which is so unfortunate.

I thought perhaps the Messiah is getting ready to come, because the UN has really shocked me. The Secretery General of the U.N. is condemning Lebanon for this very rocket attack! The U.N. is finally saying something fair concerning Israel. I am in such shock! It's a first that I am aware of!

I wonder if Suleiman looks as stupid to the U.N. as he does to me.

I would like to tell these terrorists that we really don't want to be attacked and bombed. We're too busy creating and living to be interrupted all the time. We could have discovered the end to all cancers or some such important medical advances by now if allowed to live in peace. Their attacks are interruptive.

Reference: New York, 28 October 2009 - Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on the firing of ...United Nations Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:34 AM PDTThe Secretary-General condemns the firing of a rocket against Israel from southern Lebanon on 27 October. The rocket was launched from the general area of Houla in southern Lebanon and impacted in the vicinity of Kiryat Shemona in northern Israel.

Suleiman: Tel Aviv behind Katyusha attack on IsraelPress TV Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:27 AM PDTLebanese President Michel Suleiman charges Tel Aviv with a Katyusha-type rocket attack on the Israeli eastern town of Kiryat Shmona calling it a Zionist attempt to keep tensions high in Middle East.

BBC's Biased Reporting: Anti-Israel As Always

by Nadene Goldfoot

The BBC obviously hasn't known anyone Jewish either in Britain or Israel. We love life. Our toast is L'Chaim; to Life. We want ourselves to live as well as others. We don't even guess about the conditions when dead. We're too concerned to make a better life for everyone.

Yet the BBC infers and comes right out with their idea that Israel would purposely bomb a primary school in Gaza. That is so far from the truth. The truth is more that the terrorists have placed their arms inside a primary school putting their own children at risk. They've been known to do such things.

The BBC only writes about the suffering of the Gazan children because of Israel, never the suffering of Israelis because of terrorists.

The number of deaths is thrown in Israeli's faces. "When you talk to schoolchildren in Gaza they say, look at us, so many of us are killed in wars with Israel, whereas in Sderot not many children die, not many are injured, not many rockets are actually fired." Israel's citizens do everything humanly possible to keep their death and injured numbers down, hereas the opposite happens in Gaza. The more that die the better their propaganda works.

The fact is that 12,000 rockets and mortars have been fired from the Gaza Strip since 2001 while over 1,000 people have been wounded as a result.

Children and adults are not getting a true picture of the events in Israel and Gaza if they only depend on the BBC and Katya Adler's reporting. They'll just think that Israel is all at fault. I hope the Brits are a little smarter than to depend on one source for their information. If they know what makes Jews really tick, they will seek out information that is not biased.

Reference: Honest Reporting: http://www.honestreporting.com/SSI/printVersionNEW.asp?site=www.honestreporting.c