Rabbi Sacks from 10 years ago Still Valid Today

 Unbelievably these comments made 10 years ago by

 Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks could have been spoken today.

What the BBC cut from Herzog's Interview

 The BBC did not have the guts to air the complete interview

 with Israel's President Herzog.

Here is what they cut out.

The Day After Hamas

 According to Brigadier General (res.) Amir Avivi, three conditions are necessary in order to ensure that after the Hamas terror infrastructures are dismantled that no new ones can rise again in Gaza.

First, the border between Gaza and Egypt.

We need to maintain complete control over that border. When Israel did not control that border, knowledge, money, weapons and manpower flowed massively and endlessly into Gaza. This is precisely what converted Hamas from a small terror organization into the army we see today. It’s important to note that control over the border with Egypt is not merely a matter of controlling the Philadephi Corridor, but must also include control over the area deep within the Gaza Strip, which will utterly isolate Gaza from Egypt. The importance of this area is similar to the strategic concept in the Jordan Valley, where we also hold control over the border with a country with whom we have a peace agreement. It’s true, in the Jordan Valley we’re also dealing with smuggling problems, but it would be much greater if we didn’t have control.

Second, Israel must ensure that it has freedom to operate in Gaza

This in order to destroy terror infrastructures. In order to understand the significance of this condition, we need to recall the initial stage of the Oslo Agreements of 1994, which were known as “Gaza and Jericho first”. In other words, transferring the cities to the control of the Palestinian Authority. Within this framework, the IDF stopped fighting terror in these areas, and left this crucial task in the hands of the PA. The result, as we know, was that within these cities significant terror infrastructures rapidly took hold. The lesson we learned from this historical error was that we are obligated to continue operating militarily in areas with terror potential. In other words, even after the conquest of Gaza and destruction of the terror infrastructures, the IDF must maintain complete freedom of operation on a daily basis throughout the Gaza Strip.

Finally, the third condition for preventing the strengthening of terror in Gaza

This a condition linked to the second condition, is settlement. As with all regions of the country since the Second Aliyah, military and political control can only develop in areas where there is civilian settlement. The reason for this is not only that settlement and movement along arteries creates a constant state of security but also that only significant civilian settlement provides legitimation for a military presence. This, for example, is the difference between Judea and Samaria and South Lebanon. In Judea and Samaria there is an active, living texture which, on the one hand, facilitates routine and on the other, there is a military presence, while in South Lebanon the arteries were left to the terror organizations and the IDF had no clear justification to continually act and prevent terror.

The full article can be read at https://idsf.org.il/en/opinion-en/the-day-after-hamas/ 

Aliyah Continues Even During Gaza War

As some people talk about "so many" Israelis leaving the country, others in great numbers are arriving to make a new life for themselves here in Israel.

Aliyah to Israel is continuing despite the intense war with Hamas in Gaza, and the pace could even pick up given the current wave of antisemitism sweeping the globe, as evidenced in the near pogrom in Dagestan, Russia on Sunday.

Over coming weeks, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem is supporting Aliyah flights for 111 Jewish youths ages 14 to 18 immigrating from the former Soviet republics. After they complete their study program, they will be eligible to become Israeli citizens and serve in the IDF to defend their new homeland. The ICEJ also is working on the ground in these same former Soviet countries to help with their Aliyah preparations, logistics and airport transport.

Meantime, the ICEJ also is sponsoring flights for 61 Ethiopian Jews who will arrive as soon as they get their exit documents in Addis Ababa.

So far this year, the ICEJ has assisted over 5,000 Jewish immigrants during various stages of their journey home to Israel, as well as with immediate integration needs. This includes sponsoring homeward bound Aliyah flights for more than 1,300 of these olim (newcomers). The worldwide Aliyah is expected to exceed 50,000 Jews this year – numbers not seen since the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

These figures do not include the nearly 300,000 Israeli citizens living abroad who have rushed home to defend their ancestral homeland. With most flights in and out of Israel cancelled due to Hamas rocket barrages from Gaza, EL AL and other Israeli airlines have still been operating out of Ben-Gurion Airport and the in-bound flights are packed with a mix of returnees and new immigrants. In fact, some Israeli airplanes have added extra seats to accommodate the increased demand and Israeli pilots have even allowed some people to sit on the floor in the galley or in cockpit seating.

The ICEJ has already assisted over 5,000 Jews on their journey home to Israel so far this year, including the funding of homeward Aliyah flights for more than 1,300 of these newcomers. Join with us in this urgent and timely effort to build up Zion and help strengthen the nation of Israel! Make your best gift today to the ICEJ’s Aliyah efforts!

 

A Grandmother's Emotions as Family Goes off to War

 A Grandmother expresses her heartfelt emotions via a poem as the grandson goes off to fight:-

Stand your own ground

My dear grandson
Precious, sweet one, 

Watched you grow up.
Ever taller, broad shouldered, 
Yet with modest stoop.
Only now, just learning
To stand your own ground.

Noshing cookies - mother’s delicacies
When her back’s turned
Pops in another! But grandma sees!!
Called up! 
“Take biscuits!” shaped like crescent moon, 
Which waxes then wanes - all to soon
To stand our own ground.

Piano you play, never before heard

fingers tinkle ‘Fur Elise’ like yours. 
Why now stop? Call Up! 
My young grandson, 
Off to base in the south
To stand his own ground.
Hard awork at your station, 
bent on saving our nation
from even greater disaster,
from rape of our country. 
Your eyes on the screen, 
to which you are glued
A hero unsung.  Like you, 
hundreds others
Stand their own ground.

Thirty three pairs of socks 

not enough for my contingent, 
says grandson from his base. Need
mattresses, batteries, underwear, scarves,  
Need I say more? Yes Tzizit galore
They’re placed on corners four
Our protection they are
our own human shield 
All these are what we need ….to
Stand our own ground.

We turn to our heroes for comfort and inspiration
Not only for mind, but for soul’s consolation.

Let’s turn to Rabbi Sacks, so dearly lamented.
Are we telling a story? No! ‘We’re writing a chapter.’

And said Sivan Rahav-Meir, brilliant media personality.

‘Israel will never be the same. No! It will be better’

Echoes of the past can surely imbue us

With strength and determination

To stand or own ground – on our Own Ground

Israel Didn't Say it, The PA Did

Israel didn't say this. The head of the Palestinian Authority

said it. Arab and Muslim media ignored it; you shouldn't.

 "#Hamas leaders in Gaza and abroad said: 

“We don’t care if #Gaza is erased.” All they care 

about is that the Hamas movement continue to exist. 

They said: We don’t care what happens. 

Where Have all the Billions Gone?

a) How have the Hamas leaders become so wealthy?

b) Why are they not living in the Gaza Strip?

c) where is the civil infrastructure for Gazans?