Israel and The Sin of Expulsion:

60 Killed in IAF Strike on Qana in Southern Lebanon

Excerpt;

“A high-ranking IAF officer said that the IDF warned the residents of Qana to evacuate the village in anticipation of the airstrikes on Katyusha launchers.”

Over 100 Rockets Hit Northern Israel on Sunday

Six Wounded as Rockets Pound North

Excerpt;

“In one barrage of at least 10 rockets, a house sustained a direct hit. Other damage was also reported. A total in Kiryat Shmona and Acre as over 80 rockets rained down again on northern cities. Twenty-nine people suffered from shock. All of the casualties were taken to Nahariya Hospital.”

PM Olmert Agrees to a Multinational Force Along Northern Border

Excerpts;

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has agreed to a US plan calling for the deployment of an international peacekeeping force along Israel’s border.

“The US-brokered plan includes yet another land withdrawal by Israel – stipulating the international “stabilization force” will position itself between Israel and southern Lebanon in exchange for an Israeli retreat from the Har Dov area, also known as Shab’a Farm. The area today has a vital strategic significance, permitting IDF troops to man outposts along the border area.

Rice Pushing Deal on Shaba Farms and International Force

Excerpt;

“The deal being put forth by Rice is for the deployment in Lebanon of an “international stabilization force” comprising 10,000 to 30,000 troops in return for Israel’s withdrawal from the controversial Shaba Farms, on the western slopes of Mount Hermon.”

Olmert Remains Firm in His Position Against Hizbullah

Excerpts;

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting stated, “We may not flinch regarding Hizbullah,” adding, “the current military operation will not be halted.”

“…Hizbullah, like Islamic terror everywhere, threatens all of Western civilization. When we decided to respond, we knew we would encounter difficult situations. If we remain firm, we will be victorious.”

Islamic Terrorist Attacks Jewish Federation in Seattle

Excerpts;

Pam Waechter, 58, was shot dead and five are in serious condition after a Muslim man opened fire inside a Jewish Federation building in Seattle, Washington Friday.

According to Jewish Federation official Amy Wasser-Simpson, the man had told staff members, “I’m a Muslim American; I’m angry at Israel,” and then began shooting.

Most of the employees were able to escape through a back door and once police teams arrived, the man, 31-year-old Naveed Afzal Haq, soon surrendered. He was charged with one count of murder and five of attempted murder. He is reportedly a US citizen, from outside the Seattle region.

Rocket Slams into Kiryat Shmona Home

3 Lightly Injured in Kiryat Shmona Rocket Attacks

Rockets Land in Rosh Pinah Area

Hysteria Victims Reported in Akko Rocket Attack

24 Rockets Strike Kiryat Shmona Area

Heavy Fighting Reported Sunday Morning

Excerpt;

“Heavy exchanges of gunfire are being reported on Sunday morning between IDF soldiers and Hizbullah terrorists west of Misgav. There are no reports of injuries at this time.”

IDF Targets Weapons Facility in Northern Gaza

Excerpt;

“The IDF targeted a weapons plant in the Beit Hanoun area of northern Gaza belonging to the Popular Front terror organization.”

IDF: Hizbullah Tried to Kidnap Soldiers Again

Excerpt;

“Hizbullah had intended to kidnap IDF soldiers in Saturday fighting in the south Lebanon village of Bint Jbail. The plan was foiled due to the soldiers’ alertness.”

IDF: Syria Smuggling Weapons, Rockets to Hizbullah

2 Would-be Bombers Caught Near Nablus

Excerpt;

“The would-be bombers were caught inside a Palestinian cab just outside of Nablus in the area of the Shavei Shomron settlement. The terrorists were affiliated with Fatah and the PFLP movements. Palestinian terrorist groups in the West Bank were working in conjunction with Hizbullah in an effort to carry out attacks in Israel while the IDF was fighting in Lebanon.”

Over 90 Rockets Hit Israel on Saturday

Excerpt;

“15 rockets landed in and around Nahariya alone, and three buildings sustained damage in various rocket attacks. Three people were lightly wounded and evacuated to a hospital.”

For more background, click here.

Diplomatic Cease-Fire Efforts Intensify By Herb Keinon and Nathan Guttman

Excerpts;

“Diplomatic sources in Washington said that the US will attempt to hammer together a cease-fire deal and the deployment of a multinational force in Lebanon and present the plan to the UN Security Council on Wednesday. A vote is expected Thursday.”

“‘Thursday is a very important bus stop,’ a senior diplomatic official in Jerusalem said when asked if this day would likely mark the end of the large-scale military operations.”

IAF Fires Missile at Hamas Building in Gaza City

IDF Troops Kill Islamic Jihad Leader in Nablus

Excerpt;

“Islamic Jihad said the group’s Nablus leader, Hani Awijan, 29, was killed by undercover IDF troops. The soldiers came to arrest him while he was playing soccer with friends and relatives, the group said. Another Islamic Jihad operative was also killed in the operation.”

IDF Readies for New Ground Offensive in South Lebanon

Excerpt;

“The IDF wrapped up its operations in the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbail on Saturday and withdrew most of its troops from the area. At the same time, the army was gearing up for a new ground incursion into Lebanon.”

IAF Strikes Over 60 Hizbullah Targets

UN to Enter IDF Control Room

Commentary;

Isn’t this kind of taking risk a little bit too far? What about Military Security and Secrecy? No other nation would stand for this! How quickly will Hezbollah, the p.a., or countless other terrorist groups know the IDF’s game plan before the IDF knows it?? MB

Last Tuesday night, Rav Chaim Zev Malinowitz gave a Yom Kippur Kattan Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av Drasha which an attendee was kind enough to summarize and send around by email. This author, in turn picked up on this blog and included it on the blog’s daily email. As a result, Israel National News saw the importance of the Rav’s points and did a news report on it on their website.

This Motsei Shabbos, the Rav requested an addendum be placed to the summary which this author deems vital as an addition, as follows;

Rav Malinowitz further pointed out that most people, upon being asked what is the most intense sin, the one hardest to receive forgiveness for, would answer “Chillul HaShem” (a desecration of HaShem’s name)(based on Yoma 86a)

Yet that is not so! See Yoma 85b—-a sin committed against one’s fellow-man has no forgiveness, ever, in any way, shape, or form, unless the aggrieved party or parties forgive those responsible! And thus, if the good people of Gush Katif and Northern Shomron do not forgive K’lal Yisrael——!! And they are not obligated to forgive us unless we beg their forgiveness! Have we done so? Has any leader done so? Has any leader yet admitted culpability through acquiesence? Through not protesting as vigorously as he would’ve been done if HIS community was threatened with destruction?

If it was up to me, Rav Malinowitz concluded, we would be begging each destroyed community to pick one representative——–and together they would form a Minyan, and they would cry out to Hashem,saying–”We forgive,we forgive, and now HaShem you, too, forgive, and stop the present further destruction, homelessness, despair, taking place upon millions of our brethren.”

Commentary;

This author adds a caveat, that when the Rav writes “we would be begging each destroyed community to pick one representative——–and together they would form a Minyan …” that this means many more tons letters to the Gush Katif people such as was written by the Haifa resident and reported on Arutz-7, as well as flooding the refugees cellular phones with pleas for forgiveness by thounsands, 10s of thousands of secular Israelis, as well as similar 10s of thousands of Chareidim who went about their lives on Yom Pakuda, business as usual and who voted Gimmel or Shas in the past election — Chareidim who sit smug in their homes and have a mindset of “we wouldn’t live in Yesha — you think we’re crazy?” All of these requests for forgiveness messages would have to be, by nature, heart-felt, heart-rending expressions of deep regret and remorse.

I also include in this caveat the politicians — while we can’t expect hard-hearted Olmert, Peretz, Peres, Ramon, Ezra or Tommy Lapid to do such –to repudiate their policies of Realignment at any and all cost and to admit their error, responsibility and beg forgiveness , I think we can safely include Eli Yishai, Rav Ovadia Yosef , the Shas politicians (please remember this is my caveat and I take responsibility) as well as the Ashkenaz Gedolim and Aguda politicians. That all of them plead for forgiveness with their solemn neder that next time — the next attempt at an expulsion will be fought unequivocably, tooth-to-nail and by every means possible. MB

This author tries not to comment or deal on this blog with issues and news not in some way related to or a consequence of last August’s expulsions of Jews from Gush Katif and the Shomron.

Regarding Annan’s false accusations, Foxman properly responded that it is incomprehensible that Annan could accuse Israel of deliberately targeting and killing the UN personnel. But in stating that this is not the first time that Annan has acted or spoken in a prejudicial or dual standard way regarding Israel, were Foxman a proud, confident Jew, he would have, as a matter of form and principle, recited chapter and verse the numerous other such ocassions where Annan has spoken or acted falsely regarding Israel. One such notable specific ocassion was the UN film regarding the kidnapping and murdering of 4 Israeli soldiers in 2000 which Annan and the UN withheld from Israel for at least a year, thus making the UN a purposeful accomplice to the murders of the soldiers.

A proud and confident Jew who is grounded and connected to Shemayim would sooner say (and not ask); “I’m a Jew and my brethren, the people of Israel, by our being, by our very existence we have the right to defend ourselves and we really don’t care if the other nations, or the UN like it or not.”

As this author wrote in this week’s Parsha HaShevua; “Every Jew, every Israeli must look deep within himself and come to true, consistent answers … how to understand and relate to the murderous hatred of ALL Jews (religious and secular) equally by the Arab, Islamic nation. This murderous hate defies analysis, rationalization or attempts to remediate by way of misread (as weakliness) Israeli misguided, misdirected kindness, morality and desire for peace. “

But Abe Foxman is NOT a proud, strong Jew. He is NOT rooted in Torah. He suffers from the same “‘normal life’ like the other nations” mentality as Olmert and his secular crew. He is a product of the Yudenrat mentality and mindset of the National Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. He is a product of the “sha, shtill” mentality, the “now is not the right time” mentality of the American Jewish Establishment machers whose orientation, mentality, Anti-Jewish, Anti-Torah agenda necessitates carte blanche support for the Sharons, the Olmerts, the Peres’.

Similarly when Foxman begs for the same right as the rest of the world rather than standing proud and unequivocably asserting our divine right to take whatever actions are necessary for our self-defense (i.e., fighting a war like a war — fighting to a definite winning conclusion), this has everything to do with the root causes of expulsion.

Column One: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, By Caroline Glick

Excerpts;

In his address to the Knesset last week, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert framed Israel’s war in Lebanon as a war for “our right to be normal.” His emphasis on our right to drink coffee led many to wonder if he understands the immensity of the threat we face as he curries favor with Israel’s aging baby boomers.

As polls of the Arab and Muslim world’s opinion of Israel make clear, The Jerusalem Post’s Khaled Abu Toameh probably understated the magnitude of their desire to destroy Israel when he wrote on Thursday: “Throughout the Arab and Islamic world, hatred of Israel is so immense today that, if given the chance, tens of thousands of women and men would join Hamas and Hizbullah almost immediately.”

Unwilling to admit that its entire political vision for the country is based on lies.

The government’s plan for prosecuting the war aimed at Hizbullah’s
dismantlement places the IAF as the main component of the campaign. The IAF is supposed to be assisted by limited ground operations that should not rise above the brigade level. Although this plan’s logic fell apart a week ago when it became clear that the IAF bombings had not done enough to damage Hizbullah’s war waging capabilities and its ability to rain down 100 rockets and missiles a day on northernIsrael, the government maintains its devotion to the plan because it is unwilling to admit that its entire political vision for the country is based on lies.

The Olmert government insists that Israel can separate itself from terror and jihad and live a “normal life” by building a big fence and hiding behind it. The government knows that nothing will prove to the public the emptiness of its political rhetoric better than a serious ground invasion of southern Lebanon. And so, rather than shed its hallucinatory agenda, it clings to it with all the fervor of a Communist true-believer in Stalin’s gulag.

The government’s refusal to acknowledge that it cannot win a war through half-measures and the General Staff’s insistence on believing, contrary to all evidence, that the IAF can win this war almost on its own have caused the IDF to commit avoidable tactical failures that if left uncorrected are liable to entrap us on a strategic level.

Difficulty in achieving victory when the Government’s political agenda is denying the IDF the resources needed for victory.

Even ideal commanders would have difficulty achieving victory when the Israeli government, in the interest of its narrow and misguided political agenda, is denying the IDF the resources needed for victory. The security cabinet’s decision Thursday afternoon to reject the IDF’s request to intensify the ground campaign and to call up more reserve units is nothing less than a gift to Hizbullah - a gift the IDF will be hard pressed to take back no matter who its commanders are.

Wednesday, Olmert said that the war will last as long as the public supports it. It is debatable whether it is proper for a premier who is leading his nation in a war for survival to make such a statement. But since he has placed the decision in our hands, we the Israeli people must make clear our demand for victory.

A people that demands and requires victory cannot be deterred by obstacles placed in its path. With Israel’s international, social, economic and strategic resources, it has the ability to win this war. And we have our secret weapon: the IDF.

As the soldiers and officers of Battalion 51 of the Golani Brigade demonstrated at that horrible battlefield of Bint Jbail Wednesday, our soldiers are simply extraordinary. Their heroism under fire takes your breath away. Without a doubt, it is the combination of its spirit and its hardware that make the IDF a world class fighting force.

A nation that sends its best sons into battle to defend its liberty and its very survival has the right and the duty to require its government to act responsibly and to discard hallucinatory ideological agendas before they lead us to yet another disaster.

(Note: Blog additions relected by additional blockquotes and in italics for emphasis)

To read the entire aritcle, click Column One: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly .

Lebanese War Widow’s Home in Danger by Hillel Fendel

Excerpts;

IDF officers arrived at the home of Maj. Ro’i Klein this week to inform his widow he had fallen in battle. In a few months, they are liable to return - to remove her from her home and destroy it.

The reason: She lives in a neighborhood in Eli, in Samaria (Yesha), that has been targeted by Peace Now - the same radical left-wing group that brought about the destruction of nine Jewish homes in Amona earlier this year.

Maj. Klein (pictured), the Deputy Commander of Golani Brigade 51, was killed on Wednesday while leading his soldiers in an attempt to take over the Hizbullah stronghold of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon. A massive Hizbullah ambush killed him and seven other soldiers; the evacuation of the dead and wounded took hours because of the ongoing onslaught of anti-tank missiles and other heavy gunfire.

Rocket Landings in Tzfat - Rosh Pina Area, No Injuries

24 Wounded as Kassam Falls Near Zikim Kindergarten

IDF Eliminates 3 Terrorists in Bint Jbeil

Excerpts;

“IDF soldiers eliminated three terrorists in the Hizbullah stronghold of Bint Jbeil overnight…. There were no injuries reported among the IDF troops.”

Air Force Destroyed Missile Command Center in Tyre

Excerpt;

“A direct hit destroyed the building that included the 12th story Hizbullah center. The command unit controlled Syrian-made 220 mm rockets which have caused most of the civilian fatalities in the Hizbullah terrorist war.”

IDF Pulls Out of Northern Gaza Strip

Excerpt;

“IDF troops and tanks pulled out of northern Gaza early Friday after a bloody two-day sweep…, but IAF aircraft continued to pound the area.
The body of a Palestinian operative was found after the IDF pulled back.”

Apparent Terror Victim Identified

Excerpt;

“The victim was identified on Friday as Dr. Danny Ya’akovi, the physician of the settlement of Yakir. His charred body was found late Thursday in the trunk of an Israeli vehicle in the West Bank, police said. Ya’akovi had been kidnapped and then killed by Palestinians in a terror attack.”

For Background on Dr. Yaakovi’s kidnapping and murder, click here.

Israeli Truck Driver Beaten In Arab Village Near Kalkilya

Kassam Rocket Lands in Sderot Area; None Wounded

4 Katyushas Land Near Acre; Damage Caused

3 Kassams Hit Near Sderot; None Wounded, No Damage

IDF Hits Over 130 Sites in Lebanon Thursday Night

Olmert to Katif: At Least You’re Not Dead, by Hillel Fendel

Excerpts;

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with former Gush Katif residents and said that in light of the war, they have nothing to complain about. He also promised to “evacuate” more Jewish towns.

Olmert visited Nitzan, home to the largest concentration of people who used to live in Gush Katif, Gaza. In his Monday visit to the site of pre-fab homes called caravillas - some of its residents call it a “refugee camp” - Olmert met with representatives of several former Gush Katif communities. “I just came from speaking with the parents of the pilot who was killed in the Israel Air Force helicopter crash a few days ago. Their son we sent not [on a mission of ] settlement, and neither did he come back with compensation; he came back in a coffin!”

Though a videotape of the proceedings shows that no one immediately responded, furious reactions came later. One said, “As if we didn’t have enough people killed when we lived in Gush Katif?”

To continue reading this report, Olmert to Katif: At Least You’re Not Dead.

The topic of the Gush Katif Refugees, why they fought to the end by all means short of armed confrontation against expulsion; why they, and many of us, begged, cried and wailed against it may seem redundant to some, but it is very much in need of repeating in light of the continuing campaign of systematic propaganda and dehumanization conducted against them by the regime to this day.

This continuing campaign of malicious and false propaganda is exemplified by Ehud Olmert’s recent deliberate blantantly false and bogus assertion, as reported in the Jerusalem Post, that “80 percent of the evacuees who asked for compensation have received it, at an average of NIS 1.4 million per family.”

First, let us recall this fundamental and axiomatic point; When the Gush Katif refugees fought through the courts, through demonstrations, through protests, through campaigning for “No” votes in the Likud referrendum as Talia Hatuel and her children were killed a little over 2 years ago enroute to doing, it was NOT for the money, NOT for their jobs, NOT for their personal property and real estate. What they fought so tenaciously for was a far higher purpose — the inseparable link for all time between a Jew and His Land, be it in Gush Katif, in Chevron, in Jerusalem, at Har HaBayit, at Kever Rachel, in Beit El, as well as in Modiin, Tel Aviv, Netanya or Haifa. They foresaw, as did countless others, that after a Gaza withdrawal an Islamic enemy would arise in void left with weaponry capable striking urban centers beyond Sderot.

Indeed, we only have to look as far as recent statements by SANA- Official Syrian News Agency concerning large urban areas such as Haifa, as reported by IMRA and posted to this site.

This author contacted Dror Vanunu, formerly the Director of the Gush Katif Region Development Fund and who is now heads the Gush Katif Committee which monitors and reports on the Current Conditions of the former Gush Katif Communities.

As more data comes out in subsequent reports from Gush Katif Communities, this site will inform it’s readers. MB

Security Cabinet Opposed to Expanded Ground Operation

Excerpts;

“In a special meeting Thursday on the IDF’s operations in Lebanon, most of the members of the security cabinet expressed their opposition to expanding ground missions, as per the army’s request, and it appeared unlikely that IDF plans would be approved.”

For more background and about many who disagree, click Cabinet Won’t Expand Ground Operations, Agrees to More Reserves

Our World: Seeing the War in its True Colors, By Caroline Glick

Excerpts;

Today US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The press reports leading up to their meeting were full of details about how European armies wish to send their forces to Lebanon. The reports also noted that Israel will be expected to surrender the Shaba Farms on Mount Dov to Lebanon in exchange for promises of security.

For their part, Israeli leaders from Olmert to Defense Minister Amir Peretz to Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni have been demonstrating a disturbing lack of resolve. Their statements expose a consistent watering down of the goal of the IDF’s mission in Lebanon - from destroying Hizbullah as a fighting force to weakening it as a fighting force and “paving the way for a diplomatic settlement” that will apparently include Hizbullah.

On the other hand, other voices make clear that despite the best wishes of the government and the Israeli left-wing intelligentsia, it is far from clear that the IDF will end its operations without victory achieved.

First of all, the IDF has discarded its dangerous delusions that it will be possible to win this war by remote control. Today it fights like an army that knows it is both at war, and at war with an enemy that needs to be destroyed, whatever the price may be.

The IDF is fighting well, boldly and effectively on the ground. Halutz initiated a rolling mobilization of the reserves, and the IAF has pulled back to its proper supportive role.

As well, it is impossible not to recognize the Bush administration’s centrality in the current campaign. Not only is the US rearming the IAF with bunker buster bombs, it is making certain that its own public and the international community recognize that what is at stake here is far greater than the well-being of Israel’s citizens.

As a friend put it the other day, “Halutz has no choice but to win. Israel is a country with five million chiefs of staff and they are all breathing down his neck.”

To read the entire article, click Seeing the War in its True Colors

Syrian News Agency Identifies Locations as Being in “Settlements” in “Israel”

Excerpts;

“The Lebanese national resistance rocketed the Israeli settlements in
al-Jalilee including Akka, Nahariya and Haifa…”