The Year that Changed Israel

by Yehuda Vald, Director-General of the Religious Zionism party.

We had an amazing insight while in the midst of anti-Hizbullah combat just a few days ago. We were waiting for the Oketz elite K-9 unit (which uses dogs specially trained to sniff out weapons, ammunition, or volatile chemical vapors from explosives and booby traps, and then sit in place to alert the fighters without detonating the explosives) to scan a house for explosive devices before our entry. I stood there, in the courtyard of a house in the heart of Lebanon, enwrapped in dust and sweat, on a mission to destroy terror infrastructures deep within the territory. I caught the eye of the fighter standing next to me and asked him: "Can you believe what's happening with us right now?"

He just looked at me, and I continued: "If I had told you three years ago that we would be 13 kilometers deep inside Lebanon, marching wherever we feel like, moving between houses and fields almost without fear, opening an operational position in a destroyed village – one of many dozens all along the border - and that on the route back, we would see Israeli flags waving along the roadsides with the city of Tyre in the background, what would you have said?"

It took him a few long seconds to change his perspective. I could see the magnitude of the historic event gradually come through to him – and then we received the order to move into the house and prepare it for destruction.

In the middle of battle in Lebanon, looking around at the big picture as the year of 5786 was drawing to a close, it must be said wholeheartedly: Israel's security situation has never been better. The reality created on the ground over the past year is nothing less than a strategic revolution.

Let's start here in the north: IDF forces have complete control deep inside Lebanon and are able to act freely all along the long border. Hizbullah, the terrorist organization that sat on our fences for decades, looming threateningly and murderously over our northern towns, has been systematically decimated. Thousands of its terrorist operatives have been killed, and the rest have been distanced tens of kilometers towards the north.

On our northeastern sector, Israeli outposts are stationed deep within Syrian territory, and the critically strategic Mt. Hermon Crown has become a strong built-up Israel outpost, fortified and protected.

In the south, Israel holds 60% of the Gaza Strip, from which so many murderous attacks emanated over the decades, and of course especially in 2023. Our brave and courageous soldiers man the Yellow Line (the north-south line that divides Gaza into IDF territory and that which is still controlled by Hamas), systematically gunning down anyone who nears the border, or who took part in the Simchat Torah massacre three years ago.

And of course, we cannot forget the head of the terror octopus seeking to attack Israel from every angle: Iran. Israeli forces carried out unbelievable missions precisely in the heart of Tehran; dozens of leading Iranian officials and military figures have been liquidated, including the leader himself, Ali Khameini. Working in tight cooperation with the United States, our forces destroyed infrastructures and headquarters, killed many terrorists, and landed a very heavy blow against Iran's nuclear installations.

Israel's recent strategic revolution is not confined merely to the security realm. In the realms of construction and the settlement enterprise as well, there has never been a Jewish presence as broad, deep, and significant in Judea and Samaria as there is today. Dozens of new communities, and over 100 farms, have been established throughout the territory, and we have even returned to the northern Shomron communities from which our fellow citizens were expelled during the days of the Disengagement 21 years ago.

In the north, often very close to the Lebanese border, new homes are being built and dozens of young families are joining these veteran pioneering communities. Kindergartens in Metula and Zar'it are once again teeming with life and children playing. To the south, in the Gaza envelope and the Tekuma region, hundreds of new couples and families are settling down, construction is in full swing, and the waiting lists only continue to grow longer.

The Israeli economy has revealed strength that surprised all the analysts. Despite nearly three years of difficult and complex war, unemployment is at a historic low, the stock exchange is climbing, hi-tech stocks are taking off, foreign investments flow in at a record-breaking pace, and the shekel is strong against the dollar and other foreign currency. As predicted in the Talmud, at the time of the Ingathering of the Exiles, the Land of Israel is giving forth its fruits ever so generously.

But of all the miracles, the biggest one is taking place in our life spirit. Despite the futile attempts, morning and evening, to convince us how terribly divided we are, the truth on the ground is diametrically the opposite: Israeli society is experiencing one of its greatest moments of unity in its history.

Hundreds of thousands of reservists and their families eagerly put their entire daily routines on hold and enlist to protect the homeland. Thousands of volunteers embrace our many bereaved families, medical teams act with endless sensitivity and compassion to rehabilitate the wounded, tens of thousands of youths volunteer in their communities, and businesses donate equipment and food on an unprecedented scale. All of this is happening across the political spectrum: right and left, religious, secular, and haredi. This is the unconditional love (Ahavat Chinam) of and within the Nation of Israel.

I'm not coming to whitewash the terrible prices that we have paid since Oct. 7, 2023. My eyes are not closed to the hardships, the pain, and the heavy crises we have undergone since then. We have paid in our must expensive currency: the lives of our best sons and daughters. The tears of the mothers, widows and children continue to sear our hearts. Not for naught do we pray on Rosh HaShanah, "May this year and its curses come to an end."

But alongside the pain, as the year of 5786 ends, it is incumbent upon us to view our nation and people, and G-d's blessings, in a generous and positive manner. We must and want to say Thank You with all our hearts for all the many miracles and great abundance of good that G-d has showered upon us this past year.

A moment after we completed our mission deep inside Lebanon, while wearing our uniforms filled with dust and sweat, we stood and prayed together: "So many great thanks for all the good and all the kindnesses, o dear Father in heaven."

Yes, we need many more of them, many more salvations and consolations. We pray that the new year be filled with blessing.

Hunger in Gaza? Obesity is on the Rise

by Hillel Fendel, former editor of Arutz-7's IsraelNationalNews.com.

UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) has released new statistics showing that the famine in Gaza that Israel is widely accused of precipitating has now given way to a new trend: obesity.

According to the new report, malnutrition among children in Gaza is actually much lower than previously reported – a rate of 0.5 percent, one of the lowest rates of acute child malnutrition in the region. This, according to an analysis by The Free Press of data from the World Bank and the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN–affiliated hunger-monitoring system. The data were collected by the Gaza SMART Survey, conducted by the State of Palestine [sic] Nutrition Cluster, led by UNICEF; 1,335 children under five years old were included in the survey, conducted from May 31 until June 15 of this year.

A year ago, Gaza was officially declared a famine-stricken area, leading to widespread accusations against Israel. Israel maintained that it was allowing hundreds of truckloads of food each day into the Gaza Strip, but that Hamas was commandeering the supplies and selling them to the highest bidders or giving them to their own people.

The new report raises the question as to whether the original report was ever correct, or whether it was the results of distorted statistics, purposefully or otherwise.

The latest report shows that the rate of "wasting" – a medical term referring to extreme thinness indicating malnutrition – is "low across all [Gazan] sectors, indicating that acute, widespread malnutrition does not exist at the population level."

Not only do the figures show one of the lowest rates of acute childhood malnutrition in the entire region, researchers also found that only about 12% of children in Gaza suffer from stunted growth due to poor nutrition - less than half of the regional average, which stands at 26%.

"To be honest, I thought the figure [of stunted growth] would be much higher," admitted Elena Naumova, Chair of the Division of Nutrition Data Science at Tufts University in Boston.

The new UNICEF report reveals that Gaza is now facing a completely different challenge: obesity and overweight, which together affect about 4% of children under age five in Gaza. An astonished senior researcher who previously supervised data collection teams at the Africa Foundation noted that she had "never seen" the emergence of obesity in a place that had been declared a famine-stricken area just a year prior.

Hamas Steals and Diverts Aid

According to a report by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), "Delivering humanitarian assistance during an active armed conflict is extraordinarily complex... [In Gaza], one of the greatest challenges has been Hamas itself. Throughout the war, Israel, the United States, and numerous independent observers have documented instances in which Hamas stole, taxed, diverted, or otherwise exploited humanitarian assistance intended for Palestinian civilians." 

Just last month, COGAT – the Israeli Defense Ministry body charged with coordinating Government Activities in the Territories - remaining market distortions inside Gaza are now driven less by shortages than by Hamas's continued influence over commercial distribution mechanisms.

Hamas still diverts humanitarian aid, according to many Palestinian civilians, Israel, and numerous reports. The AJC report states: "Israeli intelligence, videos released during the war, statements from Palestinian Authority officials, and testimony from aid workers have all pointed to Hamas's efforts to control humanitarian assistance as a means of financing its operations and maintaining political authority inside Gaza."

Good News from Israel

by Hillel Fendel, former editor of Arutz-7's IsraelNationalNews.com.

** Two earthquake-plagued areas in Central and South America received major rescue and humanitarian aid from Israel this summer.

IsraAID, Israel’s largest non-governmental humanitarian aid agency, is currently in Colombia, responding to a devastating earthquake there. While multiple nations offered aid to Colombia, the government explicitly restricted physical search-and-rescue teams to only four countries – and Israel was one of them. IsraAID has had an active presence for more than five years in the country, working hand-in-hand with communities to address long-term humanitarian challenges and acute crises.

The earthquake, the most powerful in Colombia in at least a century, struck only days after newly inaugurated President Abelardo De La Espriella took office, promising reforms that include reversing his predecessor’s hostile diplomatic stance toward Israel.

** In July of this year, Israel sent a rescue delegation to Venezuela after that country suffered double earthquakes – and remained there for three weeks. The quakes, 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale, respectively, claimed over 6,000 lives. Despite having no official diplomatic relations with Venezuela since 2009, Israel sent a technical aid delegation alongside IsraAID teams to provide immediate medical assistance, psychological first aid, and water infrastructure relief.

These two rescue missions, which followed two similar missions just this year alone – see below – are not only life-saving and diplomatically beneficial; they are also a form of fulfillment of Biblical prophecies. For instance, the prophet Tzefania (3,20) foretold that when, in the future, the Lord returns the Jews to the Land of Israel, He will "make [them] a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth."

** Similarly, in recent months, Israel has targeted humanitarian relief to vulnerable displaced populations in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the former, organized a widespread distribution of emergency food and sanitation supplies to roughly 2,000 families suffering from severe food shortages, and in the Congo, Israeli teams worked alongside local partners to combat a spreading Ebola outbreak.

“As you know, we have experience in Israel,” the IDF’s Spanish-language spokesman, Maj. (res.) Roni Kaplan, told reporters in Colombia. “Sometimes, unfortunately, our enemies launch missiles at densely populated civilian areas, leaving civilians under the rubble. And today we are taking the knowledge in this field developed by Israel and making it available to Colombian citizens. Hopefully, we can contribute our small part here," Kapan said. "Hope in Judaism is not something that we have to wait for in the future; it is something that we have to work toward. And that is what we are doing; we are working."

Concern for Human Life and Dignity

** Just this week, Israel proved also that it spares no efforts to find and return its own people – dead or alive. Today (Aug. 18), Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that Israel had recovered, after 44 years, the remains of IDF tank officer Yehuda Yekutiel Katz, who was killed during the Battle of Sultan Yacoub in Lebanon during the Peace for Galilee War. The remains were recovered in a joint operation by the IDF and the Mossad. For many years, the remains of two other missing fallen soldiers from that battle were also missing, until Israel succeeded in finding them and having them returned to Israel.

Across the Globe

** In another show of Israel's concern for human life, an Israeli mother and daughter, in their 50's and 20's, respectively, went missing in Austria for a full week – until they were safely located in Argentina by Israeli police three days ago. No foul play is suspected, but Israel showed that it spared no efforts in order to bring the case to closure for all concerned.

** In other good news, though on a totally different plane, senior political and economic analyst Dr. Guy Bechor presented today what he termed a "historic" piece of data regarding Israel's economy. "Israel's GDP (gross domestic product) surged in the second quarter of the year to an annualized rate of 15.4%, while growth in "Western" economies is hovering around zero." He notes that Israel's economy grew by only around 10% over the previous two years combined – which is largely due to the war conditions since the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7, 2023.

"Phenomenal!" and "a world-class achievement" is how Dr. Bechor described this accomplishment. He credited Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich for this quarter's historic growth: "This man is insanely talented, with diligence the likes of which we have never seen. He has scored tremendous achievements in the economy and in Judea and Samaria. He hasn't rested for a minute for four years."

"Full disclosure:" Dr. Bechor continued. "I have never met Mr. Smotrich, I have not had any connection with him or anyone on his behalf, and I need nothing from him – other than that he remains Finance Minister for another four years."

Illusion in Lebanon: The Lebanese Army is Not the Solution, but the Problem

by Anna Slotzkin, among the founders of the Uri Tzafon (Awaken, O North!) movement, translated by Hillel Fendel.

Israel's political and military establishments seem to have a frighteningly short memory. In fact, we are witness to a dangerous governmental attempt to revive the same old murderous "conception" that brought upon us terrible calamities in the not-so-distant past.

The latest plan for our northern border currently on the table, known by the laundered term "pilot plan" (as if it was not meant to be permanent), proposes the same old recipe that has been tried, with tragic results, in the past: The IDF is to withdraw from the areas it captured in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Army will take its place there, and the Americans will "supervise" from afar, giving all of us a dangerously misleading sense of security.

In practice, hiding behind the word "pilot" is a very bitter reality: a bona-fide retreat of Israeli forces and an abandonment of strategic pieces of land that the best of our sons, brave IDF warriors, captured with their blood and heroism over the course of almost three years. (Nearly 160 Israelis have been murdered by Hizbullah during this period, including about 40 in 2026.) Two large areas of land have already been turned over to the Lebanese, who this week proposed that two more territories be included in this "pilot." This, despite the fact that the Lebanese Army has never displayed any ability – nor even willingness! – to effectively clash with the Hizbullah terrorists controlling their country. 

Those who try to pass off the Lebanese Army as a "solution" are simply throwing sand into Israeli eyes, and particularly of those of who live in the north. The reality on the ground is becoming more and more obvious, and that is that the Lebanese military is not simply ignoring Hizbullah activity, but is actually actively cooperating with it. Its army is not a sovereign, independent force that can enforce law and order, but rather one that lives and breathes the terrorist organization with which it works hand in hand.

The Lebanese Army refrains from any and all clashes with Hizbullah. Instead, it grants them an umbrella of protection and enable them to remain the true bosses in southern Lebanon. To expect that such an organization will suddenly become a defender of Israel's Galilee is somewhere between stupidity and a downright security disaster.  

We've already gone through this before. We saw what the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL was worth after UN Resolution 1701 was adopted in 2006. The resolution stipulated the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, and the establishment of a buffer zone manned only by the Lebanese military (which cooperated with Hizbullah) and UNIFIL (which became live shields for Hizbullah terrorists). We must not allow our control in southern Lebanon, achieved with blood and tears, to be replaced by another "been there, done that" experiment on the backs of the tens of thousands of Israel who have been displaced from their homes for over a year.

The Uri Tzafon movement seeks to say as clearly as possible that which many are afraid to say aloud: True security for the Galilee and all of Israel will come not from the Lebanese Army, collaborating with Hizbullah, and certainly not from UNIFIL disguised as peacekeepers. It will come only from settlement.

All of Zionist history teaches us this one simple lesson: Where the Jewish plow passes, there's a border and there's security. Withdrawals and understandings will not bring peace. The only solution that is real, ethical, and safe is one that involves complete military control of the areas previously occupied by terrorists – and then wide-ranging Jewish settlement there; yes, there in southern Lebanon. Only land that is settled by Jews can be a true living and breathing security zone, guaranteeing that no other threat will ever arise against the residents of northern Israel.

In fact, steps are being taken in this direction. Families in northern Israel have been crossing the border once in a while, seeking to set some facts, if not on the ground yet, then in our consciousness. Yes, our forces broke through the old border-fence and replaced it with a wall, but in truth, there is no need for either: The best will be that instead of terrorists crossing over into Israel while we tremble passively by, it should be us pioneer settlers who should be crossing northwards, to conquer the inheritance of our forefathers.

These pioneering families are calling upon our government to Wake Up! Instead of investing millions in the construction of walls and fences and new conceptions that simply harm our security and create false illusions of safety and protection and cooperation with the Lebanese Army, let us settle north of the border and grant genuine security to our State.

The time has come to internalize that only settlement in southern Lebanon will bring true security!

Twenty Years After: Legendary Hero's Final Moments Remembered

by Hillel Fendel, former editor of Arutz-7's IsraelNationalNews.com.

The IDF Censor still does not permit his photo to be published, but Lt.-Col. Emanuel Moreno was remembered this week on the 20^th anniversary of his death during the Second Lebanon War. He served in the IDF's most elite unit, Sayeret Matkal (the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit), and is credited with having taken part in the greatest number of operations in the unit's history. 

He is publicly acknowledged to have participated in only two of them: the 1994 abduction of Lebanese terrorist commander Mustafa Dirani, who had held missing Israeli navigator Ron Arad, and the 2003 rescue of taxi driver Eliyahu Gorel, kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists and held near in a village north of Jerusalem.

It was reported this week that one of the few occasions that Moreno considered a personal defeat was shortly after he discovered where kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was being held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Emanuel prepared a plan for Shalit's rescue, presented it to the Chief of Staff and Prime Minister – and they turned it down. Their fear was that its price in soldiers' lives might be too high, but Moreno was sorely disappointed and frustrated at what he felt was a lack of leadership and courage.

Arutz-7's Shimon Cohen, who studied with Moreno in the pre-military academy in Eli, wrote this week:

"It's impossible not to dream what 'could' have been. If Emanuel's plan had been carried out and succeeded, like others that he led and initiated, we would not have had to release 1,027 terrorists in exchange for Gilad Shalit – including hundreds with blood on their hands, especially Oct. 7^th mastermind Yihye Sinwar. We can only imagine how Israeli history over the past 15 years would have looked had Sinwar and his cronies not been released then.

"It's true that the architects of anti-Israel terrorism knew how to pull its strings even from with prison wall, but there is certainly no comparison between a terrorist leader in prison and one who is free of constraints...

"Yes, there is great disappointment with our leaders of then, whose fears apparently cost us so much more than the price they were afraid to pay. But it is incumbent upon us to remember at the same time that our there is much that we do not know and probably never will know. How many massacres and mass terrorist attacks were prevented, with G-d's help, in the merit of the dedication and initiative of dedicated fighters such as Emanuel Moreno and others in elite units, air force squadrons, infantry, armored units, intelligence, and more! Our thanks to all."

Another Arutz-7 correspondent, Dvir Amar, reports that at a 20th memorial this week for Lt.-Col. Moreno - whose photograph is still censored for reasons that can only be surmised – a medic who attempted unsuccessfully to save Moreno's life told of his short but meaningful acquaintance with the hero:

"I was one of Emanuel's underlings at the time, a new, young combat soldier. But I well remember the sense of security and optimism that his presence conveyed to everyone there… Shortly before the incident in which he was killed, we were on our way back from a successful mission, and Moreno's happiness was clear to all. His emotions were felt by everyone. He was really in the clouds, just overjoyed at the results and at how our unit had worked together. And he remained that way up to the final seconds – because then we realized that something was going down. Emanuel was the first to realize it, and he abruptly and firmly said, 'Something is happening here.'"

In fact, on their way back from the secret mission to prevent the smuggling of Iranian and Syrian weapons to Hizbullah, they had fallen into a murderous Hizbullah ambush in southern Lebanon - even though a ceasefire had been declared shortly beforehand.

The former soldier said at this week's memorial, "I was a medic, and after Emanuel was hit, I was the one who took him out of the jeep and started life-saving operations. But I soon saw that it was too late… I remember seeing his eyes still open, but realizing that he was no longer with us. I closed his eyes, and said, 'Dear brother, you're now in a place that's all good.'"

The soldier recounted that he has never told that story publicly before, because of its personal nature. "It took me 20 years to tell this… His final minutes left an amazing impression. The strength that he gave all of us, even then – that was truly Emanuel."

For more information on Emanuel Moreno, see https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/122213

From a collection of stories about Emanuel Moreno:
The Value of Five Seconds (from a letter to Emanuel's family)

I would like to share with you a conversation I had with Emanuel on Friday, just a few hours before we boarded the helicopter. I don't remember the exact words, but this is the gist of it. We sat and talked about different things that could happen to us, and what we would do in each case. This was just two weeks after the sad incident in which a helicopter was hit by a rocket and five soldiers were killed, and so there was a general vague apprehension regarding flying in helicopters over Lebanon.

Emanuel asked me, "So what would you do if, G-d forbid, our chopper is hit by a missile and you have five seconds left until it crashes?" I answered, "I don't know. I guess I would be very sad and scared, and I would close my eyes and wait for it to end as quickly and painlessly as possible." Emanuel thought for a moment and then said, "What I would do, and this is what you should do too, is to say 'Shma Yisrael.'" I looked at him and said, "OK, you'll say Shma Yisrael. But what will it give you? No matter what, a second later, the crash will come and we'll all die."

And then he answered me something that has remained with me until now, and I'm convinced it will remain with me all my life: "If a person has five seconds left to live, and those seconds still have significance for him and aspiration for what comes afterwards, that means that his whole life had meaning. But if the person has five seconds left and he doesn't realize their importance, then apparently his whole life had no meaning. For we don't live just to satisfy our desires, or just for momentary pleasures; our lives are rather a step on the way to the next stage."

This sentence has been with me from the moment of the terrible incident, and it helps me, in that I know that as far as Emanuel was concerned, his life did not end with that terrible wound that killed him. Rather, just one stage ended on the way to the next stage, one that is even more important than this one - a stage that can be reached only by living this life. I am not a religious person, but I believe that Emanuel's strong faith helped him get through all the difficult times of his life calmly and serenely - and especially from the time he was hit until he died. For me, this is something very strengthening.