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."

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.

Just the Facts, Please: Misreporting Does Injustice to Palestinian Terror Victim and the Entire Settler Population

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

A grave murder that happened three days ago has barely been reported – in Israel, and certainly around the world – thus spotlighting another aspect of the great myth of what is known as "settler violence"

Shmuel Sherman, an 18-year-old Land of Israel pioneer, was brutally murdered by Palestinian Arabs this past Saturday. His brother Daniel, 20, was significantly injured in the event, when an Arab pick-up rammed their jeep, which flipped over and down the mountainside.

The two brothers were driving a patrol jeep on a dirt road encircling the fledgling outpost of Shuva Yisrael, east of Homesh. At one point, Daniel, the driver, said he saw an Arab-driven pick-up, "and the driver identified me from below. He waited for me on the side of the road, and then when I passed him, he made a U-turn and began to speed up towards me - and then as soon as there was a curve with a cliff, he purposely banged me from behind and sent me careening off the cliff."

Possibly, though not exclusively, because of the Iranian bombs that injured dozens of Israelis in both Dimona and Arad just a few hours later, the murder was relegated to the less-important slots in the news sites and broadcasts - until it practically disappeared altogether.

The youngster was engaged in the holy work of protecting Jewish national lands when he was maliciously felled in the line of duty. A friend of his said, "Yehuda was a full-fledged soldier without a uniform. Without ranks on his shoulders, he assumed the responsibility of a top officer. He patrolled the area every day in order to guarantee that these expanses remain in Jewish hands. He understood that Israel's security begins here, in these open areas in which our grasp is still much too sparse."

The Zionist Response

Without the presence of Shuva Yisrael, the newly-rebuilt Homesh, with its ten families, would be a lone enclave surrounded on all sides by Arab villages. Seventy families originally lived there, before Ariel Sharon's unilateral withdrawal (Disengagement) in 2005. On the night of the murder, Sherman's friends established three new Jewish outposts in the vicinity, as a "Zionist response" to the murder. They immediately began a fund-raising campaign for the purpose – "to deepen our roots precisely where the enemy sought to uproot them," the organizers say, "and to solve the problem of the sparse Israeli presence in these open areas."

Another reason why the story has largely been overlooked is likely because it contra-indicates the running narrative of Jewish settler violence – although, in fact, the Palestinian violence against Israelis in these areas is many times higher. In addition, though statistics purporting to show intense Jewish violence are widely circulated, the actual number of such events, many of which are in self-defense, is a fraction of the reported numbers.

Opposing the Blood-Libel

Well-known mainstream Israeli reporter Kalman Liebskind has written an authoritative Hebrew article, entitled, "The Blood Libel of 'Settler Violence' - Time to Let the Facts Speak." The article begins:

"A study by Regavim [the leading movement dedicated to the protection of Israel’s national lands and resources, acting to prevent illegal seizure of state land] crushes to pieces the data presented by the United Nations and left-wing organizations…"

Some of the findings of the Regavim report:

** Among the U.N.-reported 8,332 incidents of violence "involving Jewish settlers" against Arabs between 2016 and 2023, only about 10% can reliably be considered in any way unprovoked Jewish violence. A full 1,361 of them were nothing more than Jewish visits to the Temple Mount or clashes there between Israeli policemen and Arabs who rioted there.

** Among the incidents reported was a protest by "right-wing extremists outside the Tel Aviv home of the Justice Minister [in which] one activist was arrested for insulting a policeman."

** Others were physical altercations in which the only injury was to a Jewish man. This one, like many other similar events, was recorded as "Jewish violence" and not Arab violence. Why? That's one way of phrasing the question – but another way is, "Why not?"

** Similarly, dozens of cases involved Arab attacks against Jews, including security guards, who responded in self-defense and wounded or even killed their attackers. These, too, were puzzlingly recorded as "Jewish violence" and not Arab violence.

** Over 1,700 incidents were listed as "Jewish entry" to areas claimed to be Arab-populated in the framework of hikes, patrols, or placing of infrastructures and the like, with no violence or damage.

** In short, only 833 actual reports of Jewish violence were registered, over a 15-year period. Not that these are acceptable, but they certainly do not indicate that the half-million-strong Jewish population of Jews deserve the be labeled "violent," as is widely-accepted around the world.

For the sake of the Jewish people in the State of Israel, the Regavim report must be widely circulated. See www.regavim.org.

In addition, these articles provide more information:

https://www.jns.org/opinion/oshy-ellman/the-settler-violence-lie by Oshy Ellman.

and https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/387204/some-settlers-are-violent-but-charging-settler-violence-demonizes-israel/.

Nearly Framed: Arabs Kidnap Woman – and Accuse Jews

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

With one Jew already sitting in prison for a life term for a political crime that all the evidence shows he did not commit, the Palestinian enemy nearly succeeded last week in framing yet several other Jews in a similar way. 

With the outrageous story of Amiram Ben-Uliel in the background – details to be provided below – News 14 Correspondent Eliyah Aviv reports that Arabs from the Jericho area sought to have residents of a nearby Jewish farm accused of kidnapping an Arab woman. 

Specifically, one morning two weeks ago, at 6 AM, a call was received at the police hotline that went like this:  

Man with heavy Arabic accent: "They came into the house, burnt the house, and took the woman… They're religious… They live up above, near the Bedouin… I want you to send the army there very quickly, before they kill the girl... They saw them dragging her and running away. They [the Jews] yelled at them, threw them out, and burned the house."

Dispatcher: "Jews took her?"

Arab:  "Yes, yes, that's what I'm telling you. Who else, Arabs?"

As it turned out, yes, it was Arabs who took her. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The speaker is a resident of Aqabat Jaber, southeast of Jericho, reporting that residents of the Hanan Farm kidnapped his sister and burned down his house. It happens to be that only one family, an idealistic young couple and their children, plus a few volunteer youths, live in the Hanan Farm. 

Of course this call to the police brought the entire region's security apparatus to its feet, fearing a kidnapping as well as vengeance attacks against the Jewish farm. After questioning the suspects and the accuser, the police determined that the kidnapping was carried out by none other than a relative of the accuser, as part of an extended family feud. The woman in question was found in a house in Jericho. 

Reporter Aviv concluded, "This grave incident shows that the enemy in Judea and Samaria will do everything and anything to harm the new enterprise of Jewish farms in the area."

As cited here a number of months ago, "One of the most welcome items on the list of Israel's gains from the war in Gaza is most definitely the unprecedented upswing in settlement construction in Judea and Samaria (Yesha) over the past two years… The army truly understands the role of the new farms and hilltops as a forward defensive shield for the rest of the Jews in Yesha." 

In addition, the farms preserve many thousands of acres of the Land of Israel for the Jewish People; where Jews farm and graze sheep, Arabs do not come to graze – or to throw rocks at passing Jewish motorists. 

But let us return to the name Amiram Ben-Uliel mentioned above. He is a young Israeli husband and father serving three life sentences in jail – including years of solitary confinement – for a murder he confessed to only after being severely tortured. He has maintained his innocence for years, and is joined by many others who say he was framed to cover up a feud between two families in the Arab village. No fewer than ten homes in the village were reportedly set ablaze in a similar manner over the course of several months as part of the internal strife.

The case in which Ben-Uliel was accused happened over a decade ago, on July 31, 2015, in the Arab village of Duma, some five miles east of Shilo in Samaria/Shomron. Two homes were firebombed in the middle of the night; one was empty at the time, but the Dewabshe family was present in the second home. A baby died in the fire, the father and mother died later of their injuries, and a four-year-old boy was severely hurt.

Shortly afterwards, Ben-Uliel was arrested and charged with the three deaths. After a long and controversial trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to three life sentences. The verdict was handed down based on the man's confession and his reenactment, which followed severe torturous interrogations and which he later recanted. 

Critical to note: No other supporting evidence was found against Ben-Uliel, and in fact, much eyewitness testimony of what happened that night actually negates the reenactment. 

Many in Israel therefore see this case as a travesty of injustice, and a public campaign for a new trial has been initiated.

A review of the details of the case can be read here.

A detailed call for Ben-Uliel's pardon or commutation of his sentence by Prof. Yoel Elitzur can be read here.

In light of what has happened with Amiram Ben-Uliel, the news that opened this article cannot be ignored.

Threading the Needle: How Will Israel React to Trump's Dangerous – Treacherous? – F-35's/Saudi Plan?

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

The decision by U.S. President Donald Trump – the most unpredictable American president Israel has ever had to deal with, to put it mildly – to sell an unspecified number of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia has many in Israel's defense network quite nervous about what this will mean for the future balance of power in the Middle East.

The IDF General Command submitted to the government an official Israel Air Force memorandum warning in detail how the sale would impair Israel's air superiority.

President Trump and his family have well over $60 billion in potential business deals with the Saudis, according to a New York Times report today (Nov. 19). Coincidentally, or not, just minutes after Trump announced his plans to sell the planes to the Saudi kingdom, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in Washington and was hosted in grand fashion in the White House. This, despite significant intelligence – based on a CIA report – that the Crown prince approved, and was probably involved in the planning of, the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Among the Trump deals being negotiated in the kingdom: a Trump-branded property to Diriyah, one of Saudi Arabia’s largest government-owned real estate developments, to the tune of $63 billion; a $1 billion “Trump Plaza” development in Jeddah; and two projects in Riyadh. The Times also reports that a firm of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and his part-time Middle East envoy, is involved in talks with a Saudi sovereign fund to "take the video game publisher Electronic Arts private… a deal valued at around $55 billion."

But despite the stench of conflicts-of-interest emitted by the above, what's more critical is whether, and to what extent, this development presents an existential danger for Israel.

The Israel Air Force memo emphasizes that Saudi acquisition of the jets would compromise the operational exclusivity of Israel's F-35's, for which Israel received special US permission to integrate its own avionics, software, and weapons. The F-35 is much more than a fighter jet; it is totally unique in that it is also a stealthy, nearly radar-evasive intelligence platform. Its advantages and deterrence abilities depend on its exclusivity, which would be compromised at best if Saudi Arabia comes into possession of similar aircraft.

Many in the U.S. defense establishment are also worried about the deal. They have warned that close Saudi ties with powers such as China and Russia increase the possibility that sensitive avionics or related data could find their way into enemy hands.

Another concern – although this could work to Israel's advantage – is that Israel's QME (Qualitative Military Edge) must be maintained, according to United States law. Specifically, the Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2014, and related provisions in the Foreign Assistance Act, originally passed in 1961, mandate that Israel must maintain a QME over potential regional adversaries. American law also states that arms transfers to Middle Eastern countries may not undermine Israel’s ability to defend itself. Whether the sale in question reduces Israel's QME will be determined by the individual members of Congress, whoever, they may be, when the sale is ratified, or rejected, by the required Congressional vote.

Today's situation is somewhat reminiscent of a controversy in the early 1980's, when the Reagan administration pushed to sell five E-3 AWACS early-warning aircraft to Saudi Arabia. Israel and many in Congress feared it would tip the regional balance and endanger Israeli security, and an intense lobbying and public opinion battle ensued – which Israel lost. The Senate narrowly approved the deal in October 1981, and the AWACS aircraft were delivered to Saudi Arabia several years later – after Israel received enhanced U.S. military aid and technology as compensation.

Similarly, in 2020, the first Trump administration moved toward selling F-35s to the United Arab Emirates, leading to another major diplomatic struggle. The deal ultimately did not go through.

The current deal, as well, may have a silver lining, in that it might force the U.S. to make other major concessions to Israel in related or other areas. In addition, the sale might not be approved by Congress. A future President, as well, can also halt the sale.

Political commentator Barak Ravid was quick to write an article today, seeking to allay Israeli fears about the sale of the F-35's to the Saudis. Whether he was successful is given to debate. He wrote that it will take at least six years before the first plane will land in Saudi Arabia, that there will be "not a few" restrictions on the Saudis' use of the planes, and the Americans will retain "not a little" control over them.

Hopefully, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel's diplomatic and PR teams will be sufficiently resolute and creative to find the golden path between ensuring Israel's security in the face of future threats and remaining on good terms with Mr. Trump.

Will the Government Fall This Week Because of the Threat to Draft Hareidim?

by Hillel Fendel, editor, author and translator.

With all the various crises of varying degrees of importance taking place in the world today –Russia/Ukraine, riots in LA, Israel's naval attack on Yemen, even Trump/Musk – there is one that is liable to have critically negative effects on the future of the State of Israel, militarily, sociologically, and religiously. I am referring to the threats by the hareidi parties to either quit the government coalition headed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, or to bring about the dissolution of the Knesset – and thus, either way, bring about new elections.

The issue for them is the ongoing steps being taken by the courts and the IDF towards a wholescale draft of every last yeshiva student. The hareidi parties therefore demand clear legislation that will regulate how many actually have to be drafted and what sanctions – the lighter, the better – will be emplaced upon those who refuse. If a formulation is not found by this week, they say, they will either quit the coalition, or vote no-confidence in the government. Both, as stated, will lead to the same tragic result.

Whether the government falls via the first route, which would be quicker and more abrupt, or by the second, which could take weeks if not months, the cataclysmic effects could be very similar: Total government paralysis, meaning an end to the war in Gaza with our arch-enemy Hamas still in power and the hostages still under its torturous control, and an ensuing election victory for the center-left. [The only major arena which might not be affected, ironically, might be the Iranian; as Minister Amichai Eliyahu said today, "An attack in Iran is closer than new elections."]

Even if in the short term the new government comes towards the hareidim in terms of the draft, it will most certainly have an anti-religious and anti-nationalist bent, seeking to render the State of Israel just another modern, non-traditional, secular country.

Given the determination of the hareidi parties to bring down the government unless their basic position is accepted – or unless they wake up to their responsibility towards the entire country beyond the undeniable importance of their Torah study – the keys appear to be in the hands of Knesset Defense Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein of the Likud. He is essentially on the side of those who favor coercive measures to draft hareidim, and so far has insisted on severe sanctions for those who do not answer the call.

Another major issue of contention is whether a quota of Torah scholars will be required to enlist, or rather just a percentage of all the draft-age hareidim in general. The hareidi parties demand the latter, of course, and Edelstein has reportedly already agreed. However, at the same time, the Attorney-General's office has already intimated that it would consider such an agreement to be unlawful.

The longed-for compromise will be achieved only if both of the battling coalition partners – the Likud, currently represented by Edelstein, and the hareidim – realize the magnitude of what is at stake, and show both responsibility and flexibility. Assuming that Edelstein has done so with the above quota compromise, the hareidim would do well to find the way to agree among themselves – this is not guaranteed… – how those who are not studying Torah would be drafted.

As Besheva editor Emanuel Shilo has written, "The hareidim must show good will and readiness to share the security burden, at least in terms of the young men who are not really studying Torah with great zeal, of which there are thousands. The army would be smart to establish appropriate frameworks for their military service, which would even strengthen their hareidi identity." Others say that such frameworks already exist, such as the Netzach Yehuda units – which include two years of active service and then a year of professional or matriculation studies.

And where does the religious-Zionist public - whose sons have borne the brunt of the casualties, proportionately, in the current war - fit in? Voices have been heard on both sides, from those who wish to support Torah study in the State of Israel, to those who wish to see the hareidi public be drafted just as other Israelis. Again, to quote Shilo:

"The religious-Zionist must correctly formulate its priorities. There are those who are acting with political motivations and are interested in toppling the government above all. But those who truly wish to see justice done and have the military burden shared more equally must ask themselves if that goal is more important than actual military victory – which would basically be unachievable if the Knesset is dissolved and new elections are called. After having paid so many heavy prices during this war, we must realize that ending the war with Hamas still standing will be many times worse than having some more patience with the hareidi public as it figures out and becomes accustomed to its place in sharing in the war effort."

With the final deadline apparently arriving this Wednesday, Besheva and Kan 11 columnist Zev Kam writes that we essentially gained a week, due to the sleepiness of the opposition in the Knesset:

"If the opposition had been on the ball last week, it would have succeeded already then in passing a preliminary reading of the bill to dissolve the Knesset. Coalition chairman MK Ophir Katz (Likud) was walking around the Knesset last Tuesday with one fear: that the opposition would suddenly bring up for a vote one of its proposals of no-confidence in the government. For if so, it would have passed. This is because the hareidim had already agreed among themselves not to vote against it, and some of them would even have voted in favor. But the opposition had no clue that the hareidim had reached that point – and when it finally found out, it was too late."

[Keep in mind that no-confidence motions can only be proposed on Wednesdays, and they must have been tabled the previous Tuesday afternoon.]

We can only hope that by the time these words are read, an agreed-upon solution has been found, and Israel can continue to battle its many external enemies without bickering within.

Ketzaleh: Beleaguered Hilltop Pioneers Deserve Israel Prize

 by Hillel Fendel, editor, author and translator.

The contrast is acute: While the newest generation of hilltop "settlers" has gained a bad name because of media reports of alleged violence against Bedouin shepherds, they are in fact saving the Land of Israel for the State of Israel.

Not only do recent reports by left-leaning media outlets omit the Arab violence of which the young Jewish pioneers have been the victims, but they do not showcase the tremendous contribution they are making on behalf of the Jewish People's hold on vast areas of our Biblical homeland and strategic security expanses of Judea and Samaria.

A long article in Haaretz last week, for instance, makes essentially one point: Extremist Jewish settlers are harassing Bedouin farmers, sometimes violently, and the latter are either forced to leave their homes, or have no place to leave to. In fact, however, these tear-jerking stories are the tiny exception to the rule – which is that Jewish pioneers are frequently violently attacked, and then are often arrested to boot.

A year ago, 14-year-old Binyamin Achimeir was found murdered after taking a flock of sheep out to graze from Malachei HaShalom, an outpost in the Binyamin region. PM Netanyahu called Achimeir's death a "heinous murder."

But let us focus on the positive. Elisha Yered, 25, formerly of Disengagement-destroyed Sa-Nur and now of Ramat Migron between Beit El and Psagot, explained the concept of the new farms and hilltops:

"Simply speaking, we're saving the Land of Israel for the Jewish People. Even those who don't buy into the Divine promise of the Land and the like, certainly comprehend that, security-wise and politically speaking, we have a very simple axiom: It's either them – the Arabs – or us."

"If we allow them to build here and spread out over the plains and mountains, a Palestinian state can actually be established here – and then the cities and towns in next-door Israel will be directly endangered, just as we saw in Gaza a year and a half ago."

Yered notes with enthusiasm that "there are many large areas throughout Samaria, and elsewhere, that have been illegally commandeered by Arabs, or are in danger of being so taken over. What we do is locate a hilltop, send a family or some youths, or both, to live there, with a flock of sheep or the like – and thus we can control thousands of dunams [quarter-acres] at a time. This prevents Bedouins and other Arabs from taking over this land. Little by little, the outpost becomes a 'young neighborhood,'" and can be on its way, even if it takes years, to becoming a full-fledged community."

There has been great success over the past two years. Traveling along the north-south Alon Highway, east of the Judean/Shomron Mountains, one can see, with sharp eyes, the major change that has come over the area. No fewer than 30 new young farms and hilltops form Jewish territorial contiguity all the way from Shaar Binyamin (on the well-traveled Route 60 between Beit El and Jerusalem), to the northern Jordan Valley.

This has been the below-the-radar Jewish response to the PA's Fayad Plan to isolate Jewish communities in Yesha by surrounding them with Arab farms and structures. In total, some 290,000 new dunams are in Jewish hands.

I mention to Yered that there is a truly huge area outside the new Jewish hilltop named A'ira Shachar [I Will Awaken the Dawn] that appears to be empty of Bedouin. Yered laughs: "Hah! Now there are over 20 families in A'ira Shachar, but when I got there about eight years ago, we went through tough times with the Bedouin there. They used to come up and attack us, while we grazed our sheep in the expanse and caused them, little by little, to leave. That's why it looks like the whole area is empty!"

Another of the new outposts is Sdei Yonatan, not far from Maaleh Michmash, overlooking and safeguarding the all-important intersection of Route 60 and the Alon Highway. It was started by Oz Yehuda Rom when he was single, and he now lives there with his new wife, Tamar. "When we first came," he told the Srugim website, "there were two Arab encampments [whose residents] used to cross Route 60 on a regular basis – and they even attacked a few Jewish youths. Ever since we’re here, they realize that something has changed."

But he emphasizes: "Even if the Arabs leave, we’re staying to settle the area. It's not just a question of security. We want this area to be farmed by Jews even 200 years from now."

Oz Yehuda said that the Israeli authorities were very rough on them, "destroying what we built here and taking our stuff" no fewer than 12 times in the course of 18 months. The situation has improved somewhat, and Arabs have largely stopped attacking them with gunfire and the like - but it's still not simple: "What motivates us is the desire to settle our Land; if we don't do it, no one else will. We're here for the same reason that motivated all the generations of Jewish settlers in the Land of Israel."

Articles like the above-mentioned Haaretz piece do not report, for instance, that late last month a Jewish shepherd was grazing his sheep in the Gush Etzion area when he was attacked by Arabs with clubs and was taken to the hospital. The attackers were six Arabs from the illegal encampment Um Shabin in eastern Gush Etzion. Many other similar attacks also go largely unreported.

The Israel Prize, No Less

Yaakov Ketzaleh Katz, Chairman of the Board of Bet El Institution, who himself has taken a foremost role in helping to found Beit El and building up Judea and Samaria, specifically when he served as Deputy to the Housing Minister in the early 90's, says simply: "I love the new hilltop settlers, they are our true heroes."

He said that there are no fewer than 82 new farms and hilltops in Judea and Samaria, "all because of their fearless dedication to live there with their families, and of course with their flocks of sheep. This grants our security forces control over huge expanses of land. Even the IDF now recognizes their importance."

Ketzaleh adds: "While the anti-Semites of the European Union invest billions to encourage the Arabs to build illegally in these areas, even in Areas B [under Israeli security control] and C [Israeli civilian control], often leading to additional centers of terrorist activity – our young men and women on the hilltops are making every effort to thwart them, and are succeeding. Unlike in the past, when even our own public did not appreciate these brave pioneers, there is now a real understanding of the importance of their actions. Yesha leaders such as Yossi Dagan, Yisrael Ganz, and many other municipality heads are supporting them."

Bottom line, according to Ketzaleh: "These pioneers deserve to be awarded the Israel Prize [considered Israel's most significant cultural honor]."

The Deal with Lebanon is Disappointing, but Not Bad

by Hillel Fendel.

With varying degrees of praise for the deal, some observers had unrestrained praise for Netanyahu's strength in resisting international pressure for so long. 

"It's a tactical move, designed to serve our strategic and security interests." So summed up Cabinet Minister Orit Strook of the Religious Zionism party, referring to the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon/Hizbullah that went into effect this morning (Wednesday). This party's representative in the Security Cabinet, party leader Betzalel Smotrich, voted for the agreement, after it was reported that his proposals for extra-strict conditions be inserted.

Other observers were also measuredly optimistic. Though there are problems with the ceasefire, wrote Jonathan S. Tobin, editor-in-chief of Jewish News Syndicate, he added that this deal is "probably the best Israel can get under the circumstances… The Jewish state has not come away from the negotiations empty-handed but has achieved some real gains."

Minister Strook said that the American letter of assurance attached to the agreement guarantees that Israel can respond militarily to various expected Hizbullah infractions without being considered in violation of the ceasefire. 

She also noted that the agreement preserves our military achievements. It does not "return us to October `23, and not even to July `24 [when senior Hizbullah commander Fuad Shukr was killed by an Israeli airstrike] – but to the 'status quo' created this very month."

'Quiet for Quiet' is Out 

Strook also said: "No more are we following the 'quiet will be met with quiet' formula – because 'quiet' simply enables the terrorists to strengthen themselves. Our objective is not 'quiet,' but prevention of the rehabilitation of Hizbullah. And it is our sense that the IDF and all the security organs perceive the situation as we do, and are determined to enforce the agreement [and respond to violations] seriously and significantly." 

What she left unsaid, of course, was the tremendous American pressure brought to bear upon Israel by the outgoing Biden Administration. It has been widely reported that the Americans threatened not to veto anti-Israel resolutions in the UN Security Council, to apply sanctions, and to withdraw other support, if Israel did not agree to stop destroying Hizbullah terrorist infrastructures. 

Resisting the Pressures

The fact that this pressure was resisted for so long is attributed by many to one man: Prime Minister Netanyahu. Tobin, for instance, writes that the very significant setbacks dealt Hizbullah, Iran, and Hamas over the past year "were only made possible by the determination and the ability of one man to stand up to U.S. pressure to abandon the fight for Israel’s security many months ago. It’s difficult to imagine anyone other than Netanyahu could have stood his ground against Washington’s pleadings and threats, and have gone on to achieve an outcome that leaves Israel’s enemies far weaker than they were when the current conflict began almost 14 months ago."

Interestingly enough, even when the largely left-wing media in Israel, traditionally very anti-Netanyahu, offered up its automatic criticism of the prime minister for the deal, it seemed to trip over itself in seeking to find the problems. A negative article on the Walla site, for instance, harped at great length on the fact that Netanyahu's video speech explaining the deal to the Israeli public was edited and spliced together.

The Walla article, by one Nadav Menuhin, tried hard to keep track of whether it was more pro-ceasefire no matter what the cost, or more anti-Netanyahu. "More Israelis support the ceasefire than object to it," Menuhin wrote. "This is understandable, because the home-front is exhausted after more than a year of getting hit by rockets, deaths, and chaos… But whoever watched the news reports on the three main networks saw a different picture, in which the TV lined up totally with the deal's opponents, referring to Israel's 'surrender' and 'abandonment of the northern residents'…  Even Netanyahu, who practically apologized for the ceasefire, at least explained why it was necessary."

In short, the media is either against the agreement because it was brought by Netanyahu, or else serves the ceasefire back-handed compliments while denigrating its "author," Binyamin Netanyahu. 

Israel's Achievements

We thus return to Tobin, who elaborated on Israel's achievements in this agreement and in the military campaigns leading up to it: "[The past] two months of Israeli attacks on Hizbullah have significantly degraded [the terrorists'] capacity to inflict harm on the region. That’s a defeat for Iran, which had hoped that the seven-front war on Israel it had incited could go on indefinitely, weakening the country and its citizens’ resolve. Instead, they [Hizbullah] are the ones who have been diminished by military setbacks and vast losses inflicted on a group whose main purpose is to serve as a deterrent to attacks on Iran…"

And regarding Netanyahu, Tobin writes that his "leadership has been indispensable." He adds that what Netanyahu "has done in the year since [Oct. 7th] is truly remarkable. Only someone with his steely determination and savvy understanding of the tricky dynamics of the U.S.-Israel relationship could have navigated the long months of war so skillfully. No possible successor in his own Likud Party or among his opponents in the Knesset could have stuck to his goals - and do so much harm to Hamas and Hizbullah in the face of the [American] desire to force Jerusalem to accept the continued rule of Hamas in Gaza and avoid direct conflict with Iran’s Lebanese auxiliaries."

Outsmarting Biden

Similarly, analyst Avi Abelow of "Pulse of Israel" stated that Netanyahu is actually outsmarting Biden with this deal. With Biden having withheld much-needed weapons from Israel's war against Islamic terrorism, Netanyahu now calms the waters in anticipation of the second Trump Administration. 

"While I totally oppose this ceasefire," Abelow said, "I totally understand Netanyahu's calculations. [He] is trying to avoid Biden's dangerous threats… and is buying time to rest IDF forces and refresh critical armaments… His approach appears to be one of 'survival' until Jan. 20th when Trump is inaugurated again."