Divine Calculus

We had so many questions when Trump was not re-elected as the most supportive president Israel ever had in the White House. Within 100 days, the Iran talks were put back on track and Palestinian funding was restored.  What kind of Divine plan could this possibly fit??

I think we found out last week, with another big question. Why didn’t Hezbollah open a northern front with its over 100,000 missiles, especially last Wednesday when domestic rioting seemed to stretch Israel’s resources to the limit?

The answer: Biden’s election.

As last week’s missile war was getting started, the fourth session of Iran talks began in Vienna. With their economy beyond bankrupt, the ayatollahs are desperate to get Trump’s crippling sanctions lifted. Any aggression by its Hezbollah proxies over the Lebanon border would have almost certainly torpedoed the talks. Had Trump been re-elected, the mullahs would by now have had nothing to lose.

This foresight and forward planning has happened so often in our history, just as G-d told Moses, in Exodus, 33:23, “You will see Me pass before you but you will not see My face, only the back of Me.”. In other words, you may not see Me at the time, but you will know that I was there. 

Days before the Hamas blitzkrieg began, Israeli politicians were actually on the verge of forming a government coalition that would have depended on the support of Arab lawmakers opposed to the State and who’ve openly sided with terrorist groups that seek our destruction. That plan evaporated with the first 500 missiles.

Time and again it seems that the Almighty has saved Israel from the folly of its leaders. In 2008 Prime Minister Olmert was ready to give up the Golan Heights for a peace agreement with Syria. By the grace of G-d that didn’t happen. Less than 5 years later, Syria became an Iranian military base. Just imagine Iran’s Quds Force in control of the Golan – and the Jews holding a worthless piece of Chamberlain paper signed by a neutered Assad?

The game of existential chess is played out on this earth, but the Grandmaster sits in heaven. 

May He continue to protect His people and our soldiers from all trouble and sorrow, and deliver us full victory over our mortal enemies.

Chag Shavuot Sameyach. 

Am Yisrael Chai ! 

Gaza is is not a city or a country ...

As we retire safely to our beds in London, Paris and New York, our brothers and sisters in Israel will have no sleep this night. 

Some will be in bomb shelters, others will be kept awake by the sound of sirens. Most will be glued to their TVs and phones. And, many parents will be packing up their sons and daughters called up by the army for deployment to the front.

Tomorrow the media will be all over the story, with the usual bias against Jews for daring to defend themselves. They will point to this or that incident which sparked the latest round of fighting - but the consensus will always be the same: "it all started when Israel retaliated".

The truth is that Gaza is is not a city or a country.
It is simply an Iranian rocket base, filled with human shields.
And make no mistake about who is fanning the flames here, in total disregard for civilian life on either side. 
It is the rabid ayatollahs in Tehran.
And right now they are desperate, wounded animals.

Trump's sanctions have all but crippled their precious Islamic Republic. Its currency is in free-fall, its cities are crippled with power cuts for large parts of the day and its citizens are without basic food and medical essentials for lack of hard currency which is being burned unceasingly as rocket propellant in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon.

Their way of getting back at the Great Satan is to unleash, through their Hamas proxies, fire and fury at Little Satan, and Israel is once again having to pay a heavy price.

There is no doubt that this amount of damage and ferocity has crossed a red line with Israel's leadership, and this time there will be no retaliation against soft targets. The vipers' nest will now have to be cleared out once and for all. The Hamas leadership must be sent to their virgins like Sheikh Ahmed Yassin - in scorched bits.

And this time, thank G-d, there will be no calls from Bush and Obama to show restraint and withdraw.

Barak must go ...

It's hard to believe that Ehud Barak was the most highly decorated soldier in the IDF.  It's also hard to believe that he is Israel's defence minister.

A soldier's job is to arm himself, identify enemies and destroy them.

In the flotilla incident, Barak armed our soldiers with paintball guns and now wants to apologise for their acting in self-defence.  For Mr Barak, the Islamic leadership in Turkey, with its unremitting incitement against Israel, is no enemy

A defence minister's job is to protect and defend the citizens.

The south of Israel has been under missile attack for over a week. It goes on even as I write these lines.

The defence ministry has been closely monitoring the many thousands of missile deliveries to Lebanon and Gaza. What was the last figure I heard? Maybe fifty thousand rockets split between Hamas and Hezbullah? The prime minister has been using this information for at least 5 years in briefings to Western leaders.

So would someone please explain to me why years later, the IDF is still waiting for its 3rd battery of Iron Dome interceptors to be deployed "in the next 2 months".  And that 3 more (just three!) will be deployed in 2012.  This information was announced - or leaked - 4 days ago.

Yesterday the business journal Globes reported that Rafael Industries, are "doubling their capacity" of Iron Dome production.

What planet must Ehud Barak be on?

Is he so busy playing foreign minister to do his prime job?

Is he still in paintgun mode?

Israel's two Iron Dome batteries have successfully intercepted 90 percent of incoming rockets. It is a locally produced item - not something that we needed Obama's permission to ship, or was embargoed by the European Union. 

So why did Barak not order full scale production 2 years - or even 1 year ago?

Is Israel short of funds to pay a local company and thereby create hundreds more jobs?

Why did Barak wait until 1 million Israelis were sleeping in bomb shelters before ordering more Iron Domes?

And why is Rafael just doubling production?
This is war for heaven's sake.  Production needs surely to be increased tenfold!

The specter of two Iron Dome batteries being frantically towed from Beersheva to Ashkelon and back with each attack would be Keystone-comical if not for its clear message of Barak's utter betrayal of Israeli citizens.

Barak may once have been Netanyahu's commanding officer, and Bibi may still think that the sun shines out of Barak's backside.  But for Israelis facing another night - and possibly a whole shabbat - in the shelters, enough is enough.

Barak must go.

Strategic Affairs minister Gen. Moshe Yaalon, a former IDF Chief of Staff, is well able to step into the breach ... and without apologies to anyone.

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A Kippa for our times

Secularists in Israel have been nervous about Netanyahu's recent appointment of two kippa-wearers to high office. General Yaakov Amidror as National Security Advisor and Yoram Cohen as head of Shin Bet security service.

Occasionally it happens that a kippa-wearer performs better than others.

But secular gripes about religious appointments have been overshadowed by other news in Israel.

Such as the stunning success of the IDF's new anti-missile system: Iron Dome

See it in action here .

Not many people know that the Hebrew name for this amazing kit is Kippat Habarzel ... the Iron Kippa.

Like I said.

Sometimes a kippa-wearer performs better than others.

It's also nice to know that almost half of the officers in the Israel Defense Forces also wear kippas.

Perhaps that makes them more focused on what our people are actually fighting for.

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