A Challenging Weekend in Israel  

It has been a tough weekend for Israel and it appears that things are getting hotter in the region and not coooler.

Friday morning saw an attack on Tel Aviv by a drone dispatched by the Houthis in Yemen which hit a building near the US Consulate, killed one citizern and injured ten others.  The drone was detected by the IDF but not acted upon as it appeared to be civilian in nature.  Yet another error in our air defense network that should never have been allowed to happen.

That drone was the latest in a series of over 200 airborne explosive devices launched against Israel by Yemen since October 7^th, all in support of Hamas in Gaza and, of course, funded by the Iranians.  Given the loss of an Israeli life, Israel retaliated on Saturday night by attacking fuel tanks in the Yemeni port of Hodeidah and other strategic targets wirh a clear message that the blood of Israeli citizens has a price.   Israel Air Foce fighter planes made the 4,000 km (2,500 mi) round trip without incident, completed its mission,  and retruned home safely.  The Houthis have thretened to counter-retaliate which may now have set up yet another tit-for-tat front between the two countries, mirroring our situation with Hezballah in Lebanon.

The real question everyone should be asking, of course, is why the US, UK, France and even China have not dealt with this more aggresively over these last 9 months as their ships have been attacked regularly by Houthi missiles?  Remember the Bab-Al-Mandab Strait at the entrance to the Red Sea, which Yemen abuts, is a route traversed by 40% of the world’s commerce.

In our case, we had no choice but to retaliate, yet one wonders why the rest of the world is restraining itself to just occasional air sorties?  Restraint never works in these situations as we have seen in Ukraine as well.

In addition to the situation with Yemen, on Friday the International Court of Justice at the Hague finally issued their opinion on the illegality of Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria, which the world refers to as the West Bank.

Their official statement reads….“The court reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the régime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law….(and Israel is) obliged to bring an end to its presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible.”

We, of course, reject that opinion as we are indigenous people here having lived in this land for 3,500 years.  Prime Minister Netanyahu responded with a direct condemnation of the ruling stating: “The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land, including in our eternal capital Jerusalem nor in Judea and Samaria, our historical homeland.  No absurd opinion in The Hague can deny this historical truth or the legal right of Israelis to live in their own communities in our ancestral home.”

One can only conclude that this is yet another step by an agency of the UN to be complicit in the attempt by some nations of the world to negate the very legitimacy of Israel’s existence and the desire to see the Jewish people eradicated.  No other country in the world today is under this kind of prejudicial treatment.

Finally, the pressure on the government here to conclude a deal for the release of the remaining hostages being held by Hamas continues to grow.   A massive demonstration was held in Tel Aviv on Saturday night urging the Prime Minister not to travel to the US to speak to the Congress until after the deal is concluded.  The protesters point out, with good reason, that time is running out for the hostages and while many are presumed dead, may of the 120 captives are alive, but each day decreases their chances to survive.  This is, of course, yet another example of a world being silent about a problem, this time failing to push Hamas to release the hostages, in accordance with international law.

Tomorrow night, the 17^th of the Hebrew month of Tammus, we begin the observance of the Three Weeks, an annual mourning period that memorializes the destruction of the Temple and the beginning of the Jewish diaspora.   The 17^th is a fast day that marks the day when the walls of Jerusalem were breached by the Romans in 69 CE. The three weeks end with the fast of the 9^th of the month of Av, the date when both the 1^st and 2^nd Temples were set aflame. This is the saddest day of the Jewish calendar, and it is also the date that many other tragedies befell our people throughout history as well.

It has been the dream of our people for 2,000 years to return to Israel and today, half of world Jewy does indeed live here.  Let us hope that this year’s observance of the Three Weeks will be the last, that our enemies will be vanquished and that peace will come to this land as the good Lord so intended.