Israel-Hamas War. Have We Reached A Turning Point?

Yesterday, there were a few developments that lead me to believe we may have reached a significant turning point in this war. To be sure, Israel is winning on the battlefield, and there is little doubt that they WILL ultimately prevail. They have the motivation, but more importantly, they have the spine. They will not be swayed from their objective, which is to destroy Hamas, by politics, diplomacy or public opinion.

However, heretofore, Israel had been losing the battle of public opinion, which is also crucial. We had been inundated with a steady stream of pro-Palestinian publicity, marches and demonstrations. The pro-Palestinians have been loud, provocative, violent and seemingly omnipresent. We have seen antisemitic rallies on college campuses. We have been treated to rants by the lunatics of the Squad and others. In my view, the news coverage has been biased against Israel as it normally is. Logic told us that most clear-thinking, objective people couldn’t possibly side with Hamas, but, for the most part, they have been silent. Where were they? When would they speak up?

But, yesterday, it all changed. Yesterday, the silent majority spoke up loudly and clearly. Yesterday, according to Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations CEO William Daroff and many media outlets we witnessed some 300,000 supporters stand up and support Israel and the Jewish people in Washington, DC. These were not radicals. They were ordinary people who had been fed up and wanted to show their support. There was a plethora of banners and flags. There were no chants; there was no violence. Just ordinary, normal people standing up for what’s right. Many of them were not even Jewish. These were people who were tired of being silent. 300,000! 100,00 were expected, and 300,000 came! Many hundreds of thousands more watched on TV, YouTube and various streaming services.

Just as impressive was the fact that politicians, such as, among others, GOPers Mike Johnson and Joni Ernst and Dems Van Jones, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, who rarely agree on anything, showed up and expressed solidarity and support of Israel. Of course, neither President Biden nor VP Kamela Harris, deigned to attend. This was disappointing, as it would have been an ideal time to show the Administration’s support, but not unexpected.

Equally significant was that yesterday the IDF finally gained entrance to al Shifa Hospital, and as many of us expected they found copious amounts of weapons inside and in tunnels under the hospital. That’s not all. They also captured hundreds, if not thousands, of fighting age males. We now have visual irrefutable evidence of what Israel has been claiming all along, that Hamas has been cowardly sheltering in tunnels underneath the hospital. Once again, the naysayers have been proven wrong. By the time you read this the IDF may even have found and rescued some or all of the hostages sequestered there.

The one downer is that Joe Biden has released the previously-frozen $10 billion of oil money due Iran. Inexplicable. It appears that everyone, except for him, seems to realize that the quickest way to end the war is to strangle Iran economically.

CONCLUSION

In summary, the Israel-Hamas War has taken a turn for the better both on the ground and in the arena of public opinion, although we still have a long struggle ahead. Hezbollah seems to be opening a second front in the north. Iran is still a threat. There remains the specter of Russia and China. Ultimately, I believe Israel will prevail both militarily and in the arena of public opinion. It simply must.

Unfortunately, antisemitism is still very much alive and well. It has always been there, and I fear it always will be.