4 שבועות עברו. התיישבתי בחצר במצב רוח של עצירה לחשיבה וסיכום… אבל יצא לי שיר. שיר שמנסה. כשעליתי אל המחשב להעתיק אותו… ראיתי את ה'סיכום' הזה. מכיוון שהכי חשוב שהמסר יגיע לחברים בחו"ל, אני נותנת אותו באנגלית. בסיכום שלי אני מגיעה שוב ושוב למסקנה שארצות העולם החפשי חייבות להתערב. שיש כאן פשעים נגד האנושות כמו האונס למשל, שהלגיטימציה שלהן להילחם בישראל היא שרש כל רע.
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Despite the feeling that I've heard and seen the worst of the atrocities, the hamas prove that there are always new lows that they can sink. The last account I heard – which I refused to believe at first is too horrible to put down in writing. But apparently, it was recorded by the terrorist's body cams and was screened in the 43 min compilation being shown only to media outlets and diplomats. That movie is the most horrible thing ever recorded by cameras in history. The reason it hasn't been released to the public is that the families of the victims haven't seen it and there is a limit to how much we can dig into their open wounds. However, it is said that when it was creened to the media, there wasn't a single dry eye in the room. Some people were physically sick and some had to leave the screening. All hardened was journalists.
On the war front we're being attacked from all sides. Israel today is not fighting one terrorist organization, but three or four. In the south-west, the IDF has brought the war to Hamas in Gaza. The advancement is difficult. We're paying with blood for it, but never before in the history of this state has there been a more justified war. Each brave soldier who lays down his life is protecting his country, his family and his comrades. We sit with our ears glued to the radio each time they release the names of more fallen soldiers. I have friends and family there, and scan the pictures and the names of all.
In the north, Hizballah continues to fire AT rockets at our outposts as well as shell the northern settlements. My city of Karmiel is a mear 30 minutes away from the border and while it hasn't been targeted (yet) towns and settlements which are only 15 minutes away have already been attacked. I suspect we're still trying to contain the fighting up there and Hezbollah are still playing a a game which has rules, which if followed will stay within those boundaries. However, this was the same thinking with Hamas before the 7th of October. Israel may choose to escalate it when the time is right, simply because Hamas and Hezbollah are cut from the same cloth and with the same Iranian butcher's knife and we have no illusions about what they would do to us given the opportunity. But as a people and a country we were were educated on the 7th of October and never again will we allow murderers to collect on our doorstep.
In Seria, Iran's Revolutionary Guard has been shelling and firing rockets. The one lucky thing about that theater is that Asad spent the last decade bringing the country to ruin and there is a limit to what they can do.
Far to the south, a new enemy emerges. The Houthis. Another Iranian proxy which has spent the last few years attacking Saudi Arabia. They have no border with us and no interest in this war accept to please their Iranian masters. Yet they have launched dozens of killer drones and recently – cruise missiles. When the war started, the US navy did us a real solid and took down over 30 of these attack drones. But they must have shifted their launch sites as they now seem to be bypassing the US fleet in the red sea and it's down to our airforce and ABM defenses to stop those deadly projectiles. Just to understand the threat – an average rocket from Gaza has a payload of about 10-60 kilo warhead. The cruise missiles being launched at us from Yemen are carrying 500 Kilo warheads. If they got through our defences the damage to the city of Eilat would be devastating. The hotels there are filled to the brim with refugees who fled the atrocities in south-central Israel on the 7th of October.
On the Jordanian border, which is where I'm serving things are tense. The Jordanian military has been supportive for decades, but considering that 70% of the Jordanian population is palestinian, they could be overwhelmed, or simply be unable to prevent lone terorrist, Iranian sleeper cells and Hamas terrorist squads who tunnled out of Gaza into the Sinai desert and crossed over the Red Sea from from slipping through their guard. This is not a possible outcome – but a probable one.
The last gut-punch comes from a theater which isn't even in the middle east. What we are seeing in western countries around the world. You've all seen the crowds chanting for our death. In my father's school in Buffalo – one attended by my cousins too, highschool kids were chanting "Kill the F*%&@n Jews". These children are not palestinians or even muslim. They couldn't find Israel on a map, yet they are tolerated to spew such hate speech in mass. Can you imagine if US highschool children chanted "Kill the blacks?"
Growing up in Israel – anti semitism seemed to be almost a myth. Something which happened before we had a country and an army. Yet here it is in full swing. People who enjoy the wonders of western civilization and technology (many invented by Jews and Israelis) actively calling for our people's violent death. It brings the origin story of the holocaust to life. I've always thought that the the western world stood united in its promise of – "Never again". But when the UN General Secretary justifies child torture, rape and butchery of innocent civilians by shifting the blame to the Jews (i.e – "The events of October 7th didn't originate in a vacuum", the clear picture of what the enlightened world would do if Israel fell and our people were once again massacred is clear. They would do nothing. It's a sickening feeling. And to quote MLK – "When the dust settles, we will not remember the shouts of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
This war is existential for Israel. For jews everywhere and for humanity.
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פִּתְאוֹם אֲנִי תּוֹפֶשֶׂת
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אֲנִי חַיָּה בַּמְּדִינָה הַיְּחִידָה בָּעוֹלָם
שֶׁיֵּשׁ אִיּוּם עַל קִיּוּמָהּ
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אֲנִי יוֹדַעַת שֶׁהֵם חוֹפְרִים מִתַּחַת לַאֲדָמָה כְּדֵי לְהַגִּיעַ אֵלַי
אֲבָל אֲנִי מַמְשִׁיכָה עִם הַחַסּוֹת.
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אֲנִי יוֹדַעַת שֶׁהֵם מְכִינִים מַשֶּׁהוּ רַע
אֲבָל אֲנִי מַאֲמִינָה בַּטּוֹב.
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כֵּן, אֲנִי בַּת הָאֻמָּה הַיְּחִידָה בָּעוֹלָם שֶׁהוּמְתָה
וְשֶׁבָּהּ וְחֲיְיתָה
וְחִדְּשָׁה אֶת שְׂפָתָהּ — הָעִבְרִית!
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אֲנִי חַיָּה בַּמְּדִינָה הַיְּהוּדִית!
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אֲנִי חַיָּה בַּמְּדִינָה, הַנִּסִּית, הַיּוֹצֶרֶת סִפְרוּת וּמַדָּע וּמוּסִיקָה…
הַרְבֵּה מוּסִיקָה
לְהַחְרִישׁ אֶת קוֹלוֹת הַהַכְרָזָה שֶׁל פְּרָס עַל רֹאשָׁה!
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כֵּן, יֵשׁ פָּרַס עַל רֹאשִׁי!
לַהֲרֹג אוֹתִי, אוֹתְךָ, אוֹתָנוּ, אֶת הָהֵם…
הוּא מִקְצוֹעַ מִשְׁתַּלֵּם
אֲפִלּוּ קָדוֹשׁ;
כָּךְ וְכָךְ אֲלָפִים לְרֹאשׁ!
וּוִילָה וּפַרְנָסָה לַמִּשְׁפָּחָה
שֶׁהִצְלִיחָה לְנַתֵּב אֶת כָּל כּוֹחוֹת הַחַיִּים שֶׁל הַבֵּן
לְרֶצַח
בְּשֵׁם הָאֵל, נָכוֹן, בְּשֵׁם הָאֵל…
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אֲנִי חַיָּה
בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל.
