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Jonathan Feldstein: Hamas’ Surprise Attack & Israel War Update A Personal Perspective

Hamas’ Surprise Attack – A Personal Perspective

 

It’s been hard to write this, not just because of what’s going on in Israel but because I have had a hard time pulling myself away from the live and virtually uninterrupted TV reports here of what’s going on.

 

Yesterday we woke up to war. But I feel like I am living in a nightmare. I haven’t felt this paralyzed and nervous since 9/11.  That says a lot because we have had more than our share of military operations here.  But something is different this time.

 

Like 9/11, yesterday’s attack was a surprise.  But it shouldn’t have been.  It was perpetrated by the same evil Islamist ideology as that sunny say 22 years ago that saw nearly 3000 perish.  3000 in a country of more than 300 million.

 

Yesterday, more than 600 Israelis were murdered.  In many cases in cold blood.  Civilians. Innocent men, women, and children. Many were executed in the streets.

 

Armed Islamic terrorists from Gaza bulldozed the border, infiltrated Israel, broke into people’s homes, and murdered entire families.  Dozens or more have been taken hostage, including foreign workers, young children, and elderly adults, into Gaza.

 

Should there be any doubt, just look at the terrorists’ own social media.  Not only did they commit all these crimes, they filmed it, they celebrated it, they documented it for all the world to see how they sanctify their god, Allah, through their evil hatred. Even the Nazis had some shame and hid their crimes.

 

Beginning at 6:20 am, they shot thousands of rockets into Israel to terrify the population, and no doubt provide early cover for their infiltration by land, sea, and air.  Doing so, they not only violated Israel’s territorial integrity, and any sense of humanity, they violated the sanctity of Shabbat, the sabbath, the day of rest, and one of our joyous holidays.  Just like the Egyptian and Syrian surprise attack 50 years and one day earlier, on our most holy day, these evil Islamic terrorists calculated and planned to catch us unprepared.

 

I overslept and was jolted out of bed at 9:00 when the first of several air raid sirens in our community sent us scurrying for cover in our bomb shelter.  Yes, all Israeli homes are built with bomb shelters.  As it was Shabbat, we were offline.  No phones, no internet, no radio.  So, we had no idea what had been going on for three hours as we sat in the dark room, window covered by a steel shutter.  All we knew was it was bad because even though Hamas has used rockets before that can reach Jerusalem and the Judean mountain community south of Jerusalem where we live, about 40 miles away, it’s rare.

 

The military call-up has been massive.  I don’t know how many and if I did, I wouldn’t write it, but it was evident.  We speculated that my son-in-law had already been called up into reserves.  We saw from our apartment a level of traffic many times that we would never have on Shabbat when we also don’t use our cars.  We saw young men in uniform driving, hitching rides with others. Then at 4:00pm, our son came home, the newlywed.  He had been called up and came to get his uniform and equipment.  I couldn’t help but think that there’s a Biblical injunction in Deuteronomy 24:5 that says a newlywed should not be called into war.  “Don’t worry” he said as he left to catch a ride to his base.

 

Israel has been suffering political divisiveness the likes of which many cannot remember.  There’s nothing like a surprise attack leaving hundreds dead, the likes of which most cannot remember, to break down divisiveness and bring unity, even if it’s short-lived.  Albeit that it is a nightmare, it is a nightmare that’s in black and white. Clearly, our leaders and most of the country understand that there’s an imperative to defend ourselves.

 

Thankfully, for the moment at least, much of the world also recognizes that we are in the right and Hamas is on the wrong side.  But as surely as I am breathing, as soon as there are significant casualties in Gaza, and if anyone else dares to open another front as Hezbollah in Lebanon has been testing, I fear that right and wrong, the black and white, will become clouded with moral equivalence. Calls for restraint “on both sides.”

 

For the time being, President Biden has said all the right things.  He could have been stronger. He could have called out the inhumanity, the war crime, of deliberately targeting and kidnapping civilians. He could have said more.  But what he said was good.  The problem is that the terrorists don’t care what he and others say, just what they do.  They saw the recent Iran ransom deal, pumping $6 billion into the coffers of the Iranian Islamist regime, as a license to do the same.

 

Hamas is learning well from their Iranian masters, now with dozens or more Israeli hostages on top of two other Israelis, and the remains of two soldiers they’ve held for ransom for years as well. Someone in the White House needs to have a serious come to Jesus moment if they don’t realize that these are all the same evil Islamists, and emboldening one breathes life into the other.

 

Most Israelis like me do not seek wanton destruction in Gaza, or anywhere else. But yesterday, and what’s coming, was a bitter pill to swallow.  As Hamas leaders hide in underground bunkers like the rats they are, they should be bombed there, making death and burial a one-stop service. The problem is that they place their bunkers under hospitals and in civilian areas, knowing that the IDF is in fact a moral army and won’t wantonly bomb them, even if they deserve it.

 

In parallel to a punishing military operation, Israel has already cut off electricity and fuel to Gaza (that’s right, as good neighbors we provide the power for Hamas to build its weapons and bunkers).  That’s a start. We must cease the delivery through any Israeli port or border crossing of anything. Not even a roll of toilet paper. We must cut off any boats going out, much less coming back in. This is war, and while Judaism has clear rules about going to war, there is no room for empowering or emboldening the terrorists one bit.

 

Admittedly, there’s anger in my words.  As much as I want the terrorists to pay a heavy price, and as much as I don’t want my son or any other Israeli soldier having to go into Gaza to root out the terrorists (and free our hostages) by putting their own lives at risk, we need to do whatever needs to be done to restore deterrence.  It needs to be done in such a way that nobody will ever think, for a very long time, about raising a hand against Israel.

 

Maybe, just maybe, if Gazans suffer enough, they will realize that it’s not Israel that is the problem, but being held hostage by Hamas/Iran. Maybe they will do something to take back their prime coastal real estate and build a society with a future, not one that exists to destroy ours. Alas, I dream again.

 

Pray for Israel’s swift military victory. Pray for the soldiers. Pray for the return of every Israeli hostage.  Pray for the families of the hostages and those murdered.  Pray that as deep a scar, this is and will be on Israel for a very long time, that Israel will restore deterrence, be victorious, that the world will not flip in the sight of Arab blood and demand Israel stop, and that we will heal and continue to thrive.

 

Israel At War – Emergency Briefing

 

We’re angry, frustrated, and scared.

We were awakened on Saturday morning with an air raid siren, the first of four, sending us to our bomb shelter more than 40 miles from where the terrorists were firing the rockets. It’s not the first time we’ve had rockets, but it’s rare.  We knew something was going on but as it was Shabbat we were offline and didn’t know WHAT was going on until much later.

We assumed that our son-in-law was being called up because of his position.  We were right, but that was delayed because of reports that his base had been infiltrated by terrorists. He went back to the army late Saturday night.  Of course, we’re concerned for him and everyone he’s with, but for our daughter, who is home alone with 3 kids under 5. For perspective, in her building, there are only two men who have not been called up.  Every other apartment is currently a single-parent apartment.  May the fathers and husbands come home safely soon.

At 4pm our son arrived home unexpectedly. He’s been living in his wife’s parents’ home, in our neighborhood.  This was the first sense we had of what was going on in terms of the nature of the attack but had no idea HOW bad it was.  He came in to get his uniform and equipment as he’d been called up to his combat unit. In 10 minutes, he was changed from his Shabbat clothes to his uniform, we had packed up some food, and he left, telling us “Don’t worry,” and picked up a few minutes later in front of our building.  I watched the black car drive off thinking how surreal this all was and still not comprehending.

Our son is a newlywed, married in July. Three months.  He and his wife are supposed to move into their new apartment in Ariel where both will be studying, assuming the academic year begins as scheduled next week.  Who knows?  Now, our new daughter-in-law is home alone at her parents’ house.  Even in Deuteronomy 24:5 I believe, there is a Biblical prohibition of sending a new groom to war in the first year of his marriage.  So much for Biblical prohibitions.  It’s war.  On Monday the army took his phone as he was going to defend border communities.  We have received occasional text messages that he’s OK but know nothing else.

Shabbat was clearly not a normal day.  People left the synagogues at the first air raid siren and even though it was also a festival, Simchat Torah, people stayed home, close to their families and bomb shelters. Not only were we offline and had no idea what was going on, but even our bomb shelter was dark, making sitting there while waiting for the boom of the iron dome all the more eerie.

All day we saw cars of (young) men in uniform driving out, and others in uniform “tremping” (looking for rides out of our community to anywhere) from those who were also leaving.  Now, it feels like a ghost town with little traffic, kids staying indoors (schools have not resumed) close to families, and bomb shelters. I can’t imagine how many men are currently away from home, leaving behind parents, siblings, spouses, and countless children.  Since we don’t drive on Shabbat, seeing all the cars was unnerving, especially who was driving and where they were going.

The funeral of the first soldier from our community, a 20-year-old man, has been rescheduled a few times because of issues just getting his body home for burial.  The army is overwhelmed.  We even saw a post asking for volunteers to help dig graves. More than 1200 so far. By way of perspective, in the whole first week of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, also a surprise attack, there were fewer casualties.

Another daughter has a boyfriend who was also called up, in the north.  At any time, Hezbollah can open another front if we don’t restore deterrence soon.  If that does happen, the carnage we have seen until now will look like child’s play.

Two other daughters who have their own apartments in Jerusalem have moved back home.  They don’t have bomb shelters and are not going to work now or can work from home, and there’s no sense in their being home alone in apartments that don’t have their own bomb shelters.  One of our daughters works among many Arabs and is just uncomfortable going to work and being around them now.  It’s a reality of life here – coexistence sometimes rests on very thin ice. There have been many more sirens in Jerusalem than where we are, close by.

My wife is in the tour guide course.  Because it’s an English-speaking course, about a third of the group are Arabs.  Her touring and classes have been canceled for security reasons this week, but it’s just as well, as the support for terrorists even among Jerusalem Arabs is profound and not a comfortable environment.

I am trying to work, on promoting my new book, “Israel the Miracle,” and plan the book launch tour for next month, but getting the reality of what’s going on out as widely as possible through interviews and briefings mostly among Christians with whom I work.  I’ve lost count but in two days I have had interviews/briefings I have done with places as far away as Nepal, S. Africa, Sweden, Brazil, Nigeria, and across the US. The support and prayers from Christian friends all over the world, as well as financial donations, have been heartwarming and encouraging at this grave time.

Speaking of donations, we’re collecting funds for trauma relief, supporting soldiers’ physical needs, at-risk youth (especially in the Gaza area), civilian security and more.  The response has been great. Please join us and share www.love.genesis123.co.  When my son was able to call home, he confirmed that his reserve combat unit does not have bulletproof vests. Now I have a source to get, and deliver, them.  $760 each.  That’s worth not having to have someone volunteer to dig another grave, no?

Things are tense.  It feels like a war.  I have never seen streets so empty, roads so vacant of cars.  The malls are empty.  Stores are simply closed. Eerie. Things will likely get (much) worse before they get better, all complicated by the depth of our military response which must be harsh, where we will likely send in ground troops putting them in danger in order to limit civilian casualties on the Arab side, and mindful that more than 100 Israelis including elderly and children are currently hostages in Gaza.

At some point, there will be serious and damning inquiries as to how the attack was even allowed to happen (there are so many operational elements) and the intelligence failure.  It’s being discussed, but right now, we need to focus on defeating our enemy.

We need lots of prayers.