Israel: Iran is Bluffing

So, evidently Israel is claiming that Iran's threats for heavy retaliation are a "bluff" (NYTimes or Yahoo News). This is the best indication I've seen that Israel is ready to strike Iran. If I were a shul rabbi right now, I would be making a deal with my local police to have extra protection. Because Israel at war means that the local US crazies start attacking Jews.

Obama's Speech

There's much to be said about Obama's speech (transcript) and I've been using Jeffrey Goldberg's blog as a center for my reading. While he and I disagree about the means of the Peace Process and about our ideas of Zionism, I respect his knowledge and his commitment to Israel (he served in IDF, I did not).

Some key points:

1. The concept of using the '67 lines is not new at all. That it's considered a pro-Palestinain action by Obama is part of the media spin. In fact, according to some analysis, it was started by a distorted AP piece and then picked up by the anti-Obama forces (e.g. Fox News). See this Little Green Footballs piece to follow the trail: LGF: Instantaneous Outrageous Outrage: 'Obama Sides with Palestinians!' What I learn from the AP bias is that the media WANTS Obama to side with the Palestinians. So does the GOP. And many Jewish racists who hate Obama more than they love Israel.
   
2. Obama did not call for a return to the '67 borders. He said (bold mine): "We believe the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states." What did people expect, that Obama would call for Greater Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates? Or the fanatasy, that I shared before Oslo, that maybe we could keep until the River Jordan? He said there's be land swaps. Cool.
   
3. No mention of: the Golan Heights (especially in the same week that we put sanctions on Assad/Syria).
   
4. He also tabled the issues of Jerusalem and the Palestinian false claim of a 'right of return': "I am aware that these steps alone will not resolve the conflict, because two wrenching and emotional issues will remain: the future of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees."
   
5. Most importantly, Obama smashed down two dangerous threats to Israel: the Hamas-Fatah coalition: "In particular, the recent announcement of an agreement between Fatah and Hamas raises profound and legitimate questions for Israel: How can one negotiate with a party that has shown itself unwilling to recognize your right to exist?"
   
6. and the looming credible threat of a unilateral declaration of Hamas statehood: "For the Palestinians, efforts to delegitimize Israel will end in failure. Symbolic actions to isolate Israel at the United Nations in September won't create an independent state. Palestinian leaders will not achieve peace or prosperity if Hamas insists on a path of terror and rejection. And Palestinians will never realize their independence by denying the right of Israel to exist."

People need to get over their hatred of Obama - or the GOP's twisted path to destroy the Democrats by destroying America and Israel.

The Totten

As he was for the 2006 Lebanon, Michael Totten is an important source in the current conflict as well. He's a philo-Semite and very knowledgeable about the Mideast (don't let the commentary magazine address throw you; as far as I know he's not a Kristolian neocon dunderhead).

Totten cites this Israeli blog as good too, see especially this post about "The Israeli Way of War."

Gaza Thoughts 2

Part I asked the question how not only will the Gaza War end, but the whole Arab-Israeli war? My quick answer: end oil as a valuable commodity. Let me expand:

1. First Dispel the Thousand Year War Myth

This is a clear sign of vigorous ignorance: if a blowhard says that the Arabs and Jews have been fighting for centuries, so there's no way the war will ever end, call bull-scheisse. Yes, there's been fighting in that region for centuries, but those battles (a) did not involve Jews except as victims, never as belligerents, and (b) many of the battles were between Christians and Muslims, and no matter how much both sides would like to claim otherwise, Jews and NOT interchangeable with Christians.

A side note to explain that point: Muslims seem to consider Jews and Christians part of the same category and since Jews have thrived in the western (read: Christian, usually Protestant) democracies, modern Muslims just seem to think we're the same. So the crusades were Jewish both because they were fought by infidels, and what's the difference among 'em, and because Jews and Christians work together nowadays so they must have always worked together! People who have not risen up into modernity (like most of the Muslim world) are stuck with the ahistorical Medieval frame of mind which flattens the present into a permanent past.

Now the modern Christians - in the US - identify the Jews as a form of Christian. Note, this is not done (as far as I've seen) in Europe. Not only are there gads of Catholics who have long memories of roasting Jews on open fires for their Traditional Christmases, but Europeans in general have clear Us-Them battle-lines drawn in their brains and Jews are permanently on the Them team.

But American protestants think of Jews as just another form of Christians. First of all, American Judaism is so watered down that its basically protestantism anyway. But for the fundamentalists, who see Jews as part of a religious plan, they see Jews - and Israel - as just a form of Christianity. My feeling is that a random fundamentalist Christian would be shocked to know Jews think Jesus wasn't a savior but a cranky hillbilly carpenter, at best. Fundys read the Old testament as a Christian document, and Israel is *theirs* because it's Jewish. I could elaborate more, but that should be enough for now.

So: to say that there's been Jewish-Muslim violence for centuries is to say (like Muslims) that Jews are just anti-Muslim, like the Christians, or to say (like the Fundamentalists) that the Jews are acting as Christian agents in the most recent crusade. Both these ideas are stupid and wrong. Call that bull-schiesse!

There's a third option, though, for the morons: to claim that the *region* has been in war for centuries and the Arabs and Israelis are just acting out some kind of war-curse the region engenders. Somehow these idiots think Israel is the hotel from the Shining. Morons who say this are usually atheists (or anti-religion theists) who think that religion makes people bloodthirsty and insane. And thus they depict the Arab-Israeli wars as religious conflicts.

Pardon me while I laugh derisively. These atheist dimwits (Michael Ramirez is one of them, when he's not sucking the Gooper trough) don't take the time to understand that Israel is pretty damn secular. Even though the settlers are generally Orthodox weirdos, the majority of Israel - every single Prime Minister for example - are secular. So boom goes that canard.

The bottom line is that the current Arab-Israeli conflict is about 150 years old - speaking expansively - and before 1948 the "war" was generally the Arabs massacring Jews. Since 1948 there has been the current conflict. So even give the innumeracy of the pundits and associated bellyachers, 60+ years does not equal hundreds.

And it bears repeating over and over: this is not a two sided war. As I said (somewhere) that the old slogan from the Hippie 60s was "What if they declared a war and nobody came?" is beyond stupid because of the Arab-Israeli conflict which is "what if they declared a war and only one side showed up?" There'll be a war for as long as the Arabs and/or Muslims have the *means* to destroy Israel. Because they are committed to do so, because of religion or because of some broken vision of their grandiose past. We need to take away their means...

2. The Arab-Israeli War Has Had Two Phases

From 1948-1993 the Arab-Israeli conflict must be seen in the light of the cold war. Simply put, the Western World gave a flying fig for Israel - and the world cared about the Arab states - mainly as a proxy battle between the US and the USSR. The Arab armies were aligned with the Soviets and their weaponry (and money) came from that massive part of the globe. The US supported Israel in the same way we supported South Korea, Taiwan, Greece, or the Contras.

The great tragedy of Oslo was that a point when the Cold War was over the PLO was poised to become irrelevant. All of their resources and support dried up because the Russians had bigger fish to fry. Just like we could have gotten total control of the Western Wall and of Hebron - but gave it away due to idiotic ideology - so too we could have lived without the PLO. But nooooo; Rabin-Peres took a failed organization, dazed and dashed along with the Berlin Wall, living in exile in Tunisia, and gave them an international platform.

However, one can argue that even without Israel giving the Palestinians relevance, they would have risen up on their own because of the second source of funding (and now sole source following the breakup of the Soviets): Arab oil.

Post Oslo (which is post-Berlin Wall) the Arab world maintains a relevance because they are stinking' rich off oil money.

How else can Iran fund both Hamas and Hezbollah? Why would we even care about Saddam Hussein? How is it that Muslim terrorists can be so well funded and protected? Why is it that France rolls over and kisses Arab tush? Because of oil. Oil is what protects the Palestinians and what makes the whole world listen to the raving hatred of the petro-nations that hate Israel.

Were oil to become worthless, then Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, etc wouldn't be able to fund terrorism, the world would consider the Arabs to be as important as undeveloped backwaters like Bangladesh or sub-Saharan Africa.

3. Green=Peace

Support alternative fuels! The idiot Republicans - and their poster airhead Sarah "Drill, I have Babies, Drill" Palin - talked only of ending our dependence on "foreign oil." That little world "foreign" is the rub. It sounds like an innocuous addition and that's the power of PR/Marketing - to create logical sounding slogans for unpleasant truths. (e.g. When did toilet paper become bathroom tissue?! I know there's a difference! I'm shomer shabbat: bathroom tissue is kosher on Shabbas and toilet paper ain't. Stop messing with words, Madison Avenue!! Ahem)

"Ending dependence on oil" means to switch to alternative fuels; "ending...foreign oil" still means we're dependent on oil, but it means we'll just buy more domestically. It's so stupid that people just swallowed it up: it sounds 'green' but is in fact designed to line the pockets of Texans and Alaskans. Goopers are even worse than the bathroom tissue people.

Anyway, by ending dependence on oil; if we turn the world onto cheap fuel (e.g. remember coal?) then we can end the Arab-Israeli conflict: (1) the bad guys won't have the money for weapons, and (2) the world won't need to listen to the Arabs complaining about Israel/Palestine because who listens to poor sand-farmers?

How will the war end? The Palestinians will wake up one day and realize that nobody is giving them money to kill 100 of themselves for every Israeli (the current ratio, or so it seems) and they'll then do what all petulant parasites do when the cash cow dies: they'll get jobs. They'll build roads and schools instead of bombs and will find it better for day-to-day life to actually let Israel live in peace.

Peace in the Middle East?

I found this note I wrote to myself on Sunday, February 19, 2006 4:45 PM

Do you think there will ever be peace in the Middle East?

No.

Why?

Because of every reason why we have war in the first place.

Boo Freakin' Hoo

From the front page of tonight's NYTimes:

Isolation of Gaza Chokes Off Trade
By STEVEN ERLANGER

With Gaza almost entirely shut off from normal trade, Palestinian businesses are enduring a deep depression.

Aw. I am all, as they say, choked up. I wonder why Gaza is so isolated? Could it be that it's a terrorist state that has been given many gifts from Israel only to use those gifts to slaughter anybody with whom they disagree? Hamas is a criminal, bloodthirsty organization of killers and thieves. I'm surprised the Times doesn't have a story about those poor mobsters who can't feed their families with all that pesky FBI crack-downing.

{2009 Update: Pic from here.}

Hamas Female Suicide Bomber

According to the Jerusalem Post:

Eight IDF soldiers were wounded on Thursday as the army intensified its efforts to stop the ongoing Kassam rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. A female suicide bomber detonated an explosion near soldiers in the Jebalya refugee camp Thursday evening, the IDF said. Three soldiers were lightly wounded by the blast. Hamas later claimed responsibility for the attack.

Is there some subtle point in International Law that I'm missing here. Hamas controls the Palestinian Authority. Hamas sends suicide bombers to kill Israeli soldiers. Is that not an act of war that would allow Israel to do whatever they want to do to retaliate. Huh?

France authorizes troops to fire at IAF jets over Lebanon

From the Jerusalem Post:

French soldiers in Lebanon who feel threatened by aggressive Israeli overflights are permitted to shoot at IAF fighter jets, a high-ranking French military officer told The Jerusalem Post.

Ya know, if France fires at Israel, then it could be the first overt military exchange between two nuclear powers. And it may be the only time that anyone can fire a nuclear weapon (Israel to France) where you're guaranteed the opponent won't fire back.

Lebanese Cabinet Minister Assassinated

Oh, this has not been a good day. According to the AP:

Pierre Gemayel, an anti-Syrian politician and scion of Lebanon's most prominent Christian family, was gunned down Tuesday in an assassination that heightened tensions amid a showdown between opponents and allies of Syria that threatens to topple the U.S.-backed government. Gemayel, 34, was the fifth anti-Syrian figure to be killed in the past two years and the first member of the government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to be slain.

A few thoughts:

1. Whenever I link from Yahoo News, they add their tagline at the end. Usually I delete it but occasionally it will create an inadvertent joke, like the 'in my pants' game, e.g. Lebanese Cabinet minister is killed on Yahoo! News

2. It's amazing that there's been so many assassinations that the story needs to qualify which number killing this makes. It's like counting Dead Kennedys.

3. This news story seems to say that Syria killed the Lebanese Christian. But didn't James Baker just announce that Syria was our good buddy? Isn't Syria supposed to help us with Iraq?

According to that linked WP story:

Some prominent U.S. officials say that engaging in talks with adversaries such as Syria and Iran is key to curbing the violence. The Iraq Study Group, co-chaired by former secretary of state James A. Baker III and former congressman Lee H. Hamilton, is expected to recommend such action in its report, set to come out next month.

Syria being supported by Baker is matched by Hamas being helped by W (who insisted that they be included in February's elections). And now Syria is encroaching from the North and Hamas is using human baby shields to help launch Kassams from the South. Thanks Baker & Bush!

Totten Scaring the Bajeepers Outa Me

Michael Totten, as far as I've seen, the best journalist covering Israel/Lebanon Relations. He's a native English speaker who knows and likes both countries. And he gets real news, real facts, and takes real pictures. I've mentioned all this before.

His most recent blog entry, entitled A Perfect Storm? has this scary quote:

Meanwhile, a group that calls itself “Al Qaeda in Lebanon” appeared from Lord-only-knows-where and directly threatened to destroy the March 14 government. “Al Qaeda in Lebanon” may or may not exist as a wing of bin Laden’s Al Qaeda. If they do, they’re serious. If they don’t, they’re a Syrian proxy. Either way, it doesn’t look good. This is not a prank phone call.

Nasrallah won't emerge for his birthday

From the Jerusalem Post - Nasrallah won't emerge for his birthday

This needs to be played up. A lot.

More Casualties

From Haaretz:

Eliel Ben-Yehuda, 24, from Kfar Tavor
Eliel Ben-Yehuda was killed in Lebanon on Sunday by an anti-tank missile. He was born 24 years ago at Kfar Tavor while the family was observing the seven days of mourning for his uncle, who was killed in the first Lebanon War. He recently was released from the professional army and took a trip to South America where he met his girlfriend. After his return, he began preparing for the university entrance exams, but was called to the reserves. When the officers arrived with the bad news Sunday, his mother refused to open the door, saying she didn't believe anything could happen to Eliel. He is survived by his parents, a sister and brother.

Ben-Yehuda will be laid to rest at 5.30 P.M. Monday at the military section of the Kfar Tavor cemetery.

Lieutenant Tzur Zarhi, 27, from Nahalal
Lieutenant Tzur Zarhi was killed in Lebanon on Sunday. He was born and raised in Nahalal, in the Jezreel Valley. He served in the Armored Corps as a platoon captain.

"He was about to finish his degree in economics and management at Jezreel Valley College," Tzur's girlfriend Yael related Sunday. "He was a dairy farmer, the cowshed was his world and the Armored Corps was the other half of his world." Tzur spoke to Yael for the last time on Saturday night, when he told her that he realized this was a real war, and now he and the guys would have stories like their parents did.

Tzur is survived by his parents and two younger sisters. He will be laid to rest at 6.00 P.M. Monday at the military section of the Nahalal cemetery.

Sergeant Major Guy Hasson, 24, from Na'ama
Sergeant Major Guy Hasson was killed in Lebanon on Sunday by an anti-tank missile.

He will be buried at 6.00 P.M. Monday at the Mt. Herzel cemetery in Jerusalem.

Staff Sergeant (res.) Amitai Yaron, 44, from Zichron Yaakov

Staff Sergeant Peter Ochotzky, 23, from Lod

Obituaries for some of the fallen

From Haaretz:

Staff Sergeant. Uri Grossman, 20, of Mevasseret Zion
Staff Sergeant. Uri Grossman, 20, was killed by an anti-tank missile in a major ground offensive in southern Lebanon on Saturday. He was the son of David Grossman, a renowned novelist and peace activist in Israel, and he was killed just three days after the author publicly urged the government to end the war with Hezbollah guerrillas. Grossman's appeal to the government on Thursday came a day after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Security Cabinet approved the plan for the new offensive.

Yossi Abutbul, 20, from Gan-Ner
Yossi Abutbul from the community of Gan-Ner, near Afula, fought with the Golani Brigade. He was injured in the first week of fighting in Lebanon last month and could have chosen to recuperate at home but instead returned to fight alongside his comrades. He told his parents he was going for R&R when he was actually returning to Lebanon.

Abutbul was brought up in an ultra-Orthodox home but chose to join the Israel Defense Forces.

He was the oldest of seven. Yossi's father worked for the IDF before his retirement and became ultra-Orthodox several years ago.

Abutbul was laid to rest at 5 P.M. Sunday in the Afula military cemetery.

Corporal Tamer (Tomer) Amar, 19, from Julis

Corporal Tamer (Tomer) Amar, 19, served with Golani's Battalion 51. He was killed Saturday in Lebanon when an Israel Defense Forces tank crushed him and another soldier by mistake.

Adi Amar, a close friend, said that Amar was ambitious and serious, but also lively. "He was always smiling and liked helping friends, riding horses and taking hikes."

Amar joined his unit in Lebanon despite a recent shoulder injury. "He was very sad when comrades fell in battle at Bint Jbail and despite receiving medical leave he asked to return to his unit to fight," Adi Amar said.

Amar was laid to rest at 2.30 P.M. Sunday.

Corporal Ya'ar Ben-Giat, 19, from Kibbutz Nahsholim
Corporal Ya'ar Ben-Giat was killed Saturday in a battle against Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.

Ben-Giat was the oldest son of Eera and Yossi. His mother, Eera, related Saturday that despite being defined as a gifted child in elementary school, Ya'ar much preferred basketball, playing computer games and going out with his friends to studying.

Last week he called home and told the family to be sure to watch the latest broadcast of "Fact," which would contain a segment about his Nahal unit.

In addition to his parents, Ben-Giat is survived by sister Nof, 16, and Nahar, 18. The funeral took place at 6:30 P.M. Sunday.

Staff Sergeant Itai Steinberger, 21, from Carmei Yosef
Itai Steinberger, 21, was killed Friday night in Lebanon. Last week he was interviewed for an article in the Friday magazine of Ma'ariv. "Whiskey, a woman, and a cigarette, that's the only thing I miss now," he announced, the unofficial spokesman for his unit.

Saturday afternoon, dozens of friends converged on the family home in Carmei Yosef.

Arik, Itai's father, stands at the doorway with reddened eyes. A visitor shows him recent pictures of his son from the army and tells him that Itai was the star among his fellow soldiers and was always full of joie de vivre even in the hell of Lebanon. The father also heard how Itai shielded his parents from the fact that three of the soldiers in his unit had already been injured.

Arik said he had not spoken to Itai since Tuesday.

Friends smile, relating how Itai would take up his guitar at night, strumming with one hand and drinking whiskey with the other and ordering them to stay up late with him.

Itai's younger brother, Yonatan, just finished basic training in the Paratroops and would now spend his leave in mourning. They spoke for the last time last Friday.

"I haven't changed my shoes for a week," Itai boasted to Yonatan. "And I haven't changed mine for two weeks," the new soldier boasted in return. "By the time you've been in the army as long as I have, I'll be barefoot and in India," Itai joked.

Sergeant Yaniv Tamerson, 21, from Zippori
Sergeant Yaniv Tamerson, 21, volunteered for combat service with the Armored Corps despite back problems that could have kept him out of combat duty. "He had to feel that he was making a contribution," his family said Saturday. Tamerson was drafted 18 months ago and loved the army. He completed a tank commanders' course three weeks ago, after which he began preparing to fight in Lebanon. He was killed one day after going into Lebanon.

Tamerson is survived by his parents and two brothers. He lived with his mother in Zippori. The funeral will probably be held Sunday.

Sergeant Tzachi Krips, 20, from Kibbutz Hama'apil
Sergeant Tzachi Krips enlisted in the army in November 2004 to an elite Nahal unit. He later completed a medics course. His company went up to Lebanon three weeks ago.

His older sister, Romy, said he had a heart of gold and always helped people.

Eliran Shafran, a childhood friend who grew up with Krips on the kibbutz, said he had always volunteered in school. He noted that Krips was editor of the senior yearbook.

Krips is survived by his parents and two sisters. He was laid to rest at 6:30 P.M. Sunday.

Captain Shai Bernstein, 24, from Be'er Sheva
Shai Bernstein, killed in an IDF operation in south Lebanon on Saturday, was the youngest of his siblings.

His family said that he had recently proposed to his girlfriend of six years, Sivan.

Bernstein graduated from the technical high school in Be'er Sheva, and was enrolled in a pilots course for six months, but then decided that he wanted to be a combat soldier, quit the course, and joined the Armored Corps. He later completed an officers course.

"He was my younger brother, but I admired him as an adult figure," his brother said about him.

Avital Gefen, Bernstein sister, said she had spoken to him on Friday and he had asked her to reassure his mother. "He loved his nephews, and even though he was a company commander, he played with them like a kid," she said.

Bernstein is survived by his parents, Ella and Shlomo, two brothers and a sister.

Staff Sergeat Aharon Yechezkel, 32, from Kfar Yedidya
Friends and family arrived at the Yechezkel residence in Kfar Yedidya on Saturday afternoon to mourn Staff Sergeat Aharon Yechezkel. Everyone who knew him said he was good-hearted and kind to those around him.

His uncle, Mordechai Yechezkel, said he had been very concerned ever since Aharon was sent to Lebanon three weeks ago.

"I talked to him during the week, and I was very worried about him. 'You are very tall and you have to hide so as not to stick out, so stay low,' I said to him. He told me that he wasn't scared, and that he hoped to attack terrorists and return safely," Mordechai said.

Yechezkel is survived by his parents and two sisters. He was laid to rest at 5 P.M. Sunday.

Recent Casualties

The 24 Israel servicemen killed in action against Hizballah in Lebanon Saturday, August 12

- 1st Sgt. Uri Grossman, 20, from Mevaseret Zion
- 1st Sgt Ido Grabovsky, 20, from Rosh Ha’ayin
- Capt. Shay Bernstein, 24, from Beersheba
- 1st Sgt Itay Steinberger, 21, from Carmei Yosef
- Cpl Yaar Ben Giyat, 19, from Nahsholim
- Sgt Yosef Abutbul, 19, from Gan Ner
- 1st Sgt Tzahi Kripps, 20, from Hamaapil
- Sgt Ankonina, 21, from Netanya
- Cpl Tomer Amar, 19, from Julis
- Sgt Yaniv Tamerson, 21, from Tzipori
- Sgt-Maj Aharon Yehezkiel, 32, from Kfar Yedidya
- 1st Sgt Amsha Meshulami, 20-, from Ofra
- Sgt Juan Zabiv, 22, from Tel Aviv
- Capt. Bnaya Rein, 27, from Karnei Shomron
- 1st Sgt Adam Goren, 21, from K. Maabarot
- Sgt. Alexander Bohemovitch, 19, from Netanya
- 1st Gt. Oz Zemach, 20, from Maccabee-Re’ut
- Sgt. Haran Lev, 20, from from Maayan
- Sgt. Dan Brauer, 19, from Beit Hillel
- Cpl Yigael Nissan, 19, from Maaleh Adummim
Five Yasur crew shot down by Hizballah declared dead and missing:
- Maj. Ami Naim, 29, from Rehovoth
- Maj. Nissan Shalev, 36, from Evron
- Capt Daniel Gomez, 25, from Nahalim
- Master Sgt. Ron Mashiach, 33, from Gedera
- Sgt Maj Karen Tendler, 26, from Rehovoth, the first servicewoman to fall in the Lebanon War

15 Soldiers Killed

From Haaretz

Captain Gilad Shtukelman, 26, from Tamrat
Gilad Shtukelman was informed that he had gotten an immediate call-up notice while in New York. In recent years, he was employed as a flight attendant for El Al, and received word of the call-up while abroad.

"Gilad made sure that El Al put him on a flight two days early, so that he could return to Israel as quickly as possible to report for reserve duty," Tamrat resident Orit Messer-Harel said. "He loved life and loved music. He was a generous boy," she said.

Gilad was a graduate of the high school in Nahalal and served in the armored corps. After completing his military service, he traveled in South America. When he returned to Israel, he began work as a flight attendant with El Al. Next year, he planned to study economics and East Asian studies.

When he reported for reserve duty, his mother Rachel tried to help soldiers in his battalion. She and neighbors from Tamrat prepared food packages, which they sent to soldiers on the Lebanese border.

Staff Sergeant Benny (Benjamin) Sela, 24, from Koranit
Benny Sela completed his military service in the paratroopers two years ago, and was killed during his first call up to reserve duty. Last Monday he visited his family for one day, which was the last time they saw him.

"I had a feeling that was our last meeting. I knew what his role in the military was. It was obvious that he was going into Lebanon. Beforehand, he told me that they lacked military equipment and that they gathered money and drove to Tel Aviv to buy supplies for their friends. I asked him, 'Ben, what about a bullet proof vest. I'm going to buy you a bullet proof vest now.' I called a company that manufactures the vests, but he said to me, 'Mom, I don't want. I'll be like the rest of my friends and I'll be fine.' I feel like during this war, the ground troops are being led like sheep to the slaughter. It was obvious to me that this would happen," his mother, Yehudit, said.

Sela's grandmother, Sara, said Benny was named after her father. "It's hard to think about this beautiful boy with a heart of gold, who was so similar to his grandfather and who was willing to give of himself to everyone," she said.

His father, Yosef, said that he picked his son up from his unit on Monday for a short break. "He traveled the world and visited places that I'll never reach. He walked everywhere and rode horses. At every place, he made friends. He began a tour guiding course abroad, along with a close friend," he said.

Sela was laid to rest at 8 P.M. Thursday at the Misgav cemetery.

Staff Sergeant Igor Koblik, 26, from Upper Nazareth
Igor Koblik, who reported for reserve duty last week, studied computer science.

A friend of the family said that since Koblik reported for reserve duty, his father Lev had been very worried.

The Koblik family immigrated from Belarus in the early 1990's and settled in Upper Nazareth. Neighbors said Koblik was very close to his grandmother, who also lived in the town.

"Igor was a guy with a heart of gold," Ya'akov Schneider, a neighbor, said. "He was very close to his parents and sister. A few months ago, I asked him to help me put up a fence, and he did."

Koblik is survived by his parents, Tatiana and Lev, and his 18-year-old sister Yulia.

Koblik was laid to rest at 5 P.M. at the Upper Nazareth cemetery.

Staff Sergeant Nir Cohen, 22, from Maccabim
Last week, Cohengot an emergency call-up for reserve duty. He had served as a medic in the armored corps, and his friends said he was happy to report for reserve duty. Cohen asked his commander to return to the role of tank driver, which he held during his regular army service, rather than serve as a medic.

After he completed his military service, Cohen was employed as a tour guide and youth counselor with the Jewish Agency, and worked with American Jews on tours in Israel. His sister said he loved to travel in Israel, and noted that he was an excellent musician and loved to play the piano.

Cohen had been in touch with his family and friends in recent days, and after every fierce battle in Lebanon, he called to assure them that he was fine.

He asked that his friend Nofar take care of his worried parents. During their last phone conversation, he said to her, "You have to say goodbye to me, because I might not come back."

"I said to him, 'why do you have to think bad thoughts,'" Nofar related.

Cohen is survived by his parents, Giora and Nava, his sister Noa and brother Eyal. He will be laid to rest on Friday.

Sergeant Major David Shemidov, 25, from Jerusalem
David Shemidov returned Sunday from a week-long vacation in Prague with his girlfriend of three years. One hour after he landed in Israel, he received his emergency call-up notice. His frinds and family last heard from him on Tuesday, when he sent his girlfriend a text message saying, "I love you."

Shemidov's trip to Prague was his first voyage overseas since immigrating to Israel from Belarus in 1991. It was supposed to be a celebration, as he was recently accepted to architecture studies at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem.

"His dream was to be an architect," his friend, Yvgeny Mindlin, said. "David talked about building the third temple. He wasn't a religious man, but he strongly believed in God."

Shemidov served in Givati and was determined to serve in a combat unit shortly after immigrating to Israel.

"He wanted to serve his country," Yulia Kaplan, a friend from high school, said. "In twelfth grade he practiced with his brother, to built up his stamina." His friends described Shemidov as a born leader who was constantly smiling and had a great sense of humor. His brother, Ya'akov, 27, was serving in Lebanon when his family received word on David's death.

Shemidov is survived by his parents, Leonid and Natalya, and brother Ya'akov.

Captain Yoni-Leon Shmucher, 30, from Beit Nehemia
Yoni served as an officer in the paratroopers' engineer company. He was issued an emergency call-up notice last week.

Originally from Mazkeret Batia, Shmucher moved to Moshav Beit Nehemia after he got married. He was on the verge of completing his graduate degree in physics.

"Yoni was good at everything. He studied physics and was also an athlete. He rode his bike on Saturdays; we could never keep up with him," a friend said, and described an extraordinary love between Yoni and his wife, Shlomit.

First Staff Sergeant Asher Reuven Novick, 36, from Kanaf
Ashi (Asher) Novick, from Moshav Kanaf in the Golan Heights, celebrated his 36th birthday last week. He received an emergency call-up notice two weeks ago.

Novick, originally from Nes Ziona, resided in Kanaf for the past seven years with his wife, Osnat, in a house they built together. They had two children - Yuval, 10, and Itai, 6.

Novick recently completed a business degree, and was appointed chairman of the Luna Gal water park.

"Within a short while, Ashi was one of the pillars of the moshav," Haim Ohayon, the chairman of the Luna Gal board of directors, also a resident of Kanaf, said of Novick.

Novick will be laid to rest on Sunday at the Moshav Gamle cemetery.

Captain Nathan Yahav, 36, from Tel Aviv
Natan Yahav's wife, Sharon, was informed of her husband's death at close to 1 A.M. Wednesday by Israel Defense Forces representatives. The news reached his parents in Tel Aviv at 2:30 A.M. and they passed it on to his two sisters, Hagit and Neta.

Yahav was called up as a company commander of a paratrooper's commando unit that entered the village of Debel in south Lebanon. Yahav had been married for six years, and is survived by his wife and their two children, aged five and two and a half.

Staff Sergeant Adi Salim, 22, from Hashmonai
Adi Salim, a combat medic, was discharged from the army about six months ago and began working at Israel Aircraft Industries. He had planned to start college next year.

Salim was laid to rest at 7 P.M. Thursday in Ramle.

Sergeant Major Gilad Sussman, 27, from Eli
Gilad Sussman, the third Eli resident to be killed in the current conflict in Lebanon, moved to the West Bank settlement with his wife a few years ago. Seven months ago, their first son was born.

Sussman worked as an El Al security guard, and a neighbor described him as a modest man who smiled easily and often. The news of his death began circulating among Eli residents Wednesday night while many were attending the wedding of fellow Eli resident Emuna Merhavia whose brother, Amihai, had been killed in Lebanon just two weeks earlier.

Sergeant Major Noam Goldman, 27, from Tel Aviv
Goldman was laid to rest at 5 P.M. Thursday at the Kfar Sava cemetery.

Staff Sergeant Elad Dan, 25, from Kibbutz Eilot

Newest Casualties from Israel

From Haaretz

Staff Sergeant Noam Meirson (res.), 23, of Jerusalem
Staff Sergeant Noam Meirson, a 23-year-old reservist from Jerusalem, was killed Monday in clashes with Hezbollah in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbail, a month before he was due to get married. Meirson was called up to fight over the weekend. "Noam was God-fearing," his father, Haim, said Tuesday. "The key thing with him was piety, love of the people and the land. He wanted to be involved in education and the rabbinate." Haim and his wife, Gila, last spoke to their son at 11:30 P.M. Sunday, while attending a prayer service at the Western Wall for the welfare of soldiers and residents of the north.

Staff Sergeant Malko Ambao, 20, of Lod
Malko Ambao, who was killed Tuesday in a gunbattle with Hezbollah fighters near the village of Bint Jbail, immigrated to Israel in 1991 from the Gondar region of Ethiopia. He graduated from the Kfar Batya residential school and the pre-military preparatory program at Yemin Orde. Yemin Orde's program director, Ayal Eldar, described Ambao as "talented and industrious," adding that his death was a great loss to Israeli society. Ambao's brother Avi, 23, a paratrooper, said, "He died a hero. He loved life and his friends loved him." A close friend, Yoel Wabgai, said Ambao had been looking forward to continuing his education.

Major Yotam Lotan (res.), 33, of Kibbutz Beit Hashita
Reserve Captain Yotam Lotan was the third generation of his family to be born and raised on Kibbutz Beit Hashita in the Jezreel Valley. His mandatory military service was spent in the Armored Corp where he was a company commander. After his release from mandatory service, Lotan traveled overseas then returned home to work as a youth counselor. His cousin, Amit Hameiri, said, "Yotam was a counselor admired by his kids." Lotan, who most recently worked as a youth counselor at neighboring Kibbutz Ein Harod, took his kids on a graduation trip to Turkey. Upon his return, he found his emergency call-up orders waiting for him. He joined his reserve unit without even having a chance to bid farewell to his family. Lotan is survived by his parents, Meir and Batya, and by two siblings, Ophir and Rotem.

Staff Sergeant Philip Mosko, 21, of Ma'ale Adumim
Staff Sergeant Philip Mosko, 21, immigrated with his family from Moscow in 1991. Friends and family describe him as a giving person who was always ready to volunteer, even on his weekends off from the army. At age 15, he began volunteering at Magen David Adom and later with the civil guard. Told by the army he was too overweight for a combat unit, he lost 24 kilograms and joined the paratrooper brigade. "He was a good boy and gentle," said his mother. He is survived by his parents, Ze'ev, a psychologist; Luba, who works for the city's education department; and his sister Katya. Philip was laid to rest Tueday on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.

Captain Gilad Balachsan (res.), 29, of Carmiel
Captain Gilad Balachsan's mother didn't know he had been called up to serve in Lebanon until she found out about his death Tuesday morning. Balachsan, aged 29 from Carmiel, received his call-up order Sunday, but the family kept the news from his mother, said Balachsan's brother Benny, who has also been called up to fight in the war. Balachsan was killed in clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. "He was really waiting for the call-up," said Benny. "It was clear that this would happen to him - he was always brave, running in first." Balachsan is survived by his parents, Eli and Miriam, Benny and three sisters: Zohar, Liron and Natalie.

Michael J. Totten: Lebanon’s Premature Liberalism

This is a fascinating insider's look at the situation in Lebanon - Michael J. Totten: Lebanon’s Premature Liberalism

14,000 dead

According to these statistics, more than 14000 civilians have been killed in Iraq - since Janurary 2006. The number is staggering. I cannot wrap my mind around that. The CNN quotes a UN study:

"more than 5,800 deaths and more than 5,700 injuries reported in May and June alone."

Every time there's a massive suicide bomb in Iraq, I think to myself "how do they even have any more people." And the fact that this is all Muslim on Muslim makes you realize what they would do if they had free reign in Israel or America or Western Europe!

{2009 Update: Pic from here.}

Tefilat HaDerech

On YouTube and IDF Tank Crew, about to go Lebanon, says Tefilat HaDerech.

Amen.

2009 Update: Embedded video -

Hezbullah preventing civilians from fleeing

This comes from Yedioth Achronot, not known for their rightwingyness, nor for being a mouthpiece of the government. The head of IDF intelligence says that:

The IDF has found that Hezbollah is preventing civilians from leaving villages in southern Lebanon. Roadblocks have been set up outside some of the villages to prevent residents from leaving, while in other villages Hezbollah is preventing UN representatives from entering, who are trying to help residents leave. In two villages, exchanges of fire between residents and Hezbollah have broken out. (Hanan Greenberg)