An Eventful Homecoming
My wife an I recently returned from an extended stay in southern California visiting family and friends. Our visit was only marred by news from home as we learned of the abduction of an Israeli soldier and the murder of two more by Palestinian terrorists at the end of June, followed by Israeli reprisals and the continuing firing of rockets from Gaza. Hamas officials justified the abduction and called upon Israel to release Palestinian prisoners in an exchange for Cpl. Gilad Shalit, the kidnapped soldier. One might only consider the extent of the hostilities if Israel had not pulled out from Gaza a year ago; a terrorist Hamas led Palestinian government might have caused havoc among the Israeli civilian population of Gush Katif in order to draw Israel into an even greater military conflict than we presently face.
We celebrated the anniversary of our Aliyah on July 7th with a Shabbat dinner at the home of my wife's parents. The wonderful experience of our US visit underscored the appropriateness of our decision to make Aliyah a year ago. No matter how enjoyable and fulfilling our visit was we longed to be back in our Jerusalem home once again.
We returned on Thursday, July 13th—the 17th of Tammuz. Our arrival in Israel on the fast day marking the breach in the walls of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. was a kind of portent. That day Hezbollah, the Iranian-Syrian backed terrorist army in Lebanon breached the border and kidnapped two more Israeli soldiers and killed eight. Israel’s swift response opened up a second front in our war against the terrorists. And the katyusha rockets began to rain down upon the cities of the north even reaching the port city of Haifa killing one person and injuring scores of others. At this writing several hundred rocket and katyusha strikes have been reported. Israel has bombed the Beirut airport for the second time and has destroyed a significant part of Hezbollah’s rocket stockpiles.
The abductions in the south and in the north have all the markings of a coordinated effort by forces hostile to Israel to incite a major confrontation. The evidence points to Damascus and Teheran as the funders and formulators of this strategy. Both Syria and Iran have much to gain by stirring things up between Israel and the Palestinians and Israel and the Lebanese. Neither Hezbollah nor the Palestinian terrorist groups could possibly attempt such bold confrontations with Israel without the explicit support and even initiation by the Iranian-Syrian axis. This rogue alliance clearly intends to divert world attention from Iran’s nuclear threat and from Syria’s mischief in the Iraq conflict.
If there is any doubt about Iranian and Syrian complicity and partnership, one only has to look at Ha’aretz which reported this morning that the Iranian president threatened Israel with a “fierce response” should Israel attack Syria. Iran itself is making the case for Iranian and Syrian collusion. The question remains, however, whether or not the leaders of the international community will connect the dots and place responsibility for this unfolding crisis at the doorstep of Iran and Syria. Were the Security Council to act forcefully against the real culprits Hezbollah and the Palestinian terrorists would not be able to function with impunity. This would benefit the Palestinian people as well as Lebanon and be in their national interests as well as Israel’s. However, expecting the Security Council to respond other than by condemning Israel for defending itself against obvious aggression, is so much wishful thinking I am afraid.
It should be remembered that part of the conditions set by the United Nations following Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon called upon the Lebanese to disband Hezbollah’s separate army and integrate that force into the Lebanese army. The reality is that Lebanon was unwilling or, more likely, unable to disarm the Hezbollah forces and they remain as an “occupying force” in southern Lebanon violating the sovereignty of the Lebanese government.
And so, we are home now, and I can get the news almost as it happens from a variety of perspectives and that is far better than trying to understand what is going on from afar. We join with our fellow Israelis and pray for the welfare of our military personnel and for the safety of our citizens in the north and in Sderot and Ashkelon in the south.
I have received questions from families with children visiting here and who will be studying here in the fall as well as from friends who are planning trips here this summer asking us if it is safe to be here. Though I am neither a security expert nor a prophet, I can say that we feel safe here and that those who organize trips for individuals and groups take great care in insuring the safety of tourists. Except in the north, virtually all the sites frequented by tourists are secure and the tour buses continue taking visitors to the many historical and cultural locales that make Israel such an inspiring and unique tourist destination. At this time I would not advise anyone to cancel plans to visit Israel.
Our return to Jerusalem and our feelings now at this time of great concern, only confirms our convictions that our Aliyah was the right path for us. Life is good here—often more eventful than we would wish, but always significant and meaningful.
We celebrated the anniversary of our Aliyah on July 7th with a Shabbat dinner at the home of my wife's parents. The wonderful experience of our US visit underscored the appropriateness of our decision to make Aliyah a year ago. No matter how enjoyable and fulfilling our visit was we longed to be back in our Jerusalem home once again.
We returned on Thursday, July 13th—the 17th of Tammuz. Our arrival in Israel on the fast day marking the breach in the walls of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. was a kind of portent. That day Hezbollah, the Iranian-Syrian backed terrorist army in Lebanon breached the border and kidnapped two more Israeli soldiers and killed eight. Israel’s swift response opened up a second front in our war against the terrorists. And the katyusha rockets began to rain down upon the cities of the north even reaching the port city of Haifa killing one person and injuring scores of others. At this writing several hundred rocket and katyusha strikes have been reported. Israel has bombed the Beirut airport for the second time and has destroyed a significant part of Hezbollah’s rocket stockpiles.
The abductions in the south and in the north have all the markings of a coordinated effort by forces hostile to Israel to incite a major confrontation. The evidence points to Damascus and Teheran as the funders and formulators of this strategy. Both Syria and Iran have much to gain by stirring things up between Israel and the Palestinians and Israel and the Lebanese. Neither Hezbollah nor the Palestinian terrorist groups could possibly attempt such bold confrontations with Israel without the explicit support and even initiation by the Iranian-Syrian axis. This rogue alliance clearly intends to divert world attention from Iran’s nuclear threat and from Syria’s mischief in the Iraq conflict.
If there is any doubt about Iranian and Syrian complicity and partnership, one only has to look at Ha’aretz which reported this morning that the Iranian president threatened Israel with a “fierce response” should Israel attack Syria. Iran itself is making the case for Iranian and Syrian collusion. The question remains, however, whether or not the leaders of the international community will connect the dots and place responsibility for this unfolding crisis at the doorstep of Iran and Syria. Were the Security Council to act forcefully against the real culprits Hezbollah and the Palestinian terrorists would not be able to function with impunity. This would benefit the Palestinian people as well as Lebanon and be in their national interests as well as Israel’s. However, expecting the Security Council to respond other than by condemning Israel for defending itself against obvious aggression, is so much wishful thinking I am afraid.
It should be remembered that part of the conditions set by the United Nations following Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon called upon the Lebanese to disband Hezbollah’s separate army and integrate that force into the Lebanese army. The reality is that Lebanon was unwilling or, more likely, unable to disarm the Hezbollah forces and they remain as an “occupying force” in southern Lebanon violating the sovereignty of the Lebanese government.
And so, we are home now, and I can get the news almost as it happens from a variety of perspectives and that is far better than trying to understand what is going on from afar. We join with our fellow Israelis and pray for the welfare of our military personnel and for the safety of our citizens in the north and in Sderot and Ashkelon in the south.
I have received questions from families with children visiting here and who will be studying here in the fall as well as from friends who are planning trips here this summer asking us if it is safe to be here. Though I am neither a security expert nor a prophet, I can say that we feel safe here and that those who organize trips for individuals and groups take great care in insuring the safety of tourists. Except in the north, virtually all the sites frequented by tourists are secure and the tour buses continue taking visitors to the many historical and cultural locales that make Israel such an inspiring and unique tourist destination. At this time I would not advise anyone to cancel plans to visit Israel.
Our return to Jerusalem and our feelings now at this time of great concern, only confirms our convictions that our Aliyah was the right path for us. Life is good here—often more eventful than we would wish, but always significant and meaningful.
Shalom from Jerusalem
posted by RSJD at 8:58 AM
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