Category: News

Herb Keinon in Jerusalem Post, 20 Aug 2025 pg 1. “Every action has a reaction–even against Israel.”

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The view of the highway from inside the bus: 

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🎵 Shavua Tov! Day 682: Remembering the POWs. I now regularly lead worship in Jerusalem as part of a band in congregation there. So yesterday morning I headed out the door at 6am expecting to make it to Jerusalem by 8 am, and have time to take care of myself before the 10am rehearsal. Protestors blocked all the highways – they want the government to stop the war, get back the hostages–no matter that Hamas never negotiates–just, “Government, do miracles–that’s it!”

So – the Highway 1 was blocked, my bus tried to reroute around via the 6, the 431, and the 3; protesters blocked those too. As Herb Keinon published in the JPost this morning, hmmm, Hamas must be watching their televisions thinking, “man, those Israelis sure have lack of unity. Let’s hold on to those hostages some more and refuse to negotiate. We’re winning, obviously!’

On the one hand, it’s a conflict of interest to defeat Hamas while preserving all the lives of the POWs. One goal cancels out the other goal. This isn’t an Entebbe rescue, where the kidnappers just happened to land there in a civilian airport which is open to attack from elite commandos. Gaza is not civilian, it’s a military base – they built it as a military city underground with more tunnels than the Paris Subway. The civilians are just protection for the military equipment and structures.

Getting the POWs out safely is one insurmountable task. Defeating Hamas is an opposite goal. Aiming for both targets – well – impossible since they cancel each other out.  And on the other side, the protesters have two opposing goals: Either protest, seeking to defeat your own government, OR get the hostages back. You cannot get the POWs back by weakening the Israeli government.

Below, a psychiatrist explains what life as a POW is like, mentally:

After sitting for hours at the blocked intersections listening to annoyed drivers leaning on their horns, I did arrive at the meeting hall by 9:30 with my harp.

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Trust the process, thru YHWH – Proverbs 16:3

Day 672: Send Them Now: Hostage families sail to Gaza with a message: “Let Them Go Now!”

Finally! The hostage families, 22 months in, finally begin to get a sense of reality. Stop trying to pressure the Israeli government – its hands are tied in trying to get the hostages back from Gaza. The government is not a god; the government is not all-powerful. And, the government is forced by morality to command the army to execute a war with the goal of keeping us all safe.

The right address for pressure regarding the hostages is Gaza. That’s the address.  Gazans are the ones who must be pressured.  I’ve been saying for 22 months, the correct slogan is not “Bring Them Home Now,” it’s “Let Them Go Now.” The banner on this boat carrying hostage families to Gaza reads, “Send Them Now.” 

In other news:

• Trump strongly encourages the entire Middle East to join the Abraham Accords.
• The IDF makes a statement near to its conclusion of Operation Gideon’s Chariots.

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Sources:

Hostage families sail to Gaza:
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-863535

IDF statement:
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-863541

Trump's message to the Middle East: 
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-863542

Fox did a story of increase in violent street crime in Washington DC and in New York City, showing this frame:

However, in DC there was a high-profile murder case in May, 2025. Why would that incident not be included with these three above?

The two victims struck by gunfire and killed were identified as Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, a young couple about to become engaged to be married. (3)

This May, a Jew-hater shot people down on a sidewalk in DC just because they are Jews. That’s possibly all he knew about them individually; and for him, that was enough. He traveled all the way from Chicago to the Capitol because he learned of a Jewish event taking place near the Israeli Embassy.

Today we learn that the murderer may be charged on federal charges, which would open the possibility of a death penalty (1):

“The US Department of Justice is expected to seek the death penalty for the man accused of killing Israeli Embassy staffers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim in Washington, DC, back in May, CNN reports.” (1)

The Department of Justice will pursue hate crime charges. (4)

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Sources:


(1) https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/us-justice-dept-said-seeking-death-penalty-for-dc-shooting-suspect-elias-rodriguez/


(2) https://youtu.be/JS0BK2zPe70


(3) https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/two-israeli-embassy-staffers-killed-washington-shooting-2025-05-22/

(4) https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/alleged-perpetrator-shooting-washington-dc-charged-hate-crimes

“The UK, France, Canada, and several other countries have recently said they will recognize a Palestinian state in the fall, some of them unconditionally and some depending on Israel’s actions in Gaza.” – ToI

Gaza was already converted to a pseudo-state in 2005 when Israel unilaterally withdrew.

In the 18 years following, this is what pseudo-state Gaza accomplished:

• Removed the Fatah party from authority in a bloody coup;
• Threw Fatah members–and homosexuals–off the tops of buildings or dragged them behind vehicles until they died in the streets;
• Installed Hamas in an election deemed “fair” by Obama;
• Stole all the concrete and building supplies intended for homes and libraries and used it to build a network of terror tunnels that exceeds the scale of the massive NYC and Paris underground subway systems;
• Attacked Israel with terror tunnels (war crimes),
• Missiles against civilians (war crimes),
• Fire balloons against crops and farmers (war crimes),
• Frogmen on the beach (just kinda silly but yet deadly),
• Lulled Israel into a false sense of security over the course of five years in preparation;

All this “statecraft” was preparation for Oct 7, which brought:

• Surgical attack on overnight surveillance systems and personnel by night;
• Missiles in the morning, simultaneously with:
• Explosives and tractors to breach the walls in many places;
• Powered hang gliders with machine guns;
• Toyota trucks and motorcycles with machine guns;
• Thousands of trained and armed military personnel;
• Thousands of civilian looters and murderers;

That is what the pseudo-state of Gaza did with their freedom after Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.  And now based upon the success of their Oct 7 attack and the ensuing war, they have leveraged that success in the court of public opinion to garner support from powerful nations such as Canada, France, Britain, and others.  Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar confronted these nations, in a UN meeting yesterday:

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Sources:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/saar-at-un-plans-to-recognize-palestinian-state-assassinated-the-hostage-deal/

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-863399

I’m visiting Jerusalem today, and the city is quiet. Most restaurants are closed for the day of mourning and fasting.

Synonyms: 9th of Av, Tisha b’Av, 9th Day of the Fifth Month.

586 BCE: 1st Temple destroyed by Babylonians on the Tisha b’Av

70 CE: 2nd Temple destroyed by the Romans again on the 9th day of Av

1290: Jews exiled from England. Tisha of Av.

1492: Jews exiled from Spain on the 9th of the Fifth Month.

During the Shoah/Holocaust, the connection is symbolic, however, the 1942 Tisha b’Av marked the liquidation of the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto.

Here we are in 2025, and the Tisha b’Av falls on the 667th day of the hostages’ captivity which began in the Gaza War of Oct 7, 2023; which was that weekly Shabbat, and the Simchat Torah festival at the end of Succot 2023.

Yesterday, the weekly Shabbat fell on the 666th day of the war and captivity, the day before the Fast of the Ninth of Av.

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Last week, the Knesset overwhelmingly passed a bill to annex Judea and Samaria. There’s just one catch. Or three:

1. It only relates to the Israeli towns here, not the entirety of Samaria and Judea.

1. It’s a non-binding bill.

1. It was a few days before Knesset vacation.

I cannot figure out if this bill is a gentle push preparing the way for a future binding law, or if it is totally useless. Yet, it’s meaningful somehow that “centrist” parties abstained: Not even wanting to go on record one way or the other.

As soon as Trump won the 2024 election in November, Israel’s most conservative Knesset members started talking again about an annexation bill. It seems at this time the votes are just not there to actually do this for real.

Hey Knesset, someday bring a real bill to the table!

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Sources:


https://www.timesofisrael.com/knesset-votes-71-13-for-non-binding-motion-calling-to-annex-west-bank/




https://www.timesofisrael.com/smotrich-says-trumps-victory-an-opportunity-to-apply-sovereignty-in-the-west-bank/

Iran’s been up to way more than I ever heard of.
Nuclear fission:  Splits atoms apart for bombs or for civil power generation. That’s what I thought Iran was working on.
But noooo. Iran was also working on nuclear FUSION bombs, which is based on fusing atoms together. Last I heard, this was not yet cost effective for civil electricity. As for destructive bombs, I never knew nuclear fusion even had a bomb use case.
Iran knew, and Iran was working on it Until June, that is.
What’s more:
Electronic Pulse Bomb: This type of bomb emits an electrical force field which wipes out the electricity lines, plus any devices that work with electronics inside. So, basically every device. Iran was working on this weird bomb too. Until June 2025.

Something else we knew: Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) – long range missiles that can reach Europe, Israel, and the USA from Iran.  Israel was concerned because of the numbers of these being manufactured.

But here’s the thing. Now we know that there are more ICBMs than we thought, and the USA and Israel did not fully destroy that program.

Captured at Times of Israel on 27 July 2025.

Why did anyone ever believe Iran when they said “only peaceful purposes?” Israel certainly did not believe them. And Israel was correct.

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Source:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/strikes-on-iran-thwarted-bomb-designed-to-cripple-israel-electronically-report/

Today, Syrian forces attacked the Druze in Syria. Hundreds killed and raped, including a 5-year-old child; a thousand injured. A ceasefire was reached at midnight, and then Syrian forces under command of Sharaa (the new leader in Syria) attacked the Druze people. (1)

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee had tried to attend a court session with Netanyahu’s trial today.  The court immediately became “closed door” to keep him out. Soon, the court was interrupted when Netanyahu received a visit from a top military commander, and that was regarding the Druze who had been attacked in Syria:

“Army Radio reported the interruption revolved around Israeli Druze leaders holding an emergency meeting following reports of renewed attacks by Syrian forces on the Druze city of Druze-majority city of Sweida. The report said there were fears that Druze living in Israel may start deserting the IDF and crossing into Syria en masse to try and help their brethren.” (2)

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Sources: 

(1) https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-861336
(2) https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-ambassador-huckabee-attends-netanyahus-criminal-trial-in-show-of-support/

So yeah – the Houthis claimed that they aimed for the port city in Eilat, but they also claimed they aimed for Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. Somehow, all the drones and missiles ended up near Eilat, 150 km from the national airport. Now why would that be?  Right now, thousands of Israelis, with kids on summer vacation from school, are taking to the hotels and beaches of Eilat in the southern tip of Israel for vacations.

No injuries reported.

“Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen have launched 61 ballistic missiles and at least 15 drones at Israel. Several of the missiles have fallen short.” (1)

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Sources:

(1) https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-intercepts-ballistic-missile-launched-by-yemens-houthis/