JTOD – Jerusalem Tabernacle Of David
Join Elohim’s Plan for Amos 9:11
Catch a glimpse of what goes on day by day in the cultural and political landscape of Israel.
Slogans from the protests:
“Our children’s souls will not be abandoned to politicians.”
Right. Just leave all that to other peoples’ children, because their souls don’t matter.
“It is better to die Haredi and not live as a secular Jew.”
See? This is actually the great divide between secular and orthodox society in Israel. Are they thinking about what happens if suddenly every one is Haredi and suddenly there’s no army and no protection?
Related:
Sources: https://www.timesofisrael.com/ags-office-knesset-legal-advisory-pan-haredi-draft-exemption-bill/ https://twitter.com/ZiratNews/status/2005281512846229723
🎗️Ran Gvili’s body is still not home. Another Hanukkah has come and gone, and still his family cannot have a proper burial. He died defending Kibbutz Alumim, and Gazans stole his dead body. I still wear the yellow ribbon.
🗞️ The Draft: Haredi Ultra-Orthodox Jewish young men protest the High Court ruling that they must be drafted like everyone else.
📸 Video – when I got caught in a protest last week on my way home from a Bible study in Jerusalem.
📸 Photo: article clip.
80,000 of the Orthodox are currently eligible to serve; the Army desperately needs 12,000 right now. Last thurs, riding buses home from Bible study in Jerusalem, I got caught in this demonstration near Bnei Brak. Evidently there were demonstrations that night in Jerusalem, and last night as well, however my bus routes last night home from Bible study did not go thru that area, thankfully.
Certain (centrist) party leaders quoted in the article accuse Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition of currying votes from the Orthodox by failing to enforce the draft as written in law and affirmed by the High Court.
The slogans claim that the Orthodox would rather die protesting the draft than to serve alongside non-religious fighters under command from a non-religious government.
Note: Even though the government gives them a free pass, it’s still “not religious enough” for them.
2025-12-23 Orthodox Draft Situation
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Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/haredim-block-traffic-on-route-4-in-protest-of-arrests-of-draft-dodgers/
A very worthwhile conversation: Former CIA agent Andrew Bustamante debunks the Charlie Kirk conspiracy theories as he evaluates Israel’s existential threats:
Source:
David Harris, Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) executive vice chair, on his new book published on Oxford Press, wrote:
“Trying to put first-aid cream on skin cancer doesn’t begin to address the problem Jews today face.” ¹
The problem–the skin cancer–is, of course, antisemitism, otherwise known as Jew-hatred and often disguised as anti-Zionism: The sole Jewish state is uniquely NOT qualified to exist, despite all the horrors done by other states whose very existence is never openly challenged.
“Finally, the fight against antisemitism in the 21st century is not only a fight for Jewish safety and security. In reality, it is every bit as much a struggle for liberal democracy.”
Source: ¹ https://www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report/article-879849 ² https://lessons.myjli.com/survival/index.php/2017/03/26/land-ownership-in-palestine-1880-1948/ ² https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/myths-and-facts-the-mandatory-period ² https://ismi.emory.edu/documents/stein-publications/website%20docs%202011-2004/website%20docs%202000%20and%20earlier/JNF-Stein1984.pdf ² https://badil.org/publications/al-majdal/issues/items/409.html ² https://search.brave.com/search?q=jews+paid+arabs+for+land&source=desktop&summary=1&conversation=d387155fcd4826265fc7a6 --
Three American military men (including one contracted civilian translator) were killed by Islamic State terror organization in Syria, an enemy of Al Qaida and of the USA.
The USA;’s response: Cooperate with Jordan to attack 70 targets in Syria one week later.
“The guardsmen killed in Syria last Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown. Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Macomb, Michigan, a US civilian working as an interpreter, was also killed.
The shooting near Palmyra also wounded three other US troops as well as members of Syria’s security forces, and the gunman was killed. The assailant had joined Syria’s internal security forces as a base security guard two months ago and was recently reassigned because of suspicions that he might be affiliated with ISIS, Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba has said.
The man [the Syrian attacker] stormed a meeting between US and Syrian security officials who were having lunch together and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards.”
ISIS did not even formally take credit for killing the Americans. No need to be careful, evidently, enough is known about it.
Let’s contrast this with Israel. Thousands murdered and injured in one day, including elderly, Shoah survivors, children, pregnant women, and Israel was immediately blamed as if “the Jews deserve what they got.” But the attack was unprovoked, and as for taking credit, those terrorists bragged about it. One Gazan man called his mother to brag how he himself had killed 10 Jews.
It was as if he had full assurance that his parents would be very proud that he had killed ten Jews. No doubt in his mind. He appeared to be bragging to his parents about it.
So how exactly is the Jewish state condemned for taking violent action to quell such threats?
What ISIS just did against American servicemen is not an existential threat to the USA. It’s an insult and as such deserves to be punished. But how much greater would the punishment be if it was an existential threat to the USA?
Israel suffered an existential threat on Oct 7.
Iran is currently rebuilding its missile capabilities; Iran continues to be an existential threat to Israel.
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Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-launches-operation-against-isis-in-syria-after-deadly-attack-on-americans/
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“Several social media accounts around the world tried to discredit al-Ahmed, claiming variously that he was a Lebanese Maronite Christian or a Jewish man. Some even tried to give him a completely different name for a while. These claims were debunked when [Australian Prime Minister] Albanese confirmed his identity on Monday.” (1)
People were confused about the identity of Ahmed Al Ahmed, the hero who disarmed a gunman during the Bondi Beach attack, primarily due to widespread misidentification of him as a fruit seller from Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, a detail that circulated rapidly in early reports and social media. This misinformation led well-wishers to mistakenly direct messages of support to a fruit business named Sutherland Best Fresh, which quickly clarified it had no connection to Al Ahmed. Despite the correction, the initial misidentification persisted in some media and online spaces, contributing to confusion about his background.
Ahmed Al Ahmed is not a fruit seller, as initially reported; (3) he is the owner of a tobacco and specialty convenience store in Sydney, which he has operated since 2021.
The confusion arose shortly after the attack on Sunday, December 14, 2025, when viral footage of his heroic actions spread globally, prompting rapid but inaccurate speculation about his identity.
Some online accounts falsely claimed he was a Jewish man,(2) a Lebanese Maronite Christian, or even a different person entirely, but these claims were debunked when Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed his identity as a 43-year-old Syrian-born Muslim citizen.
The misidentification and subsequent online debate over his faith highlighted a broader tendency to politicize and rebrand heroes based on ideological narratives, rather than focusing on the moral significance of his actions. (4)
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Sources: (1) https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/16/what-we-know-about-ahmed-al-ahmed-hero-who-disarmed-bondi-attacker (2) https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2025/12/15/no-bondi-hero-was-not-a-jew-who-is-brave-muslim-ahmed-al-ahmed-the-fruit-seller-who-disarmed-the-shooter-in-australia.html (3) https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/sydney-beach-shooting-bondi-beach-shooting-ahmed-al-ahmed-new-detail-about-sydney-hero-who-tackled-gunman-he-is-not-a-fruit-seller-9813228 (4) https://www.jta.org/2025/12/16/ideas/ahmed-al-ahmeds-bravery-at-bondi-beach-captivates-us-because-it-reminds-us-of-our-own-humanity
