Monday, December 25, 2023
It will take years to correct the damage the generals wrought by reducing the size of the IDF and inducing its total dependence on the United States
Two underlying assumptions guided Israel’s security establishment for the past generation. The first asserted that with the end of the Cold War, the era of conventional wars had ended. In the present age, brains, rather than brawn, would rule the roost.
The primary author of the “small and smart IDF” doctrine was Ehud Barak, who served as Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces when the Berlin Wall crumbled. In later years, the slogan was finessed.
A generation of IDF Chiefs of General Staff organized around the vision of a “small, technological and lethal army.”
As Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Brick, (retired) who served as the IDF ombudsman for ten years, has documented, operating under the spell of Barak’s doctrine, the IDF shut down multiple reserve divisions. It cut its artillery forces by 50%. Armored brigades were shut down. The reserve force was reduced by 80% between 2003 and 2017. The non-commissioned officer corps was gutted. The bulk of the IDF budget and nearly all the U.S. military aid were diverted to the Air Force—the strategic arm of the “small, technological and lethal” IDF.
Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch: Working Charedim will be viewed, treated, as Torah-learners, new yeshivas should be founded for them.
Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, a leading Lithuanian-haredi rabbi, has called for a "kollel" (yeshiva for married men) to be formed for haredim who work to earn a living.
Speaking at an event for employed Lithuanian-haredim at the International Conference Center in Jerusalem, Rabbi Hirsch urged that these men be given more respect in the haredi community.
"It is very important to treat them - and this is how they need to treat themselves - not as 'Baalei-Batim' who do not belong to the 'Torah learning' community," Rabbi Hirsch said. "The foundation needs to be that a person thinks, 'I am absolutely a Torah-learner, who has no choice and I need to work for a livelihood, but I am definitely a Torah-learner."
Later in the event, he clarified, "There need to be more kollels, for Torah-learners who work. Not 'Baalei Batim kollels,' but 'kollels for Torah-learners who work,' and there, each person will learn according to his abilities."
"Through this, there will be a very great sanctification of G-d's name... May G-d give these kollel students the ability to handle the burden of a livelihood and remain true Torah-learners in all ways. And this will greatly sanctify Heaven," Rabbi Hirsch concluded.
Biden convinced Netanyahu not to launch pre-emptive strike on Hezbollah on Lebanon
President Biden convinced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the 11th hour to nix a planned strike against Hezbollah days after the Oct. 7 massacre over fears that it would trigger a region-wide war, a new report says.
Israel allegedly had warplanes waiting for orders to target the Lebanese terror group by striking its forces along the Lebanon border Oct. 11 when Biden spoke with Netanyahu about the consequences of such a preemptive attack, given American intelligence finding no evidence of an impending Hezbollah invasion, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
Israeli officials were said to be on edge after Hamas’ slaughter of more than 1,200 people in Israel on Oct 7., with the nation’s own intelligence network suggesting a repeat of the attack was imminent from the Palestinian terrorists’ allies in Lebanon.
But Biden allegedly talked Netanyahu and his war cabinet into taking a more reserved approach rather than risking an all-out war in both Gaza and Lebanon, sources told the Journal.
IDF finds explosive belts made for kids, toy chests with warheads in Gaza
Israeli soldiers found Hamas explosive belts adapted for children and toy chests hiding warheads at a Gaza kindergarten, the army said over the weekend.
The Israel Defense Forces said a sweep of a Hamas-operated area near schools, a mosque and a medical facility turned up a weapons compound filled with countless explosives.
In the compound, the IDF found explosive belts specifically modified for children to wear, along with dozens of mortar shells, hundreds of grenades and several intelligence documents, it said Sunday.
The raid on the compound was carried out after Israeli troops took out seven Hamas terrorists in the building.
A similar raid occurred at a Gaza school that was serving as a shelter for Palestinian refugees, the IDF said.
Iran’s nuclear breakout: ’Twas the night before Armageddon
It remains far too quiet at the White House this Christmas. Iran alarmingly is on the cusp of building a nuclear bomb and the Biden administration appears oblivious that we are now on the eve of Armageddon in the Middle East.
Yuletide gifts for Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the form of more economic-sanction relief won’t stop the ayatollah from achieving his military goal of turning Iran into a nuclear power as a counterweight to Israel’s nuclear arsenal.
Creatures are stirring in Iran, and dangerously so in the full light of day.
Tehran is only days from a nuclear breakout, not weeks or months. Iran already possesses sufficient mass of 60% highly enriched uranium to assemble nuclear bombs, and readily has the centrifuge capacity needed to reach 90% enrichment — the level required to sustain a nuclear chain reaction.
MK Moshe Feiglin: 'There was no humanitarian path for the babies of Hiroshima' "Victory is to conquer the land, evacuate all the People from Gaza"
Moshe Feiglin, Israeli politician and activist, spoke to Israel National News – Arutz Sheva about his decision to leave the Likud, the current IDF achievements, and the sacrifice of our soldiers.
“What we see is the spirit and heroism of this generation of soldiers. We have never seen this in the past. We have seen tremendous heroism during all the wars since 1948, but what we are seeing now, we have never seen before. Personally, it gives me tremendous hope for this country. I know that we are going to win. There's no doubt about it. The problem we have is with the political leadership and with the top political leadership of the army,” Feiglin opens.
He explains, “Winning, and what is winning, is the key question because when they [the leadership] decided to eliminate Hamas, that's ridiculous. That's not a victory. The definition of victory is to conquer the land, evacuate all the people from Gaza, and rebuild the whole Gaza Strip as the new greater Tel Aviv; Gaza should be a big city like Tel Aviv. Of course, Gush Katif must be built again. We should have an airport over there. We should have hotels. This should be the new Israeli Riviera. That should be the vision; nothing less than that. That's a victory. When you talk about sacrificing our heroes, our children, in Gaza and then giving it back to the Gaza people, they are the enemy.”
Outrage in Chabad: Tunnel discovered under Chabad Headquarters
A tunnel has been discovered under the Hasidic World Center 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, New York.
The tunnel had been dug for several months at least, as Chabad suspects that several men are responsible for the digging that began during the Covid-19 pandemic, in order to enter a building that was locked.
Others in Chabad claim that the tunnel was dug during the last year by a number of Mexican workers.
Due to the danger to the foundations of the building, it was decided to close the women's section above the tunnel. The diggers hid the dirt and debris in a mikvah that had not been used for years.
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