Grandma's army

  When asked what is the difference between the Israeli army and other armies, my grandson Ohad who serves in a special commando unit, answered that the IDF is primarily an army of the People. He added that  what makes it so unique is that humanitarian values are no less instilled in the army trainees than warfare strategies. What other army has given so much humanitarian aid to their enemies? The PA (Palestinian Authority) is a sworn enemy of Israel, although considered “mild” compared to Hamas, etc. The head of the PA, Mahmoud Abbas, not only offers terrorists who brutally attack Israeli citizens (including women and children), monetary awards, but they are crowned as heroes and martyrs. The Sheba Medical Centre, in Tel-Aviv, provides services to patients from across the Middle East, including many patients (especially children) from the Palestinian Authority. It   has treated tens of thousands of “Palestinians” from Gaza, Judea/Samaria. In at least 400 cases...

It is no secret that the Iranian regime is an authoritarian state that enforces religious conformity through violence and fear. The ordinary Iranian people   are risking, and losing, their lives   in an attempt to reclaim their country and their freedom   - from one of the most frightening theocracies on earth. The regime kills those who dare to protest, having oppressed its population since the Shah was driven out. It is also no secret that the death penalty is issued disproportionately among Iran’s persecuted minorities – including Christians, Baha’i and Kurds. Iranian women who refuse compulsory veiling, students who chant for freedom, artists who risk prison for a line of poetry, and civilians abducted from their homes all find themselves strangely sidelined. Their suffering is real, but it is not useful. Their humanity is undeniable, but it does not flatter the ideological needs of the moment. At the same time, Iran directs its fury outward, threatening Israe...

  Knowing the extraordinary measures the IDF will take to protect innocent civilians, Hamas deliberately positioned its military assets among the civilian population. They hid weapons in tunnels under schools and hospitals, placed rocket launchers alongside apartment buildings, then forced those civilians to stay in areas they knew would be attacked. They also instructed their people to report the lie that every Gazan killed was a civilian, even if they were actually fighters. Numerous Internet sites show Palestinians elaborately staging sniper victims and smashed ambulances, among other phony horrors. One of my grandsons who was a pilot and an expert on drones is now a farmer living on a moshav only seven kilometers from Gaza. Since he finished his nine and a half years of compulsory service in the air-force he does reserve duty one day every week (like every ex-pilot), operating drones over Gaza. The following are his words, written some time ago, but just as relevant today a...

  It’s no wonder we Jews are a little paranoiac. We may have won the wars forced upon us but we never seem to reap the “fruits of victory.” We are not warriors at heart, in spite of Archie Bunker’s colourful warning:   “A coloured guy gets into trouble, he runs right away to the NAACP. Italian guy gets into trouble, he runs over to see the Pope. But you do anything to a Jew, whoa! The whole Israeli Air Force swoops down on you and kicks the f***ing hole out of you”!                                                                                      Other nations when victorious on the battlefield dictate peace terms. But when Israel is victorious it must sue for peace. Israel is called upon to make concessions, to be ge...

  I believe it was Golda Meir who coined the phrase: “We Jews have a secret weapon in our struggle with the Arabs - we have no place to go.” Because Israel MUST fight every battle to the death. When you fight for your home, family, friends and colleagues with your back up against the wall, there is no more dangerous and deadly enemy. Any number of Arab leaders have been quite clear that their intent is to finish what Hitler started. The motivation to fight is extremely strong. The IDF has a very effective feedback mechanism for combat performance. Due to its small size, it learns lessons fast and well, and has serious public discussions when poor military performance happens. Improvements are swift and effective. This comes along with a democratic state that highly values the lives of its soldiers, which is unusual in the region.   The IDF does the best it can with both great tactics in battle, and by avoiding to fight the battles it can win with brains. Jews are resou...

Golda Meir was Prime Minister of Israel from February 1969 to June 1974:                                                                                                               “When in 1921 I came to Palestine – until the end of World War I a barren, sparsely inhabited Turkish province – we, the Jewish pioneers, were the avowed Palestinians. So we were named in the world. Arab nationalists, on the other hand, categorically rejected the name. Arab spokesmen continued to insist that the land we had cherished for centuries was, like Lebanon, merely a fragment of Syria. Until the 1960’s, attention was focused on the Arab refugees for whose plight the Arab...