Ambassador David Friedman calls it like he sees it
Our main text today from this weekend’s Israeli press is a fascinating interview with Ambassador David Friedman in Makor Rishon, a small portion of which we have translated below. As Ambassador Friedman is not currently in an official governmental position, he is free to speak his mind. What he says below about the future of Gaza is, I suspect, a widely held view among Israeli officials, even though—given their present positions—they cannot say so. Though technically a private citizen at the moment, Amb. David Friedman thus gives us a glimpse into what Israel’s leadership may well be thinking.
That follows below.
First, though, the battles and their costs
As the ground war grinds on, parents and families on the home front are becoming increasingly aware of what their “kids” on the front are currently facing. The soldiers have no phones with them, but the IDF is releasing more and more footage, including the helmet cam video above.
That clip is of soldiers from the 931st Battalion fighting Hamas in Jabaliya. The troops apparently discovered an ambush awaiting them on the route they had been planning to take, and instead, flanked the terrorists through a dangerous cobweb of alleys in which terrorists can hide and surprise them, and ultimately killed them. (Thanks to Andrew Herenstein for the background.)
In the video, you can periodically hear some of the soldiers shouting mechablim! [terrorists] as they fire.
One thing to keep in mind as you watch: These “kids” (men and women) and those who are not such “kids” any longer will eventually come home, and as soon as they do, those who are students will be thrust into their university classes—the academic year has yet to start here, but it is expected t0 begin by around the end of the month. Others will return home to family and to work.
What will it mean for people living through what you witness above to suddenly find themselves in class, expected to focus, to read and to take notes? For those who are older, what will it mean to be expected to return to work, to marriage, to parenting—and to function in any way that feels normal?
No matter how this plays out, Israel has a great deal of healing ahead.
Israel is beginning to release the numbers of the wounded, as well
The fact that the terrorists in the video above seem to appear from nowhere is what is leading to the higher casualty numbers we are seeing in recent days.
Though the IDF has been publishing the numbers and names of soldiers killed since October 7 and since the beginning of the ground war on October 27 (almost three weeks later), it has, until the last few days, not been releasing the numbers of those wounded. In response to pressure from the Israeli press, it has now begun doing so (along with increasing photos of wounded being evacuated, as below), and will be updating those numbers daily on this website.
Since the army says that, at least as of now, it has no plans to publish the website in any language other than Hebrew, we’re providing a translation of today’s screen—if the format of the website stays constant, you should be able to follow the (tragically) changing numbers using the guide below:
And now, on to the interview with Ambassador David Friedman
Above is the first page of the interview with Ambassador Friedman, which can be read online in the original Hebrew here. What follows is a quick translation of small portion of the interview:
Do you get the impression that the two countries [DG - the US and Israel] are on a collision course?
“I really hope not, but it certainly seems that way,” replies Friedman. “When Biden arrived in Israel and gave it a huge hug, it was a very emotional moment. I greatly appreciated his approach, but already that day I wondered if this hug would last a week, two weeks or four. It cannot last indefinitely. There is strong pressure on Biden from his political base to push for a ceasefire. I think the relationship between Israel and the US is now moving towards one of disagreement, but I don’t know if it will lead to actual steps on the ground.”
What response do you expect from Israel in this situation?
“It is absolutely clear to me that the Israeli government cannot end the war without a complete victory. I don’t know what exactly ‘complete victory’ means, but at least all Hamas leaders need to be eliminated, and Israel must shave full security control over the Gaza Strip. They need to be able to look the residents of the south [DG-the kibbutzim along the Gaza border] in the eyes and say: ‘there will be no more rockets, there will be no invasions—we control the strip.’”
It will take more weeks and months to get there. What will happen if the American administration does not grant Israel this time?
“It is likely that it will take a long time and may even be done in stages. The elimination of the Hamas leadership, significant Israeli control, and the elimination of the threat of rockets within a month is a very optimistic scenario. But even if this happens, there will still be a lot of work to do in stabilizing the military presence there, not only in times of war. When they say that Israel cannot control Gaza, I reply that that’s absurd. Who could exercise control there? Who could replace Israel in keeping the peace?”
The Biden administration wants it to be a “revitalized Palestinian Authority.”
“Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about the need to revitalize the Palestinian Authority. How exactly? Will they separate themselves from Hamas? Will they stop paying terrorists who kill Jews? Will they stop oppressing women or homosexuals? Will they abolish the death penalty for anyone who sells a house to a Jew? Will they stop bribing their superiors and starving their people? These are the most dangerous people on earth. If the Palestinian Authority controls Gaza, it will become Hamas and Hamas will become the PA, and we will return to exactly the same place. What Harris and others are saying are political statements without any real thought behind them. There are no military officers or senior security officials who speak this way, only Kamala Harris—a third-rate politician.”
But the administration is still talking about the two-state solution. Are they disconnected from reality?
“There are two camps in the Democratic Party: the extremist group, most of whom are ignorant and disconnected, some of whom hate Israel without the faintest idea of what is going on. And there is a second group who, no matter what happens and how long it takes, will always preach a two-state solution. Their belief in this solution is truly religious [and …] it is impossible to convince them otherwise. I have said more than once that the only solution to improving the lives of the Palestinians in terms of economy, education and well-being is to maintain an interface with the State of Israel, the only country in the region that is worthy of joining, and this should be in an environment where Israel maintains full sovereignty, ‘from the river to the sea.’ Not that I like that phrase.”
Israel, Friedman says, should present to the Palestinians the choice that was placed before the people of Israel prior to their entry into the land, “Behold, I myself give you a blessing and a curse today.” “If you want to kill us—we will kill you first. We have no more patience. Those who stay and say that this is not their way, we will be happy to help them turn to the Gulf countries, raise money and improve their lives, but everything will be under our control. That is the only solution.”
If you’re just joining us, Israel from the Inside typically posts a written column on Mondays and a podcast on Wednesdays. That is obviously irrelevant for the time being.
We’ve delayed all the podcasts that were ready to go, because the people whose stories they tell deserve to tell them when we all have the bandwidth to hear. Hopefully, that will return some day.
In the interim, we’ll post as possible. Here in Israel, there are non-stop funerals to go to, shiva homes to visit, grandchildren to help care for while sons and daughters are in the army, so we’ll see.
Schedules are the least of our worries.
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Ambassador David Friedman on what happens after: "The State of Israel must maintain full sovereignty, ‘from the river to the sea.'"