We are just about three weeks into this war. It was on Day 6 that it was reported that “Israel dropped more bombs in a week than US dropped in Afghanistan in a year.” Since then, we’ve been pounding Gaza (and yes, Gazans) relentlessly, and it has now begun to dawn on Israelis that “one of the world’s most powerful armies” (as people love to say about the IDF) has not subdued Hamas.
David Horovitz, editor of the Times of Israel, captured the deepening sentiment in his Op Ed today:
Why is this war “increasingly existential”? Because unless we can completely defang Hamas, who among those thousands who have fled the Gaza Envelope is going to move back to the towns around Gaza? And if they can’t move back (there are now about 200,000 domestic refugees in Israel, moved from near Gaza and from the north), will we have essentially ceded that territory even if Hamas technically remains on the other side of the border?
And even if we can, somehow, uproot Hamas, how long is that going to take? How long will hundreds of thousands of Israelis not be able to go home?
The political echelons are clearing trying to prepare Israelis for a very long haul. Today, in fact, they upped the estimate from “months” to שנים, or years. It’s in the Hebrew press, but not yet in the English.
“Gantz: the Gaza incursion is but one stage of a process that will take שנים years.”
Below, before we get to that above-mentioned video, glimpses of Israel last night, and then again this afternoon, just a few hours ago.
After three weeks of sirens and rockets, the Home Front Command is worried that Israelis are starting to get complacent about heeding instructions about going to the shelter when they hear the siren. Yes, even if it’s in the middle of the night, and yes, even if the kids are sleeping.
So the powers-that-be were all too eager to share this security-camera footage from outside an apartment in Rishon LeTzion, situated on the coast just south of Tel Aviv, from 9:30 pm just last night (the date and time are clearly visible on the footage):
The family is apparently fine—because they followed the instructions, the HFC stresses—but what is astonishing many Israelis is that three weeks in, Hamas can still do this. How much longer is this going to go on? Does Israel really have the ability to stop it? And if it doesn’t?
Below, a word about the feedback that I’ve been getting that Israel from the Inside should be more “uplifting.” It’s an important question.
Despite this—or more precisely, because of this—the civilian home front is a mobilized as ever. We’re already covered the Civilian Command Center. Here’s something much less formal than the Command Center.
Shortly after noon today, we got a WhatsApp (which, fortunately for this post, happened to include an English translation), which you can see on the right below.
The photo on the left, above, is the price list. You add up the cost of what you took by yourself, and pay with your phone by Bit or PayBox (Israel’s equivalents of Venmo) to the number scribbled on the fruit crate in the middle photo. About 90 minutes after the WhatsApp went out, this was the scene in the parking lot behind the gas station:
And now, regarding the “tone” of Israel from the Inside, it’s something that I addressed in a briefing to some of Shalem College’s American leadership the other day, so I’m just attaching that clip to share my own take on this with you:
And now, on to ISIS. If you are unsure about the ISIS/Hamas analogy, just listen to the person from Zaka in the video at the very top of this post.
Which then brings us to the debate that I mentioned above. The reaction of the left both in Europe and in the United States to what is happening is being well covered in the press, so we’re mostly not touching that. But if you didn’t notice this one, you ought to:
It’s hard to know what to say about that. I wonder what those students who voted down the resolution would say once they heard Dennis Prager in the 2015 debate at Oxford.
David Horovitz is absolutely right that Israelis see themselves in a battle for survival. The longer the battle goes on without any indications that Israel is getting the upper hand, the more fragile will the national morale become.
Which is why it is also critical that the world be reminded—whenever and by whomever—that we’re just the canary in the coal mine. They came for the West before, and if we don’t stop them, they’ll come for the West again.
As explained above, Shalem College is making use of its financial infrastructure to help the Hamal (which we covered in a previous post) collect funds, and to get 100% of the funds to the Hamal immediately. To support the Hamal, use the link immediately below. There is a place on the web page to note that you want your contribution to be directed to the war effort.
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.
Impossible Takes Longer is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and at other booksellers.
Our Twitter feed is here; feel free to join there, too.
Our Threads feed is danielgordis. We’ll start to use it more shortly.
I am in awe of the positivity that you are sustaining here, Daniel. I write a very modest blog that, for the last two weeks, has ignored the trivia and personal anecdotes that I usually write about, and, instead, focused on the atmosphere here in Israel. When I reread what I had written this week before publishing, I was shocked by how despairing the tone was, but I could not, in all conscience, change anything.
So, no, Daniel, you are not painting too bleak a picture. You are, rather, with awesome authority and breadth of vision, both reporting from the front and maintaining a historical perspective. Thank you for Israel from the Inside, which was always a must read for me but is now a must read for everyone.
I profoundly appreciate the tone you have taken in Israel From The Inside, providing those of us who live in the diaspora the truth of how "Shabbat haShachor" has impacted Israel. I am nauseated at the thought that someone living in comfort and safety "b'chutz l'aaretz" would dare suggest that you lighten things up or be more sanguine. When Hamas has been destroyed, Netanyahu et al held to account, and a new reality begins to take shape between the Palestinians and Israelis, I'm sure you're missive will reflect these positive developments. Please keep up the accurate reports from the front
Please don't change the perspective and tone of the newsletter. Uplifting is fine, but it's also not the only reality. We all need to look at all the pieces.
Danny - keep doing what you are doing. Your reports are bringing us important insights that we might not get otherwise. I hope you know how tirelessly so many people are working on behalf of Israel. Take care, Gordon Hecker, Columbus OH
You are 100 percent right. We need to know the truth of what is really happening in Israel- no matter how dark, so that we can best support Israel, Israelis, and the Jewish people. Thank you for sharing this truth during this terrible time.
The material here is invaluable and I have been sharing with friends and family in US. Re today's post, I do fear the Prager argument may not have aged well with this new government. While I think Hamas is certainly a bigger/more long standing obstacle to peace--the settlements and their ever growing nature make peace nearly impossible. Like Hamas, they too must be rooted out (the ones outside the major blocs at least), including Jewish terrorists who murder Palestinians in the West Bank. The settlers have far too much sway at the moment.
I have been a fan of the blog for a very long time, but since October 7 I find that the site is my most anticipated, first-stop of the day after logging into my computer. Keep doing what you are doing. The tone is appropriate. There have been enough uplifting bits -- including the clip of the ad hoc farmers' market above - to balance out the gravity of the rest.
FYI, I am a Brandeis alum. So is my wife. One of our daughters will be heading there when she returns from the Bar Ilan XP program. With the depravity going on across college campuses here, we have been watching Brandeis closely. The student senate vote was disappointing, but there is more context to it than appears in the media. Regardless, the school administration has come out in strong support for Israel, unlike so many of the spineless university presidents and administrators we have been reading about. The president has written two great letters, and has signed on to Yeshiva University's letter in support of Israel. https://yucommentator.org/2023/10/university-presidents-sign-president-berman-led-letter-standing-with-israel/
Daniel
I Agree 100% with your approach - we need to see the good, the bad and the ugly.
In the galut we are on the “outside” and are at one with Israel. We have a desperate need to know what is really happening on the ground on the inside by insiders like yourself, otherwise we are essentially dependent on outsiders in the galut who often report with a shallow, simplistic & dualistic western understanding of the Middle East.
I greatly appreciate the intelligent, thoughtful, and in-depth posts you have been publishing, and find your tone spot on. I value reading your on the ground perspectives, no matter have graphic and shocking it is. This is a time for unvarnished truths, and staying informed. I don't find your tone and coverage overly somber -- sadly, we are living in somber times however I have so much faith in Israelis and Jews around the world. I get a solid summary from Times of Israel Daily podcast who highlight some of the uplifting stories of Israelis proactively doing what needs to be done to help their fellow citizens in need, and support Israel. Please keep doing what you are doing, Danny! Stay well, and stay safe.
Many important points. There are many levels of existential threat here and we must be very careful how we proceed. We've entered into a classic WWIII scenario. Maybe not having communities next to Gaza is not the greatest threat? I believe we've already missed a massive opportunity by not capitalizing on near universal support in the immediate aftermath of 10/8 to engage with or allies, especially our new Arab allies, to create a different reality. We always could have reserved the right to undertake the standard bomb the hell out of them response, but we, tragically, went the typical route. Now there's no limit to how big this conflagration could grow.
What is the end game here? What does Israel do in Gaza the day after we have eradicated Hamas? How to prevent a future Hamas ver.2 from growing in the future? Some suggestions:
What: Take control of the education system. Gazan kids should only attend Israeli-run schools.
Why: Ensure future generations of Gazans are not brainwashed into hating Israel.
What: Stop UNRWA funding -- or at least route it through Israeli control - especially UNRWA funding for Gazan-run "schools". Carefully screen textbooks to remove inflammatory content that perpetuates victimhood and violence.
Why: Currently used teaching infrastructure and textbooks are a source of indoctrination and radicalization.
What: Put all military age males (all Gazan adults, even) into an intensive de-radicalization program. Deprogram them from the lies Hamas fed them all along.
Why: If you don't change their values and beliefs, you won't change their actions.
What: Remove access to the internet, for the next two-three years at least.
Why: The internet (youtube, social media) is a source for radicalization. You want to deradicalize them.
What: Create a vocational training system for all adults, teaching useful arts - agriculture, plumbing, electricity, personal and family hygeine, healthy cooking.
Why: This will directly impact Gazans' quality of life, and also take their minds off their real and imagined greivances.
What: Create a supervised work program for all adults, where they use the vocational skills they learn to create value for themselves and for Israeli society.
Why: This again will directly impact Gazans' quality of life, and also take their minds off their real and imagined greivances, and keep their hands off mischief.
What: Forbid all group prayer in collective prayer facilities, public grounds or inside buildings. People can pray as a family, in their homes; never as a group.
Why: Collective prayer subconsciously reinforces the notion of collective discipline and collective action, which is unfortunately weaponized against Israel and Jews. Collective prayer facilities are also used as indoctrination centers (and under some conditions, their infrastructure -- e.g. loudspeakers -- are used to rally mobs). When Gazans collect as a group, groupthink and mass hysteria against Jews and Israel result.
Finally: consider offering a pathway into Judaism to all Gazans. In the long run, everyone is better off if all Palestinians (whose ancestors were probably Jews anyway) return to Judaism. See this article: https://www.haaretz.com/science-and-health/2015-10-20/ty-article/palestinians-and-jews-share-genetic-roots/0000017f-dc0e-df9c-a17f-fe1e57730000
The above actions will result, over time, in improving the quality of life of Palestinians, and offer the greatest chance of peaceful coexistence. Helping Palestinians build a better life for themselves while promoting peace in Israel is completely consistent with Jewish values (much as we are all feeling raw anger at this point, anger and revenge is not a sustainable basis for creating long term policy). Moreover, the world will eventually appreciate that Israel cares for the Palestinians.