Israel is fighting on an unprecedented number of fronts, close and far. What will it take for Israel to have peace for its citizens?
One front to date that has not opened is from within the large Israeli Arab sector. Arab identification with the state of Israel has actually increased since the Hamas pogrom. Arabs were killed and wounded on 10/7 and even taken as prisoners to Gazan dungeons. While many Israeli Arabs hate the state, including Arabs in the Knesset, who make nice fat salaries, they know that Hamas rule would be a disaster for them as well.
Gaza. The war in Gaza continues and intensifies. The middle-south of the strip is the main stronghold of Hamas. Israeli casualties are unfortunately increasing as troops encounter entrenched terrorists. Israel has killed thousands of Hamas terrorists and has started to take hundreds of prisoners at a time. A friend of mine who is serving in Gaza said that the north of Gaza has been flattened. Entire neighborhoods have been plowed into oblivion. I asked if this was to reduce any future rocket fire. He said no, it was to show the enemies of Israel that if they attack, they will pay dearly. It will take years and billions of Saudi and UAE funds to build up what was standing just three months ago. Apparently, the areas of current fighting will have the same treatment, with only the south currently housing most of Gaza’s population left upright, if partially or mostly bombed out. I do not know if anyone in the Israeli government or elsewhere knows what to do with Gaza when the war is effectively over. The Israelis do not want to run it, and they will not let Abbas and his cronies take over to turn a blind eye to future terror. None of the Palestinians’ dear and loving Arab friends like Egypt and Jordan want anything to do with them or the Gaza strip, other than to possibly provide funding for rebuilding.
Northern Border. Hezbollah performs about 10-12 attacks per day. At the end of each day, they give a summary of where and how they attacked. They would appear to be mailing it in. They are watching what goes on in Gaza and know that Beirut could look the same as Gaza City. So they attack but do not start a full-fledged war with Israel. Israel has 100,000 troops on the northern border, so it is ready for any significant escalation. The general view in Israel is that they will have to deal with Hezbollah fully when the Gaza fighting ends. The US and France have figured this out and have started to demand that Hezbollah be moved north of the Litani River, as per the UN agreements that ended the Second Lebanon War. One should keep in mind that the first war with Lebanon in the 1980s was called “Shalom HaGalil” - Peace for the Galilee. Israel will no longer accept a situation in which Hezbollah can start shooting missiles at Israel whenever it pleases. The country mentally is preparing to deal with the north when the south is considered under control.
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Syria. Israel attacks Iranian targets in Syria generally a couple of times per week. These attacks are often meant to stem the flow of weapons from Iran to proxies in Syria and Lebanon or kill Iranian agents.
Iran. Iran is the grand puppet-master. All of the groups fighting Israel are supported, financed, and encouraged by Tehran. Will Israel attack Iran directly? Will the Mossad increase activities to weaken the regime and its nuclear program? Will Israel destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities? Will Israel use threats against Iran to convince the latter to rein in its proxies and sycophants? Iran may be down the list of targets but it is the source of the others who are actively attacking Israel today. It was curious that Iran denied knowledge of the 10/7 attack planning, when Hamas planned and practiced it over years and was funded with Iranian money. Apparently, they are afraid of being too closely associated with the rape, murder, torture, and kidnapping of Israeli citizens that started the current fighting.
Yemen. The Houthis live in an area that makes Gaza look like Silicon Valley. The Houthis would not know how to build a Lego rocket, so clearly all of their rockets, drones, and other weapons come from the local Iranian branch of Weapons-R-Us. How do you deal with such an enemy? The US had its troubles dealing with the “backwards” Vietcong and North Vietnamese fighters. And what will Israel do? Bomb their gat farms? Knock out the dinghys they use to attack major international shipping? The Houthi problem is rising above the background and cannot be ignored any longer, as they have threatened to attack any ship heading to Israeli ports. Israel has four new German corvettes that have been officially approved for use, so expect them with special forces to start dealing directly with the Houthi problem.
The West Bank. The normal place for intensive Israeli army activity is experiencing daily IDF activity with tanks, D9 earth movers, planes, and drones. Israel has used the latter to take out terrorists, including four yesterday in Jenin. Israel has removed the gloves and is fighting forcefully to keep the West Bank under control and not allow terrorists there to attack Israeli homefront targets.
The West. There have always been anti-Israeli forces in the UN, universities, and on the left. But the explosion of antisemitism on campuses and in the streets of major cities from New York to Sydney is unprecedented in the post-Holocaust period. Israel is working furiously on “hasbara,” or "explanation,” to present its side and put the light on the truth. But when people hate you, they don’t care what you say, even if you are right. China and Russia have thrown their lot with Hamas, while the always anti-Israel UN has ignored the sexual assaults and murder of Jewish women and instead demands a Hamas-favorable ceasefire. Israel needs to keep putting forward the truth, and in my opinion, at some point, they will have to release for general viewing the 43 minute horror movie of 10/7. Let the lefties throw up.
Israel is facing a large number of fronts, none of which can be ignored or pushed into the background for action later. In Chanukah, there were actually two major miracles: the defeat of the Greek-Syrian armies by a much smaller and less experienced Jewish force led by the Maccabees, and of course the miracle of oil just enough for one day burning eight days in the menorah in the Temple, after which new ritually-pure oil became available. Israel needs miracles today and may G-d grant them. What does Israel want? To conquer the Palestinians? To take over Lebanon? No. She wants her citizens to wake up and not be threatened by any enemy, near or far. The days of shrugging off an attack here or a few rockets there are over. If you mess with Israel, you are dead. The terrorists turning themselves in to the IDF in the West Bank and in Gaza were the first ones to receive the memo. Hezbollah pulling punches while still losing over 100 terrorists apparently also got wind of the new approach. There will be peace, and a lot of bad guys are going to die if they stand in the way of it.
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