Friday Wrap: Visit to IDF Base, Tucker, Jerusalem, Hebron - and now - War?
The day started quietly....until the high alerts caused mild chaos
As 50,000 runners in the Tel Aviv Marathon - the largest turnout ever – made their way to the finish line this morning ….what began as a trickle soon became a torrent….of high alert messages.
The first ones were from the U.S. Embassy. Many other countries followed.
Shortly after the above message showed up in one of my chat groups, an email that U.S. Ambassador Huckabee had sent to all American Embassy staff began circulating online. It raised the urgency of leaving Israel a notch or two. Click on the X post below to read the entire summary of Huckabee’s email:
Israelis get the message, quickly. This is not our first rodeo.
Within minutes of receiving these and other messages I headed to the kibbutz grocery store. Friday is always busy. Today? Jammed. And we were all doing the same thing. Stocking up on provisions in case it’s a long haul. Water. High energy dry food and perishables that keep without refrigeration. Like clementines and other citrus. Anti-bacterial wipes. Batteries.
The mood? Chill. Should war be upon us in the coming hours or days, we are - how should I say this – acclimatized.
A close friend from Toronto is visiting here and would prefer to leave while it’s still possible. I gave her the best advice I could: Go straight to the airport and get on any flight you can. It’ll cost a fortune. Athens. Dubai. Addis Ababa. Cyprus. Vienna. Whatever is available. You can make your home way from there. But this is not the time to fuss over seats or flight times. If there’s a spot you grab it.
We have faced this situation in the past, notably in the immediate aftermath of October 7. It was a long weekend in Canada and the Embassy – as well as Foreign Affairs Emergency help line in Ottawa was beyond useless. Those manning the phones in Ottawa seemed unaware that anything was going on here more than 24 hours after the Hamas attack. Other foreign embassies were responsive and proactive. But that’s another story.
Bottom line? If you want to leave, you’re on your own. Approach it with that mindset and if you are pleasantly surprised well, lucky you.
To say that my day and weekend plans were thrown off is something of an understatement.
Aside from stocking up on provisions, we are all worried about various family members and friends who have been or will soon be called up for reserve duty. We have no idea what will be. I have issued an open invitation to friends in Tel Aviv and central Israel to come shelter at my house in the meantime. My kibbutz is really in the middle of nowhere. Even Iran won’t waste ballistic missiles on us. They will pound the bejeezus out of central Israel. And the Haifa port, which is also where the oil refinery is situated. And air force bases.
I had big plans for today – among them I was going to bake up a storm – including my lemon olive oil bars that I wrote about last week. And I promised the recipe this week. Sorry. Gonna have to wait. I have already baked the shortbread crust – was going to do the curd/custard today. Alas……the universe had other plans for me.
But – here’s a brief recap of the past week, which was a doozer. From last Saturday…..
Saturday, February 21 was perfect.
Warm. Sunny. The kalaniyot (poppy) flowers were at peak magnificence. Also - the air was thick with anxiety. Anticipation was exceptionally high. Cuz - Iran.
The day passed without incident. So the wait continues, as does the anxiety.
Also on Saturday, a few visiting Americans came down to the kibbutz to participate in my new favorite tradition – a long, lazy, delicious, boozy lunch. Followed by a well-earned nap.
Rotisserie chicken on the bbq. Creamy polenta. Fresh veggies. Strawberries. Banana chocolate cake. And other stuff.
My guests were all self-described as October 8 Jews. Each one, of course, is a variation on the theme. But the overarching premise is that the way in which they understood and lived with their Jewishness changed dramatically on that day.
Of the three, one would move to Israel tomorrow if his spouse was so inclined. She is not. Another would and might but in the meantime visits frequently and for lengthy periods. They are all deeply involved in a range of – projects, activities– to express and “make real” (one of my fave words in Hebrew) this newer priority in their lives.
We spoke about this – almost rebirth – much of the afternoon. About the many Jews who still do not seem to understand how integral Israel is to Jewish safety and survival. Everywhere.
Coincidentally (people of faith often say that nothing happens by coincidence), after they left I happened upon my father’s memoir of his early years. Before, during and after the war. I have a lifetime of boxes, many of which have been in storage forever. (Outta sight out of mind.) I cleaned out the storage and am working my way through it all. Box by box. Very slowly but determinedly.
I read a few pages of my dad’s story. It is very tough going, for emotional reasons far more than facts. And the facts are not exactly light. My reaction upon reading this remembrance today is very different from when I received it 20 years ago. Mishpachalogia – another great word I learned early on in my Israel years from a good friend. A play on the word for family – mishpacha in Hebrew/mishpucha in Yiddish – and psychology.
At one point, my father tries to explain his disinterest with religion. Truthfully, I would describe it as searing hostility but, why split hairs?
But he did write, unequivocally, that he is a staunch supporter of a nation state which is a haven for Jews. His fierce Zionism impacted me, profoundly when I was growing up.
A strong Israel is a non-negotiable. I grew up in a home where discussion of Israel was a constant. And for me, the understanding that our well-being as Jews was utterly dependent on the existence of the state was and remains clear.
In recent decades we have seen a drift away from the clarity that prevailed in the past. Many Jews believe that one can be Jewish and anti-Zionist. Oppose the existence of the state of Israel.
The variations on this theme or belief are endless. Israel is always morally wrong. Oppressive. Occupier. Colonial settler movement. Ethno-supremacist. Its very existence offends every ethical norm and decency.
The “as a Jew Jews” embrace humanism. They loathe the oppressive settler colonial Jew but somehow can wrap their heads around embracing the fundamentalist Islamists. Like Hamas. They strain and strive to demonstrate to the world that they are “different.” Not like them, the Jews that believe Israel has a right to exist. “We’re the good Jews. We’re on your side”, whatever that is in the moment.
This is actually a very serious issue but not unprecedented. Just the latest iteration of a persistent thread in Jewish existence. I can assure you that it will not end well for the pleasers/ as a Jew Jews. It’s going to be a very hard landing.
Even in the 20s and 30s, there were German Jews who decided that the solution to antisemitism was to make the Jews disappear. Their solution? Assimilation. They were serious. They were educated and among their leaders was a decorated WWI veteran who fought for Germany. They formed organizations and cozied up to the Nazis – attempting to demonstrate that they were good Germans. Not like the others. For them, it truly was Deutschland uber alles; a Nazi mantra – Germany over all. Or, in keeping with today’s preferred political-speak: Germany first.
I would add to that, Germany last and always.
Every Jew in Europe ended up in the same gas chambers as did the others. Just as the Peter Beinarts of the world will be tossed in the same salad as the rest of us. I am being somewhat breezy here but trust me, I am not cavalier at all about this topic and will be exploring it here in the coming months.
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Sunday, February 22
Olympic Gold medal men’s hockey game. Canada vs America. 2-1 for America, for those of you who live in a cave.
I don’t blame Trump. I don’t blame Carney.
I blame the Jews. A Jewish lad scored the winning goal in overtime. Jack Hughes. Who knew? The Book of Jewish Sports Stars (I happen to have the slim volume on my coffee table) just got one page thicker.
Early in the week
For reasons I do not understand, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, agreed to be interviewed by Tucker Carlson. I don’t care how many millions of “followers” Tuck has. To allow him an audience is to legitimize him. Tucker Carlson should be put on an ice floe and sent out to sea; metaphorically, of course.
But the political establishment continues to recognize – and boost him. And that admonishment of mine extends right into the Oval Office.
The fallout from the Huck-Tuck event was swift and furious.
I will not deconstruct it here but thought I would share an X post that I found to be informative, written by public intellectual, Yoram Hazony. Just click on the post below and you will be able to read it in full.
After I reposted Hazony’s mini-essay on my X account, a vigilant friend sent me this article critiquing Hazony that ran last week in Commentary magazine. Doesn’t change my view on Tuck-Huck but offers some inside-the-beltway insights regarding Hazony. For what they’re worth.
Here’s the link: https://www.commentary.org/articles/james-kirchick/yoram-hazony-chutzpah-antisemitism/
Monday, February 23
Reconnaissance mission in Jerusalem. I have been developing a network of mules to ferry “things” I need from North America. A recently recruited Toronto mulette graciously delivered corn starch, baking powder and a special sugar that I have yet to find anywhere in the world but Canada. The baking powder? I absolutely love the retro labelling. As for corn starch? Doesn’t exist in Israel.
Amazing – the quirky things I still miss after 12 years living here.
I also popped into visit my friend and favorite merchant of artisanal silver work. I’m mad about the old filigree Yemenite work, a dying craft. My friend has an eye for beauty and skilled craftsmanship/womanship. I have bought too many things from him over decades. And we have developed a lovely friendship. (So many “ships” in one paragraph.)
Here is one of my treasures. Yes, I know it needs polishing.
My friend and I drink tea in his shop. Play backgammon on hard plastic stools. Discuss politics. And when I beat his mizrachi (mid-east origin) male friends at backgammon……well….let’s just say they don’t take it well.
Wednesday, February 25
On very short notice I dash to the IDF Re’im base, not far from my house. It is the main base in the Gaza envelope area bordering the Stip. It, too, was overrun on October 7. When you walk around the complex it is unimaginable. To visualize that day.
Last week, five Hamas terrorists emerged from a tunnel shaft in the Israeli-controlled zone of the Strip and made the last dash of their lives. For seven months they had existed in a small stretch of tunnel. No communication capability. No food. Yes – they had plenty of weapons. The story of how they survived and what the IDF has learned from their copious written journals will be shared here (down the road) and in my National Post column early next week.
Below are two photographs. The first shows an image of the five Hamas terrorists running from their tunnel hideaway in the Israeli-controlled zone. They were shot before they escaped. The second photo shows a range of the weapons cache the IDF found when they searched the tunnel. Among the haul were numerous Kalashnikovs, the Russian-made weapon favored by Hamas. They were grimy. But as the senior IDF official briefing me stated: “Kalach is the best in class. These all still work.” (Everyone in Israel uses the short form - Kalach.)
He then picked one up and demonstrated. No live bullets, of course. But the machine gun worked like a charm.
Thursday, February 26
I popped off to Hebron - in the heart of the West Bank - to meet with a woman who lives in epicentre of this very tense city. The final resting place of Abraham, Isaac, Rebeccah, Rachel, Sarah and Leah is in Hebron. It has long been a flashpoint of tension and conflict forever.
I was there to see and understand in greater detail what happened during the Hebron Massacre of 1929 - when the Muslim Arabs in the city turned on their Jewish neighbors in an orgy of violence that has been compared to October 7. That work will become part of a special documentary podcast that I will be releasing to premium subscribers in the coming weeks. At least - that’s the plan. Who knows what’s in store for us in the near future.
I am off to enjoy Friday night dinner with friends at Kibbutz Kfar Aza. They are among the first kibbutz members to return to live there since October 7. Today, the kibbutz is busy rebuilding and preparing for the return of what they hope and expect will be the vast majority of those who called Kfar Aza home on October 6.
Thanks for being here. Shabbat Shalom. Have a peaceful weekend.
