Israel at War: Day 8. October 14, 2023

As you know, I usually write in narrative form but there is just too much information so I’m resorting to this format for now:

• Israel is clearly gearing up for a major ground offensive, supported by air and sea. I expect that it will be unlike anything we have seen in decades.

• Global sympathy and opinion are already shifting sharply away from Israel and focused on Gaza civilians. Rather than condemning Israel for engaging in a war forced upon it global leaders and citizens should be pounding Hamas/ ISIS. As many have remarked on social media: Why is it that Israel – even after warning civilians to evacuate northern Gaza Strip – becomes the target of hatred?

• Hamas/ISIS are savages of the first order. And Jews are just their first targets. Anyone who thinks otherwise is not understanding reality.

• I am only posting on twitter/now called “X” if it is critical to amplify. I am hunkering down otherwise and working on various support efforts for civilians in Israel and Israelis displaced internally and abroad. If you are not on “X” -  please consider setting up an account. It is easy to do and it is critical for you to see what is going down in real time. Media is irrelevant, for the most part. If you do go on please have a look at my twitter feed for the last week and follow me at @vivianbercovici. There is lots of good info there – and questions for all governments in the world.

• Seeing French President Emmanuel Macron step up with the courage and uncompromising principle and leadership he has displayed has been so important. He has been fierce. And unequivocal in his support for Israel and unsparing condemnation of Hamas/ISIS. As has President Biden. For my Canadian friends who are subscribers I will have much to say about our government in the future when I can breathe. But none of it is good.

• President Macron has banned all demonstrations in France with the Palestinian flag. The widespread glee and support in France, the U.K. and on the streets of Canada – where Hamas/ISIS supporters are celebrating the slaughter of innocents with such barbarism (particularly in Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto with a significant Muslim population) is horrifying.

• Five days after this savagery began PM Benjamin Netanyahu finally announced the creation of what is in effect a War Cabinet. Members initially are PM Netanyahu, his right-hand man and in Cabinet, Ron Dermer, Gen. Gadi Eisenkot (res), former IDF Chief of Staff and leader of the National Unity party, Benny Gantz and current Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. It was announced today that MK Avigdor Liberman now at the table as well.

• As I write this I am watching Israel TV channel 12. Anchor Yonit Levy interviewed former Mossad head Yossi Cohen who says that this operation will be very carefully planned and executed. Israel will not rush this. It is very complex and the reality on the ground is volatile in the extreme. And constantly changing.

• America. God Bless America. Supporting Israel in every way possible. Words and deeds.

• On the ground in Israel people are holed up in homes. But Brothers and Sisters in Arms – an NGO established almost a year ago to organize resistance to the so-called judicial overhaul in Israel – it is incredible what they are doing. They are basically organizing everything in society. The government has disappeared. Fact.

• I have many friends in their 50s and 60s who are stepping up and getting out into the field. Battlefield. Have a look at this video with subtitles made by Oren Shvil, a founder and leader of Brothers and Sisters in Arms.

• (You can listen to Oren in two podcast episodes we have on our website: Episode 5, Kohelet Forum Fiasco in Israel, March 23, 2023. And Podcast Episode 11. “Israel’s New Normal: A Snapshot Report of Protests, Arrests and Jail. One Weekend in April.)

• This week, I will be bringing you podcast stories that are not in the MSM in coming week. Stories about how people in Israel are managing, and not.

• On Israeli news now. 166 Israeli hostages confirmed in Hamas captivity. Hamas/ISIS murdered 9 today, on Saturday, October 14. In their barbaric ethical world these murders were justified in retaliation for IDF bombing of targets in Gaza.

• Meanwhile, Hamas/ISIS is preventing civilians from evacuating the area that will be targeted by Israel in the near future. Israel has warned all civilians in northern Gaza to evacuate to the south. Hamas /ISIS is refusing to let many through. This is a war crime. The world is silent.

• Here is a horrifying clip of a Hamas/ISIS supporter who has been celebrating the slaughter of Israeli hostages and others on the streets of Mississauga, outside Toronto.

• Not surprisingly, the International Red Cross has not demanded that it be allowed to see the Israeli hostages in Gaza. Here is another superb clip produced by my brilliant friend, Nitsana Darshan Leitner.