The 2021 Gaza war: how an Israeli can earn the title of "useful idiot'

(Latest update: May 30, 2021) 

On May 23, 2021, one of Israel's major news outlets, timesofisrael, published an op-ed piece by its Editor, David Horovitz. The first three words of this essay were, "Losing the war..." (here). 

Those three words tell us everything we need to know about Horovitz's opinion about the current status of the ongoing Arab-Israel conflict. Specifically, he believes that Israel will lose that war to the Palestinians--unless, that is, Israel makes some serious diplomatic and strategic 'accommodations'.

Horovitz's logic for this opinion is simple, as you'll see in a moment. But I will tell you, his logic appears both outrageously misguided and clearly wrong.

He argues:

-It simply doesn't matter that Hamas used its own civilian citizens in Gaza as human shields as it fired thousands of rockets indiscriminately at Israeli civilians;

-it doesn't matter that Hamas doesn't seek any accommodation with Israel, but  seeks instead Israel's complete destruction;

-it doesn't matter that Israel had forced some 8,000 Israelis out of Gaza to give all of Gaza to Arabs as a 'gesture of peace' that has failed--because the Arabs who term themselves 'Palestinians" are not interested in any 'gestures of peace';

-it doesn't matter that, over the years, Israel has already offered to these 'Palestinians" almost all of Judea-Samaria, Israel's Biblical homeland--as a gesture of peace-because those offers have always been rejected by 'Palestinians';

-it doesn't matter that US President Bill Clinton "unerringly" identified Yasser Arafat as an "unreformed terrorist" who had doomed Israeli efforts to reach accommodation with these 'Palestinians';

-it doesn't matter that, in the wake of that failure, both Arafat and Hamas started a "onslaught of suicide bombings" against Israelis;

-it doesn't matter that Mahmoud Abbas has [had the gall] to declare that Israel has nothing to do with Judaism;

-it doesn't matter that Abbas says Jews have no connection whatsoever to the Temple Mount--Judaism's holiest spot on earth;

In sum, Horovitz believes that none of this matters because Israel refuses to attempt to reach accommodation with the 'Palestinians' on the question of a two-state solution. What matters to Horovitz  is, because it is obvious that Israel no longer endorses a two-state concept, it is equally obvious that Israel will, in the end, lose everything.

For Horovitz, the only thing that matters these days is that unless Israel comes up with a way to take care of its 'Gaza' problem, Israel will lose, big time because the world is losing its patience--with Israel. Horovitz says Israel needs to find a fix for this problem--fast. 

This is utter hogwash. It isn't fit to be published in an outlet that claims to be pro-Israel. It is, however, completely suitable for any outlet that supports and advocates the Palestinian Cause--a Cause which, by the way, aims to destroy Israel. 

If you want to know why Israel is right to ignore the supposed 'two-state' solution--and why it is not Israel that must make 'accommodations' for peace--listen to Mahmoud al-Zahar, the co-founder of Hamas (here). 

In this video, al-Zahar is asked, point-blank, does Israel have the right to exist? He pauses, then answers, no.

al-Zahar also does not believe in a two-state solution. He says, Palestinians have already tried this but it has failed. He asks, you are now asking me to practice a failed process? He then adds, if you want to know about a two-state solution, go ask Mahmoud Abbas if he is now addressing a two-state solution as viable or not, and he (Abbas) will say, no.

Perhaps to clarify what he meant, al-Zahar has also said the following in a very short (1:1 minutes) excerpt from a more recent interview dated May 25, 2021:

His clarification here is simple: "this land is not suitable for a two-state solution; it's either-or: either the occupation remains forever...or this occupation will be removed and each Israeli will go his own way--[back to his country of origin]. Palestine is an Arab and Islamic land....[Israel is] a cancer on our land". 

With Arab attitudes such as these, how can Horovitz say it is Israel's responsibility to 'take care of' a two state solution. Indeed, to create two states that "live side by side in peace and security"--the original two-state dream concocted by Western leaders for Israel--both parties to such an agreement have to believe the other has the right to exist, and both must declare that a peaceful two state solution is viable. 

But both Hamas and Fatah (led by Abbas) reject these ideas. They each refuse to accept that Israel has the right to exist, and they each reject a two-state concept. Indeed, as al-Zahar suggests in the second interview above, the best chance for peace will happen when Israelis leave the Middle East altogether and go back to their countries of origin, leaving 'Palestine' to remain Muslim and Arab.  

The responsibility for peace requires both Hamas and Fatah to change, not just Israel. But Hamas and Fatah refuse to change. Why does the world accuse Israel of intransigence?

Every proposal for peace presented by Israel to these so-called 'Palestinians' has been rejected by both Hamas and Fatah out-of-hand. How is the fact there is no peace Israel's fault?

Hamas and Fatah want something else--something which, by the way, they both repeat incessantly. They want a one-state solution for this conflict, not two states. Specifically, they want a single Arab Muslim state on all the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea--the land now called, Israel. For them, "peace" means, 'no Israel'. Israel must disappear. 

A Palestinian peace will mean a Judenrein (Jew-free) state. 

Those who support the anti-Israel Palestinian Cause are working hard after this latest war to demonize and harm the Jewish state. It is outrageous--and extraordinarily ignorant--to watch a savvy and educated Jew in Israel (Horovitz) to cower before these enemies and claim that the only way Israel will win peace is to "accommodate" the demands of Hamas and Fatah. Israeli citizens know this assertion is utter nonsense. The so-called two-state solution is dead because of Hamas and Fatah, not because of Israel. 

Perhaps Horovitz can rethink what he writes about this topic. Certainly, if he continues along his chosen path--to blame Israel for 'no peace'--he could well get a reputation for being either a fool or a useful idiot of the anti-Israel Palestinian Cause.

Is that how he wants to be known?

Shavuot and Ramadan 2021 will not be about anything religious.They will both be about killing Jews

 

Ramadan 2021 has just ended. Shavuot 2021 will begin tonight, May 16th. Nevertheless, both religious days this year may have a lot more in common than you think.

During this year's Islamic Ramadan month in Israel (app. April 12-May 12, 2021), Israel's Muslims were supposed to increase religious observances. For example, they were to give charity. They were to be kind. They were to focus on prayer. They were to fast each day.  

At least, that is my understanding about the basics of Ramadan. Of course, for the best facts about Ramadan, please consult your nearest religious Muslim.

For 2021, Ramadan coincided with the Jewish Omer period, a 50-day period between Pesach and Shavuot, where Jews count each day (1 day of the Omer, then 2 days of the Omer, etc). This daily counting lasted until the 49th day of the Omer. Shavuot always begins on what would be the 50th day, if the counting continued. Shavuot 2021 begins Sunday night, May 16.

Shavuot is a Spring harvest celebration. It is, however, best known as the day, some 3,300+ years ago, that G-d gave the Jewish Torah to the entire Jewish people. Shavuot celebrates that G-dly gift to the Jews.

For Jews in Israel, Shavuot is a religious day. It is a family day. It is termed in the Torah a Shabbat, a day of rest. 

But not this year. Not in 2021.

In 2021, unless there will be a miraculous cessation of Hamas rocket barrages fired into Israel (which does not at this moment seem likely), Shavuot in Israel will not be a day for religion or rest. Instead, for many in Israel, it will be a day to hide in a bomb shelter.

This year, Ramadan for Muslims in Israel has not been a month of religious performance alone. it has also been a month of extreme rioting and violence--a violence that continues still, beyond the end of Ramadan. 

If I didn't know any better, I'd say Muslims in Israel have a plan. If I were foolish, I might consider all the violence I've seen in Israel since April 12th this year, and say, Muslims want to 'Ramadan-ize'--or, perhaps, 'Muslim-ize'--our Shavuot . They want our Shavuot to be as violent as was their Ramadan.

I mean, Muslims in Israel constantly accuse us Jews of trying to 'Judaize' Jerusalem. Why can't we accuse them of trying to 'Muslimize' our  Shavuot?

But of course, I know better than to say such things. Right?

For Muslims, Ramadan 2021 has become a time to throw Molotov cocktails on the Temple Mount. It has become a time to attack individual Jews going to or returning from Jewish worship. It has become a time to try to tear Jerusalem apart.

Ramadan has also become a time for Hamas, the terror organization which rules over Gaza, to bomb Israel. As Muslims in Israel have rioted, Hamas has mercilessly bombarded Israeli civilians. 

Please note that each Hamas rocket fired at Israeli civilians is a Hamas war crime. Plus, each rocket Hamas fires from its own civilian residential buildings and/or civilian neighborhoods in Gaza, is also a war crime. 

Doesn't matter. Muslims everywhere will ignore such war-crimes accusations. Instead, Muslims will join with most of the non-Muslim world to celebrate how, at last, those Jews are getting what they deserve: a rain of death. 

This Shavuot, some of my children and at least one grandchild of mine will spend their holiday time in a bomb shelter trying to avoid that rain of death. The rest of my family, myself included, will wait for air raid sirens to go off, sirens that will send us to bomb shelters as well. We will do that because the nations of the world are simply too anti-Jew to give a damn that I and my wife--or my children and grandchildren--are being attacked. 

The anti-Jew world will of course blame Israel for this rain of death. They will trot out their justifications, excuses and rhetoric of hate: Israel is apartheid; Israel is a brutal occupier; Israel is the one that started this round of violence because...(here, you get to fill in your own favorite anti-Israel tropes).

For me, Shavuot 2021 will not not be about religion. It will not be about our harvest. It will not be about rest. It will be about how wretched are these Jews of Israel who "kill women and children" whom Hamas has cynically used as human shields--just to provoke such a response from the anti-Jew world. This Shavuot will be for me about the kind of Jew-hate that is always quick to justify Hamas' actions--and quicker to tolerate Hamas' murderous attacks upon the world's only Jewish State. 

For me, Shavuot 2021 will be a special time. It will be, you see, the world's opportunity to join with Muslims to curse G-d's Chosen people--and condemn these 'damned' Jews for the horrid crime of defending themselves against genocide.

I think Israeli politician Naftali Bennet recently (on May 16th) expressed well what many in Israel feel about the world's Jew-hate questions. This video is less than 20 seconds long: 

Perhaps to understand just a little of what we face in Israel, consider a second, 3-minute video just re-posted a couple of days ago but which had actually been posted some years ago. It involves David Horowitz, a noted pro-Israel advocate. I believe his brief exchange in this video with a Muslim student captures the essence of what Israel faces.

Israel's reality today is this: both Muslims in Israel who riot against Jews--and Muslims outside Israel who fire rockets at our civilians--have one thing in common. They share this young lady's goal and aim, as she states at the end of the video.

Real estate disputes, along with all religious and political grievances against Israel today play only a secondary role in Middle East anti-Israel politics. The main, primary reality that drives Muslim ideology vis a vis Israel is what that young lady above agreed to: a willingness--perhaps even an eagerness--to see Jews murdered. 

That young lady's assent to David Horowitz's statement is what my Shavuot in 2021 Israel will be all about. My 2021 Shavuot will also be for me a reminder of the extent to which the world beyond my country's borders joins together to tell me how it has no real objection to watching Jews be killed or bombed.

Only we object. Only Israel objects. 

We object because We are G-d's Treasure. We are His chosen. We believe what He said thousands of years ago: once He returns us to our Land, we will never leave it. 

The nations hate for us to say this. Many Jews hate to hear it.

Too bad. You cannot stop us from turning to our G-d. You cannot stop us from defending ourselves. You cannot stop us from killing those who come to kill us. 

Once, we were slaughtered while the world did next to nothing for us. That will not happen again. Never.

At this point in history, the only way Israel will survive is for all of us to believe, with a single heart, Am Yisroel Chai--Israel lives.

Perhaps, for me, this is what Shavuot will turn out to be. Chag Someach.

i

Jerusalem Day, 2021--and the war against the Jewish G-d

(Last update: May 14, 2021)

In Israel, May 10th, 2021 is called, Yom Yerushaliem--Jerusalem Day. It is a national "holiday", created to commemorate the Day, back in 1967, when Jerusalem was at last reunited as a Jewish city. That day in 1967 marked the first time in almost 1900 years that Jews once again controlled their Holiest City.

That moment 54 years ago was the fulfillment of an ancient Jewish prophecy. That prophecy said that G-d would not only bring Jews back to Israel, but also (implicit in that Promise) He would give Jews once again control over their Temple Mount.

One cannot underestimate the impact of that day in 1967 when Rabbi Shlomo Goren, Israel's then-Chief IDF Rabbi (and later, Israel's Chief Ashkenasi Rabbi) proclaimed from the Temple Mount for all to hear, "Har Habayit shelahnu!" (the Temple Mount is ours!)". With those words, G-d's long-ago Promise became a reality.

When, in November, 1947, the United Nations (UN ) approved the creation of the State of Israel, Jerusalem was intended (by the UN) to be a kind of independent city--"a corpus separatum" (UN Res 181, Part IIIA). It was to be administered by the UN on behalf of the UN (ibid). 

Jerusalem was to be a place of "order and peace, and especially religious peace" (ibid). It was to "protect and preserve the unique spiritual and religious interests" of Christianity, Judaism and Islam (ibid). 

That did not happen. What happened was, Arabs in Israel ignored the UN intent. They attacked Jews all over Israel. Then, months later, in May, 1948, several Arab nations attacked Israel--to destroy the incipient Jewish State at the moment of its birth (May 14, 1948). 

Arabs lost. But Jerusalem fell to Arab hands. It soon became clear that Arabs would not protect or preserve any Jewish spiritual or religious "interests" in  Jerusalem. The Temple Mount became "Judenrein"--Jew-free. 

That changed in June 1967, when Israel fought its Six Day war. On June 7th, the 3rd day of that war, the Temple Mount fell into Jewish hands. Today, we celebrate that historic victory at this time of year.

To understand the impact of the birth of the State of Israel--and the impact of the later reunification of Jerusalem under Jewish control--consider a story by Rabbl Joseph Soloveitchik--one of the Great Rabbis of his generation (1903-1993). 

Rabbi Soloveitchik was the Spiritual leader of Yeshiva University (YU), in new York City. Along with his extraordinary religious accomplishments, he also held a PhD in Philosophy.

He tells a story which he prefaces with the comment that, in the relationship between Jew and non-Jew, there is among non-Jews an "element of blasphemy". He says:

"You have no idea how blasphemous our enemies were during the Holocaust years. In the Hitler years, when six million Jews were destroyed and annihilated, the first tragedy, obviously, was their deaths. But there was also something else. I used to travel by train from Boston to New York and was accosted many times  by missionaries who confronted me, sat down next to me, shared a seat with me, and asked me questions...the missionaries...said...'the words of the New Testament are coming true. The Jews will be completely annihiliated and destroyed'. They used to  buttonhole Jews and ask, 'What do they say now? Who is right?' ...You see, G-d has abandoned you. He has allowed the complete destruction of the Jewish people. Otherwise, why does He tolerate the holocaust?'" 

Then Rasbbi Soloveitchik added,  "For me, what is important about Medinas Yisroel [the Stae of Israel], in addition to everything else, is that it has silenced and put a stop to these accusations and false arguments. Many of these problems have been resolved by the State of Israel. The State has wiped away many of these questions...No missionary has approached me since the State of Israel was founded. This is the main zechus, the merit, of Medinas Yisroel. [Israel] was the product of Divine Providence"  (The Neuwirth  Edition of the Chumash, volume 2, p. 363, the OU Press,2014).

Today in Israel, on Jerusalem Day, the enemies of Israel still blaspheme Judaism, the Jewish Israel, Jerusalem and the Temple  Mount--but in a more dangerous way. yes, they still blaspheme the Honor and the Name of G-d. But today's enemies of Israel in Israel insist that Israel, Jerusalem and most important, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, are not Jewish; they are all Islamic!

Let's call a spade a spade. We are talking about Muslims in Israel. They fight a Muslim-Jew war. Their war is a war of total conquest. Their goal is to control all of Israel--and to turn it Muslim.

The riots we have seen so far in Israedl are part of that war. That's why Hamas shoots rockets at Israel. It's why Hamas sends into Israel fire ballons to burn Jewish farmland. 

All of these actions have one goal: to push out the Jew, then take over.

These enemies have even convinced the anti-Jew UN to agree with them. The UN has passed a Resolution stating that the Temple Mount has nothing Jewish about it. Nothing. The Temple Mount, the UN decrees, belongs exclusively to Islam. It is an Islamic site only.

 In an instant, the UN helped the Muslim Cause against the Jew. The UN made the Jewish character of the Temple Mount to disappear.

The Palestinian Authority proclaims, "the Jews have no right to the Temple Mount" (here). Can you imagine the world-wide uproar should any Jew say Palestinians have no right to the Temple Mount? 

The world is absolutely silent when Palestinians say this about Jews. Why is that?

On Israel's day to celebrate Jerusalem Day 2021, what do Muslims in Israel do? They go to the Temple Mount--because Israel's Jerusalem Day fell this year during the Islamic holy period, Ramadan. They crowded by the tens of thousands onto the Mount. They went there to pray--and then to riot. 

They rioted--and show the world exactly how they feel about the religious freedoms the Jewish Israel has given to them, rights they had themselves refused to give to Jews when Arabs had controlled the Mount between 1947-67.

On the Temple Mount, on Jerusalem Day, Arabs rioted against Jews. They rioted against police. They rioted against Israel. Unlike those missionaries of 1940's America, these enemies use violence not only to blaspheme G-d's Holy name, but to blaspheme G-d's Holy dwelling place, the Temple Mount. 

 Rabbi Soloveitchok was lucky. He had been dealing with rational people. The missionaries who accosted him understood that history had proven them wrong. 

But today, rationality does not exist. The only thing that seems to exist is Jew-hate. 

The only thing that counts today is the mob. The  mobs we have seen in Jerusalem do not care for reason. They seek to destroy everything Jewish. Everything. 

They call Jews Satan with a tail (here). They call Jews wretched pigs (here). They call Jews barbaric apes (ibid). They go up to the Temple Mount, which they call their holy place, and trash what's there. They run amok on their own self-described holy place.

Can you imagine if Jews behaved this way? The UN, the EU and the US today would scramble to be first to condemn the Jew. 

But not the Muslim. To such behavior by Muslims, the world is indifferent. That is, the world is indifferent until Jews defend themselves or try to restore peace. Then, the world reacts. 

World media says, 'Look at what those Jews do!' World media demands, who's to blame for this violence? world merdia has one answer: Jews are to blame. 

When 70,000 Muslims crowd onto the Temple Mount, it is to worship. But when 50 Jews go to the Temple mount, they are "storming" the Mount. They are "defiling" the Al Aqsa mosque (which Jews do not dare to approach) (here).

Just ask these Arabs on the Temple Mount this past week: Jews want to kick good Muslims off the Temple Mount. Jews want to 'storm' the Temple Mount. Jews want to harm innocent Palestinians who have just come to pray on the Temple Mount. 

Really?

Yes, Jerusalem Day 2021 in Israel is special, all right. It is a Day when Muslims riot. It is a Day for raw, violent Jew-hate--and, perhaps, another war against the Jewish state (here).  Indeed, it is a Day when the world has sent TV crews to our Holy City to show the Jewish G-d what the world's media  think of His Chosen. 

You can bet G-d watches this blasphemy. You can also bet He is 'taking names' (to understand this just remember the Jewish prayer service for Rosh Hashannah).

The Meron tragedy

 Virtually every Lag B'Omer in Israel, there is a predominantly Haredi celebration in Northern Israel, in a place called, Meron. Meron is one of those places in Israel you can say is "out-of-the-way". On a good day, it will take one somewhere between 2.5 and 3+ hours to drive North from Jerusalem to get to Meron. 

Meron is closer to Lebanon than it is to Jerusalem. It is located northwest of the city of Tzfat (Safed), in what is called the upper Galilee. 

Meron is a small town. It's high in the hills. The actual site of the Meron celebrations is a stand-alone stadium complex not easily accessible in the best of times. When a hundred thousand+ gather there once a year, I would think the place would be chaotic.

At least, that was my impression when I visited the site several years ago--but not during the Lag B'Omer celebration. In fact, I was surprised by how small the site was. My own feeling at the time about the place back then was that people coming here to celebrate on Lag B'Omer would be pressed together like sardines. 

Perhaps there's been some construction at this Meron site since my visit there. Perhaps there have been improvements both to access points and the site itself. But from what I have read about this tragedy, I suspect such improvements have not been made. 

People travel to Meron to celebrate both the Lag B'Omer day, and to visit the gravesite of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a Jewish sage from the late first century-early second century CE. He is considered by many to be the author of the Zohar, the great--and original--work of  the Jewish Kabbalah (mysticism). He may well have been a disciple of the great Rabbi Akiva.

Here is a brief video that shows what was going on at the Meron site allegedly just before the tragic incident that followed. You can see in this video how thousands of men and boys cram together while swaying, dancing and singing the ani ma'amin (a profession of faith in the Jewish Moshiach):

In a second  video, you can see a narrow, sloped passageway (a 'chute') that appears crammed with people at 0:36-0:45. I believe that sloped passageway was at the heart of the tragedy (please ignore the video's use of the word,  'stampede'; see below):

On Lag B'Omer, 2021 ( April 30, 2021), something happened while huge crowds estimated by some to be as high as 300,000 were there. Media around the world have locked onto the word "stampede" to describe the Meron incident, during which 45 men and boys were trampled or crushed to death, and another 150 injured. I have heard this incident called Israel's greatest single one-day civilian tragedy.

This use of the word 'stampede' has been used as the way to characterize this incident. But I'm not sure that is fully accurate. You see, there are reports surfacing that suggest the deaths at Meron were not caused by a 'stampede', but by bad judgment by the police.

Much is still not known about what happened at Meron. But to my mind, there were several major problems at Meron on Lag B'Omer. First, there were too many people admitted to the site. Only buses were allowed to the site thatg da y--but buses should have been stopped miles before Meron, to keep the 'overcrowds' away.

Second, police should have publicized for all, in advance, that only a specified number of people would be admitted. Perhaps the number should have been described as "the first 30,000". 

Third, additional alternate sites near Meron should have been developed to accomodate crowd overflow--and their celebrations. 

Fourth, the police barricaded entry-points to the 'chute' passageway you saw in the second video, above.  Why did the police do that? No one yet knows.

When I visited Meron, there were very few people present. I had arrived at the 'off-season'. This slopped passageway offered no difficulties. But it is easy to imagine thousands of people being funneled into this passage. Imagine 10,000 or 20,000 (or more) people being funneled into it. What then?

Imagine 10,000 people being funneled into this chute, as their ability to enter the passageway was suddenly partially blocked by the police. What do you think could happen then?

At the time I saw this passageway, I cringed. It suggested an adventure that did not attract me. 

Reports differ about what, exactly, the police did with barricades that night. One report had it that police had, essentially, somehow blocked the chute (either partially or completely) as people continued to push forward towards that chute, not realizing that the chute located ahead of them had been allegedly plugged. 

What was disturbing about these reports was that this "plug" appeared to have been caused by a deliberate police decision to hold back the crowd. No explanation has been forthcoming as to why the police had done that. On the face of it, such a plug in the face of tens of thousands of pushing people portends trouble, if not disaster. 

 Why did the police do that? Did they do that? We don't yet know.

As Jerusalem's Deputy Mayor Yossi Daitch (reported to have been there) described the situation, "A policeman saw the crowd [was plugged up] but instead of opening an escape path for people, he threatened them with pepper spray" (here). When police finally 'released' the crowd, everyone simply fell over each other. 

Is that a 'stampede'? A 'stampede' suggests a panic. Where in this eyewitness account was the panic? It's an important question because this is, presumably, when the deaths occurred--as the police 'released' their 'plug', and people "just fell over one another".

Was any of this account true? I have no idea. Was this tragedy caused by the police? We don't know--but the police aren't helping. They have reportedly forbidden all investigators from speaking to police officiers who had been present at the scene.

Was this report true?  No one knows. 

Since this tragedy, different narratives have appeared, few of them helpful. For example, one report said police had "warned" beforehand of the potential for this type of disaster at Meron (here). But another report suggested that, before the Meron tragedy, police were briefed as to the potential for it (here). Still another report said that engineering data showed that a section of the "buildlng" that had collapsed in Meron (what building had collapsed?) was built to hold 3,000 people. On the night of the disaster, it was holding 20,000 (here).

Where were the police? Weren't they there to prevent such dangerous overcrowding?

Another report has surfaced that Israel's police and security bureaucracies were teaming up to blame Israel's Supreme Court for this disaster (here). Then, a prominent Israeli Rabbi--head of Jerusalem's Rabbinical Court, no less--came out with a statement that the bonfires at Meron (apparently a key attraction of these Meron celebrations) are not only a deviation from "known Lag B'Omer customs", but are a "tumult" that never used to be. 

This is a true statement. But not exactly true.

That is, I think this statement is true for some groups of Jews. But not true for others. This Rabbi then added, "the sages of the world opposed it" (here). Again, he's right--for some groups of Jews. But not all.

Finallly, we saw this week one "creative" Leftist politician attempt to push Meron into Israel's current election mess surrounding Israel's current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. This Leftist politician politicized the tragedy by blaming "corruption" in Netanyahu's office for the deaths (here). 

This Meron tragedy has not ended. We will no doubt see a lot more about this incident in the weeks--and months--ahead. We should pray that some good should come from this tragedy. 

Stay tuned.