I’m back!! Happy New Year! Our 1 January, 2024 (Day 86 of the War with Gaza), started out with a bang! Actually- a lot of bangs. Literally. Just seconds past midnight the Israeli skies from north of Tel Aviv to near Beersheba in the south and all the way east towards Jerusalem were lit up jwith a heavy missile barrage from Gaza.

Supposedly, despite receiving over 100 truckloads of ‘humanitarian aid’ daily through the Rafa Crossing in Egypt and Kerem Shalom Crossing in Israel (spoiler alert:it is mostly being hijacked by Hamas, not getting to civilians), the people of Gaza have no fuel. No food. No water. No power. No medicine. But they certainly have a surplus of missiles. The rockets fired at Israel have never stopped. Go figure. I’m sure this is all over your news feeds.

Have you been hearing anything about this on your local news, TV, radio or podcasts? Have you heard that in the past two months there were four direct strikes on Ichilov Hospital causing serious damage and light injuries? Or the strikes hitting Barzilai or Soroka Hospital where the entire Children’s Outpatient Clinics were destroyed? Thankfully it was after outpatient hours and only a couple maintenance workers were injured.

Have you heard that the Houthis of Yemen, a rebel splinter Shi’ite terrorist group backed by Iran are lobbing missiles at any ship that tries to enter or exit the Red Sea? Israel’s Iron Beam, brand new laser system, has knocked out several missiles (in space!!!) that were fired towards the southernmost port/resort city of Eilat. Many ships have decided to take new, longer routes which will not only cause delays but will raise the cost of fuel (oil tankers) as well as commercial goods. The US navy has shot down 38 Houthi drones that are seen as a threat to the region. However the rebels have stepped up their game, taking aim at any international commercial vessel which tries to navigate the Middle Eastern shipping lanes.

Two weeks ago the Pentagon announced it was putting together a 20 country coalition to combat the attacks. They would join the USS Carney already in the Gulf of Aden/Arabian Sea; however, this group including the US, Canada, the UK, Seychelles, France, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, Spain, Bahrain and others failed to come together. For now, Israel and the US has been acting in a defensive mode knocking down the UAVs and missiles, but not attacking any launch sites or Houthi bases directly. By this threat the Houthis show solidarity with Hamas; are able to recruit new members to their cause because of their newfound power; and Iran is able to show that the US cannot deter even the smallest terrorist group from disrupting international trade. The Red Sea and Suez Canal account for 30% of the world’s shipping.

Hizbulla continues to be a viable threat from the North, mostly from Lebanon, sending over multiple missile barrages and UAV incursions into Israel several times daily. This is a war of attrition for now. As Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza it seems the IDF is responding defensively towards the terrorists in Lebanon. 90% of the local Maronite Christians and the Druze have vacated their properties and moved further north, leaving southern Lebanon in Hizbulla hands. They are backed by Iran and have 150,000 missiles pointed towards Israel. That’s ten times the number Hamas has.

Israel has been receiving limited UAV (explosives laden) and missile fire from Syria. These mostly fall in the Golan Heights region. In intercepting arms shipment transfers from Iran to Hizbulla via Damascus, Syria last week, a very high level Iranian Revolutionary Guard, General Seyed Razi Mousavi was killed along with four other top level military leaders. Both Iran and Hizbulla have avowed revenge on Israel. There are reports of Syrian backed/Iranian backed rebel groups amassing in Southern Syria along the Golan. UAVs have been launched from there and shot down over Israel by the Israel Defense Forces.

In the meantime, Biden is receiving lower numbers than expected from his Democratic base for his reelection. Many of these Democrats are pro-Palestinian. The US administration has been flying top officials, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Gen. Milley and others to meet with Netanyahu and the IDF Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant and the IDF generals. They are demanding that the IDF scale down military strikes in Gaza even further. We have already been limiting our air and sea strikes and coordination from both with ground ops to appease the US. This is a different tactic that was originally started in the North of Gaza. This newer approach is prolonging the clearing out of terrorist holdouts and has increased the IDF casualty numbers greatly. Yet the Hamas members (now foregoing their military uniforms in favor of civilian clothes- if they are killed, Hamas can include its militants as civilian casualties) are surrendering in record numbers.

Still, the Biden administration in conjunction with the UN and a handof European countries is calling for Israel’s rapid deescalation leading to a ceasefire. They are also calling for a two state solution (an idea that is completely dead in Israel) with the Palestinian Authority heading up governance in Gaza. 89% of Palestinians living in the West Bank polled last week (Tel Aviv University) are in favor of Hamas and the eviction/eradication of all Jews from Israel/Palestine. They believe the October 7 massacre was completely justified in their war of liberation. So there you have it.

The sale of US small arms and rifles to Israel has been stopped. Israel would BUY the weapons (it would not be given to them) from US manufacturers . They would then be used for licensed and trained civilians in border communities against threat of invasion to stop the likelihood of another 7 October from happening. Also, the scheduled SALE of Apache helicopters to Israel … a contract over a year old… was canceled by the United States last week.

To set the record straight – because there is a lot of misinformation and fake news out there. The US Congress and Senate work to pass a budget. In it are defense spending expenditures. Also in it is aid to foreign countries for various things. Over the past two years, aid in the form of cash, humanitarian aid and military equipment has been GIVEN to Ukraine WITHOUT STIPULATIONS. Israel is also given allocations of military aid: joint training exercises; arms; ammunition; aircraft and money. The stipulations are that Israel must, in turn, BUY a certain amount of aircraft from US companies: Lockheed-Martin (F-16, F-35), Boeing (Apache Helicopter), Raytheon (the missiles for its Iron Dome Defense System), AM General, formerly AMC (Humvees), and Colt (M-16 rifles). There are many other American companies used by Israel. Also, Israel must share its technology with the US in exchange- technology for the Iron Dome Missile Defense Systems, surveillance and spyware systems, and other technological advances.

By agreement, the United States used Israel to store much of its MidEast munitions (they also have an arsenal in SKorea for the Asian front). This includes tank and artillery shells (155mm), which, in essence, have been extensively depleted by their transfer to Ukraine. In 2022 300,000 155mm shells were given outright to Ukraine from the Israel stores. Further stockpiles have been depleted to Ukraine throughout 2022-2023. Israel had rights to use these munitions after receiving permission from the US, but now much of that reserve is gone. 14,000 rounds were supplied to Israel.

$147 million dollars worth of equipment (fuses, chargers and primers) was SOLD to Israel, bypassing Congress in December. The above mentioned fuses, etc are necessary to make the 155mm artillery shells operative. Also included in the $147 million SALE are transmitters, helmets, tank ammunition, and steel-toed army boots. Much more is secret or classified information that I am unable to access.

But the bottom line is: Ukraine has received both cash and military equipment for no charge. Israel pays for much of what it receives in cash or by the transfer of technology. In the US legislation passed to fund overseas military, there are many fine lines. The money Israel receives is stipulated to be spent exclusively on US military contracts. The material aid that is provided comes at a cash or knowledge transfer cost. These are the facts that are most likely not being reported by the MSM, NPR or other popular outlets (Guardian, Axios, HuffPo and even conservative leaning outlets).

In the meantime, the war continues to slog on. Gen Herzi Halevi, commander of the IDF stated “There are no magic solutions or shortcuts. We will continue to thoroughly dismantle the terrorist group until the job is finished. It will be a very long process and we will utilize various methods. We are tenacious and very very determined.” Despite much international pressure, the IDF is not increasing its speed in finishing the probe is it willing to concede to a ceasefire. Rushing to meet deadlines will only wind up causing more casualties for both sides.

As of today, thousands of reservists who have served in Gaza for the past 2 1/2 months are being scaled back. Hopefully, they will be reintegrating into society to help stimulate the economy. There are still 132 hostages being held in Gaza. 112 are thought to be alive. 20 are dead and still being held. There are still elderly and children including a baby, Kfir Bibas, who turns 11 months this week. There are 7 who hold dual American and Israeli citizenship.