The past week was one of the most memorable in this diary, for me at least so far. It began with the ceremony on a remote desert base for army officers in which my beloved granddaughter was officially granted her new status among hundreds of other strong, talented, and dedicated young Israelis and their loving families.

In this year of war, in which almost every morning we have awakened to the heart-stopping announcement which begins with the terrible words: “The Ministry of Defense has cleared for publication…” followed by the name, age, and rank of a fallen soldier, here we were surrounded by young soldiers just before being assigned to their battle posts. High in my consciousness was the idea that every family of every fallen soldier had been part of such a ceremony at some point in each soldiers’ service, whether after the famous “hat march” in which soldiers walk kilometers carrying stretchers, until they reach a destination where they and their families celebrate their official receipt of their military beret; or at the conclusion of special officer training courses.

They are so beautiful, these young Israeli men and women in their teens and early twenties. Their faces shine, their eyes are bright with hope, pride, love. They are the best of our sons and daughters, voluntarily adding on more time to their mandatory army service to take a leadership role.

Every family of every soldier, experiences it. Moms, Dads, siblings, grandparents all show up with mountains of food, specially printed T-shirts, bouquets of flowers, printed signs extolling their soldiers. There is the hug, the photos, the picnic. In my granddaughter’s ceremony in the middle of the desert, there was also a marching band and the dramatic arrival by helicopter of the Supreme Commander of the Northern Division (Lebanon) General Goldfuss, who spoke inspiringly of how much the country depends on them, and who afterwards went among them shaking hands. And all the while, like tune you can’t get out of your head, those terrible words: “The Ministry of Defense has cleared for publication…”

And yet, we, the families, make the sandwiches, eat the cake and cookies, drink the cola and fruit juice. We hug our children in their crisp new uniforms, taking a million photos with our arms around them, hiding our fears with a smile, and our tears with sunglasses in the waning light of the fading desert sun as the military drums roll, and the cymbals clash and our children march, in step, to the needs of their country. They are our heroes, our defenders. But also, they are a piece of our hearts and souls, exposed and made unbearably vulnerable with every step our soldiers take.

Following that, we drove from Mitzpe Ramon to Jerusalem to attend the Herut Freedom Party’s lecture in Jerusalem Convention Center to hear the words of two of Israel’s strongest defenders from across the sea: the marvelous Douglas Murray and quick-witted Ben Shapiro.

My husband and I were two out of 3,000 attendees who packed the huge space to the rafters. All of us were there not only to listen to anything these staunch defenders of Israel had to say, but also to express our thanks and appreciation. In the large screen above where Ben and Douglas sat, tiny on the huge stage, I could see that the standing ovation which greeted Douglas Murray brought tears to his eyes. I, and I’m sure everyone else present, were so happy to show him and Ben Shapiro how much they were appreciated.

Their message to us was, above all else, how proud they and all righteous lovers of freedom were of Israel and the IDF for standing at the forefront of the fight against the terrorist murderers let loose upon the innocent people of the world by that sick philosophy, that pedophile death cult, called radical Islam. It made me see that ceremony in the desert with even more pride. So much was at stake.

Where are we now, over a year after October 7? Gaza is destroyed. It will never rise again as a terrorist stronghold. Lebanon is in tatters, with relentless IDF bombings in Beirut, all along the Northern border villages, and near the sea in Tyre. Our attacks against them have resulted in numerous casualties, while their attacks against us have largely been deflected, although all injuries to Israelis however minimal are painful.

There is talk of an imminent agreement with Lebanon that will make it safe for our Northern residents to return home, with the sticking point being the ability of Israel to reengage if the terrorists don’t keep the agreement. Can any agreement with terrorists bring a good, lasting peace? This is the question. The kidnapping victims seems for the moment beyond anyone’s reach, wedged into the sick fantasies of victory harbored by those delusional Hamas terrorists still alive.

Israel’s internal political conflicts continue to rage. Now they have arrested an IDF advisor to Netanyahu on the grounds that he leaked a Sinwar memorandum which detailed how to use Israeli “bring them home now” protestors to win the war for Hamas. For this terrible deed, which “unforgivably” helped further Netanyahu’s resistance to giving into Hamas blackmail, they have put this advisor in jail! It’s outrageous. The Government’s legal advisor is behind it all. But those who want to get rid of her, will have to fight against all those whose defeatist narratives have made this war so difficult for the rest of us all along.

And now there are the ICC arrests warrants for our Prime Minister and former Minister of Defense, which countries like Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, France and yes, Canada under Trudeau – that idiot who spent the Montreal Islamist riots shaking his butt at a Taylor Swift concert- have announced their eagerness to implement. Thank God for the incoming Trump administration which has said they will bankrupt with sanctions any country kowtowing to the illegal, antisemitic ICC.

I’m sure Netanyahu and Gallant will wait for January before making any foreign travel plans. We live in uncertainty, but with great hope for the future. Thank you American voters who voted for Trump. Without you, there would be only endless fear, danger, and hopelessness.

To paraphrase the speech LBJ made after Kennedy’s assassination: “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or to lose. I am resolved that we shall win the tomorrows before us. So I ask you to join me in that resolve, determined that from this midnight of tragedy, we shall move toward a new …[Israeli] greatness.”

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