Despite Nasrallah’s unconvincing denials, in just 25 minutes yesterday morning, Israeli forces destroyed some 7,000 Hezbollah rockets at hundreds of sites in southern Lebanon. Intelligence sources believe this represents 99% of what Hezbollah had been planning to launch at Israel. It also deprived Hezbollah of arms and capabilities intended for future attacks. It was another Israeli victory, instead of a day of “Allah’s revenge.” Or as Hezbollah is trying to frame it: “Tel Aviv for Dahiya.” (Dahiya is the Beirut stronghold of Hezbollah).

In their dreams! In reality the equation they created was this: the head of Hezbollah’s Chief of Staff for the head of a chicken (referring to the chicken coop in Israel hit by a Hezbollah rocket for which Nasrallah has been mercilessly mocked throughout the Arab world). Thank you Abu Ali for translating the hilarious Arabic posts sticking it to Hezbollah. A sampling:

• The occupation government decided to move the chicken coops to the Negev after intelligence reports arrived that Hezbollah intended to attack the chickens with strategic missiles.
• Nasrallah: The enemy must understand that there is no more KFC after today.
• Nasrallah: The enemy must know – if you attack our senior officers, we will attack your chickens.
• Hezbollah yesterday intensively, strategically and metaphysically attacked the chicken coops in response to the assassination of Fuad Shukr. His head was worth a thousand chicken heads!

There is a rumor going around that Sinwar has left his tunnel and is now embedded with the “refugees” disguised as a woman. Can’t imagine anyone believing any woman could be as ugly as Sinwar! Wonder if he’s wearing lipstick? He might get mistaken for gay and thrown off a rooftop, that is, if Gaza had any rooftops left!

A short time ago, a bomb exploded on a civilian bus near Kfar Marah Rabah in the Etzion area. The bus was damaged, but there were no casualties. IDF forces set up roadblocks and are chasing down suspects. This is worrisome. Anything that reminds us of the bad old days following the capitulation to the imbecilic Oslo Accords that let loose a torrent of death and destruction by arch terrorist Arafat is upsetting. Obviously they are trying to go back to those “glory” days. At least now we have woken up sufficiently not to call victims of terror, “sacrifices for peace,” as they did then.

And I’d like to say something else. The response of Israeli Jews to October 7 is in many ways a second chance to fight the Nazis, except this time with a Jewish army, air force and navy. I don’t think Muslim terrorists understand this. They thought their barbarism would frighten and cow us. Instead, it unleashed a fierceness and implacability which has been simmering beneath the surface of the Jewish people since the Holocaust, just waiting for the opportunity to be released. The Muslims with their Nazi loyalties and behavior have no clue what they are up against now.

Ron Ben Yishai (Ynet News) has written that US military aid to Israel has resumed. Except for one-ton GPS-guided bombs, which the US refuses to transfer to Israel, “for over a week now two C17 or Boeing 747 jets loaded with equipment and armaments have been landing in Israel daily.”

Perhaps even more important strategically, in January 2021, the U.S. transferred responsibility for Israel from the European Command to the Central Command (CENTCOM) which allows Israel “in through the back door to be able to cooperate with countries with which it has no diplomatic relations. It’s no secret that top Saudi, Kuwaiti and Israeli army officers sit alongside representatives from other armies at CENTCOM’s headquarters in Florida. CENTCOM has a dedicated base inside an Israel Air Force base, with a recently completed complex designed to house and manage joint Israel-U.S. defense operations including intercepting missiles and UAVs.”

Most important, perhaps, is that the Americans have been waving a big stick in front of Iran, making it clear that any attack against Israel will involve retaliation from the U.S., including economic sanctions.
But nothing is free. The US, according to Ben Yishai, is demanding that Israel avoid a preemptive strike on Iran, and respond to any Iranian or Hezbollah attack with a “proportional” response that will not lead to a regional war, certainly not before the elections. The question is, can Israel afford to have its hands tied in this existential battle? Or is the price too high?

I will end with this week’s startlingly appropriate and comforting weekly verse from the prophets. Isaiah 49:22-25: “So says the Lord: Behold, I shall raise My hands towards nations, My banner towards peoples; they will bring your sons back in the folds of their robes, bearing your daughters upon their shoulders. Kings will be your caregivers, their princesses your nursemaids. They will bow to the ground before you and kiss the dust you tread upon, and you will know that I am the Lord, those who wait for Me will not be shamed… I shall fight against those who fight you, I will save your children.”

Amen.

---