The Oldest Hatred is back with a Vengeance

 The oldest hatred is back, and I am absolutely done with this [and I should] get angry and then get angrier.

Andrew Fox April 20th

 

I am done pulling punches. This will not be an easy read. Do not look away.

[To  hell with] this. I am furious at the antisemitism pouring through the West, confident and shameless, and at those who know it is wrong, yet sit by and let it happen and say or do absolutely nothing.

In Britain, we have already had Jews and their security guards stabbed to death. Jewish ambulances were set on fire. Now we have had multiple synagogue fire bombings in London. I woke this morning to a WhatsApp message from a Jewish friend I treasure, telling me about the latest atrocity against British Jews. I am sick of this. I am sickened by it, and I do not understand how anyone with any decency is not sickened too. Why are we not angrier?

Jewish people are being forced to answer, again, for every accusation, every fantasy, every blood libel hurled at the State of Israel. A Jewish student in London, Paris, New York or Melbourne is treated as if they sat in the Israeli war cabinet. A synagogue is treated as if it were a military installation. A kosher restaurant becomes a proxy battlefield. A Jewish child in a school uniform is expected to carry the moral weight of a war they did not start, a government they did not elect, and a region most of their accusers could not find on a map without help. It is grotesque. It is ancient hatred with new slogans. I am angry, and you should be too. If you are reading this, why [the hell] are you not angrier?

Holocaust survivors have told me in person that the atmosphere in Britain today is like 1930s Germany. Why will our leaders, our government, our legal system not listen to them? The Holocaust did not arrive fully formed. It started with demonisation, isolation and undeserved blame.

[It’s Time to Wake Up].

The blood libels are back. They have just been laundered through the language of activism, human rights and moral urgency. Jews are again cast as uniquely cruel, uniquely conspiratorial, uniquely bloodthirsty. Israel is accused not merely of error, not merely of brutality, not merely of war, but of metaphysical evil. Every casualty is flattened into proof of Jewish depravity. Every complexity is erased. Every Hamas or Hezbollah or Iranian atrocity is contextualised into mist. Jewish grief is interrogated. Jewish fear is mocked. Jewish self-defence is treated as criminal.

The most sickening expression of this is the obscene inversion of the Holocaust in Gaza. Gaza is not the Holocaust. Gaza is not Auschwitz. Gaza is not Treblinka. Gaza is not the industrialised, continent-wide mechanical attempt to exterminate an entire people. Gaza is not the murder of six million people because they were Jews. Gaza is not children selected for gas chambers, families shot into pits, communities erased from Europe, nor names turned to ash. To compare the war in Gaza to the attempted extermination of the Jewish race is an obscene desecration. There is no parallel. None whatsoever.

Civilian suffering in Gaza or Lebanon is simply a feature of [a terrorist organization that went to] war. It can be real without turning Jews into Nazis. War can be horrific without becoming the Shoah. Palestinians can be mourned without stealing the language of Jewish annihilation and weaponising it against Jews. The Holocaust is not a metaphor for anyone’s rhetorical convenience. It was a specific crime, committed against a specific people, at a specific scale, with a specific ideological purpose: the eradication of Jews from the earth. To invert it against Jews now is morally obscene.

Everyone in the West should stand with their Jewish neighbours. They should stand with Jews because Jews are being threatened, harassed, isolated and collectively blamed for the actions of a state. They should stand with Jews because history has already shown us where this road leads when decent people find a thousand elegant reasons to look away.

Silence is permission. When Jewish schools need guards, when students hide Stars of David, when families wonder whether it is safe to walk to synagogue, and when mobs chant slogans that make Jews feel hunted in the cities they call home, when Jewish ambulances and places of worship are being firebombed, the moral test is not complicated. Stand with Jews, or admit that your principles are worth piss in the wind.

The absence of solidarity is a stain. The refusal to name antisemitism because it wears a fashionable political mask is a stain. The cowardice of institutions, politicians, universities and cultural figures who can identify every hatred except this one is a stain.

What the [bloody hell] are we doing, Britain? Why are we not angrier? Why are we not forming human shields around our Jewish community? Our grandparents fought a global war so that this could never happen again. It is literally happening again, and we are standing by and doing absolutely nothing.

I am angry because Jews should not have to beg for support. Jews should not feel they have to thank someone merely for showing solidarity with them. I am raging because “Never Again” has become a slogan people applaud, yet it fails when courage is demanded. I am angry because standing by Jews is the only right option, and too many otherwise good, decent people are choosing silence, disregard or antipathy.

Look: I cannot say this anymore simply. Once they are done with the Jews, they are coming for you, too. Get [really] angry before it is too late, if not for the Jews, then for yourselves and your children

A Devine Hand Guides Israel.

Posted on X by “An average NY Guy”._ One person’s understanding and explanation of who Israel is and how we continue to survive and thrive …

There’s something about Israel that makes people uncomfortable, and it’s not what they say it is. They’ll point to politics, settlements, borders, and wars. But scratch beneath the outrage, and you’ll find something deeper. A discomfort not with what Israel does, but with what Israel is.

A nation this small should not be this strong. Period.

Israel has no oil. No special natural resources. A population barely the size of a mid-sized American city. They are surrounded by enemies. Hated in the United Nations. Targeted by terror. Condemned by celebrities. Boycotted, slandered, and attacked. And still, they thrive like there’s no tomorrow.

In military. In medicine. In security. In technology. In agriculture. In intelligence. In morality. In sheer, unbreakable will.

They turn desert into farmland.

They make water from air.

They intercept rockets in mid-air.

They rescue hostages under the nose of the world’s worst regimes.

They survive wars that were supposed to wipe them out, and win.

The world watches this and can’t make sense of it. So they do what people do when they witness strength they can’t understand. They assume it must be cheating.

It must be American aid.

It must be foreign lobbying.

It must be oppression.

It must be theft.

It must be some dark trick that gave the Jews this kind of power.

It must be blackmail.

 

Because heaven forbid it’s something else.

Heaven forbid it’s real.

Heaven forbid it’s earned.

Or worse, destined.

The Jewish people were supposed to disappear a long, long time ago. That’s how the story of exiled, enslaved, hated minorities is supposed to end. But the Jews didn’t disappear. They actually came home, rebuilt their land, revived their language, and brought their dead back to life — in memory, in identity, and in strength.

That’s not normal. It’s not political. It’s biblical.

There’s no cheat code that explains how a group of people return to their homeland after 2,000 years.

There is no rational path from gas chambers to global influence.

And there is no historical precedent for surviving the Babylonians, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Inquisition, the pogroms, and the Holocaust, and still showing up to work on Monday in Tel Aviv. 

Israel doesn’t make sense. Unless you believe in something beyond the math.

This is what drives the world crazy. Because if Israel is real, if this improbable, ancient, hated nation is somehow still chosen, protected, and thriving, then maybe God isn’t a myth after all.

Maybe He’s still in the story.

Maybe history isn’t random.

Maybe evil doesn’t get the last word.

Maybe the Jews are not just a people… but a testimony.

That’s what they can’t stand.

Because once you admit that Israel’s survival isn’t just impressive, but divine, everything changes. Your moral compass has to reset. Your assumptions about history, power, and justice collapse. You realize you’re not watching the end of an empire. You’re witnessing the beginning of something eternal.

So they deny it. They smear it. And rage against it.

Because it’s easier to call a miracle “cheating” than to face the possibility that God keeps His promises.

And He’s keeping them still.

Gazan Civilians Actively Abet Hamas

 Video - Son of Hamas Leader Speaks Out - https://tinyurl.com/mrxp5brh

 For the full article by Nadav Shragai go to - https://tinyurl.com/ypjhxw7x

The "uninvolved," many thousands of them, "demonstrated" at the border fence on the eve of the massacre. They planted explosive charges along the fence and marked off the weak points. They participated in the great deception that Hamas pulled off more successfully than it had ever imagined.

Some 20,000 "uninvolved" workers from Gaza used to enter Israel every day until the slaughter. They did so for months and months. They worked in the communities of the Gaza border, in Sderot, and in Ofakim, and some of them took detailed notes about their destinations: how many houses there were, where the living rooms, the bedrooms, and the security rooms were, how many family members lived in each house, whether they had a dog, where their cars were parked. They documented everything. And all of it went to Hamas. It was part of the infrastructure of the pogrom – the contribution of the "uninvolved" to the atrocity.

After the civilians were slaughtered, Salah Arouri of Hamas tried to defend his fighters by claiming that they weren't the ones who did it. It was the residents of Gaza, he said. "When the Gaza Division fell apart," Arouri explained, "people from the Strip went in and clashed with the settlers. As a result, people were killed."

The "uninvolved," many thousands of them, "demonstrated" at the border fence on the eve of the massacre. They planted explosive charges along the fence and marked off the weak points. They participated in the great deception that Hamas pulled off more successfully than it had ever imagined.

Tens of thousands of "uninvolved people" just like them – hundreds of thousands in the army's count – took part in "marches of return" along the fence over the years, lobbing charges and firebombs onto our side, launching incendiary balloons and setting our fields afire. Their hearts seethed with hatred and entertained a dream – to return to Ashkelon, Lod, Acre, and Ashdod, and to replace us. Today, one hopes, many more of us believe them. Our true friend in the White House, Joe Biden, still remains unconvinced, but at some point, he'll figure it out, too. The Palestinians have creative ways of explaining it.

The "uninvolved" danced like dervishes around the trucks that hauled away the abducted children, the old men and women, and the young men and women, crying "death to the Jews" and helping Hamas to place them in hiding. The "uninvolved" helped Hamas to move its rockets to concealment. "Uninvolved" mothers proclaimed that they were proud to send their children into battle in order to turn them into shahids (martyrs). And "uninvolved" teachers taught the children of Gaza that it's a religious obligation to kill Jews. Hundreds of thousands of "uninvolved" Gazans took part in the funerals of the arch-murderers whom Israel eliminated over the years. For those who really want to go back there – Google and watchdogs like MEMRI and Palestinian Media Watch will provide the terrifying texts that were read out at those funerals, the masses roaring their agreement.

 

In 2006, hundreds of thousands of Gazans who had the right to vote cast their ballots for the Hamas terror organization, whose charter calls for the annihilation of the Jews and the State of Israel, and gave it eighteen of the twenty-four seats that were up for direct election in the Strip. When it was done, Hamas won 43% of the votes as against 33% for Fatah. Hamas also won in eastern Jerusalem and performed handsomely in Nablus, Hebron, and elsewhere. In a departure from the norm, these were sound democratic elections. Some 250 European Union observers confirmed it. They accurately reflected the preferences of the residents of Gaza and Judea-Samaria. Admittedly, seventeen years have passed since then but Hamas' strength in Gaza, and in Judea-Samaria as well, has not only held up but has grown.

Hamas and the Gazans are one and the same – in elections, in their hearts, in their actions, and in their assistance. Many of them knew about the war preparations, furthered them, and kept them secret. The IDF is a moral army. It will not line up a civilian population in the crosshairs of its rifles, tanks, artillery, and aircraft, but if this population unintentionally comes to harm, heaven forbid, it's worth our while to know exactly whom we're dealing with.

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Israel’s Two-Faced Allies

Video Of The Week.United Hatzalah (Rescue) Volunteers https://tinyurl.com/673kt94v

For the full article from  Israel Hayom, by Melanie Philips go to - https://tinyurl.com/4pac558n

America and Britain claim to be allies of Israel. There is no gainsaying the deep links between them of military assistance, intelligence and trade. Israel is the invaluable strategic asset for America and Britain in the Middle East, a crucial bulwark in the defence of the west.  And yet both America and Britain undermine Israel’s security and defence against existential attack by sanitising, promoting and funding Palestinian Arabs, whose active cause remains the destruction of the Jewish state.

A recent event illustrated this particularly sharply when British diplomatic officials in Jerusalem effectively endorsed the Palestinian Authority’s agenda to eradicate Israel.  Palestinian Media Watch has revealed that at last Friday’s annual “Palestine Marathon” held by the PA, seven British officials taking part as “#TeamUK” wore marathon T-shirts displaying the PA’s map that erases Israel and represents the whole country as Palestine.  The Jewish Chronicle reports that the team consisted of the UK’s Deputy Consul General Alison McEwen and Foreign Office colleagues. A picture of the team was tweeted from the official account of the British Consulate in Jerusalem, hailing “the incredible Palestine Marathon to support #FREEDOMOFMOVEMENT for all Palestinians”.

Palestinian Media Watch observes that this hashtag was conceived to support the PA’s demand that Israel remove the security measures it has adopted to prevent the flow of Palestinian terrorists from PA-controlled areas into Israel’s cities.  According to The Jewish Chronicle, the marathon was organised by a group called “Right to Movement,” which campaigns against “the many obstacles that we live daily under fascist racist occupation”.  The race was held under the auspices of the Palestine Liberation Organisation Supreme Council for Youth and Sports headed by Jibril Rajoub, a man who has been convicted of numerous terrorist offences and who persistently glorifies Palestinian terrorist murderers.

So these British diplomats took part in an event supervised by a terrorist sympathiser; openly supported the Palestinian Arabs’ lie that Israel is subjecting them to “fascist racist occupation”; openly opposed Israel’s measures to protect its citizens against attack; and openly endorsed the eradication of Israel altogether.

The current British government under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak contains an unprecedented number of Israel supporters. So how can its diplomats have displayed such egregious hostility to Israel’s security and even its very existence?  The consular bodies run by both Britain and America in Jerusalem, which provide assistance to the Palestinian Arabs in the east of the city, the disputed territories and in the Gaza Strip, have long been viewed by the Israeli government as working against Israeli interests.

What is the reason for this two-faced attitude? There’s a charitable explanation and a less charitable one.

The charitable one is that neither the American nor British government accepts that the PA’s objective is the extermination of Israel. This is because these governments are committed to the “two-state solution”. It requires them to define the problem to which this is the solution as the division of land between two sets of people with legitimate claims to that land.  This is clearly untrue. The PA’s own repeated statements, its maps and insignia depicting a state of Palestine that erases Israel, its incitement to seize Israeli cities such as Haifa and Jaffa and its support for terrorism all show that its aim is Israel’s destruction.

Yet the American and British governments can’t allow themselves to acknowledge this. Partly, this is due to pressure from the Arab world. Mostly, though, it’s due to the implacable liberal belief in conflict resolution and peace processes.

Since the Americans and British can’t allow anything to disrupt such a peace process, they ignore any evidence of a non-negotiable and unconscionable agenda.  So Israel, which has always been willing to negotiate and has indeed offered a Palestinian state on numerous occasions, gets blamed for endangering the peace process when it insists on defending itself against never-ending Palestinian Arab terrorism.  That liberal tunnel vision helps explain why the Biden administration funds the PA even though it continues its “pay-for-slay” stipends to terrorists’ families.

The less charitable explanation, meanwhile, is that some of those promoting the Palestinian Arab cause are motivated by malign hatred of Israel and the Jewish people.

 

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OUTRAGEOUS - The US is Offering to Pay Organizations to Defame Israel.

 Video Of The Week- UAE's FM speech at Negev Summit - https://tinyurl.com/4kx8y45e

For the full article by Lahav Harkov go to https://tinyurl.com/2kkk43a2

The US State Department has offered a grant of up to $987,654 for projects that include reporting human rights violations by Israel, raising concern about the potential for abuse by organizations seeking boycotts, sanctions and international law tribunals against Israel.

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announced “an open competition for projects that strengthen accountability and human rights in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza” last month, thought to be the first of its kind from Washington.

The proposals are meant to “collect, archive and maintain human rights documentation to support justice and accountability and civil society-led advocacy efforts, which may include documentation of legal or security sector violations and housing, land and property rights.”

The projects can also “take meaningful action in pursuing truth, accountability and memorialization; and/or provide psychosocial support to survivors of atrocities.”

DRL will favor projects led by local organizations with a proven ability to implement programs in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

The contest rules state that applications cannot “reflect any type of support for any member, affiliate or representative of a designated terrorist organization.” Projects that directly benefit foreign militaries or paramilitary groups will also not be considered.

Applicants must pass vetting to evaluate the risk that the funding will go to terrorists or their supporters, according to the State Department website.

Prof. Gerald Steinberg, director of NGO Monitor, which tracks funding for NGOs dealing with Israel-related issues, said he has never seen a US funding announcement of this kind.

US funding “generally was not for these more political NGOs under the headings of human rights,” he said.

Steinberg wrote a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that NGO projects of the kind described “are exploited for campaigns targeting Israel. These grantees lobby the International Criminal Court and UN frameworks – such as biased Commissions of Inquiry – to sanction Israel, promote BDS and use the ‘apartheid’ label.”

The Biden administration has opposed the ICC investigation of Israel, the use of “apartheid” to describe Israel, and the UN Commission of Inquiry against Israel.

“In light of the Biden Administration’s repeated rejection of such campaigns, we call on the State Department to reconsider this program,” Steinberg wrote. “If however the NOFO [notice of funding opportunity] proceeds, the application of clear and rigorous safeguards will be necessary to ensure that taxpayer funds are not provided to organizations advancing a discriminatory, anti-Israel agenda under the façade of accountability and human rights.”

According to Steinberg, “the language [of the NOFO] is reflective of what European governments use to justify funding organizations like Al Haq and Breaking the Silence,” Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations, respectively, that have advocated for boycotts of Israel and for Israeli officials to be tried for war crimes.

“It’s hard to see any other explanation for this type of grant,” he said.

Such human rights organizations targeting Israel are “an industry on the order of at least $50 million to Israel and Palestinian groups from European governments, plus there is UN support. It’s even more if you include Human Rights Watch and Amnesty” – which have accused Israel of being an apartheid state – “and this funding could, in theory, go to them,” Steinberg said.

Blinken recently met with Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth and Amnesty’s Secretary-General Agnes Callamard, releasing only a brief tweet in which he said: “We support the important work of human rights defenders.” He commended their work in a speech about the genocide of the Rohingya in Myanmar.

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Israel a Reliable Power worth Copying

 Video Of The Week -Israel Innovations Saving Humanity - https://tinyurl.com/y6xl5spf

JPost, Full Article, By Yonatan Freeman  9-1-2021, go to; https://tinyurl.com/y3wsoycx

Whether through an icon such as Gal Gadot, or increased interest in her country’s battles against COVID-19, there has been an explosion of those in the US and around the world wishing to better understand Israel’s culture and values. Israel’s soft power is booming.

Historically, the concept of soft power, the ability a country has to project its value and appeal through ethics, legitimacy and culture, has infrequently been seen as an integral feature of Israel’s democracy, whether by its decision-makers or the international community. This has now changed.

·       Israel is no longer viewed as a liability by foreign actors but rather a reliable power worth copying and mimicking. Countries in the Arab and Muslim world, which have historically been distant, hostile or silent towards Israel, are even rethinking their policies and betting on Israel to give them solutions when it comes to challenges such as the novel coronavirus. It is no longer “Palestine First,” but rather Chad, UAE and Sudan first.

 There are many possible reasons for the growing positivity of Israel. Some point to the financial benefits of doing business with a strong economy not dependent on a natural resource, while others point to Jerusalem’s ability to face threats such as Iran. Nevertheless, perhaps what the world is more and more coming to terms with is Israel’s resilience in dire or changing times. The current battle against COVID-19 is one of those crucibles.

 The war against the coronavirus is global. And undoubtedly, it may be the first world war that Israel is experiencing since its independence. But unlike previous wars, there is still uncertainty as to who the enemy is, how he works and how he kills.

 That is why mistakes are still being made, even in Israel. That is also why it isn’t yet possible to proclaim who has succeeded or failed in the fight. After all, what constitutes being successful against the coronavirus? How can one make conclusions when the global fight isn’t yet over?

 Some point to the inability to stop the spreading of the virus as being a failure. Still, to what extent can one know for sure how to protect against an agent known and studied for less than a year? Others point to economic hardships as being a measure of failure. But is there really a country that has been financially less affected due to this pandemic? Even if a country could have stopped the spread of the virus, there may have been a continuing economic impact resulting from the increase in government spending to weaken its advance, the slowdown of international trade and travel and the increasing fights between the US and China. Although vaccines are coming off the assembly line, the implications of the war against the coronavirus may be far from over.

 This isn’t the first time that Israel has needed to adapt to a new threat. When buses or missiles began blowing up in her midst, many around the world feared coming to the country. It was argued that it wasn’t safe. In time, Israel proved that, sadly, the more it experienced attacks, the more there was a strengthening of her ability to defend against them.

 As these words are written, Israel is racing to gain more knowledge about the contagion, using available vaccines to curb its lethality, and investing resources to develop a vaccine of its own. It is precisely at these moments that Israel has an edge.

 The world is thus well aware of Israel’s resilience and wants to learn more about the tools at her disposal. They are betting on her to lead the fight to win this present war, because Israel’s capabilities have been molded and strengthened by emergencies of the past. Even in the face of threats, boycotts and immense changes, Israel has always been able to strengthen its economic, diplomatic and military might.

 That is what many see in Israel during these times. World actors see the potential that Jerusalem and her values have in making a difference in the global fight against the coronavirus, all while finding the right balance between security and liberty. These are the sort of times that cause friends, as well as current and past foes, not to write Israel off. They are well aware that if they did, they would be writing off one of the world’s best hopes for beating the virus.

 The writer holds a doctorate, is an international relations expert and a lecturer in the Department of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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Will Israel Keep a Low Profile?

Video Of The Week - Israel Braces for Possible Iranian Retaliation -  https://tinyurl.com/yz3tm4yw

Iran’s dramatic announcement that it no longer intends to honor its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers could soon revive discussions in Israel over a possible military strike on Iranian targets.

While Israel has kept a low profile since the US killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani last Friday, it will be difficult to remain on the sidelines if Iran follows through on its pledge to step away from the nuclear accord. Israel, a fierce critic of the agreement, accuses Iran of trying to develop a nuclear weapon and has repeatedly said it will not allow that to happen, even if that requires a risky military strike.

Israel is widely believed to possess its own arsenal of nuclear warheads, but neither confirms nor denies it.

The US-led nuclear deal, which restricted Iran’s atomic activities in exchange for relief from sanctions, put any talk of Israeli military action into deep freeze. But that all changed Sunday when Iran, protesting Soleimani’s killing, said it would no longer honor the limits on uranium enrichment and other nuclear research spelled out in the deal.

Iran denies it is seeking a nuclear bomb and says its activities are for peaceful purposes only.

Israeli officials had no immediate response to the Iranian announcement, although last month, with the nuclear accord already unraveling, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that Israel remained ready to take military action as a “last resort” to prevent Iran from developing an atomic bomb.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly meeting with his inner security cabinet on Monday to discuss the latest developments.

Yoel Guzansky, an analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies, an Israeli think tank, said the Iranian announcement puts the region in a delicate moment.

On one hand, he noted that Iran is only talking about its intention to abandon the deal and has not taken any action. “They’re still cautious,” said Guzansky, who is a former adviser on Iranian affairs in the prime minister’s office.

On the other hand, he said that a failure by the US and other world powers to spell out their “red lines” risks encouraging Iran to press forward and potentially put it on a collision course with Israel.

“Where is the US? Where are the Chinese, the Russians, the Europeans? Their voices are not being heard,” he said. Without spelling out their limits, he said Iran could move “very close, much closer to a bomb” in the coming year.

Former prime minister Ehud Barak has said that Israel came close to attacking Iran in the early 2010s while he was defense minister, but ultimately backed down. Such a move would risk not only the pilots and troops sent on a difficult mission in a far-off land. It also could unleash a war that could quickly engulf the region.

Israel has long considered Iran its greatest enemy, with suspicions about Iran’s nuclear intentions at the top of its concerns.

But Israel has a long list of other grievances against Iran. Among them are Iran’s support for hostile proxy groups, especially the powerful Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon, as well as Iran’s military presence in neighboring Syria.

In recent years, Israel has struck a number of Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria, in many cases to prevent the transfers of “game changing” weapons, such as precision-guided missiles, to Hezbollah. Soleimani, the longtime commander of Iran’s expeditionary Quds Force, was seen as the mastermind of these efforts and topped Israel’s most-wanted list.

While Netanyahu put out a brief statement praising US President Donald Trump for ordering the airstrike, Israel has otherwise remained quiet, apparently in fear of escalating an already volatile situation. With Iran vowing retaliation, Israel has stepped up security at diplomatic installations overseas and its forces remain on their standard high alert along the northern borders with Syria and Lebanon.

Yet it is no secret that Israel sees the death of its arch-enemy’s top general as a watershed moment.

In Israeli eyes, the airstrike restored much-needed US credibility, which many felt was eroded by Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from the region and his lack of responses to previous Iranian actions. Israeli defense strategy hinges heavily on close military ties with the US.

“This was a big strategic miracle. Suddenly, we are no longer on our own,” wrote Alex Fishman, military commentator for the Yediot Ahronot daily.

For now, there seems to be a consensus among analysts that the death of Soleimani dealt a tough short-term blow, and the odds of retaliation against Israeli targets are low. Iran’s main objective right now is to mete out revenge against the US, and it has has little incentive to open another front, the thinking goes. But there remains great uncertainty about whether there will be any long-term benefits.

“With all due caution, it can be said that it appears that Iran will not initiate a direct clash with Israel in the foreseeable future,” Giora Eiland, a former Israeli national security adviser, wrote in the Yediot Ahronot daily Monday.

He said Iran is “liable to decide on an aggressive course of action” if it meets one of three goals: acquiring nuclear weapons, deepening its presence in Syria or succeeding in transferring guided missiles to Hezbollah.

“The Israeli side is making a great effort to prevent these exact three things, and with a fair degree of success up until now,” he said.

Little is known about Soleimani’s successor and longtime deputy, Esmail Ghaani. Iran also shows no signs of moderating the policies that Soleimani carried out at the behest of the country’s leaders in Tehran.

Raz Zimmt, a former military intelligence officer now at the INSS think tank, said it may be “wishful thinking” to expect Soleimani’s death to create great opportunities for Israel.

“Yes, Iran is weaker today than it used to be two or three days ago,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean that Iran is going to change.”

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