Among the most unpopular, yet most frequently publicized government ministers is National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir who often complains when interviewed on radio or television, that the interviewer wants to express his or her own viewpoint, is not interested in what he has to say, criticizes him, cuts him off in mid-sentence, and argues with him.
Fair-minded people who may disagree with Ben Gvir on most issues can nonetheless confirm that there is obvious media bias against him, especially since he voted against the hostage return agreement. In his defense, Ben Gvir points out that when he proposed that more civilians be armed, everyone thought he was mad. But since October 7, thousands of Israelis, including women, have applied for gun licenses and training.
Even though many civilians who already had gun licenses were involved in defending their families and their communities against terrorists, Ben Gvir is still being censured by the media. Ben Gvir voted against the government’s decision on the return of the hostages because he believes that if Israel shows any weakness in relation to Hamas, terrorism will prevail.
He is strongly in favor of Israel returning to Gaza, resurrecting Gush Katif, and assuming control. In his view, this is the only way to quell terrorism. Otherwise, Jews will not be able to live in any of the places close to the Gaza border, he is convinced.
Almagor, the Terror Victims Association agrees with Ben Gvir, and petitioned the High Court of Justice against the exchange of prisoners, but judges David Mintz, Alex Stein, and Yehiel Kasher declined to accept the appeal, saying this was not a matter for the court to decide.
Pope weighs in on Israel-Hamas war
■ WHEN REPRESENTATIVES of the families of the hostages met with Pope Francis on Wednesday, the Pontiff warned against escalation of the war, because in the long run, it would evolve into mutual terrorism with everyone killing everyone. He prayed for the safety of innocent civilians on both sides, he said.
The Bedouins fighting and dying in the war against Hamas
■ THE RATIO of fallen Druze soldiers in relation to the size of the Druze community in Israel is high. The number of Bedouin casualties is also high, and there are Bedouin among the hostages taken by Hamas to Gaza. But media focus has been on Bedouin hero Yusef Alziada, who saved the lives of 30 people attending the Supernova music festival.
On October 6, he had driven a group of young people to the festival and was scheduled to take them back the following day. When he received frantic phone calls during the Hamas assault, he unhesitatingly drove to the site in his minibus that was meant to hold 14 people.
In addition to the passengers whom he had initially taken to the festival, he picked up strangers along the way, and in the final analysis, 30 people were crammed into the bus, as Alziada navigated his way out of the killing fields. The Bedouin, like the Druze, are opposed to the Nation-State Law, believing that it excludes them from equal rights, but they are in a worse position than the Druze because some of their villages are unrecognized by Israel. Alziada’s heroism may prompt more influential people to lobby for the legality of the unrecognized villages so that they can be linked to electricity and running water.
German ambassador's links to helping Holocaust survivors
■ AMONG THOSE who went to join mourners and to pay respects to the Druze community following the supreme sacrifice in Gaza of Major Jamal Abbas of Battalion 101 of the Paratroopers Brigade was German Ambassador Steffen Seibert. The father and brother of Abbas are currently serving in Northern Command.
Seibert, who has also been heavily involved with the families of German citizens murdered or taken hostage by Hamas, also has a lot to do with German Holocaust survivors and German-born Israelis who managed to escape the Holocaust through the Kindertransport, which was an organized network dedicated to rescuing children from Nazi-occupied territory – mainly Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland.
One of the key figures in that effort was Sir Nicholas Winton, the son of German-born Jews who moved to England and converted to Christianity. Winton, a stockbroker, who had worked in different European countries, traveled to Prague to help a friend who was engaged in working on behalf of Jewish refugees and became involved in sending hundreds of Jewish children to Britain.
Many of the parents and older siblings of these children did not survive. The story of Nicholas Winton, who many years later was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, is the theme of the film One Life, starring Anthony Hopkins, which will, this year, open the annual Jewish Film Festival at the Jerusalem Cinematheque on December 9 in the presence of several diplomats. It would not surprise if Seibert happens to be one of them.
Beloved Jerusalem educator killed by Hamas in Gaza
■ JERUSALEM HAS also lost a high number of soldiers including the principal of the ORT Pelech Boys’ High School Yossi Hershkovitz, beloved educator, turned hero, who left behind a wife and five children
Hershkovitz was one of five soldiers killed at the entrance to a booby-trapped tunnel, after eliminating 22 Hamas terrorists.
The Chessedfund, a Baltimore-based crowd-funded charitable organization that was founded by Avi Kehat, and runs online campaigns on behalf of financially strapped individuals and families, has launched a campaign on behalf of the Hershkovitz family. Donations are small – mostly around $18, but the total amount keeps mounting, in the spirit of the British proverb: “If you look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves.”
Helping those orphaned by Hamas war
■ ON A much larger scale, Delta Galil Industries in partnership with the Ivette and Isaac Dabah Foundation are establishing “Embracing the Future,” a joint fund for the benefit and welfare of individuals who have become orphaned due to the Hamas attack and the ensuing war.
“We can never replace the caress, warmth, love, and security that parents give their children,” said Isaac Dabah, CEO of Delta Galil and one of the company’s owners, “but we hope and pray that we can assist in building the foundations for the future of those orphaned due to this most tragic event in the history of the Jewish people.”
“From the first day of the Swords of Iron War, Delta joined the effort to provide much-needed supplies to the injured and evacuated,” said Asaf Alperovitz, CFO of Delta Galil Industries. “We are heartbroken for the dozens of children who lost their beloved parents in this horrific massacre. We decided to do our small part by establishing the ‘Embracing the Future’ fund in order to provide support for these orphans.”
The “Embracing the Future” fund was launched with an initial sum of NIS 10 million, on a pro-rata basis. The Fund will support individuals orphaned by the war, by providing them with long-term assistance up until their adult years. The final criteria of the foundation will be determined at the end of the war when the situation becomes clearer.
The Company and the Dabah family are hopeful that many other caring individuals and foundations will join in this most important initiative.
Over the years, the Dabah Foundation has contributed to various entities and activities in Israel dedicated to strengthening the population, deepening its Jewish roots, and providing educational opportunities for Israelis living in peripheral communities.
Yoav Kisch refuses to talk politics, hostages
■ EDUCATION MINISTER Yoav Kisch in electronic media interviews has refused to discuss issues related to the return of hostages, saying that they are too sensitive for information to be made public. When asked by certain people, including members of his own Likud Party, whether he thinks Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should step down, Kisch replied that this is not the time for politics; it’s the time for unity, and that there will be ample opportunities for political debate and dialogue after the war is over.
Families of hostages
■ IN INTERVIEWS on radio and television, several of the families of the hostages said that they had never been given any relevant information, nor had they been permitted to participate in meetings with officials.
Most were initially opposed to the prisoner exchange agreement reached with Hamas, charging that it was a departure from originally stated government policy, in addition to which, no-one had consulted with the families as to how they felt. Some said it was a Solomonic decision, though the fact of the matter is that it is Hamas and not Israel who decides on who is to be returned to Israel.
But there were some people among the hostage families who said better to save some than none, even if that number did not include their loved ones. That was a prime example of noble pragmatism. There were also those who had steeled themselves for the possibility that their loved ones had died or been killed and what they wanted was a list of the captives who are still alive.
Israel’s founding prime minister David Ben-Gurion was also pragmatic. He would have preferred to have Israel’s territorial responsibility and size as it is now, rather than what it was in 1948, but being a realist, he took what he could get, but lived to see a united Jerusalem. Eventually, all the Israelis taken prisoner – both the living and those who did not survive – will be returned. It takes time, patience, and emotional resilience.
greerfc@gmail.com