GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War Day 665

Unpopular Ideas

Not A Good Idea

In a report from i24news.tv we see a significant renaming of the hostages isn’t helpful:

Israeli President Isaac Herzog sharply condemned remarks made by Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, who referred to Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza as "prisoners of war" rather than "hostages."

The name change brought immediate outrage from all sides:

The comments, made during a Wednesday radio interview, sparked widespread backlash from across the political spectrum.

Herzog noted that Eliyahu isn’t the only one to change the status of the hostages:

"I was shocked to hear in recent days that some are trying to normalize the terminology regarding the hostages," Herzog said Thursday during a visit to the Negev, where he met with Itzhak Gvili, father of hostage Ran Gvili.

He clearly doesn’t agree:

"They suddenly compare them to prisoners, but they are not prisoners. They are hostages."

The Israeli president gave good advice for anyone when they are in the public spotlight:

The president went on to caution public figures against making insensitive statements. "I suggest to all those who talk too much to think carefully about what comes out of their mouths and how much it hurts and causes suffering to these dear and beloved families," he said.

Eliyahu’s actual comments implies that calling them prisoners of war will help focus the fighting strategy:

Eliyahu’s comments, made on Kol Hai radio, ignited public and political outrage. “The mission is not ‘hostages first,’ they are prisoners and not hostages," Eliyahu stated. "They should be dealt with only at the end of the war. The cabinet is confused—sometimes it’s humanitarian aid, sometimes raids, sometimes occupation. There is a lack of strategy.”

One minister from the left also spoke out against the change:

Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the remarks in a strong statement: “After proposing to drop an atomic bomb on Gaza and wipe it out, Amihai Eliyahu is now suggesting abandoning the hostages to their deaths. This causes strategic damage to national security, international relations, and the mutual solidarity of the Israeli people. If he is not dismissed today, the government is admitting it has abandoned the hostages.”

Eliyahu is not new to controversy as he’s said that all of Gaza should be Jewish. Another leader added this:

Following the uproar, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yehiel Leiter publicly distanced the government from Eliyahu’s comments. “The quotations attributed to Minister Eliyahu do not reflect the policy of Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government,” Leiter said. “The exact opposite is true.”

This will most likely blow over, but it highlights that the hostages must be rescued soon.

Israelis Want Gazans Resettled

A recent poll of Israelis think withdrawing from Gaza was a mistake and the Gazans need to live somewhere else as we read in an article from World News Israel:

As the 20th anniversary of the Disengagement fast approaches, an Israel Hayom survey found Thursday that a majority believe it was a terrible mistake, one that led to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre, and that the Gaza Strip should be resettled with Jews.

A majority regret leaving Gaza:

Fully 76% of the 510 respondents polled said that Israel erred in carrying out a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, when the IDF forcibly expelled more than 8,000 Jews from 20 villages and one town in the coastal enclave.

Even back in 2005 some saw a rise in terrorism in the move, fears that actually were realized:

At the time, the government’s decision was hugely controversial, with polls showing support for it ranging between 50%-60%, and those opposing it warning repeatedly that if the settlers and IDF left, it would lead to a huge uptick of Palestinian terrorism. Their fears came true as Hamas soon took over the Strip and began firing thousands of rockets over the years, mostly at Israel’s border communities, as well as launching arson balloons that destroyed tens of thousands of dunams of forests and croplands.

By controlling the Gaza Strip Hamas essentially converted it into a terrorist stronghold:

The terrorists also gained the freedom to smuggle in vast amounts of weaponry through Gaza’s border with Egypt, train tens of thousands of soldiers, and build a vast terror tunnel network — all of which nearly became a strategic threat to the State of Israel almost 21 months ago.

Now a majority see leaving as directly causing the massacre of October 7th, 2023:

A majority of respondents felt that there was a direct connection between the Disengagement and what Israelis call “the Black Sabbath,” with 56% agreeing that there would have been less of a chance of the Oct. 7 attack had the Disengagement not been carried out.

A majority think that Jews should settle in Gaza again:

A follow-up question of whether Jews should return to settle the Strip garnered more of a split, but still a majority of 52% answered “yes.” While this is an idea that has been championed by the national religious sector in Israel, with the poll showing that 67% agreed with it, the survey noted that a whopping 83% of the ultra-Orthodox community were in favor of resettlement, and 29% of the secular public approved of it as well.

Those who don’t have an opinion say they could be persuaded to allow resettlement:

Fully 21% of the latter also answered that they “didn’t know,” showing that they could be convinced of the merits of such a plan on a strategic basis if not a religious one.

Even left leaning Israelis think Jews should return to Gaza. And people don’t see Judea, Samaria as well as Gaza being a separate state as some are proposing:

In addition, even a fifth of those who categorized themselves as “left-wing” thought Jews should return to Gaza – all of which proved that the concept is not relegated to a fringe element in society, the report said. The survey also included a question whose answer should be of interest to all those countries that are suddenly saying they will recognize a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, which the Palestinians have always maintained would be Jew-free. When asked if they thought that a disengagement from the territories of Judea and Samaria was a future possibility, 64% responded that it was impossible.

And even Bible prophecy points to Israel taking back all three areas. Pray that happens, folks.