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The 208th Day of War in Israel
By Sherwin Pomerantz
US Secretary of State has returned to Israel for his seventh trip here since the start of the war with Hamas. He is slated to meet with Israeli officials and to help move along the offer now in the hands of Hamas. That offer posits a 40-day cessation of fighting, the return of 20-30 Israeli hostages (of the over 130 still held by Hamas) and the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Hamas has had the offer since the weekend and the wait for their decision continues.
The Prime Minister's Office advised early this afternoon that Prime Minister Netanyahu's extended meeting with US Secretary of State Blinken, has concluded. The US State Department said that Blinken noted in his meeting with Netanyahu the improvement in the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, but "reiterated the importance of accelerating and sustaining that improvement." State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Blinken also repeated to Netanyahu the continued American opposition to the operation in Rafah.
Jordan for the first time transported humanitarian aid into Gaza through Israel's Erez Crossing, the Jordanian news agency Petra reported on today. Earlier Jordan claimed Israeli settlers attacked two of the aid convoys causing damage to trucks and some of the aid to be thrown off. Nevertheless, the aid did manage to get to Gaza.
Regarding the northern border, France has dropped a demand for the withdrawal of Hezbollah north of Lebanon’s Litani River from its proposal to end the fighting on Israel’s northern border, the Al-Akhbar daily reported on Monday. The latest proposal, submitted by French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné this week, calls for a “repositioning” of Hezbollah, without defining to where, said the newspaper, which is close to the terrorist group. The report cited sources familiar with the negotiations who said Paris’s latest submission calls for a ceasefire in line with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, ensuring the return of residents of border towns and the deployment of 15,000 Lebanese troops south of the Litani River. France’s diplomatic solution for the conflict also includes a framework for demarcating the official border between Israel and Lebanon and the creation of a committee to oversee this undertaking.
Hezbollah has carried out near-daily attacks on northern Israel from Southern Lebanon since joining the war in support of Hamas a day after the latter’s Oct. 7 massacre. Israel has threatened a full-scale invasion of Lebanon to push Hezbollah north of the Litani River—some 18 miles from the border—if a diplomatic solution is not found. Diplomatic efforts to calm tensions, including by the United States, have thus far been unsuccessful.
Over the weekend, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem threatened that a full-scale war with Israel would make the country’s northern region even more uninhabitable. “[Israeli Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant threatens us that if we don’t stop the attacks, he will attack Lebanon to return the residents of the north to their homes,” he said. “I say to Gallant that this war will not only cause the Zionists to not return to their homes but is likely to end their presence in the northern occupied territories once and for all,” he added
On the political front, over half (58%) of the Israeli public believes that Prime Minister Netanyahu should resign immediately, including 28% of those who voted for the bloc that supports Netanyahu, according to a poll published by N12 on Tuesday. Additionally, 48% of Israelis believe Defense Minister Yoav Gallant should resign immediately, 50% believe IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi should resign immediately, and 56% believe Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head Ronen Bar should resign now. Fifty-four percent of respondents said that elections should be held earlier. Over a third (37%) said that ministers Benny Gants and Gadi Eisenkot should leave the government. A poll of voters this week found that, if elections were held today, the results would leave the bloc currently supporting Netanyahu with 50 seats and the bloc around Gantz and Yair Lapid with 65 seats of the 120 member Knesset.
On the street in Israel people seem to feel there is a possibility that some of the hostages will be released before Israel’s 76th Independence Day on May 14th. May it be so.
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Is America the next Ottoman?
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The Ottoman Infection: How Great Nations Die
by Lawrence Kadish
The United States needs to return to strategic energy independence. Through state-of-the art technology, we now have the means of not only meeting our domestic needs, but the ability to export oil to our allies. Doing so would replace the Russians and Iranians, whose energy stockpiles continue to be wielded as weapons against the West. Pictured: An oil derrick in Monahans, Texas, in the oil- and gas-producing Permian Basin, on March 27, 2024. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Plagued with inept leadership, a fractured society, and an unstable economy, the once powerful, centuries-old Ottoman Empire was described by early 20th century contemporaries as the sick man of Europe. And then it collapsed into the dustbin of history.
America, take note. Consider what medicine needs to be administered in Washington to prevent a fatal malaise from taking down a great nation, for no country is immune to the Ottoman infection.
For the United States, it begins with returning to strategic energy independence. Through state-of-the art technology, we now have the means of not only meeting our domestic needs, but the ability to export oil to our allies. Doing so would replace the Russians and Iranians, whose energy stockpiles continue to be wielded as weapons against the West.
It has been estimated that, were U.S. oil production allowed an open spigot, prices would go back down to $40 or $50 a barrel, nearly half its current $83. That price would create an economic cardiac arrest for Russia and Iran, leaving them unable to afford their global aggression against the West.
Next, the U.S. should return to a policy of strong economic growth. No country has ever taxed itself into prosperity. Let us unleash once again America's best weapon: a creative, robust, open economic marketplace.
Washington needs to lower everyone's taxes and tear up those mountains of regulations that are now throttling growth.
With a strong pro-growth agenda, it is equally important also to provide low-cost loans for business expansion,
We need to recognize that we are being challenged for global leadership by China and that they are engaged in espionage that transits every facet of our nation – from defense to AI to Wall Street. The Communist Chinese will continue to do their best to cripple and displace the U.S. technologically, militarily and economically.
While a strong American military is key, another means to confront that threat is to see the U.S. bring manufacturing back home. Where that is not feasible, one can partner with countries such as India, which are not dedicated to confronting the United States. Otherwise, keep the creation of basic necessities, such as medicine or computer chips as home-grown domestic products.
If America is to remain recognizable as a sovereign nation, we need to secure our borders. It remains inconceivable that it is estimated we currently have more than 20 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., half of which entered since 2021. The current condition of our city streets speaks to the chaos that has been created by White House border policies that are out of control and a national security risk.
Nations get sick. Those that refuse to recognize the lethal risk from these maladies, and refuse to "take their medicine" run the risk of dying.
Just ask the Ottomans.
Lawrence Kadish serves on the Board of Governors of Gatestone Institute.
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We need his kind now.
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Since its founding, Israel has been fighting enemies who have continually sought its annihilation but today’s wars – military, cognitive, and diplomatic – are presenting an existential threat unlike anything it has confronted since perhaps 1973. While the Islamic Republic of Iran has unleashed not just proxies in the form of Hamas’ attack on October 7th, Hezbollah’s 150,000 missiles aimed at the country, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations infiltrating the West Bank; in an unprecedented attack, it has now directly joined the war to destroy the Jewish homeland. While 133 hostages, both dead and alive, remain captive in Hamas’ terror tunnels, Israelis are moving back to divisive rhetoric as to exactly how to bring them home and its war cabinet that united former political foes appears to be possibly fracturing with its own disagreements. On top of it all, while the U.S. initially seemed to actually have Israel’s back, the Biden administration’s own domestic political calculations have led to very dangerous daylight between the U.S. and Israel that seemingly emboldens Israel’s enemies. Joining us to discuss all of this from the perspective of a Member of the Knesset is MK Ohad Tal.
About the Speaker: MK Ohad Tal is an Israeli politician who serves as a Member of Knesset for the Religious Zionist Party. He Chairs the Knesset Committee for Public Enterprises and is a Member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense, Finance, and Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Knesset Committees.
MK Tal was elected to the 25th Knesset following the 2022 general elections, after serving for many years in several high-level positions in the non-formal Jewish education and diaspora relations arenas.
Under his tenure as Chairman of the Knesset Committee for Public Enterprises, the Committee passed laws whose main purpose is to lower the cost of living in Israel and reduce regulation and bureaucracy in the financial system as well as developing and securing a Jewish presence in the Negev and the Galilee areas.
MK Tal is an active member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and from the beginning of Operation Iron Swords he has led several initiatives to secure Israel’s military and security position.
He Chairs the Knesset Caucus for U.S. – Israel Relations and is the Chair of the parliamentary friendship caucus with Australia, Guatemala and Honduras.
MK Tal holds both an Executive MBA in Public Policy and Administration from Hebrew University and a BA in Education Administration from Bar Ilan University.
He is married to Tamar (nee Shachel), the director of finance and human resources at the "Daat" network of high schools and religious youth villages. The couple has four children, and they live in Efrat in the Judean Hills.
