"The video and the shoal"—more fallout from that video of the female kidnapped soldiers.
Something profound is shifting in Israelis' moods, and there's no way to understand this country without appreciating that shift. Today we'll cover a view from the right.
We cover today two different sorts of follow up to the posting of the video of the “spotters,” the young women in the IDF whose job it is to watch dozens of cameras on screens and look out for enemy movement. They did their jobs, and for weeks, they warned of developments that seemed abnormal.
They were ignored, and on October 7th, their base was over-run. They were kidnapped, shot, abused and more. And last week, as we noted in our post that included the video, the families released the video of their daughters.
The first follow up to the video that we’re sharing today is this interview from Keshet 12 news, with some of the women of those captive soldiers’ families, now posted on YouTube.
The second is an Op Ed by a leading right-leaning political commentator, who had some surprising things to say after his viewing of the video.
First, the interview.
Because the video is age-restricted (there’s nothing at all graphic in it, except for the tragic discussion of rape), we’re unable to link to it in the normal way. Click on the link below that says “Watch on YouTube” and it’ll appear.
It requires no commentary.
Now,on to the Ariel Schnabel column we’ve been discussing.
In Hebrew, the word for “video clip” is סרטון, pronounced “seerTONE.” The word for “shoal” is שרטון (note that only the first letter is different), also pronounced “seerTONE.” Thus the headline at the top of Ariel Schnabel’s column in Makor Rishon this week, “The Video and the Shoal,” works better in Hebrew. It’s “The Seertone and the Seertone.”:
What video and what shoal? And who is Ariel Schnabel?
The video is the video that the families of the “spotters” released and asked us to watch.
The video picked the scab off the wound of October 7th, which was what the families wanted, and the plight of the hostages was once again—quite rightly—a subject with a sense of national urgency.
What’s the shoal? Ariel Schnabel will explain, indirectly.
And who’s Ariel Schnabel? He’s a talented writer, a regular columnist for Makor Rishon, a journalist who wrote a few years ago, as he mentions in this very column, that he actually feared the day that Benjamin Netanyahu would no longer be Prime Minister. He supported Bibi, he voted for Bibi, he wrote numerous columns praising Bibi.
But Ariel Schnabel is not happy. And in the following column, of which we’ll translate only portions, he explains why. (Keep in mind that his column is tight … all the omissions matter, so read it to get a sense of what he’s saying, not how well he backs up his claim, something one should not do without having read the whole thing. It’s on line on the Makor Rishon web site.)
So today we’re going to hear from the “right.” Is the left different? Yes, it is, but look at the following chart that accompanied a column by Nadav Eyal yesterday, based on data from the The Institute for Liberty & Responsibility at Reichman University. (The graph appeared in the Ynet column by Nadav Eyal … we’ll get to his column in the near future. All we did was take out the Hebrew and put in English, instead.)
Note the following. Among voters for the left and center, TEN TIMES MORE Israelis believe we’re losing the war than winning it. But even on the right, the % of those who think we’re losing is MORE THAN TWICE the number of those who believe we’re winning.
Hence, the cloud.
Israelis are facing an unfolding crisis, but hopefully an important opportunity to rebuild, as well. If you would like to share our conversation about what Israelis are feeling and what is happening here that the English press can’t capture, we invite you to subscribe today
The Video and the Shoal,
by Ariel Schnabel
Two hours before the release of the video of the female hostages from the IDF base at Nachal Oz, at what is usually a crowded time of day on a Wednesday, the streets in our neighborhood were emptier than ever. The atmosphere reminded me of those last hours of Memorial Day, a day characterized, more than anything, by a deep sadness and distress you could literally feel in the air.
Then the video was released. After making sure that the kids were busy with something else, I, too, watched it. Just as was apparently the case with you, I felt a combination of rage, sadness, anger, failure and had many, many questions. Then I went into X, formerly known as Twitter. Many people felt a need to share their views of the video, which is entirely natural. But what I noticed was that 100% of those people tweeting were expressing views that were 100% identical to what they’d felt and believed before watching the video. …
I have no expectation that people will change their minds after every video, shocking and stomach-turning though it might be. It’s fine for people to be attached to an ideology, and to stay loyal to it even when that’s difficult. But this, too, also needs to be said: anyone for whom nothing changed between Simchat Torah and day that the extent of the slaughter became clear, someone who did not check his values and beliefs, especially in the political sphere, whoever has not asked himself whether it is really still possible to hold all those same beliefs as if nothing has happened—that person is shallow, unidimensional, lazy and a coward.
Seven years ago, I published in this very paper a column that had as its title “I fear the day that Netanyahu will no longer be Prime Minister.” And I gave good reasons for that declaration: “Netanyahu has led the country for these past years, at least most of them, and during his tenure the state has seen flourishing and flowering that can in no way be denied. True, there is poverty and there is corruption … and Palestinians. But in the midst of all this chaos, Netanyahu is leading a place that to put it simply, it’s fun to raise children in it and to live in it, and even to jet out of the country once or twice or three times a year as a result of the Open Skies Reform, which also took place under him. I fear that all of this will disappear.”
But that was seven years ago, and before October 7. The State of Israel has become a place where it is much less fun to raise children and to live in.
During the “Government of Change” of Bennet and Lapid, I attacked it viciously, and called on the right wing parties—for which I had often voted—to leave the coalition and bring down the government. I have no regrets about that call, but I was, indeed, wrong when I called for a government that would be monolithically right-wing.
The slaughter on October 7, what’s happened since and also the rip in the fabric of the country as a result of the judicial reform have changed my political thinking. Now, I believe that for as far as the eye can see, it should be absolutely out of the question for there to be a narrow government [DG - of mostly one political viewpoint], no matter what its views might be. The main Zionist parties—at the moment, those are the Likud, Gantz and Lapid—have to sit together in the same coalition to heal this place, to comfort and to rehabilitate both the state and the people.
And what about Netanyahu? Regular readers of the column will recall that since the war, I’ve been calling for him to leave office at the end of the war.
But now there is a way to end the war: to take the American-Saudi deal [DG - which Bibi has flat out rejected] as long as we can continue to battle Hamas until it is obliterated. Yes, we’ll have to pay some lip service to some amorphous political process regarding the future of the Palestinians. But Netanyahu already did that in 2009 when he said he was open to a Palestinian state. ….
Stop your understandable instinctive reaction to the words “Palestinian state”—a creation that will die a thousand deaths before it is created, only to die again—and think about what the State of Israel and we can benefit from grabbing this deal with both hands—and for once, make the Palestinians the ones who’re sweating.
The video of those spotters, like many other transformational moments of historic proportion that have occurred to us in recent months, demands that we recalculate our route. There’s nothing humiliating about that. The one who should be ashamed is the one who refuses to rethink—and he should be ashamed of his inflexibility as well as his cowardice.
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Fetterman is a strange maverick. in many ways but also a breath of fresh air among rancid progressive radicals.
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Fetterman gets standing ovation at Yeshiva graduation for removing Harvard robe hood
"I have been profoundly disappointed with Harvard's inability to stand up for the Jewish community," the pro-Israel senator said.
By Menachem Wecker and David Swindle
Addressing graduates at Yeshiva University’s commencement on Wednesday, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) noted that he was last at a graduation “literally a quarter century ago,” when he graduated from Harvard University.
The pro-Israel senator’s reference to the Ivy League school, which has been accused of silence concerning Jew-hatred, drew some boos from the audience.
“Today, I have been profoundly disappointed with Harvard’s inability to stand up for the Jewish community,” Fetterman said. He then reached for the hood from his Harvard robe.
“For me personally, I do not fundamentally believe that it is right for me to wear this today,” said the junior senator from Western Pennsylvania, drawing widespread applause and a standing ovation, even from those on the stage with him, as he removed the hood.
Videos of Fetterman responding to anti-Israel activists in and around the U.S. Capitol abound on social media. But a different sort of imagery surfaced on Wednesday, as the senator received a presidential medallion—Yeshiva University’s top award—at the New York private university’s commencement ceremony.
In one video, which the writer and researcher Dovi Safier shared, Fetterman holds hands with YU President Rabbi Ari Berman and Rabbi Hershel Schachter as they and graduates dance to the song “Geshmak to Be a Yid” (“It’s delightful to be Jewish”).
Schachter, 82, is among the most senior leaders of Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. In a photo that Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin, a Jewish educator, posted on social media, Schachter is shown blessing the senator and thanking him.
“During these challenging times, the leadership, service and moral clarity of this American patriot and hero of Israel have been a beacon of hope and strength for the country and the world,” Yeshiva University stated about Fetterman.
“Like Senator Fetterman, the Yeshiva University community has been deeply engaged in the post-Oct. 7 battle against antisemitism, and in the pursuit of justice for the victims and the hostages still in captivity,” YU stated. “This year, in particular, given Senator Fetterman’s career of activism on behalf of the United States and Israel, Yeshiva University highlights his stellar example of strength and leadership.”
Berman, the YU president, called Fetterman “one of the true heroes of our time for his unwavering and courageous commitment to moral clarity, which has fortified our community and been a clarion call for our country.”
‘Humbling to be invited to share this milestone’
“In the one commencement ceremony that has never been in doubt, I am proud to announce that I will be awarding YU’s highest honor for global leadership, our presidential medallion, to a true U.S. patriot and hero of Israel: Senator John Fetterman,” Berman posted on May 22.
“It is truly humbling to be invited to share in this milestone with the graduates of Yeshiva University,” Fetterman stated in a Yeshiva University news release before graduation.
“As we gather to celebrate the achievements of the graduating class, we must also acknowledge the profound significance of their journey within the context of the recent surge in antisemitism across the country,” he added. “I thank Yeshiva University for the opportunity to join these students on this momentous day.”
JNS sought comment from Fetterman’s office.
More than 5,000 people were expected to attend Yeshiva University’s main commencement ceremony, which took place at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens.
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AI And Its Implications
It has been a while since I made a market comment.
June is seasonally a decent month but it also marks the end of the 2d quarter earning's period. About 90% of earnings have already been reported and the results have been favorable and for some exceptionally so as estimates were beaten severely, Particularly is that the case for Nvidia which also split 10 for 1.
When it comes to Nvidia it is evident a shift in investor type ownership seems underway from professional to individual types. I also believe the next 3 months will be volatile with a downward bias but 3rd and 4th quarter earnings comparisons will be favorable.
AI is going to have a profound effect on world economies and sectors that should be favored ,are selected utilities, because of the increased demand of power, energy, because we are entering the warm weather cycle when driving increases and companies involved with pipeline improvements should also do well. Finally I believe selected health care companies should also outperform and, finally, selected technology entities engaged in cloud and cyber protection/safety should also outperform.
There are some unresolved clouds as always. The Hamas War, inflation and will The Fed reduce rates by at least one cut and when as the election draws near.
I hesitate to mention stock names because that would not be professional.
Suffice it to say that other professionals liken AI to a phenomenon similar to the internet, biotech but infinitely more powerful and enduring. Specific to America it is calculated we could experience a 11 trillion dollar boost in our economy.
Yes, there will be disruptions in certain areas and professions as the rapidity of powerful computer results will reduce the time it takes to provide information and answers to issues which have, otherwise, taken much longer.
Science and technology should continue to bring solutions at a prodigious rate and the betterment of mankind should continue to expand at a brakespeed pace.
Nations like China, Russia, Iran etc. will also be in a position to pose increased threats to world stability and security as they develop space weapons which Trump foresaw and that led him to add another military branch.
Stay tuned the best and worst are yet to come.
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Almost eight months into the Israel-Hamas war, and the media have learned nothing in regard to blindly reporting Hamas’ propaganda. Although the investigation of the cause of the fire in Rafah is still underway, here are the details we do know.
Watch Here ➝
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