RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.wsj.com/articles/iran-drone-attack-israel-hamas-president-biden-ali-khamenei-91a131bd?mod=opinion_lead_pos1

Iran’s drone and missile assault on Israel Saturday night into Sunday is an open act of aggression, but it isn’t the start of this conflict. It’s an escalation of the war Iran has been waging against Israel for months through its Middle East proxies. The difference now is that Iran’s imperialistic face is in the open rather than in the shadows, and that should change calculations in Washington in particular.

Supreme leader Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have been the puppet masters of Middle East mayhem, the better to avoid direct culpability. Israel’s strike on April 1 against IRGC generals in Syria, in response to Iran’s proxy attacks against Israel, was apparently more than the mullahs could tolerate. The weekend attack is truth in advertising at last, and it is an ominous sign that Iran is willing to take new escalatory risks.

It should also be clarifying to Western leaders about Iran’s malevolent intentions. Thousands of American citizens live in Israel and could have been casualties. Iran’s bombardment wasn’t discriminate or limited to military targets, unlike Israel’s precision strike that killed the IRGC generals.

The fact that most of the drones and missiles were intercepted is a relief, but it isn’t reassuring against future swarm attacks. Israeli air defenses were a spectacular success, aided by assets from the U.S., U.K., Jordan, and perhaps others. But what happens if the next attack comes all at once from Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria as well as Iran?

This is another case of failed U.S. deterrence. President Biden had warned Iran not to attack after U.S. intelligence detected signs of preparation in Tehran. “Don’t,” Mr. Biden said. But like Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, Iran went ahead anyway, no doubt confident that Mr. Biden wouldn’t respond militarily. And sure enough, the word Sunday is that his main message in a call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Saturday was not to strike back.

White House theories of escalation management don’t work against a regime that thinks a U.S. President fears escalation more than Iran does. U.S. restraint since the Oct. 7 massacre has encouraged Tehran to see how much more it can get away with.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20569/hamas-destroys-gaza-victory

The prospect of Hamas declaring or celebrating “victory” worries not only Israel, but many Arabs — including Palestinians — who want to see the terrorist group completely destroyed and removed from power, but are often afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation.

“The continuity of Hamas’s rule in Gaza is an ultra mega major disaster for the Palestinian people’s aspirations, cause, hope for the reconstruction of the battered coastal enclave, and prospects for a new path forward to bring about progress, reconciliation, coexistence & peace.” — Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, “Proud American from Gaza City; pro-Palestine, pro-peace, anti-Hamas”, X, April 8, 2024.

Hamas, clearly buoyed by having the US on their side, has unsurprisingly hardened its position. It is now and is saying it wants Israel to make even more concessions.

Where is any US pressure on Hamas, Iran or Qatar?

“Yes, Hamas thanked the United States. When a terrorist group is thanking you, you’re probably doing something wrong.” — Joe Truzman, senior research analyst, X, April 9, 2024.

The Hamas terrorists have only been emboldened by the Biden administration’s growing hostility towards Israel and its demand that Israel end the war, a move that would effectively be a surrender to Hamas.

“What victory are you talking about? Are you in your right mind? [Hamas has brought] complete devastation; thousands killed and displaced…. This is what the terrorist Hamas group, Iran’s puppet, brought upon the people of Gaza. The leaders of Hamas defeated the people of Gaza and exterminated them without mercy.” — Omar Shaybalras, X, April 9, 2024.

“Gaza has been destroyed, starved, slaughtered…. The people of Gaza are cursing Hamas, [Palestinian] Islamic Jihad, and Iran…. The members of Hamas’s armed wing use children as human shields.” — Osama al-Ali ,member of the Palestinian National Council, the PLO’s parliament-in-exile, television interview, X, December 7, 2023.

“As long as [Hamas leaders Ismail] Haniyeh, [Yahya] Sinwar and [Khaled] Mashaal are alive, it is a victory for them, As for the destruction and the blood of the women and children of Gaza, it is a profitable enterprise as far as Hamas is concerned.” — Abdallah Abou Aymen, April 9, 2024.

Unlike the Biden administration and anti-Israel protestors in the West, these observers understand that Hamas, Iran and Qatar are fully and solely responsible for the mass destruction and high casualties in the Gaza Strip…. We are already seeing calls for “Death to America” in America. A ceasefire would save Hamas, allow it to continue preparing for future massacres against Israelis, and enable Iran and Qatar to “export the Revolution” even more aggressively.

Above all, a US-bestowed, fake “victory” for Hamas would assure China, Russia and other predators that belligerency works and incentivize them to put the finishing touches on what many perceive as an “ultra mega major disaster” of a presidential legacy.

The Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist group Hamas is reportedly preparing to hold “victory” rallies if and when the war in the Gaza Strip ends. Many Arabs, however, have scoffed at Hamas’s expected celebrations and accused the terrorist group and its patrons in Tehran of destroying the Gaza Strip.

“A friend in the City of Rafah told me he saw large signs and banners being printed/prepared by Hamas to hold ‘victory rallies’ that the Islamist group plans on having when a ceasefire/hostage deal is announced, highlighting the withdrawal of IDF troops from Gaza as an achievement,” said Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, who describes himself as a “proud American from Gaza City; pro-Palestine, pro-peace, and anti-Hamas,” who lost 31 family members in the Israel-Hamas war.

https://www.jns.org/the-paving-of-a-former-shin-bet-chiefs-path-in-politics/

Two days before Iran attacked Israel with hundreds of drones and missiles, Channel 12’s investigative current-affairs program “Uvda” conducted an in-depth interview with former Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) director Nadav Argaman. The teasers for the broadcast, hosted by Ilana Dayan, promised bombshell revelations about the Oct. 7 massacre.
Despite the left-wing slant of the well-known TV show, viewers across the political spectrum tuned in on Thursday night to watch it. Reeling from and in the throes of Hamas’s invasion of Israel’s southern border six months ago—when its sadistic foot soldiers committed the worst atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust—everyone in the country remains hungry for any sliver of information that might shed light on the travesty.
Capabilities that Israelis had always taken for granted were intelligence-gathering and security. The failure of both prior to and during that “Black Sabbath” shook a core communal foundation.
The question of how the government and Israel Defense Forces weren’t prepared for the mass enemy onslaught, and therefore didn’t prevent or put an immediate stop to it, still lingers, unanswered. That 133 hostages have yet to be freed by their brutal captors in Gaza makes the national need to understand what happened on Oct. 7 even more pressing.
Argaman was invited by Dayan to explain it. After all, he served for decades in the Shin Bet, which he headed for more than five years, starting in 2016. And it was Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu who appointed him to the position.
Anyone hoping to be enlightened by the hyped-up dialogue was let down, however. Other than Dayan, of course, who achieved her transparent aim of having an “expert” blame Bibi for the debacle.
It was a no-brainer that Argaman would deliver the goods. He’s been an “anybody but Bibi” activist since early 2023, when he signed a letter condemning the Netanyahu coalition’s initiative to reform Israel’s judicial system.

Yes, he was one of the hysterics claiming that such a move would constitute the death of democracy and the birth of Bibi as a full-fledged dictator. Raising the issue with Dayan, he argued, “This government is ultimately responsible for Oct. 7, because the judicial overhaul is what led to the weakening of Israel in the eyes of our enemies.”

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

Israel and its allies have just defended the Jewish State from hundreds of drones and missiles launched by Iran and almost all of the projectiles were intercepted.  This newsletter was compiled before the news of that attack. Michael Ordman

Even the neutral to unfriendly reporters praised Israel’s response to modern and high tech Pharaohs.

The National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said to CNN’s Jake Tapper on State of the Union :Israel’s response to Iran’s attack ‘was an incredible success’. rsk

POSITIVE NEWS DURING A WAR
 
Fallen soldier saves five lives. (TY Yanky) The family of fallen IDF soldier Sivan Weil donated his organs. His heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, and pancreas saved five seriously ill patients at Israel’s Sheba, Hadassah, and Beilinson Medical Centers. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-794971  
https://www.timesofi srael.com/liveblog_entry/parents-of-soldier-killed-in-gaza-say-organs-donated/
 
Protection at sea. For the first time, Israel deployed the C-Dome naval point defense system on a recently commissioned Sa’ar 6-class corvette to intercept an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that had entered its airspace near the southern city of Eilat. Here is an article about the event and the timely implemented new system.
https://www.jns.org/in-first-israels-ship-mounted-iron-dome-downs-target-near-eilat/
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/b10lmpmga
https://worldisraelnews.com/watch-enemy-drone-shot-down-by-ship-mounted-interceptor/  (see video)
 
Rebuilding the South. Israel’s Ben Gurion University has launched “Way Forward” – a campaign to raise $1 billion for rebuilding the Negev region devastated on Oct 7. It will fund capital projects ($500 million), student aid ($250 million), and research excellence ($250 million). Philanthropists have already donated $380 million.
https://www.jns.org/ben-gurion-university-launches-1-billion-campaign-to-rebuild-south/
 
How life can change. Danielle graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Music. She started a bureaucratic job with the UK Government. Then she went to The UK Limmud Conference, and now she is executive director of Israel’s Volcani International Partnerships, repairing devastated farms in southern Israel.
https://www.israel21c.org/danielle-abraham-fixing-the-farms-that-hamas-ruined-and-fighting-global-hunger/
 
A positive BBC interview of 3 Israeli students! Has the perpetually anti-Israel BBC journalist Jeremy Bowen finally seen the light? There was little to complain about his five-minute interview of three students from Israel’s Ben Gurion University who fought against Hamas in Gaza. Apart from some unsympathetic questions.
https://americansforbgu.org/bbc-student-reservist-interview/
 
Why Israelis are happy despite the war. Historian Gil Troy wrote in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal that the essence of Israeli happiness lies not in the absence of conflict, but in the deep social cohesion, enduring family ties, and a rich tapestry of tradition and history that bind its people, especially evident after Oct 7.
https://israfan.com/2024/04/11/unity-amid-adversity-the-secret-to-israels-remarkable-happiness/
 
 
ISRAEL’S  MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
A nano-polymer to deliver chemo. Researchers at Israel’s Ben Gurion University have developed a nanometer size polymer containing a peptide for delivering chemotherapy. In lab tests, it was over 50% successful in destroying resistant liver metastases (secondary cancer) materialized from colorectal cancer.
https://www.bgu.ac.il/en/news-and-articles/new-nanomedicine-succeeded-in-treating-metastatic-colon-cancer/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1748013224000379
 
The arms race in the gut. Ben Gurion University scientists have just published the results of their work reported here in 2019. In trying to develop a biologic remedy to reduce the methane produced by cows, they have uncovered a war in the intestines between good and bad bacteria and a probiotic toxin that tries to mediate.
https://www.jpost.com/science/article-795199   https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-023-01521-9
 
Fast-tracking cure for hospital infections. The US FDA has granted Fast-Track Designation to the groundbreaking antimicrobial peptide OMN6 from Israel’s Omnix Medical (see here previously). OMN6 is commencing a Phase II trial in patients with two deadly hospital-acquired pneumonias – HABP and VABP.
https://omnixmedical.com/2024/02/20/omnix-medical-granted-fast-track-designation-by-u-s-fda-for-its-next-generation-anti-infective-omn6/
 
Confirming Deep TMS treats depression. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s BrainsWay’s has published another positive study of 247 depression patients receiving its Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation treatment. 60% went into remission and 80% had a positive response. The results confirmed a 2023 study of 1,350 patients.
https://www.brainsway.com/news_events/brainsway-announces-positive-results-in-late-life-depression-post-marketing-analysis/
 
Improving mental health in the Police force. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s XRHealth (see here previously) is to deploy its VR/AR solution in a specially equipped “quiet room” at every police station throughout Israel. It aims to promote mental health resilience, decrease stress, anxiety, and aggression, and improve performance.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/xrhealth-awarded-contract-israeli-police-120000609.html
 
Israelis are living longer. The number of Israelis aged 75 and over is growing by about 9,000 individuals per year. Life expectancy in Israel is 85 years for women and 82 years for men and continues to increase. Currently some 346,000 people receive elderly care benefits (e.g. home caregiver) as compared to about 180,000 in 2018.
https://www.jns.org/researchers-call-to-reform-long-term-care-as-israelis-live-longer/
 

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20565/israel-standing-alone

Israel is currently facing a multi-front war for its survival, with Qatar, Iran and Iran’s proxies, which are encircling Israel, leading the charge. The gravity of this aggression cannot be overstated: not just for the existence of Israel, but also for that of the US, Europe and the West.

Israel’s struggle for survival is not solely a regional conflict; it is a battle between civilization and those who think international law, human rights and the rules of war are a Western joke. Since the founding of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, its rulers have been calling for “Death to America” – now also demanded in Dearborn, Michigan.

Which side is the US on? President Joe Biden’s legacy, especially after surrendering Afghanistan to the Taliban in 2021, will be “Biden, friend of the Terrorists.”

All the US would have to do to stop much of Iran’s bellicosity is take out the bases of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) inside Iran — so there is a direct cost to Iran, not just to its human shields.

Iran, on the way to having nuclear bombs, has provided support to terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and the Houthis, all of which have vowed to annihilate Israel. Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, boasts an arsenal of an estimated 150,000 missiles, many precision-guided, aimed at Israel’s population. Meanwhile, Hamas has demonstrated its willingness to commit a genocide, launching more than 12,000 indiscriminate rocket attacks just since October at civilian targets in Israel, a country the size of New Jersey.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has outlined his vision for Israel’s demise in his book, Palestine, a 416-page “guide to destroying Israel,” and railing against “The Great Satan,” the United States. This is not a hypothetical scenario; it is a meticulously planned campaign of annihilation.

While the Biden administration is threatening to withhold life-saving arms from Israel, the Biden administration just rewarded both of its chief attackers, Iran and Qatar.

The Biden administration just actually invited Hamas’s main funder, Qatar, to operate a planned pier in Gaza to bring in humanitarian aid. All of it will certainly end up with Hamas, not Gazan civilians — and, one can imagine what else Qatar will allow in, from heavy weapons to more terrorists.

A Hamas “victory,” incentivizing aggression, cannot be rewarded; it must be stopped.