RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/08/26/we-are-not-being-told-the-truth-about-gaza/

These are dangerous days for Israel. It faces a two-pronged attack. From one flank come the radical Islamists, from the other Western intellectuals. The former are entrenched in dank tunnels in Gaza City prepping IEDs for their last stand against the Jews they so feverishly loathe. The latter are ensconced in the airless ivory towers of the West, prepping hyperbolic claims bordering on misinfo to the end of delegitimising the Jewish State they so manically oppose. One’s weapon of choice is violence, the other’s propaganda. Their aim, though, is the same: to wound, possibly fatally, the world’s only Jewish nation.

The West-Hamas alliance is undeniable now. Events of the past week have made it clear that however unwitting this unholiest of hook-ups might be, it is nonetheless real. Hamas has scurried to its tunnels in Gaza City, one of its ‘last major strongholds’, where a brigade under the command of Izz al-Din al-Haddad is planning to ‘resist’ the forthcoming IDF assault. Meanwhile, the Israelophobic influencers of the West pump out report after report on how criminal Israel is. The ante has been upped. The terrorists throw grenades, the intellectuals throw shade. They’re in league in all but name, united by a merciless antipathy for the Jewish State.

The most pressing front in Israel’s multi-flank war with its haters is in Gaza City. We should soon see a bloody showdown there between the IDF and Hamas’s surviving battalions. Benjamin Netanyahu says it will be Israel’s ‘Battle of Berlin’. The IDF is mobilising thousands of reservists. They will encounter an army of anti-Semites that has turned from a conventional fighting force into localised guerrilla units planning surprise strikes. Hamas’s threat remains largely subterranean: its Gaza City militants lurk and plot in a ‘highly developed underground’.

The coming battle for Gaza City will give the lie to the claim that Israel is carrying out a genocide. Israel has delayed its ‘Battle of Berlin’ so that civilians can flee Gaza City for safer zones – odd behaviour for a ‘uniquely murderous’ state hell-bent on ‘erasing’ the Palestinian people. The sight of Hamas’s fascistic guerrillas striking at the army of the Jewish nation will confirm this is war. War between the army of a democratic state and the army of an aspiring caliphate. The genocide libel will become unsustainable in the face of what promises to be brutal urban conflict between two parties.

Hamas will be on the back foot in this face-off, having had its ranks devastated by the IDF. But it has something in its favour: the anti-Israel hysteria of the West’s influencers. Over the past week, our elites’ crusade of criminalisation against the Jewish State has reached dizzying new heights. Israel has been found guilty in the kangaroo court of the West’s puffed-up moralists of every war crime imaginable. It has been judged the most savage nation in existence. Such shrill damnation of the Jewish State has one effect and one effect only: to inspire Hamas to continue its ruinous war in Gaza.

https://newsblaze.com/world/israel/jerusalemcares-why-israels-fight-is-everyones-fight_207237/

A soldier of two nations — and one moral mission, to shine the light on the state of Israel. #JerusalemCares

What does it mean to fight for freedom? For most Americans, it’s a matter of principle. For Mark Hardie, it became a matter of service — twice. Long Beach, Southern California native, Mark wore the uniform of both the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the United States Army.

Mark, a convert to Judaism, risked his life for two homelands united by shared democratic values.

In a time when Israel is often reduced to headlines and hashtags, Mark’s journey reminds us that support for the Jewish state is not merely a Jewish issue — it is a human one. It is about defending democracy, human rights, and the dignity of all people against extremism and terror.

The Unexpected Path To Israel

Mark’s path began in California politics — serving as a staff attorney for Governor Pete Wilson and later as a special assistant to Senator Barbara Boxer. But in 1995, he took upon himself a new life commitment by converting to Judaism.

When Israel’s security came under threat in the early 2000s, Mark made an extraordinary decision — to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

While serving in the IDF ranks Mark became fully aware that he is serving with what is nowadays known as “the world’s most moral army.” He served with soldiers who were always mindful of human rights, even on the front line while their mission was to protect life, not take it needlessly.

Mark Hardie is almost certainly the first African American Jew to have served in the IDF.

As an IDF soldier he was treated “like a celebrity,” he recalls. He was featured in a local newspaper article, the IDF spokesperson’s department arranged for him to appear on shows and his comrades were forever curious to know about American celebrities, e.g., singer Michael Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, basketball star Michael Jordan.

The attention Mark received brought about the idea to call himself a “diplomat of peace,” proving that strength and compassion are not opposites but partners.

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2025-8-24-no-there-is-not-a-genocide-in-gaza

The accusation that Israel is committing a “genocide” in Gaza has become pervasive on the Left, and particularly in academia. I think that the accusation is absurd, so much so that until now I haven’t thought it worthy of a response. However, the accusation has recently arrived on my own website. In the comment thread on the prior post, one of the commenters (regular readers can guess who) has leveled against President Trump the charge that he “is sending weapons to Israel for the genocide in Gaza.” Really? It’s time for a response.

In my opinion, what’s going on in Gaza is not a genocide, but a war. Deaths in war are not a genocide. On October 7, 2023, the governing entity of Gaza, Hamas, conducted an unprovoked attack on Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people, and taking some 250 hostages. Israel has responded with a military action. This is a classic war. The norm in war is that the parties fight until one of the parties surrenders, or there is an armistice. When the parties are fighting, the whole idea is to kill as many of the enemy as possible. Hamas could end the war by surrendering. It has not done so. Moreover, it continues to hold hostages. Therefore, the normal expectation of war would be that Israel will continue to kill as many of the enemy as possible until there is a surrender.

You may disagree with my characterization that the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel was “unprovoked.” It doesn’t matter. Assume that the attack was provoked. This is still a war. In war, it is entirely the norm that a party that has been attacked tries to kill as many of the enemy as it can until the enemy surrenders.

Is there any other example of the term “genocide” being applied to a full-scale military response to an armed attack by an enemy state actor that has not surrendered? If there is, I don’t know of it.

Consider, for example, the Russia/Ukraine war. In this case I would say that Russia’s attack and invasion were unprovoked. The Russian version of events of course differs, and accuses the Ukrainians of provocations that caused the conflict. But again, even if Russia’s invasion was completely unprovoked, the conflict is still a war between enemy state actors, where neither has surrendered. Unlike Israel, which makes extensive efforts to minimize civilian casualties, Russia regularly sends drones to bomb civilian targets and residential buildings in Ukrainian cities. But does anyone call Russia’s conduct toward Ukraine a “genocide”? Not that I’ve seen. Contrast this with the conduct of the Soviet Union toward Ukraine in the 1930s, when it imposed an intentional famine in which millions of innocents starved to death. There was no war going on; Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. That was a genocide.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21867/qatar-scholars-killing-israelis

As far as Qatar’s Muslim scholars are concerned… the war in the Gaza Strip did not start on the day Hamas launched its invasion of Israel. Rather, the war began the moment Israel fired back, and the only victims are the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, not those who were murdered, raped, beheaded and burned alive on October 7.

Several Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain have added Qatar’s IUMS to their terrorism blacklists, saying it used “Islamic rhetoric as a cover to facilitate terrorist activities.”

Needless to say, the scholars have not called on Hamas to release the Israeli hostages and accept a ceasefire that would end the war and the suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Instead, the conference has unleashed scathing criticism of Israel for daring to defend itself against Hamas’s terrorism.

For the Muslim scholars, boycotting and isolating Israel is more important than halting the death and destruction in the Gaza Strip. Their interpretation of Sharia laws and international humanitarian principles suggests that it is fine to sacrifice as many Palestinians as necessary for the sake of murdering Jews and destroying Israel.

The IUMS’s position does not come as a surprise. Instead of urging Muslims to denounce terrorism and renounce violence, the organization, earlier this year, issued a fatwa (Islamic ruling) in which it called on all Muslims to wage Jihad (holy war) against Israel. The scholars want to see Muslims commit more massacres against Jews.

Once again, Qatar and Turkey have proven that their top priority is to promote the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates as part of the Islamists’ Jihad to destroy Israel…. It is time for the Trump administration to call out Qatar and Turkey for their ongoing support for Hamas. It is also time for the US to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

Once again, Qatar and Turkey have proven that their top priority is to promote the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates as part of the Islamists’ Jihad to destroy Israel…. It is time for the Trump administration to call out Qatar and Turkey for their ongoing support for Hamas. It is also time for the US to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

More than 150 prominent Muslim scholars from 50 countries are currently attending a conference in Istanbul, Turkey, to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led massacre of Israelis and foreign nationals. At least 20 Muslim citizens of Israel were among 1,200 people murdered by Hamas terrorists and ordinary Palestinians that day. Thousands more were injured, and 251 Israelis and foreign nationals were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip, where 50 — dead and alive — are still held captive.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

Heartwarming Israeli recovery stories from the war in Gaza.

Israeli breakthrough in spinal cord surgery.

Israelis are restoring vines and olive trees at a monastery

Israeli startup speeds up production of eco-friendly aviation fuel.

Two Israeli women win the lottery on consecutive days.

Israeli comedy about kidnapping is a (surprise?) hit with Israeli audiences.

Israelis were dancing for joy (and medals) in Vietnam.

More ancient Jewish history unearthed in Israel.

POSITIVE NEWS IN A WAR
 
Avi and Eden are married. IDF Commander Avi, shot in the head on Oct 7 2023, was rehabilitated at Raanana’s Lowenstein center where he met and got engaged to his nurse Eden (see here previously).  They were recently married.  See links here. And here. And note the multicultural Jewish wedding in Israel.
 
Idan Amedi’s reunion with medic who saved his life. Actor and singer Idan Amedi reunited with the doctor who saved his life after he was severely injured in Gaza. At his Jerusalem concert for thousands of fans, Amedi paused his performance, hugged Dr Tuvia Book, saying “I love you, “I will never be able to thank you enough.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/413376  https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/413495
 
Hearts go out to female soldiers. (TY Yanky) Lev LeChayalot (Heart for Female Soldiers) was started as a grassroots initiative to raise the spirits of thousands of courageous female IDF soldiers defending the country, providing them with the vital care they need to help them better able to serve their country.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-835281  https://chayalot.com/who-we-are/
 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-864530
 
Attack on Iran stopped its cyber-attacks against the UK. (TY OurCrowd) In May, Israel’s Cyabra (see here previously) uncovered an Iranian bot network attack intending to manipulate UK political sentiment and deepen domestic divisions. But for 16 days in June, after Israel began attacking Iran, the bots went silent.
https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2025/07/11/3114008/0/en/Cyabra-Uncovers-Iranian-Bot-Operation-Undermining-UK-Democracy.html 
 
Oct 8. Jewish-American filmmaker and author Wendy Sachs showed her documentary “October 8”, which tries to reclaim control of the narrative, at the Jerusalem Film Festival. According to her, the film seeks to explain “how we got to where we got,” and it’s intended for an international and not necessarily Jewish audience.
https://www.jns.org/hollywood-has-no-spine-jewish-director-fights-antisemitism/
 
 
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
The first human spinal cord implant. Tel Aviv University and Israel’s Matricelf (see here previously) are to perform the world’s first surgery, where a personalized engineered human spinal cord will be implanted in a paralyzed patient. The procedure aims to enable the patient to rise from a wheelchair and walk again.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-864808  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UYHX2NNLRUg
 
Eliminating EoE. Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a food allergy (milk, eggs, wheat, nuts, fish etc.,) disease that affects 1 in 2,500 people. Now a team of researchers from Tel Aviv University have found that blocking the protein TSLP might stop the disease from developing. It may also help understand other allergic disorders.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-food-allergy-disease-eoe-rises-israeli-team-says-blocking-a-protein-can-shut-it-down/   https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.25.640192v1
 
4th FDA clearance for AI blood analysis. Israel’s Scopio Labs (see here previously) has now received the fourth FDA clearance for its groundbreaking, full-field digital hematology imaging platform. The new Decision Support System significantly helps labs analyze blood smears for anomalies.
https://www.ourcrowd.com/startup-news/scopio-labs-receives-fourth-fda-clearance-elevating-digital-morphology-with-enhanced-ai-powered-rbc-and-platelet-capabilities
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9HqaBCg4Ac
 
Good Medicine. (TY Sharon) The Good Medicine experience at Jerusalem’s Friends of Zion, featured Chief Joseph and Dr. Laralyn RiverWind, founders of FireKeepers International, a Native American Zionist charity. They gave messages of support and the gift of healing, from one indigenous people to another.
https://rjstreets.com/2025/08/17/jerusalem-protests-beating-drums-but-more/
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/r9bg_iR3Pk0  https://www.firekeepersinternational.org/  
https://www.firekeepersinternational.org/copy-of-projects
 
Therapeutic playroom in memory of Bibas family. Schneider Children’s Medical Center has inaugurated its first therapeutic playroom, dedicated to the memory of murdered hostages Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas. It offers hospitalized children a space for play, healing, and hope. It was created thanks to non-profit “Toys for Simcha.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/413450  https://israelactive.com/?s=%22Toys+for+Simcha%22

https://www.jns.org/when-even-consensus-in-israel-is-contentious/

Consensus is so hard to come by in Israel that even when it exists, it’s a source of strife. The issue of the hostages’ rescue is a perfect case in point.

At this juncture, everyone agrees that all 50 captives—20 of them living—have to be freed together. In other words, no more partial deals that involve a Nazi-like selection process determined by Hamas.

Rather than alignment on this score, however, the protest movement is demanding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu send a delegation back to the negotiating table to engage in talks over the very “Witkoff plan” that involves the return of half of the hostages in a phased ceasefire arrangement.

The backdrop, and the reason that Hamas suddenly expressed willingness to reconsider Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff’s previous blueprint, is the Cabinet’s decision to launch a major military operation to take over Gaza City—the terrorist group’s last stronghold in the Strip—and finally conclude the war. It’s important to note that the protest movement is also calling for an end to the war.

The way it’s doing this is through anti-government demonstrations. Anyone unfamiliar with the Israeli psyche might find this peculiar. After all, both the government and those who oppose it want all the hostages to come home in one fell swoop and for the war to finally be over.

Ditto for U.S. President Donald Trump, who declared last Monday on Truth Social: “We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed. The sooner this happens, the greater the chances of success.”

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21852/hamas-ceasefire-response

The Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas said earlier this week that it has delivered a “positive response” to mediators on the latest US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal with Israel. The group’s leaders, however, continue to talk about the need to continue the “armed struggle” against Israel.

“Hamas and the Palestinian resistance factions will not lay down their weapons. We will continue to exert pressure on the Zionist enemy through the armed struggle. We met with the Palestinian factions in Cairo and agreed to escalate the confrontation and the struggle….. Resistance is the only way to confront the enemy.” — Mahmoud Mardawi, senior Hamas official, palininfo.com, August 15, 2025.

Mardawi does not live in the Gaza Strip. He and most of the Hamas leaders are based in Qatar and Turkey.

When [Hamas’s] leaders say the “armed struggle” will continue, they are actually threatening to launch more attacks similar to the October 7 atrocities.

If Hamas is indeed ready to accept a ceasefire, the reason is not because it wants to stop the death and destruction in the Gaza Strip. Rather, Hamas wants to ensure that it will be able to continue ruling the Gaza Strip after the war…. so it can pursue its jihad (holy war) to murder Jews and destroy Israel. This has been Hamas’s goal since its establishment more than three decades ago.

In the weeks before the October 7 attack, Hamas leaders went to great lengths to create the false impression that they were not interested in engaging in another war with Israel.

Hamas has not – and will never – give up its goal of eliminating Israel and replacing it with an Islamist state.

Even if a ceasefire deal is reached, the US and the rest of the international community must insist that Hamas be totally disarmed and removed from power. Hamas, unfortunately, really needs to be obliterated, and its leaders put on trial for committing war crimes against Israel and their own people.

The Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas said earlier this week that it has delivered a “positive response” to mediators on the latest US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal with Israel. The group’s leaders, however, continue to talk about the need to continue the “armed struggle” against Israel. For Hamas, the “armed struggle” means launching more terror attacks against Israel and murdering as many Jews as possible. Hamas leaders, in addition, continue to stress that they refuse to lay down their weapons.

In a recent interview with Hamas’s unofficial mouthpiece, the Qatari state-owned television empire Al-Jazeera, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said:

“Hamas and the Palestinian resistance factions will not lay down their weapons. We will continue to exert pressure on the Zionist enemy through the armed struggle. We met with the Palestinian factions in Cairo and agreed to escalate the confrontation and the struggle. What other choice do we have? Surrender? Gaza will not surrender. The Palestinian resistance sticks to its positions. Resistance is the only way to confront the enemy.”