DAY 237 OF THE GAZA WAR: Three More Soldiers Killed, Iranian-Sponsored Terror in Europe, Jewish HS Students Encounter Antisemitism, War to Cost NIS 253 Billion
ZOOM Briefing: Sunday, June 2, 6 PM Israel, 4 PM UK, 11 AM EDT, 8 AM PDT.
This morning, as I was walking my dog, I ran into a good friend who was also out with his dog. He recently shared that he manages to cope with the current situation here by seldom listening to the news. However, today, he admitted to making the mistake of checking the news first thing this morning, only to be confronted with the disturbing update that three more soldiers had died yesterday: two in the ramming attack outside Nablus last night, and the another in Gaza.
In Gaza, Staff Sgt. Yedidya Azugi (21), was killed in combat with Hamas in Jabaliya. Sgt. Eliya Hillel (22) from Tel Zion and St.-Sgt. Diego Shvisha Harsaj (20) from Tel Aviv both died near Nablus. Yedidya fell only two weeks after his first cousin was killed fighting in Rafah. Last night, his 82-year-old grandmother received the heartbreaking news that she had lost a second grandchild. Tragically, this is the second day in a row that we have awakened to the news of three soldiers’ deaths.
The terrorist outside Nablus carried out his ramming attack in seconds and immediately retreated back to Nabaus. He has been arrested by the Palestinian Security Forces. It remains to be seen if the terrorist will be turned over to Israeli authorities. We will see in the coming days.
INSIDE GAZA
Tonight, reports indicate heavy fighting in both Jabaliya and Rafah. Despite Egypt’s continued insistence that no tunnels exist between Rafah and Egypt, Israel claims to have discovered 20 tunnels so far. Israel has refrained from showing the tunnels to avoid embarrassing the Egyptians during this sensitive time — particularly just one week after Israeli forces killed an Egyptian soldier who had opened fire on them. Additionally, there are reports that the U.S. has organized a trilateral summit next week involving Egypt and Israel, aimed at discussing ways to reopen the Rafah crossing.
There appears to be a widespread misconception that the closure of Rafah has halted aid deliveries to Gaza. The New York Times featured a story about this erroneous notion yesterday. During my radio appearance on LBC News (London) this morning, I was asked how much longer the attack on Rafah can continue— under the assumption that combat in Rafah has stopped all aid. I had to clarify that aid is indeed entering Gaza through Kerem Shalom and other crossings.
Here is how the Army Spokesperson described the last 24 hours of fighting in Gaza:
Division 98 forces continue to operate in the heart of the Jabaliya camp. The combat team of Brigade 7 identified weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles and magazines, and eliminated terrorists who approached them with tank fire.
Division 99, led by the brigade combat team 679, continues to operate in the center of the Gaza Strip. During the last 24 hours, the forces located a weapons depot in the area.
Division 162 forces continue to operate in the Rafah area. In one of the encounters, the combat team of the Givati Brigade identified three terrorists who were shooting at the forces. An Air Force fighter jet attacked and eliminated the terrorists. The combat teams of the Nahal Brigade and Brigade 12 identified numerous terrorist infrastructures and weapons in the last 24 hours, including anti-tank positions, tunnel shafts, a weapons depot, explosives, and more.
In the last 24 hours, there were launches towards our forces in the Jabaliya area. The forces identified two terrorists exiting the building from which the fire was launched. Led by the Air Force and the Gaza Division, an aircraft attacked and eliminated the terrorists.
During the last 24 hours, Air Force fighter jets attacked over 50 targets throughout the Gaza Strip.
IRANIAN-SPONSORED TERROR IN EUROPE
Today, the Mossad announced that Iran is employing criminal gangs in Europe to target Israeli and Jewish sites. Several of these planned attacks have been thwarted. Sweden also confirmed today that such activities are indeed currently taking place. With the Paris Olympics just two months away, this news sends a chill through the spines of Israelis old enough to remember the 1972 Munich Olympics.
POLITICS
Although they are still currently part of the government, the National Unity Party, led by Benny Gantz, has introduced a bill in the Knesset to dissolve the government and hold a new election. Gantz’s party is expected to withdraw from the government in ten days.
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LATEST POLLS
A recent snap poll showed that for the first time since the war began, Netanyahu is more popular than Gantz.
The following are the results of polls conducted by KANTAR, data group:
Today, I interviewed Dvora Simon, Director of the Jewish Students Union (JSU). The JSU works with Jewish high school students, helping them establish and run Jewish clubs in public schools across the United States. Currently, they operate clubs in over 400 schools and have added 80 new clubs this year. Before the war, JSU engaged with 14,000 teens; by the end of this year, that number is expected to grow to 18,500. Dvora highlighted the alarming rise in antisemitism as the driving force behind the significant increase in interest in the clubs among high school students.
Here is some of what Dvora shared:
The challenge of what's been happening in high schools is there's been a surge of antisemitism. As you can imagine, it’s parallel to what's happening on university campuses, which is all over the place and everyone knows about that, but people don't realize that it's happening in high schools as well. We are dealing with 14, 15, and 16-year-olds who are being called out for supporting genocide by their classmates, teachers, and faculty members, who are participating in walkouts, in support of the civilians in Gaza. There are social media posts and teens ghosting each other. I've had teens tell me, "This person was my friend for the past 10 years. We were neighbors, and now he won't talk to me anymore. He's ghosting me."
Swastikas in bathrooms have been a recurring issue. We had these situations before October 7, but it was usually just one bully or one troublemaker. If a kid who was bored and had some spray paint, he’d paint a swastika on a wall or in a bathroom. It would become a big deal, be highlighted in the school newspaper, and then we would move on. It was almost always just a troublemaker. Now these incidents are happening at an alarming frequency, and the schools are not doing much about it. They are acting as if they're neutral.
I asked Dvora about the prevalence of these antisemitic incidents.
Dvora said that their staff now receives reports of incidents every single day, a significant change from the past, making it challenging to quantify the increase. Previously, antisemitic incidents might have been reported only twice a year; today, they occur as frequently as twice a day.
Reflecting on my experience 50 years ago, when I managed the high school department of the American Zionist Youth Foundation (AZYF), my feelings after speaking with Dvora are decidedly mixed. On one hand, I am delighted to hear that there is an organization actively working with high school students in public schools. It is heartening to learn that the combination of the events of October 7th and the increase in antisemitism has inspired more teens to affiliate with and join Jewish clubs. On the other hand, this positive news of increased Jewish high schooler engagement is overshadowed by the terrible reality that Jewish high school students across the U.S. particularly in the Northeast and California, are experiencing significant antisemitism.
Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron warned on Thursday that the ongoing war with Hamas is projected to cost NIS 253 billion ($67 billion) in defense and civilian expenses from 2023 to 2025. Speaking at a conference, Yaron highlighted the significant security and civilian financial burdens, emphasizing the budgetary impact and the expected permanent increase in future security budgets, which will have significant macroeconomic effects.
A detailed estimate showed that nearly half of the war costs, or NIS 118 billion ($32 billion), will go toward defense needs, with NIS 38 billion ($10 billion) allocated for civilian expenses, including evacuations and housing for evacuees. The central bank also projected a loss of NIS 35 billion ($9 billion) in tax revenue due to the war and NIS 23 billion ($6 billion) for compensating direct war damages. Additionally, NIS 9 billion ($2.4 billion) is expected to cover increased interest payments as government debt rises.
The estimated cost of the current war has increased from an earlier figure of NIS 210 billion ($56 billion) projected at the beginning of 2024.
BUSINESS
Firefly
On October 7th, Firefly founder and CTO, Sefi Ganis, was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Nova Festival. Despite the tragedy, Firefly has continued to grow. Firefly developed a platform for managing and controlling multi-cloud environments. This week it announced the completion of a $23 million capital raise. Firefly’s Series-A round was led by Vertex Ventures, with participation from SoftBank, Hanaco, InMotion Ventures, and Redseed. This round brings the total investment in the company since its inception to approximately $30 million, following a fourfold increase in the company’s revenues in 2023 and accelerated growth in 2024.
Sightful
Today (Thursday), the Israeli start-up company Sightful revealed the final version of its augmented reality (AR) laptop. Sightful announced that their laptop is now available for pre-order at $1,900 and is expected to reach customers in the USA by October (it will not be sold in Israel at this stage). About a year ago, Sightful first unveiled the product in its early version, which was delivered to a limited number of users. In January, Sightful announced that the early version would be available for purchase to the general public. However, since then, Sightful has undergone a series of changes and improvements based on user feedback, and now the company is unveiling the new generation.
The product is named “Spacetop G1”, and Sightful calls it a “spatial laptop.” It looks like a laptop with a keyboard and touchpad, but without a screen. Instead of a screen, AR glasses are connected to it via a cable. Through the glasses, a 100-inch virtual screen is displayed, allowing users to work on various web applications, from WhatsApp and documents to Zoom and Gmail. These are displayed in the space around the user as large windows that appear to “float” in the air. According to the company, this allows for comfortable and private work with a large (virtual) screen from home, a café, or while traveling. Sightful was founded in 2020 under the name Multinarity by Tamir Berliner (CEO) and Tomer Kahan (COO), has raised $61 million in two rounds, and employs about 60 people.
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A PIECE HISTORY
The Largest Tank Battle, since The Battle of Kursk (WWII)
After Israel’s failed October 8th counter-offensive in Sinai, military strategists were left pondering their next move. The Egyptians were consolidating their hold on the East Bank of the Canal, where only the Budapest fortress was able to hold out. Israel possessed a copy of the Egyptian battle plan, which outlined an armored assault after the immediate crossing to recapture the key passes in Sinai. The Israeli Army devised plans for a crossing but hoped that the Egyptians would initiate an attack, thus avoiding the need for Israel to make the first move. Finally, on October 12th, 1973, the IDF received the first signs that elements of two armored divisions were detected crossing the canal, gearing up for the next stage of the battle.
On Sunday morning, October 14th, the second-largest tank battle in history began. Nearly 2,000 tanks became locked in fierce battle, as the Egyptians tried to break out of the bridgehead on the eastern side of the canal, with the Israelis strategically positioned in anticipation. Holding the high ground, the Israeli tanks turned the battle into devastating defeat for the Egyptians. The day turned into a slaughter. Israeli tanks destroyed 264 Egyptian tanks. Furthermore, as some Egyptian tanks advanced beyond the coverage of the SAM anti-aircraft umbrella, Egyptian tanks were quickly decimated by the IAF. Israel sustained minimal losses, with only six tanks destroyed.
General Haim Bar Lev ended the day by reporting to Prime Minister Golda Meir. Bar Lev stated: “It’s been a good day. Our forces are themselves again, and so are the Egyptians.”
An email will go out Sunday morning with the details
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