DAY 369 OF THE WAR: Soldier Killed in Lebanon and Three Fall in Gaza, Massive Terror Plan Thwarted, Security Cabinet Meets, Arab Teacher Arrested

Tel Aviv Diary, October 10, 2024

Note: There will be no Diary Update on Saturday night. For those fasting  …Have an easy fast.

Once again, the day began with the solemn announcement of “hutar l’pirsum,” marking the loss of another soldier. This time, it was 36-year-old reservist Sergeant Major (res.) Ronny Ganizate, who fell in combat against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, killed by an anti-tank missile. Ganizate was the tenth soldier to be killed in combat since IDF ground troops entered Lebanon, with the majority of casualties occurring in the initial days.

This morning, it was also announced that Rabbi Raphael Mordechai Fishoff, a father of seven who was injured in yesterday's terror attack in Hadera, has succumbed to his injuries. Fortunately, none of the other individuals injured in the attack are in life-threatening condition.

Today, in another disturbing development, the Security Services arrested five Arab Israelis from Tayibe (an Arab city in central Israel, 12 km north east of Kfar Saba) who were allegedly planning to detonate explosives at the Azrieli Towers in Tel Aviv. The suspected terrorists stated their intention was to execute an attack that would capture global attention. The five had pledged allegiance to ISIS, though their plans were reportedly not progressed far.

POLICE AT BEN GVIR BECK AND CALL

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Minister of National Security responsible for the Police, continues to seek out making headlines. Recently, Ben-Gvir, who has been cautioning for the past year about potential threats from Arab Israelis, acted on his concerns. Yesterday, Ben-Gvir sparked an incident by tweeting about an Arab Israeli teacher whom he claimed celebrated October 7th on TikTok.

It was later revealed that the woman had posted a dance video last year without realizing the date's significance; she resides in the Nazareth area. TikTok had reminded her of the previous year's post, prompting her to share the clip again, with the platform automatically displaying the original posting date. The police arrested the woman, handcuffed her, placed a flannel cloth (used for cleaning guns) over her eyes, and made sure to publish a photograph of the incident. Although her detention was extended overnight, she was released today by a judge who reassessed the situation differently. The police are now considering charging her with disturbing the peace.

IN THE NORTH & LEBANON

Hezbollah continued launching rockets across all regions of the North, targeting areas from Western Galilee to Nahariya, where a number of people were lightly wounded. A significant number of barrages were directed at Kiryat Shmonah, where two individuals were killed yesterday. Additionally, two drones were sent into the North and were subsequently shot down.

Inside Lebanon the Army continued to dismantle Hezbollah positions in all the villages along the border. The IDF’s Head of the Northern Command stated the following:

This village is filled with ammunition, weapons, and equipment for Hezbollah fighters to launch attacks on the northern communities from here. We are determined to remove this threat. Here are the brigades, the divisions, and the fighters who are doing an excellent job. Everyone is mission-driven and focused on restoring security to the residents of the North.

For the first time since the beginning of the ground invasion, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Mossad Head Ronnen Bar entered Lebanon to meet with the Israeli troops operating there

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HAMAS IN GAZA

Yesterday Hamas successfully fired a rocket in the direction of Sderot. The rocket was intercepted. This morning, Hamas in Gaza launched a drone into Israel, which was also brought down. It's surprising that after a year of combat, Hamas still has the capability to launch rockets and drones.

Fighting continues in Jabalya. This evening, it was announced that three reservist soldiers were killed when their Hummer triggered an IED. The soldiers were: Master Sergeant (Res.) Ori Moshe Borenstei (32), Major (Res.) Netanel Hershkovitz (37), and Master Sergeant (Res.) Marantz Tzvi Matityahu (32).

Yesterday, the Air Force struck a school in Gaza that was being used as a Hamas command post. The operation resulted in the elimination of the following key, leading terrorists:

• Zakhirah Hussein Abu Habl, a deputy in the Nukhba force in the East Jabalia Battalion, took part in the deadly terror attack on the border communities on October 7.

• Muhammad Rabi Musbah Arini, a deputy in the Nukhba force in the East Jabalia Battalion, took part in the deadly terror attack on the border communities on October 7.

• Mustafa Abd al-Aziz, a terrorist in the military intelligence of the Hamas terrorist organization.

• Mahmoud Khamis Suleiman Awad, deputy commander of an anti-tank division in the northern brigade of the Hamas terrorist organization.

• Bilal Bashir Muhammad Sharafi, a terrorist from the East Jabalia Battalion in the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization.

• Karam Salah Hassan Abu Daher, an engineer in the East Jabalia Battalion in the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization.

• Asaad Youssef Saeed Al-Zaa, a terrorist from the East Jabalia Battalion in the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization.

• Said Khisir Saeed Sababa, a terrorist in the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization.

• Muhammad Ibrahim Ali Bahader, a terrorist in the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.

• Amjad Ziyad Abd al-Rahman Aziz, a terrorist in the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.

• Ibrahim Abu al-Ghalil, a terrorist from the East Jabalia Battalion in the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization.

IAF PREEMPTIVELY INTERCEPTS ATTACK DRONES

Tonight, the Air Force announced that it had intercepted two drones believed to have originated from the East, likely originating from Iraq, before they could enter Israeli airspace.

HOSTAGE DEAL?

Today, I listened to a long interview with Amiram Levin, who served as Commander of the Northern Front from 1994 to 1998, and was also Deputy Director of the Mossad. Three key points stood out in the interview. First, Levin discussed a deal involving Hamas that Gershon Baskin wrote about a few weeks ago, which proposed the return of all hostages. While I respect Gershon, I initially had doubts about the existence of such a deal. As it turns out, Levin was actually orchestrating the negotiations and used Baskin as the intermediary.

The terms of the deal called for the release of all the hostages within three weeks, complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and assurances that no weapons or weapon-manufacturing materials would enter Gaza. Furthermore, Hamas agreed to establish a technocratic government. According to Levin, the deal was accepted by Hamas, Qatar, the Americans, and the Egyptians; however, Netanyahu rejected it.

Levin highlighted two additional important points: firstly, he contended that a full conquest of Gaza should have been achieved within a month by deploying troops throughout the entire region simultaneously, rather than in stages. Secondly, Levin expressed his belief that the Army's longstanding role as an occupying force for over 50 years has ultimately weakened it. Levin emphasized the significant differences between the responsibilities of a policeman and those of a combat soldier.

SECURITY CABINET MEETS

The Security Cabinet will convene tonight to generally approve plans concerning Israel's strike on Iran. An interesting report has emerged that the leaders of the Quds Force have been arrested and are currently under interrogation on suspicion of being Israeli spies. Whether this report is factual or merely speculative, it seems that the highest-ranking individual in the Quds Force may have been removed from action.

AN INTERESTING READ

A Firehouse of antisemitic disinformation from China is pointing at two Republican legislators.

ECONOMY

Bank of Israel has maintained the current interest rate, but issued a warning that it may need to raise the rate in the future, if inflation persists. The Bank's projection for this year's economic growth stands at 0.5%. However, factoring in population growth, this essentially represents negative growth. If the war continues, the bank expects growth next year to be significantly lower than anticipated. It was announced today that the government deficit this year has reached 8.8% of GDP.

BUSINESS

Prime Security

The Israeli startup Prime Security, which develops a product for securing the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) during the planning and coding stages, announced the completion of a new fundraising round. Prime’s product allows security teams to proactively identify security and compliance risks that arise during the development planning stages and solve issues that previously had only manual solutions: long discussions between security and development teams.

Each development task has background and history, often spanning several components and sources across the organization. Prime centralizes and interprets this data and provides a clear and concise summary to the security engineer, enabling them to understand the task’s goals and potential risks quickly, Nov added.

The product also generates recommendations for actions for every identified risk, which can be based on standard frameworks like NIST and PCI or internal organizational policies.

Prime Security was founded at the end of 2023 by Michael Nov (CEO), Dani Hanga (CTO), Dimitri Schwartzman (CPO), and Matan Markovich (VP R&D). Nov, an entrepreneur and former investor, previously served as Director of Corporate Development at Own Company, Dani and Matan served as directors in the company in the fields of cyber development and data products, and Dimitri was a Senior Director in Cyber Strategy at PayPal. The company employs 12 people in Israel and the U.S.

Today, Prime reported the completion of a $6 million Seed funding round, led by Foundation Capital. The round also saw participation from Flybridge Capital Partners and senior industry private investors, including: Sam Gutman, Co-Founder and CEO of Own Company, Adrian Kunzel, CTO at Own Company and former CTO at J.P. Morgan, Omer Schneider, Co-Founder and CEO of CyberX, acquired by Microsoft, Dimitri Sirota, Co-Founder and CEO of BigID, Asaf Keren, CISO at Qualtrics, Michael Callahan, Board Member at DataDog, and Bobby Patrick, Chief Marketing Officer at UiPath

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Aptar Pharma

Aptar Pharma, a company specializing in drug delivery systems, announced the acquisition of all assets of the Israeli company Sipnose Nasal Delivery. The sale is estimated at approximately $12.5 million.

Sipnose, founded and managed by Dr. Iris Shichor, developed a system for delivering drugs through the nose and having them absorbed directly into the brain’s olfactory region, where they can, as the company assessed, bypass the blood-brain barrier through a breach discovered in that area of the barrier about 20 years ago. The company raised several million dollars from private investors such as InMode founder Moshe Mizrahi and venture capitalist Hadar Ron, and reached the stage of clinical trials. Meitav Dash also invested in the company.

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A PIECE OF HISTORY

Sharon’s Final Act

When Prime Minister Sharon formed Kadimah, he appointed Ehud Olmert, the former Mayor of Jerusalem, as Deputy Prime Minister. On September 15th, 2005, Sharon delivered the following speech to the UN General Assembly:

I stand before you at the gate of nations as a Jew and as a citizen of the democratic, free, and sovereign State of Israel, a proud representative of an ancient people, whose numbers are few, but whose contribution to civilization and to the values of ethics, justice, and faith surrounds the world and encompasses history. I was born in the Land of Israel, the son of pioneers—people who tilled the land and sought no fights—who did not come to Israel to dispossess its residents. If the circumstances had not demanded it, I would not have become a soldier, but rather a farmer and agriculturist. My first love was, and remains, manual labor; sowing and harvesting, the pastures, the flock and the cattle.

I, as someone whose path of life led him to be a fighter and commander in all Israel’s wars, reach out today to our Palestinian neighbors in a call for reconciliation and compromise to end the bloody conflict, and embark on the path that leads to peace and understanding between our peoples. I view this as my calling and my primary mission for the coming years. The Land of Israel is precious to me, precious to us, the Jewish people, more than anything. Relinquishing any part of our forefathers’ land is heartbreaking, as difficult as the parting of the Red Sea. Every inch of land, every hill and valley, every stream and rock, is saturated with Jewish history, replete with memories. The continuity of Jewish presence in the Land of Israel never ceased. Even those of us who were exiled from our land, against our will, to the ends of the earth—their souls, for all generations, remained connected to their homeland, by thousands of hidden threads of yearning and love, expressed three times a day in prayer and songs of longing.

The Land of Israel is the open Bible, the written testimony, the identity and right of the Jewish people. Under its skies, the prophets of Israel expressed their claims for social justice, and their eternal vision for alliances between peoples, in a world that would know no more war. Its cities, villages, vistas ridges, deserts, and plains serve as loyal witnesses to its ancient Hebrew names.

Page after page, our unique land is unfurled, and at its heart is united Jerusalem, the city of the Temple upon Mount Moriah, the axis of the life of the Jewish people throughout all generations, and the seat of its yearnings and prayers for three thousand years. The city to which we pledged eternal vows of faithfulness, which forever beats in every Jewish heart: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its cunning!”

I say these things to you because they are the essence of my Jewish consciousness, and of my belief in the eternal and unimpeachable right of the people of Israel to the Land of Israel. However, I say this here also to emphasize the immensity of the pain I feel deep in my heart at the recognition that we have to make concessions for the sake of peace between us and our Palestinian neighbors.

This week, the last Israeli soldier left the Gaza Strip, and military law there was ended. The State of Israel proved that it is ready to make painful concessions in order to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians. The decision to disengage was very difficult for me, and involves a heavy personal price. However, it is the absolute recognition that it is the right path for the future of Israel that guided me. Israeli society is undergoing a difficult crisis as a result of the disengagement, and now needs to heal the rifts.

Now it is the Palestinians’ turn to prove their desire for peace. The end of Israeli control over and responsibility for the Gaza Strip allows the Palestinians, if they so wish, to develop their economy and build a peace-seeking society, which is developed, free, law-abiding, and transparent, and which adheres to democratic principles. The most important test the Palestinian leadership will face is in fulfilling their commitment to put an end to terrorism and its infrastructures, eliminate the anarchic regime of armed gangs, and cease the incitement and indoctrination of hatred towards Israel and the Jews.

Until they do so—Israel will know how to defend itself from the horrors of terrorism. This is why we built the security fence, and we will continue to build it until it is completed, as would any other country defending its citizens. The security fence prevents terrorists and murderers from arriving in city centers on a daily basis and targeting citizens on their way to work, children on their way to school, and families sitting together in restaurants. This fence is vitally indispensable. This fence saves lives!

… I am among those who believe that it is possible to reach a fair compromise and coexistence in good neighborly relations between Jews and Arabs. However, I must emphasize one fact: there will be no compromise on the right of the State of Israel to exist as a Jewish state, with defensible borders, in full security and without threats and terrorism.

... The Jewish people have a long memory. We remember events that took place thousands of years ago, and certainly remember events that took place in this hall during the last sixty years. The Jewish people remember the dramatic vote in the UN General Assembly on November 29, 1947, when representatives of the nations recognized our right to national revival in our historic homeland. However, we also remember dozens of harsh and unjust decisions made by the United Nations over the years. And we know that, even today, there are those who sit here as representatives of a country whose leadership calls to wipe Israel off the face of the earth—and no one speaks out. The attempts of that country to arm itself with nuclear weapons must disturb the sleep of anyone who desires peace and stability in the Middle East and the entire world. The combination of dark fundamentalism and support of terrorist organizations creates a serious threat that every member nation in the UN must stand against.

... Peace is a supreme value in the Jewish legacy, and is the desired goal of our policy. After the long journey of wanderings and the hardships of the Jewish people; after the Holocaust that obliterated one third of our people; after the long and arduous struggle for revival; after more than fifty-seven consecutive years of war and terrorism that did not stop the development of the State of Israel; after all this—our heart’s desire was and remains to achieve peace with our neighbors. Our desire for peace is strong enough to ensure that we will achieve it, only if our neighbors are genuine partners in this longed-for goal. If we succeed in working together, we can transform our plot of land, which is dear to both peoples, from a land of contention to a land of peace—for our children and grandchildren.

On December 18, 2005, Sharon experienced a minor stroke but made a quick recovery. However, on January 4, 2006, while at his ranch in the Negev, he suffered another stroke. Sharon was transported to Hadassah Hospital, where it soon became evident that he had suffered a severe cerebral hemorrhage. Tragically, Sharon never regained consciousness. Ehud Olmert assumed the role of Prime Minister. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon died on January 11, 2014.