DAY 223 OF THE WAR: Five Soldiers Killed in Friendly Fire Incident, Over 200 Red Alerts Sounded in Northern Israel, Ultra-Orthodox and the Draft

Tel Aviv Diary, May 16, 2024

ZOOM BRIEFING SUNDAY, MAY 19, 6 PM ISRAEL, 11 AM EDT, 8 AM PDT

Last night, most of Israel knew that something terrible had happened in Gaza— but the details were still being withheld. Typically, when such announcements are delayed, it indicates that soldiers have been killed, but the information is not released until the relatives can be notified. I braced myself to wake up to the bad news since those announcements are generally released at 6 AM. When no news came, I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking perhaps we only had wounded soldiers. At the very least, I knew there were wounded soldiers not only from the rumors but also from the sound of Army helicopters that flew over my apartment late last night heading towards Ichilov Hospital.

My relief was extremely short-lived. An hour after I got up, the dreadful news was released—five soldiers were dead. The delay was undoubtedly due to one of the fallen being a lone soldier from Argentina, necessitating diplomats at our embassy in Argentina to inform the soldier’s parents. They were Cpt. Roy Beit Yaakov, 22, from Eli,Staff Sgt. Gilad Arye Boim, 22, from Karnei Shomron ,Sgt. Daniel Chemu, 20, from Tiberias ,Sgt. Ilan Cohen, 20, from Karmiel, Staff Sgt. Betzalel David Shashuah, 21, from Tel Aviv.

These deaths were made even more devastating given that they were caused by friendly fire. An Israeli tank fired at a building used by the Paratroopers as a command post. The tank reportedly saw a gun pointed out of a window and assumed it had to be a terrorist threat. According to IDF data, of the 278 Israeli soldiers killed in combat in the Gaza Strip during Israel’s ground offensive against Hamas, which began in late October, at least 49 were killed by friendly fire and other accidents.

What makes this and similar incidents so infuriating is that Israeli companies manufacture command and control equipment capable of providing a comprehensive view of the battlefield. It appears that these systems have either not been deployed, or if deployed, their usage has not been extended to the level of individual tanks, possibly due to cost considerations. Tragically, five families have now paid the ultimate price, and another seven soldiers could spend months recuperating. There is also a sense that after seven months of fighting, everyone is tired.

Combat continued today in Rafah, where Israel is slowly expanding its operations. In addition, heavy fighting took place in Jabalya. This evening, it was confirmed that two of the Thai workers, previously thought to be in Hamas custody, were actually killed on October 7th, and their bodies were taken to Gaza.

In an accident near the Gaza border, Sgt. Maj. (res.) Ran Yavetz (39), was killed in an explosion.

LEBANON

Last night, I wrote about a suicide drone that exploded near the Golani junction. This morning, the Army announced that the Hezbollah drone had reached a sensitive military installation where a large surveillance balloon is stationed to identify targets at a distance. The drone caused damage. In response, last night, the Air Force attacked a significant Hezbollah site in, deep in Lebanon, where precision weapons are being developed.

Today, Hezbollah launched nonstop barrages in 14 separate attacks across various parts of the Northern Galil. Over 200 rockets and missiles were launched. In Metulah, three soldiers were wounded by a drone carrying a rocket. Another large rocket landed next to Shlomi, causing damage to buildings in the town. This was the most severe day of conflict so far in over seven months of fighting. As long as combat continues in Gaza, a resolution to the conflict in the North remains unlikely, and the situation continues to deteriorate.

ULTRA-ORTHODOX AND THE DRAFT

The primary challenge facing Netanyahu’s coalition is not the ongoing war in Gaza, but rather maintaining the coalition together with the ultra-Orthodox amidst legal controversies. Recently, the Supreme Court temporarily halted funding for the Yeshiva students who are not being drafted. The Court recently stated that there is currently no legal basis for the exemption of yeshiva students from military service. Consequently, there is no legal justification for providing them with financial support. This issue dates all the way back to David Ben Gurion’s agreement after the Holocaust to exempt 50 Yeshiva students from the draft— an allowance that had ballooned to nearly ten thousand annual exemptions a decade ago.

Ten years ago, I remember attending rallies demanding the draft of Haredim. Although those rallies died down, efforts to change the status quo shifted to the courts. Ultimately, the courts ruled that the existing laws granting draft exemptions to the ultra-Orthodox violated the Basic Law of equality under the law.

The ultra-Orthodox political parties planned to solve the issue of military exemptions for their constituents when this latest government was formed by securing a promise from Netanyahu to pass a Basic Law equating Yeshiva study to military service. In an interview several months before the war, one of the leading ultra-Orthodox politicians proudly stated that the life of a Yeshiva student was indeed more demanding than that of a soldier. After all, he argued, soldiers rarely have to engage in combat, and most of their time is spent performing non-critical tasks, whereas Yeshiva students dedicate themselves to constant, rigorous daily study. To prevent further challenges from the Supreme Court, the ultra-Orthodox politicians were fervent supporters of the coalition’s proposed judicial reform—especially the judicial override clause, which would allow the Knesset to overturn a Supreme Court ruling.

However, the war changed everything. First and foremost, the bill that the ultra-Orthodox sought to pass was dead on arrival. Judicial reform was placed on hold for the time being, and the previous legislation that exempted ultra-Orthodox from military service was no longer valid. Consequently, the Supreme Court ordered the government to begin drafting the ultra-Orthodox and stop giving the ultra-orthodox students money. A second hearing in front of a larger panel of judges is scheduled for June, and the government hopes to approach this hearing with a new draft law that is in the process of being passed.

Prior to the war, the issue of drafting the ultra-Orthodox was largely viewed as a matter of equality and sharing the burden. The IDF did not consider the inclusion of the ultra-Orthodox necessary. However, everything has changed after October 7th. It has become clear that the IDF is significantly smaller than it needs to be, and the only options to expand its ranks are to extend the service duration for those currently enlisted and increase reserve duty for the rest of the country—or draft the ultra-Orthodox. There is now almost wall-to-wall agreement among Israeli society that, given the critical need for manpower, the current status quo of exempting 60,000 Yeshiva students from service cannot continue. Leaders of the ultra-Orthodox community seem to be completely out of touch with the national sentiment and continue to demand their exemptions.

Netanyahu, dependent on their support, has been looking for a workable solution. The Army and the ultra-Orthodox have failed to reach any agreement on a plan. Netanyahu, known for his slick political maneuvering, now wants to revive the military draft bill that had passed a first reading under the previous government. Despite the Attorney General’s advice against utilizing a parliamentary maneuver to classify the old legislation as a continuing bill, the government proceeded to do it anyway. Gantz, who had authored the original draft bill, declared it outdated post-October 7th—since it would not result in the significant enlistment of ultra-Orthodox anytime soon. Yesterday, Defense Minister Galant announced he would not support the revived bill. Several Likud MKs also voiced their dissent. Stay tuned.

SOUTH AFRICAN CASE AGAINST ISRAEL @ THE HAGUE

The South Africans presented their case against Israel today at The Hague. One of their key pieces of evidence was the remarks by our ministers, such as Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, that we must “wipe them [Hamas] out like Amalek.”— stated publicly by Smotrich a few weeks ago (I posted the video in one of the updates). Tomorrow, Israel will present our rebuttal.

One of the stories that seems popular today—including in the New York Times—claims that “The flow of supplies through land borders has largely come to a halt since Israel began its incursion into Rafah last week.” In reality, Israel managed to successfully facilitate the entrance of 365 trucks just today. Moreover, today, the US army announced that its new mobile harbor was ready to be used to bring supplies directly into Gaza from the sea.

Location of Mobile Port

Images of settlers happily destroying humanitarian shipments have been circulating around the world. The full extent of this behavior and the damage it has inflicted on our international reputation are difficult to overstate.

Tonight, some settlers attacked a truck, mistakenly believing it was transporting humanitarian aid (it was not). The driver was seriously wounded. This took place in the West Bank. When the army arrived to rescue the driver, they were attacked by the settlers. Two officers and one additional soldier were lightly wounded.

SOME WORTHWHILE READS

I suggest reading this very long article in the New York Times, titled The Unpunished: How Extremists Took Over Israel, by Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti. The article tells the early story of how the settlers gained power and were never punished for any of their illegal actions. I have not personally checked all the facts cited in this article, but from what I know, it seems very accurate and incredibly depressing.

Three other compelling essays for the weekend … The first interesting piece is featured in a newsletter where a non-Jew who considers himself left-of-center has been convinced by the actions of the far-left over the past month to believe that the Jews must have their own state. Nick Rafter article  is titled: The Left Turned Me Into a Zionist and whose subtile is “ I Thought Jews Didn't Need A Homeland, Now It's Clear They Have No Real Allies.”

In the second article, titled: The Right's Anti-Israel Insurgents, Ben Lorber discusses the sudden unexpected rise of Tucker Carlson and others on the far right who have publicly turned anti-Israel.

The final article is a plan from the centrist Wilson Center, titled: Plan for Postwar Gaza. I am not sure if I agree with the plan, but at least it is a plan. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/plan-postwar-gaza

ECONOMY

After a catastrophic fourth quarter of 2023 in Israel, with a 21.7% annualized drop in GDP due to the war that broke out, the first quarter of 2024 saw a recovery with a 14.1% annualized increase in GDP, as reported today (Thursday) by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) in a preliminary estimate.

This is a sharp rise, but Israel's GDP is still in a contraction trend. Thus, when comparing the GDP of the first quarter of 2024 to the corresponding quarter in 2023, there is still a contraction of 1.4% in GDP between the two periods. In other words, the recovery in the first quarter of 2024 has not yet compensated for the sharp decline in the previous quarter, and Israel is still in a contraction trend.

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A PIECE OF HISTORY

The Immediate Aftermath of the Six Day War

The Six-Day War was over. It had lasted 132 hours. The Egyptians lost between 10,000 and 15,000 men, with an additional 5,000 Egyptians missing. The Jordanians lost 700 men, and 6,000 were either wounded or missing. Israel reported 679 killed. At the end of the war, Israel held 5,000 Egyptian prisoners, 365 Syrians, and 550 Jordanians. Fifteen Israelis were held prisoners. Israel had destroyed or captured 85% of the equipment of the Egyptian Army. Israel captured 320 tanks, 480 guns, 2 SAM batteries, and 10,000 vehicles.

For the moment, Israel and its armies were heroes throughout most of the world. In Israel, aside from the celebrations over the ability to pray at the Western Wall for the first time since 1948, there were no major celebrations. Soon after the war, Muki Tzur published a book of reflections from Kibbutz members who fought called: “The Seventh Day.” In it, many of the who fought in the war reflected on their experiences in the conflict and the profound difficulties they faced having to kill the enemy.

Perhaps one of the most poignant summaries of where Israel stood after the war might be the speech delivered by then-IDF Chief of Staff Rabin at the Hebrew University’s newly opened amphitheater on Mt. Scopus, upon receiving an honorary PhD. I feel a special connection to the speech, having stood next to Rabin 22 years later, when we both addressed a gathering of students in that same amphitheater.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem • Mt. Scopus Campus, 1967

Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. President of the Hebrew University, Mr. Rector of the Hebrew University, Members of the Board of Governors, Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am filled with reverence as I stand here before the teachers of our generation in this ancient, magnificent place overlooking our eternal capital and the sacred sites of our nation's earliest history.

You have chosen to do me the great honor of conferring upon me the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, along with a number of distinguished persons who are doubtless worthy of this honor. May I be allowed to speak the thoughts that are in my heart?

I consider myself to be here solely as the representative of the whole Israel Defense Forces: of the thousands of officers and tens of thousands of soldiers who brought the victory of the Six-Day War to the State of Israel.

It may well be asked why the University should have been moved to bestow upon me the degree of honorary Doctor of Philosophy upon a soldier in recognition of his war services. What have soldiers to do with the academic world, which stands for the life of civilization and culture? What have those who are professionally occupied with violence to do with spiritual values? The answer, I think, is that in this honor which you have conferred through me upon my fellow soldiers you chose to express your appreciation of the special character of the Israel Defense Forces, which is itself an expression of the distinctiveness of the Jewish People as a whole.

The world has recognized that the Israel Army is different from most other armies. Though its first task, that of maintaining security, is indeed military, it also assumes numerous tasks directed to the ends of peace. These are not destructive, but constructive and are undertaken with the object of strengthening the nation's cultural and moral resources. Our work in the field of education is well known: it received national recognition in 1966 when the army won the Israel Prize for Education. Nahal, which already combines military duties with work on the land, also provides teachers for border villages, thus contributing to the social development. These are only a few examples of the special services of the Israel Defense Forces in this sphere.

Today, however, the University is conferring on us an honorary degree not for these things but in recognition of the army's moral and spiritual force as shown precisely in active combat. For we are all here in this place only by virtue that has astounded the world.

War is intrinsically harsh and cruel, and blood and tears are its companions. But the war we have just fought also brought forth marvelous examples of a rare courage and heroism, and the most moving expressions of brotherhood, comradeship and even spiritual greatness. Anyone who has not seen a tank crew continue its attack even though its commander has been killed and its tank almost destroyed, who has not watched sappers risking their lives to extricate wounded comrades from a mine field, who has not witnessed the concern for a pilot who has fallen in enemy territory and the unremitting efforts made by the whole Air Force to rescue him, cannot know the meaning of devotion among comrades.

The nation was exalted and many wept when they heard of the capture of the Old City. Our Sabra youth, and certainly our soldiers, have no taste for sentimentality and shrink from any public show of emotion. In this instance, however, the strain of battle and the anxiety which proceeded it joined with the sense of deliverance, the sense of standing at the very heart of Jewish history, to break the shell of hardness and diffidence, stirring up springs of feelings and spiritual discovery. The paratroopers who conquered the Wall leaned on its stones and wept. It was an act which in its symbolic meaning can have few parallels in the history of nations. We in the army are not in the habit of speaking in high-flown language, but the revelation at that hour at the Temple Mount, a profound truth manifesting itself as if by lightning, overpowered customary constraints.

There is more to tell. The elation of victory had seized the whole nation. Yet among the soldiers themselves a curious phenomenon is to be observed. They cannot rejoice wholeheartedly. Their triumph is marred by grief and shock, and there are some who cannot rejoice at all. The men in the front lines saw with their own eyes not only the glory of victory, but also its cost, their comrades fallen beside them soaked in blood. And I know that the terrible price the enemy paid has also deeply moved many of our men. Is it because their teaching, not their experience, has ever habituated the Jewish people to exalt in conquest and victory that they receive them with such mixed feelings?

The heroism displayed in the Six Day War generally went far beyond that of the single, daring assault in which a man hurls himself forward almost without reflection. In many places there were long and desperate battles: in Rafah, in El-Arish, in Um-Kal Um-Kataf, in Jerusalem and on the Golan Heights. In these places, and in many others, our soldiers showed a heroism of the spirit and a courage of endurance which inspired feelings of wonder and exaltation in those who witnessed them. We speak a great deal of the few against the many. In this war, perhaps for the first time, since the Arab invasions in the spring of 1948 and the battles of Negba and Degania, units of the Israel Defense Forces in every sector stood few against many. Relatively small units entered long, deep networks of fortifications, surrounded by hundreds and thousands of enemy troops, through which they had to cut and cleave their way for many long hours. They pressed on, even when the exhilarating momentum of the first charge had passed, and all that was left to sustain them was their belief in our strength, in the absence of any alternative, and in the end for which the war was being fought, and the compelling need to summon up every resource of spiritual strength to continue to fight to the end. Thus our armored forces broke through on all fronts, our paratroopers fought their way into Rafah and Jerusalem, our sappers cleaned minefields under enemy fire. The units which penetrated the enemy lines after hours of battle struggled on, refusing to stop, while their comrades fell to the right and to the left of them. These units were carried forward, not by arms or the techniques of war, but by the power of moral and spiritual values.

We have always insisted on having the best of our young people for the Israel Defense Forces. When we said: "HaTovim LaTayis” ("The Best for the Air Force") and this became a standard for the whole army, we were not referring only to technical skills and abilities. What we meant was that if our Air Force was to be capable of defeating the forces of four enemy countries in a few short hours, it could do so only if it were sustained by moral and human values. Our airmen who struck the enemies' planes with such accuracy that no one understands how it was done and the world seeks to explain it technologically by reference to secret weapons; our armored troops who stood their ground and overcame the enemy even when their equipment was inferior to his; our soldiers in all the several branches of the army who withstood our enemies everywhere despite the superiority of their numbers and fortifications: what they all showed was not only coolness and courage in battle but a passionate faith in the justice of their cause, the certain knowledge that only their personal, individual resistance against the greatest of dangers could save their country and their families, and that the alternative to victory was annihilation.

In every sector our commanders of all ranks proved themselves superior to those of the enemy. Their resourcefulness, their intelligence, their power of improvisation, their concern for their troops, and above all, their practice in leading their men into battle: these are not matters of technique or equipment. There is no intelligible explanation except one -- their profound conviction that the war they were fighting was a just one.

All these things have their origin in the spirit and end in the spirit. Our soldiers prevailed not by the strength of their weapons but by their sense of mission, by their consciousness of the justice of their cause, by a deep love of their country, and by their understanding of the heavy task laid upon them: to insure the existence of our people in their homeland, and to affirm, even at the cost of their lives, the right of the Jewish people to live its life in its own state, free, independent and in peace.

The army which I had the privilege of commanding through this war came from the people and returns to the people: a people which rises above itself in time of crisis and prevails over all enemies in the hour of trial by its moral and spiritual strength.

As representative of the Israel Defense Army and in the name of each and every one of its soldiers, I accept your appreciation with pride.

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