“Oct 7 2023”

Since she was a child, Staff Sergeant Shaked had wanted to be a frontline soldier in the Israel Defence Forces. “It’s just something that spoke to me,” she said. “I wanted to serve in the army with a weapon.”

In most countries, little girls rarely dream of becoming combat soldiers. In Israel, where military service is compulsory for men and women and the armed services are part of the fabric of daily life, many do. At least for now.

The difference between the many recent pro-Palestinian rallies and Tuesday’s March for Israel in D.C. is night and day.

On Tuesday, one of the largest gatherings of American Jewry in U.S. history took place in Washington, D.C., where an estimated 290,000 people descended on the National Mall to stand in solidarity with Israel in its war against Hamas.

“Everything changed” in Israel on Oct. 7. Except it did not. Despite much talk of victory by the prime minister and survey research showing the public endorses a tough new approach, Israeli officialdom and its security establishment show signs of reverting to their old failed policies, even before the bodies have all been buried.

Those failed policies mean primarily one thing: wrongly assuming that enrichment – more work permits in Israel, a larger fishing zone, outside funding – gives Palestinian Arabs something to lose, taming them and making them less inclined to aggress.

In past conflicts, one side has successfully managed to push through propaganda that changes how civilians on the other side view military action. However, we have never before seen a situation in which the world’s media simply hand over to one of the combatants the entire responsibility for reporting on the war. That’s what’s happening across the West, though, including in America, as rising antisemitism is fueled by “news” reports direct from Hamas central.

Is the West giving up on Israel? Given the scale and the barbarism of the 7 October pogrom, you might have expected more people to rally to Israel’s side. Instead, we have seen vast anti-Israel marches, an explosion in anti-Semitism and a widespread apologism for Hamas’s terror. Many among the establishment, media and political left seem to revel in chastising Israel as it seeks to defend itself from terrorism. What does this lack of solidarity say to people in Israel?

Israel’s Defence Forces have released shocking footage tonight revealing what it claims is a huge Hamas tunnel buried deep below the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

The military, who have been carrying out an operation at the medical complex over the last week, said it had found a 55-metre-long passage 10-metres below the ground.

Officials said it had discovered a deep staircase equipped with ‘various defence mechanisms’ including a blast-proof door with a firing hole claiming the terror group were using the entrance to block out Israeli forces.

These findings prove that the Hamas terrorist organization used the Shifa Hospital complex on the day of the October 7 Massacre as terrorist infrastructure. 2/2 pic.twitter.com/2UzlpKrNnv

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 19, 2023

OPERATIONAL UPDATE: IDF and ISA forces revealed a significant 55-meter-long terrorist tunnel, 10 meters underneath the Shifa Hospital complex during an intelligence-based operation.

The tunnel entrance contains various defense mechanisms, such as a blast-proof door and a firing… pic.twitter.com/tU4J6BD4ZG

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 19, 2023

When Israel began conducting airstrikes in Gaza, everyone knew there was going to be displacement. The military operation comes after Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, murdering 1,200-1,400 civilians in a coordinated assault involving well over 1,000 terrorists. The level of barbarity was unprecedented, leading to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forming a unity government that aims to destroy Hamas. On October 28, the ground invasion began, leading to scores of Palestinians attempting to make their way south to safety. Hamas shot some who tried to flee.

OTTAWA – Canadian Jewish organizations are calling on the Liberal government to remove what they see as barriers to enforcing a relatively new Criminal Code provision against Holocaust denialism amid a rise in antisemitism.

Shimon Koffler Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said his organization had been asking the Liberals to criminalize Holocaust denialism, noting there are similar laws in France and Germany.

I doubt Trudeau will be keen on this.