Hezbollah Escalation: Tensions remain high in the North after the IDF thwarted a possible attack by the Hezbollah terrorist militia on Monday along the border with Lebanon. A Hezbollah cell, which numbered between three and five operatives, crossed the border several meters into Israeli territory and was identified by the IDF, which opened fire with machine guns and tank shells.
Hours later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz held a press conference, at which they made it clear that Israel would act swiftly in response to belligerent actions. “Israel will continue to take action against Iran’s efforts to entrench militarily in our region,” Netanyahu said, adding that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was setting Lebanon on fire.
What’s interesting is that Hezbollah, known for claiming responsibility for its actions, has denied launching an operation against Israel. The clash on Monday came less than a week after a Hezbollah fighter was killed in an airstrike on pro-Iranian terrorists in Syria, an attack attributed to Israel.
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COVID-19: Coronavirus wards at four of Israel’s largest hospitals are full, with a fifth nearing total capacity, according to the Health Ministry. The number of serious COVID-19 cases in the country has continued to rise, placing a serious strain on the healthcare system.
The Health Ministry also recorded general overload in the hospitals, with two major Jerusalem medical centers and the largest hospitals in Tel Aviv and nearby Ramat Gan operating near or above full capacity.
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#NoSafeSpaceForJewHate: British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis accused Twitter and Facebook of “complicity” in online antisemitism, charging the two social media giants with “inaction” that is allowing hate to flourish on their platforms.
“For too long, social media has been a safe space for those who peddle hatred and prejudice,” Mirvis wrote in letters sent to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. On Monday, Mirvis joined a host of British politicians, celebrities, high-profile figures and other users who signed off of Twitter for two days to protest the proliferation of antisemitism on the social media platform.
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Antisemitism Watch: The International Olympics Committee apologized for including a video of the first Olympic torch relay at the 1936 Berlin Olympics along with the words “stronger together” in a series of short videos celebrating the “message of unity and solidarity” of the Olympics. The Nazis used those Olympics to spread their propaganda. Two American sprinters were kept from participating because they were Jewish. The video was posted on Thursday. It was removed on Friday following a flood of negative responses.
A swastika and other graffiti were spray-painted on several buildings, including a Jewish organization, in a shopping strip in a heavily Jewish Cleveland suburb. The graffiti, which also said “666,” a term referring to the devil, and the phrase “Party with the Devil B*tch,” was discovered on Sunday.
Recommended Reading
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s slam dunk against antisemitism (Rabbi Abraham Cooper and Dr. Harold Brackman)
- Original sin? Israel’s War of Independence (Pesach Benson)
- A most peculiar attack: Will Hezbollah deem border fracas adequate vengeance? (Judah Ari Gross)
- The Eastern Mediterranean is a new diplomatic arena for Israel (Nimrod Goren)
- Reflections on bridge building (Ambassador Dani Dayan)
- Is Israeli democracy really as chaotic as it seems? (Paul Shindman)
