Great piece, Josh. I suspected that were it not for Israel's intelligence agencies cutting off the heads of so many leading snakes over the decades, Israel would not have survived with the American leash around her neck, preventing her from winning conventional wars. And, I have no doubt the work of her intelligence people continues as I write this - and will continue to protect Israel. I pray fervently for Israel to forge new, strategic alliances - with several countries - in the future. Alliances that don't necessarily have the US blessing but bring economic opportunity and more military security for Israel and the countries involved. Also, I dream of Israel becoming the leader in cyber tech; particularly cyber warfare. Already, an Israeli hacker calling himself (or herself) "predatory sparrow" has launched successful smaller attacks on Iran's oil refineries. Israel does not, of course, take responsibility for the hacker's actions, although I read the Israeli government is quite involved in cyber research. Yes, Israel may be losing the PR war for now, but I have great faith in her ability to win real wars. And, I suspect she may even start to win the PR war too, as Western people become increasingly fed up with the Islamo/Leftist grip on their politicians - and on their lives.
Thank you for reporting on the wonderful job the IDF is doing. Please keep informing the world that the IDF is doing all of us a tremendous service in destroying terrorists. I can just see the Hamas leaders shaking in their boots. It's time the IDF completes the mission and begin the next phase for Israel and the world.
‘A ground operation, the Americans said, was too costly and not worth the squeeze. They predicted a dire 20 Israeli soldier deaths per day, which would have amounted to 3,780 dead Israeli soldiers as of writing. In reality, the actual number is approximately 1.5 per day.’
Presumably the real objective was to shelter Joe Biden from internal Democrat Party tension that a ground operation would inevitably cause rather than to help Israel. A shameful thing to do to the victim and ally.
Thank you, Joshua, for restoring my optimism about this war. For whatever reason, yesterday's article hit me hard, but your reminders to me of the absolute intelligence and training of the IDF, and what they and the Mossad and Shin Bet have accomplished over time is truly remarkable. Unlike the US, Israel and the IDF know who the enemies are because they are surrounded by them, and will proceed as they always do, with strength, loyalty, integrity, and courage. Am Yisrael Chai!!
I’m former IDF and I agree with everything you said, but you left out some important parts. The IDF is staffed by human beings and human beings sometimes make horrible mistakes. Sometimes, assassins kill the wrong guy. And days ago a drone operator mistook a backpack for a gum and struck a convoy of aids workers killing all eight.
When Israel is done defeating Hamas, we will need to rely again on our credibility. Celebrating assassins and ignoring catastrophic mistakes may not be the way to maintain that precious credibility.
Thank you to all of you, for the astute responses to today’s article by Jonathan Hoffman. Every morning, I turn to his writing first to start my day off more “intelligently.” I wish we could all meet in person!
Joshua: You need to correct your text here — the numerical ratios are civilian-to- combatant, not “combatant-to-civilian:”
“Meanwhile, on the Palestinian side, Israel has achieved an unbelievable combatant-to-civilian casualty ratio, which is believed to be 1.5-to-one — and that is if you accept Hamas’ numbers (which have been proven mathematically impossible). For reference, the international average is a nine-to-one combatant-to-civilian casualty ratio according to the UN.”
This is wonderful! I would like to ask why there is an American General advising on fighting in Gaza. The IDF are simply the best and doing an effective and thoughtful job.
Great piece, Josh. I suspected that were it not for Israel's intelligence agencies cutting off the heads of so many leading snakes over the decades, Israel would not have survived with the American leash around her neck, preventing her from winning conventional wars. And, I have no doubt the work of her intelligence people continues as I write this - and will continue to protect Israel. I pray fervently for Israel to forge new, strategic alliances - with several countries - in the future. Alliances that don't necessarily have the US blessing but bring economic opportunity and more military security for Israel and the countries involved. Also, I dream of Israel becoming the leader in cyber tech; particularly cyber warfare. Already, an Israeli hacker calling himself (or herself) "predatory sparrow" has launched successful smaller attacks on Iran's oil refineries. Israel does not, of course, take responsibility for the hacker's actions, although I read the Israeli government is quite involved in cyber research. Yes, Israel may be losing the PR war for now, but I have great faith in her ability to win real wars. And, I suspect she may even start to win the PR war too, as Western people become increasingly fed up with the Islamo/Leftist grip on their politicians - and on their lives.
Thank you for reporting on the wonderful job the IDF is doing. Please keep informing the world that the IDF is doing all of us a tremendous service in destroying terrorists. I can just see the Hamas leaders shaking in their boots. It's time the IDF completes the mission and begin the next phase for Israel and the world.
‘A ground operation, the Americans said, was too costly and not worth the squeeze. They predicted a dire 20 Israeli soldier deaths per day, which would have amounted to 3,780 dead Israeli soldiers as of writing. In reality, the actual number is approximately 1.5 per day.’
Presumably the real objective was to shelter Joe Biden from internal Democrat Party tension that a ground operation would inevitably cause rather than to help Israel. A shameful thing to do to the victim and ally.
Thank you, Joshua, for restoring my optimism about this war. For whatever reason, yesterday's article hit me hard, but your reminders to me of the absolute intelligence and training of the IDF, and what they and the Mossad and Shin Bet have accomplished over time is truly remarkable. Unlike the US, Israel and the IDF know who the enemies are because they are surrounded by them, and will proceed as they always do, with strength, loyalty, integrity, and courage. Am Yisrael Chai!!
I’m former IDF and I agree with everything you said, but you left out some important parts. The IDF is staffed by human beings and human beings sometimes make horrible mistakes. Sometimes, assassins kill the wrong guy. And days ago a drone operator mistook a backpack for a gum and struck a convoy of aids workers killing all eight.
When Israel is done defeating Hamas, we will need to rely again on our credibility. Celebrating assassins and ignoring catastrophic mistakes may not be the way to maintain that precious credibility.
Thank you to all of you, for the astute responses to today’s article by Jonathan Hoffman. Every morning, I turn to his writing first to start my day off more “intelligently.” I wish we could all meet in person!
Outstanding article
Bingo! So be it, especially for Israel!
Excellent article-again!
I’m here for every second of it. Am Israel Chai!
Joshua: You need to correct your text here — the numerical ratios are civilian-to- combatant, not “combatant-to-civilian:”
“Meanwhile, on the Palestinian side, Israel has achieved an unbelievable combatant-to-civilian casualty ratio, which is believed to be 1.5-to-one — and that is if you accept Hamas’ numbers (which have been proven mathematically impossible). For reference, the international average is a nine-to-one combatant-to-civilian casualty ratio according to the UN.”
Excellent article! Shabbat Shalom.
Sorry, my intelligence skipped a beat Joshua, sorry.
This is wonderful! I would like to ask why there is an American General advising on fighting in Gaza. The IDF are simply the best and doing an effective and thoughtful job.
Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, are 3 enemies of Israel. There are also a number of self-hating Jews who also hate America.
Don't ever stop either Israel! #NoCeasefire!