Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Interview With George Gilder, Author Of The New Edition Of "The Israel Test" (Daled Amos)

By Daled Amos

George Gilder is an American author and economist. His book, The Israel Test, was published in 2009. A new version of the book came out last year.

George Gilder (YouTube screencap)

What is so important about your book, The Israel Test, that it merits a new third edition?

The issues of The Israel Test are imperative for everyone to understand—a relaunch of the message of the essential book of my lifetime. I've been writing for nearly 70 years, and of all my books, I like The Israel Test best. It's the most personal of my books and the most fervent. It may be the most important. I write about entrepreneurship, I write about technology, I write about creativity as the paramount force in human life. It is all epitomized in the fabulous feats of Israel as the Startup Nation and now possibly the leader of the Free World.

I think Israel is transforming the world as we speak.

Briefly, what is the Israel Test?

The test is how people respond to those who excel in creativity, intellect, accomplishment, and wealth. Do you admire them and try to learn from them or do you envy them, resent them, and try to tear them down? This is the central test of the world economy and human life. When we resent those who excel us and attempt to suppress them, we doom our Human Experiment. To the extent that we admire them and emulate them, there are no limits to our achievements on this planet.

For whatever reason, most of the great breakthroughs of the century have come from Jews, and Israel now epitomizes this genius of the Jews. So when we attack Israel, we're really attacking the very source of human creativity and accomplishment in the world. That is the Israel Test.

U.S. corporations have some 70% of the global market cap and all the world's equity markets. When you examine the companies that account for this global leadership in the United States, they all have crucial, laboratories inventions, factories, research, and operations in Israel. People talk about Israel being dependent on the United States. But the U.S. is more dependent on Israel today than Israel is on the U.S. The United States is in a maelstrom at the moment, and Israel is really the inspirational leader of the world economy.

What are the biggest misconceptions about Israel's economy and the Israeli society that you debunk in your book?

First of all, the whole idea that Israel somehow is occupying something is just misconceived.

One of the reasons for the second edition of the book is that once, after I addressed a synagogue in Far Rockaway in New York, fifteen years ago, someone came up to me and gave me a beaten-up, frayed copy of a book by Walter Lowdermilk. That book is the basis for a couple of new chapters in the recent editions of The Israel Test.

Walter Lowdermilk was a Christian in the United States in the Agriculture Department under FDR. A heat wave had led to a terrible drought in the U.S. causing a crisis for US agriculture and for the West. Lowdermilk traveled around the world, in search of agricultural methods to meet this crisis. He ended up in then-Palestine and discovered amazing agricultural feats. This is back in 1938, before the establishment of the state of Israel. He found that the Jews had performed an agricultural miracle unparalleled anywhere else in the world.

Lowdermilk found that they had solved the water problem and made the desert bloom. In time, this led to desalination plants, drip irrigation, microirrigation, and the planting of a million trees. There is now an Israeli university with a Lowdermilk building because he became a hero and is recognized for his important contributions.

He reported that when the Jews moved to Palestine in the 19th century, there were only 200,000 to 300,000 Arabs in this wasteland that was really a desert. Their average lifespan was around 30 years old. When the Jews came and made the desert bloom, the Arabs crowded into Palestine to take advantage of these breakthroughs the Jews achieved. Jewish migration made a population of Palestinians possible. Without the Jewish immigration, there could not have been a sustained population because of the lack of water. Lowdermilk's book documents detailed observations and testimony about how the Jews transformed the desert and made Israel ultimately into the world's most Innovative agricultural country.

But Israel made a big mistake. They adopted socialism. By 1985, Israel was about over, approaching 1000% inflation with the economy on the verge of collapse. The Histadrut domination of banking had resulted in the bankruptcy of banks and the fall of the shekel. That was when the new government under Netanyahu led the transformation of Israel into a capitalist leader.

The real Israel Test came when Israel demonstrated that freedom, capitalism, and creativity enable human life and accomplishment. That vindication of capitalism, pioneered by Netanyahu, changed the Israel Test from a test of recognizing their agricultural changes to recognizing their technological changes. Israel was a key source of the success of Intel Corporation, the leading American semiconductor company. Nvidia achieved great success by buying an Israeli company called Melanox, making Nvidia one of the world's most valuable companies by enabling their Artificial Intelligence breakthroughs.

It begins with half the Nobel prizes and the serious Sciences and it goes on to the richest people in the world, to the most pioneering country in the world. And it's all ultimately a recognition of the incredible genius of the Jews.

The Israel Test is about how Israel's genius enriches the world.

Is the Israel Test of the Arabs different? Aside from the psychological and emotional elements of envy and hatred of the Jews, the Arab world also has a cultural aspect that you mention in your book: shame and honor. Going a step further, are those Arabs living in Israel under Jewish rule for the first time in Arab history being tested and challenged differently than any other people?

Israel is a democratic government that grants Israeli Arabs more rights than any other place in the world, except maybe the United States. Arabs do better in Israel than they do anywhere else. The million Arabs in Israel comprise 16% of all the engineers. The Arabs do well in Israel and do not support Hamas or Hezbollah activities. There are, of course, disgruntled Arabs. But I think that the Arab integration with Israeli Society and Israeli industry has been a lesson for the world and the Israel Test.

I've spent a lot of time in Israel, talking to Arab engineers. They are making crucial contributions. The ones who learn from the Jews rather than resent the Jews do brilliantly in Israel.

You write that capitalism is one of the best remedies for antisemitism. How does that work?

Capitalism is based on giving. A fundamental principle of capitalism is its dependence on the moral fabric that the Jewish and Christian traditions enabled. capitalism is the secret behind the emergence of Israel as the world's leading creative force and its world leadership. Israel did not become the Startup Nation until it adopted capitalism and they didn't employ all these Arabs either until it adopted capitalism.

Probably seven out of the ten richest people in the world are Jews. All their wealth is invested in projects and companies that employ millions of people around the world. This makes the continued triumph over human exigency possible. It explains why the genius of the Jews converges with the capitalist insights to make Israel's emergence as the leader of the West possible. Israel's amazing achievement is that this tiny country has accomplished so much, yet has only existed for 75 years. And it could only have happened with capitalism.

The American economist and political commentator Thomas Sowell makes an important observation. He studied minorities all around the globe. He acknowledges the incredible achievements of the Jews and of Israel as the spearhead. However, he also shows that a similar phenomenon exists in Asia with the overseas Chinese. There are some 40 million overseas Chinese, more overseas Chinese than there are Jews. It's not exactly comparable, but the overseas Chinese dominate the economies of Asia in the same way that Jews dominate the Middle Eastern economy--and the American economy for that matter. Millions of overseas Chinese have been killed in pogroms in Indonesia, for example. This ended up depleting the Indonesian economy for decades They imagined that the overseas Chinese were somehow stealing wealth instead of creating wealth. Wealth is created; it is not stolen.

You write that anti-Semitism withers in wealthy capitalist countries. But is that really true today?

We are slipping back into Socialism. The West is no longer so wealthy and our wealth does not distribute itself as thoroughly as in a free economy. We are socializing our economy in the name of climate change and other delusions that are inducing us to abandon capitalism. When we abandoned capitalism, people began to look for victims. They consider themselves victims and resent the wealthy. They start failing their Israel Test.

So it's not just because we're living post-October 7th?

That's right. Marxism is based on resentment of wealth. If you start resenting and tearing down wealth, you end up failing your Israel Test and bring about catastrophe. And that's our history.

One of the stories I like to tell is about World War II. It was won because the U.S. admitted Jews to lead the Manhattan Project and create the nuclear weapons that made the triumphs of the Western order possible. After the Second World War, democracy and capitalism were the fruit of the Manhattan Project, and the Manhattan Project was accomplished almost entirely by the Jewish scientists fleeing Europe.

John von Neumann is a great hero of the Israel Test. He was a pivotal figure both in the Manhattan Project and in the creation of the computer industry. He won his debate with Albert, Einstein and persuaded Israel to create a supercomputer and acquire nuclear power. Israel could not have survived without von Neumann's contributions. A Jew who fled Europe for the United States ultimately saved both Israel and The United States.

You mention the United States. Generally, antisemitism doesn't seem to be as large a problem here as it is in Europe. Why is that?

One of the reasons is that Europe accepted massive Muslim immigrants without requiring them to adopt the principles of a free society, and without requiring them to abandon their antisemitism. Europe got occupied. It's a terrible problem and it's why Trump's insight about immigration is so critical. You accept immigrants who accept the constitutional principles of your society, the key moral underpinnings of civilized society. An obsession with exterminating Jews is utterly inconsistent with the principles of any kind of free, civilized society. Europe accepted too many jihadists and it's changing their culture.

Eastern Europe is now becoming more prosperous than Western Europe because of this. It is not trivial. Eastern Europe refused Islamic migration and has managed to continue its capitalist prosperity. Poland is now one of the world's most creative and productive countries.

You write that Judaism perhaps more than any other religion favors capitalist activity and provides a rigorous moral framework for it. How so?

Capitalism is based on escape from materialism. It is based on the belief that human beings are created in the image of their Creator. These Judaic insights and principles help explain why Jews lead the world economy.

Is capitalism the escape from materialism? Some say capitalism is dependent on materialism.

No, it absolutely isn't. Many models imagine the economy is dominated by land, energy, resources, rare metals, or whatever claims they make. Actually, ideas are all the world has. As Thomas Sowell puts it, the Neanderthal in his cave had all the material resources that we have today The difference between our age and the Stone Age is entirely the triumph of intellect and ideas and the transcendence over our material bondage and our material entrapment.

What are Israel's biggest challenges in maintaining its economic growth?

Israel led the world in new venture capital in 2024. It grew its venture capital by 38% over 2024 while the U.S. expanded its venture capital, because of the advance of artificial intelligence and the transformative impact of AI on various industries. But even during this horrific war, Israel has expanded its economic leadership. That is why I say they are the leader of the West. They have to maintain their openness, creativity, and inventiveness. They can't retreat to the materialist superstition that wealth comes from the land. Israel demonstrates that wealth doesn't come from the land--it comes from the mind.

What would you like your readers to take away from The Israel Test, especially the younger readers, who may not be familiar with Israel's story?

They should understand that this is a world of abundance. They should be careful not to accept the materialist superstition that ends up resenting wealth by imagining wealth is something material that was stolen from them. And that's the crucial recognition.

We always face the Israel Test. We all have the propensity to envy people who excel us. We all feel that temptation. We must shun the material superstition and embrace the infinite possibilities of the human mind and creativity.

Buy EoZ's books on Amazon!

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher Sheikh Ikrima Sabri spoke at a conference in Istanbul on Tuesday, where he made the usual antisemitic and ahistorical statements denying any Jewish history or rights in Israel.

“The occupation is trying to prevent the call to prayer, especially at dawn and evening, under the pretext that it disturbs the settlers who came to Palestine as strangers. They tried to prevent the call to prayer several times and failed. The call to God is Great will remain until the Day of Judgment. Whoever is disturbed by the call to prayer should leave, but we are rooted in our land and we are clinging to our rights," Sabri said.

One wonders how the call to prayer ever happened before electricity.

Then again, Sabri seems to say, the Palestinian cause is much younger than electricity.

"The steadfastness of the people of Palestine is a steadfastness of faith, and if the conspiracies that befell Palestine had affected other countries, they would have become extinct, but the Palestinian cause has remained for 100 years, because Al-Aqsa is in the heart of Palestine."

100 years! Since 1925! Wow, such a long time!

If Jews praying in their holiest site disturbs Sabri, by his own logic perhaps he should leave.

But he must stay to fight the latest worldwide conspiracy to help Jews:

"All current conspiracies target Al-Aqsa, even the Deal of the Century, which the US President (elect Trump) is calling for, aims to control Al-Aqsa and hand it over to the Jews," the preacher stated.

Second Temple "Trumpeting Stone"

He then added a standard Palestinian lie: "In the excavations under and around Al-Aqsa, the (Israelis) did not find a single stone related to the (alleged) temple or ancient Hebrew history. The claim is false and has no evidence, but they use unjust force to control Al-Aqsa." (Notice that the Hamas newspaper added "alleged" in parentheses, to ensure that no one thinks that Sabri believes that there ever was a Temple.)

We learned another thing from him: “The occupation authorities are restricting the Turks coming to Al-Aqsa, especially during the Gaza war, but I say do not give up, and try again and again, because you have the determination and loyalty to Al-Aqsa.”

This sounded unusual enough to be worth researching. What apparently happened is that Turks wanted to cause problems at the Mount and Israeli police got wind of it. They asked those with Turkish passports why they wanted to enter, and if they said it was to pray they would ask them to recite prayers for them. The ones that couldn't pray, or couldn't answer that they went there to pray, appear to be the ones who were restricted, meaning they were potential troublemakers and not worshipers. (I would guess that they tried to enter at the specific times Jews are allowed to visit.)

At any rate, Palestinian antisemitism is alive, well and stronger than ever.

Buy EoZ's books on Amazon!

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

Amnesty International has proven its hypocrisy when it comes to Jews yet again, this time in Italy.

Amnesty Italy planned to present its "genocide report" at the Venetian Athenaeum last week under the title, “You Feel Like You Are Subhuman: The Genocide of Israel Against the Palestinian People in Gaza.”

The local Jewish community protested the title of the presentation, saying it was offensive and incited hate against Jews. It did not ask that the event be canceled.

However, the Athenaeum decided to cancel the event altogether, citing "public order."

Paolo Navarro Dina, vice president of the Jewish Community of Venice. explained, “The flyer Amnesty distributed mentioned the word ‘genocide,’ which trivializes our history. So, as the Jewish community, we asked the Venetian Athenaeum to opt for a different term, without opposing the event per se, We criticized the mention of genocide, but we had no intention of censoring or canceling the event. This was the Athenaeum’s decision, not ours, but the way it was handled suggested otherwise.”

Amnesty quickly found another venue at a university and presented the program on the original date, although the university removed the word "genocide" from its promotional materials.

Amnesty Italy's spokesperson, Riccardo Noury, says his organization is an advocate of free speech. He spoke in October about the right to protest and peaceful demonstration. But that right apparently does not extend to Jews.

“Antisemitism is a violation of human rights. It is unacceptable to accuse an organization like ours, which defends human rights, of being antisemitic,” Noury said.

Unacceptable? Whatever happened to the right of peaceful protest?

Publicly calling for a global intifada is human rights, saying one should destroy Israel "by any means necessary" is all great, but mentioning Amnesty's history of double standards towards Israel isn't? Pointing out that Amnesty's misuse of the term "genocide" in a report where the conclusion was decided before the "research" was done is unacceptable?

Noury added, “After nine months of investigation, we concluded that Israel committed three acts of genocide, as defined by the 1948 Convention. This was not a term we used lightly."

Except that Amnesty admits that it used an expansive definition of genocide just for this report, one not supported by the ICJ. That sounds like they used the term very lightly - and the expanded definition is applied only to the Jewish state.

When the Athenaeum canceled the original event, Noury said, “We deeply regret not having been able to present" their report "in the most important and ancient cultural institution in Venice." But have they ever presented any other report on any other topic in this most important institution? I cannot find a single mention of the Ateneo Veneto in the Amnesty Italy site besides this planned event. If Amnesty treats all cases of perceived human rights violations equally, why does it massively promote its anti-Israel events so much more than any other?

The Jewish community's concerns about antisemitism as a result of this incident were fully realized.

Following the controversy, the Jewish community reported receiving hate mail and threats, escalating tensions.

“We are facing hate unfairly and have received several letters. These people are not even anonymous—they write their full names – so we are still checking who they are,” Navarro Dina said.

Messages ranged from accusations of political manipulation to more serious threats.

“Some letters accused us of controlling political and economic power to silence counter-narratives, while others contained statements like, ‘You will end up in hell and be finally condemned,’” Navarro Dina revealed.

The people threatening Jews represents Amnesty's target audience. That's why it books large venues for its anti-Israel reports. Everyone knows it, and everyone denies it.

“There’s an epidemic of anger and division today, for sure, and we condemn any form of hate towards anyone. But equating our work with antisemitism undermines our pursuit of justice,” Noury said.

Those meddlesome Jews, complaining about being threatened by thugs who Amnesty fully supports. It is really unacceptable.

Buy EoZ's books on Amazon!

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

This is not Los Angeles. It is Kiryat Shmona, Israel, last June.

We've all seen and been astonished at the size and ferocity of the wildfires in the Los Angeles area this month. As of January 15, the devastating California wildfires have destroyed 40,300 acres of land.

That is less than one third the amount of land destroyed by fires set by Hezbollah and Hamas rocket fire last year.

Last Thursday, Israel’s National Public Diplomacy Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office released a summary report on attacks on Israel during the year. Among the horrific statistics on deaths, injuries and an astonishing 18,000 separate attacks counted we see the amount of devastation from fires.

Approximately 15,400 rockets were fired from Lebanon and crossed into Israel.
Approximately 700 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip and crossed into Israel.

As a result of rocket fire and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs):

610 fires were started due to rocket fire and UAVs [nearly two a day- EoZ]

As a result of the war, approximately 92,417 acres of land were burned in areas of the Nature and Parks Authority, of which 55,104 acres were in the northern part of the country.

More than 42,749 acres of agricultural land were completely burned.
More than 370 acres of crops were burned throughout northern Israel.

That adds up to over 135,000 acres burned in Israel - more than triple the amount destroyed in California at this time.

You might think it is unfair to compare the Los Angeles metropolitan area with the entire country of Israel. You would be right, but not in the direction you may think. Because the Greater Los Angeles area is nearly 34,000 square miles - and all of Israel including the West Bank and Gaza, is only 10,600 square miles.

Yes, Israel saw triple the amount of fire devastation in one third the total area. (Yes I know it was in the course of a year and not a week, but the lack of news coverage is still unconscionable.)

Israel haters have to bizarrely equate Israeli actions with the California wildfires, like they try to hijack all news stories against Israel. Yet the real analogy is to the 135,000 acres burned by terrorists in Israel.

Zionists like to use the catchy phrase "no Jews, no news" to say that when Jews cannot be blamed for awful things worldwide, coverage is scant. But here we see that it is not precise. Because victim Jews are no news, either.

(h/t Irene)

Buy EoZ's books on Amazon!

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

01/15 Links Pt2: How the Left Has Come to Excuse and Embrace Political Violence; Global Anti-Semitism’s Leading Lady; Virtucrats on Parade

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: Pardoning the Universities

CUNY, a public system of 25 schools with one of the worst anti-Semitism problems in the country, was ordered to remedy its sins by: investigating Jewish and Arab/Muslim complaints, telling the Education Department what CUNY found and what they’re doing about it, and training employees in nondiscrimination.

In other words, practically nothing.

Has that changed since last year? Not at all. A couple weeks ago, Rutgers University (my alma mater) followed the same path. Pro-Hamas mobs on campus threatened Jewish students and called for violence against Jews worldwide, but the school “admitted” it failed both Jewish and Palestinian students, because academia refuses to address anti-Semitism without saying “and Islamophobia.”

Rutgers, a state school with one of the largest populations of Jewish students in the country, was directed to make amends by: reviewing its policies, stating it won’t tolerate discrimination, providing training, etc. etc.

Can more be done? Mark Yudof, former president of the University of California system, told Jewish Insider that federal funding cuts should be on the table. Trump himself threatened colleges with the possibility of losing accreditation, should they ignore calls to clean up their acts.

A Trump Office of Civil Rights should also make clear that taking anti-Semitism seriously means being capable of addressing it without legitimizing the standard anti-Zionist response. The playbook is as follows: Jewish students make a civil-rights complaint and Arab/Muslim students treat that civil-rights complaint as a violation of their own civil rights. This makes a mockery of the entire concept of civil-rights protections in public institutions. It is, in fact, intended to do nothing more than torpedo the application of civil-rights law to Jews. The Hamas fanboys on campus and their supporters believe that the purpose of having a civil-rights regime is to make sure it is two-tiered.

Universities love this trick, but they are probably correct in assuming that just because Biden fell for it doesn’t mean future presidents will. Which is why they’re rushing to deliver the fatal blows to Title VI while they still can.

Noah Rothman: A Clockwork Blue: How the Left Has Come to Excuse Away and Embrace Political Violence

This intellectual environment is profoundly redolent of the one in which the violent radicals of the late 1960s and early 1970s were steeped. Terrorist groups like Weather Underground, the FALN, and the Black and Symbionese Liberation Armies—organizations that engaged in targeted assassinations and thousands of domestic bombings from the late 1960s through the late 1970s—immersed their members in revolutionary literature to help their followers think of actual people as abstractions, the better to disengage their emotions from the maiming and killing they were pursuing.

In his chronicle of the Students for a Democratic Society and its devolution into a variety of factions, Kirkpatrick Sale identified the psychological predisposition that had radicalized so many of the SDS members. “There was a primary sense, begun by no more than a reading of the morning papers and developed through the new perspectives and new analyses available to the Movement now, that the evils in America were the evils of America, inextricably a part of the total system,” he wrote. “Clearly, something drastic would be necessary to eradicate those evils and alter that system.”

This explanation is as true of today’s left as it was of the left when it was written in 1973. Just as 1960s and 1970s liberals came to echo revolutionary rhetoric that contributed to the foul atmosphere in the country rather than looking to stem the passions and cool the national temperature, so too do today’s liberals make common cause with those who believe the American system is delegitimizing itself.

If one makes a careful survey of the progressive press, there isn’t much about America in 2025 that is still worth preserving—least of all, its legal structure. In the progressive view, the courts are hopelessly corrupt, and the rot goes all the way up to the top. “The Supreme Court has now allowed Trump to carry out this agenda in a second term through literally criminal methods of repression so long as he calls them ‘official acts,’” yelped Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris speaks in 2021 after Derek Chauvin was found guilty for George Floyd’s death. (Photo by Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)

Even when the courts function in ways progressives like, as they did when George Floyd’s killer was convicted, they are still viewed as tools of a corrupt system. “America has a long history of systemic racism,” Kamala Harris said in response to the conviction of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Joe Biden similarly used the occasion not to speak of justice being served but of the injustice the original crime supposedly represented. “The systemic racism is a stain on our nation’s soul,” he concurred. “The knee on the neck of justice for black Americans.” What is this but a leftward echo of the idea expressed by Donald Trump in 2015 and 2016 that America is “rigged”? Taking measures into your own hands under such conditions is a rational response.

After all this, it surely does not come as a surprise that Americans are growing increasingly comfortable with political violence, at least in theory. A 2017 poll by UCLA’s John Villasenor found that nearly one-fifth of the students he surveyed said violence was acceptable as a form of protest against speakers with whom they disagreed. By the fall of 2022, the William F. Buckley Jr. Program at Yale found more than 41 percent of students believed that physical violence to prevent the articulation of dangerous ideas is justified. In 2024, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression revealed that one-third of the 50,000 college students it surveyed believed violence might be an acceptable response to nonviolent behaviors—even if those polled would prefer that someone else take on the associated risks.

This outlook is migrating off America’s campuses and into the whole of society. A third of respondents in a 2021 Washington Post poll said violent action against the government could be justified, up from just 1 in 10 in the 1990s. A University of Chicago survey in 2024 found that 10 percent of respondents agreed that “violence is justified” to “prevent Trump from becoming president.” Does the percentage sound small? Fine, but it represents some 26 million Americans.

While the argument over the past 25 years in the mainstream media has been that political violence is primarily a threat from the right, the history I have laid out here suggests something very different. We’ve been lucky that no single act has set off a truly cataclysmic chain reaction, but the potential for a spiraling cascade of vengeance and reprisals is ever present. And one day soon—unless we grow sick of the sight of blood or become revolted by the thought of an America descending into actual political carnage, and unless the left is willing to take a long and hard look in the mirror—our luck will run out.

Documentary exposes campus protests and hateful vitriol for what they are

I recently attended a screening of “October H8TE,” a documentary film by director and executive producer Wendy Sachs, which was followed by a question-and-answer session. Later, I had a one-on-one conversation with executive producer Debra Messing, in addition to a student featured in the film.

Unlike some of the other films about the Hamas-led terrorist attacks and atrocities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were massacred and 251 others kidnapped and dragged into the Gaza Strip, this documentary focuses on the wave of Jew-hatred that has spiraled upward in America since Oct. 8.

The film starts and ends in Israel, but the story is told through an American lens. “I am an American Jew,” says Sachs, the filmmaker and mother of a college student. “So, I’m telling it through my experience and what’s happening here in America.”

“This is not a film about the Republican Party or the Democratic Party,” says Sachs. “But at the same time—what is shocking to me, and, I think, to many of us—is what is happening in the progressive left of the Democratic Party—the not just refusal to call out the antisemitism but a hostility toward Israel and even the term ‘Zionism’.”

Anti-Israel bias and loathing have become rampant on many campuses. Clips of angry student protests with their calls for Israel’s destruction weave throughout the film. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, a recent Harvard-Harris poll found that 52% of Generation Z, those between the ages of 18 and 24, said they side more with Hamas than Israel.

I asked Messing, who appears in the film, what she would say to them.

“I would say you’re sympathizing with terrorists,” she told me. “Then I would ask: What kind of civilization do you want? One in which women can’t show their hair, speak in public, sing, learn? Where gay people are hung in the town square or pushed off buildings to their deaths? Where there is no freedom of speech, no freedom of religion, no freedom of movement? If this is not what you want, then you have to stop marching with people carrying Hamas, Hezbollah and ISIS flags.”

01/15 Links Pt1: Israel-Hamas Reach Second Ceasefire and Hostage Deal After 15 Months of War; Trump and Israelis may regret the hostage deal he wanted … and got

From Ian:

FDD: ‘Hamas Finally Agreed’: Israel-Hamas Reach Second Ceasefire and Hostage Deal After 15 Months of War

Latest Developments
Hostage Deal Finalized: President Joe Biden announced on January 15 that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a finalized ceasefire deal that would see the release of some Israeli hostages in exchange for significantly more Palestinian prisoners. During a televised speech, Biden said that the deal was a result of U.S. and Israeli pressure on Hamas. “After more than 15 months of war, Hamas’s senior leaders are dead, thousands of Hamas fighters are dead, and their military formations have been destroyed,” Biden said. “With nowhere to turn, Hamas finally agreed to releasing hostages.” The deal is still subject to a vote by Israel’s security cabinet, expected to occur on January 16. Hamas fighters flooded the streets of Gaza in celebration ahead of the deal’s implementation, which Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said would start on January 19.

Three Stages of the Deal: The agreement includes three phases. The first would see Hamas release 33 hostages, all women, children, and men over 50. In return, Israel would release 100 Palestinian prisoners with life sentences from Israeli jails, 1,000 other Palestinian prisoners, and an additional unspecified number of prisoners that would be released abroad or in Gaza. The second phase would include the release of the remaining living hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. The return of remaining hostage bodies and reconstruction plans for the Gaza Strip are expected to be negotiated as part of the third phase.

Biden and Trump Welcome Development: The agreement was based on a plan introduced by Biden in May, but incoming Trump administration Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff actively worked to push the agreement through. President-elect Donald Trump said that his administration would work with Israel to ensure that “Gaza never becomes a terrorist safe haven” again, adding that the ceasefire would help build upon the Abraham Accords deal brokered during his first term between Israel, Bahrain, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates.

FDD Expert Response
“Israel has not promised to end military operations, and the incoming U.S. president strongly supports Hamas’s destruction. Bringing the hostages home is urgent for the soul of the country and must be done ahead of any future operations.” — Mark Dubowitz, CEO

“Biden is right that Israeli military operations played an important role in finally reaching this point. It is a valuable reminder regarding the role of military power in strengthening leverage in negotiations. We might have reached this point sooner if Biden had spent more time imposing consequences on Hamas for refusing to release the hostages, less time slow-rolling weapons to Israel, and less time publicly criticizing our best ally in the Middle East as it confronted our common enemies.” — Bradley Bowman, Senior Director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power

“The deal is flawed. Jerusalem made major concessions to get their citizens back, and it will be divisive in Israel. Nevertheless, every Israeli will also breathe a sigh of release to see hostages come home alive, many of whom — especially the women and the children — have become familiar names and faces to millions of Israelis.” — Enia Krivine, Senior Director of FDD’s Israel Program and National Security Network

“By agreeing to a ceasefire deal, Israel is making significant strides toward one of its primary wartime objectives: securing the release of hostages who have been held captive for more than 15 months. However, this progress comes at a considerable cost. Israel faces the difficult decision of releasing members of terrorist organizations and individuals convicted of violent acts. Furthermore, without a comprehensive strategy, Hamas and its allies in the Gaza Strip will regroup, perpetuating a cycle of violence that could emerge once again in the future.” — Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst and Editor at FDD’s Long War Journal

Jonathan Tobin: Trump and Israelis may regret the hostage deal he wanted … and got

Falling short of his goal
First of all, the reported terms that Witcoff pushed on Netanyahu and Hamas, and its allies, fall far short of what Trump demanded. All of the hostages are not being released by Jan. 20.

During the first phase of the agreement, only 23 of the remaining women, children, elderly and severely ill who are alive are to be released in exchange for about 1,000 Palestinian terrorists. In addition, Israel will partially withdraw from Gaza while being obligated to facilitate the entry of more humanitarian aid into the Strip, though it is far from clear that most of it won’t again be stolen by Hamas or other Palestinian criminals rather than going to civilians. The remaining approximately 60 hostages, who may or may not be still alive, will only be released if a second-stage deal for a permanent end to the fighting can be negotiated with the bodies of others still in Hamas’s possession and will only be handed over during a theoretical third phase.

What price will Hamas try to exact for going along with a second or third phase? It will almost certainly be a demand for a return to the status quo ante of Oct. 6, 2023, when the Islamist group governed Gaza as an independent Palestinian state in all but name.

Anyone who thinks this won’t correlate to the terrorists rearming and reorganizing their military forces, which were destroyed during the war, is dreaming. And that will ensure a future in which Israelis will be expected to return to a steady diet of rocket and missile barrages from Gaza, as well as an ever-present threat of cross-border terrorist attacks. In other words, all of the sacrifices of blood and treasure Israel made to ensure that Hamas can never repeat the atrocities of Oct. 7 will have been for naught.

This would not only be a tragedy for Israel. It would put Trump in a position where he will have to choose, as Biden did, between full-throated support for the inevitable Israeli counter-attacks into Gaza to once again try to eradicate Hamas and a policy of pressuring Jerusalem to simply endure the pain of terrorism as their due.

The rhetoric coming out of the Trump team, such as U.S. Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth, about support for Israeli efforts to stamp out Hamas and other Iranian-funded terrorists, is encouraging. And it’s probably fair to assume that Witcoff has assured the Israelis that Trump will have their back if, as is likely, Hamas’s intransigence derails the second phase of the agreement. But if the Trump team believes in a policy that opposes handing Gaza back to Hamas (and there’s no reason to doubt it), why have Trump and Witcoff pushed for a ceasefire that will lead to just such an outcome? Wouldn’t Israel and the United States be better off avoiding doing anything to re-empower Hamas?

A Biden-like blunder?
There may indeed be a ceasefire in Gaza on Jan. 20. Still, Trump needs to understand that the price he is asking Israel to pay for freeing only some of the hostages will hand Hamas and Iran an undeserved victory. There is no denying that this is how the Palestinians and much of the world will perceive this deal. In doing so, Trump is making it more than likely that another round of vicious fighting in the Strip, during which more Israelis and Palestinians will die, will soon follow. Along with that come more decisions where the president will be forced to choose between letting Iran off the hook for its behavior and armed conflicts possibly involving U.S. forces.

This is exactly the sort of mistake that Biden made time and again, as well as the sort of strategic blunder Trump avoided in his first term.

There is much for friends of Israel and those who are deeply troubled by the surge in American antisemitism that took place during the Biden presidency to look forward to once the new administration takes over. And there is every reason to believe that Trump’s first day in office will see him signing executive orders that will begin the effort to end the reign of woke diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) racial discrimination and the “progressive” war on the West that is inextricably tied to Jew-hatred. But by starting his second term with a deal that is a gift to Hamas and Iran, he will be setting himself up for new problems because of an unforced error that Americans and Israelis may have to pay for in blood.

Richard Kemp: If Hamas accepts a ceasefire, it won’t be because of Biden

What is more, a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, if it does occur, may not turn out to be exactly what it seems to the man in the Oval Office for the next few days. In fact, it is likely to be one part of a wider strategy for the Middle East already agreed between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Trump. That plan will have several far-reaching elements but a primary objective is undoubtedly to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme, which represents an existential danger to Israel and threatens the Middle East and the world. It looks unlikely that Trump would send in US forces for this mission, but that isn’t strictly necessary. What is needed is for the US to give Israel the military assistance and diplomatic cover it requires, which Biden refused to do.

There has never before been a better time to eliminate this threat. And doing so could also lead to the demise of the ayatollahs’ regime with its regional and world-wide violent aggression. Israel has largely neutralised both Iran and Syria’s air defences, clearing the way for a major strike against Tehran’s nuclear installations. Another significant obstacle to such an operation was Hezbollah, whose vast armoury of missiles in Lebanon existed to deter and if necessary launch a counter-strike against the Israeli population in the event of an attack on Iran’s nuclear programme. Hezbollah’s offensive capability has now also been largely neutralised by Israel’s masterful decapitation of its leadership and devastating assaults against missiles and launch sites.

This is where the potential Gaza ceasefire comes into play. Israel has been working to free the remaining hostages for the last 15 months as a principal war aim. But despite its best efforts, ninety-four of them remain captive, some of whom are still alive. There is every probability that Hamas might murder the hostages in retaliation for a major attack on its sponsors in Tehran. It would therefore be desirable to get as many as possible out before that. There is another consideration also. Although Israel could launch an attack on Iran while continuing to fight in Gaza, there may be advantages in the proposed three-month cessation that could release important military assets.

It is therefore paradoxical that Biden’s pressure for a ceasefire might end up working against his rigid determination to prevent Israel attacking the Iranian nuclear programme. Such a move would have run counter to his four year long appeasement of the ayatollahs aimed at resurrecting Obama’s dangerously flawed nuclear deal which Trump did away with. Thankfully in this case, that has been yet another Biden foreign policy failure.

Daniel Greenfield: The Hamas Surrender Deal Sets Up Trump to Fail

Let’s be clear about two things
1. The Hamas Surrender Deal is the same deal the Biden administration has been pushing all along which consists of Israel giving Hamas everything it wants in exchange for the release of living or dead hostages.

The final terms haven’t yet been made public, but a leaked draft calls for exchanging live terrorists for dead hostages, an Israeli withdrawal, and Qatar being allowed to ‘reconstruct’ Gaza. Attempts to ‘sell’ the deal hinge on such details as whether Israel will be able to go back into Gaza which will be subject to interpretation. Based on past history, the interpretation that will be followed is the one that forces an end to the fighting.

2. The Hamas Surrender Deal puts the Trump administration in charge of then enacting and managing a policy crafted by the Biden administration and Qatar. The consequences when it inevitably falls apart will be on Trump.

Only so much can be known from outside, but Steve Witkoff appears to have been taken for a ride by longtime pros like Secretary of State Blinken and Brett McGurk and is enjoying the flattering media stories about him ‘intimidating’ and ‘cursing out’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Witkoff is being taken for a ride and the Trump administration is being taken for a ride with him. He didn’t succeed, he failed miserably at extracting meaningful concessions from Hamas, and went right back to Biden’s policy of pressuring Israel. Instead of delivering a win for Trump, he delivered one for Biden.

Instead of crafting its own foreign policy, the Trump administration is being stuck with Biden’s policy of pandering to Islamic terrorists.

And that’s a disaster not only for Israel. but for America.

Ceasefire Dilemma: Sacrificing the Second Objective in Israel’s War Against Hamas (Judean Rose)

Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

How many times have you heard someone say it—perhaps even said it to yourself, “The war would be over if Hamas released the hostages.”

The fact is, however, that from the very beginning, Israel had two objectives to the war. Certainly getting back our hostages was one of those objectives. The other was to end Hamas. Permanently. And all others who threaten Israel, as well.

This has been stated repeatedly, and from the very beginning of the war, by Israel’s embattled prime minister. I use the word "embattled" advisedly—the war has taken an obvious toll on Bibi, he’s gray, he’s shrunk, and the skin hangs loose from his neck—prime minister [emphasis added]:

Oct 25 2023

Prime Minister’s office, statement by PM:

"Citizens of Israel,

We are in the midst of a campaign for our existence. We have set two goals for this war: To eliminate Hamas by destroying its military and governing abilities, and to do everything possible to bring our captives home. All Hamas terrorists are dead men walking – above ground, below ground, outside Gaza.

As the voices grew louder against Israel and the Jews, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an explainer. Not that these ever do any good or change minds. People who hate Jews especially hate it when Israel tries to explain itself. Nonetheless, the explainer tells the reader that Israel has TWO goals. 1) Freeing our captives from a hell they cannot survive, and 2) ENDING Hamas [emphasis added]:

Dec. 15, 2023

The War Against Hamas: Answering Your Most Pressing Questions

In light of Hamas’s heinous attacks on October 7, its incessant attacks on Israel since then, and its stated aim to pursue the destruction of Israel and death of its citizens (see, for example, here), Israel has been compelled to set as its goals both the release of hostages and the dismantling of Hamas’s military capabilities. . .

The explainer goes on in question and answer form, with the response to the seventh question, a repetition of the same two war objectives. In other words, no. The war would not end if the hostages were released. It would continue until Hamas is writhing in the flames of a hell-hot eternity. So, yeah. Two objectives [emphasis added]:

7. What is Israel’s response to the charge its actions against Hamas amount to collective punishment of the civilian population?

Israel’s operations are aimed against Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and are undertaken in order to neutralize the threat posed by them and secure the release of the hostages.

Now the explainer goes into greater detail here, as to the whys and wherefores, as it does throughout, but here, too, is that same double objective. Notice that the two objectives are never referenced in a particular order. From official statement to official statement, the order changes. I am certain that this is no accident, but done by way of asserting that both objectives are equally important, both releasing the hostages, and incinerating Hamas [emphasis added]:

The threat posed by Hamas is grave and imminent, as Hamas operates from territory that borders with Israel, seeks to conduct serious attacks inside Israel (as it did on October 7), continues to attack Israel daily (including by rocket fire that covers most of Israel’s territory), holds infants, children, women and men as hostages (without any outside communication and under the threat of execution, which has been materialized), and explicitly states its intention to keep attacking Israel until it is destroyed. As such, Israel’s goal of removing Hamas’s military capabilities and securing the release of the hostages is proportionate to the threat, and the force that Israel is using is the only feasible means available to neutralize the ongoing attacks and imminent threat of additional attacks.

Further down, the message is repeated, and it is a dual message. We will settle for no less than BOTH our objectives. [emphasis added]:

The military advantages that the IDF is seeking include destroying enemy military assets, targeting militants, degrading and denying enemy ability to command and control operations, neutralizing underground tunnels and infrastructure used for military purposes, and denying positions which endanger IDF ground forces (such as sniper, anti-tank and surveillance posts), all of which contribute to the overall objective of securing the release of the hostages and removing Hamas’s capability to further attack Israel and its citizens.

Less than a week after the explainer came out, a rather mild-in-tone CNN piece dutifully trotted out Israel’s two war objectives, even lauding Israel as “beyond reproach.” But of course, that was early on, when no one thought the war would last so long. Before the horrible Biden-Harris administration slow-walked arms to Israel, at the same time showering Iran with cash. And before the Biden-Harris-Obama-Clinton-Soros-What Have You administration forced Israel to give massive amounts of aid to the people of Gaza—aid that is invariably stolen by Hamas and sold at exorbitant prices to the people of Gaza, who voted for Hamas, and cheered and spat and mauled the hostages, who came en masse to abuse and rape and kill Israelis, a veritable house that Jack built [emphasis added]:

December 20, 2023

From the United Nations to NGOs and even influencers, critics of the way Israel is waging war against Hamas in Gaza are not in short supply; even US President Joe Biden has decried its “indiscriminate bombing.” But if there’s one area where Israel is arguably beyond reproach, it’s in the consistency of its stated war aims:

• Destroy Hamas so it can’t fulfil its goal of repeating the October 7 massacre.
• Bring back the remaining hostages held by Hamas.

Here in Israel, meanwhile, even the left agrees that there are two goals in this war that began when Hamas broke its ceasefire with Israel and brutally slaughtered, raped, and kidnapped more than a thousand Jews. (The things they did. No one had ever seen these things before. They are not human. Some kind of beastly creature from hell, set loose on earth.) Therefore, Hamas must be eliminated from this earth. Israel will not stop until this happens and until all the hostages are free. Both objectives. BOTH objectives.

The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) is peopled with leftists like former justice Dorit Beinish, failed politicians like Tzipi Livni, and leftist Tel Aviv University academics. This think tank collected its own data on Israeli public support for the goals of the war, identifying them as dual in nature. They found a consistent pattern of solidarity among the people of Israel, behind the two objectives of the war. That said, there is way too much stress here on eradicating Hamas, in favor of releasing the hostages, which gets barely a mention—only twice on a nice-sized page: [emphasis added]:

January 10, 2024,

The goals of Israel’s war against Hamas, as presented by the government to the public in multiple formats, are toppling the terrorist organization’s rule in the Gaza Strip, destroying its military and governmental capabilities, lifting the threat of terror that Gaza has posed to Israel for years, and releasing the hostages. The level of public support for these goals could be an important indication of the level of solidarity among the Israeli public. This issue has been examined through weekly surveys conducted since the start of the war by the Data Analytics Desk at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), in conjunction with the Rafi Smith Institute.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has on many occasions stated the twin objectives of this war. And when it comes from him, it’s official [emphasis added]:

Jan 18 2024

Israel under my leadership will not compromise on less than total victory over Hamas, and we will win. I say this again, so that no one will be in doubt: We are striving for total victory, not just 'to strike Hamas' or 'to hurt Hamas', not 'another round with Hamas' but total victory over Hamas.

We will continue to fight will [sic] full force until we achieve all of our goals: Returning our hostages, and I say – only continued military pressure will lead to their release, eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel, that there will be no element in it that educates for terrorism, finances terrorism and sends terrorists against us.

In March, too, that double war objective was on full display when the AFP described a by now, par for the course conversation between Netanyahu and Joe Biden, with the latter yelling at Bibi in his old man’s yell, to not just cease fire immediately, but give more aid to Gaza, MORE aid, and by the way, release thousands of bloody-handed terrorists from Israeli jails (while slow-walking arms to Israel, and giving money to Iran).

Here, the same two goals are mentioned, but notably, Bibi is threatening still a third objective, thus increasing the pressure. Making Hamas SWEAT. (Feh.) Letting Hamas know that what is coming to them is far more comprehensive, the coup de grâce to a dying, monstrous beast that preys on Jews for sport.

For all that the AFP is notorious for getting in the way of the truth, for once they manage to accurately quote Netanyahu in regard to Israel’s objectives in the war taking place in the Gazasphere™. Note the addition of the third objective which is only the first in veiled disguise, for all of Gaza is Hamas, and much of the world is, as well [emphasis added]:

March 18, 2024

Israel is committed to achieving all its war aims against Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden in a Monday call as Israel faces international pressure to ease its operations in Gaza.

In their first call in more than a month, with Biden increasingly vocal about the war's impact on civilians, Netanyahu reiterated "Israel's commitment to achieving all of the war's objectives," the Israeli leader said in a statement.

Netanyahu cited the objectives as eliminating Hamas, release of all the hostages and "ensuring that Gaza will never present a threat to Israel."

The war dragged on, Netanyahu not budging from his stated desire of achieving not one but two objectives in the endless battles forced upon it by Hamas et al. It’s like being raped by war, a country invaded by this unwanted thing. But Israel will not give up and go away without achieving its twin objectives: getting the hostages out, ending Hamas [emphasis added]:

May 7, 2024

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Statement by the PM Netanyahu
"Last night, with the consent of the War Cabinet, I directed [that the IDF] act in Rafah. They raised Israeli flags at the Rafah Crossing and took down the Hamas flags.
The entry into Rafah serves two of the main objectives of the war: Returning our hostages and eliminating Hamas.

The same two objectives were mentioned in a Time Magazine interview of Netanyahu ten months into the war. Time was notably critical in its portrayal of Israel’s conduct in the wake of October 7. There seems to be stress on one of the two official objectives here: destroying Hamas. But that is only because Netanyahu is responding to Joe Biden.

Simply put, Bibi is making sure Biden doesn’t put words in Israel’s mouth. So here it is, a clarification. No, Joe. That’s not what we want. We don’t only want to hobble Hamas. We want Hamas dead and buried [emphasis added]:

August 8, 2024

Earlier this year, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken flew to Tel Aviv to meet Israeli officials in the Kirya, the towering office complex from which the Prime Minister and his Cabinet were conducting the war. Israel’s bombardment of Gaza had already caused an estimated 30,000 deaths, a count by the Hamas-led Health Ministry that doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians, but is accepted by the U.N. and the White House. Nearly 2 million Palestinians had been displaced. It was a humanitarian catastrophe inflaming the world, and Blinken’s message to Netanyahu was simple: Wind down the war, you have achieved your objective, Hamas can no longer carry out another Oct. 7.

“That’s not our objective,” Netanyahu replied, according to a source familiar with the exchange. “Our objective is to completely destroy Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.”

Israel reached the one year mark, yet the war continued. A year had now passed since that black, black, black Sabbath. Time had stretched too far, the theater and purpose of war widening as it had always been destined to do. Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke to the people of Israel, attempting to coax them to hold out hope for complete victory [emphasis added]:

November 26, 2024

Citizens of Israel,

I promised you victory, and we will achieve victory.

We will complete the task of obliterating Hamas, we will bring home all of our hostages, we will ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel and we will return the residents of the north back home safely.

The war will not end until we realize all its goals, including the return of the residents of the north safely home.

The truth is, it had never been true that Israel had only one objective to this war. Which is why I protested after a generally intelligent friend repeated on social media the fallacy of a single goal, the release of the hostages. My friend texted me in private. “You’re right. But they don’t need to know that.”

“Ah,” I said. “I see,” and I did, but I think it’s a mistake. I believe that Israel must assert its voice loud and clear. That this is what we want, and we will stop at nothing less.

And yet, as I write this, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has announced this evening that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a three-stage deal to release the 98 remaining hostages held in Gaza.

Is it true? As of 10:31 PM Israel time, there's no statement from Bibi. But if it is real, will the other objective of ridding the world of Hamas fall by the wayside? It sounds as though we are on the brink of doing something very wrong.

It would have been better to stall a bit longer, at least until January 20^th, which until now, all of us had made reference to, repeatedly, as in “January 20^th can’t come soon enough.”

And indeed, it hasn't. But as we all know, it ain't over till the fat lady sings.

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Good news from the Israel-haters

Sometimes, good news arrives in ugly packages.

Here is the first line of an "action" email I received from a BDS group:

We have to be honest with you: congressional staffers tell us that calls opposing arming Israel have dropped to their lowest levels, with anti-Palestinian voices now outnumbering us 100 to 1.

"Anti-Palestinian voices" is how they say "pro-Israel voices."

Now, this could all be a lie, meant to energize the antisemites into action. But assuming they are telling the truth to each other, it means that all of their "victories" that they trumpet are an illusion to make themselves feel more powerful and important than they are.

Either way, the proper response is to call or email your local senator and member of Congress to make sure that they continue to support Israel.

Do it every week.

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Artificial cornea, slowing aging, "Iron Dome" for wildfires - Israel saving the world again and again

Here are just a few recent stories of incredible Israeli innovations.

From Times of Israel:

Pioneering scientist Michal Schwartz of the Weizmann Institute says that she and her team of researchers are close to developing a groundbreaking immunotherapy treatment that could help boost the immune system — and slow the aging process.

The research appeared in the peer-reviewed journal Neuron.

Schwartz, a 2023 Israel Prize recipient, was the first to discover that the brain is highly dependent on the immune system for its lifelong maintenance and function. She has spent the last 27 years studying the connection between the immune system and the aging brain.

Her international team of researchers now believes that an intervention to boost the immune system could potentially slow or even halt the aging of the brain as well as the body.

Also from TOI:

Founded in 2024 by CEO Benjamini and Dr. Adi Naor Pomerantz, FireDome is developing a wildfire defense system, modeled after the Iron Dome, that pairs defense tactics and AI technology. Designed to detect and suppress fires, the autonomous patent-pending system is geared to provide two layers of protection.

In response to an alert by the fire department that a wildfire is approaching an area, first, a mechanical stationary launcher releases capsules similar to projectiles that open before impact to disperse eco-friendly fire-retardant to create a protective barrier and block the path of encroaching wildfires. Second, an AI-powered system leveraging computer vision and sensor technology detects and extinguishes spot fires caused by airborne embers that bypass the primary barrier.

Also (AI summary of this article):

Israeli company CorNeat Vision has developed an artificial cornea that could help address the global shortage of cornea donors. Currently, there's only one donor cornea available for every 70 needed, with about two million new cases of corneal blindness reported each year.

The key innovation is their CorNeat KPro, which uses a special synthetic nano-fabric that mimics the eye's natural tissue structure. Unlike previous artificial corneas, this one doesn't require any donor tissue and can be implanted through a relatively simple 45-minute surgery. The device simply snaps into place and is sutured to the eye.
What makes this particularly promising is:

Patients can see normally right after the surgery
It heals faster than alternatives because it integrates with the conjunctiva (the white part of the eye), which heals better than the cornea
It allows doctors to perform future eye procedures if needed without removing the device
The artificial material is designed to be long-lasting and won't degrade over time

The company is planning clinical trials in several countries, including Israel, Canada, the Netherlands, and France.
This development could provide hope for millions of people suffering from corneal blindness who currently face long waiting times for donor corneas.

One clinical paper I found said that the first patient in 2022 achieved to 20/320 vision, which is legally blind in many contexts but is a great deal better than total corneal blindness. I imagine things are improving now.

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Is the hostage deal worth it? So far it looks disastrous

13 years ago, as the Gilad Shalit deal was close to being finalized, I wrote that I was conditionally supportive of the deal. As I wrote then:

I'm seeing a number of people in the comments, on Twitter and on groups I follow who are against the Shalit deal if it means that hundreds of murderers are freed in exchange.

The argument has two components.

One is that they are likely to kill Israelis in the future - as we have seen happen in the past, many times. And families of victims of the murderers are understandably upset at the thought that the monster will go free.

The other argument is that these one-sided swaps encourage terror groups to kidnap more people to facilitate more swaps.

I am sympathetic to these arguments. I've even made these arguments. And from a utilitarian perspective, they make a great deal of sense - one person's life is not worth the lives of many possible future victims.

However, there is a flaw in this logic, one that to me can tip the scales towards supporting the swap.

The fact is that the terror groups are already filled with people who would kill Israelis at every opportunity. The fact is that these groups already have a strategy of kidnapping any Israelis they can. With a few exceptions, most of the prisoners are not the brains behind successful terror attacks - they were just facilitators, people who are interchangeable with hundreds and thousands of other members of Hamas and Fatah and Islamic Jihad.

The reason that there have been relatively few terror attacks over the past few years isn't because of a lack of trying - it is because Israel is better at defending herself. The number of potential terrorists has remained steady at best, and the ones being released would not change that appreciably.

Yes, statistically there is a good chance that there will be future attacks involving some of the terrorists in this swap. But chances are the attacks would occur anyway with different people. Brainless terror drones are a dime a dozen in the territories.

The organizers who actually dream up new ways of killing should not be released. But most of the terrorists in the swap, from what I can tell, do not fit that description.

We now have the benefit of hindsight. The Shalit deal was a disaster because one of the people released, Yahya Sinwar, was the mastermind of October 7.

At the time Sinwar was considered a monster - to other Palestinians. He murdered suspected "collaborators" with his bare hands. But he already was an organizer at the point of his second imprisonment, in charge of the program to find and execute these people for the entire south Gaza and he reported directly to Sheikh Yassin, the founder of Hamas. He was not a "brainless drone." He was a leader, proudly ruthless, and should have been recognized as such and never released.

Every single terrorist must be evaluated from the perspective of whether they are potential Sinwars or even potential third level leaders, not whether they have Israeli blood on their hands. The chances that there are no skilled and creative organizers among thousands of released terrorists are very low indeed.

Another point is that at this stage we don't even know how many hostages are still alive. No one wants to put a price on any human life, but if most of them are no longer alive, God forbid, then it makes no sense to trade living terrorists for bodies. Without an accurate list of the living ahead of the deal, there should be no deal, period.

Don't forget that Hezbollah used that ambiguity to great advantage. In 2006 Hezbollah abducted soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser specifically to get arch-terrorist Samir Kuntar released. This sparked the 2006 war, but in the end Nasrallah won: for most of the negotiations it was unknown whether Regev and Goldwasser were alive or dead and in the end it was a swap of their bodies for one of the most notorious and ruthless terrorists; Israel gained nothing.

If most of the prisoners are no longer alive, their corpses are not worth living terrorists. Not to mention that Hamas monsters can easily keep part of their bodies for future deals, forever.

Jewish law and tradition prioritizes saving captives a lot more than bodies.

The swap is only one problematic issue.

Andrew Fox wrote an excellent critique of the deal as we understand it now, and I agree with almost everything he says.

The main problem is not the prisoner release, as bad as that is. It is that Hamas remains in power in Gaza, from everything we can tell. One of the war's goals was to eliminate Hamas as a military threat and while it is weakened, it has shown the ability to fill in every vacuum in Gaza when the IDF leaves an area and continue to control the people and steal aid to cement its position.

Iran's loss of influence in Gaza is not as much of a loss for Hamas as it was for Hezbollah, because Hamas was always aligned more with the Muslim Brotherhood than the Shiites of Iran. Hamas will be rebuilt by money from Turkey, Qatar and the Egyptian MB. As Fox notes, "This deal exponentially increases the risk of a Muslim Brotherhood hegemony filling the void left by Iran’s Shia Crescent of proxies in Syria and Lebanon. Hamas’s reconstruction will take time, but Arab planning does not work in electoral cycles: it works in generations."

This is a major reason I support the UAE as a key player in the "day after" Gaza scenario. It is the least bad of all options to fill the governance gap, outside of annexation by Israel which is a headache no one wants.

Fox also points out that Hamas being allowed to exist makes it the clear winner in the cognitive war. The terror group gained support internationally from the war, and the only thing that could turn that around would be a perception of utter defeat. We see that the Arab world has turned against Hezbollah and the reason isn't a change in philosophy - it is because no one wants the shame of being associated with a loser.

This deal enhances Hamas' perception in the Muslim world. That is unacceptable.

From the Israeli perspective, Fox points out what most were not willing to admit: Israel's war goals were incompatible.

A key problem was Israeli selection of military-strategic aims. Their goals of dismantling Hamas and restoring Israeli security were arguably mutually exclusive to the aim of returning the hostages: only a handful have been freed by military force. The whole IDF campaign plan was designed around the first two, but the Israeli government has ultimately prioritised the third. This strategic disconnect leaves Gaza in ruins, over 400 IDF soldiers dead and over 2,500 wounded. Hamas is degraded but still in control and able to rebuild. Palestinian hatred of Israel unabated and exacerbated. Israel’s international reputation is destroyed, and they have very little to show for any of it.

I'm not sure about the last sentence. As I noted, Israel's reputation in the Arab world has gone way up since last fall with the pager attack, Nasrallah's assassination and Israel's destruction of Iran's air defenses. They don't like Israel any more, but they respect it, and that's the best anyone can hope for.

That respect would disappear if Israel allows Hamas to continue to exist, since most Arab leaders hate the Muslim Brotherhood inspired Islamists.

Finally, Fox addresses one of the worrying aspects of how he deal appears to have been allowed:

The reason behind this ceasefire is possibly more worrying than the ceasefire itself. It is not dictated by the achievement of any strategic or tactical goals; it is dictated by Trump. Last year, I was barracked on X when I urged caution in Israeli jublation over Trump’s election. Sadly my pessimism has been validated, although I did not expect Trump to throw Israel to the wolves so soon. Israeli media reports that Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, is the one who forced Netanyahu to agree to the deal.

(As an aside, Witkoff has had financial dealings with global malign actor Qatar numbering in the hundreds of millions, possibly billions of dollars.)

Far more seriously from an international perspective, as with his Doha deal with the Taliban that needlessly betrayed NATO’s Afghan allies, Trump has shown himself to be a feckless and untrustworthy ally. We know he is going to force a similar surrender on Ukraine. This should send a rocket through Western militaries reliant on American support—which is no bad thing. A truly bad thing, however, is the message China will receive. As the Afghan shambles encouraged Putin in Ukraine, so this betrayal of Israel will encourage China to invade Taiwan. Globally, this deal places the world a significant step closer to World War Three.

We don't know if there is something going on behind the scenes, like a quid pro quo for the US to support an attack on Iran in exchange for this deal. But how the deal got to this point is indeed worrying.

The deal is no different than the deal the Biden administration has been pushing and Israel has been rejecting. Bibi was prepared to push back against Biden but he does not want to do the same against Trump. It appears that Trump did not care much about the details of the deal, he just wants to get American hostages home and gave Witkoff a lot of latitude as to how to get there - and that pushed Israel from the "destroy Hamas" priority to the "release hostages" priority.

It is a strategic blunder.

We don't know what we don't know, and maybe Israel has an ace in the hole to ensure that Gaza can never return to October 6 Gaza. From what we do know, the deal negates most of Israel's strategic gains in Gaza. We still don't know exactly how the Philadelphi Corridor will be administered, how the aid will be vetted, how much of a buffer zone Israel will maintain, all of which are critical. At this point it seems unlikely. Somehow I also doubt that every prisoner has been implanted with an explosive next to their brains that can be remotely detonated.

We all want the hostages to come home, but not at any price. It is easy to say that the value of human life is infinite but every hostage deal puts a price on life whether we like it or not. This price is way too steep.

The deal all but guarantees the death and kidnapping of more Israelis (and Jews) worldwide in the future.

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"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)