Entebbe 2.0?

Anybody that knows me knows that one of my favorite stories is the famous Entebbe hostage rescue of 1976. PLO and German terrorists took over a French passenger jet and had it flown to the middle of Africa. Publicly, under withering pressure from the hostages’ families, Israel agreed to negotiate.

Behind the scenes, they prepared for a very daring rescue operation.

It was a success. More than 100 hostages were brought home to an electric atmosphere in Israel. The top-secret operation became known as soon as Israelis looked up on the morning of July 4 and saw four C-130 transport planes—the Jewish state’s whole fleet—flying overhead.

Twenty years ago, I had the privilege of visiting with two of the commandos that went to Uganda, a Golani soldier and one member of Israel’s elite counter-terrorism unit, Sayaret Matkal. The Unit was led by the brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Of 200 commandos that went, Jonathan Netanyahu was the only casualty.

As I watch closely the war in Gaza, I admit that I am at a loss as to what Israel is doing. It’s pretty clear that Israel’s no. 1 priority is securing the remaining 30 or so hostages in the Gaza Strip hellhole. It doesn’t matter, but I think the no. 1 goal should be to steamroll Hamas for good. Easy for me to say, yes. I don’t have a family member in the clutches of Hamas.

I read this week that 3,000 reservists are demanding that Israel employ an extreme operation to obliterate Hamas. Many more than that though think the goal should be the rescue of the remaining hostages. The IDF has brought a handful of the hostages to safety, but the fight to do so was intense in an urban setting.

Gaza is not Entebbe, Uganda. Then Israel had the complete surprise factor. I was told that the terrorists at the terminal building at Entebbe did not know what was happening until the IDF was in the doorway. The calibration for such an operation seemed supernatural to me. In fact, the lead commando in the door that night told me “God was with us that night.”

There is no such element of surprise in this situation, 50 years after Entebbe.

Donald Trump said this week that he had pushed Netanyahu to allow food and medicine into the Gaza Strip. As many have pointed out, at no time in history to this point has one side fed and provided services to the enemy they were trying to vanquish.

Such a stance is madness. I won’t spend any time justifying withholding aid to the citizens of Gaza. I won’t mostly because they strangled two little Jewish boys with their bare hands.

I stand with those that think Israel’s only goal should be to win and eradicate Hamas from the earth.

As of today, the IDF is still proceeding cautiously. They are still trying to give time for negotiations to yield freed hostages. But how can you negotiate with demons?

According to the Jerusalem Post:

“Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump was asked whether concerns about humanitarian aid access came up in his phone call with Netanyahu earlier this week.

“’Gaza came up and I said, ‘We’ve got to be good to Gaza … Those people are suffering,’ Trump said.”

Infuriating. Good to Gaza? They are stone-cold killers and the mess created by the 2005 Israeli withdrawal and the rise of Hamas is virtually unsolvable. But this will never end so long as Israel’s hands are tied. Trump has done much good for Israel, but publicly, he has been all over the map. When his threats to Hamas, three times, were blown off, he tried other things. Now he’s trying to be nice to them.

A report on the fight against Yemen’s Houthis terror group is no less frustrating. Trump made a show of force against the Houthis, but now apparently there is what Margaret Thatcher warned George H.W. Bush about: wobbling.

Trump’s zig-zagging is absolutely the worse possible strategy when confronting Islam. It is counter-productive.

It goes without saying that a strike on Iran is up in the air, too (unless Trump and Netanyahu are planning an elaborate ruse).

Time to intensify our prayer for our beloved Israel.

The Lord of History is watching.

Jimfletcher761@gmail.com

www.patreon.com/TheGodThatAnswers

 

 

 

 

The Remarkable Israelis

I thought this week would be a good time to focus on something a bit more positive. We will always have war to talk about. But even in the midst of some chaos, Israel is doing remarkable things elsewhere. Such as technology in the medical field.

In 2017, I visited Israel, in order to see if anything could be done for my damaged eye. I was told no, but that they were doing things for their soldiers that might be available to me in a few years. At my age, I don’t know if I want to have even a sliver of Bionic Man technology, but the overall experience was incredible.

I had a private tour of the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv. The Israelis were developing more than cutting-edge innovations. From research to help passengers afraid of flying, to medical advances keeping wounded soldiers alive against astonishing odds, it was all mind-blowing.

(A garden on the campus, dedicated to the wife of Ariel Sharon, was especially moving, as was passing Palestinian children in hallways and elevators, their brown eyes looking up at me; they were in for life-saving procedures. Then in the evenings at my beautiful hotel, I had dinner on the patio, joined by new friend, a stray cat. Israel is not like any other country.)

One afternoon, I was shown a wing of the hospital that serves severely wounded soldiers. I could get fairly close and I watched a mother enter her son’s room. He had been wounded in the fighting in Gaza in 2014 and I read between the lines to know that his brain injury was severe. I was told that his injuries were so bad, not even the Israelis could help him. However, a Mother’s love. She stayed in the doctors’ faces and advocated for her son. His prognosis was still not great, but he became a priority and I pray that family had some peace and even joy in life during that ordeal. It was incredible seeing the resiliency of this people.

So it is that I saw an article this week in the Jerusalem Post, about a breakthrough for paralyzed patients. It seems that a soldier wounded in Gaza was thought to be a quadriplegic, yet a new “exoskeleton” is helping “D” walk again!

“That robot is the Atalante X, a state-of-the-art exoskeleton developed by French-American company Wandercraft. Sheba is one of the few hospitals in the world using this innovative device, which allows patients with spinal injuries, paralysis, or limb amputations to stand and walk—no wheelchair, no crutches, no external support.”

Hanania Sharon, head of physiotherapy at Sheba, mentioned the key to the whole thing: “That means pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.”

That’s it. Israel, in every way, pushes the boundaries of what is possible. The contrast between them and their Arab enemies is so stark—and so disgustingly infuriating—that one struggles to understand how the two peoples can inhabit the same planet, much less the same region. The Arab commitment to death and case infuriates me. The Israeli responses inspire me.

D, the wounded soldier in question, also views this technology and this gift as a push into the future. He said he is looking forward to getting a job, walking, driving. Pushing the boundaries.

I literally thank God I have had the privilege to visit Israel many times, and live in the era in which the Jewish state is thriving against all odds.

(We have a few slots left for our Fall Israel tour; message me if interested.)

Jimfletcher761@gmail.com

www.patreon.com/TheGodThatAnswers