Grapevine, August 23, 2024: Mixed emotions

Mixed emotions

WORDS SUCH as kosher, chutzpah and schmuck long ago entered the American lexicon – certainly in places like New York and New Jersey. This week, another Yiddish word took root in Chicago and quickly fanned out to Democratic strongholds.

 The word is mensch, literally a human being and colloquially a very decent human being. It’s the title bestowed on the first second gentleman, who made history twice over in his present role – as all his predecessors were women. 

Aside from the gender issue, he is the first member of the Jewish faith to be the spouse of a vice president of the United States, and if his wife Kamala Harris, succeeds in defeating former president Donald Trump, Doug Emhoff will again make history as the first male and the first Jew married to a president of the United States of America.

In his speech at the Democratic National Convention, in referring to his family, he called it a blended family rather than a mixed marriage, thereby illustrating the importance of the subtle differences in language. Blended conveys the concept of togetherness, whereas mixed has different connotations, one of which is all mixed up. On the event that his wife becomes the occupant of the oval office, Emhoff will be known as the first mensch.

Change in leadership 

■ RAISED IN a patriotic family, head of the Military Intelligence Directorate Maj.-Gen. Aharon Haliva, this week wound up a 38-year military career by publicly taking responsibility for the failure to prevent the October 7 invasion by Hamas terrorists and its cruelly sadistic outcome. 

Haliva was among the first and the few to take responsibility for Israel’s lack of preparedness, but he was far from being the only person to whom blame should be apportioned. 

In his farewell and apologetic speech, he called for a state commission of inquiry, not only for the purpose of determining who was at fault, but to reach a deep understanding of how and why such a situation was able to develop, so as to ensure that it will not happen again.

As always, when a prominent personality steps down or unfortunately dies, the departure sparks a bevy of interviews dealing with that person’s character, achievements, failures, and scandals. 

Former military top brass understood his pain and his statement that he would carry the invasion and its aftermath on his conscience for the rest of his life. 

They also said that there are others who should have resigned with him or before him, but disagreed with calls from bereaved families and others that he should be deprived of his army pension. Perhaps it should be reduced, but his years of dedicated service should not be ignored nor his declaration that blame for the intelligence failure lay first and foremost with him.

Nothing can bring back the dead, but given that Haliva is genuinely filled with remorse, perhaps all the bereaved families including families of hostages still believed to be living, can decide among themselves to find a way in which he can atone, and do something as a civilian to speed up the wheels of justice and humanity.

It is one thing to accept responsibility for what happened on October 7, but another to deny responsibility for what happened then and afterwards. One doesn’t have to be a mathematician to work out how many hostages were taken alive, and how many were killed by friendly fire, murdered by Hamas terrorists or who simply perished in the interim.

 One can only imagine the anxiety and frustration of families of hostages who are waiting for at least a sign of life, if not the immediate release for which they have been calling for almost a year. 

The situation is now so dire, that in the middle of the Democratic National Convention, US President Joe Biden, and presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris called Israel’s obdurate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the hope of persuading him to soften his stance. 

The question remains: Will any of the hostages be returned alive? Had an agreement been reached when it was more feasible than now, most of them would probably be with us.

Remembering October 7 

■ NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES , documentary films, radio programs, television productions and photo exhibitions are filled with descriptions and visuals of the atrocities and devastation of October 7, scenes of military funerals, and announcements about fallen soldiers. 

It would be understandable that after 11 months of such information that people might be turned-off and would refrain from looking and listening. But until the hostages kidnapped by Hamas return home, masses of people will participate in hostage-related demonstrations and in any events be they exhibitions, lectures, or rallies that have any relationship to October 7 and the long days afterwards. 

An example was the full house attendance at the Ohel Nechama Synagogue in Jerusalem where key members of the Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF) whipped up the morale of the audience. 

Most of the leading figures in the IDSF are retired senior army officers and officials. They include Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Amir Avivi, who founded the forum; IDSF CEO Lt.-Col. (Ret.) Yaron Buskila who served as a commander in Gaza during the current war; and Brig.-Gen. (Ret.) Yossi Kupperwasser who is the director of the IDSF Research Department. 

Also among the panelists were Or Yissachar head of IDSF Research Department, Yifa Segal, an international law and international relations expert, and British-born Jacob Goddard, a former Ministry of Defense official. 

The congregation’s American-born Rabbi Joseph Ote is a reserve officer in the IDF and served as a combat unit commander in the Givati Brigade. The event in English, lasted for close to three hours, during which only two people left before it concluded. 

The large turnout indicated that more attention should be given to holding such events and others in English, Russian, Amharic, French, and Arabic. Many Israeli citizens whose first language is Arabic, need to know more about what is happening in the country, and also need to know that they are not regarded as a fifth column.

In an introductory address Ote said that October 7 was a turning point, because before that date, not everyone saw the evil of Hamas, because the Iron Dome had pushed the evil to the bottom of Israeli consciousness. “The vast majority of Israelis now understand that what was can no longer be,” he said. “Truth must triumph – good over evil. Sometimes we must think like the enemy in order to defeat him. We are fighting enemies who have no moral compass.”

Buskila described the horrific scenes of devastation that confronted him on October 7 as he drove from kibbutz to kibbutz, admitting that he was at a loss to understand how such wanton destruction had occurred. But 24 hours later, he said, he saw the first signs of Israel’s victory, as thousands of soldiers in uniform showed up without being asked to do so.

Kupperwasser summed up October 7 as “a terrible connection failure,” but was quick to note “but it doesn’t mean that we didn’t have some amazing achievements.” He conceded that Israel had misinterpreted Hamas in thinking that the terrorist organization did not know how to proceed.In reiterating this comment, Yissachar said that Israel had overestimated its own capabilities and underestimated the capabilities of the enemy.

He also warned that the Iranians are outspoken about what they want – and their lodestar is murdering every Jew in the world. “We failed to realize that this is a plan of action,” he said. “We need to take Iran at its word. We have to understand that Iran wants to get control of the region.” Yissachar stressed the need to eliminate Iran’s nuclear capability.

Segal is a keen advocate for international dialogue, and still believes that it can achieve more than war.

Particularly interesting considering the audience to which he was speaking, were Goddard’s remarks. “We’re not fighting just a regional war, but we’re fighting for the hearts and minds of the world – especially the United States and Europe,” he said, underscoring that extreme anti-Israel opinions are being expressed by mainstream and social media.

Such opinions would never have previously been allowed in mainstream media, he opined and today pose a big challenge as do fanatical and radical opinions on university campuses.

So many left-wing progressives who used to support Israel are now comfortable supporting antisemitic rhetoric, he said, adding, “We are losing the battle for public opinion in the Western world.” He attributed this to what he sees as Israel having “abandoned and ignored the needs of Jewish communities in the Diaspora.”

Avivi, who claimed to have predicted what is happening to national security, also stated that he frequently meets the prime minister and advises him on action. Although he insists that the IDSF is engaged only in security and not in politics, it is generally known that he supports Netanyahu.

Teacher threats 

■ EVERY AUGUST Ran Erez, the longtime head of the High School Teachers’ Union threatens that schools will not open at the beginning of September unless teachers receive a pay rise or some other improvement in their status. The situation is always saved at the last moment – and everyone anticipates that this will happen but it seems that Israelis love to negotiate – whatever the issues.

 However this year, it looks as if Erez’s threats may become reality, as children living in vulnerable areas will be kept home by their parents, and many parents among evacuees don’t know what schools their children should attend. 

Meanwhile, Erez, as always, has a string of demands, and he is going ahead as usual, as if there are no hostages and no war. Erez has been in office even longer than Netanyahu, Israel’s longest serving prime minister. Netanyahu, who first became prime minister in 1996, with a couple of breaks along the way, has served a total of 17 years, whereas Erez has continuously been in office since 1997.

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry has established 13 fully equipped schools in office buildings to accommodate evacuee students, and has also hired retired teachers to temporarily take the places of those who are serving in the army, have been wounded or who have fallen in battle.

greerfc@gmail.com