Letters to the Editor, July 8, 2024: Little more than a yawn

“Democracy’s watchdog” (editorial, July 5) asks, rightly, why media outlets throughout the world all but ignored the initial stories of funds which were clandestinely transferred from Qatar to Prime Minister Netanyahu. Those same outlets have for years been exploring with the proverbial fine-tooth comb the possibility that the prime minister received, improperly if not illegally, gifts of pricey cigars and top-of-the-line champagne in return for the influence his office can provide, but suitcases and laundry bags allegedly filled with cash elicited little more than a yawn.

It could very well be that there was considerable uncertainty as to what was going on, or just how widespread Project Raven was. There has been confirmation that the UAE – one of Israel’s Abraham Accords partners – had commissioned the hacking of perceived enemies and dissidents, with Qatar way up on the list. It was also reported that Netanyahu okayed the transfer of fifty million dollars to Gaza that ultimately trickled down to Hamas.

Those documents, which were leaked in December, may very well point to the first domino that ultimately led to October 7, 2023. Heads can no longer turn away; and, sorry, this has nothing to do with political ideology. Ethical misconduct and breach of trust run straight ahead and veer neither to the Right nor Left.

BARRY NEWMANGinot Shomron

Failures of demilitarization

It keeps getting more threatening. Jonathan Spyer (“Tracking Iran’s weapons route into the West Bank,” July 5) lists Iranian weaponry currently supplied to Palestinian terrorists in the territories. It’s no longer only small arms;Tehran is smuggling weaponry that includes “C4 [explosive], TNT, mines, anti-tank mines, RPG launchers, and missiles of various types, including anti-armor and anti-personnel missiles.”

Add this ordnance to the military table of organization and equipment (personnel and firepower) of the Palestinian Authority “police,” and understand that demilitarization in Judea and Samaria joins a line of failures of demilitarization in the 20th-21st centuries. 

As David Weinberg states in “Judea and Samaria are on fire – literally,” (July 5): “So much for the Oslo Accords promise of a demilitarized Palestinian autonomous entity.”

BERNARD SMITHJerusalem

Counterproductive release

In “Shifa Hospital and the country of no responsibility” (July 5), dealing with the release of the Hamas director of Shifa Hospital, Yaakov Katz points out over and over that everyone denies responsibility for such a counterproductive release. Why, at least, weren’t the director and his cronies offered in exchange for hostages?

The one person responsible is the person in charge. If the head of the Shin Bet was responsible,  the prime minister should either fire him or reduce his status, so that he knows that he did a terrible thing. Soldiers risked their lives to capture those Hamas enemies, and he just released them.

It is time for Prime Minister Netanyahu to take over. He should consult with the experts and make the right decisions without leaks by politicians, and finish Hamas once and for all and finish this war quickly. Then he will be able to take responsibility for winning the war.

He can do it. I am confident that he can make the right decisions if his hands are not tied by politicians who restrict his actions and make speeches with empty accusations.

SHIMON GALITZERJerusalem

Powerful, inhibiting response

So, the usual anti-Israel groups are highly concerned that their right to riot in anonymity is being threatened (“US mask bans worrying anti-Israel activists,” July 5). How touching, too, is their concern for the few, if any, “immunocompromised” among them. With or without masks, those so at risk shouldn’t be present in any mass gathering.

Of course, that’s not the real reason for their worries. Anonymity allows them the ability to intimidate and threaten others without fear of exposure or retribution. It’s the mob’s classic modus operandi.

In the 20th century, reacting to KKK resurgence, laws were passed in many American states and localities, banning masking in public. Such bans, with minimal exceptions, are needed now more than ever. Campuses, in particular, should incorporate them as part of their student code of conduct.

Restoration of such bans, generally, would present a powerful, inhibiting response to current brazen antisemitic outrages, now fouling America’s colleges and public spaces.

RICHARD D. WILKINSSyracuse, New York

Patriotic fervor

I was very interested in “Druze reservist association tackles community’s unique challenges” by Ohad Merlin (July 5), about the patriotic fervor of a Druze captain in the IDF, which the writer describes as typical of Druze soldiers, in general. Unfortunately, that community also has a high percentage of casualties. 

I immediately thought of another group – the religious Zionist hesder soldiers – who also serve with fervor and seem to have a high rate of casualties. Therefore I was intrigued by the Druze captain’s attributing his patriotism to his studies abroad in Jewish schools.

It brought to mind a recent conversation that I had with a Jewish graduate of such a school in the US regarding the idealism imbibed there, that may have influenced so many to make aliyah, and then filtered down to the next generation to fuel the patriotic fervor of their offspring, now serving in the IDF. 

Regardless of the sources, both groups deserve our admiration and gratitude.

MARION REISSBeit Shemesh

Hole in the ground

As I was reading “Will US Jews abandon Israel?” by M. Gregg Bloche (July 2), I felt more and more incensed. What is crucial for us is that October 7 never happens again; that our people are safe. That is what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set out to do and most Israelis want to see: the end of Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip and the return of all the hostages. That can be achieved only by defeating Hamas and pulling Yahya Sinwar out of his hole in the ground.

Incidentally, we are not seizing land by force from the PA. All the land is ours (check “Mandate for Palestine” in a Google search), and on that land we have enemy squatters, who clearly state that they want the Jews removed from all of Israel, arguing that the land belongs to them. They try terror attacks and have given us casus belli many times over.

They have built up a group of terrorists among the populace in that hotbed town of Jenin. They do not want a state alongside Israel; they want nothing less than all of Israel.

EDMUND JONAHRishon Lezion