Grapevine, July 17, 2024: In the shadow of October 7

The shadow of October 7 continues to loom large. At the Bastille Day reception hosted by French Ambassador Frederic Journes and his partner, Hristo Mavrev, it was mentioned by French military attaché Col. Alexis Crous, by Caroline Yadan, a deputy of the French National Assembly, and by Journes himself.

All three also emphasized the need to secure the release of the hostages, and also referred to France’s commitment to combat antisemitism.

Crous also mentioned the Normandy landings in June 1944 in which the Allied Forces and the French Resistance movements fought together against the Nazis. He noted that there were many French Jews among the fighters, some of whom later fought in Israel’s War of Independence, and today their children and grandchildren are fighting against Hamas.

Thus, Bastille Day, he said, is in memory of all those who fought for freedom and independence, and an evening of solidarity with the people of Israel and all the hostages still being held.

In calling for the return of the hostages, some of us are inclined to forget that some are foreign nationals, and some are dual nationals, meaning that in addition to the efforts by Israel to secure their release, ambassadors and foreign ministers of other countries are also working hard toward that goal. Among the hostages taken by Hamas were 8 with French citizenship.

Journes said that on the first day of his arrival in Israel, he went to Yad Vashem, not realizing that he would soon be caught up in rescue operations for 8 of his compatriots, who were experiencing the same atrocities that had been perpetrated against the Jews during the Holocaust.

Journes also spoke of the emotional memorial ceremony held in Paris on February 7, in which family members of victims of the Hamas massacre and French citizens who were hostages, as well as those who had fallen in battle while fighting in Gaza as members of the IDF, had been brought from Israel for the ceremony.

France will continue to call for the release of the hostages, he pledged, adding that France will also continue to call for a ceasefire and for the two sides to meet.

Journes reiterated France’s support for a two-state solution to the conflict, because continued hostilities only serve to further destabilize the region. He stipulated that to have a state, the Palestinians must have security for themselves and their neighbors.

Turning to France-Israel relations, he said that despite occasional clashes, the two countries are very close, and cited examples of French assistance to Israel’s security, such as French planes stationed in Jordan intercepting enemy drones aimed at Israel. He also noted that France is Israel’s “best defender” in the campaign to denuclearize Iran.

On a more pleasant level, France and Israel have long engaged in cultural exchanges, and the ambassador would like to see more of these. He was amazed, he said, at the extent to which Israelis embrace French culture in literature, art, films, and more.

Referring to the relationship in general, Journes said: “We are proud that we kept the bridges open.”

Other than MK Boaz Bismuth, who studied at the Sorbonne and who spent several years as a journalist in Paris, no Israeli officials were present.

For some time now, the custom of having a representative of the government at national day receptions has been dropped, though Gil Haskel, the chief of State Protocol, is usually in attendance. But he was unable to attend, busy with the visit of British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who was visiting Israel this week.

A poor turn out

THERE WERE even fewer people at the Turkish Democracy and National Day of Unity reception at the Saraya Cultural Center in Jaffa. Here, again, there was no Israeli official.

The exquisitely furnished cultural center is one of the relics of the time when the area was under Ottoman rule. The center is directly opposite the clock tower, a famous Jaffa landmark. Photographs of the area dating back more than a 100 years highlight the difference between Jaffa then and now.

Turkish Ambassador to Israel Sakir Ozkan Torunlar was absent, having been recalled in April for consultations on Turkey’s stance in relation to the Israel-Hamas war. Asked when he would return, Turkish chargé d’affaires Gurcay Seker indicated that it would not be anytime soon, because “the ambassador is still engaged in consultations.”

Aside from the size of the gathering, this national day reception differed from all others in that there was no Israeli flag in evidence, which in itself was a breach of protocol. The custom is for the flag of the host country and that of the country of the ambassador or other senior diplomat hosting the reception, to be placed standing side by side, and that the anthems of the two countries be sung. When one of the countries is a member of the European Union, the EU flag is also displayed, and the EU anthem is played. On this occasion only the Turkish anthem was sung.

Not exactly a breach of protocol but in some respects an insult, which fortunately the British, Australian, and New Zealand diplomats were not present to witness, were scenes in a documentary film released by the Turkish Directorate of Communications in which the Turkish forces in the 1915/16 Gallipoli campaign in the Dardanelles scored a historic victory. The film omitted to clarify that although the Turks won that battle, they lost the war.

Guests later went to another floor of the building, where there were photographs of Jaffa and Turkish soldiers in the First World War, taken more than a century ago.

When journalists come together 

FIERCE RIVALS though they may be for scoops and ratings, when push comes to shove and journalists perceive an existential threat, they band together.

That’s what happened in 2017 in the failed battle to save the Israel Broadcasting Authority from closure. Although the many emergency meetings that were held did not achieve the ultimate goal, points raised and made public during the meetings helped to save public broadcasting. The demise of the IBA gave birth to KAN 11, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, which has produced some wonderful radio and television programs, though operating at a much lower budget than the IBA.

Every now and again, an attempt is made to get rid of the other public broadcaster, Army Radio, which long ago strayed from broadcasting greetings between soldiers and their parents and their sweethearts. Due to a loophole in the law, it has been able to survive, albeit constantly under threat.

When Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi took office, he made it clear that he wanted to put an end to public broadcasting and wanted the government to have greater control of broadcast content.

So far, he has not succeeded, but commercial television stations are in danger of falling by the wayside, as politicians curtail freedom of expression.

First in line is Channel 13, whose highly rated War Zone program, presented by hard-hitting veteran journalist Raviv Drucker, has been dropped in a first move by the recently appointed head of Channel 13’s board of directors, former Likud MK Yulia Shamalov Berkovich.

At an emergency meeting at Tzavta in Tel Aviv this week, journalists from most Israeli TV channels and radio and print media came to protest and to try to save Channel 13 from emulating Channel 14 and becoming a political tool of the government.

Drucker, who has been highly critical of the prime minister and his policies, has been the No. 1 target, but he is sure that other investigative journalists will also be targeted and deprived of their freedom of speech.

In memory of a learned man

IN THE home where MK Yuli Edelstein, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, grew up, there was no need for wallpaper, because the walls were lined with books. He was convinced that there were more books in his house than in any other – until he saw the remarkably massive collection of more than 40,000 volumes at the home of his friends Isi and Naomi Leibler.

The late Isi Leibler and his monumental contributions to Israel and the Jewish people were warmly remembered by Edelstein, members of the Leibler family, friends, and the Bar-Ilan community at a special ceremony marking publication of the Hebrew edition of Lone Voice: The Wars of Isi Leibler.

Originally written in English by Prof. Suzanne D. Rutland, renowned historian from the University of Sydney, and published in 2021 by Gefen Publishing Company, the Hebrew version was translated by Israeli journalist Avirama Golan and published by Bar-Ilan University Press.

Leibler was a major player on the world Jewish stage for over six decades. As the major Jewish leader in Australia, he was a key figure in placing the Soviet Jewry issue on the world agenda and in the establishment of diplomatic ties between the State of Israel and China and India.

The event, attended by nearly 100 people, took place in the Naomi and Isi Leibler Exhibition Hall at the Wurzweiler Central Library at Bar-Ilan University and was emceed by Dr. Olga Goldin, director of the BIU Libraries and Information Division.

Also in attendance were BIU Deputy President Prof. Moshe Lewenstein, President Prof. Arie Zaban, who thanked the family for its longtime support and friendship to BIU, the author and translator of the book, and several other well-known figures.

Isi Leibler, whose parents reached Australia in 1939, built one of the largest travel companies in the world, and was a man of vision whose love of Judaism, Jewishness, and the Land of Israel were first and foremost, recalled Rutland. His books, including Soviet Jewry and Human Rights: The Case for Israel, and his involvement in endeavors against antisemitism and BDS, often predicted the future long in advance. He was among those who advocated for rescinding the UN resolution equating Zionism with racism.

Recalling Leibler’s longtime, unceasing activism on behalf of Soviet Jewry, Vera Muravitz, former chairwoman of the International Friends of Bar-Ilan University, said, “It took a leader from Down Under to draw attention to the plight of our brothers and sisters in the Soviet Union.”

She introduced two friends and refuseniks in the audience whose freedom was secured by Leibler, Ari Volvovski and Ephraim Kholmyansky, in addition to former Prisoner of Zion Edelstein.

Muravitz added that the book launch event corresponded with the fifth day of the Hebrew month of Tamuz, in which Ezekiel the Prophet beheld a vision of the Divine Chariot representing the spiritual infrastructure of Creation. “Isi was not a prophet, but I believe that he was a ‘seer’ like Ezekiel in many ways. He lived by example, and one of his most important ideals was ensuring the continuity of the Jewish people,” said Muravitz.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Isi’s youngest son, Jonathan Leibler, said that despite Isi’s commitment to so many endeavors and all his achievements, his family was his first priority, and they never felt his absence. Isi hoped that his grandchildren would work similarly to defend their people, and the family members consistently work to perpetuate the values that the beloved patriarch instilled in each one of them.

In 2016 Bar-Ilan University awarded Leibler an honorary doctorate for his tireless activism on behalf of the Jewish people. Naomi Leibler, Volvovski, and close friend Yossi Vardi, who also attended the book launch event, placed the ceremonial hood around Leibler’s shoulders.

The extensive Leibler Reference Collection of 40,000 volumes, covering all aspects of 4,000 years of Jewish existence in the Land of Israel and in the Diaspora, will one day be housed at Bar-Ilan’s Wurzweiler Central Library.

Veteran readers of The Jerusalem Post will remember Leibler’s regular and incisive columns that he wrote for 20 years.

At a special ceremony this week at the President’s Residence, Matthew Miller, the owner of Koren Publishers, which specializes in projects of a religious nature, will present the official publication launch of the latest volumes in the new Library of the Jewish People, The Collected Writings of Rabbi Dr.

The first volume is an entirely new edition of his previously published works in English (The Main Institutions of Jewish Law; Judaism: Law and Ethics). The second volume is a translation of Rabbi Herzog’s Constitution and Law in a Jewish State according to the Halacha. This latter work has never previously appeared in English, and is very timely today. The volumes were edited and with an introduction by Prof. Alexander Kaye of Brandeis, who has written extensively about Herzog, including an introduction to these two volumes, which were enabled by the generosity of Hilda and Isaac Applbaum.

Back in October 2017, when he was leader of the opposition, President Isaac Herzog, together with his cousin Shira Herzog, began working on an English translation of a book about Rabbi Herzog which was written a little over 30 years ago by journalist and filmmaker Shaul Mayzlish, but Shira died of cancer before the project was completed.

At a chance meeting in New York with Ilan Greenfield, the head of Gefen Publishing, which, like Koren, is located in Jerusalem, Isaac Herzog broached the subject of the translation, and 18 months later the project was completed.

As Rabbi Herzog had been the chief rabbi of Ireland for 15 years, and his sons had been born in Ireland, the Herzog family has continued to maintain a close relationship with Ireland. Thus, when the English translation of the book was launched, the site chosen for the event was the residence of then Irish ambassador Allison Kelly. The large turnout at the reception that she hosted included Shira Herzog’s brother and sister as well as many members of Israel’s Irish community.

Listening to our heroes

THE LATE Mannie Oderberg, who was the first editor of the writer of this column, cautioned her against using words such as “the first,” “the only,” or “the best,” because too often such claims could be disproved. If such words were used, he advised, they should prefaced by “believed to be” or some similar expression.

She was reminded this week, after receiving an invitation from CAMERA Israel for the book launch, at the Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem on Monday, July 22, of Testimonies without Boundaries.

According to CAMERA, the book by Alon Penzel is “the first book in English to provide firsthand accounts of the atrocities of October 7.” The blurb goes on to state that the book contains exclusive information from interviews with volunteers from the ZAKA rescue and recovery organization, the head of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, and survivors of the Supernova music festival.

All that may be true, but nonetheless raises doubt about the book being the first or the exclusivity of ZAKA testimony. ZAKA runs regular posts on social media, describing its search, rescue, and recovery operations. Recovery in this sense means finding body parts that may have been scattered in an explosion, a fatal traffic accident, or an earthquake.

As for being the first book in English, it may well be, but an article published in Haaretz last weekend stated that according to figures published by the National Library of Israel, which collects all manuscripts published in Israel, more than 80 books inspired by October 7 were published between October 2023 and May of this year. The article specifically quotes One Day in October, edited by Yair Agmon and Oriya Mevorach, which contains the personal stories of 40 Israel heroes.

Whether or not the book is the first, in all likelihood it will contain information that is in other publications. In addition, it will be interesting to hear how the author was able to arrange interviews and assemble the book. He will be engaged in conversation with former Post editor-in-chief Avi Mayer, who, as a professional journalist, is bound to ask him some probing questions.

All fingers pointed at Bibi

ANOTHER BOOK, published by Forum for Life, whose main goal is saving Israeli hostages, is titled Dark Legacy. Forum for Life or forumhaim, as it’s called on its web page, is currently crowdfunding for publication, marketing, and distribution costs, and has placed full-page advertisements in the Israeli media.

The book is an attack against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with essays by Tami Arad, Tamir Pardo, Yuval Diskin, Gershon Baskin, Moshe Ya’alon, Shimshon Liebman, Prof. Uzi Beller, Prof. Anita Shapira, Brig.-Gen (res.) Amal Asad, Zeruya Shalev, Ephraim Sidon, Eyal Megged, Yehoshua Sobol, Orna Banai, Prof. Haim Be’er, Benny Barabash, and Prof. Asa Kasher.

Most of the above are household names of people active in Israel’s security establishment, in academia, literature and entertainment. All are accusing Netanyahu of abandoning civilians and soldiers for the sake of political survival.

Netanyahu maintains that the hostages are uppermost in his mind, but their release can be obtained only by defeating Hamas and eliminating its leadership.

Flying the flag

THOUGH NO longer a state-owned company for many years, El Al is still regarded as Israel’s national airline, even though other Israeli air services exist. El Al, which is the largest of these, with plans for expanding both its fleet and its routes, retains the image of the national carrier. As such, it will transport Israel’s paralympic team to Paris for the Paralympic Games.

Most major airline companies around the world have special provisions for passengers with disabilities, but it’s rare for a whole plane to be devoted to passengers with disabilities.

El Al has gone one better than that. Anticipating that a substantial number of sports fans who will travel to Paris to cheer on the Israeli competitors, will also be people with physical disabilities, El Al has mounted a campaign with Paralympic tennis champion Guy Sasson, who is a member of Ilan Ramat Gan, as its presenter. On the outer body of the plane is a special logo stating “Good Luck Israel Paralympic Team” in two shades of blue. The two last letters in Israel and the fourth and fifth letters in Paralympic are in a lighter shade of blue, and together spell El Al.

Moshe Matalon, the chairman of the Paralympic Team, voiced appreciation to El Al for running a campaign of this nature, which is yet another expression of the strong bond of cooperation between El Al and Israel’s paralympic athletes.

In thanking El Al for its understanding attitude, Matalon also thanked the many sponsors who have helped to make it possible for members of the team to represent Israel in the world’s most important sports event.

The Paralympic Games are in a sense even more important than the Olympic Games, because in so many cases, those of the athletes who were born without physical abilities took to sport as part of their rehabilitation process, once they had become partially disabled. In so doing, they discovered hidden abilities, and with hard work and perseverance, some became champions, and all developed stronger bodies.

Matalon doubted that the team would have been able to continue, much less get to Paris, without the goodwill of the sponsors.

The Israeli Paralympic Team always brings home a host of medals, and in all probability will do so again. The members bring great pride to the nation. Matalon is confident that it will prove its quality, as it has done in the past.

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