Back to square one.

 

My weekly blog/letter/post has never been written “off the cuff”.  In fact, it’s a time-consuming occupation, often fraught with difficulties. Occasionally, an unexpected event forces me to revise everything I have written. Admittedly, it’s frustrating, but having to go back to ‘square one’ has its benefits. The second rendition is always better and the extra effort tends to ward off senility and all that comes with it.

I’ll begin with an editorial posted in The Economist last week -

“The war in Gaza may topple Hamas without making Israel safer

It will end up even more deeply mired in the conflict that is the main threat to its security.”

 “I wish I could say we have a very detailed plan,” an Israeli army officer admitted referring to the chaotic days following Hamas’s brutal assault on southern Israel on October 7. It was clear from the outset of the war in Gaza, now six months old, that Israel’s two main goals—to eliminate Hamas and to free the hostages—were at odds. It was also clear that invading the territory, in which 2.2m people live cheek by jowl and under which Hamas had built a labyrinth of fortified tunnels to help it withstand an attack, was going to be immensely difficult. And there was always the risk that war in Gaza would spiral into a bigger conflict.

It is possible to look at this unpromising starting point and conclude that Israel’s invasion of Gaza has not gone badly—and many Israelis take just that view. After all, Hamas’s fighting capacity has been massively reduced, with little in the way of Israeli casualties*. Some of the hostages have been released and negotiations continue in an attempt to free the remainder. And all the while, there has been no regional conflagration, nor even much unrest in the West Bank or among Israeli Arabs.

*My comment- Israelis are very sensitive regarding war casualties

In Israeli culture, getting a ‘knock on the door’ has become code for receiving the worst possible news. The thought of someone knocking on your door is enough to set you off thinking about the pain and fear that come after a loved one has been killed.

That knock on the door is accompanied by a designated IDF team that commiserates with the bereaved family at their time of dire need.

I recall during WW2 when two of my cousins were killed in battle, one in Italy and his brother in France. My aunt and uncle were notified by an official telegram pushed under their front door.  

There are other casualties of the Gaza war that survived the trauma.

Returned hostage Amit Soussana provided The New York Times with a first in-depth interview about the sexual violence and torture she went through in Gaza, following her abduction during the Hamas-led October 7 attack on southern Israel.

During eight hours of interviews with The New York Times, in mid-March, Soussana provided the most in-depth view into her life and the horrors she experienced since October 7. The report included interviews with doctors who treated the former hostage as soon as she returned from Gaza, as well as the medical records, videos, text messages and photographs.

The UN sent its own team to investigate the claims, and in a report spanning 24 pages, it was stated that there are "reasonable grounds to believe" that Hamas terrorists committed sexual violence at multiple locations during the assault, as well as credible information indicating other forms of sexual violence, such as genital mutilation and sexualized torture.

Reuters also quoted from the report in the NYT adding that “Amit Soussana, 40, was taken hostage on Oct.7 from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Security camera footage showed her fighting back against her abductors. She said that around Oct. 24th she was attacked by the man guarding her after washing in the bathroom. Soussana said the guard, who called himself Muhammad, put a gun to her forehead, beat her and dragged her to a child's bedroom. "Then he, with the gun pointed at me, forced me to commit a sexual act on him," Soussana said in the interview.

 After paging down through Aljazeera’s website, I found a brief refence to Amit Soussana’s testimony – “Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Amit Soussana’s testimony published on Tuesday by The New York Times was a wake-up call to the world to act, to do everything and pressure Hamas, to free our hostages”.

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog wrote on X that “the whole world has a moral duty to stand with Amit – and all the victims – in condemning Hamas’s brutal terror, and in demanding the immediate return of all the hostages”.

Aljazeera added “Hamas has denied its fighters committed acts of sexual violence.”

 

Let’s turn a page to something entirely different, a snippet of news from ‘The Land of the Long White Cloud’- New Zealand.

 As a kind of ex-pat, I receive news about New Zealand through a subscription to The Bulletin published by Spinoff, a New Zealand website covering pop culture, politics and social life through features, criticism, interviews, videos and podcasts. Most of the content is as dull as dishwater and wouldn’t warrant a mention in Israel.

Despite our wars and incompetent government, Israel ranked as the second happiest country for those under 30, with a score of 7.667, according to the World Happiness Report.

The country outperforms the average in life satisfaction, social connections, and health, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Better Life Index. The life expectancy at birth is 83 years, two years higher than the OECD average of 81.

Israel is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world and includes cut diamonds and pharmaceuticals among its major exports, according to the U.S. News and World Report.

While the cost of living in Israel is, on average, only 7.9% lower than in the United States, rent is, on average, 30% lower than in America, according to Numbeo. (Cost of living website)

In the Middle East and Central Asia, Israel ranked at fifth place, leads the region’s happiness levels, dropping one spot since 2023.

The report notes that Gallup’s survey in Israel occurred after October 7, but before much of the subsequent warfare. Thus, life evaluations fell by 0.9 for the year, of which only one-third impacted their final score.

Understandably, the survey in Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) (ranked 103rd globally) took place earlier in the year, before October 7.

In the Happiness Rankings by Country, Age 60 and up New Zealand was ranked in fifth place slightly below Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland.

Israel was listed in thirteenth place.

In the Happiness Rankings by Country, Ages 45-59, Israel was ranked in seventh place slightly below the same Nordic countries and New Zealand a notch lower in thirteenth place.

Personally, I’m happy where I am and wouldn’t prefer to be any place else.

Have a good weekend.

Beni,

29th of March, 2024