All the major decision makers in the war are now in standby mode. None of them seems ready to make any important decision on the conduct of the war (or negotiations) right now. Sinwar is waiting for an American decision to guarantee his survival (and for keeping Hamas in control in Gaza). Biden is trying to keep the war from spreading while he is still President (and he may continue to do so if he is reelected). Netanyahu needs to remain prime minister in order for him to stay out of jail, and is waiting for his opportunity to address the US congress. Everyone else is just continuing as before until one of the above mentioned individuals decides to act.
In Israel we have daily demonstrations and rallies because people are not happy with the way the government is functioning. Each rally has a different theme. One is trying to get Israeli hostages released. I would have thought that most people realize that the government is not holding the hostages, and that the terms Hamas wants cannot be realistically met by any government, but they haven’t got anyone else to appeal to. Rational thinking isn’t always one of the characteristics of politicians (or populations) in any country.
The school year has officially ended. When the new one starts no one knows how many Israelis will still be living somewhere not in their own homes. The education ministry will be facing a shortage of some 4000 teachers, and has no clear picture of which schools will have students. There are other practical issues that need to be dealt with, but, sadly, our government seems to be too focused on the problem of ultra-orthodox military service to even look at them. Yesterday there was a demonstration against military service by members of one of the extreme ultra-orthodox groups. They even threw rocks and other objects at the car of Housing Minister Goldknopf (the leader of the ‘moderate’ ultra-orthodox Agudat Israel party).
Where else could this happen? Only in Israel!
Wetherhorn 