Today was yet another day of threats and bluster. No real progress toward a deal, and no real major attack. The important story behind the headlines seemed to me the decision by the IDF to double the number of ultra-orthodox yeshivas in what is called the “Hesder” program. Hesder is an arrangement where the students spend half their time o religious studies and half in military service. Since the actual draft of Yeshiva students has been an obvious failure, this Band-Aid approach might offer a solution.
Watching the ultra-orthodox demonstrators barring others from joining the army left me thinking that the best solution would be to take away benefits from those that don’t serve. I know that’s a part of the current law. But I was thinking more in the direction of adding new restrictions like taking away not just financial benefits, ut also even the right to vote for those who bar others from joining the army.
I thought about this while watching the Pro-Hamas demonstrations in the US. I served in Vietnam and remember the demonstrations then. They are NOT the same as those happening now. Today the pro-Hamas people use freedom of speech as a cover to hide threats of physical violence against Americans who disagree with them (and the Defund the Police people and other radical democrats try to de-criminalize that behavior). Minnesota Governor Walz spent 20 plus years in the National Guard and never had to actually go to war. I spent only the better part of 8 years on active duty as an officer in the Naval Reserve. That included 3 deployments to Vietnam. Maybe the qualitative difference in our experiences is why his Democratic Party is so forgiving to non-citizens who are breaking American Laws. I believe people who threaten and harm others should be jailed, and educated, not released.
Wetherhorn 