Last Thursday I aimed some barbs at part of the Israeli ultra-orthodox community. Those words need a little clarification. I have no complaints against individual ultra-orthodox community members who do not wish to serve in the IDF. They will bear the possible consequences (potential imprisonment, loss of government subsidy payments for themselves and the yeshiva where they studied) but the ones I am upset with are those who demonstrated against drafting any yeshiva students, and actually tried to prevent anyone from that community from reporting in to join the army. Those who were involved in such activities are the ones that I think should be deprived of any rights as Israeli citizens (including the right to vote). They can continue to live in Israel as residents, and even receive documents to allow them to move to another country, but they ought not to be considered Jewish under Israel’s law of return.
Talks to reach an agreement to free the remaining hostages (most of whom are probably already dead) continue. Also IDF operations to discover (and destroy) remaining parts of the Hamas underground tunnel network are still going on. Remember that those tunnels were built and used only by Hamas. Ordinary Gazan civilians were never allowed to enter them. Hamas is responsible for all the suffering of the Gazan Palestinians (and actually killed many of them themselves, and then, conveniently, blamed Israel). The popular view in much of mainstream media is often the result of uncritically accepting Hamas propaganda.
Wetherhorn 