Revolution in Syria Takes Israeli Intelligence by Surprise
I mentioned in my column last week that the situation in Syria was tenuous and that we might be witnessing the beginning of another war. As you are aware, the situation has changed drastically over the past few days. We have no way of knowing what will come next, but one thing is clear: The revolution in Syria is over. The regime has been crushed and Assad has fled from the country. He found his way to Russia; although there were rumors that he was killed in a plane crash, this appears to have been a Russian ruse to hide the fact that he was on his way to Moscow, where he received political asylum.
The images emerging from Syria today are reminiscent of Russia during the period of perestroika. Just as the statues of Soviet tyrants in the heart of Moscow were smashed at that time, the Syrians are now destroying the statues of Assad throughout the country. In every city where the rebels took control, they made sure to destroy the stone likenesses of himself that Assad, like any other tyrant, had placed in prominent locations in every city. When they arrived in the capital city of Damascus, they did the same there as well.
At this point, it is impossible to know what this portends. In the past, Syria received military and political backing from Iran and from Russia. At this point, Russia is preoccupied by its own problems and its war against Ukraine, while Iran has plenty of issues of its own and is fearful of Trump’s impending presidency. In short, Assad was abandoned by his allies. But what will the rebels do now? Will this be good for Israel or even more dangerous? Only time will tell.
What is especially interesting about this is that Israeli intelligence was taken by surprise once again. Their projections had shown Assad’s regime remaining in power, but they were wrong.
For those who are responsible for the security of Israel—in other words, the prime minister and the IDF chief of staff—this will only make their burden greater. In recent days, The Israeli air force has been bombing locations that were known to contain caches of weapons, airplanes, missile and chemical weapons factories, to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorists. May Hashem protect us all!
A Soldier’s Chilling Last Request
Avrohom Ben-Pinchos, a soldier in the IDF, was killed this past Shabbos. Ben-Pinchos was wounded in the Gaza Strip two months ago and fought for his life during the recovery process. After he recovered, he returned to his soldiers and led them in battle once again. This Shabbos, he was hit by anti-tank fire and killed.
His family members related that before his injuries, he recorded the following message: “I, Avrohom Ben-Pinchos, identification number 8626693, request that if I am captured or my body is seized, no terrorist should be released in exchange for me and the war should not be terminated under any circumstances for me to be freed.” It is chilling to hear the soldier’s voice after his death as he conveys his wishes to the military and political leadership.
Avrohom Ben-Pinchos, who was 23 years old, was a platoon commander and lived in the settlement of Charshah in the Mateh Binyomn Regional Council, near Modiin Illit, together with his parents and nine siblings. The head of the regional council, Yisroel Ganz, released a statement after Ben-Pinchos’s death: “We bow our heads at the news of the fall of the hero Avrohom, a respected officer who led his soldiers in battle against the enemy in Gaza with the goal of obliterating them and recovering the hostages.” Ganz revealed that this wasn’t the first tragedy to hit the Ben-Pinchos family; in fact, he was personally sent to the family’s home four years ago, along with the local council’s professional staff, to inform them of the tragic death of their daughter Efrat in a car accident. “This adds another tragedy to their suffering,” he said. “We daven for the family to find the strength and for Hashem to send them great comfort. The Binyomin Regional Council sends encouragement to the community of Charshah.
Avrohom was the eldest child in his family, which was one of the founding families of the settlement of Charshah. The settlement’s administration also released a statement after his passing: “Avrohom was born and grew up in the settlement of Charshah and learned heroism, dedication, yiras Shomayim, love for the Torah, love for Am Yisroel, and love for Eretz Yisroel. Avrohom learned in Yeshivas Roeh Yisroel in Yitzhar and joined the army about two and a half years ago. He took a tank commanders’ course and an officers’ course, and he strove with all his might to be a significant part of the fighting in Gaza. Avrohom was wounded several months ago in Gaza but returned to the fighting as soon as he was able, with absolute faith in the righteousness of the cause and a sense of mission to lead his soldiers to defend Am Yisroel and destroy their enemies. His death in battle has brought tremendous pain, but his family, his friends, and the entire community of Charshah are all proud to declare that these are our sons. We are confident that the Eternal One of Israel will not forsake us, and Am Yisroel will continue rising, growing, and being rebuilt, in spite of and through this great grief.”
Hamas Psychological Warfare Continues
The upheaval in Syria has brought the issue of the hostages in Gaza to the fore once again. Hamas is now completely isolated. Its surviving leaders have been banished from every country, seemingly out of fear of Trump, and it seems that even the leaders of the Arab states have had enough of Hamas, which has been holding its hostages for 440 days and has repeatedly murdered prisoners. But Hamas is continuing its psychological warfare.
To ramp up the pressure on Israel, Hamas released a video of another hostage this past Shabbos—and not just any hostage, but the son of a woman who has been one of the most militant participants in the Kaplan protests. Matan Zangkauer, who appears on the Hamas video, is the son of Einav Zangkauer, one of the leaders of the families who have repeatedly attacked Netanyahu.
The video was denounced in Israel as psychological warfare. It begins with Zangkauer stating that he has been held in captivity for over 420 days. He quotes Netanyahu’s promise to reward anyone who returns a hostage with five million dollars—which is evidence that the video was recorded recently—and then he says, “I am very disappointed. I am very disappointed. I am certain now that you do not know our enemies and you do not understand their mindset. This is your failure and the failure of your government on October 7. Am Yisroel, do not abandon us. We are still alive. We want to come home in peace before we lose our sanity. The isolation is killing us and the darkness is terrifying. It is unfair that we should have to pay for the mistakes made by our government. The time has come to put an end to our torment.”
Matan was kidnapped from his home on October 7. His mother has been leading the hostage families in their fight ever since. Every week, she unleashes scathing criticism against Israel’s political leadership, accusing Prime Minister Netanyahu of having torpedoed potential hostage deals for months. In the video, Matan spoke about her efforts: “Ima, I see you and I hear a lot about you. I understand the things that you are doing, and I hear about your actions. I am very happy to hear that you are all right. I hope to see you again, and I hope that we can meet soon.” He called on the Israeli public to take to the streets and protest for the hostages’ sake outside Netanyahu’s home. “Don’t let him sleep, even for a minute,” Zangkauer said. “We are suffering, and he should suffer as well, along with his family. I hope that we will have unity again very soon. I do not know why it is taking so long. Why is there no agreement yet? Why are we still here? Do not forget us!”
Netanyahu called Einav Zangkauer after the video was publicized, and told her that he understands the suffering that her son is experiencing, along with the other hostages and their families. During their conversation, the prime minister told her that Israel is doing everything in its power to advance the negotiations for the hostages’ release, and he promised to continue working with determination and with every possible means to bring Matan and the other hostages, both the living and the deceased, back to Israel.
Terror Strikes Again
There has been another incident of domestic terror in Israel—and I use the word “domestic” for more than one reason, as the attack was perpetrated within Israel and by a terrorist who lives in the country. The incident occurred on motzoei Shabbos, when a terrorist committed a ramming attack at the Al Fawar junction near Chevron. The terrorist escaped at first, but after a manhunt carried out by the IDF, the police, and the Shin Bet, he turned himself in to the security forces. The IDF reported that a soldier had been seriously wounded in the attack and was evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment. An Israeli civilian was also lightly wounded and taken for treatment. It was also reported that numerous Israeli forces blocked roads in the area, and the city of Chevron was surrounded by IDF forces during the search for the terrorist. During the incident, soldiers opened fire on the terrorist’s vehicle.
In an interview with the media, Eliran Azulai, the head of the Har Chevron Regional Council, spoke strongly about the need to restore security to the area. “Two weeks after the opening of the Al Fawar junction, we witnessed a car ramming attack tonight in which several people were injured, one of them seriously,” he said. “I call on the army to block access to the main road from the surrounding villages, and to launch a major operation to destroy the nests of terror in the area of Chevron and the villages. Providing relief for Arabs at the expense of the lives of Israeli civilians and soldiers is a mistake that belongs in the world of October 6.”
This incident came just one week after a shooting attack in which nine people were wounded at the Gitai Avisar junction near Ariel in the Shomron. The head of the Yesha Council has been sounding the alarm about the phenomenon of terror on the roads of Yehuda and Shomron and has demanded that the army take action—a demand that is completely understandable.
More Malice from the Supreme Court
When I heard about the ruling issued by the Supreme Court on Sunday, a maamar Chazal instantly surfaced in my mind “Yaakov sought to dwell in tranquility, but the hardship involving Yosef pounced on him.” In case anyone thought that the chareidi community would have a reprieve from adverse decisions, the Supreme Court proved them wrong once again, as the judges decided to tighten the noose further around the necks of the country’s yeshivos and kollelim.
This particular case was heard by a panel of three Supreme Court justices. First was the justice with the greatest seniority, Yitzchok Amit, who aspires to become the next chief justice of the Supreme Court. Amit was joined by Ofer Grosskopf and Alex Stein; the latter wears a yarmulke and is American in origin. As I mentioned in a different article this week, Stein is the judge who kept Eli Feldstein and his fellow defendant in custody for an extra five days, claiming that it would take several days for him to read the material concerning their case, and ultimately ruled that the second defendant should remain behind bars.
This time, the judges were hearing a petition from National Union of Israeli Students against the use of government funds for yeshivos and kolellim. The judges’ ruling was relatively short but incomparably cruel and malevolent: “A conditional injunction is hereby issued requiring the respondents [the government and the Knesset] to explain why the budgetary allocations for Torah institutions in the budget laws of 2023 and 2024, including the supplements to the budget for these years, should not be canceled, and why the government should not refrain from granting funding in the future, or why there is no need for oversight to ensure that the funds are used for the institutions themselves and that they do not serve as conduits for the funds to reach their students.” The government was ordered to respond within sixty days.
Let me cut through the legalese and clarify this for you. The judges previously ruled that after the draft law was struck down, all kollel yungeleit and yeshiva bochurim who have failed to enlist in the army have the status of criminals. It would have made more sense to limit this status to those who are at the age of the draft, and perhaps only to the bnei yeshivos who actually received draft orders and ignored them, but the decision was interpreted, for some reason, as applying to everyone. There was much talk of future sanctions and perhaps denying these bnei Torah the right to receive drivers’ licenses, passports, and even child stipends from the government. And the next step has evidently now been taken by an organization that is hostile to Torah learning, which decided to make its own effort to chip away at the funding provided for kollelim and yeshivos. Of course, the Supreme Court accepted this petition and ordered the government to explain how it can transfer funds to these institutions without somehow ensuring that the money isn’t being given to the bochurim or yungeleit in the form of stipends.
In short, the State of Israel is continuing its efforts to undermine the basis of its own existence.
A Clash in the Cabinet
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s testimony in court is due to begin this week. I wrote about this last week, but that was before the dramatic events in Syria. The change of regime in this neighboring country has made it much more important for Netanyahu to be given the time to preserve Israel’s security; however, it seems that not everyone agrees with this sentiment.
Netanyahu instructed his ministers to refrain from speaking about this issue, and only one minister actually came out with a statement. Education Minister Yoav Kisch said, “In light of the strategic changes in the region due to the fall of the Assad regime, as well as the uncertainty and the many challenges facing the prime minister and the State of Israel, I call on the judges and the prosecution to reconsider the idea of postponing the prime minister’s appearance in court for three months. In light of these dramatic changes, insisting on holding the hearings at this time is a mistake.”
The issue was raised at a cabinet meeting where Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara was present, and she was asked to request a delay from the court. Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was adamant. “I know that what I am saying might lead to another criminal investigation into me,” he announced. “It is now a few minutes before midnight. The prime minister will be here until early in the morning, and then again tomorrow. It isn’t just foolish to refuse to delay the trial so that the prime minister can manage these battles; it is totally reckless on the part of the attorney general. Gali is sacrificing Israel’s security.”
Justice Minister Yariv Levin added, “I second Ben-Gvir’s words. The attorney general is refusing to delay a trial that will continue for years in any event. I demand that you postpone it.”
In response to the onslaught of condemnation from the ministers, Baharav-Miara asked to be given the floor and announced, “This is not a topic for the cabinet. The prime minister has lawyers, and they speak on his behalf. This is political interference, and the cabinet is not authorized to discuss this.”
Ben-Gvir shot back, “Now you are going to tell the cabinet what to do? We will discuss it, and I ask for a decision to be made here and relayed to the court.”
The angry debate between the ministers and the attorney general gave rise to a cacophony of raised voices and angry shouts.
The judges previously ruled that Netanyahu would testify twice this week and then three times a week in his subsequent appearances, for six hours at a time. For security reasons, Netanyahu is scheduled to testify in the District Court in Tel Aviv. Netanyahu requested permission to appear in court twice a week rather than three times, but this, too, was turned down by the judges.
Is the Court Violating the Law?
Another effort was recently made to reschedule Netanyahu’s testimony and discredit the courts in the process. This began when someone discovered a clause in the Knesset Immunity Law that states that if a member of the Knesset is summoned to testify in court, the schedule must be coordinated with the Knesset speaker so that his appearances will not detract from his parliamentary work. The prime minister’s associates were jubilant over this discovery, as it seemed to indicate that the court was not following the dictates of the law.
Upon learning of this discovery, Knesset speaker Amir Ochana sent a sharply worded letter to the court administration. “I have learned from the media that the court has scheduled hearings for the prime minister’s testimony to be delivered without coordinating with me,” Ochana wrote. “My duty as the Knesset speaker is to make it possible for all 120 members of the Knesset to vote in the Knesset on the days and at the times that it is in session. This Wednesday, the Knesset will be hosting the president of Paraguay, who will be coming to Israel to inaugurate his country’s embassy in Yerushalayim. The prime minister is scheduled to speak at this event. Summoning the prime minister to testify will cause damage to the event. I ask the court to be in touch with me to coordinate this matter, as is required by the law.”
Incidentally, Netanyahu already submitted his own request last Friday to postpone his testimony until 2:30 on Wednesday to enable him to attend the event in the Knesset with the president of Paraguay. His request, however, was rejected.
The court system and the judges appear to have been caught breaking the law, but the Knesset legal advisor, of all people, spoke up in their defense. She asserted that Ochana and the others did not understand the law. Paragraph 8 of the law of immunity for a member of the Knesset states, “If a member of the Knesset is required to testify before a court, the timing of his testimony will be scheduled with the approval of the Knesset speaker.” The legal advisor explained that this does not apply to a member of the Knesset who is a defendant in a criminal case; if the law were applied to such a scenario, it would give the MK a significant advantage over other defendants. An analysis of the law’s objective also seems to indicate that the clause does not apply to criminal proceedings. The goal of this clause was to ensure that a member of the Knesset could continue his parliamentary work even if he is subpoenaed to testify in court, for the purpose of reducing the impact on his work and on the Knesset. The Justice Ministry also brought up another counterargument: “Netanyahu already surrendered his immunity when he was indicted, and he should now enjoy no rights that are not accorded to any other defendant in a criminal case. Any additional rights that he might have enjoyed as a member of the Knesset are no longer applicable to him. There is a basic principle that ‘everyone is equal under the law,’ and the clause cited by the Knesset speaker in his highly unusual request is not relevant to this matter.”
I am reluctant to say this, but through the eyes of a layman such as myself, it does seem that the legal advisor and the prosecution are correct in their interpretation of the law. Indeed, the clause refers to a member of the Knesset who is subpoenaed to testify and is essentially coming to court to testify in someone else’s case. When the MK is the defendant, he is already subject to criminal proceedings in spite of his status as a member of the Knesset and his rights to immunity, and the law should not confer additional immunity on him. In any event, this is just one of the many twists and turns that the saga of Netanyahu’s trial has taken.
Tragic Accident in Morocco Claims Five Lives
On Monday, a huge crowd escorted the five victims of a tragic accident in Morocco to their final rest. It has been a long time since the city of Tzefas witnessed a levayah of this nature, with such a huge crowd of participants and such a large number of niftorim. The five accident victims were members of the Breslov community, which is a large and prominent community in Tzefas, but the grief was shared by the entire country. Some of the accident victims are members of very prominent families in Tzefas.
The five men who died in this accident were part of a much larger group of travelers who visited Morocco to daven at the graves of tzaddikim buried there. The group was led by Rav Yaakov Jan of Uman, Ukraine, who has a following in Tzefas as well. Dozens of members of his kehillah joined the expedition to Morocco, and the five men separated from the group when they went to daven at the kever of Rav Machlouf Ben-Yosef. Several hours after the group reached their destination, they realized that the five men were missing. The chassidim began searching for the missing car and ultimately called in the police and local authorities. A few hours later, the victims were located in their crushed car near the city of Ouarzazate in northern Morocco. Rav Yaakov Jan released the following statement to his kehillah: “Tonight, a few members of our group separated from us and traveled to a kever in a remote location. Tragically, we received the news this morning that they all perished in a fatal accident. May Hashem have mercy on us, and may we be strong enough to bear this news.”
When the victims’ names were cleared for publication, the Breslov community in Tzefas was shaken to its core; all five victims were members of the community, and some were part of a single family. Several of the victims, in fact, were grandchildren of a man who had already lost two grandsons in the Meron tragedy.
One victim was Reb Nosson Shapiro, a 37-year-old Breslov chossid from Tzefas who was born in Yerushalayim and was the son of Rav Mordechai Shapiro, a prominent Breslov chossid in the city. Reb Nosson was married to a daughter of Rav Yehuda Dorfman of Tzefas, the son-in-law of Rav Masoud Gabai, who originally hailed from Morocco and served for many years as a rosh yeshiva in France and a renowned shochet and mohel. Reb Nosson was survived by eight children. Rav Shimon Tefilinsky, another victim of the accident, was a 33-year-old Breslov chossid and sofer who was the son of Rav Yaakov Shlomo Tefilinsky, one of the most distinguished members of the community, and another grandson (through his mother) of Rav Masoud Gabai. He, too, was survived by eight orphaned children. The third fatality, the bochur Yosef Chaim Tefilinsky, was Reb Shimon’s brother. The fourth victim, 18-year-old Moshe Galant, was a bochur from Tzefas and the son of Rav Nachman Galant, another prominent Breslov chossid and the founder and gabbai of the main bais medrash for Breslov chassidim in the city. His mother, too, was a daughter of Rav Masoud Gabai, and his brother is a member of the Tzefas city council. The fifth victim was a bochur named Yisroel Meir Shasha. Thus, four of the five victims were grandchildren of Rav Masoud Gabai, one of the most prominent rabbonim of the Breslov community in Tzefas, who previously lost two grandsons, Mordechai and Yosef Dovid Elchadad, in the Meron tragedy on Lag Ba’omer 5781. The two boys, the sons of Rav Nachman Elchadad—with whom we had an interview in this newspaper—were buried in the cemetery in Meron.
