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As Israel and the Jewish World face relentless challenges, we will – as we have done for thousands of years – dip a slice of apple in honey to express our hopes for a sweet and fruitful year. May it also be a year that brings peace, security and a return of our loved ones held in captivity.
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REFLECTIONS ON A FATHER’S YAHRZEIT
Since ‘The Jewish War’ against the Roman Empire, some thoughts of The Jewish War of today. By David E. Kaplan
Heavenly Input. The writer (r) with his brother Sidney at the Kfar Saba resting place of their dear father, bringing Solly in for a three-way discussion on the Israel’s ongoing war with its fanatical enemies on multiple fronts.
British military expert in Israel says understanding the tunnels below Gaza is key to understanding the war above. ByRolene Marks
Below the Surface. “Every tunnel is connected to a mosque; to a hospital and to a school, and for Israel to neutralise these tunnels they need to go through the entrances located in these mosques, hospitals and schools.”All the while, a hostile global media contorts the facts by exploiting the visuals to besmirch Israel.
The UN is to Blame for much of the suffering in Lebanon By Jonathan Feldstein
Resolving Resolutions. In an interview this week, the writer was asked by a journalist what’s the point of Israel remaining a member in the UN. “To be honest, I didn’t have a good answer.” He attempts here to explain why.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
The UN is to Blame for much of the suffering in Lebanon
By Jonathan Feldstein
As the United Nations General Assembly was convening in New York this week, all eyes were on Lebanon, with daggers drawn to blame Israel. In looking to ascribe blame, paraphrasing Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, they should have looked no further than their own backyard.
To that end, I launched a plan to send mirrors to each of the UN Member states (and observers) to mount behind the microphone and their country’s name, so when they sat in the General Assembly and blame Israel, they can see where the real blame lies.
Let’s be clear, every death and all the destruction taking place in Lebanon now is because of Hezbollah, and its Iranian Islamic patron. The Islamic regime has been funding and arming Hezbollah for decades, having hijacked Lebanon and putting all its residents in harms way. The long-range missiles being destroyed in the private homes and garages of Lebanese civilians are not part of a “terrorist chic” interior design trend but a central pillar of the “Axis of Resistance” decades long plan to eradicate Israel.
Guilty of enabling all this is the UN and thus responsible for much of the death and destruction that’s happened so far, and what may come.
The best example is the flagrant violation of UN Resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War. Before the ink dried, Hezbollah and Lebanon were ignoring the text, and the UN turned a blind eye.
Resolution 1701 requires:
“Full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, and of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of July 27, 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state.”
The Lebanese cabinet approved 1701, yet Hezbollah never had any intent to implement any of it. Already entrenched into the Lebanese parliament, with a military arguably stronger than the Lebanese Armed Forces, Hezbollah is the authority that calls the shots in Lebanon. The Lebanese Armed Forces has nothing to do with Hezbollah’s presence south of the Litani River. 1701 says Hezbollah cannot exist as a military in Lebanon, period. The UN and UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) never tried to enforce that.
Resolution 1701 was never implemented. While Israeli troops withdrew from Lebanon, Hezbollah failed to withdraw from the border with Israel. Not only did they not withdraw, but Hezbollah significantly increased their weapons in terms of quantity and quality, all backed by Iran. Today, they have an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles of all varieties that can strike all of Israel, and numerous drones as well. Not only did they not withdraw but Hezbollah has deeply entrenched, excavating terror tunnels, weapon stashes, airstrips, and military installations.
Voting to Fail. While the UN’s Security Council unanimously adopted on the 28 August 2024, resolution 2749 (2024), extending the mission’s mandate until 31 August 2025 that further demanded the parties recommit to the full implementation of all provisions of resolution 1701 , Hezbollah has never done so and the UN has consistently allowed them to get away with it with disastrous consequences.
All of this has been under the noses of Lebanese civilians in whose cities, towns, and villages Hezbollah has made them human shields, and under the noses of UNIFIL. The truth is, the Lebanese civilians who allowed their country to be hijacked by the Shiite Islamists are also guilty. I realize that confronting Hezbollah is dangerous, but what did the neighbors think when a huge truck pulled up in their neighborhood, unloading a delivery that was several meters long? That it was IKEA?
One might say the UN failed, but failure requires an attempt. The UN and its complicit affiliate UNIFIL never made an attempt. That’s why they are to blame for what’s happening in Lebanon (and Israel) and those international players that made it possible.
Complementing this all, France is leading the charge with the US and others for a 21-day ceasefire. This is disgraceful because rather than calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities by Hezbollah after nearly a year of daily firing into Israel, they make a false equivalence between the terrorist aggressor, and Israel acting in defense of its population with brilliant precision in self-defense.
While condemnation of Israel is the lifeblood of the UN (with more anti-Israel resolutions each year than the sum of all the resolutions against actual terrorist states like Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, N. Korea, and more), maybe if they are looking deeply in the mirrors in front of them, they will have a reflective moment of introspection. Maybe, in the spirit of the season of the Jewish High Holidays, the UN will break out in mass repentance.
Dead in the water. This map of Lebanon includes the Israeli border and the Litani River where according to UN Resolution 1701, Hezbollah forces were to not cross from the northern side and which they ignored. (Photo source: CIA)
In an interview this week, I was asked by a journalist what’s the point of Israel remaining a member in the UN. To be honest, I didn’t have a good answer. Its dysfunctional, ineffective, financially reckless, and morally way off course.
Maybe expecting the UN to repent and develop a moral backbone is – like Dorethy’s dream – no more than a fantasy. It’s hard to imagine any meaningful transformation with its agencies complicit in supporting terror and a UN leader like Secretary General Guterres (whose immediate response to the October 7 massacre in Israel, was to rationalize “the context”. He set the tone by his wording at the time:
“It is important to… recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum.”
When the Secretary General speaks on global affairs, his words are significant and potentially impactful and here we had, the UN’s top executive justifying and legitimizing the October 7th massacre! Instead of directing his wrath at the perpetrators of October 7, Guterres chose to blame the Israeli victims for their murder, their torture, their rape, their mutilation and there being taken as hostages. His declarations served only Hamas and their nefarious ends as his declarations today serve Hezbollah.
Powerless Patrols. Since its adoption, UN Security Council Resolution 1701 has been flouted by Hezbollah that has failed to respect the principle of a “buffer zone” in the south with no enforcement of the forces of either the UN or Lebanon, both seen here together uselessly patrolling the area. (Photo: Photo archives/Finul)
Following my plan to send mirrors to each of the UN Member states attending the UNGA, let me conclude by paraphrasing another children’s popular fable, with:
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most to blame of them all?”
Clearly, when it comes to Gaza and Lebanon – a top contender is the United Nations.
About the writer:
Jonathan Feldstein - President of the US based non-profit Genesis123 Foundation whose mission is to build bridges between Jews and Christians – is a freelance writer whose articles appear in The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Townhall, NorthJersey.com, Algemeiner Jornal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
