Barrages of missiles did not stop Israel’s prestigious Reichman University proceeding with its ‘2024 Shabtai Shavit World Summit on Counter-Terrorism’.

By David E. Kaplan

How scary! How warry; how real!

Reichman University’s annual World Summit on Counter-Terrorism held this October 6-7, 2024 was atmospherically far removed from being solely scholastic.

As worrisome words from past and present Israeli politicians, scholars, researches, practitioners in the field of Counter-Terrorism as well as those from Israel and abroad in the military, law enforcement and intelligence communities resonated within the university’s auditorium in central Israel, sirens went off warning of incoming missiles somewhere nearby. Anywhere in tiny Israel is “nearby” and throughout the 2-day conference, as we listened to illuminating ideas, others with dark ideas were responsible for the distant soundtrack of the thunderous booming of rockets being neutralized by Israeli interceptions. While the audience was respectively attentive, I noticed how nearly everyone was no less attentive to their cellphones for updates on the war. When a speaker from the United Nations was interrupted because of a siren alert,  we were told to remain seated as “It’s safer,” and the speaker braved on as did the audience.

This was a conference about war in the midst of war.

The harsh reality of Israel’s war was so heart-wrenchingly evident. As we took our seats and looked down upon the stage, to the left of the dais was a small table and chairs for the panel of speakers, and then further to the left, was a solitary yellow chair. No one was expected to sit on it as it was reserved for a student at Reichman University – a hostage held in Gaza. It displayed the photo and the name of the student – Idan Shtivi, who, on October 7, had helped two people escape at the site of the Nova music festival, before being kidnapped and taken as a hostage to Gaza.

The only thing was that he would never be siting on that or any other chair as it was announced the next day before the Summit’s October 7 memorial service by the summit moderator, Jonathan Davis, that it had only been learned that morning, that Shtivi was dead. He was killed on the morning of October 7 2023, and it was his body that had been ‘kidnapped’ and still being held in Gaza. Explains, Davis who is also Head of the Raphael Recanati International School at Reichman University:

 “The family notified us at 7.00am this morning, two hours before the ceremony. Now we have 14 killed amongst Reichman University students and alumni.”

It begs repeating, this was a conference about war in the midst of war.

BOOMS OF ROCKETS TO BLOOM OF FLOWERS

In the grounds of Reichman University on the way to the Summit, one could not miss the powerful exhibit “Anemones Before the Rain” –  a waterfall and a carpet of approximately 5,000 handcrafted clay anemones. In addressing the Summit, President of Reichman University Prof. Boaz Ganor explained:

“Placing the anemone exhibit at the heart of the university, a university that has lost 13 of its best sons since the war began, sends a message to the younger generation and the conference attendees to remember and honor the fallen, but at the same time to look forward with hope for a future of growth and renewal. Among the carpet of red anemones stands one yellow anemone, symbolizing our hope for the release and swift return of our student Idan Shtivi and all the other hostages.”

The day after Ganor invited the Summit participants to view the exhibit, we heard the tragic news relayed by the family of Idan  Shtivi that that university’s loss of 13 was now 14.

FULL OF SURPRISES

While one speaker quoted the classic Latin line “Si vis pacem, para bellum”, that is, “If you want peace, prepare for war”, Israel has always adhered to this maxim but without success as it has known only war since its inception in 1948. The Summit’s participants, glancing periodically at their cellphones for messages testified to a collective anxiety and adding to this reality of war, was the panelist Lt. Col. (Res) Sarit Zehavi, founder and President of the Alma Research and Education Center who served 15 years in the Israeli Defense Forces, specializing in Military Intelligence.  Residing in the northern town of Kfar Vradim close to the Lebanese border, she revealed  in a panel debate her anguish in leaving behind that morning to attend the Conference, her young daughter. “Should I or should I not bring her?” was the question this mother faced that morning, after all she reminded the audience:

 “Here at this Summit in central Israel, if the siren goes you have one-and-a-half minutes, while where I live, you have 15 seconds.”

For civilians in the north, life is a daily play with Hezbollah of Russian Roulette! Every day the news reveals those who were and those who were not lucky!

Hearing speaker after speaker, I was reminded of the previous year’s 2023 World Summit on Counter Terrorism, which as I recalled was special because while commemorating 9/11 as it traditionally does, it also included the 50^th anniversary of the Yom Kippur war of 1973. What both had in common was how the US and Israel were both “taken by surprise” and failed “to think out of the box” – the words used.  We left that 2023 Summit feeling more assured and less than a month later, we had October 7 when we again were “surprised” and failed “to think out of the box.”

The theme of the ‘2024 Shabtai Shavit World Summit on Counter-Terrorism was:

From 9/11 to 10/7: Navigating New Threats

The comparisons between these two cataclysmic and iconic “surprises” – 9/11 and 10/7 or as we commonly refer to as October 7 –  have as well their marked differences as many speakers reminded. While the attacks by Hamas on October 7 killed more than 1,300 Israelis in a country whose population is less than 10 million, in the US that would be equivalent to killing nearly 40,000 – 13 times more than the number of Al Qaeda victims on 9/11.

As horrendous as 9/11 was, tens of millions of Americans woke up the following morning not knowing any of the victims or their families, while In Israel, a country whose width is less than my daily ride on my stationary bike, not a single family was untouched by the attack. Everyone knew someone – either directly or indirectly – that was horribly affected.

All this was not only academically evident but personally felt by most of the Summit’s participants, whether those on stage or seated in the audience.

While the war raged and our eyes could not escape the solitary yellow chair for now deceased Idan Shtivi, the words of Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing, Brig. Gen. (res) Gal Hirsch, resonated. His carefully crafted words were of admissions and apologies but also of heart-wrenching commitment:

“Although our attention is divided across many fronts, and we are being attacked from all sides, we have not forgotten you, our brothers and sisters who are hostages. This is an unprecedented event, one we entered without knowledge, and we continue to learn. A year after the disaster, I ask forgiveness from the families and the hostages themselves. To the hostages, I know you are in hell, and the road is long. But we are constantly working to bring you back.”

And while most Israelis look today with astonishment and anger on the UN and its Secretary-General António Guterres, the audience welcomed the words of UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Ambassador Tor Wennesland when he said:

“Even a year later, the brutality is impossible to comprehend…Let me be very clear – what happened in October 7, 2023, must never happen again, not here, not in Europe, nowhere…In the past year, we witnessed a roaring rise in antisemitism around the globe in expressions of hate and violence against Jewish communities. There is no place for such things, and Israel should not be alone in confronting it.”

Israel most certainly feels “alone” facing off multiple enemies with mostly only the US having our back. This is no more appreciatingly evident as Israel prepares to retaliate against Iran and the US announces it is deploying to Israel a Terminal High Altitude Defense battery (THAAD) along with  troops needed to operate it in order  to help bolster Israel’s air defenses.  

As Israel with US support counters the elevated terrorism threat with sophisticated hi-tech, we were reminded by numerous speakers that the failings in the beginning of this war were mostly the machinations of low-tech.

Dr. Daphné Richemond-Barak, Senior Researcher at Reichman University’s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism explained:

“None of what we’ve seen during this war should have come as a surprise, and yet, it did…Tunnels did, and continue to shape this war. Low-tech warfare has paid off in this war and it is a success that will sadly boost tunnel warfare everywhere.”

This World Summit also had its heroes not only of previous wars but the present war. One such was Maj. Gen (Res) Yair Golan, the new liberal leader of the united left-wing party ‘The Democrats”. While it was no surprise that he addressed the World Summit, it was a huge surprise that he, at the age of 61, personally fought on October 7. At his age, he had  no business being in a war zone which he would later describe as Israel’s “worst ever”,  but there he was on October 7, in the Gaza envelope, in his old uniform.  When the news broke on October 7 2023, Golan “re-enlisted”, received a weapon and arrived in his private vehicle to the Gaza envelope and threw himself in the midst of the chaos of battle, rescuing people being hunted by the marauding terrorists. He did so systematically.

Relying on his knowledge of the Gaza border region to evade detection, and using WhatsApp location-sharing to find those in need, he went round rescuing who he could.

Amongst the many people he saved that day was a top journalist’s son, Amir, the 23-year-old son of Haaretz columnist Nir Gontarz, who had been at the Nova Music Festival. On the run, Amir sent panicked messages to his father who tried calling his usual sources for help – politicians, the army, the police but to no avail. Then, scrolling through live updates from the scene of the slaughter on social media, he saw a photograph of someone he thought might be able to help – Yair Golan.

In desperation, Nir called Golan’s mobile and explained his son’s dire situation, to which the general replied:

“Send me his location.”

Half an hour later, an anxious father received another clipped message: “Don’t worry; I have your son.”

Having rescued Nir’s son, Yair Golan is now on a mission to rescue the State of Israel and it was in this mode that he took to the podium  at the World Summit of Counter-Terrorism and said the following:

“Many people ask me with a worried look: “How do we get out of this?” My answer is: by building a brave alternative, with the necessary patience, and with incredible forces – our good citizens are a tremendous source of optimism.”

I did leave the World Summit at Reichman University with Golan’s words resonating that the “good citizens” of Israel “are a tremendous source of optimism.” The resilience and unity of the people bodes well for the future.  We will need it.

On the way driving home, the siren went off in Kfar Saba and I had to leave the vehicle and find cover. In doing so, I found myself under a building in the company of the “good citizens” of Israel.

We have a long road ahead and I wonder as the Middle East reshapes:

 “What will be on the program of the 2025 World Summit on Counter-Terrorism?”

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).

Seeing the reality, one struggles to process the evil inflicted

By  Rolene Marks

(Photos: Rolene Marks)

A beautiful bougainvillea is in full bloom. Its lustrous purple leaves bring a burst of colour.  Behind the vibrant bush, a house that has been absolutely decimated, scorch marks all over what is left of it. The occupants incinerated.  Kibbutz Nir Oz should be a little piece of heaven on earth in the western Negev. Instead, the kibbutz bears testament to the hell that visited this idyllic part of Israel, along with others, on that Black Sabbath.

Walking through the Kibbutz, I caught the unmistakable stench of death. Did I imagine it? No, said our host, it never goes away. Every house tells a story of the horrors that happened inside them. I look at the reactions of the members of the foreign press who have joined two of us Israeli journalists and wonder if they internalize the magnitude of the carnage here. One turns to another with a smile and says, “a little bit of destruction for this community”. I give him a look that could freeze the Negev desert at high noon. This is holy ground.

Batsheva Yahalomi, whose husband Ohad remains captive in Gaza took us into her looted house. In the corner of the passage are scorch marks where a grenade exploded. Ohad was wounded before taken captive. Is he still alive? Her 12-year-old son, Eitan, was also taken. His story of captivity is devastating. Eitan was held on his own, beaten, branded and forced at gunpoint to watch the go-pro footage that Hamas gleefully shot on the day. He was not allowed to cry. Today, Eitan tries not to go to sleep because the nightmares return. Clumps of his hair are falling out.  

We walk through Nir Oz, guided by Rita Lipschitz, the daughter-in-law of Oded, who also remains in captivity. Oded used to ferry cancer-stricken children from Gaza for their chemotherapy as part of the “Road to Recovery” programme. Rita hopes he is held by someone who might recognize his good deeds for Palestinians.

Overhead we hear the symphony of war, the unmistakable sounds of artillery shells fired and the growling of a fighter jet. My phone buzzes with an update from the IDF a little later – we struck a major terror target in Gaza.

We get to the house of the Simantov family. Their shining, smiling faces beaming at us from posters on the wall. Only the family dog survived. We finally get to the kibbutz kindergarten, passing memorials to members of Nir Oz who fell in defence of their home.

I see Ariel Bibas’s name by the hook for his little school bag. I fall apart.  The walls of the kindergarten are black with soot and it is difficult to breath, the air is so thick and hot. Imagine what it was like that Black Sabbath. You can see where shots were fired and grenades thrown, setting fire to a place of learning, safety and joy. Yifat Zeilar, Shiri Bibas’s cousin speaks. The tears roll down her face and her voice cracks with sorrow as she says:

 “My family, my cousin and the love of her life, Yarden, and their two beautiful boys were taken from us on October 7 last year…My cousin was barefoot, holding her two boys with a blanket. I am standing here today in a kindergarten. It’s where Ariel used to go to kindergarten. On October 7th, a hand grenade was thrown into this kindergarten. We don’t know if they’re alive or not. I’m here to ask for your help. I want to hold my cousin again. I want to hold those children again. I want to tell them that I’m sorry.”

Entering Kibbutz Kfar Aza for a second time this year is very emotional.  While some families have returned, the Kibbutz with its trees heavy with unpicked fruit trees and signage for the residents that remain captive in Gaza. Bullet holes pockmark houses and the path to the “young generation” neighbourhood is ominous. Walking past the armory where the “kitat konenut”(Anti-Terror First Response’ Team) engaged in heavy battles with Hamas terrorists, guide Shahar Tzuk points out the grass embankment, where she reveals “On 7 October, the grass was full of the bodies of Hamas terrorists.” Tzuk continues, pointing at her modest house, the rainbow flag of the LGBTQ community outside, “If I had been home, they would have killed me for sure. When I came back to the house afterwards and started moving stuff around, my parents yelled at me to stop because Hamas had booby-trapped fridges, cupboards, everything. I found faeces on my couch – and did others. They really wanted to humiliate us as much as possible.” 

Flies still hover around the neighbourhood that was once the vibrant corridor of starter homes for the young people of the Kibbutz. They remain burnt, destroyed and ‘decorated’ with signage that tells the story of who was murdered in them. Sivan Elkabetz’s house on the corner has been opened by her parents as a testimony to the slaughter that ensued. The walls and ceilings are pockmarked from grenades, bullets, and the devastating inscription from ZAKA on the door reads “human remains found on the sofa”. Walking out of the kibbutz, past the armory where the grass was littered with bodies that Saturday, a cameraman starts to whistle. This time I open my mouth and tell him to stop. We are walking on holy ground.

Simcha Greiniman strikes me as a man whose eyes should twinkle. Engaging and kind, Greiniman, the spokesperson for ZAKA, the NGO whose holy work it is to recover the remains of the dead so that they can be buried with the dignity afforded with a Jewish burial. His eyes are haunted and sad. In a short address at the Nova site, he describes in vivid detail not just the horrors that he and his team of tzaddikim (righteous and saintly persons), Jewish and Muslim, witnessed as they gently recovered bodies. Simcha spoke of the ridicule he faced from organisations like the United Nations, where he testified on behalf of the women and girls who were sexually violated. “Where was his rape kit to prove that sexual violence happened,” they asked.

I have been down to the south many times, visited the towns, kibbutzim, Nova site and driven the killing road, Road 232, countless times. This visit left me with a profound sense of sorrow. It engulfed me like a black fog of despair. Maybe it was the timing, mere days from the anniversary, which I thought I was emotionally prepared for but clearly was not. Maybe it was the frustration at the lack of empathy shown by the foreign press.

On 7 October 2023, something fundamentally changed in our Israeli DNA. We are tougher, harder and much more emotionally vulnerable. The calendar told me that it has been a year since 7 October 2024 – but Israelis are still on 7 October 2023. I have feeling we will be there for a while.

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).