Category: Israel-Arab Relations

FEEDING OFF THE DEAD

A breed of South African vultures prey upon the deceased to further their political narrative.

By Josh Schewitz

There is a grotesque political theatre that has been actively around for years in South Africa, hiding in the wings, that is, until Israel was invaded by marauding mass killers from Gaza on October 7, 2023!

The star director in these theatrics is DIRCO, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, in ‘cooperation’ with a suspect cast that includes terror-sponsoring states, professional full-time activists, journalists, and bureaucrats who feed not on facts but corpses – literally – all to undermine the legitimacy of the one Jewish state in the world – Israel.  This is the script in a nutshell.

As if taking their cue off the local wildlife, they wait like vultures circling the wounded. They need and feed off death and salivate over child-sized coffins to prop up their message. They may call themselves humanitarians but in reality they are scavengers feeding off proverbial carrion.

Every Gazan life the Hamas terror organization purposely sacrifices as a human shield is a new talking point. Every IDF airstrike targeting terrorist’s intent on killing and holding hostages is spun into another indictment – not of Hamas, but of Israel.

The facts do not matter to them. The context does not matter either because to people like Jo Bluen – a former newspaper columnist for the South African daily ‘Business Day’ and presently a PhD candidate in the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics (LSE) in genocide studies – tragedy is not a humanitarian crisis – it is political capital.

Bluen’s Logic! “Actually, the idea of Zionism is in itself a very antisemitic idea,” says Jo Bluen.  

A good insight on Bluen’s bias is revealed in this 2 December 2023 posting of hers that articulates her ignorance as well as her naked prejudice:

“Abolish the South African Jewish Board of Deputies. Abolish the South African Zionist Federation. They do not speak for Jews, but for Zionists. They are dangerous, Islamophobic, racist and antisemitic.”

The ultimate evildoer in the world today for Bluen is the Zionist, and if evil is not rooted in Western colonialism, it warrants no concern to her. Hence ethnic cleansing of the Kurds, the slaughter of the Armenians by the Turks and the persecution of Christians by Muslims conveniently escapes her attention for it fails to fit into her worldview.

PATRON SAINT OF WEAPONISED GRIEF

Bluen is not some fringe radical shouting from the digital wilderness but has evolved into an amplified voice in South Africa’s anti-Israel propaganda machine – in classrooms, in the media, and outside the offices of companies that provide jobs for many South Africans. Her tantrums, incitement and hate speech towards Jews and her calls outside the US Consulate in Sandton or on her social media pages to “abolish” the State of Israel have not gone unnoticed.

Whether she lies about “290,000 children being starved to death,” or discredited stories about Israel bombing hospitals, her circle treats her malicious messaging as gospel. They do not question her sources but accept and recycle them.

Most of their talking points originate from rogue Hamas-run media offices in South Africa, Iranian-funded channels, or anonymous Telegram accounts.

POSTING FOR PERFORMANCE, NOT PEACE

Bluen boldly accuses Israel of “genocide” when there is no evidence whatsoever. Yes, the crime of genocide requires a specific intent, known as dolus specialis, that is, to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. Israel has no such “intent” other than to defend its civilian population by rooting out and removing an existential threat. That is the nature of war not genocide. Bluen would off course know this but choses to ignore that her Hamas heroes killed scores of innocent people younger than herself while they were dancing and enjoying life; that they raped, beheaded, kidnapped and tortured, not to mention facts that Hamas:

– hijacks their own Palestinian people’s aid

– slaughters Gazan’s in cold blood and

– has built terror tunnels under hospitals and

– uses their own civilians as human shields.

Out of the mouth of Joe Bluen: “Genocide is not unique to the Nazi Holocaust; it is the story of colonial modernity” and “While Israel weaponises Judaism, it is a settler colonial fascist state, not a religion.”

When Israelis were slaughtered – babies decapitated, Israeli families burned alive and civilian apartment buildings and Israeli hospitals were destroyed by Iranian missiles, Bluen said nothing.

No outrage!

No grief!

Just lies and justification of terrorist murderers she has grown to admire and wilfully chosen to stand by, aid and support.

Because in her warped worldview, Jewish blood is not to her human loss but – using her lexicon – “colonial” consequence.

‘RED TRIANGLE’ RITUAL

Every time Israelis are murdered whether festival goers gunned down in fields, toddlers shot in cold blood or taken hostage only to be brutally murdered by their kidnappers, families burned alive in safe rooms or even an unrelated Israeli civilian diver killed in a Mediterranean off-shore shark attack, Jo Bluen has ZERO sympathy. Instead, she marks or nay we say celebrates the moment with an inverted red triangle – originally a sign of resistance in the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Turks – today the symbol adopted by online Hamas sympathisers to identify, harass, and target Israelis and Jews. Glorifying Hamas’ terror, the inverted Red Triangle – is a dog whistle for increased violence against Jews.

This Woman is Evil.  Modeling herself on the women who sat beside the guillotine during the French Revolution and would knit at public executions, Cape Town’s Jo Bluen uploads onto her social media accounts the inverted Red Triangles when Israeli soldiers are killed as in this posting on her X and Instagram accounts rejoicing following the death of 3 Israeli soldiers.

This symbol, banned in Germany since 2024, appears on Bluen’s profile not when Jewish civilians are spared, but when they are slaughtered. It is her euphemism for:

 “They had it coming.”

In any other conflict, waving the emblem of a terror group after a massacre would be called what it is: glorifying violence, but for Bluen, the red triangle has become her badge of honour – her digital bloodstain.

Bluen is Blunt. Joe Bluen says on Salaamedia, “The Nazi Holocaust has become something that is being used as a political point scoring thing ….that is being taken out on Palestinians  and Muslims as a European Zionist Colonial project that has found its antisemetism being directed to Muslims and Palestinians.”

CULTURE OF COWARDICE

Let us not pretend South Africa has a watchdog culture. There is no press council challenging this infectious poison. The South African Human Rights Commission is complicit as are the NGOs that claim to champion human rights but are conveniently silent or captured. There are those South African journalists that quote these vultures masquerading as “experts”. They are invited onto panels; address public functions and provided op-ed space. Platformed and protected, this is not activism, it is indulgence. It comes at a cost. Because every unchecked lie about Israel “targeting children” while ignoring Hamas’ military tactics is not just bad journalism -it is incitement. It fuels antisemitism. It radicalises youth. It tears at the social fabric of an already fractured society and it will eventually kill.

CALL IT WHAT IT IS

What is in ‘play’ here in these theatrics is not peace-building but fetishised war porn masquerading as social justice and Jo Bluen and her comrades do not want the conflict to end because the minute the rockets stop flying and the cameras stop rolling, they lose the one thing they crave more than anything – relevance. This orchestra of enablers that includes government figures, academicians, media operators, and NGO apparatchiks have built entire careers out of blaming Israel while absolving terror.

Voice of Violence. Screenshots from Bluen’s Public Instagram account leave little doubt about her dangerous intent towards Israelis. (left) a neon sign reading “Every day is f**k Israel day”; (right) Bluen appears in a red keffiyeh with the caption “good afternoon from serious face – abolish ‘israel’”.

Far from being humanitarians, these are political morticians who dress corpses in talking points. Unless South African institutions grow a backbone, they will keep thriving on the blood of others.


A Woman of Waffle.
Hard to believe from this rambling interview that Jo Bluen of Cape Town will be accepted to study for a PhD at the London School of Economics unless the LSE welcome candidates who suggest to “Free Palestine” is to “….Abolish ‘Israel’ and the Zionist entity and its white internationalisms of genocide settler colonial inter-nationalisms.” ( Jo Bluen online post August 2024)



About the writer:
Josh Schewitz is a researcher and analyst specializing in Africa and the Middle East, with a focus on securitiy related topics in addition to blockchain technology.






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).

DEVASTATION AND RESILIENCE

Visiting South African photojournalist, Ilan Ossendryver, captures in real-time the Measure and the Mood in Israel during Iran’s devastating missile attacks.

By Rolene Marks

South African photojournalist Ilan Ossendryver was stranded in Israel during ‘Operation Rising Lion’. Recognizing the magnitude of the war, Ossendryver grabbed his camera and went to the various sites of impact to record this time in history – and show the destruction on civilian infrastructure caused by the Iranian missiles.

Shattering Symbolism! A glass window cracked by the impact of an Iranian missile attack in Bat Yam on June 15, 2025, leaves a generalized shape of Israel intact. (Photo: Ilan Ossendryver.)

Ossendryver had been due to launch his book, “Israel after October 7” – a collection of photographs documenting the destruction and horror on the Kibbutzim and communities following the attack on 7 October and was staying with family in Givatayim – when suddenly he found himself confronting new devastation. He spoke to the news agency and wire service, JNS about what it was like to be in Israel during the war with Iran and the impact of recording history as a photographer:

“ I have covered many of Israel’s historic events.  Personally, the most difficult was October 7 atrocities. That as a photographer and as a Jew has been the most difficult. All other photo stories – even tough ones to cover such as suicide bombings – the atrocities carried out by Hamas has been the hardest.”

Coastal Chaos. Hardly covered in international news networks, a neighborhood of Israel’s coastal town of Bat Yam was devastated in an Iranian missile attack on June 15, 2025 that killed nine civilians. (Photo: Ilan Ossendryver).

He continues:

“As the air raid sirens blared and we ran to bomb shelters, I like everyone prayed that the missile would not hit us and when the all clear was given, we sighed with relief and thanked G-d… until the next siren.  I was personally afraid and was worried. After spending time in the bomb shelter and getting the all clear, I visited the sites where Iranian ballistic missiles struck with such devastation.”

City Centre. An Iranian missile destroyed parts of a building and a car in central Ramat Gan on June 19, 2025. (Photo: Ilan Ossendryver.)
 

The imperative to document what was happening was paramount to him – especially when the media in his native South Africa gives little, or any, coverage to Israel’s side.

Continuing, Ossendryver told JNS:

“It was still incredible to be here in Israel. This is my second huge war. It reminds me of the scud missiles fired here in 1991 by Iraq; the world doesn’t really understand what is going on, especially in South Africa where you don’t get these reports. Only one side is reported. I am here with my family documenting life in Israel under war.”

Crumbling Complex. Of no military value, a close-up of the devastation caused by an Iranian missile to a residential building in Be’er Sheva, killing four people on the last day of the war, June 24, 2025. (Photo: Ilan Ossendryver.)

Documenting various sites horrendously impacted by the Iranian missiles, Ossendryver says:

“It is actually quite remarkable and even though countries in the West don’t want to admit it, but Israel is defending the West. They keep complaining about it but Israel has to defend itself.”

The damage caused by direct impacts was immense. Buildings and neighborhoods were totally destroyed.  Many of these areas will have to be bulldozed and cleared in order to create new housing developments. “Buildings shops houses, all destroyed but the miracle was that even though there were some deaths, the death toll, considering the state of destruction, was remarkably low,” says Ossendryver.

Lives Shattered! Homes devastated from an Iranian ballistic missile in Rishon LeZion, South of Tel Aviv.  (Photo: Ilan Ossendryver).

Operation Rising Lion, which many are referring to as the “12-Day War” tested the nation’s collective resilience muscle. The Israeli people, still deep in their trauma following 7 October have endured nearly two years marked by loss and war but remain strong.

Messaging the Mullahs. Israeli resilience on display in Tel Aviv. (Photo: Ilan Ossendryver).

Ossendryver was profoundly impacted by his experiences and notes that “the lasting impressions for each of the impact sights was the resilience of the Jewish people, the Israeli people, that didn’t scream hate, that didn’t call for death but said plainly that our hearts are still beating and we shall rebuild.”


Rising from the Rubble. A policeman with two puppies he rescued from the rubble in Bat Yam after an Iranian missile attack on June 15, 2025. (Photo: Ilan Ossendryver).



About the photoprapher:

Ilan Ossendryver has been a photojournalist for over 25 years covering international news events such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Gulf War, the war in Lebanon, the Israeli Jordanian peace agreement, and the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin. He photographed at Hosni Mubarak’s palace in Cairo where the late Yitzhak Rabin met Yasser Arafat for the first time. He also documented life under Apartheid and the release of Nelson Mandela. He has covered two American presidents, seven Israeli prime ministers, as well as many well-known people from Leonard Bernstein, Pavarotti, FW De Klerk, Michael Jackson and Gorbachev.
Illan’s photographs have appeared in many international newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Forbes, Der Spiegel, South China Morning Post, The Times of London, The Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, Yedioth Acharanot, Maariv and The Star of Johannesburg. He is currently the resident photographer of the Johannesburg based Jewish Life Magazine and the South African Jewish Report.






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).

FROM DEVASTATED HOMES TO HOTEL HOSPITALITY

As Iran’s ballistic missiles pummel Israel’s urban areas turning residents into evacuees, Israel’s hotels  – despite tourist decline –  meet the challenge.

By Motti Verses

(This article first appeared in The Jerusalem Post)

Friday morning in Be’er Sheva this June, 51-year-old Sima Elimeleh huddled with her husband Avi and their daughters in their apartment’s safe room as air raid sirens echoed throughout the city.

It’s Personal. “We were determined to do everything we could for those who had lost their homes and their sense of safety,” said Sima Elimeleh, GM at the Leonardo Negev hotel of Fattal group in Be’er Sheva. (Photo: Ohad Abrahimi)

Heightening the family’s anxiety was the previous day’s ballistic missile strike from Iran scoring a direct hit on the nearby Soroka Medical Center, that provides medical services to approximately one million residents of the South. Then, when the news broke that another missile had hit their normally quiet neighborhood causing severe damage to numerous buildings, and local residents reeling from shock began to assessing the destruction, Elimeleh, the General Manager of the Leonardo Negev Hotel, quickly shifted gears. Asking her husband to manage preparations for their family’s Shabbat (Friday night) dinner, Elimelah Whats App’ed her hotel management team to report immediately to the hotel. Despite being only three months in her new position, she acted like a seasoned professional and arrived there within ten minutes. Her team wasn’t far behind.

Hit on a Hospital. Damage at the Soroka hospital in Be’er Sheba following a direct hit from an Iranian missile barrage on June 19, 2025. (Credit: Israel Fire and Rescue Services)

Within an hour, the hotel had transformed. Guest rooms were readied, public spaces organized, refreshments laid out, and even a kindergarten was established. “We at Fattal Hotels have experience hosting 20,000 evacuees since October 7,” Elimelah explains. “But when it’s your own hometown, people you know, whose children go to school with yours, it hits differently – it’s personal. I felt a sense of mission. We were determined to do everything we could for those who had lost their homes and their sense of safety.”

Minutes before the ceasefire was announced of the ‘12 Day War’, Be’er Sheva suffered another deadly attack, claiming four lives. A second wave of evacuees soon arrived at Elimeleh’s hotel. By nightfall, 500 civilians were housed there. Many are expected to remain for at least a month.

Serving the People. The Fattal Hotels that have been hosting Israeli evacuees since October 7, 2023, were back in “business” when its Leonardo Negev hotel in Be’er Sheva welcomed evacuees following the devastating missile attacks from Iran that also hit the local Soroko hospital.(Photo: Aya Ben-Ezri)

The events of October 7 and the ensuing war with Hamas displaced over 200,000 Israelis, particularly from communities near Gaza and later from the north. Many were sheltered in hotels and short-term rentals. What began as temporary arrangements soon extended into months, testing the limits of logistics, finances, and emotional resilience.

Hoteliers found themselves in dual roles: offering standard hospitality services while simultaneously meeting humanitarian needs. Guest rooms were repurposed for long-term stays. Support services, mental health care, educational programming, childcare was coordinated in part by the government.

The hard-earned experience from those months proved invaluable when Iranian missile strikes targeted Israeli cities this June. Since the outbreak of Israel’s military campaign with Iran, the country’s tourism industry has faced a dramatic downturn. Regional tensions, heightened travel advisories, flight cancellations and general insecurity have nearly brought international tourism to a standstill. Even domestic tourism, especially in the north and along the southern coast has evaporated. In this vacuum, many hotels saw housing evacuees as both a moral imperative and a practical solution.

One person well-positioned to manage this challenge is Romi Gorodisky, Deputy General Manager of the Israel Hotel Association. Known as a behind-the-scenes powerhouse, Gorodisky has led crisis responses since 1996, when the IDF launched ‘Operation Grapes of Wrath’ against Hezbollah. On October 7, she helped establish a command center to oversee hotel placements for evacuees from both the Gaza and northern borders. When ‘Operation Rising Lion’ against Iran began, she launched a new center. “In the Iron Swords operation, launched following the October 7, 2023 massacre, everything was centrally coordinated via the National Evacuation, Care, and Casualties Authority (EWC); this time, the responsibility shifted to municipalities,” she says. 

While the previous efforts focused on peripheral communities, this round of war effected Israel’s urban centers. “Of the 15,000 evacuees, 10,000 were placed in hotels,” she explains. “The rest stayed with friends or family. We worked with municipalities to place people close to their original neighborhoods, preserving familiar environments and community continuity,” she says. Her team’s real-time ops room and inventory system – another possible Israeli innovation –  allowed for rapid, efficient placement of evacuees. Their proven-under-pressure methodology may well serve as a model for crisis management globally. It would also do the industry good by being studied at hotel schools.

New Home. Danny Sadeh (right), Yoav Yaari and Tyson the dog became literally overnight evacuees when an Iranian ballistic missile struck a building near their apartment in Tel Aviv causing widespread damage. (Photo: Danny Sadeh)

Among the displaced is 72-year-old Danny Sadeh, a former tourism correspondent for the Israeli daily, Yedioth Aharonot, who has reviewed hotels worldwide and locally for 20 years. He was evacuated just hours after a missile struck a building near his Tel Aviv apartment. “I found myself with my partner in a 14-square-meter room at the Brown Bobo Hotel, along with 100 other civilians,” he recounts. “The room is small, but the food is excellent and the staff is incredibly supportive.” Sadeh, who has stayed in over 250 hotels in 40 countries, says this stay is unlike any other. “This is the first time I’ve had to bring my dog. Running to the basement during sirens, especially when the elevators are full, isn’t pleasant. Much of our time is spent on paperwork related to our damaged apartment. This is not a hotel stay I ever imagined.”


Home away from Home.  Following the destruction of their home from an Iranian missile, the Brown Bobo urban hotel in Tel Aviv provides for evacuees this guest room. (Photo: Max Kovalsky)

So how are hoteliers in metropolitan Tel Aviv responding to this unexpected influx of guests?  Dr. Eran Ketter, Head of the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Kinneret Academic College, offers some perspective:

“From January to April 2025, Tel Aviv hotels saw only 45% occupancy, due to the sluggish return of international tourism. The arrival of evacuees has improved this, offering hotels a much-needed revenue stream, at least temporarily.”

Rescuing Kids. Security and rescue personnel at the scene where an Iranian ballistic missile hit in Tel Aviv, June 22, 2025. (Photo: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90.)

Still, challenges remain. Many Tel Avivian evacuees will struggle to find alternate housing  in a city where real estate values are comparable to major global hubs like Paris and New York. “However, the hospitality industry has adapted. In 2024, many hotels experimented with hybrid models, hosting evacuees alongside regular guests. While this brings operational challenges and concerns about guest experience, most people seem to understand the unique reality we’re living in. To avoid friction, larger hotel chains may designate specific properties for evacuees while reserving others for tourists. Flexibility will be key,’’ concludes Ketter.

Meeting Changing Needs. With war impacting negatively on international tourism, Israel’s “hospitality industry has adapted,” says Dr. Eran Ketter, Head of the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Kinneret Academic College. (Photo:Tal Hefetz)

Ask any Israeli hotelier, and they’ll tell you:

“We long for peace and the day when tourism resumes in full force. Until then, we will continue to serve evacuees quietly, professionally, and with compassion.”



Feature picture: These were once Israeli Homes! Apartment complex in Tel Aviv following a direct missile strike launched from Iran on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (Photo: AP/Oded Balilty).



About the writer:

The writer, Motti Verses, is a Travel Flash Tips publisher. His travel stories are published on THE TIMES OF ISRAEL  https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/motti-verses/. And his hospitality analysis reviews on THE JERUSALEM POST, are available on his Linkedin page LinkedIn Israelhttps://il.linkedin.com › motti-verse…Motti Verses – Publisher and Chief Editor – TRAVEL FLASH TIPSAnd his hospitality analysis reviews on THE JERUSALEM POST, are available on his Linkedin page LinkedIn Israelhttps://il.linkedin.com › motti-verse…Motti Verses – Publisher and Chief Editor – TRAVEL FLASH TIPS.





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).

ALL EYES ON TRUMP AND NETANYAHU

The issues on the White House agenda of upcoming meeting between Bibi and Donald are clear; everything else is unclear.

By Jonathan Feldstein

On Monday, all eyes will be on President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu as the later comes to Washington for what will be their third meeting this year. This makes Netanyahu the world leader who has most visited Trump in the White House since the start of 2025. Conspiracy theorists and anti-Israel propagandists will tell tales of the Netanyahu (Israel) tail wagging the Trump (US) dog, and worse. Their venom will stream as they scream of schemes, bringing radicals across the political spectrum – from left to right – into an unholy alliance. Their biased agenda to bash Israel at every opportunity aside, nobody truly knows what’s going to happen in front of the camera, much less behind the scenes.

What Will Be Will Be. Never quite knowing what will arise from a Trump meeting, the region braces for the unexpected.

There are many things that are intuitive, many guessed about, and perhaps some leaked. However, as far as the agenda items, it’s anyone’s guess about what that and the outcome will be.  Here are some things to look for.

Both leaders will take and share credit publicly, praising one another for the recent achievements in eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat, literally if not figuratively spiking the ball in the end zone. Will there be public declarations of deterring Iran and other bad actors, announcements of additional support for Israel to heighten its preparedness? Privately, it’s reasonable to imagine they will discuss intelligence assessments of actual accomplishments, additional threats, and the need for regime change in Iran to actually bring peace, not just for Israel and the US, but also for the Iranian people, albeit while not publicly stating this. If the Iranian nuclear program has only been set back by two years, what’s Plan B?

As for the highly enriched uranium that created the urgency for the recent attack, enough to produce as much as ten nuclear weapons, the question is what happened to it. If it was in Fordow, one would think that radioactive fallout would be an issue. Could it have been smuggled out of Iran to North Korea, China, or Russia? Could it have been moved, protected, turned into dirty bombs, to be smuggled across borders and threaten Israel, the US, and the rest of the world?

There are indications that high on Trump’s agenda will at least be a push to end the war in Gaza, maybe even some declaration about how that is happening, with Netanyahu smiling at the president’s side. Will such remarks be coordinated or a surprise?  Ending the war meaningfully however requires more than Israel’s withdrawal of its troops.  It requires the complete eradication of Hamas in Gaza, and the release of the remaining 50 hostages. Talk of a 60-day ceasefire in exchange for a handful of hostages will embolden Hamas and not achieve either of these goals. It will not bring peace.

Calling the ‘Shots’.  Is Gaza nearing the end of Hamas rule? Who shall be its rulers in the future?

Reports that Israel has accepted such a framework and Hamas has rejected it are not surprising or new. Netanyahu will surely remind Trump that Hamas’ terrorist infrastructure can be defeated, but its ideology (and influence elsewhere) remains alive and well, and that what’s needed is a true solution for peace in Gaza. In this context, there will likely be declarations about a Gazan future free of Hamas, but will there be any other long term realistic plan proposed?

After celebrating the recent joint success in eliminating Iran’s nuclear threat, it’s hard to imagine Trump doing a 180-degree pivot, strong-arming Netanyahu (particularly as a surprise) to agree to an end of the war in Gaza without achieving the war’s goals. But it’s also hard to imagine Netanyahu not bowing to a degree of pressure by Trump, in order to maintain the relationship. Surely Netanyahu is not coming to Washington for a public dressing down as happened with Ukrainian President Zelinsky.

Would peacemaker Trump, seeking and believing that even the most intractable issues and genocidal of jihadis can be dealt with through a deal, place himself as guarantor for Hamas not having control in a restructured Gaza? How could that be enforced? Would that mean US control, even boots on the ground, as he hinted in previous statements? Might additional brazen comments be made, even if less than practical, to cajole the Arab world into a broader deal as well? 

It could be risky for Trump because Hamas is not looking for a deal, but to survive another day, to achieve its goal of annihilating Israel. Terrorism is their means, and the hostages are their currency. That won’t change. Yet such an offer, if it could even happen, could take pressure off Netanyahu at home, claiming success for bringing (some) hostages home, and buffer challenges to his premiership from within his own coalition on one hand, and from the public on the other that he has not done enough to secure the hostages’ release and end the war on the other.

Only time will tell – and it will tell it soon!



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).

HYPOCRISY TAKEN TO NEW HEIGHTS

How the world has reacted to Iran’s attempt to eradicate the Zionist entity.

By Neville Berman

The antisemites of the world are up in arms. The Islamic Republic of Iran had a plan to build a ring of fire of terrorist entities around Israel and then to simultaneously attack the Zionist entity from all sides. It was assumed that the Palestinians living in Israel and the West Bank would relish the opportunity to join the fight and kill the Zionists who had stolen their land.  Surely 90 million Iranians could be relied upon to get rid of the cancerous growth of Zionists that had infected the world once and for all? Everything had fallen into place for the final destruction of Israel.

With the exception of the International Atomic Energy Agency, everybody knew that Iran was building a nuclear arsenal to attack Israel. Germany, France and Britain had already succumbed to the large Muslim populations that they had so graciously invited into their countries. No matter what Iran did, European appeasement was absolutely assured.

Iran had the third largest oil reserves in the world, and no one would dare attack Iran as the price of oil would skyrocket. Despite American sanctions, Iran was flush with money from oil sales to China. The Iranians had thousands of inter-continental missiles that they could use to attack Israel with. They were even selling suicide drones to Russia to use against Ukraine. America was tired of war, and it was assumed that they would avoid getting militarily involved in another bloody Middle East conflict. The Jews living in Israel were divided and demonstrations against the government were taking place daily. They assumed that Israel was on the verge of collapse.  The Iranians even erected a large clock in Tehran that was counting down the days for the destruction of the Zionist entity.  Iran was on the verge of finally annihilating the Zionist enterprise. What could go wrong?

Time Out. Above is Tehran’s notorious “Doomsday Clock” blown up by in Israeli ariel attack. In the end it was the clock and not Israel that was destroyed.

Two things initially went wrong. Firstly, Hamas attacked Israel without coordinating the attack with Iran and its other proxies. Secondly Iran totally underestimated the resolve of the Jews. Built into the DNA of Jews is faith, survival and innovation. Empires have come and gone. The Jews have survived. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks has stated that Judaism is not about the idea of power. It is about the power of ideas. Jews know how to survive and prosper wherever they are forced to live. Like steel that has been made stronger by being subjected to extremely high temperatures, the Jews have been strengthened through their own history of over 3,000 years of being victimized and slaughtered. They understand that in every generation some nation will arise that wants to kill them. They prepare for a worst-case scenario.

Jews are really annoying. They have never stopped believing in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They refuse to convert and recognize Jesus as the Messiah. They keep Saturday as the sabbath. They have returned to the land that God promised to the seed of Abrahan, Isaac and Jacob. They have succeeded in making Jerusalem the capital of the State of Israel. They have resuscitated Hebrew as a spoken language. They have made the desert fertile. They have become the start-up nation. Israel is a powerhouse of innovation and technology.  Jews are stubborn and argumentative. They refuse to commit suicide to please the world. They want to live in peace. This obviously threatens world peace. How annoying.

Since 2005, when Israel withdrew from Gaza, Israel believed that as long as the Palestinians in Gaza were living a better material life, everything in Gaza was hunky dory. Israel was concentrating on the much larger threat from Hezbollah in the north, and fell asleep regarding watching Gaza in the south. October 7, 2023 was a wake-up call for Israel. Hamas had stunned Israel and the world. Like Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hamas had won the opening battle. In an instant, all differences in Israel were set aside. The country immediately united and went to war to defend itself. Despite enormous difficulties, Israel succeeded in decapitating the top leadership of both Hamas and Hezbollah and greatly reduced their capacity to attack Israel. Assad was overthrown, not by Israel, but by the Syrians themselves who took advantage of Israel’s crippling of Hezbollah. Iran had lost the proxy armies it had spent billions building up in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza. Iran then made a major error. It attacked Israel directly. It amounted to a declaration of war. The rest is history in the making.

For years America and Israel have stated that Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear arsenal. After Israel destroyed the Iranian air defenses, it was time to put into action what both Israel and America had stated about Iran’s nuclear program. Israel succeeded to attack the Natanz nuclear site and to eliminate senior Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists. President Trump then took advantage of the situation and announced that America had attacked and totally destroyed the Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.

A Step too Far. This Ayatollah supporter in Tehran failed to realise as his masters miscalculated, that you cannot threaten “Death to the USA” and “Death to Israel” while rushing for a nuclear bomb and not expect consequences!

The world was outraged. The hypocrisy is mind-boggling. The United Nations immediately condemned America for endangering world peace. The European Union issued a statement that it is deeply alarmed by the American action in Iran. Not surprisingly, they were never deeply alarmed by 30,000 rockets fired at Israel by Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran claimed that what America did was outrageously dangerous. Coming from a country that has financed, armed and trained terrorist entities all around the world, it appears that they know all about outrageously dangerous behavior. Iran announced that America has broken all red lines of peaceful behavior, and that they will respond forcefully, and that all American assets in the middle east were military targets.

Hamas claims that the attacks are barbaric. Well Hamas obviously knows a thing or two about barbaric attacks. Qatar, the supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, announced that the American attack on Iran will have catastrophic consequences.  Russia announced that the American attack on Iran is against international law. From a country that has deliberately and without provocation, attacked Ukraine and is now claiming that all of Ukraine is part of Russia, this takes chutzpah to an entirely new level.

Height of Hypocrisy. A “Hands off Iran” placard is fine for these protestors at an anti-war demonstration in Los Angeles, California, June 21,2025 but no such understanding when Iran , Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis of Yemen fired missiles on Israel. (Photo: Reuters /David Swanson)

Only one country has stated the truth. Israel has thanked President Trump for destroying the nuclear sites in Iran that were a direct threat to the world. The moral compass of the world has completely collapsed. The end result will be the repeat of the story of David and Goliath. Tiny Israel will defeat the Mullahs of Iran. With Iran defeated the inevitable result will be the expansion of the Abraham Accords and the real possibility of peace in the Middle East.

After Israel destroyed the nuclear reactor in Iraq in 1981, the Prime Minister of Israel, Menachem Begin, asked Sam Lewis, the American Ambassador to Israel, to convey to President Reagan a message that Israel had in a defensive action destroyed the nuclear reactor in Iraq. In the fullness of time, the initial condemnation of what Israel had done, gave way to profound thanks. The same scenario is likely to repeat itself in the current war. The truth is that Israel is not a threat to world peace. The religious fanaticism of Iran’s Shiite mullahs, to annihilate Israel and subjugate the world to Sharia rule is the real problem.

It’s time for the world to understand what is happening.   



About the writer:

Accountant Neville Berman had an illustrious sporting career in South Africa, being twice awarded the South African State Presidents Award for Sport and was a three times winner of the South African Maccabi Sportsman of the Year Award.  In 1978 he immigrated to the USA  to coach the United States men’s field hockey team, whereafter, in 1981 he immigrated to Israel where he practiced as an accountant and then for 20 years was the Admin Manager at the American International School in Even Yehuda, Israel.  He is married with two children and one granddaughter.





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).

AFTER US BOMBING, FINANCIAL TIMES & GUARDIAN PUSH ‘TAIL WAGGING THE DOG’ TROPE

Framing antisemitic tropes about Jewish or Israeli influence over US presidents has a long and toxic history.

By Adam Levick

On June 22, 2025, President Donald Trump ordered the US Air Force to drop multiple bunker-busting bombs on three nuclear facilities in Iran – the Fordow Uranium Enrichment Plant, the Natanz Nuclear Facility, and the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center.

The US attack – almost certainly a one-off – occurred nine days into the war between Israel and the Islamic Republic which has seen Israel’s Air Force (IAF) achieve air supremacy, allowing the military to strike hundreds of military targets, including IRGC leaders, nuclear facilities and nuclear scientists throughout Iran – over 1,000 sorties in which the IAF lost not a single plane.

Power behind the Presidency! “Behind the US president, is Israel’s prime minister” is the maliciously contrived narrative of many respected international journalists fueling the antisemitic trope of Jewish global power and control.

However, that one American attack began to immediately be framed by some British media outlets as an example of the Israeli tail wagging the US dog, suggesting that the US president was coerced into making the decision by Israel’s prime minister.  This framing, evoking antisemitic tropes about alleged Jewish and/or Israeli power and undue influence over the United States, has a long and toxic history. In recent decades, it’s been associated with the progressive left, but has also been embraced by some within the MAGA right.

Enter Edward Luce, the Financial Times’s US Editor, and arguably the most openly anti-Israel contributor at the outlet. While not justifying the October 7 massacre, Luce suggested, in an opinion piece three days after worst antisemitic atrocity since the Holocaust, that the attacks in southern Israel were understandable. His foray into the Jewish power calumny began even before Trump made the decision.

On June 20, two days before the US strike, and amidst the debate about what Trump would do, Luce published a piece titled “MAGA’s battle with Israel for Trump’s mind”.  The headline ignored the debate within the administration between isolationists (also known as the “restrainers”) like Vice President JD Vance, and interventionists like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, instead casting Jerusalem as the lone party attempting to “control” Trump’s “mind”.

“The Great Dictator”. US national editor and columnist at the Financial Times, Edward Luce frequently suggests that it is the Israeli prime minister and “not Trump or his loyalists”, who are “dictating the agenda.”

The text picks up on the headline’s theme:

“Trump’s managerial style is usually to encourage squabbling between underlings. That enhances his role as the decider.  But it is Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, not Trump or his loyalists, who has been dictating the agenda….”

Luce’s use of the word “dictating”, referring to the act of imposing one’s will or authority on others, leaves little doubt that he’s imputing Israeli control over US decision making. He used  same word in a column he wrote after the US attack, (“Trump has opened a Pandora’s box”, June 22), which included the following:

“Trump’s brief televised address following the strikes was meant to showcase his command of the situation. In reality, Netanyahu has been dictating events. But even he, cannot predict how Iran will respond.”

This pattern persisted in an opinion piece (“Trump’s step into the dark”) by the FT’s editorial board :

“The Trump administration has allowed Netanyahu, who has long opposed diplomatic efforts with Tehran, to sideline diplomacy and drag Trump into a war he has wanted for a decade.”

It’s not just the Financial Times.

Andrew Roth, the Guardian’s global affairs correspondent based in Washington DC, wrote an analysis after the US strike also denying the US president agency, positing instead that Trump unwittingly fell into a “trap” set by Jerusalem (“What a difference a week makes: Trump falls into Netanyahu’s trap”, June 22).  In addition to the headline, Roth’s piece includes the following:

“From early suggestions that the Trump administration would rein in Netanyahu’s military ambitions, it now appears that the Israeli PM has maneuvered the US into striking Iranian uranium enrichment sites directly after a series of military attacks that Washington was unable to deter the Israeli PM from.”

Further into the piece, Roth again picks up on the same theme of Israeli control over US presidents:

“While Netanyahu had been able to maneuver previous administrations into supporting his military adventures in the region, some critics of Israel began to laud Trump for his ability to resist Netanyahu’s pull.”

The Israel-centric conspiratorial mindset of Roth can’t accept that the support of previous US presidents for Israeli wars with Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Hezbollah, was made of their own free will, based on what they felt was in the national interest.

Bombs Away. Suggesting unable to think what is in the best interests of the US and the world, Global Affairs Correspondent for the Guardian in Washington, DC, Andrew Roth, makes the case that Trump unwittingly fell into a “trap” set by Jerusalem.

The Guardian’s veteran columnist Simon Tisdall advanced a similar theme of an Israeli trap (“No matter what Trump says, the US has gone to war – and there will be profound and lasting consequences”, June 22). Tisdall wrote the following:

“Trump, the isolationist president who vowed to avoid foreign wars, has walked slap bang into a trap prepared by Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu – a trap his smarter predecessors avoided.”

In addition to the antisemitic pedigree of such explanations for US decisions to use military force in the Middle East, the ‘Israel controls Washington’ charge is, and has always been, the go-to narrative for intellectually lazy commentators who don’t want to grapple with the complexities of the internal debates and foreign policy decision-making processes within the White House.

Of course, to gather accurate, fact-based assessments of the Trump administration’s decision to bomb Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan would require real journalism, a far more arduous task than deploying antisemitic dog-whistles about Israeli puppeteers controlling the president of the world’s greatest power.



About the writer:

Adam Levick immigrated to Israel from Philadelphia , USA in 2009, and has been co-editor of CAMERA UK since 2012. He previously worked as a researcher at NGO Monitor and, prior to that, at the Civil Rights Division of the Anti-Defamation League. He’s had op-eds published in numerous Jewish and non-Jewish publications, published longer papers at the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs on “Antisemitism in Progressive Blogs” and “Antisemitic Cartoons in Progressive Blogs”, and was previously a member of the Online Antisemitism Working Group for the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism. He frequently gives presentations about media bias and antisemitism, including one in 2022 at the inaugural conference of the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism.





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).

ZAPIRO = ZERO

Ink dripping with blood, South African Jewish cartoonist endangers his people.

By Stephen Schulman

Like so many others, I am familiar with the work of the South African cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro better known as Zapiro. Shapiro, the source of many biting caricatures has been gifted with exceptional artistic talent but most sadly, very little else.

Shapiro positions himself as the great and fearless crusader wielding his mighty pen “fighting monsters” whilst carrying the banner of an unbiased moral authority that clearly differentiates wrong from right in exposing the injustices in our world. Unfortunately, his hatred of the State of Israel runs so deep that all of his cartoons of our country overflow with such venomous bilge that all pretence of his vaunted morality is jettisoned.

In Iran, a theocratic, despotic and repressive government boasts an atrocious human rights record of incarcerating, torturing, murdering and publicly executing its critics; in the first four months of 2025 alone, there have been at least 343 recorded exe­cu­tions. It has also long trumpeted its declared aim – with all means at its disposal – of obliterating the Jewish state. The IAEA has revealed that this regime while employing its well-honed strategy of prevarication, threats, obfuscation, subterfuge and outright lying has blatantly contravened all imposed limits and manufactured large amounts of highly enriched fissionable uranium suitable for the construction of an atomic bomb. How did our Shapiro react to this scenario of a Holocaust denying genocidal rogue state acquiring the means of mass destruction? His cartoon of the 12th June speaks for itself:

If you are looking for any condemnation or even hint of Iran’s actions, you will be sorely disappointed for once again Shapiro’s old flogging horse Netanyahu reappears, now depicted as a sinister war monger with a mushroom cloud spouting from his head. To our Jonathan it matters not one whit that Iran’s actions have been condemned by the European community and many Western countries. For, as usual, as portrayed in his regular vilifying and demonizing cartoons, Netanyahu i.e. Israel i.e. the Jews are the root of all conflicts and injustices in the Middle East.

Why his silence on Iran’s crimes and transgression? The answer lies with SA’s ruling African National Congress party’s accumulation of huge debts that were suddenly paid off by a mysterious but well known benefactor: Iran. Shapiro is not only a highly moral but also a most pragmatic individual and knows full well that any attempt to criticize his government’s close ally and party bankroller would have officialdom fall on him like a ton of bricks. How true for him is the old adage: “A dog barks for his masters.” After all, a man has to put food on the table for all those hungry mouths and nobody likes to be unceremoniously hoofed out of lucrative newspaper jobs and see his dedicated buying public boycotting his books. So accordingly, principles must be swept under the carpet and a politically correct silence must be maintained.

On the 13th June, only one day after the publication of this scurrilous cartoon, Israel launched a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s military-nuclear complex – a war for its survival that has been condoned by the enlightened international community. While Israel has confined its targets to Iran’s military and nuclear installations, Iran, unsurprisingly, has had no compunction about sending its UAV’s and missiles into a hospital and heavily concentrated urban areas.

The war is still ongoing and Shapiro’s pen will be busy drawing for his select audience. If anyone wonders about the content of his forthcoming cartoons, a glance at a few of his notorious past endeavors should leave no doubt. The cartoon of the 8th October 2024 is so disgusting in its distortion of truth and warped narrative that it is simply beneath contempt. Other repulsive cartoons portray Israel’s P.M sitting in a bath of Arab blood and as the charioteer behind the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

But what about Shapiro’s pursuing of some genuine “monsters” in this world such as the repressive North Korean regime and China’s persecution of the Falun Gong sect and the cultural genocide of the Tibetans and the Uyghur? Neither a squeak nor a plaintive bleat emanates from our crusading knight, for after all, China is a valued trading partner and investor in SA’s crumbling economy and it wouldn’t do to ruffle their feathers.

On October 7th 2023, a Hamas terrorist army invaded Israel in an orgy of rape, sodomy, plundering and destruction, sadistically murdering twelve hundred people – the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Two hundred and fifty innocent people – from little children to infirm octogenarians were forcibly abducted into Gaza and held in unspeakable conditions, suffering sexual abuse, torturing and beatings while being systematically starved and dehydrated. Many of them were murdered in captivity including a young mother together with her toddler and his small brother. Fifty hostages still remain and of those twenty are reputed to be still alive. Would this not arouse outrage in the heart of any decent, thinking person? Jonathan Shapiro, true to form in his callousness and selective morality, turns a blind eye to the suffering of his fellow Jews in Israel and never a hint of the tragedy or condemnation of its perpetrators has ever appeared in his work.

Revolting Reality. More revolting than Zapiro’s false caricatures is the true picture of Iran such as seeing a 75% increase in executions during first four months of 2025 over 2024 with at least 343 according to Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO).

Nevertheless, to Shapiro living in Cape Town, Jewish lives do matter. They do indeed matter very much to him when they are in close proximity and when they can serve him or be exploited for his personal needs. He besmirches Israel at every opportunity, yet had no problem in sending his children for a good education to Herzlia, the Jewish day school. He also sent them to a Zionist Jewish youth movement’s summer camps knowing that they would be well looked after and he would have peace of mind. He also had no qualms about applying for a place for his aged mother in the Jewish home for the aged in Cape Town.

Jonathan Shapiro is nothing more than a self serving hypocrite, a pitiable individual hiding behind the façade of a crusader with a high moral stance but who applies his principles only when they serve his needs. The stench of a putrid morality has long clung to this despicable personage.



About the writer:

Stephen Schulman is a graduate of the South African Jewish socialist youth movement Habonim, who immigrated to Israel in 1969 and retired in 2012 after over 40 years of English teaching. He was for many years a senior examiner for the English matriculation and co-authored two English textbooks for the upper grades in high school. Now happily retired, he spends his time between his family, his hobbies and reading to try to catch up on his ignorance.







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).

FROM ASHES TO DEFIANCE

Why I love Israel

By Andrew Fox

This week, I stood before living history.

More accurately, men and women whose very existence defies history. Holocaust survivors, some over a century old, who had endured the worst of what humanity can inflict. Ghettos, gas chambers, forced marches; the industrial murder of their people. I was honoured to speak to individuals who rebuilt their lives from ash and silence.

I am not Jewish (I am Roman Catholic). Still, as the grandson of a Second World War 8th US Army veteran, I carry a deep sense of reverence and responsibility toward that history. This week, as I stood before those survivors to speak about Gaza, about the disinformation war, and Israel, I was not offering sympathy. In some ways, I felt as if I was bearing witness, but most importantly, I was pledging solidarity.

Their questions were sharp, dignified, and profoundly unsettling. More than one survivor remarked, with clarity and calm, almost in passing, that the atmosphere in Britain today reminds them of Germany in the 1930s. They did not mean the gas chambers, of course; but the permissiveness, the slander, and the strange quiet of broader society. The sudden social permission to despise Jews once more. In that moment, I understood more clearly than ever why I love Israel as a country.

I have visited Israel numerous times. I have walked the streets of Jerusalem, explored the borders of the Golan, and met soldiers, teachers, Israeli Arabs, and Druze. However, nothing could prepare me for what I witnessed visiting the sites of 7th October.

I walked through the ruins of Be’eri and Kfar Aza. I stood in safe rooms blackened by fire, rooms that had become tombs. I saw bloodied mattresses, burnt toys, and walls riddled with bullets. I listened to survivors recount what was done to women, to children and the elderly for the crime of being Jewish. It was not war. It was slaughter. It was an act of ethnic hatred so deliberate, so barbaric, that one cannot look at it and walk away unchanged.

Now, just twenty months later and every month since that horror, activists, academics, influencers, and politicians accuse Israel of committing a “holocaust” in Gaza. They call it a genocide and equate the defensive war of a sovereign state with the systematic extermination of six million Jews. There is a word for this:

Obscenity

The war in Gaza is brutal and tragic. It has been poorly managed in parts, undermined by internal Israeli politics and fluctuating pressure from the Biden administration. Civilian suffering is undeniable.

However, the war was initiated by Hamas:

  • It was Hamas that shattered a ceasefire and unleashed carnage on 7th October.
  • It is Hamas that embeds itself among civilians.
  • It is Hamas that evades all responsibility for the catastrophe it has created – yet it is Israel and Jews more broadly who are held entirely to account.

This is not just morally wrong. It is morally depraved. The word “genocide” has been weaponised not to protect life, but to smear the one country in the world that exists to prevent another genocide of the Jewish people.

If Israel’s military campaign in Gaza were a genocide, Gaza would no longer exist. Israel has the power to flatten it entirely. It has not. It has taken costly, often dangerous steps to mitigate civilian harm, even as Hamas exploits that caution. Thanks to a stunningly successful information warfare campaign by Hamas and their Qatari allies, the chants grow louder, the lies grow bolder, and the mobs grow angrier.

Now, in almost parodic apotheosis of this moral vacuity, we see Iranian flags being waved in the heart of London. Just today, demonstrators in Parliament Square carried the banner of the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. A regime that funds Hamas, armed Hezbollah, trained the Houthis, and openly vows to wipe Israel off the map. They carried that flag through the streets of Britain, possibly from ignorance (if we are being generous), but mostly in defiance due to their hatred of Israel for daring to defend itself. In their twisted minds, this outweighs any concern for the fact that they are cheering on a theocratic terror state and an enemy of this country. It is not activism; it is allegiance to evil.

Protesters in Parliament Square on 14 June called for the Israeli attack on Iran to stop (Credit: Guy Smallman/Getty).

This war, which has been fought on seven fronts, is not merely between Israel and Hamas. It is Iran’s war. Hamas pulled the trigger, but Iran constructed the weapon. Iran provided the ammunition, Iran gave the fire control order, and Iran hopes the world’s moral confusion will result in targets falling when hit.

Not today. Israel has finally, and rightly, stopped waiting for the West to catch up. It is taking the fight to Iran to ensure its survival. This is not an escalation. It is a necessary action to prevent a genuine second Holocaust.

This dynamism and action are what make Israel different. This is why I love the place. Not because it is perfect (because it is not—balagan!), but because it is necessary. It serves as the firewall between Jewish existence and annihilation. It does not wait for pity; it acts, endures, and fights back.

However, as those Holocaust survivors this week proved to me, British Jews, along with Jewish communities throughout the diaspora, do not have the same sense of security. They are few, and once again, they are made to feel like outsiders in the countries they consider home.

In Britain, synagogues and Jewish events require tight security. A Jewish business risks being vandalised for existing. A Jewish student on campus is shouted down, deplatformed, or worse, simply for expressing pride in the only Jewish state. Israel may not need our sympathy, but British Jews need our solidarity.

If the memory of the Holocaust means anything, it must mean this: that Jews should never have to walk alone, ever again. When Holocaust survivors, the last living witnesses to humanity’s darkest abyss, tell us that the atmosphere in Britain today reminds them of 1930s Germany, they are not speculating. They are remembering. That is not a warning to be debated; it is one to be heeded.

The only question remaining is whether their neighbours; you, me, all of us; will stand with them now, while it still matters. I implore you to do so.



About the writer:

A veteran of three grueling tours of Afghanistan, Major Andrew Fox holds a Batchelor’s degree in Law & Politics, a Master’s in Military History & War Studies, and is currently studying for a PhD in History.






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).

“WE JUST WANT TO GET BACK HOME”

While terrified citizens typically flee from war zones – not Israelis who hurriedly flock back home from abroad.

By David E. Kaplan

Watching the news and seeing the long lines of cars trying to escape Teheran, Iran’s capital of 10 million and from there who knows where, and recalling how during the Syrian civil war a conflict that began in 2011, where at least 6.7 million fled abroad, Israel must be one of the few countries – maybe the only country – when at a time of war and extreme danger, Israelis abroad are queuing up to return!

Get Me Outta Here! Terrified Tehran residents flee out the country’s capital of 10 million to destinations unknown amid ongoing Israeli strikes and rising uncertainty.

What is more, with Ben Gurion Airport closed to passenger traffic since the war began on Friday 13, June, 2025, they are trying any means to return – short of crossing the Sahara on a camel – and are prepared to pay exorbitant prices to do so.

Despite the terror and the trauma, the character of the Israeli is to be at home, in one’s country, with one’s family, with one’s people and braving this war beyachad – “together”.

Amit Hari, a licensed captain and the owner of the Sailor Yacht Club in Herzliya told Times of Israel (ToI) that his phone has not stopped ringing since Israel closed its airspace leaving more than 100,000 to 150,000 Israelis stranded abroad.

Sailing into War. Amit Hari, skipper and owner of the Sailor Yacht Club in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv told his wife he feels like Schindler with his “notebook here with lists” of Israelis wanting to return to Israel from Cyprus. (Courtesy)

Receiving “thousands of calls” from Israelis desperately seeking an avenue to return home from Cyprus, “I told my wife I feel like Schindler, I have a notebook here with lists, and basically, I’m trying to help anyone that I can who wants to come with us on our yachts to Larnaca and anyone who wants to return with us to the port of Herzliya.”

Hari, whose sailing club is operating three yachts out of the port of Herzliya to Larnaca, says:

 “It is not an easy trip of 30 hours on a yacht with people who are not used to sailing. It can be very challenging for them.”

Sailing Home. Israelis stranded in Larnaca readying to board a sailing boat chartered by Israel’s Sailor Yacht Club to return home to Herzliya harbor, June 2025. (Courtesy)

It’s a bigger challenge for the well-over 100,000 Israelis stranded abroad in a rush to “get home”.

With Israel’s airspace closed for arrivals and departures as Iranian missiles continue to rain down bringing uncertainty  as to when regular commercial flights may resume, on Wednesday, Israel  together with local airlines, launched a repatriation operation. It is expected to take weeks. My friend Stanley Milliner stuck in Greece jokes in a WhatsApp:

“It’s a long way to swim!”

Hundreds stranded abroad and in Israel have headed online, seeking maritime travel solutions via social media channels. On Facebook, people have opened multiple groups dedicated to finding sea-based travel options – mainly out of Israeli ports in Herzliya and Haifa – but prices have steepened as demand has shot up.

One high-profile Israeli “marooned” in Cyprus was none other than the former  editor of The Jerusalem Post, US-born, Yaakov Katz who was on a flight from London to Tel Aviv set to land at 3:30 a.m. at Ben Gurion Airport when Israel launched its surprise attack.

“Minutes from landing,” Yaacov posted on X, “we were suddenly diverted to Cyprus and stayed on the plane for a few hours.” Stranded in Paphos for two days, he says “everywhere I went — from the streets to the hotel to the Chabad House that opened its doors within hours — I met Israelis who had one goal: get back home. Not to safety. To Israel.”

Eerily Empty. Devoid of people, the arrivals hall at Ben Gurion Airport on June 13, 2025 after Israel closed its airspace in the wake of strikes on Iran. (Photo: Jack GUEZ / AFP)
 

Working on ways to “get back” to Israel that included riskier routes via Egypt or Jordan, Yaakov received a call to be in Limassol within an hour as a “tugboat was leaving for Israel,” charging NIS 6,000 ($1,700) for the trip.

“Nine of us squeezed onto a vessel captained by Eli, a veteran Israeli sailor who didn’t ask questions.”

Among his group were “a brother and sister who are farmers and grow flowers in the Arava. They’d been in Holland on a sales trip. The brother insisted on returning to report for reserves. Another was a CEO from Karmiel. His company has 100 employees and global orders he is now fighting to fulfill, despite a country under fire.”

“No one asked if it was safe,” he wrote on social media. “But that’s not how Israelis think.”

On Wednesday, Israel launched a phased airlift operation to bring home its citizens. Following the first aircraft bringing home stranded Israelis, returnees expressed relief to be back on Israeli soil. Despite the nightly volleys of Iranian missiles, hotelier Yaakov Bogen, 66, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) after landing back in Israel that he would rather be at home with family than abroad.

“I belong here, and unfortunately we get used to these fights and war, but we prefer to be here, to support as much as we can.”

Israeli travelers stranded in Cyprus begin return trip by boat

Also expressing relief to be back after her flight was redirected to Cypris, stylist 40-year-old Tali Gehorsam, explained:

“This is home. There’s no other place. To be overseas and to watch the news is not a nice feeling.”

At the most harrowing of times, Israeli citizens living abroad aren’t running from a war at home, but to it. From Athens to New York, Israelis are typically rushing to airports and diving into online chat groups for help, desperate to make their way “home”. It was the same when after Hamas attacked on October 7,2023. Whether these Israelis abroad were yearning to serve in a military reserve unit or to volunteer to shuttle supplies to those in need, they wanted to be in their country and serve. Yaakov Swisa, a 42-year-old father of five, said nobody called and asked him to return to Israel to fight, but he felt he had no choice. He had served for 15 years, and he said when he learned that his former army roommate was among those murdered at the Nova Music Festival, he wanted to rejoin his reserve unit, even if that meant leaving his family and his job in Los Angeles.

“I’ve been crying for two, three days. Enough. That’s it. I am ready to fight,” he said. “What else would I do … while my friends are being buried in Israel?”

It was the same with 18-year-old college student Adam Jacobs from New Jersey. Born and raised in the U.S. and for years traveled every summer to visit family in Israel, said when he learned his cousin was also among those murdered, he decided to put his life in the US on hold to depart for Israel and volunteer  his services  in whatever way he could.

“I couldn’t live with myself if I stayed here,” Jacobs said. “It’s never been this bad.”

The civic camaraderie was infectious.Although Londoner Israel Lawrence hadn’t been formally called up, the 27-year-old who was born in Israel, felt compelled to join his fellow soldiers, many already on the front lines, and help his family members, who were living in terror and chaos.

“I want to be honest with you, I’m scared,” said Lawrence, a trained rifleman who made his way to Israel via Cyprus in 2023 like others are now doing in 2025. “All the guys I’m with are terrified, but we are trained, and we’ll do the best we can.”

“Doing the best we can” is exactly how Israelis have responded since the barbaric invasion on October 7, both in Israel in showing extraordinary resilience and those abroad in trying by any means and expense to return home.

Change of Plans. Israelis Stanley and Toni Milliner(left) and their family from Cape Town, South Africa, Silvana and Alan Silverman enjoying Greece until the news broke of Israel at war with Iran. (Photo: Stanley Milliner).

As I write, my cellphone bleeps. It’s a message from my stranded buddies Stanley Milliner and his wife Toni in response to my enquiry for an update as to their ‘Herculean’ – being in Greece – efforts in returning to Israel. Planning this trip three months earlier to “meet in the Med” with their South African  family from Cape Town, Alan and Silvana Silverman, they left on the 12th June for Athens only to wake the next morning “with the world turned on its head.” It was an apt choice of words for this was war on another level. After nearly 2 years of heavy fighting since the October 7 attacks with the “proxies”, Israel was taking on the head of the snake – Iran – and all “our children and our grandchildren back in Israel running to bomb shelters.” With their days of ‘vacation’ in Greece tuning into the news all day and, “…texting the kids for an “all’s well” message,” they set about devising a way to return home. Their efforts reveal in this latest WhatsApp:

 “…It will take a week if nothing else goes wrong….Flying from Athens to Larnaca and then a Mano cruise ship home next Saturday.”

Hankering for Home. With a young child and family back in Israel under daily missile attach, Hanit Azulay was desperate to get home “as quickly as possible.”

Yesterday morning, the cruise ship Crown Iris, operated by Mano Shipping, docked at the Port of Ashdod, carrying approximately 2,000 Israeli citizens rescued from Limassol, Cyprus. There are thousands back in Limassol waiting to follow. One of them is Hanit Azulay. She told Associated Press:

“My little daughter is over there; my family is over there and we are regular [sic] with this; it’s been nearly two years in this crazy situation…”

Home Coming. Journalists and photographers gather in Israel’s southern port of Ashdod to capture the arrival of a cruise ship bringing 2000 Israeli citizens from Limassol, Cyprus as part of the “Safe Return” operation, a large-scale maritime repatriation government initiative. (Photo: Jack Guez / AFP)

Where else in the world with ballistic missiles reining down on a civilian population where hospitals are a target like what happened in Be’er-Sheva where Soroka Hospital that serves around 1 million people living in southern Israel sustained extensive damage in a strike,  people abroad flock back. No myth like in Homer’s Odyssey, Israelis, like stranded warriors in foreign lands have one thing in mind – to return home.

As Israeli journalist and author Yaakov Katz put it:

“…..one goal: get back home. Not to safety. To Israel.”





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).

ICE CREAM AND A BOMB SHELTER FOR TOPPING!

How the mundane morphs into the monstrous as two totally separate concepts find commonality for an anguished Israeli grandfather.

By Jonathan Feldstein

One of the best things in life is to have the privilege of taking one’s grandchildren out for ice cream. Even during a war.  Perhaps, especially during a war. 

This week, my daughter and son-in-law brought my four grandsons for a visit, partly as a fun outing and partly as a respite for themselves. Since the war began with Iran, all school and pre-school programs have been canceled, leaving parents of young children to figure out how to juggle keeping all the kids occupied without pulling their own hair out, and keeping them safe and close to home for the eventuality of having to take cover in the bomb shelter sometimes 2-3 or more times a day.

This variety of ice creams could at any moment be followed by a variety in lethality of incoming Iranian missiles.

My kids have taken to putting their boys to sleep in the spare room that doubles as the bomb shelter, to avoid having to move them all in 90 seconds, and risking their waking up due to being moved and the jarring sound of the siren.

Moving little children to the bomb shelter is all the more complicated in families where one of the spouses had been called up for reserves, something that’s much more common in the past week, even more so than the recent previous major call up of reservists. Imagine being a young mother with three to four kids under seven, home alone, not only having to move the kids into the shelter one by one, but also having to get them back to sleep after an attack. 

Then there are the times during the day when they are awake, as happened again yesterday (and at night) and having to occupy and comfort them for at least 10-15 minutes, but sometimes for over an hour. 

Whether one or two parents with little kids, or empty nesters like ourselves, we are all operating bleary eyed from repeated nights’ sleep being interrupted.  Last night the “blessing” was that it was at 4:20am. The day before it was at 2:30am.  Sometimes one is able to get back to sleep. Sometimes (like me in all cases), not.  Good thing I am not operating heavy machinery!

With grandson #4 napping, and me more than a little envious, it was prime time to take the three older boys for ice cream, giving my daughter and son-in-law a few minutes of quiet. Bleary eyed or not, it’s always a pleasure to take the kids out and spend some time with them. Also, parenting never ends, and letting your own kids in their 30s have a break is important.

On the way out, my daughter said something I not only had never heard, but never could have imagined. In my life, I never would have put these words together in the same sentence.  “Make sure you know where the bomb shelter is at the ice cream parlor when you’re out with the boys,” the mama-hen responsibly reminded. 

Enjoying an ice scream in Jerusalem.

Nope. I’d never have thought of it.  But we’re at war. Iran is firing ballistic missiles with massive warheads directly at our towns and cities. All the casualties in Israel have been civilians. Yet even while we are at war, there’s never a better time for ice cream with whipped cream and sprinkles  – to at least bring also a “sprinkle” of normalcy on these young precious lives!

Also, for the first time, there was abundant signage in and around the strip-mall next to our house identifying where all the bomb shelters were – just in case.  As much as I’d never thought of including “ice cream” and “bomb shelter” in the same sentence, I never would have thought that whoever planned the architecture would put a bomb shelter right there in the ice cream shop.  But there it is, behind the bright pink walls and shelves of toppings. 

Just in case!

On the way home, my first-grade grandson told me about all the different ice cream flavors they have at home.  It’s a good parenting strategy to have ice cream to pull out even under missile attacks, maybe especially so.  While I joined them with a scoop of yummy pistachio today, I’m really feeling that I need something more along the lines of a rum raisin or bourbon-caramel swirl.

Maybe a double!

An ice scream parlor in Tel Aviv, Israel.

When it was time for my grandchildren to return home to their parents, I experienced feelings of ambiguity. On the one hand I did not want them to leave  – as I never do – but this time I wished they would hurry because reports were coming through that Israel had again successfully struck significant Iranian targets and I knew that this would soon – probably very soon – translate into a lethal response and our skies would again light up with Iranian missiles. This would send Israelis to the bomb shelters again – whether at home or in an ice cream store! When this happens  – as it inevitably would – I wanted my grandchildren at home in the safety, familiarity, and comfort of their own bomb shelter. 

This has become their norm, and all of ours.  The reality could not be more contrasting:

Israel issues warnings to Iranians living near various military sites that they should evacuate before an aerial attack in order to prevent the loss of civilian life while the Iranian Islamic regime deliberately fires dozens or hundreds of missiles at a time into civilian areas, targeting homes like where my grandkids live. 

Okay to enjoy ice creams during the day, but you want the kids safely at their homes with bomb shelters long before evening with the expectation of incoming missiles from Iran.

Iranians are given ample notice to flee in advance of a military strike, and indeed we have seen massive traffic jams with them doing just that. On our side, the evacuation is wanting my grandchildren to leave early enough that they will be in the ‘comfort’ of their own bomb shelter when the jihadi missiles target us all.

I welcome the return to the day when I can again take my grandchildren for an ice cream and not have to think of a bomb shelter!



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).