Category: News Letter

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 12 May 2025

Unveiling the contours and contrasts of an ever-changing Middle East landscape Reliable reportage and insightful commentary on the Middle East by seasoned journalists from the region and beyond.

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



What’s happening in Israel today? See from every Monday – Thursday LOTL’s The Israel Brief broadcasts and on our Facebook page and YouTube by seasoned TV & radio broadcaster, Rolene Marks familiar to Chai FM listeners in South Africa and millions of American listeners to the News/Talk/Sports radio station WINA, broadcasting out of Virginia, USA.

THE ISRAEL BRIEF- 05-08 May 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s  ‘Pick of the Week’ is an old photo reflecting a new – but significant – shift

ONCE IN SYNC, NOW SHOWING SIGNS OF DIVISION

Rocky Relations? Aiming for ‘historic return’ to region following the Abraham Accords of his first Presidency, Trump heads to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, but glaringly skipping out Israel. Trump joins much of the Israeli public in being ‘frustrated’ with Netanyahu.



Articles

Please note there is a facility to comment beneath each article should you wish to express an opinion on the subject addressed.

(1)

CANINE THERAPY HELPS SOLDIERS COPE WITH PTSD

Dogs are proving to be partners in caring and literally a friend – for life!
By Rolene Marks

Pets for Vets. Living with the shock of battle – particularly since the October 7, 2023 massacre and ensuing war – veterans of the IDF find solace and friendship with trainee pups in the Dogs 4 Soldiers program that trains service dogs in special skills to help vets suffering from the devastating effects of trauma.

CANINE THERAPY HELPS SOLDIERS COPE WITH PTSD
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

LESSONS FROM MY FRIEND’S EXECUTION IN IRAN’S EVIN PRISON

Nearly executed like her cellmate affords understanding of the depravity and dangers of the Teheran regime.
By Marziyeh Amirizadeh

Torture in Teheran. “Repeatedly kicked in her stomach, bashing her head against the wall until she passed out, hanging her from the ceiling for hours on end, and beating her with a cable,” was what Shirin Alamhooli (above) endured until she was executed by hanging in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison. The writer was her cell mate and best friend.

LESSONS FROM MY FRIEND’S EXECUTION IN IRAN’S EVIN PRISON
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

“IT’S NOT ABOUT THE NUMBERS”

We didn’t create the horrors of October 7 – Gazans did – and we have to ensure they don’t succeed in trying again.
By Forest Rain Marcia

Counting Cars? No. While the world focuses on ‘numbers’ with regard to the devastation in Gaza caused by seeking out the hostages and taking out Hamas mass murderers, all but forgotten or ignored are scenes such as above of Israelis machine-gunned in their ‘death trap’ vehicles, trying to flee from the murderous marauders from Gaza on October 7, 2023!

“IT’S NOT ABOUT THE NUMBERS”
(Click on the blue title)




LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com






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).

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 05 May 2025

Unveiling the contours and contrasts of an ever-changing Middle East landscape Reliable reportage and insightful commentary on the Middle East by seasoned journalists from the region and beyond.

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



What’s happening in Israel today? See from every Monday – Thursday LOTL’s The Israel Brief broadcasts and on our Facebook page and YouTube by seasoned TV & radio broadcaster, Rolene Marks familiar to Chai FM listeners in South Africa and millions of American listeners to the News/Talk/Sports radio station WINA, broadcasting out of Virginia, USA.

THE ISRAEL BRIEF- 28 April- 01 May 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s  ‘Pick of the Week’

Double Damage. The impact of the missile fired from Yemen at Israel’s international airport was not only about the damage caused on the ground but the damage to Israel’s sense of security.



Articles

Please note there is a facility to comment beneath each article should you wish to express an opinion on the subject addressed.

(1)

ISRAEL’S SOUNDS OF SIRENS

They resonate, they reverberate, they blare telling a story of where we were in the past but also where we are in the present.
By David E. Kaplan

To Stand or to Run. From sirens sounding on Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Day) to Yom HaZikaron – day of remembrance for fallen soldiers and victims of terror, there are also the far more frequent sirens warning of imminent missile attacks. Possibly confusing to a foreign visitor, it’s the soundtrack to life in Israel today!

ISRAEL’S SOUNDS OF SIRENS
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

SOUTH AFRICA’S CONDUCT IN COURT – SECRECY AND SHENANIGANS

ICJ finds serious procedural violations in South Africa’s submission against Israel that should be acting with integrity and transparency not procedural violations, hearsay ‘evidence’ and secrecy.

By Craig Snoyman

Counting the Cost. “At a time when South Africa is feeling international political heat, legal egg on the face is not what is needed now,” argues the writer. If South Africa lacks the evidence to support its accusations against Israel, why throw away millions “into a losing battle?’

SOUTH AFRICA’S CONDUCT IN COURT – SECRECY AND SHENANIGANS
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

THE ARAB VOICE – APRIL 2025

Perspectives and insights from writers in the Arab media

Future Unclear. Down but not quite out, how is a defanged but angered Hezbollah and Lebanon’s upbeat new leadership going to forge a future ahead that will be acceptable and manageable? Arab writers navigate the unknown road ahead.

THE ARAB VOICE – APRIL 2025
(Click on the blue title)





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).


Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 28 April 2025

Unveiling the contours and contrasts of an ever-changing Middle East landscape Reliable reportage and insightful commentary on the Middle East by seasoned journalists from the region and beyond.

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



What’s happening in Israel today? See from every Monday – Thursday LOTL’s The Israel Brief broadcasts and on our Facebook page and YouTube by seasoned TV & radio broadcaster, Rolene Marks familiar to Chai FM listeners in South Africa and millions of American listeners to the News/Talk/Sports radio station WINA, broadcasting out of Virginia, USA.

THE ISRAEL BRIEF- 21-24 April 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s  ‘Pick of the Week’

HOSTAGE TO HERO

Eli Sharabi

When released in February, hostage Eli Sharabi looked as if had just been liberated from Bergen Belsen – not Gaza! Guant, emaciated and unsteady on his feet, his appearance shocked a complacent Jewish world to reevaluate the familiar slogan  “Never Again”. Two months later, at the annual ‘March of the Living’, it was a defiant Eli Sharabi who stood on Yom HaShoah with the President of the State of Israel, Isaac Herzog, outside the gates of Auschwitz. Eli, whose wife and daughters were murdered on October 7,  said: “I endured horrors in captivity – but I chose life” (Photo: Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)




Articles

Please note there is a facility to comment beneath each article should you wish to express an opinion on the subject addressed.

(1)

THE UN’S LATEST BLOOD LIBEL

Obsessively anti-Israel, UNHRC absurdly accuses Israel of fresh “genocide” by obstructing Palestinian births.
By Rolene Marks

UN’scrupulous. While the UNHRC has since the atrocities of 7 October failed to condemn the worst attack against Jews since the Holocaust, it accuses Israel in a malicious report of carrying out “genocidal acts” against Palestinian women by systematically destroying their healthcare facilities and using sexual violence as a war strategy.

THE UN’S LATEST BLOOD LIBEL
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

‘PICK n PAY’ PANICS

A modest Passover products display at a South African Pick n Pay leads to antisemitic rage and the Johannesburg supermarket’s surrender.
By Tim Flack

Bitterness follows Betrayal. “This wasn’t about foreign policy or the Gaza war… It was about matzah and kosher grape juice,”  asserts the writer about a Johannesburg upermarket that turned into a battlefield. Jewish consumers felt betrayed when management removed the Magen David symbols from the Passover products section at Pick n Pay, Norwood.

‘PICK n PAY’ PANICS
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

GLOBALISATION RAVAGED BRITAIN’S JEWISH COMMUNITY

Uncertain how Trump’s tariffs might shake up the world in the future, but  sure know what globalisation did to my UK city  and its Jewish community.
By TV and radio presenter Jonny Gould

Unsettling Future. Many British towns and cities that once boasted well-established Jewish populations have seen it melt away with a migration to larger commercial centres, most notably London. “Why did the nation’s capital become such a honeypot for smaller communities?” is the question the writer explores as he laments the “untold reality of the demise” of Jewish communities across the UK.

GLOBALISATION RAVAGED BRITAIN’S JEWISH COMMUNITY
(Click on the blue title)


LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com






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).

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 21 April 2025

Unveiling the contours and contrasts of an ever-changing Middle East landscape Reliable reportage and insightful commentary on the Middle East by seasoned journalists from the region and beyond.

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



What’s happening in Israel today? See from every Monday – Thursday LOTL’s The Israel Brief broadcasts and on our Facebook page and YouTube by seasoned TV & radio broadcaster, Rolene Marks familiar to Chai FM listeners in South Africa and millions of American listeners to the News/Talk/Sports radio station WINA, broadcasting out of Virginia, USA.

THE ISRAEL BRIEF- 15-17 April 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s  ‘Pick of the Week’

TWO BARBED WIRES

Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day 2025 (Yom HaShoah) commemorated this Thursday, April 24th, the image of the barbed wire of the Shoah is joined by the image of the barbed wire broken through on October 7, 2023 as “Never Again” too easily became “Once Again”




Articles

Please note there is a facility to comment beneath each article should you wish to express an opinion on the subject addressed.

(1)

THE REICHSTAG, WWII AND GAZA

A lesson that the world has forgotten
By Neville Berman

Gaza’s “stormtroopers”. Hamas gunmen stand in formation ahead of a hostage release in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Feb. 8, 2025. Is this what the world would accept to continue governing Gaza? The writer argues to insist no more than what the allies insisted during WWII – “Unconditional Surrender”.

THE REICHSTAG, WWII AND GAZA
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

AN UNEXPECTED FIFTH SON

A first encounter at a Passover seder left this Capetonian enriched by the experience.
By Tim Flack

Questions and Answers. Attending the Passover Seder at Capetown’s Gardens Synagogue, the writer, not Jewish, went alone,
felt nervous as “I had never been to a synagogue before.” When proceedings reached the narrative of the 4 sons, someone
leaned over and said, “You’re the Fifth Son.” Not understanding at that moment what he meant, “I do now.”

AN UNEXPECTED FIFTH SON
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

SOUTH AFRICA TRYING TO MAKE IT A CRIME TO VISIT ISRAEL

The true crime would be the fragility of a democracy that fails to allow its people to make up their own mind.
By Kenneth Mokgatlhe wa Kgwadi

They Came, They Saw, They Were Ostracized. Causing an uproar in South Africa was the recent fact-finding mission to Israel of South African Members of Parliament – including those in the governing coalition – captured here meeting with Israel’s State President, Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem.

SOUTH AFRICA TRYING TO MAKE IT A CRIME TO VISIT ISRAEL
(Click on the blue title)



(4)

MAXIMUM PRESSURE NOT ONLY PROTECTS AMERICA – IT EMPOWERS IRANIANS

A plea by a survivor of the Iranian regime to the US to apply maximum pressure.
By Iranian American Marziyeh Amirizadeh

Isolate not Negotiate. “America must lead by isolating the regime, not legitimizing it with negotiation,” pleads
the writer who was once imprisoned in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, where she was tortured
 and faced execution, a fate that befell her cell mate and best friend.

MAXIMUM PRESSURE NOT ONLY PROTECTS AMERICA – IT EMPOWERS IRANIANS
(Click on the blue title)




LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com





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).

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 15 April 2025

Unveiling the contours and contrasts of an ever-changing Middle East landscape Reliable reportage and insightful commentary on the Middle East by seasoned journalists from the region and beyond.

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



What’s happening in Israel today? See from every Monday – Thursday LOTL’s The Israel Brief broadcasts and on our Facebook page and YouTube by seasoned TV & radio broadcaster, Rolene Marks familiar to Chai FM listeners in South Africa and millions of American listeners to the News/Talk/Sports radio station WINA, broadcasting out of Virginia, USA.

THE ISRAEL BRIEF- 07-10 April 2025
(Click on the blue title)






Lay of the Land’s  ‘Pick of the Week’

THE EMPTY CHAIR

This Passover, no passing over the inescapable anguish of a people for the remaining hostages

If on Passover, Jews are expected to imagine the bitter, oppressive experience as slaves in Egypt, for the second consecutive year, we do not have to imagine as we experience again and wait for deliverance of our 59 remaining hostages in Gaza.




Articles

Please note there is a facility to comment beneath each article should you wish to express an opinion on the subject addressed.

(1)

MEDIA – A CASUALTY OF WAR

An interview with British military expert Maj (ret.) Andrew Fox on why Hamas casualty numbers don’t add up and why the media is so intent on parroting the Hamas narrative.
By Rolene Marks

Go Figure! A meticulously researched and referenced report presents clear indications that Hamas is padding casualty numbers. Despite this, many in the media seem to repeat – without question – whatever Hamas say.  WHY?

MEDIA – A CASUALTY OF WAR
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

KING’S MESSAGE SHOULD RESONATE NO LESS TODAY

In the midst of a global surge of antisemitism, reflections on the 57th anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., of the man’s legacy and his support for a secure Israel.
By Jonathan Feldstein

King’s Counsel. While Dr. King is especially well known for his moral clarity regarding Civil Rights, less well known are his statements and moral clarity about Israel and the Jewish people. King is seen here with Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel,  one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century in February 1968.

KING’S MESSAGE SHOULD RESONATE NO LESS TODAY
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

POOR DECISION-MAKING HARMS SOUTH AFRICA’S POOR


An obsession with undermining Israel is undermining the very wellbeing of South Africa’s people
By Kenneth Moeng Mokgatlhe

At Loggerheads. An avoidable clash with the USA, the writer laments that it is not President Ramaphosa and his wealthy ANC cronies that suffer the economic and political consequences of South Africa’s faulty foreign policy decisions but its ever-increasing poor citizens.

POOR DECISION-MAKING HARMS SOUTH AFRICA’S POOR
(Click on the blue title)



LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com







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).

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 06 April 2025

Unveiling the contours and contrasts of an ever-changing Middle East landscape Reliable reportage and insightful commentary on the Middle East by seasoned journalists from the region and beyond.

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



What’s happening in Israel today? See from every Monday – Thursday LOTL’s The Israel Brief broadcasts and on our Facebook page and YouTube by seasoned TV & radio broadcaster, Rolene Marks familiar to Chai FM listeners in South Africa and millions of American listeners to the News/Talk/Sports radio station WINA, broadcasting out of Virginia, USA.

THE ISRAEL BRIEF- 31 March- 03 April 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s  ‘Pick of the Week’

FESTIVITY FOR FREEDOM

This Passover will be the 2nd for the HOSTAGES held in captivity in Gaza

The cover of ‘The Haggadah of Freedom’ produced by the Hostages Forum for Passover 2025 with texts by hostage family members.
Jews for the second year will be asking a lot more than 4 questions and will be praying for answers. The message will resonate globally to the blare of the shofar:

“LET MY PEOPLE GO.”  

In this Haggadah, you will find:
The story of the “Seder” that Liri Albag and Agam Berger held while in captivity.
The letter Hadar Goldin wrote to his fiancée on the eve of Passover, before his abduction.
The music that saved Sagui Dekel Chen.
Moses’ profound realization and its relevance today, as reflected by Ruby Chen, father of Itay
and many more…

(Courtesy Hostages Forum)




Articles

Please note there is a facility to comment beneath each article should you wish to express an opinion on the subject addressed.

(1)

HEARTWARMING INSIGHTS INTO JEWISH PHILANTHROPY

A review of Solly Kaplinski’s evocative “Journeys into the Gentle Heart’ revealing the WHY of the WHO.
by David E. Kaplan

Helping Hand. Covering the period before and after October 7, 2023 – the most traumatic encounter to the Jewish people since the Shoah – author, poet, educator and the son of parents who both survived the Holocaust as members of the Bielski partisans in the forests of Poland,  Solly Kaplinski explores the
nature, scope and transition of philanthropy while asking,  “What has changed?”

HEARTWARMING INSIGHTS INTO JEWISH PHILANTHROPY
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

ISRAEL AND ITS BATTLE AGAINST ITS ENEMIES

Why terrorism is not only an Israeli problem
By  Neville Berman

Resilience and Remembrance. “The next generation of Israeli leaders,” believes the writer, “will come from the
heroes that defended the country in the war that started on October 7.Those that were killed or injured
will never be forgotten.” What has happened will inspire future generations of Jews.

ISRAEL AND ITS BATTLE AGAINST ITS ENEMIES
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

REFLECTIONS ON A ‘REVOLUTION’ IN GAZA

Who Cares About the Anti-Hamas Protests in Gaza?
By Jonathan Feldstein

Stick with the Story. Gazans are bravely defying Hamas and dying for it! Why are pro-Palestinian protestors
in the West and the international media mostly ignoring it?

REFLECTIONS ON A ‘REVOLUTION’ IN GAZA
(Click on the blue title)



LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com







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).


Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 31 March 2025

Unveiling the contours and contrasts of an ever-changing Middle East landscape Reliable reportage and insightful commentary on the Middle East by seasoned journalists from the region and beyond.

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



What’s happening in Israel today? See from every Monday – Thursday LOTL’s The Israel Brief broadcasts and on our Facebook page and YouTube by seasoned TV & radio broadcaster, Rolene Marks familiar to Chai FM listeners in South Africa and millions of American listeners to the News/Talk/Sports radio station WINA, broadcasting out of Virginia, USA.

THE ISRAEL BRIEF- 24-27 March 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s  ‘Pick of the Week’ was the Unexpected

GAZANS PROTEST NOT AGAINST ISRAEL BUT AGAINST HAMAS! WHERE WILL IT LEAD?

“Hamas needs to go away,” said Ahmad al-Masri, 26, a resident of Beit Lahia who helped call for the demonstrations. “If it doesn’t, the bloodshed, the wars and the destruction won’t stop.” Thousands of Palestinians marched in northern Gaza in the second day of anti-war protests, demanding an end to 18 years of Hamas rule.




Articles

Please note there is a facility to comment beneath each article should you wish to express an opinion on the subject addressed.

(1)

OF MARKETS AND  MINDSETS

Farewell to Stef Wertheimer –  a feisty ‘warrior’ for peace and prosperity who has died at age 98.
By David E. Kaplan

Movers & Shakers. Stef Wertheimer showing Warren Buffett (left) around Tefen Industrial Park, his flagship project in northern Israel that served as a model and a symbol of industrial innovation and excellence. Wertheimer championed industrial parks across the Middle East as an alternative to war, advocating for factory floors instead of battlefields!

OF MARKETS AND  MINDSETS
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

AFTER A CHILD’S MURDER, A FATHER’S QUEST FOR JUSTICE

A distraught dad strives to bring his daughter’s killer to justice as she boastfully lives like a ‘rock star’ in Jordan.
By Jonathan Feldstein

Murder on Main Street. August 9, 2001, Arnold Roth’s life was irrevocably derailed when his 15-year-old daughter, Malki, was murdered in a Terrorist bomb attack on the Sbarro pizzeria (above) in downtown Jerusalem. Spearheaded by Ahlam Tamimi, a journalist living in Jordan, a father’s outrage grew as his daughter’s killer popularity soared, enjoying celebrity status in the Arab world.

AFTER A CHILD’S MURDER, A FATHER’S QUEST FOR JUSTICE
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

THE ARAB VOICE – MARCH, 2025

Perspectives and insights from writers in the Arab media

A look at the Arab media’s treatment of: Israel’s newly appointed ambassador to Egypt being disinvited from the accreditation ceremony at the Heliopolis Palace in Cairo and the response to Palestinian protests in Gaza against Hamas.

THE ARAB VOICE – MARCH, 2025
(Click on the blue title)




LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com






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).

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 24 March 2025

Unveiling the contours and contrasts of an ever-changing Middle East landscape Reliable reportage and insightful commentary on the Middle East by seasoned journalists from the region and beyond.

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



What’s happening in Israel today? See from every Monday – Thursday LOTL’s The Israel Brief broadcasts and on our Facebook page and YouTube by seasoned TV & radio broadcaster, Rolene Marks familiar to Chai FM listeners in South Africa and millions of American listeners to the News/Talk/Sports radio station WINA, broadcasting out of Virginia, USA.

THE ISRAEL BRIEF- 17-20 March 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s  ‘Pick of the Week’ photo

“I HAVE COME BACK FROM HELL” – ELI SHARABI SPEAKS TO U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL

“I called out to my girls: ‘I will be back,’ but that was the last time I ever saw them”.
Upon being released from captivity, hostage Eli Sharabi learned the heartbreaking news that his wife and two daughters had been murdered.A survivor of 491 days brutal captivity in Gaza, watch Eli’s full address at the United Nations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALtv6tQb-ss




Articles

Please note there is a facility to comment beneath each article should you wish to express an opinion on the subject addressed.

(1)

STOP THE ROT

Bibi, if you don’t or can’t stop the rot, it will consume all – is this what you want as your legacy?By David E. Kaplan

Bedazzling to Bamboozling Bibi. Blind loyalty from his sycophantic cohorts, where is this once esteemed and
accomplished personality leading the country?  Packing an arsenal of lies, distortion and manipulation, this
increasingly insensitive prime minister is waging war as much on his people as he is on the enemy!

STOP THE ROT
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

MODI’IN: ISRAEL’S NEW TOURISM DESTINATION?

The fast-growing city in central Israel has just opened its first hotel in a bid to attract business and leisure tourism.
By Rolene Marks

Maccabean Modi’in. Located in the epicentre of Israel midway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Modiin is also the
epicentre of the Chanukah story and hometown of its heroes – the Maccabees. A city enriched by an illustrious
history from antient times to the present, it is only fitting that Modi’in recently welcomed its first hotel.

MODI’IN: ISRAEL’S NEW TOURISM DESTINATION?
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

Another Wall? Have You Lost Your Mind?!

This is why liberating the hostages is not enough
By Forest Rain Marcia

The Writing is on the Wall. The graffiti in Hebrew of “Another wall?! Have you lost your mind?!” is for the writer,
a SCREAM for real security, a DEMAND of the government that “it is unacceptable for genocidal monsters to live
on our doorstep,” and a WARNING if we keep avoiding the root of the problem, we will face another October 7.

Another Wall? Have You Lost Your Mind?!
(Click on the blue title)



LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com







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).





Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 16 March 2025

Unveiling the contours and contrasts of an ever-changing Middle East landscape Reliable reportage and insightful commentary on the Middle East by seasoned journalists from the region and beyond.

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



What’s happening in Israel today? See from every Monday – Thursday LOTL’s The Israel Brief broadcasts and on our Facebook page and YouTube by seasoned TV & radio broadcaster, Rolene Marks familiar to Chai FM listeners in South Africa and millions of American listeners to the News/Talk/Sports radio station WINA, broadcasting out of Virginia, USA.

THE ISRAEL BRIEF- 10-12 March 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s  ‘Pick of the Week’ photo

“NEW DAY WILL RISE”

Israel’s entry in the 2025 Eurovision in Basel, Switzerland

Yuval Raphael – New Day Will Rise | Eurovision2025

Song to Survival
Representing Israel at the 2025 Eurovision is Yuval, whose story of survival is both harrowing and inspiring. What was meant to be a night of music and celebration with friends at the Nova festival turned into a desperate struggle to stay alive as she lay motionless for eight hours – pretending to be dead – concealing herself among the bodies of those murdered by Hamas. Testifying before a Knesset committee, she related: “I was surrounded by bodies everywhere. There was one specific body I hid beneath every time terrorists came. It was riddled with bullets, bleeding on me from every direction. I lifted her head, pressed her cheek against mine — that’s how I shielded myself.”



Articles

Please note there is a facility to comment beneath each article should you wish to express an opinion on the subject addressed.

(1)

JEWISH SECURITY IN BELGIUM  – AT A ‘KNIFE’S’ EDGE

How secure are Jews in Belgium after recent court decision relating to “sharp knife” threat?
By David E. Kaplan

The Untouchables. Popular Belgium writer, Herman Brusselmans who expressed the urge to “ram a knife down Jews’ throats”
was acquitted in a Ghent court of hate speech. A court’s messaging it’s not illegal to incite to murder Jews,  
Belgium’s judiciary upholds an all-to-familiar heinous European tradition.

JEWISH SECURITY IN BELGIUM  – AT A ‘KNIFE’S’ EDGE
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

NOT SINCE ‘HAMAN’ HAS PERSIA POSED SUCH A DANGER TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE

A Christian and Jew unite this Purim in prayer and to call to end the threatening evil menace of the Ayatollah regime in Iran.
By Marziyeh Amirizadeh and Jonathan Feldstein

Time and Again. Having overcome the Persian threat in Biblical times, Jews are again facing an existential threat from this land’s modern rulers. A Jewish writer joins forces with an escaped persecuted Christian – who once faced death in an Iranian prison – to warn that “dialogue” will not stop this menace.

NOT SINCE ‘HAMAN’ HAS PERSIA POSED SUCH A DANGER TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

Navigating the artistic response of Israelis to a massacre and war and the power to heal – a visiting architect’s perspective.
By Michael Witkin

Calamity and Culture. A visiting architect from Michigan, USA, is captivated by the “extraordinary artistic creativity in Israeli society unleashed by the painful reality of war.” He sees everywhere – on street poles, walls, bus stops and train stations, up escalators and across beaches, along freeways and sidewalks, an explosion of art as a response to the explosion of October 7.

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
(Click on the blue title)



LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com






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).


Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 09 March 2025

Unveiling the contours and contrasts of an ever-changing Middle East landscape Reliable reportage and insightful commentary on the Middle East by seasoned journalists from the region and beyond.

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



What’s happening in Israel today? See from every Monday – Thursday LOTL’s The Israel Brief broadcasts and on our Facebook page and YouTube by seasoned TV & radio broadcaster, Rolene Marks familiar to Chai FM listeners in South Africa and millions of American listeners to the News/Talk/Sports radio station WINA, broadcasting out of Virginia, USA.

THE ISRAEL BRIEF- 03-06 March 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s  ‘Pick of the Week’ photo

Anxiety, uncertainty and the fate of the remaining hostages – all captured in this collage

Daily news an agonizing constant, Israelis navigate life amid anxiety from war, terrorism, Iranian threat
and unrelenting heart-wrenching concern for the hostages.




Articles

Please note there is a facility to comment beneath each article should you wish to express an opinion on the subject addressed.

(1)

NO KIDDING!

Blinded by bias, upcoming UN report on status of ‘children in conflict zones’ omits Israeli kids
  By David E. Kaplan

Blinded by Bias. Neither the murder of the Jewish Bibas babies by Hamas in Gaza nor the brutal killing of 12 Druze children by a Hezbollah rocket in a village on the Golan Heights raised the slightest professional
interest by the UN to include in its upcoming report on  ‘children in conflict zones’. Why?

NO KIDDING!
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

THE MONSTERS ARE REAL

The Monsters Murdered the Innocents
By Rolene Marks

Hamas Horror. We tell our children “Monsters aren’t real,” and then monsters invade their homes, kill their parents,
take them hostage and then murder them? The writer reflects on her visit to kibbutz Nir Oz
where a quarter of its people were murdered, kidnapped or injured.

THE MONSTERS ARE REAL
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

“CAUGHT NAPPING” – IT WAS LEFT TO THE PEOPLE NOT THE POLITICIANS

Some thoughts from a weekly volunteer responding to the call of our brave soldiers
By Adrian Wolff

Call to Civilians. Being civilians not soldiers, the weapon of Israel’s volunteers during war is their indominable spirit.
“It made me so proud of our country meeting these young soldiers – boys and girls,” says the writer
a weekly volunteer, delivering food to soldiers in war zones.

“CAUGHT NAPPING” – IT WAS LEFT TO THE PEOPLE NOT THE POLITICIANS
(Click on the blue title)



(4)

THE ARAB VOICE – February – March, 2025

Perspectives and insights from writers in the Arab media

Arab writers address three major issues confronting the Middle East: (1) To resuscitate Lebanon requires uprooting
the “malignant tumor” of corruption (2) Iran’s dilemma of whether to talk or not to talk to the new US administration
and (3) The impact Zelensky’s fiery meeting with Trump might have on the Middle East.

THE ARAB VOICE – February – March, 2025
(Click on the blue title)




LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com





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).