(Day 575) Swords of Iron -“The Druze – Friends of Israel”

Chaim starts by thanking the men and women around the world who are standing up to defend the defenseless, and in this context he paraphrases the great American classic movie Forest Gump by saying “life is like a box of MISSILES, you never know what you’re gonna get.”

He is, of course, speaking about the Houthis in Yemen, who keep firing missiles at Israel’s defenseless civilian population. Happily, the missiles mostly get intercepted but they’re still causing a lot of problems here. The US military is pounding the Houthis, trying to get them to knock it off, but so far they’re not deterred.

Meanwhile, Israel is stepping up to defend the Druze community in Syria which is under attack by Sunni jihadist groups linked to the regime of Abu Muhammed Al-Jolani. The IDF has struck targets in Syria in a warning to Al-Jolani and there have also been helicopter-borne deliveries of humanitarian and medical supplies to these villages. Israel is going to continue with this project of supporting the Druze even if it means a direct confrontation with the Al-Jolani regime forces at some point.

But first, Chaim says this conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip needs to be finished up once and for all. The IDF is calling up a large number of reservists to finish the job, and this needs to be the final push because many reservists are showing signs of serious fatigue. There are many families, businesses and the country as a whole which are under tremendous stress and they just can’t take it anymore. This needs to end.

Another thing that needs to end is the standoff with Iran over its nuclear weapons program. Chaim says that the negotiations are a bad joke and the only purpose they’re serving is to allow Iran to string the world along. Marco Rubio has been brought in to replace Mike Waltz as US National Security Advisor and that signals a much harder line on Iran.

Chaim says that the entire Israeli and American leadership are determined to not let Iran go nuclear and are taking the steps to make sure that doesn’t happen. There are implications to this as Iran has alliances with many of Amerca’s other enemies, including China, Russia, North Korea and others, but Chaim says that is not a reason to be afraid.

In this context, he quotes Deuteronomy 33:29; Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, and you shall tread down their high places.”