Happy Sunday!!
You're probably not going to see this kind of article in the media. So, I thought I would write and share these thoughts as part of my Soul of Israel series.
Earlier this morning, I sat down for a pre-fast meal. This is no ordinary fast—it’s the beginning of the Three Weeks, a semi-mourning period marking the tragic destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. It culminates in Tisha B’Av, the darkest day on the Jewish calendar. And yet, here I am in a rebuilt, modern Jerusalem. Some might ask—why are we still fasting?
Shouldn’t Jerusalem’s return to Jewish hands have ended this chapter? Shouldn’t the rebirth of a sovereign Jewish state have healed our national trauma?
But instead, on this second cycle of the “three weeks” after October 7th , we remain in mourning.
We Thought the War Would Be Over
We imagined a different scenario. The hostages would be free. That our brave soldiers would be back home. That Hamas would collapse under the weight of its crimes. That families would stop burying their sons. That Gaza’s people would rise up for peace.
Instead, we have Hamas digging their feet in the negotiations to release our people they hold in the tunnels. How sic that they are even allowed to dictate the terms.
But instead, we are still at war. And it’s not just a war of missiles and drones—it’s a spiritual, moral, and ideological war. A war over truth. Over history. Over the soul of our nation.
Instead, we have more of our young men dying so that they can save Gazan civilians, we are giving out Humanitarian aid to our enemies, and Hamas is doing its best to kill or stop people from getting the Aid. Week in, week out, Israel is blamed in the media for causing the deaths of civilians. We have the boycotts of Israeli produce, the chants, the blood libels, and more.
I thought it would be useful to get to see a more nuanced reporting of what’s going on – Credit Barry Shaw.
Following the video from the food distribution compound in Rafah, in which an American security guard is seen firing tear gas at Gazans, Gazan channels and Hamas channels are "pushing" reports, citing "sources in the Gaza Ministry of Health," that 29 Gazans were killed today by gunfire at the distribution sites.
There is no documentation of gunfire beyond the tear gas, no documentation of fatalities... all of this is part of the Hamas propaganda machine, whose reports are accepted as absolute truth by many in the Western world.
Here is a screenshot of the BBC – notice the use of unverified. Since when do unverified stories pass as news !!
While much of the media lie about IDF soldiers "deliberately killing people in aid queues and children in Gazan hospitals, here is some factual information of IDF operations in Gaza the last couple of days.
IDF: More Than 130 Terrorist Infrastructure Sites Dismantled in Khan Yunis as the Golani Brigade Continues to Operate in the Area
Troops of the Golani Brigade, under the command of the 36th Division, are operating in the Khan Yunis area in the southern Gaza Strip.
As part of this activity, in cooperation with Yahalom unit combat engineers an underground terror tunnel route in the Khan Yunis area, approximately 500 meters long and 13 meters deep was destroyed.
Over the past week, the troops eliminated dozens of terrorists and dismantled more than 130 terrorist infrastructure sites both above and below ground, including weapon stockpiles, booby-trapped buildings, observation posts, and launch positions directed at IDF troops.
In an attack on the Halima a-Saadiya school in Jabaliya described by Hamas as targeting women & children, Iyad Nasr, commander of the Jabaliya battalion in Hamas' military wing was eliminated along with his personal assistant.
The convergence of The Politics of the Chant and the Politics of War
In this week’s planned Parsha blog, “War, Peace, and the Price of Appeasement,” I reflect on the themes of Parshat Pinchas—when moral courage meant standing against the tide. Just as Pinchas took a bold and unpopular stand to stop a moral collapse, sometimes true peace demands confrontation, not concession. From biblical times to Churchill, from Israel’s resistance to Iran’s threats, to rare voices in the Arab world calling for a new kind of leadership, this piece explores what happens when we appease evil—and what it takes to stop it. Drawing on Rav Kook, Torah, and history, I ask: why is Israel the only nation expected to justify its existence, while terror is tolerated? The story of Pinchas reminds us: standing up for truth may be unpopular—but it is often the only righteous path.
I also tie this into my Upgrading ESG – Empowering Society for Good newsletter, where I explore a critical and painful convergence: The Politics of the Chant and the Politics of War. We are living through a moment where chants like “Go Hitler” and “Globalise the Intifada” echo across campuses, stages, and city squares — in response to October 7th, where Jewish civilians were raped, mutilated, and burned in their homes. What begins as slogans and boycotts quickly morphs into legal warfare, media inversion, and rocket fire. This isn’t just about politics — it’s a full-spectrum assault on Jewish life and the Jewish state. From the Dinah Report, which was published last week, which highlighted and proved the use of sexual terror by Hamas, to the ICC, from Parshat Pinchas to the silence of the so-called moral world, this post offers both a wake-up call and a framework for clarity. If you care about justice, moral responsibility, and the survival of truth, I invite you to read, reflect, and share.
From October 7th to Campus Halls
This war stretches far beyond the battlefield. Hamas didn’t just prepare rockets—they prepared narratives. They calculated that Western institutions would provide cover: that progressive activists, tenured professors, and social media influencers would rush to rationalise their atrocities. And they were right.
For years, Qatar’s billions have quietly seeded anti-Israel ideology into Western academia—funding endowed chairs, research centers, and curricula designed to delegitimize the Jewish state. This isn’t a conspiracy; it’s a long-term strategy—an ideological invasion masquerading as education. What we’re witnessing on campuses and in classrooms is not spontaneous outrage; it’s the culmination of years of targeted influence. This is the new front of the war: a cultural and academic assault on Israel’s very legitimacy.
The Long Memory of Hatred
This week also brings two dark anniversaries:
June 15, 1205: Pope Innocent III institutionalised the doctrine that Jews are to live in perpetual servitude for “crucifying” Jesus. This lie fueled centuries of Christian antisemitism. It wasn’t officially overturned until 1963 at the Second Vatican Council.
July 16, 1942: The French police rounded up 13,152 Jews in Paris—including 4,115 children—and held them in inhumane conditions at the Vélodrome d’Hiver before deporting them to Auschwitz. Only 30 adults survived.
Credit - Dust and Stars:
For over 800 years, the Church’s doctrine of “perpetual servitude” embedded a poisonous narrative into the soul of Christian Europe—that the Jew was eternally guilty, cursed, and deserving of suffering. This wasn’t just theology; it laid the groundwork for ghettos, expulsions, forced conversions, massacres, and ultimately the Holocaust. Generation after generation, this lie evolved—from papal decrees to medieval pogroms, from Inquisitions to gas chambers. And just when we thought such hatred had been buried in the ashes of Auschwitz, it has begun to rise again.
In the aftermath of October 7th, the world has witnessed an alarming reawakening of that same irrational, inherited hatred—on university campuses, in so-called progressive movements, and in the streets of democratic cities. Once again, the Jew is blamed not for what he does, but for what he is. The ancient lie lives on, dressed in new slogans, but carrying the same murderous intent.
How do nations move on from that? How do they now stand with Hamas and against Israel? How do today’s so-called liberals forget their moral compass?
And let’s be honest: this hatred isn’t limited to radical Islam. It runs deeper. It's embedded in psyches and passed down through generations—whether Arab or European.
So Much to Cry For
So today, the 17th of Tammuz, we fast. We mourn not just the fall of Jerusalem thousands of years ago, but also the ongoing moral collapse of the world around us.
Who wants to eat when surrounded by so much moral rot?
Tisha B’Av looms on the horizon, and there is much to cry for.
But this is also a time of deep spiritual clarity. A time to understand what we are fighting for—not just survival, but the soul of a people—a soul rooted in compassion, justice, truth, and resilience.
As we walk through these three weeks, may we reflect with open hearts and clear eyes. May we not only mourn the past, but awaken to the present.