Videos > Israel Matters #20: Terror Tunnel Discovery, Saeb Erekat COVID-19, and Israeli Air Strikes in Syria Israel Matters #20: Terror Tunnel Discovery, Saeb Erekat COVID-19, and Israeli Air Strikes in Syria Pesach Wolicki 130 views • 3 likes 6 years ago • 30:13 min
Transcript [00:01] hello everyone welcome back to israel [00:03] matters first of all [00:05] apologies for being late this week [00:07] there's a lot going on in israel [00:09] a lot going on in the world we will be [00:11] back on schedule this coming sunday [00:12] we'll be releasing again [00:14] once again i am rabbi pesach wiliki and [00:16] with me as always is my partner in crime [00:19] eliot showed off elliot how are you [00:20] doing [00:22] doing well how are you i'm doing well as [00:24] we'll talk about later in the episode [00:26] you're up north and that means you're [00:27] near some air strikes that israel was [00:29] involved in and you'll have to tell us [00:31] about those [00:32] we will be dealing with three topics [00:34] today we will not be continuing our [00:37] conversation about [00:38] russia's involvement in this region [00:41] we will continue it next week or in [00:44] subsequent weeks [00:45] when there aren't headlines that are uh [00:47] that are urgent [00:48] to talk about but there are three news [00:50] stories that have emerged [00:52] just in the last literally day or two [00:56] that we need to address and we'll try to [00:58] get through them all [01:00] so the three stories will be number one [01:03] there has been a [01:04] new tunnel discovered on israel's [01:07] southern border [01:08] a a from the gaza strip into israel [01:12] a terror tunnel that was just discovered [01:14] this was in the news [01:15] today uh at the same time [01:18] there was reported just a few hours ago [01:22] airstrikes in kunetra which is just over [01:25] the [01:26] syrian border on the in the north [01:29] eastern corner of israel sort of elliott [01:32] will explain more about that [01:34] area not in this not in the city itself [01:36] but in here in the konation area [01:38] and we'll do you know we'll have to [01:40] figure out what that's about what's [01:42] going on why are there suddenly air [01:43] strikes in that part [01:46] of the israel-syria border and uh [01:50] also in the news erakat a very prominent [01:54] leader in the palestinian authority [01:57] was diagnosed with coronavirus a while [01:59] ago and is in critical condition [02:02] being treated in an israeli hospital [02:05] so and and these all have serious [02:07] implications [02:08] so let's get to our first topic the [02:09] topic of the southern border [02:11] i just want to point out one detail in [02:13] the news story just again i'm just a [02:15] consumer of the news [02:17] and we go to you eliot for a deeper [02:19] understanding when i read the news story [02:21] about the new tunnel discovered [02:23] leading from the gaza strip into israel [02:26] and everyone watching this i'm sure is [02:28] aware of the terror tunnels that over [02:29] the last few years israel's been [02:30] discovering both there and on the [02:32] northern border [02:33] and destroying them what i noticed is [02:35] that the news i [02:36] the news story said that the tunnel is [02:39] dozens [02:40] of meters underground now dozens of [02:43] meters [02:43] again a meter for our american friends [02:45] and meters a little bit bigger than a [02:47] yard [02:47] dozens of meters underground means that [02:50] this isn't [02:50] this isn't that some terrorists took a [02:53] bulldozer [02:54] and dug a tunnel and you know crawling [02:56] through a tunnel this isn't the hazmony [02:57] in tunnels [02:59] uh dozens of meters means i mean and [03:02] i guess you'll tell us what this means [03:04] in terms of stories of a building but if [03:05] you could picture [03:07] a football field deep into the ground or [03:10] maybe even deeper than that [03:11] that's how far down we're talking about [03:14] these are [03:15] major public works projects [03:18] that mean investment of large sums of [03:22] money [03:23] serious technology they're long they [03:25] have ventilation in them there's [03:27] there's they're very sophisticated [03:29] tunnels and that kind of blew my mind [03:32] about how how sophisticated [03:34] technologically the tunnel is [03:36] but talk to us about what happened here [03:38] and what this means [03:42] so first of all um [03:46] let's get a sense of depth if we're [03:47] talking dozens of meters we're talking [03:49] about tens of stories [03:51] tens of stories right um [03:55] yeah i figure you know a story of a [03:57] build in a building is about 10 feet [03:59] 10 and 12 feet something like that so [04:01] three four meters [04:03] or so do the arithmetic [04:06] it's a lot wow okay so that's first of [04:10] all [04:11] that as you said these are not [04:15] simply done some a few guys with a [04:17] shovel digging down a little bit and [04:18] then [04:19] going under these are way down deep [04:23] and the reason they're going that deep [04:25] is because we're building a physical [04:27] barrier [04:28] on our side of gaza at the expense of [04:31] billions and billions of dollars [04:33] that includes a wall that goes down [04:35] underground a concrete [04:37] barrier to prevent the tunnels from [04:39] going through so they're trying to get [04:41] down below that barrier [04:43] and we won't go into the details of the [04:44] barrier deep enough or not because in [04:46] addition to the barrier [04:47] there are sensors of all sorts of [04:49] different types [04:51] and of course our intelligence people [04:52] are working around the clock [04:54] keeping an eye on things so what was it [04:57] one or two or three factors that led to [05:01] the finding of the tunnel [05:02] uh that hasn't been reported i can do [05:04] some speculation but there really [05:06] there's no point we found it um [05:10] certainly the technology allowed us not [05:13] only to know that it was there but to [05:15] find exactly where [05:17] and it's been located it'll be destroyed [05:21] uh it's in the process and that's one [05:25] less tunnel [05:26] but there are a few things i think here [05:29] that are important [05:30] go on go ahead i was just wondering what [05:33] do we know a kind of ballpark dollar [05:36] amount [05:37] that it costs them to build one of these [05:39] things [05:41] it's hard to say labor is cheap but [05:43] we're talking about a concrete [05:47] reinforced tunnel wide enough for people [05:50] to [05:50] walk in this is not for those who've [05:53] seen the movie the great escape this is [05:54] not [05:55] uh you know on their bellies [06:01] exactly um and [06:04] and not and to walk in with equipment [06:08] um it [06:13] went the length of about a kilometer uh [06:15] which is [06:16] about one point six miles above that [06:18] point [06:23] um but still quite a length and it was [06:25] going to go further if [06:27] if we hadn't stopped it so figure go [06:30] it aimed to go for for for a mile at [06:32] least [06:36] it's expensive uh i haven't i haven't [06:39] seen a good [06:41] numerical estimate but we're talking [06:43] about a lot of money [06:45] so is the money that that is used here [06:47] money that [06:48] whoever gave it gave it for humanitarian [06:51] purposes and is being redirected or are [06:53] the funders actually funding the [06:55] building of this tunnel [06:56] knowing so the answer is it depends on [06:58] who actually is behind it [07:01] there are two real possibilities here [07:03] one is hamas and that's [07:04] i think the usual suspect [07:09] it could also be islamic jihad and it [07:12] might be some sort of a joint operation [07:13] between [07:14] hamas and islamic jihad keeping in mind [07:17] that if [07:17] even if it is islamic jihad hamas has to [07:20] be approving it [07:21] there's no way that a project on this [07:23] scale is happening [07:24] against hamas that's what i was thinking [07:27] of they're they're in charge down there [07:28] right so let's start with responsibility [07:32] i'll come back to the money in a second [07:34] responsibility hamas is responsible no [07:35] matter what [07:37] either actively or passively [07:38] ministerially that doesn't matter [07:42] if hamas in fact is behind the project [07:48] the money that goes into something like [07:50] this [07:52] is coming from a variety of sources some [07:55] directly and some indirectly [07:56] keeping in mind that money is fungible [07:59] so [08:00] hamas has the political administrative [08:03] power [08:04] in the gaza strip hamas has a political [08:07] organization [08:08] hamas as a social organization and hamas [08:11] is a terrorist organization [08:13] it's all the same hamas so [08:17] iran is giving money certainly happily [08:19] to the tunnels as well [08:21] qatar is giving money ostensibly for [08:25] political humanitarian aid but i don't [08:27] think they would cry terribly much if [08:28] some israelis were killed in the process [08:31] the europeans are giving money for [08:34] humanitarian [08:35] purposes political humanitarian purposes [08:37] only [08:38] but of course that money being given [08:40] allows [08:41] hamas to free up other money to go into [08:44] the tunnels [08:44] that's the fungible part so it's an [08:47] all-of-the-above kind of thing they're [08:48] they're doing very well and of course [08:50] they're skimming off the topic there's a [08:52] bunch of kleptocrats like everybody else [08:54] in this region uh i'm overstating that [08:57] but many others in this region [08:59] and you've got to have you know some [09:02] some [09:03] some cream to skim off the top for your [09:04] own mansions and [09:06] swiss bank accounts otherwise why bother [09:10] that's right exactly now if it's islamic [09:14] jihad it's also kind of interesting that [09:15] hamas is allowing it because it means [09:17] that they're they are in the proxy use [09:20] business [09:21] which shows that they are trying to be [09:25] careful [09:25] not to be uh held responsible if there's [09:28] an attack [09:29] because they know what that means from [09:31] our point of view um [09:32] this is something in other words in [09:34] other words not wanting their [09:36] name on something is a [09:40] is is the kind of display of caution [09:44] that in like caring about that [09:47] you know caring about it's just like [09:49] exactly interactions if you care about [09:50] your reputation [09:52] it means that you actually have [09:54] something that you're afraid of [09:55] correct and the fact is it doesn't work [10:00] supremely well against us because we [10:03] hold them responsible [10:04] but it has its effect there's a big [10:06] difference even [10:07] on the level of if an attack takes place [10:10] god forbid and succeeds [10:12] there's a difference between them [10:14] rejoicing [10:15] not rejoicing and denying [10:19] and you know we hold even if we hold [10:21] them responsible in all three cases [10:23] uh the level of retaliation would be [10:26] different [10:28] and that matters to them because they [10:30] don't want to lose stuff that they've [10:31] invested in and built in and that sort [10:33] of thing [10:34] by the way i have to tell you that [10:35] strategy works much better against [10:37] europeans and americans [10:39] for sure because they care because [10:42] because americans and europeans actually [10:44] fall into this well [10:45] he was doing it under these auspices and [10:47] not those auspices [10:48] so that it makes a difference which is [10:50] why organizations like fatah [10:53] back in the day uh had [10:57] a dozen spin-offs and they still do [11:01] in part because they can deny [11:04] responsibility [11:06] fatah tanzim al-aqsa mars they were all [11:09] run by arafat [11:11] right okay so what's this so what's the [11:13] you know just to wrap up [11:15] this topic what are we looking to see [11:18] in terms of the follow-up in terms of [11:19] what might come out in the aftermath of [11:21] this or what actions might be taken [11:24] in a retaliatory sense or you know what [11:27] are we looking for now [11:28] from this story okay so first of all [11:30] we're going to destroy the tunnel [11:32] uh i don't i can't believe that anyone [11:35] on our side [11:36] believes that this is the only one this [11:39] is the first [11:40] the first one that we found in this [11:42] period [11:43] i'm sure there are others whether [11:46] they're this was the most advanced one [11:47] and that's why it was found because it [11:49] came up against [11:50] the barrier and its sensors or for other [11:53] reasons [11:54] there are others so we're going to be [11:55] finding more and we may not be finding [11:57] all of them [11:58] just as i'm not convinced we found all [12:01] of them along the lebanese border [12:04] but it's certainly a setback for them um [12:07] it's another thing it's important to [12:08] keep in mind also we found it 100 meters [12:10] into israeli territory [12:12] because the barrier is 100 meters inside [12:13] of israeli territory [12:15] we didn't build a barrier right on the [12:17] edge so that we can [12:18] operate against the tunnels in our [12:20] territory [12:23] and this prevents escalation and [12:26] escalation [12:28] accusations of going into their [12:30] territory and this way we have some [12:31] leeway [12:32] correct right and before [12:37] is thinking who cares ask the people who [12:39] live in the [12:40] in the gaza area on our side whether [12:42] they care [12:43] they'll tell you sure they hamas fire or [12:46] somebody fired a rocket last night in [12:47] retaliation [12:48] iron dome took it out so and we and we [12:51] launched their strikes just to let them [12:52] know that we still love them [12:53] um and that looks like it's the end of [12:56] the story [12:57] dozens of rockets completely changed the [12:59] the picture for people living on [13:00] on this side so we have an interest in [13:02] there not being an escalation [13:04] yeah and this is also you know this is a [13:06] reminder of something that you've said [13:08] many many times over these last few [13:09] months [13:10] that uh just because something's not in [13:14] the headlines or coronavirus or the [13:16] american election is taking over the [13:17] headlines doesn't mean that our enemies [13:20] are taking a break they don't take [13:21] vacations no they don't take vacation [13:23] they're not taking sick days for [13:24] for corona they're they're probably not [13:27] socially distancing either [13:29] [Laughter] [13:31] all right those tunnels are pretty tight [13:33] all right let's move on to uh [13:35] saeb erakat who's yes official title [13:39] is secretary general of the executive [13:44] committee [13:44] of the plo but as far i didn't even know [13:48] that was his title even though he's been [13:49] a household name [13:51] for me for the last i don't know 25 [13:52] years or so uh [13:54] he's uh he was the chief negotiator or [13:56] one of them [13:57] in the the going all the way back to the [13:59] beginning of the oslo peace process with [14:01] yasser [14:02] arafat he's been at the center of the [14:04] power structure there [14:06] for a long time so what what exactly [14:09] happened here and what does it mean [14:12] okay so you're right he has all sorts of [14:14] titles he's [14:15] he's essentially the number two power in [14:17] the palestinian authority [14:19] high-ranking fatah very high-ranking plo [14:23] um he [14:28] at the beginning of the month he came [14:29] down with with corona [14:31] uh in his home in jericho he's 65 years [14:34] old he's [14:35] a year or so after a lung transplant and [14:39] here i want to clarify something because [14:40] i've seen all sorts of misinformation on [14:42] social media the transplant took place [14:44] in the united states not in israel he [14:46] was on the list here [14:48] but he went went to the states [14:49] ultimately to to get it [14:51] um so he's he's high risk [14:56] for complications the first period that [14:59] he was sick he was he had very [15:01] limited symptoms and then all of a [15:03] sudden things went south [15:05] um the pa contacted israel [15:09] and we agreed to take him to one of our [15:12] hospitals [15:13] to hadassah which is in jerusalem not [15:16] far from jericho [15:17] and also one of the best schools in the [15:19] world [15:21] they agreed we agreed and then something [15:24] very interesting happened [15:25] only only in the israeli-palestinian [15:27] relationship can you imagine this [15:34] ambulance was sent to jericho with a [15:36] military escort an israeli military [15:38] escort [15:39] because we were afraid that the [15:40] ambulance wouldn't get there safely [15:42] because the palestinians might disrupt [15:45] uh [15:46] the travel of the ambulance because it [15:47] had a big there's a big magen david on [15:49] it [15:50] and we took them to hadassah where he's [15:54] now on a ventilator [15:55] and an ecma which is a blood oxygenating [15:58] machine [15:58] to take some pressure off the [16:00] ventilation of his lungs which are [16:02] obviously not in very good shape um he's [16:05] post-transplant [16:06] he's in extremely critical condition [16:10] what's in hebrew called matsavenosh [16:13] which is [16:14] beyond critical they say stable [16:19] but overall the prognosis [16:23] doesn't look terribly good yeah in other [16:25] words it's highly likely that some of [16:27] the people watching this video [16:28] will be watching it after after an [16:31] announcement that he's passed away i [16:32] mean [16:33] it's possible it's quite possible so [16:36] people do recover but [16:40] at this point the odds are not working [16:42] in his favor okay so elliot let's just [16:44] get right down to brass tacks here's a [16:45] guy [16:46] who is really kind of openly an enemy of [16:50] the [16:50] of the state of israel i mean he he [16:52] advocates [16:53] uh boycott and divestment and sanction [16:55] of israel [16:56] he cheers when when israelis are killed [16:59] by terrorists and encourages it [17:01] he he really is one of our fiercest [17:04] enemies [17:05] why is the right thing to do [17:09] to help him i mean i understand there's [17:10] an ethical component there's a political [17:12] component [17:13] right what's your take okay so first of [17:16] all [17:17] as far as i'm concerned this is one of [17:18] these win-win-win kind of situations [17:21] from from my perspective um you [17:24] mentioned that he was [17:24] he was he's he is their chief negotiator [17:27] but he's also very much in the forefront [17:30] of their propaganda campaign [17:32] and he never never misses an opportunity [17:34] to bash israel in one way or another [17:36] truth is not his forte um [17:40] as a matter of fact he's one of the [17:43] those people out there who say [17:44] you know say america is lying when his [17:45] lips are moving um [17:48] he's he really he's a propagandist [17:52] and and good at what he does [17:56] having said that let's add a few other [17:58] aspects to it the pa [18:01] has forbidden its people from using [18:04] israeli hospitals during the corona [18:07] crisis and all of a sudden this guy gets [18:10] sick and zip they take him out to an [18:12] israeli hospital [18:15] uh that in and of itself is is is worth [18:18] a few [18:19] points no because the hypothetically [18:21] necessary yeah i mean it's right i mean [18:24] the hypocrisy is is beyond belief [18:28] as a matter of fact they were so [18:29] cognizant of it that when they first [18:31] took him to the hospital [18:33] fatah announced that he was being taken [18:35] to the hospital not for corona [18:37] but because of complications from his [18:40] lung transplant [18:42] and then then you can't keep stuff [18:45] secret anymore today so then they [18:46] they came out and they admitted it and [18:48] they made some other excuses [18:50] uh so that in and of itself anytime you [18:53] can put a hit [18:54] into your enemy uh [18:58] on a level of they've set themselves up [19:00] for it and you can just [19:02] do a good thing and strike at the same [19:05] time [19:06] what's the downside okay so from uh from [19:08] a political positioning standpoint [19:11] it's a good move to help him but i see [19:13] in some of the israeli media [19:15] some of the israeli media is actually [19:17] discussing [19:18] honestly ethically is the right thing to [19:20] do [19:21] to help someone who's such a bitter [19:23] enemy okay so so my [19:25] my perspective on this first of all [19:27] medical ethics are very clear on this [19:29] and i think jewish ethics are pretty [19:31] clear [19:33] he's not a murderer [19:38] who we're going to return to circulation [19:43] um is he going to change his ways is he [19:46] going to suddenly see the light [19:49] don't don't put a lot of money on that [19:51] one [19:53] but he will find it that much more [19:57] difficult [19:58] in open conversation and honest [20:00] conversation [20:01] to condemn israel if we do our job [20:03] correctly and [20:05] and do our information job and i hate [20:06] the word hasbro [20:08] uh because every time he says you know [20:11] boycott israel we can bring this up [20:14] right i know boycott israel just like i [20:18] did [20:18] and it would always be good to have a [20:19] picture of him going into hadassah and [20:22] if he makes it coming out of hadassah [20:24] uh you know good for you [20:28] but i think there's another element to [20:29] this as well [20:31] we have to behave as we are not as they [20:34] are [20:35] and i hear this and you and i both speak [20:38] to jewish anti-christian audiences [20:41] uh very we obviously on different topics [20:44] i i've often enough in q and a [20:48] or in discussion somebody said well why [20:50] don't we just do to them what they [20:52] would do to us and mike i have a number [20:55] of different [20:56] variations of the same answer and that [20:58] is if we become like them they win [21:03] we're not just fighting for our lives [21:04] we're fighting for our values for our [21:06] ethics [21:06] and there's a value of life versus a [21:08] value of death [21:10] and our value is life [21:14] and if we have to we will kill them [21:18] but it's only if we have to so [21:22] i think allowing them and their behavior [21:26] to influence the way we behave [21:30] is a very very dangerous place to go [21:34] and i i've said this again to [21:38] to both jewish and christian audiences [21:40] since when did jews use [21:41] others as their model for behavior you [21:44] know i i want to respond to what you're [21:46] saying briefly and then ask a quick [21:48] question [21:49] uh as we wrap up this topic so first of [21:52] all [21:52] you know i would say that the [21:56] you know the ethical component here that [21:58] who we [21:59] are that we that we're gonna try to save [22:03] his life we're gonna do our best to save [22:05] his life [22:06] is something that as a talking point for [22:08] people watching this video [22:10] that you know if we if eliot and i if [22:13] we're going to be [22:14] arming you with the right talking points [22:16] when you talk about israel and the [22:17] palestinian authority this is an [22:18] important anecdote to remember [22:21] and anyone who would whoever has visited [22:25] an israeli hospital [22:28] would see the greatest example of [22:30] coexistence between palestinians [22:33] and and israelis between arabs and jews [22:36] anywhere i mean it's the best example in [22:38] fact i believe that the tr [22:40] that the trips of tourists you know [22:42] christian tours [22:44] and other tours from outside of israel [22:46] especially the non-jewish ones when they [22:47] come to israel one of their visits [22:50] should actually be to an israeli [22:51] hospital and maybe even meet with some [22:54] of the with some of the medical [22:55] professionals [22:56] so many of the medical professionals are [22:58] mixed staffs of arabs and jews of [23:00] palestinians and israelis together [23:02] yes palestinians get treated there all [23:04] the time it's very important to remember [23:06] and to know that this person sai barakat [23:08] who was a bitter [23:10] enemy of israel there's no doubt that [23:14] the staff in hadassah hospital both [23:15] jewish and arab [23:17] are doing everything they can to save [23:18] his life just as they would for any [23:20] other person there but now let me just [23:22] end with a question just to [23:24] move the topic away from the ethical [23:26] considering his position [23:29] is there anything significant [23:30] politically that we should be looking at [23:34] should he not recover [23:37] look obviously he'll be replaced and [23:39] here here's one of those [23:41] actually it's a very interesting [23:43] question um that [23:44] maybe we can delve into [23:48] at a different time when we have more [23:49] time for this but here here i'll just [23:51] say be careful what you wish for [23:53] um that's often the case with these [23:55] things right [23:57] um because you don't know who the next [24:00] guy is going to be [24:01] right and this is true by the way this [24:05] is one of one of those calculations [24:07] in um taking out terrorists [24:13] because you've got a suleimani type [24:16] who's clearly a star [24:18] and it would be difficult to find [24:20] someone who [24:22] would be superior to him [24:26] on the other hand there are many [24:28] terrorist leaders [24:30] who they're good at what they do [24:33] but you know if you take them out just [24:35] because of their position [24:39] you don't know who you're going to get [24:40] next right i mean i i think a perfect [24:42] example of that is actually saab [24:43] arakat's [24:44] uh i guess nominal boss which is mahmoud [24:47] abbas [24:48] i've often thought that one of the one [24:50] of the [24:51] uh you know a good situation for people [24:54] who love israel is that abbas is the [24:56] head of the pa [24:57] but he's inept he's inept he's inept in [25:00] many many ways [25:01] he's not well respected in any venue not [25:04] in his own population and not [25:05] internationally he's not a good [25:07] communicator [25:08] he's he's not very he's not even good at [25:11] being devious [25:12] he's very ineffective correctly i've [25:15] often thought like having this [25:16] inept person there has weakened the [25:18] palestinian authority every day he's in [25:20] charge and i've often thought you know [25:22] oh when abbas dies [25:25] we could end up with someone a lot [25:26] slicker in that position and that could [25:29] hurt us [25:29] more which leads to i guess i think [25:32] we've gone on with this topic a little [25:33] too much [25:34] we should probably have a longer [25:35] conversation we should come back and [25:36] revisit this palestinian authority [25:39] and maybe maybe the passing of erica [25:42] which might be happening soon [25:43] could lead us into that conversation so [25:45] you know let's move on i think at this [25:47] point we should [25:47] because we still have to talk about [25:48] canetra but that's a question maybe i'll [25:51] leave you with [25:52] which is you know what does it look like [25:53] at the top there [25:55] uh because without there's a lot of [25:57] competition let's put it that way [25:58] all right so now let's talk about [26:00] kunitra first of all where's canetra [26:03] and why on earth in the middle of [26:04] everything going on here was there an [26:06] air strike [26:07] into that part of syria i'll just tell [26:09] you the little bit that i know [26:11] is that kanetra is not [26:14] part of that that uh continuum that goes [26:16] from the mediterranean [26:18] uh up to the golan meaning that that [26:20] stretch on the lebanese border israel's [26:22] real northern border that's [26:24] not where kunetra is so this isn't a [26:26] hezbollah issue [26:27] uh so what exactly happened there no [26:29] it's an iran issue [26:31] first of all uh kunetra the city of [26:33] connecticut is right across [26:35] the line anybody who's been up to mount [26:38] bental or any of the observation points [26:40] looks out on the abandoned city of [26:42] kunetra now [26:44] what happened last night where is it in [26:46] relation to [26:47] the sea of galilee to the golan heights [26:49] where is exactly [26:51] it's some [26:56] 12 to 15 miles from the sea of galilee [26:58] and it's right across the line from the [27:00] golan heights [27:00] as a matter of fact the city of konetra [27:02] was in our hands [27:04] between 1967 and 1974 75 [27:08] when we gave it back to the syrians and [27:09] that's all story in and of itself [27:11] okay but it's the border runs the line [27:14] it's not really a border [27:15] runs just on this side of kunecha okay [27:18] now [27:18] connectors is also a district so what [27:22] happened was in the kunetra district not [27:23] in the city itself [27:25] the syrians reported that we blew up a [27:27] school in a village which we probably [27:29] did [27:30] um but the syrian human rights [27:33] organization [27:34] that monitors these things says it may [27:36] have been a school building [27:38] but it was a warehouse for iranian [27:40] military infrastructure [27:42] wow literally right on [27:45] so almost on israel's that's right now [27:47] we've talked about iran [27:49] yes we've talked about iran and its [27:51] moves in in syria [27:53] and i've said numerous times [27:56] i believe that we will not ultimately be [28:00] able to stop them we're slowing them [28:01] down [28:02] and what we saw last night is further [28:05] evidence [28:06] that they are slowly but surely creeping [28:09] closer [28:10] to the golan now we're talking about [28:14] within shooting distance at least of [28:16] heavy weapons [28:19] and here we are now we're no longer [28:24] talking about deep in syria the other [28:25] side of damascus [28:26] aleppo the syrian iraqi border which has [28:30] been [28:30] these are all places that have been in [28:32] the news over the past couple of years [28:35] now we're talking about literally a [28:37] stone's throw [28:38] from our line and [28:41] i think that that that should be setting [28:44] off alarm bells i'm sure it's setting [28:45] off alarm bells like [28:46] here in the military and the government [28:49] but it should be setting off alarm bells [28:50] for anybody who's watching this and [28:52] thinking [28:52] that there's no that nothing is going on [28:56] there's stuff going on all the time not [28:58] just in terms of our strikes [29:00] but keep in mind that every time we [29:01] strike something there's a whole bunch [29:03] of stuff that we're not striking [29:05] and there's this this perpetual [29:09] creep closer and closer to our borders [29:12] uh and and again this is just evidence [29:14] that it's that it's still going on and [29:16] and they're succeeding ultimately our [29:18] our attacks are successful [29:20] but their objectives are not being met [29:23] wow [29:24] okay a lot to think about a lot going on [29:28] and uh as we always say our enemies [29:31] do not take vacations and thank god the [29:34] one who guards israel [29:36] does not slumber and does not sleep you [29:39] can't afford to [29:40] yeah okay so thank you for your patience [29:43] everyone [29:44] for uh our our tardiness this week [29:47] we will uh as we said next week starting [29:50] uh we'll be right back up and running on [29:52] sunday [29:53] and uh keep praying for israel and keep [29:56] fighting the good fight [29:57] i hope that you gain from this and gain [29:58] some talking points and as always please [30:00] reach out to us if you'd like [30:02] uh some private conversation if you'd [30:04] like us to address a group or if you [30:05] have any questions or suggestions [30:07] for future discussions god bless you and [30:10] god bless israel
In this jam-packed episode, Rabbi Wolicki asks Defense and Security analyst Elliot Chodoff about 3 significant news items from the past few days. Israel discovered a massive sophisticated terror tunnel that extended well into Israeli territory. Despite the Palestinian Authority forbidding Palestinians from seeking medical help for Covid -19 in Israeli hospitals, senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat is in critical condition with Covid-19 and is receiving treatment in Hadassah Hospital in Israel. And earlier today, it was reported that Israel carried out airstrikes in the Quneitra region of Syria, just over Israel's northeastern border.
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