WAR UPDATE. REALITY CHECK

Avi Abelow | X

Forces of the 401st Special Operations Command and the Givati ??Brigade, as part of the operation, achieved operational control of the Rafah Crossing on the Gaza side, east of Rafah, May 2024. Photo by IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikipedia

Let’s be clear: we are still at war, attacking terrorists almost every day in Gaza and Lebanon.

It has simply been rebranded,sold to the public as a “ceasefire,” or in President Trump’s language, “peace in the Middle East.” But slogans do not change reality. Jihadist enemies do not disappear because diplomats declare progress.

So what is the real update?

The Trump administration has just concluded another round of diplomatic talks with Turkey and Qatar about Gaza. And once again, it reminds us of a truth Israel must never forget: Israel can rely only on itself.

Steve Witkoff’s update after meeting with Turkish and Qatari officials about a so-called second phase of a Gaza “peace” deal is not encouraging, it is absurd. Qatar and Turkey are not neutral brokers. They are the primary funders, enablers, and political protectors of Hamas and the global Muslim Brotherhood.

Sitting with them to discuss Gaza’s future is not diplomacy. It is proof that this process is detached from Middle Eastern reality. Any deal built with Hamas’s sponsors is guaranteed to fail. Worse, it buys time, time our enemies use to regroup, rearm, and prepare the next round, while we prepare as well.

Meanwhile, over the weekend, the Prime Minister of Lebanon claims the country is “only steps away” from disarming Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

This is fiction.

Hezbollah will never disarm voluntarily. Everyone in the region knows it. This statement is political theater, designed to placate Trump administration pressure, not to deliver results. Lebanon does not control Hezbollah. Hezbollah, backed and directed by Iran, controls Lebanon. Even the Lebanese army itself is deeply penetrated by Hezbollah-aligned Shiite elements.

And then comes the one statement rooted in reality.

Israeli Minister Bezalel Smotrich said plainly this weekend what many leaders are unwilling to admit publicly: Israel will likely have to launch military operations in Gaza and Lebanon before Israel’s next elections at the end of 2026.

On this, trust Smotrich.
Not the diplomats.
Not the mediators.
Not the press releases.

Israel is the only force capable of ensuring Hamas and Hezbollah are no longer threats on our borders, and that Iran is prevented from using our immediate surroundings to threaten Israeli lives.

No amount of talking with jihadi Muslim patrons will stop the jihadi goal of destroying Israel. President Trump is attempting a diplomatic approach, and his intentions may be good. But pressure, incentives, and negotiations that ignore the nature of our enemies will fail.

In the Middle East, security is not achieved through conferences or ceasefire declarations.
It is achieved through decisive action, when jihadists lose land, lose power, and lose the ability to threaten.

Israel must do what only Israel can do.

And with all of that said, one truth must be acknowledged clearly and honestly: President Trump has been the best U.S. president Israel has ever had. His election was nothing short of a miracle. It fundamentally changed America’s posture toward this war, ending the Biden administration’s weapons embargo on Israel in the midst of an existential war, and its pressure to halt Israel’s fight without securing our hostages, and instead having a U.S. President backing Israel’s right to win and bring our hostages home.

Now it is on us.

Strengthen your faith in God. Stand unwavering in your support for Israel and the Jewish people, who are on the front lines defending not only themselves, but all of civilization against the growing red-green jihadi threat facing us all.

Ignoring it or trying to appease it only empowers it. Only defeating it, and forcing it to pay a real price, will stop it.

That day will come, even if not us as soon as we would like.

Am Yisrael Chai!!!