Date of Israel’s attack no ‘accident’
Menachem Klein, professor of political science at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, says Israel’s decision to retaliate against Iran on Saturday was not an “accident”.
Klein told Al Jazeera that the attacks coincided with the Jewish calendar’s official day of remembrance for fallen soldiers and victims of the October 7 Hamas attack, which is observed today. “On the one hand, Israel commemorates its fallen civilians and soldiers,” Klein said. “And on the other hand, the Israeli establishment, including Netanyahu, they want to rebuild, to regain legitimacy and public support.
“So, today, Netanyahu and his cabinet can build on what happened yesterday.”
‘Painful concessions’ needed to secure release of captives: Gallant
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says “painful concessions” are needed to secure the release of captives held in Gaza, adding that military operations alone are not sufficient to achieve the country’s war goals.
“Not all objectives can be achieved through military operations alone… to realise our moral duty to bring our hostages home, we will have to make painful concessions,” Gallant said in a speech marking the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year.
Biden bemoans ‘appalling surge’ in anti-Semitism amid Gaza war
US President Joe Biden on Sunday marked six years since a deadly synagogue attack in Pittsburgh by lamenting an “appalling surge” of anti-Semitism since the war in Gaza started.
In 2018, a gunman killed 11 Jewish worshippers at a synagogue in the former Pennsylvania steel hub in what is considered to be the US’s deadliest anti-Semitic attack. This year’s commemoration comes as Israel marks the anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year.
“One year later, the trauma and losses from that day and its aftermath are not only raw but exacerbated by the appalling surge of anti-Semitism against Jews in America and around the world,” said Biden in a statement.
Biden, whose administration has backed Israel since the start of the conflict, said he had launched before October 7 the country’s first National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. “We are aggressively implementing it,” he said, adding that his administration had secured $1.2bn to provide physical security for synagogues, Jewish schools and other nonprofit organizations.
The Department of Justice was also probing and prosecuting anti-Semitic hate crimes, he said.
