Since Oct. 7, 2023: Reaching an inflection point for Israel and the wider Middle East after an unforgettable year

Israel’s first, and second-longest serving, prime minister, David Ben-Gurion famously said, “In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles,” and the year from Oct. 7, 2023, to Oct. 7, 2024 has certainly been an example of this. The story, whose end is unknown, has a very Jewish patina to it; from the depths of despair at 6:29 on that Sabbath/Simchat Torah morning as the paragliders flew over the Nova music festival and the Hamas paratroopers stormed over the border killing everything in their way, backed by a cacophony of rocket-fire; to a place today, which despite the difficulties and challenges of the knowledge of the hard road ahead, might even border on hope.

In every generation there are disputes and temptations, which threaten to rip the Jewish people asunder. In 2005, it was the disengagement from Gaza, pulled off by practically the only politician – Ariel Sharon – who had the fortitude and authority to pull it off. Many people on the right warned of the national implications of that fateful decision, but their concerns were dismissed for the perceived greater good of living in peace with our neighbors. Some hope.

In the months leading up to Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s civil society seemed fatally weakened, a hint, which Hamas’ barbaric terrorist leader Yahya Sinwar, certainly did not miss. Despite the fact, protesters against the government’s proposed judicial reform, and those in favor would all be waving Israeli flags at their demonstrations, as they yelled epithets at each other from point-blank range. Sinwar thought he knew Israel and Israelis, having learned the language and immersed himself in its newspapers over his extended stay in prison, which was so catastrophically cut short in the deal which released kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011. He assumed Israel was on the precipice of collapse; however, he misinterpreted what was underneath all the noise. Israel is a very noisy society, but underneath it there is an almost unspoken acknowledgment that Jews, whatever their political, spiritual or religious affiliations, are responsible for one another in times of great peril. And make no mistake, Oct. 7, 2023 was a moment of catastrophic danger.

Sinwar’s actions led us to this point, and if one was to think back to Oct. 6, 2023, it would be impossible to contemplate that one year and one day later, they would lead us to a place where the future of the entire Middle East – of Israel’s relationships with its Arab neighbors, and if the evil Islamist regime were to fall in Tehran, of Iran too – could be redrawn. It is a tantalizing moment – an inflection point – full of potential… and jeopardy.

Israelis, Diaspora Jews, U.S. politicians commemorate first anniversary of Hamas attacks, which left some 1,200 people dead

A somber mood – which to be sure has hung like a pall over the Jewish state for the last 366 days – descended a little further Monday, as Israelis came together – many of them at 6:29 a.m. – to commemorate the events of Oct. 7, 2023. Impromptu, unofficial gatherings paired with much larger events put on by various municipalities across the country, as long as the security situation would permit it. Hamas even fired a few rockets, some of which impacted in Tel Aviv and further to its south, in Holon.

Against which targets in the Islamic Republic of Iran might Israel retaliate?

Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Oct. 1; Israel has still to respond. The timing of the response is unknown, although Iran was on high alert overnight Sunday. The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies provides maps with a key of the significance of the targets Israel might strike.

What targets in the Islamic Republic of Iran might Israel retaliate against?

Here is FDD’s assessment of the regime’s key military, nuclear, economic, and other centers. pic.twitter.com/SpXBcuWFO2

— FDD (@FDD) October 6, 2024

Read!! Middle East analyst: Israel likely to hit back hard against Iran

Dr. Jonathan Spyer, an analyst at the Middle East Forum, assesses Israel’s response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack of Oct. 1 will be significantly harder than the “small and symbolic” one it sent after April’s similar strike. Indeed, “…it must seek now to signal to Iran that such aggression will be met with a determined, escalatory response.”

Ben Shapiro: Israel will respond forcefully to missile attack, won’t listen to ‘Biden anymore’

Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro thought it unlikely Israel will not respond to the Oct. 1 ballistic missile barrage fired from Iran, despite the Biden-Harris administration turning the screws on the Jewish state. “Israel will almost certainly respond much more forcefully to the latest Iranian attack,” he said.

Did Iran conduct an underground nuclear test?!

Unconfirmed reports suggest a recent earthquake in Iran’s Semnan province, and registered a 4.5 magnitude on a seismic reading, might actually have been an underground nuclear test. Earthquakes are apparently not common in the area, and it is understood Iran opened an underground testing facility in that location in the 2000s.

READ! New report suggests Iran could use tactical weaponized pharmaceutical-based agents against Israel

Matthew Levitt, a counterterrorism expert at the Washington Institute published an article in the most recent edition of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point journal. In it he alleges that after painstaking and lengthy research, it appears Iran has both weaponized chemical agents – such as fentanyl – and has tested them out on its own population – and has also transferred these to its proxies surrounding Israel’s borders.

Israel confirms death of Idan Shtivi, 28, killed at the Nova music festival

The IDF, following the gathering of new intelligence in Gaza, informed the family of Idan Shtivi that he was killed in the initial attack on the Nova music festival on Oct. 7. The terrorists took his body back to Gaza, where it is currently being held with 101 others; the fate of whom is currently unknown.

Watch!!! The Killing Roads shows two hours of raw unfiltered stories from witnesses to Oct. 7 massacre (Viewer Discretion Advised)

Read! 80% of Gaza casualties are Hamas combatants and their families

According to Israeli journalist Ohad Hemo, who appeared on Israel’s Channel 12 Sunday night, a source of his said officials close to Hamas admitted that some 80% of the allegedly 41,000 killed in Gaza since the start of the Swords of Iron war are the organization’s operatives and their family members.

How many U.S. Muslims deny the events of Oct. 7 took place?

Nearly 70% of U.S. Muslims polled said either the rapes and murders Hamas committed didn’t take place or they were not sure. The poll, published in the Daily Signal, also showed female Muslims and Muslims of Arab descent were most likely to deny the rapes took place.

Moroccans take to the streets to call for revocation of ties with Israel

Thousands of Moroccans poured onto the streets of the country’s capital, Rabat, to call for the country’s King Mohammed VI to rescind the country’s normalization of ties with the Jewish state, just after the fourth anniversary of their establishment, under the President Trump-led Abraham Accords.

Recommended reading list on Oct. 7

Seth Frantzman: ‘The October 7 War: Israel’s Battle for Security in Gaza’

Brendan O’Neill: ‘After the Pogrom: 7 October, Israel and the Crisis of Civilization’

Amir Tibon: ‘The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel’s Borderlands’

Lee Yaron: ’10/7: 100 Human Stories’

Yair Agmon/Oriya Mevorach:  ‘One Day in October’

Bernard Henry-Levy: ‘Israel Alone’