Free Republic

John shares some of his experiences and observations on his recent trip to Israel during this week's update.

IDF scales back Nablus operationMost IDF forces leave city, curfew lifted, after main objective achieved with killing of top fugitive Nayef Abu-Sharkh.Uri Glikman and Marwan Athamna The IDF is withdrawing forces from Nablus as the "Full Court Press" operation is winding down, after top Tanzim fugitive Nayef Abu Sharkh has been killed. The army has also lifted the curfew imposed in the city and according to estimates the operation will end in the coming hours. A senior security source told NRG Maariv this morning (Sunday): "Since the objective of the operation has been achieved with the killing of Nayef Abu-Sharkh,...

Silence about Joseph´s Tomb Desecration The government has still said and done nothing about the desecration of Joseph's Tomb in Shechem - and the army is not happy about it. Senior IDF officials say that the government's apathy is costing Israel a price in both the religious and security spheres. They feel that the PA interprets it as a weakness of the Israeli military. Their recommendation is to repair the damage and to ensure permanent Israeli presence - if not of civilians, then at least of IDF forces. IDF officers showed Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz photos of the damage, which...

Palestinian Terrorism As Usual On the Israeli-Egyptian border this morning, IDF troops blew up an Arab tunnel used to smuggle arms and drugs from Egypt into the PA-controlled Gaza Strip. The tunnel, discovered last night, is one of dozens built for this purpose over the past two years. Israeli Army officials acknowledge that its tight controls on land and sea entrances to Gaza have encouraged the Arabs to develop high-level engineering skills in building better tunnels for arms-smuggling, and that the tunnels often reach 15 or 20 meters deep. The Hizbullah terrorist organization fired several shells at Israeli aircraft on...