Why Did the IDF Strike a World Central Kitchen Vehicle in Gaza?

The world is in an uproar over an apparently mistaken strike on a World Central Kitchen vehicle in Gaza which killed seven aid workers, including foreign nationals. More at Jerusalem Post.

The Israeli strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in the Gaza Strip on Monday night was launched because of suspicion that a terrorist was travelling with the convoy… the war room of the unit responsible for security of the route that the convoy travelled identified an armed man on the truck and suspected that he was a terrorist.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel acknowledged on Tuesday a “tragic case of our forces unintentionally hitting innocent people” after an aid convoy run by the World Central Kitchen was struck in Gaza.

An initial IDF probe into the incident was expected to be released to the public in the coming days, as the General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism — an independent military body responsible for investigating unusual incidents amid the war — carries out a more in-depth investigation.

What’s Behind Biden’s Mixed Signals to Israel?

The “bear hug” may be over but Biden hasn’t given up on Israel yet. Despite refusing to defend Israel from a ceasefire resolution at the UN, he’s continuing to send arms. How should Israelis interpret these “mixed signals”?

I too have criticized Bide… That said, what he’s trying to do is difficult and noble. He continues to support Israel materially while remembering to keep attention on the innocent Palestinians who are most affected by the war. He has shown support as an ally while applying pressure on Israel. Meanwhile, Blinken is jetting around the globe in the hopes of pulling something positive from the wreckage of this war. Not a ceasefire, but rather in a broad regional peace accord and Palestinian statehood.

Biden has been working at breakneck speed to undermine, if not fully impede, Israel in its existential battle against the Iran-funded Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists…

This dance is Mr. Biden’s way of catering to the anti-Israel left without alienating the bulk of U.S. voters who would find it unconscionable to turn on the Israeli people in wartime.

What Are the Takeaways from Sam Bankman-Fried’s Sentencing?

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced cryptocurrency wunderkind, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for crypto fraud. More at NYT.

Perhaps his sentence will be a warning to others not to forget the basic rule of finance that you can’t take other peoples’ money for your own account.

…today’s sentencing serves as a stark reminder of what crypto really is in practice… In a post-FTX world, maybe crypto is really just money.

What choice did the judge have? Kaplan “probably has a negative view of the way this young man didn’t learn certain basic life lessons that allowed him to do what he did,” Auerbach said. “And that it is now incumbent on the judge to teach him those life lessons.”

Does Hasbara Actually Work?

Since October 7th, Israelis have been hard at work doing hasbara—trying to make the Jewish state’s case online through memes, reels, tweets, and more. Some are officially agents of the government, others are impassioned volunteers. Does this large-scale hasbara effort actually work?

This is the time to bolster the current staff of government spokespeople, as the war has gotten more challenging to explain. At any point, Hezbollah could begin a full-fledged attack from Lebanon, and Israel must prepare itself.

So why is Israel’s hasbara so bad? Quite simply because, since the Revisionist Likud came to power in 1977, it has been led by politicians who put much greater store by words than actions, and none more so than Netanyahu…

Some of the organizations stress the need to move from hasbara to influence, to set the agenda, and to move from reactive to proactive initiatives, in the effort to reach populations that do not support Israel.

What’s Joe Lieberman’s Jewish Legacy?

Former Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman passed away last week at age 82. At his funeral, he was remembered as a “mensch” by Al Gore and commended for his commitment to his Jewish faith and identity.

Lieberman demonstrated that a person could succeed in public life not despite his deep faith but by embracing it. It’s a model we need more in today’s divided times.

Lieberman was proudly Jewish, and he was proudly guided by his faith in his work. His faith was not fundamentalist.

…he was that rare breed of politician who was a mensch and a role model, both as a Jew and as an American.

Member of Knesset and former Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, wrote that Lieberman was a man of truth, and that “Zionism flowed through his veins.”

“Joe was a personal friend of mine and a great friend of the people of Israel,” added Danon. “He will be greatly missed.”

What’s New & Fascinating in Jewish Literature?

Here are three page-turning takes on news from the world of Jewish literature:

The dogs of the neighborhood perk up to greet me at Benny Morris’s front gate in this middle-of-nowhere town in central Israel. The great historian, shaggy-haired, in T-shirt, open flannel and socks, has recently returned home from the U.K., where the barking did not cease.

For Shlomo M Brody, author of the recently published Ethics of Our Fighters, the decision not to deploy heavier weapons was “a moral error that cost Israel dearly”. To avoid repetition of such a mistake, “Israel and other Western countries need to learn anew why inevitable collateral damage is justified in warfare”.

Daniel Kahneman, an Israeli American psychologist and best-selling author whose Nobel Prize-winning research upended economics — as well as fields ranging from sports to public health — by demonstrating the extent to which people abandon logic and leap to conclusions, died March 27. He was 90.

Today’s Hot Issues

Why Did the IDF Strike a World Central Kitchen Vehicle in Gaza? What’s Behind Biden’s Mixed Signals to Israel? What Are the Takeaways from Sam Bankman-Fried’s Sentencing? Does Hasbara Actually Work? What’s Joe Lieberman’s Jewish Legacy? What’s New & Fascinating in Jewish Literature?