The most amazing thing in this article is the litany of continued fatal attacks by Palis yet all we hear in America is about the poor Hamas and Hamas enablers getting killed by Jews in Gaza. oh and how Joey and his maladministration want to kneecap the IDF
Notable to me too. I read the links in the article which lead to others. It’s frequent. What’s happening in Israel is basically what FDR feared in the US West with the Japanese-origin Americans. Citizens / residents allied with the enemy conducting attacks from within.
Here in America many Jews both males and females are purchasing guns and tracing how to use them effectively,as a deter ant and If necessary in self defense.Tucker Carlson took off his “ objective truth telling “ mask and aired a grisly hateful and false show to inflame the Christian ire against Jews. He interviewed an infamous Palestinian Christian cleric from Bethlehem who has always spewed the Pali-arab nationalist rhetoric.
Bethlehem was 80% Christian until the PA took over and “ cleansed” that population into the tiny minority it is today.
Only in Israel is the Christian population growing, protected and respected.
Israelis and Jews all over the diaspora will reluctantly arm themselves this time around.
The only thing that unites the far right and the left is Jew hatred.
“Hamas is really smart. When they decide to rocket Israel, they insinuate themselves in the hospitals, in the schools, in the highly populous areas, and they are smart. …They said they try to put the Israelis in a position of either not defending themselves or killing innocents. They’re good at it. They’re smart. They’ve been doing this a long time.” — Bill Clinton
Hamas needs to be shot in the face much more often then they have been. Sometimes the only sensible response to violence is more and overwhelming force immediately given back.
Yup! That article was from 2016 and he was talking about his experience when he was president, 1993-2001. He had a deal on the table and Hamas walked away. And nothing is any different in 2024.
The deal was not with Hamas. It was with Arafat and the PA who pretended to be interested in co existence with Israel. At no time ever has Hamas been accepted as legitimate by anyone except Palestinians.
Confused how you see Joe Biden as having been anything but supportive of Israel. You mean the recent “threat” related to Israel having to do better with regards to civilian deaths and humanitarian aid? Other than that, he’s had Israel’s back this whole time - even to his political detriment.
Biden has supported Israel through words and deeds since 10/7, I agree. Some of his words have been directed at Bibi, rather than Israel. And some of his words have been directed at Dearborn Michigan.
But the real problem, however, is Biden’s pre 10/7 policy of appeasement towards Iran, which has emboldened Iran and its proxies. Eliminating oil sanctions and reengaging in nuclear capabilities are just two. If Biden had continued the prior administration’s posture towards Iran, this war would have not happened. Iran would have been bankrupted by now and the Persian people would have overthrown the government.
Just a note: where you write: "and a fraction of the crime fears that Americans accept as normal."
Only SOME Americans accept these as "normal". They are called "Democrats". You may know a few. They publish this newsletter.
Many Americans do not accept crime as "normal" anymore than Israelis accept terrorism as being "normal".
Good luck to Israel! Maybe once you guys take care of those people in Gaza, you can send the IDF to the southern border of the United States or, just about any city run by a worthless fucking Democrat!
I'd disagree somewhat that we accept crime normal - I think that we see this as the result of living in a free society. You're right that, ideally, there would be no crime and everyone would just go about their "pursuit of life, liberty and happiness". This is balanced, however, against one of the tenets of our judicial system that we'd rather ten guilty men go free than imprisoning one innocent man. *Accept for the FBI, NSA, ATF etc. and the rest of the deep state, they're perfectly happy jailing anyone who would dare to challenge the new world order.
Then why do you waste your time coming to this site, reading articles, and commenting? Your part of the problem not the solution. The problem is divisiveness and the solution is talk about why we see things differently. You are no better then a democrat who thinks team blue all the way. Your just team red all the way.
I have never voted Republican in my life. And fear of "divisiveness" is a left-wing dog-whistle. You are just plain wrong. We need division because the causes of the Democratic party are cancerous to the nation. The solution is simple: Destroy the Democratic Party. That is NOT an endorsement for Republicans. But one of the two parties is in the throes of madness and it is clear which one... Democrats must be destroyed.
Ron is correct, you are part of the problem. I deeply distrust righteous people. They know what everyone should think and act and try to punish everyone who is not in their cohort. You are one them.
No. Both Ron and you are wrong. You believe that your enemies can be your friends. They can't. I know well enough to disdain and despise those who want to take from me and my family. That describes all Democrats, all "tax-the-rich" types, all "democratic" socialists, all Marxists, all who tell me that I should have less while they achieve nothing in life. This describes all people who want to rob me of my property in order "give" to others. People like you, who believe that fighting against the enemy is somehow wrong are the problem. The solution is clear: leftists oppose reason and sanity. Leftists are the enemy. I will make no friend of my enemy. I do not "love my enemies", I hate them. I reject the notion and anything like it...
A lot of truth, Matti, and a relief that decent people armed with lethal force now have a chance against murderous Islamic barbarians. But why the need to endlessly explain and assure the reader that “I’m not one of those types”? In every democratic nation with a significant Islamic presence, radical Muslims have given you a choice: Let them kill you and your unarmed family, or you kill them in self-defense. You never asked for that choice. Only a liberal mugged by reality feels the need to justify why he or she made the obvious right decision. No explanation needed!
Strong writing, Matti. Self defense is a human right. Civilians should use firearms to protect themselves and their loved ones. America is the only country with a 1st and 2nd Amendment, which is why it has remained relatively free from tyranny. Unfortunately, we are under threat from Democrats who are against free speech and guns. America's violent crime rates are high because Democrat-run blue cities have bail reforms that let violent criminals roam free. No matter how much politicians try to blame guns for the bloodshed, criminals do not follow any laws or bans.
If you look at it from a long term historical perspective it quickly becomes clear.
Violent crime is almost entirely cultural. Israel is 95% monocultural; when the U.S. approached those kinds of levels, violent crime was vanishingly small. This same societal event repeats itself going back to Ancient Rome. When a culture splinters, violence instantly escalates it is ineluctable.
I don't know if this backs you up Han, but I think it does. Connecticut is fairly monocultural and they had 100 homicides in 2023. Israel had 233 homicides in 2023. Connecticut is about half the size of Israel, so double the homicides and they're almost equal. Both Israel and Connecticut are fairly monocultural and their homicide rate for 2023 is about the same. As a side note, Chicago had almost 600 homicides in 2023. Hmmmm
Connecticut is also basically a bedroom suburb of New York. People there are mostly well off, not scrabbling for scraps and educated in schools with rats and problems with lead poisoning. So, there's that...
Also they have a slightly higher tax bracket and we paid them almost 4 Billion in aid last year! If some country paid for our military how much $ would we have left!
Part of his point is that no one needed a gun before hand. Many people didn’t want a gun, but now they feel it’s necessary. It’s not part of the culture to own a gun. It’s a different county with a different culture living in a different reality. And like he said there didn’t used to be a lot of crime the way there is here.
Oh I disagree. They needed a gun then, they just didn’t know it. They had accepted the occasional attack, willing others ie “the military” to do the job of defending. After October the people realized that as the saying goes “When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.” Before this article I had no idea weapons were that tightly restricted in Israel. How does a country, surrounded by people whose stated wish is to destroy you, restrict its citizens basic right of self defense?
I was surprised also. A limit of 100 rounds might be adequate for a small scale assault, but in an event like October 7 you’d be quickly rationing rounds or else awaiting assailants armed with AK-47’s and no shortage of ammunition while you sharpen your Swiss Army knife.
Yeah, I hear you. I don't shoot that much, but enough to hopefully continuously improve. I focus as much on legal issues (I have a CCW), strategy and tactics - when to pull, when not, what's downwind, dropping magazines, etc. As someone else nearby mentioned, ammunition (in the P.R. of Cali) is really expensive.
Even when trained law enforcement fire their weapons, more than half their shots are not on target, so I try to be as cognizant as possible of all the other factors that can shape the outcome of an armed confrontation.
I understand what you are saying. I think it’s just more nuanced than that. Overall, the country is “in theory” protected very tightly on all borders. I guess as an analogy, you could say that you have a big fence around your property with guards and so inside your property you don’t feel the need to walk around with a gun. It’s not that simple since there are terrorist attacks within Israel. At the same time, there are lots of soldiers and police everywhere all the time and so there usually is someone with a gun pretty close by. The army failed in protecting the citizens in the south. But this was not because of the soldiers and the bases in the south. Because of the orders and the approach that was being used by the higher-ups. At the same time, all the towns in Israel need to have their own protection. Every single Israeli adult does not need to carry a weapon, but there need to be people In every town that can protect the town if needed, and when you live somewhere more dangerous, you need to be armed. There were so many failures leading to October 7th, but the whole point of the army is to allow the citizens to live in peace and not worry about their safety as much.
Israel was lulled into thinking peace was within reach. Why I don't know. Perhaps they were merely asleep. The Israeli & Jewish psyche will never be the same. As an American, & a Jew I thought it was safe. It isn't.
Safety is an illusion. It’s finding the correct balance of safety and freedom that often eludes societies. My absolute favorite Thomas Sowell is ever appropriate:
Thank you for that well written response. It’s just such a totally different mindset for me to comprehend. I would have thought that the Jewish people would demand the right to self defense considering their history. Americans are deadly serious about preserving the 2nd. Amendment. Hitlers disarming the German people in the thirties is often used as an example of what happens to an unarmed populace.
I'd offer another analogy; Most people will never need an fire extinguisher, but when you do NEED IT, that's not the time to find out that, in playing those odds, you lost.
I was in Israel in 2012 on a tour staying at a kibbutz on the Sea of Galilee. There was a man in line ahead of me in the buffet line with a gun on his hip. We were chatting and I mentioned that he must be a serious person since he was carrying a gun. Very proudly he whipped out his wallet and showed me a picture of himself as a young man, he had been a bodyguard for Yitzhak Rabin. We talked about guns and he said he would never be without it for protection. Later in the tour we stayed at a Dead Sea resort. The porters who carried our luggage all had an automatic weapon hanging from their bodies just in case. Very sobering.
I hadn't really thought to apply for a license after October 7th, but my wife asked me to. We're older, so I guess we still have those gender-roles baked in; I spoke with a neighbor yesterday whose wife is the one who's now packing.
The reason for getting a gun is clear to Mr. Friedman and to me alike, but I don't really understand the discomfort. It's something I always thought would be more of a bother than a likely life-saver, but the probabilities have now shifted. I don't see why my life, how I think about it, my self-image or my public perception should be affected by owning/not-owning a gun.
Shifting the topic a bit, it's worth noting Mr. Friedman's admirably candid admission that his class of people -- which is not so much economically middle-to-upper but rather secular+Ashkenazi+Sabra -- looks down at their countrymen. The only thing missing is the word "deplorables". This insight, combined with a few others, goes a long way to explain the composition of the government (before and after 10/7) and the protests against it (again, both before and after).
In a related comment, he correctly states that 𝘐𝘯 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴: 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭’𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴. What could really move things in a better direction would be were he and his group to deal with the fact that, against their will, their own opinion on the matter has approached that of those they dismiss.
"I don't really understand the discomfort...I don't see why my life, how I think about it, my self-image or my public perception should be affected by owning/not-owning a gun." Thank you for pointing that out. I'm always dumbfounded by this flopping and twitching over a tool. I interpret this to be a refusal to accept that life on planet earth involves violence and a cycle of life and death.
I'm not sure what all the misunderstanding is. USA is a gun culture for various historical reasons. Arguments are about the types of weapons/ammunition allowed to be owned, now centered on AR 15 type rifles, banana clips and armor piercing bullets. Cities where there is a lot of gun violence attempt to limit gun ownership, but fail because they are not an island and guns find their way into criminal hands. Fear of crime, sometimes real, sometimes imagined, pushes people to buy handguns. In Israel, fear of Islamic violence has caused some to go through the process of getting a handgun. Their fear is real as the post pointed out. But they leave the heavy firepower to the military.
Guns don’t “find their way into criminal hands”. Vague way of blaming the gun instead of the criminal. Gun laws hurt the law abiding and help the criminal.
If the law is broken by someone, yes. But let's consider the fact that with well over 400 million and possibly as many as 650 million guns in civilian hands here, as states and the federal government have relaxed gun laws and restrictions violent crime in the US has decreased from it's high in 1993 to per capita rates that match the 1950s.
We hear from the media and some others a constant cry of there will be blood in the streets if people are allowed to carry it never, ever happens. What happens instead is a decrease in violent crime and an increase in property crime statistics. And what is proving really fascinating is it seems when a state transitions from requiring a permit to carry to just allowing anyone who isn't prohibited by law to carry without a government permission slip the crime rate drops again.
I'll use Ohio as an example, when in the late nineties they instituted a shall issue carry license, that state saw a 20% drop in violent crime, last year after going to "constitutional carry" there was a 15% drop. Indiana had the same thing happen as have several other states that track crime stats.
The other kind of fascinating thing is statistically less than 2% of the population in most states carry a firearm daily and yet we still see that large a drop in crime rates.
Thanks for the question, it allowed me to look at my cognitive bias. I found a really good piece in "Nature" that discusses this and has many scientific studies noted.
Here is an excerpt, but it doesn't come close to helping answer your question compared to reading the whole article:
"Stroebe and colleagues (2017) reported that the specific perceived risk of victimization and more “diffuse” fears that the world is a dangerous place are both independent predictors of handgun ownership, with perceived risk of assault associated with having been or knowing a victim of violent crime and belief in a dangerous world associated with political conservatism. These findings hint at the likelihood that perceived risk of victimization can be based on vicarious sources with a potential for bias, whether through actual known acquaintances or watching the nightly news, conducting a Google search or scanning one’s social media feed, or reading “The Armed Citizen” column in the NRA newsletter The American Rifleman. It also suggests that a general fear of crime, independent of actual or even perceived individual risk, may be a powerful motivator for gun ownership for some that might track with race and political ideology. "
A lot of the division sown among Israel these days is done so by the hands of foreign powers and foreign money to overthrow the right wing government and cause upheaval. Unfortunately, they are succeeding in doing this, before October 7 and after. The American government and American donors (and Europeans) are working behind-the-scenes to achieve this goal is what’s causing a lot of problems. Like in the United States where the country is not that divided, there are those who make all the noise give the illusion that the country is more divided than it is. The Israelis are close to Center about many topics a lot more than it seems.
I don't think that's what the polling data shows. There's a lot of hatred at the edges, but there seems to be an "exhausted majority" that isn't angry and agrees on most things.
I saw that article about “ bringing back the culture of debate”. I find it strange that many talking heads are challenging one another to a “ debate” on X all the time. These are not really the same as debates among colleagues and coworkers who may disagree on a topic at lunch or around the water cooler. These celebrity showdowns are cluckbait( Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens, the Piers Morgan show, that awful Destiny character) designed to get attention rather to hear the other view and inform about one’s own.
The climate of self censoring has pervaded the US culture furthering the loss of civility.
I don’t have much trust in the accuracy of polls, but I only know what I hear and see. It’s a huge place so what is true In the South may be very different than the NEast or Northwest.
Many people only spout off anonymously on social media but are afraid to speak up honestly in person.
We have lost the ability to talk( face to face where tone of voice, spontaneity, body language are vital for effective communication)
This commenting on articles like these and on X are all we seem to have left, making it much harder to really know what people are thinking on the contentious issues of the day.
The person who is anti jihadi on X mat keep his mouth shut at a dinner party or family get together for fear of causing tension. It was not always this way
I'm more optimistic than that - I think our division is at the fringe...politically, the far left (AuntieFlo) and the far right (Westboro Baptist Church).
This extends to the issues, for example on abortion - I think there is general (75-80%?) support for the right to terminate a pregnancy in the first 6-8 weeks. And I think there is the same level of opposition to allowing it in the third trimester. The way the flying monkeys in the media present it, and the way the parties cater to the extremes, ignores the vast number of reasonable people in the middle.
Many, especially teens have no idea they are pregnant until well beyond 6-8 weeks. That is a reality. I suspect there is agreement until 16 weeks Ay least for most voting age females
Personally, I think anyone who is sexually active should be responsible enough to know within 8-weeks; either via a missed period or a pregnancy test. That said, we both agree though, that some time frame before the third trimester, as you suggest 16-weeks, is better than what we had (at the national level). It's the extremes at either side of the issue - along with their agitators and flying monkeys in the mainstream media - that make perfect the enemy of good.
We agree. That reasonable people can find compromise. Republicans have to start winning elections at all levels of government
I only point out that some teens get pregnant the first time they have sex, and are unaware of it until after the first trimester( denial, irregular periods are common in that age group)
Yes in a perfect world “ anyone sexually active should be responsible” but that is not the real world. Also some rape victims who don’t report it and try to pretend it didn’t happen , don’t recognize the pregnancy for a relatively long time.
For what it’s worth, some women, like myself, have extremely irregular periods. And I know some of my teen kids’ friends regularly miss a month or two or three as the system gets up and running. There’s also denial, one of the strongest forces in the known universe.
I agree that there are many things people are very divided on, but the polls show that most Americans have a middle ground approach on many Of the contested issues. there was even an article about this last week in the free press.
That's true and has been going on for a long time. See Gerald Steinberg's NGO Monitor (https://www.ngo-monitor.org/). I think, though, that whereas in the US there are forces like Russia and China that want to sow discord in order to hurt America, with Israel it tends to be progressives who just want the Israeli progressives to win (and yes, perhaps for Israel to eventually disappear).
These progressives, though are willing to go to any length that are not at all democratic in order to get what they want. Also, other governments and peoples should not be interfering in a democratic country’s politics/voting.
I recently listened to a news podcast, which had an interesting point of view. It is a more cynical approach, that can be supported by what happens in reality when America always seems to undermine Israel, which says that America doesn’t actually want complete peace in the Middle East, but prefers to have some sort of power and control over it and it benefits from a certain level of turmoil.
Insisting on a Palestinian state when the Palestinian side does not wish to live in peace with the Israelis is seen by Israel as a suicidal move. You can only make peace on both sides want peace. The Palestinians have proven time and time again that they do not want peace, and they state it very clearly. I hope it is not the case that America does not want peace in the Middle East and I hope this is more of a conspiracy theory than reality. I do believe that when Jared Kushner was working tirelessly to bring peace to the Middle East, he was Ernest. He traveled from country to country for years, trying to get everyone to come together and peace and prosperity. He was not a political person or a political figure, but someone who had an opportunity to make a positive contribution People like to comment on him in a very cynical negative manner, but this is just not the case when it comes to his attempts to make peace. The Palestinians rejected the Plan the Trump administration worked tirelessly and put together before it was even presented.
I'm inclined to think that the American and European "peace processors" are not so devious as to have put up a façade of working for peace while ensuring the problem persists.
More likely, to me, is that they are lazy, uninformed and unwilling to buck the groupthink. Thus, they've been trying to make deals between peoples that exist only in their imaginations, based on a history that is more convenient to their thinking than the one that actually happened.
I think both are true. For example, there are groups in Europe that fund Palestinians and encourage them to build illegally in the West Bank. There are agreements between Israel and the Palestinian authority as to how the land is divided, and where people are allowed to build. There are forces behind the scenes that are working to destabilize or push their agendas and at the same time what you said Is true. Standard western thinking and approaches do not apply to the Middle East, which has a completely different mentality and the westerners don’t seem to be able to grasp this.
Yes, there are EU outfits working working for Palestinian aims and against Israel, as in the case you mentioned. I don't think they believe they're perpetuating the conflict that way, just helping the Palestinians to win it.
And while part of the reason why they don't see that there is no significant Palestinian constituency for peace with Israel may be that they don't understand the cultural differences, I think mostly it's just them believing what's convenient. Changing the Palestinian mindset about Israel is hard, so they just pretend it doesn't need to be done.
Oh, yeah. The politics of Israel in my view is very like as if the USA's Democrat party was the only party, and it was split into factions that disagreed on a few things. We see this here with Jews in America being some of the loudest voices bleating about the "poor Palestinians". It's rather bizarre, and a story that isn't told much---including by the Free Press.
But the real problem is that the methods used to attack will escalate. There are "respectable" Arab muslims talking about the necessity to use nuclear weapons to wipe out Israel. There are "respectable" voices in the West agreeing this is justified.
Why will they escalate? Because the ideology of islam tells them to do it. So they do it for the same basic reason you celebrate passover. Before you reject this in disgust, think about it. The culture and literature of Judaism says to celebrate passover. So you do it. Their version of this includes "utterly subjugate or kill all the Jews." And Israel is a special offense because it is on land that "the prophet" conquered in a dream during the 3 years of drawn out miserable suffering from which he died after poisoning by a Jewish captive woman at Khaybar.
So, I look at Israel, and I see a nation that is not sustainable through this century, and may not be sustainable over the next decade. I'm all for arming citizens and also training them how to fight in a coordinated manner using scenarios. When the chips are down, people do what they trained to do as a rule. But that isn't going to be much good against nuking Tel Aviv. These people do not care one bit about harm to children or civilians or their own. It's an honor to die.
If it was me? I would talk to Elon Musk about being the people that settle Mars. Israelis are the only people on the planet that are really fitted to do that. Israelis are used to desert, to sustaining themselves with technology, highly educated, and fairly cohesive, despite an argumentative tendency. Israel's water comes from desalination. It's farms are technology for the desert. All that is transferable. Just add the ability to make oxygen out of the CO2 atmosphere, and they are good. That tech was worked out decades ago. (40 or 50 years I think.)
True. But there is special treatment for Jews in Quran, Ha'dith and Sirah. The prophet hated them because: Rabbis laughed at him when he wanted to be recognized as a prophet. A Jewish woman poisoned him (probably with lye) and it took him 3 years to die.
It is possible to acknowledge that the secular+Ashkenazi+Sabra class of people (those who made the country the strong rule-based liberal democracy that it is) has become more hawkish after October 7, while also acknowledging that their view that the attempt of the current government to weaken Israel's rule-based democracy is weakening the country, has been vindicated by the fiasco of October 7th and by the manner the current government is prosecuting the war.
Yes and no. The two things have nothing to do with one another, so there's no contradiction in believing both, neither or either one. But the opposition to the judicial reform was largely a product of mass hysteria, the claim that proposing the reform weakened the country requires evidence, the causes of 10/7 have yet to be determined by a commission of inquiry (and given that current intelligence shows that it was 2 years in the planning it's hard to associate it with the current government) and the electorate is generally satisfied with the way the war is being prosecuted -- as is the major opposition party that sits in the War Cabinet.
"opposition to the judicial reform was largely a product of mass hysteria" is an opinion, not a fact. I don't share this opinion.
"the electorate is generally satisfied with the way the war is being prosecuted": hardly, and not because they have confidence in the government of October 6. Most Israelis do not have confidence in Netanyahu, e.g. by 2 to 1 in this poll: https://13tv.co.il/item/news/politics/politics/jzhpo-903918642/
and the reason people want Ganz's opposition Blue and White party to remain in the government, is because they are scared of what could happen without them as counterweight to the right-wing extremists.
Of course it's an opinion. In fact, it's my opinion. I can explain why, but it's not really subject to proof.
I didn't say they have confidence in Netanyahu, though I don't claim to know they don't. I say they're generally satisfied with the way the war is being prosecuted, which is not the same thing but is what you spoke of. Douglas Murray reports that he interviewed all the likely replacements for Netanyahu and didn't hear substantial disagreement on that.
Unlike you, I don't know what's going on in Gantz's head, but to his credit, when he met with US officials he didn't claim that he would wage the war differently -- at least as far as has been reported.
Prior to October 7, your typical Israeli was enjoying life, thinking about work, the next startup, and the upcoming vacation. They had forgotten they were surrounded by terror organizations such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and ISIS.
Since the anarchy of Black Lives Matter and its acceptance by the media and politicians — with calls to ‘defund the police’ listened to more than ‘lock up the criminals’ — we have seen craziness spread in America. Muslims now lead hate rallies at universities, break up city council meetings, march in our streets, and even disrupt Congress with calls of ‘Death to Israel!’ ‘Death to America!’ Jews are accosted by blacks and Muslims in numbers that were unthinkable ten years ago.
So yes, in America as in Israel, more people who would not have considered owning a gun in the past are now buying them and taking shooting lessons to feel more secure at home in a less secure time.
Only one correction, Richard. Jews in New York City, albeit mostly easily identified Hasidim, have been prey since before BLM. Not hard to find stories about Jews walking to synagogue and getting smashed in the face with a brick.
In 2019, around Hanukah time, a black dude from Long Island managed to make his way to Monsey to murder a rabbi. Of course his lawyers pleaded insanity, but you can't argue that he didn't have the mental wherewithal to get to where he wanted to go.
If the rabbi's slayer were white, no one would be calling him insane.
I keep weapons around the house: a couple of golf clubs in my nice antique umbrella rack near the front door, a New Mexico tomahawk upstairs, and of course hammers near my basement workbench. LOL.
Maybe buy some effective tools and train with them? IMO the best response to people attacking me is to reply with an excess of violence so I stay safe and they learn to leave people alone.
During the bad 1980s and 1990s, I fought off three muggers, in three separate incidents, with my bare hands and an excess of fury. But I think I couldn't do so again.
I have a 60-year-old softball bat in the attic . . . .
I deterred a couple muggers in the 80s when I showed I was armed and aware of them. It hurt less than getting punched. I don't have anything against going to bare hands other than I'm 61 and have fake knees and have already broken my hands punching people and things so I would prefer to keep some range between me and what is probably a much younger and healthier bad guy/s. Ideally enough I can walk away from the threat but if not I'm fine with using tools that equalize the fight they won't let me avoid. That goes double for genocidal maniacs.
May I suggest buying several containers of pepper spray? Easier to stop a predator from a distance and THEN use your weapon of choice to finish disabling him. If you're not at home, it gives you time to get away. All of this hopefully without a lawsuit against you, the victim.
Beautifully said. America has a tremendous influence on the world. I just want to point out that there was constant terrorism in Israel over the last 30 years and so even the average Israeli could not avoid that.
Well I hear you, but I think there was a lull before that for a while. I don’t remember that much erosion when I was a young kid. But I also may not realize what was going on as a young person. As a child growing up in Israel we did not feel like we were growing up in a violent country with war everywhere and that you would be killed while walking down the street. I guess I am referring to the 2 intifadas that started this wave of terrorism. And then in my late teens the buses started blowing up…
Enjoyable article sir. Thanks for sharing the perspectives over there. Well done.
This line struck me most…. “Naama can’t even look at the gun.”
I recoiled.
Of course, Hamas is looking at you. As are many psychopaths and other deranged, desperate, and intoxicated criminals here in the US looking at the average U.S. citizen.
A gun is a tool, a force equalizer, and nothing more in the hands of a virtuous person determined to protect his life, family, liberty, and property.
The fearful, ignorant condescension of many liberals towards gun owners is alive and well in the U.S. But reality is that stubborn thing you run into when your beliefs are wrong. Placing your personal security, just like anything else, in the hands of the State, is a foolish error.
I usually carry a 1911, myself (Springfield Armory Ronin).
It’s just that a Glock is such a simple functional design. To me, it’s almost less of a firearm and more of a shooting tool (yeah, technically all guns are but Glock epitomizes that)
I’m a fan of Sig Sauer over Glock and Springfield. I carry P-227 in .45, P-365 in 9mm depending on where I go and how I am dressed. I need to bring my S&W 4006 .40 cal back into the rotation to just keep it fresh. 😎
I hear you. And actually, though I love my 1911, it's just such a big chunk of steel that for concealed carry I actually use a S&W 9mm. I don't like carrying an automatic without a manual safety, to me that is the weakness of Glocks.
I used to carry and love the 1911 too but damn that thing is heavy when worn day in and day out. I switched to a S&W M&P 9, weighs a significant amount less and has twice the capacity.
A "function over form" fella eh? Gaston did have elegant engineering, but the plastic fantastic is down near the bottom of what I'd consider beautiful! 🤣
Glocks are many fine things on the inside but they are terribly ugly guns - and any attempts to make them prettier - red dots, engraving, plating, custom porting - just make them look worse somehow.
I doubt very strongly that these gun shops are selling modern, quality Kydex shell holsters that are necessary to conceal a striker fired gun safely - most stateside don't
IWI Jehrico CZ 75 clones with a DA/SA and safety would be a far better option for low information users with near zero access to training carrying in densely populated areas
IMO, the simple design and the engineering behind it is what makes it an elegant weapon.
Not sure where you’ve been looking, but there’s all sorts of different options for holsters that do a good job.
I’ve been looking at the Jericho for awhile, but for new shooters a Glizzy is a way better option. It’s just point and shoot and don’t put your finger of the trigger unless you want to go bang
If you live somewhere where there are other people in charge of your safety and there isn’t much of a problem with it you don’t feel the need to own a gun. In Standard civilized society where crime isn’t terrible people don’t usually need a gun in most countries. Don’t think of it the way Americans do. But The people in those countries would also tell you that they would rather not have school shootings and the accessibility to guns and the problems that causes in order to be allowed to have guns. The only time they would change their mind is if their liberties and Democratic government was in danger. Which these days seems to be happening in many western countries to many peoples surprise. Nevertheless, in past history no one would think to just kill other Jews or the government because in Israel everyone is related and everyone is part of the same nation. A nation that survived for thousands of years and whose culture and teachings are peaceful. There are forces now trying to change that reality and pit people against each other and sow hatred. Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak made a comment about Israelis fighting one another that shocked and horrified most Israelis and sounded like he was encouraging violence amongst Israelis. The army is the people army bc everyone has to serve for the purpose of protecting every citizen and protecting the existence of the country. The concept of needing guns against the government was unthinkable. It’s a different situation completely from the U.S. I guess nowadays, especially with the forces (also from abroad) trying to divide and cause hatred and violence in Israel, and with the changing western world and the changing state of western freedoms, everything is changing. But in the past you could not view this from an American lens.
No where in my comment did I mention "safety" I said self-defense. The "most countries" you cite were until very recent history had a close to monoculture. Monocultures historically have lower crime rates. See Switzerland, high gun ownership, low crime rate. Most Western cultures are experiencing increased violent crime and most importantly increased crime against women. Many more citizens in these countries will begin to arm themselves either legally or illegally as the their governments shrug off violent crime.
Sweden comes to mind. A formerly low crime and high trust society that now leads Europe in some measures of violent crime due to, ah, Islamic immigrants. Gee, is there a pattern in all this?
Just as the tainted German coinage "antisemitism" is being replaced by what it actually is, "Jew hatred," can we start replacing the misleading term "Palestinian," which implies statehood, with what they in fact are, "Palestinian Arabs" ("So-called Palestinians" would work almost as well, as would, where it applies, "Israeli Arabs.") Make language remind us that Christians, Druze, Muslims, and Jews are all Palestinans.; it may help level the field and not defeat us every time we mention our enemy.
Absolutely!! Dear Matti, please stop using the P word! It is a word that means one thing, the eradication of the Jews from their homeland. There is no such people, most definitely no such nation. Please, stop. It has to start with us. They are Arab invaders in our homeland. Simply refer to them as that. Or "palestinians" as the commenter ahead of me recommended. Yeshar Koach, Am Israel Chai!
Funny how all we see in the American 'media' is how Israeli's are 'murdering' civilians. Not, as most of us know better.
As a former soldier who has been to war in your region, Matti, I call upon the notion of self defense; when your government fails to protect you as seen throughout the world, you need to defend yourself regardless of the weapon. The last thing rational People want to do is morph into a killer of others, but when another man puts a gun to your face you have two choices...
The Men Who Wanted to Be Left Alone
“The most terrifying force of death comes from the hands of Men who wanted to be left Alone. They try, so very hard, to mind their own business and provide for themselves and those they love. They resist every impulse to fight back, knowing the forced and permanent change of life that will come from it. They know that the moment they fight back, their lives as they have lived them, are over. The moment the Men who wanted to be left alone are forced to fight back, it is a form of suicide. They are literally killing off who they used to be. Which is why, when forced to take up violence, these Men who wanted to be left alone, fight with unholy vengeance against those who murdered their former lives. They fight with raw hate, and a drive that cannot be fathomed by those who are merely play-acting at politics and terror. True terror will arrive at these people’s door, and they will cry, scream, and beg for mercy… but it will fall upon the deaf ears of the Men who just wanted to be left alone.”
Well, they thought the Army was protecting them, which it was supposed to. Nevertheless, there is an absolute need, which is now extremely obvious, for each community to have a security team that can mobilize quickly in order to protect from any attacks that may come. Whether from outside the border or from the West Bank or from the Israeli Arabs, most of which are citizens like any other but some of which who are called upon to hurt Jews by different jihadists movements, and showed this to be a grave concern a few years ago when there was violent uprising inside Israel by some Israeli Arabs. If Israel is seriously attacked, even by hezbollah for example, the security forces won’t be available to save all the civilians and the men will be in the army.
As we say in the US "When seconds count the police are only minutes away."
Y'all need a 2nd amendment analogue and a self help mindset because relying on others to keep you safe is just stupid when your neighbors are quite happy to tell you they want to kill you.
If my neighbor said that and demonstrated he meant it by killing others in my family I'd probably skip ahead to shooting him first.
100 rounds is nothing if heading to the range. My dad and I would go through 300 shot shells when headed out for skeet/trap/etc., and similar if going for rifle and pistol.
There is no way a person can be proficient without regular practice. The skills degrade too quickly, and “combat” shooting is not the same as slowly punching holes in paper.
That makes more sense but on the other hand I have 30 magazines loaded in my safe so the equivalent of four Infantry load outs and another ten magazines for my carry gun as well as the one in the carry gun and one as a reload. It's mostly because I hate reloading at the range but there is also some preparedness thought behind it and maybe Israel should consider both allowing civilians to own rifles and upping the limits on ammo..
I wouldn’t be surprised if people are expected to go every few years to do some practice shooting. I’m sure the whole process is also very expensive as is ammunition. We don’t realize how easy we have it here in America. Do you know how much it cost to fill the car with gas in Israel and in Europe? Way more than in the United States… Even with the prices rising.
I hope that there is more to this. Like maybe the 100 rounds are what your are allocated to bring home, and if you go to a shooting range, you are allowed to buy more there for practice use, but have to shoot it all or leave the remainder behind.
There is something remarkable about the Israeli maintenance of sanity in the insane world in which they live. They live in an overwhelmingly dangerous place where trust in their Palestinian neighbors, their own military, and their national alliances has been strained to the breaking point. Yet, they don't seem to exhibit the hysteria one would expect but take the sensible precautions for self-defense with reluctance, almost sadness at having to acquire guns for protection. Even in the current dire circumstances, the Israelis aren't arming themselves to the teeth or waiving the legalities of gun ownership and personal training. Here in America, where guns are ubiquitous and the greatest personal danger is from other owners of guns, ownership requirements are almost non-existent, including licensing and training, making any idiot who can afford one, a gun owner and a danger to himself and his community. The Second Amendment of the US Constitution conditioned the ownership of arms in America on the maintenance of a well-regulated militia for defense of the nation in preference to a standing army. Israel, which surely is in mortal national danger, still conditions gun ownership on sensible registration and training requirements for its citizens. Israelis are a remarkable sane people.
You've make some unsupported assumption in you knee-jerk reaction (and I emphasize JERK). Twenty-five years in the military, recipient of marksmanship ribbons in rifle and pistol, and a current onwner of both handguns and long guns and a CCP holder, it's idiots like you that worry me more than terrorists or gang bamgers.
When was the last time 1200+ people were slaughtered in one day in the gun-owning USA? I propose that if the Israeli citizens had been armed to the teeth, the losses on 10/7 would have been much less.
Imma disagree a bit there, the martyr in Islam has a guaranteed place in heaven so dying while killing the unbeliever is not seen as a bad thing. I mean it's reflected in the Gazan's strong approval of Oct 7th. It's a different mindset and motivation than we have in the West.
The fact that that they were able to get in was a massive failure. The army Failed its job in protecting the civilians. The people in the south were very close to many army bases who were the ones in charge of protecting them. But a colossal number of mistakes, hubris, incorrect approach and bad judgment lead to this very extreme and tragic beyond words outcome.
My understanding is much of the Army in that area had been redeployed to the West Bank to protect settlers encroaching on Palestinian owned land. Of course, my understanding comes from American media, so it could well be wrong.
I appreciate your comment very much. Forgive me as this comment is a bit long. I also heard initially that a lot of the army was moved to the West Bank and that is Why there was no one defending the south. But that is not a correct assessment of what happened , and I believe the army also stated that that is not the reason Hamas was able to attack the south. (And thousands of gazan civilians that entered Israel as well that day and took part in the attacks and the looting). There were in fact Big safety concerns during the holidays in the West Bank for the Jews Safety. There was high alert there. The bases in the south were not put on high alert, even though there were warnings and things going on. The commanders of the southern district had a few conference calls throughout the night and chose to not put the basis on alert. Just that simple action would have made a tremendous difference. The Israelis also installed a strong high-tech fence that was supposed to withhold many attacks. That did not prove to be the case. Those southern bases did not have much of a chance to fight, most of the soldiers were sleeping and not prepared. There were numerous failures that led to the tragedy of October 7th. Obviously these have been discussed nonstop by experts and retired military personnel and people with different opinions and analysis. Israeli intelligence had a booklet created by Hamas, that detailed exactly what they were going to do. Unfortunately, it was not taken seriously. They did not think they were going to act on it or that they had the capability to do so. We now know that many of these Hamas fighters trained in Iran. The only thing to keep in mind about the upsetting fact that they had this booklet is that they get lots of information and intelligence nonstop and they have to decipher which is credible and which is not and they screwed this one up. But much of the problem had to do with an incorrect approach Militarily. Most of the “settlers” in Israel are just regular people living in towns that are in the west bank, only they referred to it as Judea and Samaria, which is the actual name of those territories. They are vilified by the world and the media. Over the years after a tremendous amount of violence from the Palestinians, there are a very small fringe minority of people in the West Bank who have behaved badly and violently, and are not representative of any values that Israelis hold. At the same time, a lot of things that have been described as incidences where settlers have done violent things are being pushed by very far left extremists who are trying to push a very specific narrative and are supported abroad by people with the same agenda. I was in the West bank after October 7th, in November and was very surprised to discover that even in a town/settlement that is surrounded by a fence and tight security, the employees in the supermarket were arab palestinians from the nearby towns. I asked a local about this and they said that there is also very nice coexistence going on in the West bank.
If the Palestinians are not racist and want to live in peace, they should not mind that there are also Jewish towns living amongst them. The Westbank/Judeah Is literally the ancestral home of the Jews and Lots of the archaeology and names of places there are all part of the Jewish nations history and are from the Bible. Unfortunately, many of these archaeological sites are now under the Palestinian authorities control and are not being preserved, but are often being desecrated. The Jews, who live there feel they have every right to live there. And, one must remember that Israel fought a protective war in 1967, and while doing so they took over the Westbank. In history that usually meant that the land is now yours. Obviously different people have different takes on some of these things. But the bottom line of what I was trying to say is that they are just regular people living there. You may have heard that a few weeks ago, the American government froze the bank accounts of a number of Israeli settlers. The law they passed in United State also made it so in the future and in a very extreme way, a tremendous amount of civilians that live there could have their main accounts frozen by the American government at their will. I saw a bunch of news reports about these people and was quite shocked to learn that they did not in fact, go out and commit violence against Palestinians. There were some incidences in which some Palestinians attacked them and created provocations, and then, for example, these extremist human rights groups filmed them as they tried to protect themselves. Either way it is extremely inappropriate for an ally and foreign government to interfere in internal policing issues in another country. None of these people had police charges brought against them in Israel. This is not how an ally treats its friend. Because the banking systems are connected internationally, the Israeli banks couldn’t easily block this freezing of the accounts. There is a Veteran journalist Named Carolyn Glick who does news analysis for a company called JNS. If you want her take, you can find her on YouTube. The bottom line is that what you see on the news is nonsense. The situation in Israel is way more complicated no matter what opinion one ends on holding in the end. The current American government approach makes absolutely no sense and is motivated only by the upcoming election. This is why they are trying to appease everyone and are creating a huge mess. Without their interference, the war in Israel could have proceeded and been over sooner. They are undermining the Israelis and the war. The Palestinian citizens suffering would be over much faster and would be less if the American government wasn’t trying to appease the Palestinian voices because of the upcoming election.
Okay James, I was a little over the top referring to your misconceptions as "liberal bed-wetting" . I'm not sure what your ribbons and trophies have to do with anything. I live in rural Texas. Within a 5 mile radius of me are probably thousands of guns. We have ZERO gun violence. So it's confusing to me where you perceive the danger.
Thank you for your service, but your service doesn't make you right when you misinterpret the Constitution (the Second Amendment isn't "conditioned" on anything as the Supreme Court has made clear).
The Supreme Court has been wrong before, e.g. Dred Scott decision. I can read the plain English of the 2nd Amenbdment, even if you like to skip over the conditionaing clause regarding the need for a "well regulated milita."
That is your interpretation. I( view it as conditional Look, I am not anti gun or anti gun ownership. I believe that ownning a gun is a responsibility to your fellow citizens to know and practice responsibility to safely store, maintain, and use your guns, a not walk the streets with a gun on your hip like some kind of wannabe Wyatt Earp, but with no idea which end the bullets come out. I think that government has a responsibility to regulate gun ownership to insure the above, and I also think that when the blood in the streets reaches the point where people are afraid to go out, the government and the Supreme Court will come to their senses and regulate responsible ownership. You may not like it, but I will.
steven has a point though, the vast majority of crime in the US is by people who are already prohibited by state and federal law from possessing a firearm. These are on the whole idiots yes but they are not part of American gun culture.
It's also interesting that as states have relaxed their gun laws surrounding legal carry our violent crime rate has decreased to levels not seen since the fifties. And honestly those laws are way overdue for being trashbinned as their roots are baked in the racism of the 18th and 19th centuries. As we see the results of Heller, McDonald and Bruen trickle down the arguments of those wanting to maintain discretionary permits can't find any non racist analogues in past gun control laws.
Israel might do well to learn something from us and create some sort of gun laws encouraging a self defense mindset.
On further thought, Scott, the Israelis seem to have adopted a plan of gun ownership more in tune with our Second Amendment concept of a "well regulated militia" than ours of maximum unregulated ownership. They ensure that their gun buyers are trained.
Some folks have looked at shootings by people with permits in states that mandate training and states that just hand out licenses after a fee an background check and there is not a rash of unjustified shooting in the no training states. Let's face it self defense isn't rocket science and the overwhelming majority of people will try hard to avoid making the life altering decision to shoot someone. I agree we have some people dumber than a bag of hammers who probably shouldn't have firearms or sporting equipment like baseball bats but that idiot is the outlier when discussing the American gun owner IMO. They also tend to remove themselves from the gene pool which seems like a good thing for us as a whole.
My problem with mandated training is it has a chilling affect on the exercise of a fundamental civil right and we have way too many instances of states or cities using discretionary permit regimes to prevent people of color or the poor form exercising that right. Just as excessive permit fees do.
I believe a CCW in Illinois costs about 350 to 400 bucks and a couple days of time jumping through all the hoops and their crime stats are worse than Indiana next door with permitless carry, even though the demographics are almost identical. Ditto if you compare IL to Wisconsin which has a CCL but it's about 130.00 to get and less if you have a DD214 or a permit from another state or a hunters safety certificate. All three have pretty much identical unjustified shooting stats, usually just a couple a year. But on the other hand IL has a higher crime rate than any of it's neighbors. Most of which is in poor neighborhoods. We now have 29 states with permitless carry and no sudden rash of gunfights over parking spaces and garbage cans as predicted 29 times by Everytown and Mom's Demanding Action.
I almost hate to tell you but we already have a 11% tax on guns and ammo it's called the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act and was passed in 1937.
I am all in for responsible gun ownership and requiring gun buyers to participate in training to insure they not only know the laws regarding gun carrying in public as well as the applicable legalities of self-defense (Stand Your Ground, the Castle Doctrine, etc.) for their state. Gun buyers should be required to attend training on the safe use, storage, and maintenance of their weapon as well as an on-range demonstration of competency in being able to hit what they aim at. And one other thing, as there are admittedly too many illegal guns on the streets causing too much violence and collateral damage to innocent victims, the laws need to be toughened and enforced on those in possession of illegal guns, and to do this, I think there needs to be federal, state, and/or local taxes on gun manufacturers. to help pay for the law enforcement and justice efforts to control gun crime. And by the way, why would Israel want to duplicate our experience in gun crime as Matti's article has shown that gun crime in Israel is a tiny fraction of America's? Thanks for your informative approach to this issue.
I'm pretty much a 2A absolutist and think a) the ATF should be a convenience store and b) anyone should be able to buy whatever the US military uses with some safe storage restrictions on explosives and maybe some age restrictions on crew served weapons. That may be my inner Ranger child and his love of blowing shit up. I don't seem to have outgrown it.
The most amazing thing in this article is the litany of continued fatal attacks by Palis yet all we hear in America is about the poor Hamas and Hamas enablers getting killed by Jews in Gaza. oh and how Joey and his maladministration want to kneecap the IDF
Notable to me too. I read the links in the article which lead to others. It’s frequent. What’s happening in Israel is basically what FDR feared in the US West with the Japanese-origin Americans. Citizens / residents allied with the enemy conducting attacks from within.
Here in America many Jews both males and females are purchasing guns and tracing how to use them effectively,as a deter ant and If necessary in self defense.Tucker Carlson took off his “ objective truth telling “ mask and aired a grisly hateful and false show to inflame the Christian ire against Jews. He interviewed an infamous Palestinian Christian cleric from Bethlehem who has always spewed the Pali-arab nationalist rhetoric.
Bethlehem was 80% Christian until the PA took over and “ cleansed” that population into the tiny minority it is today.
Only in Israel is the Christian population growing, protected and respected.
Israelis and Jews all over the diaspora will reluctantly arm themselves this time around.
The only thing that unites the far right and the left is Jew hatred.
Not sure where your fastest growing Christian population is meant to include. But world wide, it is China.
Bill Clinton knew exactly who he was dealing with.
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/bill-clinton-palestinians-israel-223176
“Hamas is really smart. When they decide to rocket Israel, they insinuate themselves in the hospitals, in the schools, in the highly populous areas, and they are smart. …They said they try to put the Israelis in a position of either not defending themselves or killing innocents. They’re good at it. They’re smart. They’ve been doing this a long time.” — Bill Clinton
Hamas needs to be shot in the face much more often then they have been. Sometimes the only sensible response to violence is more and overwhelming force immediately given back.
Yup! That article was from 2016 and he was talking about his experience when he was president, 1993-2001. He had a deal on the table and Hamas walked away. And nothing is any different in 2024.
What's different is they showed the world more undeniably clearly than ever the vile truth of who they are, and even still, the world blames Israel.
The deal was not with Hamas. It was with Arafat and the PA who pretended to be interested in co existence with Israel. At no time ever has Hamas been accepted as legitimate by anyone except Palestinians.
Yes, Arafat. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Same. I thought the “random” terrorist attacks had stopped following the October massacre.
Confused how you see Joe Biden as having been anything but supportive of Israel. You mean the recent “threat” related to Israel having to do better with regards to civilian deaths and humanitarian aid? Other than that, he’s had Israel’s back this whole time - even to his political detriment.
Biden has supported Israel through words and deeds since 10/7, I agree. Some of his words have been directed at Bibi, rather than Israel. And some of his words have been directed at Dearborn Michigan.
But the real problem, however, is Biden’s pre 10/7 policy of appeasement towards Iran, which has emboldened Iran and its proxies. Eliminating oil sanctions and reengaging in nuclear capabilities are just two. If Biden had continued the prior administration’s posture towards Iran, this war would have not happened. Iran would have been bankrupted by now and the Persian people would have overthrown the government.
To be fair to Joe, he's been wrong every single time he speaks on foreign policy since he's been in office.
Correct.
With “friends” like Joey, one doesn’t need enemies.
Are you drunk?
I wasn’t when I wrote that :-)
Lol
Great article, Matti!
Just a note: where you write: "and a fraction of the crime fears that Americans accept as normal."
Only SOME Americans accept these as "normal". They are called "Democrats". You may know a few. They publish this newsletter.
Many Americans do not accept crime as "normal" anymore than Israelis accept terrorism as being "normal".
Good luck to Israel! Maybe once you guys take care of those people in Gaza, you can send the IDF to the southern border of the United States or, just about any city run by a worthless fucking Democrat!
I'd disagree somewhat that we accept crime normal - I think that we see this as the result of living in a free society. You're right that, ideally, there would be no crime and everyone would just go about their "pursuit of life, liberty and happiness". This is balanced, however, against one of the tenets of our judicial system that we'd rather ten guilty men go free than imprisoning one innocent man. *Accept for the FBI, NSA, ATF etc. and the rest of the deep state, they're perfectly happy jailing anyone who would dare to challenge the new world order.
You think Bari Weiss and the Free Press accept out of control crime as normal?
Well, if they are Democrats, then yes. I think they accept this. If not, then at least they voted for it. As did everyone who votes Democrat.
I hate Democrats. All of them.
I'm not sure you get what the Free Press stands for.
You may be right. But I am not sure you get what the Democratic Party stands for. And my ignorance is not nearly so costly...
I separate the name of the party from the adjective. To me, it is the democrat party, and it is a party that is not closely
aligned with things that are ‘democratic’.
I think I get it pretty well. You have zero idea what I think.
Right back at you, Doug...
Then why do you waste your time coming to this site, reading articles, and commenting? Your part of the problem not the solution. The problem is divisiveness and the solution is talk about why we see things differently. You are no better then a democrat who thinks team blue all the way. Your just team red all the way.
I have never voted Republican in my life. And fear of "divisiveness" is a left-wing dog-whistle. You are just plain wrong. We need division because the causes of the Democratic party are cancerous to the nation. The solution is simple: Destroy the Democratic Party. That is NOT an endorsement for Republicans. But one of the two parties is in the throes of madness and it is clear which one... Democrats must be destroyed.
Ron is correct, you are part of the problem. I deeply distrust righteous people. They know what everyone should think and act and try to punish everyone who is not in their cohort. You are one them.
No. Both Ron and you are wrong. You believe that your enemies can be your friends. They can't. I know well enough to disdain and despise those who want to take from me and my family. That describes all Democrats, all "tax-the-rich" types, all "democratic" socialists, all Marxists, all who tell me that I should have less while they achieve nothing in life. This describes all people who want to rob me of my property in order "give" to others. People like you, who believe that fighting against the enemy is somehow wrong are the problem. The solution is clear: leftists oppose reason and sanity. Leftists are the enemy. I will make no friend of my enemy. I do not "love my enemies", I hate them. I reject the notion and anything like it...
A lot of truth, Matti, and a relief that decent people armed with lethal force now have a chance against murderous Islamic barbarians. But why the need to endlessly explain and assure the reader that “I’m not one of those types”? In every democratic nation with a significant Islamic presence, radical Muslims have given you a choice: Let them kill you and your unarmed family, or you kill them in self-defense. You never asked for that choice. Only a liberal mugged by reality feels the need to justify why he or she made the obvious right decision. No explanation needed!
Bingo.
Strong writing, Matti. Self defense is a human right. Civilians should use firearms to protect themselves and their loved ones. America is the only country with a 1st and 2nd Amendment, which is why it has remained relatively free from tyranny. Unfortunately, we are under threat from Democrats who are against free speech and guns. America's violent crime rates are high because Democrat-run blue cities have bail reforms that let violent criminals roam free. No matter how much politicians try to blame guns for the bloodshed, criminals do not follow any laws or bans.
If you look at it from a long term historical perspective it quickly becomes clear.
Violent crime is almost entirely cultural. Israel is 95% monocultural; when the U.S. approached those kinds of levels, violent crime was vanishingly small. This same societal event repeats itself going back to Ancient Rome. When a culture splinters, violence instantly escalates it is ineluctable.
I don't know if this backs you up Han, but I think it does. Connecticut is fairly monocultural and they had 100 homicides in 2023. Israel had 233 homicides in 2023. Connecticut is about half the size of Israel, so double the homicides and they're almost equal. Both Israel and Connecticut are fairly monocultural and their homicide rate for 2023 is about the same. As a side note, Chicago had almost 600 homicides in 2023. Hmmmm
Gangs are by definition not part of the main culture of a society and are universally violent.
Their continued existence is a (mathematical) function of local government - they do not survive with a lawful government. See El Salvador.
Connecticut is also basically a bedroom suburb of New York. People there are mostly well off, not scrabbling for scraps and educated in schools with rats and problems with lead poisoning. So, there's that...
Agree...I also looked at median yearly income...Connecticut $40,000
Israel $35,000
Fwiw, Israeli has universal healthcare and undergrad there costs about $3-$15K so that $35,000 goes further.
Also they have a slightly higher tax bracket and we paid them almost 4 Billion in aid last year! If some country paid for our military how much $ would we have left!
Israel is anything but monocultural.
No. They have extremely similar views about the future.
Seriously.
Part of his point is that no one needed a gun before hand. Many people didn’t want a gun, but now they feel it’s necessary. It’s not part of the culture to own a gun. It’s a different county with a different culture living in a different reality. And like he said there didn’t used to be a lot of crime the way there is here.
Oh I disagree. They needed a gun then, they just didn’t know it. They had accepted the occasional attack, willing others ie “the military” to do the job of defending. After October the people realized that as the saying goes “When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.” Before this article I had no idea weapons were that tightly restricted in Israel. How does a country, surrounded by people whose stated wish is to destroy you, restrict its citizens basic right of self defense?
I was surprised also. A limit of 100 rounds might be adequate for a small scale assault, but in an event like October 7 you’d be quickly rationing rounds or else awaiting assailants armed with AK-47’s and no shortage of ammunition while you sharpen your Swiss Army knife.
I go through twice that much every week just keeping my skill level up.
Yeah, I hear you. I don't shoot that much, but enough to hopefully continuously improve. I focus as much on legal issues (I have a CCW), strategy and tactics - when to pull, when not, what's downwind, dropping magazines, etc. As someone else nearby mentioned, ammunition (in the P.R. of Cali) is really expensive.
Even when trained law enforcement fire their weapons, more than half their shots are not on target, so I try to be as cognizant as possible of all the other factors that can shape the outcome of an armed confrontation.
Avoiding bad areas probably helps the most.
Side note. 80% of pistol gunshot victims survive. 80% of rifle gunshots do not.
I understand what you are saying. I think it’s just more nuanced than that. Overall, the country is “in theory” protected very tightly on all borders. I guess as an analogy, you could say that you have a big fence around your property with guards and so inside your property you don’t feel the need to walk around with a gun. It’s not that simple since there are terrorist attacks within Israel. At the same time, there are lots of soldiers and police everywhere all the time and so there usually is someone with a gun pretty close by. The army failed in protecting the citizens in the south. But this was not because of the soldiers and the bases in the south. Because of the orders and the approach that was being used by the higher-ups. At the same time, all the towns in Israel need to have their own protection. Every single Israeli adult does not need to carry a weapon, but there need to be people In every town that can protect the town if needed, and when you live somewhere more dangerous, you need to be armed. There were so many failures leading to October 7th, but the whole point of the army is to allow the citizens to live in peace and not worry about their safety as much.
Israel was lulled into thinking peace was within reach. Why I don't know. Perhaps they were merely asleep. The Israeli & Jewish psyche will never be the same. As an American, & a Jew I thought it was safe. It isn't.
Safety is an illusion. It’s finding the correct balance of safety and freedom that often eludes societies. My absolute favorite Thomas Sowell is ever appropriate:
“There are solutions, only trade-offs.”
Jews are the canary in the mine shaft. What we are seeing in the U.S. is systematic of a very sick society.
Thank you for that well written response. It’s just such a totally different mindset for me to comprehend. I would have thought that the Jewish people would demand the right to self defense considering their history. Americans are deadly serious about preserving the 2nd. Amendment. Hitlers disarming the German people in the thirties is often used as an example of what happens to an unarmed populace.
Because there are downsides to everyone and their teenage kids owning guns. We live the downsides. What the upsides are, I’m not sure.
The ability to defend yourself and your family, and to fight against government tyranny.
I'd offer another analogy; Most people will never need an fire extinguisher, but when you do NEED IT, that's not the time to find out that, in playing those odds, you lost.
And several big ones as well.
I was in Israel in 2012 on a tour staying at a kibbutz on the Sea of Galilee. There was a man in line ahead of me in the buffet line with a gun on his hip. We were chatting and I mentioned that he must be a serious person since he was carrying a gun. Very proudly he whipped out his wallet and showed me a picture of himself as a young man, he had been a bodyguard for Yitzhak Rabin. We talked about guns and he said he would never be without it for protection. Later in the tour we stayed at a Dead Sea resort. The porters who carried our luggage all had an automatic weapon hanging from their bodies just in case. Very sobering.
I hadn't really thought to apply for a license after October 7th, but my wife asked me to. We're older, so I guess we still have those gender-roles baked in; I spoke with a neighbor yesterday whose wife is the one who's now packing.
The reason for getting a gun is clear to Mr. Friedman and to me alike, but I don't really understand the discomfort. It's something I always thought would be more of a bother than a likely life-saver, but the probabilities have now shifted. I don't see why my life, how I think about it, my self-image or my public perception should be affected by owning/not-owning a gun.
Shifting the topic a bit, it's worth noting Mr. Friedman's admirably candid admission that his class of people -- which is not so much economically middle-to-upper but rather secular+Ashkenazi+Sabra -- looks down at their countrymen. The only thing missing is the word "deplorables". This insight, combined with a few others, goes a long way to explain the composition of the government (before and after 10/7) and the protests against it (again, both before and after).
In a related comment, he correctly states that 𝘐𝘯 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴: 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭’𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴. What could really move things in a better direction would be were he and his group to deal with the fact that, against their will, their own opinion on the matter has approached that of those they dismiss.
"I don't really understand the discomfort...I don't see why my life, how I think about it, my self-image or my public perception should be affected by owning/not-owning a gun." Thank you for pointing that out. I'm always dumbfounded by this flopping and twitching over a tool. I interpret this to be a refusal to accept that life on planet earth involves violence and a cycle of life and death.
I'm not sure what all the misunderstanding is. USA is a gun culture for various historical reasons. Arguments are about the types of weapons/ammunition allowed to be owned, now centered on AR 15 type rifles, banana clips and armor piercing bullets. Cities where there is a lot of gun violence attempt to limit gun ownership, but fail because they are not an island and guns find their way into criminal hands. Fear of crime, sometimes real, sometimes imagined, pushes people to buy handguns. In Israel, fear of Islamic violence has caused some to go through the process of getting a handgun. Their fear is real as the post pointed out. But they leave the heavy firepower to the military.
Guns don’t “find their way into criminal hands”. Vague way of blaming the gun instead of the criminal. Gun laws hurt the law abiding and help the criminal.
The more guns in circulation, the easier it is for criminals to get guns.
The less in circulation the easier it is for a criminal to victimize the innocent.
If the law is broken by someone, yes. But let's consider the fact that with well over 400 million and possibly as many as 650 million guns in civilian hands here, as states and the federal government have relaxed gun laws and restrictions violent crime in the US has decreased from it's high in 1993 to per capita rates that match the 1950s.
We hear from the media and some others a constant cry of there will be blood in the streets if people are allowed to carry it never, ever happens. What happens instead is a decrease in violent crime and an increase in property crime statistics. And what is proving really fascinating is it seems when a state transitions from requiring a permit to carry to just allowing anyone who isn't prohibited by law to carry without a government permission slip the crime rate drops again.
I'll use Ohio as an example, when in the late nineties they instituted a shall issue carry license, that state saw a 20% drop in violent crime, last year after going to "constitutional carry" there was a 15% drop. Indiana had the same thing happen as have several other states that track crime stats.
The other kind of fascinating thing is statistically less than 2% of the population in most states carry a firearm daily and yet we still see that large a drop in crime rates.
Can you provide an example of fear of crime imagined in the U.S.? I can't envision it.
Thanks for the question, it allowed me to look at my cognitive bias. I found a really good piece in "Nature" that discusses this and has many scientific studies noted.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-019-0373-z
Well worth the read.
Here is an excerpt, but it doesn't come close to helping answer your question compared to reading the whole article:
"Stroebe and colleagues (2017) reported that the specific perceived risk of victimization and more “diffuse” fears that the world is a dangerous place are both independent predictors of handgun ownership, with perceived risk of assault associated with having been or knowing a victim of violent crime and belief in a dangerous world associated with political conservatism. These findings hint at the likelihood that perceived risk of victimization can be based on vicarious sources with a potential for bias, whether through actual known acquaintances or watching the nightly news, conducting a Google search or scanning one’s social media feed, or reading “The Armed Citizen” column in the NRA newsletter The American Rifleman. It also suggests that a general fear of crime, independent of actual or even perceived individual risk, may be a powerful motivator for gun ownership for some that might track with race and political ideology. "
Great stuff Dave, thanks for the link and reply. A response like yours is one of the reasons I love the comment section here.
A lot of the division sown among Israel these days is done so by the hands of foreign powers and foreign money to overthrow the right wing government and cause upheaval. Unfortunately, they are succeeding in doing this, before October 7 and after. The American government and American donors (and Europeans) are working behind-the-scenes to achieve this goal is what’s causing a lot of problems. Like in the United States where the country is not that divided, there are those who make all the noise give the illusion that the country is more divided than it is. The Israelis are close to Center about many topics a lot more than it seems.
The US is indeed “ that divided”.
I don't think that's what the polling data shows. There's a lot of hatred at the edges, but there seems to be an "exhausted majority" that isn't angry and agrees on most things.
I saw that article about “ bringing back the culture of debate”. I find it strange that many talking heads are challenging one another to a “ debate” on X all the time. These are not really the same as debates among colleagues and coworkers who may disagree on a topic at lunch or around the water cooler. These celebrity showdowns are cluckbait( Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens, the Piers Morgan show, that awful Destiny character) designed to get attention rather to hear the other view and inform about one’s own.
The climate of self censoring has pervaded the US culture furthering the loss of civility.
Your distinctions are correct. Still, here we are having a civil discussion about it.
Bingo, pay the man.
I don’t have much trust in the accuracy of polls, but I only know what I hear and see. It’s a huge place so what is true In the South may be very different than the NEast or Northwest.
Many people only spout off anonymously on social media but are afraid to speak up honestly in person.
We have lost the ability to talk( face to face where tone of voice, spontaneity, body language are vital for effective communication)
This commenting on articles like these and on X are all we seem to have left, making it much harder to really know what people are thinking on the contentious issues of the day.
The person who is anti jihadi on X mat keep his mouth shut at a dinner party or family get together for fear of causing tension. It was not always this way
I hear that. Take a look here (https://www.moreincommon.com/), maybe you'll find something hopeful.
I'm more optimistic than that - I think our division is at the fringe...politically, the far left (AuntieFlo) and the far right (Westboro Baptist Church).
This extends to the issues, for example on abortion - I think there is general (75-80%?) support for the right to terminate a pregnancy in the first 6-8 weeks. And I think there is the same level of opposition to allowing it in the third trimester. The way the flying monkeys in the media present it, and the way the parties cater to the extremes, ignores the vast number of reasonable people in the middle.
Many, especially teens have no idea they are pregnant until well beyond 6-8 weeks. That is a reality. I suspect there is agreement until 16 weeks Ay least for most voting age females
Personally, I think anyone who is sexually active should be responsible enough to know within 8-weeks; either via a missed period or a pregnancy test. That said, we both agree though, that some time frame before the third trimester, as you suggest 16-weeks, is better than what we had (at the national level). It's the extremes at either side of the issue - along with their agitators and flying monkeys in the mainstream media - that make perfect the enemy of good.
We agree. That reasonable people can find compromise. Republicans have to start winning elections at all levels of government
I only point out that some teens get pregnant the first time they have sex, and are unaware of it until after the first trimester( denial, irregular periods are common in that age group)
Yes in a perfect world “ anyone sexually active should be responsible” but that is not the real world. Also some rape victims who don’t report it and try to pretend it didn’t happen , don’t recognize the pregnancy for a relatively long time.
For what it’s worth, some women, like myself, have extremely irregular periods. And I know some of my teen kids’ friends regularly miss a month or two or three as the system gets up and running. There’s also denial, one of the strongest forces in the known universe.
I agree that there are many things people are very divided on, but the polls show that most Americans have a middle ground approach on many Of the contested issues. there was even an article about this last week in the free press.
That's true and has been going on for a long time. See Gerald Steinberg's NGO Monitor (https://www.ngo-monitor.org/). I think, though, that whereas in the US there are forces like Russia and China that want to sow discord in order to hurt America, with Israel it tends to be progressives who just want the Israeli progressives to win (and yes, perhaps for Israel to eventually disappear).
These progressives, though are willing to go to any length that are not at all democratic in order to get what they want. Also, other governments and peoples should not be interfering in a democratic country’s politics/voting.
I recently listened to a news podcast, which had an interesting point of view. It is a more cynical approach, that can be supported by what happens in reality when America always seems to undermine Israel, which says that America doesn’t actually want complete peace in the Middle East, but prefers to have some sort of power and control over it and it benefits from a certain level of turmoil.
Insisting on a Palestinian state when the Palestinian side does not wish to live in peace with the Israelis is seen by Israel as a suicidal move. You can only make peace on both sides want peace. The Palestinians have proven time and time again that they do not want peace, and they state it very clearly. I hope it is not the case that America does not want peace in the Middle East and I hope this is more of a conspiracy theory than reality. I do believe that when Jared Kushner was working tirelessly to bring peace to the Middle East, he was Ernest. He traveled from country to country for years, trying to get everyone to come together and peace and prosperity. He was not a political person or a political figure, but someone who had an opportunity to make a positive contribution People like to comment on him in a very cynical negative manner, but this is just not the case when it comes to his attempts to make peace. The Palestinians rejected the Plan the Trump administration worked tirelessly and put together before it was even presented.
I'm inclined to think that the American and European "peace processors" are not so devious as to have put up a façade of working for peace while ensuring the problem persists.
More likely, to me, is that they are lazy, uninformed and unwilling to buck the groupthink. Thus, they've been trying to make deals between peoples that exist only in their imaginations, based on a history that is more convenient to their thinking than the one that actually happened.
I think both are true. For example, there are groups in Europe that fund Palestinians and encourage them to build illegally in the West Bank. There are agreements between Israel and the Palestinian authority as to how the land is divided, and where people are allowed to build. There are forces behind the scenes that are working to destabilize or push their agendas and at the same time what you said Is true. Standard western thinking and approaches do not apply to the Middle East, which has a completely different mentality and the westerners don’t seem to be able to grasp this.
Yes, there are EU outfits working working for Palestinian aims and against Israel, as in the case you mentioned. I don't think they believe they're perpetuating the conflict that way, just helping the Palestinians to win it.
And while part of the reason why they don't see that there is no significant Palestinian constituency for peace with Israel may be that they don't understand the cultural differences, I think mostly it's just them believing what's convenient. Changing the Palestinian mindset about Israel is hard, so they just pretend it doesn't need to be done.
Oh, yeah. The politics of Israel in my view is very like as if the USA's Democrat party was the only party, and it was split into factions that disagreed on a few things. We see this here with Jews in America being some of the loudest voices bleating about the "poor Palestinians". It's rather bizarre, and a story that isn't told much---including by the Free Press.
But the real problem is that the methods used to attack will escalate. There are "respectable" Arab muslims talking about the necessity to use nuclear weapons to wipe out Israel. There are "respectable" voices in the West agreeing this is justified.
Why will they escalate? Because the ideology of islam tells them to do it. So they do it for the same basic reason you celebrate passover. Before you reject this in disgust, think about it. The culture and literature of Judaism says to celebrate passover. So you do it. Their version of this includes "utterly subjugate or kill all the Jews." And Israel is a special offense because it is on land that "the prophet" conquered in a dream during the 3 years of drawn out miserable suffering from which he died after poisoning by a Jewish captive woman at Khaybar.
So, I look at Israel, and I see a nation that is not sustainable through this century, and may not be sustainable over the next decade. I'm all for arming citizens and also training them how to fight in a coordinated manner using scenarios. When the chips are down, people do what they trained to do as a rule. But that isn't going to be much good against nuking Tel Aviv. These people do not care one bit about harm to children or civilians or their own. It's an honor to die.
If it was me? I would talk to Elon Musk about being the people that settle Mars. Israelis are the only people on the planet that are really fitted to do that. Israelis are used to desert, to sustaining themselves with technology, highly educated, and fairly cohesive, despite an argumentative tendency. Israel's water comes from desalination. It's farms are technology for the desert. All that is transferable. Just add the ability to make oxygen out of the CO2 atmosphere, and they are good. That tech was worked out decades ago. (40 or 50 years I think.)
To be fair the fundamentalist Muslim actually wants to subjugate or kill any unbeliever no matter their religion.
True. But there is special treatment for Jews in Quran, Ha'dith and Sirah. The prophet hated them because: Rabbis laughed at him when he wanted to be recognized as a prophet. A Jewish woman poisoned him (probably with lye) and it took him 3 years to die.
It is possible to acknowledge that the secular+Ashkenazi+Sabra class of people (those who made the country the strong rule-based liberal democracy that it is) has become more hawkish after October 7, while also acknowledging that their view that the attempt of the current government to weaken Israel's rule-based democracy is weakening the country, has been vindicated by the fiasco of October 7th and by the manner the current government is prosecuting the war.
Yes and no. The two things have nothing to do with one another, so there's no contradiction in believing both, neither or either one. But the opposition to the judicial reform was largely a product of mass hysteria, the claim that proposing the reform weakened the country requires evidence, the causes of 10/7 have yet to be determined by a commission of inquiry (and given that current intelligence shows that it was 2 years in the planning it's hard to associate it with the current government) and the electorate is generally satisfied with the way the war is being prosecuted -- as is the major opposition party that sits in the War Cabinet.
"opposition to the judicial reform was largely a product of mass hysteria" is an opinion, not a fact. I don't share this opinion.
"the electorate is generally satisfied with the way the war is being prosecuted": hardly, and not because they have confidence in the government of October 6. Most Israelis do not have confidence in Netanyahu, e.g. by 2 to 1 in this poll: https://13tv.co.il/item/news/politics/politics/jzhpo-903918642/
and the reason people want Ganz's opposition Blue and White party to remain in the government, is because they are scared of what could happen without them as counterweight to the right-wing extremists.
Of course it's an opinion. In fact, it's my opinion. I can explain why, but it's not really subject to proof.
I didn't say they have confidence in Netanyahu, though I don't claim to know they don't. I say they're generally satisfied with the way the war is being prosecuted, which is not the same thing but is what you spoke of. Douglas Murray reports that he interviewed all the likely replacements for Netanyahu and didn't hear substantial disagreement on that.
Unlike you, I don't know what's going on in Gantz's head, but to his credit, when he met with US officials he didn't claim that he would wage the war differently -- at least as far as has been reported.
Prior to October 7, your typical Israeli was enjoying life, thinking about work, the next startup, and the upcoming vacation. They had forgotten they were surrounded by terror organizations such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and ISIS.
Since the anarchy of Black Lives Matter and its acceptance by the media and politicians — with calls to ‘defund the police’ listened to more than ‘lock up the criminals’ — we have seen craziness spread in America. Muslims now lead hate rallies at universities, break up city council meetings, march in our streets, and even disrupt Congress with calls of ‘Death to Israel!’ ‘Death to America!’ Jews are accosted by blacks and Muslims in numbers that were unthinkable ten years ago.
So yes, in America as in Israel, more people who would not have considered owning a gun in the past are now buying them and taking shooting lessons to feel more secure at home in a less secure time.
Only one correction, Richard. Jews in New York City, albeit mostly easily identified Hasidim, have been prey since before BLM. Not hard to find stories about Jews walking to synagogue and getting smashed in the face with a brick.
In 2019, around Hanukah time, a black dude from Long Island managed to make his way to Monsey to murder a rabbi. Of course his lawyers pleaded insanity, but you can't argue that he didn't have the mental wherewithal to get to where he wanted to go.
If the rabbi's slayer were white, no one would be calling him insane.
I keep weapons around the house: a couple of golf clubs in my nice antique umbrella rack near the front door, a New Mexico tomahawk upstairs, and of course hammers near my basement workbench. LOL.
I guess if you are young and hale those choices make some sense but for those who aren't a firearm on the person seems like more effective choices.
Young and hale I am not; I was poking fun at my preparedness. Still, the spirit is willing, and if push came to shove I'd use what I have.
Maybe buy some effective tools and train with them? IMO the best response to people attacking me is to reply with an excess of violence so I stay safe and they learn to leave people alone.
During the bad 1980s and 1990s, I fought off three muggers, in three separate incidents, with my bare hands and an excess of fury. But I think I couldn't do so again.
I have a 60-year-old softball bat in the attic . . . .
I deterred a couple muggers in the 80s when I showed I was armed and aware of them. It hurt less than getting punched. I don't have anything against going to bare hands other than I'm 61 and have fake knees and have already broken my hands punching people and things so I would prefer to keep some range between me and what is probably a much younger and healthier bad guy/s. Ideally enough I can walk away from the threat but if not I'm fine with using tools that equalize the fight they won't let me avoid. That goes double for genocidal maniacs.
May I suggest buying several containers of pepper spray? Easier to stop a predator from a distance and THEN use your weapon of choice to finish disabling him. If you're not at home, it gives you time to get away. All of this hopefully without a lawsuit against you, the victim.
Wow, B. It sounds like you’re prepared for anything!
A little Walter Mitty is in everyone, I guess.
Beautifully said. America has a tremendous influence on the world. I just want to point out that there was constant terrorism in Israel over the last 30 years and so even the average Israeli could not avoid that.
Last 75 years..............
Well I hear you, but I think there was a lull before that for a while. I don’t remember that much erosion when I was a young kid. But I also may not realize what was going on as a young person. As a child growing up in Israel we did not feel like we were growing up in a violent country with war everywhere and that you would be killed while walking down the street. I guess I am referring to the 2 intifadas that started this wave of terrorism. And then in my late teens the buses started blowing up…
And thinking about where to buy a “SafeHouse”
https://www.memri.org/reports/international-al-quds-day-rally-dearborn-michigan-protesters-chant-death-america-speakers
Enjoyable article sir. Thanks for sharing the perspectives over there. Well done.
This line struck me most…. “Naama can’t even look at the gun.”
I recoiled.
Of course, Hamas is looking at you. As are many psychopaths and other deranged, desperate, and intoxicated criminals here in the US looking at the average U.S. citizen.
A gun is a tool, a force equalizer, and nothing more in the hands of a virtuous person determined to protect his life, family, liberty, and property.
The fearful, ignorant condescension of many liberals towards gun owners is alive and well in the U.S. But reality is that stubborn thing you run into when your beliefs are wrong. Placing your personal security, just like anything else, in the hands of the State, is a foolish error.
A Glock is an "ugly monument"?
Glock is a testament to beautiful, elegant engineering, sir.
Well, sort of. Under the shadow of 1911, of course.
Preach it brother!
I usually carry a 1911, myself (Springfield Armory Ronin).
It’s just that a Glock is such a simple functional design. To me, it’s almost less of a firearm and more of a shooting tool (yeah, technically all guns are but Glock epitomizes that)
I’m a fan of Sig Sauer over Glock and Springfield. I carry P-227 in .45, P-365 in 9mm depending on where I go and how I am dressed. I need to bring my S&W 4006 .40 cal back into the rotation to just keep it fresh. 😎
I hear you. And actually, though I love my 1911, it's just such a big chunk of steel that for concealed carry I actually use a S&W 9mm. I don't like carrying an automatic without a manual safety, to me that is the weakness of Glocks.
I used to carry and love the 1911 too but damn that thing is heavy when worn day in and day out. I switched to a S&W M&P 9, weighs a significant amount less and has twice the capacity.
A "function over form" fella eh? Gaston did have elegant engineering, but the plastic fantastic is down near the bottom of what I'd consider beautiful! 🤣
Glocks are many fine things on the inside but they are terribly ugly guns - and any attempts to make them prettier - red dots, engraving, plating, custom porting - just make them look worse somehow.
I doubt very strongly that these gun shops are selling modern, quality Kydex shell holsters that are necessary to conceal a striker fired gun safely - most stateside don't
IWI Jehrico CZ 75 clones with a DA/SA and safety would be a far better option for low information users with near zero access to training carrying in densely populated areas
IMO, the simple design and the engineering behind it is what makes it an elegant weapon.
Not sure where you’ve been looking, but there’s all sorts of different options for holsters that do a good job.
I’ve been looking at the Jericho for awhile, but for new shooters a Glizzy is a way better option. It’s just point and shoot and don’t put your finger of the trigger unless you want to go bang
Glock’s are by far the most popular brand used by the public and
Aw enforcement, which says something about function and design. I personally prefer Sig Sauer.
Phlster, JMCK, Raven Concealment, Henry's Holsters, and several others all make quality kydex holsters.
I am always surprised by the amount of people who abdicate their self-defense to someone else.
If you live somewhere where there are other people in charge of your safety and there isn’t much of a problem with it you don’t feel the need to own a gun. In Standard civilized society where crime isn’t terrible people don’t usually need a gun in most countries. Don’t think of it the way Americans do. But The people in those countries would also tell you that they would rather not have school shootings and the accessibility to guns and the problems that causes in order to be allowed to have guns. The only time they would change their mind is if their liberties and Democratic government was in danger. Which these days seems to be happening in many western countries to many peoples surprise. Nevertheless, in past history no one would think to just kill other Jews or the government because in Israel everyone is related and everyone is part of the same nation. A nation that survived for thousands of years and whose culture and teachings are peaceful. There are forces now trying to change that reality and pit people against each other and sow hatred. Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak made a comment about Israelis fighting one another that shocked and horrified most Israelis and sounded like he was encouraging violence amongst Israelis. The army is the people army bc everyone has to serve for the purpose of protecting every citizen and protecting the existence of the country. The concept of needing guns against the government was unthinkable. It’s a different situation completely from the U.S. I guess nowadays, especially with the forces (also from abroad) trying to divide and cause hatred and violence in Israel, and with the changing western world and the changing state of western freedoms, everything is changing. But in the past you could not view this from an American lens.
No where in my comment did I mention "safety" I said self-defense. The "most countries" you cite were until very recent history had a close to monoculture. Monocultures historically have lower crime rates. See Switzerland, high gun ownership, low crime rate. Most Western cultures are experiencing increased violent crime and most importantly increased crime against women. Many more citizens in these countries will begin to arm themselves either legally or illegally as the their governments shrug off violent crime.
Sweden comes to mind. A formerly low crime and high trust society that now leads Europe in some measures of violent crime due to, ah, Islamic immigrants. Gee, is there a pattern in all this?
Bingo, pay the girl.
Just as the tainted German coinage "antisemitism" is being replaced by what it actually is, "Jew hatred," can we start replacing the misleading term "Palestinian," which implies statehood, with what they in fact are, "Palestinian Arabs" ("So-called Palestinians" would work almost as well, as would, where it applies, "Israeli Arabs.") Make language remind us that Christians, Druze, Muslims, and Jews are all Palestinans.; it may help level the field and not defeat us every time we mention our enemy.
Since it us a made-up description of a people from a make-believe country that never existed, I use the term "palestinians".
Absolutely!! Dear Matti, please stop using the P word! It is a word that means one thing, the eradication of the Jews from their homeland. There is no such people, most definitely no such nation. Please, stop. It has to start with us. They are Arab invaders in our homeland. Simply refer to them as that. Or "palestinians" as the commenter ahead of me recommended. Yeshar Koach, Am Israel Chai!
I prefer referring to them simply as Arabs.
Funny how all we see in the American 'media' is how Israeli's are 'murdering' civilians. Not, as most of us know better.
As a former soldier who has been to war in your region, Matti, I call upon the notion of self defense; when your government fails to protect you as seen throughout the world, you need to defend yourself regardless of the weapon. The last thing rational People want to do is morph into a killer of others, but when another man puts a gun to your face you have two choices...
The Men Who Wanted to Be Left Alone
“The most terrifying force of death comes from the hands of Men who wanted to be left Alone. They try, so very hard, to mind their own business and provide for themselves and those they love. They resist every impulse to fight back, knowing the forced and permanent change of life that will come from it. They know that the moment they fight back, their lives as they have lived them, are over. The moment the Men who wanted to be left alone are forced to fight back, it is a form of suicide. They are literally killing off who they used to be. Which is why, when forced to take up violence, these Men who wanted to be left alone, fight with unholy vengeance against those who murdered their former lives. They fight with raw hate, and a drive that cannot be fathomed by those who are merely play-acting at politics and terror. True terror will arrive at these people’s door, and they will cry, scream, and beg for mercy… but it will fall upon the deaf ears of the Men who just wanted to be left alone.”
– Author Unknown
“Like the army, they’re a necessary evil.” The gun is a tool only the person wielding the gun can be evil.
If every household in every kibbutz had owned an AR-15 and a thousand rounds of ammo on Oct 6 the results would have looked much different on the 7th.
Well, they thought the Army was protecting them, which it was supposed to. Nevertheless, there is an absolute need, which is now extremely obvious, for each community to have a security team that can mobilize quickly in order to protect from any attacks that may come. Whether from outside the border or from the West Bank or from the Israeli Arabs, most of which are citizens like any other but some of which who are called upon to hurt Jews by different jihadists movements, and showed this to be a grave concern a few years ago when there was violent uprising inside Israel by some Israeli Arabs. If Israel is seriously attacked, even by hezbollah for example, the security forces won’t be available to save all the civilians and the men will be in the army.
The Army was protecting them. It just took them awhile to get around to it. And in the .meantime, well, we know what happened.
As we say in the US "When seconds count the police are only minutes away."
Y'all need a 2nd amendment analogue and a self help mindset because relying on others to keep you safe is just stupid when your neighbors are quite happy to tell you they want to kill you.
If my neighbor said that and demonstrated he meant it by killing others in my family I'd probably skip ahead to shooting him first.
Absolute fact.
As somewhat of an aside, how does one practice?
100 rounds is nothing if heading to the range. My dad and I would go through 300 shot shells when headed out for skeet/trap/etc., and similar if going for rifle and pistol.
There is no way a person can be proficient without regular practice. The skills degrade too quickly, and “combat” shooting is not the same as slowly punching holes in paper.
Interesting article, thank you.
Have you purchased ammo recently in the USA? You would have to cut out a trip to the grocery store to pay for real target practice today.
Learn to load. It saves you some money, and more importantly, is a skill that's well worth maintaining for many reasons
You can practice as much as you want, you buy the ammo at the range (range prices $$$) however, you can OWN 100 rounds
That makes more sense but on the other hand I have 30 magazines loaded in my safe so the equivalent of four Infantry load outs and another ten magazines for my carry gun as well as the one in the carry gun and one as a reload. It's mostly because I hate reloading at the range but there is also some preparedness thought behind it and maybe Israel should consider both allowing civilians to own rifles and upping the limits on ammo..
Mantis X Dry Fire trainer + Dry Fire mag will take a poor shooter to good very quickly
Competitive shooter's mantra- you get better in dry fire, then confirm the progress at the range
Still, I agree not opening up training opportunities is dumb as hell
Dry firing is a good way, Keith. You can gain a lot of proficiency without live rounds.
I wouldn’t be surprised if people are expected to go every few years to do some practice shooting. I’m sure the whole process is also very expensive as is ammunition. We don’t realize how easy we have it here in America. Do you know how much it cost to fill the car with gas in Israel and in Europe? Way more than in the United States… Even with the prices rising.
I hope that there is more to this. Like maybe the 100 rounds are what your are allocated to bring home, and if you go to a shooting range, you are allowed to buy more there for practice use, but have to shoot it all or leave the remainder behind.
"In Israel the terms left and right don’t mean what they mean in the United States ..."
Good reminder. That's useful as a generalization across the world, too.
The money, though... seems to be consistent. As do the results + media coverage of someone like Meloni, Mile or Trumpdog
I don't understand what this means.
There is something remarkable about the Israeli maintenance of sanity in the insane world in which they live. They live in an overwhelmingly dangerous place where trust in their Palestinian neighbors, their own military, and their national alliances has been strained to the breaking point. Yet, they don't seem to exhibit the hysteria one would expect but take the sensible precautions for self-defense with reluctance, almost sadness at having to acquire guns for protection. Even in the current dire circumstances, the Israelis aren't arming themselves to the teeth or waiving the legalities of gun ownership and personal training. Here in America, where guns are ubiquitous and the greatest personal danger is from other owners of guns, ownership requirements are almost non-existent, including licensing and training, making any idiot who can afford one, a gun owner and a danger to himself and his community. The Second Amendment of the US Constitution conditioned the ownership of arms in America on the maintenance of a well-regulated militia for defense of the nation in preference to a standing army. Israel, which surely is in mortal national danger, still conditions gun ownership on sensible registration and training requirements for its citizens. Israelis are a remarkable sane people.
That's a lot of liberal bed-wetting you got going on about guns. You really don't have a clue.
Just curious, do you consider the gang-banger with an illegal weapon a "gun owner"?
You've make some unsupported assumption in you knee-jerk reaction (and I emphasize JERK). Twenty-five years in the military, recipient of marksmanship ribbons in rifle and pistol, and a current onwner of both handguns and long guns and a CCP holder, it's idiots like you that worry me more than terrorists or gang bamgers.
When was the last time 1200+ people were slaughtered in one day in the gun-owning USA? I propose that if the Israeli citizens had been armed to the teeth, the losses on 10/7 would have been much less.
The barbarians would never have come. They may be crazy, but they're not stupid. They attacked the peace-loving liberals. Also known as soft targets
Imma disagree a bit there, the martyr in Islam has a guaranteed place in heaven so dying while killing the unbeliever is not seen as a bad thing. I mean it's reflected in the Gazan's strong approval of Oct 7th. It's a different mindset and motivation than we have in the West.
Sadly, you have a point there. I guess I'll sit back and watch it like a sport. The ultimate bloodsport
The fact that that they were able to get in was a massive failure. The army Failed its job in protecting the civilians. The people in the south were very close to many army bases who were the ones in charge of protecting them. But a colossal number of mistakes, hubris, incorrect approach and bad judgment lead to this very extreme and tragic beyond words outcome.
My understanding is much of the Army in that area had been redeployed to the West Bank to protect settlers encroaching on Palestinian owned land. Of course, my understanding comes from American media, so it could well be wrong.
I appreciate your comment very much. Forgive me as this comment is a bit long. I also heard initially that a lot of the army was moved to the West Bank and that is Why there was no one defending the south. But that is not a correct assessment of what happened , and I believe the army also stated that that is not the reason Hamas was able to attack the south. (And thousands of gazan civilians that entered Israel as well that day and took part in the attacks and the looting). There were in fact Big safety concerns during the holidays in the West Bank for the Jews Safety. There was high alert there. The bases in the south were not put on high alert, even though there were warnings and things going on. The commanders of the southern district had a few conference calls throughout the night and chose to not put the basis on alert. Just that simple action would have made a tremendous difference. The Israelis also installed a strong high-tech fence that was supposed to withhold many attacks. That did not prove to be the case. Those southern bases did not have much of a chance to fight, most of the soldiers were sleeping and not prepared. There were numerous failures that led to the tragedy of October 7th. Obviously these have been discussed nonstop by experts and retired military personnel and people with different opinions and analysis. Israeli intelligence had a booklet created by Hamas, that detailed exactly what they were going to do. Unfortunately, it was not taken seriously. They did not think they were going to act on it or that they had the capability to do so. We now know that many of these Hamas fighters trained in Iran. The only thing to keep in mind about the upsetting fact that they had this booklet is that they get lots of information and intelligence nonstop and they have to decipher which is credible and which is not and they screwed this one up. But much of the problem had to do with an incorrect approach Militarily. Most of the “settlers” in Israel are just regular people living in towns that are in the west bank, only they referred to it as Judea and Samaria, which is the actual name of those territories. They are vilified by the world and the media. Over the years after a tremendous amount of violence from the Palestinians, there are a very small fringe minority of people in the West Bank who have behaved badly and violently, and are not representative of any values that Israelis hold. At the same time, a lot of things that have been described as incidences where settlers have done violent things are being pushed by very far left extremists who are trying to push a very specific narrative and are supported abroad by people with the same agenda. I was in the West bank after October 7th, in November and was very surprised to discover that even in a town/settlement that is surrounded by a fence and tight security, the employees in the supermarket were arab palestinians from the nearby towns. I asked a local about this and they said that there is also very nice coexistence going on in the West bank.
If the Palestinians are not racist and want to live in peace, they should not mind that there are also Jewish towns living amongst them. The Westbank/Judeah Is literally the ancestral home of the Jews and Lots of the archaeology and names of places there are all part of the Jewish nations history and are from the Bible. Unfortunately, many of these archaeological sites are now under the Palestinian authorities control and are not being preserved, but are often being desecrated. The Jews, who live there feel they have every right to live there. And, one must remember that Israel fought a protective war in 1967, and while doing so they took over the Westbank. In history that usually meant that the land is now yours. Obviously different people have different takes on some of these things. But the bottom line of what I was trying to say is that they are just regular people living there. You may have heard that a few weeks ago, the American government froze the bank accounts of a number of Israeli settlers. The law they passed in United State also made it so in the future and in a very extreme way, a tremendous amount of civilians that live there could have their main accounts frozen by the American government at their will. I saw a bunch of news reports about these people and was quite shocked to learn that they did not in fact, go out and commit violence against Palestinians. There were some incidences in which some Palestinians attacked them and created provocations, and then, for example, these extremist human rights groups filmed them as they tried to protect themselves. Either way it is extremely inappropriate for an ally and foreign government to interfere in internal policing issues in another country. None of these people had police charges brought against them in Israel. This is not how an ally treats its friend. Because the banking systems are connected internationally, the Israeli banks couldn’t easily block this freezing of the accounts. There is a Veteran journalist Named Carolyn Glick who does news analysis for a company called JNS. If you want her take, you can find her on YouTube. The bottom line is that what you see on the news is nonsense. The situation in Israel is way more complicated no matter what opinion one ends on holding in the end. The current American government approach makes absolutely no sense and is motivated only by the upcoming election. This is why they are trying to appease everyone and are creating a huge mess. Without their interference, the war in Israel could have proceeded and been over sooner. They are undermining the Israelis and the war. The Palestinian citizens suffering would be over much faster and would be less if the American government wasn’t trying to appease the Palestinian voices because of the upcoming election.
9/11
Okay James, I was a little over the top referring to your misconceptions as "liberal bed-wetting" . I'm not sure what your ribbons and trophies have to do with anything. I live in rural Texas. Within a 5 mile radius of me are probably thousands of guns. We have ZERO gun violence. So it's confusing to me where you perceive the danger.
By your own definition then you are the danger. And I notice you didn't answer my question
Sorry, I don't respond to jerks, and you are one.
That's the liberal bed-wetting we knew you reveled in
Please answer the simple question.
That's convenient.
Thank you for your service, but your service doesn't make you right when you misinterpret the Constitution (the Second Amendment isn't "conditioned" on anything as the Supreme Court has made clear).
The Supreme Court has been wrong before, e.g. Dred Scott decision. I can read the plain English of the 2nd Amenbdment, even if you like to skip over the conditionaing clause regarding the need for a "well regulated milita."
Agreed. The court has been wrong before, as in Roe.
But the first part of the Second Amendment is explanatory not conditional.
That is your interpretation. I( view it as conditional Look, I am not anti gun or anti gun ownership. I believe that ownning a gun is a responsibility to your fellow citizens to know and practice responsibility to safely store, maintain, and use your guns, a not walk the streets with a gun on your hip like some kind of wannabe Wyatt Earp, but with no idea which end the bullets come out. I think that government has a responsibility to regulate gun ownership to insure the above, and I also think that when the blood in the streets reaches the point where people are afraid to go out, the government and the Supreme Court will come to their senses and regulate responsible ownership. You may not like it, but I will.
steven has a point though, the vast majority of crime in the US is by people who are already prohibited by state and federal law from possessing a firearm. These are on the whole idiots yes but they are not part of American gun culture.
It's also interesting that as states have relaxed their gun laws surrounding legal carry our violent crime rate has decreased to levels not seen since the fifties. And honestly those laws are way overdue for being trashbinned as their roots are baked in the racism of the 18th and 19th centuries. As we see the results of Heller, McDonald and Bruen trickle down the arguments of those wanting to maintain discretionary permits can't find any non racist analogues in past gun control laws.
Israel might do well to learn something from us and create some sort of gun laws encouraging a self defense mindset.
On further thought, Scott, the Israelis seem to have adopted a plan of gun ownership more in tune with our Second Amendment concept of a "well regulated militia" than ours of maximum unregulated ownership. They ensure that their gun buyers are trained.
Some folks have looked at shootings by people with permits in states that mandate training and states that just hand out licenses after a fee an background check and there is not a rash of unjustified shooting in the no training states. Let's face it self defense isn't rocket science and the overwhelming majority of people will try hard to avoid making the life altering decision to shoot someone. I agree we have some people dumber than a bag of hammers who probably shouldn't have firearms or sporting equipment like baseball bats but that idiot is the outlier when discussing the American gun owner IMO. They also tend to remove themselves from the gene pool which seems like a good thing for us as a whole.
My problem with mandated training is it has a chilling affect on the exercise of a fundamental civil right and we have way too many instances of states or cities using discretionary permit regimes to prevent people of color or the poor form exercising that right. Just as excessive permit fees do.
I believe a CCW in Illinois costs about 350 to 400 bucks and a couple days of time jumping through all the hoops and their crime stats are worse than Indiana next door with permitless carry, even though the demographics are almost identical. Ditto if you compare IL to Wisconsin which has a CCL but it's about 130.00 to get and less if you have a DD214 or a permit from another state or a hunters safety certificate. All three have pretty much identical unjustified shooting stats, usually just a couple a year. But on the other hand IL has a higher crime rate than any of it's neighbors. Most of which is in poor neighborhoods. We now have 29 states with permitless carry and no sudden rash of gunfights over parking spaces and garbage cans as predicted 29 times by Everytown and Mom's Demanding Action.
I almost hate to tell you but we already have a 11% tax on guns and ammo it's called the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act and was passed in 1937.
I am all in for responsible gun ownership and requiring gun buyers to participate in training to insure they not only know the laws regarding gun carrying in public as well as the applicable legalities of self-defense (Stand Your Ground, the Castle Doctrine, etc.) for their state. Gun buyers should be required to attend training on the safe use, storage, and maintenance of their weapon as well as an on-range demonstration of competency in being able to hit what they aim at. And one other thing, as there are admittedly too many illegal guns on the streets causing too much violence and collateral damage to innocent victims, the laws need to be toughened and enforced on those in possession of illegal guns, and to do this, I think there needs to be federal, state, and/or local taxes on gun manufacturers. to help pay for the law enforcement and justice efforts to control gun crime. And by the way, why would Israel want to duplicate our experience in gun crime as Matti's article has shown that gun crime in Israel is a tiny fraction of America's? Thanks for your informative approach to this issue.
I'm pretty much a 2A absolutist and think a) the ATF should be a convenience store and b) anyone should be able to buy whatever the US military uses with some safe storage restrictions on explosives and maybe some age restrictions on crew served weapons. That may be my inner Ranger child and his love of blowing shit up. I don't seem to have outgrown it.
" . . . conditions gun ownership on sensible registration . . .". What if the registration lists are compromised?
In that case they'd be living in the US and not in Israel.
I think the Gaza fence was compromised so have no confidence lists of gun owners will be secure.