Central Command Commander Major Yehuda Fox on Monday arrived with the new Judea and Samaria Division commander Lt. Col. Yaki Dolf, and other senior officers to supervise a drill in the village of Al-Funduq in northern Samaria with a disturbing scenario: Jewish settlers set fire to vehicles and kidnapped an Arab following the murder of a Jewish baby girl.
This was the enemy against which IDF soldiers were training in a war theater mired in Arab drive-by shooting and ramming of innocent civilian Jews. It’s part of a pattern in General Fox’s conduct, whose units evict Jewish women and children from their homes even while the men of the house are serving their country in Gaza.
According to Hakol Hayehudi, which broke the story, many participating soldiers reacted angrily to the hateful scenario which envisioned them, the local settlers, as the enemy, and some officers and soldiers abandoned the exercise in a rage.
The soldiers simulating the settlers in the exercise wore vests with the inscription “simulated enemy.” As the exercise drew on, the forces of the Shin Bet Jewish Department and the Duvdevan Mista’arvim unit were rushed to the place to deal with the settlers who, according to the scenario, had fled to the nearby settlement of Ramat Gilad.
האלוף פוקס הוביל הערב תרגיל שדימה את המתיישבים כאויב, במסגרתו תורגל רצח תינוקת יהודיה בפונדוק בידי ערבים ובתגובה שריפת רכבים בידי יהודים בכפר ואז חטיפת ערבי תוך הקפצת החטיבה היהודית ודובדבן. החיילים שדימו מתיישבים עם ווסטים “בימוי אויב”. בתגובה קצינים וחיילים נטשו את התרגיל בזעם pic.twitter.com/y4wyOxygLD
— אלחנן גרונר (@elchangr) February 5, 2024
Here’s a jewel: there was a flood of angry tweets by settlers who had received yet another confirmation that the post-October 7 “Together We’ll Win” slogans don’t include them. So, the IDF issued a note suggesting that “Calming notices should be issued through the municipal councils to the settlements, to prevent incidents of nationalist crime.”
As the prophet Elijah put it to the corrupt King Ahab: Have you murdered and taken possession too? (I Kings 29:19).
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was stunned and tweeted: “Someone in the high command of the IDF has completely lost his way, and unfortunately not for the first time. To present the settlers as the enemy, when so many of them are serving at the front and paying a high price in blood, is a total loss of moral values, and the person responsible for it cannot continue in his role and be entrusted with preserving the lives and safety of the settlers.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir issued a similar message and added (because someone had to): “The settlers do not kidnap Arabs. They are not even suspected of planning anything close to this. The opposite is true: Arabs walk around the settlements without any fear. The existence of such an exercise is full cooperation in the blood libel about “settler violence.”
“I call on Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to immediately intervene in the matter and investigate the incident. We will not allow such severe conduct to be ignored.”
The IDF Spokesperson put it all in perspective (not):
“During a wide-ranging exercise in the Judea and Samaria Division, to improve the readiness of the division and the defense in the area to maintain the security of the residents, over a hundred different scenarios were practiced, including extreme scenarios.
“The IDF did not practice scenarios that simulate settlers as the enemy, and the marking vests in question, the purpose of which is to distinguish between trainees, is part of the exercise safety routine. In this case, it was a mistake to mark them with such an inscription and we apologize for that.
“The IDF has a close relationship with the settlements, and it works around the clock for their protection and seeking their cooperation.”
That made it all sound so much better until the Torat IDF folks dug up and posted this version of the video with Commander Fox issuing the orders. Pay attention to the narrator’s comments:
The group put it in a very different perspective:
“The despicable response of settlement-hater IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari is as shameful as the antisemitic exercise itself that was executed at the Central Command this evening. ‘Apologies… We didn’t put on the proper vests. In the future, we’ll attach to the simulated enemy soldiers Jewish hooked noses.
“An urgent stable cleaning is needed in the IDF.”
Meanwhile, Josh Wander succinctly asked on X (Twitter):
When does the IDF plan on practicing the likely scenario of settlers raiding Arab towns and murdering 1400 Palestinian civilians, while kidnapping and torturing hundreds more in one day?
— Joshua Wander (@votewander) February 6, 2024
HERCULES CLEANS UP THE AUGEAN STABLES
The Labors of Hercules was a series of tasks carried out by the greatest Greek hero in the service of King Eurystheus.
For his fifth task, Eurystheus commanded Hercules to undertake the formidable challenge of cleansing King Augeas’ expansive stables. Aware that this labor would entail considerable dirt and stench, Hercules, despite his heroic stature, recognized the necessity of such tasks. Complicating matters further, Eurystheus imposed the additional demand that Hercules accomplish the feat within a single day.
King Augeas, reputed to be the possessor of the largest cattle herds in all of Greece, was said by some to be of divine lineage, while others claimed he was of mortal descent. Regardless of his origins, Augeas was undeniably wealthy, presiding over vast herds of cows, bulls, goats, sheep, and horses.
Each evening, the cowherds, goatherds, and shepherds would lead the multitude of animals into the stables.
Approaching King Augeas, Hercules made no mention of Eurystheus, proposing instead that he could cleanse the stables within a day in exchange for a tenth of Augeas’ esteemed cattle.
Augeas was incredulous, but he agreed nonetheless. Hercules brought Augeas’ son along to witness the task. Initially, the hero created a sizable breach in the wall of the cattle yard where the stables were located. Then, he fashioned another opening in the wall on the opposite side of the yard. Following this, he excavated expansive trenches leading to two nearby rivers. Redirecting the flow of these rivers into the yard, Hercules initiated a powerful rush of water through the stables, effectively cleansing them as all the debris and filth washed out through the breach in the wall on the other side of the yard.
Upon discovering that Eurystheus orchestrated the task, Augeas reneged on his promise to reward Hercules. Not only did he deny making any such agreement, but he also challenged Hercules to seek legal recourse if he disagreed. Appearing before the judge, Hercules called upon Augeas’ son to testify. The boy affirmed that his father had indeed promised a reward to Hercules. Consequently, the judge decreed that Hercules was entitled to his due compensation.
Enraged by the verdict, Augeas ordered both his son and Hercules to depart from his kingdom immediately. Thus, the boy sought refuge in the northern lands with his aunts, while Hercules returned to Mycenae. However, Eurystheus refused to acknowledge this labor, arguing that since Hercules received payment for his efforts, it could not be counted as a legitimate task.
Just thought you’d like to refresh on the classics.
