When war broke out on October 7, there were about 100,000 foreign workers in Israel. 30,000 were Thai workers, a few dozen of whom were either killed, or taken hostage, by Hamas. This led thousands of others to return to Thailand. Furthermore, the 20,000 Arab workers who had been coming from Gaza to work in Israel every day were, as of October 8, prohibited from entering. That means the jobs those workers did — chiefly agricultural labor and construction — would not get done unless Israelis themselves did those jobs. And that is exactly what has happened. You can see tech workers who have flown in from San Francisco, bankers from London, journalists from Buenos Aires, chefs from New York — all returning to help out in any way they can, from taking up the slack at farms and greenhouses, and to working in grocery stores, teaching in schools, helping at light construction jobs. Israeli women and girls have arrived from abroad, too, to help take care of children whose mothers are in the military, or to take care of the elderly whose regular caretakers have also been called up. More on this rediscovery that “we are becoming Israelis again” can be found here: “After October 7, Many People Are Becoming Israeli Again,” by Gidon Ben-Zvi, Algemeiner, November 28, 2023:
…The war with Hamas may go on for months and could well affect every part of the country. With that in mind, parents are carving out time after work to develop new skills that are suddenly in demand. They are enrolling in hastily organized firefighter training and rescue courses, First Aid, CPR, and lectures on mental resilience to assist people directly impacted by Hamas’ atrocities and those who may need help soon.
In fact, this spirit of solidarity with the victims of Hamas’ attack has spread like a brushfire. Two minority groups that have traditionally isolated themselves from wider Israeli society, the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) and Arab Israelis, are stepping out of the shadows.
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox men are expected to sign up for IDF service. On the home front, the Haredi community has been cooking, transporting people and supplies, and providing various social services.
The ultra-Orthodox are not subject to the IDF draft, for religious reasons (as students of the Torah, they believe themselves contributing in a different way to the survival of the Jewish people), but thousands of them have, in a major break with tradition, nonetheless been signing up to serve in the IDF after the attack of October 7.
And while thousands of Arab Israelis showed their support for Palestinian Arabs during 2021’s Operation Guardians of the Wall by rioting and looting, the same demographic cohort today opposes Hamas, supports Israel’s right to defend itself, and has shown a willingness to volunteer to help civilians who were harmed on October 7.
Arab Israelis are not subject to the draft. But many more have volunteered for the IDF than have done so in any previous conflict. Opinion polls show that almost 80% of Israeli-Arabs oppose the Hamas attack, and 85% oppose the kidnapping of civilians. 66% of the respondents answered that Israel has the right to defend itself, compared with only 6% who said that it does not. Israeli Arabs were stunned by Hamas’ atrocities, and more of them now reject a future in which they would being by fellow Palestinians, whether they are part of Hamas or to the Palestinian Authority; they recognize that only Israel provides the rule of law, effective management, and the absence of corruption, to which they have grown accustomed.
Then there are the new Israelis. Despite the language and cultural barriers, this group is throwing its lot in with Israel during the country’s darkest hour.
“New Israelis” are Israelis who have just recently made aliyah. They are still learning Hebrew from Ulpan teachers. They have hardly settled in to their new land. But they have pitched in during the Israel-Hamas war as if they were lifelong residents of the Jewish state.
Immigrants from France have set up their own Facebook groups, where they organize army base visits to feed Israel’s fighting men and women. A professional colleague of mine who recently moved to Israel from the Czech Republic launched a website where he and other designers are selling shirts and coffee mugs — with all the proceeds going to aid Israel’s internal refugees.
Here in Haifa, English and Russian social media groups are multiplying. New childcare and tutoring initiatives for young evacuees forced to flee their homes; neighborhood drives for clearing out bomb shelters; and much more, are popping up every day….
It’s not surprising that recent arrivals from France should have chosen to cook food for IDF soldiers at their bases. Nor that English and Russian arrivals have started social media groups to share information, and offer volunteer help to young families who were evacuated from both the Gaza and the northern border. They pitch in to offer childcare for preschool children and tutoring to school-age children who, having been evacuated from their homes, no longer have a school to attend. And these new arrivals, often highly educated, do not hesitate to volunteer for the most menial of tasks, such as clearing out bomb shelters, cooking, and taking care of the very young and the very old. Everyone is determined to do something for the good of the Jewish people and their imperiled state.
Without a sovereign Jewish state, every day is potentially, for Jews somewhere in the world, an October 7. With a Jewish state, that both offers refuge to Jews, and credibly threatens those who would harm them, Jews have a reasonable chance of survival. The existence of the Jewish state is a guarantee that should annihilationist antisemitism reappear, Jews will have both a refuge and a protector.
The people of Israel after October 7 called a halt to the fissiparous demonstrations and counter-demonstrations that had rocked Israel for more than 40 weeks, as those supporting, and those opposing, judicial reform, continued to denounce those on the other side. Now all that has been put aside, as Israelis know that their tiny state is in great peril and national unity matters above all else. 200,000 of them flew back to Israel from abroad, with both reservists called up, and volunteers, prepared to fight in the IDF, or to harvest crops, or to provide caretaking for the aged. By the thousands, Haredis have been volunteering for the army. Israeli Arabs have been stunned by the Hamas attacks, and chosen sides — the side of the state of Israel that they now recognize they belong to, and not to the corrupt statelets run by Gaza in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Some Israeli Arabs have volunteered to serve in the IDF; others are working where needed on the home front.
I hope, and do believe, that this newfound sense of national unity, of Israeli Jews and Arabs, of secular Jews and Haredis, of the Jews in Israel and the 200,000 Israeli Jews living abroad, who dropped every thing to return to help defend their tiny state, will not end when Hamas has been put out of its misery.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
For some reason, I just don’t believe that they are genuine: they’re probably just feigning opposition to Hamas so that they can do exactly what those Pali guest workers did on October 7th: provide behind-the-lines intel to the enemy to make them more effective
They may recognize that only in Israel is there a rule of law, but that doesn’t prevent the more islamic amongst them from still supporting the Pali jihad against the Jews. The only Arab-Israelis who might be worth trusting would be the Christians
I have a theory on this, which isn’t too charitable to the Israeli Left. It goes like this: most of the victims of the October 7th attacks were on the Israeli Left, not the Right. It explains why they so enthusiastically employed Palis, trusted them so much to give them so much information about how they lived and so on. As a result, when they were massacred, the Israeli Left turned against Hamas, while the Israeli Right was already anti-Hamas
But had the kibbutzen in that area had been populated by Jews on the Right, who, say, did not have that bleeding-heart kumbaya attitude towards the Palis, I doubt that the Israeli Left – the likes of Haaretz & so on – would have rallied behind them. Nor for that matter, most American Jews on the Left. This unity only happened b’cos the victims happened to be Jews who were stupid enough to believe that Pali muslims were happy to work for them & gain their favors
I dearly hope that the Jews don’t trust the Israeli Arab muslims in the same way as those victims trusted the Gazans working in their communities
On a different note, if Israel wants more foreign workers, it does need to close itself more to Palis, & even Israeli Arab muslims, whose trust is still questionable
Billy Corr says
A minor detail Infidel omits is that the border communities were not just under-armed, they had been largely disarmed by the time the events of October 7th occurred.
Acting under orders from the high command, UDF teams had confiscated a significant proportion of the long guns held by the border communities, distributing them to the settlers on the West Bank – i.e. Judea & Samaria.
Vociferous objections by the elected heads of the border communities were brushed aside; everyone knew that the border was an impenetrable high-tech barrier and, anyway, it was obvious to all that Hamas was more interested in whining for more day-laborer permits than in fomenting trouble.
Lastly, Infidel ought to acknowledge that several Arab citizens of Israel behaved heroically on October 7th, Some were callously murdered, some were abducted and a number – those armed and uniformed – defended Israel bravely.
PMK says
While I share your distrust of Israeli Arabs, I choose, in this case, to see the glass as half full, rather than half empty. I did a search on JW for Israeli Arabs and most posts date back to 2010 or earlier. Many point back to Hamas. Whatever their motives, can’t we see the Arab Israeli response to 10/7 in a more positive light? Maybe our response should be one of ‘trust, but verify’? Life is better for them in Israel than in just about any other Muslim country. Their reason for staying may be one of pure self-interest, but why not take advantage of that? Should we see them forever as jihadists in waiting?
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Again, when we say “Arab Israelis”, what percentage of them are muslim? That should give us an answer. While Arab Christians in Pali territories may put up a show of opposing Israel partly due to being “islamo-Christian”, those in Israel may feel freer to be supportive of Israel
Unless & until a muslim apostatizes, I tend to see them as jihadists in waiting
ploome says
exactly
Mike 2 says
Exactly.
Mike 2 says
What does ploome have that I don’t?
rick says
This is wonderful reading. But such support may not be able to last forever. The lesson to be learned from this horror is not to use Palestinian labor from Gaza or the west bank. If workers are desperately needed than use Thais or other Asians. Never Palestinians. The issue of who is hired to do the labor is really an old one. Early Zionists wanted to use only Jews while more business minded Jews wanted to hire anyone with only the desire to earn money and work. Now that issue can be seen to be life threatening. Foreign Arab workers cannot be trusted. Especially Palestinians. Much of the information used by Hamas came from Gazan workers admitted into Israel as laborers. The number allowed was to be increased just prior to Oct. 7. Now it must be decreased to Zero.
ploome says
yes-never so called palestinians
deil says
god bless israel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_GsKLJcum8
i stay with israel.
Westman says
“Thousands of ultra-Orthodox men are expected to sign up for IDF service.”
It’s about time. Israel will not survive while almost a quarter of the men consider themselves too religious to defend Israel or produce in its economy. The original agreement to allow a segment of the population to exclusively engage in religion without national civic duties, while expanding in numbers faster than the rest of the population, is unsustainable and is a clear signal of weakness to its enemies.
Sometimes we serve God through hard work and sacrifice. May God bless Israel with all the ability it needs.
Walter Sieruk says
Those Hamas jihadists murderers started this current war it stated on 7th of October. This also further reveals the terrible folly of Joe Biden and exposes his total lack of wisdom about the State of Israel when he said that “We still need a two-state solution. It is the only answer.” Biden had by saying that fool statement has shown what an ignorant man he actually is. On that other hand, maybe he’s just evil.
Joe Biden sure is the divider and chief and not just when comes to him dividing the American people into different political and social “camp.” For even on the international foreign level Biden is that awful divider.
For Biden backs and supports the awful scheme to divide the State of Israel into two. Meaning the so called “two state solution” is not really a valid idea and not a genuine solution. It will definitely not stop this awful Israeli –Muslim land conflict.
Thus a “two state solution” is out of the question. .This is because a “two state solution” not really a “solution” but an Islamic ploy of deception , a smokescreen and hoax and a fraud.
As observed early October those Hamas Islamic terror/murder attacks into Israel from Gaza reveals that even the idea of some people of dividing Jerusalem as well as other parts of the State of Israel between the Jewish people of the Muslim/ Arabs is nothing but folly. To engage the madness of such “talks” is a hoax and a farce .This is because in the so called “negotiations” between the heads of the Jewish nation of Israel and the leaders of the “Palestinians” the Muslim /Arabs the “Palestinian” leaders will speak the truth only when in happens to fit their agenda. The rest of the time the will be speaking half-truths and outright lies. For their goal is to obtain all of the land of the State of Israel. Even in it takes much time and it means getting the land piece by piece. Therefore, those “peace talks” are a hoax.
For the “Palestinian” leaders are employing what is the Islamic doctrine of Taqiyya . Which is the Islamic dogma that lying and deception are good things to do as long as it’s done for the cause of the advancement of Islam. The insidious scheme is part of the stealth jihad .Otherwise known as “Islamic Gradualism.” This sly and something subtle strategy of disingenuous speech, lying deception of achieving the goal of all the land of Israel a war ploy that will be a disaster if the heads of the State of Israel are foolish enough to agree to divide the land of Israel with Muslim /Arabs ,the “Palestinians.” For if such a “peace dialogue” results in a divided land, the outcome will literally be murder. For “Palestinian” leader will allow the jihadists use that land as a base to launch murderous rocket attacks in to Israel. As for example, Hamas of Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Such false hopes for peace which are based on the foundation of lies are nothing new when it comes to Israel. For example, the Bible in Psalm 55:20, 21. Reads “Such men do violence to those at peace with them and break their promised word; their speech is smoother the butter but their thoughts are of war.” [N.E.B.]
Billy Corr says
This is of interest.
This Arab-Israeli soldier’s home place, Umm Al-Fahm, was polled by the magazine Kul Al-Arab some years ago. The question was “In the event of REAL PEACE and a two-state solution, would you want the border redrawn so that Umm Al-Fahm would become part of a Palestinian State and you would no longer be citizens of Israel?”
This was some years ago, but at that time a full 87% of those polled [roughly one in forty] preferrd to remain Israelis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frl5_YT7gVU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frl5_YT7gVU
Billy Corr says
FEARLESS YOUNG ISRAELI WOMEN – NOT IN SEARCH OF “SAFE SPACES” –
https://libertyresolve.com/yay-these-50-dead-hamas-militants-wont-experience-heaven-for-the-first-time/
Billy Corr says
When I wrote “one in forty” that may have been misleading. I meant that a thousand people were polled out of a population of forty thousand
Troybeam says
Israel, always generous to Gaza even when disrespected by the people of Gaza. Israel has let her guard down by that I mean the people and government.
Israel should have never disarmed the people. The constant attacks by Hamas should have been enough to keep the people armed and ready. The EMC classes should have been a regular option to be updated for all citizens.
As for Arab Israelis for me its a catch 22, how many would defend Israel and how many helped with Oct.7th.
I had neighbors who were Arab Israelis, they were good neighbors but underneath I could see the Muslim way of life they could not hide & when I asked questions about life in Israel they lied, 100% lies.