From Slavery to Freedom

13 Nissan 5784 

I pinned that phrase from Tanchuma to the top of the page as a reminder...

"...and on the 15th of Nisan they will in the future be redeemed from subjugation to exile.”

When were we considered to have been redeemed from Egypt?  It wasn't after Egypt was destroyed.  It wasn't after we successfully crossed the Red Sea.  It wasn't when we entered into Eretz Yisrael.  It was the day we no longer needed Pharaoh's permission to leave.  The day we got up and walked out and no one could stop us - that was our redemption.  Everything else followed from that!

This quote from the Tanchuma predicts that the same will be true of our future final redemption, too - "from subjugation to the exile."  When we go free from foreign domination and oppression, everything else will follow from that.  In this situation, present-day Egypt is clearly the U.S.

Israel aghast as US said poised to sanction IDF unit with history of abuses

The Biden administration is slated to announce sanctions against the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda battalion for alleged human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank, the Axios news site reported on Saturday. It would be the first time the US has ever taken such a step.

...Israel moved the unit out of the West Bank in December 2022 — though it denied it did so due to soldiers’ behavior — and it has since served mostly in the country’s north. It has also been deployed to the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing war against Hamas.

...The expressions of surprise and anger in Israel came shortly after leaders voiced profound gratitude to the US after the US House passed a major military aid package for the Jewish state.

Citing unnamed American sources, the Axios report said the sanctions would bar the transfer of US weapons to the largely ultra-Orthodox infantry unit and prevent its soldiers from training with US forces or taking part in any activities with US funding, under the Leahy Laws.

Authored by then-senator Patrick Leahy in the late 1990s, the laws prohibit providing military assistance to individuals or security force units that commit gross violations of human rights and have not been brought to justice.

One of the sources was quoted saying that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had decided not to sanction other military and police units that the administration was investigating, as it had seen adjustments in their conduct.

An administration official told the news site that the decision to sanction Netzah Yehuda was based on research done before October 7 that examined incidents in the West Bank.

...The report came days after ProPublica said a State Department panel recommended that Blinken sanction several Israeli units for alleged rights abuses, including Netzah Yehuda.

Blinken himself said Friday that he had made “determinations” regarding accusations that Israeli forces had violated the Leahy Laws.

Asked at a news conference in Italy about reports that the State Department has recommended cutting off of military aid to certain Israeli units over possible human rights violations in the West Bank, Blinken did not outright confirm the reports, but promised results very soon.

“I think you’re referring to the so-called Leahy Law and our work under that,” he responds. “So this is a very important law. And it’s one that we apply across the board. And when we’re doing these investigations, these inquiries, it’s something that takes time. That has to be done very carefully, both in collecting the facts and analyzing them.

“And that’s exactly what we’ve done. And I think it’s fair to say that you’ll see results very soon. I made determinations. You can expect to see them in the days ahead,” Blinken said, without elaborating.

Netzah Yehuda was created so that ultra-Orthodox and other religious soldiers can serve without feeling they are compromising their beliefs. The soldiers do not interact with female troops to the same extent as other servicemen and are given additional time for prayer and religious study.

Since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, the US has issued three rounds of sanctions against settler individuals for violence against Palestinians. The latest round was issued on Friday and included the leader of the far-right group Lehava, Benzi Gopstein, who is a close ally of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

Ben Gvir said Saturday that imposing “sanctions on our soldiers is a red line.”

Describing the Axios report as “extremely grave,” Ben Gvir stated that he “expects Defense Minister Yoav Gallant not to submit to American dictates” and that the members of Netzah Yehuda “must be fully supported.”

“If there is not anybody at the Defense Ministry who will back up the battalion as required, I will ask to absorb them into the Israel Police and the Ministry of National Security,” continued Ben Gvir, who added that he would be willing to integrate the battalion into the Border Police.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said imposing sanctions “while Israel is fighting for its existence is utter madness.”

“This is part of a planned move to force the State of Israel to agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state and to forsake Israel’s security,” Smotrich charged in a post on X.

Moshe Feiglin had the following to say about this development...

On the eve of Passover, our sons and daughters are being tortured in the Hamas tunnels, a few minutes' drive from the border, and for 7 months now the IDF has not been able to save them - due to the mental dependence on the Americans.

We must internalize: The abductees are still there, only because of the dependence on the Americans. The victory evaporated, despite the supreme heroism and the terrible death toll - only because of the mental dependence that the heads of the security system and the political leadership had developed on the Americans.

As we established the country out of an American embargo, As we won the Six Day War contrary to their opinion And as we destroyed the Iraqi nuclear threat against their will - That way, and only that way, when we get rid of the Americans, we can win again and survive existential threats in the future.

The American sanctions on the Netzah Yehuda battalion are a sign of respect for the battalion and the beginning of a welcome process of a necessary separation from American "aid" and dependence on them.

The process of American "burning of the hametz" from the IDF and the security systems was started for us by the Americans themselves in the Netzah Yehuda Battalion and we must complete it.

Without removing all this "leaven", from all the veins of all our security arms, we will not be able to defeat our enemy again and go to freedom, from the 7.10 slavery.

AMEN!!!!!!!!!