Update from the Home Front - Eric Guth 4Z1UG

While the war in Israel against Hamas in Gaza may be losing its media appeal, especially in the wake of the upcoming US Presidential election, it is ongoing and life changing in Israel.  Many of our reserve troops, over 350,000, of them called up, are beginning to return to their families and jobs after 90 days of continuous action in Gaza and in the North of Israel.  Most have been told that they will return again in a few months, to rotate in and out of the fronts, until the war is reduced, and we begin to feel safe inside our tiny country. 

 Almost a quarter of a million Israelis are evacuated from their homes in the North and South of Israel and still living with family members and in hotels and guest houses.  Because of the instability of the Northern Border with Hezbollah, the threat to communities in the North is larger than the threat from Gaza before October 7th, our people will not return home for some time.  

As an “old timer” I feel undervalued compared to many of my neighbors in Efrat, many of whom serve in combat roles.  Those of us older Israelis volunteer to help out where needed while the reservists are out of town.   I try to do more with less for my clients, volunteer to patrol in the middle of the night, tutor Akiva in electronics, and visit the bereaved connected to us just by being in Israel. We try to live a normal life, with eyes on our Homefront Command app to let us know of incoming missiles or security breaches in our community. 

I was told that there is a “secondary PTSD” that comes from the bombardment of up to the minute news on the dozens of Whats-app groups that we use to communicate about everything. If I add the dozens of podcasts that I listen to, every week,  about what is happening here, my mind is often tired by the end of the day.  Sleep does not take away the exhaustion.  I want to plan another QSO Today Academy event and a music concert in Jerusalem, yet everything seems uncertain in a similar way to how the COVID-19 emergency disrupted all of our lives for almost two years.  Producing the weekly QSO Today Podcast every week is a great step to staying on track when everything else is so easily derailed.  

I have been meaning to share with you my sources of news on the war here, what is happening with the Israelis as a people, the pressures from outside of Israel coming from our “friends” and enemies, and how WE are getting along.  
These are the newsgroups and resources that I use to follow the war in Israel against Hamas: 
ISRAEL REALTIME - this is my up to the minute account of what is going on in Israel with the war. 
🔹 PREFERRED Telegram link .. https://t.me/Israel_Realtime_Updates 
….  WhatsApp too, link .. https://chat.whatsapp.com/IFE7j7LTc7b9tGctRPazy4

Raptor News Service - on YouTube to follow the war using maps. https://www.youtube.com/@RaptorNews

The Call Me Back Podcast, with Dan Senor: https://unlocked.fm/  is especially good at analysis about what is happening and where this war can go with experts in the area. 

Caroline Glick is a reporter who lives and works in my town of Efrat.  She is a contributor to major newspapers around the World and has a podcast of her own discussing the issues in Israel.  I share her point of view and this is why I recommend her show.  
https://www.spreaker.com/show/caroline-glicks-middle-east-news-hour

While this is a long interview with Francisco Gil-White, PH.D., a political anthropologist, it is the best and most concise understanding of the history of the Palestinian National Movement and the connection between Nazism and the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization).  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peXAqwS2yqc

Yoni Heilman is an immigrant to Israel from the United States and now a reserve soldier in the IDF.  He writes a war journal as an IDF soldier in Gaza.  
https://sapirjournal.org/war-in-israel/2023/10/dispatches-from-a-soldier/