Day 298: ADHD

Our focus is everywhere: in Gaza, in the Northern Border, in the antisemitic attacks in Toronto and the threats to Israeli athletes in Paris. In the infighting the Cabinet. And also on what our government has stopped focusing on: the talks towards a hostage deal.

Ten months on, we can’t really process the grief, or think about the day after. A break would be nice, but it’s not really plausible. Going abroad is out of the question, at least for many of us with kids are serving in the army. What if something happens? What if we get stuck and can’t return? Even taking a short vacation in Israel is proving to be a challenge — many hotels still hosting evacuees form both the north and the south, and many others (like my favorite place in Israel, the Upper Galilee) are out of reach.

Then there’s the headlines The ever changing headlines. Even those that would normally last for a week have been displaced in less than two days. The tragedy in Majdal Shams? Scroll 8 or 9 items down. The main headline as of yesterday has been the unlawful break-in of not one but two army bases by an extremist mob. A mob that included members of the Knesset. Their excuse? A “legitimate protest” to “protect our soldiers” because the military police was looking into allegations of abuse by several reserve soldiers against a Hamas detainee.

One of the bases blocked (and then broken into) by the rioters happens to be B’s home base. B was not in the base at that time but he and his battalion were getting ready to return to the base after coming out of Gaza.

After being delayed by the protests, the bus driving them back could still not approach the gate. As a result, they were dropped off a long distance from their destination. In the middle of the night, they found themselves having to walk all the way to their rooms, in full gear, carrying all their equipment.

Part of B’s battalion, returning from Gaza past midnight. Soldiers in full gear, carrying additional equipment on foot because rioters were blocking the entrance to their base.

This is a tiny incident. Not even a blip in the radar, in the big scheme of things. But it sheds light on the extensive damage that the extremist parliament members — from Otzma Yehudit, but also from a formerly mainstream party like Likud — are causing to our country. Opposing the rule of law. Delegitimizing the army and its regulatory institutions. Backing the use of violence. Forcing the war cabinet to stop important discussions and deal with an unruly mob. Pitting Israelis against one another. And pitting Israel against the world by delegitimizing whatever is still left of democratic institutions, including the Judiciary.

More things fighting for my attention today:

• One man was killed this afternoon by a Hizballah rocket in HaGoshrim Kibbutz. The thirteenth victim this week, the forty-third killed by missiles or drones in the North during the war.

• Noa, one of Y’s best friends since childhood, is enlisting tomorrow. Best of luck to her, and hugs to her parents!

• An presentation I’m working on for next week. (Boss, please note that if you are reading this.)

• Lufthansa has temporarily cancelled flights to Israel (again.) Friends and family members planning to send their kids to Israel for gap year programs starting next month are waiting to see whether to postpone or cancel.

• Two more days and we are reaching 300 days. How did we reach this point?

• School is supposed to start in one month. Still need to get schoolbooks for L, school uniforms for S. And finish the final couple of essays of my Master’s thesis.

• Oh, and my review of

  Gila Pfeffer
  ’s new memoir was published yesterday by the Jewish Book Council! You can also read an excerpt of her memoir here. (If you are interested in other reviews I’ve written, you can find them here and here.)

• Tomorrow - nine months since Lavi was killed in battle. I still think of him every day.

• And just now, reports of explosions in Beirut?