How Hassan Nasrallah’s Predecessor Paved the Way for the Current War

Although it has been subsumed by other developments, the Israeli air force’s killing of the Hizballah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah in his underground bunker remains one of the remarkable feats of the present war. Nasrallah assumed his position in 1992, after Israel successfully eliminated his predecessor, Abbas al-Musawi, in another airstrike. It’s worth looking back at what Martin Kramer wrote after Musawi’s death about his role in founding Hizballah, and in shifting its focus from killing Americans and taking them hostage to doing the same to Israelis:

Musawi traded American hostages for a clear shot at foiling American policy, now heavily invested in the Arab-Israeli peace process. His attacks against Israel’s security zone [in southern Lebanon] constituted a jihad against the very idea of peace. The danger, as he saw it, was not Israel’s military presence in its security zone, but Israel’s willingness to withdraw from the zone altogether—in return for full peace with Lebanon. Hizballah’s mission has been to deny Israel that peace. If it could kill enough Israelis, perhaps Israel would settle for a combination of UN and Lebanese security guarantees—something far less binding and durable than a peace.

Much has changed since 1992, but Israel did withdraw under such circumstances in 2000, setting the stage for the 2006 Lebanon war—which concluded with a combination of UN and Lebanese security guarantees. As Kramer predicted, these guaranteed nothing, bringing us to the current war.

Read more at Sandbox

More about: Hassan Nasrallah, Hizballah

A Jewish Obligation to Vote

On October 3, 1984, Rabbi Moses Feinstein—a leading figure among American Orthodox Jews, whose halakhic opinions are obeyed and studied today—wrote a letter encouraging Jews to vote in the upcoming elections. Feinstein, a talmudist of the old school, was born in a shtetl in the vicinity of Minsk, then in the Russian empire, before elections were known in that country. He came to the U.S. in 1937, at the age of forty-one, to escape the ever-worsening persecution of devout Jews in the Soviet Union. That experience no doubt shaped his view of democracy. Herewith, the letter in full:

On reaching the shores of the United States, Jews found a safe haven. The rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights have allowed us the freedom to practice our religion without interference and to live in this republic in safety.

A fundamental principle of Judaism is hakaras hatov—recognizing benefits afforded us and giving expression to our appreciation. Therefore, it is incumbent upon each Jewish citizen to participate in the democratic system which safeguards the freedoms we enjoy. The most fundamental responsibility incumbent on each individual is to register and to vote.

Therefore, I urge all members of the Jewish community to fulfill their obligations by registering as soon as possible and by voting. By this, we can express our appreciation and contribute to the continued security of our community.

Read more at X

More about: 2024 Election, American Jewry, Democracy, Halakhah