The Hidden Cost of Israel's Restraint

Over the past few months, Israel has deliberately refrained from using overwhelming force to stop the ongoing Palestinian rocket attacks against Jewish towns and cities in the Negev.

The result has been daily barrages against Israeli communities, which continued even after the start of yesterday's precarious cease-fire.

But there is a hidden cost to Israel's inexplicable restraint, as some newly published research now reveals.

A study conducted by Tel Hai College has found that at least one-third (!!) of the children in the Negev town of Sderot suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

According to Prof. Moli Lahad, who oversaw the study, at least one parent of each of these children likely also suffers from PTSD. "These grave figures stem from the fact that the parents' basic security in their ability to protect their children has been completely shaken," Lahad said. "About a third of the population - adults and children­- suffers from acute anxiety, meaning that any occurrence is immediately interpreted as a threat and people spend their entire lives 'on alert.'"

According to the experts, PTSD in children can lead to a range of effects, from sleep disturbances to greater impulsiveness and aggressiveness to anxiety disorders and even to depression.

Oddly enough, one of the reasons that Israel has not gone in to Gaza in full force has been the fear of how this might affect Palestinian civilians.

But as the Tel Hai research demonstrates, Israel's leadership has failed to take into account how its policy might impact Israeli civilians.

And since a government's primary responsibility is to protect its own people, it is time for our leaders to wake up and take notice. Because by failing to stop Palestinian terror, they are directly harming the future not only of our children, but of the country itself.

The Media Must Also Repent

Well, it's that time of year on the Jewish calendar – the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh Hashanah, the start of the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the holy Day of Atonement.

It is a time for reflection and for introspection, for looking in the mirror and tackling our flaws and our faults head-on and making amends.

It is a special opportunity, a chance to improve ourselves and our society – so in the spirit of these exceptional days, here is some unsolicited advice for a central institution in our lives that desperately needs a dose of repentance – and just who might that be? Well, of course, it is none other than…. the media.

1 – Stop Distorting the News – As we know, the mainstream media has a nasty habit of twisting the news out of shape, failing to convey the entire story, and ignoring important factors such as context and history. Time and again we see this in how the news from Israel is reported – giving people false impressions, partial information and tendentious perspectives on what is happening. Suggestion #1 for the media: start delivering the news rather than distorting it.

2 – Stop Confusing Opinion with Fact – In an ideal world, we would be able to follow events without being able to detect the opinions of those who report it. All too often, however, this doesn't prove to be the case, as journalists allow their beliefs to shape what they report and how they do so, in many instances making little or no effort to conceal their bias. Looking for an example? Just watch how US President George W. Bush is covered by most mainstream media outlets America. Suggestion # 2 for the media: try harder to separate your opinions from the facts you are trying to convey.

3 – Start Being More Patriotic – The mainstream media often fears sounding too patriotic, because they confuse patriotism with jingoism. But when your country is at war – whether against Hizbullah terrorists or Al-Qaeda jihadists – there is nothing wrong with showing a little national pride. Why do so many Americans turn to Fox News? Probably, in part, because they are tired of hearing the drumbeat of how relentlessly wrong their country is on other networks, which often seem bent on "faulting America first". Suggestion # 3 for the media: start remembering that when the bad guys say they want to kill all Americans or Israelis, that press pass of yours won't help you all that much.

There are, of course, many other areas in which the media needs to improve. But repentance is often be a step-by-step process – and the steps described above would be a good place for them to start.

The Return of a Lost Tribe to Zion

Thank G-d, that has now finally come to pass - and by the middle of next week, we will have brought over 218 Bnei Menashe Jews to Israel.

Was that really George W. Bush at the UN?

What has happened to George W. Bush?

In his address at the UN on Tuesday, the president spent more time talking about the need for creating a Palestinian state than he did about the threat posed by a nuclear-armed Iran.

Just take a look at the speech, which is filled with mealy-mouthed boilerplate taken straight out of the State Department's files, and you'll see what I mean.

Indeed - three huge paragraphs in the text are devoted exclusively to Israel and the Palestinians, as though that were the central problem facing the world today.

In fact, Bush devoted more verbiage to the Palestinian issue than he did to Iraq, Afghanistan and Darfur combined!

There is no mention of sanctions on Iran should they continue to pursue nuclear weapons, no talk of isolating them diplomatically, economically or militarily, and not one line – not one single line! – explaining the danger that nuclear-armed mullahs in Teheran would pose to the future of the world.

But perhaps the most astonishing part of the speech was this: "The leaders of Hamas campaigned on a platform of ending corruption and improving the lives of the Palestinian people, and they prevailed. The world is waiting to see whether the Hamas government will follow through on its promises, or pursue an extremist agenda."

Sorry, George, but no one should still be "waiting to see" whether Hamas will pursue an "extremist agenda" – for that is exactly what they have been doing since the very first moment they came into existence.

Hamas continues to fire rockets into Israel from Palestinian-controlled territory, they are smuggling in arms and ammunition, and they are holding abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit incommunicado since kidnapping him back in July. Isn’t that extreme enough?

Perhaps the President was just having a bad day on Tuesday, or maybe by accident he pulled up a speech from the Clinton era and used it instead of his own.

But if his statement at the UN truly reflects his policy agenda, then the world is in deeper trouble than it realizes.

The Media Yawns at Renewed Palestinian Rocket Attacks

Call it "the news not deemed worthy of reporting".

Several days ago, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza resumed firing rockets into Israel, and they have been doing so on a daily basis – but you won't read much about it in the international press.

Indeed, just this morning, three Qassam rockets landed in Israel's western Negev region. One of them hit the town of Sderot, leaving one person lightly wounded and two others requiring treatment for shock.

Not surprisingly, the media doesn't seem to take much interest in this, with hardly anyone outside of Israel now aware that the terrorists have picked up where they left off just a few weeks ago.

And so, a familiar pattern repeats itself – the Palestinians launch unprovoked rocket attacks against the Jewish state which are ignored by the media, so that when Israel finally does take action to defend itself, the international community inevitably views Israel as responsible for starting the violence.

That is what makes "alternative" media such as this website - Arutz 7 Israel National News - so important, because if you rely only on outlets like the New York Times to get your information, you just won't be getting the whole picture.