In 70 CE, Jerusalem was destroyed. The Temple was burned. The people of Israel were expelled from the Holy City. In 135, Jews were forbidden to settle in Jerusalem.

As Moshe (Moses) once said to his people: "And the Lord shall scatter thee among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth" (Deut. 28:64)

But every man from the people of Israel, entering into marriage, at the wedding ceremony pronounced an oath: "Let my right hand forget me if I forget Jerusalem"

Wedding each new year, the Jews raised a toast: "To the next year in Jerusalem"

Israel's Independence Day: the root causes of the war and where the keys to peace lie

(video in Russian, transcript in English)

These are the words of a commander in one of the combat units of the IDF 🇮🇱 on Memorial Day. The words of my son. I think this should be published. The translation into English is mine, below is the original in Hebrew.

All previous attacks by Gaza against Israel followed the same pattern: Gaza initiates bombardments against Israel; Israel retaliates; Hamas and its allies flood the media and social networks with pictures of dead and crying children, triggering an outcry: "This must be stopped immediately; it doesn't matter who started it or who's right—the violence must end." Israel would halt its strikes. Gaza would declare victory, receiving fresh streams of financial and humanitarian aid, increased because now it needed "rebuilding." Those allocating and channeling the aid would benefit from greater kickbacks. Gaza would stockpile new rockets, and the cycle would repeat.

Why did our military believe Gaza would not initiate a full-scale war?

One of the debated issues when discussing Israel’s borders from a legal perspective (in our view, sacred texts should also be considered in international law) is the well-known phrase "from the Nile to the Euphrates," understood as the Tanakhic (biblical) definition of Israel’s borders.

Accordingly, on the one hand, some Israelis believe that Israel’s borders should be expanded to the "Torah-defined" boundaries from the Nile to the Euphrates. On the other hand, Israel’s opponents accuse it of striving to seize the corresponding territories.

However, this interpretation does not align with the biblical text. This passage is truly remarkable, considering the time it was written. That is, it was written thousands of years ago, and today it has come to pass as foretold.

No, Israel's borders do not extend from the Nile to the Euphrates, nor should they. In reality, this is not about the borders of Israel.