UNIFIL Falling Down On Mandated Job TO Defend Lebanon In New Fighting Style Arena

 Nadene Goldfoot                                              

   

2 days ago — Located about 15 km (10 miles) from the Israeli 

border, the Ali al-Taher ridge has a commanding view of a 

broad sweep of southeastern Lebanon, and.....                   

The IDF announced that it has completed clearing and 

destroying the massive Hezbollah underground terror command 

and control complex on Lebanon’s Ali Taher ridge. The terrorists 

were trapped as IDF cleared this southern Lebanon ridge.  

                                  Hamas Tunnel found

The IDF also had located an underground terror tunnel containing hundreds of weapons and four launch shafts aimed at Israel - under the village of Majdal Zoun in southern Lebanon.   This method of operation is not new and is characteristic of Hezbollah, which has consistently been exposed for embedding its terrorist infrastructure in the heart of civilian communities. The village had been fortified and filled with terrorist infrastructure, including a significant underground terror tunnel.

An Israeli airstrike killed a Hezbollah operative as he emerged from a tunnel in the Ali al-Taher Hills, where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have laid siege to dozens of Hezbollah operatives inside another massive subterranean complex. 

Israel has refused to withdraw from the complex, believed to be the largest in southern Lebanon, even as it scales back military operations elsewhere following the June 20 truce. "This is an underground military fortress that Hezbollah spent twenty years constructing," IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said on June 21.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Hezbollah had spent "hundreds of millions of dollars" constructing its underground network. The figure highlights the immense financial resources Hezbollah devoted to military infrastructure in a country grappling with one of the worst economic crises in modern history.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said: “Today we can already say it: We eliminated a great many terrorists there.” The operation took several weeks, and many terrorists fled or were killed.

 The complex contained underground command centers, weapons storage rooms, generator rooms, living quarters, showers and a kitchen, which enabled the terrorists to manage the fighting and remain there for extended periods.

 The IDF said, “This is strategic infrastructure that was built over two decades, over time of 2000 to now,  and funded and planned by the Iranian terror regime.” 

The Underground Doctrine

Hezbollah's reliance on underground military infrastructure reflects the broader military doctrine of the Iran-led “Resistance Axis.” “Tunneling is part of what the Axis does,” retired Israel Defense Forces (IDF) brigadier general Assaf Orion told This is Beirut. 

The use of tunnels by the "Resistance Axis" dates back decades to when the Assad regime in Syria incorporated them into its ballistic missile program. The strategy was possibly inspired by North Korea, Orion said. “Iran then adopted it with missile cities and in its nuclear sites, including Fordow and Pickaxe Mountain,” he added. 

                           Iran Warning

 Earlier Thursday, Iran warned the United States that it would “respond forcefully” to an Israeli attack on the Ali Taher ridge, where, according to the Iranian claim, Iranian military personnel were trapped alongside Hezbollah terrorists.     

                                    Judea-Samaria

Area A: Covers about 18% of the territory, including major Palestinian cities and towns. The Palestinian Authority (PA) handles both civil and security administration.

Area B: Covers about 22% of the territory. The PA manages civil administration, while Israel and the PA share security control.

Area C: the blue section on the east side-which is alotted to the Israelis,  Covers about 60% of the territory. Israel holds full control over both security and civil matters relating to territory and Israeli communities, while local Palestinian residents fall under civil administration

Qabatiya is a Palestinian city situated in the Jenin Governorate of the northern West Bank. Jenin is located in Samaria, situated in the northern sector of the territory designated as the Judea and Samaria Area and commonly referred to internationally as the West Bank.  “Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern region of the West Bank, approximately 60 kilometers north of Jerusalem.” -- [An-Najah National University]. Valley Setting: The city sits in a mountain valley nestled between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. 

Ariel: The largest and primary official Israeli city 

is located deep within central Samaria. (Note: Modi'in Illit, another major Israeli city, sits further south in the Binyamin region along the seam line, which is occasionally grouped into broader descriptions of southern Samaria). 

It sits approximately 6 kilometers south of Jenin City, which places it in the northern region of the Palestinian territories under Israeli military occupation, roughly 45 to 50 kilometers (or about 28 miles) south of the Israeli-Lebanese border.  Now we're talking about the closeness to where action is near the Lebanese border with Israel.  

Earlier today, IDF soldiers completed a special counterterrorism 

operation in the Qabatiya area, during which they apprehended a 

terrorist cell consisting of five terrorists who were planning to carry 

out a terrorist attack against Israeli civilians and security forces.

IDF soldiers completed a 48-hour counterterrorism operation in the area of Shechem (Nablus) and the surrounding areas.As part of the operation, the soldiers dismantled more than 30 weapon production machines used for the production of weapons and confiscated concealed weapons, including firearms, handguns, and ammunition. 

In addition, the soldiers searched hundreds of sites, questioned dozens of suspects, and apprehended more than 10 wanted individuals.

The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon is set to withdraw in 2027 and transfer responsibility for security there to the Lebanese government and army. Originally, UNIFIL was created by the Security Council in March 1978 to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, restore international peace and security and assist the Lebanese Government in restoring its effective authority in the area. The mandate had to be adjusted twice, due to the developments in 1982 and 2000.

 Their mission now is: Monitoring violations of resolution 1701, supporting the restoration of state authority, and helping ensure humanitarian access.  

But France has now backed Lebanon's request to revisit that decision, arguing that the deteriorating security situation and ongoing contacts with Israel justify keeping the force in place longer. 

The United States strongly rejected the idea. US Ambassador to the UN,  Mike Waltz,  said Washington did not want to extend the mandate of a force it believes has failed in its mission, saying the United States would not repeat “the mistakes of the past.”

 Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said, “UNIFIL failed for years in the mission assigned to it and did not prevent Hezbollah’s military buildup in southern Lebanon. The decision to end its mandate has already been made, and there is no reason to go backward. 

In the months remaining until the end of its activity, the force must focus on enforcing Resolution 1701 and disarming Hezbollah. 

Responsibility afterward will rest with the Lebanese government and the Lebanese army.”

Israel released 5 Lebanese prisoners and returned them to Lebanon yesterday, as a goodwill gesture to the Lebanese government amid ongoing negotiations between the 2 countries.                              

Five days after the violence in the Palestinian village of Qusra, police on Thursday arrested the first suspect in the attack, a 19 year old Israeli settler, after he allegedly fled and hid at a construction site in the settlement of Eli. Settler Arrests: On September 3, 2026, the Israel Police and Shin Bet arrested a 19-year-old Israeli settler on suspicion of spearheading the violent weekend assault.  Investigators are continuing to collect evidence and testimony in an effort to identify and   arrest others suspected of taking part in the attack.  

Following a prolonged siege and a violent raid on a Palestinian home in late August, international pressure led Israeli authorities to take rare legal action against the attackers.

IDF Conscript Arrested: Three additional suspects, including an IDF conscript, were subsequently arrested for their alleged involvement in settler-led violence.
Commander Ousted: Separately, an IDF reservist commander was dismissed after video footage emerged showing soldiers praying and sharing food with settlers blockading Palestinian homes.

Israel, with an extremely tiny population,  has been faced with many newly created ways of attack on their survival, from fire in flying kites to their fields to the tunnel attacks that seem to be endless in length.  They in turn are held in check by their own morality laws as well as screams from the world of killing too many of the endless terrorists. Their youths have also been born under war-attacks.   And that's the way it is.  One against the many.  UNIFIL didn't need a lot of time to decide what the odds were for them in trying a normal army attack on an enemy.  "Their cry must have been, Let Israel do it!"

Resource:

Israel AM

https://thisisbeirut.com.lb/features/explainer/inside-hezbollahs-tunnels-the-hidden-price-of-an-underground-war.

Why Bother To Keep Kosher, to Eat Kosher

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                        

                Myself and my brother back a few years, Dr. David Alan Goldfoot, psychologist, who I was very proud of.  He had also been the Jr.  Rose Festival Prime Minister at age 10, and I had him on our Lewis & Clark float for the parade as the future football player..I was the 8 years older big sister.

I'm a Conservative Jew, brought up in Conservatism at Neveh Zedek Synagogue in Portland, Oregon, a middle of the road type of Judaism, not really Orthodox to the letter nor only the barest of Jewish history and practice.  Conservatives have been known to lean either way.  Coming from only Sunday School education and very little from my mother who converted to Judaism since she had married a Jewish man who had a very Orthodox-immigrant from Lithuania mother and deceased father who died here in Portland, it's a wonder I even stayed Jewish in today's world, let alone follow kashrut or not.                          

Elements reminding us of our duty:  2 candles, Challah, grape wine, torah, kippah, apples, honey, pomegranates:Pomegranates are native to the region and are celebrated as one of the biblical Seven Species of the Land of Israel. Tradition teaches that a standard pomegranate contains 613 seeds, which matches the 613 mitzvot (commandments) in the Torah. When eating it during the holiday meal, it is customary to recite a prayer asking that "our merits increase like the seeds of a pomegranate." All ritualistic food is used to teach us a moral lesson. We have large seders (dinners) the lesson, soup to nuts.   

   Time to make sure you have asked others to forgive you for ???

Rosh Hashana is coming to us on the 11th of September. Being 92 on the 5th does have it's drawbacks and it's accomplishments, too.  I may not make it to a Synagogue, but there are things I can do otherwise, even find much on TV like a service or two, at least a Reformed one.  Here he is, blowing a code announcing to come to the Synagogue.                           

Shlomo Goren was a Polish-born Israeli rabbi and Talmudic scholar. An Orthodox Jew and Religious Zionist, he was considered a foremost rabbinical legal authority on matters of Jewish religious law.

                   from Rabbi Shlomo Goren:  Rabbi Shlomo Goren (1918–1994) was a leading Israeli Orthodox rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and the founder of the Israel Defense Forces Military Rabbinate. He served as the Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983 and is famously remembered for blowing the shofar at the Western Wall during the 1967 Six-Day War. 

I was fascinated with our religion, our history and our holidays.  I stayed in Sunday school until about age 15 when they decided to make me a teacher.  My father, Moses "Moshe" Goldfoot,  had been a kosher butcher before I was born, and then continued with this skill by opening his own slaughter house which led to his own business called Lincoln Wholesale Meats.  Dad had even become a boxer at the Neighborhood House in his early days, well known in the community for that and for meats.  For a man who only finished his junior year in high school, he had a fantastic head for business, so put me to work as his accountant as soon as I could drive at 16.  We never considered kosher food in our house;  my dad was not following the precepts, never was bar-mitzvahed since he had entered school at age 4, trailing his 6 year old brother, Charlie, and the teacher had kicked him out, both, I believe ! That's when their father, Natan, was killed in a horse-wagon accident.   Today that would not have happened. 

I finally had come to realize, while making my way as an Elementary School teacher, who I was and what I was to become, eventually.  I made aliyah to Israel and lived there for 5years and a few months, becoming  a dual citizen;  returning for personal reasons, and started blogging when I retired to defend Israel.  I researched and wrote of the deepest elements I could go into our great history, as well as modern day events and issues pertaining to Israel. That's been my life;  sharing with others the cool facts that I've found about our historic epic being on this planet that goes back so far, that was written by Moses himself, says our rabbis that is found as the Old Testament, the Bible, what we call the Tanakh.   

I realized how clever it was that Moses had us follow such kashrut laws about food;  how it kept us for over 2,000 years keep the the laws which kept us practicing Judaism and being Jewish, and when I say that, I think of the Golden rule, Don't do to others that which you don't want to happen to you, and all the rest is commentary.  

By giving up on the kosher laws, we let go of Judaism's morality.  That's how we differ from other religions;  we were given moral precepts to follow  that kept us mentally hooked into Judaism.  Let go of the first and you lose eventually the second, or your children will lose it.  Then they will see themselves as not being any different from others eating a hamburger with a milkshake or having a ham sandwich.  And hopefully there will not be much difference, but eventually, like in these days, I am seeing a lot of differences. So naturally, living in an Assisted Living Center and being the Jewish Bubba of Portland, I follow as best as I can and as much as I can humanely as I can do.  Yes, it does keep me on my toes!  

The proof is that most all immigrant Jews to the USA were Orthodox, but their descendants have a large number of Reform.  Reform Judaism is the largest denomination of American Jews, with roughly 33% to 37% of the estimated 7.5 million U.S. Jewish population identifying with the movement, translating to about 2.5 to 2.8 million people  .About 9% of U.S. Jews identify as Orthodox, equating to roughly 675,000 individuals out of an estimated total U.S. Jewish population of 7.5 million.  According to the Pew Research Center, approximately 1.5 million adults in the United States identify as Jews of "no religion" (unaffiliated with a specific religion, but identifying as Jewish ethnically, culturally, or by family background).

What I feel is that we were given these laws that had a long term affect on us and our mind and attitude toward people and life itself, the value of life, the purpose of life.   It also gives me a sense of accomplishment.  

So if there are any readers out there who I have slighted or hurt in any way, I am truly sorry. I will work on improving.   

Marine-educated Yale Lawyer Vance Meets Iran's President in Switzerland

 Nadene Goldfoot                                 

Vice President James David Vance, born August 2, 1984, only 42 years old,  in Middletown, Ohio,  takes the spotlight.  He's a former Marine that had deployment to Iraq.  Vance was educated at Ohio State University and has a law degree from Yale Law School.  He was well-known for his best selling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which explored his Appalachian roots of his genealogy and the socioeconomic struggles of the American working class.  He's been a Roman Catholic since 2019.  JD Vance has no formal academic background, specialized coursework, or documented formal education specifically focused on Israeli history.

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance opened talks with Iranian officials in Switzerland on Sunday, September 6, 2026 so Trump wants nuclear progress, but Iran is pushing IDF withdrawal from southern Lebanon as Israel vows to hold the security zone.  Lebanon has been in on talks with Israel and understands the whys;  it's Hezbollah, the Iranian led terrorists, who have been shooting and not  willing to give up their arms in any  deal.  They have been given another span of time,  60 days to come to a conclusion.                            

 The present Ayatollah head acting as President, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian,  said the only American condition is that Iran not build an atomic bomb, something he said Iran is prepared to put in writing. But he also said Iran will not give up what it calls its right to uranium enrichment, claiming that Trump has effectively recognized those rights.  Pezeshkian has held the presidency since July 2024.  He was a former heart surgeon.  He is young, born September 29, 1954 so he's 72 years old, in Mahabad, Iran.  

Vice President JD Vance views the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon as a complex "chicken and egg problem" tied to broader U.S.-Iran diplomatic efforts. (To me, this is not good.  It's not a matter of who got there first;  it's a matter of Iran's goal to wipe out Israel with Hezbollah and Hamas !  They are terrorists !  Hezbollah is not wanted in Lebanon, either, but so far has taken it over.)  

Chain of Reactions: Vance has described border skirmishes as situations where a "junior guy who fires a drone that didn't have approval from the high command" triggers an Israeli response, leading to rapid escalation. 
Proportional Restraint: While explicitly affirming Israel's fundamental right to self-defense, he has simultaneously urged restraint to Israel, stating that Israel should not "go wild in Lebanon" or use excessive force in civilian areas like Beirut. ( Why is it that only Israel is expected to restrain themselves in a war of live or die, survive or have your country forcefully eliminated off the map?  Israel has restrained themselves for the past 57 years ever since the Six Day1969 war that they had won.  It was then that all the Arab countries involved with the war, lead by Egypt, held a meeting in Africa and swore on the 3 Nos, The "Three Noes" issued at the 1967 Arab League summit in Khartoum, Sudan, regarding Israel were no peace, no recognition, and no negotiations with Israel.  

The "Deconfliction Mechanism": Vance helped outline a U.S.-backed coordination channel involving regional mediators (such as Qatar and Pakistan) intended to facilitate direct communication between Israel, Lebanon, and Hezbollah-related interlocutors to manage flare-ups before they expand into a wider war.
Cease-fire Scope: Vance clarified that initial U.S.-Iran diplomatic understandings focused primarily on state-level actions rather than serving as an immediate, all-encompassing blanket cease-fire for Lebanon itself, creating occasional friction and strategic misunderstandings with regional players. 
Long-Term Goal: The administration's stated objective is empowering the official Lebanese government to police southern Lebanon to curtail Hezbollah's dominance and secure Israel's northern border.

       Campus of Ohio State
As for Ohio State U, Ohio State University has faced multiple reported antisemitic incidents, hate crimes, and formal civil rights complaints following tensions surrounding the Israel-Hamas war.
Off-Campus Assault: In November 2023, two students were physically assaulted near a bar after suspects asked if they were Jewish and used a derogatory slur. As reported by ABC News, “the suspects yelled a derogatory term and assaulted two students while asking if they were Jewish.”
On-Campus Spitting: The university documented an incident where a student reported being spit upon, which administrators classified as a hate crime under federal guidelines. 
Vandalism and Harassment: Jewish and Israeli advocacy groups documented cases of threatening graffiti, physical confrontations, verbal taunts, and the removal of hostage posters on campus. 
Federal Investigations-3 of them
Title VI Complaints: The Anti-Defamation League, StandWithUs, and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law filed a joint federal civil rights complaint against the university. 
Department of Education Inquiry: The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into how Ohio State handled reports of antisemitic harassment.



Campus Protests: The Gaza war protests at Ohio State University involved ongoing student demonstrations, counter-protests, and heightened security measures that drew scrutiny from both student activists and federal officials. 
University Response
University leaders stated that they maintain a strict policy against discrimination or harassment based on religion or identity. Administration officials increased campus security and reiterated that hateful behavior violates university standards

The environment for a Jewish student today is not the same as those attending in the 1950's.  Anti-Semitism today in the USA has reached an all time high, compared with the 1930s in Germany, especially on the East Coast where more Jews live..  

Resource:

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2026/07/lebanese-israel-talking-to-be-in-rome.html

 

Birth: September 29, 1954, in Mahabad, Iran.