Despite ElAl having just been voted the 5th worst airline in the world we found the cabin crew lovely and very helpful. They have no entertainment screens now so you must navigate to their Wi-Fi and then to their app. Having not done this before I was struggling and the air hostess was very helpful . There was the usual limited choice of movies if you are not a fluent Hebrew speaker but enough to occupy yourself. The flight was on time and the only complaint was the cussed and sharp check in girl who clearly worked for Ryanair. I don’t think it was anti semitism, this girl just didn’t like anyone and took pleasure in checking in everyone’s hand luggage, which always leave passengers feeling a bit grumpy after taking so much care to pack you feel you need for the flight.
The food, however, on ElAl was probably the worst in the world and you would need to be very hungry indeed to eat that sodden chicken sandwich. YUK. But who flies with ElAl for the food, and it is at the moment one of the very few airlines prepared to fly to Israel and despite the outrageous prices at least one can get in and out of the country safely. The UK foreign office has just changed their stance on travelling to Israel so travellers can now get insurance, and hopefully other airlines will start to return if the ceasefire endures.
It was sad to see Ben Gurion airport with so few flight arrivals. The people were being extra kind to each other and once one left the airport the trains were running on time and life seemed normal. It felt so free to arrive back in Israel, and even if there were to be the occasional siren at least we knew we wouldn’t be confronted by anti Israel demonstrations and Palestinian flags like the one that’s as been flying over Tower Hamlets.
The mood in the country is lighter after such a phenomenal achievement by the IAF to knock out both the air and sea defences in Syria that presented such a danger to the safety of Israel.
The recents events in Syria have astonished everyone with the rapid fall of The Assad regime that literally crumbled in full sight of the world. Here was a leader who presented a polished front with his British Wife and his British education, but behind closed doors his atrocities appear to be even worse than any one knew. It has been estimated that he killed over 600,000 of own people and now underground prison bunkers housing political prisoners and even children are being revealed daily. Mass graves are being discovered and he will likely go down in history alongside Hitler and Stalin as one of the most brutal regimes. The ICC seem to be unaware of his atrocities or perhaps as Israel cannot be held accountable they are turning a blind eye and Mr Assad is sitting apparently in a luxurious complex near Moscow, as a guest of Mr Putin. (Birds of feather etc)
We have never had a peace treaty with Syria, so technically we are still at war with them, but there are mixed messages coming from the rebels who have taken power. A message saying they would come to take Jerusalem is not a message of friendship but without the support of Iran or Russia they will find it impossible to come anywhere for anything . The IAF have destroyed 90% of their weapons including chemical weapons some of which could likely be the missing WMD missing from Iraq.
Syria was a vital cog in the axis of evil that sent weapons from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Meanwhile the Russians had pulled out of port before the air strikes, and they are leaving Syria , however, it is reported the rebels (who are now the de facto government) have not yet destroyed the Russian bases leaving a way open for them to return.
The Russians have their hands full in Ukraine with reported loss of 700,000 soldiers at a cost of many billions of USD according to the IMF, they clearly had no appetite for getting involved in another insurrection in Syria.
We certainly cannot and must not relax as the rebels are committed Islamists and are made up of various groups, including splinters from ISIS and Al Qaida. Both these organisations pose a massive threat to the free world. Other groups are backed by the Turkish leader Erdogan who fancies himself as the modern day Sultan, leading a new Ottoman Empire. It was reported in one media outlet that he said he’s coming for Damascus.
No one should be fooled by the initial overtures of peace. One only needs to cast their mind back to 1979 when the Ayatollah Khomeini was hailed for liberating Iran from the Shah to see how that worked out !
One day, the world, will be very thankful that Israel have taken steps to ensure the weapons and chemicals do not fall into the hands of extremists. The UN in its usual stupidity has condemned Israel for violating Syrian sovereignty . It is beyond a circus at the UN and they are a huge obstacle to peace in the world.
So while Turkey and the Syrian Rebels declare where they intend to invade, the foreign media accuses Israel of a “land grab”! The IDF are now on the peak of Mount Hermon which is a strategic site to ensure the protection of the north of Israel.
While the UN is looking for a political process with a disparate coalition of fighters with no common aims, Israel is making sure that at least they do not have chemical weapons, or the means to attack their neighbour again.
Druze villages on the Syrian border have requested to be annexed so they fall under Israeli law, so the nonsense being peddled that Israel wants to occupy Syria is just that, nonsense. Some displaced people from the north of Israel have started to slowly return home.
While we have much to be optimistic about , the challenge now facing Israel is that Hamas are still active, although they are much depleted, and as yet no one seems to know the whereabouts or the condition of the 100 remaining hostages. The Red Cross have made no effort to check on the condition of the hostages in well over a year.
We are hearing that negotiations are making progress, and such is Hamas’s defeat that it is also reported that they will negotiate a hostage release deal even while they IDF refuse to leave Gaza. Rockets are still able to be fired occasionally, often from the humanitarian zone. Nevertheless there is renewed optimism and hope in everyone’s heart that a deal can be done in the very near future.
It seems that the PA are trying to promote themselves as responsible leaders by tackling Hamas terror cells in the their administrative area, but are they still paying the “pay to slay” stipend? The area known as the West Bank or Judea and Samaria is worrisome, as there are still large pockets of terror activity within these areas which are very built up and dense with civilians. The IDF are setting up observation towers in these areas.
All this is going on while Israel is actively trying a corruption case against its own Prime Minister. There is no other country in the Middle East, that even objects to government corruption, let alone would bring a Prime Minister to trial. The demonstrators around the world have zero understanding of the area , and if they do, then there support for terrorist organisations is pure anti semitism. Queers for Palestine could have a lovely flight off a building if they went to the neighbours around here, and if any of them would like to see a proper genocide then Syria seems to be presenting the perfect opportunity, where undoubtedly, crimes against humanity will be proven on an epic scale. And there is not much noise from the UN or the ICC.
There is a tremendous opportunity now for the world to ensure that the Mad Mullahs of Iran do not get their hands on nuclear weapons and to take the lead to help this new world order morph into a long term peace. We also hear for the first time Iranian media publicly criticising their regime for their incredible failure of judgement in financing the Syrian despot and Hezbollah leaving the Iranian economy in dire straits.
War in the Middle East exports itself all around the globe and people overseas should remember that defeating ISIS, who were just a rabble, rag tag group of savages with weapons, was a long and scary endeavour. The jihadist Sunni Al Queda founded by Osama Bin Laden seek Islamic world domination and its unlikely they have reformed much. The Kurds in Syria, who have not expressed any desire for world domination need help as they face Turkish forces alone.
Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia need to step up now and defrost the cold peace and form a proper alliance to support a new order in the Middle East. Egypt have removed most of the anti Israel and anti semitic school books that poisoned the minds of the children. These moderate Arab states must understand much better how dangerous extremism is and just how quickly countries can fall into total chaos. Jordan is on shaky ground with the King being a Hashemite minority presiding over a Palestinian majority.
Israel’s victory against Hezbollah prevented the unthinkable. The defeat of Hamas was a bloody and costly battle that has left Gaza in ruins with thousands of deaths and injuries on both sides. A huge price was paid to bring security to the area. The world powers should now put aside their anti Israel rhetoric and think only about world peace and not throw away this new opportunity to weaken Iran and make the world a safer place.
Kind Regards
Carolyne Davis
Yes we are in Eilat .. very nice 
Regards
Carolyne Davis