David Avishai from Israel: Tel Aviv acted in Gaza and Lebanon for good reason

It was scary, we long for more peace - say Bulgarians evacuated from Lebanon

published on 10/2/24 12:33 PM

Израелски въздушни удари в Южен Ливан, 01 октомври 2024 г.

Photo: БГНЕС

With two flights of the government Airbus in two days, the Bulgarian state managed to evacuate 169 Bulgarians and their families from Lebanon after the escalation of tensions there.

"Thank God we're back," says one of the Bulgarians with relief, while another adds: "Everything was very well organised and very quick."

At the beginning of the hostilities, people did not take the threat very seriously, but after a day or two things got ugly and the Bulgarians sought refuge in their home country. According to MFA figures, 400 Bulgarians and their families are living in Lebanon. The embassy is in constant contact with them.

"I wouldn't wish this on anyone, it's terrible". "There is light at the end of the tunnel, but now we all dream of more peace - that is what we all need," some of those evacuated on the two flights from Lebanon told BNR.

The Foreign Ministry has advised Bulgarian citizens to suspend all travel to the Lebanese Republic and to leave the country immediately as the situation in the Middle East continues to escalate. Yesterday the Israeli military reported that it had carried out a limited ground operation in Lebanon. Meanwhile, Iran has launched a rocket attack on Israeli territory and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared at a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet that anyone who attacks his country will face retaliation.

At present, there is no direct threat to the people of Israel, according to expert Velizar Shalamanov, a former defence minister. But he also noted: "It would be irresponsible to say that there is no threat to Bulgaria".

"Clearly, these attacks make little military sense. They are mainly a political and communication tool of Iran," Shalamanov told BNR, adding that "what is much more important for understanding the crisis is that it is all part of the great war that Russia started against the free world with its aggression against Ukraine.

What is happening in the Middle East can only be understood in the context of Russia's war against the free world - a war in which on the one side there is the UN Charter and the support of the free world for Ukraine, and on the other side there is Russia, supported by Iran, North Korea and China. This is the context in which the conflict in the Middle East has flared up".

"I have no concern that Israel and the Israeli army cannot handle this situation, however chaotic and complex it is. That doesn't mean that I agree with everything the army is doing. But at the end of the day," David Avishai, who has lived in Israel since 1991, told Radio Bulgaria, "no action is taken without a specific reason." We contacted him with the help of the Shalom organisation of Jews in Bulgaria.

David Avishai rewound the tape to the beginning of the military operation in Gaza on 7 October last year. He said that the operation was provoked by a series of attacks from Gaza in which Israeli citizens were kidnapped, raped and robbed.

"I give you this example: Suppose we have two neighbours, one of whom is weaker. If the weaker one decided to harm the stronger one, the stronger one would naturally retaliate in such a way that he would never think of messing with him again".

Regarding the situation in Lebanon, Mr Avishai is convinced that the reason for the flare-up of this conflict is the rocket, drone and Katyusha rocket attacks that Israel receives from Lebanese territory:

A school damaged by a ballistic missile fired from Iran, in Gedera, Israel, on 02 October 2024.

"The situation is such that the government has been forced to evacuate the residents of the northern areas of Israel and relocate them to other places in order to save their lives, because they are under constant fire. Fortunately, Israel is militarily and technologically prepared to intercept more than 90% of the rockets that attack it".

While a conflict is never one-sided, Israel's citizens of different social and ethnic backgrounds must find a way to coexist rather than drift apart.

"It is not the people themselves, nor the military, but the way the state is run that is at the root of this divide. Many of the prime minister's actions reflect his desire to stay in office at all costs, even if it means underestimating some of the country's adversaries. A state commission must be set up to investigate how a terrorist organisation was allowed to strike such a blow and wreak such havoc in the country," says David Avishai, who has lived in Israel for more than three decades.

(Interviews by Mira Stefanova and Diana Doncheva, BNR - Horizon, were used.)

Photos: BTA, BGNES

Translated and posted by E. Radkova

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David Avishai from Israel: Tel Aviv acted in Gaza and Lebanon for good reason

It was scary, we long for more peace - say Bulgarians evacuated from Lebanon

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