Israel formally declared war on Saturday evening for the first time in 50 years, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet voted to adopt a formal war footing.
The Times of Israel reported:
The security cabinet voted last night to put the country officially at war, and it can carry out “significant military activities,” the Prime Minister’s Office announces.
…
The high-level security cabinet decision gives the declaration legal standing in keeping with Basic Law: The Government, which in its Clause 40 says that the country cannot go to war without a government decision.
The last official “war” was the Yom Kippur War of 1973, when Israel was taken by surprise in an attack by Egypt and Syria. Though Israel has fought several conflicts since then, many of which are popularly referred to as “wars,” the country has not officially declared war in half a century.
The Prime Minister’s office also announced that it was cutting off “electricity, fuel, and goods” to Gaza. Netanyahu also released a message telling civilians in Gaza to flee because of Israel’s imminent response.
The Palestinian terror attack happened on the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret, the final day of the annual High Holy Day cycle.
Iran has already declared “victory,” as the attack — using drones, rockets, and vehicles — has led to over 600 deaths and over 2,000 wounded, as of this writing.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.