Operation “Cast Thy Bread”

Operation “Cast Thy Bread”

Israel’s Strategy Of Scorched Earth

Here’s a story you won’t find in your high school history book.

In 1948, before Israel even officially became a state, its founders were already committing atrocities, possibly the original modern use of biological warfare in the region. They called Operation Cast Thy Bread, a reference to a Bible verse about giving and being generous. This, on the other hand, was a mission to poison Palestinian water supplies with typhoid bacteria to scare people out of their homes. You know, ethnic cleansing with a biblical name.

“The most moral army in the world.”

This wasn’t some fringe operation by rogue soldiers, it was approved by David Ben-Gurion himself and overseen by military brass like Yigael Yadin, who’d later become chief of staff of the IDF. Their goal was to make sure Palestinians didn’t just flee, but stayed gone. How better to do that than to make the water undrinkable and watch a typhoid outbreak roll through town?