The threat Iran poses to Israel is obvious: heavily armed militants supported militarily and financially by Iran - Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestine Islamic Jihad - share the Iranian government’s commitment to destroy Israel as a Jewish state; they now wouldn’t exist without Iran’s support to maintain their domestic political power and military strength. Regarding the larger military and nuclear threat posed by Iran, Israel had conducted assassinations and sabotage attacks inside Iran aimed at slowing its nuclear, drone, and missile programs; additionally, airstrikes are regularly flown against Iranian military sites and arms shipments inside Syria.
I wish more Americans had awareness of the situation and reliable information. That Netanyahu’s policy for 14 years actually supported Hamas, to divide Palestinians enough to avoid having to negotiate. Evangelicals and groups like CUFI support Israel, but not because they respect either Jews or Palestinians. Let’s hope they don’t get their wish for the end of the world.
evangelicals believe that once all of the Jews in the world gather in Israel, then they -- the christians -- will be taken straight to Heaven because they believe in Jesus Christ. This is called "the Rapture" (I think it's part of the last book in the Bible, "Revelations"). Basically, to hell (literally) with everyone else. This is the ONLY reason they "support Israel": for their own narcissistic reasons.
And 144,000 of the Jews have to proclaim Jeebus the messiah while the rest get thrown in "the fiery pit." With friends like them, Israel doesn't need the enemies they have.
You bet! I didn't know about that part of it. Sigh... Oh, I remember a group called "Jews for Jesus" many years ago. I was solicited for $$$. How on EARTH I was on their list, I have absolutely no idea.
Are we looking at a WW1 nightmare all over again. It only takes one moron to light a match that sets off a conflagration. I had no idea so much had changed in recent years. That mess is something that I considered to be a permanent stand off. Should have known better with players always jockeying for their own extra inch of land. Did chump’s withdrawal from the nuclear agreement cause Iranians to become more belligerent - Just at a time when Bibi was playing tiddlywinks with Hamas. Thank you for updating me and all of us. The chessboard is in constant flux, I fear.
Bibi made a BIG boo-boo, and he will pay the price in the next Israeli elections - the general feeling is he based his authority on protecting the citizens of Israel - didn't work out too well this time. But Bibi and his cabal have to go for the future security of Israel and its people. Now is the time we tell him that we will not support Israel's invasion of the West Bank and that all the settlements will have to go to achieve peace in the area. It would have been great if a Jewish settler had not killed Yitzak Rabin, and Arafat had accepted the previous offers from Israel for a two-state solution.....but here we are. As for Iran, perhaps they can be persuaded that it is hard to export your oil if both your Persian and Arabian Gulf oil terminals are burned-out shells..... (Nice little awl bidness ya got there - be a shame if something happened to it.....) I'm getting old and crotchety and set in my ways, and I am damn tired of living in "interesting times".....
Well put. Netanyahu needs to see that the US's continued economic aid is dependent on ending settlements in the West Bank, working with the Palestinian Authority, and immediately ceasing the provocations in and around Jerusalem.
I am aware of nothing in Netanyahu’s background to indicate that he will, at any point, place the interests of the Israeli state, let alone of the world, above his personal comfort and security. Withdrawing from the West Bank, halting settlements, and acknowledging the need for a two state solution would lead to a no confidence vote and an accelerated time table for going to prison. I cannot imagine he will risk that.
Assuming there is a “vote.” He gutted the judiciary and has authoritarian tendencies, so declaring war footing and halting elections would not be surprising.
Bibi made a big bet to save his own skin. He thought by propping up weaker Hamas he kept Hezbollah in check and maintained the illusion of Israel’s strength. Netanyahu lost the bet and now that both are attacking Israel, his weakness is on full display. My friend who grew up in Israel now believes the future of Israel as a state is unlikely and a global war very possible. She believes the surrounding Muslim countries who have young populations that are growing quickly and developing technology will simply crush Israel within the next 20 years. With the US, Iran, Russia and China taking sides, we risk a terrible conflagration. This is a human caused catastrophe and Jared Kushner pretending to be a Middle East negotiator didn’t help.
It appears to me that Hamas and Iran played Bibi and he has been blind to how he was being manipulated while he has been attempting to manipulate the people of his own country.
For some time I have seen this as a propaganda war disguised as a terrorist attack. In other words, the attack was designed specifically to create an Israeli over-reaction. The stakes, even if it doesn't result in a hot war, are the continuing discrediting of Israel in world opinion. Now Hamas is beginning to release hostages--but in dribbles. So not (in its own opinion) as a show of "fear" but as a show of "reasonableness" in comparison to the dribbles of aid now being allowed to enter the area. I just read that the NORMAL aid to Gaza was over 400 trucks a day. So far it has been less than a 10th of that since Israel started to allow resumption at all.
This thing was long in the planning. It wouldn't surprise me if Iran's aid for the attack was specifically conditioned on Hamas doing just what it is doing now.
First, if there's a way for Netanyahu to make things worse for the world if it makes things better, at least in his mind, for himself, he will do it.
I also wonder how much of what Iran is up to also is related to the republicans who first committed treason against the US by writing to Iran about the deal that Obama's administration negotiated, then pulled out of it when they are their emblem, Pol Potbelly, got into power.
As I read ‘The World Weighs the Options in Gaza’ I harken back, flash back, remember the JFK and Oswald assassinations at the end of my electronics cram course in missile tech ‘A’ school in Damneck. The clarity of your analysis begged me to consider the opacity of the coup aspect of those assassinations and the fine mess that followed. The clarity of your report gives me hope that truth and fear might be our allies. Thanks.
With Hamas launching the initial attack the Israeli response was always going to start with attacks on the poor Palestinians of Gaza. If all the Palestinian pique was based on the expansion of the West Bank settlements, why wasn't Hezbollah the initial perp? A key reason is that the people of Gaza are generally considered expendable because their power is so limited. This smells like a larger plot involving other countries who've become convinced that Israel and the West are exerting too much control in the ME. That China is going to be showing up seems more than coincidental. Sorting out the intel in this mess will require more than AI.
Again, it doesn't help that Netanyahu spoke about Israel's future at the UN last month using a map that did not include Gaza. He's too cunning to know that wouldn't have struck a nerve. I hope Joe keeps telling him to cool his jets, literally, and work on getting the hostages out. By then the revenge response may cool enough to get to a negotiating table and save lives. Of course, Bibi has a really big face to save.
"The Biden administration cannot defer to Netanyahu. We underwrite the country with $3.9 billion a year; that translates into leverage..." Why isn't this the be all end all where we get power to influence Israel that started as the victim but is now a perpetrators, too. How about a place in the scheme of things for a "miracle," like the Berlin wall coming down "all of a sudden?" I don't know that such a thing can be made to occur since it's a buildup to at some point exploding, but I think of that possibility. If I ran the world I'd insist Israel get that it was time to end its oppression and abuses of the Palestinian people after decades of occupation and expansionism as the underlying cause of how stuck everything is. That would be an example to the world of how we can unite that could affect other areas of impasse.
It has long been obvious to me, that Bibi's inflammatory policy of promoting incessant expansion of west bank settlements and the associated destruction of Arab homes there could not continue unabaited without inciting a response such as we have just seen by one of the Arab or Persian militias. I'm sure Mr. Biden knows it is Bibi who is responsible, but how US actions could be manipulated to calm the rightious anger in Palestine is certainly a nearly impossible task. However, failure to somehow make that happen would be calamitous.
I wish more Americans had awareness of the situation and reliable information. That Netanyahu’s policy for 14 years actually supported Hamas, to divide Palestinians enough to avoid having to negotiate. Evangelicals and groups like CUFI support Israel, but not because they respect either Jews or Palestinians. Let’s hope they don’t get their wish for the end of the world.
evangelicals believe that once all of the Jews in the world gather in Israel, then they -- the christians -- will be taken straight to Heaven because they believe in Jesus Christ. This is called "the Rapture" (I think it's part of the last book in the Bible, "Revelations"). Basically, to hell (literally) with everyone else. This is the ONLY reason they "support Israel": for their own narcissistic reasons.
And 144,000 of the Jews have to proclaim Jeebus the messiah while the rest get thrown in "the fiery pit." With friends like them, Israel doesn't need the enemies they have.
You bet! I didn't know about that part of it. Sigh... Oh, I remember a group called "Jews for Jesus" many years ago. I was solicited for $$$. How on EARTH I was on their list, I have absolutely no idea.
Are we looking at a WW1 nightmare all over again. It only takes one moron to light a match that sets off a conflagration. I had no idea so much had changed in recent years. That mess is something that I considered to be a permanent stand off. Should have known better with players always jockeying for their own extra inch of land. Did chump’s withdrawal from the nuclear agreement cause Iranians to become more belligerent - Just at a time when Bibi was playing tiddlywinks with Hamas. Thank you for updating me and all of us. The chessboard is in constant flux, I fear.
Bibi made a BIG boo-boo, and he will pay the price in the next Israeli elections - the general feeling is he based his authority on protecting the citizens of Israel - didn't work out too well this time. But Bibi and his cabal have to go for the future security of Israel and its people. Now is the time we tell him that we will not support Israel's invasion of the West Bank and that all the settlements will have to go to achieve peace in the area. It would have been great if a Jewish settler had not killed Yitzak Rabin, and Arafat had accepted the previous offers from Israel for a two-state solution.....but here we are. As for Iran, perhaps they can be persuaded that it is hard to export your oil if both your Persian and Arabian Gulf oil terminals are burned-out shells..... (Nice little awl bidness ya got there - be a shame if something happened to it.....) I'm getting old and crotchety and set in my ways, and I am damn tired of living in "interesting times".....
Terrifying -- but I so appreciate this clear-eyed summary of the situation.
Well put. Netanyahu needs to see that the US's continued economic aid is dependent on ending settlements in the West Bank, working with the Palestinian Authority, and immediately ceasing the provocations in and around Jerusalem.
But WILL U.S. aid continue -- no matter what Bibi, et. al. do? That's what I think will happen.
It's likely. Trying to explain the nuances of why they were pulling it tio get policy changes would be too much for the DC Press Corpse.
I am aware of nothing in Netanyahu’s background to indicate that he will, at any point, place the interests of the Israeli state, let alone of the world, above his personal comfort and security. Withdrawing from the West Bank, halting settlements, and acknowledging the need for a two state solution would lead to a no confidence vote and an accelerated time table for going to prison. I cannot imagine he will risk that.
Any progress will likely happen once he is voted out.
If it's not too late.
Assuming there is a “vote.” He gutted the judiciary and has authoritarian tendencies, so declaring war footing and halting elections would not be surprising.
Send Bibi to Mar-A Lago and let the two of them sweat it out. All of this mess, here and there, is their fault.
Then maybe something positive can be done, if it's not too late.
LOVE IT!!!
Bibi made a big bet to save his own skin. He thought by propping up weaker Hamas he kept Hezbollah in check and maintained the illusion of Israel’s strength. Netanyahu lost the bet and now that both are attacking Israel, his weakness is on full display. My friend who grew up in Israel now believes the future of Israel as a state is unlikely and a global war very possible. She believes the surrounding Muslim countries who have young populations that are growing quickly and developing technology will simply crush Israel within the next 20 years. With the US, Iran, Russia and China taking sides, we risk a terrible conflagration. This is a human caused catastrophe and Jared Kushner pretending to be a Middle East negotiator didn’t help.
It appears to me that Hamas and Iran played Bibi and he has been blind to how he was being manipulated while he has been attempting to manipulate the people of his own country.
Con artists are always the most-easily conned.
Sickening.
For some time I have seen this as a propaganda war disguised as a terrorist attack. In other words, the attack was designed specifically to create an Israeli over-reaction. The stakes, even if it doesn't result in a hot war, are the continuing discrediting of Israel in world opinion. Now Hamas is beginning to release hostages--but in dribbles. So not (in its own opinion) as a show of "fear" but as a show of "reasonableness" in comparison to the dribbles of aid now being allowed to enter the area. I just read that the NORMAL aid to Gaza was over 400 trucks a day. So far it has been less than a 10th of that since Israel started to allow resumption at all.
This thing was long in the planning. It wouldn't surprise me if Iran's aid for the attack was specifically conditioned on Hamas doing just what it is doing now.
BTW Al Jazeera a few days ago published its own analysis of the hospital attack and concluded that it came not from Gaza but from a point to the east. It cited a lot of experts, just as the WSJ did. I doubt that until we can find and analyze pieces of the ordinance, we will know for sure. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/20/what-have-open-source-videos-revealed-about-the-gaza-hospital-explosion
Thanks for clarifying much of the chaos, intricate strategy, and danger for me.
First, if there's a way for Netanyahu to make things worse for the world if it makes things better, at least in his mind, for himself, he will do it.
I also wonder how much of what Iran is up to also is related to the republicans who first committed treason against the US by writing to Iran about the deal that Obama's administration negotiated, then pulled out of it when they are their emblem, Pol Potbelly, got into power.
As I read ‘The World Weighs the Options in Gaza’ I harken back, flash back, remember the JFK and Oswald assassinations at the end of my electronics cram course in missile tech ‘A’ school in Damneck. The clarity of your analysis begged me to consider the opacity of the coup aspect of those assassinations and the fine mess that followed. The clarity of your report gives me hope that truth and fear might be our allies. Thanks.
Thanks, TC. Much food for thought!
With Hamas launching the initial attack the Israeli response was always going to start with attacks on the poor Palestinians of Gaza. If all the Palestinian pique was based on the expansion of the West Bank settlements, why wasn't Hezbollah the initial perp? A key reason is that the people of Gaza are generally considered expendable because their power is so limited. This smells like a larger plot involving other countries who've become convinced that Israel and the West are exerting too much control in the ME. That China is going to be showing up seems more than coincidental. Sorting out the intel in this mess will require more than AI.
Again, it doesn't help that Netanyahu spoke about Israel's future at the UN last month using a map that did not include Gaza. He's too cunning to know that wouldn't have struck a nerve. I hope Joe keeps telling him to cool his jets, literally, and work on getting the hostages out. By then the revenge response may cool enough to get to a negotiating table and save lives. Of course, Bibi has a really big face to save.
"The Biden administration cannot defer to Netanyahu. We underwrite the country with $3.9 billion a year; that translates into leverage..." Why isn't this the be all end all where we get power to influence Israel that started as the victim but is now a perpetrators, too. How about a place in the scheme of things for a "miracle," like the Berlin wall coming down "all of a sudden?" I don't know that such a thing can be made to occur since it's a buildup to at some point exploding, but I think of that possibility. If I ran the world I'd insist Israel get that it was time to end its oppression and abuses of the Palestinian people after decades of occupation and expansionism as the underlying cause of how stuck everything is. That would be an example to the world of how we can unite that could affect other areas of impasse.
It has long been obvious to me, that Bibi's inflammatory policy of promoting incessant expansion of west bank settlements and the associated destruction of Arab homes there could not continue unabaited without inciting a response such as we have just seen by one of the Arab or Persian militias. I'm sure Mr. Biden knows it is Bibi who is responsible, but how US actions could be manipulated to calm the rightious anger in Palestine is certainly a nearly impossible task. However, failure to somehow make that happen would be calamitous.