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December 19, 1445
June 25, 2024 AD
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken has visited Israel eight times since October 7 and should not visit again unless Israel and Hamas agree on a clear plan to end the war. This weakens his power and that of the United States.
Source: The New York Times
Thomas Friedman Screenplay
On November 4, 2022, after Israel’s far-right government coalition won the election, I wrote a column titled: "Israel as we knew it is gone"It was intended to sound a warning about how radical this coalition could be. A lot of people disagreed with me at the time. I think they were proven wrong — and are even worse now.
The Israel we know no longer exists, and today’s Israel faces existential danger. "Iran"It has successfully exerted strong pressure on Israel using its allies and proxies: Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iraqi Shiite militias.
For now, Israel has not responded militarily or diplomatically. Worse, it faces the prospect of a war on three fronts in Gaza, Lebanon, and the West Bank, but with a dangerous new development: Unlike Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah is equipped with precision missiles that can destroy large swaths of Israeli infrastructure, from its airports, ports, universities, military bases, power plants.
But Israel is led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who must remain in power to avoid jail time on corruption charges. To do this, he sold his soul and formed a government with right-wing Jewish extremists who insist that Israel must fight in Gaza until every last member of Hamas is killed – "Complete victory" They also reject any partnership with the Palestinian Authority (which accepted the Oslo peace accords) in the governance of Gaza after Hamas, because they want Israel to control all the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, including Gaza.
Now, as Netanyahu’s emergency war government collapses over its lack of a plan to end the war and safely withdraw from Gaza, extremists in his coalition are considering their next steps to seize power.
Facing Israel "This is the most dangerous and serious crisis in history. On October 7, the worst defeat in Israel’s history began. Due to the strategic paralysis of the country’s leadership, a war that seems to be the least successful in its history continues.
These extremists have already caused so much damage, but President Biden and the pro-Trump lobby For Israel AIPAC and many members of Congress have yet to realize how radical this administration is. In fact, House Speaker Mike Johnson and his fellow Republicans have decided to reward Netanyahu with the honor of addressing a joint session of Congress on July 24. The top Democrats in both the embattled House and Senate signed on to the invitation, but the unspoken goal of the Republicans’ move is to divide the Democratic Party and invite outright insults from more progressive representatives, thereby alienating Jewish voters and donors. American and their turn to Donald Trump.
Netanyahu knows that this is all about US domestic politics, which is why his acceptance of the speaking invitation was an act of disloyalty to Joe Biden – who travelled to Israel in the days after October 7 to embrace Netanyahu.
Israel needs a pragmatic, centrist government to emerge from this multifaceted crisis and seize upon what Biden can offer. That can only happen by unseating Netanyahu through new elections — as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer courageously called for in March. Israel does not need American-sponsored drinking parties for drunk drivers.
Some people wonder if I have "friends" Israel is completely ignorant of the nature of its government. I answered him: This government is not the old Israel we know, and this Bibi is not even the old Bibi.
Unlike previous Israeli governments, this one has set a goal of annexation "Bank of the West" It is not surprising, therefore, that she has sought in her first year to undermine the ability of Israel’s Supreme Court to impose any checks on her power.
Bibi also handed control of the police and key powers in the Ministry of Defense to the Jewish racists in his coalition, allowing them to deepen settler control over the West Bank. They immediately began adding settlement housing units in record numbers in the heart of those occupied territories, attempting to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state there.
This nightmare alliance is now ensuring that radicalized young men and women will not have to serve in this war like the secular young men and women exhausted by eight months of fighting. Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi told Gaza soldiers over the weekend, "Now it is clear that" Recruiting ultra-Orthodox soldiers as reserve soldiers "several thousand" One of the most non-religious reservists. Israel’s relatively small combat officer corps is already incapacitated, and I cannot imagine how it could have survived the Lebanon War.
Israel is increasingly isolated because there are no real allies willing to be partners in this extreme right-wing agenda? That is why I agree with everything former Prime Minister Ehud Barak wrote in Haaretz last Thursday: Israel is facing "This is the most dangerous and serious crisis in history. On October 7, the worst defeat in Israel’s history began. Due to the strategic paralysis of the country’s leadership, a war that seems to be the least successful in its history continues.
Barak, the former army chief of staff, added that Israel "This could lead to a multi-front war involving Iran and its proxies. All of this is happening while the judicial coup is still going on behind the scenes, with the aim of installing a racist and ultra-nationalist religious dictatorship.".
Barak warned that if the current government was allowed to remain in power, Israel would not only find itself trapped in Gaza — with Hamas still unable to fight and no Arab partners to help Israel from there — but would also likely find itself trapped in "Third intifada in West Bank amid all-out war with Hezbollah in north"Conflicts with the Houthis in Yemen, Iraqi militias in the Golan Heights, and of course, with Iran itself".
Every American should be worried about this. This is a recipe for the United States to get involved in a Middle East war to help Israel — it would be a dream come true for Russia, China and Iran. In fact, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has visited Israel eight times since October 7, should not visit again until Israel and Hamas agree on a clear plan to end the war. This weakens his power and that of the United States. This is a time for warning. Biden should say For Israel It must accept Hamas’ main demand: an immediate and complete end to the war and withdrawal from Gaza in exchange for the return of all Israeli hostages. For Israel Keep a clear head while Hamas imprisons its people.
If Israel can end the Gaza war, it could lead to a U.S.-brokered deal with Hezbollah to quell the northern border war — a war that has been horrific for civilians on both sides. It could allow Israelis and Lebanese along the border to return home while allowing the IDF to recover and resupply from an exhausting battle.
It could stop the erosion of Israel’s economy and its global moral standing and allow the country to do something it should have done on October 8. That is: stop, rethink, strategize, and not do exactly what Iran and Hamas want to do, which is to continue to get involved in an endless war, as the United States did after September 11, 2001, without any plan or partner the next morning. Israel must hold new elections, as Barak claims.
If all Israel gets from this deal is to buy itself another long-term partnership with Hamas, then maybe that’s all there is to it. After all that has happened.
The real history of Jews and Palestinians so far, dating back to the early 20th century, has been: war, truce, war, truce, war, truce, war, truce. The real difference is what the two sides have done during that time. Maybe one day that will change, but for now Israel needs to get out of the hell in Gaza and go back to a moratorium.
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**-M: Declaration
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