Friends in Israel tell us they’re safe and ask us if I'm “crossing fingers” for Israel.
For sure I think of them. Often. For sure I think of Israel. Often. For sure I stand with Israel. All the time. I’m a huge Zionist, a Goy-atheist Zionist. A philosemite, a Judeophile. Conversely, I hate the barbarians of Hamas. With good knowledge about them, about what they stand for, about their world view, about their Jew-hatred. (I first wrote about HAMAS on this blog fifteen years ago, on 27 July 2009, in “Jerusalem United”. By then I’d already read quite a lot about them. Enough to know they’re today’s Nazis. Only worse).
So, sure, I’m very happy my friends are well and safe and of course I “cross fingers” for Israel.
Though it does seem to me that “crossing fingers” is a bit of an odd thought. From two folks that don’t believe in superstition and one a scientist, to boot.
I get it. It’s just a saying. Meaning: "wish the best for us". Which I do. We do; this family does.
But more than “crossing fingers”. I have faith in Israel. I have faith in its ability to defend itself. I have faith in its leadership. I have faith in its military.
What I don’t have faith in, is the support from the United States. Which is supposed to be Israel’s strongest ally. But this Biden administration has acted so irresolute, so prevaricating, so flip-flopping, that it’s harmed Israel’s capacity to defeat Hamas. Had Biden been more resolute from the beginning of this Gaza war, it would have been over months ago.
But things could get worse. Hamas head Yahya Sinwar has said he thinks they can “get on better” with a Kamala Harris administration. Imagine: that the enemy of your oldest and supposed-to-be best ally in the Middle East thinks they’d rather deal with you than with your opponent. Props to Hamas for having you so bamboozled, Kamala!
The US is holding Israel back from a pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah. Where the longer we wait and prevaricate the more rockets Hezbollah put in Southern Lebanon, aimed at Israeli civilians.
In my mind I’ve been blaming the US for holding Israel back from a pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah. Or against the head of the octopus, Iran, as Alan Dershowitz has suggested.
Still, it turns out there are people more expert than me who say that there will be no attack on Hezbollah this year. Because the deterrence has already been achieved by what the IDF have done in Gaza.
I’m quoting here Yonah Jeremy Bob in the Jerusalem Post: "Why there will be no mega-war in the North with Hezbollah, at least this year “.
Yonah Jeremy Bob is an author and Israeli-based journalist who has worked at The Jerusalem Post since 2012 and currently serves as senior military correspondent, intelligence analyst and Literary Editor.[1] He frequently lectures in Israel and the United States on security, spy wars, diplomacy and politics. [Link]
The Jerusalem Post is Centre-right. But I trust it on Israel issues more than Haaretz, a Left-wing paper. In an unfriendly and tough region like the Middle East, you can’t afford to be a “nice liberal”. You need toughies, like Benjamin Netanyahu. And papers like the Jerusalem Post, who report robustly from the Right. And don’t hate on Israel’s war-time leader, Bibi. And don’t hate on Israel itself.
Yonah Jeremy Bob says:
The conventional wisdom since late winter has been that war between Israel and Hezbollah is imminent and that there is no other way to return Israel’s 60,000 still evacuated northern residents to their homes.After a series of high-level defense briefings in the late winter, I became convinced, and I still maintain, based on ongoing briefings (and have been right for around six months), that the mega war between Jerusalem and Beirut is not going to happen during this current conflict.
In two to five years, quite possibly or even likely – but not a few months ago, not now, and not in the coming months.
Cross fingers.
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ADDED: The “Gaza Ceasefire”. That the Dems are desperate for. Didn’t happen. Predictably. And it didn’t happen, yet again, nor because Israel refused it. But because Hamas refused it. Didn’t even turn up in Doha for the negotiations. And yet, as I write this, the Democratic National Convention is going on in Chicago and the criticism is all of Israel. All the crowds outside, all the demonstrators, all the AOC-types, all are hating on Israel, not on Hamas.
That ought to tell you everything you need to know about the Dem's commitment to supporting the democratic state of Israel over the barbaric state of Hamas. They cover for Hamas.
