War
IDF soldiers in Gaza
The war in Gaza continues edging towards six months of fighting. Israel continues to fight in central Gaza. Reportedly, the IDF is working on a plan to evacuate Gazans from the southern city of Rafah before the army goes in to fight Hamas.
Former Prime Minister Neftali Bennet told CNN that Israel had no choice but to go into Rafah or there would never be an end to the Hamas threat.
In the north, the exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah has increased but according to analysts is still, barely, beneath the red line that would mean all out war.
So far 249 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the IDF entered Gaza on Oct 27th. This follows the Oct 7th invasion of the Jewish communities along the Gaza border by 3000 Hamas terrorists who murdered 1200 Israelis, some raped, butchered and burned, and took 253 hostages.
Gaza
IDF soldiers in Gaza
According to Channel 12TV’s military correspondent Nir Dvori, the IDF has cut down the number of divisions in Gaza from 20 to 5. The remaining forces are focused in central Gaza, mainly in the Khan Younis area where Hamas leader Yeheh Sinwar had his headquarters. Sinwar’s whereabouts are as yet unknown although Israeli military intelligence suspects he may be in the Rafah area.
On Tuesday, the IDF attacked a building in central Gaza killing five Palestinians. The IDF speculates that one of the men killed was Marwan Issa, the number 3 man in the Hamas hierarchy and the deputy head of the of Hamas’s military wing. However, his death has not yet been confirmed.
On Thursday, according to the Times of Israel, the Shin Bet said that the IDF had stuck a Hamas intelligence war room secreted inside a UNRWA facility in the southern city of Rafah. A Hamas commander, Muhammad Abu Hasna, who was reportedly involved in stealing and distributing humanitarian aid to Hamas activists, was killed.
Also, on Thursday, Reshet Bet radio reported that a Hamas rocket squad was killed minutes after launching a mortar at the Israeli settlements across the border. Observers say that with so many troops now in control of Gaza any rocket attack is likely to quickly result in the elimination of the terrorists firing the rockets.
And, on Wednesday, according to Ynetnews, the IDF eliminated a Hamas terrorist responsible for numerous rocket launches toward Israeli territory, including on October 7.
Additionally, in an exchange of fire yesterday, IDF troops killed seven Hamas operatives who barricaded themselves inside a building in the upscale Qatari built Hamad neighborhood of Khan Yunis. In a coordinated strike, the troops killed several of the terrorists and then directed an aircraft to strike and eliminate the rest of the cell. Weapons were also located in the area.
Israel ground troops have still not entered the southern Rafah area of Gaza where over a million Palestinians are living, many in tents and make-shift huts after fleeing their homes in north Gaza.
President Biden has hinted that should Israel enter Rafah the US would cut off aid. However, he did warn Israel not to cause another 30,000 civilian deaths. This is the dubious and unconfirmed number of dead set out by the Hamas Health Authorities.
According to Gen (ret) Israel Ziv, speaking to a Channel 12TV panel, Hamas leader Sinwar has changed his strategy from fighting divisions to a guerrilla war. Ziv said Sinwar sees Israel losing international support including that of the USA. Ziv says that Sinwar is betting on international criticism. “That’s his strategy.” Ziv said Sinwar sees no point in giving up the hostages.
A poll showed that 75% of Israelis backed an operation in Rafiah. And on Thursday, a Times of Israel article said that in a recent survey public trust in the IDF is soaring but saw a ‘noticeable decline’ in faith in the government.
According to the Times of Israel, the IDF says it has killed over 13,000 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists killed inside Israel on October 7.
North
Hezbollah rockets fall in Golan Heights
Since October 8th, Hezbollah terrorist forces in Lebanon have attacked Israeli communities and army posts on a nearly daily basis. Hezbollah says the strikes are in support of Hamas’s war in Gaza.
The near-daily exchange of fire along the shared Israel-Lebanon border has caused seven civilian deaths on the Israeli side as well as the deaths of 10 IDF soldiers and reservists.
The Times of Israel reported on Tuesday that Hezbollah had launched “more than 100 Katyusha rockets” at two military bases in the Golan Heights. There were no reports of damage or injuries from the Hezbollah rockets. Some of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system.
Hezbollah said the attacks were a response to an Israeli strike Monday night near Baalbek, a Hezbollah bastion deep inside Lebanon bordering Syria to the east. The IDF said it had targeted facilities belonging to Hezbollah’s “aerial unit.” The terrorist organization claimed one civilian was killed .
Car hit by Israeli drone in southern Lebanon
On Wednesday, Hamas terrorist Hadi Mustafa who the IDF says organized terror activity against Israelis and Jews, was killed by an Israeli air strike near Tyre, Lebanon. However, a Hamas source claims he was not a senior operative.
According to Israel’s Channel 12TV’s military correspondent Nir Dvori, the IDF also struck deep in east central Lebanon at the city of Baalbek, a Hezbollah nerve center and stronghold.”Second only to Beirut in importance,” said Dvori. He said that some see striking at Baalbek as raising the bar and risking war.
According to Channel 12TV’s Arab affairs correspondent Ohad Hemo, Hezbollah says they are ready to up the attacks if Israel wants. “This may cause an upward spiral.” Hemo said the while Hezbollah chief Nasrallah entered the fight to support Hamas that even if the war in Gaza ends, he thinks Nasrallah will tell Hezbollah to continue to fight.
Gen. (ret) Tamir Hayman, former head of military intelligence, said on Channel 12TV that there are tactical and strategic goals, and so far the strategic goals are not good for Israel. Hayman said that as of now the strategy was depth for depth, Hezbollah hits us deeper in Israel we hit them deeper in Lebanon. He said the IDF striking Baalbek, deep inside Lebanon, resulted in Hezbollah hitting the Golan Heights with 20 rockets. Hyman said that the solution in the north should be diplomatic.
Residents of the north, most of whom have been evacuated to hostels and hotels in the center of the country, say they won’t return to their homes until they feel safe. So far nearly 60,000 residents of the north have been evacuated. In the south, about 32,000 out of 60,000 officially evacuated residents have returned to towns near Gaza, says an official working on an NIS 18 billion regional investment plan
According to the IDF, Israel has hit more than 4,500 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF’s estimates that more than 300 Hezbollah operatives have been killed, including five senior commanders, and 750 have been wounded by Israeli strikes across five months of daily skirmishes along the border. Hezbollah has claimed 244 members were killed.
Another 40 operatives from other terror groups have also been killed in strikes on southern Lebanon, as well as a Lebanese soldier and at least 30 civilians, three of whom were journalists.
Gen. (ret) Israel Ziv said on Channel 12TV that he doesn’t see an end to the fighting in the north as long as there is a war in Gaza.
West Bank
Moslem worshipers on Temple Mount during Ramadan
The Moslem month of Ramadan began on Sunday. Israel has beefed up security in the west bank and around Jerusalem to contain any possible strife from Palestinians supporting Hamas.
According to the Jerusalem Post, on March 9th, seven soldiers were wounded by a roadside bomb near the west bank town of Silat ad-Dhahr. Police launched a manhunt for the attackers.
11 suspects were arrested in Sachnin in the Galilee for being in contact with Hamas operatives. And in east Jerusalem 20 residents were arrested after documents were discovered linking them to terrorist activities. The documents were reportedly found by the Shin Bet during raids on Hamas strongholds in the Gaza tunnels.
A number of disturbing incidents have occurred, however.
On Tuesday, police killed a Palestinian in Zeita near the security barrier. Police say the man was en route to Tel Aviv to carry out a suicide bomb mission.
On Wednesday, a 15-year old Palestinian rode up to the checkpoint leading into Jerusalem from the Eztzion block and attacked two Israelis at the checkpoint. Both, a man, 25, and a woman, 20, were waiting at the checkpoint. Both were lightly wounded. The attacker was shot by soldiers at the checkpoint and later died of his wounds.
Another terrorist attack took place on Thursday at the Beit Kama rest area. According to Ynetnews, a man in his 50s was critically wounded in a stabbing incident on Thursday afternoon at a coffee shop at Beit Kama junction.
The terrorist, a 22-year-old resident of the southern city of Rahat, snuck up behind the victim and stabbed him. The victim managed to shoot and neutralize him. Another man, 65, sustained light injuries during the attack.
In the Shuafat refugee camp outside Jerusalem a 13-year-old Palestinian was killed alleged when he hurled firework’s flare at the troops. Other youths hurled Molotov cocktails at the troops.
The Department of Internal Police Investigations are looking into the incident. However, National Security Minister Ben-Gvir arrived at the DIPI headquarters and said it was a ‘disgrace’ that anyone would criticize the police action. He said that the DIPI was “destroying Israeli deterrence.”
According to the Times of Israel, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara sent a letter to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and ordered him to cease his involvement in the questioning of a police officer who shot the Palestinian teen, warning that his actions constitute “illegal interference.”
The AG wrote, ““The DIPI will continue to operate independently and will not be swayed by attempts to influence its work.”
Also, during the week two terrorists were killed when hurling Molotov cocktails at cars on the road between the Jerusalem suburb of Givat Zeev and the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot.
In Jenin, IDF troops killed two Palestinians and wounded four others in an exchange of gunfire while trying to arrest wanted terrorists. The police found 50 explosive devices in the Palestinians’ possession.
Israeli security forces in West Bank raid
Police are on high alert for the upcoming prayers on the Temple Mount on Friday when thousands of Moslem worshipers are expected.
Gen (ret) Israel Ziv told Channel 12TV News that Hamas leader Sinwar “will try his best to ignite the West Bank over Ramadan.”
Gen (ret) Tamir Hayman told Channel 12TV news over 100,000 Moslems are expected to come to the Temple Mount over Ramadan. “We should leave Har HaBeit (the Temple Mount) alone. It is forbidden to give Sinwar a win over Ramadan.”
Hostages
The hostage negotiations have seemingly stalled although Qatar has said there is some progress. The latest reports are that Hamas have agreed to Israel’s terms. This after pressure was apparently applied by the US on Qatar to expel those Hamas officials who live in luxury in Doha if a deal is not reached. Meanwhile, 132 hostages remain captive in Gaza.
On Tuesday, Israel announced the death of American/Israeli Itay Chen, 21 who was killed on Oct 7th and whose body was taken into Gaza as a bargaining chip.
Activists protesting for hostage release in Tel Aviv
Families of the hostages continue to protest, calling on the government to do whatever is necessary to get the hostages home. On Thursday morning families of the hostages blocked traffic on the busy Ayalon highway in Tel Aviv. And then held a vigil outside of the Kryia, Israel’s Pentagon, in Tel Aviv.
Israel and Hamas blame each other for the breakdown in the hostage negotiations.
Rescued hostage Luis Har
Meanwhile, Luis Har, 70, appeared on Israel TV’s channel 11 Tuesday night and admitted he was still disoriented by the experience of being kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak to Gaza by Hamas terrorists on October 7, along with his partner, Clara Marman, 62, Clara’s brother Fernando, sister Gabriela Leimberg, 59 and Gabriela’s daughter, Mia Leimberg, 17.. Har and Fernando Maman, 61, were rescued by IDF special forces after 129 days in captivity.
Har broke down in tears when told that one of his rescuers was later killed in Gaza during another battle. Har told of his long days of suffering and his trouble reacclimatizing. “I have not resumed my life. I don’t know where I am.”
UN special investigator into Hamas’ sexual crimes Pamela Patin told the UN on Wednesday that she had seen unspeakable videos about the horror committed by Hamas on Oct 7th, when 3000 terrorists invaded Israel, massacring 1200 people, including women and children, even raping, beheading and burning bodies.
The family of Gadi Moses, 80, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, told Channel 12TV that they were worried about Moses’ health. They said he’d celebrated his 80th birthday in captivity and said, each day that passes puts the lives of the hostages at risk.
Humanitarian Aid
US pier to be built on Gaza shoreline
The US has announced the construction of a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza that would be used to off-load aid supplies to the Gaza strip. On Wednesday the US announced that four ships carrying construction materials for the pier had sailed from the US.
The pier, that will have two truck lanes and be able to accommodate ships filled with aid, is expected by observers to be a game-changer.
As of now, aid is either being brought in by truck, or airlifted and then dropped by parachute into Gaza. The US, Egypt, Jordan, France and Morocco have taken part in the airlifts.
According to Reshet Bet radio an Egyptian government spokesman criticized the US move saying a pier wasn’t necessary. The spokesman said that aid could be brought into an Israeli port and then transported by trucks down to Gaza.
Meanwhile, the IDF reportedly has a new strategy. The aim is to “flood” Gaza with aid from a variety of points along the Gaza border.
However, on Wednesday, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry announced that the airlifts were both ‘humiliating’ and ‘dangerous.’ According to the ministry, thousands of Gazans rush to the packets once they land. Five
Gazans were reportedly killed in the stampede. The Palestinian Foreign Minister also says that a number of people have been injured when the aid dropped on their heads.
Humanitarian aid Airdrop into Gaza
Ten to fifteen parachutes are dropped on each run. Each parachute contains fifty packets of food.
Trucks also brought in truckloads of flour through the Kerem Shalom crossing. Armed gangs reportedly descend upon the aid in whatever form it takes and steal the goods.
According to the Times of Israel, the UN and Morocco have delivered 40 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza in a new land route that pass through Israel. The World Food Program delivers the Moroccan aid to the UN at Ben Gurion Airport and it is then driven on a new military road from near
Kibbutz Be’eri along the Gaza border to Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing and handed over to the Red Crescent organization.
Humanitarian aid convoy on new military road Into Gaza
The IDF said that using the new military road was an experiment to see if it was possible to prevent Hamas from hijacking the aid. A spokesperson for the World Food Program, Shaza Moghraby, said the convoy delivered enough food to Gaza City for 25,000 people and proved that food could be brought in by truck.
According to the Times of Israel, a ship belonging to the Spanish aid group Open Arms set sail from Cyprus on Tuesday carrying 200 tons of humanitarian aid for Gaza’s civilians in hopes of opening a maritime corridor to alleviate the dire humanitarian crisis.
The ship will dock along the coast of northern Gaza, south of Gaza city, at a landing jetty built by World Central Kitchen out of materials from destroyed buildings and rubble.
However, according to Reuters, Sigrid Kaag, UN Humanitarian and Reconstruction coordinator for Gaza said, “For aid delivery at scale, there is no meaningful substitute to the many land routes and entry points from Israel into Gaza.”
According to U.N. Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Executive Director Jorge Moreira da Silva. "The maritime corridor brings, however, much needed additionally and is part of a sustained humanitarian response to provide aid as effectively as possible through all possible routes.”
Anti-Semitism
Pro-Palestinian protest. anti-Zionist Satmir Hassidim in crowd.
According to one analyst, much of the current anti-Semitism has been caused by the casualties and deaths in Gaza. The number of 30,000 deaths, recently updated to 31,500, has been propagated by the Hamas run Gaza Health Ministry.
The analysts points out that it was this same health ministry that accused Israel of bombing a Gaza hospital when in fact the damage was caused by an errant missile fired by one of Hamas’ fellow terrorist organizations.
The world’s media, even the prestigious New York Times, jumped on the hospital bombing like a greedy mouse on a hunk of cheese. Later, when it was proven that Israel was faultless in the hospital’s bombing, few if any news organizations issued a clarification or an apology.
According to an Israeli official, Hamas is seeking to destroy Israel’s image in the international community with disinformation. So, asks one pundit, why has the international community relied so heavily on the notoriously unreliable Gaza Health Ministry for their facts and figures?
The same Hamas run Gaza Health Ministry has become a prime source of animosity directed against Israel. Governments, world leaders like President Biden, influential journalists like Tom Friedman and celebrities all quote the Gaza Health Ministry’s unsubstantiated number of dead. Placards and banners display the numbers. Crowds chant the numbers. All of this, according an observer, is in keeping with Hamas’ goal to destroy Israel’s image.
That is not to say, explains the observer, that Israel hasn’t killed innocent civilians. But, he asks, if the number of civilians killed was 3,000 not 30,000, would there still be the same brouhaha? Would the same snowball of criticism keep gathering momentum if the Gaza Health Ministry figures were wrong? The Huffington Post, a publication that is usually inaccurate when dealing with Israel, published a report that included this statement on Thursday March 14,2024
“More children have died in the Palestinian territories over the past five months of war than have been killed in all armed conflicts worldwide over the past four years — a startling statistic that puts the casualties from Israel’s ongoing bombardment in perspective.”
And if the Hamas figures are wrong? Distorted? Faked? As was the Hamas statement that Israel had bombed a hospital when in fact it was a Hamas affiliate? Would the Huffington Post put in a headline. “We’re wrong. Sorry!” asks the observer.
According to Professor Abraham Wyner of the department of Statistics and Data Science at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the data from the Hamas controlled Gaza Health Ministry had, at the very minimum, been doctored and, at worst, completely faked.
According to Wyner, in an article in Tablet magazine, the data showed an almost total lack of correlation, which Wyner said should be a major signal that the numbers have been faked.
But doubting of the truth of the Gaza Health Ministry’s statements does not stop the numbers they toss out from being accepted worldwide as gospel. One pundit wonders why and says that the answer is either laziness on the part of those quoting the highly questionable numbers, sympathy for the Hamas/Palestinian cause, or some other high-end political scheme.
Lynching of Israelis in Ramallah Oct 12, 2000
At the academy award ceremony some pro-Palestinian supporters wore red pins. Did they know what the pin symbolized, asked an analyst? Back
in Oct 12, 2000 there was a lynching of Israelis in Ramallah. One of the lynch mob held up his hands covered in blood. That’s where the red comes from, said the analyst.
Noa Tishby, Finneas and Billie Eilish
Noa Tishby, an Israeli-born Hollywood producer and Israeli activist asked why no one wore a yellow ribbon at the Oscars symbolizing the hostages held in Gaza by Hamas?
Reportedly, the instances of anti-Semitism are growing. Switzerland has reported a 300 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents. According to the Times of Israel, white supremacists look at Oct 7th as an opportunity for more open and aggressive acts.
According to Ynetnews, on Sunday, Queen Rania of Jordan compared the Hamas atrocities to the pain of war. She said that Palestinians have suffered 156 days of what Israel suffered on only one day.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper
The list of anti-semitic incidents has been growing. According to AFP, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, was in Saudia Arabia as part of his official duties when he was asked to remove his skullcap. Rabbi Cooper cut his visit short.
In Israel, Prof. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian was suspended from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem after expressing doubts that Hamas had actually committed the massacres and rapes on October 7th. She said it was just more Israeli lies. “We’ve stopped believing the Israelis, “she said. She said it was time “to cancel Zionism.”
The university explained that Kevorkian’s words were not freedom of expression but “incitement meant to create divisions.” Her suspension was protested by 100 academics who said Kevorkian has exercised her right for freedom of expression.
And according to the Times of Israel, a Moslem community in Dearborn, Michigan has denied that there was a massacre of Jews in the Gaza communities on Oct 7th.
Meanwhile, according to Ynetnews, police in Austria and Bosnia have arrested groups suspected of planning attacks. Police found weapons as well as photographs of Jewish and Israeli potential targets.
On Wednesday, according to JTA (Jewish Telegraph Agency) More than 80 music bands out of nearly 2,000, and several scheduled panelists, have pulled out of the ongoing South by Southwest festival in Austin, TX, citing Israel defense ties among the festival’s sponsors.
The Austin For Palestine Coalition called for a boycott of the festival due to the fact that sponsors of the festival, including the US military and the defense contractor RTX, have supplied Israel with weapons and technology. RTX supplies major components of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.
“This is just another example of how well organized the pro-Palestinian movements are. They seem to be everywhere all at once. Quite an accomplishment,” said one observer.
The JTA also reported that three venues have canceled shows by the Jewish musician Matisyahu in the last few weeks because of pro-Palestinian protests, and Jewish authors and museum executives have also reported feeling targeted by antisemitism as a result of pro-Palestinian activism in their fields. Meanwhile, the Jewish director Jonathan Glazer ignited a firestorm with an Oscars speech this week when he criticized the war in Gaza while accepting his award.
And in British Columbia, politician Selina Robinson resigned from the New Democratic Party, claiming the party was anti-semitic and had double standards.
Floyd Mayweather visiting Israel
On the positive side, World Boxing Champion Floyd Mayweather has visited Israel. He said, “I stand with Israel against Hamas.”
Politics
Channel 12TV election poll predictions
Recent polls show that should elections be held today, the National Unity party, lead by former IDF Chief of Staff Beni Gantz, would win 35 seats in the 120 seat Knesset, versus Netanyahu’s Likud party’s 19 seats. A coalition led by Gantz, according to the polls, would garner 69 seats but Netanyahu’s coalition would only get 46 seats, down from the present 64.
On Tuesday evening, New Hope party leader Gideon Sa’ar announced he was leaving Gantz led National Unity coalition. Sa’ar, a former leading Likud politician who was ousted from the Likud after running against Netanyahu for party leader, said that a more “statesmanlike right” outlook was needed. Sa’ar asked to be included in the small war cabinet to offer his own views that were apparently different than Gantz’s.
However, ultra-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said that if Sa’ar was admitted to the war cabinet he too wanted a seat. So far, neither was asked to join the war cabinet.
Sa’ar’s New Hope party had refused to sit with Netanyahu, who is on trial in three corruption cases and was accused of trying to undermine Israel’s democracy with his far-right government’s judicial overhaul that has since been suspended. Sa’ar then took his then four Knesset seats and joined Gantz’s National Unity coalition.
According to Ha’aretz, sources in the Prime Minister’s office are seeking to lure Sa’ar back into the Likud or join Netanyahu’s coalition.
And the rucus over drafting Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) men into the army is still in the news. This week Chief Sephardi Rabbi (Israel has two chief rabbis, one Ashkenazi, one Sephardi) Yitzchak Yosef has said that if the Haredim were drafted into the army the Haredim would leave the country.
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid told reporters that if the Haredim left Israel they’d have to get a job. As of now, the government supports Haredim with monthly family stipends and pays for them to learn in Yeshiva.
Opposition leader Benny Gantz said he supported drafting Haredim into the military.
Red Sea
Houthi Rebels in Yemen on Parade
On Saturday March 9th, the British navy downed two Houthi attack drones. Earlier in the week, the US conducted what they called “self-defense” strikes against 4 Houthi cruise missiles in Yemen. And downed Houthi drones.
US president Biden has said that “I won’t hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people.”
On Tuesday the Times of Israel reported that the Houthis had targeted another ship and said they plan to ramp up the attacks over Ramadan.
On Wednesday, according to the Times of Israel, the US said Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired a ballistic missile at the destroyer USS Laboon. The US responded by destroying two Houthi launching sites
Meanwhile, a dangerous alliance seems to be developing. Iran-Russia and China are to hold a joint naval drill in the Northern Indian Ocean Pundits see this as a show of unity and a warning to the US and the West that have deployed a significant naval presence in the area to protect shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
True Confidence bulk carrier in Red Sea
According to NPR, last week, on March 7th, in the Gulf of Aden, a Houthi rebel missile struck the 183-meter-long vessel, True Confidence” Barados flagged, Liberian owned, bulk carrier. Three crewmen died and four were injured by the missile. The crew abandoned ship while the damage was assessed.
NPR also reported that CENTCOM, (US Central Command) has said that Houthi rebels attacked the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer. The Carney shot down the anti-ship ballistic missile and bomb carrying drones.
On Thursday it was reported that the Houthi rebels have developed a hypersonic missile. Meanwhile, according to the Times of Israel, US diplomat Brett McGurk has travelled to the Middle East and held secret talks, brokered by Oman, to persuade Iran to reign in the Houthi rebels.
Editorial
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has apparently decided to take on US President Joe Biden. Recently, Biden was quoted as saying publicly that Netanyahu was not good for Israel. Biden also said he’d come to speak at the Knesset if asked and hinted he’d come even if the one asking wasn’t Netanyahu.
Pundits recall that Netanyahu ignored then president Barak Obama and went directly to the Congress to speak without even paying a courtesy visit to Obama. The Biden move, according to one pundit, is something similar to what Netanyahu did to Obama. Biden is going around Netanyahu and speaking, though the media, to the Israeli public.
Netanyahu doesn’t like Biden’s moves one little bit, one observer said. It’s as if Netanyahu told Biden “You can’t do that to me.”
On Sunday, Netanyahu told Fox news that “US criticism of Israel encourages Hamas.” And Israeli media reports that a ‘very senior official’ in the Israeli government has accused the US of trying to oust Netanyahu.
On Thursday, US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor that that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unfit to lead and called for snap elections in Israel.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid, of the Yesh Atid party, told the Knesset that Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s call for elections in Israel to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “proof that one by one [the premier] is losing Israel’s biggest supporters in the US.”
While the White House distanced itself from Schumer’s statement, Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog, brother of Israel’s president Yitzchak Herzog, said, “Israel is a sovereign democracy. It is unhelpful — all the more so as Israel is at war against the genocidal terror organization Hamas — to comment on the domestic political scene of a democratic ally. It is counterproductive to our common goals.”
Add to that the recent visit of opposition leader Benny Gantz to London, without Netanyahu’s permission. When informed of Gantz’s visit, Netanyahu contacted Israel’s Foreign Ministry and told them not to officially recognize Gantz’s visit nor provide him with any support, including diplomatic immunity.
Netanyahu reportedly felt that Gantz’s move was just another attack, similar to that of Biden.
According to Ynetnews, the office of the US’ DNI’s (Director of National Intelligence) threat assessment said that Israel’s distrust in Netanyahu is increasing as are demands for his resignation.
A political analyst said he felt as if he were ‘locked in a prison cell and Netanyahu was the prison’s warden.’ Another said that it was as if Israel was beset on all sides. Trump in the USA. Netanyahu in israel. Hamas in the south. Hezbollah in the north. Iran in the distance. And China, Russia and perhaps N. Korea pulling the strings.
One observer criticized Netanyahu, asking, “Doesn’t he have enough on his plate with Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and his criminal trial? Why is he playing chicken with Biden?”
Gen (ret) Tamir Hayman, former head of military intelligence, told Channel 12TV news on Tuesday that Israel was now faced with a few choices in dealing with Hezbollah in the north. Go to war in Lebanon at the same time as fighting Hamas in Gaza. Limit attacks on Hezbollah. Or freeze all the fighting in the north with a diplomatic solution that would still allow Israel to go to war with Hezbollah in the future.
“But,” says Hayman, “whatever choice is made we still need the USA’s support both in the north and in Gaza. This is not the time to argue with the USA.”
Larry Price, producer
Price Communications, inc
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