The Hamas attack on Israel was intended to provoke a response against Gaza.
Hamas knew full well that the nature of their barbaric foray would be answered by an invasion of their base of operations and would result in significant casualties amongst the general population.
Hamas could end the conflict by surrendering and returning the remaining hostages but they have chosen to continue the fight while embedded in amongst non-combatants.
The notion that Israel is responsible for this conflict and the non-combatant casualties is absurd.
Since its inception as a nation, Israel has been under attack by the Islamic leaders of the Middle East.
They have endured an endless fight for survival because the leaders Muslim world cannot accept a Jewish state in their midst.
The current conflict is not about Palestinian nationalism or freedom - it is just a continuation of the Islamic quest for dominance in the region.
The notion that Palestinians should be granted statehood is based on the desire of Islamists to create a formalized forward base for their proxy efforts to destroy Israel and the Jews who populate it.
There is little likelihood Israel will ever be free from the violence instigated against it by the Islamic world but there is equally little likelihood that Israel will allow itself to fall victim to such violence.
Israel will protect itself to the extent necessary and will not be swayed by the progressive pearl clutching at the collateral damage the Islamic leaders invite upon their own people.
“When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons.”
I am so glad you said this. I have tried explaining it here in the US. Mostly I get stunned silence. No, Israel is not to blame for the humanitarian crisis. The war can stop today. All that needs to happen is for Hamas to surrender. Hamas is not a government. It is a terrorist organization even within Gaza against Palestinians. ISIS ruled a geography, but had no right to exist because at heart it was a terrorist organization. The Taliban ruled, and rules again, but has no right to exist because it is a terrorist organization. Same for Hamas. It has no right to exist, even if it rules a geographic area. It is a terrorist organization. The war can stop today. The humanitarian crisis can stop today. And it does not depend on Israel.
I wish President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken saw things this clearly, but they have been pressuring Israel for a cease fire and advocate a two-state solution. Civilian hostages are not prisoners of war and Hamas has no right to keep them. That should be the first US talking point, not trying to limit Israel's right of self-defense.
The real problem with a two-state solution, again, is not Israel. Western morons, I mean diplomats, spout two-state solutions in terms that Israel will not accept it and it is Israel's fault. The reality is quite different. Hamas will never accept a two-state solution because its reason for being is the destruction of Israel. Remember, Israel offered Arafat a two-state, and basically gave them every one of their published demands. Arafat rejected the offer, saying to the Israeli PM, if I accept this, they will assassinate me. Arafat understood his own constituency. He knew that Palestinians will never accept an Israeli state. But western diplomats continue to blame Israel as the obstacle.
The call for cease fire has nothing to do with Israel, nor for that matter Gaza, what it is ALL about is paying lip service to the 70,000+ who voted "uncommitted" in the democrat primaries.
No. Hamas was elected and they’re supported not only by the vast majority of Muslims there but also by the UN via UNWRA employment and cash. If you want to learn more follow JNS as a news outlet.
Hamas won an election in 2005 and has not held another election since. This is hardly a democracy. I am astonished that you would consider UNRWA (please note the correct spelling) to be legitimate. It is now very clear that UNRWA is an extension of Hamas, and participated in the 10/7 attacks. Current evidence is that more than 50 employees actively participated in the massacre. Hundreds more celebrated the rapes and murders and kidnappings. And the organization as a whole promotes rabid anti-Jewish hatred and racism, beginning in kindergarten.
Hamas is in the school system through the efforts of UNRWA. Furthermore, we now know that UNRWA facilities were used as military installations. Did you know that a senior UNRWA official in Gaza, a French woman, is married to a high level Hamas terrorist? UNRWA has no legitimacy and will be shut down as democracies across the world have stopped its funding.
When they were voted in did the people know they were electing them forever? When a leader is elected for life, it is not an election but a coronation.
Hamas is not a new organization. They knew exactly what they were getting - and Jew-hatred was at the top of the list. So now they're sorry when they look at the rubble they have brought upon themselves? Too bad. I couldn't care less.
It's instructive to realize that Hamas and Palestinians for that matter are anathema to other Arab states. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Morocco et al want nothing to do with them. Hamas just like Hezbollah are proxies of Iran, and Iran claiming that they had no prior knowledge of the atrocities perpetrated on Oct 7 is most likely a lie. Iran through Hamas wanted Israel to suffer the opprobrium of world wide indignation on the retaliatory attack on Gaza that Hamas so conveniently engineered. You hide your military assets amongst and under civilians living their lives as Hamas has cynically done, and have always done, will all but guarantee what we see today. Carnage and death. Once Israel finishes this action I hope like hell they go for Hamas' leadership as they live in splendour in Qatar. And I think they know what's coming for them. Their Israeli hostages are the only thing keeping them alive.
Israel will do that until the attack cannot be countered. That day is not far off. The doomsday slaughter cult that surrounds them will see to that. Israelis and American Jews mostly just will not face the grim reality that their existence is a religious war provocation, and can never be turned into anything else.
If there exists a ‘doomsday slaughter cult’, I believe it exists in Iran.
The Islamic theocrats are bent on developing nuclear weapons and would be least likely to be hesitant to use them against Israel to fulfil their fanatic hatred as opposed to other powers who are deterred by the reality of mutually assured destruction.
Israel would not hesitate to destroy Tehran if there is the possibility of a first strike attempt by the Ayatollahs.
Like those of Hamas, these leaders would be willing to see the citizens they rule destroyed to fulfill their intolerance of the Jewish state.
The Jewish people have sworn that never again will anyone imperil their existence and I respect their oath of survival.
It's right there in the books. It is in the sermons, right here in America. Fanatic hatred is what Islam was created to be. I have read them. Most do not, and if they do, they read a bowdlerized Penguin edition, or they read apologists instead and never touch the sources.
30 years of life of study, experience, travel, war and arduous continuing education have led me to become a convinced, firm Zionist, ready to testify in earthly and heavenly courts in defense of Israel.
I don’t think that an anti-Zionist is stupider than me. I just realized that anti-Zionism, conscience and knowledge cannot exist together. But Zionism, conscience and knowledge, can.
It seems that no matter what you hear about the barbaric attack by Hamas, and no matter what you hear about how Israel is not a colonizer, since there have been zero Jews living in Gaza since 2005, and how Israel is truly a melting pot of many religions and cultures, the lies and hate continues. I just listened to Jewish students testifying as how unsafe they feel on college campuses across the country. I hope people understand that this will not just stop with the Jews, that this is a fight for the very survival of our civilization.
I see it exactly the same way. Israel is just the tip of the iceberg. And these monsters are being aided and abetted by the idiot leftists in the USA who ignorantly sympathize with murderers because they buy into a romantic notion of reliving the days of Che Guevara's popularity.
It's not just leftists, although they are an enabling group for sure. It's the tragic result of an open immigration / open border policy, supported by those idiot leftists, that allows in people from rapidly growing nations and other places that don't share our values. Ultimately the world will be ruled by the largest population (or maybe more generally the largest identity group), and whatever the lower rungs of that population can be made to believe will be the way of things.
Some people do. Many don't. There is a reason the bad things of the past were allowed to happen. When people divide humans into groups, it makes it easier to assume that the bad things happening won't happen to YOUR group.
From people who hate the Netanyahu government but nonetheless showed up as reservists without hesitation. . .
To people who voted for Bibi and now want him—and his entire coalition—removed from power. . .
——-
One would think the atrocity of October 7 would pull people together into the same direction. But just like 9 11 here in the US, there is no constancy. I don’t know what people expect. This is a literal existential crisis and they are playing politics.
I believe the country, regardless of political leanings, is united in the goal of returning the hostages and eliminating Hamas. The anger against Netanyahu likely has to do both with how he handled things well before 10/7 as well as how he and his government missed or ignored the intel about the upcoming attack. While there may be differences of opinion about how best to free the hostages and defeat Hamas, the vast majority of Israelis strongly support both goals.
Bibi's political strength was in his promise to keep Israelis safe, to keep the roaring lion at bay. He did that for a long time. Even his detractors acknowledged that Israelis felt safe with BN as PM. Obviously, 10/7 completely changed that. He no longer can run on a safety and security platform. Either of two things will happen. He will find a way to re-invent himself (he always has, if you know his history), or he will retire (he's in his 70's). The problem for Israel is that no other PM has had any stability, generally lasting 3 years or less. So if BN is ousted, watch for short term PM's for a decade. And this will be precarious for Israel.
I'm not sure how many friends you have over here in Israel, but the majority do not support Bibi staying in power after the war. I am very much on the right but Bibi cannot weather this. It happened on his watch and he must go - along with most of the other leaders in the government and the IDF. I have very little confidence in any of them but we are stuck with them for the time being.
Thank you for the reply. For sure,, my comment is not based on a significant sample, and at the same time, no one else's can be. At this time, we are in the fog of war. You are probably right that Bibi and others will not be in government after the war ends. Hopefully, US allows Israel to eliminate Hamas. Unfortunately, Israel became dependent on America. What it looked like easy and free money for military, became a huge liability. At worst, Israel took the eyes of the ball (the existential threat of Iran). I “speculate” that the security failures on October 7 were caused to large extent by the corruption caused by leftist NGOs money coming from here. There will be an investigative committee; how honest in their conclusion that remains to be seen. My golden rule states that if you cannot define the cause of anything, just say money.
There will be an investigation about how this horrendous tragedy was allowed to happen. Many in leadership, including Bibi, will have to go.
Two points:
1. Israel never takes its eye off of Iran - the rest of the world does, not us. However, it remains to be seen if we will have to take on Iran alone.
2. Before Bibi was PM, he used to say that Israel must wean itself off of the U.S. military aid. IT IS FAR MORE BENEFICIAL TO THE U.S. THAN TO ISRAEL. But since he has become PM, he has forgotten this wisdom. Another reason to retire him.
The one playing politics is Bibi; he knows that what’s best for him is extending this war as long as possible. Israelis are united in understanding they face an existential crisis - they are also largely united in understanding Bibi’s top concern will always be his own ability to stay in power.
Bibi’s whole schtick has always been, “you may not like me but I alone can keep you safe.” 10/7 revealed what a grotesque bit of propaganda that was. Israelis deserve better and they know it.
I don't believe for one second that Netanyahu is extending the war for as long as possible. The war will run on as long as a Hamas terrorist remains in Gaza and as long as hostages, including those captured before October 7, remain hostages. Then and only then will the Gaza war be over. Then it will be war in Lebanon. I say, Godspeed, Israel.
Interesting perspective on Bibi, but not one shared by a majority of Israelis who have actually lived through many years of Bibi’s “leadership” and the many scandals he has slithered his way out of through one distraction or another.
You're both right. Bibi is first and foremost a politician who knows how to play political games, but he is not a criminal or a traitor to the people.
Those who support him are mistaken that Bibi has positive potential for Israel, and those who are against him want to remove him so much that they use completely ugly methods.
Bibi's error was buying the lie that the Biden administration's dolts sold to him and the US, and everyone esle---It's a new moment! Peace is real!
Now, come on Bibi! sell Iron Dome to Zelensky for us! Come on Bibi.
Our Biden administration's dolts are still selling that lie, still trying to woo Iran away from its alliances of convenience with Russia and China. The DNC's position is, "OMG! Those poor Gaza innocents. Still. This is doltish clownery raised to absurdity.
China had personnel down in those tunnels you know, engineers, helping to build them.
Bibi resisted the endless badgering, but he bought it in the end. Nobody was saying much else, including in Israel.
The intel? In Israel, intel is always coming in. Not much was different this time. The tunnels had been in place for years. The weapons were nothing new. Training for attack is what life in Gaza is about. Hate of Jews for existing is a religious duty they carry out like Jews celebrate Passover.
This is how it always goes in war. A surprise attack is... yes! It's a surprise!
Pounding on Bibi is a cheap shot, and stupid. Every other would have done worse.
Ah yes there’s the myopic American politics lens I was talking about - 10/7 was Biden’s fault!
Surely Bibi’s decision to move most of the military to the West Bank to protect illegal settlers there had nothing to do with why it took the IDF 12+ hours to reach victims in the south. Surely Bibi deliberately propping up Hamas for years played no role. Those silly Israelis directing their rage at Netanyahu when really Biden is to blame for all of it. Someone should tell them.
I don't know that you're wrong, but you don't know that you're right, and if you're going to accuse someone of caring more about his job than about the lives of thousands of his countrymen, you should know. You can assess, based on available information, that he's doing a terrible job, but that's not at all the same thing.
In today's world allegations are deemed to be facts without regard to evidence ( or trials) to back the allegations up. The Colorado secretary of state is a perfect example of this new world
Clarity Seeker, you are correct. The oft-cited remark that a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting its shoes on is an easy-to-see example of the weakness of human nature. Judeo-Christianity has opposed this from the beginning.
We are bent toward the negative; it is our default setting. Finding truth and speaking it requires deliberation, which is effort.
Sure I could be wrong. I don’t know Bibi’s soul. But this is my strong belief based on his actions over the last decade plus, and especially since the war began, and it is one shared by a a majority of Israelis. The way he shirked any responsibility in the immediate aftermath and failed to meet with families of the victims for days, say it all. When visiting the ruins of one of the kibbutzim he asked for a mask because the smell of death was so repulsive to him. One of the soldiers who’d been there cleaning up for days refused his request and told him he can breathe in the air like everyone else.
Like I said, I don't think belief alone justifies such calumny. I also rather doubt that a majority of Israelis believe that he's letting people languish in Hamas captivity just to stay in office a little longer -- I certainly hope not. As an aside, the mask story is new to me -- can you post a link to where you read it?
What makes you doubt that most Israelis think this way? Did you know hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets last summer protesting Netanyahu’s judicial reform which was also widely seen as another tactic to cling to power? The man’s character as a corrupt, power hungry narcissist has been known for a long time and 10/7 only confirmed it. Here is a link to polling on this issue.
Here is a link to the story about the mask. It’s in Hebrew - couldn’t find an English version. The author acknowledges that this story was not documented - it was just something a soldier told him, demonstrating the anger and disgust of the IDF toward Bibi.
I'm well aware of the protests. I'm also aware that the man's character isn't "known", period. It's assumed, or guessed at, or irrelevant.
Regarding the poll, it's fair for you to bring it in as evidence and I don't have anything contradictory. I myself put almost no faith in issue polling and I'm inclined to think that most Israelis don't believe that he's so evil, but I'll grant you the win on points. I still maintain that it's wrong to believe that of him based on the available evidence.
Thanks for the link. I'd say the key line is "To the best of my knowledge, the event was not documented - perhaps it was born only from the wishes of the heart of a fighter who lost friends and trust in the fighting - but it shows the dimensions of the anger in large parts of the public." The dimensions of the anger go back to the previous point, but I'm guessing the exchange didn't happen.
You are wrong about the protests. Most Israeli media are against Bibi, so you only hear one side. I have many acquaintances and friends and it’s hard for me to say who is more, those who are against Netanyahu or those who are for. But those who are against are simply louder and I see their opinion at every step.
I myself have long been disappointed in Bibi’s abilities and I have specific complaints and questions about him. But I am not ready to ruin the country, as his opponents do.
Many of the claims against Bibi that are made against him are the result of the policies of his opponents.
I read the story in Hebrew - did you?? It recounts a secondhand story of someone who claims to have been there. One person. There is no other evidence - no photos, nothing. We call that hearsay. Lest you think I am a supporter of Bibi - I am not. However, I am a supporter of truth - which is something you seem to be in short supply of.
As for the poll, have you gotten to your age not knowing how these polls work? You can basically get any result you want based on the population you question and how the questions are phrased. Do better.
I don’t think it’s accurate to say that “safety” is the number one concern of American voters in the way it is for Israelis. We in America are not facing the existential crisis Israel has been in every day for its entire history, with state sponsored terrorists explicitly committed to wiping it off the map bordering it on virtually all sides.
Our invaders are coming in at the rate of 300,000 per month now. They just haven't pulled out their weapons yet and begun the war. With the exception of our first 100 years, America has been protected from combat by foreign forces on our soil --now we are letting in military aged males from countries who hate us and giving them plane tickets, hotel rooms, phones and credit cards. And US citizens are simply acquiescing. We seemed to have learned nothing from 10/7 or 9/11. Would Israel allow this? I think not....nor should they. It was many of the Palestinians who worked in the kibbutzes who provided the intel for the 10/7 attack.
Yes, the Biden administration has been working hard on backing Russia into a corner that it can only escape by nuclear war. That will incinerate every square mile of this nation. The dolts in office that think the proxy war in Ukraine is the smart thing will be the authors of that when it happens.
Maybe maybe not. The point is israel is a country facing a very real existential threat, and it is a population of Holocaust and pogram survivors with generations of trauma. Whatever America is, it isn’t currently that. Bibi gets elected on his promise to keep Israel safe and 10/7 happens on his sloppy watch. And Americans who insist on viewing everything through their very narrow American politics lens can’t understand why Israelis are disillusioned with Bibi.
Having spent some time in Israel, I can understand their disillusionment. More than existential, they are facing a physical threat. As a nation, America is not facing that, as individuals, many are facing that. I've lived in 8 countries and travelled in 23, I do not view the world through a "narrow American politics lens."
I do not like or support Bibi, but demonizing his is childish. He did some good for the country over the years, but he has definitely going to be removed from power after this horrifying fiasco. But even I do not believe that he is extending the war to stay in power.
Thank you for making the trip and telling more stories which are not being told in mainstream journalism circles. Thank you also, for continuing to do so despite the disgusting low life commenters who continue to communicate in ways designed to annoy. They are entirely ineffectual.
I look forward to your report. Since I cannot travel to Israel, I rely on journalists like you at the Free Press to keep me informed. I trust you and your colleagues to tell us the truth, and that is a rare thing these days in the news media.
Your job is crucial and one of the cornerstones of a free people and a democracy. Without a free press, a truly free, protected, and independent press, democracy would fail. I believe four main things need to exist for us to be a free country: law and order, free elections, respect for human rights, and a free press.
So, thank you for leaving your two kids behind, for putting yourself in danger, and, most importantly, for having the courage to report the truth.
Many neutral voices are asking how Mossad and the whole of the exceptional Israeli IC could possibly have (1) failed to stop this attack, and (2) why they responded as slowly as they did. Many neutral observers find this deeply troubling and counterintuitive. The parallels between 9/11 and Oct 7 are DEEPLY TROUBLING.
It is indeed deeply troubling. Israeli society is already digging up and exposing her own failures leading up to 10/7. There will be an 8nternsl reckoning once the war’s goals are met.
However, if one forgets to set one’s house alarm and neglects to lock the door, it does not give your neighbors permission to enter the house, rape and pillage, burn , murder and shoot one’s pets.
There will never be forgiveness of the massacre and abduction and continuing races of our people.
Well don't you know that all Israelis are guilty by association of evil colonialism and are not worthy of the basic decencies afforded innocent people, whereas all the Gazans, who knowingly harbored terrorists or even assisted them, are somehow innocent victims, because they have been unjustly dispossessed of land that that rightfully belongs to them, even though there is no historical record of any such claim, whereas the Jewish presence is well documented, going back to, say, the birth of Jesus. And of course the fact that their own leadership ignores their plight and steals their resources to wage perpetual war, with their ongoing acquiescence, does nothing to call into question their innate moral superiority, being, you know, non-white and non-rich.
It's not complicated at all. Everyone was lulled into believing what they wanted to believe. That peace was at hand. That this was different. That Palestinians were fundamentally just like Israelis and had been won over by kindness. It was all a lie. The garden is undressed and horror is revealed to be behind the curtain painted with a scene everyone wanted to believe.
Many of us were never fooled by these so called "Palestinians", but whenever we expressed that opinion, we were called "racists" or "right-wing extremists". Most of those nice folks in the South were "peace activists" and thought that the Arabs are the same as us and if we are nice to them, all will be well. The tragedy is that many of them paid with their lives for that foolishness.
We in Israel have many questions about how this was allowed to happen. We will get answers but while we are actively fighting, it is perhaps not the time.
On September 11, 2001 three steel frame skyscrapers collapsed in on their footprint. This was the first time in WORLD HISTORY that kind of collapse occurred without CONTROLLED DEMOLITION. See Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth (https://www0.ae911truth.org) for the science and physics. Decades later the scientifically, legally provable truth is HIDDEN to protect the guilty.
Good luck with your discovery of why Mossad and the Isreali IC (with their CIA friends) failed so INEXPLICABLY. Good luck.
Oh my goodness, a real live conspiracy theorist on The Free Press. What a frightening life you must lead. I am not interested in 9/11 right now but you probably think the Jews had something to do with it, right? Are you a Holocaust denier too?
How courageous to have traveled to a war-torn country. When I see a man every single morning on an overpass on the highway on my way to work holding a homemade sign that reads, "ceasefire", I just want to scream. It's infuriating. Reading this account and others, I want to know how anyone can fault Israel for defending themselves or worse, blame them.
I look forward to hearing this important series and learning more about Hamas’s savagery and Israel’s resilience and determination.
I confess to ignorance of the details of Israel’s domestic politics. Reportedly, about 20 percent of Israelis are Arabs, mostly Muslims. Arabs are in the Knesset, and at least one is on Israel’s highest court. The Knesset is home to a full gamut of political parties ranging from right to left, most of them of course composed of Jews. The variety of beliefs and parties make it extremely difficult for any one of them to form a government, such that Netanyahu’s government, like most, is a cobbled-together coalition.
Bibi Netanyahu, a conservative patriot, is hated by many (much as Donald Trump is hated here). Nevertheless, those Israelis who hate Netanyahu fear Hamas and other terrorist groups even more, so they join the fight to exterminate Hamas so it will no longer pose its publicly proclaimed existential threat to Israel.
What I don’t understand is why Israelis will follow Bibi’s leadership in this fight to secure and maintain the very existence of Zion, the Jewish homeland, but at the next election will try to vote him out. Where is the perspective? Where is the gratitude?
As stated, I don’t understand Israel’s domestic politics. But I do understand ours. And I’m sure that no matter what good Donald Trump has done, and perhaps will do in future, a large portion of our voters will never support him - a big reason for this being his erratic, bombastic personality. But it’s interesting how fiercely we humans cling to deeply held beliefs, no matter what contradictory facts are presented.
I am very much a right-wing Israeli, but even I think that Bibi has overstayed his welcome. This horrendous tragedy happened on his watch and he cannot survive it politically. I disagree with the premise of "loyalty" to a politician. A politician should be in power only as long as he is useful and does good for his country. That's the job and and being loyal to a failed politician is just foolishness.
I just don't think loyalty factors into it at all from the voter's standpoint. Loyalty should be the hallmark of a good leader. The minute a politician stops doing his job, voters are not obligated to keep him in power. For me it's very simple. I am loyal to my country, my people - not a politician.
The murder cult that is Iran sends its flying monkeys Hamas and Hezbollah into Israel. Jews and their friends die horribly. The world shrugs. Israel responds. The world screams like its hair on fire. Why? We all know why. The world is an ass.
The New York Times and other news outlets run columnists every day who decry the "brutal Israeli war in Gaza that's piled up more than 30,000 bodies! Cease-fire now Israel!" I have written to dozens of those columnist and, separately, their "mastheads," asking them to tell Israel how it should wage war instead. If Israel's war against Hamas is immoral and obscene because too many Gazans are dead, then how *should* Israel destroy Hamas without harming non-combatants?
I ask them to lay out their battle plan and I will overnight the results to the Knesset from Arizona. These writers clearly believe Israel had plenty of options from which to choose and chose the only one that kills Palestinians with gusto and glee.
I have yet to get a single response. One minor writer said he didn't have any ideas, but there were too many innocent casualties so Israel had to stop. I asked if he'd ever asked Hamas to stop.
Shane, you're just thinking about it all wrong. Apparently, the Jews and the Muslims are going to go at it in one form or another and nobody can really solve it. So... think about it as a sporting event. Blood sport. You can root for either team, watch their execution (pun intended) of plays. Poor calls have consequences. Real consequences. The losers are going to...you know, lose. Lose big. But we get to sit over here in the cheering section and witness history and evolution in real time. And if you're feeling virtuous, revel in the resultant reduced human carbon footprint
Time for Gaza "civilians" to start cooperating. You know, give Red Cross access to hostages. Demand Hamas surrender unconditionally. If they aren't willing to do this they can die in droves and the world will be a better place. The only people who own that land are the ones that can take and keep it. Brute force and violence have always been part of that dynamic
The Hamas attack on Israel was intended to provoke a response against Gaza.
Hamas knew full well that the nature of their barbaric foray would be answered by an invasion of their base of operations and would result in significant casualties amongst the general population.
Hamas could end the conflict by surrendering and returning the remaining hostages but they have chosen to continue the fight while embedded in amongst non-combatants.
The notion that Israel is responsible for this conflict and the non-combatant casualties is absurd.
Since its inception as a nation, Israel has been under attack by the Islamic leaders of the Middle East.
They have endured an endless fight for survival because the leaders Muslim world cannot accept a Jewish state in their midst.
The current conflict is not about Palestinian nationalism or freedom - it is just a continuation of the Islamic quest for dominance in the region.
The notion that Palestinians should be granted statehood is based on the desire of Islamists to create a formalized forward base for their proxy efforts to destroy Israel and the Jews who populate it.
There is little likelihood Israel will ever be free from the violence instigated against it by the Islamic world but there is equally little likelihood that Israel will allow itself to fall victim to such violence.
Israel will protect itself to the extent necessary and will not be swayed by the progressive pearl clutching at the collateral damage the Islamic leaders invite upon their own people.
As Golda Meir wisely said, there will never be peace until the Arabs love their children more than they hate the Jews.
She also said:
“When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons.”
I am so glad you said this. I have tried explaining it here in the US. Mostly I get stunned silence. No, Israel is not to blame for the humanitarian crisis. The war can stop today. All that needs to happen is for Hamas to surrender. Hamas is not a government. It is a terrorist organization even within Gaza against Palestinians. ISIS ruled a geography, but had no right to exist because at heart it was a terrorist organization. The Taliban ruled, and rules again, but has no right to exist because it is a terrorist organization. Same for Hamas. It has no right to exist, even if it rules a geographic area. It is a terrorist organization. The war can stop today. The humanitarian crisis can stop today. And it does not depend on Israel.
I wish President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken saw things this clearly, but they have been pressuring Israel for a cease fire and advocate a two-state solution. Civilian hostages are not prisoners of war and Hamas has no right to keep them. That should be the first US talking point, not trying to limit Israel's right of self-defense.
The real problem with a two-state solution, again, is not Israel. Western morons, I mean diplomats, spout two-state solutions in terms that Israel will not accept it and it is Israel's fault. The reality is quite different. Hamas will never accept a two-state solution because its reason for being is the destruction of Israel. Remember, Israel offered Arafat a two-state, and basically gave them every one of their published demands. Arafat rejected the offer, saying to the Israeli PM, if I accept this, they will assassinate me. Arafat understood his own constituency. He knew that Palestinians will never accept an Israeli state. But western diplomats continue to blame Israel as the obstacle.
Yes. To reiterate John’s point: Hamas will never accept a two-state solution. To believe they will is delusional.
The call for cease fire has nothing to do with Israel, nor for that matter Gaza, what it is ALL about is paying lip service to the 70,000+ who voted "uncommitted" in the democrat primaries.
No. Hamas was elected and they’re supported not only by the vast majority of Muslims there but also by the UN via UNWRA employment and cash. If you want to learn more follow JNS as a news outlet.
Hamas won an election in 2005 and has not held another election since. This is hardly a democracy. I am astonished that you would consider UNRWA (please note the correct spelling) to be legitimate. It is now very clear that UNRWA is an extension of Hamas, and participated in the 10/7 attacks. Current evidence is that more than 50 employees actively participated in the massacre. Hundreds more celebrated the rapes and murders and kidnappings. And the organization as a whole promotes rabid anti-Jewish hatred and racism, beginning in kindergarten.
Hamas is in the school system through the efforts of UNRWA. Furthermore, we now know that UNRWA facilities were used as military installations. Did you know that a senior UNRWA official in Gaza, a French woman, is married to a high level Hamas terrorist? UNRWA has no legitimacy and will be shut down as democracies across the world have stopped its funding.
When they were voted in did the people know they were electing them forever? When a leader is elected for life, it is not an election but a coronation.
Hamas is not a new organization. They knew exactly what they were getting - and Jew-hatred was at the top of the list. So now they're sorry when they look at the rubble they have brought upon themselves? Too bad. I couldn't care less.
or a tyranny
It's instructive to realize that Hamas and Palestinians for that matter are anathema to other Arab states. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Morocco et al want nothing to do with them. Hamas just like Hezbollah are proxies of Iran, and Iran claiming that they had no prior knowledge of the atrocities perpetrated on Oct 7 is most likely a lie. Iran through Hamas wanted Israel to suffer the opprobrium of world wide indignation on the retaliatory attack on Gaza that Hamas so conveniently engineered. You hide your military assets amongst and under civilians living their lives as Hamas has cynically done, and have always done, will all but guarantee what we see today. Carnage and death. Once Israel finishes this action I hope like hell they go for Hamas' leadership as they live in splendour in Qatar. And I think they know what's coming for them. Their Israeli hostages are the only thing keeping them alive.
Perfectly expressed truth.
Israel will do that until the attack cannot be countered. That day is not far off. The doomsday slaughter cult that surrounds them will see to that. Israelis and American Jews mostly just will not face the grim reality that their existence is a religious war provocation, and can never be turned into anything else.
If there exists a ‘doomsday slaughter cult’, I believe it exists in Iran.
The Islamic theocrats are bent on developing nuclear weapons and would be least likely to be hesitant to use them against Israel to fulfil their fanatic hatred as opposed to other powers who are deterred by the reality of mutually assured destruction.
Israel would not hesitate to destroy Tehran if there is the possibility of a first strike attempt by the Ayatollahs.
Like those of Hamas, these leaders would be willing to see the citizens they rule destroyed to fulfill their intolerance of the Jewish state.
The Jewish people have sworn that never again will anyone imperil their existence and I respect their oath of survival.
It's right there in the books. It is in the sermons, right here in America. Fanatic hatred is what Islam was created to be. I have read them. Most do not, and if they do, they read a bowdlerized Penguin edition, or they read apologists instead and never touch the sources.
I agree. Islam is about suppression, subjugation and conquest.
Israel has an ally besides the US.
I'm curious who you are thinking of?
Yahweh. I believe.
This does not relieve people of responsibility. For each
I did not say, nor do I believe, otherwise.
We know that this is a religious war - and has nothing to do with land. I just wish the West would wake up to that fact because the West is Next.
Number me among the absurd. Israel has made me an ex-Zionist.
You are absurd. You were never really a Zionist. So asserting you are an ex Zionist is absurd.
30 years of life of study, experience, travel, war and arduous continuing education have led me to become a convinced, firm Zionist, ready to testify in earthly and heavenly courts in defense of Israel.
I don’t think that an anti-Zionist is stupider than me. I just realized that anti-Zionism, conscience and knowledge cannot exist together. But Zionism, conscience and knowledge, can.
Mr, Becker, have we met? If not, then what the hell are you talking about about?
Anti-Zionism is code for Jew-hatred.
That is so bizarre, but I guess if the whole choir sings it it sounds right
Thank you for doing this, Ms. Kahn. And Ms. Weiss and all your colleagues.
It seems that no matter what you hear about the barbaric attack by Hamas, and no matter what you hear about how Israel is not a colonizer, since there have been zero Jews living in Gaza since 2005, and how Israel is truly a melting pot of many religions and cultures, the lies and hate continues. I just listened to Jewish students testifying as how unsafe they feel on college campuses across the country. I hope people understand that this will not just stop with the Jews, that this is a fight for the very survival of our civilization.
I see it exactly the same way. Israel is just the tip of the iceberg. And these monsters are being aided and abetted by the idiot leftists in the USA who ignorantly sympathize with murderers because they buy into a romantic notion of reliving the days of Che Guevara's popularity.
And we have USA hating, pro Iran/Hamas/Hezbollah people in Congress. How did they get there? Answer: Idiot leftists voted them there
It's not just leftists, although they are an enabling group for sure. It's the tragic result of an open immigration / open border policy, supported by those idiot leftists, that allows in people from rapidly growing nations and other places that don't share our values. Ultimately the world will be ruled by the largest population (or maybe more generally the largest identity group), and whatever the lower rungs of that population can be made to believe will be the way of things.
Some people do. Many don't. There is a reason the bad things of the past were allowed to happen. When people divide humans into groups, it makes it easier to assume that the bad things happening won't happen to YOUR group.
That old saying of if you don’t stand up and speak in defense of others, there’ll be no one left to stand up for you.
From people who hate the Netanyahu government but nonetheless showed up as reservists without hesitation. . .
To people who voted for Bibi and now want him—and his entire coalition—removed from power. . .
——-
One would think the atrocity of October 7 would pull people together into the same direction. But just like 9 11 here in the US, there is no constancy. I don’t know what people expect. This is a literal existential crisis and they are playing politics.
I believe the country, regardless of political leanings, is united in the goal of returning the hostages and eliminating Hamas. The anger against Netanyahu likely has to do both with how he handled things well before 10/7 as well as how he and his government missed or ignored the intel about the upcoming attack. While there may be differences of opinion about how best to free the hostages and defeat Hamas, the vast majority of Israelis strongly support both goals.
After the war, though, Bibi is in trouble.
Bibi's political strength was in his promise to keep Israelis safe, to keep the roaring lion at bay. He did that for a long time. Even his detractors acknowledged that Israelis felt safe with BN as PM. Obviously, 10/7 completely changed that. He no longer can run on a safety and security platform. Either of two things will happen. He will find a way to re-invent himself (he always has, if you know his history), or he will retire (he's in his 70's). The problem for Israel is that no other PM has had any stability, generally lasting 3 years or less. So if BN is ousted, watch for short term PM's for a decade. And this will be precarious for Israel.
I promise you that Bibi will not be able to reinvent himself after this pogrom. Even most of us on the right are looking elsewhere.
From my friends over there the majority supports Bibi and especially the ones in the IDF.
I'm not sure how many friends you have over here in Israel, but the majority do not support Bibi staying in power after the war. I am very much on the right but Bibi cannot weather this. It happened on his watch and he must go - along with most of the other leaders in the government and the IDF. I have very little confidence in any of them but we are stuck with them for the time being.
Thank you for the reply. For sure,, my comment is not based on a significant sample, and at the same time, no one else's can be. At this time, we are in the fog of war. You are probably right that Bibi and others will not be in government after the war ends. Hopefully, US allows Israel to eliminate Hamas. Unfortunately, Israel became dependent on America. What it looked like easy and free money for military, became a huge liability. At worst, Israel took the eyes of the ball (the existential threat of Iran). I “speculate” that the security failures on October 7 were caused to large extent by the corruption caused by leftist NGOs money coming from here. There will be an investigative committee; how honest in their conclusion that remains to be seen. My golden rule states that if you cannot define the cause of anything, just say money.
There will be an investigation about how this horrendous tragedy was allowed to happen. Many in leadership, including Bibi, will have to go.
Two points:
1. Israel never takes its eye off of Iran - the rest of the world does, not us. However, it remains to be seen if we will have to take on Iran alone.
2. Before Bibi was PM, he used to say that Israel must wean itself off of the U.S. military aid. IT IS FAR MORE BENEFICIAL TO THE U.S. THAN TO ISRAEL. But since he has become PM, he has forgotten this wisdom. Another reason to retire him.
I’m left with the impression of a country unified.
The one playing politics is Bibi; he knows that what’s best for him is extending this war as long as possible. Israelis are united in understanding they face an existential crisis - they are also largely united in understanding Bibi’s top concern will always be his own ability to stay in power.
Bibi’s whole schtick has always been, “you may not like me but I alone can keep you safe.” 10/7 revealed what a grotesque bit of propaganda that was. Israelis deserve better and they know it.
I don't believe for one second that Netanyahu is extending the war for as long as possible. The war will run on as long as a Hamas terrorist remains in Gaza and as long as hostages, including those captured before October 7, remain hostages. Then and only then will the Gaza war be over. Then it will be war in Lebanon. I say, Godspeed, Israel.
Interesting perspective on Bibi, but not one shared by a majority of Israelis who have actually lived through many years of Bibi’s “leadership” and the many scandals he has slithered his way out of through one distraction or another.
You're both right. Bibi is first and foremost a politician who knows how to play political games, but he is not a criminal or a traitor to the people.
Those who support him are mistaken that Bibi has positive potential for Israel, and those who are against him want to remove him so much that they use completely ugly methods.
Bibi's error was buying the lie that the Biden administration's dolts sold to him and the US, and everyone esle---It's a new moment! Peace is real!
Now, come on Bibi! sell Iron Dome to Zelensky for us! Come on Bibi.
Our Biden administration's dolts are still selling that lie, still trying to woo Iran away from its alliances of convenience with Russia and China. The DNC's position is, "OMG! Those poor Gaza innocents. Still. This is doltish clownery raised to absurdity.
China had personnel down in those tunnels you know, engineers, helping to build them.
Bibi resisted the endless badgering, but he bought it in the end. Nobody was saying much else, including in Israel.
The intel? In Israel, intel is always coming in. Not much was different this time. The tunnels had been in place for years. The weapons were nothing new. Training for attack is what life in Gaza is about. Hate of Jews for existing is a religious duty they carry out like Jews celebrate Passover.
This is how it always goes in war. A surprise attack is... yes! It's a surprise!
Pounding on Bibi is a cheap shot, and stupid. Every other would have done worse.
Ah yes there’s the myopic American politics lens I was talking about - 10/7 was Biden’s fault!
Surely Bibi’s decision to move most of the military to the West Bank to protect illegal settlers there had nothing to do with why it took the IDF 12+ hours to reach victims in the south. Surely Bibi deliberately propping up Hamas for years played no role. Those silly Israelis directing their rage at Netanyahu when really Biden is to blame for all of it. Someone should tell them.
Your ignorance and the misinformation you are spreading....oy...
What misinformation did I spread?
I don't know that you're wrong, but you don't know that you're right, and if you're going to accuse someone of caring more about his job than about the lives of thousands of his countrymen, you should know. You can assess, based on available information, that he's doing a terrible job, but that's not at all the same thing.
In today's world allegations are deemed to be facts without regard to evidence ( or trials) to back the allegations up. The Colorado secretary of state is a perfect example of this new world
Clarity Seeker, you are correct. The oft-cited remark that a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting its shoes on is an easy-to-see example of the weakness of human nature. Judeo-Christianity has opposed this from the beginning.
We are bent toward the negative; it is our default setting. Finding truth and speaking it requires deliberation, which is effort.
🎯
Sure I could be wrong. I don’t know Bibi’s soul. But this is my strong belief based on his actions over the last decade plus, and especially since the war began, and it is one shared by a a majority of Israelis. The way he shirked any responsibility in the immediate aftermath and failed to meet with families of the victims for days, say it all. When visiting the ruins of one of the kibbutzim he asked for a mask because the smell of death was so repulsive to him. One of the soldiers who’d been there cleaning up for days refused his request and told him he can breathe in the air like everyone else.
Like I said, I don't think belief alone justifies such calumny. I also rather doubt that a majority of Israelis believe that he's letting people languish in Hamas captivity just to stay in office a little longer -- I certainly hope not. As an aside, the mask story is new to me -- can you post a link to where you read it?
What makes you doubt that most Israelis think this way? Did you know hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets last summer protesting Netanyahu’s judicial reform which was also widely seen as another tactic to cling to power? The man’s character as a corrupt, power hungry narcissist has been known for a long time and 10/7 only confirmed it. Here is a link to polling on this issue.
https://nypost.com/2024/01/22/news/majority-of-israelis-believe-netanyahus-wartime-decision-making-driven-by-personal-interest-poll/
Here is a link to the story about the mask. It’s in Hebrew - couldn’t find an English version. The author acknowledges that this story was not documented - it was just something a soldier told him, demonstrating the anger and disgust of the IDF toward Bibi.
https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/yokra13633353
I'm well aware of the protests. I'm also aware that the man's character isn't "known", period. It's assumed, or guessed at, or irrelevant.
Regarding the poll, it's fair for you to bring it in as evidence and I don't have anything contradictory. I myself put almost no faith in issue polling and I'm inclined to think that most Israelis don't believe that he's so evil, but I'll grant you the win on points. I still maintain that it's wrong to believe that of him based on the available evidence.
Thanks for the link. I'd say the key line is "To the best of my knowledge, the event was not documented - perhaps it was born only from the wishes of the heart of a fighter who lost friends and trust in the fighting - but it shows the dimensions of the anger in large parts of the public." The dimensions of the anger go back to the previous point, but I'm guessing the exchange didn't happen.
You are wrong about the protests. Most Israeli media are against Bibi, so you only hear one side. I have many acquaintances and friends and it’s hard for me to say who is more, those who are against Netanyahu or those who are for. But those who are against are simply louder and I see their opinion at every step.
I myself have long been disappointed in Bibi’s abilities and I have specific complaints and questions about him. But I am not ready to ruin the country, as his opponents do.
Many of the claims against Bibi that are made against him are the result of the policies of his opponents.
I read the story in Hebrew - did you?? It recounts a secondhand story of someone who claims to have been there. One person. There is no other evidence - no photos, nothing. We call that hearsay. Lest you think I am a supporter of Bibi - I am not. However, I am a supporter of truth - which is something you seem to be in short supply of.
As for the poll, have you gotten to your age not knowing how these polls work? You can basically get any result you want based on the population you question and how the questions are phrased. Do better.
You definitely don't speak for the majority of Israelis. I find it shocking that you think you do.
That's what the two prominent politicians in America say, too
I don’t think it’s accurate to say that “safety” is the number one concern of American voters in the way it is for Israelis. We in America are not facing the existential crisis Israel has been in every day for its entire history, with state sponsored terrorists explicitly committed to wiping it off the map bordering it on virtually all sides.
not yet.
Our invaders are coming in at the rate of 300,000 per month now. They just haven't pulled out their weapons yet and begun the war. With the exception of our first 100 years, America has been protected from combat by foreign forces on our soil --now we are letting in military aged males from countries who hate us and giving them plane tickets, hotel rooms, phones and credit cards. And US citizens are simply acquiescing. We seemed to have learned nothing from 10/7 or 9/11. Would Israel allow this? I think not....nor should they. It was many of the Palestinians who worked in the kibbutzes who provided the intel for the 10/7 attack.
Yes, you are correct. As I've said before, the next civil war will be between the Chinese and the Muslims for control of the US.
Yes, the Biden administration has been working hard on backing Russia into a corner that it can only escape by nuclear war. That will incinerate every square mile of this nation. The dolts in office that think the proxy war in Ukraine is the smart thing will be the authors of that when it happens.
https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/
Maybe maybe not. The point is israel is a country facing a very real existential threat, and it is a population of Holocaust and pogram survivors with generations of trauma. Whatever America is, it isn’t currently that. Bibi gets elected on his promise to keep Israel safe and 10/7 happens on his sloppy watch. And Americans who insist on viewing everything through their very narrow American politics lens can’t understand why Israelis are disillusioned with Bibi.
Having spent some time in Israel, I can understand their disillusionment. More than existential, they are facing a physical threat. As a nation, America is not facing that, as individuals, many are facing that. I've lived in 8 countries and travelled in 23, I do not view the world through a "narrow American politics lens."
I do not like or support Bibi, but demonizing his is childish. He did some good for the country over the years, but he has definitely going to be removed from power after this horrifying fiasco. But even I do not believe that he is extending the war to stay in power.
Thank you for making the trip and telling more stories which are not being told in mainstream journalism circles. Thank you also, for continuing to do so despite the disgusting low life commenters who continue to communicate in ways designed to annoy. They are entirely ineffectual.
I suspect that annoyance comes easily to you.
I look forward to your report. Since I cannot travel to Israel, I rely on journalists like you at the Free Press to keep me informed. I trust you and your colleagues to tell us the truth, and that is a rare thing these days in the news media.
Your job is crucial and one of the cornerstones of a free people and a democracy. Without a free press, a truly free, protected, and independent press, democracy would fail. I believe four main things need to exist for us to be a free country: law and order, free elections, respect for human rights, and a free press.
So, thank you for leaving your two kids behind, for putting yourself in danger, and, most importantly, for having the courage to report the truth.
I think I’ll opt for this rather than the This American Life podcast on Palestinian refugees.
My heart and soul are with the Israeli people.
Many neutral voices are asking how Mossad and the whole of the exceptional Israeli IC could possibly have (1) failed to stop this attack, and (2) why they responded as slowly as they did. Many neutral observers find this deeply troubling and counterintuitive. The parallels between 9/11 and Oct 7 are DEEPLY TROUBLING.
It is indeed deeply troubling. Israeli society is already digging up and exposing her own failures leading up to 10/7. There will be an 8nternsl reckoning once the war’s goals are met.
However, if one forgets to set one’s house alarm and neglects to lock the door, it does not give your neighbors permission to enter the house, rape and pillage, burn , murder and shoot one’s pets.
There will never be forgiveness of the massacre and abduction and continuing races of our people.
Much of the world still refuses to even acknowledge the atrocities of Oct 7
Well don't you know that all Israelis are guilty by association of evil colonialism and are not worthy of the basic decencies afforded innocent people, whereas all the Gazans, who knowingly harbored terrorists or even assisted them, are somehow innocent victims, because they have been unjustly dispossessed of land that that rightfully belongs to them, even though there is no historical record of any such claim, whereas the Jewish presence is well documented, going back to, say, the birth of Jesus. And of course the fact that their own leadership ignores their plight and steals their resources to wage perpetual war, with their ongoing acquiescence, does nothing to call into question their innate moral superiority, being, you know, non-white and non-rich.
It's not complicated at all. Everyone was lulled into believing what they wanted to believe. That peace was at hand. That this was different. That Palestinians were fundamentally just like Israelis and had been won over by kindness. It was all a lie. The garden is undressed and horror is revealed to be behind the curtain painted with a scene everyone wanted to believe.
Many of us were never fooled by these so called "Palestinians", but whenever we expressed that opinion, we were called "racists" or "right-wing extremists". Most of those nice folks in the South were "peace activists" and thought that the Arabs are the same as us and if we are nice to them, all will be well. The tragedy is that many of them paid with their lives for that foolishness.
We in Israel have many questions about how this was allowed to happen. We will get answers but while we are actively fighting, it is perhaps not the time.
On September 11, 2001 three steel frame skyscrapers collapsed in on their footprint. This was the first time in WORLD HISTORY that kind of collapse occurred without CONTROLLED DEMOLITION. See Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth (https://www0.ae911truth.org) for the science and physics. Decades later the scientifically, legally provable truth is HIDDEN to protect the guilty.
Good luck with your discovery of why Mossad and the Isreali IC (with their CIA friends) failed so INEXPLICABLY. Good luck.
Oh my goodness, a real live conspiracy theorist on The Free Press. What a frightening life you must lead. I am not interested in 9/11 right now but you probably think the Jews had something to do with it, right? Are you a Holocaust denier too?
Lying to yourself is a form of cowardice Carol.
I am many things - coward is not one of them.
How courageous to have traveled to a war-torn country. When I see a man every single morning on an overpass on the highway on my way to work holding a homemade sign that reads, "ceasefire", I just want to scream. It's infuriating. Reading this account and others, I want to know how anyone can fault Israel for defending themselves or worse, blame them.
I am glad you are safely home.
Keep up the amazing work. Your voice is essential. Am Yisrael Chai!
Great. Can't wait to hear the rest of the story. Keep up the good work.
I look forward to hearing this important series and learning more about Hamas’s savagery and Israel’s resilience and determination.
I confess to ignorance of the details of Israel’s domestic politics. Reportedly, about 20 percent of Israelis are Arabs, mostly Muslims. Arabs are in the Knesset, and at least one is on Israel’s highest court. The Knesset is home to a full gamut of political parties ranging from right to left, most of them of course composed of Jews. The variety of beliefs and parties make it extremely difficult for any one of them to form a government, such that Netanyahu’s government, like most, is a cobbled-together coalition.
Bibi Netanyahu, a conservative patriot, is hated by many (much as Donald Trump is hated here). Nevertheless, those Israelis who hate Netanyahu fear Hamas and other terrorist groups even more, so they join the fight to exterminate Hamas so it will no longer pose its publicly proclaimed existential threat to Israel.
What I don’t understand is why Israelis will follow Bibi’s leadership in this fight to secure and maintain the very existence of Zion, the Jewish homeland, but at the next election will try to vote him out. Where is the perspective? Where is the gratitude?
As stated, I don’t understand Israel’s domestic politics. But I do understand ours. And I’m sure that no matter what good Donald Trump has done, and perhaps will do in future, a large portion of our voters will never support him - a big reason for this being his erratic, bombastic personality. But it’s interesting how fiercely we humans cling to deeply held beliefs, no matter what contradictory facts are presented.
You hit that on the head. If the people and institutions you believe in tell you something is bad, it can be hard to see it any other way.
I am very much a right-wing Israeli, but even I think that Bibi has overstayed his welcome. This horrendous tragedy happened on his watch and he cannot survive it politically. I disagree with the premise of "loyalty" to a politician. A politician should be in power only as long as he is useful and does good for his country. That's the job and and being loyal to a failed politician is just foolishness.
I appreciate your perspective and agree with it, unless giving up one’s loyalty to a politician means voting for someone worse.
I just don't think loyalty factors into it at all from the voter's standpoint. Loyalty should be the hallmark of a good leader. The minute a politician stops doing his job, voters are not obligated to keep him in power. For me it's very simple. I am loyal to my country, my people - not a politician.
People are loyal in the first place because of what the leader does for them and their country. I agree with the rest of your comment. Shalom!
Thank you for this great coverage!
The murder cult that is Iran sends its flying monkeys Hamas and Hezbollah into Israel. Jews and their friends die horribly. The world shrugs. Israel responds. The world screams like its hair on fire. Why? We all know why. The world is an ass.
The New York Times and other news outlets run columnists every day who decry the "brutal Israeli war in Gaza that's piled up more than 30,000 bodies! Cease-fire now Israel!" I have written to dozens of those columnist and, separately, their "mastheads," asking them to tell Israel how it should wage war instead. If Israel's war against Hamas is immoral and obscene because too many Gazans are dead, then how *should* Israel destroy Hamas without harming non-combatants?
I ask them to lay out their battle plan and I will overnight the results to the Knesset from Arizona. These writers clearly believe Israel had plenty of options from which to choose and chose the only one that kills Palestinians with gusto and glee.
I have yet to get a single response. One minor writer said he didn't have any ideas, but there were too many innocent casualties so Israel had to stop. I asked if he'd ever asked Hamas to stop.
Silence.
These fuckin' people.
Shane, you're just thinking about it all wrong. Apparently, the Jews and the Muslims are going to go at it in one form or another and nobody can really solve it. So... think about it as a sporting event. Blood sport. You can root for either team, watch their execution (pun intended) of plays. Poor calls have consequences. Real consequences. The losers are going to...you know, lose. Lose big. But we get to sit over here in the cheering section and witness history and evolution in real time. And if you're feeling virtuous, revel in the resultant reduced human carbon footprint
Really stupid comment. You obviously know nothing of the situation.
A fair point, steven. If I think of the ME as the Roman coliseum but all the gladiators are happy volunteers, I can rest easy!
They all do seem pretty happy doing this.
Another asshat comment.
Time for Gaza "civilians" to start cooperating. You know, give Red Cross access to hostages. Demand Hamas surrender unconditionally. If they aren't willing to do this they can die in droves and the world will be a better place. The only people who own that land are the ones that can take and keep it. Brute force and violence have always been part of that dynamic
Written when visiting a friend in Israel about 18 yrs. ago.
Bedoin Wedding
The handsome groom,
the beautiful bride,
the revelers fireing their weapons
toward the sky.
What goes up
must come down,
the bride and groom
lying on the ground.
Family and friends
tear their hair and weep,
the bride and groom
lying at their feet,
the revelers in slow retreat.
Do we praise Allah now
or do we wait?