Abbas Making Threats and Promises

 

Mahmoud Abbas is doing what he does best, threatening Israel and promising imminent elections. These are nothing new to those who spend even the slightest bit of attention to the ongoing war between the Arab Palestinians and Israel. We have lost count on the number of times that elections for the Palestinian Authority (PA) legislative parliament followed by elections for President. We do know how many elections have been held under the authority of the PA since 2005, none. That 2005 PA election was won predominantly by Hamas, just as Mahmoud Abbas, PA representatives and Israel had warned the American administration. It was Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President George W. Bush who insisted that the election be open for Hamas candidates claiming that such a terrorist entity as Hamas would never receive any number of votes from the Arab Palestinians as they desire peace with Israel, not the destruction of Israel. Well, apparently the Arab Palestinians supported Hamas in far greater numbers than the American experts predicted. There was to be a Presidential election after the parliamentary elections which was cancelled by Mahmoud Abbas as he understood he would lose the election and very possibly his life under a Hamas government. These were the same American officials who pushed the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in order to allow the Arab Palestinians to prove their ability for self-rule. This led directly to Hamas taking over Gaza in a bloody coup after which the same American administrators warned Israel against retaking Gaza, which is odd as retaking Gaza was their solution to all Israeli protestations against the policy moves being pressed by George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice. There have been previous declarations of intent for elections made by Mahmoud Abbas with every one hitting what are often called obstructions and thus never come to fruition.

 

Abbas made another threat while addressing the United Nations where he warned that the PA will withdraw from all the agreements made with Israel. We can advise that this threat be ignored as it is impossible to break agreements which Abbas and the PA never observed in the first place. The promise to remove the destruction of Israel from the PA Charter is simply another lie reported by the New York Times as that clause remains. As is the usual response to Israeli actions which are well within international law, the Oslo Accords and the rules of conflict, the PA and Mahmoud Abbas immediately threaten Israel and demand the world jump onto their bandwagon against Israel and the Jews. We fully expect most of Europe and the European Union to back Abbas completely as usual. Much of Europe are marching in lockstep with the attempts to destroy the Jewish State. The closest that the PA came to altering and amending their charter was they voted once while President Clinton had observers monitoring their actions so they agreed to appoint a committee at their next meeting in order to rewrite the charter and bring it into compliance with the Oslo Accords. The committee was never formed nor was there ever any real intent to do so. They did enact changes to the charter making it even more difficult to make any changes in the future just in case a moment of weakness mixed with honesty ever took a grip on their leaders. There is one thing that Mahmoud Abbas and the PA can count upon, the New York Times will carry their water for them and report whatever they are told by the PA leadership and refute anything resembling reality which favors Israel.

 

Mahmoud Abbas to President Trump, “May your house be destroyed”

 

There are a couple of things we can count upon in the upcoming future. First, there will be no elections for President and unlikely to be any for their parliament either. What will be the reason this time is anybody’s guess. Second, there will be no change in the animosity and terrorist attacks resulting from their “Pay to Slay” policy enacted by Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas has made crystal clear that if necessary, he would use every cent of funding to pay the terrorists even at the cost of not paying the government employees. That is just one of the items which too many governments, politicians and media elites ignore and refuse to report to the people instead laying all the blame for the problems in the Middle East on Israel. Further, the leaders in the world, both political and in the media, refuse to take the time to translate the speeches made by the PA leadership into English, French, German or any other language they understand. They act as if Arabic is some coded language beyond the ability to be comprehended. This is despite the many various NGO’s which translate much if not all the publications, speeches by PA officials and various news reports and videos. These include but are not limited to Palestinian Media Watch, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America and Middle East Media Research Institute. These and the other NGOs which translate much of the news reporting and political speeches from the entirety of the Middle East and stretching to Northern Africa and provide those who actually wish to know reality the actual truth of where and why the Middle East is as it is. But far too many western politicians and leaders, specifically those on the extreme right and left and a growing number of the left-wing are taking stances opposed to Israel. These are the same individuals who will be turning against the Christians and others who believe in a moral code and specifically who believe in our Creator, Hashem.

 

Many are perplexed by these leftists and their stand against religion and the belief in a Creator. The reason is simple, they desire the world returning to a less civil time with idolatry, abortion, and a two-tiered society with them at the top and the majority all but enslaved as were the serfs in Europe. They want to be rid of the narrow morality of the Bible, both Jewish and Christian, and want to replace the Bible with their ecocentrism and belief that the world would be a perfect place if only there were far fewer humans infecting the planet. Because of their desire to be free of the morality which spawned from Judaism and was the basis for Christianity, they will and have embraced everything which wishes to destroy the Judeo-Christian world. This is the basis for the left and Islam allying and why so many Islamists are being accepted as the new leaders of the left political spectrum. Their first hope is the elimination of Israel replacing it with another Islamist Arab state run by the terror masters of the PA, Hamas or Islamic Jihad. But, for now, let it be stated that they will never desire to know the truth, as the truth would not comport with their desires.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Reading the News is Risky

 

That goes particularly should you be Jewish or feel for the Jews in this world going insane. Everyday in virtually every major world news publication there will be at least one article where Jews have been attacked for being Jews. Be the attack be a Synagogue in Germany, a Jew walking in their own neighborhoods in the New York City metropolitan area, wearing the Jewish Yarmulke (Kippah), walking in London or just about anywhere on the globe. To be honest, we feel safer as Jews in Israel than anywhere else in the world. Sure, we have continued rioting along the Gaza border despite assurances by Hamas that this would end after the last agreement, the terror threats emanating from the Palestinian Arab areas in the Shomron (West Bank) resulting from the Palestinian Authority (PA) policy of “Pay to Slay” where Arab families are paid for every Israeli they are able to murder by their government, and there is always the threat of Iran using Hezballah for attacks along the northern border; but here in Israel we know the government acts proactively to prevent as much terrorist violence as possible. Throughout the rest of the world, when Jews are attacked the governing bodies go through motions for a few days, perhaps a week, and then they go back to ignoring the problem. The attacks in the New York neighborhoods have become almost daily occurrences with there being at least three or four every week. But the New York mayor and other state and city officials are pretending that these attacks never happen as they do not serve their agenda where they can blame President Trump. These attacks in New York are being perpetrated by minorities who are far more favored than are those Jews being attacked. As mentioned in our article, “Has the World Gone Crazy Again?,” Israel truly is one, if not the only, place where Jews can expect to be kept safe by their government and its institutions. What makes Israel even more special is that they provide the same protections for all her citizens, Jewish or not.

 

The question which needs to be addressed would require an honest and completely unbiased assessment intending to find the reasons behind such attacks and what can and should be done to educate away from hate and towards bringing societies together. What is unfortunate is that such an assessment is currently impossible as there are numerous politicians, political parties and other such interests who are the ones stoking the flames of hatred and often initiating these Judeophobic attacks. The media and most politicians along with analysts and other pontificators all have a dog in this fight and that growling beast needs a target for setting blame, spite and hate and, as has been the case throughout history, the Jews are their favorite targets. The current bend in the stream of American society is being centered on President Trump and the efforts to Impeach him or make very sure he fails to be reelected in the 2020 elections. In Europe, the realities are much the same with the majority of the political establishment and media being bent either to the far right or, as is largely the case, to the far left. Of course, they never present the facts realistically, thus all the various views claim that their view is the centrist view and everyone else is on the lunatic fringe. This has led to the polarization of much of Western society.

 

The other reality which we must recognize is that the majority of news reporting on television, in print and on the Internet is slanted well to the left. This has led to a view of reality which has become skewed and slanted and nowhere near to reality. This is evidenced particularly in the United States to every mass shooter initially being reported as a Trump supporter and the only far right individuals making attacks on Jews because President Trump is reportedly an anti-Semite and is secretly sending messages coordinating these racist attacks. Allow us to let you in on a little secret, well, not really much of a secret but requires mentioning; when some crazed Judeophobic moron has attacked what they perceived to be a Jew and it was initially reported that they were a white supremacist who received their marching orders from the bigot in the White House and then nothing further is in the news for the following week, you can bet that it turned out the attacker was most likely a far left person who hates the President almost as much as they do Jews. Attacks on Jews, be they from white supremacists or neo-Nazis, fits the media presentation of Trump the racist monster while attacks by leftists are covered up and excused as sacrifices required to reach their socialist and often tyrannical destinations. When the blame cannot be placed with the President, the next culprit driving these attacks is, of course, Israel. Should Israel defend herself from terrorist attacks, rocket barrages and other forms of violent disruptions including the Gaza rioting and launching of incendiary aerial attacks using kites, balloons and drones; for weeks afterwards all Judeophobic violence is simply the obvious reaction of any normal person to the Israeli acts of violence against Palestinian Arabs which were unprovoked. This requires our mentioning violence between the Arabs and Israel, by definitions of the media, is always initiated by Israel launching the first attack as any and all attacks on Israel previous to the Israeli response are never reported painting Israel as the aggressor. Another truism is that minority perpetrated attacks on Jews are seldom reported more than once, and that once is often painted as an unknown assailant who acted in a criminal assault such as attempted robbery and there was no Judeophobic purpose driving the attack. This allows for the Judeophobia committed by those favored by leftist politicians and media to be cast aside as just an instance of mindless violence having merely criminal traits and the fact that it was a Jew who was attacked and further had their ears insulted with Judeophobic taunts was irrelevant.

 

Many are asking why, all of a sudden, we are seeing Judeophobic driven attacks. The answer is probably not something most normal people care to admit, but it is the truth just the same. These Judeophobic driven attacks, formerly referred to as anti-Semitic assaults, are the result of two main factors, a general increase in politically and racially motivated attacks and the media and political assaults upon Israel which give the appearance that Jews are fair game once more. Trust us when we tell you that these Judeophobic incidents are merely an increase as these attacks upon Jews for being Jews never truly ended. The concept that after the Holocaust the world had learned that there was a monster within which needed to be eradicated and that anti-Semitism was defeated and would never again be a problem was and is being proven to be an absolute falsehood. The Judeophobia did not begin with the Nazis and did not end with their defeat. Yes, for a while it was not acceptable to give evidence of Judeophobic thoughts, and acts, was considered unacceptable in modern society. Unacceptable does not equate with defeated and permanently erased. Hating Jews never actually disappeared and was grossly unreported as often such attacks were addressed in the Jewish neighborhood by forming security patrols which cities loved as it meant that area would not require as heavy a police presence as their job was being done by neighborhood volunteers. This was of little help to those Jews residing in areas where there were no identifiable Jewish neighborhoods or they resided outside those areas. Growing up in the presumed idyllic 1950’s and 60’s, this commentator can assure you that anti-Semitism was alive and well in my predominantly Christian neighborhood. Simply remember all the accusations and taunts you have ever heard which reek of Judeophobic hatred and they were most likely hurled while attempting to catch the fastest Jew in the neighborhood. Judeophobia never disappeared, not even immediately after World War II as many Jews who attempted to return to their former neighborhoods found their former homes occupied, their former stores under new ownership and if they protested, they would, more often than we would like to admit, be killed by their former neighbors. Sometimes they would murder entire groups of returning Jews simply to avoid the embarrassment of having to tell them that all of their possessions had been divvied-up on a first come-first served basis starting right after the Nazis took them. Even today these events are largely covered up, sometimes through legal restrictions on speech.

 

How did this renewed Judeophobia arise is a question often asked but rarely answered honestly? Partially the rise is related to the apparent passive permission granted such acts as they are often explained away either as due to mental conditions to political motivations, but only if they can be tied to right-wing origins. But the largest contributing factor has been the acceptable left-wing driven Judeophobia which target the Jewish State of Israel blaming her for many of the worldly problems. On further inspection, one can find many of the identical Judeophobic accusations which were formerly used blaming Jews have been adapted to now blame the only Jewish homelands of Israel. Israel is often blamed for the wars in the Middle East, or the entire globe, despite the majority of these wars in the Middle East being Arab on Arab wars along with Sunni-Shiite wars such as the civil wars in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and beyond. Even had Israel never been born, these internal Arab and Islamic wars would have occurred and likely been ignored by the Western media as they were for centuries during the Caliphate through Ottoman rulers of the MENA* region. But there is far more to the coming tsunami of Judeophobia throughout much if not all of our world than what drove traditional anti-Semitism. The first truth which need be understood is that despite the far greater attention to historic anti-Semitism which took place in Europe and their colonial efforts, ignored the identical anti-Semitism which occurred in the Islamic world. Western historians would read histories told by Islamic and Arab sources which hardly if ever even mentioned their treatment of Dhimmis: Jews, Zoroastrians Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists, Animists and other non-Islamic religions or even Muslims following a different sect of Islam than those in power; and simply took their idealistic renditions of reality as fact instead of the fiction it actually was based upon. Almost no Western historian of the Arab and Islamic worlds ever actually lived as part of the general population in order to find the reality instead taking the lazy-man’s approach of simply taking hearsay as their facts for their history of these societies. But this is currently being partially true and especially true when it comes to Israel.

 

This brings us to the inbred instinct of much of the world to exhibit, believe or think in a manner which is tainted by Judeophobia. As an example, we will use the BDS** movement. This was not and is not a movement which had its origins in leftist human rights policies. The origins of BDS was the Arab and Islamic refusal to trade, recognize or even communicate with Israel, as they call her, the Zionist Entity. Efforts are traceable back to Yasser Arafat and the Khartoum Resolution of September 1, 1967. The efforts to take what was largely a regional trade and official isolation of the Jewish State into an international movement resulted from huge investments in anti-Israel propaganda propelled by Arab oil monies under organizational control of the Muslim Brotherhood, numerous Arab governments and Islamic organizations worldwide. The largest effort was amongst college and university campuses where Israel was cast as an Apartheid nation oppressing the poor Palestinian Arabs. One was required to ignore the facts which include that the Palestinian Arabs are ruled by either Hamas (Gaza), the PA (Shomron) or other Arab governing entities in refugee camps and not by Israel; the graft, embezzlement and mismanagement by their own leadership and governments; and completely ignoring that Israel is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, free democratic government where equal rights is one of the central ideals of the country. But the comparison of Israel to Apartheid South Africa became a mainstay of the anti-Israel propaganda. One of the main beliefs the BDS movement is centered upon is that no supporter should ever visit Israel unless they are guided by a fellow believer showing them exactly what they expect. The BDS movement demands that they be permitted to be the sole input as to what exactly Israeli society acts and how they treat their citizens. They imply heavily that Israel rules all the Arab Palestinians even if they are in a refugee camp in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and beyond even with some within Gaza under Hamas rule or the Arab regions of the Shomron under PA leadership. The truth is that the Palestinian Arabs are not Israeli citizens and are not ruled by Israel and the sole Israeli provided act is their defense should they come under attack from the outside as the lands they reside upon are legally part of Israel and thus hers to defend.

 

The propaganda casting Israel as the greatest evil known in all of history is based on hatred and is completely fictional. Simply visit Israel for a few weeks on your own, spend the first two taking in all the history which has swept these lands for over four thousand years, and spend the last week realizing that you are in a nation which has total freedom and near total equality where all have the same opportunities for work, education, residence, healthcare and everyday life. There is the little truth that there are numerous checkpoints, similar to those throughout the world in airports. This complaint is about a real truth as the Arab Palestinians to the most religious Jews all are required to pass through checkpoints in order to enter movie theaters, malls, some restaurants, government buildings and anywhere else that crowds of people are likely to be found. We read all about how the Palestinian Arabs need to pass through checkpoints to enter Israel and laugh as they are literally entering a different country under its own separate governance and thus are required to have the proper identification in order to be permitted entrance. Israeli Arabs who are those who remained in their homes ignoring the Mufti’s call for all Arabs to leave Israel before the 1948 Arab initiated war to annihilate Israel and her Jews was launched on May 15, 1948. These Arab Israelis are the above mentioned and their progeny and all have Israeli citizenship and are completely equal. Then there is the restriction for Israelis, specifically Jews and other non-Muslims, which they see and need to comply with should they attempt to enter the Arab Palestinian ruled regions which is pictured below. The sign is written in Hebrew, Arabic and English assuring all are likely able to read the sign which states, “This road leads to Area A under the Palestinian Authority. The entrance for Israeli citizens is forbidden, dangerous to your lives and against the Israeli Law.” The reality for Jews who have entered Area A as defined by the Oslo Accords is very different than the reality for Arabs leaving Area A and entering Israel.

 

Sign Warning Israelis it is Illegal to Enter Arab Region for Safety Reasons

 

If you were to visit Israel and for a moment forgot that you had left anywhere else, you could easily believe that you were in any other of the world’s metropolitan or rural areas depending on where you are standing. The Galilee has farms for as far as one can see, there are rural parks and wildlife reserves and it is framed by hills and the heights. On the other hand, if you are in one of the cities such as Tel Aviv, you would believe you were in Los Angeles or London depending on the weather. The media will never admit to such, but we invite all to make such decision for themselves. If only we could arrange trips, unsupervised trips so the truth can be found, and bring all who have open minds to see reality and thus, just maybe, be inspired to refute the virtually uncountable lies told by the propogandists such as those of the BDS movement. Is Israel perfect? No, but where is any place which could be said to be perfect as should it exist, we might wish to move there. Honestly, it would take more than we can imagine to have us leave Israel. With the news reporting attacks on Jews, mostly in the developed world, almost daily currently, there are serious doubts as to the safety of anywhere other than here in Israel. The fact that Synagogues require armed security whenever they have services (especially during the recent High Holidays when larger than usual attendance is expected) and Jewish daycares and schools also requiring armed security as well as Jewish agencies, we will remain here where security is provided for all the citizens and no violent act is tolerated no matter the ethnicity, race, religion or other form of designation of the victim or the perpetrator. Yes, Israel has many of the same difficulties faced by any democratic governance and society leaving room for improvement, but Israel largely is one of the best places to live and especially to raise a family. Israel has been experiencing a building boom over the past few years partially in anticipation of increasing influx of Jews from Europe and the Americas and also due to the positive population growth numbers. The increasing violence due to Judeophobia is very likely to increase and within the next decade this will become an accepted part of many countries as their Jews flee. The Jews fleeing Europe (mostly western Europe) divide into two main camps, those making Aliyah coming home to Israel and those leaving for North America (mostly Canada and the United States). Those heading for anywhere other than Israel, our advice is not to unpack any more than absolutely necessary as you may be moving again sooner rather than later. Many of us in Israel are aware that the time is coming when all Jews will live in Israel only leaving briefly when business or other needs require. Yes, Israel as a nation will continue to be amongst the first to arrive and the last to leave wherever disasters occur. The returning of the Jews to their ancestral lands, revivifying a long dead language (Hebrew) and building a modern marvel for those who are willing to know truth over propaganda. In all honesty, there are moments where it is easiest to simply look around, listen to the people conversing and be amazed at what this little country that could has grown and become. Israel is a just over seventy-years-old, is about the size of New Jersey and despite all the supposed horrors, is ranked as the thirteenth happiest country. We were surprised with this ranking as we believed it to be rating Israel far too low but then we realized by looking at the top six nations that this was a heavily weighted Eurocentric report.

 

World Happiness Chart 2016-2018

Source and Entire Chart

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

* MENA = Middle East and North Africa

 

** BDS = Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (against only Israel and Israeli owned companies)

 

Trump, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel

 

Mark Langfan wrote a very insightful article reflecting on what the lasting effects of President Trump’s firing of John Bolton and how this could lead to Trump not being reelected. Of course, the final repercussions from letting John Bolton go will play out in ways that none of us will likely get completely correct. As Mr. Langfan points out, with Bolton out of the administration, the voice for stronger actions even unto direct attacks on Iran has been silenced. This is not to infer that there are no other voices purporting for stronger reactions to Iranian belligerent actions. We had pointed out that there was an uneasy relationship between President Trump and his advisor John Bolton as Trump prefers to find economic solutions rather than resorting to using the military and Bolton was far more militaristic having no qualms about resorting to force. We had mentioned reports of heated arguments between the two men as their views were about as far apart and different as possible. But Mr. Langfan was correct in stating that John Bolton served a potentially precious purpose, he was the stick always in the ready countering the carrot dangling Trump making any implied Trump threats of using force more credible. Whether Mr. Langfan’s conclusion that the Iranian attack on the Saudi oil fields and that we can expect more Iranian perfidy and violent attacks on Saudi Arabia may or may not come to fruition depending on numerous factors which we will try and explore.

 

There are credible rumors that after the elections in Israel, and assuming that a government is formed led by incumbent Bibi Netanyahu, President Trump will propose a mutual defense pact between Israel and the United States. The problem is that should Prime Minister Netanyahu be able to form the next Israeli government, he would be predisposed towards accepting such an agreement. Anyone reading our last article would likely see some of the plethora of reasons for Israel to refuse such an offer. We understand that such a position would be difficult to defend by most standards, but here goes. We have one reason and only require this one reason. We have no problem forging agreements with supportive nations for the supply of military hardware, weapons, aircraft, armor, ammunition and other munitions and bombs but we would draw the line on allowing a single soldier from any other nation coming to fight alongside our IDF. The reason is relatively obvious to anyone who has felt the sting of Judeophobia (anti-Semitism). We hold a fear that should American young people come and fight to aid Israel should a war, or should we say when a war breaks out, when any of these young soldiers should be killed, it would be the quickest way of turning great numbers of current Israeli supporters into rabid Israel haters and possibly having them become Judeophobic. The idea of sacrificing good Christian young men and women in a war to save the Jewish State, which would be seen as Christians being sacrificed for the Jews, would turn many average Americans against Israel, against the Jewish State. This is true for the United States and would stand true for any nation sacrificing their young military men and women for Israel or in any other foreign war. Citizens of most nations fully understand using their military youth in a necessary conflict to protect their nation and people but such understanding wanes rapidly when those sacrifices are being made for other people and nations. Add in that in this case the nation would be the Jewish State and the waning would become an abatement leaving a mere trickle of support for aiding Israel. Israel must be prepared to defend herself by herself with as little reliance on outside forces, specifically troops, coming to their aid. Materials are one thing and people, especially young people who make up the fighting forces, facing possible death and some actually being killed in such a war would increase anti-Israel and Judeophobic reactions swaying the majority of the people to decry such activities. This is a situation which Israel would be advised to take every possible measure for self-dependence and never allow non-Israelis from ever fighting in an Israeli war and especially being injured, or worse killed. For this reason, amongst others, Bibi Netanyahu or any other Israeli Prime Minister should refuse to agree to any mutual defense agreement no matter which nation might be offering such.

 

Another reason not to enter such an agreement is even more obvious, Israel also needs to avoid ever being dragged into a conflict, especially one in the Middle East or Northern Africa, the Arab and Islamic world, through any treaty as the IDF is not as large an army as those of other nations around the world. According to Global Fire Power, the IDF ranks as the seventeenth most powerful military, a ranking largely due to the advanced weaponry, especially defensive weaponry such as the Iron Dome and other anti-missile systems and not their number of troops. This ranking rates Turkey, Egypt, Iran and Pakistan all ranked as more powerful militaries. When it comes to active duty personnel, Israel does not even rank in the top twenty-five coming in at around twenty-eighth in the world with numerous Arab and Islamic nations with far larger numbers of active duty personnel. Israel would become excessively vulnerable were she required to station numbers of her active duty troops outside the country. That is an easily observed part of the reality in which Israel lives.

 

Should Iran actually be emboldened by the departure of John Bolton, this would initially likely take the form, as Mr. Langfan predicted, of attacks on Saudi Arabian assets such as the recent attack with drones on their oil fields relatively close to Iran. Targets within Saudi Arabia have the advantage of allowing Iran to offer disclaimers of their involvement pressing other potential entities to be responsible. Some of these would include but not be limited to claiming the attacks were the work of the Houthis in Yemen, allied forces from Iraq where Iran can pretend they were acting independently as well as blaming non-state actors such as Hezballah, the IRGC, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Iranian operative groups. Mr. Langfan left out other potential targets which Iran might attack via their proxies such as Egypt or Israel amongst others. Currently, there are some low-level altercation and skirmishes along both the northern and southern borders of Israel. These are utilizing Hezballah in the north supported by IRGC forces and Iranian provided rockets and missiles, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the south out of Gaza using rockets and incendiary and high explosive balloons, kites and drones being used to turn much of southern Israel into a smoldering wasteland. There will also be the potential for increased terrorism anywhere around the world driven by Iran through their proxies some of which train and operate out of the tri-border region in South America. Iran might even decide to be so bold as to attack the United States indirectly through their international terror network. The only question is how far will Iran go in taking risks of having the United States retaliate. Even were the United States able to discover Iranian involvement in such attacks, their response would be measured and relatively proportional. This is one position which President Trump has mentioned, the concept that military actions need to be measured and proportional to the acts which precipitated such a response. This is a modern concept which has infected the developed world paralleling their belief that the natural state of the world is to be at peace in order to develop the economies and all interactions between nations would be related to trade. Apparently, they have a very warped view of history which is not realistic and may be a potential disaster waiting to happen. Should Iran start to wage a low-grade terror and indirect attack methodologies, the United States would eventually reach a point where such could no longer be ignored, especially as the media would be taunting President Trump for his inaction and timidity in the face of what they would call an obvious war. Further, should the United States be dragged into a war in the Middle East, the last thing Israel needs is to have a mutual defense treaty potentially dragging them into the conflict. But Israel also will have their potential difficulties with an emboldened Iran.

 

 

Israel has Iranian proxies in Gaza with Hamas and Islamic Jihad and in Lebanon and southeastern Syria with Hezballah, the IRGC and even Iranian military forces. Of the two threats, Hezballah is probably the greater one with potentially over one-hundred-fifty-thousand rockets and missiles of various sizes and warheads including numerous which are capable of striking anywhere in Israel and even beyond (see table above). Further, both Hezballah and Islamic Jihad, which will drag Hamas along with them, have promised to provide the other a second front against Israel should hostilities break out. This would include coordinated attacks potentially coming from Lebanon, out of Gaza in the south and along the Golan Heights attacking from Syria as Iran has Israel within their or their proxies’ sights almost circling the tiny Jewish State. Then there is always the final threat Israel could likely face, and that is Iran itself. Iran has numerous rockets and missiles which can reach Israel launched from Iran or Iraq as shorter-range weapons could be launched from Iraq which is much closer to Israel not to mention Iran could launch from within Syria as they have done on several occasions in the recent past. Currently, Hezballah has things remaining at a low boil, but this could change without notice should Iran so choose. Israel would be pressed too close to her limit were Iran to actively enter into hostilities. The fear then would be whether Iran would be launching weapons of mass destruction such as nerve agents, biological agents or possibly nuclear warheads, the greatest of their potential threats whether they are atomic bombs of thermonuclear weapons with the difference being scale. Any Iranian attack on Israel which would be directly traceable to them would require Israel to respond well outside of President Trump’s concept of proportionality. This would be one time when that charge could be leveled against Israel and we would probably simply plead guilty and continue as we are talking the survival of the nation and nothing less.

 

In summation, Israel has sufficient troubles without signing onto a mutual defense pact with the United States. We are unsure that the United States would respond honoring such a treaty made while President Trump is in office after he leaves office and even more so should the Democrats take the White House. Further, President Trump may have emboldened Iran which may have been demonstrated by the recent attack on the Saudi oil fields. This could lead quickly to escalations throughout the Middle East and potentially the world of both terrorism and further potential wars. For those who did not yet read the article by Mark Langfan linked to at the top of the article, we can only advise giving it a perusal. And please allow us to end with one last new thought, Iranian leadership believes that they are the ones who are chosen to rule the world and spread their version of Shia Islam until they have converted the entire population of the planet while beheading those who refuse to convert. This includes bringing the world to the verge of extinction setting much of it in the flames of destruction, nuclear if necessary being broadly used, so as to force the arrival of their chosen messiah. Does this sound eerily familiar? This has been the driving force of the worst conflagrations in our history and this promises to make them all seem like small skirmishes by the time they are done.

 

Beyond the Cusp