Netanyahu’s Risky Response to World Threats

 

There have been the usual threats and accusations along with rumors and rumors of rumors all of which indicate the possible move announced through trial balloons may be the biggest threat of them all. The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has again found no problems in Syria, well, one general denunciation of the needless violence, no such complaints or other commentaries on Iraq, Iran, Cuba, North Korea or any of the other spots on the globe except for a number of mentions of supposed Israeli wrongs. Israel was blamed for spousal violence and honor killings in Gaza and the Palestinian Territories as apparently the presence of IDF troops assisting in keeping the calm and Abbas in power in the Judea and Samaria (West Bank) was the driving cause. There were other minor complaints which can be generally placed under the same old same old perfidies accused of Israel all stemming from the mere existence of the Jewish State.

 

 

 

But the United Nations has been busy on another front, the front of historic and significant places. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has determined the historic relevance of the Temple Mount, the Mosques, Churches and Shrine upon it, the Western Wall and Plaza and all surrounding areas are of solely Islamic origins. Apparently the wall built by Herod in the years before the start of the Gregorian calendar was actually built solely for Muhammad to tie up his first magic steed which transported him in his dream to the farthest Mosque, which happened to be present despite not being built for another two to three centuries where he strode upon second magical beast which carries him through the planes of Heaven where he met Moses, Gabriel, Abraham and a who’s who of Biblical greats and Allah as well where he was bid to write the Quran which would eventually be understood by the great sages of Islam instructed them to spread Islam across the face of the Earth until it was the sole religion putting to the sword all others in a final struggle.

 

Such decrees from UNESCO are not new and have the same weight as a feather blowing in the winds of war in Syria had of ending that carnage any time soon. Still, when these are added to the rest, we wonder why the Catholic Church and the other Christian religions who are bid to care for the holy Christian Churches on the Temple Mount which were included in the general gifting of the entire area and transforming those as well into Muslim shrines are not up in arms. The same can be asked of the Israeli government and Jewish Chief Rabbis; where are their protests and indignations? Meanwhile there is the idea that the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) may be pulled from their presence in Area A of the West Bank where they have assisted the Palestinian Security Forces with subduing terrorism including any attempts by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and we can guess potentially the Islamic State from toppling Mahmoud Abbas and setting up shop launching suicide bombers and rockets into Israel and other violences including the favorite pastime of hurling rocks through the windshields of passing vehicles in attempts to crash the vehicles and kill its occupants. One can only wonder where the impetus for such an idea could have arisen.

 

There was that interesting idea flushed out in the Huffington Post article titled To Save His Middle East Legacy, Obama Must Recognise a Palestinian State Now written by Ibrahim Fraihat, a Senior Foreign Policy Fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Doha Center and Affiliate Scholar at Georgetown University in Qatar. In the article it was put forth that President Obama should recognize Palestine declaring its existence and potentially its borders as a final stab at preserving any legacy for President Obama in the Middle East, to finally earn his Nobel Peace Prize apparently given him in the promise that he would establish Palestine, and make a final, in your face, insult to pay back Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for his insults and actively campaigning in the United States for the Republicans against President Obama in his bid for his second term. It also stated that the United States would eventually recognize Palestine and why should President Obama allow such a great prize slip through his fingers and fall to some subsequent President. The piece de resistance was noting how once leaving office Presidents and other high officials from the United States government had all readjusted their positions on Israel and the Palestinians after leaving office and no longer falling under the pressures and influences of that eternal damnation (extra descriptors from our impressions) of the Israel Lobby. The prime example coming from that fairest of judges, Jimmy, Israel and the Jews be damned, Carter who never missed an opportunity to pile more grief and shames upon Israel at every turn.

 

Add the UNESCO rulings, the Human Rights constant irritations, the Huffington Post floating an idea for President Obama and the pulling of IDF troops from Area A allowing for the possible declaration of that area, the one guaranteed the Palestinians in the Oslo Accords where Area C was preserved for Israeli expansion and Area B was to be donated as to who got what and the then required borders which such would imply. The immediate reaction came from Yair Lapid among others who view themselves as Israel’s next Prime Minister warning of renewed suicide bombings, buses exploding on the streets of Tel Aviv and throughout Israel and a terror wave of unprecedented proportions as these attacks could now be organized and launched without the usual IDF and Shin Bet intelligence warning of the imminent attacks. May these warning be nothing more than political maneuvering and second guessing, there still is a grain of truth but Israel would not likely be the initial target, and there is the fly in the ointment. Without the IDF and other intelligence gathering there is a distinct possibility, some might say likelihood, that Hamas, or worse, Islamic State could launch a successful coup potentially using many of those exact same Palestinian Security Forces to assist their takeover. Where would the United Nations, European Union and all the other myriad of forces be in blaming Israel for such an eventuality and the instituting of a true and recognized terrorist takeover in the Palestinian governance? This would result in the unbelievable response where Hamas would be recognized as now being the new democratically chosen leaders and Gaza would no longer be that threat thus leading to demands for Israel to lift the embargo. But wait a moment, was there not a mention out of Turkey that Netanyahu had promised to lift the embargo and assist Turkey in building a sea port in Gaza as part of the reconciliation between the two nations. That simply places the cherry atop the giant ice cream sundae which apparently is in the offing if all these floated ideas come to fruition.

 

As to how much of this is valid we can only guess. The IDF pull back from Area A is very doable and would not particularly be a disaster and actually only an inconvenience in the loss of intelligence which would be nowhere near as serious as some have implied. The real danger of an IDF pullout is the possibility that Abbas would lose control and be replaced by somebody or some group worse than the Palestinian Authority. One must remember that the actually elected Palestinian Parliament has a majority of Hamas and allied ministers which would imply their having the real support in the West Bank, or at the least in Area A. The latest polling out of Gaza show the majority of the people asked actually called for the replacement of Hamas by anybody more attuned to their needs and less concerned with terror tunnels and rocket construction and more dedicated to rebuilding their homes and shopping areas and the rest of the destruction which has been all but ignored as the lion’s share of the concrete and building materials have indeed gone into terrorist infrastructure and largely tunnels which have been collapsing with an unbelievable frequency. It is notable that the people of Gaza have tired of the war every two to three years against Israel where Hamas assures the maximalist damage and the minimalist repair afterwards such that the next conflict starts with great photoshoots of destruction already in place before Israel fires their first salvo. How absolutely convenient if you are the media seeking a story condemning Israel or Hamas assuring their narrative of woe has a maximalist effect with the aid of the media.

 

All of these items start with the truths of the United Nations through UNESCO and the UNHRC and their decisions condemning Israel and all Israeli claims especially to any religious or historical sites. The declaration of the entirety of the Temple Mount and surroundings is right in step with the Cave of the Patriarchs where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Leah are all buried in the cave which Abraham bought using foreign monies so as to differentiate his claims from that of the Canaanites. That along with Rachel’s Tomb and Jacob’s tomb have all been designated Islamic holy sites if memory serves us correctly (validations or corrections would be accepted and appreciated). The article calling on President Obama to recognize Palestine though containing numerous and generous falsehoods is real and the rumor of an imminent IDF pull back from Area A is also real. What they all add up to is anybody’s conjecture and one is as good as any other unless you possess the demonstrable predictive powers of a Nostradamus, through writing in cryptic quatrains assisted in his being applied to any and every situation or event or more. Finally, any conclusions which imply the end of the Jewish State are great exaggerations with absolutely no connection to reality as we are not going anywhere, period. Lastly, the future is the one item where any prediction is usually malleable enough to at least contain a grain of truth otherwise who would believe them other than those already firmly in the camp from whence such preposterous prediction arise. One of our favorites for consistency is indeed former President Jimmy Carter who will always denounce Israel and praise Cuba, what a man of foresight, everything he represents is basically upside down and consistently so. He and the United Nations are two institutions where you can hardly ever go wrong opposing.

 

For your viewing pleasure, here is an outtake from the latest CNN Democrat Presidential debate where Hillary and Bernie square off over Israel, enjoy and do not take anything said by Hillary as denoting actual policies she would enact. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

What is the World Going to Do, Hate Us?

 

Israel is facing any number of hard and soft threats. The hard threats are such items as the Syrian War spilling intentionally or inadvertently over our border, the nuclearization of Iran, especially when combined with the Iranian threats to annihilate us, and other threats to invade or otherwise cut Israel from the rest of the world, the end result if the BDS movement (boycott, divestment and sanction) ever succeeded in their efforts. There are some more distant hard threats such as complete sanction under Chapter Seven by the United Nations Security Council with their declaring Israel to have been formed illegally and stripping Israel of any recognized borders and calling for her isolations, their recognizing the Arab claims for Palestine replacing Israel with this new entity or simply demanding Israel withdraw to within the Green Line making that the recognized border between the two states. All of these threats would not hold complete validity until the United Nations would begin to form a military alliance to force such a resolution upon Israel or if any of the major powers such as Russia, Chins, the United States, the European Union or any group of nations capable of fielding a sizeable military force intent on forcing the issue upon Israel. Most, if not all, of these scenarios hold no possibility at this time and some are items for future sleepless nights if not prevented before their initiation. The nuclearization of Iran at the very top of that list but there we should have allies as such a threat to Israel being launched would establish the Iranian intent to use their nuclear weapons status as a weapon with which to threaten or annihilate any of their adversaries which includes every Sunni State, every non-Islamic state and most obviously the United States, Europe, and eventually China, Russia and the rest of the world on their way to world domination, one of Iran’s previously stated goal as their part of completing the commands of the Quran as they interpret it to demand of them. These threats can only be defeated by military readiness.

 

Israel had faced such threats in the past and fared poorly for quite some time. What the Jewish people are more threatened by is the same threat they have faced since the beginning of history, the threat of annihilation being bandied about as a stated goal by groups or nations. There have been times throughout Jewish history with the earliest being the enslavement in Egypt. This led to some of the most influential experiences of any people on the remainder of the world throughout the rest of history. The Bible as in Old Testament was a direct result as was the New Testament and Christianity and later the Quran and Islam and there have been a few other offshoots of these into separate groups through history. The Ten Commandments were given at Mount Sinai which has often been referred to as the basis for much of the body of law in the Western World. There was also the idea first given that a King or any governing body must be made to live under the same code of laws as anybody else and that no ruler should become wealthy off of public service as enriching oneself at the public’s expense is the worst form of tyranny, that of separating the rulers from the peoples. The concept of a day off from work, the weekend, the concept that slaves must be set free and the rules set forth for the humane treatment of a slave where they are to share and eat as does their owner and their family and other similar laws. When one comes across the law which states any slave may choose to remain as a slave with their master for life must so mark himself with a mark on their ear that one realizes that slave was more of a reference as a worker more so than a slave. There are numerous other concepts drawn from the Jewish writings which are still seen as appropriate today, it is really a shame that many are not extended to the Jews or Israel.

 

Most of the problems Israel has deal with the Arabs, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas and Islamic Jihad and how the stories related to these are retold in the world media. One might safely say the majority of the media, particularly the more leftist leaning media have a real hard time with Israel basically discounting anything and everything they claim. These same news outlets copy PA, Hamas and other propaganda casting Israel as an evil entity word for word with absolutely no check on the validity. The claim that had these news sources have stated has been the rapid speed of the news business today and that getting the breaking story out is often a greater demand than checking its validity. Of course any commentary released by Israel must be checked and rechecked and then weighed for its imperative need to be given any priority. That is the longwinded way of saying whatever Israel claims is invalid. Some of the reporting of the current Arab war on Israel which has escalated once again where there are at least an average of three to five assaults per day not even counting the rocks, large rocks hurled at vehicles hoping to cause them to cause the driver to lose control and crash and possibly kill any number of passengers. The claim given by the PA is that these attacks are completely unplanned and they have no control over the perpetrators who are acting out of frustration with the settlements and the inability of Israel to make peace. This is obvious as it is exactly what the media throughout the world has had to say. The fact that Mahmoud Abbas and the PA are running and indoctrination assault using social media, television, radio, music, the school curriculum and virtually every other ploy to instigate a many attacks as possible. That truth is also missing from reporting. One of the best headlines which had since been scrubbed as it was replaced with one somewhat less negative. The initial claimed that two Palestinian youths killed on bus, twelve injured. The part left out was that the two ‘Palestinian youths’ were cousin age fourteen and sixteen were armed and stabbing their way through the bus until they came upon police who ended their rampaging through the bus terminal. They had managed to injure to varying extents twelve people and were charging the security officers who ended up shooting them ending their stabbing their way to martyrdom. This is the other fact often left from the coverage is that these youths, and they are unfortunately youths, will continue to assault people and kill people until they are rendered incapable of continuing which too often equates to dead. Even Mahmoud Abbas stated that these young people were seeking martyrdom and lauded them for their courage. I have come over the years to realize that though the officers, the hierarchy of Arab Palestinian society constantly congratulate the suicide bombers and the current trend of stabbing suicide martyrs claiming how glorious such a death is and its rewards in heaven but do not appear themselves all that anxious to lead by example and place themselves in harm’s way. The leaders and much if not all their family members remain safely locked while building themselves some really luxurious palatial homes. Below find Mahmoud Abbas’s plans for his new residence and some of the other opulent houses, chalets, palaces, not sure on what the best word is to describe such homes. Abbas’s compound will cost around thirteen million dollars.

 

 

Mansions of Palestinian Elites

 

 

Perhaps it is because of the nice homes that these men do not volunteer for martyrdom attacks. Where that may appear to be an argument for economic development to improve the situation of the average Arab, that might not be the end all because nobody no matter their business acumen can make their employees as wealthy as the people whole homes are pictured. The one thing that can be guaranteed about the owners of these homes, they are either higher-ups in the PA government or are close friends with people in the PA government as nobody gets that wealthy without Mahmoud Abbas and his henchmen permitting such which means there has to be some I scratch your back and your scratch mine going on. The one item never explored (I hear it coming that I have said this a gazillion times and I will probably do it a gazillion more) is exactly what the PA would accept as a final, repeat final, solution with Israel. Once upon a time a PA leader named Yasser Arafat, you may have heard of him, answered the question of what would it take. His answer was half of Jerusalem, and over 95% of the West Bank. That response was given to President Clinton who rushed to Prime Minister Barak and presented the terms. If you can find the video of Madeline Albright waddling running after Yasser Arafat as he fled to building to a running waiting car, please send it to us with link as we will use it. After that the PA has refused to give any real set of condition and will never give their actual demand. What is their actual demand, you ask? They want a State of Palestine replacing Israel from the River to the Sea. This demand also means that they are honestly aware that Israel has legal international claim to all the lands between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Mahmoud Abbas knows that he has to demand all of the lands such that Israel cannot acquiesce as the next step once the world, or the United Nations, fits them their demand and the world powers are finally willing to commit massive troops to enforce such a deal and understand that what that means; the annihilation of over six-million Jews and almost a quarter of a million Christians being likely to be murdered as soon as the PA is replaced with Islamic State/Hamas.

 

The really big secret in the Middle East has been how Hamas is burning the candle at both ends and likely to get away with it for the time being. Hamas is cooperating with Islamic Jihad in the Sinai while also accepting funding from Iran as well as Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas is linked to Iran and is playing a second front with which Iran can harass Israel with. Hamas also takes direction from the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaeda, and Islamic State. All of the above except Iran are Sunni while Iran is Shia. The question is where will Hamas fall when Iran and Islamic Jihad lock horns? Our feeling is who care as long as they destroy one another. I apologize, that was not nice, how about only cripple? The problem is the world will denounce Israel because they are seen as the stronger force picking on powerless Arab Palestinians. The reality is that the PA goes through a budget of trillions of dollars each year and still has the audacity to claim they are broke every three or four months. Israel also receives support from the United States with a small iron bridge support cable namely they must spend the funds in the United States on military equipment solely while the PA gets to use their money, a measly half million alone from the United States plus whatever the United States pays to support UNRWA plus the unpublicized funding from extremist sources such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey and who knows where else (Qatar maybe or are they too mild). The forces surrounding Israel are dangerous, well-armed and immune to any sanction from the United Nations or any Western Powers, bit that most would denounce, let alone harm, any of the forces challenging Israel.

 

Let’s take a quick tour of the forces threatening Israel. The PA which received more money than anyone can track and pays all of the Hamas government salaries, the Hamas and Islamic Jihad forces used as Gaza Security (or in otherwords all of them) and likely helps with everything it believes it can legally and not anger the United States. Hamas gets funding from every direction in the Arab and Islamic worlds as well as European governments (many of whom have demanded Israel negotiate with them as they believe they are just one of the boys who really hate Israel) and UNRWA as well as many other United Nations funding options. Hezballah is the attack puppy of Iran and runs Lebanon with an iron fist and, as the Syria war has proven beyond any doubt, is at the beck and call of Iran to perform any service they require and anyone other than Iran will have to stand in line until Iran is not using Hezballah, otherwise they are in the clock and you can just wait. These are some of the threats Israel faces. There is also Islamic Jihad, al-Qaeda, Islamic State, IRGC and the Muslim Brotherhood financed forces as well as some other lesser forces. With these forces threatening Israel on every border Israel needs to redefine their borders such that they are far more defendable. What does that mean? The first step is that as long as the PA is encouraging stabbing, vehicular, rock throwing, firebombing and other assaults with the intent of murdering Israelis, everywhere else in the world that is an act of war which is responded to forcefully. The new border after everyone known to be attached directly to the decision making processes of the PA driven beyond Israeli borders and any terrorist having them and their entire family, cousins, uncles, aunts, mother, father, brothers, sisters, wife, children, and other first step family members all deported. Then, when Hamas and Islamic Jihad take their next missile and rocket attacks and using tunnels to attack inside Israel and possibly attempting or actually committing kidnappings, then Gaza should be pushed into the sea or Sinai with the Egyptians warned ahead of the assault so they could be stationed at their border to arrest all the terrorist and others undesirable refugees as they crossed their border as they will more likely prefer being arrested by Egypt than Israel. What can I say about the last comment about preferring Egyptian arrest, everybody is permitted one mistake. Finally, when they return from the Syrian war Hezballah will need to regain their street cred with the people of Lebanon and they will turn on Israel to get their support. Israel should let the Christian, Druze and Sunni Muslim who all are subjugated by Hezballah that this would be the time to clear the Becca Valley and place sufficient forces to arrest all of the remaining Hezballah forces at the Litani River and once and for all having destroyed Hezballah, Israel will be assuming the Litani River as their northern border. The immediate response from the world, the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, Russia, China, Vanuatu and who knows who else will be to denounce the Israeli aggression, disproportional force, and expansion of borders. The problem is that when attacked a country is permitted to retain the lands from which the attacks were manned and launched and establish a border which is defensible which usually means holding the high lands (Golan Heights), a river (Jordan and Litani Rivers), larger bodies of water (Dead Sea) and other strategic lands granting the ability to see attacking forces at a distance (areas beyond the Negev Desert into the Sinai Peninsula). These are the natural borders Israel should implement if attacked from across her borders and let this be known ahead of time as a deterrent. Those who will claim Israel will never hear the end of such overt moves, let us ask, and we are hearing the end of our defending ourselves from Hamas and a thousand rockets a day and from the PA with their all-out attack backed by instigations from government media and with government social media blitz and financial rewards yet Israel is attacked for killing homicidal maniacs demanding to be stopped and who when shot and injured lunge at victims until shot repeatedly and killed. We are being victimized by the world for defending ourselves within our current borders so why care what the world thinks as they already condemn us for breathing. We want secure borders on all fronts and we should take them as they become necessary. Nothing less than knowing attacking Israel will cost the attacking forces land, period. We tried carrots, now is the time for sticks.

 

Beyond the Cusp