Twenty-First Report

            My twentieth report recounted recent American frustration toward Benjamin Netanyahu.   The Biden/Schumer upset flowed primarily from Bibi’s reluctance to endorse the concept of an ultimate 2-state solution to the Israel/Palestinian conflict in a fashion that would ingratiate Arab regimes in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates – the countries who could then finance and help implement reconstruction of a Hamas-free Gaza Strip.

            Once upon a time, I respected Benjamin Netanyahu.  When he served as Israeli ambassador to the U.N., I appreciated his eloquence in effectively presenting Israel’s case.  And during his first term as prime minister (1996-99), I appreciated his efforts to cut red tape and streamline the bureaucracy that served as impediments to development in Israel.  Today, by contrast, I see him as a self-absorbed, manipulative, delusional figure whose regime is so distorted and floundering as to jeopardize the future of the wondrous start-up nation in which Israelis took such pride.     

            My own frustration and dismay stem from Netanyahu’s pattern of hypocritically adopting self-serving positions while abandoning principles that he himself had once understood and supported.  His most egregious self-serving gambit occurred in the 2022 national elections when Bibi recruited the support of the two ultra-nationalist, theocratic, and racist parties headed by Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.  Those parties are the ideological descendants of notorious racist Meir Kahane’s Kach Party that even the Likud, Netanyahu’s party, customarily avoided like the plague.  Yet Netanyahu in 2022 not only solicited their support, he agreed to appoint the two extremists as ministers in his governing cabinet – one of them in charge of internal security (Ben Gvir) and the of the treasury (Smotrich).  After the October 7 debacle created a national crisis, Netanyahu rejected suggestions that he detach himself from Ben Gvir and Smotrich in order to form a “national unity” government including centrists like Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid.  He apparently saw his survival as prime minister more secure under the ultra-nationalist coalition, a factor that overrode in his mind the public interest in a consensus government. 

            Another example of expeditious, self-serving repudiation of a previously endorsed principle is Netanyahu’s 2022 embrace of “judicial reform.”  Judicial reform was a legislative program formulated by Likud extremists Yariv Levin and Simcha Rothman to limit the authority of the Israeli judiciary to review the actions of the Knesset or of government officials implementing Knesset legislation.  Ten years earlier, then Prime Minister Netanyahu had given an eloquent speech emphasizing the critical nature of a strong and independent judiciary to safeguard the rights and prerogatives of citizens within a democracy.  In 2022, he repudiated that notion and promoted his right-wing cronies’ legislation catering to the authoritarian pretension that a state can remain “democratic” so long as the prevalent law is formulated and applied by elected representatives – even without meaningful judicial review.  That authoritarian position precipitated massive protest demonstrations that continued for months until the October 7 debacle derailed the plan (and later the Israeli Supreme Court invalidated the one relevant provision that had been enacted by the Knesset).

               Final examples of Netanyahu’s hypocritical flip-flops relate to his arrogant clinging to power despite powerful incentives to yield governance to others.  By all accounts, the October 7, 2023, events reflected massive failures of Israeli planning, intelligence, and military preparedness.  Netanyahu had once preached that a sitting prime minister is ultimately responsible for military preparedness so that widespread security failures must result in ouster of that prime minister.  In 2008, following military failures in the Lebanon War, Netanyahu forcefully demanded that then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resign.  Currently, though, Netanyahu expresses no inclination to take responsibility for his administration’s failures by resigning or scheduling new elections.  His tactic is to deflect blame for October 7 to other security officials while delaying any careful investigation of the deficiencies preceding those events.  Yet he himself had signed on to the misconception that Hamas’ threats were empty bluster and he himself, just weeks before October 7, had refused to meet with an IDF officer sent to warn that the internal divisions in Israel prompted by the coalition’s judicial reform movement were encouraging terrorist forces like Hezbollah and Hamas. 

            Let’s not forget that Benjamin Netanyahu is being tried on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.  A 3-part indictment was issued in 2019 by then attorney general Avichai Mandelblit – a very able lawyer and a Netanyahu appointee.  The trial commenced in May 2020.  An example of the underlying corruption charges is the claim that Netanyahu, while prime minister in 2014, made a deal with newspaper publisher Arnon Moses.  In return for Moses’ promise to provide more favorable coverage of Netanyahu’s administration, Netanyahu would secure blockage of publication of a rival newspaper (Yisrael Hayom) that was being distributed for free.   As Americans have observed in the case of Senator Robert Menendez, it’s not easy for the prosecution to demonstrate a quid pro quo deal, as opposed to a politician simply doing favors for a prominent constituent/contributor.  Netanyahu still fears conviction and that looming possibility provides an added incentive for him to tenaciously hold on to the current floundering coalition (because that coalition, thanks to Ben Gvir and Smotrich, would support a “pardon” following any conviction).  Just another example of Netanyahu’s self-interested behavior contrary to Israel’s general public interest. 

            Morale here in Tel Aviv could not get much lower.  A multiplicity of heart-rending phenomena contribute to our despondency.   Those include: the plight of the hostages still being held in Gaza; the distress of the hundreds of thousands of near-border residents evacuated and detached from homes, jobs, and education; the horror of barrages of  missiles and rockets fired from Lebanon and destroying structures in Metula, Kiryat Shmona,  and other northern locales; the anguish of thousands of seriously wounded and maimed soldiers now in rehabilitation; and agonizing grief over the 1300 souls extinguished on October 7 and over the more than 200 soldiers who have since fallen.  Purim is not so happy this year!

Twentieth Report

            My reading audience is almost exclusively American.  That means you are capable of assessing the capabilities and general policies of President Joseph Biden without my input.  On that score, I will make only one observation.  I, as an 81 year-old in good physical and mental health, can appreciate Biden’s confidence in his present high level functioning.  But even as a vigorous 81 year-old, I have no confidence in maintaining my current level of function for 5 more years.  Presumptuous, I’d say, for any person his age to undertake the rigorous demands of chief executive of the U.S. for an additional term of office.   

            My commentary on Joe Biden will focus on the stances he has taken toward Israel since the outbreak of the Israel/Hamas war on October 7, 2023.  I will start with warm praise for his early insights and actions and I will shift to certain delusions that have subsequently come into play.

             Most commendable was Joe Biden’s early appreciation of the righteousness and critical nature of Israel’s defense of its periphery against Hamas’ assault.  On October 8, 2023, there was joyous exaltation of Hamas’ destruction, killing, and kidnapping on the streets of Gaza, in West Bank Arab cities, and in numerous world cities (including New York).  According to these celebrants, Palestinian Arabs were “understandably” reacting to years of Israeli oppression.  Israeli reports of barbaric Hamas atrocities were greeted with skepticism in many circles.

             Joe Biden early on rejected the pro-Hamas position.  He perceived both that Hamas was seeking the destruction of Israel (not just an end to occupation) and that its terrorist tactics indeed featured heinous crimes against humanity.  And he didn’t hesitate to travel to Israel to proclaim and demonstrate his administration’s alignment with Israel against Hamas.

Just as importantly, Biden perceived the critical threat posed by Hezbollah (in Lebanon and Syria) of replicating Hamas’ assaults and opening up a northern front in the incipient Israel/Hamas war.  He issued strong warnings to Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, and he sent an American aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean.  That action was probably instrumental in deterring Hezbollah from opening up a second front as Hamas and Iran had hoped. 

            Another Biden insight related to the problematic nature of the coalition that Benjamin Netanyahu had patched together in October 2022.   He understood that America’s historical support for the State of Israel was grounded on shared democratic values, and that elements within the Netanyahu coalition contradicted those values.  He even advised Netanyahu to dump the extremists (Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich) and form a national unity government including centrists.  (In report #8, I estimated the chances of Bibi taking that advice as somewhere between zero and nil). 

            Biden’s perceptive apprehensions about the coalition extremists have been fulfilled.  Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have served as irritants and obstacles to Israel’s efforts to garner broad support for its warranted efforts to permanently uproot the Hamas underground terrorist stronghold in Gaza.  The ultranationalist pair have pursued an annexationist agenda regarding Gaza exceeding Israel’s self-defense rationale and providing fuel for a pro-Hamas narrative.  Their anti-humanist, anti-Palestinian predispositions also underlay in part their preferences to constrict humanitarian aid to Gaza’s suffering civilian population.   Again, their anti-humanist expressions have undermined Israel’s efforts to convince the world about the righteousness of Israel’s aims in the ongoing war. 

            Another early, insightful Biden/Blinken admonition to Netanyahu related to the necessity for “day after” planning, i.e., a plan for administration of the Gaza strip after any successful liquidation of Hamas’ military infrastructure.  To this day, Netanyahu’s coalition (and the narrower “war cabinet” as well) have not formulated a realistic strategy for such critical tasks as managing delivery and distribution of humanitarian supplies.  Their hope to enlist local Gazan clan leaders as civilian managers does not look promising.  Their aversion to UNRHA is understandable, but perhaps short-sighted given UNRHA’s experience in distributing critical materials.  In the meantime, the mass media continue to blame Israel (rather than Hamas whose operatives expropriate deliveries) for the shortage of Gazan civilian supplies. 

            All the above paragraphs credit Joe Biden with insightful perceptions about Israel’s struggle to destroy the massive military infrastructure that Hamas installed in urban Gaza and which (together with other extant foreign threats) endanger Israel’s future.  The Biden administration has also exhibited a few delusions worthy of mention. 

One glaring example was the notion that Hamas’ expansive terrorist fortress, deeply embedded within densely populated Gaza, could be destroyed without engendering extensive civilian casualties.  I recall a press conference that Secretary of State Blinken conducted during one of his many wartime visits to Israel. (At that point, the IDF had occupied northern Gaza, but had not yet assaulted Khan Yunis or Rafiah).  Blinken endorsed the objective of uprooting the Hamas military complex, but suggested that it could be accomplished by pinpoint strikes at a limited number of targets.  His remarks prompted me to wonder what he was dreaming.  Destruction of a vast embedded infrastructure via pinpoint bombardments and excursions?   I thought, in Hebrew: הוא מצחיק את הפשפשים   (he’s making even the bed bugs laugh). 

            A further delusion was that Israel could or would accept, at this point in time, the notion of an independent Palestinian state under the aegis of a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority (PA).  As I noted in my 10^th report, Palestinian rejectionism of a 2-state solution has a considerable history – including Yasser Arafat’s repudiation of Ehud Barak’s offer in 2000 and Mahmoud Abbas’ rejection of Ehud Olmert’s offer in 2008.   While Netanyahu administrations have alienated Palestinians in many respects, the PA has more and more, in recent years, echoed Hamas in its demonization of Israel and endorsement of violence. (For details, see report #10). Rather than condemn the Hamas atrocities of October 7, the PA has expressed interest in seeking “unity” with Hamas – thus aligning itself with a terrorist agency dedicated exclusively to the annihilation of Israel.  The Palestinian street, including the West Bank, also aligns more and more with Hamas.  A November 2023 poll indicated that over 80% of Palestinians want Abbas removed as PA president and 60% want the PA disbanded.  A significant majority would vote for Hamas and a majority rejects co-existence with Israel via a 2-state arrangement.  For the moment, Israelis are far too apprehensive about the PA, or about Palestinian intentions generally, to embrace Biden’s initiative for a 2-state solution as articulated. 

            Given the prevailing self-identification of West Bank and Gazan Palestinians with Hamas, Biden’s pursuit of a 2-state solution must be formulated in more careful terms.  He can push for Israel’s acceptance of a “pathway to peace” ultimately entailing 2 states.  Such a scenario would have to be conditioned on negotiations with a Palestinian leadership that accepts Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, that agrees to disarmament of heavy weaponry, and that accepts a staged installation of Palestinian control.  That brand of Palestinian leadership is not on the immediate horizon. 

            As noted above, the prospects for Israeli acceptance of the Biden/Blinken vision of 2 states for 2 people are quite shaky.  Benjamin Netanyahu and his current coalition would never accept such an initiative, as they are wedded to an annexationist agenda subjecting most of the disputed territory (Judea and Samaria) to Israeli sovereignty. 

Joe Biden (and now Senator Chuck Schumer as well) are probably correct in their assertion that Benjamin Netanyahu is currently doing more harm than good for Israel and its future.  Biden is also probably correct in his assertion that Israel’s long term welfare depends on a regional solution in which Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates accept amicable relations with Israel.  Those states, in turn, must remind Netanyahu and whatever Israeli government succeeds him that those friendly relations cannot be established without some meaningful accommodation of Palestinian interests.  The annexationist notion of sovereignty over close to 3 million people (West Bank Arabs) resistant to that control and lacking any rights to self-determination is anathema.  

Nineteenth Report

  

            My last report’s ploy (injecting elements of light and hope and encouragement) seems to have fallen pretty flat.  Incoming communications channels this week have been filled with anti-Israel vitriol embracing what seems – from our perspective here in Tel Aviv – to be a grossly distorted narrative.  Calls for an immediate ceasefire in order to halt “the indiscriminate bombardment” of Gazan civilians form only the tip of an iceberg.  The British foreign office publishes material labeling Israel a “white settler colonialist nation” engaged in suppressing a moderate Hamas force.  A respected French author claims that the Hamas assault of October 7, 2023 constitutes not a terror attack, but rather “armed resistance.” A billionaire Los Angeles real estate developer (Mohamed Hadid) calls President Biden “a Nazi war criminal” who should be hunted down for aiding Israel and seeking to destroy the Palestinian people. 

            I’m not the only columnist observing this blitz of discourse in media outlets distorting reality and attacking the very legitimacy of the Jewish state.  Both Bret Stephens (March 6) and Thomas Friedman (February 28) in the NYT have noted the phenomenon and they too worry about its impact eroding Israel’s stature and legitimacy.

            The utterly disheartening vilifications prompt me to issue a few reminders about the current Israel/Hamas war – about its origins, conduct, and objectives.  First, though, a disclaimer.  Israel is not blameless in this picture.  When Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip in 2005, it did so unilaterally without securing any assurances in return.  Then, for years, Israel naively allowed Qatar to foster the Hamas regime, hoping it might serve as a counterweight to the Palestinian Authority.  And while Israel launched ground incursions into Gaza 3 times between 2008 and 2021 to counter Hamas missile attacks and cross-border incursions, it underestimated the nature of the vast underground tunnel fortress.  Thus, the IDF did not previously treat that threat as it deserved.  Finally, it took considerable prodding from the Biden administration to convince Israel to facilitate humanitarian aid entering Gaza.  I.e., Israel’s conduct is not above reproach.

            Now back to the promised reminders countering the recent wave of anti-Israel hate fests.

 1)  For starters, Hamas is not simply a force resisting Israeli “occupation” of the West Bank and its arms blockade of Gaza.  Hamas has been, since its founding, exclusively dedicated to the destruction of Israel and annihilation of its Jewish residents.  Hamas has no interest in a two-state solution — coexistence of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. 

2)  Israel’s current war against Hamas was precipitated by Hamas’ heinous atrocities. Hamas has widely and correctly been branded a terrorist entity.  Since violently wrenching exclusive control of Gaza in 2007, it has fired thousands of rockets at civilian targets in Israel prompting three prior Israeli invasions ending in cease fires.   On October 7, 2023, Hamas and sympathizers launched a brutal and barbarous cross-border incursion that slaughtered more than 1200 people and violently kidnapped more than 240 hostages. The savage October 7 onslaught included executing families in their homes, tying people together and burning them alive, torture, mutilation, dismemberment, sexual violence, rape, and tossing grenades into shelters where fleeing innocents huddled.  Hamas has vowed to repeat its ruthless incursions “again and again” until Israel is eliminated. 

3)  The Israeli land incursion into Gaza is aimed at Hamas’ rulers and its deeply embedded military apparatus – its underground infrastructure for terror — not Palestinian civilians.  IDF employment of ground forces moving building to building has cost hundreds of IDF soldier deaths, but spares civilian casualties as compared to the alternative of carpet bombing.  Civilian casualties are further diminished by the multiplicity of advance warnings urging civilians to evacuate targeted areas. 

4)   Continued existence of Hamas’ vast network of underground fortresses, together with Hezbollah forces collected on the Israel/Lebanon border, pose an ongoing existential threat to Israel’s existence.  Approximately 200,000 Israelis have been evacuated from their periphery residences and can’t return home without liquidation of current rocket and cross-border incursion threats. 

            In short, despite the heart-rending images of civilian suffering within the Gaza strip, Israel’s conduct is a far cry from the above-described vitriol alleging genocidal, Nazi-like behavior on Israel’s part.  The four numbered paragraphs above explicate the necessity for Israel to safeguard its citizens, Jewish and Muslim alike, against the profound threats posed by Hamas in the south (as illustrated by the carnage accomplished on October 7) and Hezbollah in the north.  Some collateral deaths and suffering of civilians are an inevitable consequence of urban warfare.  The United States and its allies learned that lesson in Mosul in 2017 while uprooting ISIS and in 1999 in Kosovo (to say nothing of the World War II experiences while bombarding Germany and Japan). 

Israel must, of course, adhere to the international law of warfare and must continue to take steps to reduce civilian casualties. Yet when the survival of the country and the security of its population are at stake, Israel will risk the enmity of anti-zionists when it dispels the perceived threats. That was so in 1967 when Israel launched its peremptory strikes and executed the 6-day war.  That was so in June 1981 when the IAF (Israel Air Force) destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor despite the worldwide outrage generated.  That was so when Israel annexed the Golan Heights to permanently preclude Syrian bombardments of the upper Galilee.  It is so today as Israel is arrayed against Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and the Houthis.

Eighteenth Report

            My last report was so immersed in gloom and doom that I felt a need to find something to uplift flagging spirits – yours and mine.  So I scrounged around and came up with a few items that might offer faint rays of light peeking through the massive cloud banks overhanging Tel Aviv. 

            I previously noted that Israel was conducting municipal elections on February 26 and that Netanyahu’s party, the Likud, had formed a joint candidate list with the ultra-nationalist party, Otzmah Yehudit, led by the scurrilous Itamar Ben Gvir in the race for Tel Aviv’s municipal council.  The results are in and the residents of Tel Aviv can breathe a sigh of relief.  Out of the 31 local council seats, the Likud took just one seat.   And 28 out of 31 of the seats went to parties who are neither theocratic nor ultra-nationalist.  In Tel Aviv, Israel’s most cosmopolitan city, the nearly defunct left wing roused its head and its parties garnered 10 of the 31 seats.

            While the municipal results in Tel Aviv were reassuring, results in the rest of the country provided a reminder of the sobering advance of ultra-orthodox (Haredim) parties in Israeli politics.  The Haredim gained majority control of councils in several important cities including Jerusalem, Tiberias, and Safed. 

Differential birth rates have long signaled that the Haredim population would ultimately exceed the more secular or traditional Jewish population.  The February 26 municipal elections signal that the political advance of the Haredim will be quicker than anticipated. This is because voting discipline exists in the Haredi sector but not elsewhere.  When the orthodox rabbis instruct their flocks to vote, they do so.  In all the mixed cities in which the Haredim gained control the percentage of eligible voters casting ballots was significantly higher in the orthodox sector than in the secular ranks. 

Another encouraging ray of light is being emitted by some members of the 4-member “war cabinet” that up to now has largely deferred to Benjamin Netanyahu’s self-serving maneuvers and his deference to the ultra-nationalist Ben Gvir.  Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, together with Benny Gantz and Gaddi Eisenkot (both of whom served as IDF chiefs of staff) are signaling resistance on two important issues.  First, Ben Gvir’s demand for wholesale exclusion of Israeli Arab males from access to the Temple Mount during Ramadan will not prevail.  Second, the 3 former generals staunchly oppose continuation of a blanket exemption of Haredim from military service.  Netanyahu will still seek to accommodate Haredim aversion to an equal share of military service burdens and it is too early to know how the issue will be resolved.  But the 3 generals are at least temporarily displaying a modicum of backbone in contending with the extremists. 

    The last element of hope I can scratch up flows from an adult education lecture I recently heard by a veteran international journalist Henrique Cymerman.  Cymerman was born in Portugal but has lived in Israel since age 16.  Through his erudite journalism, he has fostered ongoing connections with a range of important figures including Pope Francis, Prince Turki Faisal of Saudi Arabia, the Imam of Mecca, and leading figures in the United Arab Emirates.  The relevant Cymerman lecture was titled “Israel’s Accomplishments and Challenges.”  It served as a pointed reminder of the miraculous resilience and tenacity of the State of Israel.   

Start with the extremely austere circumstances in 1948.  Six hundred thousand Jews residing in a barren area devoid of natural resources and facing armed invasion from 5 surrounding countries seeking to destroy the newly declared state.  Then consider not just Israel’s survival in the face of external threats, but also a few of  the wondrous achievements of the State of Israel over its scant 76 years of existence.  

Israel’s total population has grown to 10 million people.  The struggling 600,000 nucleus successfully absorbed over 3 million Jewish refugees or migrants of all sorts of backgrounds and shades of color.  These included hundreds of thousands of holocaust survivors fleeing Europe, over half a million Sephardic Jews seeking refuge after being expelled from nearby Arab or North African countries in 1948,  a hundred thousand Ethiopians, a million Russians fleeing Communist oppression, and hundreds of thousands of migrants to a Jewish homeland from developed countries like Canada, France, Argentina, and the U.S.   

Population growth and a thriving society have been enhanced as well by Israel’s integration of the Arab/Palestinian portion of its citizenry – now numbering 2 million residents.  The anti-Zionists’ calumny of “apartheid” to the contrary notwithstanding, Israeli Arabs participate in all sectors of the economy including law, medicine, pharmacies, and high tech.  Israeli Arabs populate Israel’s universities in percentages consistent with their presence in the total population.  Israeli Muslims were among those murdered, kidnapped, and performing heroic acts on October 7.                        

Israel’s economic achievements are miraculous for a country with a population of 10 million.  It has amply earned the nickname “start-up nation.”   In number of companies listed on the Nasdaq and other major exchanges, Israel ranks third in the world (behind only the U.S. and China) with its 6,000 active listings totaling more than all European countries combined.  A similar wondrous achievement is reflected in Israel’s number of “unicorns” – innovative startups with valuations now reaching over $1 billion.  There, Israel ranks 4^th in the world with standouts such as Mobileye – the sensing technology that enables self-driving vehicles – or the marvelous Waze GPS.

Israel’s impressive enterprises over 76 years include its national health care system making universal coverage available to all residents.  The system is far from perfect, but it generally provides sophisticated, high quality care and ranks 19^th out of 87 countries considered in one assessment.  (At this moment, that health care system is being strained by thousands of wounded soldiers and an influx of near-border residents evacuated from their homes).  Israel’s military power also constitutes a wondrous accomplishment (putting aside the critical failures surrounding October 7).  Its drone technology, its missile interceptors (Iron Dome and Arrow), its tank armor, its sophisticated air force (featuring American built F-35’s), its radar capabilities, and its special forces are all world class. 

In short, Henrique Cymerman’s lecture evoked realization of the wondrous past achievements by a tiny country of 10 million people.  That realization does not dispel the dismal reality of the current arduous campaign to uproot Hamas from Gaza, the distressing dilemma of freeing the 136 captives, and the formidable external threats currently posed by Hezbollah, Iran, and the Houthis.  For some, the past achievements just underline how much might be lost if the Zionist dream gets shattered while Netanyahu and his cohorts pursue their narrow agendas. For others, like me, the miraculous past evokes hope that a revitalized Israel might still emerge from the current depths.  David Ben Gurion once said:  “In the land of Israel, one who doesn’t believe in miracles is not a realist.”