If you are looking for a black-and-white scope through which to judge Israel's prime minister, you won't find it here. Politics lives in the gray, and this situation is no different.
Well stated, Josh. I think Israel needs a Trump-like figure to capture citizens' imagination and present a new vision for the country; hopefully right of center and nationalistic instead of trying to make Israel a liberal multi-cultural nightmare that other Western countries have become. For those of you ready to call me a racist let me be clear: I support cultural diversity in a country, which means allowing Jew-friendly cultures to prosper as long as it's done without taxpayer money and doesn't supersede the core culture. Multiculturalism posits that no culture is better or worse than another. It has the effect of cancelling a nation's indigenous or founding cultures. We see the horrible results of multicultural policies in Canada, Great Britain, France and other European nations. There is nothing wrong with nationalism. Too many Jews (in and out of Israel) wrongly equate it with Hitler's vicious, totalitarian version of it. We can celebrate globalism through "fair trade" agreements, not a one-world government (G-d forbid). Hopefully a new leader will arise in Israel who can effectively sell this to a majority of its citizenry.
Politics, like the rest of life is complicated. My partner is Israeli, and she send me articles from N12 daily that my lap top translates to English. Ugh, I'm happy to not be directly involved in decision making.
I will give Netanyahu credit for getting back 100 hostages. I predicted back i October that none of them would be returned. I am very happy to be wrong!
I would love to have a direct on the mountain top discussion with God. You say we are your chosen people. Can you make it a little simpler?
Your piece underscores how difficult it is to be prime minister of Israel when the media and political rivals are constantly sniping at you. I was shocked to see, on my many visits to Israel prior to Covid, how vicious the media were in their attacks on Netanyahu. Nothing has changed, even though Israel is waging one war in Gaza and another soon in Lebanon, and even though, as you rightly point out, he is the only Israeli leader who could resist international pressure to end the war without an Israeli victory. His responsibility for October 7, aside from your statement about responsibility meaning taking hold of the ship of state to right it for now, lies more in his focus on Iran to the exclusion of the Palestinian question, but then every Israeli I spoke to on all my visits did the same, thinking that continuous Palestinian attacks on Israel could be tolerated as the price for living in the land. That very mentality, which persists in the demand to return the hostages regardless of military and political goals, is part of the millennial Jewish sniping at leaders stretching all the way back to the Bible, though it takes the modern form of the mindless opposition to judicial reform and now the Korach-like grumbling of political leaders seeking to unseat the government in the midst of a war. There will be time, there will be time, for heads to roll in the security and army and governmental departments once Israel is again secure. But there are far too many Israelis not actively involved in politics who need their heads examined too, because the polls, run also by leftist elites for their own ends and shaped accordingly, indicate that not much has changed in that department. Bezalel Smotrich has been one of the most responsible and steady members of the government, but his party barely passes the threshold in the polls. Distressing.
Thanks. A LOT or MOST of what you wrote desperately needs said and read. Although the following statement in quotation is accurate "The two goals of this war still have been left unaccomplished.". However, given the array of complications it seems that the dent into those two goals - get the Hostages back and ideally alive and able to heal - and yes I realize of the many remaining many of those may not be alive and others may be drastically traumatized physically and mentally. The other goal to destroy hamas to the point from which they can never recover. Under the local and global circumstances the dent in each goal is massive.
In 12/72, during a breakdown in negotiations between America and North Vietnam, Nixon ordered the largest bombardment since WWII directed at military and industrial targets in the North. It's known as the Christmas Bombings. The effects of the bombing are debated but the N. Vietnamese did return to the negotiating table.
The hostage crisis is an age old problem. Ethics (one branch of Philosophy) dramatizes it in the "The Trolley Problem." Briefly put, a runaway train is headed for a train station platform crowded with people either waiting to board it or to greet arrivals. A little before the station a man finds himself at a rail switch. If he throws a lever he can divert the train to another track. However, working on that track is his brother, father, son, best friend, and neighbour. If he throws the switch, the train will crash into them killing them all. What should he do?
Is sacrificing the life of a few to save the lives of many the right thing to do?
Judaism dramatizes this problem from the perspective of morality: good versus evil. In Genesis, Abraham argues with God over the fate of Sodom. Should God spare Sodom if 10 good people can be found there. In essence, the question is whether or not immoral people should be saved from justice, allowing them to continue to harm others because of a few moral people? Should good, moral people suffer the collective punishment of evil people merely because they are living among them?
In 2011, one soldier, Gilad Shalit, was exchanged for 1,027 convicted terrorists. Among those released was Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of Oct 7th. Hamas has publicly vowed to repeat Oct 7th over and over again until it kills all Jews and annihilates Israel, a goal and policy entrenched in its Charter.
Should Israel continue to eliminate Hamas despite the fact its operations pose a real and immediate threat to the lives of the hostages?
Knowing Hamas' intent, are hostage families okay with the fact that their demands for a deal with Hamas on its terms will make them the direct cause for future slaughter of Israeli civilians as well as soldiers called into subsequent battle?
Unfortunately, these are the discussions or debates that are happening on the US national or international stage. I appreciate this article and your insightful comments.
I pray for the hostages my daughter printed all their photos for me I grieve those that died I have not stop
praying for their families. I pray for the whole nation. I pray that the Palestinian will realize they are in bondage to death cult and will end this vicious cycle. They are set in the destruction of Israel this will never lead to them building a great nation.
I believe the survival of the world depends on the survival pf Jews. This is the most important issue for me this election. Not negotiable for me.
Bibi is being persecuted for the same reason Trump is being persecuted - they both will not worship the gods of the secular, western elites. They believe in nationalism as a tool for good and they intend to preserve their respective flavors of nationalism.
Great answer. No offense, but the biggest hallmark of a bot is a non-sentence, one-liner ambiguous in its meaning, designed to provoke. I was asking for clarification.
Your analysis and sentiment are spot on. You would convey that message to more people on the first go-round if you spent a few more words on exposition.
Because for some time the IDF has not been making great progress, based on political decisions (the government, which control the IDF’s plans), but that seems to be changing in recent weeks.
Well stated, Josh. I think Israel needs a Trump-like figure to capture citizens' imagination and present a new vision for the country; hopefully right of center and nationalistic instead of trying to make Israel a liberal multi-cultural nightmare that other Western countries have become. For those of you ready to call me a racist let me be clear: I support cultural diversity in a country, which means allowing Jew-friendly cultures to prosper as long as it's done without taxpayer money and doesn't supersede the core culture. Multiculturalism posits that no culture is better or worse than another. It has the effect of cancelling a nation's indigenous or founding cultures. We see the horrible results of multicultural policies in Canada, Great Britain, France and other European nations. There is nothing wrong with nationalism. Too many Jews (in and out of Israel) wrongly equate it with Hitler's vicious, totalitarian version of it. We can celebrate globalism through "fair trade" agreements, not a one-world government (G-d forbid). Hopefully a new leader will arise in Israel who can effectively sell this to a majority of its citizenry.
Politics, like the rest of life is complicated. My partner is Israeli, and she send me articles from N12 daily that my lap top translates to English. Ugh, I'm happy to not be directly involved in decision making.
I will give Netanyahu credit for getting back 100 hostages. I predicted back i October that none of them would be returned. I am very happy to be wrong!
I would love to have a direct on the mountain top discussion with God. You say we are your chosen people. Can you make it a little simpler?
Your piece underscores how difficult it is to be prime minister of Israel when the media and political rivals are constantly sniping at you. I was shocked to see, on my many visits to Israel prior to Covid, how vicious the media were in their attacks on Netanyahu. Nothing has changed, even though Israel is waging one war in Gaza and another soon in Lebanon, and even though, as you rightly point out, he is the only Israeli leader who could resist international pressure to end the war without an Israeli victory. His responsibility for October 7, aside from your statement about responsibility meaning taking hold of the ship of state to right it for now, lies more in his focus on Iran to the exclusion of the Palestinian question, but then every Israeli I spoke to on all my visits did the same, thinking that continuous Palestinian attacks on Israel could be tolerated as the price for living in the land. That very mentality, which persists in the demand to return the hostages regardless of military and political goals, is part of the millennial Jewish sniping at leaders stretching all the way back to the Bible, though it takes the modern form of the mindless opposition to judicial reform and now the Korach-like grumbling of political leaders seeking to unseat the government in the midst of a war. There will be time, there will be time, for heads to roll in the security and army and governmental departments once Israel is again secure. But there are far too many Israelis not actively involved in politics who need their heads examined too, because the polls, run also by leftist elites for their own ends and shaped accordingly, indicate that not much has changed in that department. Bezalel Smotrich has been one of the most responsible and steady members of the government, but his party barely passes the threshold in the polls. Distressing.
Thanks. A LOT or MOST of what you wrote desperately needs said and read. Although the following statement in quotation is accurate "The two goals of this war still have been left unaccomplished.". However, given the array of complications it seems that the dent into those two goals - get the Hostages back and ideally alive and able to heal - and yes I realize of the many remaining many of those may not be alive and others may be drastically traumatized physically and mentally. The other goal to destroy hamas to the point from which they can never recover. Under the local and global circumstances the dent in each goal is massive.
In 12/72, during a breakdown in negotiations between America and North Vietnam, Nixon ordered the largest bombardment since WWII directed at military and industrial targets in the North. It's known as the Christmas Bombings. The effects of the bombing are debated but the N. Vietnamese did return to the negotiating table.
Well put.
Addendum - God it doesn't have to be a mountain top. Iknow of a nice diner here in NYC. We can get a private room!
The hostage crisis is an age old problem. Ethics (one branch of Philosophy) dramatizes it in the "The Trolley Problem." Briefly put, a runaway train is headed for a train station platform crowded with people either waiting to board it or to greet arrivals. A little before the station a man finds himself at a rail switch. If he throws a lever he can divert the train to another track. However, working on that track is his brother, father, son, best friend, and neighbour. If he throws the switch, the train will crash into them killing them all. What should he do?
Is sacrificing the life of a few to save the lives of many the right thing to do?
Judaism dramatizes this problem from the perspective of morality: good versus evil. In Genesis, Abraham argues with God over the fate of Sodom. Should God spare Sodom if 10 good people can be found there. In essence, the question is whether or not immoral people should be saved from justice, allowing them to continue to harm others because of a few moral people? Should good, moral people suffer the collective punishment of evil people merely because they are living among them?
In 2011, one soldier, Gilad Shalit, was exchanged for 1,027 convicted terrorists. Among those released was Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of Oct 7th. Hamas has publicly vowed to repeat Oct 7th over and over again until it kills all Jews and annihilates Israel, a goal and policy entrenched in its Charter.
Should Israel continue to eliminate Hamas despite the fact its operations pose a real and immediate threat to the lives of the hostages?
Knowing Hamas' intent, are hostage families okay with the fact that their demands for a deal with Hamas on its terms will make them the direct cause for future slaughter of Israeli civilians as well as soldiers called into subsequent battle?
Unfortunately, these are the discussions or debates that are happening on the US national or international stage. I appreciate this article and your insightful comments.
I pray for the hostages my daughter printed all their photos for me I grieve those that died I have not stop
praying for their families. I pray for the whole nation. I pray that the Palestinian will realize they are in bondage to death cult and will end this vicious cycle. They are set in the destruction of Israel this will never lead to them building a great nation.
I believe the survival of the world depends on the survival pf Jews. This is the most important issue for me this election. Not negotiable for me.
An echo of Trump.
What does this mean? You appear to be a troll bot.
That’s my real name, my real face, and my real uniform. Where’s your face?
My name and face are all over the Internet, starting at https://messytimes.show
You can find me here, too, on the Board of Directors. https://www.combatcontrolfoundation.org/about-combat-control-foundation
While you're on the Combat Control Foundation website, please make a donation. Thank you.
Bibi is being persecuted for the same reason Trump is being persecuted - they both will not worship the gods of the secular, western elites. They believe in nationalism as a tool for good and they intend to preserve their respective flavors of nationalism.
Great answer. No offense, but the biggest hallmark of a bot is a non-sentence, one-liner ambiguous in its meaning, designed to provoke. I was asking for clarification.
Your analysis and sentiment are spot on. You would convey that message to more people on the first go-round if you spent a few more words on exposition.
I don't understand. Why would they want to leave with the job unfinished?
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"But when Israeli soldiers in Gaza tell me that many in the IDF have been questioning what we are still doing in the Strip, I listen".
Because for some time the IDF has not been making great progress, based on political decisions (the government, which control the IDF’s plans), but that seems to be changing in recent weeks.
a good article until you read "Stalin's Russians"... who on earth are they? Please, check before publishing such nonsense.