10 Comments

Having reflected on my previous comment! The situation for Israel is untenable, so many countries are against you, making your future actions extremely dangerous, whatever course you take.

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It is such a dangerous time. Any sign of weakness could like the touch paper. Things are so finely balanced! I think that this situation is faced by many Countries at war in the past.

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I’m not sure this proves the Knesset or Israeli politics is much different from other political bodies. I think history proves that civilian suffering amounts to very little in these situations. Neither side is most likely prepared to surrender. That war will not end because activists want it to will most likely be a valuable lesson for the activists.

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There are no "activeists" in Israel who want to prolong this war for even a minute. All Israel wants is for the hostages to come home, the soldiers to return safely to their lives and families and for the threat of repeated October 7ths to be removed.

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But plenty of activists outside.

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That’s sort of the problem, that the pressure is to shorten the war without achieving a reduction of the threat, or getting the hostages back.

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I have yet to see any outside activists who want Israel to prolong the war any longer than necessary. Maybe some exist but unless and until they become citizens and vote in elections their opinions have little impact on Israeli policies.

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I’m not sure that’s true, given that Israel is heavily reliant on western support.

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I assume you are talking about western governments. Which ones are encouraging Israel to prolong the war?

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Several things are becoming clear as the war proceeds: Hamas is so well entrenched that, given the restrictions under which the IDF is being forced to operate, it will take months to slowly and systematically destroy Hamas completely. Meanwhile, Hamas supporters and sympathizers all over the world are working diligently and effectively to broadcast the suffering of poor, innocent Gazan civilians and the refusal of Israel "to give peace a chance." This puts Biden under pressure to show he's not insensitive to the suffering of the poor, innocent, Hamas-loving Gazans and to bring the conflict to an end. Bibi is trying to hold the line because he understands that everything depends on destroying Hamas once and for all, or else all the Israeli soldiers and civilians who have died so far will have died for nothing.

Meanwhile, instead of rallying around him and standing strong, Netanyahu's rivals as well as his coalition partners circle like sharks in the water who smell blood. It's not a pretty picture.

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