Of course you are absolutely right. We have seen this movie before. The only question is why Israel keeps giving it legitimacy. Maybe the IDF needs a quiet border while it secures Lebanon and Judea and Samaria. More likely, there is American pressure and Israel's history of accommodation to peace plans, of which the one with Lebanon is one more example. There is no peace not only because Hamas is left to fester, but also because Palestinians do not want to make peace with Israel. Ordinary Palestinians do not want to make peace. They prefer a dozen nakbas. So the achievement of peace for Israel means kibush vgerush, conquer and expel.
How sad that there are many, many (the vast majority) of the world (including sadly our own brethren) who are unfamiliar with the history, geography and the facts. It’s a shame that Einat Wilf (or anyone else with her abilities) wasn’t utilized by Bibi to educate, illuminate, elucidate and advocate on Israel’s behalf.
Stephen: Your question about Israel’s motivation “… giving it legitimacy” puzzled me: where did you see any sign of Israel legitimizing it? The Israeli government, with the PM Netanyahu specifically, rejected the agreement as inadequate, and Mladenov was trying his best to placate Israel. The Board of Peace was even intentionally fuzzy about the geography of IDF’s withdrawal. Also, only this week Israel paused the deliberate assassination of the remaining 2300 terrorists-participants (5000 is the estimate of the total, minus 1300 dead terrorist-participants during the massacre, minus 1400 assassinated since the massacre).
He rejected the agreement publicly but the IDF stopped targeting Hamas and the army has not moved forward as it had been doing. The entire Board of Peace game plan is a sham. Hamas has not disarmed and the Board of Peace has not moved on making it disarm. To get Hamas out of Gaza would require military force and no such force will do it except for the IDF, which has no role in the Trump plan. It is like the negotiations with Lebanon, but everyone with a brain and a bit of knowledge of history knows that the Lebanese government and army will not move seriously on Hezbollah. Dragging all this out with international players simply muddies the waters.
The comment about anyone with a brain and a bit of knowledge of history was not directed at you but at State Department officials and even Israeli government officials who engage in this kind of film flam. It discourages and mystifies me that we keep replaying the Oslo mentality playbook over and over.
No worries, Stephen, I understood it correctly. The only aspect I am keen to add is that Israel (lead by Netanyahu) is walking on the edge with Trump, as he already threatened Netanyahu several times in the last two years, abused him, bullied him. It is NOT prudent to burn this bridge, as Israel has very little leverage left with the U.S.
Every public opinion survey run by Palestinians. Over 100 years of violent attacks, murders, and refusal to recognize Jewish claims to statehood. And if you watch interviews with Palestinians from Gaza as the aftermath of their invasion of Israel occurred you will see and hear testimony form ordinary Muslims in Gaza blaming Israel for everything. I remember seeing one Palestinian interviewed by a western journalist with the obvious message of reporting on the mess and suffering in Gaza and all he could muster was that they were undergoing another nakba, as if he and all his fellow Muslims had done nothing to bring the war on them. How about holding people to account?
Wonderful and true . What has bothered me most about this “ Board” is that, at first, it sounded like eventually it could become an alternative to the obsolete and corrupt UN. Already under such an overly optimistic estimation, one realises that the actual players,i.e, some of the selected participants,are Arab nations competing for influence in the ME. What else is new, then? Second disappointment, is the entire concept that Gaza is declared so important in the vast constellation of world affairs, and the knowledge that, just as the inflated and artificial “ refugee problem” , the grotesque magnification of a very minor common warfare situation is no more than the obsessive desire to revisit “ the Jewish question”, nowadays, “ the Israeli question”. Like a wound that rather than being allowed to heal or an illness running its course, it is perennially reopened and infested to cause maximum harm to the organism.
"Board of Peace " is such a Trumpian name and is a deep insult to both Israel and any human being that actually lives in the real world. Its pure gaslighting.
Joshua, thank you for another great summary. The sheer lunacy of this road plan .. which ever way you look at it, it’s either the Board of Farce, or the Farce of Peace, or better still the ‘Farce of BS’.
"Missing from the article’s analysis of the “Board of Peace” plan is the little fact that the 15-point roadmap is a bait and switch of the 20-point Gaza peace plan (officially, the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict).
Among other inconsistencies between the two, instead of Hamas completely surrendering all its military hardware as called for in the 20 point peace plan, it now only has to store its weapons. Given its ability to plant its operatives in all sectors of society, it will have its agents overseeing the storage facilities.
Furthermore, it will become a behind the scenes participant in the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, and within the International Stabilization Force (ISF) through astute placement of its supporters.
As the article notes, “Hamas does not need to govern Gaza officially. It can govern Gaza unofficially through fear.“
Let us not forget the lesson of the 628 CE Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. It was violated as soon as the Moslem forces were strong enough to destroy the “peace partners.”
“The U.S. Treasury has repeatedly documented Iranian financial and logistical support for both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including mechanisms used to move Iranian money to the organizations.”
What action did Treasury take to stop this support? If little to nothing then it is complicit in its continuation. Why? What “political” considerations are driving this lack of enforcement of US regulations? Who is determine these exceptions to enforcement?
“The Iranian regime has spent decades cultivating armed partners and proxies across the Middle East “
Let’s call a thing for what it is: a proxy is a substitute, a stand in. Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the Moslem Brotherhood are armed wings of the IRGC.
“You cannot negotiate your way around an ideology committed to perpetual conflict.“
More accurately, “You cannot negotiate your way around an ideology committed to your destruction.”
There is also another Hidden Hand very much involved with the situation in The Middle East: The re-formed Nazi Party. They met in 2014 to discuss support for Hamas from Berlin and London. We are a group of monitors who listened to plans for arming Islamist Militias for ‘rolling internecine Genocidal Warfare’ in The Middle East explicitly using Hamas and the terrorist Militia groups on Israel’s Northern border. There is an Element in the Services here in Europe who are viciously Antisemitic, and who set up the Re-formation of The Nazi Party. These groups have been totally monitored too. They will have a brief to infiltrate Gaza on behalf of their senior German clients who are Nazis. This will include using the Gaza Board of Peace, and also the UN’s Humanitarian Agencies. All of this is to keep Israel under attack by supporting War in the guise of Peace, for their rich Arab and their Nazi Clients in Europe. This will include the continuation of Hamas.
A serious impediment to anything good coming out of this: what incentive does Hamas have for wanting any of this to happen? Why would they ever disarm which is quite different than saying they will disarm?
This is a well written and cogent piece. One that will never be implemented. The direction of things set out by the powers that be move in a direction designed to fail, until some new force comes along to disrupt the narrative. Yet voices like Burg, and Hoffman's here, are not given weight by any in power. We wonder what to do. Here's Burg, writing today about Israel. I am told he once had clout, but is today just another voice in the wilderness:
"Let us begin at home. Everyone I meet these days intends to vote, yet almost no one feels at peace with their choice. Each person plans to support the alternative that causes the least discomfort. The despair I encounter runs deeper than exhaustion from the war, deeper than the cost of living and the terrible cost in human life. It springs from the feeling that the political system has decayed and lost all contact with reality. The same worn out politicians repeat the same exhausted slogans. Tired parties compete to prove which of them can manage the existing evil more efficiently, while none offers a genuine vision of the good. Security has ceased to be one essential responsibility of government and has become the only language politics knows how to speak. The army is the new Temple. The ultra Orthodox parties are the mezuzah every coalition must kiss. War has become a mass religion that carries almost everyone along with it. Whoever speaks of peace is dismissed as naive. Whoever demands equality is branded dangerous. Any proposal for Jewish Arab partnership is treated as treason."
Of course you are absolutely right. We have seen this movie before. The only question is why Israel keeps giving it legitimacy. Maybe the IDF needs a quiet border while it secures Lebanon and Judea and Samaria. More likely, there is American pressure and Israel's history of accommodation to peace plans, of which the one with Lebanon is one more example. There is no peace not only because Hamas is left to fester, but also because Palestinians do not want to make peace with Israel. Ordinary Palestinians do not want to make peace. They prefer a dozen nakbas. So the achievement of peace for Israel means kibush vgerush, conquer and expel.
How sad that there are many, many (the vast majority) of the world (including sadly our own brethren) who are unfamiliar with the history, geography and the facts. It’s a shame that Einat Wilf (or anyone else with her abilities) wasn’t utilized by Bibi to educate, illuminate, elucidate and advocate on Israel’s behalf.
Stephen: Your question about Israel’s motivation “… giving it legitimacy” puzzled me: where did you see any sign of Israel legitimizing it? The Israeli government, with the PM Netanyahu specifically, rejected the agreement as inadequate, and Mladenov was trying his best to placate Israel. The Board of Peace was even intentionally fuzzy about the geography of IDF’s withdrawal. Also, only this week Israel paused the deliberate assassination of the remaining 2300 terrorists-participants (5000 is the estimate of the total, minus 1300 dead terrorist-participants during the massacre, minus 1400 assassinated since the massacre).
He rejected the agreement publicly but the IDF stopped targeting Hamas and the army has not moved forward as it had been doing. The entire Board of Peace game plan is a sham. Hamas has not disarmed and the Board of Peace has not moved on making it disarm. To get Hamas out of Gaza would require military force and no such force will do it except for the IDF, which has no role in the Trump plan. It is like the negotiations with Lebanon, but everyone with a brain and a bit of knowledge of history knows that the Lebanese government and army will not move seriously on Hezbollah. Dragging all this out with international players simply muddies the waters.
The comment about anyone with a brain and a bit of knowledge of history was not directed at you but at State Department officials and even Israeli government officials who engage in this kind of film flam. It discourages and mystifies me that we keep replaying the Oslo mentality playbook over and over.
No worries, Stephen, I understood it correctly. The only aspect I am keen to add is that Israel (lead by Netanyahu) is walking on the edge with Trump, as he already threatened Netanyahu several times in the last two years, abused him, bullied him. It is NOT prudent to burn this bridge, as Israel has very little leverage left with the U.S.
What is the basis of your statement that ordinary Palestinians do not want to make peace?
Maybe it’s because there is NO ONE in Gaza nor in Judea & Samaria who believes that Israel has a right to exist.
Every public opinion survey run by Palestinians. Over 100 years of violent attacks, murders, and refusal to recognize Jewish claims to statehood. And if you watch interviews with Palestinians from Gaza as the aftermath of their invasion of Israel occurred you will see and hear testimony form ordinary Muslims in Gaza blaming Israel for everything. I remember seeing one Palestinian interviewed by a western journalist with the obvious message of reporting on the mess and suffering in Gaza and all he could muster was that they were undergoing another nakba, as if he and all his fellow Muslims had done nothing to bring the war on them. How about holding people to account?
Is this a serious question? My God will they never wake up?
This is outrageous! Who are they kidding?
The only army capable of taking away the weapons away from Hamas is the IDF. They should have let them get on with it.
Wonderful and true . What has bothered me most about this “ Board” is that, at first, it sounded like eventually it could become an alternative to the obsolete and corrupt UN. Already under such an overly optimistic estimation, one realises that the actual players,i.e, some of the selected participants,are Arab nations competing for influence in the ME. What else is new, then? Second disappointment, is the entire concept that Gaza is declared so important in the vast constellation of world affairs, and the knowledge that, just as the inflated and artificial “ refugee problem” , the grotesque magnification of a very minor common warfare situation is no more than the obsessive desire to revisit “ the Jewish question”, nowadays, “ the Israeli question”. Like a wound that rather than being allowed to heal or an illness running its course, it is perennially reopened and infested to cause maximum harm to the organism.
Yes. ‘The Jewish Question’ is Nazi. Well deduced. See our report of the monitoring of just such, above.
"Board of Peace " is such a Trumpian name and is a deep insult to both Israel and any human being that actually lives in the real world. Its pure gaslighting.
Joshua, thank you for another great summary. The sheer lunacy of this road plan .. which ever way you look at it, it’s either the Board of Farce, or the Farce of Peace, or better still the ‘Farce of BS’.
Exremely well written, thank you.
There also needs to be deradicalisation as set out in the ceasefire agreement
"Missing from the article’s analysis of the “Board of Peace” plan is the little fact that the 15-point roadmap is a bait and switch of the 20-point Gaza peace plan (officially, the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict).
Among other inconsistencies between the two, instead of Hamas completely surrendering all its military hardware as called for in the 20 point peace plan, it now only has to store its weapons. Given its ability to plant its operatives in all sectors of society, it will have its agents overseeing the storage facilities.
Furthermore, it will become a behind the scenes participant in the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, and within the International Stabilization Force (ISF) through astute placement of its supporters.
As the article notes, “Hamas does not need to govern Gaza officially. It can govern Gaza unofficially through fear.“
Let us not forget the lesson of the 628 CE Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. It was violated as soon as the Moslem forces were strong enough to destroy the “peace partners.”
“The U.S. Treasury has repeatedly documented Iranian financial and logistical support for both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including mechanisms used to move Iranian money to the organizations.”
What action did Treasury take to stop this support? If little to nothing then it is complicit in its continuation. Why? What “political” considerations are driving this lack of enforcement of US regulations? Who is determine these exceptions to enforcement?
“The Iranian regime has spent decades cultivating armed partners and proxies across the Middle East “
Let’s call a thing for what it is: a proxy is a substitute, a stand in. Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the Moslem Brotherhood are armed wings of the IRGC.
“You cannot negotiate your way around an ideology committed to perpetual conflict.“
More accurately, “You cannot negotiate your way around an ideology committed to your destruction.”
Everyone needs to read Matt Field’s article carried by Future of Jewish, “The 'progressive' framework didn’t fail the Jews. It worked as planned,”https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzQhVrChlKhJszklrjPzWPmZnLzj
Peace requires changing the underlying power structure before reconstruction and political normalization can become durable.
There is also another Hidden Hand very much involved with the situation in The Middle East: The re-formed Nazi Party. They met in 2014 to discuss support for Hamas from Berlin and London. We are a group of monitors who listened to plans for arming Islamist Militias for ‘rolling internecine Genocidal Warfare’ in The Middle East explicitly using Hamas and the terrorist Militia groups on Israel’s Northern border. There is an Element in the Services here in Europe who are viciously Antisemitic, and who set up the Re-formation of The Nazi Party. These groups have been totally monitored too. They will have a brief to infiltrate Gaza on behalf of their senior German clients who are Nazis. This will include using the Gaza Board of Peace, and also the UN’s Humanitarian Agencies. All of this is to keep Israel under attack by supporting War in the guise of Peace, for their rich Arab and their Nazi Clients in Europe. This will include the continuation of Hamas.
אמת.
A serious impediment to anything good coming out of this: what incentive does Hamas have for wanting any of this to happen? Why would they ever disarm which is quite different than saying they will disarm?
What to do with BS?
You wipe it of from your boots, wash it away into the sewage pit, to prevent yourself and others from stepping into "it" again.
Spot on
This is a well written and cogent piece. One that will never be implemented. The direction of things set out by the powers that be move in a direction designed to fail, until some new force comes along to disrupt the narrative. Yet voices like Burg, and Hoffman's here, are not given weight by any in power. We wonder what to do. Here's Burg, writing today about Israel. I am told he once had clout, but is today just another voice in the wilderness:
"Let us begin at home. Everyone I meet these days intends to vote, yet almost no one feels at peace with their choice. Each person plans to support the alternative that causes the least discomfort. The despair I encounter runs deeper than exhaustion from the war, deeper than the cost of living and the terrible cost in human life. It springs from the feeling that the political system has decayed and lost all contact with reality. The same worn out politicians repeat the same exhausted slogans. Tired parties compete to prove which of them can manage the existing evil more efficiently, while none offers a genuine vision of the good. Security has ceased to be one essential responsibility of government and has become the only language politics knows how to speak. The army is the new Temple. The ultra Orthodox parties are the mezuzah every coalition must kiss. War has become a mass religion that carries almost everyone along with it. Whoever speaks of peace is dismissed as naive. Whoever demands equality is branded dangerous. Any proposal for Jewish Arab partnership is treated as treason."
Here is a list of the heads of state in the Board of Peace.
The phrase "peace, peace, when there is no peace" comes from the Hebrew Bible, specifically the Book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 6:14 and 8:11).