Within Israel the biggest criticsm of Bibi has been his internal politicking has taken focus over national security. He has been getting this criticism intensely from military and security types that it’s left them at risk for this sort of incident. You shouldn’t rule anything out, but I don’t think a move that exposes his biggest criticisms as true is something he’d see as in his favor.
2 Likes
Publicly. By the president
Not about the exact day, indeed the eve of the attack.
Habeck was briefed the day before by US intelligence that the Russian attack would start. So they knew as well.
1 Like
Ironically , what this attack has succeeded in doing is scuppering any chance of the normalisation of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu had hung his hat on that succeeding as a way of distracting from the myriad of domestic problems that he’s faced with. Meanwhile the entire intelligence/security apparatus was firmly against it , indeed they were aghast at the prospect of gifting the Saudis the nuclear wherewithal that could quite conceivably pose them serious problems down the line. The whole idea had been condemned as a reckless act for personal political gain yet again.
1 Like
That last sentence describes Bibi’s entire career
That’s not a remote possibility at all. Mossad are the most sophisticated intelligent organisation in the world. They have eyes on the movement of every potential threat. I think it’s likely that Netanyahu let it happen. Every time he’s unpopular at home, conflict breaks out. Rally round the flag effect
Also a large proportion of the Israeli population would be happy to see Gaza reduced to rubble. I’ve spent time in Israel and Palestine and just stating fact
2 Likes
Coming back to this because I’m seeing it everywhere and it’s in the class of “actually…” that needs its own correction. The same class as “actually, the US is a republic not a democracy.”
Yes Israel withdrew from Gaza 15 years ago or so and so it is now largely in the hands of Hamas. So what is happening with settlements in the west bank is not happening in Gaza. We should definitely not conflate the two. But the military control of Gaza’s borders that Israel maintains still qualifies it according to the UN, various Human Rights organizations as an occupation. Gaza is referred to many as an open air prison - it is an occupation from without rather than from within.
4 Likes
More than 250 bodies found at site of Israeli Supernova festival.
Slaugtert by those poor poor Palestinians, fuck them.
2 Likes
Six months after the Yom Kippur war , Golda Meir , her reputation irreparably damaged and blamed for the intelligence failings , was out of office. As the inquests begin , will Netanyahu suffer the same fate ?
Freed article here : https://archive.ph/UbrdW
1 Like
I have doubts as to if this was an actual intelligence failure or was it Netanyahu using it to further his extreme rightwing agenda for his own political gain?
2 Likes
The interesting thing in that article is that they suggest the main aim of Hamas may be to deplete Iron Dome. I’m not sure what other systems they have (Patriot?) but I would have thought it is more appropriate against drone warfare.That’s what the Bundeswehr are meant to be buying it for. I’m wondering whether Iran may have been supplying Shahed drones to someone.
1 Like
After the last Gaza ‘war’ the US Congress immediately approved $1bn to replenish Iron Dome. With the current clusterfuck amongst Republicans in Washington that’s not even possible atm , and might account for the rapid expedition of a carrier fleet to the Med.
Whether Hezbollah does get involved , and remember their rocket technology and arsenal is on a whole different level to Hamas’ , remains to be seen. Lebanon is an absolute basket case now and another war would be catastrophic for them. All the political parties are urging Hezbollah to show restraint , but you’d never bet against them getting involved. The wider country , the economy and the civilian population is always a secondary consideration for them , the same as it is for Hamas.
1 Like
His assertion that there is no siege on Gaza is laughable. It was such an ignorant claim that I really couldn’t be bothered explaining. If this is being repeated elsewhere however then you really have to wonder where people get their information (propaganda) from.
3 Likes
Crimes have been committed by both sides for decades. It’s always the innocent who suffer most.
Statements like ‘Fuck the Palestinians’ are exactly why we are in this situation today.
6 Likes
Describing the region in terms of 2 equal sides is the root cause of the never-ending conflict. There is an occupied and an occupier. An oppressed and an oppressor.
You can’t keep people in an open air prison, keeping them on enough calories to just survive, controlling the borders, air, sea, electricity, water supply, how much fish they can catch etc, dropping bombs on them every 6-7 years…and not expect resistance.
None of this excuses Hamas’ actions. A big problem with media discourse is fear of discussing the root cause and history of conflict. So gets painted as a random terrorist attack, and Palestinians continue to be dehumanised
8 Likes
It’s not as if either side are without their backers. The lunatic fringe are in control and there is no shortage of onlookers cheering them on. Just look at Twitter. Everyone screaming for blood and only one word missing: peace.
It might be happening now:
And so it begins, yet another conflict. I wonder how long before we have a World War 3?