So Much For . . .The Arab Spring, Argentinian Sanity, Palestinian Love of the Land, and Benny Gantz

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Fire burning yesterday in Jerusalem Forest near Yad Vashem

So much for. . .

So much for the Arab Spring: the proposed new Tunisian constitution calls for prohibiting all connections with Israel. Some 600 Islamists, Arab nationalists, and extreme leftists (including singers, dancers, and Tunisians who fought against Israel in 1948!) rallied in Tunis last week to support the prohibition. The head of the group, Ahmed Kahlaoui put it very succinctly: “Death to all Tunisians attempting to normalize relations with Israel.”

So much for Argentinian sanity: Remember the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association building that was bombed in 1994 slaughtering 85 people (the same blast that I heard a J Street representative say a few months ago was not aimed at Israelis!)—the same bombing that Argentine investigators found was organized and carried out by Iranians.  On the upcoming 17th anniversary of that bombing, Iran has now offered to help Argentina investigate what happened. The Argentine government called the Iranian offer “unprecedented and very positive.”

So much for the Palestinian love of the land: The current fire that has been raging in the Jerusalem Forest has finally come under control. According to firefighters, the fire broke out simultaneously in four parts of the forest. Two days ago a Yesha patrol in another forest near Kochav Ya’akov (near Kfar Saba) thwarted a group of Arabs trying to set the forest on fire. You may recall that ‘internationalists’ and Palestinians were caught in November of last year setting fire to a forest and olive tree orchard beside Bat Ayin (between Jerusalem and Hebron).   The Palestinians: burning down the trees of what they like to claim is their ‘beloved land’, one forest at a time.

So much for Benny Gantz’s leadership of the IDF. You will recall that I blogged some months ago that the IDF was getting a competent but passive leader in the wake of the Yoav Gallant fiasco. Here’s a comment from one of Gantz’s spokesmen this morning concerning the increasing rocket fire from Gaza in the past week: “The groups [al-Qaeda and Islamic Jihad] are blowing off steam. We are not viewing this as a real escalation.” But the real reason the IDF is doing nothing to stop the rocket fire seems to be that the passive Gantz is intimidated: “military Intelligence estimates Hamas and Islamic Jihad have obtained more than 10,000 rockets and missiles – including a large stockpile of Iranian Fajr-5 rockets that can reach Tel Aviv – close to what Hezbollah had on the eve of the Second Lebanon War in 2006. A year ago, the terror groups were believed to have just a few thousands rockets, but the revolution in Egypt has completely altered the balance of power between Israel and Gaza” (JPost). So what are Gantz and the IDF waiting for–for missiles to be fired on Tel Aviv? I suspect that the IDF will not have to wait much longer.

Addendum: Another interesting (unscientific) poll conducted by the Jerusalem Post, this one concerning popular support for the Anti-Boycott Bill–so condemned by the Israeli left, BDS, J Street, and other Jewish organizations in the U.S.:

What do you think about the proposed bill banning boycotts? (percentage agreeing with statement in parentheses preceding it)
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1. ( 16.7%)   Boycotts are a legitimate form of non-violent protest.

2. (60.75%) Israel is under siege and must protect itself against such delegitimizing boycott campaigns.

3. (14.72%) Choosing where to spend your money is free and shouldn’t be legislated.

4. (3.14%)   The boycott bill is good, but it shouldn’t ban boycotts of products like cottage cheese.

5. (4.69%)   I’m unsure about the bill.

Interestingly, the poll breakdown of the percentage of Israelis who support the Anti-Boycott Law and those opposed is roughly the same as the vote that took place in the Knesset to adopt the Law.