UPDATES
9:00 am Israel time, Wednesday, March 4 2015
13 Days Until The Election
**There were 24 reported incidents of Palestinian terrorism reported in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem yesterday including “rock” and Molotov cocktail throwing, a stabbing, and an attempt to kill an Israeli motorist in the Shimon Ha-Tzaddik neighborhood of Jerusalem.
**It now appears that the incredible act of treason reported on israelstreet yesterday–in which 3 Israelis smuggled weapon-making material to Hamas over the last few years–involves far more Israelis than just the 3 indicted so far.
Apparently a network of some 100 Israelis, Palestinians, and “traders” in Gaza managed to send 55,000 tons of iron into the hands of Hamas. They even supplied machines to remove earth from tunnels as well as electronic and communication equipment. Hamas even maintained warehouses in Israel in which it stored materials prior to their being smuggled into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing–usually right under the noses of the IDF Cogat unit in “humanitarian convoys.”
Hamas, that supposedly does not have enough money to pay its own “workers” in Gaza and continually bemoans the condition of the impoverished people of Gaza, nevertheless spent more than 1,500,000 shekels a month on this smuggling project.
All in all, this must be one of the most disgraceful episodes in Israeli history–and one of the most disgraceful episodes in the life of the ever-disgraceful COGAT unit.
**The Egyptian media is reporting that Egyptian President Sisi has given the green light to the Egyptian military to carry out attacks in the Palestinian state of Gaza should the situation warrant. Now that the Egyptian judiciary has declared Palestinian Hamas a terrorist organization, it appears that the Egyptians may be ready to go after Hamas on its home ground.
**By all accounts, it has been a very bad week for Iran and Hezbollah in Syria. After enjoying some initial successes in trying to push the Syrian rebels out of the area around Quneitra, the military initiative has stalled and the number of dead, particularly Hezbollah dead, is mounting.
Yesterday saw several dozen Hezbollah men killed including 6 field commanders. Residents of the al-Dahiya neighborhood in Beirut report endless convoys of the dead and hospital refrigeration units full of dead fighters. Nevertheless, the Iranian response to the stalled initiative is for Hezbollah leader Nasrallah to send more Hezbollah fighters to Syria because the Iranians themselves are losing men right and left–including 7 more overnight.
TODAY’S BLOG
Benjamin Netanyahu hit a home run yesterday. President Obama and his Democratic minions led by Nancy Pelosi and Diane Feinstein may not want to admit it, but the Prime Minister of Israel simply hit the ball out of the park in his speech to the U.S. Congress.
His description of Iranian terrorism was simple and straightforward as was his explanation of what has gone wrong with the so-called “negotiations” with Tehran. Netanyahu clearly spelled out the way forward.
His basic argument was three-fold:
1. The U.S. and the other P5+1 members are naive when it comes to Iranian terrorism in the world and the Iranian takeover of Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen. Despite what President Obama would have us believe, that terrorism and those takeovers must be an integral part of any negotiations with Tehran. (In fact, it was amazing to see Obama’s post-speech video in which he doubled down on the proposition that the nuclear negotiations should be completely divorced from the terrorism that Iran propagates in the world).
It is the most basic common sense that the negotiations should be inextricably tied to Iranian behavior–and, by the way, the U.S. and Iran fighting together to stop IS is not an example of wonderful Iranian behavior. Iran is fighting IS to save itself, Hezbollah, and Assad. As Netanyahu so wonderfully put it, “the enemy of your enemy is your enemy.”
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2. The U.S. and its allies simply don’t understand how to negotiate in a Persian bazaar. Netanyahu suggested that the U.S. and its allies are in a position of strength, and as such, should not be making concessions such as leaving the Iranian nuclear program intact and adding a sunset clause in order to keep the Iranians at the negotiating table. Don’t be afraid to get up and walk away; don’t be afraid if the Iranians get up and walk away. As long as the P5+1 are applying sanctions, the Iranians will come back.
3. The choice is not a bad deal or war. The way forward is to tighten those sanctions and exact concessions from the Iranians. If President Obama had watched the speech (as if he didn’t); he might have understood that tightening the economic screws is the “viable alternative” that Netanyahu offered. Netanyahu’s point is that the deal is a bad deal because the P5+1 countries have rushed, and are rushing, to eliminate the sanctions and cut any deal they can with the ayatollahs. It is a point that was not lost on most of those in the Congressional chamber.
Was it arrogant and insulting–as Pelosi and Feinstein said–for Netanyahu to express these opinions? Of course not.
If the United States cannot hear criticism from its friends, particularly from a friend that has a 3000+ year history of dealing with Iran and has been repeatedly threatened with annihilation by Iran, who is it willing to hear criticism from?
Yet this is precisely the point: Obama and his Administration cannot tolerate criticism from anyone about anything.
Here in Israel, your humble servant watched the speech on Fox News because Israeli TV was showing a 5-minute delay so that Israel Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubrani could censor out anything “electioneering” that Netanyahu might do. Of course, Netanyahu did none.
However, a legitimate question this morning is “how did the speech play in Peoria” or in this case “in Israel”? Polls taken in the last four weeks show Netanyahu and Likud steadily losing mandates. Will the speech stabilize the Likud freefall and perhaps reverse it?
Not if the Israeli media has anything to do with it. After the speech last night, reporters on all networks were criticizing Netanyahu’s effort as nothing more than hot air. This morning, Noni Mozes at the Yedioth Aharanot newspaper and YNET online has increased (if that is possible) his attacks on the prime minister.
A question for Israelis to ask this morning is simply this: can anyone imagine Bougie Herzog or Tzipi Livni being able to make the case for Israel in such a speech as Netanyahu’s yesterday?
Of course not.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.