6 Kislev 5779
14 November 2018
A correction:
In yesterday’s blog, we castigated our security cabinet for its unanimously supporting a ceasefire with Hamas. The basis of that criticism was a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) after the meeting.
It turns out that the PMO’s statement was a deliberate lie.
In an effort to provide the prime minister with political cover, the PMO spokesman deliberately falsified what happened in the security cabinet. In fact, no vote was ever taken on the ceasefire.
Throughout the seven-hour debate, Cabinet members Avigdor Lieberman, Naftali Bennett, Ayelet Shaked, and Ze’ev Elkin adamantly resisted agreeing to a ceasefire even while agreeing with IDF Chief of Staff Eizenkot that intensified attacks would cause Hamas to send missiles to Tel Aviv.
On the other hand, Netanyahu, Yisrael Katz, Yoav Galant, Gilad Erdan, Ariyeh Deri, Moshe Kahlon, and Yuval Steinitz agreed with Eizenkot’s assessment and apparently with the ceasefire (we say “apparently” because reports this morning are that three of these were actually against a ceasefire).
In any case, no vote was ever taken on the ceasefire, and the cabinet meeting concluded when Netanyahu decided to bring it to an end without a vote. It later turned out that no vote was taken because Netanyahu and the IDF had been negotiating a ceasefire with the Egyptians and Hamas behind most of the cabinet’s back during the seven hour meeting.
TODAY’S BLOG:
“Bibi go home!”
Last night and this morning hundreds of residents from all over the south have been burning tires and blocking roads and intersections at Sderot, Netivot, Nir Am, Kerem Shalom, and Ofakim in protest over PM Netanyahu’s decision to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas.
The chant has been “Bibi go home!”
In particular, citizens of the south were outraged last night by a statement from an unnamed Cabinet minister who proclaimed: “If we had intensified the attacks, rockets would have been fired at Tel Aviv.”
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The banners last night read “We are not second class citizens!” and “The blood of Tel Aviv is no less red than ours!”
A major protest has been called by residents of the south tomorrow at Azrieli junction in Tel Aviv:
The flyer announcing tomorrow night’s protest.
Anyway you slice it, the 24 hour war was a major victory for Hamas and Islamic Jihad:
1. The IDF was utterly incapable of stopping the more than 500 missiles which were fired at the men, women, and children of the South.
2. The Iron Dome, while somewhat effective, was utterly incapable of stopping all missiles from getting through. There were direct hits on homes in Ashkelon, Sderot, and elsewhere. People were killed and wounded. The terror groups learned in the last war that the Iron Dome could be easily overcome by sending multiple volleys. (Imagine what will happen when Hezbollah launches 150,000 missiles at us.)
3. Hamas demonstrated that it could breach the border fence at will. In one incident, Hamas fighters crossed the fence and looted an IDF position. In a far more egregious attack, Hamas fighters (complete with a film crew) infiltrated near the Black Arrow monument and fired an anti-tank Cornet missile at a bus that nearly killed 50 soldiers, and did seriously wound one (click here to see the video) . By the way, Hezbollah announced today that it provided the Cornet to Hamas.
4. Hamas once again exposed the fact that whatever strategic plan the government and the IDF have to deal with fighting in Gaza is absolutely useless. Bombing empty buildings got us nowhere. Bombing the Hamas television station got us nowhere. Bombing the Hamas intelligence headquarters (we do this in every mini-war) got us nowhere. We cannot win a war with Hamas and Islamic Jihad when we hamstring ourselves with political correctness. Warning terrorists to evacuate their strongholds before we strike is madness.
5. Undoubtedly, Hamas has succeeded in further depopulating the Israeli border communities. Already this morning, numerous families have indicated that they will be moving out because of the government’s indifference to their welfare. As one resident said: “The cabinet does not have to sleep in bomb shelters with their children.”
6. The government and the IDF were utterly intimidated by Hamas’s threat to hit Tel Aviv. This is in stark contrast to Hamas not being intimidated by any of the bluster coming from Israeli politicians.
7. Hamas has exposed PM Netanyahu for what he is: a weak-kneed politician whose main goal in life has been maintaining the status quo–in this case a status quo that puts our citizens of the South at the complete mercy of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
However, those people in the south, who have always been the base of his constituency, will not vote for him again after this debacle. It is indeed time for Bibi to leave politics and go home.
We are going to Azrieli in Tel Aviv tomorrow night to say exactly that.
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.