Israel General Discussion: Annus Horribilis

[All Along The Watchtower]

I was watching last night an interview with this very articulate history professor at U of M knowledgeable about Israel, and he did not expect much of the planned Blinken visit to Israel. He expected him to mouth platitudes about a two state solution, and so forth, that is dead in the water. I then looked up what happened with the Blinken trip. It appears next to nothing. Does anyone have an opinion of what he accomplished, and the impact of the visit, other than the null set, and mouthing of platitudes?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-pA23q4eZ8

The Americans have no policy minus worthless platitudes and sticking their heads in the sand. Well at least in terms of this administration/party.

That’s true of the Middle East in general and related issues (ie. the GWOT/Afghanistan). It’s all on autopilot and the back burner while the focus is on containing Russia and China. And successive administrations of both parties (Obama, Trump, Biden) have indicated in different ways and to one extent or another that they’re sick of both the post-9/11 “endless wars” and the many conflicts in the region more broadly. In this, they are merely responding to American public opinion, which is even less interested—far less.

[All Along The Watchtower]

At risk of offering such a basic tired hack take, the way Netanyahu is acting sort of reminds me of Trump, Boris Johnson, or even, dare I say, Putin in the context of returning to the Russian Presidency in 2011-2012—and also, perhaps, Erdogan.

Too many world leaders in general who have either been around too long or have otherwise increasingly become caricatures of themselves (to the extent that they weren’t walking caricatures already, like Trump). It’s simultaneously horrifying and also rather pathetic.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Your objection is that it reduces the power of the political faction you like.

It’s more that it increases the power of a political faction that is fundamentally opposed to what most people would recognize as democracy.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Just saw this Twitter thread from last Wednesday, last tweet.

https://twitter.com/BarakRavid/status/1638633625536045056?s=20
The nerve of this country. The US really should cut off all arms sales to every one of its Middle Eastern “allies”—very much including Israel. These countries are not even of much help in countering Russia or China, and if anything have grown closer to both!

[All Along The Watchtower]

Your objection is that it reduces the power of the political faction you like.

It’s more that it increases the power of a political faction that is fundamentally opposed to what most people would recognize as democracy.

No, this is nonsense. Bibi and his allies are exemplars of majoritarian Democracy. They represent the majority of the nation-state and they believe this entitles them to govern. What you mean by democracy is an incoherent cluster of concepts which fundamentally boil down to a system where you get your way. Most modern leftists are just so illiterate that they are unable to ever conceive of democracy as bad.

You would do better by not insulting people.

[All Along The Watchtower]

If Netanyahu was actually about to do something that would endanger military aid or Iron Dome supplies from the US, the IDF would coup him in 5.2 seconds, most likely.

Question here: has a military coup ever happened in a country that has been as wealthy and an established democracy (within its internationally-recognized borders) as Israel? Wouldn't that turn Israel into something akin to Kemalist Turkey?

insert standard leftist claims that Israel has never been a democracy because “Zionism is inherently exclusionary and racist”

[All Along The Watchtower]

Operation Northwoods was to stag false flag attacks and blame Cuba, to justify an invasion.

Not even real attacks. And it was just some dumb Joint Chiefs of Staff plan that Kennedy rejected. One among many dumb ”plans” that the military (and other natscec institutions/agencies) have presented to Presidents and/or the National Security Council for over half a century, the vast majority of which are rejected.