Quid Pro Quo?

What has Inspired so Many Bad Decisions?

While watching the horrific treatment of the hostages as they were being released yesterday my anger overtook my joy. While two women, an elderly man and five workers from Thailand were released the fact that Hamas and Islamic Jihad still have the power to intimidate and to control made me wonder, yet again, how Israel has managed to get itself into this situation? Reading story after story on Telegram channels alternating between Hamas in the West Bank trying to murder Israelis and celebrating the release of terrorists, weapons in hand, makes one wonder what the real goals of the war were – for the military and political leaders, anyway.

We have written much about this blaming both Israel’s generals and political leaders on the one hand and the Biden administration on the other, and maybe it is time to connect the two in no uncertain terms and ask – has there been and is there a quid pro quo regarding Israeli military and diplomatic policy since October 7?

Let’s put the absurd conspiracy theories about traitorous behavior on October 6 and 7 to sleep and chalk up the whole disaster to a fatal combination of hubris and incompetence. Herzi Halevi, Aaron Haliva, Yaron Finkelman, Shlomi Binder and others known mostly by their first initial since they are in the Intelligence Division poo-poo’ed all the signs obvious to their underlings and once there were no more signs but only slaughter, acted in the most incompetent fashion known in military history.

Let’s chalk up the whole conception of bribing Hamas and degrading the terror threat to “non-existential” and therefore accepting the incompetence of the IDF General Staffs over the years to the classic western attempt to read their own values into their enemy’s actions and the classic policies of democracies to ignore threats until they are upon them.

None of this justifies their actions and absolves them from responsibility. It is hard to find one person in the Israeli leadership who has acted honorably over the past 16 months but it is equally hard to find one simple citizen or soldier or officer below the rank of General who has acted dishonorably. It is nearly impossible to find one government or opposition leader – in or out of the Knesset who has spoken, let alone acted honorably.

I have one question, inspired by the anger and dissolution I felt watching the cruel spectacle that was “handover” of the eight hostages released yesterday – Was there a quid pro quo or a series of them over the last 16 months?

- On October 7 a spy was caught in the intelligence section of the IDF Southern command, with pictures of screens and other top secret information on his phone. There has been a court ordered embargo on the names of the spy and those who were his handlers – those who received this illegal information. To this day, the prosecution has refused to question, let alone charge those who received the information and were his handlers. This refusal of the courts to be open about this has caused all sorts off rumors as to who these people were – from leaders of the Kaplan group, to an ex-general and member of the Knesset.

Was a foreign government involved? If so, was it an enemy government or was it the United States?

Whomever it was – is there a quid pro quo between the prosecution and the recipients of the spy’s handlers?

- When the Hague started to investigate Israel in Gaza the talk was always that three Israeli officials would be charged – Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Galant and IDF Chief of Staff Halevi. In the end, the latter was not charged. We all know that the US government could have nixed the entire “investigation” but didn’t so as to increase the pressure on the Israeli government to end the war.

However, the IDF, under Halevi never handed in plans to conquer Gaza and destroy Hamas’s military and civil capabilities, as the security cabinet demanded.

Was there a quid pro quo between the US government (State, CIA, etc.) that promised to keep Halevi and other officers out of the Hague indictment in return for not conquering Gaza? It is known that Israel’s chief legal officer, Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi vetoed many operations including, it has been reported, commando raids to free hostages – being overly strict in her interpretation of international law – defending enemy terrorists and citizens above the lives of Israel’s soldiers and citizens. Was there a quid pro quo here from the Hague or the US government keeping the arrest warrants to the politicians?

- There was a sudden acceptance of the current hostage deal by the Netanyahu government and by Hamas. It is not clear if this is the same one as offered in May and not clear if Israel accepted it then and Hamas not. There is no truth in diplomacy so it may take years to find out the truth. Was there however a quid pro quo here with a promise of Saudi Arabia and Iran in exchange for ending the war in Gaza? Were the hostages just a minor part of the deal in the eyes of the US government, Hamas and Netanyahu? Is the real goal to “get over” the hostage issue so they can all pursue their aims? Netanyahu getting Saudi Arabian diplomatic relations, Hamas getting to rule Gaza and maybe the West Bank, the US getting away from the middle east and contracts to rebuild Gaza and get investments from Saudi Arabia?

There is more but lets leave it at that. Some of these alleged quid pro quos are basic diplomacy, some are criminal and some are treason plain and simple. There is nothing more frustrating for a citizen than having crucial information kept from him. When this crucial information does not seem logical at all, the mind wanders.

The delay in the IDF’s investigation into October 7, its non-cooperation with the government Ombudsman’s office and the fact that it is investigating itself does not bode well for a citizen’s confidence.

The lack of an official inquiry into October 7 – and everything that went on in the decades before and the months after does not bode well for a citizen’s confidence.

The continued holding of a reserve soldier for allegedly handing secret documents over to the Prime Minister’s office when similar crimes are taken care of with disciplinary action and the fact that the Supreme Court refuses to enforce his civil rights does not bode well for a citizen’s confidence.

The fact that someone -probably the military prosecutors or military police- doctored evidence regarding the alleged rape of a terrorist in the Sde Teiman base and “leaked’ that doctored video to the press: And the fact that the investigation of the leak is being done by the very group that is suspected of the leak, does not bode well for a citizen’s confidence.

The fact that the case seems to have fallen apart at the seams and yet the prosecution refuses to close it does not bode well for the confidence of a citizen.

The fact that the Netanyahu government has not come clean with its relations with Qatar, an enemy state if there every was one, does not bode well for the confidence of a citizen.

Speaking of Qatar, the opposition also has to come clean regarding its relations with Qatar. The fact that there have been unanswered news reports abroad concerning Qatari money and the fact that opposition funding is basically secret does not bode well for the confidence of a citizen.

The fact that the Netanyahu government continues to resist drafting all able bodied men and women where there is a shortage of soldiers in the IDF causing people to do 200-300 days of reserve duty a year and regular soldiers to fight continuously for 16 months, does not bode well for the confidence of a citizen.

The fact that the opposition, in the Knesset and outside of it continues to oppose and criticize the government on all fronts and at every chance while defending those described above does not bode well for the confidence of a citizen.

The fact that the press will only properly cover what is “good for Bibi” or “bad for Bibi” – depending on which TV channel and is never interested in relating the truth of what is happening, does not bode well for the confidence of a citizen.

This citizen has lost confidence in the entire leadership of the country and the west. For me at least – the burden of proof is on these leaders to show that there is no quid pro quo and that they are acting honestly and for the good of the country. Sorry to say -but they are guilty until they prove their innocence. And if then can’t prove their innocence they must leave the stage and go home.

I am as far as it comes from being a conspiracy theorist but I am still waiting for reasonable explanations of why so many seemingly smart and successful people have made such head scathingly dumb decisions for so long – and continue to make them.