Sadly, this is not the first time that Israel has acquiesced to actual or even perceived US wishes when it contravened national security. Significant examples include the failure to strike first during the Yom Kippur War, the failure to enter Beirut to crush the PLO in July 1982 & the failure to hit back at Iraq after Scud missiles were launched during the first Gulf War.
I thought the phrase was "nature abhors a vacuum" - but since power is part of nature, it'll do.
" invade Gaza and destroy Hamas."
Do you mean, "destroy Hamas for a while" or forever? How could Israel have definitively destroyed Hamas, at least without Egyptian cooperation?
I've been listening to an Egyptian convert to Judaism, Khaled Hassan. This is very complicated & I'm new to the subject so forgive me if I get this wrong, but from what I gather, he says that Egypt's relationship with Hamas is... complicated. OTOH they fear & hate Hamas as Hamas is a Muslim Brotherhood offshoot & Egypt outlaws the MB. On the other... they can't afford to, because Hamas has a lot of popular support in Egypt.
So... they basically managed the conflict - as did Israel.
To make a medical analogy, everyone managed Hamas like AIDs - with the right drug cocktail, they thought they could live with it.
"Nature abhors a vacuum" is absolutely the original phrase. But in the political science classes they have transformed that to "power abhors a vacuum". Or at least the one's I sat in.
As for Egypt and Hamas - I agree and that was my point. There is no reason to support Israel against Hamas when the US gives the green light to supporting Hamas - up to a point, of course.
Hamas is destroyable just as the Nazis were. Does the Nazi idea survive? Are there still Nazis? Yes to both. Do they threaten Europe? No. Or at least not yet.
I’ll take up the Nazi analogy on my own site. Suffice it to say that theoretically you’re right (although I’d use the example of Imperial Japan) and that Israel is simply not capable of doing that.
To what extent -one wonders- is US pressure on Israel driven by the need to de-motivate the pro-Hamas protests in the universities, which -if they are still going strong by then- are expected to spill over onto the Democrat convention in a repeat of Chicago,1968?
Personally - I think that the pro-Hamas line of the Administration is the "real" line and any pro-Israel stuff is to assure the Jewish vote. I think the Obama people rule foreign policy and they, more than anything, want to "get" Israel.
I have written much the same over a similar period. My latest piece can be seen here: https://open.substack.com/pub/schecter/p/canada-and-the-middle-east-comedy?r=1wpgf7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Good for you. I look forward to reading your other pieces.
Taking a look. Thanks
Sadly, this is not the first time that Israel has acquiesced to actual or even perceived US wishes when it contravened national security. Significant examples include the failure to strike first during the Yom Kippur War, the failure to enter Beirut to crush the PLO in July 1982 & the failure to hit back at Iraq after Scud missiles were launched during the first Gulf War.
the difference is that the current establishment seems to relish its outside connections to the detriment of their own country.
I thought the phrase was "nature abhors a vacuum" - but since power is part of nature, it'll do.
" invade Gaza and destroy Hamas."
Do you mean, "destroy Hamas for a while" or forever? How could Israel have definitively destroyed Hamas, at least without Egyptian cooperation?
I've been listening to an Egyptian convert to Judaism, Khaled Hassan. This is very complicated & I'm new to the subject so forgive me if I get this wrong, but from what I gather, he says that Egypt's relationship with Hamas is... complicated. OTOH they fear & hate Hamas as Hamas is a Muslim Brotherhood offshoot & Egypt outlaws the MB. On the other... they can't afford to, because Hamas has a lot of popular support in Egypt.
So... they basically managed the conflict - as did Israel.
To make a medical analogy, everyone managed Hamas like AIDs - with the right drug cocktail, they thought they could live with it.
That turned out to be wrong.
So again - is Hamas destroyable? How?
"Nature abhors a vacuum" is absolutely the original phrase. But in the political science classes they have transformed that to "power abhors a vacuum". Or at least the one's I sat in.
As for Egypt and Hamas - I agree and that was my point. There is no reason to support Israel against Hamas when the US gives the green light to supporting Hamas - up to a point, of course.
Hamas is destroyable just as the Nazis were. Does the Nazi idea survive? Are there still Nazis? Yes to both. Do they threaten Europe? No. Or at least not yet.
I’ll take up the Nazi analogy on my own site. Suffice it to say that theoretically you’re right (although I’d use the example of Imperial Japan) and that Israel is simply not capable of doing that.
just imagine the allies stopped at the Rhine and said we don't want to occupy Germany but we don't want the Nazis to rule either.
Is Israel going to occupy Gaza?
Going to do the equivalent of fire bombing Tokyo?
Not to mention nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Who are your allies? Do you have the Soviet Union on your side?
To what extent -one wonders- is US pressure on Israel driven by the need to de-motivate the pro-Hamas protests in the universities, which -if they are still going strong by then- are expected to spill over onto the Democrat convention in a repeat of Chicago,1968?
Personally - I think that the pro-Hamas line of the Administration is the "real" line and any pro-Israel stuff is to assure the Jewish vote. I think the Obama people rule foreign policy and they, more than anything, want to "get" Israel.
But conventional wisdom could be right.
An op-ed in the WSJ a few months ago made the point that Biden is probably the most pro-Israel person in his administration. I believe it.
Sadly , that is probably right.
Read this: https://open.substack.com/pub/melaniephillips/p/buried-facts-about-the-gaza-war?r=2xynd&utm_medium=ios