It is openly recognized in Israel that Benjamin Netanyahu’s assault on Gaza is at least partly aimed at winning votes in the upcoming Israeli elections, but you would never know that from reading the New York Times. The newspaper’s report today goes on for 28 paragraphs, but has almost nothing to say about why Israel is attacking now.
You have to get to the 13th paragraph to before you find this single, convoluted, oblique reference to the Israeli vote:
The attacks on Gaza were undertaken at a delicate time for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, nine weeks before elections, and may have partly reflected his administration’s own sense that it needed to send a message of deterrence beyond Gaza.
Deterrence to whom? To other unnamed, mysterious but always dangerous Arabs? Or to Israeli voters, who might be starting to see that Netanyahu’s policies, including his de facto endorsement of Romney, continue to weaken Israel all over the world?
NPR (or WNYC) this morning were terrible, Israel replying to unacceptable rocket attacks, no mention of elections. MOUTHPIECES reading scripts prepared by Israel/AIPAC/Susan-Rice.
Can you imagine: JANE HARMON at CIA, SUSAN RICE at State?
I’m wringing my hands and ringing alarums. Is Obama afraid of assassination or what?
What is the connection between Israel’s redo of Cast Lead and Abbas’ upcoming request for Palestinian statehood by the UN?
Deterrence to whom? Additionally to Obama band? As in don’t mess with Bibi (the “crazy armed Israelis” hole card).
There’s something very strange going on in the comment section of the the Times article. Early this morning, this article had 840 comments, and the vast majority of the readers’ recommendations were pure hasbara letters defending Israel and condemning Hamas. I found this quite striking, because readers picks are generally very critical of Israel. It seemed to me that there was an organized effort to recommend pro-Israel letters to get them to be more prominent. Around 9 or so, those 840 comments disappeared, and there were only a handful of new comments. Now there are 352, and as usual, the most popular readers picks condemn Israel. Anybody know what’s up?
Fox News is screaming about 3 Israelis killed by random Palestinian rocket attacks as I comment here. Jewish Israelis being interviewed, “What would Americans do if somebody was shooting rockets at you?” “Israeli forces move toward Gaza,” and the situation is “spiraling out of control.”
Here’s the full White House note today:
“Today, President Obama spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Morsi about the rocket attacks being launched from Gaza into Israel, and the escalating violence in Gaza.
The President reiterated to Prime Minister Netanyahu the United States’ support for Israel’s right to self-defense in light of the barrage of rocket attacks being launched from Gaza against Israeli civilians. The President urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to make every effort to avoid civilian casualties. The two agreed that Hamas needs to stop its attacks on Israel to allow the situation to de-escalate. The two leaders agreed to stay in close touch in the coming days. Earlier today, Vice President Biden received a briefing from Prime Minister Netanyahu on the events in Gaza.
President Obama also spoke with President Morsi given Egypt’s central role in preserving regional security. In their conversation, President Obama condemned the rocket fire from Gaza into Israel and reiterated Israel’s right to self-defense. The two leaders agreed on the importance of working to de-escalate the situation as quickly as possible and agreed to stay in close touch in the days ahead.”