“This is a double failure. Netanyahu, as prime minister, invested more than NIS 10 billion (about $3 billion) in building infrastructure for an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Some said the goal was to convey to the Americans to “try to stop us,” and make them take action themselves. In any event, nothing came out of it. Washington was undeterred by the Israeli prime minister’s threats and led an approach advancing a diplomatic solution.”
The article started from a depiction of Netanyahu being so angry after meeting with Kerry that photo-op had to be cancelled. In general, my impression is that Israelis do not understand what is happening. In a nutshell, nothing would satisfy them short of attacking Iran, but they just cannot comprehend that USA would do it except that it cannot. Russia and China have a veto power in case of a state that has direct overland connections to both. You can lobby 100 years, you can get support from 100 Senators, but you cannot convince USA to do something impossible.
However, Israelis firmly believe that USA can do everything, so to achieve something it is sufficient to be “persuasive” in DC.. Netanyahu apparently spend 10 billion shekels for a set of toys and he cannot convince Obama to be allowed to play with them. And now he is blamed for not being sufficiently persuasive. Some people think that Avigdor Lieberman can make Israeli foreign policy worse. I do not think so.
RoHa
November 10, 2013 11:08 pm
“The purpose of the Jewish state is to enable Jews to defend themselves. This is something that we could not do before we had the Jewish state.”
Eh? When Australian Jews joined (and, in the case of Monash, led) the Australian Army, they were defending Australian Jews. When British Jews joined the British Army, they were defending British Jews. Likewise for Canadian and US Jews.
And this happened before there was a Jewish state.
Krauss
November 10, 2013 11:38 pm
And this ending had an authoritarian ring to it, “the inner strength” bit, and him being king of the Jewish people
I think you’re projecting things you want to believe about him onto that quote. I wouldn’t deny that he has all those qualities but that quote is less about him and more about communal cohesion. It’s a good quote.
My critique is his usual blending of Iran and the Holocaust. He’s equating staying silent during the Holocaust with Iran getting nuclear capability. The Israeli intelligence establishment does not believe Iran will use their nukes. They go further than that, though, they outright reject Bibi’s attempt to paint the regime as an ‘existantial threat’. It’s a power struggle, which everyone knows. With Bibi to keep invoking the Holocaust in a geopolitcal power struggle, he cheapens the memory and commodifies it.
Hostage
November 10, 2013 11:46 pm
I find it odd that they’ve convened the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America half-way around the world in a Southwest Asian city. What’s even worse is that this tax exempt boondoggle isn’t being used for social welfare or social service, but rather to promote the very narrow-minded interests of a foreign power.
tear-stained uzi
November 11, 2013 12:22 am
I know that we have that inner strength to guarantee the [White Christian] future. I know it and you know it; together we’re going to achieve exactly that – to defend and secure the [White Christian] people and the one and only [White Christian] state. I say that here in our eternal capital, [Birmingham], and I know, I know that you stand with me.
This is from Op-Ed in ynetnews:
“This is a double failure. Netanyahu, as prime minister, invested more than NIS 10 billion (about $3 billion) in building infrastructure for an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Some said the goal was to convey to the Americans to “try to stop us,” and make them take action themselves. In any event, nothing came out of it. Washington was undeterred by the Israeli prime minister’s threats and led an approach advancing a diplomatic solution.”
The article started from a depiction of Netanyahu being so angry after meeting with Kerry that photo-op had to be cancelled. In general, my impression is that Israelis do not understand what is happening. In a nutshell, nothing would satisfy them short of attacking Iran, but they just cannot comprehend that USA would do it except that it cannot. Russia and China have a veto power in case of a state that has direct overland connections to both. You can lobby 100 years, you can get support from 100 Senators, but you cannot convince USA to do something impossible.
However, Israelis firmly believe that USA can do everything, so to achieve something it is sufficient to be “persuasive” in DC.. Netanyahu apparently spend 10 billion shekels for a set of toys and he cannot convince Obama to be allowed to play with them. And now he is blamed for not being sufficiently persuasive. Some people think that Avigdor Lieberman can make Israeli foreign policy worse. I do not think so.
“The purpose of the Jewish state is to enable Jews to defend themselves. This is something that we could not do before we had the Jewish state.”
Eh? When Australian Jews joined (and, in the case of Monash, led) the Australian Army, they were defending Australian Jews. When British Jews joined the British Army, they were defending British Jews. Likewise for Canadian and US Jews.
And this happened before there was a Jewish state.
I think you’re projecting things you want to believe about him onto that quote. I wouldn’t deny that he has all those qualities but that quote is less about him and more about communal cohesion. It’s a good quote.
My critique is his usual blending of Iran and the Holocaust. He’s equating staying silent during the Holocaust with Iran getting nuclear capability. The Israeli intelligence establishment does not believe Iran will use their nukes. They go further than that, though, they outright reject Bibi’s attempt to paint the regime as an ‘existantial threat’. It’s a power struggle, which everyone knows. With Bibi to keep invoking the Holocaust in a geopolitcal power struggle, he cheapens the memory and commodifies it.
I find it odd that they’ve convened the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America half-way around the world in a Southwest Asian city. What’s even worse is that this tax exempt boondoggle isn’t being used for social welfare or social service, but rather to promote the very narrow-minded interests of a foreign power.
I know that we have that inner strength to guarantee the [White Christian] future. I know it and you know it; together we’re going to achieve exactly that – to defend and secure the [White Christian] people and the one and only [White Christian] state. I say that here in our eternal capital, [Birmingham], and I know, I know that you stand with me.
~ David Duke of the Desert