It’s no surprise that Benjamin Netanyahu immediately started to sabotage Donald Trump’s Iran ceasefire, by launching murderous Israeli air attacks on Lebanon, which already killed more than 200 people. It’s also, sadly, no surprise that the mainstream U.S. media did not report that Netanyahu and Israel were deliberately trying to torpedo the fragile ceasefire.
The New York Times and the rest did of course report on Israel’s air attacks on Lebanon. But neither the Times, nor the Washington Post, nor the Wall Street Journal, nor the cable news networks so far have even tentatively tried to explain why Israel increased its bombing the day after Trump’s announcement. Instead, the U.S. media seemed to tacitly accept Vice President J.D. Vance’s strained assertion that there was genuine confusion over whether Lebanon was included in the ceasefire. Vance was insinuating that Israel was making an honest mistake.
The U.S. media is therefore, wittingly or not, protecting Israel from even more rising hostility among the American public. A recent poll showed that “60 percent of American adults have an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 53 percent last year” — and that percentage is even higher among younger people.
In fairness, the American media can’t read Benjamin Netanyahu’s mind, and he’s smart enough not to publicly reveal the real reason he ordered the increased attacks on Lebanon. But there’s no shortage of experts, including in Israel, who will testify that he has the means, the motive and the opportunity to try and shatter Trump’s move toward peace. Here’s one: an Israeli commentator, Shaiel Ben-Ephraim, who posted on X/Twitter:
“Israel is conducting a massive targeted assassination against the Iranian ceasefire in Beirut. There is no other way of looking at it. “
Ben-Ephraim continued with a reasoned argument to sustain his assertion. All the media needed to do was quote him, or others like him, and let their audiences form their own conclusions. What’s more, there is also a long record of how Israel, particularly Netanyahu, has tried for many years to instigate a U.S. attack on Iran.
The U.S. media’s failure is even more surprising in light of remarkable April 7 reporting in the New York Times, which relied on anonymous assertions from one or more leakers who were present at the White House meetings at which Trump was persuaded to launch the unprovoked war against Iran. The Times’s inside account makes clear that a personal appearance by Benjamin Netanyahu was important in Trump’s eventual decision, and possibly decisive.
That said, it is true that an arrogant and addled Donald Trump was the one who agreed to the disastrous war. But a month later Trump does seem to have retained enough mental ability to recognize that he has failed, and that he has to cut his losses with an agreement, surrounded by a smokescreen of bluster. He also knows that right after his ceasefire announcement, the global oil price dropped, and the next day stock markets shot up, recovering some of their plunges.
By contrast, Benjamin Netanyahu needs the Iran war to continue so he can stave off a long overdue reckoning in Israel that could well end up with him in prison. This is another angle that the mainstream U.S. media consistently ignores or downplays. It’s true that the U.S./Israeli attack on Iran was greatly popular among the Israeli (Jewish) public, (although that support has eroded as Israelis found themselves spending more and more time in bomb shelters). But that support did not translate into rising approval for Netanyahu himself. Israelis still hold him responsible for not being ready for the April 7 attacks from Gaza, and he must call an election before the end of October. If he is defeated, he loses his immunity as prime minister; his corruption trial(s) can re-start, and he could end up behind bars.
This reality is almost never reported in the U.S. media — even though some Israelis are not too squeamish to talk about it.
The Israeli government is playing with fire by trying to sabotage the ceasefire and prolong the war. Iran has obviously not been defeated. If Trump lets himself be lured into renewing the fighting, the American public will once again be watching as more U.S. service members arrive at Dover Air Force Base in flag-draped coffins. The U.S. media won’t be able to downplay the Israel connection forever.
Donald Trump said on Thursday, April 9 that the previous day he had spoken with Netanyahu by telephone and that the Israeli prime minister promised to “low-key” Israel’s attacks on Lebanon. But, true to form, the New York Times report nowhere suggested that Netanyahu had been deliberately and consciously trying to sabotage the ceasefire. Trump shouldn’t count on Netanyahu’s compliance.
“The U.S. media is therefore, wittingly or not, protecting Israel from even more rising hostility among the American public.”
And rising opposition from Jews. A few stories from the last few days:
New York state’s next comptroller must divest from Israel bonds – The Forward
I’m a Jewish candidate for New York comptroller. Our state must divest from Israel bonds….Responding to the Hamas massacre of its civilians on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel said it would do what any country would do: defend itself and get its hostages back. But Netanyahu’s government has gone much further than that. It has unleashed overwhelming killing power, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians dead and millions more displaced and destitute. It has leveled a stretch of land the size of Brooklyn and Queens — dropping nearly as many bombs in that crowded space in the first week of fighting as fell during an entire year of the U.S. war in Afghanistan….
Brad Lander, looking to topple Rep. Dan Goldman, calls to end Israel defense aid
Brad Lander joins call to end U.S. aid to Israel, in quest to replace Rep. Dan Goldman
Following AOC’s lead, the Jewish New York Democrat says he now seeks to end Iron Dome defense funding, citing Israel’s war conduct…
From last November:
Harvard’s New Hire Says She’s Boycotting Israel and Avoids Synagogues. She’ll be teaching Judaism.
Harvard’s New Hire Says She’s Boycotting Israel and Avoids Synagogues. She’ll Be Teaching Judaism…..“Left Zionism behind,” she says….“The Israel I once loved was a naive delusion,” she wrote, calling Israel, “a place that I abhor visiting, and to which I will contribute no money, whose products I will not buy, nor will I expend my limited but still to me, meaningful, political clout to support it.”
If you watch Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statements on YouTube, he claims that there was a “Ring of Fire” shown on a map of the Middle East. He claims that the Assad regime in Syria was an enemy. But leaked documents and reports show that the Assad regime in Syria engaged in secret intelligence sharing with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) before its collapse in late 2024. These communications involved warnings about Hamas activities, coordination against Iranian positions in Syria, and attempts to secure the border. In fact, the massive bombing campaign in Syria only occurred after the Assad regime was overrun and fell, That’s when Netanyahu destroyed the military equipment and facilities that fell to the Syrian transitional government
“Netanyahu had been deliberately and consciously trying to sabotage the ceasefire. Trump shouldn’t count on Netanyahu’s compliance.”
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A concept for co-existence could avert WWIII. Will MW engage on this question?