In a chilling historic first, Iran directly attacked Israel with a barrage of drones and missiles. What led to this, what it means, and where do we go from here?
Hey what about the Logan Act. We’ve got trump and his puppets interfering with things that Citizens can’t be involved with concerning making deals with other nations. Come on!!!
Yes. I, also, appreciate your work though it may not be that visible from some of my comments in your substack contributions. We need yours and more voices like yours.
He’s already driven many deep into insanity. I have to believe this. Otherwise I will have to confront other reasons my MAGA brother has repeatedly threatened to kill me because I refuse to drink the KoolAid. My heart has been broken by my home country and by one of my siblings.💔
Kate - lost my son and a brother, both of whom have not talked to me in years because I would laugh at their rabbit hole conspiracy theories and adoration of tRump. So, they will not communicate with me anymore. Hard to be a single mom who now has no contact with my only child, all due to the lies spewed by an orange clown.
I am convinced that Russia is behind all the action in the Middle East. They are whisppering into Iran's ears. And give them material aid. Iran in turn provided Hamas with the necessary tools to attack Isreal last October. In the meanwhile they also supply the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah with weapons. The world turns their attention away from Ukraine to the Middle East at a pivitol time. Voters in the US are critical of Biden's support of Israel's brutal war in the Gaza Strip which could lead to Trump winning the election. Putin is sitting back and enjoys the mess he created. It is a win/win situation for him. It gives him an opening to finish his business in Ukraine. It is so obvious why are seasoned politicians falling for this? We can't abandon Ukraine over Israel if we want to save Europe. Putin will not stop with Ukraine. Has nobody learned anything from WWII?
I felt that when I first heard about the attack on Israel, because I looked at who benefitted from it politically. Netanyahu, in that he gets to put off the vote, and Putin in that everyone's monies and support are now divided between the Middle East and Ukraine. However, knowing that the US supposedly had intelligence that this attack on Israel would happen and told Netanyahu, who ignored it, adds to the questioning of who was aided by this. It is like Bush with making war on Iraq from fake intel, if there even was any. I am wondering how much Netanyahu and Putin collude on things. We know Israel, led by Netanyahu has not stood up to stand by Ukraine in that war, even as their numbers have grown from people escaping both Russia and Ukraine.
I agree. As soon as we heard the news of Hamas’ attack in October my husband said he believed it was Putin who instigated it. It seems an obvious coincidence.
He may have his bloody fingers in it, but Bibi has been instrumental in keeping Hamas funded, to discourage a two-state solution.
From the Canadian media CBC:
"The accusations aimed at Netanyahu go beyond merely failing to foresee or prevent the Hamas attack of October 7, however. Many accuse him of deliberately empowering the group for decades as part of a strategy to sabotage a two-state solution based on the principle of land for peace.
"There's been a lot of criticism of Netanyahu in Israel for instating a policy for many years of strengthening Hamas and keeping Gaza on the brink while weakening the Palestinian Authority," said Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group. "And we've seen that happening very clearly on the ground."
"(Hamas and Netanyahu) are mutually reinforcing, in the sense that they provide each other with a way to continue to use force and rejectionism as opposed to making sacrifices and compromises in order to reach some kind of resolution," Zonszein told CBC News from Tel Aviv.
'Keep Hamas alive and kicking'
This symbiotic relationship between Netanyahu and Hamas has been remarked on for years, by both friends and enemies, hawks and doves.
Yuval Diskin, former head of Israel's Shin Bet security service, told the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth in 2013 that "if we look at it over the years, one of the main people contributing to Hamas's strengthening has been Bibi Netanyahu, since his first term as prime minister."
In August 2019, former prime minister Ehud Barak told Israeli Army Radio that Netanyahu's "strategy is to keep Hamas alive and kicking … even at the price of abandoning the citizens [of the south] … in order to weaken the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah."
The logic underlying this strategy, Barak said, is that "it's easier with Hamas to explain to Israelis that there is no one to sit with and no one to talk to."
Netanyahu's critics say that Hamas — with its bloodthirsty rhetoric, open antisemitism and stated intention never to share the land — played into the hands of a prime minister who also wanted to be able to tell western governments that Israel has "no partner" for peace.
Supporting Hamas rule in Gaza, those critics say, allowed Netanyahu to confine the Palestinian Authority to the West Bank and weaken it, dividing the Palestinians into two mutually antagonistic blocs...
In a remarkable speech last week in Houston, Saudi Prince Turki bin Faisal unleashed on Hamas for its atrocities and obstructionism. But he also had words for Israel.
"I condemn Hamas for further undermining the Palestinian Authority, as Israel has been doing," said the former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to the U.S. "I condemn Hamas for sabotaging the attempt of Saudi Arabia to reach a peaceful resolution to the plight of the Palestinian people.
"I condemn Israel for funnelling Qatari money to Hamas."
Prince Turki was referring to money that the Qatar royal family has been sending to Gaza for years, to the tune of about a billion U.S. dollars.
'Hamas is an asset'
Netanyahu's hawkish defence minister Avigdor Liberman was the first to report in 2020 that Bibi had dispatched Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and the IDF's officer in charge of Gaza, Herzi Halevi, to Doha to "beg" the Qataris to continue to send money to Hamas.
"Both Egypt and Qatar are angry with Hamas and planned to cut ties with them. Suddenly Netanyahu appears as the defender of Hamas," the right-wing leader complained.
A year later, Netanyahu was further embarrassed when photos of suitcases full of cash going to Hamas became public. Liberman finally resigned in protest over Netanyahu's Hamas policy which, he said, marked "the first time Israel is funding terrorism against itself."
Netanyahu's education minister Naftali Bennett also denounced the payments, and also quit.
Bibi provided Hamas with the necessary tools to attack Israel by allowing and encouraging massive aid flowing to Hamas via Qatar to play them off the PLO, with the ultimate goal of ensuring a lack of unified Palestinian governance to facilitate a two state solution. Hundreds of miles of tunnels didn't come from Russia.
Netanyahu also ignored (on purpose?) all the intelligence warnings regarding this. My point remains that Putin actively took advantage of the situation to create a diversion from Ukraine.
Putin no doubt enjoyed the diversion, however your point is not taken. It would have to be Bibi and Israel's intelligence community and senior military staff also deliberately ignoring. That would be treason on a massive scale. Why not just leave it at collective incompetence?
I can see the whispers of Putin, too. Iran, after all, is mostly Shia and has no actual incentive to help the Palestinians, who are Sunni. Those two would normally be at each others throats. Escalation is going to be way more than Iran vs Israel.
"At ex-president Trump’s urging, and under pressure from the Putin wing of the party, Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to bring the aid bill up for a vote despite the Senate having already passed it by a huge margin."
Despite the Senate Having Already Passed it by a HUGE Margin. Are you listening, American voters?
And why is there even a Putin Wing controlling an American Institution?? (rhetorical.)
The Logan Act is a United States federal law that criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments having a dispute with the United States. The intent behind the Act is to prevent unauthorized negotiations from undermining the government's position.
It's a lovely law - which has never produced enforcement proceedings. And even if you could seek and win an indictment, earliest we'd get a trial is likely to be very late 2025, or even 2026. Let's worry about beating him in November.
Oh, I agree he should be (eventually) prosecuted for anything and everything - I'm just pointing out that there's really no way to stop it NOW. I absolutely would love to see him in orange, but broke, owing, and in court for the rest of his sorry-ass life would do just fine. The immediate task is beating him in November - if we don't do that, the rest will be moot.
Somebody (I think it was actually Jay) recently pointed out that Trump is showing a lot of signs of dementia.
One overlooked consequence of that could be that he could well be found incompetent to stand trial. That might actually be the best outcome. A court-ordered mental evaluation would put him into a serious bind between his pride (and electoral chances) and prison time.
Yep - Jay; also Jeff Tiedrich (who is a hoot) has pointed out that he is sundowning - which will be interesting to watch. He will be at his most energetic, present, and functional during the day (trial time). And he will be doing his campaigning at night. Which is when his mental capacity begins to diminish. Think all those mashed-up not-words have been fun so far? We ain't seen nuthin' yet. It would not shock me to see him go fully aphasic at one of his rallies.
How did we end up with a quadi-government at Mar- A-Largo, FL? Dictators visiting, Congressman meeting, elected officials doing a former president's bidding, kneeling to Moscow? Well, from Nixon to Reagan to today, that's what's become of what was once a grand old party.
I was told I needed help for my Trump Derangement Syndrome. Turns out, they were right. I got the help I needed. Blocked all of those fuckers! Highly recommend this!
I'm glad to see Biden said we wouldn't participate in any retaliation. Iran is definitely a bad actor; but it's still a sovereign nation with the right to respond to attacks. Hopefully Netanyahu will let this go. But, either way, Israel really needs to get rid of Netanyahu. His need to keep the country at war is undermining the ability to continue seeing Israel as being the 'good guys' in the conflict.
Netanyahu seems like a smart version of Trump. As you say in the post: "Add to this the fact that Netanyahu is battling to save his political career."
So, he violates international law by bombing an embassy. Article 22 of the Geneva Convention is clear on this: "The premises of the mission [embassy or consulate] shall be inviolable."
What Biden really ought to do, which neither he nor any other American president would ever do (especially Trump), is invite Netanyahu to the Oval Office for a chat, then send him in a cargo plane to the Hague for war crimes and violating international law. But the US didn't even condemn the embassy attack in the UN.
My vote for Biden is not conditioned on doing everything I demand, but I'm tired of the U.S. coddling and enabling Netanyahu. This comment in no way is an endorsement of the actions of Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Iranian government.
But some deft diplomacy is needed here. The Iranian *people* are on the verge of rebellion against the backward Ayatollahs. The hijab protests are for real. Attacks against Iran only serve to help Iran's government, which is just as bad as the Likud government in Israel, stay in power. It diverts attention away from the dissension in Iran, which is deep, towards enemies. A classic diversion.
The Ayatollahs' military spending at the cost of its citizens' economic well being is not lost on its people. They're not stupid. The U.S. should do everything in its power to discourage Netanyahu from attacking Iran. This isn't accomplished by looking the other way when Netanyahu attacks an embassy in violation of the Geneva Convention or bombing the crap out of children in Gaza, which also stokes animosity in Muslim countries.
At the end of the day, both Netanyahu and the Ayatollahs are using conflict to stay in power. Let's not help them.
Part of the problem is that none of the issues in the Middle East are “independent”. Coddling/supporting, whichever word used, cannot be tied only to how Israel acts towards Palestinians (now or in the past). Every damn thing is so intertwined. And while I think that the administration could possibly have done differently, I see virtually no option that ends well for Gazans.
It makes things difficult when both sides want the other to die. It's like that silly movie Independence Day where the president walks up to the captive alien and asks it what the alien wants humans to do. "To Die," the alien says.
Hamas wants to destroy Israel, and Netanyahu wants to destroy Hamas, but to destroy Hamas, he has to destroy the Gazan will to live, because, like it or not, Gazans have chosen Hamas as their representative. Polls there taken by adventurous NGOs show strong support for Hamas among the people, but that is to be expected when someone is on the verge of extinction.
Similarly, Israel will not be destroyed.
Somehow, the world's international institutions need to force these two sides into a room and refuse to let them out until peace breaks out. Personally, I don't see that happening as long as Netanyahu is around. He has a bitter, ugly personal agenda.
Thank you for voicing so many thoughts I’m having. I am (not) amazed that the headlines talk only about Iran attacking Israel when Israel attacked their Embassy and killed prominent leaders. This is not relevant? Why does Israel have the permission to assail anyone tenfold, a hundred fold, for assaults? And then how can they attack, provoking a hostile response----and then be so affronted? So sick of Netanyahu and his twinning of Trump in the effect he is having on our world.
Thank you for the timeline. When the shit hits the fan, it’s important to know how we got there. Do you think we will, as the human race, ever get past allowing these displays of penis measuring by a few that kill so many? The carnage is just appalling!
But the “women are inherently better at men at running things” narrative doesn’t have a lot of historical support.
I once had a woman tell me “Women should be in charge. They have solutions for all the world’s problems.” To which to obvious response was “If they’re that smart and capable, why aren’t they already running things? Seems there is at least one problem they haven’t solved: getting to be the ones in power.”
No reasonable person would argue men should dominate. Their record is terrible. But similarly no reasonable person could argue the solution is to replace men (in boardrooms, legislatures, military, etc.) with women and that alone makes all better.
Got anything to actually back that up? Because, putting aside examples of individuals, I’ve not seen anything to indicate one sex/gender has it over the other in terms of emotional maturity.
Almost all the most romantic* people I know are men.
*That is, they are hopelessly emotional about relationships, nostalgia, intimacy and the sentimental depictions thereof. Seriously, they (we) feel stuff personally but are determined to keep it under control, until they can't.**
**The women I know, not so much.
Maybe this is tangential to 'emotional maturity', maybe not. But the stereotype about men's incapacity for empathy is just that.
When women have power, and don't feel like they have to wield it like a man, I think they have better communication/listening skills, show great empathy, and have a willingness to admit what's wrong and work together to solve the problem. Overall, sociology bears this out.
It’s easy to give plenty of examples of women being exactly “man like” when in positions of power. (Margaret Thatcher is just one easily cited example.) The “women are inherently better when I charge” idea doesn't really hold up.
I agree we need more women in places of power so we get a wider variety of experience to draw on when decisions are made. Their experiences, like those of other minorities, differ from those of the white men who have typically been in charge.
But, as a group, inherently “better” than men is a mistaken argument.
That is because for them to succeed in any position, in this county, they must be at least three times as competent as their opponent, between all the misogyny and racism that is against them. Think Michelle Obama level of competence.
A very fair point. As a doubly (at least) oppressed group black women as a whole have had to face and deal with more harsh realities then most groups. The resume for black women shows experience that may make them particularly suited for the position.
Stacy Abrams comes to mind. Women are pitch in hard workers. More inclined to cooperate.
I have found that having all women and no men doesn’t work, but all men doesn’t work either. I don’t think we have enough experience to make concrete judgements, but I’ll take one Nancy Pelosi to your 10 Mike Johnsons.
As evidenced by republican women who get in charge. We all can be better, but power does corrupt. The Democratic women almost make up for the republicans, but seem to be a minority. I'd like to see more Democratic party women elected and less republican ones.
Thanks for supporting my point. I agree that Republican women in our Congress in particular show that “put women in charge, they’re better and more stable than men” is a fallacy.
Not saying men have a great track record (they don’t, and in many cases a horrendous/horrific one) but women so far haven’t shown themselves to be any better.
I'm a woman, and pay close attention to the Sarah Palins, the Michele Bachmanns, the Ann Coulters, the Kristy Noems and Judge Boxwine Pierros. I judge people by their actions, rather than their genders. Not that I would not like to see more women in power, but competent ones, not toadies to the patriarchy. And the old men that enforce the Patriarchal bullshit ousted.
Yes. Competancy as the thing to look for over gender. There are great women, and terrible ones.
I’d like to see more women (and Hispanics and LGBTQ and Muslims and…) in positions of influence because the diversity of views and experiences are important.
Have you ever seen Maggie Thatcher? Or Katharina the Great? Or Imelda Marcos?
People, of any gender, who rise to power tend to be the most sociopathic (even those who don't turn out to be evil) simply because that's almost a prerequisite for the job.
I see your point, and I raise you a Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Jacinta Ardern, and Oprah Winfrey. As Uncle Ben said, "With great power comes great responsibility." When women have power, and don't feel like they have to wield it like a man, I think they communicate/listen, show great empathy, and have a willingness to work together to solve problems. Overall, sociology bears this out.
Meanwhile, I raise you a Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Raul Wallenberg, Ghandi, ... All of them - both the females and the males - great human beings. Basically, there is no correlation between gender and being a good, or a terrible, leader.
"...99 percent of the projectiles were intercepted, through a combination of defensive actions undertaken by Israel, the U.S. and the U.K." Everything else aside, the fact that they did this, AT NIGHT, I think is pretty amazing and hopefully will serve as a detriment to future attempts.
Not necessarily. I think this Iranian "failure" may have been intentional and part of an asymmetric warfare approach. This wave wasn't designed to do a lot of actual damage, but to deplete Israel's defensive arsenal, probe their defenses and inflict economic harm. Reportedly, defending against this attack cost Israel as much as a billion dollars, while Iran mass-produces these drones cheaply.
A second wave - which I sincerely hope will never come - may be far deadlier. Let's just hope that this was just Iran getting their tit for Israel's tat, and that this is the end of it.
Iran also won in another respect: they explicitly threatened the countries in between not to allow Israel to use their airspace, and those countries do not have the same defenses Israel has.
Do not doubt that Netanyahu, like Trump, will happily sacrifice anything and anyone to save his own bacon....the Iranian attack was multi-puropse- retributive, for sure, but also a litmus of the alignments that we will see play out within the next while....what unfolds will help shape global actions, reactions, offensives, defensives....
The only differences between Bibi and Donny Fuckface are: Bibi is Jewish and does not have active dementia. Otherwise, they are pretty much the same person.
Exactly what was Iran expected to do as Israel continues to assassinate key figures in the government? Scientists, generals, diplomats, no ranking Iranian is safe from potential murder by Israel, the record is clear on that. But this "retaliation" by Iran earlier today was, as a NYT writer suggested, "performative" - advertised days in advance, targets set inside Israel where Iron Dome interception was virtually guaranteed, and where quantity of munitions used well exceeded quality, where the overwhelming bulk of airborne weaponry shot down before reaching their targets, and the entire operation is highly suggestive of face-saving for the regime, with NO intention of a severity of attack to cause retaliation upon Iranian territory by a joint US-Israel operation.
So what now? Well, back to *status quo ante*, with all matter of behind-the-scenes assurances that both sides made their points, and let's settle down, boys. Israel goes back to reducing Gaza to uninhabitable rubble, settlers and Palestinians go back to killing one another in the West Bank, and Biden keeps delivering weapons and munitions to its client state. Business as usual in the ME, nothing to see here, folks, keep moving along.
I mean, do YOU believe that a country's citizenry are unmoved by targeted assassinations of its government officials, especially delivered by the same suspects? Witness the huge outpouring in Iran after the tRump-ordered killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
I mean if I were living in Iran under their repressive theocratic regime I might welcome them wiping some of their government officials. Like I am sure some in Russia would be upset if Putin was taken out but probably lots of people not upset at all. Unless you consider Israel your enemy and the enemy of my enemy is my friend?
I keep hoping that some Republicans either step up or step out and let hakeem jeffries take the helm.
My gut wrenches everytime I see news of ukraine twisting in the wind while our own on the GOP betray us while putin laughs. ( picture him salvating and rubbing his hands together waiting for ukraine to fall)
Jay these people would have been fired by any fast food joint in the first week.
The entire GOP is traitorous. And who TF does that orange bastard think he ? He is undermining our leadership from his shitty motel?
“These considerations make it very difficult to parse whether Israel is acting legitimately in its own defense or whether Netanyahu is deliberately provoking a broader conflict in order to sow chaos, which serves him politically.”
Odd you say the parsing is difficult just after you note how unpopular Netanyahu is and the complications for Israel his attack on the embassy are causing. It’s VERY clear Netanyahu is not acting in the interests of Israel but to save himself.
The problem is that if we cut off Israel, that will destabilize the region even further. I loathe Bibi. I want this to end. But I see very few options that will end his butchery without other tensions escalating. And virtually none of the options end well for Gazans.
well, leaving him in place will not end well for Israel, or the entire region. Or the United States. He's a monster. Same as tRump. They sold their humanity for power and they are destroying the world. Jail for each of them. Life sentences.
why isn't the 'yahu being arrested for Crimes Against Humanity? For War Crimes?
I don't agree with him or with you that it would be worse to remove him. That's fear language and not based on reality. Just a 'yahu talking point.
And I'd like to point out that everything the 'yahu is doing has successfully ALREADY destabilized the entire region.
It’s hard to see what else Iran could have done after the attack on its embassy. Their response was measured; moreover they warned everyone, through Turkey, that they would attack. The number of drones is misleading—they were intended to distract the defenses so that some missiles could get through. And the attack focused on the air base that launched the attack on their embassy. Israel has no justification for retaliating. I hope Biden is making that clear to them.
I didn't actually say anything about Khameini. If we fought wars on the basis of what we thought about a country's leader, the world would have ended long ago. Or, to put it differently, Trump's awfulness did not mean it was OK to bomb the USA while he was president.
You write your fear is that Bibi wants to drag us into war.
I often fear Trump is dragging us into insanity.
I watch your journey trying to drag others into consciousness.
Trump and Bibi are cut from the same ratty cloth.
Hey what about the Logan Act. We’ve got trump and his puppets interfering with things that Citizens can’t be involved with concerning making deals with other nations. Come on!!!
Yes. I, also, appreciate your work though it may not be that visible from some of my comments in your substack contributions. We need yours and more voices like yours.
Yes, desperate criminal conmen, who will commit any atrocity to stay in power.
He’s already driven many deep into insanity. I have to believe this. Otherwise I will have to confront other reasons my MAGA brother has repeatedly threatened to kill me because I refuse to drink the KoolAid. My heart has been broken by my home country and by one of my siblings.💔
Dang Kate. Im truly sorry to learn about your brother.
Make sure you stay safe please.
I fear drinking the kool-aid of others. However, for me, there is greater danger in drinking my own kool-aid.
Kate - lost my son and a brother, both of whom have not talked to me in years because I would laugh at their rabbit hole conspiracy theories and adoration of tRump. So, they will not communicate with me anymore. Hard to be a single mom who now has no contact with my only child, all due to the lies spewed by an orange clown.
Hang in there. It’s not over ‘til it’s over.
Starting wars to show how only can protect his countrymen is an old tactic of Bibi’s that was shown to be BS on Oct 7.
I am convinced that Russia is behind all the action in the Middle East. They are whisppering into Iran's ears. And give them material aid. Iran in turn provided Hamas with the necessary tools to attack Isreal last October. In the meanwhile they also supply the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah with weapons. The world turns their attention away from Ukraine to the Middle East at a pivitol time. Voters in the US are critical of Biden's support of Israel's brutal war in the Gaza Strip which could lead to Trump winning the election. Putin is sitting back and enjoys the mess he created. It is a win/win situation for him. It gives him an opening to finish his business in Ukraine. It is so obvious why are seasoned politicians falling for this? We can't abandon Ukraine over Israel if we want to save Europe. Putin will not stop with Ukraine. Has nobody learned anything from WWII?
I felt that when I first heard about the attack on Israel, because I looked at who benefitted from it politically. Netanyahu, in that he gets to put off the vote, and Putin in that everyone's monies and support are now divided between the Middle East and Ukraine. However, knowing that the US supposedly had intelligence that this attack on Israel would happen and told Netanyahu, who ignored it, adds to the questioning of who was aided by this. It is like Bush with making war on Iraq from fake intel, if there even was any. I am wondering how much Netanyahu and Putin collude on things. We know Israel, led by Netanyahu has not stood up to stand by Ukraine in that war, even as their numbers have grown from people escaping both Russia and Ukraine.
I agree. As soon as we heard the news of Hamas’ attack in October my husband said he believed it was Putin who instigated it. It seems an obvious coincidence.
He may have his bloody fingers in it, but Bibi has been instrumental in keeping Hamas funded, to discourage a two-state solution.
From the Canadian media CBC:
"The accusations aimed at Netanyahu go beyond merely failing to foresee or prevent the Hamas attack of October 7, however. Many accuse him of deliberately empowering the group for decades as part of a strategy to sabotage a two-state solution based on the principle of land for peace.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/netanyahu-israel-gaza-hamas-1.7010035?
"There's been a lot of criticism of Netanyahu in Israel for instating a policy for many years of strengthening Hamas and keeping Gaza on the brink while weakening the Palestinian Authority," said Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group. "And we've seen that happening very clearly on the ground."
"(Hamas and Netanyahu) are mutually reinforcing, in the sense that they provide each other with a way to continue to use force and rejectionism as opposed to making sacrifices and compromises in order to reach some kind of resolution," Zonszein told CBC News from Tel Aviv.
'Keep Hamas alive and kicking'
This symbiotic relationship between Netanyahu and Hamas has been remarked on for years, by both friends and enemies, hawks and doves.
Yuval Diskin, former head of Israel's Shin Bet security service, told the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth in 2013 that "if we look at it over the years, one of the main people contributing to Hamas's strengthening has been Bibi Netanyahu, since his first term as prime minister."
In August 2019, former prime minister Ehud Barak told Israeli Army Radio that Netanyahu's "strategy is to keep Hamas alive and kicking … even at the price of abandoning the citizens [of the south] … in order to weaken the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah."
The logic underlying this strategy, Barak said, is that "it's easier with Hamas to explain to Israelis that there is no one to sit with and no one to talk to."
Netanyahu's critics say that Hamas — with its bloodthirsty rhetoric, open antisemitism and stated intention never to share the land — played into the hands of a prime minister who also wanted to be able to tell western governments that Israel has "no partner" for peace.
Supporting Hamas rule in Gaza, those critics say, allowed Netanyahu to confine the Palestinian Authority to the West Bank and weaken it, dividing the Palestinians into two mutually antagonistic blocs...
In a remarkable speech last week in Houston, Saudi Prince Turki bin Faisal unleashed on Hamas for its atrocities and obstructionism. But he also had words for Israel.
"I condemn Hamas for further undermining the Palestinian Authority, as Israel has been doing," said the former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to the U.S. "I condemn Hamas for sabotaging the attempt of Saudi Arabia to reach a peaceful resolution to the plight of the Palestinian people.
"I condemn Israel for funnelling Qatari money to Hamas."
Prince Turki was referring to money that the Qatar royal family has been sending to Gaza for years, to the tune of about a billion U.S. dollars.
'Hamas is an asset'
Netanyahu's hawkish defence minister Avigdor Liberman was the first to report in 2020 that Bibi had dispatched Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and the IDF's officer in charge of Gaza, Herzi Halevi, to Doha to "beg" the Qataris to continue to send money to Hamas.
"Both Egypt and Qatar are angry with Hamas and planned to cut ties with them. Suddenly Netanyahu appears as the defender of Hamas," the right-wing leader complained.
A year later, Netanyahu was further embarrassed when photos of suitcases full of cash going to Hamas became public. Liberman finally resigned in protest over Netanyahu's Hamas policy which, he said, marked "the first time Israel is funding terrorism against itself."
Netanyahu's education minister Naftali Bennett also denounced the payments, and also quit.
Bibi provided Hamas with the necessary tools to attack Israel by allowing and encouraging massive aid flowing to Hamas via Qatar to play them off the PLO, with the ultimate goal of ensuring a lack of unified Palestinian governance to facilitate a two state solution. Hundreds of miles of tunnels didn't come from Russia.
Netanyahu also ignored (on purpose?) all the intelligence warnings regarding this. My point remains that Putin actively took advantage of the situation to create a diversion from Ukraine.
Putin no doubt enjoyed the diversion, however your point is not taken. It would have to be Bibi and Israel's intelligence community and senior military staff also deliberately ignoring. That would be treason on a massive scale. Why not just leave it at collective incompetence?
Oh you said it much better than I. I did link a report from CBC just above you that documents your statement of fact.
I can see the whispers of Putin, too. Iran, after all, is mostly Shia and has no actual incentive to help the Palestinians, who are Sunni. Those two would normally be at each others throats. Escalation is going to be way more than Iran vs Israel.
"At ex-president Trump’s urging, and under pressure from the Putin wing of the party, Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to bring the aid bill up for a vote despite the Senate having already passed it by a huge margin."
Despite the Senate Having Already Passed it by a HUGE Margin. Are you listening, American voters?
And why is there even a Putin Wing controlling an American Institution?? (rhetorical.)
Logan Act
Good point. From Wikipedia,
The Logan Act is a United States federal law that criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments having a dispute with the United States. The intent behind the Act is to prevent unauthorized negotiations from undermining the government's position.
Thank you David!
It's a lovely law - which has never produced enforcement proceedings. And even if you could seek and win an indictment, earliest we'd get a trial is likely to be very late 2025, or even 2026. Let's worry about beating him in November.
Why not both? He cannot be allowed to get away with anything illegal. Even if he’s in court for the rest of his life.
Oh, I agree he should be (eventually) prosecuted for anything and everything - I'm just pointing out that there's really no way to stop it NOW. I absolutely would love to see him in orange, but broke, owing, and in court for the rest of his sorry-ass life would do just fine. The immediate task is beating him in November - if we don't do that, the rest will be moot.
Agree on all points.
May November finally rid us of the meddlesome clown. And may it signal
his utter ruination.
Somebody (I think it was actually Jay) recently pointed out that Trump is showing a lot of signs of dementia.
One overlooked consequence of that could be that he could well be found incompetent to stand trial. That might actually be the best outcome. A court-ordered mental evaluation would put him into a serious bind between his pride (and electoral chances) and prison time.
Yep - Jay; also Jeff Tiedrich (who is a hoot) has pointed out that he is sundowning - which will be interesting to watch. He will be at his most energetic, present, and functional during the day (trial time). And he will be doing his campaigning at night. Which is when his mental capacity begins to diminish. Think all those mashed-up not-words have been fun so far? We ain't seen nuthin' yet. It would not shock me to see him go fully aphasic at one of his rallies.
How did we end up with a quadi-government at Mar- A-Largo, FL? Dictators visiting, Congressman meeting, elected officials doing a former president's bidding, kneeling to Moscow? Well, from Nixon to Reagan to today, that's what's become of what was once a grand old party.
Glad you pointed this out, Joyce. Who is that idiot to direct what goes on in our country? He doesn't even hold an office. I'm so angry about this.
We should all be screaming to enforce the Logan Act!
Good point! I'm going to write to my Congresswoman.
My Congress critters are Cruz and Cornyn!!! I don't even think there's a reason to contact those two fools.
I'm sorry to hear that. I suppose you could try Biden or Garland, for all the good it will do.
"I'm so angry about this." You and me both, Paula.
I was told I needed help for my Trump Derangement Syndrome. Turns out, they were right. I got the help I needed. Blocked all of those fuckers! Highly recommend this!
I've been blocking since W!!!! It's awesome!!!!
That diagnosis never made sense as it suggest that the admirers of trump are the ones who are deranged. They don't "English" so well!
Quasi AI correction troll is drunk today
Logan Act…… breaking the law.
I'm glad to see Biden said we wouldn't participate in any retaliation. Iran is definitely a bad actor; but it's still a sovereign nation with the right to respond to attacks. Hopefully Netanyahu will let this go. But, either way, Israel really needs to get rid of Netanyahu. His need to keep the country at war is undermining the ability to continue seeing Israel as being the 'good guys' in the conflict.
Israel is committing genocide. No way can Israel be described as the 'good guys'.
He is a madman who wants to start WWlll so he can stay in power.
Netanyahu seems like a smart version of Trump. As you say in the post: "Add to this the fact that Netanyahu is battling to save his political career."
So, he violates international law by bombing an embassy. Article 22 of the Geneva Convention is clear on this: "The premises of the mission [embassy or consulate] shall be inviolable."
What Biden really ought to do, which neither he nor any other American president would ever do (especially Trump), is invite Netanyahu to the Oval Office for a chat, then send him in a cargo plane to the Hague for war crimes and violating international law. But the US didn't even condemn the embassy attack in the UN.
My vote for Biden is not conditioned on doing everything I demand, but I'm tired of the U.S. coddling and enabling Netanyahu. This comment in no way is an endorsement of the actions of Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Iranian government.
But some deft diplomacy is needed here. The Iranian *people* are on the verge of rebellion against the backward Ayatollahs. The hijab protests are for real. Attacks against Iran only serve to help Iran's government, which is just as bad as the Likud government in Israel, stay in power. It diverts attention away from the dissension in Iran, which is deep, towards enemies. A classic diversion.
The Ayatollahs' military spending at the cost of its citizens' economic well being is not lost on its people. They're not stupid. The U.S. should do everything in its power to discourage Netanyahu from attacking Iran. This isn't accomplished by looking the other way when Netanyahu attacks an embassy in violation of the Geneva Convention or bombing the crap out of children in Gaza, which also stokes animosity in Muslim countries.
At the end of the day, both Netanyahu and the Ayatollahs are using conflict to stay in power. Let's not help them.
👏👏👏
Part of the problem is that none of the issues in the Middle East are “independent”. Coddling/supporting, whichever word used, cannot be tied only to how Israel acts towards Palestinians (now or in the past). Every damn thing is so intertwined. And while I think that the administration could possibly have done differently, I see virtually no option that ends well for Gazans.
It makes things difficult when both sides want the other to die. It's like that silly movie Independence Day where the president walks up to the captive alien and asks it what the alien wants humans to do. "To Die," the alien says.
Hamas wants to destroy Israel, and Netanyahu wants to destroy Hamas, but to destroy Hamas, he has to destroy the Gazan will to live, because, like it or not, Gazans have chosen Hamas as their representative. Polls there taken by adventurous NGOs show strong support for Hamas among the people, but that is to be expected when someone is on the verge of extinction.
Similarly, Israel will not be destroyed.
Somehow, the world's international institutions need to force these two sides into a room and refuse to let them out until peace breaks out. Personally, I don't see that happening as long as Netanyahu is around. He has a bitter, ugly personal agenda.
Certainly not if Hamas continues to be in charge in Gaza.
Thank you for voicing so many thoughts I’m having. I am (not) amazed that the headlines talk only about Iran attacking Israel when Israel attacked their Embassy and killed prominent leaders. This is not relevant? Why does Israel have the permission to assail anyone tenfold, a hundred fold, for assaults? And then how can they attack, provoking a hostile response----and then be so affronted? So sick of Netanyahu and his twinning of Trump in the effect he is having on our world.
🎯Bullseye!
Thank you for the timeline. When the shit hits the fan, it’s important to know how we got there. Do you think we will, as the human race, ever get past allowing these displays of penis measuring by a few that kill so many? The carnage is just appalling!
When our world becomes a matriarchy, THAT'S when we'll get past all this.
I understand the sentiment, but find it impossible to believe things would be drastically different if women were in charge.
Women are no less susceptible to ego, jealousy or vindictiveness than men. Nor, on the whole, are astonishingly more competent than men.
Let's give it a try and see what happens.
I’m all for that. Worth a shot.
But the “women are inherently better at men at running things” narrative doesn’t have a lot of historical support.
I once had a woman tell me “Women should be in charge. They have solutions for all the world’s problems.” To which to obvious response was “If they’re that smart and capable, why aren’t they already running things? Seems there is at least one problem they haven’t solved: getting to be the ones in power.”
No reasonable person would argue men should dominate. Their record is terrible. But similarly no reasonable person could argue the solution is to replace men (in boardrooms, legislatures, military, etc.) with women and that alone makes all better.
Women are much less emotional than men, despite the narratives that say otherwise.
Got anything to actually back that up? Because, putting aside examples of individuals, I’ve not seen anything to indicate one sex/gender has it over the other in terms of emotional maturity.
Almost all the most romantic* people I know are men.
*That is, they are hopelessly emotional about relationships, nostalgia, intimacy and the sentimental depictions thereof. Seriously, they (we) feel stuff personally but are determined to keep it under control, until they can't.**
**The women I know, not so much.
Maybe this is tangential to 'emotional maturity', maybe not. But the stereotype about men's incapacity for empathy is just that.
When women have power, and don't feel like they have to wield it like a man, I think they have better communication/listening skills, show great empathy, and have a willingness to admit what's wrong and work together to solve the problem. Overall, sociology bears this out.
It’s easy to give plenty of examples of women being exactly “man like” when in positions of power. (Margaret Thatcher is just one easily cited example.) The “women are inherently better when I charge” idea doesn't really hold up.
I agree we need more women in places of power so we get a wider variety of experience to draw on when decisions are made. Their experiences, like those of other minorities, differ from those of the white men who have typically been in charge.
But, as a group, inherently “better” than men is a mistaken argument.
IDK. I’ve started thinking we need to replace our leadership entirely with Black Women, who evidence dictates, are In fact more
Competent than our over abundance of white men who are the reason we’re in this nightmare.
That is because for them to succeed in any position, in this county, they must be at least three times as competent as their opponent, between all the misogyny and racism that is against them. Think Michelle Obama level of competence.
A very fair point. As a doubly (at least) oppressed group black women as a whole have had to face and deal with more harsh realities then most groups. The resume for black women shows experience that may make them particularly suited for the position.
Stacy Abrams comes to mind. Women are pitch in hard workers. More inclined to cooperate.
I have found that having all women and no men doesn’t work, but all men doesn’t work either. I don’t think we have enough experience to make concrete judgements, but I’ll take one Nancy Pelosi to your 10 Mike Johnsons.
As evidenced by republican women who get in charge. We all can be better, but power does corrupt. The Democratic women almost make up for the republicans, but seem to be a minority. I'd like to see more Democratic party women elected and less republican ones.
Thanks for supporting my point. I agree that Republican women in our Congress in particular show that “put women in charge, they’re better and more stable than men” is a fallacy.
Not saying men have a great track record (they don’t, and in many cases a horrendous/horrific one) but women so far haven’t shown themselves to be any better.
I'm a woman, and pay close attention to the Sarah Palins, the Michele Bachmanns, the Ann Coulters, the Kristy Noems and Judge Boxwine Pierros. I judge people by their actions, rather than their genders. Not that I would not like to see more women in power, but competent ones, not toadies to the patriarchy. And the old men that enforce the Patriarchal bullshit ousted.
Yes. Competancy as the thing to look for over gender. There are great women, and terrible ones.
I’d like to see more women (and Hispanics and LGBTQ and Muslims and…) in positions of influence because the diversity of views and experiences are important.
"Toadies to the patriarchy"--I feel like that's what Republican women are. And that's perhaps why they are an example of women we DON'T want to rule.
Also, I know power CAN corrupt--anyone!--but it does not have to.
You mean like “ I think he’s learned his lesson!”??
Yes. Very much one of the examples I was thinking of.
Have you ever seen Maggie Thatcher? Or Katharina the Great? Or Imelda Marcos?
People, of any gender, who rise to power tend to be the most sociopathic (even those who don't turn out to be evil) simply because that's almost a prerequisite for the job.
I see your point, and I raise you a Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Jacinta Ardern, and Oprah Winfrey. As Uncle Ben said, "With great power comes great responsibility." When women have power, and don't feel like they have to wield it like a man, I think they communicate/listen, show great empathy, and have a willingness to work together to solve problems. Overall, sociology bears this out.
Meanwhile, I raise you a Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Raul Wallenberg, Ghandi, ... All of them - both the females and the males - great human beings. Basically, there is no correlation between gender and being a good, or a terrible, leader.
"...99 percent of the projectiles were intercepted, through a combination of defensive actions undertaken by Israel, the U.S. and the U.K." Everything else aside, the fact that they did this, AT NIGHT, I think is pretty amazing and hopefully will serve as a detriment to future attempts.
It’s a significant factor to consider going forward.
Not necessarily. I think this Iranian "failure" may have been intentional and part of an asymmetric warfare approach. This wave wasn't designed to do a lot of actual damage, but to deplete Israel's defensive arsenal, probe their defenses and inflict economic harm. Reportedly, defending against this attack cost Israel as much as a billion dollars, while Iran mass-produces these drones cheaply.
A second wave - which I sincerely hope will never come - may be far deadlier. Let's just hope that this was just Iran getting their tit for Israel's tat, and that this is the end of it.
Iran also won in another respect: they explicitly threatened the countries in between not to allow Israel to use their airspace, and those countries do not have the same defenses Israel has.
Do not doubt that Netanyahu, like Trump, will happily sacrifice anything and anyone to save his own bacon....the Iranian attack was multi-puropse- retributive, for sure, but also a litmus of the alignments that we will see play out within the next while....what unfolds will help shape global actions, reactions, offensives, defensives....
The only differences between Bibi and Donny Fuckface are: Bibi is Jewish and does not have active dementia. Otherwise, they are pretty much the same person.
Bibi was always more ruthless, and hella smarter though, all in all, a highly dangerous enemy of humanity.
The same overarching goals, for sure
Thanks, Jay, for your excellent explanation of what's going on over there.
The war on disinformation continues. Carry on, soldier. Well done.
Exactly what was Iran expected to do as Israel continues to assassinate key figures in the government? Scientists, generals, diplomats, no ranking Iranian is safe from potential murder by Israel, the record is clear on that. But this "retaliation" by Iran earlier today was, as a NYT writer suggested, "performative" - advertised days in advance, targets set inside Israel where Iron Dome interception was virtually guaranteed, and where quantity of munitions used well exceeded quality, where the overwhelming bulk of airborne weaponry shot down before reaching their targets, and the entire operation is highly suggestive of face-saving for the regime, with NO intention of a severity of attack to cause retaliation upon Iranian territory by a joint US-Israel operation.
So what now? Well, back to *status quo ante*, with all matter of behind-the-scenes assurances that both sides made their points, and let's settle down, boys. Israel goes back to reducing Gaza to uninhabitable rubble, settlers and Palestinians go back to killing one another in the West Bank, and Biden keeps delivering weapons and munitions to its client state. Business as usual in the ME, nothing to see here, folks, keep moving along.
So do you think ordinary people in Iran support their extremist government? Do you?
I mean, do YOU believe that a country's citizenry are unmoved by targeted assassinations of its government officials, especially delivered by the same suspects? Witness the huge outpouring in Iran after the tRump-ordered killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
Be serious, man.
I mean if I were living in Iran under their repressive theocratic regime I might welcome them wiping some of their government officials. Like I am sure some in Russia would be upset if Putin was taken out but probably lots of people not upset at all. Unless you consider Israel your enemy and the enemy of my enemy is my friend?
Thank you for saying it. Exactly.
I keep hoping that some Republicans either step up or step out and let hakeem jeffries take the helm.
My gut wrenches everytime I see news of ukraine twisting in the wind while our own on the GOP betray us while putin laughs. ( picture him salvating and rubbing his hands together waiting for ukraine to fall)
Jay these people would have been fired by any fast food joint in the first week.
The entire GOP is traitorous. And who TF does that orange bastard think he ? He is undermining our leadership from his shitty motel?
We must win we must
“These considerations make it very difficult to parse whether Israel is acting legitimately in its own defense or whether Netanyahu is deliberately provoking a broader conflict in order to sow chaos, which serves him politically.”
Odd you say the parsing is difficult just after you note how unpopular Netanyahu is and the complications for Israel his attack on the embassy are causing. It’s VERY clear Netanyahu is not acting in the interests of Israel but to save himself.
Why are we giving the Butcher of Gaza any more money or weapons?
If ever there was a time for regime change, I'd say this is it.
Netanyahu will weaken not only Israel, but our country along with him if we don't cut him off. Make Israel righteous again, dump the *yahu.
imho.
The problem is that if we cut off Israel, that will destabilize the region even further. I loathe Bibi. I want this to end. But I see very few options that will end his butchery without other tensions escalating. And virtually none of the options end well for Gazans.
well, leaving him in place will not end well for Israel, or the entire region. Or the United States. He's a monster. Same as tRump. They sold their humanity for power and they are destroying the world. Jail for each of them. Life sentences.
why isn't the 'yahu being arrested for Crimes Against Humanity? For War Crimes?
I don't agree with him or with you that it would be worse to remove him. That's fear language and not based on reality. Just a 'yahu talking point.
And I'd like to point out that everything the 'yahu is doing has successfully ALREADY destabilized the entire region.
Só,they can protect themselves from Iran? Better to support new elections in Israel which many in Israel also want.
It’s hard to see what else Iran could have done after the attack on its embassy. Their response was measured; moreover they warned everyone, through Turkey, that they would attack. The number of drones is misleading—they were intended to distract the defenses so that some missiles could get through. And the attack focused on the air base that launched the attack on their embassy. Israel has no justification for retaliating. I hope Biden is making that clear to them.
However bad Bibi is ( and he is BAD!) are you defending Iran and it’s theocratic state leadership? Hmmm.
I didn't actually say anything about Khameini. If we fought wars on the basis of what we thought about a country's leader, the world would have ended long ago. Or, to put it differently, Trump's awfulness did not mean it was OK to bomb the USA while he was president.
But what a leader’s actions?