Aftershocks
After a serious earthquake, it is usual to experience a series of aftershocks, some of them just as severe as the main quake.
Michael Kuttner
Having lived through many minor and major tremblers in our over four decades of residence in the shaky isles of New Zealand, I can confirm that the days and weeks following the first jolt can be unnerving.
It is the uncertainty of what can follow that causes nerves to fray on any possible consequences.
Now, living at the epicentre of the world’s most volatile region, we face not only the prospect of “the long overdue big one” but also security and political seismic upheavals.
Having just read the Torah portion describing the destruction of Sodom as a result of a devastating earthquake and volcanic eruption of fire and brimstone, the aftereffects of such an event certainly could not be clearer.
It is, however, the current election aftershocks following the force six on the Richter political scale which is grabbing the headlines. Panic mode is gripping large sections of the traumatised left both here and in the various countries of the Diaspora.
The new coalition has not even yet been formed or installed, and the guidelines of the new Government have not been finalised and signed yet despite this, those suffering from delayed shock are already convulsing.
Prior to the elections, it was claimed by politicians of the outgoing Government that Abbas was a moderate and all we had to do was throw more money in his direction and offer some more concessions, and he and his corrupt PA would embrace us with thankful joy. This, of course, was always an illusion and the electorate voted accordingly. Terror-promoting groups always sense weakness and skillfully manipulate public opinion accordingly. It’s an old trick, but one which those mesmerised by mirages always fall for. That explains why the hysteria level on the part of those who dread a Government that will react forcefully to terror has risen to hypersonic proportions.
Now that the Democrats have managed to fend off the “red wave” and the anti-Israel squad has been reinforced with new members, the Biden Administration feels free to shift to hypocritical double standards again. The latest decision to ask the FBI to investigate the alleged Israeli shooting of a news journalist, which already has been thoroughly probed, is nothing short of a scandalous interference and slap in the face to Israel’s judicial system.
This, it should be noted, will only be the start of a series of policy decisions designed to show how much in contempt the US holds the decision of the Israeli voters. If Israel investigated the circumstances of murders and shooting by law enforcement authorities in the US there wouldn’t be enough weeks in the year to even scratch the surface.
On Palestinian TV, President for life, Abbas, declared that he has a problem with Israel. “Israel occupies my land and my country” he spouted. Concurrently the American Ambassador to Israel warned us that “we (i.e. the Biden Administration) will fight against any attempt at annexation.” The message couldn’t be clearer. Abbas peddles historical lies, and Nides warns Jews that Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem are off limits.
At the same time, Abdullah, the Hashemite fake defender of religious freedom for all except Jews, pontificates at the Vatican (where else) that “any attempt to harm the legal and historical status quo in Jerusalem will destroy the right of the faithful to hold their worship.” Needless to say, this piece of arrogant hypocrisy was not challenged either by the Pope or our silent spokespersons. It is this weak-kneed non-response that hopefully will be replaced when the new coalition takes over.
At the United Nations, where condemning Israel is as frequent as Torah readings on Mondays and Thursdays, this past week demonstrated yet again that it makes no difference what sort of Government we might have in Jerusalem. As Iran races towards nuclear weapons and boasts of hypersonic missiles able to wipe Israel off the face of the map and North Korea thumbs its nose at the UN, the assembled nations gathered in solemn assembly once again determine that there is really only one major threat to world peace.
By a vote of 152 in favour and 5 against, Israel is directed to dispose of its unproven nuclear weapons. Australia abstained this time around, and New Zealand unsurprisingly voted in favour of this resolution. The fact that it is Iran and North Korea, not Israel which are threats is, of course, irrelevant to the ostriches gathered in New York.
Proving that Israel bashing can be carried out with impunity, another session of the UN passed a resolution referring Israel to the International Criminal Court for the crime of “occupying” territory, which was legally allocated for Jewish settlement way back by the UN’s predecessor in the 1920s. The Temple Mount was referred to only by its Islamic name, which effectively banishes any Jewish connection and makes the intentions perfectly clear except to those who are deliberately oblivious to the truth. On this occasion, Australia voted against, and New Zealand actually abstained.
Noteworthy was the fact that Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates all voted in favour. I hope the incoming Israeli coalition takes note of this. For how much longer should we put up with these continual displays and acts of blatant gang bullying and targeting?
When is a guarantee not actually a guarantee?
That is a question nobody seems to have asked after the US announced that it “guaranteed” the recently signed Israel/Lebanon natural gas agreement. As our outgoing politicians waxed lyrical and commentators swooned, it is only those with long memories who remembered the pitfalls of embracing mythical guarantees.
Someone should ask the Czechs what they think about international guarantees. One doesn’t have to go as far back as Munich to realise that they are not worth anything. Some of us are old enough to vividly remember what happened on the eve of the Six-Day War in 1967.
Following the 1956 conflict with Egypt, the Eisenhower Administration issued “solid guarantees” that the international community, with the USA as its chief guarantor, would ensure freedom of navigation in the Straits of Tiran. Lo and behold, in 1967, when Nasser decided to blockade the straits and cut off Eilat from maritime access, the Government of Israel turned to the UN and requested that the iron-clad guarantees of freedom of shipping be enforced. We all know the results of that fiasco. The UN withdrew its farcical “peacekeeping” forces quicker than one could say schlemiel and President Johnson led a western retreat from any forceful response.
In other words, and not for the first or last time, Israel found itself holding a worthless piece of paper guarantees and on its own. Given the past dismal record, only those with incurable ignorance and myopic optimism should expect any sort of international backup when the Lebanese maritime gas agreement is inevitably violated by Hezbollah and its Iranian puppet masters.
Israel’s incoming coalition, yet to be born after tortuous labour pains, will face major challenges. The aftershocks generated by its formation will shake up friend and foe alike.
Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel and is J-Wire’s correspondent in the region.
