Foolish Folly

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Absurdity knows no bounds when it concerns Israel, as this past week once again demonstrates.

Michael Kuttner

Collective insanity is running rampant and unchecked as university administrators buckle in the face of mob mayhem and politicians prostrate themselves at the altar of electoral appeasement.

Once again Biden blunders, knowing not what he is doing and Blinken blinks in the headlights of looming jihadist terror threats. In urging Israel to surrender to Hamas these leaders think they can sell something which has proven to be a spectacular disaster in past scenarios.

Terror group psychological warfare designed to produce maximum pressure on Israel is now the preferred means to beat Israel into line.

The latest folly is trying to sell a “ceasefire” in Gaza before any still alive or most probably dead hostages have been released by the terror groups.

Biden is desperately trying to sell this latest sell-out to terrorism as an Israeli-authored scheme, but it seems obvious that this is stretching reality. While some of the elements may have been borrowed from suggestions made by Israel’s negotiators, the fact remains that its essential objective is an Israeli surrender to Hamas. Biden claimed that Hamas is no longer a force to be reckoned with, while at the same time, one of his security advisers maintained that it is impossible to eliminate it.

The prospect of billions of dollars being funnelled into terror fiscal holes looms large. Promises of a demilitarized Gaza (or fake Palestine) combined with a full Israeli withdrawal and ceasefires are figments of warped minds that have learnt nothing from past disasters.

In reality, the only basis for any sort of ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal is the release of ALL hostages (dead and alive) and the elimination of the terror infrastructure and terror enablers in their entirety.

Biden and Blinken are peddling a tainted bill of goods which, if swallowed, would constitute a victory for all terror appeasers and guarantee that others such as Hezbollah and Iran would, without a doubt, have their appetite whetted for further murderous action.

If there are still those who believe that the Biden Administration’s schemes herald the advent of true peace and tolerance, they should take a reality check and scan past such hallucinatory nightmares.

The long list of “deals that are so good one only turns them down at ones peril” is a warning to all those eager to embrace the current fatally flawed offerings from Washington.

 The first red flag is that Qatar, among others, is an enthusiastic backer. Qatar is a major financier and supporter of Hamas and everything it represents. Shouldn’t that fact alone be ringing warning bells? Obviously, neither American officials nor knee-jerk Israel haters find anything suspicious in this because they continue to expect that Israel agrees to each and every demand.

The next red flag revolves around past performance.

Wouldn’t it be prudent to have a long, hard look at how previous scenarios which America has been involved with have actually turned out?

Vietnam was not exactly a roaring success as far as US guarantees of democracy and human rights were concerned. Those Vietnamese relying on American protection in their fight for a democratic country found themselves sold down the river as the US abandoned them.

Iraqis hoping for a better and more tolerant life after the defeat of Saddam Hussein were rapidly disillusioned as the US abandoned them to the jihadist forces financed by Iran.

Afghanis, believing American promises and guarantees of equality, were brutally let down as the US abandoned them and scuttled out of the country as fast as the helicopters and planes could manage. Left behind were all those who had worked to bring some semblance of normality to a country ravaged by Islamic extremism. Abandoned were all Afghani women who now have been enslaved back into an oppressive medieval society.

Yazidis and Kurds have been let down as they face genocide and annihilation at the hands of jihadists and Turkish terror actions. Erdogan, the aspiring neo-Ottoman Sultan, remains a valued member of NATO. His war against the Kurds and his increasingly venomous tirades against Israel cause nary a ripple in Washington.

The reality that a rag-tag group of Houthis with Iranian logistical support can continue to wreak piratical terror on international shipping and trade speaks volumes about the halfhearted responses by the US.

Ukraine believed American guarantees of safeguarding its sovereignty against Russian aggression. Wavering, waffling and weak leadership in Washington makes that promise a doubtful commodity.

The Iranian Mullah regime looks on as North Korea thumbs its nose at Biden and as it fires off missiles. Having called America’s bluff and attained nuclear blackmail capability the Iranians know that they can do the same. Biden and Blinken may huff and puff but there is nothing more certain than Tehran will soon follow North Korea down the nuclear extortionist path.

“We have your back” proclaim the Washington appeasement choir. The fact that US warships shot down some Iranian-launched missiles at Israel is somehow supposed to prove that Israel can place its faith in pie-in-the-sky guarantees. What can one expect in the future when American threats to suspend weapon deliveries are made, because Israel is trying to eliminate those dedicated to its demise?

Hezbollah, which has made northern Israeli towns uninhabitable, will need to be dealt with and the Iranian threats of genocide tackled.

If the Gaza campaign is anything to go by, just imagine the reaction from Biden and Blinken and the UN when the balloon goes up on the other fronts.

What sense of security must Taiwan and South Korea be experiencing when they can witness the indecisive charades now taking place?

Look at the farce of the US floating pier in Gaza to get an inkling of how easily reality can destroy the best delusory mirages. In an effort to appease the increasingly strident and extreme left wing of the Democrat party a plan was hatched which allegedly was going to save the residents of Gaza from mass starvation. The fact that there is no such starvation is irrelevant because like every other Jewish conspiracy over the ages, once spread it takes on a life of its own.

Amidst much fanfare and hype, the US touted its intention to build a pier off the Gaza coast. Over two months later and after an expenditure of US$320 million this so called marvel of American engineering was ready to receive aid shipped in from Cyprus. No sooner had the first shipments arrived than the weather became stormy and as a result the floating pier disintegrated with parts of it sunk and other pieces ending up on the coast of Ashdod. This structure lasted exactly 12 days and delivered less than 60 truckloads worth of food.

It subsequently transpired that the majority of the food aid is stolen by Hamas which no doubt accounts for stories of food deprivation among ordinary Gazans. This fact naturally was not advertised by the State Department nor has it been reported by the general media. It is after all much easier to blame the dastardly Israelis and conniving Jews.

It has been disclosed by the IDF that Hamas stole US$100 million from Gaza banks.

One has to ask how, given the above facts, Israel can agree to hair-brained plans that leave terror groups in control of Gaza, let alone in charge of “Palestine.”  The latest pearl of wisdom from the US “experts” is that getting a ceasefire is the main objective and “that the role of Hamas in a post war Gaza can be ironed out later.” This is yet another surefire recipe for continued terror rule in Gaza and further proof of the clueless appeasement fervour gripping those in charge.

This brings us to yet another “brilliant” plan concocted in Washington.

It is wondrous to witness the political contortions taking place as American officials and diplomats try every trick in the book to pressure Israel into falling into the embrace of Saudi Arabia. Undoubtedly a peace agreement between both countries would be beneficial to all concerned. It must, however, have as its primary objective the recognition that Israel is the historical and legal homeland of the Jewish People. No amount of doublespeak by US diplomats, and officials can disguise the fact that what is being currently offered does no such thing.

Desperation for some sort of electoral boost at Israel’s expense is a non starter. The Saudi Foreign Minister has made his country’s position very clear. He stated, “Israel cannot exist without Palestine on the 1967 borders.”

Given all past and current disasters, cynics can be forgiven for asking:

WHAT CAN POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

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.