Pull the other one
When someone tells you something that is so patently absurd, the natural response is an old English expression “pull the other one, it has got bells on it.”
Michael Kuttner
This past week has been notable for a torrent of unbelievably asinine expressions of double speak and patently insincere rhetoric. In fact, there have been so many declarations that if we were to “pull the other one” the bells would be ringing continually.
Unsurprisingly those who should be screaming from the rooftops and exposing this tsunami of fake outreach are instead rather subdued. Apart from some mild expressions of disapproval, there has been no vigorous pushback, and as a result, those burbling nonsense are not held to account.
Some people are obsessing over the fact that President Biden has not yet issued a formal invitation for Israel’s Prime Minister to visit the White House and take part in the choreographed photo opportunities which inevitably follow. To be quite frank, following the pathetic performance of Biden when he and President Herzog met the press, I can’t understand why a similar rerun is so desirable. Seeing Biden mumbling incoherently while looking down at his prompt sheet exactly underscores the absurdity that characterises American foreign policy. When Bibi eventually meets Biden, it is doubtful that the latter’s understanding or comprehension of the reality confronting Israel will be any clearer.
Take the looming Iranian threat as a classic example.
Ever since the Mullah regime came to power, it has used the age-old tactic of taking hostages in order to achieve its various nefarious objectives. The most spectacular event took place in 1979 when American hostages were seized after the storming of the US Embassy. A botched attempt to rescue the hostages led to fruitless diplomatic bargaining and UN resolutions which were ignored. The Iranians demanded the lifting of economic sanctions and other punitive measures. The hostages were only released as Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. Perhaps the Iranians suddenly realised that instead of a weak, vacillating Democratic Jimmy Carter they were about to face the wrath of a determined Republican Ronald Reagan.
Fast forward to the present situation and you have a replay taking place, albeit with far more lethal consequences. Despite denials to the contrary, it has always been on the cards that the Biden Administration is desperate to consummate a deal that will shower the Iranians with dollars, thus enabling them to accelerate their march to the nuclear bomb. If, in the process, Israel and Gulf nations are caught by collateral damage, they can always be fooled and sidetracked by some diplomatic double-speaking State Department officials.
So it has come to pass.
In exchange for hostages illegally seized by Iran, the US will now shower the Iranians with US$ 7 billion. True to form, Secretary of State Blinken, with a straight face, asserted that “there would be no sanction relief.” In addition, “significant oversight” would be put in place to ensure that this windfall was used only for legitimate purposes.
Who are they trying to fool? Only the eternally gullible of course.
One has only to look at how “successfully” the international community has succeeded in preventing North Korea from developing missiles and nuclear capabilities to understand the total fiasco which will accompany this latest triumph of American diplomacy.
Another deal accompanied by murky denial which will gladden all the Democratic progressives and woke self-loathers, is gestating in the background. This is why Bibi will be invited to the White House. It will be another show to bolster Biden’s 2024 prospects and demonstrate his oft-repeated mantra of being one of Israel’s best buddies.
Washington will hope that this farce will be swallowed by enough local Jewish voters and Israelis eager to self-flagellate and that with the help of an always compliant media, the whole exercise will be a triumph of Hollywood make-believe. Incredibly, a majority of American Jews will still vote for a Democratic candidate no matter how many times that party lurches further to the progressive left and abandons its once solid support for Israel.
Another case of lurching leftwards and embracing false narratives is evident from the decision of the Australian Government to re-designate Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem as illegally occupied Palestinian territory. In doing so, the Labor Party has joined the UN’s immoral majority, which claims that these historically Jewish sovereign places are off-limits to present-day Jews. Peddling patently fake Arab revisionist claims may gladden the hearts of the left-wing, Jewish and non-Jewish alike and the increasing Islamic voters. Still, it certainly won’t bring genuine peace one centimetre closer.
The biggest farce is when the Australian Prime Minister and his Foreign Minister put their hands over their hearts and pledge an undying solidarity with Israel.
How do they reconcile their rejection of Israeli sovereignty at the Kotel, Temple Mount, Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, Hebron, and Rachel’s Tomb, among other places with a supposed solidarity? Why is there a glaring silence about the daily torrent of hate and incitement against Jews issuing forth from the PA and associated terror groups? Why is the Australian Government sending taxpayers’ money to UNRWA when everyone knows that its schools are inculcating poisonous ideas?
As the heirs of those who illegally occupied the Australian continent in the first place and established a penal colony there, it is the height of chutzpah for today’s politicians to be lecturing Israel.
Finally, trying to bask in the reflected glory of Dr Evatt, who, as the Labor Foreign Minister in 1947/1948, gave enthusiastic support to the re-establishment of the Jewish State, is glaringly hypocritical. Only gullible individuals, of which there are many, would fall for those sorts of verbal acrobatics.
The Israeli Foreign Minister is reported as asserting that “a security treaty with the USA would reassure regional allies that they are protected from Iranian aggression and therefore negate the need for nuclear weapons.” He was presumably alluding to Saudi Arabia. I cannot imagine anyone in Saudi Arabia falling for that pie-in-the-sky illusion. All one has to do is look at how North Korea has thumbed its nose at the US over the last few years. Has a US security treaty with South Korea and Japan prevented the acquisition of nuclear weapons and missiles by North Korea? How secure do they feel when North Korean missiles fly overhead and land in the ocean not far from their shores?
How safe and secure do the Taiwanese feel knowing that the Chinese intend to invade and destroy them one day? Can they actually be confident that when push comes to shove the American cavalry will ride to their rescue in time?
Israel knows from past bitter experience that so-called guarantees given by erstwhile friends can easily turn out to be worthless.
The US recognised Israel in 1948, and then when Arab armies invaded in an endeavour to destroy it the Administration imposed an arms embargo. This tactic was employed again in subsequent years every time the US disapproved of anything the Israel Government implemented. When Nasser blockaded Israeli shipping in 1967 and prepared to attack, the US abandoned its guarantees and left Israel to deal with the situation alone. During the Yom Kippur War, President Nixon did resupply urgently needed armaments but only after a crucial delay.
South Koreans, Japanese, Taiwanese or Gulf States will be sadly mistaken if they are pinning their hopes on the US coming to their rescue in time in the event of a North Korean or Iranian nuclear attack. It will be all over before the White House, State Department, Congress and Senate manage to get their act together.
Most likely, the UN Security Council will still be deliberating after it is all over.
The Israel Intelligence Minister has urged the United Kingdom and European Union to act with moral clarity against Iran and its terror facilitators.
Pulling the other one has never been easier.
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.
