What a contrast
Argentina’s newly elected president’s recent visit to Israel was a politically refreshing breath of fresh air.
Michael Kuttner
Devoid of doublespeak, diplomatic mumbling and hectoring hyperbole, this head of state stood out for his uncompromising denunciation of terror, its perpetrators and those who fund and sponsor the murder of Israelis.
Javier Milei is an unabashed supporter of Israel whose plain speaking is a welcome change from the usually mealy-mouthed mutterings of most other international leaders. Whereas others hedge their ostensible friendship and support with all sorts of caveats and dire warnings dressed up as mock moral outrage, the Argentinean President’s speeches are a model of unambiguous support.
Not only is President Milei a genuine friend of Israel but he is also at the same time an avid student of Judaism and Jewish history. This gives him an insight and appreciation of exactly what motivates Israelis in the continuing battle against the deniers and the delegitimizers. Therein lays the difference between him and those international political leaders who are totally bereft of any appreciation of the historical Jewish experience. Not only are they deficient in their understanding, but they have an irresistible urge to demand action which, if acted upon, would lead to another catastrophic cataclysm.
Australia’s Foreign Minister said she did not have time to visit the Gaza area communities attacked by Hamas and see for herself how “peaceful” Jihadists slaughter civilians. Contrast this with President Milei, who took the first opportunity to see the situation for himself.
It did not take more than a few hours of visiting the decimated Kibbutzim and Moshavim of Israel’s south for him to realise the enormity of the pogroms that had taken place there. His firm denunciation of Hamas and their enablers as being “the Nazis of the 21st century” was crystal clear. There were no “ifs” and “buts”, and his support of Israel’s campaign to eliminate the scourge of terror emanating from Gaza and elsewhere was firm. No hedging with moral equivalence, hypocritical expressions of support and exhortations to agree to the establishment of a Palestinian terror state in Israel’s heartland.
Instead, President Milei promised to move the Argentinean Embassy to Jerusalem. This move naturally caused Hamas and others to denounce him. Unlike other fellow world leaders and officials, he saw no need to make a pilgrimage to Ramallah and embrace the PA head or shower him with taxpayers’ money.
His three-day visit to Israel was such a startling contrast to that of others. It makes one wonder yet again how much more garbage Israelis have to listen to from totally clueless individuals as they continue their endless hectoring and futile fulminations.
Well, we did not have to wait very long for the deluge of delusory denunciations to descend from the mouths of the “enlightened” media and addled politicians.
The world is convulsed as never before at the prospect of Hamas and its followers being finally brought to account for their crimes. The continued plight of the Israeli hostages is ignored, and instead, an increasing crescendo of craven condemnation of Israel has become the siren song of the appeasers. The International Red Cross long ago lost interest in safeguarding the hostages’ welfare and access to medication and food. The UN has no interest in holding the terror groups and their supporters to account. This corrupt organisation’s descent into moral depravity is exemplified by its Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories.
Francesca Albanese unashamedly stated this week that the 7 October was caused by “Israeli oppression” and not antisemitism. Instead of her being dismissed for these blatant pieces of revisionist lies, her bosses remained silent, and she continued on her poisonous path. She now will be denied entry to Israel, which, no doubt, in turn, will convulse the usual braying mobs.
It, however, only gets better as the days unfold.
The IDF, in a dramatic and well-documented raid, managed to rescue two kidnapped Israelis being held hostage by “innocent” Palestinians in Rafah in Southern Gaza. It should be noted that these two were incarcerated in an apartment building that was in the midst of other buildings inhabited by Hamas. The Israeli action naturally resulted in the destruction of the buildings and the elimination of most of those involved.
Needless to say an uproar of volcanic proportions has ensued.
The only foreign head of state to actually congratulate the IDF and Israel on rescuing the hostages and expressing a wish for further action in defeating terror was the Argentinean President. Everyone else preferred to splutter specious expressions of outrage at the loss of “innocent” Palestinian lives. Conspicuously absent are denunciations of Hamas and Hezbollah targeting of thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians. Also absent from the torrent of criticism is any concern for the thousands of Israelis displaced from their towns and villages after being targeted by these terrorist groups.
The chorus of demands for Israel to cease flushing out the terror leaders is led by Biden and Blinken. Desperately trying to appease the rabid anti-Israel progressives in election year, their increasingly strident strictures exemplify everything that is rotten in today’s political environment. We are faced with a President whose cognitive faculties are increasingly suspect and a Jewish Secretary of State who has the chutzpah to accuse Israelis of “dehumanising” those who foster and support terror.
These two cheerleaders are joined by a supporting cast of UN members. Lord Cameron, using his best Eton upper-class accent, lectures Israel to stop and think. Presumably, this means letting Hamas escape retribution and dismantlement. Others of the rapidly diminishing democracies join in this chorus of the appeasing choir. An incredible and amazing feature of this collective hypocrisy is the demand for Israel to immediately cease its response to murderous terror mere hours after the rescue of two hostages. Reading between the lines of the demands issued by the Australian and New Zealand Prime and Foreign Ministers is the unmistakable message to let Hamas off the hook and surrender to every outrageous condition set by the terrorists. Would they have admonished Churchill that German civilians could not pay the price of the Allies trying to defeat the Nazis?
An official PA newspaper issued an appeal to Hamas to NOT release the Israeli hostages without the release of all nine thousand terror prisoners in Israeli jails.
Has there been any international outrage at this PA demand? Is this the international community’s idea of a revitalised PA living in peace and tolerance with Israel? Listening to the rhetoric from world capitals, there can be only one conclusion.
Delusions and deceit know no bounds.
The recently appointed First Minister of Northern Ireland has declared that Hamas could be a peace partner. Presuming that she had not drunk too much Guinness, one can only marvel at this fantastic leap into the world of fantasy. Tragically, there are many who think that this idea has merit. Their demands for Israel to surrender prove it.
Meanwhile, the IDF has uncovered an extensive Hamas underground control and computer centre directly underneath the headquarters of UNRWA. This sophisticated facility, which operated supposedly undetected by the UN agency, proves that UNRWA and Hamas are partners of long standing. With a straight face and not one glimmer of shame, the head of UNRWA claims he knows nothing of this hive of terror activity beneath his headquarters. No avalanche of shock or any feeling of remorse has been issued forth from UN headquarters in New York. Donor nations to UNRWA, whose beneficence over the years no doubt facilitated the construction of this underground terror tunnel, remain mute and prefer instead to concentrate their ire against the Jewish State.
All is not lost, however. A Norwegian MP has nominated UNRWA for the Nobel Peace Prize. If Arafat, the PLO terror chief, could be a recipient, then any farce is possible in today’s woke and messed up world.
There is plenty of scope for a decent Purim shpiel this year.
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.
