Let us begin with a quote from NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby at a press briefing this past December (emphasis added):
“It’s their war. They get to decide what victory looks like. They get to decide what plans they execute. They get to decide what targets they hit. They get to decide where they put their troops on the battlefront.”
Surprised?
Don’t be. He was speaking about Ukraine, not Israel. Let’s hear it for American double standards. We here in Israel are used to it, but how blatant it is.
~~~~~~~~~~
In spite of reports to the contrary emanating from some sources, according to my best information we are going into Rafah and will do so before long. Perhaps within a couple of weeks, perhaps a bit longer. Let us hope it is soon. Apparently plans for moving out the civilians there are not yet finalized.
Meanwhile, Biden is standing on his head to prevent us from doing so.
I have been reading statements from US officials about how they haven’t stopped negotiating for a hostage deal. There is still hope, they declare.
Just yesterday, Secretary of State Blinken said (emphasis added):
“I can tell you that we’re intensely engaged every single day, almost every single hour with Qatar, with Egypt, to see if we can get a ceasefire agreement that will get the hostages out, get more aid in and create a pathway perhaps for a more lasting, secure solution.”
https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/2024-03-13/live-updates-791666?page=2
“almost every single hour”? Such commitment.
Blinken and company know there is no hope. Unless they are totally oblivious to the messages Hamas is giving, they know. It could be that they are grasping for straws, hanging on because they are desperate to secure a ceasefire (which Israel said from the get-go would be temporary) that could be turned into something permanent, so that we would never go into Rafah.
Or perhaps they are hoping to paint us as the bad guys for not giving “peace’ every last chance. What! they can cry. How can you even talk about going in when there is still a chance for a ceasefire? It could happen any day. Don’t you want to get the hostages out?
~~~~~~~~~~
Another tack: There are those protesting that it’s wrong to go in to Rafah during Ramadan, when the people are observing their holiday of peace and contemplation. Respect for religious observance and all that. Shall we remind those who are expressing this concern that when Hamas attacked on October 7, it was both Shabbat and Simchat Torah?
And let us go back in time over 50 years, to the Yom Kippur War: Egypt and Syria initiated a surprise attack on the holiest day on our calendar.
In Egypt this war is also know by another name: The Ramadan War. Seems they weren’t too busy engaging in prayer and contemplation to attack us during Ramadan.
How about that!
~~~~~~~~~~
There was a great deal that was disturbing about Biden’s State of the Union address last week, but here I want to focus on his statements regarding civilian losses in Gaza (emphasis added):
“…Israel also has a fundamental responsibility to protect innocent civilians in Gaza.
“This war has taken a greater toll on innocent civilians than all previous wars in Gaza combined.
“More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed.
“Most of whom are not Hamas.
“Thousands and thousands are innocent women and children.”
What Biden (or, more accurately, his speech writers) did was lift the 30,000 figure directly from the Gaza Health Ministry, which is operated by Hamas. Not only is the figure inflated (more on this following), his statement that most are not Hamas is questionable. The attempt here is to push Israel to stop fighting because the level of innocent deaths is allegedly unacceptable.
But we need to take a closer look at the figure. There are several problems with it:
[] Some 20 percent of Hamas’s rockets fail and fall into Gaza. Thus, some of the deaths are not caused by Israel at all. A mere two weeks after the beginning of the war, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said more than 550 Hamas rockets had misfired, landing in Gaza and killing civilians. And now, five months later?
[] Biden’s statement that most of those killed were not Hamas is unconfirmed and thus irresponsible.
There are Hamas operatives who wear civilian clothing, and there are “civilians” who are Hamas sympathizers and actively cooperate with Hamas.
[] Most significantly, there is solid reason to believe the figures are “massively inflated.” The figures provided by the Gaza Health Ministry contain clear contradictions, says Abraham Wyner, professor of Statistics and Data Science at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
In a recently-published analysis featured in Tablet Magazine, Wyner noted that based on the Gaza Health Ministry’s own figures released in the first month of the current conflict, some of the claims regarding daily casualty totals are impossible, while others are highly improbable.
Writes Wyner, the evidence “is highly suggestive that a process unconnected or loosely connected to reality was used to report the numbers.”
See eye-opening details of the analysis here:
https://worldisraelnews.com/hamas-is-massively-inflating-civilian-casualties-says-researcher/
Or even better, see Wyner’s article in Tablet here:
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/how-gaza-health-ministry-fakes-casualty-numbers
With diagrams and charts, he makes the situation clear. He says the numbers are not real.
~~~~~~~~~~
Wyner says that the ratio of civilian deaths to combatant deaths is “remarkably low.” Perhaps 1.4 to 1, and possibly as low as an incredible 1 to 1. The lowest in the world.
During America’s war in Iraq, the ratio was 4.5 (civilian deaths) to 1 (combatant death).
https://www.jns.org/lies-about-civilian-casualties/
Please use these figures to refute the fallacious charges against Israel wherever you encounter them. This information is exceedingly important.
~~~~~~~~~~
The Biden administration is attacking Israel in yet another way: By attempting to delegitimize the Jewish residents of Judea & Samaria. Previously I wrote about charges of “settler violence.”
https://arlenefromisrael.info/from-israel-the-pernicious-lies-of-settler-violence/
In this case, as well, I showed that the charges were fallacious. The Americans targeted four residents of Judea & Samaria with economic sanctions – an outrageous situation.
But now the Biden administration has announced that it intends to sanction two entire communities, which is more outrageous still.
This is from a State Department press release today (emphasis added):
“The United States continues to take action against those who undermine peace, security, and stability in the West Bank, which undermine the national security and foreign policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of a two-state solution, ensuring Israelis and Palestinians can attain equal measures of security, prosperity, and freedom, and reducing the risk of regional destabilization. There is no justification for extremist violence against civilians, whatever their national origin, ethnicity, race, or religion…”
This unending talk about “ensuring Israelis and Palestinians can attain equal measures of security, prosperity and freedom” is most wearisome. They keep drawing on the same tired, meaningless terminology.
What is most outrageous of all is the fact that not a single action is being taken against a Palestinian Arab in Judea & Samaria, or against a community within PA jurisdiction. This is action solely against Jews and Jewish communities, in spite of the fact that there is enormous violence perpetrated by Arabs against Jews in Judea & Samaria.
~~~~~~~~~~
“In a call with President Biden last month, Prime Minister Netanyahu protested the fact that the administration was ignoring police reports of a marked decrease in ‘settler violence’ in Judea and Samaria. Former foreign minister Eli Cohen in January called the reports of a supposed growing ‘settler violence’ a ‘blood libel’ and ‘a lie disconnected from reality.’
“Biden, according to Axios, refused to be confused by the facts and told Netanyahu that sanctions on Jews in Judea and Samaria would continue.
“On Wednesday, the commander of the Central Unit of the Israel Police’s Judea and Samaria District Avishai Mualem told a subcommittee of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee regarding the ‘settler violence’ that ‘Most of the complaints are deliberate complaints from radical left-wing organizations which are located in Tel Aviv.’
“Mualem characterized the proliferation of false complaints as a prevalent phenomenon that disrupts military operations and tarnishes Israel’s image. He pointed to the sanctions imposed by several countries on settlers in February as evidence.
“Mualem stated that out of 191 complaints of settler violence in the South Hebron Hills since October 7, 90 were determined to be false. Similarly, in the Jordan Valley, half of the 70 complaints filed during this period were found to be false.
“Mualem cited the data on ‘Jewish nationalist crime’ in Judea and Samaria, noting that during the war in Gaza, there have been 270 such incidents, compared to 537 last year.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Yesterday, I met with someone here who has political connections in the US.
I asked him if the Americans believe the reports of ‘settler violence’ put out by groups such as B’tselem (as I documented in my post on the issue) or really know better but are happy to use these reports for their own purposes.
His reply was that, based on comments made to him, he believes it is the latter.
While this is basically anecdotal, I believe it is an important perspective worth sharing. The evidence seems to be that the State Department is not seeking objective truth, but rather ways to weaken Jewish control in Judea & Samaria. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to perceive this.
~~~~~~~~~~
So where are we with regard to our operation in Rafah and our relationship with the Americans?
“In private conversations, top administration officials have signaled to Israel that they could support a plan more akin to counterterrorism operations than all-out war, four US officials told Politico. That, the administration officials argue, would minimize civilian casualties, decimate Hamas’ ranks and avoid scenes that have led to souring public opinion on Israel’s campaign and Biden’s handling of the war.
“On Saturday, during an interview with MSNBC, Biden said that an Israeli invasion of Rafah would be a red line but also said in the same breath that crossing it would not result in punitive measures against Israel.
“’It is a red line, but I am never going to leave Israel,’ Biden said. ‘The defense of Israel is still critical, so there’s no red line I’m going to cut off all weapons.’
“Speaking at a news briefing on Tuesday, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan tried to walk back those comments.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/386717
~~~~~~~~~~
But wait! It’s not just Biden. We have a problem with others in the Democratic party, including some who would claim to be friends of Israel. (I am not referring to the likes of AOC and others who don’t pretend to be our friends.) The words of US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), delivered this morning on the Senate floor are cause for particular outrage:
“Hamas and the Palestinians who support and tolerate their evil ways; radical right-wing Israelis in government and society; [Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud] Abbas; Prime Minister Netanyahu: these are the four obstacles to peace.”
Netanyahu, declared the senator, “has all too frequently bowed to the demands of extremists like Ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir and the settlers in the West Bank…
“I…believe Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take the precedence over the best interests of Israel.
“As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me the Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7th. The world has changed radically since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past. Nobody expects Prime Minister Netanyahu to do the things that must be done to break the cycle of violence, to preserve Israel’s credibility on the world stage, and to work towards a two-state solution.
“At this critical juncture, I believe a new election is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel.”
~~~~~~~~~~
How dare he attempt to intervene in the political process of a sovereign state —one that is a democracy and an ally!!
The irony is that he is wrong on all counts. His thinking is absolutely backwards. Netanyahu no longer fills the needs of the nation since October 7, he declares, because the prime minister is “stuck in the past.” But Netanyahu is confronting a new way of dealing with threats and hardly stuck in the past. It is Schumer, who imagines that a “two-state solution” will bring peace – when the PA would not even condemn the massacre – who is stuck solidly in the past.
Netanyahu, he says, does not know how to break the “cycle of violence.” But that is on old-hat term that implies moral equivalency between opponents. After the obscenities of October 7, that term should have been dropped from his rhetoric. There is a time for war and a time for peace, we are taught. War is necessary to eradicate consummate evil, and yet those such as Schumer would block us from doing what we must. Only when the evil is destroyed can there be peace.
And preserving Israel’s credibility on the world stage? The world is severely distorted in its thinking. It is for us to find our own way, guided by our sense of what is right. When we reverse our decisions in order to secure world approval, we will be lost.
Never have I been more impressed by Binyamin Netanyahu than I am now. He has been steadfast in his determination to see through a victory, and he has not been intimidated by Biden. The nation stands with him.
Chuck Schumer should hang his head in shame and resign from the Senate.
~~~~~~~~~~
Keep praying to Heaven for Israel, my friends. Pray for the strength and wisdom of our leaders, for the safety of our soldiers, and for the rescue of our hostages. Pray with a heart filled with hope.
~~~~~~~~~~
© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
