The Politics of Betrayal

Israel is engaged in an existential struggle for survival.

Some of its troubles have their origin in an unjustified reliance on its military and intelligence capabilities which have proved lacking, and for which the reckoning has not yet been realized. The military establishment knew of the Hamas preparations for war and disregarded them as something which they could cope with without difficulty. The current situation has proved that there is a bitter price to be paid for this criminal complacency. The Israeli  public is paying daily for this error. The politicians and the military and intelligence establishment in Israel have yet to pay the price for their failures.

The support that Israel has always had from the American government and the American people has been another casualty. It is no secret that the American State Department has never been party to the love affair with Israel. It has always been concerned with the economic impact of the Arab strangle hold on world oil supplies and America’s vulnerability in this area. The more recent amazing American expansion of its internal production has seemingly not altered the State Department’s sensibility in this regard out of concern for Islamic power.

The impact of a generation of billion dollar investments by Arab states in American educational institutions and think tanks has also changed the U.S. landscape in important ways. We have seen how compromised these institutions have become in the way they reacted to the pro-Hamas rallies that have occurred after October 7th. Israel and victims of Hamas butchery were the ones pilloried on the American street and at academic institutions. The thousands of Arab students played their part. The leaders of these institutions either stood by, or encouraged these manifestations, in a colossal moral failure.

Further, we discovered how successful has been the Islamic effort to seed their people within the ranks of the media. The colossal falsehoods uttered by Hamas broadcast by Qatar organs were parroted uncritically, in spite of being countered, and repeated often enough to gain a following in general media broadcasts.

Suddenly, The Israeli effort to ensure there could never be a repeat of October 7th, which Hamas promised, is being labelled as genocide. Every effort that Israel has made to minimize the civilian toll occasioned by Hamas hiding their military behind civilian infrastructure, particularly schools and hospitals, mosques and UNRWA facilities, is being labelled as a war crime. Hamas’ role in shooting their own, hiding their aggression behind civilians, lying about casualties, stealing civilian aid and medication for resale, taking and executing hostages, firing missiles into Israel, is being ignored. The war would end the day Hamas surrendered.

U.S officials are well aware of the reality of the situation. They prefer to ignore the facts, impelled by the urgency of the Democratic party’s political concerns. They wish to avoid, or ignore, the wider war, including the one being waged by Iran. They fear the impact on the U.S. voter of any on-the-ground involvement by the U.S. military. Political victory over Trump is the primary goal at any cost.

They realize that Israel must uproot Hamas, crush Hezbollah, and cow Iran, if Israel is to be safe. But they are resolutely trying to restrain Israel from carrying this out, even though this constitutes a betrayal of the U.S. avowed commitment to Israel’s security. The drive to engineer a cease-fire at any cost is the center-piece of this effort. They are even giving lip-service to genocide claims they know are not true.

They know how crucial it is for Israel to control the border with Egypt to prevent re-supply, the transport of hostages and escape by Hamas leadership. The U.S. sought to prevent the entry into Rafah and are urging Israel to withdraw. They show no concern about Israel security, compounding the danger by seeking a two-state solution, potentially creating another failed terrorist enclave like Gaza.

Can we expect all this to go away after November 5th?

Will Kamala Harris bow to the Squad of American Islamics in the Democratic party? Will she continue  Obama-Biden’s limp expression of world leadership?

Can Israel find/ seek other more reliable allies? What can it do to decrease its reliance on the U.S.?

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