What lays ahead for Israel as the war with Gaza changes gears?
A WhatsApp message was made public last week. It apparently leaked from a group of leaders of the major protests in Israel. They said that they planned to continue the anti-government protests until the Netanyahu government was gone. They noted that with the return of the hostages, they currently do not have a theme for their continued efforts. But not to fear, they will come up with something in short order so that the protests will continue.
The protests have spanned Netanyahu’s current and previous governments. They have changed themes according to the direction of the wind. In order, these have been the major foci:
- Netanyahu is a crook
- No to judicial reform
- It’s Netanyahu’s fault that the October 7th attack occurred
- You’re fighting the war all wrong
- Netanyahu is still a crook
- Get those hostages back at all cost
- Out of subjects; be back soon
On Saturday night in Tel Aviv, Steve Witkoff addressed the lefty crowd as they once again assembled on Kaplan Street. When he praised Binyamin Netanyahu for his role in getting the hostages home, the crowd gave him a healthy, “BOO!!!”. They then started to scream, “Trump, Trump, Trump!!” It’s the same old story. For two years, they have demanded that Bibi bring the hostages home. When he actually agreed to a deal that does exactly that and not much more for the time-being, they have nothing good to say about the man. As I wrote recently, one of the protesters was asked if Israel should do anything Hamas demands in exchange for the abductees. The answer was a resounding yes. What if Hamas demands another five years of Bibi? Then no, the hostages best stay put.
And this is the story in the US as well. Whatever Donald Trump does, he is labeled Hitler. Prices are too high, he brings them down. Crickets. He ends wars around the world. Silence. He brings in hundreds of billions in tariff revenue, and not a word of praise. The leftists here and in the US have no positive program, only to be against the successful more conservative leader. They hate Bibi and Trump because the two of them stand in their way of having total power. In Israel, the judicial reform was meant in part to return the High Court to an appellate role rather than leave it as a super-Knesset that sets all policy in the country. Terror victims filed to stop the current release of terrorists that are part of the Trump Deal. The court said that the issue was not subject to legal review. Every other topic comes under their control, but this one they punted because they want no one to accuse them of leaving the Israeli hostages behind in Gaza.
The left in the US is equally deranged. Can you name five policy positions that Democrats have that are simply not anti-Trump? Are any of them political winners? A fully open border? Trans for kids? Reparations for non-slaves from non-slave owners? A DEI military that slams ships into each other? The Israeli and American left are bereft of creative solutions to real problems faced by actual citizens. They hate real citizens. They want totally open borders and an international government in which each country is second fiddle to the larger body. They are focused on Marxist ideology that is an anathema to normal people. So when a deal is signed that stops the fake genocide and non-existent starvation, Hamas lovers in the West are disappointed that their real goal, Israel being destroyed, has not been met. When arrangements are made to pull back the IDF in exchange for 20 living hostages and the remains of 28 others, Israeli leftists boo the guy who made the call—though for 2 years they have been demanding exactly this outcome. They are empty fools and wish to destroy the countries in which they live. The international left hates your freedom, and they will do everything to curtail it and make for all-powerful governments—which they run—in order to tell you which drugs to take and when and to where you can travel. The left is a cancer on free societies and must be politically neutered at the ballot box. They cannot be allowed to hold power, as wherever they go, destruction follows. Joe Biden could never have jawboned all of the relevant countries to get the impending ceasefire/hostage release deal going. Donald Trump is coming to take a victory lap that Joe Biden could never have earned.
President Trump is scheduled to arrive in Israel at 9 a.m. on Monday. Israel, while technologically advanced and militarily strong, is still a small country and gets very giddy when the leader of the free world arrives. In the day, our kids ran downtown to film Obama’s motorcade go through the city. After Donald Trump leaves a star-struck country, Israel will have to move forward, with one eye looking backward. While the war has been going on, Bibi and all of those below him have pushed off a serious investigation into the root causes of the war. This task cannot be put off forever. There is no question that Hamas did brilliant work in preparing and executing the horrible attack. But signs were missed, and soldiers who warned of an approaching attack were ignored. Everything during the five years prior to the pogrom must be analyzed honestly and objectively in order to understand how such a massive attack could occur with such brutal results. Hamas lulled Israel into believing that the terror group was not interested in war and so intelligence focused on Hezbollah and Iran, where the war results were stupendous. If the IDF’s major activity is finished and the army has moved into a primarily defensive posture for the foreseeable future, then the government must come clean on how 6,000 barbarians poked 100 holes into a fence and streamed into Israel. I know that it won’t happen as many of the guilty players are still in positions of power. It will be a whitewash, even as the New York Times shows that Yahya Sinwar instructed his men to commit mass murder and destruction and to film it all.
Israeli society will forever be changed by the events of October 7, 2023 and the two years that followed. The issue of ultraorthodox participation in the army must be settled, now that so many reservists had to serve so often and for so long. Israel’s army will have to learn what worked well and what failed in its kinetic activities with Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, terror groups in the West Bank, Syria and Iran. Houthis and Iranian projectiles got through: how do you stop them in the future? Israel’s multiple drone types have become a major platform for intelligence and attack. The Israel Air Force has added thousands of hours to its aging fleet and will need new planes. Israel’s economy has been resilient but many left the country and during the worst hours, investment was down as was the outlook for Israel’s high tech sector. Will new countries be open to Israeli tourists and cooperation? I don’t think that the agreement will progress past hostage release/IDF redeployment State 1. Will new countries join the Abraham Accords? I don’t know.
Israel should rejoice in the release of the hostages and the movement of the IDF into a defensive posture deep inside Gaza. It should enjoy the visit of the president who has been the best friend the Jewish state has ever had. And then, it needs to take stock of its past failures and future challenges.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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