Check out the CBC News home page at the very moment the Middle East teeters on the brink of all out regional war. You're introduced to 17 stories before you learn that "Fighting intensifies between Israel and Hamas."
Seven of those more important stories are covid related, because hey, if we don't beat the virus, Middle East Peace won't matter anyway.
Then there's a bit about the latest iteration of Quebec's racist language laws, and a spot on how Bill Morneau broke the law with his WE charity hanky-panky, but oh well. Bill is a well-meaning but slightly absent-minded chap who once forgot to declare a villa in the south of France as an asset when first brought into cabinet.
Besides that, we learned the CBC lost a lawsuit, a gay guy is pissed off because he's still not allowed to make blood donations, and a couple of Black kids in small prairie towns bonded over..., well, being Black kids in small prairie towns, which I suppose is a happy enough thing for them, but which I'm sceptical will win CBC a lot of eyeballs in the 18-30 demographic. Oh, and there's one actual news story; Greyhound is shutting down all across Canada.
Only then do we learn that "fighting intensifies..."
The story itself, sourced from Associated Press (because CBC doesn't do foreign bureaus anymore) is relatively even-handed, pointing out the current crisis was triggered by "heavy handed Israeli police tactics" during Ramadan.
True enough, but we've got historical precedent to draw on as well. Every time The Greatest Leader Since Moses has his back to the wall and risks losing an election, the violence is ramped up to whatever level is necessary, up to and including full-on war, to bring about the desired result. This time, Bibi sees his options as "go big or go to jail." So lets conjure up a really big round of violence, and the land will be awed anew by the steely resolve of their great helmsman.
Right now, the IDF is massing forces for a threatened incursion into Gaza. I'm sure that's a decision made on the political side by people around Netanyahu, because actual soldiers remember how that went last time. And how long do they imagine they'll be subduing Gaza before Hezbollah is drawn in. Then we'll see which estimate of how many missiles they have is most accurate. Various former senior officers have put the number in the hundreds of thousands. Iron Dome will be depleted after the first several dozen.
But if this gambit can keep Bibi's arse out of jail, it's worth a try!
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