Trump's brazen interference in the Israeli election

Trump's gifting of the Golan to Israel on Thursday was a present meant to give Netanyahu's election campaign a boost, nothing else.

Bibi finds himself bedevilled by various corruption probes and up against the toughest competition of his political career since Ariel Sharon. The race between Netanyahu and Benny Gantz is so close that this could tip the balance.

This move can only be seen as a provocation by Arab states in the region, and provoking Arabs and Palestinians has long been a feature of Netanyahu's electioneering.

And you can't deny that it works.

Unfortunately, it comes at a time when there is a growing rift between the ever more right-wing tilt of Israeli politics and the attitudes of Jews in the US, especially the younger generation. As an example, consider that in recent memory any aspiring US political leader found it expedient to show up and speechify at the annual AIPAC convention.

This year, almost half of the Dems who have declared for the 2020 presidential race are taking a pass. This is a big deal. The Democrats are in the early stages of a generational sea-change. The momentum is clearly with the OAC-Ilhan Omar contingent. Last century Dem bigs like Pelosi and Schumer will still show up at the AIPAC shindig, of course, but anyone who wants to be perceived as progressive will give it a wide berth.


American policy in the Middle East has been an unmitigated disaster for at least fifty years. Legitimising Israel's theft of the Golan just makes it worse.

Baron Black's attack on Iran would be suicide for Israel

That's why it doesn't happen.

Conrad "Monty" Black's prescription for peace in the Middle East, written on a day he got into the cooking sherry a little earlier than usual, speculates that in the current climate of chaos wrought in the region by the Nations of Virtue, it might be a good idea if Israel, perhaps in concert with Turkey and Saudi Arabia, eliminated the threat of the imaginary Iranian nukes once and for all. (There had to be more than sherry at work here...)

Black, former publisher of the JPost, still hews to the Likud party line, and as the world knows, the Iran nuke has been a bee in Bibi's bonnet for a quarter century now. Yes, those Iranian nuclear engineers have been months away from a nuclear weapon since the early nineties!

So why does the IAF not do something about it?

The IAF/IDF at the upper echelons are populated with serious people who don't take the yapping of ultra-nationalist politicians and armchair warmongers seriously. While Conrad Black can gloat about the IDF's "thrashing" of Hamas from his mansion in Toronto, IDF boss Benny Gantz acknowledges the courage of the Hamas fighters. Gantz understands that the only result of an unnecessary war that took the lives of five dozen IDF troops was to enhance the prestige of Hamas among the Palestinians.

That's what Mr. Black calls a thrashing of Hamas. The only thing thrashed by Operation Over the Edge was Israel's standing in world opinion.

The serious people understand the limits of what the IDF can and cannot do. They can't destroy Hezbollah, they can't destroy Hamas, and they certainly won't destroy Iran. Even in a nuclear first strike, there will be enough assets left over among Iran and her allies that Israel would be obliterated.

For their part, the Iranians understand that any attack on Israel would be suicidal as well.

What we've got here is MAD lite. Might as well get used to it, live with it, and make the best of it. The threat of mutually assured destruction kept the peace between NATO and the Soviet bloc for 50 years; it can do the same for Iran and Israel.

IDF mulls code of ethics for Israeli troops

IDF boss Benny Gantz is issuing a "directive" in the hopes of avoiding a repeat of the recent incident wherein a few female conscripts posted their bare butts on Facebook.

Here's a couple more ideas for your code of ethics, Benny:

• stop hassling innocent civilians at the checkpoints if they're just folks who need to go to work or to school
• stop using live ammo on kids throwing stones at your patrols in the West Bank.

I know you don't want to be seen as weak, Benny, but showing a bit of goodwill is going to get you a lot further in the long run than playing the bully every minute.

Think about it.