Greatest Leader Since Moses risks destroying Israel to save his career

Netanyahu’s career has had an ominous trajectory. Time after time, when he is politically at risk, he engineers a security crisis. Then he swoops in, the greatest leader of the Chosen People since Moses, and gives the terrorists a sharp slap, and everybody loves him again! Things calm down and life goes on. It’s a proven strategy that has worked again and again. Mr Netanyahu has more reasons than ever to hang on to the Boss job. A slew of corruption allegations for one thing. But this time around, The Greatest Leader Since Moses seems to have miscalculated The “only democracy in the Middle East” has been stinking up the very concept of democracy in recent years. Bibi has to keep steering to the right to collect the Knesset votes he needs to stay in power and out of jail. His latest posse of far-right extremists have pushed Israel into the current crisis. We are now in an emotionally supercharged hate loop of atrocity and counter-atrocity which has no hope of ending well for anyone. You can thank The Greatest Leader Since Moses for taking us all to the edge of the abyss.

Trudeau's tune-up

On 16 May Justin Trudeau made a public statement condemning the use of excessive force by the IDF at the Gaza containment fence and calling for an independent inquiry into the matter.

The next day I wrote a blog post remarking on how quickly that story had vanished from the major news aggregators.

But, life goes on, and there are always new outrages to get revved up about, and so I never actually followed up that story.

Until today.

Seems that on the very day that I was writing that post, Justin got a phone call from Bibi. They had a heart to heart about how tough it is being the only democracy in the Middle East and how Israel has a right to defend her borders etc.

On the following day, Trudeau's government abstained on a vote at the UN that called for... wait for it... an independent inquiry into excessive IDF violence at the Gaza containment fence!


Little Fluffy's having quite the learning curve, ain't he!?

Why Israel will avoid a direct show-down with Hezbollah

Much has been made of the alleged "increased tensions" in the Middle East, due in no small part to both Israeli and US meddling in Syria. The more paranoid factions of the punditocracy see an Israeli or combined Israel-US assault on Hezbollah in Lebanon as imminent, especially in light of Mr. Netanyahu's dire straits vis-a-vis those various corruption investigations.

It won't happen, and here's why. That number is from two years ago. Unofficial estimates have the Hezbollah arsenal at well over 200,000 rockets today, and we're not talking about the homemade stuff the Gaza rocketeers lob into the Negev on a regular basis. We're talking about the real deal.

If you assume a best case scenario wherein the various Israeli anti-missile defences, Iron Dome, David's Sling, and the Arrow program, all function flawlessly, they could be expected to be effective against an initial barrage of a few hundred incoming. They'd be less effective going forward, and they'd essentially be a non-factor after a few thousand, which in the case of all-out war would be a matter of hours.

Then what? Even if the IAF managed to take out half the Hezbollah arsenal in a massive first strike, that'll leave a hundred thousand missiles and Israel with it's missile shield spent. Political rhetoric aside, IDF leadership will never permit this.

What we're looking at is a regional case of MAD lite. There may be proxy battles here and there, but there will not be a head-on confrontation.

Will 2016 be the year Hitler finally gets some respect?

Maybe. Things look promising on this first day of the new year. Our erstwhile NATO ally the wily Erdogan has gone on the record as being an Adolf admirer.

And the late and much lamented Lemmy seems to have been a fan as well, although in his case the attraction seems to have been more sartorial than ideological. It's hard to argue with that; I mean those SS dudes did sport some snazzy uniforms.

Hitler's legacy has for too long been besmirched by that unfortunate Holocaust business, which seems manifestly unfair. It's a bit like remembering Michael Vick only for his hobby instead of his prowess as an athlete. But no less an authority than Israel's PM Mr. Netanyahu has done yeoman's work in erasing that particular stigma by revealing the fact that the Holocaust wasn't even Hitler's idea.

So maybe 2016 will be more than the Year of the Monkey; it may also be the year of Hitler's rehabilitation.

How the Netanyahu crowd has destroyed Israel

Where is Israel today?


Fighting a rear-guard action against BDS.


Continuously justifying the unjustifiable in the West Bank and Gaza.


Fighting another rear-guard action against an Iran deal that leaves the Iran nuclear program exposed to the bright sunshine while leaving Israel's nuclear program completely in the dark. Why anyone in Israel should object to such a deal is inconceivable.


Alienating Israel's one essential patron while fighting that fight.


Israel does indeed have an existential problem, and it's got nothing to do with Iran.


It's got everything to do with the Palestinians.


Before Netanyahu, there was always hope, even in the Sharon era.


Today?


Show me the hope...


When Edgar Bronfman passed, Israeli media were quick to lard on the plaudits. After all, how could they not? Mr. Bronfman, President of the World Jewish Congress for two decades, was the number one advocate for Israel for a long time.


What none of those obits mentioned, was that Edgar Bronfman ceaselessly advocated for a Palestinian state. He knew what BDS knows; Israel has an existential problem that needs to be resolved if Israel is to continue.


That's not anti-Semitism.


That's reality.

Israel in the age of Islamic State

The arrogant Likudniks who have been running the show in Israel for the last 25 years today announced another 300 settler homes on Palestinian territory in the West Bank.

As every Israeli who gives these matters any thought whatsoever already understands, that's going to inflame resistance all over again.

The "resistance" these days is largely confined to teens throwing stones at settler vehicles.

Ya, I know there's those deadly Gaza rockets that never manage to hit anything, but by and large, those stone-throwers are the "resistance."

Their resistance has recently been further criminalized by the introduction of a 20 year jail term for the stone-throwers.

While that is going on, the Likudniks have been cynically annexing the Golan, because what the hell is Assad going to do about it?

We'll just help ourselves to those oil and gas resources while Mr. Assad is otherwise occupied.

Does nobody in the Likudnik power structure see where they are taking their country?

There may be folks high up in the IDF who think they have a handle on what's going on across the borders, and at this point the upheaval is ongoing across every border.

You've got a highly unpopular non-democratic government in Egypt tamping down the fires in the Sinai.

Lebanon is practically an anarchic state, as Syria and Iraq are already.

Jordan is on the brink.

And Netanyahu concludes that this is the moment to announce 300 settler homes in the West Bank!

Yes, it may be great PR to humour some of those IS guys who show up at the border seeking medical attention. But is there a long-term strategy at work in the Netanyahu cabinet?

The closest thing that the Likudniks have ever had to a "long term strategy" is the belief that when and if the shit hits the fan, the USA will come to the rescue.

It might be time to give that strategy a good re-think.

Al Qaeda terrorists discovered in Israeli ambulance

Here's a confusing story out of occupied Golan in Syria.

Seems a Druze mob ransacked an IDF ambulance that was ferrying wounded al-Nusra fighters to an Israeli medical facility for treatment. Also inside the ambulance were two IDF soldiers, presumably there to protect the terrorists from the Druze mob.

Here's what the Greatest Leader Since Moses had to say about it;

"This is a very grave incident. We will not permit anybody to take the law into their own hands, and we will not allow anyone to hamper Israeli soldiers in the course of their duty," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
"I call on Druze leaders to act immediately to calm tensions."

Isn't that rich! The Golan Druze, under illegal Israeli occupation since 1967, are expected to stand by while the IDF supports the al Qaeda franchise in Syria!

At least the PM inadvertently confirmed something many have suspected; that it is part of an IDF soldiers duty to support al- Nusra Front. 

Netanyahu's declaration of victory rings hollow

Prime Minister Netanyahu's declaration of victory on Wednesday is unlikely to have fooled anyone, least of all the Israeli people.

The stated goals of Operation Solid Cliff/Protective Edge were variously to eliminate Hamas' rockets, create quiet in the south, and eliminate the tunnel networks.

Some tunnels have been destroyed. So long as a single shovel remains in Gaza, more can be built.

If there is quiet in the south today it is because Hamas are observing the ceasefire; not because the IDF silenced the rockets. Hamas kept up a steady barrage of rockets and mortars right into the last minutes before the ceasefire came into effect, in spite of relentless pounding by the IDF and IAF for more than seven weeks.

Gloating about Hamas' leadership being decimated is irrelevant even if it were true; there's plenty of eager recruits where those came from, and if history teaches anything, it's that the next generation of resistance leaders are generally younger, smarter, and more ruthless. Hamas' prestige has been enormously enhanced by Netanyahu's war and to claim otherwise is either brazenly dishonest or delusional.

The unstated goal, to destroy Hamas - PA reconciliation, was also a complete failure. The fact that it was PA negotiators speaking for Gaza and Hamas in Cairo shows they have been brought closer, not driven apart.

And the damage to Israel from Netanyahu's war of choice?

Immeasurable.

Hundreds of thousands have protested against Israel in nations not that long ago considered solid allies. Countries friendly until two months ago have recalled their ambassadors. Israel's relationship with its single most important benefactor has hit an all-time low.

Israel has never been more isolated.

Some victory.

New Egypt government rushes to secure borders... Israel's borders!

Less than a year after the Western-backed overthrow of the democratically elected Morsi government, the "new" democratically elected government of General Abdel al-Sisi isn't wasting any time showing who they're governing for.

Al-Sisi is rushing troops to the Israel-Egypt border to prevent terror attacks against Israel.

While preventing terror attacks against anyone is always a great idea, the optics in this case aren't going to endear the al-Sisi regime to the Egyptian masses who feel cheated out of their democratic franchise by the overthrow of Morsi.

They won't soon forget that both PM Netanyahu and President Peres wasted no time in congratulating al-Sisi on his election victory. The fact of a moderate Muslim being overthrown in favour of a Likud-friendly General has "blowback" written all over it.

We should understand by now that the surest way to guarantee the rise of extremism is to connive in the oppression of moderates.

Will we never learn?

Top towelhead changes hats

This is the Hassan Rouhani we've been accustomed to seeing, the wily toweller who pulled the wool over Kerry's eyes in Geneva, and generally fooled the entire world except for the ever-vigilant Binyamin Netanyahu, who immediately saw through the nice-guy schtick and spotted the "wolf in sheep's clothing" fanatic lurking within.



And here is the same Hassan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, out for a nature hike. Note that he has lost the holy hat in favour of a good-old fashioned US style baseball cap. Maybe the guy is for real after all?

Will Israel use NATO attack on Syria as cover for new Lebanon war?

Every few years the government of Israel gives the IDF the green light to attack Lebanon, there to root out the Hezbollah "terrorists" once and for all.

The imminent NATO attack on Syria, widely expected to launch by the end of the week, may prove an irresistible window of opportunity for Netanyahu. The inevitable fog of war will help obscure who did what first, and the always-pliant western media giants will circle the wagons in defense of "the only democracy in the middle east."

But not to worry; Iron Dome batteries are now so ubiquitous that most Israelis will be well protected from at least the first ten minutes of retaliatory Hezbollah rocket barrages.

What could possibly go wrong?

Exodus II; secular Israelis will exit in droves after election

All indications point to the next government being sharply to the right after Tuesday.

How one can be "sharply to the right" of the travesty that has been unfolding under Netanyahu these past few years is a bit of a brain teaser.

The hitherto unspoken will be proclaimed from the rooftops. Netanyahu has at least kept alive the fiction that he is for a two state solution. That will melt into the air after Tuesday. Oh, there may be a two state solution, but the other state will be somewhere else.

Siberia perhaps?

Somewhere in Africa?

Jordan? Gaza? The Sinai?

How about Canada? Canada's Foreign Minister John Baird has proclaimed that Canada is Israel's best friend; perhaps he can help out by providing a Palestinian Homeland.

But wherever it is and whatever it is, it won't be on the West Bank.

As the JPost announced today the West Bank residents are becoming more and more enamored of Hamas anyway. Let them move to Gaza to enjoy the benefits of Hamas governance.

Then there is the matter of Iran. The Bibi clique has made it clear, all protestations from the highest levels of the defense establishment aside, that war with Iran would be a good idea. With a fresh mandate he may well act on his obsession.

Then there is the issue of the rapidly growing sector who are more just than the just, more kosher than the kosher, closer to the Almighty in every way, but refuse to serve in the military or take employment. This minority will eventually be a majority.

All of which will help seal the deal for the 40% of Israelis already toying with the idea of absconding to more hospitable climes...

New York, Miami, Montreal, Toronto, Berlin...

Netanyahu critics hijack Jerusalem Post Conference in New York

Well here's something the American audience doesn't get to see every day.

Senior Israeli security boffins casting rude aspersions all over the greatest leader since Moses.

They love Netanyahu in America. Iran can be months away from a nuclear weapon for twenty years but the American public still buys into it every time the words fall from his lips.

And they're suckers for those Hitler analogies too. There can never be too many Hitler references in any Netanyahu speech intended for the American audience.

Netanyahu pretty much has managed to become the face of Israel to much of the American audience, so it must be a shock to realize that the man is something less than revered among the upper echelon of the security establishment.

Former Mossad boss Meir Dagan has gone on the record before as not being a true believer in the urgency of the Iran threat, so one can assume the JPost folks knew what they were getting when they invited him to the conference.

Perhaps now Netanyahu's American base will realize that he's not Moses after all.

Netanyahu greatest leader since Moses

At least according to the informal poll I conducted among shoppers at the Beth Ezekiel spring fund-raiser and rummage sale yesterday.

That news should shore up the spirits of the man who has been taking more than the usual amount of abuse lately. Most recently it has been former spy chief and vindictive know-nothing Yuval Diskin grabbing headlines with his intemperate remarks about the Prime Minister.

As spokepersons for both the Prime Minister and Barak were quick to point out, Diskin is a bitter man these days because his reign of error at Shin Bet is over and he was rightfully overlooked for the top spot at Mossad.

So hold your head high and carry on, Mr. Prime Minister. Remember, they grumbled about Moses too.

Crop circles reveal Netanyahu is the Messiah!

Yes, it's true! Right here at Falling Downs the crop circles are speaking!

Wait just a minute, you say. It's April. There are no crops.The crops have yet to be seeded... how can there be "crop circles"?

Ah, that is but the first miracle!

When Jehovah speaks He careth not for the season!

See?

Crops or no crops, you cannot silence the voice of the Almighty!

Benyamin has been governing his entire career based on the voice of the Almighty.

Matters not a whit that no one else hears that voice.

And that in itself is proof enough for me that Benyamin Netanyahu is indeed the Messiah!

Israel loves Iran

No, not the war-mongering weasels in the Knesset. Not those Israelis. But some regular folks who have been put off by the daily promises of "all options" etc. have taken matters into their own hands.

Haaretz is carrying a story about a couple in Israel who have started a Facebook page called "Israel loves Iran." Apparently there's plenty of regular folks in Iran who are prepared to reciprocate the feelings.

This leaves you wondering if maybe social media can facilitate an end-run around the political elite in both countries. It would be a beautiful thing. Let Bibi and Ahmadinejad duke it out, mano a mano. Maybe the UFC could make it part of their cage fighting pay-per-view spectaculars.

And the regular folks in both countries could get on with their lives.

Does Iran have the right to defend itself?

Harvard law professor and uber-patriot Alan Dershowitz went all out today in an interview with Newsmax.

He's got a major hate on for the website Media Matters, who have at times been critical of Israel. He singled out M.J. Rosenberg as someone who should never be read and in the unfortunate event that he is, should never be taken seriously.

Why? Because M.J. Rosenberg has been critical of Benyamin Netanyahu. Can you imagine such a thing? Critical of Bibi?

Rosenberg is obviously as anti-semetic as it is possible to be.

Dershowitz also has a special circle of hate reserved for George Soros, who provides Media Matters with some of its financing. Apparently when way-too-rich people support liberal causes something unnatural is going on.

The core of Dershowitz's snit seems to be that neither Soros or Rosenberg support an immediate attack on Iran. That in itself is evidence of anti-semitism on planet Dershowitz. By his reasoning every Jew in the world needs to march in lock-step with the Likud nuke-em-now agenda.

Every Jew who doesn't agree with Alan Dershowitz is an anti-semite.

Ironically, there is far more criticism of Likud policy and of Netanyahu in the Israeli press than is ever seen in American media.

So where does that leave our friends... oops, I mean our enemies in Iran?

Well, Dershowitz reiterates that endlessly reiterated truism that Israel has the right to defend itself. That might mean attacking other countries before those countries have actually done anything.

Lets turn it back to Al. Does Iran, as a sovereign country, have the same self-defense rights as Israel?

Netanyahu willing to risk annihilation of Israel in desperate attempt to cling to power

How odd that Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu needs to come to Washington to find a standing ovation.

That's what he'll be getting when he addresses the AIPAC policy conflab in Washington this week. In fact, I expect that his speech will be punctuated with multiple standing ovations.

That's not something Bibi gets a lot of back in the Holy Land.

In fact, he's pretty much a lame-duck at home, engulfed in one scandal after another. His brand of crony leadership and petty corruption is getting more than a little stale with the voters.

But in Washington he'll get a hero's welcome. He will get standing O's when he compares the Iranians to the Nazis. He'll get a standing ovation for invoking the holocaust. He'll get a standing ovation for threatening to start a new war in the Middle east.

He'll get those standing ovations from American's who don't live there.

Meanwhile, recent reports estimate that somewhere between 200 and 600 thousand missiles are ready to be fired at Israel in the event of an attack on Iran. Those figures came from Israeli sources and are perhaps exaggerated a wee bit. Lets assume there's only fifty thousand...

Iron Dome will stop a few dozen.

Crop circles reveal Stephen Harper is the Antichrist

Yup, it must be true.

I was out there all night. Again.

Going round and round with that divining rod in one hand and the ouiji board in the other, trying to decipher the damned crop circles.

Again and again the board gave me the message; SJH=666.

That can only mean one thing.

Big Steve is indeed the man behind the curtain.

And I've got proof. Well, not "proof" kind of proof, but some supporting evidence that is somewhat proofyish.

Have you ever noticed that when the big dogs on the global stage go to visit the Leader of the Free World in Washington they stop in to get their marching orders in Ottawa first?

It's true.

This very weekend Benyamin Netanyahu is stopping off in Ottawa to pay his respects before he moves on to meet with Obama in Washington.

Iran. Peace or war? Nuke 'em now or nuke 'em later?

The West Bank. Or is it really Judea and Samaria?

Gaza. We've seen "Cast Lead". What to call the next operation? Cast Iron? Cast votes? Cast off your chains?

Stephen Harper knows.

SJH=666

Netanyahu still clamoring for US attack on Iran

Netanyahu doesn't get that the Bomb Iran train has left the station.

Not to bomb Iran, but to find smaller fish to fry. America is in no mood for another disaster in the Middle East.

Even without nukes Iran is a formidable enemy. Remember a couple of weeks ago when the blogosphere was awash with stories about how 200,000 missiles were aimed at Israel at any given moment?

These are real missiles, not the home made pipe rockets the Gaza wankers are firing off into the Negev every other day.

By the way, the real resistance in Gaza has plenty of real rockets, way more than ever before, thanks to NATO's "liberation" of Libya. They've been bringing more than Toyotas and concrete blocks through those tunnels.

So even after the military intelligence apparati on all sides conclude that an attack on Iran would be an unmitigated disaster, we still see politicians in Israel and America banging the war drums.

Especially those politicians financed by Sheldon Adelson.

Here's the Falling Downs plan to avert a new Middle East war. Put Sheldon under house arrest and confine him to his apartment in Tel Aviv.

As long as he's within range of those 200,000 missiles, the war talk from Likud and the Republican party in the US will magically disappear.