The politically correct set in the United States State Department became enraged and almost hysterical when Defense Minister Moshe “Bougie” Ya’alon decided to “give them hell”.
That is, Ya’alon told the truth, and they “thought it was hell”.
Specifically, Ya’alon correctly pointed out that, as a result of American passivity, Russia has taken military action against the Ukraine, China has become more aggressive in southeast Asia, and Iran is continuing to march towards obtaining nuclear weapons capability.
Minister Ya’alon accurately noted that the perception of the international community is that the United States is afflicted with “feebleness,” which is jeopardizing the current world order and undermining the security of the democratic nations, including the United States.
Suffering from grievously wounded feelings, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reacted immediately. He and others In the Obama Administrationtelephoned Prime Minister Netanyahu and demanded that Minister Ya’alon be forced to apologize for saying out loud what everyone is thinking.
This is the second time the State Department has taken umbrage at Minister Ya’alon’s candid observations. Several weeks ago they complained bitterly when Minister Ya’alon rightly noted that Secretary Kerry was “messianic” and “obsessive” in his desperate efforts to force a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and that the proposed security arrangements in the Jordan Valley were useless.
It is understandable that, for political reasons, Minister Ya’alon
has chosen to issue quasi-apologies to Secretary Kerry in response to the tantrums of the State Department. In reality, however, Minister Ya’alon owes no apology to anyone for publicly telling the painful truth. If anything, it is the Obama Administration that owes an apology to the American people for shirking its responsibilities as leader of the free world.
Equally pathetic are the lamentations of the Israelis who quiver at the mere thought of offending the delicate sensibilities of President Obama or Secretary Kerry. Assuming a supine posture of obsequiousness, these Israeli politicians and pundits insist that everyone tell the Obama Administration what it wants to hear, no matter how disconnected from reality it is:
“How big and strong you are! We are so grateful to you for demanding we appease our enemies! You clearly know better than we what is in our best interests!”
Minister Ya’alon has had the temerity to tell the unflattering truth about the feckless foreign policy of the United States under the reign of President Obama. His blunt and insightful statements may not have been politically correct, but it is long past time for someone to have the courage to make them.
Both the Israeli and American publics are entitled to have an honest dialogue about the threats to both countries.
The United States public needs to hear that its government has lost the respect of foes and friends alike throughout the world.
The Israeli people need to understand that they stand alone against the threats from Iran, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian Arabs. They must not be deluded into thinking that the United States will be of any assistance.
Minster Ya’alon deserves the gratitude of both Americans and Israelis for telling it like it is, even if it seems like hell. Harry Truman would have approved.
What most people do not understand is that the Messiah does not come to carry out revenge – he comes to assure the singularity of one God, of which the Jewish nation is His main proposer on this Earth
The problem with Iran as many folks before me have noted is that it adheres to a particular eschatology that envisions bringing the Messiah with a cataclysmal event such as a nuclear war. It isn’t that they don’t know that they could be incinerated in response to an initial strike on Israel or elsewhere (say Riyadh); its that they think it is part of a divine plan for the good. What is truly puzzling is why the U.S., Russia, China and the E.U. don’t get it.
Read this great article on Ya’alon:
dweller Said:
I was criticizing Shavit’s opinion (may be I should have stated it differently). You are right in saying “Mladen Andrijasevic did not cite the Shavit remark because he ‘agreed’ with it.”
Thanks for your comment.
@ AbbaGuutuu:
You stopped reading too soon. Mladen Andrijasevic did not cite the Shavit remark because he ‘agreed’ with it.
He followed it with a quote from Ya’alon, containing this:
@ Mladen Andrijasevic:
Actually, the American press is incapable of handling the truth about OBAMA.
I suspect that if he weren’t their man, they might be a trifle more sober in their assessment of the Mullahs & what to do about them.
As it is, they’re just too addicted to the Kool-aid to see clearly.
Mladen Andrijasevic Said:
The above mentioned statement is totally wrong. The Mutually Assured Destruction Deterrent (MADD) cold war nuclear policy served well between the former USSR and US and the West because they have similar values when it comes to human lives (they want to live)unlike Iran. Iran believes that it gets rewards from Allah if they die fighting infidels by creating chaos through out the world in order to form a world wide caliphate to bring back their messiah (Mahdi). Iranian leadership is not rational and believes that the use of nuclear weapons is rational, too. It is naive to believe otherwise.
@ dbdent:
Ya’alon is great!
One thing for sure – when Bibi is no longer PM and Yaalon is a candidate , he has my vote. He says it as it is – and bugger the Americans. Its time someone spoke up. Another thought – a SOFT Lieberman will not be a good PM!
Since when does Ya’alon have to apologize for saying that 2 + 2 = 4?
http://www.madisdead.blogspot.co.il/2014/03/since-when-does-yaalon-have-to.html
Two years ago I wrote:
I can only conclude that the American press is just incapable of handling the truth about the Iranian threat and chooses to ignore it. The frankness displayed by the Ya’alon interview in Ha’aretz is just too much for the uninformed and sleepwalking US public to handle.
Now we see that the Obama administration is even less capable of handling the truth. Both the Obama administration and the American press live in a fantasy world they take for reality.
Who’s Afraid of Moshe Ya’alon?
Ari Shavit: But the Iranians are rational, and the use of nuclear weapons is an irrational act. Like the Soviets, they will never do that.
Moshe Ya’alon: “A Western individual observing the fantastic ambitions of the Iranian leadership scoffs: ‘What do they think, that they will Islamize us?’ The surprising answer is: Yes, they think they will Islamize us: The ambition of the present regime in Tehran is for the Western world to become Muslim at the end of a lengthy process. Accordingly, we have to understand that their rationality is completely different from our rationality. Their concepts are different and their considerations are different. They are completely unlike the former Soviet Union. They are not even like Pakistan or North Korea. If Iran enjoys a nuclear umbrella and the feeling of strength of a nuclear power, there is no knowing how it will behave. It will be impossible to accommodate a nuclear Iran and it will be impossible to attain stability. The consequences of a nuclear Iran will be catastrophic.”