I started a new Poll in the right column. What do you think?
By David Horoqwitz, TOI July 29/14 4:23 PM
The PM is clear-eyed about the danger Hamas poses to Israel. So why, despite considerable pressure, is he manifestly disinclined to order a full-scale ground offensive?
[..] Indeed, it has been clear since the days before this conflict began that Netanyahu has not wanted to launch a full-scale war against Hamas. He repeatedly offered “quiet for quiet” when the rocket fire first escalated, immediately accepted the Egyptian ceasefire proposal two weeks ago, agreed to a series of “humanitarian time-outs” which were then breached by Hamas over recent days, and waved away what he called the “background noise” from those, like Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, who have been loudly urging him to smash Hamas and deriding him for his hesitancy.
Nobody can imagine for a moment that Netanyahu does not consider Hamas the embodiment of Islamic extremist evil. Nobody can doubt that he takes seriously Hamas’s declared goal of destroying Israel. Netanyahu does not believe for a second that Hamas can be reformed. Netanyahu does not believe any conceivable post-conflict framework could achieve the demilitarization of Gaza if Hamas remains largely intact. He knows all too well how Hamas has strengthened its capacity to do Israel harm over the seven years since it seized control of Gaza, and that it will only strengthen further if it is able to do so after this conflict. It was he who warned that the tunnels would have been used to “catastrophic” effect against the residents of Gaza-adjacent communities had they not been tackled now. It was he on Monday night who declared it untenable for Israelis to be faced with the threat of “death from above” by rocket fire and “death from below” via the terror tunnels.
So why, from a prime minister clear-eyed about the danger Hamas poses to Israel, and urged by his right-wing base to approve more intensive military action, this manifest disinclination to send the IDF “all the way”?
One possible explanation: He believes that for all Hamas’s swaggering, it is in real trouble — not militarily, where its key capacity has not been significantly harmed, but in terms of its credibility in Gaza and thus its likely standing when the guns fall silent. That Gazans loathe Israel is a given. But might they also increasingly loathe Hamas for bringing Israel’s military force down upon them? And might a weakened Hamas be forced to accept the return of Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority to Gaza, with the possibility of the “sustained calm” for Israel that Netanyahu set as his opening objective for this conflict?
Another possible consideration: He knows how heavy the IDF losses will be in a full-scale ground offensive. Israel enjoys air supremacy over Gaza. On the ground, things are very different. Israel lost five soldiers on Monday who were killed by Hamas gunmen emerging from a tunnel the IDF had identified, partially demolished, and thought it had secured. Even in those most favorable of conceivable circumstances, the infiltrators fatally surprised the army. Deep in Gaza, Hamas enjoys a home field advantage. Its killers are waiting. The IDF is a highly motivated, well-trained and well-equipped fighting force. Hamas’s home advantage notwithstanding, Israel’s ground troops are certain to kill many more of the enemy’s gunmen than they lose. But be the ratio 5:1, 10:1, or 20:1, Israel will bleed, and quite apart from his own anguish at such a prospect, the prime minister may be concerned that the public mood will turn radically before Hamas is defeated.
Alternately, Netanyahu may be highly concerned about the consequences of a successful ground invasion, leaving Israel back in control of 1.7 million very hostile Palestinians.
A further possible explanation — to my mind a relevant one: Netanyahu is watching the boiling Middle East aware of the ease with which one active military front, in Gaza, can become two, three or more. In South Lebanon, Hezbollah has 10 times as many rockets as Hamas had three weeks ago, with longer ranges, greater accuracy and bigger warheads. It has stayed out of this conflict so far; there are no guarantees it will continue to do so. Its sponsor-in-chief, Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei, has been urging Muslims everywhere to arm the Palestinians against the vicious Zionist enterprise. Thus far, he has steered clear of calling Hezbollah into action — testament, perhaps, to the ongoing deterrent effect of the 2006 war. Closer to home, last weekend saw nine Palestinians killed in clashes in the West Bank, after the masses were exhorted by Hamas to unleash a Third Intifada. There were riots in parts of East Jerusalem, too.
Also worth remembering, as Netanyahu holds back, is his unyielding focus on the Iranian nuclear weapon drive. If necessary, he has said time and again, Israel will act alone to stop Iran attaining the bomb. Netanyahu emphatically considers the Iranian program an existential threat to Israel, and is anything but confident in the will of the international community to avert it. Becoming deeply embroiled in a major, bloody war in Gaza is a distraction he may be intent on avoiding. He may also be concerned at exhausting such tolerance for Israeli military action as still exists internationally over Gaza — where the scenes of devastation, death and helplessness effortlessly trump the most articulate efforts to explain why this is all Hamas’s fault — when he may need it over Iran.
Only the prime minister and those closest to him know which if any of these considerations, or others, are centrally impacting his decision-making. Netanyahu is anything but a fool — and nor, for that matter, are the minister of defense and the IDF chief of staff who are stewarding this conflict with him and, unsurprisingly, showing no signs of dissent. He knows he can’t leave the IDF treading water in Gaza — partially deployed, relatively exposed.
But whatever choices he now makes, there can be no doubt: Netanyahu, who opposed Israel’s 2005 disengagement from Gaza, did not want to order its re-invasion. Which begs the question: What does he have in mind?
SHmuel HaLevi 2 Said:
You have an outstanding resume. I am not questioning your expertise nor your concern and devotion for the well-being of Israel. As a person who has accessibility to classified info, I believe you are fully aware of the facts that BB won’t be able to disclose the sources (classified ones)on which he based his decisions to the public. There are classified info that only the PM and few others have accessibility to. Are you telling me that you have accessibility to all classified info that BB receives so frequently and based his decisions on? Is it not premature to have conclusions about the ongoing war? No body including BB is perfect. I prefer to commend, criticize or/and blame BB and others after the outcome of the war initiated by terrorist Hamas and Islamic Jihad is over.
yamit82 Said:
If you have the stomach for the job, I shall send you on a reconnaissance mission. Return with videos.
yamit82 Said:
Had to laugh, you sound like my Grandfather. Grandfather said, ” Poland is a land of peasants, pigs, and mud.”
honeybee Said:
Is she a real Blond??? That’s the overriding issue.
yamit82 Said:
I understand you now. That post was most explanatory.
@ bernard ross:
She a stinking Pollak, what do you expect???
@ bernard ross:
Thank you for this post on the Hamas miss fire.
@ bernard ross:
Seems the Jews have gotten under her skin.
SHmuel HaLevi 2 Said:
They were not sacrificed 4 were killed by friendly fire confirmed and almost 20 were killed inside of Israel. Those lost in Gaza were fighting for the protection of the homeland and where, how and why they died was in the line of duty which would have occurred even if the IDF were more aggressive and had moved against Hamas directly.
If after this ends and the situation not improved vis avis Hamas then our fight is with the leaders and IDF. The losses we incurred so far were not sacrifices for nothing. They did good and the stories of their actions and accomplishments and bravery will all come out after this war is finished.
Mika Brzezinski: ‘Keep it Right Here on Morning Jew’
http://freebeacon.com/culture/mika-brzezinski-keep-it-right-here-on-morning-jew/
bernard ross Said:
Nothing so conspiratorial anyone who has followed BB can predict his moves and mindset. They have had many years dealing-and fighting against BB and each time he either avoided a serious confrontation, quit before the end and even voiced his views about protecting Hamas so as to block even more militant and radical elements in Gaza and preventing a united Palis front in negotiations.
AbbaGuutuu Said:
Destroying Tunnels was never a stated war aim by BB until the killed 7 soldiers in an APC after infiltrating our border through a tunnel. Before that the stated aim was to degrade the rockets and launchers and to harm Hamas as much as possible.
The Rockets today are not even mentioned. Short range 120mm mortars not mentioned.
The above are all tactical military aims not government policy statements or goals.
BB should have declared the aim of the war is the total destruction of Hamas and their leadership and given the IDF it’s directives to go get em. A couple of Battalions of Tanks sprinting to the known Bunkers under Shifa Hospital where the Leadership and command and control of Hamas is hunkered down would have ended this war in a day or two and we would not have lost many more soldiers than we already have. Then the Tunnels would be destroyed based on concrete Intel and in our own time without much apposition. We could go after the rockets on the ground and not from the air.
It would also have avoided all the deaths and destruction in Gaza to the civilians and kept world Public Opinion off balance. The disposition and administration of Gaza afterwards to be determined after Hamas is out of power.
So don’t give me any of your ignorant Bull shit about BB etc.
BB did not and never has wanted to decapitate Hamas and we have never had a more risk adverse and conflict adverse PM than BB is. This is not meant to be complimentary towards BB.
NormanF Said:
Yeah true but you seem to have a “real hard on for the Jews”. You said, ” Jews have no honor and a taste for humiliation” all this while Jewish MEN are wounded and dying to protect your ungrateful ass. Please note, I neve call men in uniform “boys”.
yamit82 Said:
How did they come to this understanding, BB appeared to have the same understanding. Was it agreed between them?
Why did BB take that position this time, and not in the past?
yamit82 Said:
Be mad! But then there is an enemy. And the only way one can co-exist with the Arabs is when they’re defeated. Germany and Japan did not become civilized societies until they lost their wars of aggression.
yamit82 Said:
Do you need EXPERT nursing care, Sugar ?????????
SHmuel HaLevi 2 Said:
Uh huh. There are dead Arabs. As far I can tell, every one is upset because the Jews are in the picture. There is no mass outrage over Arabs killed by Arabs.
@ yamit82:
Its just common sense. Hamas is no different in intent from the Nazis.
@ yamit82:
Then what is the situation.? Your above post sounded hopeful.
yamit82 Said:
What a relief !!!!!!!!!!
@ yamit82:
Where? Only victory is acceptable. Sacrificing our children to “nick the yo-yo string” is not acceptable.
honeybee Said:
No.
honeybee Said:
Nope!!!! Call it the NormanF effect 🙁
What did he do with the arms caches he found in the UNRWA run Schools???? Twice!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFd8jVrbf0A
bernard ross Said:
No doubt about that. When the coin finally drops on the Jooos, it might give them some inner introspection and realize their feeling of safety in America as Jews is not as safe as they believe. The basic difference between classic Jew hatred in Europe and other places and America is that Jews in America have institutional protection.
Then again the Jews might as usual accept spit for rain.
yamit82 Said:
Goodsakes Darlin, you’re not mellowing, are you ????
@ yamit82:
Are you say saying there is light at the end of the tunnel ????
yamit82 Said:
I find the majority of his remarks disgusting.
@ AbbaGuutuu:
Actually I am also a former Senior-Fellow Engineer US Department of Defense Military Avionics and a former Invited Consultant to the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
I had and in cases still have access to classified information. regrettably for you that stays as it is.
So it is because the TV faced jerk has access to super duper intelligence that he freed Islamic murderers, prevented the Levi Report from becoming his source of support to build in Eretz Israel. Based on the same extremely accurate intelligence he opted to allow Iran to complete its nuclear Program. Forgot to tell you that I also worked at for an assignment at Sandia NL and trained at China Lake Naval Weapons Center, in California. For reasons we will not chat about with you about the people in charge there felt I deserved to be invited to visit a 4th of July the White Sands Test Range in New Mexico, nuclear site. Netanyahu has intentionally failed to stop Iran and now we face a daunting problem, that judging by the dismal command performance by his selected generals, will never be tackled without a disastrous result. Apparently the exquisite fellow of yours did not read the F-35’s ghastly design and track record when he and his pal Barak lumped that dud on us as well.
There is more background on the failure on legs you adore.
Your Netanyahu is in every aspect an ill fitting people user opportunist, callous and devoid of identification individual.
He is at this point working with Peres,_Batak, Livni, Weinstein on how to surrender and if anything is achieved in Gaza will be because he was bypassed by out great field commanders and soldiers who he sent into a trap he knew existed all along.
Now AbbaGuutuu will tell us all about his.her access to classified mumble jumble.
US Embassy in Tel Aviv Severely Restricts Visas for Israelis
Tourist visa process cancelled until further notice, embassy announces. Is it a matter of security, or discrimination?
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/183533#.U9lcu_ldWSo
this is what BB is up against, the chicago bath house feygele
he is turning the US agianst the Jews, he will play the anti semite card agianst the US jews who protest, he is the enemy of the Jews.
yamit82 Said:
I like your comment. Thanks for your insight!
@ AbbaGuutuu:
Hamas is losing one of their main strategic weapons the Tunnels. Rockets seem to be pretty much neutered at least the major threat to life and property in Israel. Biggest killer this time seems to be crude conventional mortars.
250,000 homeless refugees poured into Gaza city and were seem banging on the doors of wealthy Hamas leaders and supporters for food, water and shelter.
Egypt has them by the balls and Israel is pressing in the other direction Turkey and Qatar can’t save them unless they come to some compromises.
In the end it will come down to the amount and cost of physical damage against the amount of donor money they receive. They may not yet be in a diminishing returns situation yet but they could be in a few more days or weeks if the IDF continues to extract a cost in damages.
So far from what I have gleaned from a reliable source they have lost according to their estimates over a thousand fighters. They also know that Israel should she decide will have their individual heads sooner or later if they resume attacks after an agreement. This time they understood and rightly so that BB would not go after them and they acted accordingly.
Too early to declare defeat from a possible victory. In the end if Egypt doesn’t waver Hamas may reject a ceasefire and Hudna and continue, then all restraints should be discarded.
I have a feeling Sissi will not let them agree to a Hudna….
Not for Israel but for his own reasons, he has a long score to settle with Hamas and even Obama.
SHmuel HaLevi 2 Said:
I do not doubt that you have better info as a member of LIKUD Central Committee. Do you have accessibility to classified info like BB currently? If not, on what basis do you continuously criticize/blame BB?
AbbaGuutuu Said:
I agree and no matter what my differences with BB and my deep loathing of the man he is not a terrorist. Norman does sound like an internet terrorist though. No anitisemite has uttered worse comments about Jews than Norman.
NormanF Said:
You are right in this. However, is it not too early to draw a conclusion while Israel is still at war with Hamas, Islamic Jihad and faces a severe pressure from the current US Administration and international pressures?
Israeli negotiators in Cairo for Gaza ceasefire talks
Two-member delegation scheduled to spend several hours in Egypt reviewing suggestions
An Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss with Egyptian officials a possible ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, airport officials said.
Cairo, a key mediator in truce negotiations between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers, was also expected to host a Palestinian delegation later this week composed of Palestinian Authority and Hamas representatives.
Hamas has rejected a ceasefire in the brutal 23-day conflict without guarantees of an end of the blockade of Gaza, while Israel says it is intent on destroying tunnels used by Hamas to conduct attacks in its territory.
The Cairo airport officials did not identify the two-member Israeli delegation, but said they were scheduled to depart after a visit of several hours, in which they would discuss proposals for a truce.
@ SHmuel HaLevi 2:
Demonstration being organized for Sat Night by different groups identified with the Israeli right in support of Victory of IDF.
@ AbbaGuutuu:
Netanyahu until days before the whole mess blew on his gesticulating TV face, was releasing convicted Islamic murderers of Jews by the 100’s and also proposed for the record to abandon hundreds of thousands of Jews to Abbas in Y & S.
I am a former veteran LIKUD Central Committee member and know el Netanyahu for decades. He is as credible and trustworthy as the Sharon’s groups were, or worse.
@ AbbaGuutuu:
I meant Shimon Peres. There are no easy alternatives, granted. But we both know the only path forward is victory. And Israel’s enemies like Iran and Hezbollah are watching too, not what Netanyahu says but what he does. Without victory, others will perceive Israel to be a paper tiger.
NormanF Said:
Comparing BB to a terrorist is unconscionable. You may disagree with his tactics and strategy (provided you have accessibility to all classified and unclassified info about the current terrorist initiated war with Israel). I doubt you have such accessibility.
Leading a nation in times of war in this hostile world against the Jews is a very difficult task. BB along with his colleagues makes a life and death decisions under severe international pressures with no easy alternatives presented to him.
@ SHmuel HaLevi 2:
Agreed. Its for this cretin Jewish boys are dying and he has no shame in tossing them away to save his terrorist pal Abu Bluff.
@ bernard ross:
The only thing exhausted is our patience with the Oslo criminal in chief. That specimen intentionally caused thousands of “victims of peace”.
@ bernard ross:
Netanyahu has never been any different. He has no idea or ever had any idea about how to lead our people to victories.
As to Abbas. The item was a poor second tier me too after Arafat and cannot lead Gaza or any other area w/o outside help, if at all.
I expect Netanyahu to declare “victory” and retreat and return to attack Jewish interests.
He really has no choice but to continue and defeat Hamas once and for all. With his eye on the prize – Iran, he can’t afford to take on Iran while Hamas is firing from the south, Hizbullah from the north and Iran from the east. He needs to eliminate the threat from the south to even stand a chance at defeating Iran. His stupidity is amply demonstrated by his refusal to exert a complete siege on Gaza which would bloodlessly end the war. An option he doesn’t have visa via Lebanon nor Iran. An enormous strategic and humanitarian advantage that’s not even on the table! and as result there has been and will continue to be loss of Jewish lives.
HMMMMMMM??? His reason is weak and without credibility. Perhaps he has hatched a deal the outcome of which he knows already. He is starting to look like sharon, the US puppet. I wonder if they have something on him?
I think you need a category for other, which I check. BB is not going further because he knows that when it is all over, now or after 1000 more lives, he will end up accpting the international demand to withdraw and give gaza to abbas. He already knows the outcome and does not want to waste more lives to achieve no more that he has now. the battle is over whetner hamas demilitarizes now or after Abbas takes over under existing agreements.
Perhaps he bought into a scheme and was tricked.
Netanyahu doesn’t want to run Gaza unless his hand is forced. The problem for him is the kind of solution he prefers is the one Hamas has no interest in cooperating with. And neither does Obama who hates Netanyahu and wants him gone. Netanyahu is trapped in having to choose between a victory he does not want and a surrender that would be the political kiss of death to his continued rule. How to get out of it? One has to guess that Netanyahu does not envy all the pressure he is under and what ever decision he makes will decide his fate.
Because as it is has been repeatedly proven to us, Netanyahu is a people user, coward, untrustworthy and probably worse specimen. Of the unJewish kind.