If your name is Tommy Friedman the recent murder of six hostages by Hamas poses a serious intellectual challenge. Hamas terrorists executed six hostages in cold blood and you need to find a way to affix the blame on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?
Of course, the Biden administration had already laid the groundwork, blaming Netanyahu for the actions of Hamas. Since Tommy is like a ventriloquist dummy for the administration, we expect that he would offer something resembling a cogent argument for why the fault lies with the Israeli prime minister.
Sad to say, his reasoning does not quite pass the test. For example, he continues to beat on the drum called the two-state solution, showing us that he has detached from reality.
Apparently, he does not read the Wall Street Journal. If he had, he would have learned on August 18 that the great hope of the two state solution is effectively dead.
I reported on the Journal story previously. If you missed it, here is the opening:
Most of the world has long agreed on what it will take to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has now brought the Middle East to the brink of a regional war that would almost certainly draw in the U.S.
The U.S., Europe and many Arab governments insist the overdue answer is the two-state solution, under which Israel and a Palestinian state would exist side-by-side.
The snag is that Israelis and Palestinians no longer believe in it.
The past 10 months have dealt the biggest setback in decades to the chances of a negotiated peace. The Hamas-led Oct. 7 killing of nearly 1,200 people in southern Israel and Israel’s devastating response, which Palestinian authorities say has left more than 40,000 dead in Gaza, have confirmed for both sides that their unwanted neighbor has no regard for their lives.
One ought to question generalizations about what most of the world believes. It might be the case that most of the world is willing to pay lip service to a plan that the Biden administration can use to beat up Israel. Or better, to continue the war against Bibi Netanyahu.
Evidently, Tommy is all-in with the Biden-Harris administration, so his ulterior motive is to undermine the Trump presidential candidacy. It does not matter whether or not the facts fulfill his beliefs.
Note his opening:
If President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris needed any reminder that Benjamin Netanyahu is not their friend, not America’s friend and, most shamefully, not the friend of the Israeli hostages in Gaza, the murder by Hamas of six Israeli souls while Netanyahu dragged out negotiations should make that clear. Netanyahu has one interest: his own immediate political survival, even if it undermines Israel’s long-term survival.
So, Netanyahu does not really care about Israel but Biden and Harris do. How stupid do you have to be to believe that?
Tommy tells Kamala that she has being played by Netanyahu, whose true goal is to elect Donald Trump. It takes a considerable amount of imagination to invent such nonsense, but Tommy is clearly up to that job.
Strangely, he assumes that Hamas is a willing and trustworthy negotiating partner. Andhe imagines that Biden has put together an impressive coalition of countries to fight who knows what? Keep in mind, Biden has failed miserably to take the fight to Iran. In truth, he ignored sanctions on Iranian petroleum exports and allowed them to accumulate nearly a hundred billion dollars, with which to promote terrorism.
Amazingly, Tommy ignores the impressive coalition called the Abraham Accords. If he does not understand that Gulf Arab states would not have signed on to it without the tacit approval of Saudi Arabia, he ought to find another line of work.
Keep in mind, as we have noted, and as Tommy has ignored, that the Saudi back channel advice to Israel after October 7 was to waste Hamas. And keep in mind that Saudi Arabia forbade all subjects to mourn the death of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas chieftain.
And recall, as I reported, that Saudi Arabia send a delegation to Auschwitz to pray for the victims of that genocide, implying that they understood what Tommy failed to understand, namely that Israel was not committing genocide in Gaza.
So, Tommy suggests that the Palestinian Authority is in bed with Hamas. To call the government of notable anti-Semite Mahmoud Abbas, moderate is simply to compound one’s errors.
The more you think about it, the more Tommy sounds like a flak.
As for the notion that the Israeli people are rising up in anger against their government, filling the streets of Tel Aviv with protests against the prime minister, the truth lies elsewhere.
The Jewish News Syndicate has reported on a new poll:
According to a new, in-depth JNS poll of Israeli public opinion suggests an overwhelming majority of Israelis oppose the current protests in Israel and supports Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s negotiating positions.
As for the most important point. Tommy’s screed has a clear and defined purpose. To shift blame from the incompetent Biden foreign policy team to the Israeli prime minister.
Clearly, this is making negotiation more difficult and is inviting Hamas to resist. If murdering hostages brings forth a demand that Israel make more concessions, why would Hamas not murder more hostages.
Please subscribe to my Substack.
The Palestinians have NEVER been interested in a two-state solution. They rejected the original partition plan that would have given them much more land than they will ever get now. They have rejected anything since that involves the continued existence of Israel, preferring to live under the delusion that they can eliminate Israel.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/b1ihlwm3r
ReplyDeleteYedioth Ahronoth published a leaked report which reveals that three of the six hostages found dead in Gaza last weekend were named as due for release under the US proposed, UN backed ceasefire agreement that Hamas agreed to in May. Netanyahu refused to sign the deal. Sure, political allies have and will continue to provide cover for Netanyahu, telling the world the bald face lie that "Hamas refused the deal," but the paper trail doesn't lie. Each new hostage deal has required both Israel and Hamas to respond in writing to the UN and each time an agreement has been reached with Hamas, Netanyahu adds a last minute stipulations to prolong negotiations / prolong the war.
As for the hostages, if were are truly concerned for their fate then aren't we also concerned about the Hannibal Directive being re-activated on Oct. 7. To ignore this reality is disingenuous. Just how many hostages is Netanyahu willing to sacrifice?
Dear Anonymous (above), The two state solution was always a bum deal and everyone knows it. Dragging that old hat into the conversation tells us one of two things. Either you don't know what you're talking about or you assume we don't have a clue. It's insulting. Israel is at its breaking point and there is no time for theatrics or dead end conversations.
Hi Walt,
ReplyDeleteI didn't say Israel never agreed to any ceasefire proposals. I said each that time agreement has been reached with Hamas, Netanyahu adds new terms. These are two very different points.
As for the Camp David negotiations, those negotiations were based on verbal proposals, and no official written record exists. This leaves ambiguity for differing interpretations as to what the terms actually were. In other words, it's all too easy for either side to say whatever they want about what happened. We do however have the words of Ben Ami, a leading member of the Israeli negotiation team who said he would have rejected Camp David if he were a Palestinian.
The notion that Gaza was an unoccupied, independent state is something that the UN, the ICJ, and every single humanitarian organization in the world including Israel's own B'Tselem disagrees with.
If we can't even agree on the basic facts and must instead resort to canned, partisan rhetoric we won't get anywhere. That's my essential point.