Devastating Attack, Day Three

War, Protests, Leaders

First of all: thanks for reading (record daily average this week) and in particular those that converted their free membership to a paid one. It is really appreciated and gives me some confidence that I am providing value here. Linking and commenting also is great, I get lots of e-mails, but feel free to leave thoughts here too.

Enemies?

Now it is very important to note that Israelis are not at war with Arabs, Palestinians or Iranians. They’re not. Israel is at war with Hamas and by extension the authoritarian mullahs that rule Iran. These dictators not only wage war against Israel, they terrorize and repress their own citizens on a daily basis. They have been the roadblocks to peace in the Middle East by continuing to incite terror. The destruction of Israel is in the Hamas charter, the Iranian leadership calls for it on a regular basis. And that is why many Arab leaders have checked out and walked away from these entities and pursued peace with Israel. The Abraham Accords were not a stunt by Donald Trump but they are real deals to bring about peace and lasting collaboration. The success of these agreements undermines everything Hamas stands for.

If you want to have an example of an Arab who also identifies as an Israeli and who under no circumstances wants to live under a Palestinian government, here is one key voice. There are many more but they are too afraid to speak out. Same with Iranians.

The Streets of London, New York, Vancouver etc.

Over the weekend the first protests got going, and no, not in favour of Israel or even acknowledging the horrendous slaughter and rape that went on for instance at the now well documented rave party where over 260 people were murdered. Despite the mass slaughter of innocents many places witnessed an outpour of support for the Palestinian side of the hostilities and Jews everywhere have been put on notice, like this wonderful Vancouver restaurant owner. Vancouver-readers: Ofra makes excellent food, give her a visit, she’s on Denman:

But we’ve seen this before. After 9/11 when the dead weren’t even properly buried, the anti-western and anti-democratic voices started to speak up and condemn free societies and put the blame on us. From there it is a short journey - in fact it is practically identical - to go after the Jews. Eve Barlow today documented this phenomenon in more detail and do give her a read. It is an issue that has contributed to her being cancelled as a music journalist when she spoke out during the last go around in the Middle East. Yes, this is where we are now, calling out terror can get you in deep trouble.

But then yes, this is a minority voice you say. Correct, but it has gone mainstream quite rapidly. Many voices have been waiting - much like Hamas - for years to unleash their campaigns and its concurrent anti-Semitism. If raising the Israeli flag on public buildings in support of Israel for a day or so becomes a major issue for discussion, you sort of know where we are. Not in a good spot. Thankfully, there are many pro-Israel protests, just now one took place near 10 Downing Street in London, my oldest daughter was there and snapped the cover photo.

Israel’s Leaders

It was encouraging to see Israel coming together to support its troops. Over half a million men and women have been mobilized now and more will follow. They need food and people need to take over their jobs as the entire society is disrupted. Jerusalem’s deputy mayor, Fleur Hassan-Naoum who I had the pleasure of meeting a few years ago, shared this uplifting video. Fleur herself is an emerging talent on the political scene and when we asked her if she would ever consider a national career she deadpanned it by saying, “only as Foreign Minister”.

Her talents may be needed now. The more details emerge of the gruesome destruction and loss of life, the more questions are being raised as to who bears responsibility. It is heartbreaking to see the families of hostages screaming ‘Bevekasha Rosh HaMemshala’ (please, prime minister) and learning that they are not getting any help or answers.

The burden falls indeed on the prime minister and more and more I see commentary from all sides in Israel that Nethanyahu, although inadvertently, crafted this disaster. Years of cutting deals with Hamas, focus on his own political fortunes and looking away when Israelis were on the precipice of a domestic war over his judicial reform legislation have taken us to this point. Golda Meir paid the political price for a war that almost destroyed Israel in 1973-74 and there is good reason to think that Bibi’s journey, successful as it has been early on, must end sooner rather than later. Not just because of past mistakes, the alleged corruption (who even cares about that today), but because Israel now needs a steady leader who can command a long and brutal war, deal with the hostage situation while maintaining international support at the same time. That is a tall order.

War

But if Israel’s government is not functioning it is because it is a large bureaucracy like any other. And was lulled asleep. The war will be won in the same way Israel was founded in 1948 and using the same techniques that made the start-up nation in the 2000s such a success: decentralize, individual responsibility and creative effort. Michael Eisenberg, a well-known tech venture guy in Israel, writes a moving piece as to how that actually worked over the past few days. It is uplifting and inspirational and at the same time brings tears to your eyes. And it also makes it clear why authoritarian regimes (think Russia) in the end are failing in war: they lack the flexibility and the spirit of a free people who leverage their talent and work together, uninterrupted with a common goal. Russian soldiers and Hamas fighters are forced to go to war, Israelis step up because they need to go to war. But it is a real hard one, here is (through one of my Israeli friends) a direct from an air force guy about this weekend:

I've been flying operational for 25 years, I've never experienced anything like it, not in Lebanon, not in Operation Protective Edge. They came prepared for us, ambushed anti-aircraft missiles, fired small arms and what not... Later, forces arrived, worked directly with the fighters on the ground, fought like lions, we did insane close support: firing missiles inside kibbutzim at terrorists, accompanied by fire and attacking non-stop.

As I write this the reports of attacks from and into Lebanon are coming in, as is the total close down of the entire Gaza strip. It will be a long and bloody war.