GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 216

Israel Has What It Needs To Win

Is Netanyahu In Favor Of A Palestinian State?

According to an article in The Jerusalem Post, an Israeli politician, Prime Minister Netanyahu is actually committed to statehood for Palestinians:

In an aggressive interview with Maariv, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for prioritizing a Palestinian state over Israel’s welfare.

“Netanyahu doesn’t care about the state, only personal survival,” Liberman said, asserting that the economy thrives not because of the government but despite it.

“I am fully committed to advancing the elections,” he added.

Liberman actually used Netanyahu’s own words against him:

Liberman also recalled Netanyahu’s past demands for accountability, particularly after the Second Lebanon War.

“He spoke then and said [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert must go home. He who demands fairness should embody fairness. And now I say: ‘Netanyahu, how do you not have the shame to continue as prime minister after such a catastrophe? Take responsibility and go home.’”

Liberman accuses the PM of hiding his true intentions:

Liberman accused Netanyahu of harboring a substantial but undisclosed plan that includes commitments to a Palestinian state and a nod to a Saudi nuclear initiative.

“Today he speaks differently, but as [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich said, ‘You shouldn’t believe a word he says, but look only at his actions,’” Liberman remarked.

He thinks Netanyahu really wants to do this:

He believes that Netanyahu aims to secure an arrangement with Saudi Arabia, endorsing a Palestinian state to facilitate his electoral strategy, motivated not by peace but by Saudi interests in advancing their nuclear agenda in the US Congress.

“Netanyahu will promote in return a declaration of a Palestinian state as he already did in the [2009] Bar-Ilan [University] speech. The most severe is his endorsement of the Saudi nuclear program, which, in my view, is a disaster that will throw the entire Middle East into a frantic nuclear arms race,” Liberman warned.

Liberman wants elections now:

“I am doing everything to ensure the elections occur as soon as possible. Every day counts. I am in talks with members of Knesset from Likud and the coalition, striving to bring the elections forward with all my might. Politicians must realize this isn’t a child’s play. Everyone must transcend personal considerations and prioritize the elections.”

Personally, I know how much God hates the land He promised to Israel being divided. It would be a major disappointment if Netanyahu does actually favor a Palestinian state.

Skewed US Logic

First we hear of Biden saying they are not giving Israel weapons because of fears of how they’ll be used in Rafah because he fears the loss of innocent lives. And then we hear that a major Rafah offensive will hurt hostage talks. We see evidence of both in several reports from The Times Of Israel starting with this one:

The White House indicates that it has taken the far-reaching step of threatening to withhold aid from Israel at this stage in the war because it feels that Hamas has been significantly depleted.

“We believe that [Israel has] put an enormous amount of pressure on Hamas and that there are better ways to go after what is left of Hamas in Rafah than a major ground operation,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says in a briefing with reporters.

“Early on in the conflict, Hamas didn’t feel and hadn’t suffered the kinds of pressure and the kinds of casualties that they have suffered now,” he says.

Kirby explained the logic more this way:

“[Israel has] eliminated a lot of the leaders through the fighting that they have conducted over the last several months. They have decimated the ranks of many of their units. The picture of Hamas today is not what it was six months ago,” Kirby continues.

The White House spokesperson adds that the decision by US President Joe Biden to issue the threat also had to do with the “preps for a major operation in Rafah and certainly rhetoric around that” coming out of Israel.

Kirby added that a big Rafah offensive would help Hamas in hostage negotiations in this article:

White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby rejects arguments that US President Joe Biden’s public break with Israel regarding Rafah will embolden Hamas to reject compromises in the ongoing hostage negotiations.

“Any kind of major Rafah ground operation would actually strengthen Hamas’s hands at the negotiating table, not Israel’s. That’s our view,” Kirby says in a briefing with reporters.

“If I’m Mr. Sinwar, and I’m sitting down in my tunnel… and I’m seeing innocent people falling victim to major significant combat operations in Rafah, then I have less of an incentive to want to come to the negotiating table,” the White House spokesperson argues.

It all sounds like so much of a song and dance points to skewed logic. And it is also very much meant to have things both ways to get both the Muslim vote and the Jewish vote in the upcoming American elections. As it turns out, this strategy may cost them both in the long run.

Israel Is Able To Win Without US Support

In response to the potential loss of military support from the United States, Prime Minister Netanyahu states that it doesn’t matter as we read in a report from The Jerusalem Post:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to fight Hamas with his fingernails as he dismissed US President Joe Biden's warning that he would not provide arms for a major military operation in Rafah.

“If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone,” Netanyahu said in a message he issued on Thursday night. “I have said that if necessary – we will fight with our fingernails.”

“But we have much more than fingernails and with that same strength of spirit, with G-d's help, together we will win,” he said.

The report goes on to note that this is the first time that America has denied Israel the help it needs in a war. Another report, this time in The Times Of Israel, lets us know that the IDF isn’t bothered either:

Responding to a question at a press conference, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the military has enough munitions for the missions it has planned, after US President Joe Biden threatened that some arms shipments would be frozen if Israel launches a planned offensive in southern Gaza’s Rafah.

“The IDF has armaments for the missions it is planning, and also for the missions in Rafah. We have what we need,” he says.

It appears that if Hamas was hoping that the United States lack of support for Israel would stop their impending demise in Rafah, they are sadly mistaken. And with all parties heading home from the talks in Cairo because the talks fell apart, the stage is set for a full blown Rafah offensive. But when Hamas is on the ropes, will Hezbollah, the Houthi rebels or even Iran themselves step in to help? I think they will if only for prides sake. Afterall, Israel has even their fingernails to fight with, so it will be an easy battle. Did they forget that God is on the side of Israel? Forget the fingernails, how about a huge fist from Him to pound on the terrorists? I rest my case.