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The 11th Blinken Visit Was No Better Than the First 10
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha, Qatar, October 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool
He’s gone. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken went to Qatar and then to Jordan to dissect his meetings in Israel. What have we learned? What has he learned?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu politely called the talks with Blinken “friendly and productive.” Indeed, Blinken started with, “Israel has achieved important strategic objectives to ensure that October 7th can never happen again.” But he quickly moved on.
“Now is the time to end the war, get the hostages home, and chart a new path forward that enables the Palestinian people to rebuild their lives.”
According to a State Department spokesman, Blinken told Israel “to capitalize on” the killing of Hamas’ leader, Yahya Sinwar, by “ending the war.” He also demanded that the Israeli Prime Minister disavow a proposal by an IDF general for a “buffer zone” in northern Gaza. They discussed “ongoing efforts” in Lebanon to “reach a diplomatic resolution along the Blue Line that includes full implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 and allows civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes.”
Second point first: Blinken missed the fact that Hezbollah started the war, and that all of the illegality – all of the terror and rocket attacks, the weapons-caching, the internationally outlawed activity housing military arsenals inside civilian spaces and shelling civilian homes in the Galilee – is going on north of the Blue Line. Hezbollah and Iran, by the way, reject ceasefire talks altogether.
First point: Sinwar’s death has little to do with “ending the war” at the moment. There are no ceasefire talks that might end in a release of the hostages. The New York Times helpfully justified Hamas’ reticence, reminding its readers that “it remained unclear whether Hamas was willing to re-engage in the long-stalled talks after Israel killed its leader.”
It doesn’t really matter. Hamas is still shooting at the IDF and its own civilians, and still stealing food and medical aid.
So, the war continues.
Hamas had been reestablishing itself in north Gaza, primarily in the Jabaliya refugee camp, making the Palestinian civilian population into human shields, as they were before. And when hundreds of Gazans headed toward the safe zones in the south, as instructed by the IDF, the incubi of Hamas shot at the fleeing civilians.
The IDF tended to the wounded.
In the past two weeks, the IDF has neutralized approximately 300 terrorists; hundreds more surrendered. Most are Hamas but there are also members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The IDF believes the current operation will help ensure that Hamas a) will no longer be able to fire rockets at Israel from Gaza, and b) will no longer be able to dominate, steal, and sell humanitarian aid.
That last point should make Secretary Blinken happy – as the administration has been blaming Israel for food shortages in north Gaza.
In a letter dated October 13, the Biden administration warned that Israel must “reverse the downward humanitarian trajectory” or there would be “implications” for the future disbursement of “U.S. ordnance and financial aid.”
The State Department has designated staff to audit Israel’s delivery of aid to Gaza – though no similar audit of Hamas thievery appears to have occurred.
“We’ve had periods before where the Israelis have increased what they’re doing only to see it fall back,” said Blinken – with no comment about how Hamas behavior might conceivably impact deliveries.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, on NBC News, warned Israel to “balance its security concerns with humanitarian obligations.” He balanced his urging with a warning that the international community is watching.
The “international community” should, in fact, be watching the actual culprit: Hamas.
Yes, there are hungry people in the middle of the battle that Hamas has chosen to inflict on its people, but there is no famine, no starvation, and Israel has done an extraordinary job supplying food and medicine to the people. The UN and its friends, less so in the distribution.
After Blinken’s return to Washington, it is always worth quoting Sir Winston Churchill: “It is not the beginning of the end, but it may be the end of the beginning.”
Chair of urban warfare studies at West Point, John Spencer, was a bit more optimistic:
Hamas is clearly broken … But peace only ultimately comes if Hamas is prevented from regaining political or military power in Gaza. This could be the beginning of the end, though a lot still must happen.
Spencer concludes:
Wars are won when the enemy loses the means and will to continue fighting violently toward what are in essence political goals. There will be no cease in the cycle of violence without the full military and political defeat of Hamas.
In sum, in his 11th visit to Israel since the 10/7 Hamas pogrom, Blinken shows evidence that he learned little in the first 10.
Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of The Jewish Policy Center and Editor of inFOCUS Quarterly magazine.
The post The 11th Blinken Visit Was No Better Than the First 10 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Wants More Peace Deals With Arab Countries After War, Netanyahu Says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a memorial ceremony for those murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and those who fell in the “Iron Sword” war, at the Knesset, the Parliament, in Jerusalem, Oct. 28, 2024. Photo: DEBBIE HILL/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he hopes to reach peace deals with more Arab countries once the war against Iranian terrorist proxies Hamas and Hezbollah is complete.
“The day after Hamas no longer controls Gaza and Hezbollah no longer sits on our northern border [in Lebanon], we are working these days on plans to stabilize those two fronts. But the day after includes something else of utmost importance,” Netanyahu said in a speech to parliament.
“I aspire to continue the process I led a few years ago of the signing of the historic Abraham Accords, and achieve peace with more Arab countries,” he said.
Israel, under the US-brokered 2020 accords, normalized relations with four Arab countries: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.
Since then, Israel, with US support, has sought to also include other nations, particularly Saudi Arabia. Riyadh says it will not recognize Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.
“These countries, and other countries, see clearly the blows we are landing on those who attack us, the Iranian axis of evil,” he said. “They aspire, like us, for a stable, secure, and prosperous Middle East.”
The post Israel Wants More Peace Deals With Arab Countries After War, Netanyahu Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Over 100 US Lawmakers Threaten UN Funding if Global Body ‘Downgrades’ Israel’s Status
US Congressman Mike Lawler (R-NY) speaking at a housing roundtable event, March 8, 2023. Photo: Lawler for Congress
A bipartisan group of 105 members of the US Congress threatened to reduce American funding to the United Nations if the organization successfully downgrades Israel’s status in retaliation for the Jewish state’s defensive military operations against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
“We write to express our deep concern about prospective efforts of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to downgrade Israel’s status at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and strip the State of Israel of its key privileges in the body,” read a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres that was co-signed by the lawmakers.
“Any downgrade in Israel’s status or standing at the UNGA will result in a corresponding downgrade of US financial, material, and political support to the UN,” the message continued.
The letter, spearheaded by US Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), was drafted as a response to what the lawmakers described as the Palestinian Authority’s attempt to to strip Israel of “key privileges” within the UNGA.
The lawmakers also said they were “outraged” by the UNGA’s recent adoption of a “one-sided” resolution to implement an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, demanding Israel withdraw completely from the West Bank and East Jerusalem “with no recognition or consideration of Israel’s legitimate security concerns.”
The letter, which was signed by dozens of Republicans and 12 Democrats, added that Congress has been alarmed by the “numerous UN actions to delegitimize Israel’s right to self defense,” arguing that the global organization’s posture toward the Jewish state calls into question its fairness and impartiality.
“We remind you that the US is the largest donor to the UN. Our contributions account for one-third of the body’s collective budget. We will not accept the UN’s ongoing hostility to our ally Israel,” the letter stated.
The members of Congress then reminded the UN of a recently introduced piece of American legislation which would “prohibit US funding to the UN” if the organization downgrades Israel’s status or impacts its ability to “participate fully and equivalently with other member states.”
According to Lawler’s office, a slew of pro-Israel organizations endorsed the letter, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Jewish Federations of North America, and the Combat Antisemitism Movement.
The letter came after the PA reportedly kick-started an initiative to get Israel expelled from the UN General Assembly.
US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) warned that Congress would consider revoking funding to the UN if the PA were successful in its attempt to remove Israel from the UN General Assembly.
“If the Palestinians succeed in suspending Israel from the United Nations General Assembly, they may well end up disintegrating the US-Palestinian Authority relationship and triggering a full reevaluation of US participation in and funding of all parts of the United Nations,” Cruz said earlier this month.
The post Over 100 US Lawmakers Threaten UN Funding if Global Body ‘Downgrades’ Israel’s Status first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Montrealers say limits are needed for boisterous Friday evening demonstrations against Israel
There’s a way for everyone within earshot to know when Shabbat has arrived in the west side of downtown Montreal. Chants begin almost every Friday evening as the crowd—varying from […]
The post Montrealers say limits are needed for boisterous Friday evening demonstrations against Israel appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.