Hamas/Gaza War Musings #58: A "Deal" Won't Bring Peace-- Just More War

 

This plan/deal Bibi and Trump are cooking up won't bring Israel peace. It's a Trojan horse. It will only leave Israel more vulnerable than before. It doesn't take care of the real problem and leaves us even more dependent on the United States. I'm a realist, a pragmatist.

The key to peace is settling the Land, not policing it with new businesses. Donald Trump isn't in the real world of war and Bibi, our failed Prime Minister has never had the guts to really lead. He's just a master of oratory.

At first I was going to simply say that Bibi should have stayed in America and not returned. For those who either don't remember or are too young to know, Bibi had started a very successful career in the USA where he had gone to high school and university. He even changed his name to Ben Nitay.

A few years after his brother Yoni was killed in the legendary Entebbe rescue, he returned to Israel and his name. Then the more I thought about it, I realized that staying in the USA wouldn't have been a good idea. He'd be worse to Israel than Kissinger was. Henry Kissinger had tried to get Golda Meir to follow American "advice" during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which would have left us in a dangerous position. The Americans had been hiding their involvement with the "surprise*" attack on Israel. Even then, during that war I had suspected that Nixon and Kissinger had planned for Israel to reach a stalemate, not a victory. Then they'd come in and take over. They were sure that Kissinger could control Golda and the rest of the government. He was "one of us;" wasn't he? Couldn't a Jew convince them?

We must stop consulting with foreign rulers. They won't give us peace!

*Bruce Brill's memoir of the Yom Kippur War when he was with the NSA spills the beans about American involvement and passed censorship.

There Are Plans, And There Are Plans

Just because Israel's Defense Forces have prepared to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities doesn't mean that the plans are truly operational.

Every single country has its military prepared for operations it may never order. In Hebrew, the term is "b'megurot," in the "drawer," or "closet."

Sometimes, to "shut up" military officers and keep them from nagging their superiors, they're given a unit or platoon of soldiers for their "pet" battle plans. This doesn't mean that the plans are taken seriously. It's just good management to let the overly dreaming officer play soldiers so he'll stop driving everyone nuts.

A classic case was in post Six Days War Israel, 1967. During the summer of 1973, my husband attended an unforgettable World Betar Convention. He told me that some of the older Israelis there were bragging about their IDF positions and history. Somebody got the late Gidon Shiponi to reveal his army reserves job:

"Arik Sharon and I are training men to cross the Suez Canal."

That sounded ridiculously far-fetched, even to Betarim, but that's the army, and that was Arik Sharon, and that was Gidon Shiponi. And that's probably why Arik was passed over for Ramat Kal, Chief of Staff.

Well, I don't know how many of you remember who had the last laugh.

Yom Kippur, October, 1973, Israel was shocked by coordinated attacks by Egypt and Syria, on our northern and southern fronts, the northern and southern June, 1967, cease-fire lines. Our army and politicians were in a frenzy of panic. All of our military experts had declared us invincible. We had been reassured over and over that the Arabs would never attack us again.

There was only one spot of calm, and that was Arik Sharon. He and his officers, including Shiponi of course, were fully prepared. They shocked Egypt by efficiently crossing the canal.

But I have no doubt, that most surprised were Sharon's superiors, including the politicians in the know, who had never expected those plans to go any further than some "reserve duty exercise."

The IDF file cabinets are full of "what if" plans, long past their possible usefulness. Every army has them. You have to be prepared for all possibilities. They're supposed to be kept top secret, since their effectiveness is severely reduced when the element of surprise is deleted.

It was once much easier for Israel to keep its secret plans secret. No foreign army was privileged to know anything. Israeli army officers didn't consult with foreign countries. Israel didn't ask permission. We were much stronger then.

Our security is endangered by the close contact, the close connections we now have with the United States. It's to our detriment and possible, G-d forbid, destruction. We should reject all American aid and advice. I don't want to be killed by kindness and Trojan Horses. I fear our "friends" more than our enemies.

G-d willing a Shavua Tov, A Good Week to us all.