Israel has been in the news off and on since its inception in 1947. The latest brouhaha comes from the UN, where a particularly onerous resolution was passed, without the United States vetoing it.<\/p>\n
?So what all is happening. Perhaps a brief review of Israel’s history might be appropriate.<\/p>\n
Israel was created by a UN mandate in 1947. One may attribute some of this to the Zionist movement, some to national guilt, some to growing pressure within the Jewish community for their old country back. Take your pick which was the most important aspect.<\/p>\n
As soon as Israel was announced, she was immediately involved in a war for her very existence. All her Arab neighbors colluded to attack her and push her into the sea. That failed.<\/p>\n
Subsequently there have been 3 other Arab-Israeli Wars – ’56, ’67, ’73. The first was caused by Nasser closing the Suez Canal and France and Israel secretly setting up Egypt for a fall. While Israel went back to her original borders, she learned she could fight without the big support states and that Egypt was defeatable. In ’67 one can view the war in different ways. From the Israeli perspective, Nasser was once again loudly declaring Israel would be pushed into the sea, and closing the Straits of Tiran – which Israel took as a\u00a0causus belli<\/em>. One might argue the situation might have been avoided through diplomacy, but that neglects looking at Israel’s strategic space. In as much as it was so smallo, they were somewhat forced to react. The Six Day War was history – still a tour de force of mobile armor assault with overwhelming air superiority. The result left Israel in control of the West Bank and the Golon Heights, neight of which they have been willing to return.<\/p>\n ’73 saw a war started by Egypt and Syria, beginning on Yom Kipper. It took Israel totally by surprise although it shouldn’t have in retrospect. The Israelis were drinking their own kool-aid. But despite large, strategically important losses (like the whole Golon Heights battle force and serious Israeli Air Force losses to anti-air missiles), the IDF rallied and not only took back their lost territory but gained more. Among other things, It once again took the Sinai, Gaza, the Golon Heights, and were well into Syria. These victories they converted into Land-for-Peace, getting a peace treaty with Egypt in exchange for the return of the Sinai. While this was loudly attacked by the rest of the Arabs, the Egyptians figured out their interests and have largely co-operated with Israel in a relatively lasting peace vis a vis those two countries. Furthermore, the loss of Egypt in the Arab coalition largely left the rest of the Arab nations without the wherewithall to attack Israel as nations; the IDF had proven itself too powerful and well trained.<\/p>\n As we know, the Arabs, and especially the PLO, has taken an alternative route of offense – terror. This style of combat is classically the early phase of rebellion, when the state has overwhelming force and this is the only method of starting a revolution. However, it is never considered the ULTIMATE form; when things move ahead, regular units are formed and combat becomes more traditional. \u00a0The fact that such combat continues is not a function of the Arabs not having convinced their populace of the cause but rather the fact they are afraid of the IDF to actually form units that wage war in a more traditional approach. Thus we get an endless attack on civilians, a far easier and softer target than military units.<\/p>\n So we get to this latest affair at the UN. The Israelis claim they have solid proof that Obama managed the whole resolution and then allowed it to pass. It is by far the harshest UN resolution against Israel to ever have cleared the UN. It is, however, non-binding. And Bibi has already stated he is not going to pay any attention to this act.<\/p>\n The Palestinians, OTOH, have vowed to now go to the World Court and demand war crime indictments against Israeli leaders who defy the edict. Interestingly, they don’t seem to have any worry about the same treatment for them for defying numerous UN resolutions. So clearly the deck is stacked.<\/p>\n Perhaps more importantly, what should the Trump administration stand be – on Israel and this. I would submit that this ought to be the final straw in this whole silly premise of a “two state solution”. There is no evidence of Arabs ever being willing to stop trying to drive the Jews into the sea and destroy Israel. Obama has fecklessly demanded Israel pull back to its pre-’67 borders and this is merely another attempt to force them to do that. But that solves nothing. Furthermore, it makes it clear there are no consequences to war. The Israelis can hardly be accused of fighting a war of aggression; that is solely on the backs of the Arabs. It is time that there be consequences of such behavior. It is time to drop the whole stupid, unworkable two-state solution and acknowledge that Israel stretches to the banks of the Jordan. That is the only rational approach to that situation. It might also force the Arabs to make peace with the borders and try to politically establish themselves within the nation of Israel. Continued rewarding of bad behavior isn’t likely to bring about less of it. And us funding the PLO (or what ever alphabet soup they now call themselves – they change names far more often than their s**t-stained robes) needs to stop also. It is money being spent directly to Israel’s enemies – sworn so.<\/p>\n Israel has been in the news off and on since its inception in 1947. The latest brouhaha comes from the UN, where a particularly onerous resolution was passed, without the United States vetoing it.<\/p>\n ?So what all is happening. Perhaps a brief review of Israel’s history might be appropriate.<\/p>\n Israel was created by a UN mandate in 1947. One may attribute some of this to the Zionist movement, some to national guilt, some to growing pressure within the Jewish community for their old country back. Take your pick which was the most important aspect.<\/p>\n As soon as Israel was announced, she was immediately involved in a war for her very existence. All her Arab neighbors colluded to attack her and push her into the sea. That failed.<\/p>\n Subsequently … Continue reading