Israel

[Groggy]

The biggest part of the problem the way I see it is that Israel has a very right wing aspiring autocrat who needs a war to stay in power. And an extremists right wing fundamentalist autocratic government who refuses to hold elections and needs war to further their reign from their safe locations in Qatar.  So the problem is the leadership.  That is where we should focus.

So, just to be sure I understand your claim, you think Netanyahu, the elected president of an actual democratic republic which guarantees human rights to its citizens including freedom of religion, engineered a more-severe-than-usual Hamas attack on his people in order to keep from being voted out of office, and this is one of the things we should be focusing on?

And if so, would you consider that to be the biggest part of the problem, or only equally big of a problem as the actual genocidal fascist leadership by actual autocrats who (as actual autocrats) cannot be voted out of their reign and aren't in the area being attacked by their opponents unlike Netanyahu, and who have absolutely no concept of the protection of other people's fundamental rights?

One of the most concerning aspects of Netanyahu's leadership has been his impact on Israel's democratic institutions. His long tenure as PM (1996-99 and 2009-2021) has seen a significant erosion of the checks and balances within the Israeli political system. He has been criticized for his attempts to weaken the judiciary, undermine the press, and challenge the independence of law enforcement agencies, all of which are hallmark behaviors of autocratic leaders seeking to consolidate power.

[Groggy]

I'm just waiting for Groggy to call Netanyahu a Nazi.

       

[Gusington]

I don't disagree with much of what you said about Netanyahu above, but why would any of that matter now after the worst terror attack in 20 years and the subsequent wave of anti-Semitism and victim-shaming? Not to mention the absolute barbarity of Hamas?

[FarAway Sooner]

I do think it's worth continuing to keep an eye on Benny, in an effort to make sure that personal political aspirations don't cloud his conduct of the current special operation in Gaza. 

I also believe that his own political theatrics in the months leading up to the Hamas attack contributed to a lack of Israeli readiness, but it's ultimately up to the Israeli people (and Netanyahu's recently convened Unity Cabinet) to decide that for themselves.

[JasonPratt]

The biggest part of the problem the way I see it is that Israel has a very right wing aspiring autocrat who needs a war to stay in power. And an extremists right wing fundamentalist autocratic government who refuses to hold elections and needs war to further their reign from their safe locations in Qatar.  So the problem is the leadership.  That is where we should focus.

So, just to be sure I understand your claim, you think Netanyahu, the elected president of an actual democratic republic which guarantees human rights to its citizens including freedom of religion, engineered a more-severe-than-usual Hamas attack on his people in order to keep from being voted out of office, and this is one of the things we should be focusing on?

And if so, would you consider that to be the biggest part of the problem, or only equally big of a problem as the actual genocidal fascist leadership by actual autocrats who (as actual autocrats) cannot be voted out of their reign and aren't in the area being attacked by their opponents unlike Netanyahu, and who have absolutely no concept of the protection of other people's fundamental rights?

One of the most concerning aspects of Netanyahu's leadership has been his impact on Israel's democratic institutions. His long tenure as PM (1996-99 and 2009-2021) has seen a significant erosion of the checks and balances within the Israeli political system. He has been criticized for his attempts to weaken the judiciary, undermine the press, and challenge the independence of law enforcement agencies, all of which are hallmark behaviors of autocratic leaders seeking to consolidate power.

I agree with all of that (so far as I know), but by your own description, he supposedly instigated this war to keep from being voted out, which means he is not in fact an autocrat yet. And you didn't clarify whether he's supposed to be the biggest part of the problem, or only equally as much of a problem as the genocidal actual autocrats who have been going out of their way to hit Israeli civilians while enslaving their own populations far more than any populations in Israel are enslaved (if any at all).

I don't appreciate Gazan civilians being killed by Israel either, but there's a qualitative difference of intention between Israeli government (even run by Netanyahu) and the terrorists in charge of Gaza.

[GDS_Starfury]

I don't appreciate Gazan civilians being killed by Israel either, but there's a qualitative difference of intention between Israeli government (even run by Netanyahu) and the terrorists in charge of Gaza.

like putting rocket launchers in and around mosques.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1721654675076718887

[SirAndrewD]

Been loving seeing the ads from Mosab Hassan Yousef, the Arab, Muslim Palestinian son of the founder of Hamas.

He's been taking to the airwaves to directly tell people that Hamas uses human shields to increase civilian casualties and reports its own fighters as civilian dead.  He's been revealing the insane depravity of their tactics from someone who was raised as a Hamas fighter and is calling on his fellow Palestinians to break their indoctrination. 

I hope it works but suspect it won't. 

[Gusington]

He'll be labeled a Palestinian Uncle Tom or whatever the slang for 'traitor to your own kind' is.

[Jarhead0331]

I'm surprised the guy is still breathing.

[SirAndrewD]

I'm surprised the guy is still breathing.

He's extremely protected and has had multiple fatwah's put on him.  He served for a time as a intel mole and has been vocal about how many Palestinians feed info to the Shin Bet because they live in terror but can't get out.

[GDS_Starfury]

https://twitter.com/i/status/1722270489362710663

[JasonPratt]

Do I recall correctly that radio intercepts about the parking lot crater outside the hospital earlier, indicated that the rockets had been fired from a mosque or its grounds nearby?

(I know I recall hearing the intercepts on something like that, the local Pal troops investigating the impact were complaining about putting the launchers there. But I can't recall if that was for the hospital 'strike' or something else. Could also have been fake intercepts, of course.)

[GDS_Starfury]

I dont recall the where but it was a hamas rocket, or some sub sect of them.

[GDS_Starfury]

https://malcolmnance.substack.com/p/hamas-needs-children-to-die?r=adfbl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

[SirAndrewD]

Do I recall correctly that radio intercepts about the parking lot crater outside the hospital earlier, indicated that the rockets had been fired from a mosque or its grounds nearby?

(I know I recall hearing the intercepts on something like that, the local Pal troops investigating the impact were complaining about putting the launchers there. But I can't recall if that was for the hospital 'strike' or something else. Could also have been fake intercepts, of course.)

They were fired from a cemetery near a mosque.