Israel Unhinged…Welcome to Chelm

There are times here in Israel when everything seems to be in total disarray and where nobody seems to know what to do next or how to move forward.  This seems to be one of those times.

In Yiddish literature there is a mythical place called Chelm, where all the people are fools and, even worse, all the people can be fooled.  Today I have the feeling that we are living in a modern Chelm.

Palestinian Statehood

Prime Minster Netanyahu, reacting to a new US backed resolution being discussed at the UN which seems to support a Palestinian state, said today that he has been against this for decades. In his words, Israel is unequivocally opposed to a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River.

However, Netanyahu gave a speech at Bar-Ilan University here in June 2009 where he said for the first time that he supported the creation of a Palestinian “state.” True, he attached numerous conditions that stripped the proposed “state” of any real sovereignty or independence. Nevertheless, that was 16 years ago so Bibi has not really been against the concept for decades. Welcome to Chelm.

Commission of Inquiry

Ever since the Hamas invasion of Israel and subsequent massacre of over 1,200 Israelis catching Israel totally off guard yet again, there has been a wide-ranging call for a State Commission of Inquiry, similar to what was empaneled after the Yom Kippur war, the last time we were caught so defensively unprepared. The Prime Minister has been steadfastly against setting this up claiming that it cannot be done in the midst of a war.

Now we have a cease fire and what the government wants to do is setup a committee to examine the issue, but not at the level of a State Commission of Inquiry whose members would be appointed by the Supreme Court. Instead, this “other” committee’s members would be appointed by government ministers, the very same people who were responsible for not being prepared in the first place. Sort of like asking the arsonist to investigate how the fire started and how he should be punished. Chelm to be sure.

Disarmament of Hamas

As you recall one of the 20 points in the Trump peace plan for Gaza was that Hamas will disarm and cease to be a power in Gaza.  Well, what do you know?  Today they are in full charge of the 50% of Gaza that Israel does not control.  Their security people manage everything that goes on there, setting prices of food in the markets, controlling what is made available to the general population and, of course, brandishing plenty of weaponry with absolutely no intent to disarm.  They have no problem making widely circulated public statements that they will never disarm even though they were a party to the 20-point plan.  And the world believed their peaceful intent and it would seem we did as well.   Chelm.

Return of the Hostages

We all remember that the conditions laid down in the peace plan was that all the hostages, dead and alive, would be returned within 72 hours of the signing of the agreement. The agreement was signed in Sharm El Sheikh on October 13^th.  It is now 34 days later, the live hostages are home, the dead bodies are coming out in dribs and drabs and there are still three more dead hostages left in Gaza.  So, while we here are upset about it, there is no world outcry, President Trump is AWOL on the issue and the families of those still in captivity are, themselves, hostages to their own concerns. Chelm once again.

Iran

Israel, with the tremendous assistance of the US Air Force, succeeded in crippling Iran’s air defenses, doing major damage to their infrastructure and severely damaging their nuclear operations as well.  In addition, Iran is an economic disaster and their capability to provide drinking water to their own citizens is under sever stress. Why didn’t we finish the job? Why do we now find ourselves in a position where we are worried about their buildup of offensive weapons and their threat to launch 2,000 missiles at us simultaneously?  Clearly, we have lost the ability to actually win a war.  Chelm yet again.

Around 1980 Narcotics Anonymous (not Albert Einsterin as some claim) posited that: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” That well defines the foolishness of the residents of Chelm and, sadly, sometimes I feel we are guilty of the same foolishness.  It is mind blowing that a country that has successfully built a tech eco system that is the envy of the world seems incapable of applying that level of intelligence to real world problems.

For those of us living here it’s not enough to know (a) that we want to continue living here and (b) that there is no other place to go.   It is also important to feel that we have the political leadership sufficiently capable to meet the moment.  Sad to say, but right now most of us absolutely do not have that level of confidence in our government.