The Blogs: Lili von Shtupp? Israel would truly exhaust her

‘Tired’ does not begin to describe the fatigue that I and so many others here are feeling these days

Protesters gather in Tel Aviv on November 30 to demand that Israel strike a deal for the hostages held in the Gaza Strip.

Remember that saloon chanteuse from Blazing Saddles? Lili von Shtupp’s signature song lamented the demands of her job.

“I’m tired / Sick and tired of love / I’ve had my fill of love / From below and above / Tired, tired of being admired / Tired of love uninspired / Let’s face it, I’m tired!”

Well, we’re all getting shtupped these days, from below and above and all directions in between. And it ain’t out of love, inspired or otherwise.

To cop a few lyrics from another popular film of that era, where do I begin?

WE’RE CLOSING in on 430 days since Hamas poured over our southern border to slaughter, maim, ransack, loot and then withdraw with hundreds of hostages – 100 of whom remain in the Gaza Strip.

Unfortunately, we’re led by a man demanding “total victory” – a nebulous goal if there ever was one – while paying lip service to the importance of bringing the hostages home. In this vein, he has leveled much of the Gaza Strip and imposed on-and-off-again policies of allowing in aid, creating a humanitarian nightmare that even Israel’s friends find hard to defend.

In the meantime, he’s depleting the country’s military of lives and treasure by meandering around the Gaza Strip, playing whack-a-mole against the remnants of Hamas, whose fighters keep popping up in areas that already had been “liberated.” This is because he lacks a clearly defined plan for the day after, being hounded by the far-right messianists in his government who want Israel to remain in Gaza to reestablish settlements and somehow convince the locals they’d be much better off if they’d just leave.

He was asleep at the wheel on October 7, 2023, yet he’s blaming everyone else and continues to dig in against calls for a full-fledged and fully independent commission of inquiry. Instead, he’s proposing a panel that would be beholden to him and his government. (Interestingly, he had a hard time finding a parliamentarian from his own party to sponsor a bill to bring this about, but ultimately found succor in a nebbishy backbencher eager to score points with his master.)

All of this is enough to make any responsible, civic-minded citizen lose lots of sleep.

But did I mention that this “leader” is on trial for bribery and a couple of other corruption charges? That’s bad enough, but all his foot-dragging on the war, whether in the Gaza Strip or in Lebanon, against Iran or the Houthis in Yemen, makes it clear that he hopes we’ll be distracted long enough for his legal woes to disappear through furtive legislation aimed at neutering the judiciary.

His justice minister and other political allies are now hard at work resurrecting that legislation, which brought much of the country into the streets prior to October 7 and most certainly showed Hamas what a bitterly divided nation we are. They’re also in a frenzy pushing newer bills aimed at blunting democracy. They’re not even trying to hide it.

These legislative forays cover everything from the aforementioned “investigatory” panel to creating obstacles for media outlets that don’t toe the government line, all the way to granting certain people far-reaching powers, whether it’s full criminal immunity for parliamentarians or whistleblower status for soldiers who feel the military is hiding things from… yes, the prime minister.

People here are talking about a slippery slope. Something tells me we’re well past that and are now tottering over the edge of a deep, deep abyss.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU and his gang of miscreants are in the driver’s seat, busy maneuvering this country to ruin through war, pangs for dictatorship and end-times, and policies aimed at keeping us either at each other’s throats or too exhausted to care.

Yes, from below and above and all directions in between, we’re getting shtupped. It’s positively exhausting. And quite frankly, immensely painful.