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Moshe-Mordechai van Zuiden
Psychology, Medicine, Science, Politics, Oppression, Integrity, Philosophy, Jews -- For those who like their news and truths frank and sharp

Netanyahu is a chess player

He’s in the middle game; stop asking what’s his endgame

Criticism is easy. ‘Bibi has no strategy.’ ‘He’s clueless.’ ‘He has no endgame.’ ‘His decisions are haphazard.’ Only they are not.

You don’t ask a chess player what his endgame is when he’s in the midst of the game. We’ll see when we get there.

The Middle East of tomorrow doesn’t exist. What it actually will look like, we’ll know tomorrow. In Israel, planning is often wasted energy and time.

Make a move. Look what the other responds. Keep your head cool. Don’t assume you can win without looking at what your opponent does!

Only the arrogant ‘know’ what the other will do.

With all the differences between them, PM Rabin did exactly the same. How to split Jerusalem, how to have two States? We’ll see.

Lebanon

So far, Bibi does a wonderful job. Ask Chezbollah. The ones that are left. We all saw the different stages strategically play out one after the other. Tit-for-tat counterattacks for their missiles. Pagers. Walkie Talkies. Massive air attack when they opened up hundreds of rocket launchers. Drones spotted—recalibration. Removing human shields. Ground offensive.

Gaza

A year ago, the troops had to wait weeks before Bibi permitted the fighting to start. The enemy had prepared the Pogrom for years. A wise person doesn’t storm in as an enraged bull. He calculates and recalculates.

We killed 17,000 terrorists, hardly taking any human shields with them. Maybe 1 on 1, which is a world record in low, even in rural settings. Those classically portraying Jews as murderers won’t be silent anyway.

West Bank

Outside of the public eye, security forces are wedging a war on terrorists in the West Bank, neutralizing attackers, bomb labs, and weapon storages.

Iran

Keeping the cards close to his chest and letting them sweat, clearly, is part of his strategy. In the end, their fear may even be what kills them.

The Coalition

Especially Anti-Zionists but also salon socialists around the world love to point out the extreme right-wingers in Bibi’s cabinet. Yet, often missed is that the imbalance comes from the left refusing to take responsibility, and that no one keeps these ultra-right-wingers in check like he does. Oh, he doesn’t stop every immoral act or statement when he knows others will.

Allies

Biden got highly irritated and misled by advisors, yet he set up an international group of Allies to protect Israel and talk it out with Bibi. Keeping the Houthis and Iraq in check so far falls mainly on them.

Money

Economists are not pleased. Just as when Bibi first fought Corona and then saved the economy. The opposite order of Trump.

Bibi is a capitalist, but also a Jew and a democrat, which means to save lives and to work for the people and not only the rich.

The Kidnapped

It would be ridiculous to assume Bibi is not working day and night on how to get the kidnapped out. Or for him to say so. He plays good cop/bad cop with President Herzog. Attacking him helps his persona of being hard to please. Nothing would make him happier than a winning ploy to free them.

Press

Bibi can only do his job because he doesn’t get super nervous about the false hunger and genocide fables or international bodies just being anti.

The critics get a lot of free and sensationalized press. Pallywood and the traditional Anti-Zionist media are working overtime. The public’s memory for success is short. So, I’m here to remind you how well Bibi’s doing.

About the Author
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
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