Shulamit S. Magnus
Jewish historian

The New Molech

Maybe, as some claim, it’s because Hamas fears Israel going full force into Gaza City (40% of which the IDF already controls). Though us having destroyed 70% of all of Gaza– Rafah, for instance, once proclaimed the absolute goal! a must!– ok, so, not really– and Khan Younis, oh, not that, either, and– was not exactly lacking in force. But, you know, this time, real force!
And maybe–
just maybe–
Hamas knows that Netanyahu, drunk on megalomania and self-delusion, will continue to reject deals, as he has done for the last 18 months, and that he will send the IDF into what the IDF Chief of Staff and numerous generals and intelligence chiefs say is a “death trap,” malkodet mavet– that will get soldiers killed and maimed, the hostages killed (if they have no value, they have no value), and further damage Israel across the world and effectively, help Hamas, even if whomever condemn Hamas and say, without teeth, that they can’t rule Gaza anymore– but– no teeth to that–
and maybe that is exactly what Hamas wants. They accept deals, knowing Netanyahu won’t, and score doubly. A PR score and, the big prize– they manipulate the great manipulator into their trap, just as they did leading up to Oct. 7, using his hubris to hurt us.
Netanyahu is riding high after the Iran attack, planned for years by the same army, air force, and intelligence that so failed on Oct. 7, and executed by them, not him; and after the IDF and Mossad, not him, having seriously degrading Hizbullah so that it is no longer a military threat to us; and after the IDF under two Chiefs he has reviled, abused, and incited against, not him, having degraded Hamas to a guerilla group incapable of threatening Israel; and having Trump back him; and being able to ignore the overwhelming public opposition to and revulsion of him because his utter corruption and ruthlessness give him the Knesset seats to stay in power, which he does by buying off his restive partners just as he bought off Hamas for years, only that was with Qatari money and bribing the Haredi parties and letting Smotrich and thugs run wild on the West Bank and plan for way more in Gaza is done with our tax shekels, the ones we, unlike those subsidized some, pay off hard working jobs–
and– just as he was for years– 15, to be exact–
he is encased now, like a dead moth, in yet another konzeptsia, a self-feeding idee fixe– trapped in the prison of his own certainties, in a reality constructed of his needs, not reality–and just as this self-deluded fixity served Hamas who, unlike him think and act outside the box, this is serving them now. Is just what they want. A blood bath.
Maybe, just maybe, that is what is going on now.
Mothers, protect your children.
Netanyahu is the new molech.

tack, planned for isyears by the same army, air force, and intelligence that so failed on Oct. 7 and executed by them, not him; and after the IDF and Mossad, not him, having seriously degrading Hizbullah so that it is no longer a military threat to us; and after the IDF under two Chiefs he has reviled, abused, and incited against, not him, having degraded Hamas to a guerilla group incapable of threatening Israel; and having Trump back him; and being able to ignore the overwhelming public opposition to and revulsion of him because his utter corruption and ruthlessness give him the Knesset seats to stay in power, which he does by buying off his restive partners just as he bought off Hamas for years, only that was with Qatari money and bribing the Haredi parties and letting Smotrich and thugs run wild on the West Bank is done with our tax shekels, the ones we, unlike those subsidized some, pay off hard working jobs–and– just as he was for years– 15, to be exact–he is encased now, like a dead moth, in yet another konzeptsia, a self-feeding idee fixe– trapped in the prison of his own certainties, in a reality constructed of his needs, not reality–and just as this self-deluded fixity served Hamas who, unlike him thinks and acts outside the box this is serving them now. It is just what they want.

Maybe, just maybe, that is what is going on now.
Mothers, protect your children.
Netanyahu is the new molech.
About the Author
Shulamit S. Magnus Professor Emerita of Jewish Studies and History at Oberlin College. She is the author of five published books and numerous articles on Jewish modernity and the history of Jewish women, and winner of a National Jewish Book award and other prizes. Her latest book, Jewish Marital Captivity: The Past, Present, and End of a Historic Abuse, is the first history of agunot and iggun from medieval times to the present, across the Jewish map. It also assesses and critiques current policy on Jewish marital captivity in the US and Israel and makes proposals to end this abuse. See the website devoted to full, accurate, and honest information about the source of this abuse and how to end it: https://www.projectmiriam.org. She is a founder of women's group prayer at the Kotel and first-named plaintiff on a case before the Supreme Court of Israel seeking enforcement of Jewish women's already-recognized right to read Torah at the Kotel. Her opinions have been published in the Forward, Tablet, EJewish Philanthropy, Moment, the Times of Israel, Haaretz, and the Jerusalem Post.
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