Uncle Sam Wants You!

My great-Uncle Izzy, who was born in Berditchev and whose English trailed his Yiddish by at least an ocean, once sent a postcard from the Bronx to his nephew, Phil, who was serving in combat somewhere in Europe, having landed with the US Army on D-Day. Izzy’s note closed with: “May G-d blast you.”

We laugh every time Phil, now age 99, tells the story.  But it is no laughing matter when I read that Trump had sent Vice President Vance to Israel to join a team composed of half the US State Department already there to try and shore up the collapsing ceasefire in Gaza.  The deal was largely based upon Trump’s proposal that an “International Stabilization Force” be deployed to disarm Hamas, such disarmament being a significant detail that Hamas had never agreed to in the peace deal and is still actively opposing in word and deed.

It therefore comes as no surprise that, as the New York Times reported in rather euphemistic terms yesterday, “several countries have hesitated to commit troops to such a force because its exact mission in the Palestinian enclave was unclear. The possibility that such a force might be drawn into direct conflict with Hamas fighters has also been a worry.”

You think?  Ever since Trump’s catchy pre-Nobel-deadline-declaration of “Enduring Peace in the Middle East” was slapped together, the murderous tendencies of Hamas have continued. Firing squads leave dozens of dead rivals in the streets, snipers pop out of tunnels to kill IDF soldiers behind the cease fire line and, of course booby traps and roadside explosive devices continue to discourage visitors.

Volunteers, anyone?

It also now comes to light that none of the Arab countries hastily brought together a fortnight ago for Trump to unveil his “20-point peace plan” at a dog and pony show summit in Sharm El-Sheikh want any part in such a mission, so Vance was sent to convince the armies of Indonesia, Turkey and Azerbaijan to establish control over Hamas.  What could possibly go wrong between Gazans who don’t want them and a most unstable stabilization force with no established rules of engagement and soldiers who speak three different obscure languages, none of them Arabic?

The latest news this morning is that, since no “coalition of the willing” is willing, the US intends to attempt to monitor the ceasefire by flying surveillance drones over Gaza.  For the moment, then, Trump’s 20-point plan has come down to this: Vance, Witkoff, Kushner and Rubio to keep an eye on Bibi, plus 16 UAVs to keep an eye on Hamas.   Bravo!