THE ABSURD CONDEMNATIONS AND DISTORTED MEDIA COVERAGE OF ISRAEL’S ATTACK ON HAMAS LEADERSHIP IN DOHA “News” and Reality Often Have Little In Common Eric Levine
https://ericlevine3.substack.com/p/the-absurd-condemnations-and-distorted
There has been no shortage of professed outrage at Prime Minister Netanyahu’s decision to attack Hamas leadership in Doha, Qatar. The more one parses through the criticism, the more one becomes convinced the decision to kill the 5-star-hotel-dwelling, jacuzzi-enthusiast terrorists was not just morally justified, but tactically brilliant.
Many critics on the radical progressive antisemitic left believe Israel has no right to exist as a Jewish State and therefore, has no right to defend itself. These voices are rightly ignored.
Equally irrelevant, however, are those, who like the Biden Administration, believe Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish State, but just as a matter of principal think it should never take an offensive posture in defending itself. For them, Israel has every right to protect its citizens but, unlike every other country in the world, should limit its defense to preventing ballistic missiles from falling on its cities. Of course, this strategy allows the terrorists to live and fight another day and ensures an October 7th like attack will occur again.
The alleged more nuanced criticism of the attack in Qatar is that it will make diplomacy with the Gulf Arab States and the expansion of the Abraham Accords more difficult, if not impossible. If this is the best argument critics can muster, Netanyahu clearly made the right call.
A “news article” in the September 12 edition of Wall Street Journal, written by Jared Malsin, Summer Said and Benoit Faucon, reported:
“The attack in a quiet embassy district of Doha, which killed several Hamas officials and a member of the Qatari security forces, punctuated an already growing realization that Israel has made a strategic decision to secure itself through force of arms even at the expense of its diplomatic ties…”
This purported piece of “news” is absurd on its face. No country, except apparently for Israel, could be expected not to respond militarily following the atrocities of October 7. While the authors may have been slow to this epiphany, Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Arab States not only understood there would be a harsh military response, but they are cheering it on. They rightly view Hamas as a disciple of the Muslim Brotherhood and terror proxy of Iran. They will be the first to admit, albeit in private, that Hamas poses an existential threat to their own security and that Israel is defending their national security by destroying Hamas and attacking Iran.
The authors go on to “report” that the attack on Doha “also raised questions about whether the U.S. can be counted on to impose restraint and deliver protection, especially when Gulf states themselves are in the firing line.”
Exactly what “restraint” and “protection” to which the authors are referring is not discussed. However, what appears to be lost on these reporters is that the simplest way for the Gulf states — or any other country in the world — to ensure they are not “in the firing line,” is for them to never harbor terrorists who plot and direct terrorist attacks and/or wage war against Israel. There is a reason Israel has attacked inside Qatar, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iran and not Saudi Arabia or the other Gulf states.
To highlight their point about Arab indignation, the WSJ reports that the “Arab states reacted with sharp expressions of anger.”
Issuing “sharp expressions of anger” is what the Arab world does best. The Gulf Arabs have issued them consistently since Israel’s creation in 1948. For the Arab governments who have given up on the goal of destroying the Jewish State, these “sharp expressions of anger” are issued from time to time to give them political cover with their own populations as they move closer to normalizing their ties with Israel.
To demonstrate that Netanyahu may be straining Israel’s relationship with the United States, the authors note that “President Trump criticized the strike on Tuesday, regretting that it happened in Qatar and pledged it wouldn’t happen again…” However, article points out that the President went on to say that “killing Hamas members [is] a worthy goal.”
This is the same President Trump who allegedly lost his temper with Bibi as Israel was preparing to attack Iran. Trump was alleged to have had a blow up with the Israeli Prime Minister and warned Israel against attacking the Islamic Republic because of ongoing nuclear talks. Of course, those “warnings” only lasted until Israel and the United States jointly attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Trump’s actions and not his words will demonstrate how “outraged” he is. All indications to date are that he has bigger fish to fry.
Finally, the writers speak of the future conundrum facing the Gulf countries:
“Beyond the immediate exchange of criticism, the region’s wealthy Gulf nations are sorting through a newly scrambled geopolitical order and weighing whether to view Israel as a potential partner, a security risk or both.”
There is no such dilemma. Just as the Gulf Arab states have looked to Israel to defend them against a hegemonic Iran, they will continue to look to Jerusalem and the United States to be the guarantors of their security against Iran and the ever-growing threat Turkey poses to the region.
Unlike Turkey and Iran who seek to conquer and dominate the region, Israel merely wants to live in peace and security with its neighbors. With Israeli technology and Gulf Arab money, there are few limits to what they can achieve together.
On October 6, 2023, Saudi Arabia was on the cusp of joining the Abraham Accords. That explains why the October 7 attack occurred when it did; to prevent SA from joining the accords.
Today, Iran and its terror network including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are weaker. If anything, the potential flowing from an expanded Abraham Accords is even greater. It is up to Saudi Arabia, and their Gulf neighbors determine if they want to seize the moment or give Iran and Hamas a victory.
In short, do not believe what you read in the papers. The “news” and reality often have little in common.
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