The Witness Chronicles, April 13, 2024
Netanyahu, Israel, and Iran
Update: unfortunately it was just announced that Iran has launched a drone attack on Israel (4:37 edt) as I predicted below when I published this earlier today, April 13, 2024.
Netanyahu May Get Exactly What He Wants: Pure Chaos
He will watch the entire region explode to stay in power
Israel bombed an Iranian consulate in Syria, killing several Iranians, earlier this month. And now we hear rumors that Iran has over one hundred cruise missiles, and dozens of drones targeting Israel. The attack could start at any moment.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard attacked and took over a ship using a helicopter today, in what could be the spark that starts a regional war. The US will help defend Israel and has moved destroyers into the area to help with anti-missile defense. And Bibi Netanyahu, facing massive demonstrations calling for him to step down, is ignoring the will of the people and readying a massive attack on Rafah in southern Gaza.
In Rafah there are hundreds of thousands of Palestinians herded there by the IDF, and many are starving. It is estimated that as many as 60% are children. Netanyahu has announced no plan to deal with their safety even as President Biden demands one.
The ingredients are all there for a terrible escalation in the Middle East and that may be exactly what Netanyahu wants, as insane as that seems. Here is what he could gain personally from this:
First, he forces the US to side with him against Iran, knowing Biden, with his years of foreign policy experience, will come to his aid. And he is gambling that in the face of an escalating war, his people will not want to change leadership.
As if this is not enough there are many other factors at play here. The Houthis in Yemen continue to selectively attack shipping, giving Chinese and Russian shipping passage, but attacking any others.
Hezbollah in Lebanon continues to attack Israel and its illegal settlement in the Palestinian West Bank, where those settlers have been routinely attacking and stealing land from their Palestinian neighbors, operating outside the law with impunity.
Hezbollah is said to have a stockpile of 150,000 missiles supplied by Iran.
It is a cliche to call the Middle East a powder keg, but when you add up all that firepower on both sides, that is exactly what it is. And Netanyahu may have lit the match when his forces attacked that Iranian consulate in Syria. It was no accident and he had to know what it could ignite.
Faced with Biden’s veiled threats of holding back military aid, Netanyahu has been defiant and that action against Iran looks calculated to demonstrate that defiance to the world.
The ceasefire talks with Hamas have been derailed when they revealed they do not have the forty hostages required to start the process. They have forty hostages but they include male members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) which they will not release unless they get a huge release of jailed Palestinians.
Again this plays into the hands of Netanyahu, who has resisted calls for any ceasefire, knowing that it would give his opposition in Israel an opening to bring down his government and bring corruption charges against him, ending his political career.
It would be foolish to blame a single man for what could happen. The region is home to tribal conflicts that date back hundreds of years and include the Sunnis, Shiites, and yes, the Jews, along with innumerable factions and terror groups within each side of the conflict. Excepting the Israelis who we (official US policy) don’t see as terrorists, though under Bibi they may be committing war crimes.
So, while there are many factors and rivalries at play here, right now all the arrows point at the Israeli leader and he is arrogantly staying with his catastrophic war plans as his country rises up against him.
Watch the powder keg. It may be blowing up as I write these words.
In a logical, compassionate world, this all seems insane, to kill thousands for personal grudges and to stay in power. Yet, is it insanity or the real human nature? We never learn anything from wars, terrorism, and constant destruction on a scale that escalates as we develop more powerful weapons. And now it seems we may get another war, started because of politics, greed, and the desire for power at any cost.
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That is very interesting as well as ironic
That is ironic and thank you for making me aware of it. I've learned my something new for today.