ISRAELI MINISTER'S THREAT TO DESTROY THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY IS NETANYAHU'S LATEST ASININE ANTIC
Israeli Minister's Threat to Destroy the Palestinian Authority Is Netanyahu's Latest Asinine Antic
How exactly will Israel do this? And who will control the West Bank once the PA is dissolved? Nothing is more asinine than Israel's refusal to endorse or even entertain Joe Biden's plan for the region
May 03rd, 20PM May 03rd, 21PMThe peculiar gallery of asinine specimens known as "Netanyahu's government" never ceases to amaze us with new absurdities. First we heard casual proposals to "nuke Gaza" and declarations that "we can manage without the United States." A plethora of moronic statements were uttered in between.
Now we've received this unvarnished gem from an unnamed minister: "Israel warned the United States that if the International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants against Israelis, Israel will destroy the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank."
A prime minister and government that for seven months have failed to draft a coherent plan for postwar Gaza, and more importantly, have miserably failed to charter a course for Israel's immediate future are now recklessly threatening to cause the collapse of the PA.
In and of itself, this isn't a serious statement, it's just another infantile tantrum from some sycophantic minister who has nothing else to say or nothing of value to do. But the remark is important in how it reflects the current Israeli zeitgeist, and it's especially important regarding the timing. Benjamin Netanyahu, typically, is trying to turn these yet-to-be-issued warrants into a vast plot against the Jewish people, declaring with his on-brand pathos that this is "an antisemitic, unprecedented hate crime."
First, let's deconstruct the proposition, item by item, to reveal how deeply idiotic it is. "Israel warned the United States." Really? Israel is in a position to warn the United States?
"If the International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants." Are there warrants? No. Does the ICC intend to issue them? The esteemed minister doesn't know this for a fact.
And is the United States a party to the Rome Statute, the 2002 treaty that established the ICC? No. Can the United States initiate such warrants against Israel? No, despite what has been anonymously implied in Netanyahu's kakistocracy – rule of the worst. Can the United States stop the ICC from issuing warrants? No.
"Israel will cause the collapse of the Palestinian Authority." Is that so? How exactly will Israel do this? Militarily? And who will control the West Bank once the PA is dissolved? Israel, of course.
Will this constitute a major violation of the accords that founded the PA? By definition and by default, it will. Does Israel have a plan to govern the West Bank? Of course, and it's coming courtesy of the great minds that brought you Israel's plan for postwar Gaza.
It's bad enough when the government's statements are asinine. The cost is credibility and reputation, though the upside is that it's often amusing. But it becomes dangerously irresponsible when policies are asinine, and in the context of the war in the Gaza Strip and major regional threats and opportunities, nothing spells "asinine policy" more than not having a policy at all.
That Netanyahu is a habitual indecision-maker is well known. There was a time when gullible people attributed this to caution, and others to his penchant for being risk-averse. But now his propensity to stall, delay, postpone, deceive and avoid making decisions is becoming extraordinarily perilous.
For five months he has evaded a decision on a second hostage deal. For seven months he hasn't made a decision on postwar Gaza. For three months he has been procrastinating on whether to invade Rafah at Gaza's southern tip. He hasn't made a decision on Hezbollah on the Lebanese border.
Nor has he ever made a real decision on Iran's nuclear program or its menacing policies of fomenting instability in the region through terror proxies. Instead, he delivers hollow speeches filled with ahistorical deterministic references to the Holocaust, Israel's survival and military threats. Government by cliché, not policy.
But now may come the moment of truth, the confluence of decisions that need to be made. First will be the hostage deal that is accompanied by a prolonged cease-fire. If Netanyahu decides to go through with it, his coalition may crumble. If he refuses he will face a public backlash and further isolation. And all that with Israel mired in Gaza and Hamas regrettably still on its feet.
Given this option, Netanyahu came out with a typical statement: "Israel will attack Rafah with or without a cease-fire." How do you reconcile that with a hostage deal? You don't because you can't. The United States was taken aback by the timing of the statement, The New York Times reported, citing administration officials. "People say things," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. But all this goes to the heart of the art of indecision.
Nothing is more asinine than Israel's refusal to endorse or even entertain Joe Biden's regional plan. The United States and Saudi Arabia have been quietly drafting a bilateral defense and geopolitical agreement. Until October 7 such a deal was assumed to be trilateral, including a Saudi normalization of relations with Israel and a political process with the Palestinians. After the catastrophe of October 7 under Netanyahu's watch and laxity, the United States sees more urgency in concluding a deal that may restructure the entire region.
But that requires a serious commitment from Israel to enter a process leading to a Palestinian state down the road, say in five years. Recognizing that Netanyahu isn't a partner for a reconfigured Middle East, the United States and Saudi Arabia are concluding the bilateral component of such a deal.
Contrary to what critics are saying, it's not binary – either no deal at all or one that includes a Saudi-Israeli normalization to be submitted to Congress. There are shades of gray on the spectrum between a U.S.-Saudi agreement and a regional agreement, like including Israel-Saudi clauses that will be negotiated later, and stating the requirements and asking Israel to join.
Not engaging Biden on his plan isn't only ignoring reality, but dismissing opportunities and defying geopolitical circumstances is the dictionary definition of "asinine." Threatening to destroy the PA is asinine on steroids. The explanation that Netanyahu has coalition issues isn't serious political analysis but a validation of the plain truth: All he cares about is his political survival. Not national security, not Israel's standing in the world, not relations with America. Just himself.
2024-05-03T17:29:19Z dg43tfdfdgfd