Thursday 12 October - Gaza War - Aggregation & Commentary

הכרת הטוב

'I Come Here Also as a Jew': With Netanyahu, Blinken Pledges That 'U.S. Has Israel's Back'

So far, no daylight between Israel and the Biden administration on Hamas. The U.S. Navy is deterring Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah from launching a major attack from the North as the IDF concentrates on Gaza.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-10-12/ty-article-live/idf-strikes-gaza-overnight-prioritizing-attacks-on-senior-officials/0000018b-221a-d010-a59f-bb7bf0400000

To take your mind off our troubles. Here is 1:44 of a deranged 77-year-old man talking shite. Enjoy.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?531054-1/president-trump-addresses-supporters-west-palm-beach-florida

Army Radio report

באופן חריג: אל-על תפעיל בשבת 2 טיסות חילוץ להשבת אנשי מילואים מהמזרח וארה"ב

El Al will fly reservists back on Shabbat.

There's been some confusion about where the EU stands on funding the Palestinians. Here is the latest:

https://www.impact-se.org/blog/

EU President reconfirms freeze in aid to Palestinians in place following Hamas onslaught Following conflicting messages: EU President Ursula von der Leyen clarified that a wholesale review of Palestinian funding is taking place. EU Commissioner also reaffirmed suspension of aid and subsequent audit after EU Foreign Minister had claimed opposition to the move. Sweden and Denmark join Austria in suspending aid, Germany considering freeze. The unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel reflects years of hate-teaching in Gaza schools, with European funding contributing to textbooks used. Dear Elliot, Ramat Gan, October 12, 2023 – Following conflicting messages from leading figures in the European Union, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reconfirmed yesterday that EU funding to the Palestinians is being thoroughly reviewed. As a result the EU, which is the largest single donor to the Palestinians, will now freeze aid. In a statement addressing the Hamas onslaught, President von der Leyen said: “There can be no justification for Hamas' act of terror.” Consequently, she explained that “It is important that we carefully review our financial assistance for Palestine. EU funding has never and will never go to Hamas or any terrorist entity. So we will now again review the entire portfolio in light of an evolving situation on the ground.” Oliver Varhelyi, the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement responsible for EU funds to the Palestinian Authority, reaffirmed the position, telling the Financial Times today that “Having seen what has happened, we cannot not check [the funding] again, to see whether we have not been used and abused.” Emphasising the extent of EU funding to the Palestinians, he added: “We’re in the middle of a war where it seems that we have a very strong Islamist terrorist organisation emerging in a territory where we are the biggest donor.” On Monday, Varhelyi announced: “There can be no business as usual. As the biggest donor of the Palestinians, the European Commission is putting its full development portfolio under review, worth a total of EUR 691m.” The Financial Times makes clear that Varhelyi made the original announcement “with the understanding that he had backing from the Commission’s executive.” However, the announcement was challenged on Tuesday by Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign affairs commissioner, who claimed that the “overwhelming majority” of EU states are in favour of continuing Palestinian funding unabated, and that funding “would not be cancelled.” Borrell’s position would appear to be undermined by a flurry of EU member-states who have already decided to freeze their own bilateral funding to the Palestinians. On Tuesday, Sweden’s Development Minister Johan Forssell announced: “We have a new situation after the 7th of October… Our decision today is that Sweden will ... pause development aid to Palestine until further notice.” Earlier in the day, Denmark’s government said that it "has decided to put Danish development assistance to Palestine on hold." Meanwhile, on Monday Austria announced that it would be suspending its aid to Palestinians in response to the Hamas attack on Israel. Germany is also reconsidering aid to the Palestinians after German Development Minister Svenja Schulze stated that “these attacks on Israel are a terrible turning point. We will therefore examine our entire commitment to the Palestinian territories.” International funds to the Palestinian Authority (PA) have been used to finance the production of textbooks which are replete with hatred, and incitement to the type of extreme violence which Hamas has deployed. Driven by IMPACT-se, over the last five years the European Parliament has passed five pieces on legislation condemning the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA for hate teaching, and has threatened the withdrawal of funding. Best regards, Marcus Sheff

(communicated)

Yesh Atid Wisely Stays out of the Netanyahu-led government

בוקר טוב, לצערנו, הצעתו של ראש הממשלה לשעבר וראש האופוזיציה, יאיר לפיד, לממשלת חירום מקצועית ללא הקיצונים לא התקבלה. איננו זקוקים לתפקידי שרים בזמנים כאלה, אלא זקוקים להשפעה אמיתית על המצב. נמשיך ביש עתיד לתת גיבוי מבחוץ ולתמוך במדינת ישראל ובכוחות הבטחון עד למיגור מוחלט של החמאס בעזה. נמשיך לתמוך במשפחות ולפעול למען הלוחמים הגיבורים שלנו ולמען העורף הישראלי. שיהיה בוקר שקט, שימרו על עצמכם 

(communicated)

The Hamas horror is also a lesson on the price of populism By Yuval Noah Harari

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/11/netanyahu-populism-weakened-israeli-security/

Bit by bit, the story dribbles out.

היום השישי למלחמה | דובר צה"ל: היו סימנים בלילה שלפני פלישת חמאס, אך לא על מתקפה בהיקף כזה

https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/2023-10-12/ty-article-live/0000018b-208e-d010-a59f-b9ef0ba50000

Why does the BBC even think it has to explain its anti-Zionism and moral relativism after all these years.

Terrorism is perforce anti-civilian warfare except at the BBC.

Why BBC doesn't call Hamas militants 'terrorists' - John Simpson

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67083432

I was curious about the source of this story. Turns out it is a GOP House member. No reason for him to try to damage Bibi. Senior US lawmaker says Egypt warned Israel 3 days before onslaught

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/senior-us-lawmaker-says-egypt-warned-israel-3-days-before-onslaught/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWe%20know%20that%20Egypt%20has,was%20given%2C%E2%80%9D%20he%20says.

As we keep one eye on the north, I am thinking about Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah and his February 2023 comment about Netanyahu's putsch for regime change: “For the first time since the creation of [Israel], we hear speeches from the entity’s president and former prime ministers Lapid, Bennett, Olmert and Barak along with former defense ministers and generals who talk about civil war and bloodshed and say that there is no solution to the challenges posed by the new government.” Gleefully picking up on Herzog warning, Nasrallah says Israel tearing itself apart

The finance world braces for impact from the Israel-Hamas warThe shockwaves of the Israel-Hamas war have finally reached Marrakesh. It took several days—as it often does in the technocratic world of international economics—for financial leaders gathered here at the Meetings to grasp that the conflict could affect everyone.

Here on the ground, the full scale of the devastating human tragedy and military conflict unleashed by Hamas’s assault on Israel last Saturday is coming into focus—and with it a focus on the war’s economic ramifications. Several conversations are happening at once. 

First and foremost, there is growing horror as reports about the terrorist attacks and fallout in Israel and Gaza play on TV screens and phones inside and outside the official venue for the Meetings.

There is also discussion of the global economic fallout. Energy prices have understandably been a big focus, with memories of the 1973 Yom Kippur War and ensuing oil embargo front of mind for ministers. But as many of the economists milling about the pavilions have noted, the global energy market has shifted dramatically in the fifty years since that war. The world doesn’t solely rely on the Middle East for energy. And—for now—the conflict hasn’t spread through the region.

Then there’s the shekel and Israel’s economy. Israel’s central bank intervened to prop up the currency by selling thirty billion dollars in foreign reserves, but the shekel’s slump continues. There is wider concern that foreign investment in Israel will dry up and create a recession in the Israeli economy.

With regard to Gaza, the question is about reconstruction—whenever that time comes. Will the World Bank and other development banks play a role and step in with aid? A European commissioner initially signaled that the Commission would stop sending some aid to Palestinians, but that decision was quickly reversed by the European Union. There are open questions in Marrakesh right now about 1) what kind of aid will flow to Gaza in the near term and 2) what kind of money will be requested in the long term. Because these are questions for the development banks, the IMF has, so far, been able to sidestep the questions.

But don’t expect avoidance of these issues to continue. By the end of the week, the ministers and governors in Marrakesh will realize what many around the world already see clearly: What is unfolding in Israel and Gaza will have global political and economic impacts.

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/updates-imf-world-bank-meetings-behind-the-scenes/

Iran's president Ebrahim Raisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman hold their first EVER phone callhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12621611/Irans-president-Ebrahim-Raisi-Saudi-Crown-Prince-Mohammad-bin-Salman-hold-phone-call-discuss-need-end-war-crimes-against-Palestine.html

The ethos of Hamas is the Palestinian ethos. Polling before the war revealed that if presidential elections were held & the choice was the PLO's Abbas or Hamas's Ismail Haniyeh, Abbas would get 33% and Haniyeh 64% in Gaza. Haniyeh would also win in the WB.

https://pcpsr.org/en/node/955

https://x.com/JAGERFILE/status/1712308338245914685?s=20

So proud to have been a Never Trumper from the get-go.The bulvan offers words of "comfort" to Israel while campaigning in Florida.

https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/1712273555294232879

#Hamas Declares Friday, October 13, As General Mobilization Day For 'Al-Aqsa Flood Operation,' Urges #WestBank, #Jerusalem Palestinians To Join Massive Rallies And Confront Israeli Soldiers - Audio of report here https://ow.ly/Up4U50PVj00 #MEMRI

https://twitter.com/MEMRIReports/status/1711830817968681127

Channel 14 Israel - All Bibi-All-The-Time. Then came a glitch.

Criticism of Netanyahu on his own TV Channel. If you have Hebrew, this is a *stunning* interview.  Disseminate. Not just for its content but that it aired on Bibist Channel 14. They didn't intend to air it, but live TV makes total control impossible.

https://twitter.com/JAGERFILE/status/1711996839476511095