[OPE] Israel's "interest" in Gaza operation

Jerusalem Post Jan 23, 2009 7:52 Q AND A: GIORA EILAND - Maj.-Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland is a former national security adviser and former head of the IDF's Planning and Operation branches.

Question: Overall, where do you consider that Israel succeeded, and where did it fail, in Operation Cast Lead?

Reply: "The most important success is that the operation will produce quiet for a long time in the South. Israel's deterrence has been reasserted. Hamas has suffered a blow to its legitimacy in Gaza. Outside help is required to provide economic assistance to the people there. Hamas has had to make commitments to Egypt, and any breach of those commitments will bring it trouble with Egypt and with others. The IDF was successful, the public has been reassured, the home front functioned well. (...) Israel does not fight in order to influence the Palestinian dynamic. Would it be better for Israel if one day, someone other than Hamas governs Gaza? Maybe. But we don't need to be disappointed that Mahmoud Abbas is weak. A weak Hamas, a strong Abbas - that's not our interest. Seeing Gaza and the West Bank reunited as a one unit - that's not an Israeli interest either. It's not our problem. We didn't create that split and it's not our interest to fix it. Our interest is long-term quiet and an end to the smuggling."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1232643726240&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The nazification and racialization of Israeli politics I referred to earlier is well expressed by Ari Shavit's "guilt by association" theory, in Haaretz: "The war in Gaza was not an Israeli-Palestinian war. It was a war between the alliance of Middle East moderates and the axis of extremists. During the war, the United States, Europe, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority functioned as true allies. Therefore the war will have strategic repercussions that extend beyond the Gaza Strip." http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1057671.html This vague kind of "international front" interpretation basically justifies any kind of state violence or state terror for any reason whatever, or any kind of "pre-emptive" military action, that seems to serve the interest of "our side" internationally (sic.).

When we consider the destruction in Gaza, we can understand exactly what Mr Bush's "war on terror" means: indiscriminate USreal state terror, financed by Western taxpayers, like it or not. Conveniently, Mr Bush and his crew withdraw at the critical moment. The damage is done, but nobody can be held accountable - Kadima's vote will be reduced in the upcoming Israeli elections, and most likely Likud will lead the next Israeli government with a new line-up. It is politically a devilishly cunning plot. Isreal gets away with plain murder, and the middleclass scum media breathe hardly a word of criticism.

A Dahaf poll, conducted for Yediot Aharonot, gave Likud 29 seats, Kadima 25, Labor 17 and Yisrael Beiteinu 14. A second poll, conducted by Teleseker for Ma'ariv, predicted 28 seats for Likud, 24 for Kadima and 16 for both Labor and Yisrael Beiteinu. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1232643729203&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Currently, Likud has 12, Kadima 29, Labor 19, Shas 12, Beiteinu 12. Meretz has only five seats.

The two Arab parties in Israel, Balad and UAL Ta'al (3 seats each) were banned by majority vote of the Central Elections Committee on 12 January, most probably creating 6 new seats for Jews only. This measure was promoted by the far right National Union and Beiteinu parties, who have accused Balad and UAL Ta'al of "supporting terrorism" and "failing to recognise Israel as a democratic Jewish state". Ahmad Tibi, a leader of UAL Ta'al, described the vote as "a political trial led by a group of fascists and racists who are willing to see the Knesset without Arabs and want to see the country without Arabs." http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/2009112165350696500.html That is pretty accurate, because Beiteinu and the National Union themselves say they are in favour of a racially purified "greater Israel", meaning among other things that non-Jews are cleared away from the West Bank.

About 33 percent of Israeli voters aged 18 to 25 have said they don't plan to vote in the general elections in February, and 15 percent said they were undecided on the question of voting, according to a survey carried out by the Panels institute on behalf of The Marker. In all, 48 percent of young Israeli voters either won't vote or are still deliberating the issue. About 40 percent of voters aged 26 to 35, many of whom have young families and are members of the middle class, said they won't vote in the elections and another six percent haven't made up their minds. Voter turnout last election stood at 67.8 percent. "Young voters' indifference stems from the sense of disappointment and disgust of politics," said Guy Toledano, the Meretz campaign manager. (...) Respondents in the survey gave two main reasons for why they were not interested in the upcoming elections. About 58 percent said they distrusted the candidates. Others said, "the issue doesn't interest me." http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=42043

The tragedy is, that these young voters are the only hope for a more progressive political environment in Israel, given that the country keeps importing more and more rightwing Jews, mainly from the former USSR, in addition to the problem of the pro-Nazi, pro-genocide Middle East stance taken by the US cabinet and the US NSC.

Jurriaan

I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I want to reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name
I want to feel, sunlight on my face
See that dust cloud disappear without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building then burning down love, burning down love

- U2, "Where the streets have no name"

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Received on Fri Jan 23 20:36:39 2009