11 thoughts on “Trump And Morton Klein”

  2. ““Israel is not a state of all its citizens” — Netanyahu.

    Patriotic Americans (who may happen to be Jewish) don’t like that sort of thing, particularly if they are liberals (or “leftist”).

    1. Are we supposed to take an out-of-context quote like that seriously?

      Please, name a state in the Middle East that treats Arabs better than Israel.

      I’ll wait.

      1. The choice isn’t between Netanyahu and some middle east regime! The choice is (now was, as of 7 days ago) between Benjamin Netanyahu and General Benny Gantz! Gantz’s Blue and White party received just as many votes as Netanyahu’s Likud in the April 9th election, but because Likud will form a coalition with farther-to-the-right parties, Netanyahu will retain his position as PM. The vast majority of American Jews would have liked to see Gantz as PM. Before his recent try at politics, General Gantz was a paratrooper who rose in the ranks to become the IDF’s chief of staff (the top dog in the military). Gantz offered vague promises of trying to find a solution with the Palestinians which didn’t a) compromise Israel’s security in any way, b) didn’t involve leaving the Golan Heights, c) didn’t involve giving up Israel’s control of the border with Jordan, d) didn’t involve giving up Israel’s settlements on the West Bank. Netanyahu’s positions are so inflexible and alienating to anyone interested in looking for Israel to not become an apartheid state dominated by religious fundamentalists that Gantz’s hardline uncompromising positions seem like a better alternative.

        As for the quote, it isn”t out-of-context if you’ve been following Israeli politics. It is a reference to the new Israeli nationality law, pushed by Netanyahu, which stands in stark contrast to Israel’s Declaration of Independence as a nation “that will ensure complete equality of social and political rights of all of its citizens.”

        What business is it of Americans? In the same speech which John Quincy Adams warned of going abroad in search of monsters to destroy, he spoke of America serving as an example of “equal liberty, of equal justice, and of equal rights”. Until Netanyahu, Israel was also such an exemplar: an imperfect guarantor of equal rights, at least within its 1967 borders. Under Netanyahu, Israel has stopped even trying.

        And why? Not because of Netanyahu’s ideology, but because of Netanyahu’s lack of any. In his hunger to assemble a parliamentary majority, he gave away Israel’s democratic soul to religious extremists.

        1. I’d take your whining more seriously if I’d seen you complaining about Obama interfering in the Israeli elections. Why would you trust “vague” (your word) promises?

          2. “Why would you trust “vague” (your word) promises?”

            Gantz was vague, but there is no reason not to trust him when it comes to security. “Chief of staff” sounds bureaucratic, but it also translates as “supreme commander” — it is the highest rank in the IDF. There have only been 22 chief of staffs in Israeli history, and it should go without saying that all 22 of those guys were going to make the security of Israel paramount.

            “I’d take your whining more seriously if I’d seen you complaining about Obama interfering in the Israeli elections.”

            I find this to be a non sequitur.

            Gantz was for amending Netanyahu’s nationality law to include minorities. Given the loyalty and bravery of the Druze in defending Israel, it is crazy to alienate them.

            I could go on, but if you really want to understand why American Jews hoped Gantz would prevail over Netanyahu, please read this very short article from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency:

            WASHINGTON (JTA) — Benny Gantz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main rival in elections next month, signaled that he would expand organized prayer access to the Western Wall for non-Orthodox streams.

            Gantz told the annual AIPAC policy conference that the Jerusalem holy site could accommodate all Jews.

            “In Bergen Belsen, no one asked who is Reform and who is Conservative, who is Orthodox and who is secular,” Gantz, who heads the centrist Blue and White party, said Monday. “Before going into battle I never checked to see who had kippah under their helmets. … The Western Wall is long enough to accommodate everyone.” That prompted a standing ovation from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee crowd.

            Netanyahu has reneged on pledges to expand access for organized prayer by non-Orthodox Jews at the site.

            Gantz echoed Netanyahu policies in a number of areas, including on Iran, when he said he would act to limit its influence in the region, and on peace talks with Palestinians — like Netanyahu, Gantz said he would insist on Israeli security control of the West Bank.

            But he lambasted Netanyahu for striking a vote-sharing deal with a far-right party, Jewish Power, that has its roots in the racist teachings of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane.

            “There will be no Kahanists running our country,” Gantz said. “There will be no racists leading our state institutions.”

            https://www.jta.org/quick-reads/benny-gantz-western-wall-can-accommodate-prayer-for-all-jewish-streams

        2. What business is it of Americans?

          Strange you think that the plight of the former Ottomans is our concern but that we shouldn’t care that one of our allies faces a genocidal threat.

          Know what would be best for the former Ottomas turned former Jordanians turned Palestinians? For them to change their culture to stop inculcating the genocide of Jews and other non-believers in their children and to adopt reforms based on the advances of Western Civilization.

    2. You are making a dual loyalty attack but the reality is that Israel is the Jewish homeland and a place Jews are always welcome. This is important because many countries are becoming increasingly intolerant of Jews thanks to mass migration from the Middle East and the ascendancy of marxism.

  3. The problem, I wrote in Tablet nearly five years ago, is not the settlers, but the unsettlers. ISIS has been crushed as a unified military force but its militants lurk in the civillian population, ready to regroup.

    ISIS is just a symptom of a pan-Arab culture that embraces Islamism. The problem isn’t ISIS but where ISIS draws funding, people, and moral support from. It is a totalitarian system but while religious, also has roots in Marxism. Is this why the left is so supportive of Islamism?

    I was investigating claims that Muslims were celebrating the fire in Notre Dame in the comments of various France24 arabic posts and while some were, others expressed sadness. This isn’t so surprising but it didn’t show anything about how Muslims in France felt. The people celebrating were located all over the world. This shows that Islamism is still a global threat regardless of ISIS.

    Things might be changing but change will take a generation at least and wont be made any easier by our friends to the left coddling, appeasing, and colluding with Islamists.

  4. In a Bloomberg article which understates the private nature of the Beresheet lunar lander, there is a quote which sums up Netanyahu:

    “This is a matter of what kind of country we want,” says Isaac Ben-Israel. who in addition to heading Israel’s Space Agency is a retired major general and one of the country’s most influential military thinkers. “We just elected a Knesset with a large contingent of ultra-orthodox members. They have a right to be there, that’s democracy, but they are faith-based and backward-looking. I want to live in a country that is knowledge-based and forward looking.”

    Netanyahu, an M.I.T. graduate, also respects knowledge and progress. But his new coalition will rest, at least at first, on the ultra-orthodox parties whose parochial schools barely teach arithmetic and basic science is often viewed as heretical.


    https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-04-17/why-israel-won-t-give-up-on-a-moon-landing

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