#Ron Dermer

[plitnick]

Saudi-Israel Normalization Is Not A Path To Ending The Violence in Palestine and Israel

Once again, Biden is trotting out this terrible, potentially destructive idea that has little chance of even coming to be and no chance of being helpful. In the latest edition of the Cutting Through newsletter, I explain why this is a bad idea, and why it is being pushed even harder right now.  Saudi-Israel Normalization Is Not A Path To Ending The Violence in Palestine and Israel

[sayruq]

Jerusalem is concerned that the International Criminal Court in The Hague could soon issue arrest warrants against senior officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over the Israel Defense Forces operation against Hamas, Channel 12 News reported Thursday. According to the report, an emergency meeting was held at Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday in the presence of Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Foreign Minister Israel Katz. The four decided to take “urgent action with international authorities” to prevent the arrest of Israelis abroad, Channel 12 added.

[bfpnola]

image description by @swosheep

ID 1: all images are screenshots of an Instagram post by j3wess, and are on a light green background with an even lighter green grid pattern. The first image is a title written in dark green text. It reads: "Evangelicals are the primary supporters of Israel in the US, not Jews". There is two Stars of David beside the words 'not Jews'. A wavy green line underlines everything.

ID 2: the second image is titled "why?". The title is separated from the body by a wavy white line. The body text reads: "the protestant fundamentalist theory of dispensationalism views history as a series of seven events. so far, six have already occurred." An ordered list, in white text, reads: "1 the era of innocence: before adam's fall. 2 the era of conscience: from adam to noah. 3 the era of government: from noah to abraham. 4 the era of patriarchy: from abraham to moses. 5 the era of mosaic law: from moses to jesus. 6 the era of grace: from jesus to today." The green body text continues: "and the seventh and final dispensation will be millennium, an earthly paradise. and millennium requires gods chosen people, the jews, to all be living together in israel. it is there, supposedly, that they will rebuild the temple. then, as described in the book of revelation, armageddon will take place and in the process 2/3 of jews will die and the other 1/3 will accept jesus as the messiah. jesus will then return to earth and will institute a millennium, beginning a thousand year reign over earth as king."

ID 3: the third image is titled "the statistics". a white wavy line separates the title from the body text. The body text reads: "results from a 2017 research study on evangelical supporters of israel indicate that of the 67% of evangelicals with a 'positive perception of israel':" Below, there is a bar graph. The first bar is captioned: "the bible says g-d gave the land of israel to the jewish people". The bar is at 63 percent. THe second bar is captioned: "israel is the historic jewish homeland". The bar is at 60 percent. The third bar is captioned: "israel is important for fulfilling biblical prophecy". The bar is at 52 percent. The fourth bar is captioned: "the creation of israel shows that we are getting closer to the return of jesus christ". The bar is at 80 percent.

ID 4: The fourth image is titled "what's scary about this?" A white wavy line separates the title from the body text. The body text reads: "a majority of christian support for zionism and israel is because it will supposedly trigger the return of christ. in order for this to happen requires for a) all diasporic jews to return to the land, therefore displacing palestinians and b) jews to be either proselytized and abandon their own religion for christ or die." Below this text, a second title reads: "what's even scarier?". Body text reads: "despite israel claiming to represent and protect all jews, it prioritizes the support of evangelicals."

ID 5: the fifth image is untitled. It has a screenshot from an article which reads: "Former Israeli ambassador to the US Ron Dermer suggested Sunday that Israel should prioritize the 'passionate and unequivocal' support of evangelical Christians over that of American Jews, who he said are 'disproportionately among our critics.' 'People have to understand that the backbone of Israel's support in the United States is the evangelical Christians. It's true because of numbers and also because of their passionate and unequivocal support for Israel,' Dermer said in an onstage interview at a conference organized by Makor Rishon, a news outlet affiliated with the national religious community". Green text below it says: "this represents not just the goals of dermer but of israel. he just ended a seven year term in january as the ambassador of israel in washington. he was known as the ears and brain of netanyahu. his words are representing much more than just his thoughts." There is a white arrow pointing from the green text up to the article screenshot.

ID 6: the sixth image is titled "sources". There is a wavy white line separating the title from the body text. The body text consists of four sources, which are as follows: "times of israel: dermer suggests israel should prioritize support of evangelicals over us jews. lifeway research: evangelical attitudes toward israel research study. city journal: why don't jews like the christians who like them? america magazine: understanding the evangelical obsession with israel."

working links include:

[zvaigzdelasas]

[N12 is Israeli Private Media]

[Machine Translation]

If it turns to war in the north, Israel will have to determine what the required achievement is for it. It would have to be an achievement that she could also withstand, because she cannot be dragged into a long campaign. This requires Jerusalem to generate international legitimacy for action and an international umbrella. In this case, Israel will be required to use weapons and weapons systems that it has never used before [!!!]. If it does not use these measures, it will not be able to stop the shooting from Lebanon into Israeli territory.

The head of the National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, and the Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, asked to hear from their American counterparts if there is a change in US armaments policy that Israel should know about. The answer received from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defense and the National Security Adviser was negative; They claimed that there is no arms embargo policy, and that any delay concerns only technical matters.[...]

Among other things, it was reported that Hezbollah has many weapons at the airport in Beirut. The timing of the publication is not accidental; Whoever [sic] leaked this to the foreign media sought to achieve at least two things: First, to mention the disaster that occurred in Lebanon exactly 4 years ago, the explosion in the port of Beirut. This is an attempt to incite the Lebanese public against Hezbollah, as after the explosion in the port there was very sharp criticism against Hezbollah.

In addition, planes of foreign airlines arrive at the airport. Attacking the planes of foreign companies is an attack on the sovereignty of a foreign country. In this way, Israel wants to link the international community to the situation in Lebanon

24 Jun 24

[beardeddetectivepaper]

🚨LEAKED: ISRAEL’S ETHNIC CLEANSING PLAN

- Leaked plan to push Palestinians into the sea.

- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed one of his closest aides to explore ways to “thin out” Gaza’s population, the Israel Hayom newspaper reported.

-According to the newspaper, Netanyahu instructed Ron Dermer, his minister of strategic planning and a close aide, to have a plan for the “day after” in Gaza and, if necessary, one that “enables a mass escape [of Palestinians] to European and African countries” by opening sea routes out of the strip.

- The secret plan, seen by Israel Hayom, is being tightly circulated “due to its obvious explosiveness”, said the report, adding that “Netanyahu sees this as a strategic goal”.

- The plan aims to bypass expected US and Egyptian opposition. Unless Egypt starts shooting Palestinians crossing into the country, Cairo’s “determined resistance” can be overcome, it added.

WE NEED A CEASEFIRE NOT JUST TO SAVE LIVES. BUT TO SAVE GAZA’S EXISTENCE.

- @let'stalkpalestine

[girlactionfigure]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancels the planned trip to Washington by his top aides Ron Dermer and Tzachi Hanegbi after the US  refrained from using a veto to block a UN Security Council resolution backed by Russia and China that called for a ceasefire without conditioning it on the release of hostages. In a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, Israel says the US is harming the war effort and attempts to free hostages by the decision. The statement calls the decision “a clear retreat from the consistent US position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war,” and one that “gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to get a ceasefire without releasing our hostages.”

[intersectionalpraxis]

*IMPORTANT* updates from Let's Talk Palestine's free broadcast channel on their Instagram page:

December 2nd, 2023, 3:26pm [EST]

Israel withdrew its truce negotiators from Qatar as the discussions had moved onto the contentious issue of the Israeli soldiers and men held by the resistance. Hamas states “There will be no [further] prisoner exchange until the aggression ends and there is a comprehensive and definitive ceasefire.” Hamas signalled it is ready for an “all for all” deal to release all 100+ Israeli & 8,000+ Palestinian hostages. 🇶🇦 🇪🇬 🇺🇸 mediators trying to continue the negotiations

• Israeli soldiers & settlers attacked Qarawat Bani Hassan, northwest of Salfit. “Dozens of Israeli settlers attacked farmers in the town’s northeastern area and started shooting at them,” said major Ibrahim Assi. He said that as other residents came to help the victims, the settlers called in the Israeli army and started shooting at Palestinians. “As the soldiers stood by, settlers attacked homes and vandalised them, and burned at least two cars and one house.”

Check our 🇫🇷🇩🇪🇪🇸 pages for translated info!

6:37pm, [EST]:

🚨LEAKED: ISRAEL’S ETHNIC CLEANSING PLAN

Leaked plan to push Palestinians into the sea.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed one of his closest aides to explore ways to “thin out” Gaza’s population, the Israel Hayom newspaper reported.

According to the newspaper, Netanyahu instructed Ron Dermer, his minister of strategic planning and a close aide, to have a plan for the “day after” in Gaza and, if necessary, one that “enables a mass escape [of Palestinians] to European and African countries” by opening sea routes out of the strip.

The secret plan, seen by Israel Hayom, is being tightly circulated “due to its obvious explosiveness”, said the report, adding that “Netanyahu sees this as a strategic goal”.

The plan aims to bypass expected US and Egyptian opposition. Unless Egypt starts shooting Palestinians crossing into the country, Cairo’s “determined resistance” can be overcome, it added.

WE NEED A CEASEFIRE NOT JUST TO SAVE LIVES. BUT TO SAVE GAZA’S EXISTENCE.

[mariacallous]

On Sunday, June 9, Israeli minister Benny Gantz, a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet and Netanyahu’s main putative challenger for the position of prime minister, resigned from the government along with his fellow party member Gadi Eisenkot. The resignation comes at an awkward time for the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, which has been making a significant effort to promote a cease-fire and hostage release deal, proposed by Israel, outlined by Biden in a speech on May 31, and adopted by the U.N. Security Council as Resolution 2735. Gantz and Eisenkot, major proponents of such a deal within the Israel war cabinet, are now out of decisionmaking circles. Should Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, accept the deal, which he has not so far, Netanyahu would now have heightened political incentive to balk at his own proposal. But the resignation may also serve to catalyze political changes in Israel that may hasten a change of leadership, something the Biden administration would welcome. While there is no guarantee that Gantz’s resignation will bring Israel’s elections any closer, it was a necessary step for any major political change.

The Israeli war cabinet is formed

As the details and magnitude of the October 7 terrorist attack became clear, there were immediate calls in Israel for a national emergency government that would include centrist opposition leaders alongside Netanyahu. Israelis shared a sense of historic crisis and were prepared for a major war. The official leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, offered to join the cabinet, but he demanded that Netanyahu exclude Betzalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, two far-right ministers, from his security cabinet. Netanyahu refused, with the rationale that after the emergency government eventually dissolved, he would have lost his base. It was an early sign that politics would continue to play a substantial role in the prime minister’s decisions, even in the depths of the crisis.

Gantz, the other major opposition leader, joined the cabinet nonetheless, satisfied instead by the creation of a “mini” war cabinet that excluded the two far-right ministers from the management of the war.

In the Israeli system, the prime minister is not the commander in chief of the military. Rather, the cabinet serves in that role, as a committee, with most powers bestowed on a smaller security cabinet (formally, the “ministerial committee for national security affairs”) of which Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are members. Netanyahu and Gantz thus formed an ad-hoc forum, the mini-war cabinet, with three official members: Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant of Netanyahu’s own Likud party, and Gantz. They were joined by three observers, Eisenkot; Ron Dermer, Netanyahu’s confidante and former ambassador to the United States; and Aryeh Deri, the most veteran minister and leader of the Shas party. Notably absent were the far-right ministers.

Resignations and consequences

Gantz and Eisenkot joined the emergency cabinet on a temporary basis, for the duration of the war’s initial phases, and with the public expectation that they might resign by the end of 2023 or early 2024. Months past that, their resignations now have implications for Israeli policy and politics.

By May, as tensions with the Biden administration over Israel’s Gaza strategy had grown, Gallant publicly called out Netanyahu and criticized the latter’s lack of strategy for what Gaza might look like after Hamas. Without defined strategic goals, no operational or tactical objectives could succeed. Gallant demanded that Netanyahu state that he does not plan for a return to Israeli occupation, as existed before the Oslo II Accords of 1994. This dramatic challenge to Netanyahu also created an opening for Gantz.

In May, Gantz finally signaled his intent to resign. He laid out conditions for his staying in the government and set an ultimatum that he would leave if they were not met, which Netanyahu rebuffed the same day. In policy terms, his most notable demand echoed Gallant, demanding that Netanyahu elucidate the beginning of a strategy for the day after in Gaza.

Gantz, Gallant, and Eisenkot are all retired generals with a long, shared history in the military. Ganz is the former chief of staff of the military, a high-profile role that is more influential in Israel than the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is in the United States, for example. As the only lieutenant general in the Israeli military and the commander of everyone in uniform, the chief of staff commands a great deal of attention from a public who face, in theory, universal conscription. When Gantz was appointed to the top military post in 2011, he was, in fact, the second choice of the cabinet. Netanyahu, the prime minister at the time, and then-Defense Minister Ehud Barak had preferred Gallant, who was considered more hawkish on Iran, but was disqualified by a public committee due to ethical concerns. Eisenkot was appointed as Gantz’s deputy in 2013 and eventually succeeded him at the top military post. 

Now in government and civilian clothes, the former generals were at times allies in the war cabinet, despite representing different parties. Their demand for strategic thinking about the day after also reflected their desire to see some role, even if limited, for the secular, West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) in Gaza, which Netanyahu has rejected. The centrist ministers’ departures weaken that prospect, possibly strengthening the hands of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, who would prefer to see the collapse of the PA altogether.

Elections are not imminent … probably

The resignations also had political motivations. Gantz has led Netanyahu in the polls ever since October 7, but his lead has narrowed significantly. If elections were held today, polls now suggest the possibility of an inconclusive election, though still with a clear advantage to the opposition. If these were the results of the next election, Gantz would need to cobble together a coalition reminiscent of the coalition headed by Lapid and Naftali Bennett, an act of political acrobatics that only held together for slightly over a year.

Elections are not scheduled for over two years, however. Even with Gantz’s resignation, Netanyahu’s original coalition, which consists of 64 out of 120 members of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, still holds a clear majority. It could fracture in different scenarios, but none of them is very likely in the short term.

First, with Gantz’s and Eisenkot’s resignations, centrist Likud members, such as Gallant, may opt to defect and try to replace Netanyahu. This would be a very risky move for them politically, but it may become more likely if demonstrations against the government, already growing, return to the large scale that Israel had seen before October 6. Gantz’s presence in the government, and especially the war’s continuation, made the environment less conducive to such public pressure until now.

Netanyahu’s far-right partners may also bring about his downfall if he veers to the center. In particular, they have already warned that should Hamas accept the cease-fire and Netanyahu move forward with the deal (a “surrender,” as Smotrich termed it), they would topple the government. This, of course, makes such a scenario less likely.

Finally, there is a small chance that Netanyahu’s Haredi partners, who are the most conservative religiously but not the most hawkish in terms of national security, might destabilize his coalition. Haredi men are exempt from military service, due to political maneuvering, a highly emotive grievance for the majority of Jewish Israelis who do serve, especially in a time of war and bereavement. With the Supreme Court now demanding a legislative basis for the exemption, Netanyahu’s coalition is struggling to put one in place. Seeing a political opening, Gantz made conscription, in some form, one of his central demands of Netanyahu. Should such a legal standing not be found, the Haredim may follow through on their threats to resign, though they are unlikely to get a better deal with another prime minister later, and so have incentives to remain.

One final option remains: Netanyahu could call for elections himself if he found an opportune moment or excuse. Netanyahu has identified his opposition to a Palestinian state as a winning ticket in a population traumatized by October 7 and loath to take any security risks in negotiations with Palestinians. Netanyahu would hope to portray himself as the one man able to withstand international pressure on Palestinian sovereignty. He will undoubtedly hope to return to the theme of his recent election campaigns, portraying himself as being “in a league of his own” in global diplomacy. One opportunity for a campaign image of Netanyahu on the global stage will come soon, currently scheduled for July 24, when he speaks before a joint session of Congress.

[uboat53]

I had an exchange recently that revealed to me how fast Netanyahu's speedrun of the autocrat's playbook is going. Let's dive in for a LONG RANT (TM).

THE AUTOCRAT'S PLAYBOOK

What I'm calling the "autocrat's playbook" is a simple procedure that autocrats or would-be autocrats take when they feel that their domestic power is under some kind of threat. Specifically, it involves creating external conflict in order to rally domestic support. The steps are fairly simple: (1) start a conflict, (2) use the conflict to muzzle your opposition, (3) use a vague but patriotic excuse for war combined with aggressive tactics to push your military into committing atrocities, (4) use the international backlash to atrocities in order to buttress your own support.

Simply put, Netanyahu is doing this because his position is under threat by his unpopular attempt to destroy Israel's judiciary, his indictment on some pretty severe criminal charges, and his inability to do anything about Hamas' October 7th attack on Israel. By using the autocrat's playbook, he's hoping to hold onto his political position and put off both the collapse of his coalition and the criminal cases against him personally. In the last 6 months, he's already gotten well into Step 4 which may be a record for a leader who wasn't technically already a well-established autocrat. To see how he's doing this, let's start with Step 1.

CONFLICT

The first thing you need in order to distract from your domestic troubles is a foreign conflict. In Netanyahu's case, he already had a conflict after Hamas' attack, but it was a bad conflict because it made him look weak. The best case scenario is that he was a bumbling fool who failed to do anything to prevent Hamas from launching a major attack, the worst case scenario is that he deliberately weakened Israel's defenses against Hamas in order to aid his racist coalition partners in illegally seizing territory in the West Bank. No, that conflict wouldn't do, he needed a different one.

Bombing and invading Gaza is a much better conflict. He gets to appear the aggressor, strong and in command, which is exactly what you want to look like as an autocrat. This is his Step 1, attack Gaza. Now for Step 2.

THE WAR CABINET

Now, Netanyahu isn't an established autocrat yet, he's more of a wanna-be. Israeli news media still criticizes him, civil society still organizes against him, the judiciary still rules against him, and his opponents still have the possibility of ousting him in the Knesset, so he doesn't get to just shove all his opposition in jail on trumped up charges the way Vladimir Putin does. Instead, he's found a better way of muzzling his opposition, give them a title.

That's what the Israeli "war cabinet" is, it's how he muzzles his opposition. Now, I should be clear, a war cabinet isn't necessarily just a muzzle, sometimes it's a legitimate way to ensure support and input from across the nation for a war. But that's not what Netanyahu is using it for, and the way to tell is actually fairly simple. You see, in a true war cabinet, the leader gives up some control to his opposition in order to ensure that they're truly represented, but Netanyahu didn't do that.

You see, there are six members of the war cabinet, three full members and three observers. Of those six, four of them are either members of the Likud Party (Netanyahu's party), members of the Shas Party (one of his coalition members), or a close confidant of Netanyahu's (Ron Dermer). More importantly, only those members that are directly tied to Netanyahu have an actual portfolio (Defense for Likud member Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs for Dermer).

In other words, the opposition is in the cabinet, but has no ability to push policy and, even after policy is agreed upon, has no say in how it's carried out. However, as long as they're in the cabinet, they can't speak out publicly against the decisions made. Netanyahu has used the war cabinet to muzzle his opposition without giving them any actual power. Now, with competing voices largely silenced, we move on to Step 3.

HOW TO MAKE ATROCITIES HAPPEN

Atrocities used to be fairly common in warfare, even expected, but modern militaries actually have fairly good discipline, structure, and clear rules of operation that prevent them from doing this on any kind of large scale. In order to get a modern military to commit atrocities, you have to press it in a very specific way.

First, you have to give it an objective, preferably a vaguely defined but intensely patriotic one; bonus points if it's not practically possible. In Netanyahu's case, he ordered the military to destroy Hamas. This may be an achievable objective if Israel had spent years gathering detailed intelligence on the group and had a clear plan for how to separate Hamas fighters and leadership from the civilian population, but the ease with which Hamas carried out its 10/7 attack shows that even the first condition is not even close to being met. Destroying Hamas is an easy goal to defend in public debate, of course everyone wants to destroy Hamas, but it's not one that brings any specifics and it's certainly not something that the Israeli military can do without substantial support from both spies and diplomats even if the required preparations had actually been made.

The second step, though, is equally important; you press aggressively for results. A military given a vague mission that isn't really possible will go through the motions and not do all that much. In order to make atrocities happen, you have to push them to go hard. Bomb that building that may or may not relate to the objective, better to act than to delay! Shoot that person in the distance that may or may not be a Hamas fighter, better safe than sorry! The hospital might be a command post you say? Best to go in with full force!

By giving a vague and impossible mission and then insisting on rapid action, you can force any military to commit atrocities. Then you just wait to start Step 4.

RALLY AROUND THE FLAG

As soon as a country's military commits an atrocity, the international community will react with at least some sort of condemnation. This, at least, is as predictable as clockwork even if the consequences will vary widely. If you're an autocrat with a popularity problem, this is your moment; you're going to defend the troops with every ounce of breath in your body and, with your opposition muzzled, there will be no one to point out that the atrocity wasn't even their fault in the first place, it was yours.

And so, with one fell swoop, you identify the country as being under attack and yourself as its fervent defender, fulfilling the tactic described by Hermann Goering:

"…the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger."

COMPLICATIONS

Of course, it's not necessarily so simple. There are always things that can trip you up and it takes a fairly deft hand to navigate those issues. For example, if you're not careful to distance yourself, it can become obvious that you're the one responsible for the atrocity, not the military. This is where other tactics can come into play.

The most obvious one is just to deny facts that are inconvenient. This is actually what led me to write this up, an exchange I had recently in which someone denied that Israel had, in fact, struck the Iranian embassy in Damascus with an air strike in order to frame Iran's response as unprovoked aggression. This kind of thing doesn't tend to happen (at least, not outside very fringe circles) unless all four of these steps have had a pretty reasonable amount of success which is why I've expressed surprise at how quickly Netanyahu has accomplished all of this.

Facts in general, though, are the most common type of complication. Finding ways to hide, deny, or otherwise elide the fact that you're the one responsible for the atrocity, that it's not just the soldiers making hard calls on an otherwise positive battlefield, are key to making this procedure work.

It's useful for those of us who are not interested in Netanyahu's party line to note that the Israeli military is already showing signs of breaking in the ways that the US military did in Vietnam when discipline and basic chain of command broke down. Simply looking at the sheer number of Israeli soldiers posting social media videos of themselves casually looting or blowing up the homes of Palestinian civilians or shooting people on the street is enough to demonstrate fairly clearly that even basic communications discipline is in rough shape.

So far, though, Netanyahu has been able to control the narrative in Israel, even if the international narrative is turning against him. It remains to be sees if he can continue to do this.

CONCLUSION

Netanyahu has followed a pretty standard 4-step autocratic procedure in order to position himself as the protector of the country and distract from the many, many things that were making him unpopular and threating to remove him from his position of power. In fact, if you look at Israel's strike on Iran's embassy in Damascus, it appears that he's actually starting the whole process over again as the Gaza offensive stalls and he needs further distraction from his other issues.

I should also note that none of this is actually making Israelis any safer, quite the opposite really. The only remaining question is how much of Israel's security and how many Israeli lives Netanyahu is willing to sacrifice for his own good.

[queenpinkireellylikethisname]

Media coverage | According to Israeli media reports, a conversation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Germany’s foreign minister became "heated up" after Baerbock mentioned the famine in Gaza.

The report stated that when Annalena offered to show Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer photos of hungry Gazan children on her phone, Netanyahu vehemently denied that there is a famine in Gaza and instead showed random pictures of Gaza's beach.

Baerbock reportedly suggested that Israel should stop circulating photos depicting life as returning to normal in the Palestinian enclave, stating that "they don’t portray the real situation in Gaza. There is hunger in Gaza.”

At this juncture, Netanyahu is said to have raised his voice, insisting, “It’s real. It’s reality. It’s not like what the Nazis staged; we’re not like the Nazis who produced fake images of a manufactured reality.”

Source:Quds News Network. 19th April 2024.

[aronarchy]

Ron Dermer: “The lesson of the Holocaust is that the Jewish people need power”

Dermer said that his top two priorities as strategic affairs minister were ensuring that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon, and to “expand the circle of peace” between Israel and countries in the Arab world

Ambassador Ron and Rhoda Dermer (at left) are honored at the March of the Living's gala in Miami on Jan. 10, 2023.

By eJewishPhilanthropy staff ⋅ January 10, 2023

At the 35th anniversary gala of the March of the Living, Israeli Minister Ron Dermer said that the lesson of the Holocaust is that “the Jewish people need power.”

Dermer, who previously served as Israel’s ambassador to the United States and now serves as the Israeli minister of strategic affairs, was the main honoree of the gala alongside his wife, Rhoda. The event, which took place at the Beth Torah Benny Rok Campus, a Conservative synagogue in Miami, also included a tribute to Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, the former Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel. 

“The Holocaust took everything away from the Jewish people. For the victims, it took away their property, it took away their dignity. It ultimately took away their lives,” Dermer said. “But it is very important not to take the Holocaust itself away from the Jewish people. Because there has been an attempt in recent years to universalize the Holocaust, to turn it into another genocide, another massacre that happened. And I understand why people want to do that, because they want it to resonate with people outside of the Jewish community. I understand that.”

He added, “What is the lesson of the Holocaust to the Jews? Is the lesson that we have to teach tolerance? Did we need six million to die to teach tolerance?… We didn’t need the Holocaust to teach tolerance. The lesson of the Holocaust is that the Jewish people need power. That’s the lesson of the Holocaust.”

“Jews are uniquely uncomfortable with the idea of power because there’s a price of power,” he said. “You know what that price is? It’s imperfection. When you are sovereign, you are imperfect. When you are a victim, you can be morally perfect. I would rather be sovereign and imperfect.”

Speaking at the gala, Dermer recounted an instance when, while serving as ambassador, he visited Majdanek, the Nazi death camp, which he called “the most surreal moment that I’ve had… in my entire life.” While outside the camp’s crematorium, he received a secure call from Israel’s and the United States’ national security advisers about an impending American airstrike in Syria and how Israel would be involved in the operation.

“While this call is happening, and while we were talking about who’s going to bomb what when, I had an image of a five-story chimney to my left and a three-story mound of human ash to my right—the ultimate symbol of Jewish powerlessness—and here I was, privileged to be the ambassador of the sovereign Jewish state of Israel, speaking to the most important ally that we have.”

Dermer—who has served for decades as a close adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—said that his top two priorities as minister were ensuring that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon, and to “expand the circle of peace” between Israel and countries in the Arab world that grew through the 2020 Abraham Accords. He also hopes that Israel “will be the most important ally of the United States in the 21st century.”

“Prime Minister Netanyahu is determined to expand it and we hope to work very closely with the Biden administration,” Dermer said. “I think the policy towards Iran is a critical part of expanding that because I think it opens the space for Arab leaders to move into a public alliance with Israel as we face this common enemy together.”

Well, this is depressing.

[plitnick]

Biden’s response to the rightwing whirlwind in Israel — weakness

Biden’s response to the rightwing whirlwind in Israel — weakness

Benjamin Netanyahu hasn’t even formed his government yet, but already we are beginning to see how that new government will make things difficult for the White House. And the early indications from Joe Biden’s administration indicate a continuation of the weak responses that have characterized his policy toward Israel for decades. While Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir have rightly gotten most…

[starwhoopsass]

Israel’s Netanyahu dissolved the war cabinet

(source, Al Jazeera)

What was the Israeli war cabinet?

The war cabinet was formed on October 11 after Israel declared war on Gaza in response to a Hamas-led attack on October 7. The cabinet was set up as a smaller body within the security cabinet, which was part of the wider coalition cabinet. It comprised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his principal rival, former general Benny Gantz, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and three observers: government ministers Aryeh Deri and Gadi Eisenkot, and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. The war cabinet was intended to make quick decisions about the conduct of the war, which would then be sent for approval by the wider cabinet

Why was it scrapped?

On June 9, Gantz and observer Eisenkot, both of the National Unity Party, quit the war cabinet over the lack of a plan for Gaza beyond the current assault. Speaking on Sunday evening, Netanyahu reportedly told the security cabinet: “There is no more war cabinet”, one member present told the Israeli press. “It was part of the coalition agreement with Gantz, at his demand. The moment Gantz left, there is no such forum anymore,” Netanyahu is said to have continued. Gantz’s departure increased the pressure from National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who were both lobbying to join the inner war cabinet. In a letter to Netanyahu dated Thursday, Ben-Gvir wrote that the Israeli war had been “conducted in secret”, over the past eight months, through “limited forums that change their names and definitions in a loop, all for the purpose of sole control over decisions and avoiding discussion of other positions that would challenge the old conception”.

What now?

According to Netanyahu, the war cabinet will be replaced by a reduced kitchen cabinet, in which sensitive discussions and consultations can be conducted. According to the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the new body will include Gallant, Dermer, and National Security Council head Tzachi Hanegbi.

[bloghrexach]

💥 — IF ONLY!! —I don’t trust these organizations to do the right thing — Justice in this world? So far I haven’t seen much!!

By: LaillaB, founder of ‘Reclaim the Narrative’, on LinkedIn …

“Israel is increasingly worried by the prospect of the International Criminal Court in The Hague issuing arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli political and military leaders for alleged breaches of international law in Gaza, Channel 12 reports.

(AGAIN — IF ONLY!) …

It says three ministers and several government legal experts held an ’emergency discussion” at the Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday regarding how to fend off the feared imminent issuing of such arrest warrants.

The meeting was convened after information reached Al Quds indicating that such warrants could be issued in the near future, the report says.

Netanyahu also raised the concern in his meetings this week with Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

At Tuesday’s discussion, with the participation of Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, it was decided that “Israel would also seek assistance in other influential international diplomatic circles to try to thwart the effort”, the report says.

Israel reportedly fears the arrest warrants would be sought on the basis of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with countries that claim Israel is breaching international law and the 4th Geneva Convention said to be leading the effort.

**Source: The Times of Israel: https://lnkd.in/eVanNjpb … **

Military researchers believe the attack on Gaza has been one of the most intense bombardments since the Second World War.

According to an international law expert Prof. Eliav Lieblich, Putin’s warrant heightens the risk for Israel’s leadership. Q

South Africa’s Minister of International Relations Naledi Pandor says she was left unanswered in February by the International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan on why he issued an arrest warrant against the Russian President Vladimir Putin and not for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The prosecutor assured us that this matter is in hand and being looked at by his office. He gave us an elaborate explanation as to personnel assignments and the work that the prosecutor is currently undertaking”

“What I felt he did not answer me sufficiently on was, I asked him ‘why was he able to issue an arrest warrant for Mr Putin and is unable to do so for the Prime Minister of Israel’.

He could not answer and did not answer that question.

“But I read into what he said that the investigations are still under way and until their conclusion, he cannot pronounce on this matter,” said Pandor.” … 💥

“When the true criminals are running around free, the only honourable place for a decent human being is in prisons”. — Henry David Thoreau.

#reclaimthenarrative — 🍉🕊 — #FreePalestine … @hrexach

[mariluphoto]

According to the Israeli press, Netanyahu instructed Ron Dermer, his Minister of Strategic Planning, to "thin out" the Gaza population.

This is literally ETHNIC CLEANSING!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Article piece reads as follows: The Prime Minister's plan for the citizens of the Gaza Strip: the direction—out

The emergency government broadcasts uniformity regarding thr resumption of fighting, but regarding the day after - the story is different • Besides the issue of control of the Strip, a plan formulated by Ron Dermer at Netanyahu's request, which examines ways to thin the population in Gaza to a minimum. In addition to the issue of control of the Strip, is also expected to cause controversy considers it an unrealistic fantasy [article cuts off her]

(via. rosypirani)