Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine), 20.05.2025
Yossi Verter writes in Haaretz:
“Even the staunch supporters of the right-wing government were forced to admit to themselves on Monday that such a group of clumsy people would not have been elected to run even Chelm.(the city of the fools) The way the government has handled the issue of bringing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip is an example of charlatanism that meets stupidity: zero strategy that causes maximum damage, and ends in a grandiose capitulation and a show of videos and infantile speeches by our policymakers.
For example, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who less than a month ago threatened “my dead body if another grain of humanitarian aid enters Gaza,” squirmed like a rubber girl yesterday when he explained why aid had to be brought in. Or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who two and a half months ago decided to stop all aid to Gaza, because “Hamas does not agree to the Witkoff plan.” And yesterday, when nothing changed, he announced that there was no choice, that aid had to come in because there was a fear of starvation, and that “Israel-friendly senators” he knew (personally!) were urging him to do so.
So much so that Vice President J.D. Vance, who was already on his way to Israel, as a consolation prize for Trump’s skipping last week, canceled his visit, apparently because of the renewal of the war and the lack of a hostage deal. Last night, the Washington Post, citing an anonymous source, reported that Trump’s people had recently threatened Netanyahu that they would “abandon him” if the war did not end soon. At the same time, Canada, France and Britain issued a joint statement of unprecedented severity, in which they threatened to take action if the war did not stop. They also condemn the “despicable language” of government ministers. A real political collapse. This is what the Supreme Leader led us to. Hamas in Gaza and abroad has little reason to rejoice these days, but it is certainly a reason to celebrate.
The media framing of the horror unfolding in the devastated Gaza Strip is another stain on Israel. Even when the television channels broadcast a story about the unfortunate Gazans every few months, the headline is: “International pressure on Israel is increasing.” There is no reference to the horrific reality: piles of mutilated bodies of babies, women and the elderly; Children of about five or six years old are crushed, waving pots at distribution points, hoping to win a few spoonfuls of porridge; Toddlers in malnourished states, in pictures reminiscent of the Biafra of the 1960s. The “humanitarian” camp, for the most part, has not been exposed to anything (except for those who consume foreign media or Haaretz), and the nationalist camp is not interested in anything. The suffering of the other, especially if he is an Arab, makes him happy. The defense minister met his Azerbaijani counterpart, Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov, yesterday, wearing a camouflage uniform. And what did Yisrael Katz have to say to the general? “The double dos foie gras at the Eurovision Song Contest is the true proof of the friendship between the government and people.” Because Netanyahu is so close to him on the 14th floor of the Kirya, he likes to “guide” the IDF, and perhaps he is also tickled to host a singing competition.”[i]
Thus, among other things, even Verter suspects that Israel is behind the result in the Eurovision to convince the Israelis that the people around the world love Israel and Netanyahu. We hear all the time that everyone who does not support the genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza is anti-Semitic, and now we hear that the people around the world love Israel.
Israel out of Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria!
For one secular democratic state for the Israeli Jews and the Palestinians, including the refugees!
Endnote:
[i] https://www.haaretz.co.il/ty-WRITER/0000017f-da37-d494-a17f-de3723a30000