Israel Matzav

Do Israel's 'true friends' understand what's at stake?

Evelyn Gordon quotes the following from a recent Tom Friedman column:

There is an unspoken question in the mind of virtually every Israeli that you need to answer correctly: ‘Do you understand what neighborhood I’m living in?

The real question is whether Tom himself understands (let along those criticized by Evelyn), but Gordon supplies ample quotes from most of our enemies in the neighborhood, except, curiously, the 'Palestinian Authority.'

As even [New York Times columnist Roger] Cohen acknowledged, Israel has real enemies. He cited Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal’s eliminationist threats; one could quote identical rhetoric from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, “moderate” opponents of Ahmadinejad like former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Egypt. A good example is this clip (courtesy of MEMRI) of Egyptian cleric Mahmoud Al-Masri being interviewed on Egypt’s Al-Nas TV in November: After gleefully prophesying that the Brotherhood’s rise in Egypt and a successful conclusion to the revolution in Syria will enable Egypt and Syria to unite in a war of annihilation against Israel, Al-Masri assures his followers that this is just the beginning: “Ultimately, not a single Jew will be left on the face of the earth.”

So given that lots of people truly want to destroy Israel, how do Israel’s friends keep that from happening? The only way is through deterrence: convincing these enemies that, however much they’d like to annihilate Israel, they lack the capability to succeed. First and foremost, of course, that depends on Israel’s own military capabilities. But it also depends on perceptions of Israel’s international support.

Indeed, most of the critics don't understand, and don't want to understand, the neighborhood in which we live. But I really wish Gordon had included a quote from 'Moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen. Although this post is otherwise outstanding, it will allow some people to pretend that the 'moderate' 'Palestinian Authority' really doesn't wish to annihilate us.

Labels: anti-Semitism, Iranian nuclear threat, Mohammed Morsy, Muslim Brotherhood, Tom Friedman, US support for Israel

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:40 AM