On Monday morning, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Tel Aviv with President Itzhak Herzog, who reminded his guest that in the past 24 hours, “We have witnessed ongoing terror attacks by Palestinian terrorists. We have suffered the loss of Gideon Perry, a 38-year-old father of three, husband, a lover of music, who went to work in a plant and one of his pals in the workplace decided to murder him simply because he’s a Jew and an Israeli – a very great tragedy. Last night we witnessed a suspected major terror attack in Tel Aviv, which is under investigation, with a possible suicide bomber. And this morning our soldiers have been attacked in Ya’ara on the border with Lebanon by Hezbollah terrorists with drones, and there is information that we have suffered possible casualties.”
That’s what we pay him to do, instead of attacking 20% of Israelis he calls “Kahanists” and saying they should be kept out of Israel’s politics.
Blinken was not fazed by Herzog’s angry opening, and went right to his spiel: “This is my ninth visit since October 7th to Israel … And this is a decisive moment – probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire, and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security.”
Over the weekend, Hamas accused Netanyahu of seeking to sabotage the deal for enduring peace and all that, and said the proposal put forward by the mediators in Qatar had been changed to account for Israeli demands but not for Hamas’s and thus “do not allow for reaching an agreement.”
Hamas was not lying. The draft proposal unveiled by President Joe Biden in late May, which he claimed was endorsed by Israel––he lied, envisioned the IDF withdrawing from populated areas of Gaza in the first phase of the agreement and completely in the second phase. Back then, Israel was yet to have taken over the critical Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors, so Biden didn’t mention them, nor the Rafah border crossing to Egypt – for the same reason.
Reality has changed, the IDF has been whacking the Hamas battalions, reuniting some 17,000 expired terrorists with their 72 virgins (a staggering 1,224,000 virgins), but Hamas insists Biden’s prehistoric deal should be held on to.
I apologize for including Biden and prehistoric in the same sentence – I’m only human.
The notion that the IDF would abandon its hard-fought gains in the southern Gaza Strip, won with the blood of tens of brave Israeli soldiers, to give Hamas a chance to recuperate and retake the tortured enclave is insane.
Unfortunately, the Israeli extreme left is made up of almost entirely tantrum-throwing children who insist PM Netanyahu offer mass murderer Yahya Sinwar a new lease of life because Sinwar succeeded in surrounding himself with the living and dead bodies of 115 Israelis. They want Netanyahu to surrender to Sinwar “NOW.” They want peace “NOW.” They want a pony “NOW.”
Blinken hinted at Netanyahu who still refuses to give the tantrum-throwing children their chokies, saying: “It is time for everyone to get to yes and to not look for any excuses to say no.”
And then, Blinken, like so many Secretaries of State before him (Kissinger comes to mind) who skillfully manipulated Israeli leaders with sticks and carrots, put out a polite but blunt treat on Monday, telling Herzog: “I know this is a fraught moment in Israel with deep concern about the possibility of attacks coming from Iran, coming from Hezbollah and other sources. And as you heard the president say, the United States has taken decisive action to deploy forces here to deter any attacks and, if necessary, to defend against any attacks. … But the focus of my visit is intensely on getting the hostages back and getting the ceasefire done. It is time for everyone to get to yes and not look for any excuses to say no. I look forward to the day ahead, seeing the prime minister, defense minister, and other senior officials.”
Such a nice country you got here, Mr. President, be a shame to let it be ruined by the Iranians and Hezbollah…
Blinken then concluded, “As always, a pleasure to start the day with you. And let me say, finally, that we mourn the losses that the president has just shared over the last 24 hours.”
Of course, you do.
