Letters to the Editor
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Lies! All lies!
Goliath of Gath was never as tall a six cubits and a span. In truth, he was barely four cubits. He was also a man of honor, who thought a close combat duel meant you ought to leave your ranged weapons at home. Goliath never had a chance.
Considering this, maybe David and Goliath isn't such a bad metaphor after all.
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Israeli Nukes
In an earlier post, someone described Israel's nuclear weapons as illegal. They are not illegal. Israel, along with public members of the nuclear club India and Pakistan, did not sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Thus, Israel has broken no treaty by developing nuclear weapons technology and building warheads. Likewise, India and Pakistan's nuclear weapons are not illegal.
One may contrast this with Iran, which did sign the treaty but, nevertheless, seems to be working on an atomic device. For its part, North Korea signed, but subsequently withdrew from it.
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Pathetically lame
As a couple of people mentioned...
What is the point of the article?
The fact of the matter is Egypt threatened the Israelis with
destruction. Not only did they do this an on almost daily basis
verbally as previously pointed out
A. They moved massive amounts of troops into the Sinai (whether the number is closer to 50 K or 100 K seems a minor point at best)
B. They did kick out the UN.
C. Incorporating the Jordanians into their command structure increased the flexibility of Egypt to attack.
D. Closing the port was effectively an act of war.
Now whether
A. Nasser intended to attack, but by hinting to the US he was not serious he might have been trying to get the Israelis to relax.
B. Nasser had no offensive intentions, he was just talking big to impress the Arab street.
C. Nasser did not really want to attack, but once things are set in motion it is hard to stop
D. Some other scenario
Seems irrelevent....Think of it as Texan law. A guy comes on to your lawn with a rifle and screams I am going to kill you.
You have the right of self defence whether he aimed the rifle at you or not. In fact, you still have the right of self defense if it was a madman threatening you with a BB gun.
Whether one likes it or not (and one needs to put 1967 in its context....One might not like the situation on the West bank and Gaza in 2007, but that is now, not then), given the Israelis were 1 generation removed from Holocaust, when a guy with a large army says I am out to kill you all, it was not a surprise they took it seriously. Whether or not they had a stronger army is irrelevant. Strong armies have been beaten for a variety of reasons in history.
So I am at a loss reading this article. Yeah, the Israelis were not automatically doomed in a war...But if the Arabs kept on threatening a war of distruction, how can anybody (I forget lame (especially Euro) lefties) whine when the Israelis make sure they survive.
Does this mean the Israelis are behaving perfectly now? No it does not. (I think the Israelis should definitely give the Palestinians a viable state..) But let us stay on subject...Because if we start whining about the poor human rights conditions of Palestinians in the occupied territories, then we might as well continue on and look at the poor human rights conditions of most Arabs in most Arab countries. But that is a rant for another day.
Also, a question for Irit...Are you the Irit who spent a lot of time in Japan? If so, hi!
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What's the news?
The news is this is only "news" in the U.S. Even the Israelis knoow this and have for some time.
Here's another "so-called self-loathing Jew" to explain it to you:
Defending the Holy Land
A Critical Analysis of Israel's Security and Foreign Policy
Zeev Maoz
A landmark analysis of the entire history of Israel's defense and foreign policies and a fundamental reassessment of its security doctrine
About the Book
Defending the Holy Land is the most comprehensive analysis to date of Israel's national security and foreign policy, from the inception of the State of Israel to the present. Author Zeev Maoz's unique double perspective, as both an expert on the Israeli security establishment and esteemed scholar of Mideast politics, enables him to describe in harrowing detail the tragic recklessness and self-made traps that pervade the history of Israeli security operations and foreign policy.
Most of the wars in which Israel was involved, Maoz shows, were entirely avoidable, the result of deliberate Israeli aggression, flawed decision-making, and misguided conflict management strategies. None, with the possible exception of the 1948 War of Independence, were what Israelis call "wars of necessity." They were all wars of choice—or, worse, folly.
Demonstrating that Israel's national security policy rested on the shaky pairing of a trigger-happy approach to the use of force with a hesitant and reactive peace diplomacy, Defending the Holy Land recounts in minute-by-minute detail how the ascendancy of Israel's security establishment over its foreign policy apparatus led to unnecessary wars and missed opportunites for peace.
A scathing and brilliant revisionist history, Defending the Holy Land calls for sweeping reform of Israel's foreign policy and national security establishments. This book will fundamentally transform the way readers think about Israel's troubled history.
Zeev Maoz is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Davis. He is the former head of the Graduate School of Government and Policy at Tel Aviv University and the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, and the former director of the M.A. Program of the National Defense College of the Israeli Defense Forces. Visit the author's website at: http://psfaculty.ucdavis.edu/zmaoz/.
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ISRAEL IS NOT NECESSARILY OUR BEST FRIEND
To hear that Israel's Six-Day War may have been a war of choice rather than necessity doesn't surprise me a bit; they have a long history of dissembling when it comes to dealing with the United States.
In 1967, Israel attacked, without provocation and with full knowledge, the USS Liberty in the Mediteranean. Many of our sailors were killed and Israel claimed ignorance that it was an American military vessel that they attacked. Intercepted radio traffic from the Israeli jets, boats and combat-command show that the Israelis lied. They even have a commemorative display in their "Pentagon" that applauds that scurrilous sneak-attack.
Jonathan Pollard, an Israeli-oriented US employee, spied on the US at Israel's behest. He is jailed here on espionage charges, but, Israel continues to whine that he should be released. No apology from them at all has been forthcoming.
Israel's constant complaint is that Palestinian "terrorists" target innocent Israeli civilians to further their cause. In 1948, future Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin blew up the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, killing innocent British men, women and children. No apologies or admissions of culpability have ever been issued by Israel. Ever. Not ever.
Have you seen the rather interesting video of the six or seven young Israeli men, dancing and laughing atop their car, as they watched the 9/11 attacks from just across the river in New Jersey? Several of them have Israeli military backgrounds. Found in Israel, they were less than eager to provide details about how they happened to be where they were to have such a ring-side seat for the attacks, why they were laughing and dancing atop the car or why they were even here in the first place. As Desi Arnaz might say..."they got some 'splainin' to do." Of course, by my QUESTIONING Israel's actions and motives, you can expect at least one of their apologists to trot out the tired "anti-Semitic" drivel.
However, America does need to re-examine the relationship we have with Israel. We are not their client state and we do suffer the consequences of their actions. Be especially mindful over the next few months how Israel tries to convince the US to attack Iran over the nuclear situation since an Israeli attack alone on Iran would have terrible consequences for them.
Once again, the Israeli lobby in America puts the needs of Israel over the best interests of the United States in the Middle East. Israel is a friend, no doubt. However, even friends need to be told "no" when it is NOT in our best interests long-term.