Is Netanyahu Going To “Kill Em All, Let God Sort Em Out” Mode?

Many decades ago, the 26 year old version of me became a Marine. Infantry. While things were raging in Beirut in fact. I won’t bore you with more on that but note that in the PX and shops surrounding Marine and Army bases you could (and I’m sure still can) buy t-shirts with rather provocative statements (and images). One of which was “Kill EM ALL & LET GOD SORT EM OUT!  In the course of human history too many people have taken that sentiment too seriously.  It’s horrible when a person or small group does so in a battle zone, say just blowing away a hut or small village without regard to who’s there (combatant or not) but when higher ups adopt it unspeakable and historic tragedy ensues. I worry we’re’ on the brink of that now, and that this time the United States will despite considerable effort to prevent it see an ally join the ranks of those who commit genocide.

This has been on my mind for a while now but I’ve held my tongue. Partly yes, I don’t like being accused of anti-semitism. I should also say upfront due to their actions/attitude towards my fellow Marines at the airport in Beirut I have a particular axe to grind with the “vaunted” Israeli Defense Forces.  That too is too long a matter to go into but full disclosure demands I acknowledge it. However believe it or not I’ve been hoping I’ve been reading the situation wrong. Now I truly fear things are inexorably moving past the point of stopping into tragedy. Why? It seemed that Israel might have finally accepted that the mass casualties of a major attack they want to make might not be the way to proceed. A delegation was supposed to come to DC to work on a more measured strategy for rooting out Hamas.

As you can see from this article in The Hill that’s now been called off.  Many countries including the U.S. have been alarmed at Israeli forces are threatening, planning actually to mount a major offensive into Rafah, where there’s a refugee camp where upwards of a million Palestinians are sheltering from the war.  Being the kind of cowardly P.O.S. scum they are Hamas has a number of its terrorists hiding out amongst the civilians, using them as human shields. President Biden and others have been imploring Netanyahu to take a measured approach instead of blasting the hell out of places with bombs, artillery and tank shells.

The delegation from Israel was expected to arrive this week in the U.S. for talks but this morning they bailed. “Bibi” is mad at the U.S. which isn’t new. He wants the kind of love from us TRUMP wants – total and unquestioning loyalty to whatever HE says and does. It seems he’s using the excuse of our abstaining on a U.N. Resolution as an excuse to go ahead and do things his way:

Netanyahu’s decision comes after the U.S. declined to veto the Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. His office issued a statement calling the U.S. abstention “a clear retreat from the consistent position of the United States,” according to Israeli news outlets.

The linked article is a short read but what you need to know is the actual reason we abstained was a lack of language not calling out Hamas for its terrorism. That’s why I say Netanyahu, who was pissed about being pressured by the U.S. in the first place was looking for an excuse, ANY excuse to get out of the talks.

Right off the bat let me say bluntly that every single member of Hamas (or supporter who took advantage in the moment) who took part in the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7 must be brought to justice. Whether by death or spending the rest of their lives rotting in prison. Like any country Israel has a right to defend itself, and its citizens and visitors.

Having said that, Israel has plenty of its own to answer for, starting with allowing that attack to happen in the first place, for it being as “successful” as it was, and for part of the “success” by which I mean kidnapping, murder, rape, theft and destruction to go on for far longer say than the Jan 6. attacks on the Capitol before finally intervening. And the manner in which Israel has conducted itself since is nothing short of awful. Violations of accepted international Laws of Land Warfare, and intentional infliction of untold suffering on a civilian population of Gaza that never had any choice in Hamas being installed as the “leadership” of the Gaza strip.

Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu and his Likud Party are the ones who put Hamas in charge of Gaza. And helped support funding of them including via working with Arab/Muslim countries in the region. Why? Because Hamas, before then, at the time and since has called for the destruction of Israel and them being in charge of Gaza would weaken the power and influence of The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank which has advocated for and worked for the two-state solution! Bibi Netanyahu created this mess and he’s a smart guy. Ruthless and as narcistic as even Trump but smart. He knew someday things would come to this. I’m not the only person who holds the opinion that as far as he, his Party and even more extreme elements in Israel are concerned every square inch of land in Israel is meant for Jewish people and Jewish people only.

In violation of an agreement struck literally when the U.N. recognized the State of Israel to establish a Palestinian homeland in the West Bank the govt. of Israel has illegally built Jewish settlements in it. At times the pace has picked up but in the years Netanyahu has been Prime Minister the pace picked way the hell up and in recent years has been on steroids. Israel is steadily squeezing Palestinians out of the West Bank. As for Gaza, the bulk of Palestinians are squeezed into the Gaza Strip which is roughly thirty miles long and less than ten miles (on average) wide!

As the war to find and destroy Hamas has unfolded civilians living in Gaza have been forced into ever smaller bits of territory. And Israel has been pounding those areas with bombs dropped by aircraft, rockets and artillery. Not to mention on ground attacks by troops backed up by armored vehicles. Even hospitals have been attacked since Hamas has the ugly habit of hiding out in tunnels beneath them. All the while Israel has outright denied or severely limited food, fresh water and even medical supplies from being trucked in to help relieve an appalling humanitarian crisis.

Now, with so many Palestinian civilians herded into a handful of increasingly small areas Israel is preparing for a major ground offensive. If they conduct themselves as they have so far the tens of thousands of civilian deaths to date will jump into the hundreds of thousands. Naturally the Biden administration has been working like hell on two things – getting critically needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and preventing Israel from carrying out the kind of massive, indiscriminate attack it is planning. On the latter point we have been pressuring them to take a more specific approach. Yes, it would cost more Israeli casualties to root out pockets of Hamas fighters that way. It would also save far, FAR more (tens, or more likely hundreds of thousands) innocent civilians from harm.

Amidst all this has been the issue of hostages. Loud, insistent calls for a cease fire, even one of only a month or so to exchange hostages have been rebuffed. Hamas of course wants a permanent cease fire, but Israel isn’t willing to accept even a short one! Still, talks are ongoing and it seemed until this morning progress might be made on altering Israel’s planned strategy of a massive attacks on where they believe Hamas to be – hiding in those pockets of civilians that have been crammed together – because Israel herded them into those places.

I grew up a half-block from one of the most widely admired Jewish families in southern Illinois. They owned a modest oil company and driving along the highway between towns you could see those pumps off in fields working to extract small amounts from the ground back then. The matriarch was a tiny woman who projected immense strength and power when needed. She was ever so patient explaining all manner of things to me about Judaism, and even stuff about Israel and goings on there back in the 1960s in as fair and even-handed way as one could ask for. I DO believe in a Jewish homeland. However, the people we call Palestinians have roots in that same land going back just as long. Christianity has its own claim going back 2000 years but they are Johnny-Come-Lately to the whole thing.

I’ve been highly critical in the past of the actions of some of Israel’s leaders have taken. While sometimes the people have changed course by choosing more moderate leaders, there have been some who’ve strived to make it more difficult to do so. By implementing inflammatory policies that provoke terrorism rather than reduce it. People want to feel safe to go about their daily lives. In fact people deserve that. Yet Netanyahu has always been one to grow hornets nests and then lob them into the mix. From my view he’s every bit as bad as Arafat was when he (Arafat) walked away from a deal that seemed the best chance ever to attain peace in that troubled land.

Netanyahu I’ve long feared doesn’t want peace. Instead he wants every single Palestinian GONE from Israel. Every Muslim too, and their own shrines there. He’ll tolerate Christian ones just to keep support from RWNJ “Christians” in the U.S. or he’d wipe them out too. That’s what I think of the man. Does he want to literally “exterminate” every Palestinian? No, I don’t believe that even of him. However, he DOES NOT CARE how many suffer and die if creating enough of those things gets them to leave and another country or countries to take them in!

He’s a black-hearted asshole who sees a chance to “purify” his land and he’s counting on U.S. commitment to Israel to let him to so. No matter what. He will drag us down with him, if only to save his own ass because remaining Prime Minister is the only thing keeping him out of court.  He and Trump have that in common for damned sure. Let’s set that aside. Netanyahu is counting on the U.S. to help prop him up. To keep him in power. He knows the GOP will, as they’ve already started to do attack President Biden and Democrats in general for “abandoning” Israel. Worse, once again he’s being invited by a GOP House Speaker to the podium to give an address to Congress. A F**K YOU to a sitting Democratic President!

This has been a problem, this outsized ability of Israel to influence U.S. politics for my entire life. The only good news I can find in the current effort to tear down Biden and Democrats and elect Trump and Republicans is that the best and brightest of the old GOP messaging machine are never Trumpers. Still, conservatives are going to be able to do damage. Worse, our credibility is already being damaged in the world.  U.S. unquestioning backing of Israel has led to this critical moment in history. Questioning is long overdue but if Social Security and Medicare are the “third rail” of domestic policy (touch it and you die) then support of Israel no matter what is the third rail of foreign policy.

Sadly, tragically even Netanyahu knows this. Still, what Senator Schumer did when he called out Israel needs to be just the start. Hell, it’s likely why Bibi grudgingly went along with the proposal to send a delegation to DC for talks in the first place. But he WANTS to move forward with a massive attack on Rafah.

“Kill em all and let God sort em out” might be a bit over the top. But at the very least Netanyahu wants to consign every Palestinian in Israel into a hell HE fashioned and make it worse. And leave the saving of anyone (if at all) to God. The long term damage to Israel in the eyes of the world, or the damage to the backer (the United States) without which Israel would not exist is something he doesn’t care about. He’s out to save his own ass and he DOES  NOT  CARE how many innocents suffer and die in the process.