On video: Netanyahu on the Hague debate: "We saw an 'upside down world'. The hypocrisy of South Africa screams to the sky"/Roi Avraham, Ben Peretz
The best show in town was in another town.
in the hague
Lawyers with wigs, polished English, refined manners, lots of important words and some gloriously hollow arguments.
All of Israel's official, legal, political, media and diplomat spokespeople echo the same messages:
Hamas is a terrorist organization, they are hiding in the heart of a civilian population, their supporters are calling for the destruction of Israel and the arguing Israeli ministers do not represent anything.
It doesn't matter in what language these things are said.
They sound very convincing to the convinced Israeli, and they lack any logic, morality or wisdom for anyone who wants to think a little beyond the clichés.
The conviviality at its best.
Fluent English, hollow arguments.
Israeli representatives at the discussion in The Hague, last week/Reuters
Indeed, Hamas is a terrorist organization.
Until recently there was still a certain division between the military arm and their community actions.
But with the encouragement of Netanyahu, the accused of bribery who understands something about bribery, Israel was stung.
Paid a lot to buy them, and fell into the tangle of their burrows like Soma in a tunnel.
Since it is indeed a terrorist organization, so what did you remember now?
Why did you cultivate them, until the fulfillment of the ancient lament "And there was not in the day before Jehovah a refugee and a remnant that I cultivated and multiplied my enemies?"
Why didn't you cooperate with the only ones who could give them a counter from within the Palestinian public?
Let's leave it.
These are questions of ideology: the settlers are superior to the residents of the surrounding area, and the settlements are holier than any kibbutz or town.
And as you know, with us, holiness and its institutions have prices.
Preferably in cash.
The best show in town.
South African representatives at the debate in The Hague/Reuters
Gaza is a small strip and there are many people there.
There is no room for anything.
The claim that they had to build their bases far from the heart of the populated areas suits those who have not been to Gaza, have never seen its alleys and camps, and imagine endless spaces.
And yet, this argument is hollow.
Is the assumption that it is permissible to bomb civilian installations if there are dangerous military installations near them one-sided, and reserved only for Israel?
Or is this a universal claim?
Because if this is a principled position, then Hamas is allowed to bomb the heart of Tel Aviv - the Kariya, the "pit", the intelligence, the Mossad and several other nerve centers are right there.
200 meters from Ichilov Hospital, half a kilometer from several schools.
The same goes for the port of Haifa and its surroundings, since some of the anchorages and piers are military for all intents and purposes.
The same goes for the National Security Agency and the recruiting office in Jerusalem - military facilities used by the occupation army and hidden in the heart of the civilian population. So... it's allowed, isn't it?
They are not the only ones demonstrating hypocrisy here.
Demonstration of support for the Palestinians following the war/courtesy of the photographers
The resounding call in the cities of the world - From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free - is very jarring to Israeli ears.
This is, as they interpret, an explicit call for the abolition and annihilation of the State of Israel.
The Governor.
I can find two or three other less definitive interpretations, but we'll go with this logic.
It can be concluded, then, that the call "The Land of Israel for the People of Israel", and the nationality law that derives from it, have the one and only meaning of the destruction of the hopes of a Palestinian state and the denial of the right to Palestinian self-determination.
So why are they not allowed to think about our elimination, and we are allowed to preach and act for their complete destruction?
became a commentator on Amalek affairs.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits soldiers in the north/Government Press Office, Omer Miron
And the cherry on top - the ministers of Israel, and the commentator on Amalek's affairs at their head.
At the top of every street, including the Hague streets, we chant "Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East".
And in a democracy, usually, the people choose their elected officials, who represent them, express their will and values and govern them accordingly.
But in Israel there is a novelty.
The people elect the Knesset, and it elects and expresses confidence in the ministers of the government.
And these do not represent anything.
Their opinion is heard but not considered, and their policy is loud but not influential.
So one of two: either the ministers are indeed the face, voice and positions of Israel, or the elections in the "single democracy" are dummy elections.
And somewhere (Balfour? Gaza Street? Caesarea? A billionaire's villa?) there is another government, powerful and influential, that determines Israel's policy and actions, although it is not known who elects it, if at all.
Or is it democracy diet;
Damn sweet, but zero.
Lots of food coloring and carcinogens, and zero nutritional or democratic values.
The writer served as chairman of the Knesset and chairman of the Jewish Agency
More on the same topic:
Gaza war
War of Iron Swords
The International Court of Justice in The Hague