Weather Or Not

Make no mistake, an avalanche of events has started to enshroud Israel and is gathering force from all directions.

From the north last week a Lebanese soldier fired on and killed an Israeli soldier on patrol. The South holds Egyptian political unrest. Al-Qaida terror cells are polluting the Sinai, and the ongoing, though diminishing, infiltration of illegal aliens from Africa. To the East lies (all meanings intended) Iran, threatening physical eradication of Israel through its mighty military and imminent nuclear power, and, more effectively, its insidious charm offensive which seems to have successfully beguiled the West.

Speaking of the West, it is the remaining direction and typically the source of the strongest and the most damaging winds to Israel both meteorologically and now materially. The threat it presents is not physical like Iran’s but an equally menacing blend of political, legislative and cultural interference. What is most troubling, as opposed to the challenges from Iran, are those from the West which are in play presently.

The West to Israel begins geographically in Gaza which has resumed attacks against Israel on a near-daily basis over the last week, launching missiles and firing into Israel territory. It continues, half circumnavigating the globe, to the far coast of the U.S. to hotbeds of hostility like University of California campuses stretching from the state’s southern coast in San Diego to the Berkeley campus notorious for its anti-Israel and anti-Jewish rhetoric in the north. Marking the expanse between the coastline of Gaza and the coastline of California are influential outposts of anti-Israel vitriol.

Moving West from Israel is, as mentioned, Gaza. Bypassing the bullets and missiles thrown from that Hamastan we work our way regionally and encounter Turkey, Israel’s former ally and now its major obstacle to integration into NATO. The Turkish government under Prime Minister Erdogan and his Islamic AKP party has been maligning Israel in all international forums, has disrupted if not directly contested Israel’s national interests (i.e. natural gas reserves in the Mediterranean) and has supported the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and regionally. Also, the Erdogan government, through the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (ÝHH), in concert with the Free Gaza Movement, organized and sponsored the Mavi Marmara flotilla. The act was an intentional provocation of Israel by the Turkish government which they later followed up with aggressive vocal support for the Gazans during and after Operation Pillar of Defense in November of 2012.

In European capitals dotting the continent are anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hate groups legitimized by posing as political groups. They have parliamentarians in all assemblies, are sophisticated, motivated, and growing both in number and influence. Most prominent amongst them are the Jobbik party in Hungary and the Golden Dawn, a neo-Nazi party with significant popular support in Greece. It should be noted that Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaris has stood resolutely against Golden Dawn which augurs well for the future.

Europe’s continental government, the European Union, led by High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, is at the vanguard of the European political and legislative assault on Israel. The EU uses its role as a member of The Quartet on the Middle East to pontificate on Israeli policy and financially support both the Palestinian Authority and indirectly the terrorists on its payroll. EU member nations support numerous non-governmental organizations with misleadingly benign names whose intent is to dismember Israel through various courts: the world court of public opinion; the international court in The Hague; various United Nations commissions; and even the Israeli judiciary system, where it is particularly effective in bringing and winning suits. Recently, the EU passed contentious new legislation denying prohibiting the EU from funding or cooperating with Israeli institutions that operate anywhere in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem, or the Golan Heights. The agreement says, “The EU does not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over any of the territories, and does not consider them to be part of Israel’s territory” thereby explicitly stating its pro-Palestinian policies.

Crossing the Atlantic and leaving the Old World for the New brings us to the most dangerous threat to the national safety of Israel, U.S. President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry. Each in his own way needs peace between Israel and the Palestinians as much as do the nations themselves. Obama, the first world leader to win a Nobel Prize for achieving the chimera of hope, desperately needs a political victory with his Iran nuclear agreement proving the devil is not so much in Teheran but in the details of the accord. The treaty proved several things concerning Israel: Obama is willing to lie to Israel; Israel’s safety is not of paramount concern to the U.S.; and Obama and his administration will insult and belittle Israel and its leader, Prime Minister Netanyahu, publicly.

Secretary of State Kerry will soon be returning to Israel with “new ideas” that some experts have called “a death-trap security plan for Israel.” As opposed to Iranian leader Rouhani employing a “charm offensive” it is understood that Kerry is coming to force Israel to submit to his plan through any means necessary. Kerry needs the peace treaty to burnish his record for his ultimate goal, occupying the White House when Obama is done.

Despite U.S. claims that it knows what is best for Israel and its constant assurances that Israel’s security is of paramount importance to America, I doubt Obama has the will or capacity to assure Israel’s safety. Coupled with the extensive spying the U.S. has perpetrated against Israel, America is not only not to be trusted but to be feared.

It is a foul wind that blows in from the West — and from the East, North, and South as well. The only direction where we can hope for support is from Above.

This article appeared in print on page 41 of the December 25th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.