At the recent debate among Democrats running for President, Bernie Sanders was predictably the most anti-Israel of the candidates. He said he would not, hesitate, this “proud Jewish person,” to withhold aid from Israel to force it to do American bidding, which in Sanders’ view includes removing Jewish settlements from the West Bank. After all, he has previously said that “Jewish settlements in occupied territory are illegal.” He called Netanyahu a “racist,” though he provided no examples of such “racism.” Sanders explained, in his contribution to the squaring-the-circle problem, that “the US should craft a foreign policy that is favorable to both Israel and Palestine.” Sorry, can’t be done. “Israel has the right not only to exist, but to exist in peace and security,” said Sanders, who spent time on a kibbutz in Israel as a young man.
It’s nice of big-hearted Bernie Sanders to grant Israel “the right to exist.” He even grants it the right to exist “in peace and security.” But what if Israel cannot exist in “peace and security” unless it holds onto those supposedly “illegal settlements” in the West Bank, which provide it with the necessary strategic depth against invasion from the East? What if every military man who has studied the matter, beginning with the American military men sent by the Joint Chiefs to Israel in 1967, on President Johnson’s orders, and produced a report on the territory which, as a matter of military necessity, Israel would have to retain. They included most of the West Bank, and all of the Jordan Valley and the Judean Hills. We all know that Bernie Sanders spent time on a kibbutz; too bad he didn’t spend time in the IDF. Military matters are not his strong suit.
Given the vast buildup in Arab militaries since 1967, to expect that Israel could once again pull off its victory in the Six-Day War is to ask that country to entrust its security to another such miracle. Israel could not reasonably expect to survive if it were squeezed back into something like the pre-1967 lines – that is, the 1949 Armistice Lines – which Foreign Minister Abba Eban, a famous dove, correctly defined as the “lines of Auschwitz.”
On what evidence does Sanders think that the Muslim Arabs have given up their desire to eliminate Israel? Did Hamas change its charter, or the views expressed every day by its leading members, fighters, clerics? Has Mahmoud Abbas shown a sincere willingness to engage in peace talks with Israel, or has he repeatedly turned down the offer of such talks, as he does even today? Why would Sanders expect him to behave any differently in the future? Abbas is a Slow Jihadist, willing to use the salami-tactics of creating an ever-smaller Israel through “peace agreements,” but his ultimate aim is the same as that of the Fast Jihadists of Hamas: no more Israel.
If Sanders, who refers constantly to his Jewish heritage and the fact that he once spent time on an Israeli kibbutz, a transparent way to defend himself against charges of being anti-Israel, had taken the time to study the history of the Mandate, he might be surprised to learn that the entire West Bank was part of the territory assigned to the future Jewish National Home, and that Israel’s legal claim to that territory never lapsed; when Jordan managed to possess the West Bank from 1949 to 1967, it did so as the military “occupier.” When Israel took control of the West Bank as a result of the Six-Day War, this did not create Israel’s legal claim; that already existed. It merely put Israel in a position to exercise that pre-existing legal claim to the territory.
Sanders not only has little sympathy for, but also no understanding of, the plight of the Israelis who have to secure their tiny state against many would-be aggressors. There is Hamas, sending hundreds of rockets into southern Israel from Gaza, and constantly attempting to breach, with Molotov cocktails, grenades, and incendiary kites, Israel’s security fence. There are Islamic State elements that have regrouped in Sinai; for now their main target is Egypt, but at any time they might attempt to send terrorists into Israel. There is Hezbollah, with its terror tunnels snaking into the Galilee, and its 140,000 rockets stockpiled in southern Lebanon. There is Jordan, where King Abdullah has to keep the lid on his own people, who increasingly demand that the peace treaty with Israel be ended. There is Turkey, where President Erdogan has published a plan for a pan-Islamic military force capable of overwhelming the Israelis and destroying their country.
And most menacing of all is the powerful Islamic Republic of Iran, which never fails to remind Israel, and the world, that it can destroy the Jewish State. To this end, it has already supplied Hezbollah with those 140,000 rockets ready to be loosed upon Israel.
Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg have joined Sanders in leaving the door open to using US aid to Israel as a means to leverage Israel to change its policies on the Palestinians.
But one Democratic candidate does not think aid to Israel should be used as a weapon. Joe Biden, alone among the major candidates, has said he would not use aid as a weapon to force Israel to change its policies. Some have hailed him, not quite accurately I’m afraid, as a “pro-Israel” candidate. The bar for being “pro-Israel” has been set very low this year. He may not call Netanyahu a “racist” as Sanders does, but he has described his behavior as “outrageous.” What does he mean? Is it outrageous for Netanyahu to have the Israeli military prevent Hamas from breaching the security fence on the border with Gaza? Has it been “outrageous” for him to have those soldiers first use tear gas and rubber bullets to stop the participants in the Great March of Return, and if the fence is about to be breached, by those throwing Molotov cocktails and grenades, then to allow those soldiers to use live fire? Was it “outrageous” for Netanyahu to allow the IDF to kill the northern leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Abu Al-Ata, as he was planning a major terrorist operation against Israel? Was it “outrageous,” after PIJ fired 450 rockets into Israel, disrupting life in southern Israel, with everyone having repeatedly to rush to shelters, for Netanyahu to have the IDF retaliate against PIJ offices, launching pads, and weapons storehouses? What should he have done? Was it “outrageous” for Netanyahu to welcome the move of the American Embassy to Jerusalem? Is it perhaps his muscular policy of replying promptly to every Palestinian attack that Biden founds “outrageous,” though he does not explain, because he cannot, what he would have had Netanyahu do instead? It would have been good, in the face of Sanders’ absurd claim that Netanyahu is a “racist,” if Joe Biden had gone on the offensive, and said “Bernie has called Netanyahu a ‘racist.” This is a preposterous charge, and he knows it. I’ve known Bibi for a long time. We have our policy differences, but he hasn’t a racist bone in his body.”
Joe Biden did distinguish himself from Sanders, Warren, and Buttigieg during the debate on the subject of aid to Israel. Unlike them, he has repeatedly said he would never use the withholding of aid as a weapon with which to force Israel to do America’s bidding. Biden has, however, repeated the phrase, the formula, the mantra, of what he and many others s call a “two-state solution.” This already assumes what needs to be proved: is there a “solution” to the Arab war on Israel? And if there isn’t, should that be cause for endless doom and gloom, or is there another way to see things?
Let’s state what those who have studied Islam already know: it is impossible for the Muslim Arabs to permanently accept the existence of Israel, whatever its borders. It is unacceptable for Unbelievers to possess land that was once possessed by Muslims; such land must forever belong to Muslims. It is especially maddening when those Unbelievers are the much-despised Jews, who have managed to stave off repeated attempts by Muslims, the “best of peoples,” to snuff out the Jewish state’s young life. And Israel exists, just as maddeningly, smack in the middle of the Arab world, separating North African Arabs from those in the Middle East. Israel is likened by the Arabs, because of its shape, to a “dagger” thrust into their heart; another favorite metaphor is that Israel is a “cancer.” You don’t pull a dagger only part-way out of your body; you deal with cancer by removing every last cell of it.
Of course those who believe in the “two-state solution” assume that there is some giving up of territory by Israel that will sufficiently placate the Arabs so that they will beat their swords into plowshares. The reverse is true: any further withdrawal by Israel, which in returning the entire Sinai to Egypt has already given back 95% of the land it had won by force of arms in the Six-Day War, will merely whet, not sate, Palestinian and other Arab appetites. Were Israel to give up the West Bank, it would again have an eight-mile-wide waist from Qalqilya to the sea. It would have the highest length-of-border-to-enclosed-territory ratio of any country on earth – hellishly difficult to police all of that long border. The “Palestinians” see any future agreement with Israel as a way station on the path toward their final goal, which remains, for both the Fast Jihadists of Hamas and the Slow Jihadists of the Palestinian Authority, the end of the Jewish state.
And the “Palestinians” have powerful allies to help them in this task. There is Iran, whose leaders never fail to claim they are quite capable of destroying the Zionists. There is Turkey, which if President Erdogan has his way, would also participate in some kind of pan-Islamic attack on Israel. The “Palestinians” of the “moderate” PA speak among themselves about the destruction of the Zionist state; to the outside world, Saeb Erekat, Hanan Ashrawi, and Mahmoud Abbas soothingly refer to the “two-state solution.” They find it goes over quite well.
Let’s replace that word “solution” and speak, more realistically, of how this Arab war on Israel can be “managed.” The answer is that it can be managed in exactly the same way that the United States “managed” the threat from the Soviet Union: deterrence. The U.S. remained sufficiently, and obviously strong, so as to deter Soviet aggression. We – Israel, America, the entire West — cannot change the Qur’an, with its commands to wage violent Jihad against Infidels. But by helping to ensure that Israel remains overwhelmingly stronger than its enemies, America can promote a very long peace.
Three trends should be noted that will only improve Israel’s ability to deter its enemies in the future. First, Israel’s technological superiority over the Arabs will continue to widen, as it has been doing for the past several decades. Second, the most important weapon of the Arabs and Iran remains their revenues from oil. But oil demand is static, and may soon decrease: electric vehicles, and the increasing use of solar and wind power, are steadily reducing oil’s share of the energy market. This means less financial support for the Palestinians, affecting their ability to wage war. Third, demography is not, as everyone seems to assume, on the side of the Arabs. With an average of 3.1 children per woman, Israel has the highest fertility rate in the OECD by a considerable margin and much higher than the OECD average of 1.7. Over the past decade, the annual population growth among Muslims in Israel has fallen significantly, from around 3% to less than 2.2% by 2013, and continues inexorably to decrease, while the overall Jewish growth rate rose from around 1.4% to 1.7% in 2013 and continues, just as inexorably, to increase. If present trends continue, fears about a “Muslim population bomb” in Israel can be laid to rest.
Say it a dozen times a day: there is no “solution” – whether one-state, two-state, or n-state — to the Arab war on Israel. But Israel will be able to manage that conflict, while it goes from strength to strength, technologically, financially, demographically, through deterrence. “Peace Through Strength” — remember? That is good enough. That’s more than good enough. Now let’s try to get that message to Joe Biden.
Battle says
To all Jihad Watch and repliers: Friday December 27 Merry Third Day of Christmas.
gravenimage says
Same to you, Battle!
Walter Sieruk says
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with his despicable words gets Iran’s y Guards all worked up until they chant ,over and over again, “Death to Israel.” Therefore with is vicious and deadly Islamic spirit of the Muslim clerics in much power in that tyrannical Islamic a “two state ” solution is not realistic or possible.
Khamenei is so ignorant that he neither knows nor understand that that all his Muslim stooge terror organizations, Hamas, Hezbollah. Hamas etc. are all fated to fail in their Islamic agenda of destroying the State of Israel and replacing with Islamic “state.” The reason that they will lose in the end and lose hard is because the members of those jihad terror entities are striving against the Will of God. The members who compose those Islamic terror groups might be too ignorant to know this; nevertheless, the truth is the God had given all land that now composes the State of Israel, including all of the West Bank, to the Jewish people. This may be found in the Bible, as seen in, for example, Genesis 28:13-15. 35:10-12. Deuteronomy 32:48,49. Psalm 105:7-11. 135:4. In other words the Jews have all this land by Divine Right. Furthermore, the Jewish people should have this land by historic rights as shown in First Kings 4:20,21, 24,25. 8:55, 56.
Still, in all fairness, there is one way for Khamenei and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards along with the Muslim members who make up Hezbollah and Hamas to convince God to change His Mind about being so much for Israel and then cause Him to turn His back on Israel and then have that nation be no more. That way is for the members of the jihad organizations to gather together and then change the laws of astrophysics, including those laws of astrophysics the control the sun, the moon and the stars. For God had declared in His Word, the Bible, in Jeremiah 31:35,36. “Thus saith the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day and the ordinances of the moon and stars for a light by night…The Lord of host is His name. If those ordinances depart from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me forever.”
Infidel says
There is nothing about Socialism that forces anyone to be anti-Israel, but the thing about Bernie is that having got the support of first AOC and then Ilhan Omar (has Rashida Tlaib endorsed him as yet?), he is a hostage to their pet policies, if he doesn’t wanna be abandoned in favor of someone like Castro or Booker. As a result, while the Jew in him may well be a well-wisher of Israel, he’s bought and paid for by the Jihadist faction of the Dems, represented by Ilhan and Rashida. Otherwise, his assertion that there has to be a complete Israeli withdrawal – well there was that from Gaza, and in return, Gaza has become a major rocket launching pad for Hamas and Islamic Jihad against Israel.
I had to laugh when Biden said that he’d never use the withholding of aid to bend Israel: that’s precisely what he did w/ Ukraine on Barisma and Hunter, and why he’s ended up making impeachment a double-edged sword against the president. As for the two-state solution, we already have that in Gaza, where there are no Israelis. Even in Judea, major historically Jewish cities like Hebron and Jericho are Judenrein: there are no Jewish settlements there. There is nothing that the Palis can’t do there as a state.
I do disagree w/ Hugh about Iran being a greater threat to Israel than Turkey. I was looking at a ranking of national militaries a few days ago, and Turkey was #9, Iran was #13 and Israel was #16. Not just that, Iran has been weakening both due to the sanctions and internal unrest, as well as their client populations the Shi’ites of Iraq and Lebanon revolting against them. Turkey, otoh, has been strengthening its influence in Islam, w/ newer ties to Malaysia and Pakistan, its influnce in Somalia, Sudan and Yemen and its incursions into Syria. Not to mention that they are getting S400s from Russia even while they’re still a NATO member – and one of the most powerful, given how European countries have put a low priority on their military. So Israel needs to be a lot more wary about Turkey than Iran
gravenimage says
I think that Bernie was pretty anti-Israel before AOC and Ilhan Omar came on the scene, Infidel.
In 2016 he infamously said that Israel had “overreacted” to attacks from Hamas:
“Is anybody happy in this room or feel good about the kind of civilian deaths we’ve seen in Gaza? The answer is no,” Sanders told the crowd in Cabot, Vermont. “Has Israel overreacted? Have they bombed UN facilities? The answer is yes. That is terribly, terribly wrong in my mind.
(though he did acknowledge that Hamas is using civilian areas to launch missiles from, at least)
mortimer says
Bernie would do well to read and inwardly digest the “PALESTINIAN DELUSION” before makes even more of Leftarded USEFUL IDIOT of himself.
The Leftards and their Jihadist Allies are anti-Semitic and so any country called ‘Israel’ is TOO MUCH Israel. They are actually calling for the elimination of the Jewish people.
Bernie apparently tried life on a kibbutz, but then decided he preferred Stalinism to Jewish nationalism.
mortimer says
HEY, Bernie … wait a second! Don’t the Dems think that a president who WITHHOLDS AID MONEY is ABUSING HIS OFFICE and SHOULD BE IMPEACHED ???
Bernie would have to be IMMEDIATELY IMPEACHED if he withheld money from Israel!
Or are the Dems total HYPOCRITES ??? Please explain this double standard to me, Bernie.
mortimer says
A small disagreement with Fitzgerald who stated: “it is impossible for the Muslim Arabs to permanently accept the existence of Israel”.
There is indeed a minority of well-informed Muslims who understand that the Koran ‘decrees’ by the decree of Allah that the ‘Children of Israel’ should ‘dwell in the Land’ (of Israel).
I believe that this minority of tolerant Muslims may be quite larger than the loud-mouths and rabble-rousers want us to think.
The Muslim loud-mouths of Hamas earn a very good living by stirring the pot.
Keys says
“… the Koran ‘decrees’ by the decree of Allah that the ‘Children of Israel’ should ‘dwell in the Land’ (of Israel).”
mortimer, that decree may have been “abrogated” by Allah. How do we know ?
gravenimage says
Mortimer wrote:
A small disagreement with Fitzgerald who stated: “it is impossible for the Muslim Arabs to permanently accept the existence of Israel”.
There is indeed a minority of well-informed Muslims who understand that the Koran ‘decrees’ by the decree of Allah that the ‘Children of Israel’ should ‘dwell in the Land’ (of Israel).
…………..
Mortimer, Keys is right–the Qur’an says that this was the case in the past, before Jews “corrupted” their holy texts, and were–supposedly–actually Muslims. This makes no sense, but is what Muslims believe.
mortimer says
The two-state solution was implemented in 1923 when Great Britain authorized the creation of the Emirate of Trans-Jordan … and suddenly reducing the planned Jewish homeland by 76%.
The land west of the Jordan (Cis-Jordan) was set aside for Jewish settlement.
gravenimage says
True, Mortimer. Very few know about this these days.
mortimer says
Bernie Sanders … a very NOMINALLY “Jewish person” … when it is convenient for him to make a political point … but the other 99.9% of the time a believing Stalinist.
NOT a friend of Israel. He’d just as soon see Israel disappear … I read no comment by Sanders in support of a Jewish homeland.
gravenimage says
+1
gravenimage says
Joe Biden, the “Two-State Solution,” and Peace Through Strength
………………
That Joe Biden is–*by far*–the least bad Democratic presidential candidate on Israel is in and of itself terribly concerning.
Infidel says
I question that. What are the stances of Andrew Yang and Marinanne Williamson on this issue? And while Tulsi Gabbard is anti-Netanyahu, is she also pro Hamas and Hizbullah? I haven’t read anything to that effect.
abad says
Just remember to vote for Donald Trump as President in the 2020 election.
tgusa says
Christians are being slaughtered all around the world by muslims and yet here we have old white guys babbling on about a decades old so called solution that will never work. Its like these old democrats are stuck in a time warp not realizing that when it comes to muslim violence the world has changed and not for the better.
Today, so many more people are in grave danger because of muslim aggression but there they are for all to see pretending like its still the 1970s. It is long past nap time for these old white democrats. They probably think the Russians! The Russians! are behind this decades old stalemate. I am beginning to despise these democrats as much as I despise islam.
gravenimage says
tgusa, I don’t think that any of the young non-White democrats are better–in fact, many of them are even worse. I don’t think that age and ethnicity are really the problem here.
tgusa says
You are absolutely right gravenimage and it is getting worse. I was just commenting on old white democrats because the articles topic is old white democrats. Democrats definitely have a major antisemitism problem but as with everything else they just pretend that doesn’t exist.
tgusa says
As Ronald Reagan said so long ago. The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant, it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.
Back then I wouldn’t have disagreed with him. Given what I now know, friends and the not that they’re ignorant, simply isn’t so.
When they hold on to so much that isn’t so for so long when reality is right in front of their eyes a sane person must begin to wonder, is it psychosis or something even worse?
abad says
You are so right Gravenimage, it’s the Democrat leader mindset which is the problem, not the age, gender (look at the Three Stooges), or race (Omar and Tlaib IMHO are the very worst).
tgusa says
One thing that should be noted is some people laid the foundation where younger stooges come of age and feel comfortable joining the democrat party we see today. It is a natural progression of like minded people feeling comfortable among those they can identify with.
David Dzelilovic says
From Biblical point of view in Daniel chaper 8: –
> Iran (Persia) will ally with the Kurds (ancient Medes) and from Susa and river Ulai, will attack its neighbouring nations toward the north (some or all the “stan” nations), toward the west (Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan), and toward the south (nations in the Arabian Peninsula, particularly Saudi Arabia), but will not attack Israel.
> Turkey, which occupies the region known in ancient times as “Javan” (not Grecian), and represented as a “he goat” with a “large horn” will attack and completely destroy Iran and the Kurds (represented as a “ram” with two uneven “horns”.
> Under the neo-Ottoman empire, the Middle East will then become the “Islamic Caliphate” with four geographic divisions.
> Turkey, with its Islamic allies listed in Ezekiel 38 and Psalm 83 (depicted as a “little horn” that became “exceedingly “great/large” will then attack Egypt (depicted as the “king of the south”), and Israel (depicted as “pleasant land” and “holy people”).
> The attack on Israel by Turkey and its Islamic allies (which by the way will NOT include Russia), will include the battle on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which has been incorrectly translated as “Armageddon” in Revelation 16, but should be “Har Moed”, which means “Mount of Assembly” or Mount of Meeting” and refers to the Temple Mount, not Valley of Megiddo).
> The battle on Har Moed (which refers to the Temple Mount on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem), will usher the second coming of Christ (depicted as the “Prince of princes”).
> Many Israelis, as well as its defenders, which includes military forces from the “Western” nations (USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etc) will suffer enormously in terms of casualties, but Jesus Christ will rescue a “remnant” (small portion) of Israel who “repent” (turn to God) for deliverance.
> When Jesus intervenes, the Turkish army and its Islamic allies will be completely destroyed by earthquake, hailstones, rain, friendly fire, disease, etc.
> And finally: Islam will be no more!
Infidel says
So does this prophecied Turkish invasion include Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states as well? What about Libya, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco and the rest of North Africa? Also, what about Islam in the Indian subcontinent, starting from Afghanistan to Bangladesh, or the East Indies? How would Islam be obliterated if such major parts, such as Mecca and Medina are untouched, or such major proportions, such as South Asia and East Indies, are untouched
David Dzelilovic says
P. S. On its way to Israel, the Turkey army will also attack Syria, particularly, Damascus that will become a ruinous heap (Isaiah 17:1; Jeremiah 49:23-27).
The people of “Arpad” (present day Tall Rifaat in Syria), and and “Hamath” (present day Hama in Syria) have already been “confounded” and most have fled to the UN refugee camps. The aforementioned Bible scripture indicates that the above events precede the complete destruction of Damascus, followed by an attack on Jerusalem.
OLD GUY says
These two.will bend over for the muslims and sells to the highest bidder.