Trust No One

 For quite a long time, Israel has bolstered its security by taking the fight to terrorists. Somehow (we’ll never know how!), the Mossad and other security services strike right at the heart of the beast. Several times, agents have infiltrated Iran and assassinated Iranian scientists and military targets. They don’t claim this of course, but everyone knows. 

It’s the one time the demons tremble. 

Both in Europe and Iran, Israeli agents apprehend them and then bring them to justice. It is the capture of Adolf Eichmann all over again. Like Groundhog Day. 

According to a report in the Jerusalem Post: 

“Earlier this week, it was revealed that IRGC Unit 840 commander Colonel Hassan Sayad Khodyari had been assassinated to set back his secretive unit that is responsible for terrorist operations against Israeli and Western targets outside of the Islamic Republic.” 

Israel has also been revealed as the obtainer of Iranian operational plans to hack computer systems in order to fool inspectors. There were also plans to assassinate an American general. 

Iran claims it has arrested numerous Mossad agents, yet Israel is able to anywhere, at any time, in Iran. In the last four years alone, a dozen Iranian installations have been blown up. 

Now, though, it is the Americans that are betraying Israel, our ally. When I said up there that Israel was revealed to be behind the Iranian plan theft, it is because the Biden administration has outed them! 

Why would they do that? 

The most obvious answer, I believe, quite apart from diplomacy or military strategy, is that this is simply a continuation of the Obama Model. The former president, a revolutionary of the highest order, hates Israel. His early associations with anti-Semites of every stipe is proof of this. When he was young in Chicago politics, Obama was meeting with the PLO. His pastor, Jeremiah Wright, routinely spouted Jew-hating rhetoric from the pulpit. 

As for Biden himself, while I believe he is a classic political puppet, he too is only for himself. Thus he has no loyalty to anyone, especially a Jewish state that continually pokes Biden’s friends around the globe. 

I like the way the Jerusalem Post piece ended: 

“Any time in recent months that Iran upped the ante by using drones or cyber warfare, Israel has allegedly counter-attacked with much greater force and consequences. 

“The message is clear: whether there is a new nuclear deal or not, the consequences of Iran trying to cross the nuclear threshold or escalate its violence against Israel will be dire.” 

This is a clear proof, in my view, that back of Israel’s superb intelligence-gathering apparatus, God watches and acts for His people. 

Khodyari was killed May 22. Amid all the furor over his death, it is interesting to note that Iran and Syria are working closely economically, as the two want to expand ties between Tehran and Damascus.  

From the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center: 

“The Iranian Ambassador to Syria, Mehdi Sobhani, called for expanding economic activity between Tehran and Damascus. He made the statement at the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding concerning the expansion of cooperation in the sectors of industry and finances, signed by the Damascus Chamber of Industry and the Iranian-Syrian Joint Chamber of Commerce. The memorandum of understanding concerned the expansion of exports of Syrian products to markets in Iran, planning for establishing permanent fairs displaying Syrian products in Iran, as well as holding conferences for industrialists from both countries. The Iranian ambassador expressed Tehran’s determination to expand its economic and trade ties with the Syrian private sector and remarked that the Iranian embassy in Syria is investing a great deal of effort in overcoming the challenges faced by industrialists from both countries. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Damascus Chamber of Industry, Samer al-Debs, called on Iranian traders to establish strategic industrial projects in Syria. The Chairman of the Joint Chamber of Commerce, Fahd Darwish, declared that the signed memorandum of understanding aims to expand cooperation between the two chambers and encourage traders, capitalists, and industrialists from both countries to carry out joint investments in various sectors. He announced that a trade and industrial delegation from Syria will soon visit Iran.” 

This is an effort to blunt the effectiveness of Israeli cooperation with various Gulf states, known as the Abraham Accords. It is also plenty curious that more and more, Damascus is seen as a key city in the region. Between being propped-up by the Russians and the Iranians, Syria is becoming a key scene of mischief directed at Israel. 

And we all know what eventually happens to Damascus. 

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

It used to be that the English-language newspapers of Israel were patriotic, even as they purported—like all journalists—to make truth and facts their priority. For example, the peerless David Bar-Ilan was the one-time editor for the Jerusalem Post. He later served as an advisor to Benjamin Netanyahu (Bar-Ilan is one of the two-best opinion writers I’ve ever read; his “Eye on the Media” column is legendary).

As with other countries in the West, a new crop of writers has emerged. This is not necessarily a good thing in the current Woke Age.

This week, a column in the Times of Israel, written by Haviva Ner-David, is reflective of the aggressiveness of the Left in undermining Israel. She writes about attending an event that was sort of a “listening” tour, intended to reflect on what the Palestinians call the “Nakba.” This occurs in conjunction with Israel’s Independence Day.

The “catastrophe” is supposed to be highlighted as a contrast with Zionism. In other words, Israel was born in original sin, and is not legitimate today. You can see how this is music to the Left’s ears. Their influence with Millennials is particularly disturbing. Notice the narrative tone of Ner-David’s piece:

“This year, the day began at the seashore of Nachsholim/Tantura, where Kibbutz Nachsholim was built on the ruins of the Palestinian Arab village of Tantura. The village was captured in 1948, and, according to witness testimonies (soldiers and villagers), after the village had already surrendered, Haganah soldiers massacred around 200 villagers. Survivors were then forced to dig a mass grave for the villagers who were killed. A group of Jews then moved into empty village buildings and farmed village agricultural land, thus establishing Kibbutz Nachsholim.”

What a horrible story. Murdering 200 villagers? No doubt children were involved. And a mass grave? Sounds like something the Nazis would do.

And therein lies the point. Leftists have always wanted to encourage people to believe the Jews are no better than the Nazis (and in fact might be worse). This even extends to the view that the PTSD Jews have unleashed their fury over the Holocaust onto the helpless, hapless Arabs of “Palestine.”

Before you wonder too much about Tantura, consider the following:

“Today, post-Zionism has largely been discredited and some of its leading proponents, such as Shlaim and Pappé left Israel to teach abroad. Still, their ideas have gained followers, especially among Israel’s detractors outside the country. Within Israel, they have seeped into many of Israel’s intellectual, cultural, and social institutions.

“While post-Zionists have sometimes discovered facts, such as Morris’s research on Palestinian refugees, they also invent their own interpretations for those already known. In some cases, these are misinterpretations and in others, outright lies. One example was a thesis written by a graduate student named Teddi Katz, which claimed the Israel Defense Forces committed a massacre in the Arab village of Tantura in 1948. When his claims came under scrutiny, his mentor Pappé defended them. Ultimately, Katz was found to have falsified some of the testimony in his paper and that no massacre had occurred.”

You’ve probably already figured out that Palestinian charges of genocide, land theft, and erasure of Arab identity can be met with contrary narratives. In other words, a classic tactic of the Left is gaslighting. This is used in this case as well; one creates a grotesque example of Jewish crimes and rolls it out like a hand grenade.

The explosion of course blows up Jews.

I’ve heard stories like this before and have always found that they were largely lies. These “post-Zionists” are really anti-Zionists. Another word is anti-Semites. Their leftwing ideology coats everything they do. The result is that Israel is demonized.

I will tell you also that no, I do not believe Jews—many of them only months from Auschwitz—in turn took out their rage on helpless Arab families.

Also, pre-dating these alleged events were real events in which the local Arab populations in Palestine did what they accuse Israel of doing to them. Arab pogroms against Jews in Palestine took place between the world wars, and they are documented.

This goes back to the gaslighting effect. Accuse your opponent of what you are doing.

I don’t know Ner-David. I don’t know if she believes this stuff about alleged Israeli war crimes. I would also ask an obvious question: where is the mass grave? Where is forensic evidence?

All this reminds me of what I’ve written about many times: the gullibility(?) of American Millennial Christians like Donald Miller, Cameron Strang, and Ann Voskamp. They swallow these stories hook, line, and sinker.

I will also tell you that I believe strongly that many people accept these stories in large part because they want to. They really want to believe them. Their view of Jews/Israel is, shall we say, less than stellar. It then becomes easy for liars in the Media to create these accounts out of thin air. Israel suffers for it.

The Lord of History is watching, though. He tells us so in His Word. If we are in the endgame—and you wouldn’t have to twist my arm to convince me—then all truth will come to light very soon.

Until that happens, we must continue to defend Israel and the Jews whenever we can.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com