Five Things: Israel
I'm still shocked, but I'm hopeful.
This week I reloaded haaretz.com probably every 15 mins to look for positive news from Israel. But that news was sparse. I remain hopeful that everything will be alright soon, without too much bloodshed on both sides.
I think I’ve written before in this newsletter about how much I love Israel and how connected I feel to this country, even though I’m not religious at all, nor do I speak Hebrew or have any family ties there. I have friends and business partners in Israel and I think of them a lot and exchange messages with them a lot. Israel is such a wonderful place with amazing people and a lively democracy, the West should do everything to protect Israel. It literally took me 30 minutes to fall in love with Israel and I have never felt such a strong bond with a country that I have only visited a few times for a few days each. Also, the food is so awesome.
The terrorist attack and the killing of more than 1200 civilians, the 200 Israelis that were taken hostage - this was done to provoke a counterattack, to derail talks between Israel and Saudi-Arabia - and to once again victimize the people in Gaza and cause an uproar in the Arabic world. The amount of misinformation and desinformation that is being spread online is insane right now and so many self-proclaimed experts on nations, states and borders have so much to say, but seldomly add to the argument.
I hope we get through this without a prolonged war that involves Iran and other countries in the Arabic world, which would lead to lots of casualties. The current attention on the region and the various visits from Olaf Scholz, Joe Biden and others give me hope that diplomacy will find a way through this.
Who Can Claim the Palestine Region?
Did I ever mention that I double-majored in history and political science in university? This kind of stuff fascinates me and I’m glad
put together this overview. While I think it is good to understand how things evolved, we also have to understand that we cannot go back in time and have to find solutions based on the status quo.(LINK)
Israel Is About to Make a Terrible Mistake
It is always a good idea to read what Thomas L. Friedman writes. “That is why I believe that Israel would be much better off framing any Gaza operation as “Operation Save Our Hostages” — rather than “Operation End Hamas Once and for All” — and carrying it out, if possible, with repeated surgical strikes and special forces that can still get the Hamas leadership but also draw the brightest possible line between Gazan civilians and the Hamas dictatorship.”
(LINK)
Through our phones, we’re gazing into hell
“Digital war is now our reality. This is real-time combat footage, unlike anything we’ve witnessed before.” writes
and he’s right: war has never been closer to us who thankfully are far away from the war zones.(LINK)
What the History of War Can Teach Netanyahu
It’s not sufficient to have a plan going into a country, lots of thoughts need to be uput into the steps that follow immedieately afterwards. Hopefully Bibi listens to smart people now, he sure hasn’t done so in the past.
(LINK)
What Friends Owe Friends
What are the strategic options for Israel? And what should be the focus of American foreign policy in the Middle East? This article gives a good overview of possible scenarios, but is clear on one issue: the Palestinian issue needs to be resolved, otherwise it will impair Israel’s development further.
(LINK)
That’s it. Have an amazing Sunday nonetheless!