quote:

Originally posted by downtownv:
And not a word of the US Citizens held hostage, by this admin.

Deja vu, all over again...

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
This is why I'd be a horrible world leader. I would tell Hamas here's you ceasefire deal - once all of you are dead I will cease firing.

That essentially is Netanyahu's approach. They were doing fine until mid-December, too, continuing to make slow but sustained inroads into Gaza after the earlier truce and hostage deal, but then went out of economic and political steam. So they mostly pulled out, took a break, went back in, and after two more months of fighting are broadly back where they were in December, with a slightly different distribution of controlled territory.

In theory they could have prioritized destroying Hamas over their economy and driven their troops harder, starting to conscript Haredim last year already to get more fresh manpower while ignoring the domestic pressure to focus on bringing back the remaining hostages, and ignored the political chances of their government after the target was reached for the nation, too. But in fairness, this is a democracy with a naturally limited taste for sacrifice once a war transforms from repelling an immediate threat to a protracted slugfest on enemy territory with the vague prospect of eradicating the threat once and for all; compounded by the small size and inner divisions of Israel. Unfortunately at this point, it looks like Hamas might survive this at least in some form, even if not with their previous power.

There seems to be a sentiment by locals there that the war against Hamas will be very long term still, given an ideological basis. Even if the current Hamas is completely wiped out, it will resurrect again.

Given this long haul approach and given that civilian hostages need to be saved, prioritize short term in saving the hostages. The view is that civilians should be prioritized even if it makes the military effort more difficult later. Once the hostages are safe, then no holds barred when fire resumes. Hamas will provide a reason very soon to resume fire.

Jihad will never end until they are all dead or Israel has been destroyed utterly. The latter is unacceptable, obviously. The best thing Israel could do would be to begin creating the 2-3 kilometer no-man’s land between them and these psychotic apes. Mine the hell out of it, sophisticated ground sensors to detect digging, machine gun towers, drone swarms, assault drones ready to immediately deal with rocket launch sites, etc. Never let another one of these creatures back in their country.

It's not hard. Israel just forgot how useful additional parking would be. Maybe some new neighborhoods, shopping, some new public spaces, maybe a new boardwalk along the ocean. That sort of stuff. Just finish the job and start leveling in sections. That kind of investment would solve big problems and avoid additional pain and heartache into perpetuity.

^^^^^

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:

quote:

Originally posted by downtownv:
And not a word of the US Citizens held hostage, by this admin.

Deja vu, all over again...

I think the question is still valid 6 months later, don't you? The lack of response, however, isn't just like the Americans still trapped in Afghanistan.

^^^^^^
They blowed it up real good!

The Biden Administrations lack of leadership and resolve is making the world a more dangerous place.

quote:

Casualties reported following Israeli strike in Yemen

IAF fighter planes on Saturday afternoon struck 12 Houthi military targets near Yemen's Al Hudaydah Port. The IDF thereafter raised the alert levels for the IAF and the Navy.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/393335

Good technical details on the attack, for serious avgeeks:

https://www.twz.com/air/israel...i-oil-depot-in-yemen

"IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the name of the Israeli attack on the Houthis in Yemen is "Operation Long Arm.", not "Long Johnson" as was earlier mis-reported...

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
"IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the name of the Israeli attack on the Houthis in Yemen is "Operation Long Arm.", not "Long Johnson" as was earlier mis-reported...

Ha !

quote:

Originally posted by downtownv:
And not a word of the US Citizens held hostage, by this admin.

Thats because the Biden Administration doesnt want the hostages back. If they are alive and they are returned to tell the tale of gang rape and torture the administration looks bad since a fair amount of dems are supporting Hamas. The left would rather the story go away and that the hostages are dead with it being an election year and thats pretty much what has happened.

So...

Can we reasonably predict how Israel's International outlook will improve, more or less, if President Trump makes it back into the White House ?

With so much crap to fix that uncle B royally screwed up or created from whole cloth during the last four years, all of them by nature emergencies begging for immediate attention, where in the lineup of fixit asap priorities will Israel's war with Gaza and Iran's proxies land ? I'm assuming Trump will begin working on the head of the snake first and expedite arms and munitions shipments and other support to Israel on a do it now damn the red tape basis.

What say you ?

quote:

Originally posted by wrightd:
So...

Can we reasonably predict how Israel's International outlook will improve, more or less, if President Trump makes it back into the White House ?

With so much crap to fix that uncle B royally screwed up or created from whole cloth during the last four years, all of them by nature emergencies begging for immediate attention, where in the lineup of fixit asap priorities will Israel's war with Gaza and Iran's proxies land ? I'm assuming Trump will begin working on the head of the snake first and expedite arms and munitions shipments and other support to Israel on a do it now damn the red tape basis.

What say you ?

Crazy Joe is more about the "fuck around" part with no "find out". Trump is the exact opposite. A little bit of "fuck around" will be met with a lot of "find out".

quote:

Originally posted by wrightd:
So...

Can we reasonably predict how Israel's International outlook will improve, more or less, if President Trump makes it back into the White House ?

Speaking from the Realist school of international relationships, not much should change. First, it wouldn't alter Israel's internal problems which are key, the lack of unity, manpower and economic stamina. Then, Realism holds that personalities don't impact the national interests driving relations between state actors. To a considerable degree, this is borne out by US-Israeli relations; allegations that some American president or other is "pro-" or "anti-Israel" are frequently based, and have their biggest impact, upon domestic US politics because the issue is a major ideological rallying point.

Examples: Obama was widely criticized as anti-Israel, yet presided over an increase of annual military aid to a record minimum of 3.8 billion Dollar. Trump was considered very pro-Israel and withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action restricting Iran's nuclear activities, which everyone in Israel was opposed to because it didn't include restrictions on its missiles, too. Of course that actually freed Iran from restrictions, and Trump didn't take the complementary step to fulfill Israel's biggest wish for joint military action against their nuclear program.

If there's an overarching theme to interest-based American policy towards Israel in the 21st century, it's one of disengagement from the Middle East due to different factors: 9/11 and the negative experience of the Iraq War, theoretical independence from ME oil due to the domestic shale oil boom, etc. It was already noticeable under George W. Bush, definitely under Obama, and continued under Trump with the major exception of the Abraham Accords between Israel and some Arab nations - though that ultimately followed the same theme, hoping that regional security arrangements sustained by American money could replace actual American presence and episodical interventions.

Of course Realism only goes so far in explaining the real world. As they say, all foreign policy is ultimately domestic, and of course personalities also have an impact. Broadly, what we see informing American policy towards Israel in domestic debate are competing, and sometimes inconsistent, opinions on Israel in particular, and the global role of the US in general. Personality-wise, it's hard to argue that the changes from Obama to Trump to Biden haven't left a mark on international relations, though maybe more in style than substance.

But if we get down to that level, we'd also have to know the Israeli side; i.e., whether Netanyahu will still be there for a Trump-47 presidency, and whether he can get back on his good side after he apparently pissed him off terminally by being first to congratulate Biden for his win in 2020. Then again, Trump has a reputation for agreeing with the last guy who talked to him, and Netanyahu has a well-established record for slick maneuvering between contrary coalition interests in volatile Israeli politics, making him the longest-serving PM by, as many Israelis say, ultimately avoiding any decisions that would piss off anyone he needs. So who knows.

Banshee, Trump understands politics. And he knows who The Enemy is.

quote:

Originally posted by BansheeOne:
Then again, Trump has a reputation for agreeing with the last guy who talked to him, ...

I wasn't aware Trump had this reputation. Can you provide some examples of this?