Lapid’s Toughness?
Years ago at a book convention, I met an Israeli publisher. We were chatting about the Peace Process—who wasn’t the past 30 years—and even though I knew him to be liberal, even left-wing, I asked anyway, “So you support Barak; I assume that means you support giving up the Temple Mount?”
“Are you crazy?” he spat. He looked genuinely shocked/annoyed/enraged by my query. Maybe I was a little naïve, but I’d read enough about then-negotiators Yossi Beilin and Martin Indyk to know they were willing to go too far in advancing peace with the Palestinians.
However, my friend taught me a lesson and it is this: I believe the majority of Jews genuinely love their country and would not endanger her. I even think that as time goes on, they identify more and more with their ancient ancestors, even if they don’t say it out loud. I’ve had too many private conversations to think otherwise.
My friend was decidedly NOT for giving away the farm, as it were. Yet, as I said, he was most definitely a member of the Left.
So it was this week that I thought of him upon hearing about the meeting between new Israeli PM Yair Lapid and Joe Biden. The Biden Clownshow Tour of the Middle East had him hobbling around, appearing confused, but advancing the left-wing goals of his handlers. Part of that is restarting the Iran Deal.
Lapid though said to him something that Netanyahu might have said, or even Begin. Lapid told Biden that the best way to deal with Iran is to have a strong military option on the table.
My goodness, Ze’ev Jabotinsky might have said that!
Biden, in also meeting with the murderer, Mahmoud Abbas and his PLO, reiterated something no one in Washington would have said just a few years ago: he supports a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 lines. Meaning, Israel would return to a shrunken, virtually defenseless state. I’m not convinced Biden is the doddering, dementia-ridden goof he appears to be—it might be an act—but even when he was at full-strength (still mediocre even in his prime), he would not have said that. It’s possible he wouldn’t have privately supported it, although I don’t believe he has any guiding principles.
He read his talking points in Israel.
“Two states along the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, remains the best way to achieve equal measures of security prosperity freedom and democracy for the Palestinians as well as Israelis.
“The Palestinian people deserve a state of their own that is independent, sovereign, viable and continuous.”
Well, no, they don’t. And even Biden understands that in all of history, the Arabs have never had anything resembling democracy. It isn’t their culture, it isn’t their aim.
According to a report in the Jerusalem Post:
“Earlier in the day, Biden made waves when he visited an east Jerusalem hospital in an armored vehicle without an Israeli flag or the accompaniment of any Israeli officials. The visit, the first one by a President to an east Jerusalem location out of the Old City, was seen by the Israeli Right as a nod in the direction of acceptance of east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
“Hours later the White House issued a statement, in which it clarified that Biden in his conversation with Abbas had underscored US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”
Biden’s word isn’t worth anything. He would sell-out Israel in a second, so his assurances about the Old City are false. As false as Bill Clinton’s or Barack Obama’s. These are evil men.
He’s also giving the Palestinians $300 million of our money for “relief.” Abbas, his boss Arafat and their minions have stolen literally billions from the U.S. and Europe in the last 40 years. Even this move by Biden, so unlike Trump’s position of strength, makes America look weak.
Reading Biden’s full comments is nauseating, as he repeats platitudes and falsehoods emanating from American foreign policy for two generations. The same empty, inane talk that goes nowhere.
On another front, there was a fascinating op-ed by Salman al-Ansari:
“However, Riyadh will not entertain any of those options until it is absolutely certain that Washington chooses to remain frustratingly hesitant to deter Iran, its militias and its nuclear ambitions. As has been stated by Saudi officials including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Kingdom would obtain nuclear weapons as soon as it could if Iran acquired it. This may trigger a Middle Eastern nuclear arms race, with regional powers such as Egypt and Turkey following suit.
“If this were to happen, then Washington can disband with the notion that it has any remaining influence in the entire Middle East. The reputation of America as a reliable ally in the region would be eroded beyond repair, as losing the respect of the Arab and Muslim world is a diplomatic blunder so grave and irreversible, it would not be an understatement to call it the mistake of the century.”
This refers of course to the years-long reality that one day, the West will have to deal with Iran’s nuclear threats. My main takeaway from this quote (there are several more!) is that the prospect of America becoming a minor bystander in the Middle East, and elsewhere, perhaps explains in part why we are not mentioned in Bible prophecy. As we advance farther down the road to complete fulfillment of prophecy, America’s superpower status is key.
If the above thoughts are the beginning outlines of an American stand-down, we can see how Gog-Magog could unfold…without American intervention.
(As an aside, history will one day brutally condemn Jimmy Carter’s maddening weakness in losing Iran on his watch. He is responsible for the mullahs taking power, and the result has been 40 years of worldwide murder and terrorism. Now we are faced with a nuclear Islamist regional power.)
All in all, while Biden’s Clownshow is embarrassing and humiliating for every American, perhaps there are still men in charge in the Middle East (Lapid?) that will confront the evil Iranians.