https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-14-2024
"This morning, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), one of the
highest-ranking Jewish officials in the U.S. government, said Israelis need to
call new elections to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, Schumer
said, “has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence
over the best interests of Israel.” Schumer, who is a strong ally of Israel and
who also blamed Hamas for the crisis in the Middle East, warned that the deadly
toll on civilians in Gaza under the policies of Netanyahu’s government is
“pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows. Israel cannot survive
if it becomes a pariah.”
Netanyahu needs to hold his far-right coalition together to escape the
corruption trial in which he is currently at risk, and that coalition wants
continued attacks on Hamas. Netanyahu has announced that Israel’s forces are
planning to invade the city of Rafah, where about 1.4 million Palestinians are
sheltering, despite President Joe Biden’s warning that such an invasion must
have a plan to protect civilians “that was actually planned, prepared and
implementable.”
Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is so bad that the U.S. and other
countries are conducting airdrops of essential relief—airdrops are a poor
substitute for land-based aid—and Netanyahu’s government has rejected the call
of neighboring Arab states, the U.S., and the European Union for a real path to
a Palestinian state, instead trying to prevent such a state by pushing more
settlements in the West Bank. On a hot mic at the State of the Union address
last Tuesday, Biden told Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Senator Michael
Bennett (D-CO): “I told him, Bibi…you and I are going to have a come to Jesus
meeting,” slang for a moment that precipitates a major change.
Netanyahu’s far-right government is deeply unpopular in Israel. In January,
only 15% of Israelis wanted him to keep his job after the war on Hamas ends,
and three days ago the U.S. intelligence community assessed in its annual
report on the threats facing the United States that “[d]istrust of Netanyahu’s
ability to rule has deepened and broadened across the public from its already
high levels before the war, and we expect large protests demanding his
resignation and new elections.” It concluded: “A different, more moderate
government is a possibility.” Centrist political rival Benny Gantz has visited
the U.S. and the U.K. recently.
“As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders, and we should
let the chips fall where they may,” Schumer said. “But the important thing is
that Israelis are given a choice.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
