Astyanax They’re not all that pleased with Israel’s attack of Iran despite not exactly being all that chummy with them.
No, they’re not. As they correctly point out, there are international laws, and there should be a reasonable expectation that a country that claims it respects and follows the rule of law to actually do it, rather than just say it. Especially lately, Israel does not have a good track record when it comes to honesty, evidence or respect for international or humanitarian law.
You cannot violate the airspace of a sovereign country, and subsequently attack another because you’ve decided that you feel threatened, nor start killing people (including civilians again) based on your accusations, without there being any evidence. Nobody outside of Israel has supported the claim that Iran has an active nuclear weapons programme, yet they chose this as the time to launch this attack.
The usual refrain from Israel is that they have the right to defend themselves, but there are specific criteria that must be satisfied for one to be able to assert that “right”, and they have undeniably not been met in this instance. There was no active threat from Iran, nor credible evidence that a weapon was even present, much less that they were preparing to launch an attack using said weapon. So, more lies and false pretenses it is.
The key detail is that Binyamin has his own interests top of mind, not those of Israel, Israelis, the hostages in Gaza or anyone else. He sees maintaining an ongoing conflict as a way to stave off his own political and criminal reckoning, and he’ll do anything to avoid it, no matter the cost. The sad part is that, not only has his own opposition bought the propaganda, they are supporting this tragic, unjustified and avoidable bloodshed.
Sometimes, I think that, in spite of their claims to want to live in peace, safety and tranquility, they wouldn’t know what to do with it; wouldn’t know how. It is a state that was founded on bloodshed, forced displacements and ethnic cleansing, and has never really had a period of prolonged peace. In many cases, it was on their initiative. When you consider the story of modern Israel, it’s not much of a surprise. They still thrive on conflict, and it seems they’d be lost without it. Their militarised society and economy are built around it.
There is another relevant lesson that Binyamin should consider: Hitler’s mistake. He was doing chillingly well in Europe, at times looking like they’d be unstoppable. Through a set of circumstances that have an interesting parallel to the current events, it was decided that they could and should also concurrently take on Russia. It didn’t go so well. Sometimes, it pays to understand and admit your limitations to yourself, before you over-commit yourself all the way to humiliation.