Paying the Price For Telling the Truth, Part II

IT IS WIDELY BELIEVED that if elections were held in Israel right now, With Netanyahu running against a good, strong, bona fide solid opposing candidate, that Benjamin would lose badly. He is, by all accounts and measurements,supremely unpopular among the general populace, and not just the progressives. Like Trump, Netanyahu is embrolied in a number of legal difficulties, charged with various forms of serious financial and political corruption. His legal proceedings are proceeding, slowly. Many Israeli citizens are concerned about this, with justification. Also, his recent apparently failed attempt to greatly disempower the Israeli judiciary,paricularly their Supreme Court, and to transfer much of their traditional power to the executive branch, i.e. himself, not only was poorly received througout the electorate, but all across the country, as massive, sometimes violent protests made the people's viewpoint perfectly clear. Perhaps the most immediate factor in his decline in popularity is the Public's decreasing approval for the war against Hamas, aka Palestine. Many Israelis believe that their government and military should have been prepared for and prevented the vicious attack by Hamas on October 7. And make no mistake; this war is not merely against Hamas, it is now full blown against the Palenstinian people, women and children civilians included. Israel is not due to have a presidential eleciton for some time, but Sanator Shcuk Schumer recently exprssed what many people are thinking, and agree with: that Iarael should have an election as soon as possible, and a new president should be elected. Netanyahu has been in office longer than any other Israeli leader in history, is awash in scandal and controversy; it is time for him to go. Predictably, the conservative Christian Repubican party,its leaders in particular, rose up in righteous indignation agaisnt Schumer. How dare he criticize our close ally, and presume to meddle in their internal affairs! Republicans, phony as usual. Certainly an American, any American, including a political leader, has the right to express an opinion about a country whose very existence and strength has often depended on American support, and still does. President Biden, among millions of other people, has observed that killing more than thirty thousand Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, not only does not help defeat Hamas, but actually harms Israel more than helps it, by making Israel a scorned pariah internationally, by reminding people of history's most brutal massacres and wars. The American government, American electorate, and all other nations on Earth sould exert the strongest possible pressure on Israel to cease and desist civilian massacres, and to help innocent Palestinians avoid starvation, rather than being the cause of it. Surely Netanyahu is aware that as long as there is a Palestine which hates Israel, not without good reason, there will be a formal, if illegal Palestinian military organization, Hamas or no Hamas, armed, resolute, and dedicated to Israel's destruction. Israel is making new enemies much faster than it is defeating and destroying old ones. Keep talking, Mr. Schumer. We hear you.