It started with Netanyahu wanting to prolong his stay in power.  It’s something else for him now, and for Israel too.  Life changes like that.  For example, we might have been in error and also provocative during an argument.  After the punches start flying and won’t stop flying, it’s a different situation for us.  Our guilt cannot be the issue for us still, or we’ll get our teeth knocked out and might lose our life too.  Now the issue becomes the “extremism” of this individual and that we must knock him out before he knocks our teeth out.  Yeah, we provoked him, but “it changed” and now that became irrelevant to us because other more relevant issues quickly appeared.

Neither in Israel nor in Ukraine, for that matter, are the issues the same anymore. America’s Cultur... Rufo, Christopher F. Best Price: $9.21 Buy New $13.00 (as of 10:47 UTC - Details)

In Israel, Netanyahu cannot choose to allow the Philadelphia corridor to be opened again because it would indeed mean all he says it would.  Guns and ammo would reach Hamas through it.  This is the bait that Netanyahu swallowed from Hamas by reacting with war to their attack and hostage-taking.  Gazans have suffered too much, but their cause has grown in the eyes of the world and the attack has created also a growing existential-type crisis in Israel.

In Ukraine, Russia says it is at war with the U.S. itself, more than with Ukraine.  It is understandable, of course, but should he say it like that?  It’s debatable, but I think it really changes matters for the U.S. when he puts it like that.  He should have spoken so before the massive war support for Ukraine began, not now.

Returning to the subject, logically, Netanyahu wants to “rescue” the hostages, but what he really aims for is for them to be saved or be dead as the result of the attempt.  He does not want them to remain “hostages” because of the paralyzing effect this has on him.  It is possible that not even he is aware of the driving force for his “rescue” decision (50-50 either way).  People say “follow the money,” but it’s “follow the logic” for this case.

“Hostages” are a victory for Hamas that Netanyahu wants to eliminate and acts accordingly.  It was obvious that eventually Hamas would recognize a rescuing attack that is about to happen and, even to save their own lives, would kill the hostages and leave rather than let Netanyahu prevail.  It’s what happened with these six hostages.  The six hostages would have been freed one day, but only if the Philadelphia corridor reopened and other Hamas demands were accepted.  Only if “Israel lost.”

Netanyahu asked the families for forgiveness for not having rescued the hostages and he mentioned that he almost did.  His declaration really means something else (as described above) whether he or anyone else is aware of it or not.  The dead hostages would blame him for their deaths.  Maybe one of them understood or sympathized with Netanyahu and thus agreed that Israel should not yield to Hamas in any way (I don’t know it, but it’s possible) and, if so, he was ready to die accordingly, with his conviction.  I think all this is understood by the hostages’ families.

Last Rights: The Death... Bovard, James Buy New $19.99 (as of 01:37 UTC - Details) Netanyahu is correct that he cannot allow the Philadelphia corridor to reopen, or for things to go back to the way they were from his own interests’ standpoint.  There will be a winner and there will be a loser.  If Hamas survives, Israel loses.  It’s what the decision to attack Gaza meant from the start, and before it happened.  Netanyahu cannot destroy Hamas, as many say.  Even if it killed 45,000 men, it’s a population of more than two million Gazans, most of whom are young.  Netanyahu says he’ll stay until Hamas is no more.  This means Gaza will become unlivable.  People would have to leave.  That’s what he wants.  We have seen genocide there and Netanyahu made clear on camara, with Dr. Phil, that to him they’re all “Hamas.”  As a Zionist, he wants all that land for Isarel;  Hamas wants all of “Israel” for the Palestinians.  It’s the fight that is happening now, an all or nothing fight for both, really.

Since Hamas is also the Palestinian people now, and they have fair claims to that land, they should prevail against Netanyahu’s Zionist policy and most likely Iran and other powers friendly to the Palestinians would get involved to save them.  The world restrains Netanyahu, the U.S. restrains him too; I mean, the Democrats do.  The Republicans don’t.

The smartest response for Netanyahu would have been to simply reinforce and strengthen the border.  He would have lost political power, but Israel’s case would have been the one to gain much sympathy from the world, which is what Israel needed the most anyway.  The Hamas attack provided an opportunity to react well and gain that genuine respect and sympathy.  Alas, it takes one to be one, and he’s not like that.

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