Not Fringe

Today Daniel Davis and Doug Macgregor had a stimulating discussion of America’s two most prominent wars—the war on Russia and the war on Gaza. I’ll get to the war on Russia—actually, the reaction to the Trump - Putin phone call—in a separate post. Toward the end of that same video, the dynamic duo turned to the topic of what is or is not “fringe” in Israel and, indeed, among Jewish Nationalists more generally. This is a timely topic, because Americans are increasingly getting access to unfiltered news online, and that means they’re learning the truth about Israel—about how “fringey” the entire country is—and about the Jewish Supremacy Project more generally. The inability to censor these truths has led to a crisis of sorts among the more respectable Jewish Nationalists in America, requiring a change of tactics. Selling genocide as self defense is no longer working, so maybe it’s time to find a new face to front for Israel—without actually changing policies.

The core of this new tactic—exemplified by Thomas Friedman’s recent article in the NYT—is to try to pin the blame for the genocide in Gaza on Netanyahu, rather than on Trump (or Biden, before Trump). Of course, Trump could end the genocide with a phone call—just as he could do pretty much the same thing in Ukraine. But Trump remains popular in the US and so is useful. The real fear among the likes of Friedman is that the eminently unlikeable Netanyahu has become so toxic in the West, due to the unsuppressable knowledge of the genocide in Gaza, that he has become “bad for the Jews” and could end up doing existential damage to the Jewish and Israeli brands. So, the thinking goes, Netanyahu must be replaced—forced out by Trump. Which, of course, is far easier said than done, because Netanyahu’s policies actually are broadly supported throughout Israel and the Jewish Nationalist world in general.

So, here we go. What’s fringe? I’ve done a transcript. First of all, the video clip that DD shows (from which I copied the subtitles) was shown on Israeli Channel 14 (run by an Israeli “philanthropist”). Channel 14 appeals to the mainstream of Israeli opinion—supporters of the Likud party (easily the largest single political party in Israel) and other even more extreme groups (extreme by naive American views, not by Jewish Nationalist views).

DD: This is a video that was put out on Israeli television this morning, on Channel 14, by a former member of the Knesset of Israel. Here's what he had to say about the situation in Gaza:

Every child, every baby in Gaza is an enemy! The enemy is not Hamas, and it's not Hamas' military wing--like our chief military prosecutor tells us, that we're not allowed to harm a Hamas member unless they're part of the military wing. Every child in Gaza is the enemy! We need to conquer Gaza and colonize it and not leave a single Gaza child there! There is no other victory!

Now, for those who don't know--and probably most of our Western audience doesn't--this is the same person who, on the 23rd of October, so barely two weeks after the terrorist event that that started all this current round, went on this Israeli television and said that they needed to turn the Gaza Strip into Dresden. They needed to kill everyone. And that's pretty much what has happened. So this is not just some fringe person here, and the fact that he continues to be brought on Israeli television tells you something. What are your reactions to that?

Mac: I'm completely unsurprised. No one should be surprised by this. And if you push the Israeli Jews to talk to you openly about this, they will make it clear that they have every right to do this. The Torah justifies it. The Talmud justifies it. Frankly, anyone who is not a Jew can be treated in the same way, if they determine that it's necessary to do so. We don't seem to understand the radicalized population and leadership in Israel. And admittedly it is hard for us to grasp. I can't comprehend it. To me it's beyond simple good and evil--it's something worse. But that's where we are. And have no fear--The Lobby controls things here in the United States, on the Hill as well as in the media and to some extent in finance. And I think they're going to make sure that most Americans do not hear that, do not see that, and are told that that is a fringe view. It is *not* a fringe view. That's the problem. If it were a fringe view Mr Netanyahu would not be in power.

...

Mac: Dan I don't know how widespread the understanding is inside our country. I run into people all the time who say, 'Oh, well, you know, that's not really our affair.' And I say, 'Well neither is Ukraine.' 'Well, yeah, yeah. Well, you know, Israel, we're allied with them.' Oh? We have no treaty of alliance with Israel--never have. And they say, 'Well, yeah, but they're our friend.' Well, I used to think so. I'm not sure any longer.

DD: Yeah. I think that about sums it up. I'm just not sure any longer. Maybe they never were. Maybe I was mistaken. ... You have Netanyahu--I think we had that one on yesterday--where he's basically saying, 'We'll do the absolute least we can to get by, so that we don't lose America's support.' Meaning, they're just going to give some crumbs but not allow any kind of large scale food in.

On a very similar note, Judge Nap had Chas Freeman on today. Freeman noted this telling statement about the genocide:

The talk in Israel by members of the Israeli cabinet and Mr Netanyahu, the prime minister, provides ample evidence of genocidal intent. Mr Netanyahu has just come up with a a scam for allowing a little bit of humanitarian assistance in, as his finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said: "Well, we'll give 'em a paper plate and a piece of pita bread and that's it."

Not fringe. Not among Jewish Nationalists. This is an inconvenient truth.