Our Friday News Analysis | What the World Reads Now!

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Vantage TV India with Palki Sharma
Managing Editor Firstpost
16 September 2024

The US has imposed more sanctions on the Russian media network RT and called it an "Entity with Cyber Capabilities" to justify its latest crackdown. Washington is urging its allies to ban RT as well. India has reportedly been asked to ban the Russian network, but New Delhi has allegedly refused to comply with Washington's request.

What happened to America's much-vaunted defense of "Free Speech?"

Vantage is a ground-breaking news, opinions, and current affairs show from Firstpost. Catering to a global audience, Vantage covers the biggest news stories from a 360-degree perspective, giving viewers a chance to assess the impact of world events through a uniquely Indian lens.

By breaking stereotypes, Vantage aims to challenge conventional wisdom and present an alternative view on global affairs, defying the norm and opening the door to new perspectives. The show goes beyond the headlines to uncover the hidden stories, making Vantage a destination for thought-provoking ideas.

Palki Sharma, Managing Editor of Firstpost, anchors the show.

ISRAELI PROFESSOR WHO MET IRAN'S PRESIDENT: 'IRAN ISN'T A UNIQUE EVIL, IT'S A REGIONAL PLAYER LIKE ANY OTHER'

Part of the Jewish delegation that sat with President Masoud Pezeshkian in New York, Penn State professor Lior Sternfeld tells Haaretz that being in the room with Iran's president was an opportunity he couldn't miss

Lior Sternfeld (left) and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Credit: Pennsylvania State University History Department, Ludovic Marin / AFP

By Etan Nechin
Haaretz | Israel News
25 September 2024

NEW YORK—On Tuesday, one of the most surprising gatherings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly was a meeting between Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and a group of Jewish delegates. And arguably, no one was more surprised than the Israeli professor who attended.

Lior Sternfeld, an associate professor of history and Jewish studies at Penn State University and an expert on Iran, told Haaretz he was taken aback when he received an invitation two weeks ago. The meeting was billed as an "interfaith dialogue" (It was later described in Iranian media as "a meeting with several religious leaders and scholars").

"At first, I wasn't sure if [the invitation] was genuine. But after some inquiries, I confirmed its legitimacy," Sternfeld said. The academic's work on Jews and Iran includes the book "Between Iran and Zion: Jewish Histories of Twentieth-Century Iran," which assesses how Iranian Jews contributed to Iranian nation-building projects.

• On the Israeli left, there is still an alternative to all-out war with Iran.
• Intensified Israel-Hezbollah fighting throws Iran into an agonizing strategic bind.
• Iranian president tells UN: Israeli strikes in Lebanon cannot go unanswered.

Sternfeld said he was also surprised by the reaction when he disclosed his nationality after receiving the invite. "To avoid embarrassment, I informed them that I am, in fact, an Israeli citizen. They assured me it was not an issue."

The next step was to confirm that his participation was permissible under Israeli law, which prohibits contact with officials from an enemy state. After consulting with the Israeli authorities, Sternfeld determined that his attendance was acceptable.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a United Nations General Assembly session in New York City on September 24, 2024. Credit: Charly Triballeau / AFP

"It wasn't an easy decision – I wondered if it was just a ploy," he said. "But being in the room with Iran's president, to speak and to listen, was an opportunity I couldn't miss."

Several American-Jewish figures, including transgender and pro-Palestinian activist Abby Stein, also attended the meeting in New York. Others present included Ezra Tzfadya, a Rutgers University professor who specializes in Shia Islamic and Jewish political and legal thought, plus representatives from the Neturei Karta Haredi sect (which refuses to recognize the State of Israel and is a permanent presence at pro-Palestinian protests).

Sternfeld, who recently penned a column arguing that Israel is "threatened by a moderate Iranian president" and "Haniyeh's assassination in Tehran was intended to urge Iran to respond... bringing about the full-blown regional war that Israel craves," said he was the only Israeli present. The meeting, which lasted 90 minutes, was very formal, he noted: "Every delegate had a chance to speak, and Pezeshkian responded to everyone collectively."

What is the Side of the Story that is Not Yet Decisive? Edited by Abraham A. van Kempen.

GUEST EDITORIAL | WITH THE MIDEAST ON THE BRINK, THERE IS STILL AN ISRAELI LEFT-WING ALTERNATIVE TO ALL-OUT WAR WITH IRAN

The left-wing is always on the defensive about security. But right now, in the long, terrifying wait for an Iranian strike on Israel, there is still an alternative to Netanyahu's disastrous policy: a liberal, progressive approach to a sworn, heavily armed enemy with a big reason for retaliation.

A man walks past a banner depicting Iranian missiles along a street in Tehran earlier this year. Credit: AFP

By Dahlia Scheindlin
Haaretz | Israel News
15 August 2024

In the long and terrifying wait for an Iranian strike on Israel, there's little to do but wonder what could have been different. This is not a futile exercise in counterfactuals. It's a tricky question about the future. What can still be done differently?

The left-wing in its broadest sense – liberals, progressives, and those who think war is usually a disastrous folly – is always on the defensive about security. And at this moment, when Iranian missiles might be pivoting toward Tel Aviv, the question is fair: Could the left wing in power do better? What would be a liberal, progressive approach to a sworn, heavily armed enemy with a big reason for retaliation?

The first step would be to dismiss any nonsense of the fringe left that views the regional escalation by Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iranian-backed militias as some ideological crusade to save Palestinians.

That's plain wrong.

Continue Reading …

VIEW | PROF. JEFFREY SACHS : [LIVE FROM U.N.] - US A MENACE TO WORLD PEACE

Watch Video Here (33 minutes, 11 seconds)

Host Judge Andrew Napolitano
Judge Napolitano – Judging Freedom
24 September 2024

@jennia4853
When I was young, I was led to believe that the US was this fantastic, fair force for good in the world. Ahh, to be young and stupid! As an adult, I’m ashamed of my country.

@jimfarmer693
I am an American and very ashamed of what my government is doing.

@napoleonlaguerre5587
in my Humble Opinion.... there will be NO PEACE in the World as long as the U.S. is still a Superpower.''

@TheTeach56
Biden's performance was depressing. The world is watching the decline of the USA into clowndom.

@CollieJenn
Professor Sachs is an international treasure.

@panchosvillos
American arrogance is off the scale

@chrisp2249
It’s utterly absurd that the US consistently speaks of indiscriminate bombing in Ukraine but turns a blind eye to Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon.

@veroniquedelphi7689
I am 100% in agreement with Professor Sachs.

@roy9816
What could America achieve in their own country if they didn't spend trillions on 800 overseas bases and Ukraine and Israel?

@RichardEdwards-gt1qm
I tried hard not to hate Israel and America, but now I can’t stop myself.

@kayak9078
As an American, I never thought I could be embarrassed by a whole country. My country.

@CAlicocat711
Prof. Sachs is the most honest and brave American. Thank you, Judge, for bringing him to speak the truth about American hegemony.

@felipemuci5944
If the USA had invested in infrastructure instead of military, that country would be a futuristic superpower with the happiest population in the world. But the world has more US military bases outside the US than countries—and eternal wars.

@margaritagarciacasado9771
You forget to mention that the Cuba incident started because the US had missiles in Anatolia.

@johnhector4207
A tremendous and sane voice in a sea of delusions, psychosis, and insanity. Thank you, Judge and Mr Sachs.

@innabobolina6490
I can't think of a more knowledgeable, accomplished, brilliant, honest, brave, well-respected, and widely known individual who speaks truth to power. Bravo bravo bravo Professor Sachs!!!

@tarwingrill4531
The present diplomats seem to all subscribe to Victoria Nuland’s principle: "Everything I want is right."

@oldbiker9739
Canada used to be a peace promotor, but not anymore, with that clown minister running the show.

@ralphsimpson4593
It reminds me of the famous quote, "We faced the enemy, and He is Us."

@Victory33115
It would be great if the US learned to get along and work with others rather than bullying them. Thanks, Judge and Professor Sachs, for the commentary today!

@davidiscostarica6097
The US needs to close its bases and protect its border.

@elgarxu9636
When Professor Sachs talks, I listen.

@mousiebrown943
If your only tool is a HAMMER, everything looks like a NAIL...

ANALYSIS | HEZBOLLAH'S WAR WITH ISRAEL IS NOW IN IRAN'S HANDS

'Unifying the front' with Gaza was meant to give Hezbollah's leader leverage over Israel. Now, his every move impacts Iran's regional standing.

People mourn near the coffins of three Hezbollah members, who were killed in Israeli strikes, during their funeral in Saksakiyeh, southern Lebanon, September 24, 2024. Credit: Stringer/ REUTERS

By Zvi Bar'el
Haaretz | Middle East News
25 September 2024

After the killing of senior Hezbollah military leaders, including regional and divisional commanders, Hassan Nasrallah has now assumed the role of acting "chief of staff." He is not just the leader who instructs and shapes strategy but the frontline commander.

This is not an unfamiliar job for him. Before he was appointed Hezbollah secretary-general, he commanded the group's southern Lebanon front and was directly involved in managing military forces.

Nasrallah knows the composition of the forces intimately and has personal relationships with some brigade commanders. He is adept at reading maps and evaluating what firepower he has at his command. He still has a pool of high-level commanders available able to keep overseeing the group's attacks on Israel, which is precisely what they are doing.

• Hezbollah fires a missile at central Israel for the first time, says targeted Mossad HQ.
• Israel is hoping Lebanon attacks force Hezbollah to make a deal, but the war may drag on.
• While IDF attacks 'degraded' Hezbollah, it remains a significant threat to the Israeli home front.

Nasrallah can use them to keep the war going for an extended period. Nevertheless, he is approaching a point where he must decide on the war's direction. Meanwhile, Nasrallah's list of mistakes and misjudgments, once described as the most prominent expert on and best analyst of Israel, continues to grow.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah speaks at Fuad Shukr's funeral last month. Credit: Hussein Malla/AP Photo

On Monday, Veteran Lebanese journalist Ali Hamade highlighted most of these errors in an article on the Annahar newspaper's site. "The assessment was that Israel would not enter a long war in Gaza, but it entered such a war and is still fighting," he wrote.

"Another assessment was that the world would rise against [Israel] and impose a blockade on it because of the slaughter it committed in Gaza, but it did it and is continuing with it," he continued. "There was also the assessment that the United States and the West in general would pressure Israel in the name of a hostage deal to reach a cease-fire and stop the bloodshed. But Israel didn't take the hostages into account and continued the destruction and killing."

Hamade also criticized Nasrallah's assessments. "The assessment was that Hezbollah's missiles would force Israel into an equation of mutual deterrence that would prevent an escalation... But Israel has killed over 500 Hezbollah fighters so far, including many of the group's senior members," he wrote. "It drove the Iranian advisers out of Lebanon and Syria, destroyed the Iranian consulate in the center of Damascus, and attacked the very heart of the Hezbollah stronghold in Dahiyeh.

The Iron Dome anti-missile defense system intercepts rockets fired from Lebanon, Wednesday. Credit: Avi Ohayon/Reuters

"Israel will continue because its rationale for war is not political but existential, resulting in 62 percent of Israelis supporting an all-out war against Hezbollah," Hamade continued. "Hezbollah, backed by Iran, made a grave and possibly even fatal mistake because it failed to interpret reality correctly. This is why it is now engaged in a war of survival [against Israel] instead of a war of support [of Hamas]."

One may disagree with Hamade's analysis of Israel's motivations to launch a broad offensive against Hezbollah, especially as Nasrallah has offered Israel a guaranteed formula for averting it: ending the war in Gaza in exchange for a cease-fire in the north. However, the argument that Hezbollah is transitioning from a phase of an offensive war in which it is dictating terms to a "war of survival" isn't confined to Hamade and his Lebanese colleagues.

When Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told CNN that Israel must be stopped from turning Lebanon into "another Gaza" and that Hezbollah "cannot stand alone," we're not talking about the position of a pundit sitting on the sidelines. If this assessment reflects the Iranian leadership's thinking, tangible implications could exist. Hezbollah's survival is essential to the stability of Iran's network of regional interests, and not just in Lebanon.

The outcome of the war between Israel and Hezbollah won't just influence Iran's standing in Lebanon and Syria but also the power of its "ring of fire" – the presence of its proxies throughout the region, which act as an effective deterrent against any direct attack. If the most vital link in the "ring" becomes weaker, it's an existential test of the basic assumptions on which the whole network was built. It could even make Iran reassess its regional strategy, which has served it so efficiently and with considerable success until now.

The war in Lebanon hasn't become regional, though the fear of escalating into one is concrete. However, developments are testing Iran's doctrine, which holds that each of its proxies is free to act independently according to the specific circumstances where it operates as long as it doesn't endanger Tehran's long-term strategic interests.

A view shows the site of a damaged city government building in Kiryat Shmona following a rocket attack from Lebanon, Tuesday. Credit: Jim Urquhart/Reuters

Hamade points not only to Hezbollah's miscalculations but also to those made by Iran, which based its and its proxies' involvement and strategy in the Gaza war on these faulty assumptions. These calculations no longer apply to the violent escalation that has taken place in Lebanon.

Gaza was supposed to provide Hezbollah with leverage over Israel and, as a result, grant Iran a unique position as a regional power able to create threats to Israel without risking direct involvement in the war.

When the war in Gaza started, Nasrallah said in a speech that the decision to move against Israel was based on two principles: helping Hamas and defending Lebanon. He illustrated the first principle by noting that Hezbollah's attacks had forced Israel to divert some of its forces to the northern border, easing the military pressure on Hamas. He also detailed the extent of the damage Hezbollah had managed to inflict, particularly the displacement of tens of thousands of Israelis from their homes.

Hezbollah's war isn't being waged solely for Hamas' sake or over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, however, Nasrallah said. He said that had he not used Hezbollah's "deterrent force," Israel would have already been fulfilling its ambition to conquer Lebanon.

Hezbollah's effort to present itself as a fundamentally Lebanese organization that is part of national society and identity, rather than an Iranian proxy or foreign agent, has typically shaped its justification for military involvement and only against Israel.

"Israel's security is Syria's security," Nasrallah said when explaining his decision to deploy forces to Syria to assist President Bashar Assad in the slaughter of the Syrian people. Now, he faces the prospect of a repeat of the Second Lebanon War, threatening his status as "the defender of Lebanon" and leader of the only armed force capable of directly confronting Israel.

Damage from a strike in a southern suburb of Beirut, Tuesday. Credit: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters

The card he once held to extricate Hezbollah from the situation – securing an end to the war in Gaza in exchange for a Lebanon cease-fire – seems to be of little use now, and Nasrallah's options are dwindling.

During the Second Lebanon War, on the day UN Security Council Resolution 1701 calling for a cease-fire was passed, Nasrallah announced that he would respect the decision and that his forces would stop firing rockets at Israel if it halted its attacks on Lebanon.

Then, however, the conflict was strictly between Israel and Lebanon. Now, Nasrallah has linked Lebanon with Gaza. Therefore, any agreement for a cease-fire on his part would mean cutting the connection between Lebanon and Gaza, which would dismantle the ideological foundation of Hezbollah's involvement in the war and significantly undermine Iran's regional standing. That's the dilemma Nasrallah faces today, while its resolution is no longer solely in Beirut but is rapidly shifting to Tehran.

VIEW | "MORALLY REPREHENSIBLE!" JOHN MEARSHEIMER ON MIDDLE EAST WAR AND TRUMP

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Host Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan Uncensored
24 September 2024

The resumé of John Mearsheimer reveals a man of both intellect and pragmatism. Once an officer in the United States Air Force, he’s now a lauded professor at the University of Chicago with a highly critical eye for international relations.

John aims at the continuing violence in Gaza and claims that the Israeli government is actively committing genocide in the region. Piers plays devil’s advocate, and John bats away his criticisms.

The real fight begins when Piers turns the conversation to support Ukraine, which John sees as a doomed endeavor. While John argues for an end to the conflict as soon as possible, Piers holds him to the logical conclusion of his position, which is that failing to support Ukraine would be a reward for the dictator in the Kremlin.

00:00 - Introduction
01:10 - Mearsheimer on Israel-Hezbollah war
07:20 - "Israel is committing ethnic cleansing"
12:30 - "Explain to me how Hezbollah, Hamas, or Iran is an existential threat?"
17:20 - Mearsheimer on US Presidential race
19:50 - 'Morally correct' decision in Ukraine/Russia War
24:50 - "The Ukrainians are doomed"

WION – WORLD NEWS | ZELENSKY: PUTIN HAS BROKEN MULTIPLE INTERNATIONAL RULES

As the Russia-Ukraine war continues, Ukrainian President Zelensky hit out at Russia while addressing a special session of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday. Watch to know more.

Watch the Video Here (3 minutes, 22 seconds)

Newscaster Susan Tehrani
WION
25 September 2024

The World is One News (WION) examines global issues with in-depth analysis.

We provide much more than the news of the day. We aim to empower people to explore their world. With our Global headquarters in New Delhi, we bring you news on the hour, by the hour.

We deliver information that is not biased.

We are journalists who are neutral and non-partisan regarding world politics. People are tired of biased reportage, and we stand for a globalized, united world.

So, for us, the World is truly One.

JEFFREY SACHS REVEALS: ZELENSKY'S PLAN IN US HAS FAILED, UKRAINE COUNTS DOWN THE DAYS TO COLLAPSE

Watch the Video Here (31 minutes, 15 seconds)

@MikeJenson-e7u
We must not be silent while witnessing injustice. Israel is committing war crimes, and the US is complicit in those crimes.

@kami-kazi
We need these insane people out of office asap before they wipe us out

@johnviktora6014
I cannot thank you enough, Jeffrey.

@binghong9813
The US vetoed the membership of Palestine in the UN when they also at the same time advocated a Palestine state. What hypocrites mean is what they say and never say what they mean.

@marski-vv4qb
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Zaleski not to sign the peace agreement in 2022. The war would have ended

@kwameofei4120
America, the greatest nation we all aspired to see when we were young, has deteriorated rapidly, and its values no longer hold as the standard role model. A nation once held the beacon of hope, knowledge, education, and cultural civilization. It has run a self-destructive path by its leaders who did not see beyond the reality of their actions. So soon, its dominance became challenged because of a world that needed peace, love, and leadership beyond unnecessary wars.

@RaymondWong-u3b
Not many professors telling the truth like MR SACK.

@docsmallblock6584
Evil is as evil does!!

@omegafile
It is not hard to spot who the real criminals are.

@lamintounsi
J Sachs = a voice of reason and peace!!! Wars are unwinnable—there is more loss than gain in war: the Ukraine and the Middle East illustrate that powerfully. The US can mediate peace much better than it has in the past four years!!! Peace matters.

@aneurindavies5943
"Politics is the Entertainment Division of the Military Industrial Complex" Frank Zappa.

COL. DOUGLAS MACGREGOR: PUTIN'S PATIENT PLANS

Watch Video Here (40 minutes, 13 seconds)

Host Judge Andrew Napolitano
Judge Napolitano – Judging Freedom
24 September 2024

UNTHINKABLE ACT BY VETERAN BBC REPORTER, EXPOSES BLINKEN'S HYPOCRISY ON ISRAEL | JANTA KA REPORTER

State Terrorism – If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.

Watch Video Here (12 minutes, 20 seconds)

With host Janta Ka
https://t.me/JantaKaReporter
19 September 2024

In a shocking development, a veteran BBC correspondent has lashed out at the US Secretary of State for his double standard on Israel in the Middle East. Frank Gardner’s angry outburst came after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah reacted to the Israeli act of detonating communication devices across Lebanon.

EDITOR’S NOTE |

                Please don’t view Janta Ka’s 12-minute telecast if you cannot stomach offensive expletives.

                Though Janta Ka could have substituted his emotionally driven words, the subject matter nonetheless warrants visibility.

               At this time, we cannot ‘bleep’ over superfluous words.

SEYMOUR HERSH | NETANYAHU’S LEBANON GAMBIT

The second front has restored the prime minister’s political standing.

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Israeli shelling in Zaita, in southern Lebanon, on September 23. / Photo by Mahmoud Zayyat / AFP via Getty Images.

By Seymour Hersh
Substack.com
26 September 2024

One way to understand the dramatic events of the past week and the restitution of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political standing in Israel is to recall a famous statement of Admiral Ernest King, the US chief of naval operations throughout the Second World War. As the war neared its end, as the story goes, King was told by an aide that a group of reporters wanted an interview with him. “When it’s over,” he replied, “tell them who won.”

It could be Netanyahu’s motto today. I was surprised to be told recently by a well-informed official in Washington that things had changed dramatically in the war in Gaza—in Israel’s favor. The official said there is no longer a possibility or need for a ceasefire in Gaza. I further learned that ceasefire talk had been muted because there is now a renewed Israeli war against the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. Amid the continuing carnage, Bibi’s standing inside Israel has soared as the death toll in Lebanon has risen.

The Israeli high command now believes, as has been reported in the Israeli media, that Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who orchestrated the murderous attack on Israel on October 7, may be dead and the Israeli Defense Force “is now in a ‘mopping-up phase’ of the tunnel war with Hamas.” The American official told me, "There’s been no communication from Sinwar in the past two or three weeks.” The implication was clear: somehow, Israeli or American intelligence had been tracking or monitoring Sinwar’s communications, if not his precise underground location. There is little hope that any of the remaining Israeli hostages will be left alive. This conclusion has yet to be shared with the increasingly anxious Israeli public.

(I must note here that the six hostages who were executed in a tunnel late last August were not killed, as I inaccurately recently reported, because their Hamas captors heard the noises of an Israeli sapper team whose mission was to destroy tunnels. The mission took place because the tunnel location of the hostages had become known, and an Israeli special forces team was assigned to attack the site and seize the hostages. The six were found dead because there was no other exit for the guards. I do not know whether the guards were killed in a shootout or took their own lives. The full, tragic story was not made known at the time by the Israeli military, a decision that is hard to question.)

There are other facts, I was told, that indicate the Gaza war is in a mopping-up phase. There have been no Israeli bombing missions over Gaza since last Friday (although Al-Jazeera reported that fifty people were killed in Gaza on Tuesday in various attacks), and many of the Israeli reservists who have been heavily involved in the war since last fall are in the process of being replaced by regular Israeli army soldiers.

There have been no ceasefire meetings or significant discussions with Hamas since the Israeli assassination last July 31 of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas who was in Tehran to celebrate the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian, a four-time member of the Iranian parliament. Pezeshkian, a moderate, repeatedly says that he wishes to play a constructive role in world affairs, beginning with renewed talks on Iran’s nuclear program.

Just a few weeks ago, Netanyahu was in trouble at home and abroad as the war in Gaza seemed to be an endless pit of horror. Hamas still seemed to be capable of putting up a fight, and the world was recoiling from the constant Israeli bombings of Gaza, the growing casualties, and the desperation of the surviving residents there. Netanyahu was continuing to disregard the anxieties of President Joe Biden and his foreign policy aides, led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was in seemingly endless meetings in Egypt and Qatar and failing to achieve a ceasefire that would result in a bombing pause and the return of the surviving Israeli hostages.

The IDF, composed mainly of reservists who had been called up for what was turning out to be an endless commitment, was fraying as the war dragged on. The Israeli reservists inevitably turned on the civilian population in Gaza. Just last week, a group of IDF soldiers were caught on video throwing four bodies—it was assumed all were dead—from the roof of a battered building in the West Bank to the street.

The American official, who has long dealt with Israeli issues, ruefully explained his view of the long-standing Middle East impasse: “The Israelis want the Palestinians to be peaceful and accept their fate. The Palestinians objected and fought back. A new day in the Middle East will never come.”

Last week, as the current Israeli impasse with Hezbollah was turning murderous, I had a long talk with an Israeli hero of earlier war—he served in an elite commando unit—whose grandchildren are nearing a one-year deployment in Gaza. He was contemptuous of Netanyahu and his refusal to agree to a ceasefire. There are families in Tel Aviv, he told me, who are leaving the country every day “to get their children out of the kill.”

He remains convinced that the war with Hamas was lost well before the October 7 attack when those in charge of Israel’s most crucial intelligence unit, dealing with signals intelligence, ignored the reports of a senior female officer who repeatedly warned of the coming Hamas attack. The Israeli veteran, who spent his career in special units, said he understood what happened. The men running the unit told the woman, a colonel, that “you ladies are here to bring me coffee.”

It’s increasingly evident that a full inquiry into the military and intelligence failures of October 7, once promised by Netanyahu, will not take place as long as Netanyahu is still in office.

The retired officer, whose negative views of Netanyahu I have heard about for years, also told me he is supportive of Bibi’s current war against Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and the Hezbollah militia. “We will nail Hezbollah,” he said because its defeat would be a blow against Iran, “and Iran controls Hezbollah.”

Netanyahu, seemingly on the political ropes inside Israel and around the world, is suddenly in full bloom as the leader of the expanding war against Hezbollah. Most Israelis fear Hassan Nasrallah, its Shiite leader, for his close ties to Shiite Iran, long viewed by Israel as a potential nuclear power and its most dangerous enemy. The Biden administration and Congress are joined to the hip with Israel when it comes to Iran, though its closeness to nuclear weapons capability has long been exaggerated.

Hezbollah demonstrated its support for Sunni Hamas after the devastating Israeli bombing of Gaza began by initiating a series of missile and rocket attacks on Israeli cities and villages as far as 35 kilometers south of the border with Lebanon. The Hezbollah attacks eventually led to the evacuation of some 67,000 Israeli citizens, who were moved into temporary housing. Israel responded by bombing Hezbollah and other targets in southern Lebanon. That war has exploded with renewed ferocity in the past two weeks. Nasrallah added to the tension by authorizing his missiles to strike targets up to 50 kilometers south of the Israeli border, putting the historic Israeli city of Haifa in peril as well as Tel Aviv.

The missile and bomb exchanges remained at a low intensity until last week, when Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, triggered explosives that had earlier been implanted in a shipment of 6,000 foreign-made pagers that were purchased by Hezbollah and distributed to its senior leadership and soldiers. Many of the pagers inevitably ended up with the family members of Hezbollah officials and fighters, and the ensuing chaos when an Israeli signal triggered all became front-page news around the world.

Israel’s electronic reach was demoralizing and terrifying, both for the technology involved and the apparent conclusion that Netanyahu had escalated his confrontation with Hezbollah while ignoring pressure from the Biden administration to agree to a ceasefire. I talked with another well-informed Israeli veteran, who was seriously wounded in an earlier war, who explained that the Israeli decision to trigger the explosives was not the planned act of war that it seemed to be. He said the embedded materials were triggered only because Mossad learned its action had been inadvertently discovered by a few Hamas officials who had brought their pagers in for routine repairs. That discovery led Netanyahu or one of his aides to authorize the attack.

I got no answer when I asked how anyone in Mossad or any Israeli intelligence service could uncover such a random fact. Instead, I was told Israel’s secret triggering of the pagers was “a brilliant special op but not a plan to start a war.”

The pager blasts are estimated to have killed dozens of people, including children, and injured thousands across Lebanon. The Israeli veteran also said more than three thousand Hezbollah soldiers were wounded, many of them seriously.

It was misplaced if there was concern at the top of the Israeli military or civilian authority about a rebuke for such tactics from Washington. There was no reaction from the Biden administration, and the American media has consistently viewed Hezbollah primarily as a terrorist organization despite its presence in the last decade as a significant member of the Lebanese parliament and government. If anything, the reaction was awe and respect for the attack. The Washington Post columnist David Ignatius noted that Israel had not taken immediate credit for the attack: “It didn’t need to. Any other nation could not have staged an attack of this sophistication and daring in Lebanon. The video scenes of Hezbollah fighters being blown to the floor by their own communication devices sent an unmistakable message to the Iranian-backed militia. We own you. We can penetrate every space in which you operate.”

The next day, Israel doubled down and triggered explosions in walkie-talkies throughout Lebanon. Newspapers reported the death of at least twenty civilians and the wounding of 450 more amid widespread panic and terror throughout the county.

Michael Walzer, a renowned political theorist writing in the New York Times, described Israel’s actions in blunt language as “terrorist attacks by a state that has consistently condemned terrorist attacks on its citizens.” Walzer has written on just and unjust wars and supported Israel’s ferocious response to the Hamas attack on October 7 as justified. But the wrongdoing in this case, Walzer wrote, “was Israel’s, and the plotters had to know that at least some of the people hurt would be innocent men, women, and children.”

The main plotter was Israel’s prime minister, who authorized the use of militarily useless terror attacks that could only bring Hezbollah and Lebanon closer to war. Netanyahu has understood that a war with Hezbollah is a way to bolster his declining popularity in Israel and perhaps some of the world.

The Biden administration has supplied Israel with an estimated 68 percent of its arms. Netanyahu has treated the president, his secretary of state, and other diplomatic officials as pawns on which to be led. In his farewell speech this week to the UN General Assembly, Joe Biden talked about his ceasefire proposal, seemingly unaware that the fate of the hostages had been overtaken by events, beginning with the assassination of Haniyeh. But Biden did say, referring to the current crisis between Hezbollah and Israel: “Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest.”

Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have been silent on the issue in the closing weeks of their presidential campaigns. The political axiom that foreign policy has little to do with presidential campaigns remains safe for now. Netanyahu, the man of the hour in Israel, is the political figure left standing and talking.

It was déjà vu for a retired Lebanese government official and longtime resident of Beirut who lived through the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel that ended with the saturation bombing of South Beirut. In this Shiite area, Hezbollah was dominant. “There is no Washington now,” he told me. “It is a vacuum. As for Bibi, it is a historical opportunity. And the war he is seeking will be awful. He is awful. And it will take a long time, and he will be exhausted in Lebanon.”

I have written about the 2006 war between Israel and a seemingly outgunned Lebanon in which the powers that be in Israel were confident of success. In the end, it was, by all accounts, a wash as I had written then.

An all-out war this time will be torrential.

PUTIN ORDERS CHANGES TO RUSSIA’S NUCLEAR DOCTRINE

The President has suggested several new criteria that would merit a nuclear response.

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a permanent meeting of the Russian Security Council on nuclear deterrence on September 25, 2024. © Kremlin

HomeRussia & FSU
25 September 2024

Russia should update its nuclear doctrine to clearly define circumstances that could prompt Moscow to launch a nuclear strike, President Vladimir Putin told a meeting of the national security council on Wednesday. He also suggested an expanded list of threats that would include “reliable information” of a major airstrike being launched against Russia.

The list of criteria that would justify Russia's use of its nuclear deterrent should be expanded in the updated version of the doctrine, Putin told the meeting.

“Aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state… supported by a nuclear power should be treated as their joint attack,” the president said.

Moscow would also “consider” resorting to a nuclear response if it gets “reliable information” about a “massive” missile or air strike launched by another state against Russia or its closest ally, Belarus, according to Putin. He stated that the weapons used in an enemy’s potential strike could include anything from ballistic or cruise missiles to strategic aircraft and drones.

“We reserve a right to use nuclear weapons in case of aggression against Russia and Belarus,” the Russian president said, adding that the principle had already been coordinated with Minsk. Nuclear weapons can be used if an enemy poses a “critical threat to either state’s sovereignty through the use of conventional weapons,” he explained.

Putin did not elaborate on when changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine would take effect. Senior Russian officials, including Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, have recently discussed potential changes to the doctrine. In late August, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the document was “being reviewed.”

The Russian leader has long demonstrated a reserved position on the issue of nuclear weapons. In June, he expressed hope that “it will never come” to a nuclear exchange between Moscow and the West.

Moscow “has no reasons to even think about” using nuclear weapons, he said at the time, speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Later that month, the president also stated that Russia did not need to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike since “the enemy is guaranteed to be destroyed in a retaliatory strike.” He did not, however, rule out changes to the doctrine at the time.

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Photo Credit: Abraham A. van Kempen, our home away from home on the Dead Sea

By Abraham A. van Kempen
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Updated 19 January 2024

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