ISRAELI GOVERNMENT BLACKMAIL

Israeli Government blackmail sounds plausible under many scenarios, including the way that I mean it here. The Israeli government has, for many years, successfully played the anti-Semitic card whenever anyone questions what they do. It has, and continues to be, a very effective strategy for deflecting criticism: Lately, Benjamin Netanyahu has raised it to an art form.

      Unfortunately for the world outside the Israeli Government, and this includes the Jewish populations across the world, at home and particularly in the U.S., this strategy has become ingrained in the collective psyche.

      Today, most people tacitly accept that anything remotely critical of Israeli Government policy is anti-Semitic. I would submit that we have all been blackmailed into believing something that simply isn’t true. Israeli Government policy, dictums, statements, have nothing to do with anti-Semitism. THEY ARE TWO SEPARATE ISSUES. One is anti-Government and the other is anti-Jewish. The fact that the Israeli Government has successfully blurred the difference has given them a huge, but false, international and domestic advantage, which they have used shamelessly. It’s time to call their bluff.

      Behind this strategy of false anti-Semitism, there is also a national arrogance, which says, “We are God’s chosen people and, therefore, anything we do is right, and beyond criticism”.

      That may not be easy to hear, or accept, but I would submit that it is worth considering in the mix of trying to understand, and counteract, the more arrogant of Israeli Government policies. The actions of Netanyahu, in basically thumbing his nose at the international community and, incredibly, at his major supporter, the U.S., perfectly illustrates this national arrogance and anti-Semitic strategy.

      In the U.S., the Jewish lobby is extremely powerful politically. The combination of north-east Jewish money and west-coast Jewish media control, makes its influence far broader than most ethnic groups, and way broader than most of us think. (I have previously cited the fact that thirteen U.S. states have laws on their books that require any contractor to those states to sign a clause in their contracts that specifically prohibits them from doing or saying anything against Israel. If that isn’t unbridled influence on behalf of a foreign government, I don’t know what is).

      I would submit that the Israeli Government policy of merging their policies with Semitic bias has resulted in a disservice to the Jewish-American community and, in particular, to U.S. Government policy. I have said, several times, that the long-term joke in Europe is that U.S. foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East, is made in Tel Aviv. Netanyahu’s invasion of Gaza, and his repeated “thumbing of his nose at anyone who criticizes it, and him, including the U.S. President and the U.S. Congress, only serves to support this “joke”.

      We are all, therefore, in a “Catch 22”. If we say anything to challenge this incorrect mixing of Israeli Government policy and being Jewish, we are “obviously” anti-Semitic. If we do nothing to criticize the Israeli Government for fear of being so branded, we are doing a disservice to the world. In particular, if we are Americans, we are doing a disservice to the United States.

      There is no chance the Israeli Government will suddenly “find religion”, if you will excuse the pun, and give up this very successful strategy so it behooves the rest of us to call them out on it.

      The question then becomes, “Which is more important?” Loyalty to the best interests of your country or fear of being branded anti-Semitic. Time to stand up and be counted.

      As I was writing this piece, the International Criminal Court in the Hague is rumored to be considering bringing “War Crimes” charges against the Israeli Government, the Israeli Army, and Benjamin Netanyahu personally. Maybe “Standing up and being counted has begun!”