04 June 2010

Bibi the incurable shlemazl* must go

Apologies for interrupting the stream of silence that was so successfully transmitted on this band. I just have to vent some accumulated frustration lest it interferes with the uneventful and gratifying pace of my long vacation.

This post was triggered by an article (in Hebrew) in a rather yellowish Internet rag that claims its contents to be an exclusive scoop. The headline of this piece conveys the whole message quite effectively: Netanyahu surrendered again and agreed to end the blockade of Gaza.

I am not a superstitious person. I don't even blink at a black cat crossing my path, generally prefer, given a choice, to take room #13 in an hotel and you can freely whistle in my home. However, watching Bibi's (way too long) political career I came to an inescapable conclusion: this man is a walking - and talking - disaster, as far as bad luck is concerned. And he must go, because each time a new instance of his bad luck hits, it impacts not Bibi but the whole country. And each time the results are more severe and more disastrous for us.

While writing this I am not taking a political stance. I am not even viewing the long chain of calamitous acts that were undertaken under Bibi's leadership - military and political, in order to criticize the decisions made. I just want to draw your attention, ladies and gentlemen, to two inescapable conclusions:

The first was already mentioned: bad luck. The Western Wall Tunnel riots, the Hebron Protocol, the Wye River Memorandum, the Khaled Mashal botched assassination affair are only a few examples from his first stint as Prime Minister. And the second one seems to be no less fraught with mishaps - of larger magnitude. His largely dysfunctional government, effectively stoppered from the right and from the left, his headlong plunge into a conflict with White House, the murky Dubai affair, the Ramat Shlomo eruption of Joe Biden and the latest fiasco with the "peace" armada are but a few choice instances of the turbulent fate of Bibi's reign. While it may be true that most of the cases mentioned above could be explained by incompetence or bad faith of ministers, commanders and others, by enmity of the White House administration, by political and military machinations of our enemies, the buck stops at Bibi's table. Still this issue is less important than the second conclusion:

Panic attacks followed by a turn of direction and expensive concessions to our enemies. While Ariel Sharon was not a saint and was frequently wrong in his deeds and his words, his diagnosis of Bibi's tendency to break down under pressure was right on the money. Whether it's groveling in White House during Clinton's times, licking the late King Hussein shoes after the Mashal affair or sudden change of political tune after the Cairo speech by Obama, it's too many times that we have heard Bibi's prolonged and persuasive arguments in favor of this or another sudden change of direction or an undeserved and unjustified concession to our enemies.

If the article mentioned in the beginning of this post is half right, we are witnessing a surrender act of hitherto unseen (and, frankly, unbelievable) proportions. It would be presumptuous and condescending of me to explain what does control-free shipping to Gaza mean to our security. It will suffice to remind that during his last election campaign Bibi used, quite successfully, the image of Iran getting to our doorsteps in the footprints of their Hamas brethren (the image was used to thwart the mere idea of two state solution, which Bibi adopted in a few months).

This time, if Bibi folds under pressure as reported, Iran is going to get to our collective doorstep indeed, and the price will be enormous. Just try to remember it until the next election campaign.

Which you all surely wouldn't.

(*) Shlemazl - an unlucky person.

16 comments:

Dick Stanley said...

Well, the report may have been correct and, indeed, surrender may have been Bibi's intention and preference. But though it took five "pretty pleases" over the course of three or more hours (I stayed up for much of it, monitoring Twitter, IDF Spokesperson and the JP) the Navy did finally board and take to Ashdod the useful Irish idiots and their silly blockade-breaker. The IDF had me worried there for a while. All those pretty pleases. But finally they stuck by their guns. Who knows? Bibi may be growing a spine.

peterthehungarian said...

I'm lightyears far awy from being the standardbearer of Bibi but I have a feeling that this report is somehow not in the realm of truth.

jams o donnell said...

At least the Rachel Corrie was boarded peacefully this time. What happened last week was sheer bloody stupidity.I know full well that the aid convoys are a propaganda tool but the IDF gifted them a [ropaganda coup beyond the organisers' wildert dreams

SnoopyTheGoon said...

True, sad and disgusting.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Peter, I hope you are right with this feeling. Let's pray so, at least.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

That's hardly Bibi - just IDF trying to correct their mistake. Bibi's spine is hardly good for anything.

Dick Stanley said...

Boarding peacefully requires the boarded ship to submit peacefully, as the Irish one apparently did. Otherwise, it's easy to criticise the IDF, especially after the fact. Harder would be to suggest how else they could have prevented the Turkish ship from docking in Gaza. Naval gunfire to disable the rudder, maybe? Then tow the ship to Ashdod? While the Shihads on deck shoot at the sailors? There's a limit to the turn-the-other-cheek stuff, which I believe is not a Jewish concept anyhow.

Dick Stanley said...

I'm still missing the "IDF mistake." They successfully boarded five other ships for inspections. The Turkish one decided to fight. What was the IDF supposed to do that it didn't?

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Well, but let's not forget the small matter of insufficient intelligence that caused the boarding party to be under strength.

I think that disabling the rudder or the screws could have been a better alternative in the situation.

And of course you are right about not turning the other cheek.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Just replied above - insufficient intelligence that caused the boarding party to be undermanned and under-equipped.

Dick Stanley said...

I'll give you the intelligence. They should have known more about what to expect, instead of bringing paintball guns to a shootout. But this idea of creating a "propaganda coup" or "PR disaster" seems misplaced to me. War is war, however the enemy chooses to disguise him/herself.

The IDF maintained the blockade and killed the guilty. There's no point in pretending they could have done the former in some way that could make the enemy happy. And nowadays the enemy includes the media and many Western politicians. Sucking up to either of them is just self-defeating.

David All said...

Snoopy, when it comes to luck, I believe the veteran major league baseball manager Branch Rickey summed it best when he said that: "Luck is the residue of opportunity and design".  Link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branch_Rickey
In another words, if someone like Bibi seems to have constant bad luck, it is probably because they are bad at planning and carrying out their plans. Luck may sometimes turn out undeservedly good or bad, but usually this balances out in the long run. It is the ability of a person to plan and to execute those plans in face of a constantly changing reality that is the most important factor in determing a person's luck.

OT: Nizo has done it again with a real LOL three parter introducing two great new charecters, Deebeh & Abu Sarsour. Read about them at http://nizos.blogspot.com/2010/06/in-deebehs-lair-part-1.html  & http://nizos.blogspot.com/2010/06/in-deebehs-lair-part-2.html  & http://nizos.blogspot.com/2010/06/in-deebehs-lair-part-3.html

Snoopy, I believe you use to live in the now defunct Soviet Utopia before you left it for the Land of Milk and Honey, (apologize if I am wrong) so I think you will like these jokes about Communism at http://hurryupharry.org/2010/06/16/from-the-vaults-national-review-august-6-1990

I am sorry Snoopy that have not been around lately and have not comment for several weeks. Have been busy with some personal matters and with the March for Darfur we had last month. Read about it at our website, http://www.hopefordarfurmarch.org
Thanks.

zkharya said...

I totally agree, Netanyahu always acts tough, then caves in.

HE HAS BETRAYED ISRAEL AND ITS PEOPLE.

Someone should assassinate him.

zkharya said...

'<span>This time, if Bibi folds under pressure as reported, Iran is going to get to our collective doorstep indeed, and the price will be enormous. '</span>

Does Israel have the will to sink them? I don't think so.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

zkharya,

With all due respect,  next "brilliant idea" of this kind will cause your permanent ban from this here blog.

If you belong to that (hopefully small) group that considers that the best way to solve political issues is by assassinating our leaders, please remove yourself from here voluntary.

zkharya said...

I'm sorry Gidion, that was pretty crazy.