Queen Rania of Jordan
One of the goals of diplomacy is to use a combination of words and deeds to win the support of other countries. You know you are doing a bang up diplomatic job when even your adversaries side with you. Conversely, when you start getting push back from countries you considered allies or business partners over what you say and do then your diplomacy sucks.
I mentioned Israel's UN Ambassador, a Mr. Erdan, in my previous post. He is a passionate guy with an incredibly grating personality. You can tell he has never worked as a salesman in his life. His approach is best described as a bulldozer running on nitro fuel. And his biting, scathing presentations are alienating countries that Israel has counted on in the past -- Jordan, Turkey and China to be precise. The following three videos are the metaphorical kick to Israel's groin. If the people of Israel and the United States ignore what these three countries are saying they will be making a grievous error and will likely take actions that will worsen the crisis.
First up is the beautiful and smart Queen of Jordan. Do you think Jill Biden is capable of carrying on this kind of discussion. Queen Rania really hit a nerve in the U.K., where the writer in the Daily Mail suffered the journalistic equivalent of an epileptic seizure:
Queen Rania of Jordan has been eviscerated today for an extraordinarily outspoken interview in which she attacked the US and Israel for striking Gaza and questioned whether Israeli babies had really been killed by Hamas on October 7.
In the interview with veteran CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour last night, Queen Rania - whose parents are of Palestinian descent but who grew up in Kuwait - said there was a 'glaring double standard' around the world when it came to sympathy for the war's victims.
She made a brief concession that she 'of course' condemned Hamas' killing of Israeli civilians, but spoke mostly of the need for increased support of Palestinians and a halt to Israel's ground strikes.
Watch the video yourself and then explain what was so objectionable.
President Erdogan won't be getting any invites from Bibi Netanyahu for this year's Hanukkah Party after he insisted that Hamas is not a terrorist organization but a liberation movement. That turn of the phrase destroyed any chance of Turkey mediating the Israeli Hamas war. Most worrisome is that Erdogan's latest speech is a veiled threat to intervene militarily. If that occurs, say good-bye to NATO.
There is a crude but poetic _expression_ in English -- "Don't shit where you eat." This means don't take actions that will jeopardize or contaminate something that is essential to your survival. Looks like Israel dropped its trousers and did a fecal decoration of its dining table when Ambassador Erdan laced into China indirectly. Ambassador Erdan's diatribe on Tuesday at the UN Security Council was interpreted by the Chinese as an unfair attack on Beijing. Israel, up till now, has enjoyed a robust trade relationship with Beijing. Watch the following compilation and let me know -- how angry are the Chinese?
As the war with Hamas enters its third week, Israel needs more friends, not less. I am not sure what a military victory against Hamas looks like, but I do recognize a PR disaster. While Israel still enjoys robust support in the United States and parts of Europe, it is being pilloried in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.