Zionists Grasp At Delusional Fantasies While Israeli Generals Seek Exit Ramp
If you are considering holding a rational discussion with an ardent Zionist about Israel’s increasingly dire predicament, don’t waste your breath. These cats are beyond the reach of reason. Let me give you a prime example from today’s Jerusalem Post — Isolated Iran: Israel’s success in driving Islamic Republic’s allies away – opinion, by Alex Selsky.
Author Alex Selsky is an adviser to the Middle East Forum, former advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Lecturer in the Department of Politics and Communication at Hadassah Academic College, and a Major (Res.) in the Israel Defense Forces.
Selsky writes:
One of the key successes of Israel’s recent strike has been to distance Iran from its close allies, Russia and China. First, by making it clear to both countries that they neither should nor realistically could protect Iran in the event of a war. And just as importantly, by sending Iran the message that it will stand alone.
While it was expected that Russia and China, maintaining robust strategic and economic ties with Iran, would be unlikely to take substantial steps to defend Iran, recent events have made this reality evident to all. Israel should seize this opportunity to maximize Iran’s isolation, which will weaken it significantly—economically, militarily, and politically.
Economic constraints, historical precedents, strategic calculations, and the potential for regional and domestic instability suggest that Russian and Chinese support would likely remain limited to diplomatic condemnation and indirect assistance. The internal dynamics within Iran, alongside broader regional factors, could potentially prompt domestic and regional efforts to overthrow the regime if a credible threat is perceived.
Selsky reveals a staggering ignorance about current events. Maybe that is because he’s been hiding in a bomb shelter to avoid getting hit by the daily barrage of Hezbollah rockets. Whatever the reason for his delusional article, making repeated false claims does not alter reality. So let us deal with some facts.
First, Iran is a member of BRICS and was warmly embraced last week by the leaders of 36 countries that represent an economic block that is bigger than the Group of Seven (i.e., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union is a “non-enumerated member”). Many of those countries — Russia, China and India in particular — condemned Israel’s attack on Iran. Iran’s participation in BRICS means that it now has a means to circumvent Western sanctions and grow its economy.
Second, Russia and Iran have concluded a mutual security agreement, which is supposed to be signed in the next week. Instead of “isolating” Iran, this means Iran has a nuclear power backing it up. Apart from that, Russia supplied Iran with a large quantity of air-defense and electronic-warfare equipment that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) employed with great success to blunt the Israeli attack.
Third, Russia and China remain committed to conducting military exercises with Iran and Iran is reaching out to its neighbors. On October 19, Iran conducted a naval exercise with Russia and Oman. And Iran announced plans to do another with Saudi Arabia:
In a historic first, Iran recently confirmed that Saudi Arabia will participate in joint military exercises in the Red Sea.
The announcement was somewhat unexpected considering the former regional rivals only mended their diplomatic relationship last year.
Admiral Shahram Irani, the commander of the Iranian navy said: “Saudi Arabia has asked that we organize joint exercises in the Red Sea”, according to the ISNA news agency.
Iran is anything but isolated. Just the opposite. The Arab and Muslim nations were elated by Iran’s success in fending off the long-promised Israeli attack. This is the first time in 75 years that a Muslim country has beaten back an Israeli attack.
It appears that the cost of the war is weighing heavily on Israel’s generals. Consider these two headlines today that appeared in Haaretz:
Lebanon Cease-fire Proposal: IDF to Withdraw Within One Week, Retain Freedom to Attack Hezbollah
The outline U.S.-formulated proposal, which has been relayed to Israel, gives the IDF will be able to respond to threats along the border and deep inside Lebanon – if the Lebanese government fails to do so
Israel’s Defense Chiefs Say Fighting in Gaza and Lebanon Has Run Its Course. Does Netanyahu Agree?
The defense establishment agrees that, given Israel’s achievement and to avoid getting embroiled, Israel should seek to end the fighting on both fronts and secure the release of the hostages. The state of the Jabalya operation highlights the gaps between Israel’s resolute rhetoric and facts on the ground
If Israel was cruising to an easy victory as the ardent Zionists claim, why even entertain these options? The Israeli generals sound like the US generals trying to come up with an exit plan for Vietnam or Afghanistan — declare victory and pull back. Here is Israel’s predicament — it is suffering significant combat casualties and failing to secure military objectives while its economy teeters on the edge of recession and it is becoming an international pariah. That is not a recipe for victory. Israel is confronted with fighting a war of attrition that it is incapable of sustaining.
Neither Hezbollah nor Hamas are showing any signs of easing off or surrendering. To the contrary, the continued Israeli attacks on civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon is rallying new supporters to Hamas and Hezbollah.
Israel’s Ambassador to Belgium appeared before the Parliament and tried to make the case for Israel’s attacks in Gaza and Lebanon. It did not go over well with one member of the Belgian Parliament.
I believe that Israel will curtail its war strategy only after suffering many more casualties and a collapsing economy. In the meantime, Palestinian and Lebanese civilians will continue to be murdered in the name of fighting terrorism.