Top of the NYT homepage: "Israel could face a second full-blown war, this one against Hezbollah, a much stronger foe in Lebanon."
Top of the NYT homepage: "Israel could face a second full-blown war, this one against Hezbollah, a much stronger foe in Lebanon."
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When I was in college, my group of friends were mostly libs and libertarians (I know) and the mother of one of these people once went on a rant in front of us about how Hamas and Hezbollah were going to team up and destroy Israel and kill all the Jews. After we left the house, I remember all of us just laughing at her and saying "what a fucking stupid take that was" despite not necessarily having the same opinions about Israel or having good opinions on anything else. But, we all knew this was stupid.
Having not read the article or knowing much about Lebanon, I'm going to assume this is still an extremely stupid and desperate thing to posit?
Israel just announced they've finalized invasion plans for Lebanon, so, more like Israel typically starting some shit and then being treated like unwitting victims in the blowback for their own actions yet again
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Israel is desperate to record a win.
They have not been able to demonstrate victory in Gaza despite taking over practically the entire territory. They have not been able to demonstrate a win against Hezbollah despite lobbing missiles back and forth for months. They have not been able to record a win against Iran despite blowing up an oil pipeline and (mabie) assassinating a president.
Even assuming the political leadership in Israel wanted to end this conflict (they don't) they can't really de-escalate until they've "won" something.
If Netanyahu were truly a statesman and a Patriot, he could in this conflict and shoulder the burden of defeat. Give Israel away to deescalate the situation and save face. Unfortunately for everyone involved Netanyahu may be a nationalist but he's not a patriot.
I think Netanyahu would be assassinated if he tried to end the conflict. Replace Netanyahu with any other viable "Israeli" politician and the actions would be the same.
If Israel keeps on its bullshit, it's not out of the question. They seem intent on driving their country off a cliff.
A nation acting rationally would be able to take stock of the current situation and negotiate a ceasefire, ending its problems immediately, but Israel is so deep in its own fundamenalist ideology that there's no room for that sort of rational assesment. They're going to have to hit rock bottom before they start considering peace. I'm not sure how far down rock bottom is for them.
Genocide of Israeli people seems unlikely in any event, but that's what it took for Haiti to shake France. Hopefully it doesnt come to that.