According to Omer Bartov, a strong supporter of Israel and an astute observer of events since October 7, “In brief, Israel seems to have no political plan and a very hazardous military one. It can only blame itself—not least Netanyahu, but also the military leadership—for having arrived at this point.”
In terms of costs and munitions, Washington, not Israel, is the main combatant against Gaza. On December 1 The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington has sent Israel 15,000 bombs and 57,000 artillery shells.
Bookings for international air travel fell 20 percent below 2019 levels in the three weeks following Hamas’s attack on Israel, according to travel data service ForwardKeys.
The Israel-Hamas war has had catastrophic impacts on Israel’s $488-billion economy, with 350,000 military reservists—about 8 percent of the country’s workforce and a large share of the retail customer base—called into service.
Germany is grappling with pro-Palestinian protests and critics say it is banning free speech in the country in its effort to atone for its Holocaust atrocities against Jews during WWII.
New York’s Columbia University announced last week that it suspended Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine for allegedly expressing threatening rhetoric and “intimidation,” New York Jewish Week reported.
The New York Times announced last week that a reporter resigned after violating the paper’s policy when she signed an open letter condemning Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Last Tuesday there took place a disgraceful display of visceral malignancy in the United States House of Representatives Chamber in the south wing of the Capitol building.
The genocide in Gaza has sparked massive protests around the world by those who oppose Israel’s military action and blockade in one of the world’s poorest and most densely populated cities.
A leaked State Department memo from mid-level diplomats called on the Biden administration to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and that the U.S. should be able to publicly criticize the country’s bombing campaign in Gaza that has killed over 10,000—mainly women and children.