Weekend Hospitality

On January 11, 2009, there was a gathering at Trafalgar square in London.  The Chief Rabbi of England, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks gave a very moving speech.  The text can be found here .  Compare this to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's (I'm a nut job) speech on Dec 30, 2008.  Rabbi Sacks says that everyone wants to live in Peace.  Mahmoud talks about criminals and oppressed people.  The dichotomy is striking and depressing.  It feels like the two people are talking about different worlds, and perhaps they really are. It worries my that the US and EU governments assume that everyone is like Rabbi Sacks.  They explain away Mahmoud's talks as theatrical gestures.  When will they begin to believe that he really means what he says. I am sorry that the people of Gaza are unable to live in peace.  I am not sure that is what they want.  After all, the party line of HAMAS is to destroy Israel.   That is not my definition of peace. I wish all our soldiers a safe Shabbat.  May the war be over soon a...

I wrote last week that sometimes the dog needs to bite in order to keep your house secure.  This weekend, the Israeli Air Force took a big bite out of HAMAS.  As of day 5 of the way, the Air Force is running out of high profile targets.   Israel has lowered the frequency of attacks and has let at least one hundred trucks carrying supplies into Gaza.  HAMAS has responded by firing at least 35 long range rockets into Israel this morning. My conclusion is that HAMAS wants Israel to begin a land war (in Asia).  Having shown that they cannot do anything against the Israeli Air Force, they are desperate to prove their legitimacy as a military power.  Firing rockets into Israel accomplishes nothing except to piss people off (and to cause damage and death, but HAMAS does not care about that).   HAMAS would have all the supplies it wanted (non-military) if they had stopped lobbing rockets at Israel. HAMAS therefore wants Israel to start a land attack.  They believe that they can reproduce the s...

I try to be a rationalist.  I believe that most people (particularly politicians), make rational decisions based on their best understanding of the current situation and the implications of their proposed actions.  In world politics, the biggest problem for the common observer (myself included) is that we lack pertinent information.  It seems obvious to me that the IDF has significant knowledge concerning the assets and liabilities in Gaza.  Hamas on the other side, believes that it too has knowledge of the Israeli's options and capabilities. The Israeli position seems simple and obvious to me:  Stop trying to destroy our country through military efforts and we will let you live in peace. The corollaries are:  a) Stop firing rockets and we will allow food and supplies through our borders. b) Stop attempting to plant explosives, dig cross border tunnels, or otherwise prepare to attack us and we will not fire back. These are rational positions.  They make no claims about right or wro...