Who's on First?

The Ynet headline reads "Olmert: Barak proves Cast Lead was worthless".

A strange yet not surprising debate took place in the Cabinet meeting on Sunday (March 8, 2009). It has been no secret here in Israel that PM Olmert and DM Barak are often in disagreement, especially now in the unfortunate aftermath of the premature ending of the operation in Gaza. Olmert and Barak, both of them trying to save face and/or save their political skins, are each blaming the other for the apparent failure of ending the operation before the objectives were achieved. [Of course, if there were no objectives.....]

Today we see that Hamas has not only re-armed but rearmed with advanced equipment, and is continuing to fire Kassams and Katushas into Israeli towns.

What was disturbing about the Cabinet argument is that everyone had a different understanding of what was going on during the War. Military Intelligence chief Major-General Amos Yadlin seemed to thing there was an agreement with Hamas, Olmert didn't think there was an agreement. Olmert, who was Prime Minister, indicated that the Defense Ministry was in charge of negotiations, but Barak was "in favor of something vague and inexplicit..." - in other words, out to lunch.

Uhm, who was in charge? Barak did say during the War that all decisions regarding the operation came from him and not Olmert, and about Olmert: "He was aware of it [war decisions] , but I don’t think he should deal with such things."

THAT is really scary. If true, we had a Prime Minister who didn't agree with what the Defense Minister was doing, and the Defense Minister saying that the Prime Minister shouldn't be dealing with the things related to the War. omg

And looking ahead, what was it about Barak's decision-making that Netanyahu seems to like, since he wanted to keep him on as Defense Minister, and would he, Netanyahu, be in charge had that happened?

If one ever doubted that our survival as a People is only due to the protection and goodness of the Almighty, one only has to look at the folly that we call leadership and know that we couldn't have survived due to any other reason!

With regard to this recent fiasco, one surely must ask the age old Abbott and Costello question..."Who's on first?"

Summary....

• Rocket attacks continue in Kiryat Malachi, Kiryat Gat, Ashkelon...mortar attacks on IDF troops at Eretz Crossing...

• All the European big wigs, puffed out chests, entering Israel today to celebrate their assumed** victory over Israel....closing down the major highway between Ben Gurion and Jerusalem... Olmert is beside himself with glee....his friends still love him.

• British academics call for Israel to lose the war against Hamas...ceasefire is not enough they say: In a letter in Friday's Guardian newspaper, more than 300 academics said they must do all they can to prevent Israel from winning the war. A cease-fire is not enough, they say, adding: "Israel must lose." "We must do what we can to stop Israel from winning its war," the letter said. "Israel must accept that its security depends on justice and peaceful coexistence with its neighbors, and not upon the criminal use of force. It is not enough to call for another cease-fire...." (JPost)...

• Venzueula, Bolivia, Qatar, Mauritania all suspend ties with Israel.

• 51 soldiers in hospital, 13 civilians, conditions from critical (1) to serious (10) to moderate and good. (Yediot Achronot)
  
  **Tehillim 2:1 Why are the nations in uproar? And why do the peoples mutter in vain? 2 The kings of the earth stand forth, and rulers take counsel together, against Hashem and against His anointed [Israel] 3[They say] Let us tear their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us! 4 He that sits [is enthroned] in heaven laughs; Hashem mocks them. 5 Then He will speak to them in His wrath, and terrify them in His rage.

Empty Heads

When people with empty heads talk to one another it shouldn't matter to the rest of us, unless of course, those empty heads are the leaders of our country.

As the Cabinet passed the unilateral ceasefire declaration tonight, Olmert declared that Israel has met it's goals in the war and we will stop fighting at 2 am.

Unilateral, I remind you, means only one side does the declaration, only one side acts upon it, only one side is bound by it. Hamas has already said it has no intention of stopping.

Our boys are deep in Gaza and we are going to just stop fighting???? Rockets are still raining down on Israel and we are going to stop fighting and just say "we won."?????? Gilad Shalit is still in captivity and we are going to stop fighting and say we are making progress towards his release????

For what then did Dvir Emanualoff die? Or Ro'i Rosner, or Yoni Netanel??? or the rest? For what our our men and boys right now lying in Soroka, and Tel haShomer, and Hadassah?

We have reached WHAT goals???? With a beaming face, Olmert has declared that now "our friends" will help us to try to stop the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. Oh, how nice. Friends like all those who demanded our heads when we finally responded? What about the Fajr 4 & 5 rocket launchers that are already in Gaza? Did we take them out? I think not.

In the middle of a War which is just barely underway, and the enemy is unbowed and determined to fight through to victory, and still shooting rockets and anti-tank missles at us, our leaders just turn to each other and say, "they tried to kill us, we won, let's eat???" Let's congratulate ourselves, let's throw a party with all our friends????

With a straight face Olmert said this: "This is not a ceasefire with Hamas. These are understanding with elements in the international community which Hamas, as an illegitimate entity, has no place to be involved in."

In other words, we have reached an agreement with the world (who despises us for defending ourselves), not with Hamas. The one who is attacking us and killing our civilians (Hamas) has no business to be involved in this ceasefire."

OMG he really said that.

In my university years, with a psych minor, I spent several months working in a mental hospital working with very severely ill individuals. These people would talk to themselves with seemingly intelligent words. They were often very knowlegeable about the world leaders, who they were and what they did. They spoke with seeming authority, both asking and answering their own questions as if they were leaders in that world they had heard about. They were totally detached from reality, and functioned in world of their own, but they were contained in a hospital and harmed no one else.

The heads of our government are exactly that... asking and answering their own questions as if they were really leaders of the world.....totally detached from reality and functioning in a world of their own. The only difference, and the great tragedy, is that these pretenders harm everyone and their babble is lethal.

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We aren't surprised of course. But, we had hoped, for the sake of Israel's survival, for the sake of righteousness, and for the sake of the boys and men on the ground in Aza, that in spite of the moral corruption of our government, in spite of their disdain for Israeli lives, and in spite of their detachment from reality that somehow, maybe because our boys on the ground are so dedicated and determined and strong, that maybe, just maybe, we could push on until victory.

For a moment it seemed so. Even Hamas said "What happened to Israel, you are fighting like you did in 1948!!"

For a moment we rallied, for a moment we lifted our head.

For a moment.

What now?