Posted on 04/01/2024 11:28:58 AM PDT by Miami Rebel
When Donald Trump chose to be interviewed by Israel Hayom, he did not intend to send Israelis a warning message – but anyone who reads the content of what the most sympathetic president ever to sit in the White House said cannot miss the bright red light. Trump remains loyal to Israel, supports it and justifies the war it has waged, but warns: "You have lost the support you had. Once upon a time, 15 years ago, Israel had the strongest lobby. If you were a politician, you couldn't say anything bad about Israel. That was the end of your political career. Today it's almost the opposite." This is one of the sentences he said to Israel Hayom editor Omer Lachmanovich and the undersigned, which, frankly, shocked us.
Because if there's anything the former president, and perhaps the future, understands, it's public relations and image. And the man who reached the highest position in the world after years of media career, also explained in an interview exactly where the problem lies. "Bombs dropped into buildings in Gaza, it's a terrible portrait. It's a bad picture for the world... You didn't have to show the pictures. Every night I see buildings falling on people. And it is said that this (publication) was given by the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Why do they provide it? It's a bad image. Do what needs to be done, but you don't do that... People don't need to see it. Israel wanted to show that it was tough, but sometimes you don't have to do that," Trump said.
This enormous damage to his image apparently led to the fact that during the interview, Trump refused to say clear things against Hamas and in favor of Israel. Despite our obvious questions, he refrained from saying that Israel should destroy Hamas, and settled for general phrases such as "finish the job." More importantly, Trump actually overtook Biden on the left, expressing a desire to "end the war and return to the great country you were."
There is no way to embellish, diminish or whitewash this problematic message.
True, Trump is first and foremost an American politician running for president. As such, he wants to maintain the advantage he has gained in the state of Michigan, where there are strong anti-Israel elements. This is probably why he distanced himself from the Jewish state. It should also be emphasized that rhetoric is not necessarily policy. This rule also applies to Biden, who in the real world still backs Israel. But if there is anyone in Israel who knows that in the United States words are translated into actions, it is Benjamin Netanyahu, the king of information in the American media, or perhaps more accurately, the former king of information.
Netanyahu has argued many times, including in his autobiography, that his unique ability to communicate with American audiences is a powerful political tool that no other Israeli politician possesses. Six months into the war, there is no choice but to state that these abilities of the prime minister are not doing the job. The two US presidential candidates, Biden and Trump, are turning their backs rhetorically on Israel. That is, Netanyahu's media appearances did not deliver. While most of the American public (including Biden and Trump) supports Israel in principle, when it comes to translating this support into concrete steps (first and foremost the operation in Rafah), both men are unwilling to stand by Israel. In other words, Netanyahu and his subordinate PR apparatus lost the tactical battle for American public opinion.
Trump has made explicit statements on this matter. To this failure must be added the murky personal relations Netanyahu has with both men.
Trump remains loyal to Israel, supports it and justifies the war it has waged, but warns: "You have lost the support you had. Once upon a time, 15 years ago, Israel had the strongest lobby. If you were a politician, you couldn't say anything bad about Israel. That was the end of your political career. Today it's almost the opposite."
Yeah, that's the same as what Biden says and does. Ridiculous BS op-ed.
I simply do not have evidence to prove or disprove.
It took a while for the truth to come out that Obunghole was behind creating Isis, so... we'll see.
Israel Hayom started as a Rightist Israeli paper. It has since become a typical Leftist mouthpiece after the death of owner Sheldon Adelson, not different from Times of Israel or Jerusalem Post.
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You’re just being plain silly. Here are its current opinion pieces:
https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions
Take your time and show me the leftist piece.
Netanyahu betrayed President Trump more than once.
Trump is right and I don’t read it as hi turning his back on Israel.
Israel did lose the support they had from this country and that blame is all laid at the feet of the current administration.
As far as not calling on Israel to finish off hamas, he’s wise to not say anything for several reasons.
Trump is not turning his back on Israel here. He is giving the Israelis accurate information, and perhaps storm warnings, about how they are doing politically here. Trump is saying, you need to know you are getting on thin ice here, be advised. I don’t doubt he’d like to see Israel “finish the job.”
Israel the only stable country in the middle east we better not lose them Trump did good by helping them.
Biden is doing all he can to feed them to the terrorists.
Nothing in Biden’s path he can’t F/U.
Thanks. Absolutely true!
Ah yes, moral high ground warfare for the benefit of teevee where we don’t fight to win, we just fight not to lose…..worked well for us in Vietnam, Libya, Lebanon, Somalia, Yemen, and led to burying my friends from our exploits in Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps we should let others do what they think should be done in their country and given our track record, we can stay the hell out of it.
There are two major parts to any war - the ground fight and the soul of the fight. To win, you need both and as long as the IDF makes no distinction between civilians and their real enemies, they will continue to lose ground.
The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible.
So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none; or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns.
Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.
George knew the Euros are constantly bickering and battling, it ‘s what they do.
What are you talking about? The civilian losses in Gaza has been the lowest ever in an urban warfare setting. Here is a piece quoting Col John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies:
Gaza is a very tightly compressed area with very few places to go to escape. I lived there for about two weeks and even then, it was denser with bodies than anyplace I 've ever been to.
The other point is that the Israelis, while I understand their anger and thirst for revenge from the October 7th atrocities, have always considered brutal, indiscriminate force appropriate to the Gazans, all Gazans when their blood is up.
Some West Point swell can say "how wonderfully low" the casualties are among the ordinary people but the videos of those massive explosions - and the lack of food, shelter, and medicines for the civilians are indicators of excessive callousness.
I've done this stuff for a living my whole career, so it may be worthwhile to listen to a nice, humble battalion commander who never went to West Point.
I was there when investigation was launched after a Marine engaged an enemy combatant believed to be playing possum, and said “He’s dead now.” Several Marines had been killed the day before from that same tactic. The discussion of the Marines prior to engagement was edited out by NBC and played to look like murder. I was there when word spread that Marine was recalled from the front during the second largest MOUT in USMC history and investigated for ROE violations/murder. I saw first hand in my own unit what that did to morale (we found out during a res and refit).
I was there when we were taking BOLO pictures of terrorists, whom killed Marines, off the wall and handed them ID cards.
So yes - we did fight for tv and we did have garbage ROEs. Sorry if that conflicts with what they told at Command & Staff or TBS.
On the other hand, I think you have made some flawed assumptions about who I am.
1. I was enlisted for four years, almost 2 of those years were served in combat in Vietnam as an artilleryman and then as a Scout Observer with the grunts.
2. I was hit too and spent 7 months in several hospitals - and then one year more wearing a full-length steel brace.
3. We had restrictive ROE too, but we managed to work around it get the job done. Won't say more than that.
4. I went on to be commissioned and eventually commanded an artillery battalion for 18 months.
Iraq was a shithole and the Marines who fought in al Anbar and elsewhere (and Afghanistan) are the best of the best. I got to meet a lot of you when I visited Walter Reed and Betheseda while I worked as a retired Marine, designing new technologies for use in combat over in Iraq. Every one I met were Marines we could all be proud of and their stories and their suffering resonated with me and the other more senior Marines who served in the same war I did.
The senior Marines we have now are different - some very different - from leaders we have had in the past. They do not understand combat as what it is - organized murder - and live in some other world where we take all the risks and responsibilities and yet we have to perform our missions withing their unrealistic ROEs. They do not trust the individual Marines to do their jobs and that "they know better".
The incident which best illustrates this new gulf is when Gen Amos, our beloved airwing CMC, went ballistic over those four Marine snipers who pissed on the dead Taliban. He wanted them all court-martialed and destroyed, and when he didn't get the results he wanted, relieved the LtGen investigating and replaced him. What better illustrates this disconnect? Instead of just chewing those Marines out for the public and putting all four on mess duty for a month, he tries to send his own Marines to prison for something that likely happens four times a day in battle?
Our "leaders" do not understand what Marines are supposed to be - just how to keep their records fault-free for the big money jobs after they get out.
[The other point is that the Israelis, while I understand their anger and thirst for revenge from the October 7th atrocities, have always considered brutal, indiscriminate force appropriate to the Gazans, all Gazans when their blood is up.]
At this body count in the Pacific, the US was burning Japanese cities to the ground, with Operation Meetinghouse razing a section of Tokyo and killing 100K residents in a single 24-hour period. For Israelis, the trauma is real and cumulative over decades.
The IDF is not self-sufficient so they have to appease the Americans for the time being. After the war, they need to develop their industry so they won't depend on the U.S. for their defense needs.
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