January 17, 2024Gronda Morin

Netanyahu has long history of deflecting blame/ This time Egyptians are furious with Israel

משאיות של סיוע הומניטארי לרצועת עזה - מלחמה חרבות ברזל
Humanitarian aid convoy entering Gaza from Egypt (Photo: Alexi J. Rosenfeld /Getty Images)

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a long Trumpian history of sidestepping the acceptance of blame for anything that goes wrong.

One instance was around October 2023, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to delete social media commentary where he tried unsuccessfully to blame the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on internal intelligence failures, after he faced enormous backlash from the Israeli intelligence community.

See: After Fury, Netanyahu Deletes, Apologizes for Post Blaming Security Chiefs for HAMAS Attacks/ Haaretz

Another example is how he has always blamed the Hamas Palestinians for the failure of any peace process/ negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Gaza when it can be argued that both are equally culpable. For peace to have a chance between Israelis and Palestinians, both the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu with his extreme right ministers and Hamas terrorist ISIS type leaders in Gaza have to step down from power. With these players in place, there’s no hope. Israel has a right to be free from the constant threats of harm from Hamas while the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank have a right to a life of dignity, where their rights are respected.

As per Chris McGreal of the November 6, 2023 Guardian report, The two-state solution has been a diplomatic failure. It’s also the still the best answer we’ve got:” “One of Israel’s standard tactics is to blame the Palestinians for the failure of previous peace negotiations. That’s a convenient narrative about a complex process that, among other things, ignores the part many people believe Netanyahu and the Israeli right played in the 1995 assassination of the prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, who signed the Oslo accords – the first big crisis of the peace process. Rabin’s widow, Leah, and others accused Netanyahu, while leader of the opposition, of inciting the Jewish nationalist assassin after he led demonstrations at which the crowd chanted “death to Rabin”, and for marching at the head of a mock funeral procession for the prime minister.”

“But however, the blame is parceled out, no one forced Israel to more than quadruple the number of Jewish settlers in the occupied territories since the Oslo agreement was signed. In 1993, there were about 110,000 settlers in the West Bank outside of occupied East Jerusalem. Now there are nearly 500,000, and the government wants to double that number.”

In summary, Israel’s longest serving prime minister, has exploited for almost 2 decades, the US and European countries’ unwillingness to stand up to him as he and his right-wing government partners worked to kill off the prospect of a viable Palestinian state by expanding settlements in the West Bank and tightening the grip of occupation in Gaza.”

The October 28, 2023 New Yorker lengthy analysis by David Remnick explains perspectives/ culpability by both Israelis and Gazans, “Grief and Rage in Israel and Gaza:”

He writes about “Israeli officials who thought that by “shrinking the conflict” they could maintain the status quo indefinitely. About the complacency engendered by high fences and a security system overly reliant on “startup nation” technologies and the Special Forces. About the failure of Netanyahu and his intelligence and military bureaucracies to heed warnings of imminent danger, in Gaza and beyond. About the moral deficits of a government obsessed with protecting its Prime Minister from criminal prosecution and indifferent to the corrosive effects of the blockade of Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank. All these factors helped open the way to the October 7th massacre and to a war being led by an untrustworthy leader.”

The most recent example of the Israeli prime minister deflecting blame has to with Egypt being accused of blocking of humanitarian aid from reaching Gazans. Israel made this claim before the International Court of Justice in the Hague on January 12, 2024, in responding to South Africa’s formal accusation that Israel is guilty of committing genocide against Gazans for the past 3 months.

Even though Arab states have been encouraging Egypt to join in the lawsuit claiming genocide against Israel, I doubt that Egypt will take this step. Egyptian officials have diligently been working towards developing a diplomatic solution to the present-day Israeli-Hamas conflict.

But Egypt could share with the Hague, all the timely, detailed, accurate intelligence it provided to Israel in an attempt to aid Israel in preventing the October 7th horror that’s been imposed on Israelis by Hamas. Also, the widespread devastation that Gazans have been enduring from Israel’s response to Hamas’s attack in Israel, could have been avoided.

See: Egypt warned Israel days before Hamas struck, US committee chairman says/ BBC

Egypt intelligence official says Israel ignored repeated warnings of ‘something big/ Times of Israel”

How Hamas broke through Israel’s border defenses during Oct. 7 attack/ Washington Post

Netanyahu Knew. Netanyahu Ignored. Netanyahu Is Responsible/ Haaretz…

As per the January 14, 2024 Ynetnews report by Lior Ben Ari, “Egypt furious over Israeli claims its blocking aid from reaching Gaza:

Excerpts:

“Egyptian officials were outraged over recent Israeli statements at the International Court in The Hague, which they claim assign Egypt responsibility for the insufficient entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.”

“Since Israel presented its case at the (Hague) tribunal, Egyptian and Arab media have repeatedly quoted the Israeli defense team’s lawyer, Christopher Staker, who stated on Friday that “access to the Gaza Strip from Egypt is under Egyptian control, and Israel is not legally obligated to allow access to Gaza from its territory.”

“Qatari newspaper The New Arab reported on Sunday, citing Egyptian officials, that Egypt will establish a crisis management team, comprising diplomatic, legal and security personnel, to discuss Cairo’s future steps following Israeli claims at The Hague.
The officials said Egypt has submitted a memorandum to the International Court in response to Israeli statements and is exploring alternative measures and steps related to the Rafah crossing.”
“One official said that Egypt should have imposed its conditions on Israel for aid entry and that there is now a historic opportunity to pressure Israel and its supporting nations, who are concerned about Egypt’s role.”
***
“According to London-based Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, several Egyptian politicians have rejected “the Israeli accusations” toward Egypt.”
***
“Egyptian Senator Hazem El-Gendy said, “Israel is trying to deflect the accusations from itself and shift them to Egypt, in an attempt to obscure its crimes against the Palestinians.” He added that “the whole world is witness to Egypt’s efforts to achieve a cease-fire.”
רפיח
(Photo: Reuters / Saleh Salem)
“Other officials claimed, “Israel is trying to drag Egypt into the ‘genocide’ it committed in Gaza,” emphasizing that Egypt has not closed the Rafah crossing for a single day.”
***
“Asharq Al-Awsat spoke with Raha Ahmad Hassan, a former aide to the Egyptian foreign minister, who said, “Egypt can provide international endorsements from all the senior officials who visited the Rafah crossing, to confirm that it was never closed to humanitarian aid. These, along with a legal memorandum with photos and evidence, will be submitted to the International Court.”
***
“He added, “Tel Aviv is the one blocking aid entry to Gaza, while it wants to open the crossing for Palestinians to leave Gaza for Sinai, a move Egypt rejects to prevent the Palestinians from being uprooted from their land and their issue being eradicated.”
***
“The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has issued several statements since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, stating that the Rafah crossing was never permanently closed and that any closures were brief, due to Israeli attacks.”
***
“Last December, the Egyptian Foreign Minister said, “The Rafah crossing is permanently open and was not closed. It allows exits from Gaza to Egypt for education, travel and medical treatment. It was closed for 4 days when it was unfit for use due to damages from an Israeli attack.”
***
“Following the hearing at the International Court, Diaa Rashwan, head of the Egyptian Information Service, announced that “Egypt denies the Israeli defense claims at the International Court that Egypt is responsible for preventing the entry of aid into Gaza.”
***
“In an official statement, he added that Egypt will respond to the International Court to clarify that it did not close the Rafah crossing and that “it rejects any attempt to undermine its role as a supporter of the Palestinian cause.”
***

“He added, “Israeli officials have repeatedly emphasized in statements that they will not allow aid, especially fuel, into Gaza. Israel is accusing Egypt in an attempt to evade condemnation by the Court.”

***

“Amid the furor over Israeli statements at the International Court, there are pressures on Egypt from various entities to join a petition against Israel.”

5 comments

  1. Netan’yahoo is a Trump-like idiot if he thinks anyone but right-wing Israelis and American diplomats will believe his lies. The world can see his agression for what it is, no matter what the World Court rules. He is Hitler personified!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi!

      I’m thinking that in the near future the US President Joe Biden will be taking a harder stance specifically with Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and his right-wing wing governing cohorts because he has no choice. These right-wing extremists are pushing agendas diametrically opposite to what the US, allies in Europe and the middle east want.

      Since PM Netanyahu is very Trump-like, the confrontation between the two won’t be pretty but it has to happen, the sooner, the better. I’m thinking that PM Netanyahu wants to take on the US, but it’ll be at his peril.

      Hugs, Gronda

      Like

      • How much does Neta’yahoo want US funding? What will Israel be without it. He is gambling that if America withdraws its support Israel can make it on its own. I’m not an expert, but I doubt it can. If he loses American support he will not be able to finance his war on Palestinians, or against the Arab States. Israel will likely be attacked. I would not bet on who would come out on yop in that war.

        Liked by 1 person

        • Hi!

          You are right in that U.S. has the power of the purse and more and more Americans are calling for US to at least, place some controls over whatever monies, arms end up being delivered to Israel.

          Just this week, the U.S. Senator Bernie Saunders who is Jewish, forced fellow senators to vote on legislation designed to do just that. The measure lost by a vote of 72 against the restrictions and 11 in favor.

          He told the AP news outlet the following: “To my mind, Israel has the absolute right to defend itself from Hamas’s barbaric terrorist attack on October 7, no question about that.”

          He continued, “But what Israel does not have a right to do – using military assistance from the United States – does not have the right to go to war against the entire Palestinian people, And in my view, that’s what has been happening.”

          My speculation, best guess is that the democrat US president’s administration has been working with others that share similar views regarding Israel and Palestine’s future, by going around the Israeli PM Netanyahu with his extreme-right governing coalition partners.

          The problem being is that the PM Netanyahu being Trump-like will figure out ways to block US plans. Fortunately, other Israeli dissenting voices and Arab leaders from neighboring countries who are also politically savvy will be assisting the US.

          Hugs, Gronda

          Like

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