THOUGHTS ON THE MIDDLE EAST

Hello Friends and Neighbors

Today the Rossmoor Current Events Group met as usual for our weekly discussion. One major topic was the expanding war in the Middle East. Several participants made some interesting observations and I'd like to share them with you.

1. Netanyahu - Although this man is not the best example of a leader and though his ongoing indecisiveness allowed the tragedy of Oct 7 to occur, his popularity in the wake of his war on Hezbollah is once more rising. He is not the best person to lead Israel. Still, due to his ongoing support of Israeli settlers in Judea and Samaria [West Bank] and other extreme Jewish Messianists, it might be a while till he is replaced as Prime Minister.

2. Victory - The IDF has won all of its battles against its enemies but can we call that victory? They appear to kill off or weaken Hamas leadership and infrastructure but Hamas does not appear to consider itself defeated and is still engaging in military action against Israel. In Lebanon, we have yet to see how badly Hezbollah has been damaged. And in Iran, we await an apocalypse which may or may not happen.

3. Shapiro - Kamela's decision not to name Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania as running mate may have been the best for the Democrat Party's chances to win the coming election. Shapiro is a bright, successful lawyer, author, radio host, and public speaker who as her vice-president would outshine her. Check him out on Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Shapiro].
As vice president, he would come across as a big city Jew whom many in America's fly-over zone would find objectionable. Walz, on the other hand, comes across as Mr Country Road Take Me Home, a nice regular guy. I pointed out that in the 2000 election, Gore got the popular vote with Lieberman, a Jew, as his running mate but it was pointed out to me that 2000 was another age. In today's hatefull climate, with him as running mate, voters might not be as friendly.

4. Palestinians - the people whom the world is calling Palestinians have no hope in the Land of Israel. That is obvious given their unhappy history since 1948. They are a people unliked by other Arabs who consider them the Middle East's juvenile delinquents. As Israel continues to make peace with its Arab neighbors, the "Palestine issue" recedes further and further into invisibility. One participant [not I] suggested that the best thing those people can do is to leave the Land of Israel and live somewhere else, like maybe Montana, and forget the "Palestinian fantasy".

5. Iran - I was asked by one participant what I think Israel will do about an attack on Iran and if it would be before or after YOM KIPPUR. I don't know, I said. But last week, the Israeli ambassador to the UN told a CNN anchor person that Israel's retaliation against Iran would be painful to them. By and large, the Iranian people are not anti-Israel or anti-American but they will suffer for the arrogance of their leaders.