Almost immediately following the release of Gilad Shalit rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza resumed. Over the last couple of weeks, it has begun to feel like a major scuffle between Israel, Hamas, and the Islamic Jihad is on the horizon. Sunday night at the Jewish General Assembly in Denver, Colorado, I had the opportunity to briefly discuss with Haaretz editor-in-chief, Aluf Benn, his thoughts on a possible Israeli invasion of Gaza. Like all Israeli reporters, he feels that anything can happen at anytime. I also asked him to what extent regional influences currently play a part in Israel’s decision-making process in engaging Hamas and its break-off cronies in a full on conflict. To my surprise, he said they did not play a role. To paraphrase, he stated that Israel does what it wants, and its behavior and relationship with Hamas is void of foreign influence.
I agree that in the end Israel will do what it feels is in its best interest, however, believing that Israel disregards regional relations in its major policy decisions is just naïve. It would be outright poor policy planning on the behalf of the Israeli government if it did not allow its Gaza policies to be even remotely influenced by what is going on in the area. Are relations between Israel, Turkey, and Egypt strained? Absolutely. Are they dead? Not by a long shot. As long as the alliances have a pulse, Israel will be sensitive to their counterpart’s feelings, within reason. This is blatantly obvious seeing that Israel has not breached Egyptian sovereignty to combat the anarchic Bedouin of the Sinai, who are creating direct and serious security issues for Israel. Further, Israel has been very calm in the wake of Turkish threats to use warships to escort flotillas to Gaza. Mr. Benn, regional influences matter, and they are definitely showing their impact.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
