05-20-2021, 10:25 AM
(05-19-2021, 10:47 PM)ohn J. Xenakis Wrote: ** 19-May-2021 World View: Hamas claims ceasefire with Israel by Friday
There are reports that Hamas is saying that there will be a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel by Friday. This would be the result of intense mediation efforts by Egypt.
Apparently there are two versions of the intended ceasefire. In one version, the ceasefire applies only to the rocket/missile exchanges between Gaza and Israel, but does not apply to the clashes in the West Bank between Jews and Arabs. In the other version, the ceasefire applies to all fighting, but Hamas requires that Israel must end all incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and must not evict Palestinians from their homes.
On Wednesday, Joe Biden spoke to Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and demanded that be on the "path to a ceasefire today." Nonetheless, it's far from clear that Netanyahu will go along with either version of the ceasefire or, if the ceasefire occurs, that it will last more than a few days.
I note particularly note that the Israeli court hearing to evict the threatened evictions of Palestinians from their homes, based on a pre-1948 document, is to occur in June.
Netanyahu is making a huge gamble that pro-Israeli sentiment in the US is so strong that he can do pretty much anything he wishes. In this Hamas is his greatest ally, since both require the same at-the-throat standoff that the two have practiced for decades. This time, Netanyahu may be taking a risk to save his skin in the short term that will bite hard in the longer term. Pro-Israeli sentiment is waning most among young American Jews. That's a prescription of nothing good for Israel.
Intelligence is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom, but they all play well together.
