(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Biden vs Netanyahu: Two Irreconcilable Visions [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-02-25 President Biden has a vision and plan for peace in the Middle East that could provide a sustainable basis for security and economic prosperity for Israelis, Palestinians, and all the Arab states in the region. Israel and the Palestinian people would finally be able to bring a 70-year cycle of violence to an end. But it will never happen if Netanyahu has his way. Netanyahu’s gang of religious fanatics hopes it can drag the US into a regional war that will allow the unpopular Netanyahu to remain in power, destroy any chance for Biden’s peace plans, and finally realize their dream of ethnically cleansing Palestinian Arabs from the River to the Sea and establishing a Jewish Supremacist Greater Israel. It sounds like a delusional hair-brained scheme, but no one should underestimate Bibi. He has been the longest-serving Israeli PM for a reason. He not only, as he likes to brag, knows how to manipulate the Americans, but he is a master at manipulating the fears, biases, and insecurities of the Israeli public. So far, Biden and the pathetically ineffectual Benny Gantz in the Israeli ‘unity’ government have given Netanyahu little reason to believe that there is anyone inside or outside of Israel who can stop him from succeeding. If Netanyahu can spread the war to the West Bank and Lebanon and drag Iran and the US into the conflict, it would put the Israeli public into the kind of panic that would allow Bibi to commit any crime or outrage. The genocidal maniacs in Netanyahu’s coalition would be able to act on the plans they outlined in their recent “Victory for Israel” conference. The conference looked like a rave for genocide. The mood was jubilant as they shared their vision for the elimination of all Arabs from the Jordan to the Sea. Both Netanyahu and the settlers know this is their only chance. If the war ends, Netanyahu goes to jail, and the extremists get kicked out of government and lose their power. Worse, they could even see a successful peace negotiated, resulting in a Palestinian state that would put a permanent end to their dreams of an Arab-free Greater Israel. They will do anything to make sure that does not happen. Gaza has been Netanyahu’s testing ground for this strategy, and it looks like it's working. Just when it looked like Netanyahu was finished, Hamas came to his rescue. It seems all the funding and support Netanyahu has given to Hamas paid off. Of course, the US and President Biden, as a result of the barbarities of October 7th, offered massive support, funds, and arms. The purpose of which was to secure Israel from Hamas attacks. But Netanyahu did not use that support for the purpose it was intended. He used it to launch a war of ethnic cleansing against the population of Gaza. It has not been very effective at eliminating Hamas as a fighting force, but, it has succeeded at its intended purpose. Expelling the entire population of Gaza from their homes and then leveling everything that would make it possible for them to return. Netanyahu has had occasionally to make some inconsequential concessions to his US benefactors or, more often, just send out his PR flacks to brazenly lie about what is happening in Gaza. We now know that Israeli intelligence confirmed that the numbers from the Gaza Ministry of Health are accurate . The Israeli military uses the Gaza Health Ministry data internally while lying to the press about the veracity of the Health Ministry data publically. 70% of the deaths are women and children; of the remaining 30%, how many are elderly and non-combatant males? Doesn’t leave for many Hamas casualties, does it? Bibi is very close to igniting a regional apocalypse, which is exactly what he wants. Yemen could be seen as the canary in the coal mine. Houthi actions are ascribed to Iran, but Iran probably has as much control over its proxies as we have over Netanyahu. Yes, we supply funds and arms, and they are completely dependent on that support, but in the end, they do whatever the hell they want, and Yemen has risen in support of Gaza. Yemenis have shed differences to unite for Gaza. Hundreds of thousands have rallied across the country to call for an immediate ceasefire and end to Israel's occupation of Palestine. For Yemenis, their support is beyond race, religion and ideology. And what is it that the Houthis are demanding? They are demanding a ceasefire and humanitarian aid in Gaza. Isn't that what the US and our Western allies want? So why, if we agree, do we need to expand the war to Yemen? In the last decades, the US carried out 400 airstrikes, and the Saudis and UAE 20,000 airstrikes in Yemen. Does anyone think a few more airstrikes by the UK and US will stop or intimidate the battle-hardened Houthis? There are signs that the Iranians are getting nervous that they are losing control of the actions of their so-called “Axis of Resistance” and that Iran may get dragged into a conflagration as a result of Gaza it is not equipped to handle. US officials believe there are signs that Iranian leadership is nervous about some of the actions of its proxy groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, according to multiple people familiar with US intelligence, as attacks from militia groups threaten to disrupt the global economy and significantly up the risk of direct confrontation with the United States. Meanwhile, the Houthis and the people of Gaza are now heroes to millions. The Arab Spring was not ‘controlled’ by any government. A single incident in Tunisia unleashed a torrent of pent-up frustration and rage across the Arab world. It was like lighting a match to a sea of gasoline. Could Gaza now have the potential to provide a new spark? So the US and Iran may get sucked into a war they don’t want by proxies they can’t control, all orchestrated by Netanyahu’s actions in Gaza. Is this in the interests of the US or anyone in the region on either side of this conflict? But Hamas must be eliminated first before any ceasefire or peace talks!!!! really? First, Israel put Hamas into its position of power with its funding and support. Second, Israel then used our well-intentioned support to begin a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Gaza so atrocious that it landed Israel with charges of Genocide at the ICJ. Fool me once, as they say. The issue of Hamas will now have to be resolved as part of a permanent and sustainable peace solution. Israel can not be trusted to act in good faith or not endanger American interests - or even act in the interests of the hostages, whom it seems Netanyahu wants dead but who could all be freed with a ceasefire agreement. With Gaza, the I/P conflict has fundamentally changed. We are now complicit in the ethnic cleansing of millions and a potential genocide. That should be a red line. We can no longer afford a toothless policy that would allow Netanyahu to lead the President on a leash into an absolute catastrophe for the USA. Perversely, this total clusterf*ck may be the best opportunity we will ever have to bring the entire region together in a sustainable peace agreement. Biden must move past Netanyahu to make that a reality. 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