BLUF: Israel can’t win with their current concept of operations.

Israel needs to think long and hard with how they are executing their strategy. They are failing left and right in the eyes of the world media. People can huff and puff as much as they want about ‘Israel has the right to defend themself’. But, it won’t change the fact that their enemies are making the efforts of Israel seem like they are a bunch of thugs.

Israel needs new thinking and a new way of doing things. They cannot continue with their current course of action. They can’t win this way.

“Highlight Israel’s mistreatment of Gazan women and children.”

I think a comparison of how Hamas treats women and children is far worse than anything Israel has done.  In fact, the Muslim religion is notorious  for the subjugation of women.  

Israel is fighting against a double standard and this post doesn’t help.

USNI blog readers might take interest in the following.

http://danielgordis.org/2010/06/03/a-botched-raid-a-vital-embargo-new-york-times-op-ed/

“Israelis are resigned to the fact that reason will not shake the world’s blatant double standard. Our blockade of Gaza is “criminal”; yet nobody mentions that Egypt has had a blockade of Gaza in place since 2007, and has never hesitated to use lethal force against those trying to break it. Israel’s attempt to enforce a blockade becomes an international crisis, while most of the world shrugs when North Korea sinks a South Korean ship. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared his willingness to sit with Fatah leaders any time, anywhere, but they insist on mere “proximity talks,” which they will probably now scuttle, using the flotilla as an excuse.”

YNSN

agree, mostly. I liked your last line, but I would modify it to “The double standard needs to be accepted, CONSISTENTLY POINTED OUT AND COMPARED WITH REALITY BY ISRAEL, understood and maneuvered around for Israel to win.” They cannot concede the battle for public opinion to the terrorists. They have to recognize that the double standard exists and consistently point it out in the media while staying one step ahead of the terrorists in the media war. It takes a long time sometimes but bigots and racists when placed under public scrutiny eventually wither and die….witness Helen Thomas finally shooting herself in the foot.

Israel has not been good at this, neither has the US, although we have gotten better through the years.

If Israel wanted to really mess with the Iranian’s– greet them with open arms at the straits, provide them a military escort all the way up the canal with water cannons blowing streams of water up in the air and proclaim a new era of Israeli-Iranian cooperation. Invite the whack job to greet the ship as it enters the blcokade zone while standing on an Israeli vessel.

He being there would force him to recognize Israel as a country, and rob him of any propaganda of Israel being the bully in this. Course they’d have to not announce this to ensure that Iran loaded the ship with nothing but hospital supplies otherwise they’d cram that sucker with enough katyusha’s to level Tel Aviv.

Be nice to get a sound profile and data about Iranian Naval operations in blue water for a while too. Who knows– perhaps as they pass by Somalia “something” might happen…. Lotsa pirates in that area, right?

I agree, helluva idea Paul.

“If Israel wanted to really mess with the Iranian’s– greet them with open arms at the straits, provide them a military escort all the way up the canal with water cannons blowing streams of water up in the air and proclaim a new era of Israeli-Iranian cooperation. Invite the whack job to greet the ship as it enters the blcokade zone while standing on an Israeli vessel.

He being there would force him to recognize Israel as a country, and rob him of any propaganda of Israel being the bully in this.”

This idea would do nothing to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons besides Iran already recognizes Israel as a country it wants to destroy.  This idea is just another example of appeasing the Iranians.

What is needed is a principled response to Iran and the Islamic Totalitarians.
Appeasement was the approach President Wilson legitimized after WW1 which did nothing to prevent Germany from rearming. In today’s context, this means that Iran gets one step closer to having nuclear weapons.

I am reminded of the following.

http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2007-summer/balm-guilty-conscience.asp

” Those moral ideas gained cultural power in the aftermath of World War I. They sapped the will of the British people to oppose Germany when it was possible to do so, and left their leaders unable to take the steps needed to stop Germany from rearming.”