There was a fascinating moment on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning when Britain's Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, answered a question honestly because he thought he was off the air. That was enough to cause a craven BBC (dictionary definition of craven - "cowardly") to apologize for the fact that one of its presenters had caught him off-guard. So what did he say?
He had just completed his on-air (live) contribution to the programme's two-minute Thought for Today slot. He spoke in support of the BBC's annual Children In Need appeal which, as he said, is focused on "the right of every child to be safe and secure and reach their own potential." Given that Israel's leaders have no qualms about impoverishing and killing Palestinian children, I would have been impressed if he had said "every child includes Palestinian children." But he didn't make any reference to them.
When the daily speaker comes to the end of his or her two-minutes, that's it. The presenter says "Thank you" and you hear no more from the speaker. But not this morning. Evan Davis, one of this morning's two presenters said, "Jonathan, before you go, any thoughts on what's going on in Israel and Gaza at the moment?"
After an audible sigh, the Chief Rabbi replied, "I think it has got to do with Iran, actually."
Co-presenter Sarah Montague was clearly alarmed that he didn't know his remarks were still being broadcast and she whispered, "We're live."
The Chief Rabbi then put himself back into broadcasting mode and said the crisis demanded "a continued prayer for peace, not only in Gaza but for the whole region."
The question his off-guard comment triggered in my mind was this: In what way could Israel's latest war (in all but name) on the Gaza Strip be "to do with Iran", at least in part?
There are, it seems to me, three possible answers.
One can be deduced from an IDF statement yesterday that claimed Hamas had turned the Gaza Strip in a "front line base for Iran." That could indicate an IDF perception that this base needed to be taken out.
Comment: Unlikely. Israel knows that the impoverished and oppressed Palestinians represent no threat to them. The "Iran base" line is mere propaganda.
Another possible answer is that Netanyahu authorized Israel's air and naval bombardment to demonstrate that he is a man of action as well as words (verbal threats). The point here is that having talked up the need for an attack on Iran and then being seen to be backing off because many of his own military and intelligence chiefs (past and present) effectively joined with President Obama in saying "Don't do it", he needed to prove that he was prepared to continue the Zionist tradition of teaching the Arabs lessons by the application of brute force. "We Israelis are still the masters."
Comment: It could be, although psychopaths tend to be more devious than that.
A third possible answer is that it is still in his mind to attack Iran at some point but he knows that before doing so he must protect Israel's rear by putting all who would strike at Israel from within the Gaza Strip out of action.
Comment: Rings closer to the truth. After all the same strategy is being applied in Syria by the proxies of Israel's friends, NATO.
The bigger question waiting for an answer is whether or not Greater Israel will be more or less secure when the current war (in all but name) is over. If it ends up being less secure than it was before the assassination of Hamas's military chief, there might be some reason to hope that enough Israelis will want to say goodbye to Netanyahu and deny him another term in office.
If so, why not come out and say it?
I wonder why there are so many people with an irrational, illogical hatred of Jewish people? I think that an illogical hatred of Jewish people is actually a sign of psychopathology.
Regarding Israel, the "oppressed, impoverished" Palestinians would truly pose no threat if they were not (illegally) getting rocket launchers and weapons from Israel's fanatical Arab neighbors, who are as filled with hatred for Jews as the right-wing Israelis are filled with hatred of Arabs. Hatred begets hatred, and it can ONLY be overcome by love.
Caught in the middle, as always are the innocent civilians on BOTH sides, who must die so that the psychotic government leaders (both the rabid, homicidal Palestinian groups and the right-wing hawks in Israel) willingly sacrifice THEIR OWN people for political ends.
If you look for the smoking gun, follow the money and ask: who could gain from this? The US sells weapons to Israel, which is a multi-million dollar business. They also want to make war with Iran, so by starting a war using Israel as a "fall guy", they can deflect the blame.
There are radical groups in Gaza who are not above encouraging children to die as "martyrs". They know that Israel will retaliate, but they don't care.
Here is a radical proposition: Israel exists. The Palestinians exist. Both people deserve freedom and peace. Violence is not the answer. Peace is the answer. Please pray for PEACE for ALL PEOPLE, of every nation and every religion.