Bezalel Smotrich, 44, is Israel’s Finance Minister. On August 7, 2024, he said: “No one will allow us to starve 2 million civilians, even if it might be justified and moral, until our hostages are returned to us.” That’s right: justified and moral.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, 48, is Israel’s Minister of National Security. And Yitzhak Wasserlauf, 31, is the Minister of the Suburbs. On August 13, 2024, Ben-Gvir and Wasserlauf went up to pray with dozens of religious fanatics on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, knowing full well that it is a holy site for Palestinians and Muslims (in the video below). As are the Western Wall for Jews and the Holy Sepulchre for Christians.

Incendiary statements by Israeli religious ministers

It is a clear provocation, which violates the balance of the current state, at a crucial moment for the security of the Middle East and the world. A provocation confirmed by the words of Ben-Gvir: “We have made significant progress in the sovereignty of Israel here. Our policy is to allow Jewish prayer”. More fuel to the fire.

The employer who recruited Smotrich, Ben-Gvir and Wasserlauf into the government, namely Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 74, has killed approximately 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly civilians, including 15,000 minors, since the Palestinian attack of October 7, 2023, in response to the 1,200 Israeli citizens massacred by Hamas terrorists. The retaliation ratio is approaching the obscene 40 to 1. Without a solution having been found so far, other than daily bombings.

“This is how National Security prevents the hostage deal”

The result of this Israeli military operation is that after 10 months, on August 13, 2024, Hamas is still able to launch rockets on Tel Aviv. The Israeli hostages in Hamas’ hands are still 120, dead or alive. And Yahya Sinwar, 61, from commander of the military wing has become the political head of all Hamas, after Ismail Haniyeh was killed by an explosion in his room in Tehran, Iran, not claimed but probably remote-controlled – in every sense – by Israel.

I read in the newsletter that the Israeli daily Haaretz sends out every day: “A group representing the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza said that the far-right National Security Council of Itamar Ben-Gvir ‘continually prevents an agreement to bring the hostages home,’ and that in its actions and words ‘it jeopardises the possibility of bringing them all home.'”

Domestic Scandals and Economic Repercussions: Fitch Downgrades Israel

And again: “The five Israeli army reservists suspected of abusing and committing sodomy against a Hamas member at the Sde Teiman detention center will be released after ten days of house arrest, following agreements reached between the military prosecutor and the defense.” The Sde Teiman military base in the Negev desert, transformed into a detention center for Palestinian prisoners, is one of the horror galleries of this war: “Bound, blindfolded, kept in diapers: Israeli whistleblowers reveal abuse of Palestinians in a secret detention center” (CNN, May 11, 2024).

Also Haaretz: “Rating agency Fitch announced Monday night that it had downgraded the Israeli government’s credit rating by one notch, from A+ to A, writing that ‘the downgrade to A reflects the impact of the ongoing war in Gaza, increased geopolitical risks and military operations on multiple fronts.'”

Netanyahu’s Failed Strategy: Iran Becomes Arbiter

In the aftermath of the massacre of Israeli civilians and soldiers on October 7, 2023, we reported the 7 mistakes of Benjamin Netanyahu and his governments: why, over the years, they had allowed Hamas to be financed and armed in Gaza so that Tel Aviv’s army could escort the occupation of new Palestinian territories in the West Bank: the article here. Ten months later, the conduct of Netanyahu and his ministers has transformed Iran into an arbiter of the Middle East. For hours, the ayatollahs’ regime has been ready to launch missiles and drones, in response to the murder of the political leader of Hamas. But Tehran did not fire for days, thus keeping the ten million inhabitants of Israel with their backs to the wall.

Tel Aviv’s armed forces, at the height of their strategic capacity, would once have made the first preemptive move, neutralizing and disarming their adversaries. Today, the general staffs know that, without US authorization and support on the ground, they are vulnerable. So, while the religious right ministers in his government are wishing for Donald Trump’s victory, Netanyahu has once again flown to Washington to beg for billions from Democratic President Joe Biden.

The Exodus of Israelis: Now Seeking Asylum in Europe

Ultimately, every additional day of war for the Israeli prime minister and some of his ministers is one less day in the political and, probably, criminal trial that awaits them for their failure to defend the country during the Palestinian terrorist attack on Saturday, October 7.

Money to Hamas, Fight Against Moderates: 7 Mistakes of Israel – by Fabrizio Gatti

On August 7, 2024, the tenth anniversary, The Times of Israel published this report: “Seeking to flee war at home, Israelis seek refugee status in Portugal.” A headline that signals surrender: not because of Iran, Hamas, terrorists, but because of the obtuse drift of Netanyahu and his religious allies who, after demolishing Gaza, have transformed Israel into a theater of dangerous fanatics.

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