Lox, Locks, Bibi and the Hostages

Time wastes and the Hunger Moon

This is what Jews enjoy doing on Sundays, well, many of us.

Not the hostages.

Not Bibi.

Instead of learning from past hostage situations, one where his feet were on the ground, the other where his older brother died trying to free hostages, Bibi’s selective memory disregards how his fate shifted, and so did history, in the wake of these moments.

Early on Sunday at 10:30 am Bibi had breakfast with Margaret Brennan (“MB”), in English, always a leading indicator of his veracity-challenged mind because he will predictably say something different in Hebrew, the Prime Minister of Israel, Rosh HaMemshalah (“RHM”) walked straight into a box canyon with the smartest, best-educated Arabic-speaking ( (“RaFAH”) Irish-American journalist who knows more about the Middle East than most of the State Department. A Sacred Heart graduate, MB then attended the University of Virginia, graduating with highest distinction in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in foreign affairs and Middle Eastern studies with a minor in Arabic. She studied abroad at Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan, on a Fulbright-Hays Grant.

Lox was not served.

MB opens: “What specifically is holding up the deal at this point? It- reportedly, this would have 30 to 40 hostages, women, elderly, [and]wounded, released in exchange for a few hundred Palestinian prisoners being released.”

RHM:”I don't think it makes any sense to have a public discussion of this…..”

But Bibi does not listen to his own left-brain voice, imploring the Theory of Silence, screaming at him “Shekit b’Vakesha” (STFU, please).

No, RHM is going to handle this blonde “woman” (shaygetz) because, after all, he walked onto that Sabena 571 plane with terrorists and hostages with Ehud Barak and took a bullet (don’t ask where) and freed those hostages. With his brother Yoni sidelined by Barak, Bibi and their unit they overpowered the hijackers. Dressed as flight technicians, they approached the aircraft and convinced the terrorists to let them in, and two minutes later two male hijackers were shot dead and their female accomplices were captured.

A bullet fired at one of the female hijackers passed through her and hit Netanyahu in the _____. Four years later, in 1976, Yoni would die leading the hostage rescue of another airplane full of hostages at Entebbe, Uganda.

Memory eludes Bibi. At neither Sabena (Lod Airport) nor Entebbe, can anyone recall any of the three future Prime Ministers present (Shimon Peres was on the tarmac), or then Prime Minister Levi Eshkol blustering about the hostage takers’ mental health.

But RHM/Bibi always comes out shooting.

Theresa Halsa was only 18 when she hijacked Flight 571. Halsa is the only survivor of the four [Black September] hijackers who seized the Sabena 571 Boeing 707 20 minutes into its flight from Vienna to Tel Aviv on 8 May 1972.

“Everybody involved in the operation was ready to die,” she was quoted in The Guardian interview for the film on Sabena 571 from her home in Amman, Jordan.

After forcing the plane’s British captain Reginald Levy to land at Lod (now Ben Gurion) airport, the hijackers demanded the release from Israeli jails of 315 Palestinians convicted of terrorism offences and threatened to blow up the plane with its passengers if their demands weren’t met.

“They called us terrorists, but we weren’t. The real terrorists were the Israelis who threw the Palestinian people off their land,” Halsa says.

Sound familiar?

Picture of Ehud Barak on Sabena 571 wing, firearm in right hand.

The “I know how to piss off almost anybody in the world,” including the negotiators’, side of his brain overwhelms his vagus nerve, and instead of giving space and silence to the negotiators RHM/Bibi continues:

“But Hamas started out with just crazy demands. And, you know, it's- it's too soon to say if they're- if they've abandoned them, but if they do abandon them and get into what you call the ballpark, they're not even in the city. They're in [on] another planet. But if they come down to a reasonable situation, then yes, we'll have a hostage deal. I hope so.”

Hamas are the aliens “[on] another planet.” As if we don’t already know that it is a death cult that slaughtered, raped, and kidnapped, our women, children, and grandparents.

But RHM/Bibi always comes out shooting.

But, “It’s the Hostages, stupid.”

Instead of:” Margaret, we’re in a very sensitive part of the negotiations. Our side is well represented by _____ and _____, and I have confidence in their ability to close the narrowing gaps with Hamas’ [political wing]. We need to be silent now, out of respect for the hostages’ families, and our Fallen; and I ask that we wait for a joint announcement.”

Nah, in RHM’s desperate mind, he says ; “my survival is paramount, I need to use this “girl” to pose with the electorate and the Diaspora so they know I am the only one who can lead Israel, and so I can be re-elected. Because I am fearful for myself, most of all.”

MB continues: “On the issue of the hostages, as you know, time is of the essence here. So if this deal happens, and there are six weeks of calm that go with it, does that provide an opening to end this war? Or will you still go into southern Gaza, into Rafah regardless?”

RHM/Bibi: “Yeah, well, victory is within reach, and you can't have victory until you eliminate Hamas.”

RHM’s dripping empathy for the hostages is less than apparent, as each day they suffer imaginable torment, based on the testimony of rescued and released hostages. Nor is there any empathy for Palestinian children, deprived of food, and drinkable drinking water. Wilderness guides often refer to the “rule of 3.” A person can survive without water for three days, (with estimates ranging from two days to a week), 3 minutes without oxygen, and 3 weeks without food. Studies confirm that 100 hours without water is around the limit.

MB continues:

MB: “Understood but the IDF, can you guarantee that they won't push Palestinians out of Gaza and into Egypt? As you know, Egyptian officials have said, if you do that, you are putting at risk 46 years of peace.”

RHM/Bibi: “Look, I think that the Egyptians know very well, that that's not our purpose. And that won't be the result. And we're coordinating. We're talking to the Egyptians all the time. So that's not, I don't think that's an issue. The peace between Israel and Egypt to serve the interests of both countries, and will continue to serve the interests of both countries, I don't think it's in any danger.”

Bibi, Face Time with Cairo; or, let Dudu call Major General Abbas Kamel, or Sisi's son, Mahmoud el-Sisi, a deputy director.

There’s a lot of static on the line, and sometimes a face-to-face is a good precaution. Because, you know, as we say once a year:” It’s always Egypt.” And, remember Moses and Pharaoh, and the Bar-Lev Line’s so-called fortitude in 1973?

Skipping ahead:

RHM/Bibi: “Wait- wait- wait a minute Margaret, Margaret, hold on, you- you lob these- these grenades at me and you keep on moving. Well, first of all, you say, there's no confidence me? Well, the Israeli public has confidence in me. Last week--

(CROSSTALK)

MB: “There were massive protests throughout Israel yesterday.”

RHM/Bibi: “The Knesset voted overwhelmingly- of course, we have protests. We- we have protests, Israel is a democracy that protests for 30 years. But the Israeli people are united as never before. Last week, they voted 99 to nine in the Knesset for my proposal that says that the way- that we have to do two things, we have to win the war, have total victory.”

In a poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), 56% of those questioned said continuing the military offensive was the best way to recover the hostages, while 24% thought a swap deal including the release of thousands more Palestinian prisoners from Israel's jails would be best.

The poll, reported by Reuters, also said that a mere 15% want Netanyahu to be prime minister once the war is over. His political rival and present war cabinet partner, centrist Benny Gantz, garnered support from 23% of interviewees. Around 30% named no preferred leader.

The poll was conducted among 746 respondents between Dec. 25-28, with a 95% confidence level, the IDI said. A previous IDI poll in December found that 69% of Israelis thought that elections should be held as soon as the war ends.

Successive surveys have found RHM/Bibi’s popularity has fallen sharply since the surprise October attack by Hamas that led to the deadliest day in Israel's 75 years.

“Well, the Israeli public has confidence in me,” as RHM stated, redefining his idealized perspective of who he sees in the mirror every sunrise.

The rest of the interview is here:

Here is the link to the Transcript. ©CBS News, Face the Nation, 2024

Maybe the sun is setting on this Prime Minister, and he just does not know it yet.

The poll is 60 days old, and there is a new Full Moon. It’s called the Hunger Moon and also called the Snow Moon. The Earth and Sun are in syzygy, that is, they are aligned; aligned so much more so than the Prime Minister is with the reality of his leadership.

\The Farmer’s Almanac published Native American names for full moons. The tribes of the northeastern US called this moon the Snow Moon because of the heavy snow of the season. At the same time, bad weather and heavy snowstorms made hunting difficult so it was also called the Hunger Moon.

There are no snow clouds over Gaza, yet hunger and thirst are creating a new generation of terrorists. Perhaps, our indigenous tribes knew a lot more about leadership and the time to leave than the RHM. Storm clouds are gathering over the Homeland for our children and grandchildren.

Just look up. Then, down at the earth.

The seeds are now planted, and ready to be fertilized. It will be up to the next Rosh HaMemshelah to decide which path to take, and who to feed and water.

It is certain, it’s a lock. And, RoshHM, one day you will finally know what you ought to do; or, you will know what you have to do; realize what any sergeant knows: you can't kill an idea.

#BringThemAllHome. #GriefTurnsIntoRage

Nota Bene:

1.“All the goodness and the heroisms will rise up again, then be cut down again and rise up. It isn’t that the evil thing wins — it never will — but that it doesn’t die.” —Cormac McCarthy

2.“The only time a whale gets harpooned is when he surfaces.” David Gottesman

©Philippe du Col, 2024