Netanyahu Likud party storms to victory

[Cow Poke]

I have close friends who were there at the start of the Second Intifada. That count?

Not even close - for all I know those "close friends" were probably the bad guys!

[Cow Poke]

Israel has nuclear weapons and a kick-butt military. The Arab nations around them know it. Nuclear deterrence keeps them at bay.

AND, Israel responds with overwhelming force when attacked - which is WHY Gaza is in ruins.

[Cerebrum123]

Yup. That's the wing-nuttery that saved Bibi's job.

No, it's a rundown of what orthodox Islam teaches, and still wants, and will continue to want until the trees and rocks themselves betray any Jewish presence. Well, except the garhquad(?) tree, apparently it's too friendly to the Jews.

If all the neighboring states wanted to really "wipe Israel off the map," they could've easily done it by now. Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia ... no real push there since the Six Day War and no indication that any of them today would even want to try to mount the air and ground offensive necessary to defeat, let alone obliterate, Israel.

Yeah, groups like Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, ISIS, etc. they are just a bunch of nuts with no real power, right?

Then there's the fact that they are often too busy quarreling with themselves to accomplish Mohammed's vision of the future.

And while a hearty portion of folks in Israel and the USA imagine existential threats to the Israeli state, the open-air prison camp that is Gaza will continue indefinitely.

Yeah, see above list of groups. They are a drop in the bucket, especially when you consider taqqiyah.

On the plus side, officially abandoning the two-state solution puts Netanyahu in a poor position with the international community. Netanyahu and his like will only continue to degrade support for an illegal and unacceptable status quo.

Yeah, that's a real big problem for him* isn't it.

*I mean, seriously. Look at the atrocities in all kinds of places, and from all kinds of dictators. The "international community" doesn't seem to do squat against them. Oh wait, many of them are Muslims, so that makes it okay, right?

[Sam]

Not even close - for all I know those "close friends" were probably the bad guys!

Well, then I'll have to fall back on my working theory that one can understand the nature of a policy decision and assess the realism of various threats by means other than "I know what I'm talking about, I touched the Western Wall."

[Cow Poke]

Well, then I'll have to fall back on my working theory that one can understand the nature of a policy decision and assess the realism of various threats by means other than "I know what I'm talking about, I touched the Western Wall."

My experiences in Israel FAR surpass your ability to Google left wing nutters and your terrorist buddies who are bent on the destruction of Israel.

I WOULD ask you to leave my thread, but I find you oddly entertaining.

[Sam]

Israel has nuclear weapons and a kick-butt military. The Arab nations around them know it. Nuclear deterrence keeps them at bay.

So nuclear deterrence keeps huge countries like Saudia Arabia and Egypt from attacking Israel. But creating a Palestinian state makes for an existential crisis to its existence?

[Sam]

My experiences in Israel FAR surpass your ability to Google left wing nutters who are bent on the destruction of Israel.

I WOULD ask you to leave my thread, but I find you oddly entertaining.

And yet there are quite a few people who actually live in Israel who agree with my take and disagree with yours. They must be left-wing nutters without real experience in Israel ... who somehow managed to gain 24 parliamentary seats.

[Bill the Cat]

So nuclear deterrence keeps huge countries like Saudia Arabia and Egypt from attacking Israel. But creating a Palestinian state makes for an existential crisis to its existence?

Validating Hamas as a legitimate governing body absolutely does.

[Sam]

Validating Hamas as a legitimate governing body absolutely does.

How so? How is a "validated" Hamas an existential threat when a country like Saudi Arabia, ostensibly committed to Israel's destruction but deterred by its nukes, is not?

[Bill the Cat]

How so? How is a "validated" Hamas an existential threat when a country like Saudi Arabia, ostensibly committed to Israel's destruction but deterred by its nukes, is not?

Seriously? You don't understand the mind of Muslim fanatics, do you? They see every victory as evidence that Allah is on their side, which makes them go for more. Their entire stated purpose is to destroy Israel. The only reason they haven't is deterrence by Israel.

[Cow Poke]

And yet there are quite a few people who actually live in Israel who agree with my take and disagree with yours.

Yes, and there are quite a few people in our country who voted for Obama.

They must be left-wing nutters without real experience in Israel ... who somehow managed to gain 24 parliamentary seats.

You DO realize that ARABS have Knesset seats as well, no? And there is a pretty big division in Israel between the religious Jews and the secular Jews -- part of this comes from that.

[Cow Poke]

Seriously? You don't understand the mind of Muslim fanatics, do you?

He apparently has no clue.

They see every victory as evidence that Allah is on their side, which makes them go for more.

They even see major DEFEATS as victories, as long as they are still standing --- proof that Allah wants them to continue fighting!

Their entire stated purpose is to destroy Israel. The only reason they haven't is deterrence by Israel.

And they won't back down on that threat at all.

[Darth Executor]

So nuclear deterrence keeps huge countries like Saudia Arabia and Egypt from attacking Israel. But creating a Palestinian state makes for an existential crisis to its existence?

I actually agree with you that most of Israel's neighbors don't want to wipe them out (particularly Egypt, whose military dictatorship hates Hamas), though the situation could always change. However, a crisis need not be existential to be a crisis. The situation is not something you can resolve by ignoring the concerns of the far more powerful side in a dispute for the simple reason that they can just punch their way into what they want which, as far as I can tell, they've pretty much done. Their citizens are safe from all but the odd killing and the Palestinians are powerless and under their thumb. Liberal disregard for raw power will be your downfall.

One obvious step forward is the destruction of Hamas. Israel hasn't done so because Netanyahu needs a boogeyman to keep power, and people like you don't seem to have any interest in it because on some level you think Hamas is in the right. Thus the eternal circus continues.

[Darth Executor]

How so? How is a "validated" Hamas an existential threat when a country like Saudi Arabia, ostensibly committed to Israel's destruction but deterred by its nukes, is not?

lol I didn't even see this post but still called it.

[Cow Poke]

lol I didn't even see this post but still called it.

I really REALLY hate it when I have to agree with you or amen you.