#leabanon — Public Fediverse posts on home.social

Quoting Roger Alpher: “leprous banana republic”

[…] Although its strategic position is worse than ever, the narrative of Israeli society, the story it tells itself, and its self-image have profoundly changed since the pager attack, and even more so after the assassination of Hassan #Nasrallah. It has stopped listening to the West. This is no longer its reference group. For the West, Israel is not the spearhead leading civilization in its war against barbarians, but a thorn in its side. Therefore, the West is disconnecting from #Israel. Stopping flights to it. Stopping investments in it. A country whose UN General Assembly empties when its leader rises to speak is a country ostracized due to disgust, and cannot be considered a regional or global leader. It is a leprous banana republic.

[…] A leading Western rating agency, "Moody's," points to the collapse of Israel's economy, partly as a result of the judicial overhaul. But Israel doesn't care about the economic rating the West gives it. Its efforts to produce a ceasefire don't interest it either. Israel is becoming insular and only listens to its own television news broadcasts. And they tell it that it's winning. That there's reason to celebrate. And that the next stage in the celebration is a ground operation in southern Lebanon, despite the opposition of the West led by the United States. Israel doesn't want diplomacy. And the hostages and northern residents can wait too. Because Israel wants more war. And in this, it is united behind #Netanyahu.

[…] The real turnaround following Nasrallah's killing was not in Israel's status in the world or the region, but in Netanyahu's status in Israel. Netanyahu will manage to take the credit. He's good at that. Much better than Hertzi Halevi, Yoav Gallant, and Dedi Barnea. He'll take credit for killing Nasrallah without taking responsibility for the October 7 massacre. He only has political opposition in the West, outside Israel, with Biden and Macron and at 10 Downing Street, and Israelis don't care what they think. He convinces them that the whole world is against them, like in the #Holocaust, and that only he saves them.

Hebrew https://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/2024-09-30/ty-article-opinion/.premium/00000192-3d91-df25-a3be-ff9b7af30000 or https://archive.is/EpQyd

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