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Hamas' Playbook and the US-Israel Relationship: The Weekly Conquest Week of 9.1.24 – 9.7.24
Welcome to the ZioKnight
Week of September 1st, 2024
Jews are giving the Dems a run for their money this year. Traditionally, the Jewish community has been reliably blue; however, since 10/7, the Jewish vote has been up for grabs.
One may be reading this thinking, “Who cares? Only about 2.4% of the country is Jewish.” Or another may be peddling conspiracies and apprehensive, like the average American who mistakenly believes that 30% of the country is Jewish.
The reality is that Jews are a key voting bloc in swing states and districts. Pennsylvania is a pivotal battleground state of paramount importance for Kamala’s victory, and right now she only carries 52%, as opposed to Biden’s 72% of the Jewish vote in 2020. The community in Maryland may also significantly affect the state’s presidential victor. Of 22 of the most consequential Congressional races in the country, 5 have massive Jewish populations.
Both parties have their baggage. The nativist far right and anti-Israel far left both alienate Jewish voters. Many of them feel politically homeless, as Israel has become the single most important concern for many.
So don’t be surprised if the candidates fight over who is perceived as more pro-Israel, as their electability may hinge on it.
Sunday 9.1
Professor Shai Davidai (right)
Hamas is progressively increasing its use of scare tactics to sow unrest in the Israeli public. With dramatic scripted videos of hostages, brutal executions, and explosive language, they replaced their tactical fighting force with strategic acts to weaken Israel. They follow Sun Tzu’s age-old logic, “if your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him.”
These strategies are also utilized by radicals hoping to globalize the intifada, particularly in Upstate New York. A Utica Imam urged Columbia students to “take out” Israeli-Jewish Professor Shai Davidai, because silencing him “might silence a hundred other [Zionist] professors.”
I am generally an optimist, always willing to give the benefit of the doubt. However, when extreme intentions are as clear as they are here, I’ll take “Imam Tom” for his word. [1][2][3]
Monday 9.2
Histadrut protest in Tel Aviv
Over 150,000 Israelis in the Histadrut Labor Union mounted a strike in support of a hostage deal until the gathering was dismissed as illegal. A court ruled that politics is not in the purview of the labor union’s mission.
Pundits suggest that these mass protests aren’t stemming from disagreement on policy, but a distrust in Netanyahu’s leadership. A new poll revealed trust in the Prime Minister to be at 32%.
Israeli public opinion is neither supportive of an unconditional hostage release deal nor to leave them to Hamas’ devices, but rather a wide spectrum in between. A modern democracy is defined by renowned political scientist, Robert Dahl, as the “responsiveness of the government to the demands of its citizens.” Thus, in a democratic manner, Netanyahu gave a Hebrew and English-language press briefing aimed at bolstering his relationship with the public and building trust among his people. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Tuesday 9.3
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris
Close watchers of the President and Vice Presidents’ Israel policy have tended to describe Biden as the good cop and Harris as the bad cop. This dynamic swapped on Tuesday. Harris called for the Hamas’ ousting in post-war Gaza, while Biden avoided such language.
Trump took a different approach, posting, “THE OCTOBER 7th ISRAELI CRISIS WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED IF I WERE PRESIDENT!” [11][12][13][14][15]
Wednesday 9.4
In a not-so-shocking revelation, the IDF reported that the tunnel where the 6 hostages were murdered was buried under a children’s play space. Alan Dershowitz coined this practice, “the dead baby strategy,” as a Palestinian leader said in his own words, “For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry, at which women excel… and [so do] the children.” [16][17][18]
Thursday 9.5
JetBlue in-flight display of Israel
A media firestorm erupted when a JetBlue passenger noticed a bizarre map of Israel on their in-flight display. It doesn’t separate Gaza, the West Bank, or include the Golan Heights. The words “Palestinian Territories,” which take up most of the map, aren’t specified. JetBlue recognized the issue and is prompting their third-party supplier to start an investigation into the issue. Problem solved; now let’s focus on getting airlines to fly to Israel… [19]
Friday 9.6
Detroit anti-Israel protest
Pennsylvania and Maryland give very different policy incentives for politicians than Michigan. The two former crystalize the political necessity to support Israel. The latter undermines it. Democratic Vice Presidential hopeful, Tim Walz, said in Michigan, “We can’t allow what’s happening in Gaza to happen… the Palestinian People have every right to life and liberty themselves … the Netanyahu government [should] start moving in that direction.” He also noted, regarding the anti-Israel protestors (pictured above), that, “those folks who are speaking out loudly are speaking out for all the right reasons.” Will Walz be the bad cop to Kamala’s new good cop persona? We’ll find out soon… [20]
Saturday 9.7
A newly uncovered document reveals Yahya Sinwar’s approved terror strategy. He vows to "continue exert[ing] psychological pressure on the families of the [hostages]… so that public pressure on the enemy government increases." He is also dragging out negotiations regardless of the Palestinian death toll to secure better conditions allowing Hamas to remain as a fighting force. [21]
Question: What type of government system does Israel have?
Answer: Israel has a parliamentary system. There is a single state-wide constituency where people each vote for a party. The party representation is proportional to how people vote. A coalition of parties then forms the government and chooses a prime minister.
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