Latest news with #OperationBarbarossa
Newsweek
3 days ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
Russian Aviation's Darkest Hour Since WWII Gets 40-Second TV News Slot
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Kremlin-controlled television dedicated less than a minute of its news coverage to what has been described as the largest single-day destruction of Russian military aircraft since World War II, it has been reported. Two state channels in Russia only mentioned Ukraine's daring drone raid in 40-second segments, according to an assessment of coverage by independent outlet Agentstvo. However, pro-Russian Telegram channels blamed the authorities for not adequately protecting military facilities from what was described as "Russia's Pearl Harbor," referring to Japan's attack on Hawaii on December 7, 1941. The World War II comparisons did not end there. John Spencer from the Modern War Institute said on Substack that Sunday marked the largest single-day destruction of Russian military aircraft since Operation Barbarossa in 1941 when Germany launched its surprise invasion of the USSR. Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment. This illustrative image shows a Ukrainian drone operator pilots an attack drone near the southern frontline on February 21, 2024. This illustrative image shows a Ukrainian drone operator pilots an attack drone near the southern frontline on February 21, It Matters The Kremlin strictly controls state media messaging over the war it started in Ukraine, but Russian bloggers on Telegram present a far more unvarnished view of hostilities. The extent of Ukraine's operation, which targeted four airfields as far from the border as Irkutsk in Siberia, and comparisons with what Moscow faced in World War II, will deal a setback to Vladimir Putin. What To Know The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said its operation, dubbed "Spiderweb," hit 41 Russian aircraft across four air bases on Sunday, according to Ukrainian media. The operation involved 117 drones launched from trucks hidden across Russian territory and allegedly destroyed or damaged A-50, Tu-95, and Tu-22 M3 planes parked at the Belaya, Diaghilev, Olenya, and Ivanovo air bases. Ukraine said that it had disabled one-third (34 percent) of Russia's strategic bomber fleet, although this has not been independently confirmed. On his urban warfare Substack, Spencer described the attack as the largest single-day destruction of Russian military aircraft since Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941. The German Luftwaffe destroyed between 1,200 and 2,000 Soviet aircraft on the ground in just hours, but since then, no single strike has inflicted such concentrated losses on Russian or Soviet aviation, Spencer wrote. The reported destruction of at least 40 strategic bombers was unmatched in the post–World War II era, made all the more notable that it came not from an air force but by a drone-enabled ambush launched by a nation under siege, he added. BREAKING: Over 40 ‼️‼️Russian warplanes reportedly hit in massive Ukrainian drone strike. Ukraine's Security Service has launched a major drone operation, reportedly damaging more than 40 Russian aircraft — including A-50, Tu-95, and Tu-22M3 bombers. That's over $2 billion in… — Iuliia Mendel (@IuliiaMendel) June 1, 2025 Agentsvo said that Channel One and Russia 1 devoted just 40 seconds each to one of the most daring operations during the full-scale war. Presenters read out defense ministry statements that drones attacked airfields in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions—the latter not mentioned by Ukrainian sources. In the first two regions, the Russian TV anchors reported that "several units of aviation equipment" had caught fire, but no other details were provided, it said. The relative silence continued Monday morning, according to Agentstvo, which said neither channel reported on their broadcasts at 9 a.m., although state agencies TASS and RIA Novosti began covering the attacks after the Defense Ministry issued its statement. Russian Milbloggers Condemn Lapses Russian military bloggers were more candid and critical. War correspondent Alexander Kots posted on Telegram that there is an ongoing problem with the protection of Russia's strategic facilities. Another Telegram channel, "Military Informant", said Ukraine's drone attack on Russian bases "was only a matter of time." The channel "Novorossiya Militia" said it was unclear why authorities protecting Russia's strategic aviation were unprepared for such an attack. Meanwhile, Alexey Zhivov wrote, "A 'Russian Pearl Harbor' has happened, and the future of our country and civilization depends on how we respond to it." Yuriy Boyechko, CEO and Founder of Hope for Ukraine, told Newsweek on Monday that the success of Ukraine's drone attack showed that Kyiv "has some trump cards up its sleeve." What People Are Saying Independent Russian outlet Agentstvo: "First channel and Russia One dedicated 40 seconds each to Ukraine's largest attack on Russian air bases." John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies, Modern War Institute on Substack: "Not in the Cold War, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Syria, or even the early years of this war has Russia suffered an airpower loss on this scale." Military volunteer Alexey Zhivov on Telegram: "A 'Russian Pearl Harbor' has happened, and the future of our country and civilization depends on how we respond to it." Yuriy Boyechko, CEO and Founder of Hope for Ukraine to Newsweek: "In one day, Ukrainian special forces with 117 FPV drones did what NATO forces had been training to do in case of a Russian attack on NATO states for the past 70 years." What Happens Next No diplomatic breakthrough on peace was expected as Russia held talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on Monday, and eyes will turn to what Putin will do in response. Aurélien Colson, academic co-director at the ESSEC Institute for Geopolitics & Business, told Newsweek Russia will likely step up missile and drone attacks, but resorting to nuclear weapons "is excluded" given the opposition of China, whose support Putin depends on.
The Advertiser
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Two wrongs don't make a right. The children's anguish tells you that
This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to The footage is haunting. Screaming children, desperate for food, swarming over a makeshift kitchen. Tiny hands scraping what they can from pots emptied by the bigger kids. A few grains of rice and lentils - anything to relieve the aching hunger that's been gnawing at them for more than 80 days, ever since Israel blocked all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. A world away in London, advocacy group UK Lawyers for Israel makes a sickening statement, that the war in Gaza with all its privations might be good for Palestinians, that the lack of food might address their obesity problem - might even increase their life expectancy. Such cavalier insensitivity carries a sinister echo from last century, when Germany was making plans to lay waste to Russia. Similar dehumanising footage emerged in the early days of Operation Barbarossa, when starving Russian POWs behind barbed wire were filmed fighting over scraps of bread tossed to them by their captors. During the Nuremberg trials after the war, Soviet prosecutors estimated 3 million Russians had been starved to death during the German invasion. The policy of denying civilians food even had a name. It was known as the Hunger Plan. Israel denies it is using starvation as a weapon of war. This week it announced it will allow some basic food back into Gaza as it intensifies military operations, including targeting hospitals in relentless air strikes. This, it says, is to avoid a famine. More like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. A much more likely motivation is Donald Trump's recent visit to the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia. It would be hard for the Netanyahu government not to feel a twinge of misgiving that even Trump might be losing patience with its heavy handedness. There's heavy symbolism in Israel being left off the president's itinerary as he toured the Middle East. The growing sense of isolation is evident on the Israeli news websites. This concession on food aid is, however, just a token. Israel says it will allow only 10 per cent of the 600 trucks a day needed to deliver sufficient aid to Gaza. So the harrowing images of hollow-eyed children fighting for scraps of food will continue. They will be a stain on Israel for years to come, just as the terrible images of bloodied Israelis being dragged into Gaza on October 7, 2023 will forever cast Hamas as the personification of barbarity. Israel's fanatical finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has made clear his intentions for Gaza. Early this month he predicted the strip would be destroyed, its population herded into a small swathe of land on the Egyptian border. Israel would annex the entire strip. There's nothing new in Smotrich's hardline attitude towards the Palestinians; he's been hawking it for years. But now even the US is pushing back. When Smotrich called for two Palestinian villages in the West Bank to be "erased" following attacks on settlers last week, the State Department called it an incitement to violence which Prime Minister Netanyahu should disavow. The rebuke, issued when the president was in the Middle East, signals the Trump administration might be beginning to realise something the rest of us have known since the early days of the Gaza war: that two wrongs don't make a right. Never have. Never will. You only have to look at the anguish on those Palestinian children's faces to see that. HAVE YOUR SAY: Is Israel using starvation as a weapon of war? Can it hope to restore its international standing when the world sees images of starving kids fighting for food? Is it finally dawning on the US that Israel's behaviour in Gaza is unacceptable? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Indonesia has raised the alert level of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki to the highest after it erupted eight times over the weekend. Lewotobi Laki-laki, on Flores island in eastern Indonesia, spewed volcanic ash between three to 5.5 kilometres high on Sunday, the nation's volcanology agency said. - Former US president Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer which has spread to his bones. - Hundreds of people across NSW have been arrested during a domestic and family violence blitz. Police arrested 627 people and levied 1316 charges amid Operation Amarok X from May 14 to May 17. THEY SAID IT: "Misery, mutilation, destruction, terror, starvation and death characterise the process of war and form a principal part of the product." - Lewis Mumford YOU SAID IT: When the US health secretary takes a dip in Washington's most contaminated creek and posts about it social media, when the president sees nothing wrong about accepting a luxury jumbo jet as a gift from a foreign government, Australians can feel grateful we haven't reached that level of craziness. Old Donald writes: "It's so hard to isolate any of the egregious American nonsense, with so many stupid acts on display: and yet these buffoons at the top were elected by a free and democratic society. Every American had their chance to say 'F off.' Half of them didn't even exercise their right to vote. We must be so grateful to our forefathers for compulsory voting (regardless of any political reasons they might have had). 2025 has shown that it's what ultimately keeps the sewer rats in their sewers." "Trump needs people around him like RFK Jnr," writes John. "It makes Trump look intelligent." Maggie writes: "The brain worm did a thorough job, and appears to have spread." "I am not overly concerned about President Trump accepting a gift on behalf of the American people," writes Murray. "It's out in the open and apart from the usual quid pro quo resulting from the giving and accepting of a gift, I suspect it's just the normal 'Trump did it so it must be wrong'. It is true though, the current administration in the US resembles a lunatic asylum. Which only shows how incredibly bad the Biden government was. Donald Trump won in a landslide and was given a mandate to fix the country. When voters see Trump as the only viable option things are dire. Dire indeed." Of corruption, Michele writes: "It is the mentality of the public that says it's OK and therefore it grows like cancer and the gifts in exchange for favours gets bigger and more valuable. We are just not always aware of it. On the matter of Medicare, Australia has one of the best systems in the world and other countries should be using us as their benchmark. In a civilised society with the taxes that is raised, we all should have the facilities to keep healthy no matter where we live in our vast country. Keeping the population healthy is an investment in people and in return, they will inject their labour to support it by working longer, either for money or volunteering. We need to keep improving it by supporting Labor for the Urgent Care Clinics. However, we need the health system to tailor them to suit each specific environment to maximise their benefits and reduce overall costs which are higher when attending local hospitals." "The decline of the Roman empire was accompanied by incompetent and amoral leadership, an avaricious elite, corruption, inflation, financial crises, and heavy exploitation of a vast immiserated underclass," writes Phil. "Sounds familiar, does it not? The USA is in terminal decline. A new world order is going to evolve. Australia should earnestly, but cautiously, seek new allies and trading partners. The UK should look to repair its economy by grasping the remarkably providential chance to re-engage with Europe." Jennifer asks: "When did the US have credibility? They market poor quality products and ideas, whether intelligence, health care, poverty or disaster support for their own people. Sadly we copy them and follow them, harming our own people. We deny reality rather than paying attention to those warning us of the risks. We must make informed decisions for Australia's future, rather than lazily travelling in the US slipstream. Hopefully that is now obvious to all. For me, US credibility was lost decades ago with Vietnam, Iraq, exacerbated with Biden sending weapons to Israel so they could kill more civilians and completely trashed with the re-election of Trump and actions since. Too often the US supports others to break international law and abuse ordinary people." "We know why RFK was appointed to his position so his ignorance in health matters just like his boss should not surprise us," writes Arthur. "Medicare in Australia has a fundamental problem that neither side of politics is willing to fix. The problem is that unless a patient pays the full cost of a consultation up front the doctor has to choose between accepting a bulk billing payment or no payment at all. The bulk billing payment is often if not always below the cost of providing quality service. A simple change in the rules to enable the doctor to receive the Medicare payment irrespective of whether the patient has paid a gap or not would go a long way to improving Medicare. The gap payment should be negotiated between the doctor and the patient without government interference." Jan has an admission: "In my young mad days, late primary age, I swam across the Cooks River and back at Undercliffe. I remember a couple stopping, probably in concern, and watching till I clambered onto the bank. All those years ago, there was dirt clinging to my skin!! Stupid!" "Yes, you're right - the US is up Shit Creek with crazy Kennedy as health secretary, the developed world's worst health system and an even more dangerous, unpredictable president," writes David. "Australians and Canadians anti-Trump election votes were sensible and timely. However, we shouldn't be too cocky about our own health system with a worrying decline in vaccination rates, especially for children and a privatised dental system that is beyond the financial reach of many." Patricia writes: "You just drove a few more nails into the coffin of that once great country the USA. I always say that you shouldn't get too wrapped up in the publicity about your greatness, especially when you created the publicity." "The US lost all credibility with me when it elected Donald Trump for the second time," writes Barney. "If it was possible I'd say it's just gone downhill from there - where do you go from 'lost all credibility' anyway? The thing I really find incredible is that other so-called world leaders think it's possible to deal with the current US administration in any way. It isn't. The only thing you can rely upon is that Trump and his minions will do you down despite any 'deal' they might agree to; probably before the felt pen's ink is dry on the documentation. The only way to deal with the US going forward is not to make any deals at all." Chris writes: "Those poor grandchildren! They trust an adult to look after them and he lets them swim in pollution? Are they even vaccinated? And hopefully most Australians have more sense than to OK policies like those in America. As for the gifted aircraft - the superr-ich looking after themselves." "Thanks to Arthur and Col whose comments have moved us past the knee jerk reaction to the case of the 'deserting pollies', the end of that logic trail can unfortunately end at the Stair of Circumlocution," writes Susan (one s). "Moving on, RFK Jnr is perhaps looking for an Olympics in DC and trying to prove that the river is safe? Attempting to assert himself as a whole human being rather than understanding bell curves of ability and immune response? Anyway the rains and cold weather have given me a great excuse to return the Iain M Banks Culture series novels: The Player of Games: 'That intelligence could surpass and excel the blind force of evolution with its emphasis on mutation, struggle and death? That conscious cooperation was more efficient than feral competition?'" Ian writes: "This is so incredible it just defies any sense of logic. There is no intelligence or dignity left in American leadership. I just cannot imagine where this is all leading." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to The footage is haunting. Screaming children, desperate for food, swarming over a makeshift kitchen. Tiny hands scraping what they can from pots emptied by the bigger kids. A few grains of rice and lentils - anything to relieve the aching hunger that's been gnawing at them for more than 80 days, ever since Israel blocked all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. A world away in London, advocacy group UK Lawyers for Israel makes a sickening statement, that the war in Gaza with all its privations might be good for Palestinians, that the lack of food might address their obesity problem - might even increase their life expectancy. Such cavalier insensitivity carries a sinister echo from last century, when Germany was making plans to lay waste to Russia. Similar dehumanising footage emerged in the early days of Operation Barbarossa, when starving Russian POWs behind barbed wire were filmed fighting over scraps of bread tossed to them by their captors. During the Nuremberg trials after the war, Soviet prosecutors estimated 3 million Russians had been starved to death during the German invasion. The policy of denying civilians food even had a name. It was known as the Hunger Plan. Israel denies it is using starvation as a weapon of war. This week it announced it will allow some basic food back into Gaza as it intensifies military operations, including targeting hospitals in relentless air strikes. This, it says, is to avoid a famine. More like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. A much more likely motivation is Donald Trump's recent visit to the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia. It would be hard for the Netanyahu government not to feel a twinge of misgiving that even Trump might be losing patience with its heavy handedness. There's heavy symbolism in Israel being left off the president's itinerary as he toured the Middle East. The growing sense of isolation is evident on the Israeli news websites. This concession on food aid is, however, just a token. Israel says it will allow only 10 per cent of the 600 trucks a day needed to deliver sufficient aid to Gaza. So the harrowing images of hollow-eyed children fighting for scraps of food will continue. They will be a stain on Israel for years to come, just as the terrible images of bloodied Israelis being dragged into Gaza on October 7, 2023 will forever cast Hamas as the personification of barbarity. Israel's fanatical finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has made clear his intentions for Gaza. Early this month he predicted the strip would be destroyed, its population herded into a small swathe of land on the Egyptian border. Israel would annex the entire strip. There's nothing new in Smotrich's hardline attitude towards the Palestinians; he's been hawking it for years. But now even the US is pushing back. When Smotrich called for two Palestinian villages in the West Bank to be "erased" following attacks on settlers last week, the State Department called it an incitement to violence which Prime Minister Netanyahu should disavow. The rebuke, issued when the president was in the Middle East, signals the Trump administration might be beginning to realise something the rest of us have known since the early days of the Gaza war: that two wrongs don't make a right. Never have. Never will. You only have to look at the anguish on those Palestinian children's faces to see that. HAVE YOUR SAY: Is Israel using starvation as a weapon of war? Can it hope to restore its international standing when the world sees images of starving kids fighting for food? Is it finally dawning on the US that Israel's behaviour in Gaza is unacceptable? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Indonesia has raised the alert level of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki to the highest after it erupted eight times over the weekend. Lewotobi Laki-laki, on Flores island in eastern Indonesia, spewed volcanic ash between three to 5.5 kilometres high on Sunday, the nation's volcanology agency said. - Former US president Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer which has spread to his bones. - Hundreds of people across NSW have been arrested during a domestic and family violence blitz. Police arrested 627 people and levied 1316 charges amid Operation Amarok X from May 14 to May 17. THEY SAID IT: "Misery, mutilation, destruction, terror, starvation and death characterise the process of war and form a principal part of the product." - Lewis Mumford YOU SAID IT: When the US health secretary takes a dip in Washington's most contaminated creek and posts about it social media, when the president sees nothing wrong about accepting a luxury jumbo jet as a gift from a foreign government, Australians can feel grateful we haven't reached that level of craziness. Old Donald writes: "It's so hard to isolate any of the egregious American nonsense, with so many stupid acts on display: and yet these buffoons at the top were elected by a free and democratic society. Every American had their chance to say 'F off.' Half of them didn't even exercise their right to vote. We must be so grateful to our forefathers for compulsory voting (regardless of any political reasons they might have had). 2025 has shown that it's what ultimately keeps the sewer rats in their sewers." "Trump needs people around him like RFK Jnr," writes John. "It makes Trump look intelligent." Maggie writes: "The brain worm did a thorough job, and appears to have spread." "I am not overly concerned about President Trump accepting a gift on behalf of the American people," writes Murray. "It's out in the open and apart from the usual quid pro quo resulting from the giving and accepting of a gift, I suspect it's just the normal 'Trump did it so it must be wrong'. It is true though, the current administration in the US resembles a lunatic asylum. Which only shows how incredibly bad the Biden government was. Donald Trump won in a landslide and was given a mandate to fix the country. When voters see Trump as the only viable option things are dire. Dire indeed." Of corruption, Michele writes: "It is the mentality of the public that says it's OK and therefore it grows like cancer and the gifts in exchange for favours gets bigger and more valuable. We are just not always aware of it. On the matter of Medicare, Australia has one of the best systems in the world and other countries should be using us as their benchmark. In a civilised society with the taxes that is raised, we all should have the facilities to keep healthy no matter where we live in our vast country. Keeping the population healthy is an investment in people and in return, they will inject their labour to support it by working longer, either for money or volunteering. We need to keep improving it by supporting Labor for the Urgent Care Clinics. However, we need the health system to tailor them to suit each specific environment to maximise their benefits and reduce overall costs which are higher when attending local hospitals." "The decline of the Roman empire was accompanied by incompetent and amoral leadership, an avaricious elite, corruption, inflation, financial crises, and heavy exploitation of a vast immiserated underclass," writes Phil. "Sounds familiar, does it not? The USA is in terminal decline. A new world order is going to evolve. Australia should earnestly, but cautiously, seek new allies and trading partners. The UK should look to repair its economy by grasping the remarkably providential chance to re-engage with Europe." Jennifer asks: "When did the US have credibility? They market poor quality products and ideas, whether intelligence, health care, poverty or disaster support for their own people. Sadly we copy them and follow them, harming our own people. We deny reality rather than paying attention to those warning us of the risks. We must make informed decisions for Australia's future, rather than lazily travelling in the US slipstream. Hopefully that is now obvious to all. For me, US credibility was lost decades ago with Vietnam, Iraq, exacerbated with Biden sending weapons to Israel so they could kill more civilians and completely trashed with the re-election of Trump and actions since. Too often the US supports others to break international law and abuse ordinary people." "We know why RFK was appointed to his position so his ignorance in health matters just like his boss should not surprise us," writes Arthur. "Medicare in Australia has a fundamental problem that neither side of politics is willing to fix. The problem is that unless a patient pays the full cost of a consultation up front the doctor has to choose between accepting a bulk billing payment or no payment at all. The bulk billing payment is often if not always below the cost of providing quality service. A simple change in the rules to enable the doctor to receive the Medicare payment irrespective of whether the patient has paid a gap or not would go a long way to improving Medicare. The gap payment should be negotiated between the doctor and the patient without government interference." Jan has an admission: "In my young mad days, late primary age, I swam across the Cooks River and back at Undercliffe. I remember a couple stopping, probably in concern, and watching till I clambered onto the bank. All those years ago, there was dirt clinging to my skin!! Stupid!" "Yes, you're right - the US is up Shit Creek with crazy Kennedy as health secretary, the developed world's worst health system and an even more dangerous, unpredictable president," writes David. "Australians and Canadians anti-Trump election votes were sensible and timely. However, we shouldn't be too cocky about our own health system with a worrying decline in vaccination rates, especially for children and a privatised dental system that is beyond the financial reach of many." Patricia writes: "You just drove a few more nails into the coffin of that once great country the USA. I always say that you shouldn't get too wrapped up in the publicity about your greatness, especially when you created the publicity." "The US lost all credibility with me when it elected Donald Trump for the second time," writes Barney. "If it was possible I'd say it's just gone downhill from there - where do you go from 'lost all credibility' anyway? The thing I really find incredible is that other so-called world leaders think it's possible to deal with the current US administration in any way. It isn't. The only thing you can rely upon is that Trump and his minions will do you down despite any 'deal' they might agree to; probably before the felt pen's ink is dry on the documentation. The only way to deal with the US going forward is not to make any deals at all." Chris writes: "Those poor grandchildren! They trust an adult to look after them and he lets them swim in pollution? Are they even vaccinated? And hopefully most Australians have more sense than to OK policies like those in America. As for the gifted aircraft - the superr-ich looking after themselves." "Thanks to Arthur and Col whose comments have moved us past the knee jerk reaction to the case of the 'deserting pollies', the end of that logic trail can unfortunately end at the Stair of Circumlocution," writes Susan (one s). "Moving on, RFK Jnr is perhaps looking for an Olympics in DC and trying to prove that the river is safe? Attempting to assert himself as a whole human being rather than understanding bell curves of ability and immune response? Anyway the rains and cold weather have given me a great excuse to return the Iain M Banks Culture series novels: The Player of Games: 'That intelligence could surpass and excel the blind force of evolution with its emphasis on mutation, struggle and death? That conscious cooperation was more efficient than feral competition?'" Ian writes: "This is so incredible it just defies any sense of logic. There is no intelligence or dignity left in American leadership. I just cannot imagine where this is all leading." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to The footage is haunting. Screaming children, desperate for food, swarming over a makeshift kitchen. Tiny hands scraping what they can from pots emptied by the bigger kids. A few grains of rice and lentils - anything to relieve the aching hunger that's been gnawing at them for more than 80 days, ever since Israel blocked all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. A world away in London, advocacy group UK Lawyers for Israel makes a sickening statement, that the war in Gaza with all its privations might be good for Palestinians, that the lack of food might address their obesity problem - might even increase their life expectancy. Such cavalier insensitivity carries a sinister echo from last century, when Germany was making plans to lay waste to Russia. Similar dehumanising footage emerged in the early days of Operation Barbarossa, when starving Russian POWs behind barbed wire were filmed fighting over scraps of bread tossed to them by their captors. During the Nuremberg trials after the war, Soviet prosecutors estimated 3 million Russians had been starved to death during the German invasion. The policy of denying civilians food even had a name. It was known as the Hunger Plan. Israel denies it is using starvation as a weapon of war. This week it announced it will allow some basic food back into Gaza as it intensifies military operations, including targeting hospitals in relentless air strikes. This, it says, is to avoid a famine. More like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. A much more likely motivation is Donald Trump's recent visit to the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia. It would be hard for the Netanyahu government not to feel a twinge of misgiving that even Trump might be losing patience with its heavy handedness. There's heavy symbolism in Israel being left off the president's itinerary as he toured the Middle East. The growing sense of isolation is evident on the Israeli news websites. This concession on food aid is, however, just a token. Israel says it will allow only 10 per cent of the 600 trucks a day needed to deliver sufficient aid to Gaza. So the harrowing images of hollow-eyed children fighting for scraps of food will continue. They will be a stain on Israel for years to come, just as the terrible images of bloodied Israelis being dragged into Gaza on October 7, 2023 will forever cast Hamas as the personification of barbarity. Israel's fanatical finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has made clear his intentions for Gaza. Early this month he predicted the strip would be destroyed, its population herded into a small swathe of land on the Egyptian border. Israel would annex the entire strip. There's nothing new in Smotrich's hardline attitude towards the Palestinians; he's been hawking it for years. But now even the US is pushing back. When Smotrich called for two Palestinian villages in the West Bank to be "erased" following attacks on settlers last week, the State Department called it an incitement to violence which Prime Minister Netanyahu should disavow. The rebuke, issued when the president was in the Middle East, signals the Trump administration might be beginning to realise something the rest of us have known since the early days of the Gaza war: that two wrongs don't make a right. Never have. Never will. You only have to look at the anguish on those Palestinian children's faces to see that. HAVE YOUR SAY: Is Israel using starvation as a weapon of war? Can it hope to restore its international standing when the world sees images of starving kids fighting for food? Is it finally dawning on the US that Israel's behaviour in Gaza is unacceptable? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Indonesia has raised the alert level of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki to the highest after it erupted eight times over the weekend. Lewotobi Laki-laki, on Flores island in eastern Indonesia, spewed volcanic ash between three to 5.5 kilometres high on Sunday, the nation's volcanology agency said. - Former US president Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer which has spread to his bones. - Hundreds of people across NSW have been arrested during a domestic and family violence blitz. Police arrested 627 people and levied 1316 charges amid Operation Amarok X from May 14 to May 17. THEY SAID IT: "Misery, mutilation, destruction, terror, starvation and death characterise the process of war and form a principal part of the product." - Lewis Mumford YOU SAID IT: When the US health secretary takes a dip in Washington's most contaminated creek and posts about it social media, when the president sees nothing wrong about accepting a luxury jumbo jet as a gift from a foreign government, Australians can feel grateful we haven't reached that level of craziness. Old Donald writes: "It's so hard to isolate any of the egregious American nonsense, with so many stupid acts on display: and yet these buffoons at the top were elected by a free and democratic society. Every American had their chance to say 'F off.' Half of them didn't even exercise their right to vote. We must be so grateful to our forefathers for compulsory voting (regardless of any political reasons they might have had). 2025 has shown that it's what ultimately keeps the sewer rats in their sewers." "Trump needs people around him like RFK Jnr," writes John. "It makes Trump look intelligent." Maggie writes: "The brain worm did a thorough job, and appears to have spread." "I am not overly concerned about President Trump accepting a gift on behalf of the American people," writes Murray. "It's out in the open and apart from the usual quid pro quo resulting from the giving and accepting of a gift, I suspect it's just the normal 'Trump did it so it must be wrong'. It is true though, the current administration in the US resembles a lunatic asylum. Which only shows how incredibly bad the Biden government was. Donald Trump won in a landslide and was given a mandate to fix the country. When voters see Trump as the only viable option things are dire. Dire indeed." Of corruption, Michele writes: "It is the mentality of the public that says it's OK and therefore it grows like cancer and the gifts in exchange for favours gets bigger and more valuable. We are just not always aware of it. On the matter of Medicare, Australia has one of the best systems in the world and other countries should be using us as their benchmark. In a civilised society with the taxes that is raised, we all should have the facilities to keep healthy no matter where we live in our vast country. Keeping the population healthy is an investment in people and in return, they will inject their labour to support it by working longer, either for money or volunteering. We need to keep improving it by supporting Labor for the Urgent Care Clinics. However, we need the health system to tailor them to suit each specific environment to maximise their benefits and reduce overall costs which are higher when attending local hospitals." "The decline of the Roman empire was accompanied by incompetent and amoral leadership, an avaricious elite, corruption, inflation, financial crises, and heavy exploitation of a vast immiserated underclass," writes Phil. "Sounds familiar, does it not? The USA is in terminal decline. A new world order is going to evolve. Australia should earnestly, but cautiously, seek new allies and trading partners. The UK should look to repair its economy by grasping the remarkably providential chance to re-engage with Europe." Jennifer asks: "When did the US have credibility? They market poor quality products and ideas, whether intelligence, health care, poverty or disaster support for their own people. Sadly we copy them and follow them, harming our own people. We deny reality rather than paying attention to those warning us of the risks. We must make informed decisions for Australia's future, rather than lazily travelling in the US slipstream. Hopefully that is now obvious to all. For me, US credibility was lost decades ago with Vietnam, Iraq, exacerbated with Biden sending weapons to Israel so they could kill more civilians and completely trashed with the re-election of Trump and actions since. Too often the US supports others to break international law and abuse ordinary people." "We know why RFK was appointed to his position so his ignorance in health matters just like his boss should not surprise us," writes Arthur. "Medicare in Australia has a fundamental problem that neither side of politics is willing to fix. The problem is that unless a patient pays the full cost of a consultation up front the doctor has to choose between accepting a bulk billing payment or no payment at all. The bulk billing payment is often if not always below the cost of providing quality service. A simple change in the rules to enable the doctor to receive the Medicare payment irrespective of whether the patient has paid a gap or not would go a long way to improving Medicare. The gap payment should be negotiated between the doctor and the patient without government interference." Jan has an admission: "In my young mad days, late primary age, I swam across the Cooks River and back at Undercliffe. I remember a couple stopping, probably in concern, and watching till I clambered onto the bank. All those years ago, there was dirt clinging to my skin!! Stupid!" "Yes, you're right - the US is up Shit Creek with crazy Kennedy as health secretary, the developed world's worst health system and an even more dangerous, unpredictable president," writes David. "Australians and Canadians anti-Trump election votes were sensible and timely. However, we shouldn't be too cocky about our own health system with a worrying decline in vaccination rates, especially for children and a privatised dental system that is beyond the financial reach of many." Patricia writes: "You just drove a few more nails into the coffin of that once great country the USA. I always say that you shouldn't get too wrapped up in the publicity about your greatness, especially when you created the publicity." "The US lost all credibility with me when it elected Donald Trump for the second time," writes Barney. "If it was possible I'd say it's just gone downhill from there - where do you go from 'lost all credibility' anyway? The thing I really find incredible is that other so-called world leaders think it's possible to deal with the current US administration in any way. It isn't. The only thing you can rely upon is that Trump and his minions will do you down despite any 'deal' they might agree to; probably before the felt pen's ink is dry on the documentation. The only way to deal with the US going forward is not to make any deals at all." Chris writes: "Those poor grandchildren! They trust an adult to look after them and he lets them swim in pollution? Are they even vaccinated? And hopefully most Australians have more sense than to OK policies like those in America. As for the gifted aircraft - the superr-ich looking after themselves." "Thanks to Arthur and Col whose comments have moved us past the knee jerk reaction to the case of the 'deserting pollies', the end of that logic trail can unfortunately end at the Stair of Circumlocution," writes Susan (one s). "Moving on, RFK Jnr is perhaps looking for an Olympics in DC and trying to prove that the river is safe? Attempting to assert himself as a whole human being rather than understanding bell curves of ability and immune response? Anyway the rains and cold weather have given me a great excuse to return the Iain M Banks Culture series novels: The Player of Games: 'That intelligence could surpass and excel the blind force of evolution with its emphasis on mutation, struggle and death? That conscious cooperation was more efficient than feral competition?'" Ian writes: "This is so incredible it just defies any sense of logic. There is no intelligence or dignity left in American leadership. I just cannot imagine where this is all leading." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to The footage is haunting. Screaming children, desperate for food, swarming over a makeshift kitchen. Tiny hands scraping what they can from pots emptied by the bigger kids. A few grains of rice and lentils - anything to relieve the aching hunger that's been gnawing at them for more than 80 days, ever since Israel blocked all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. A world away in London, advocacy group UK Lawyers for Israel makes a sickening statement, that the war in Gaza with all its privations might be good for Palestinians, that the lack of food might address their obesity problem - might even increase their life expectancy. Such cavalier insensitivity carries a sinister echo from last century, when Germany was making plans to lay waste to Russia. Similar dehumanising footage emerged in the early days of Operation Barbarossa, when starving Russian POWs behind barbed wire were filmed fighting over scraps of bread tossed to them by their captors. During the Nuremberg trials after the war, Soviet prosecutors estimated 3 million Russians had been starved to death during the German invasion. The policy of denying civilians food even had a name. It was known as the Hunger Plan. Israel denies it is using starvation as a weapon of war. This week it announced it will allow some basic food back into Gaza as it intensifies military operations, including targeting hospitals in relentless air strikes. This, it says, is to avoid a famine. More like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. A much more likely motivation is Donald Trump's recent visit to the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia. It would be hard for the Netanyahu government not to feel a twinge of misgiving that even Trump might be losing patience with its heavy handedness. There's heavy symbolism in Israel being left off the president's itinerary as he toured the Middle East. The growing sense of isolation is evident on the Israeli news websites. This concession on food aid is, however, just a token. Israel says it will allow only 10 per cent of the 600 trucks a day needed to deliver sufficient aid to Gaza. So the harrowing images of hollow-eyed children fighting for scraps of food will continue. They will be a stain on Israel for years to come, just as the terrible images of bloodied Israelis being dragged into Gaza on October 7, 2023 will forever cast Hamas as the personification of barbarity. Israel's fanatical finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has made clear his intentions for Gaza. Early this month he predicted the strip would be destroyed, its population herded into a small swathe of land on the Egyptian border. Israel would annex the entire strip. There's nothing new in Smotrich's hardline attitude towards the Palestinians; he's been hawking it for years. But now even the US is pushing back. When Smotrich called for two Palestinian villages in the West Bank to be "erased" following attacks on settlers last week, the State Department called it an incitement to violence which Prime Minister Netanyahu should disavow. The rebuke, issued when the president was in the Middle East, signals the Trump administration might be beginning to realise something the rest of us have known since the early days of the Gaza war: that two wrongs don't make a right. Never have. Never will. You only have to look at the anguish on those Palestinian children's faces to see that. HAVE YOUR SAY: Is Israel using starvation as a weapon of war? Can it hope to restore its international standing when the world sees images of starving kids fighting for food? Is it finally dawning on the US that Israel's behaviour in Gaza is unacceptable? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Indonesia has raised the alert level of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki to the highest after it erupted eight times over the weekend. Lewotobi Laki-laki, on Flores island in eastern Indonesia, spewed volcanic ash between three to 5.5 kilometres high on Sunday, the nation's volcanology agency said. - Former US president Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer which has spread to his bones. - Hundreds of people across NSW have been arrested during a domestic and family violence blitz. Police arrested 627 people and levied 1316 charges amid Operation Amarok X from May 14 to May 17. THEY SAID IT: "Misery, mutilation, destruction, terror, starvation and death characterise the process of war and form a principal part of the product." - Lewis Mumford YOU SAID IT: When the US health secretary takes a dip in Washington's most contaminated creek and posts about it social media, when the president sees nothing wrong about accepting a luxury jumbo jet as a gift from a foreign government, Australians can feel grateful we haven't reached that level of craziness. Old Donald writes: "It's so hard to isolate any of the egregious American nonsense, with so many stupid acts on display: and yet these buffoons at the top were elected by a free and democratic society. Every American had their chance to say 'F off.' Half of them didn't even exercise their right to vote. We must be so grateful to our forefathers for compulsory voting (regardless of any political reasons they might have had). 2025 has shown that it's what ultimately keeps the sewer rats in their sewers." "Trump needs people around him like RFK Jnr," writes John. "It makes Trump look intelligent." Maggie writes: "The brain worm did a thorough job, and appears to have spread." "I am not overly concerned about President Trump accepting a gift on behalf of the American people," writes Murray. "It's out in the open and apart from the usual quid pro quo resulting from the giving and accepting of a gift, I suspect it's just the normal 'Trump did it so it must be wrong'. It is true though, the current administration in the US resembles a lunatic asylum. Which only shows how incredibly bad the Biden government was. Donald Trump won in a landslide and was given a mandate to fix the country. When voters see Trump as the only viable option things are dire. Dire indeed." Of corruption, Michele writes: "It is the mentality of the public that says it's OK and therefore it grows like cancer and the gifts in exchange for favours gets bigger and more valuable. We are just not always aware of it. On the matter of Medicare, Australia has one of the best systems in the world and other countries should be using us as their benchmark. In a civilised society with the taxes that is raised, we all should have the facilities to keep healthy no matter where we live in our vast country. Keeping the population healthy is an investment in people and in return, they will inject their labour to support it by working longer, either for money or volunteering. We need to keep improving it by supporting Labor for the Urgent Care Clinics. However, we need the health system to tailor them to suit each specific environment to maximise their benefits and reduce overall costs which are higher when attending local hospitals." "The decline of the Roman empire was accompanied by incompetent and amoral leadership, an avaricious elite, corruption, inflation, financial crises, and heavy exploitation of a vast immiserated underclass," writes Phil. "Sounds familiar, does it not? The USA is in terminal decline. A new world order is going to evolve. Australia should earnestly, but cautiously, seek new allies and trading partners. The UK should look to repair its economy by grasping the remarkably providential chance to re-engage with Europe." Jennifer asks: "When did the US have credibility? They market poor quality products and ideas, whether intelligence, health care, poverty or disaster support for their own people. Sadly we copy them and follow them, harming our own people. We deny reality rather than paying attention to those warning us of the risks. We must make informed decisions for Australia's future, rather than lazily travelling in the US slipstream. Hopefully that is now obvious to all. For me, US credibility was lost decades ago with Vietnam, Iraq, exacerbated with Biden sending weapons to Israel so they could kill more civilians and completely trashed with the re-election of Trump and actions since. Too often the US supports others to break international law and abuse ordinary people." "We know why RFK was appointed to his position so his ignorance in health matters just like his boss should not surprise us," writes Arthur. "Medicare in Australia has a fundamental problem that neither side of politics is willing to fix. The problem is that unless a patient pays the full cost of a consultation up front the doctor has to choose between accepting a bulk billing payment or no payment at all. The bulk billing payment is often if not always below the cost of providing quality service. A simple change in the rules to enable the doctor to receive the Medicare payment irrespective of whether the patient has paid a gap or not would go a long way to improving Medicare. The gap payment should be negotiated between the doctor and the patient without government interference." Jan has an admission: "In my young mad days, late primary age, I swam across the Cooks River and back at Undercliffe. I remember a couple stopping, probably in concern, and watching till I clambered onto the bank. All those years ago, there was dirt clinging to my skin!! Stupid!" "Yes, you're right - the US is up Shit Creek with crazy Kennedy as health secretary, the developed world's worst health system and an even more dangerous, unpredictable president," writes David. "Australians and Canadians anti-Trump election votes were sensible and timely. However, we shouldn't be too cocky about our own health system with a worrying decline in vaccination rates, especially for children and a privatised dental system that is beyond the financial reach of many." Patricia writes: "You just drove a few more nails into the coffin of that once great country the USA. I always say that you shouldn't get too wrapped up in the publicity about your greatness, especially when you created the publicity." "The US lost all credibility with me when it elected Donald Trump for the second time," writes Barney. "If it was possible I'd say it's just gone downhill from there - where do you go from 'lost all credibility' anyway? The thing I really find incredible is that other so-called world leaders think it's possible to deal with the current US administration in any way. It isn't. The only thing you can rely upon is that Trump and his minions will do you down despite any 'deal' they might agree to; probably before the felt pen's ink is dry on the documentation. The only way to deal with the US going forward is not to make any deals at all." Chris writes: "Those poor grandchildren! They trust an adult to look after them and he lets them swim in pollution? Are they even vaccinated? And hopefully most Australians have more sense than to OK policies like those in America. As for the gifted aircraft - the superr-ich looking after themselves." "Thanks to Arthur and Col whose comments have moved us past the knee jerk reaction to the case of the 'deserting pollies', the end of that logic trail can unfortunately end at the Stair of Circumlocution," writes Susan (one s). "Moving on, RFK Jnr is perhaps looking for an Olympics in DC and trying to prove that the river is safe? Attempting to assert himself as a whole human being rather than understanding bell curves of ability and immune response? Anyway the rains and cold weather have given me a great excuse to return the Iain M Banks Culture series novels: The Player of Games: 'That intelligence could surpass and excel the blind force of evolution with its emphasis on mutation, struggle and death? That conscious cooperation was more efficient than feral competition?'" Ian writes: "This is so incredible it just defies any sense of logic. There is no intelligence or dignity left in American leadership. I just cannot imagine where this is all leading."
Fox News
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
MORNING GLORY: A 'Big Four' run the world now that the fog of the Biden regency-era has lifted
In the period of most intense conflict during World War II, Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin contended against Hitler, Mussolini and the leadership of Imperial Japan (primarily Hideki Tojo) for control of the world. Armies and navies circled the globe, clashed repeatedly over vast spaces. The cost in lives soared above 70 million people as a result of that cataclysm. The peak war years occurred after Hitler had double-crossed Marshall Stalin and invaded the Soviet Union. That Stalin had been our enemy the day before did not matter the day after Operation Barbarossa launched. Suddenly Stalin was part of "the big three" with Churchill and FDR. There are many great and inspiring figures from that era who played major roles in defeating the Axis Powers, and even among the "big three," Harry Truman would replace FDR after the latter's death just as Clement Attlee replaced Churchill on July 26, 1945 after an election dissolved the national government after VE Day, but before VJ Day. There were so many legendary figures of enormous but still secondary importance — Generals George Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower, Admirals Ernest King and Chester Nimitz and France's great inspiration Charles DeGaulle, China's long dueling combatants and sometimes allies against the Imperial Japanese, Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek, and a host of senior military and civilian leaders commanding armies of millions across continents. But for much of the time there were only the five men who mattered most and who had the authority to decide the great and dread questions: Churchill, FDR, Stalin, Hitler and Tojo. We have found ourselves in another of those moments of history where only a handful of very powerful figures make decisions for the world: United States President Donald Trump, People's Republic of China General Secretary Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and … Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There are other executives with nuclear weapons in their countries' arsenals, primarily Indian Prime Minister Modi and Pakistan's Pakistan National Command Authority. North Korea's Kim Jong Un has a small arsenal and is erratic but not apparently suicidal. None of these powers are in anything like the current "big four." United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron control nuclear arsenals, but would never even think of rattling them without U.S. consent and guidance. It is a world almost wholly dependent on four men who must be understood by the other three to be willing, if they needed to, to unleash hell on the planet in retaliation for a nuclear strike on their homeland. This is not an imminent risk now as it was, say, during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Whatever we think about Putin — and he is a war criminal — he does not seem intent on triggering Armeggedon. None of them do. The most dangerous situation is the desire for the PRC to take over Taiwan, but Xi must know that the United States and its allies would oppose such an invasion and by means quite extraordinary and sufficient to the task, via capabilities only hinted at in public. So the world is, while not peaceful, stable as to the superpowers and their potential for conflict among themselves. But one government, possessed in the future of such a nuclear weapons arsenal, would in fact pose an imminent risk of nuclear Armageddon for it is a regime of theocrats — fanatics who may see it as their religious mission to bring about the apocalypse: The Islamic Republic of Iran. Which is why Saturday's pulverizing strikes against the Houthis was such an important step for President Trump to take and why I think the war against Hamas will resume soon unless Hamas releases its remaining hostages and escapes to Iran to hide there as best they can, even as Iran deconstructs its nuclear program in full view of the world. The world cannot afford fanatics with nukes and the world cannot afford a repeat of the horror of 10/7/23 when Hamas invaded Israel and slaughtered 1200, wounded 5,000 and kidnapped 250 innocents. Other powerful countries are rising in the world that will, eventually, obtain nuclear weapons. It has to be hoped that they are all countries with regimes that do not seek an end — literally — to history. Each will seek their own paths and develop their own alliances. It is to be hoped that the People's Republic of China wants only superpower status and not an exclusive economic zone or an invasion of Taiwan which would almost certainly trigger Cold War 2.0 to escalate to World War 3. But for the next 45 months, at least, the United States has a president and he and a set of advisors who will simply end the Iranian regime, likely in concert with Israel and moderate Sunni states, if Iran does not move quickly to disassemble its nuclear program, now naked and exposed after 17 months of direct and indirect war with Israel. America is back as Israel's strong strategic partner. The Biden regency of fog and confusion is past. Putin can chose too to take the off-ramp that Trump built for him in eight weeks, but that will be the Russian dictator's call. If Putin refuses the end of the war, Trump should rally the West to President Zelensky in ways that dwarf the feeble and trembling half-steps of the Biden Regency. It did not take long at all for the world to see everything as it is, even if the world doesn't see everything the U.S. has at its command, the capabilities it can use. Ten thousand commentators with opinions and no clearances or authorities, and a thousand senior commanders with clearances and authorities but no opinions, just chains of command, are on watch. Rarely has everything been this clear.
Arab News
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Time for Netanyahu to launch a full Oct. 7 inquiry
In a low-key ceremony at the headquarters of the Israeli military last week, Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi, who commanded the army during the calamitous Oct. 7 Hamas massacre and its aftermath, was replaced by Eyal Zamir. Although Halevi announced his departure some time ago, it was fitting that the ceremony should take place shortly after an investigation by the Israeli military released a report admitting what we all know — that it 'failed in its mission to protect Israeli civilians.' But what shockingly emerges from the details of this failure is that the entire catastrophe could have been prevented. In the same week, an investigation by Shin Bet, the internal security service, also revealed that, for several years, the organization had failed to identify Hamas' plan to attack Israel. And not because of a lack of the necessary information, but because it believed that Hamas was under control. Yet, it still warned the government against complacency regarding the intentions of this Islamist organization, regardless of any specific attack plan. As such, these conclusions amount to nothing that we could not have deduced by ourselves. However, these powerful and honest investigations by two of Israel's most crucial security organizations, in addition to Mossad, are beginning to assemble the jigsaw puzzle that ought to provide a full picture of the truth. They will also enable any identified shortcomings to be fixed for the sake of preventing any such future catastrophes, as well as allowing Israeli society to begin its healing process. What shockingly emerges from the details of this failure is that the entire catastrophe could have been prevented Yossi Mekelberg The task of the military is to defend its citizens and borders from enemy attacks and the naked truth is that it failed in the most colossal manner, with immeasurable consequences for the Israeli people, the Palestinians and the region as whole. As we might have expected, many senior commanders have already taken responsibility and retired from service. Yet, not one politician — first and foremost Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — has been prepared to admit any responsibility for the failure to defend their own citizens. Instead, in their audacity, they have portrayed themselves as victims of a system that deliberately led them to fail, which is a complete absurdity. Calamitous strategic surprises with far-reaching consequences are not unknown in history. Pearl Harbor and Operation Barbarossa, both during the Second World War; the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968; Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990; and, in Israel's case, the coordinated attack by Egypt and Syria in 1973, are just a small sample of such surprises. What they all have in common — beyond the element of surprise — is that, despite ample warning signs, it was misperceptions and preconceived ideas held by decision-makers at the political and military levels about the intentions of the attacker and their capabilities that led to calamity. The Israeli military and Shin Bet have done the only thing that you could expect of organizations that have failed those whom they had a duty to protect in such a spectacular, tragic way: they have thoroughly investigated how they suffered such an eclipse of judgment regarding their enemy. Until Oct. 7, Israelis believed that, regardless of Hamas' ill intentions and even its capabilities, the border between Gaza and Israel was impenetrable. Only two years before the Hamas attack, Israel completed a barrier that featured a sensor-equipped underground wall, a 6-meter-high above-ground fence and a barrier at sea with monitoring equipment to detect incursions from the water at a staggering cost of $1.1 billion. This security fence was even equipped with remotely controlled weapons systems and an array of radar systems with cameras that covered the entire territory of the Gaza Strip. Who could have believed that, not only would it take less than an hour to make this obstacle obsolete, but also that the Israeli forces would take so many hours to reach the communities on the border and those at the Nova festival while people were being massacred. The soldiers in the bases and the civilians who carried weapons fought heroically to stop the waves of attack, but the failure of the senior command to take seriously warnings from spotters in the days and weeks leading up to the attack — and put all the bases on high alert and mobilize more troops — beggars belief. The most basic maxim in this kind of scenario, 'better safe than sorry,' eluded them. This was because of a combination of dogma, complacency, arrogance and groupthink, let alone a lack of discipline when procedures that should have been activated due to suspicions were ignored. Shin Bet's inquiry did not pull any punches regarding the government's role and Netanyahu's personal misjudgment Yossi Mekelberg The military investigation focused on its own conceptual and operational failures and was careful to avoid linking itself directly with the responsibility on the political level. Yet, the divisions in Israeli society caused by the government allowing foreign money to finance Hamas set the conceptual framework for assuming that Hamas was pacified. Unlike the military probe, Shin Bet's inquiry did not pull any punches regarding the government's role and Netanyahu's personal misjudgment that contributed to Oct. 7. It is not that the organization and its head Ronen Bar relinquished their own responsibility, but for the first time they formally stated that allowing money to be funneled to Hamas, with the encouragement of Netanyahu, as a way of maintaining 'quiet' in Gaza, was a major factor in building Hamas' military capability and a crucial factor that enabled Hamas to prepare for the attack. Moreover, Shin Bet officials had, prior to that day, warned their political superiors that 'we are entering an unstable period' and that only by proactive action against Hamas, including targeting its leadership, would Israel avoid being pulled into another round of fighting. One can question the legality and the effectiveness of targeted assassinations, but it is fair to assume that Netanyahu and his Cabinet colleagues were ignoring these warnings. In the Knesset chamber last week, Netanyahu suggested that the findings of such an inquiry would be 'predetermined' against him. This reflects both his paranoia and calculated evasiveness. Playing the victim could hardly wash in this case and the person at the top of the pyramid is always responsible when things go so disastrously wrong, but here he also set the policies and instructed the security forces how to operate. The only decent thing the prime minister can do for the memory of those who lost their lives and their families, as well as those taken hostage, is ensure that the full truth about whose mistakes led to this calamity is thoroughly sought out and investigated by an apolitical state commission of inquiry — immediately. Yossi Mekelberg is a professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. X: @YMekelberg
