ALGEMEINER
by Moshe Phillips and Benyamin Korn
July 22, 2014
With Hamas reeling from Israel’s military strikes, Secretary of State John Kerry is rushing to the Middle East – to try to get Israel to cease firing. Bad move. Rescuing Hamas should not be on America’s agenda. The vaguely pro-Israel rhetoric emanating from the White House in the first days of the war helped keep Congress and the American Jewish community from criticizing the Obama Administration. But it did not reflect the Administration’s true feelings. We know what Secretary Kerry thinks, thanks to yet another one of those I-thought-the-microphone-was-off moments that have become a staple of American political life in recent years.
Moments before his July 20 appearance on Fox News Sunday, Kerry, not realizing his microphone was “hot,” spoke frankly to his assistant Jonathan Finer, revealing his true feelings about Israel. Referring to the killing of Israeli soldiers by Hamas, Kerry said to Finer, “I hope they don’t think that’s an invitation to go do more. That better be the warning to them.”
Kerry’s instinctive response was not sympathy for the Israeli victims, or anger at the Hamas killers, or frustration at the Palestinian Authority’s collaboration with Hamas. No, his immediate reaction was to worry that Israel might “do more” against Hamas. His hope is that the Hamas terror will be “the warning to them [the Israelis]” to stop striking at the terrorists.
That wasn’t all. Kerry then said to Finer – still on the open microphone, for all the world to hear: “It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation, it’s a hell of a pinpoint operation” – a sarcastic jab at Israel’s attempts to avoid civilian casualties in its anti-terror operation. Israel’s efforts to spare Palestinian civilians have been unprecedented in the history of warfare. They have forfeited the element of surprise by announcing to the Palestinian populace where the next Israeli actions will be. They have dropped leaflets over targeted areas. They have telephoned residents to warn them to get out of the way. No other army in the world would behave this way.
The Washington Post reported on July 21 that Israel’s advance warnings to the residents of the Shijaiyah neighborhood were what led to the killing of 13 Israeli soldiers there: “The Israeli military had warned residents a few days earlier of the impending push into the neighborhood…The militants used that information to their advantage. ‘They knew exactly where to wait for us,’ said [an Israeli] official…”…..
ArchitectGuy on Israel 