Since I’m perennially behind on my obligatory blogging – the Watchers Council bloggers and the One Jerusalem folks now know how my adviser feels – the audio for this conference call has been up for a couple days. If you haven’t grabbed it you should: Eitam is on the Knesset intelligence committee so while he’s not speaking for the government he has an excellent sense of Israeli political dynamics. One of the more striking parts of the call was when he rejected out of hand the widespread rumor that the Israeli government was considering a ceasefire. And of course – given how Israel has brushed aside the formal UN ceasefire resolution today – he was obviously right.
At this point it’s almost like journalists are just guessing about what Olmert, Livni, and Barak are thinking. Livni has staked her political career on the peace process but started being vocally ideological in early November and was done with the non-ceasefire by early December. Olmert had long been reticent to use force but he has just a few months to shake off his Lebanon II legacy.
The recent holdout to attacking Hamas was always supposed to be Barak. But at this point I wouldn’t trust him to tell me what color the sky is when IAF planes fly through it. His head fakes leading up to Cast Lead were pitch-perfect, sending the Israeli right into outright hysterics and costing Hamas dearly. The humanitarian truce rumors during the first few days were apparently pure disinformation. Barak’s public blanket opposition to military force was always a little weird and he seems awfully familiar with very precise operational logistics for someone’s who’s been spending time opposing the operation.
It might be that the MFA has adopted the Iranian approach to international resolutions. For any given ceasefire proposal – from the Egypt-France proposal to the UN resolution itself – take it and promise to “study” it. Then have half the political establishment leak that they’re inclined to accept the proposal while the other half publicly declares that it’s a non-starter. Meanwhile establish irreversible facts on the ground. It’s diplomatic filibustering, except in this case in the interest of defeating a genocidal agenda.
References and previously after the jump…
References:
* AUDIO EXCLUSIVE :: ONE JERUSALEM INTERVIEW WITH ISRAELI GENERAL EFFIE EITAM (RES) [One Jerusalem]
* Breaking: Israel Accepts Truce? (UPDATE: Effie Eitam Calls Bullshit) [MR]
* Mere Rhetoric: Breaking: Israel Accepts Truce? (UPDATE: Effie Eitam Calls Bullshit) [YNet]
* Livni: Elections about voting for peace [JPost]
* Livni tells GA: Israel’s raison d’etre is its Jewish identity [Ha'aretz]
* Livni: Hey, I Guess These Daily Rocket Attacks Aren’t Much Of A Ceasefire After All [MR]
* Keith Ellison comments on Olmert [Boker Tov Boulder]
* Barak: No Seriously, The Rockets Will Stop Or The IDF Will Stop The Rockets [MR]
* Labor: Eldad’s demand to indict Barak ‘incitement’ [JPost]
* Hamas source: IDF strike unexpected [YNet]
* Are “Humanitarian Truce” Rumors Just More Strategic Israeli Disinformation? [MR]
* Barak says Gaza partially besieged [YNet]
* Israel opens up corridor for relief [Australian]
* Israel bombards Gaza as U.S. backs ceasefire proposal [Reuters]
Previously:
* Hamas Launching Dozens Of Rockets From Palestinian Neighborhoods, Attacking Israeli Troops (Plus: US Announces $14 Million In New Aid)
* Hamas Brags About Violating Truce, More Rockets Fall On Israeli Schools And Hospitals
* Hamas Now Literally Bombing Israeli Schoolhouses
