The Guardian reported on Wednesday the 18th March that Binyamin Netanyahu scored a dramatic victory after a late surge in support in the Israeli election, after the highest voter turnout in recent memory (72.3%). Netanyahu was trailing in the last opinion polls before the election.

Congratulations to Binyamin Netanyahu for winning the Israeli election this month. The world is safer for him being back in power. It seems that the worldwide socialists and their buddies in the media such as the New York Times and the Guardian were all hoping that he would be knocked out and that one of their own would be voted in, but the Israelis have spoken and they know a lot more than your armchair pundits around the world. Everything the leftist ‘progressives’ could do to take him out failed and he won a remarkable victory.

Survival is the name of the game in Israel, literally. If you had armed thugs outside ready to beat down the door of your house and attack your family your mind would be concentrated in nano seconds and at the very least you’d have the baseball bat ready. So Israel continues to be the canary in the mine, the first line of defence against Islamic fundamentalism trying to take over the land that the original ancient Israel settled thousands of years ago. That’s the reason why an eminent professor from the London School of Economics, yes, that prestigious British educational institution, said recently on Radio 5 Live that western governments should unequivocally support Israel. He knows a thing or two about reality.

As for friction with Israeli Arabs in the election, well, elections could get pretty nasty in any western democracy in the slurs, counter slurs, accusations and downright lies and deception, exactly what happens when you have humans around. Yet Arabs are well represented in the 20th Knesset, 17 of them (14% of the total seats), almost the proportion of Arabs in the population. Now that’s an interesting point. What percentage can the Mother of Parliaments boast for minorities like blacks?

I am no expert on Netanyahu, but I see him as a warrior, and Israel needs a warrior to lead it, just as the UK and the U.S. need a warrior, but do not have. You only have to look at him to see he has a certain air of confidence and decisiveness. Amazingly we had our own warrior here in the UK, when Winston Churchill, flawed though he was, was raised up to deal with the prevailing evil. Under Netanyahu there will be no Palestinian state in the present climate as he understands the mortal danger that Israel would come under if they allowed a so called Palestinian state to be established up against its borders. Do you really beIieve that a Palestinian state snuggling to Israel’s borders would not be a conduit for immense evil, as Islamic fundamentalists pour in to ‘drive Israel into the sea?’

‘I think that anyone who moves to establish a Palestinian state and evacuates territory gives territory away to radical Islamist attacks against Israel,’ Netanyahu said. ‘The left has buried its head in the sand time after time and ignores this, but we are realistic and understand.’

However, Netanyahu has been criticised for his stance and has taken a more conciliatory tone since the election, hinting that if circumstances change, there might be room for a two state solution. Well, I guess that’s politics for you. It seems that he would be open to a demilitarised Palestinian state if conditions are satisfactory and Mr President Abbas recognises Israel as a Jewish state. However, it is difficult to see how circumstances would change, given an insurgent radical Islam and an intransigent Israeli position. As Netanyahu has already observed, Islamist forces have taken every territory vacated in the Middle East.

Obama was probably hoping and praying that Netanyahu would fail and be replaced by one of his own, someone of a liberal left appeasement mentality would fit the bill I am sure, a centrist, a social democrat or suchlike. It was even said that Obama had backed a bunch of activists ‘bussed in’ from the States to try and influence the election against Netanyahu. This campaign was run by Jeremy Bird, of the Chicago school of politics, doing consulting work for the group V15, an Israeli group campaigning to replace the Israeli government. Reminds me of when the Guardianistas in the UK tried to influence the Bush election and got short shrift from our US cousins ‘How dare you limeys with your filthy yellow teeth try to tell us who to vote for,’ was the gist of one rebuke issued back across the pond.

When you are facing great evil that threatens the annihilation of your nation you need a leader who can recognise that evil, state what it is and face it down head on without flinching. That leader will have flaws, offend people and get some things very wrong, but they will have the courage and authority to deal with overwhelming wickedness. Sadly, we live in a world where you have to fight for your freedom and liberty, that there are lots of nasty people out there who will take you out if you are not armed to the teeth. It was ever the way, to keep your liberty you have to fight for it. If you want peace, prepare for war as some very wise man said!

If there is one thing guaranteed to split opinion strongly in any polite dinner party it’s the Palestinian Israeli conflict which has flared up again over the last month or two.
I will always stand with Israel as the first line of defence against militant Islam. If you care about the future of the world then you will stand foursquare with Israel who are the canary in the mine. Unlike the majority of democracies in the West Israel’s first priority is to survive against a murderous foe who wish to destroy them and build a worldwide caliphate. It’s OK for people over here in the UK to criticize Israel for disproportionate responses, the media, radical leftists, Moslems and other assorted denizens who swallow the liberal worldview of organizations like the BBC, but if you live in Israel or have visited that country as I have you know that it’s a bit like people throwing bricks into your back garden all the time. What would you do with a terrorist enclave parked next door to you?
I’d say the first responsibility of any government is the safety and security of its citizens, and that means having a very powerful military designed to crush anyone who invades or attacks your nation. That means using overwhelming force if necessary to protect the lives of the people under your wing. There is a wider strategic issue here. Hamas represent militant Islam, and come from the very same stable as the ISIS fanatics sweeping through Iraq, El Shabab in Somalia, Boko Haram in Nigeria and all the other Islamist movements worldwide. So when you see ’Jihad John’ on the front pages of your newspapers involved in yet another beheading it’s the exact same spirit driving him as the spirit driving those Hamas fighters in Gaza. And some of these dangerous people are walking the streets of Britain as evidenced by the Lee Rigby tragedy. It is simply a many headed monster with the same root. So the west had better know its enemy. If the US is making airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq to stop genocide they should be ready to give Hamas no quarter. The same spirit that drives Hamas as they fight Israel is coming for us in the west and hates us almost as much as it hates Israel. That point is fundamental, and that spirit could make its presence felt in greater measure on British streets sooner than we think, so Britain needs to be on a ‘war footing.’
Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East where Jews and Arabs live alongside one another and Arabs have more rights than anywhere else in the Middle East, they can even enter government, and still we get accusations of Israel being Nazis or racist, of being an apartheid state and goodness knows what else. Aramaic and Arab Christians in Israel even join the IDF even though they are exempted from national service. Israel gives great freedom to religious minorities, so the Jewish state’s Christian minority is treated much better than in surrounding Arab nations such as Egypt, Syria and Iraq. Politicians and churchmen, bishops and university professors, ant Semites and Jew haters pontificate from on high about the wrongs of Israeli actions, but Israel understands better than any country on earth the mentality of the people they are dealing with. They understand that the only way you deal with militant Islam on a political and state level is with overwhelming force, because sadly force is the only word that militant Islamists understand, bar any of them having a Damascene conversion experience.

One of the most underappreciated things in this issue is the difference in mindset between your average British liberal and a militant Islamist. Relatively few if any indigenous Brits in our present climate understand the mindset they are facing or have any idea of the level of ruthlessness needed to deal with it. The western mind set is so conditioned by human rights, diversity and anti discrimination ideology that you really wonder whether if confronted by great evil, we would be effectively able to deal with it. It is no surprise to me that because Israel understands far better what they are dealing with than we do, a recent poll said that 86.5% of Israelis believe that Israel must destroy Hamas in this operation, and that there must be no permanent ceasefire until that has been achieved. So Israel sadly has a huge problem because of the level of casualties that will be suffered.
Of course none of this means that I support any and every Israeli action, they make mistakes just like any other nation in the conduct of war and otherwise. But they are defending their land, an ancient homeland going back thousands of years, way, way before Islam or even Christianity ever appeared as the new kid on the block. They now have their own land back after nearly 2000 years of exile. They are a tiny country, only the size of Wales, and it is unrealistic to expect them to give up any more of their land. Gaza is a parable of what will happen if they concede any more land. Under Ariel Sharon Israel withdrew from Gaza, only to have a terrorist enclave develop on their doorstep. They have every right to defend themselves just like any other country on earth.
The state of Israel is a modern miracle whatever you say. It has made the desert bloom and is a remarkably gifted and technologically advanced economy, despite its problems. It is number 19 in the world HDI (Human Development Index) which is a measure of economic development in terms of GDI, life expectancy and education. Even great Britons of the past such as Lord Shaftsbury recognized before the state of Israel was ever set up that the Jews needed a homeland after wandering the earth for thousands of years. Israel now is a final refuge for Jews whenever they are hounded out of countries around the world that take a dislike to them. There is a dangerous rise of anti Israel sentiment rising up in Europe right now which is mixed up with anti-Semitism. Those who try to delegitimize Israel are treading on very shaky ground. A litmus test of any culture or society is how it treats its Jews, and I would add to that whether it supports Israel or not. It ties in with our very humanity and regard for our fellow man.
You now have a group called BDS, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, the leaders of which have stated their movement’s goal is the end of Israel, even rejecting a two state solution. You just cannot boycott everything Israel produces in the twenty first century, when things like instant messaging , voicemail technology and SIM cards were developed in Israel! Such a group should be vigorously opposed and exposed.
The media has a very powerful grip on the mindset of the west, and so is answerable for a lot. That’s why we need to sift and weigh up what we hear, aligned with personal experience and gut feeling. We have heard plenty about Hamas cynically using human shields and their disregard for human life, that’s not difficult to swallow given the track record of militant Islam. There is plenty of talk of how Hamas use schools and hospitals to cynically base arms, knowing they will be targeted by Israel. Just how much power do Hamas hold over journalists and news broadcasters through intimidation, threats of violence, bullying and even bribery? Everyone has their price. To what extent is the UN compromised by Israel haters within its ranks?
It’s best not just to swallow one point of view, and it’s also worth listening to people who know just a little bit more about the circumstances in Gaza than your average armchair pundit in the west. That’s why it’s worth listening to the son of a Hamas founder here speaking on American TV giving us the truth about Hamas, and not some of the politically correct casserole we get in the British media. There is nothing like listening to someone who has been in the situation and knows the mindset of the terrorist. ‘Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.’ I always remember Shimon Peres saying on TV years ago that the PLO had one language for Europe and another for the Middle East. It is the same with groups like Hamas, they have one language to suit the western liberal progressive taste, the language of victimhood and so on, and another language that fits the Middle East. It is in their interest to paint Israel in the worst possible light to western viewers to win the propaganda battle. It takes a little bit more discernment to understand exactly the rights and wrongs of this conflict.
Here is the clip:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KakxXN5Z-XI

A huge amount is made of proportionality in this conflict. Where do they get this idea of proportionality? Have military leaders over the centuries sat down before a battle and discussed whether they are going to kill and injure an excessive amount of people in comparison with their own potential losses. In the Second World War the UK and US flattened one city after another in Germany to help bring the war to an end, and the US resorted to an atom bomb to finish off the Japanese. How many military commanders in recent times have thought of proportionality in their dealings with the enemy, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, the Balkans, etc. Regardless of losses, horrific and wasteful on both sides, I hardly think the Israeli military go out of their way to kill as many people as possible.
Don’t forget the provocation Israel has had. The Israel Defence Force website reports that since Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip in 2005 terrorists have fired more than 11000 rockets into Israel, with over 5million Israelis under threat of rocket attacks. Let’s just think about the area they are targeting. Israel as I say is the size of Wales, or if you think of it in terms of London and the south east of England, very roughly similar in area to a chunk of England stretching down to Bournemouth and north towards Cambridge. The Hamas charter has the basic goal of destroying the State of Israel and their foot-soldiers are tucked into the borders of your nation. It would be a bit like belligerents continually firing rockets into the Home Counties from northern France. Can you imagine England sitting back for years and doing nothing about it?
If the world is so concerned about the bloodshed in Gaza perhaps they should get together with Israel to take some responsibility for the area and negotiate some sort of occupation to weed out the terrorists and help destroy all the terror tunnels that have been built with cement supplied by Israel to build houses in Gaza. You could not make it up! At the moment Israel may have to consider such a nuclear option themselves, to occupy an area they withdrew from years ago to destroy the terrorist infrastructure designed to destroy Israel.
Let me quote the former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, Colonel Richard Kemp CBE, who recently said in an interview:

“I would say that the Jewish people should be extremely proud of the state of Israel, they should try their best to disregard the terrible anti-Israeli propaganda that is designed solely to contribute to the conspiracy to exterminate the state of Israel – I myself, am personally outraged by the shocking anti-Semitic violence and verbal attacks that have been triggered by this conflict against Jews, especially in Paris and Germany, but also in Britain and other countries – it’s absolutely despicable and should be fought by authorities as vigorously as possible.”
The same Richard Kemp has praised the IDF for doing ‘more to safeguard the rights of civilians in the combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.’
Food for thought!