News from August 26-September 1
Hezbollah attacks, Rockland Republican Party, and Judo
Happy Labor Day!
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Hezbollah launches anti-tank rockets across the Lebanese border, prompting Israeli response:
What happened? On Sunday, Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group, fired rockets over the Lebanese border with Israel, hitting a military vehicle and an army base in the town of Avivim. Israel responded by attacking numerous targets along the border via helicopter and heavy artillery. Hezbollah claimed that there were a number of casualties on the Israeli side. Israeli actions seemed to confirm the Hezbollah’s claim as helicopters were spotted transporting Israeli soldiers to nearby hospitals. However, Israel later announced that the soldiers who were transported were not injured and were released immediately.
That’s confusing. Yes, it is. It appears as though Israel used a psychological war tactic to stop the Hezbollah attack. The Israelis likely calculated that Hezbollah simply wanted a measured attack, targetting only a small number of military personnel to get Israel’s attention. Once there were reports of casualties, Hezbollah stopped launching rockets. By tricking Hezbollah into thinking that there were casualties, the Israelis managed to contain the attack.
What’s the bigger picture? Flare-ups in rhetoric have become commonplace between Israel and Hezbollah, but exchanges of fire are rare (to clarify, Israel frequently launches airstrikes but Hezbollah rarely responds). This represents a substantial development in Middle East politics. Hezbollah claimed that the attack was in response to last week’s Israeli operation in Syria which thwarted an Iranian drone attack (two Hezbollah operatives were killed) as well as the alleged Israeli attack on Hezbollah military equipment in Beirut. As noted in the last newsletter, for the past few years, Israel has conducted many airstrikes aimed at preventing Iran from building out military infrastructure near its borders. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah described this attack as “[setting] the rules of engagement.” Nasrallah, who is a proxy of Iran, is trying to communicate through this attack that Israeli airstrikes will no longer go unpunished.
My take: I’m not convinced that this event will substantially change the behavior of either Hezbollah or Israel. As a result of Israeli strikes, Hezbollah does not have the capability to inflict catastrophic damage on Israel. Iran will continue to send military equipment to Hezbollah, and Israel will continue to prevent the transfers. The cyclic nature of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict is such that flare-ups happen every couple of years. It’s no accident that this attack is virtually identical to Hezbollah’s last strike in 2015. Responding to an Israeli drone strike that killed Hezbollah operatives and an Iranian general, Hezbollah launched rocket attacks at Israeli military vehicles, killing two soldiers.
Further reading: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49544819 (BBC)
The Rockland County Republican Party releases anti-semitic campaign video:
Background: There has been conflict between the ultra-orthodox and secular individuals in Rockland for a while now. Some have charged the ultra-orthodox with “overdevelopment” which brings large numbers of people into small towns with the goal of reshaping its ethnic makeup. Others believe the “overdevelopment” charge is a baseless attack on Jews. Tensions rose earlier this year when there was a measles outbreak in the ultra-orthodox community in Rockland. At the same time, there has been an uptick in assaults on Jews in and around New York City. The video was released the same week that a rabbi was violently attacked with a rock in Crown Heights.
What happened? The Rockland Country Republican Party released a video which has been widely panned as anti-semitic. The video describes the influx of ultra-orthodox Jews as “a storm” which is coming which threatens “our way of life.” The video rather transparently attacks Jews for alleged voter registration irregularities and overdevelopment. It ends by stating, “If they win, we lose.”
That’s messed up. Indeed, and many important people agree. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo released a statement describing the video as antisemitic. The Chairman of the State Republican Party said that the video was an “ill-conceived, bad mistake” that is “the antithesis of what the Republican party stands for.” Under no circumstances should using Nazi-like language (“If they win, we lose”) and “othering” (referring to Jews as “they”) be okay.
Further Reading: https://nypost.com/2019/08/30/rockland-county-gop-plotted-anti-semitic-ad-months-ago-sources/ (NY Post)
Israeli Judoka Sagi Muki wins gold at the 2019 World Championship:
What happened? Israeli Judoka Sagi Muki won his third world championship last week. While many were celebrating his victory, some media outlets were reporting on an incident that happened at the end of his semifinal victory against Egyptian Judoka Mohammed Abdelaal. Instead of shaking hands with Muki, Abdelaal stormed off the floor.
That’s bad sportsmanship. It’s more than that. Many Arab states have policies against their athletes shaking hands with Israeli athletes after athletic matches. In the same competition, Iranian Judoka Saeid Mollaei was forced to throw his semifinal match so as to not have to compete against Muki and risk losing to an Israeli. Mollaei ended up traveling to Germany and requesting political asylum, so it seems that the policy is not very popular among athletes who train their whole lives only to be denied the ability to compete for political reasons.
Further reading: https://www.timesofisrael.com/judo-chief-threatened-to-kick-iran-out-of-olympics-if-israel-snubbed-report/ (Times of Israel)
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