GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 271

Israel Will Win On Their Own

You’re On Your Own

According to a report from The Jerusalem Post the US told Prime Minister Netanyahu that after Iran attacked they wouldn’t help if Israel responded:

US President Joe Biden threatened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back his response toward Iran’s massive missile and drone attacks in April, according to a New York Times report Tuesday.

“Let me be crystal clear,” President Biden told Prime Minister Netanyahu that night from the Situation Room, where he received updates in real-time on the US-coordinated international response that successfully shot down 99% of the estimated 300 weapons launched from Iranian territory toward Israel.

“If you launch a big attack on Iran, you’re on your own.”

As we know, the initial attack from Iran was rebuffed and the US basically told the PM to do nothing:

Iran’s attack was a response to the assassination of several Iranian generals, including the top commander in Syria, by an airstrike in Damascus a few weeks prior, an action attributed mainly to Israel. According to the IDF, only “a small number” of Iran’s ballistic missiles reached Israel. After the attack was over and most of the missiles had been successfully neutralized, Biden reportedly told Netanyahu by phone: “You got a win. Take the win,” without, according to the report, “reading from a script or extensive notes.”

Netanyahu didn’t see things that way, though:

Netanyahu initially refused to heed Biden’s advice, arguing that a response was necessary to deter future attacks from Iran, but Biden only doubled down. “You do this,” Biden said, “and I’m out.” Eventually, the aides in the Situation Room said Netanyahu agreed to scale back Israel’s response.

Why this event is coming up now could be a way for the White House to buoy Biden’s ability to run the country after his disastrous debate performance last week:

The conversation is being referenced now amid claims that Biden’s mental state is not sufficient for his presidential bid and that he is unfit to handle foreign counterparts. At 81, Biden is the oldest serving president in American history and drew global attention for his troubling and, at times, incoherent debate performance at the 2024 Presidential Debate against former president Donald Trump. The president was seen, at times, stumbling over his words and staring into space with his mouth slightly open, leading many to call for his immediate resignation from the presidential race.

Regardless of the motives, this report does how that the US administration is trying to control how Israel runs this war and also that if they go rogue how they will lose their support. That is exactly how things will turn out and may show what the international community will do if Iran decides to loose its proxies on Israel as I expect they will. I’m not happy if Israel is not helped in that event, but they will still have God working for them and that is a huge advantage.

Stop The War Or Else

In an article from CBN.com we see that Hezbollah is telling Israel to stop the war on Hamas:

The barrage of drones, anti-tank missiles, and rockets fired by Iranian-backed Hezbollah has forced tens of thousands of Israelis to flee their homes on the northern border and led Israel to respond with counterattacks.

Now, Hezbollah's deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has implied that neither it nor Israel wants a full-scale war and claims there is a path to peace on the Israel-Lebanon border to end the terror group's daily attacks from Lebanon on Israel's northern communities.

He points to the war against Hamas as the only reason Hezbollah is attacking Israel now:

Qassem insists Hezbollah is attacking Israel as a way to support fellow Iranian proxy Hamas in the war in Gaza. “Threatening us with war does not change our position. From the beginning, we have said that we support Gaza,” he told The Associated Press at the group’s political office in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

The logic is that if Israel stops fighting against Hamas, they will stop as well. We know that Israel won’t do that if they are to send a message to terrorists to not attack them in the future. And yet, a full scale war against Hezbollah appears inevitable:

Experts say a full-scale war would devastate Lebanon and cause major destruction inside Israel. Still, without a diplomatic solution or military campaign to drive Hezbollah back, it's unlikely Israeli citizens can return home.

Just to make it clear, the article states what I just told you:

So the sheikh says if Israel wants the daily attacks from Hezbollah to stop, it needs to cease fighting Hamas in Gaza.

Or as he said of the Gaza war, “If the next phase is a cease-fire, we will stop firing in Lebanon."

However, Hamas wants a permanent ceasefire not a temporary one. So both Israel and Hamas aren’t changing their stances. Kassam speculates on what an attack on Hezbollah would mean:

But Kassam adds if Israel insists on war with his terror group, it could well spin out of control. It might even drag in other nations, like Hezbollah's sponsor Iran.

The sheikh explained, “No one knows the repercussions of igniting the war locally, regionally, or even internationally."

For their part, Israel would prefer Hezbollah back down, but they are resolute on what will happen if they don’t:

Israeli officials are trying to head off a war with Hezbollah. But if war does come, they warn Israel will repeat in Lebanon the kind of massive destruction it's already brought to Gaza.

If you just listen to what all parties are saying whether it be Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran or Israel, I simply don’t see how a regional war won’t happen. Do I want that to happen? I’d prefer that Hamas surrender and return the hostages, I really do. The terrorists insist that will never happen, though.

No Palestinian State

Just ahead of the PM speaking to the US Congress, Israeli lawmakers are trying to pass a resolution against the two-state solution as we read in a report from The Times Of Israel:

A group of lawmakers from both the coalition and the opposition are advancing a resolution expressing opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state, which they aim to pass ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington to address a joint session of Congress.

Israel already passed a resolution like this:

The Knesset already passed a resolution opposing the establishment of a Palestinian state earlier this year, but Netanyahu was careful to ensure that the initiative specified that the opposition was only to the unilateral creation of a Palestinian state outside of negotiations with Israel, amid unconfirmed reports that the US was considering unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state.

These lawmakers are taking out the wiggle room with this one:

This new resolution would offer more absolute opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state in what would likely harm Netanyahu’s efforts to maintain some diplomatic flexibility in his dealings with the Biden administration and the international community, which support a two-state solution.

The report lets us know who the authors of the resolution are and the likelihood of it passing:

The resolution is being pushed by Yisrael Beytenu chair Avigdor Liberman, New Hope chair Gideon Sa’ar and New Hope MK Ze’ev Elkin from the opposition and Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman and Likud MK Yuli Edelstein from the coalition, Channel 12 reports.

The network adds that 61 MKs in the Knesset from both the coalition and opposition have already signed onto the resolution in what would allow it to be passed before the end of the summer parliamentary session on July 28.

Netanyahu is slated to give his speech to Congress on July 24.

The resolution states that any Palestinian state would become a threat to Israel as terrorists would do exactly what Hamas did when Gaza was given to them before:

The resolution states that the “State of Israel strongly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state west of Jordan, which would pose an existential threat to Israel,” according to Channel 12.

Such a state would extend the conflict with the Palestinians and destabilize the region, the lawmakers claim in the resolution, adding that it would only be a matter of time before Hamas takes over this new Palestinian state and turn it into a base for radical Islamic terror backed by Iran.

This issue is a political hot potato and always has been one. As we pray for the peace of Jerusalem pray for this resolution as it would avoid what the Bible says about dividing up the land in Joel 3:2:

The Lord says: “I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My land.”(NIV)