AG Report 10.10.2023

Unpacking the Terror in Israel

I already shared some of this publicly, but wanted to expand and add a few things:

I have a hard time writing coherently about the events of last weekend because of the emotions involved. It was the worst terror attack in the modern history of Israel and the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. It was also an unprecedented intelligence failure. The images of dead women and children lying in the street and at bus stops will haunt me for a long time, but I believe it is important for the world to see the extent of the atrocities. That includes the accounts of the way the attacks terrorized the families of their victims and the horrors that those who survived had to endure. These events have changed the Middle East for years to come, as Israel must now accept again that they are fighting for their survival and cannot settle for anything less than full security for its citizens moving forward.

A few scattered thoughts:

1)     This was a choice by Palestinians in Gaza and now both sides will pay a heavy price for it. Israel took a very controversial step in 2005 by unilaterally withdrawing from Gaza and allowing Palestinians to govern themselves. This included Israel forcibly removing Jews from their homes to establish a clearer border and eliminate settlements. Since then, Palestinians have had a choice between peace and prosperity or hate and terrorism. They’ve chosen the latter at every turn. They elected a terrorist group to rule over them. Instead of investing in hospitals, schools, or farms, they spent their resources building terror tunnels, stockpiling Iranian missiles, and launching constant attacks. 

Their choice has also been the primary impediment to a permanent peace deal, because the justified perception among Israelis now is that any land they cede or deal they make will just be used to stockpile weapons and plan more attacks against Israeli civilians.

2)     The Biden administration has a lot to answer for here. Their entire approach to the region has been a failure. They restarted aid to Gaza without any conditions. They have continually enabled Iran, including with a recent deal that gave the country $6 billion extra to fund the very types of attacks and missile stockpiles we saw used this week  (Yes, I know that $6 Billion hasn’t been spent yet, but Iran plans their food and energy budgets for months in advance and knowing that an infusion is coming allows them to dedicate more funds to proxies and terrorism). Finally, they have downplayed and ignored the scandal of their administration being compromised by an Iranian influence operation that connects back to the Iranian government. That Iran hostage deal was negotiated by Qatar, which is where the Hamas leadership lives in luxury while planning terrorist attacks against innocent civilians.

3)     While it is true that reality is always complex, that does not mean that morality is relative. There is clarity between good and evil. There are real differences between those who value innocent life and those who want to destroy it. It is disheartening watching such an act of evil being celebrated by millions of people, but that's the reality we live in and we must face it head-on. We cannot be confused about who are the good guys and the bad guys. You can argue about different responses or levels of involvement, but Putin, Iran's regime, CCP, Hamas etc. represent evil and those they seek to undermine and destroy, while not perfect, are not comparable. 

Just as an example in this case: Israel has been sending text messages to Gaza residents to suggest evacuation routes so they can avoid being caught in the crossfire in coming battles. Gaza’s government told Palestinians to ignore those text messages because they want to ensure they can use other Palestinians as human shields. It’s actually amazing how little time the press had spent in pointing that out.

4)     I am nauseated by the rallies that took place on Sunday to celebrate Hamas and the evil that we witnessed. I remember watching with complete disgust as Palestinians celebrated after 9/11 and this past weekend felt like a replay of that. Only this time it was also happening in American and European cities. The people who rallied in places like New York to celebrate the murder of innocents certainly have the right to their hate in America, but most decent people should view them as no different than those who attend KKK or neo-Nazi rallies. And in case anyone had any doubt about that comparison, they can watch the crowd in Sydney chanting about how they want to “gas the Jews”. 

5)     It would take too long to cover all of the ways the media has struggled to accurately and honestly cover these events. The early headlines downplayed the severity and nature of the attack. MSNBC’s coverage all day Saturday was horrific and ignorant in excusing the actions of the terrorists, even to the point where the ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt called them out while appearing on the network. Publications such as The New York Times, Washington Post, and Forbes published articles insinuating that Israel was somehow to blame for the atrocities committed against them. It was amazing how much time cable news spent suggesting and promoting the pro-terrorism spin of the attacks. At one point CNN interviewed a Palestinian official who claimed that Hamas mostly only attacked military targets, as if we didn’t all have access to the videos of them going from house to house and murdering the elderly or did not know of how they massacred around 260 unarmed young people attending a music festival.

Now the coverage and reactions are inevitably pushing Israel to accept a more muted response. The answer should simply be no. That expectation would never exist for any other country facing this type of attack. This is a full-on war and Israel must do whatever it takes to win decisively and ensure the security of its citizens moving forward. Now I pray for Israel to do what must be done quickly and with as much precision as possible. It will take a miracle to recover the numerous hostages because they were mostly taken to try to force Israel to rethink a proper response in Gaza, which they cannot do. But I will pray for such a miracle anyway.

FL Outlet Exposed for Pay-to-Play Scheme

Florida Politics is an outlet that’s gained a lot of national exposure this year based on its coverage of the presidential race. But it’s an open secret among those who work in politics in Florida that almost everything they write is carefully driven by who’s paying them at the time. The person behind the publication, Peter Schorsch, is known to regularly ask for money from people the alleged news outlet is covering.