Huffing, puffing and bluffing

Nothing is worse than the spectacle of politicians and others blustering and then being stranded when their deadlines fall flat.

Last Saturday at 12 noon was the declared deadline issued by President Trump and echoed by PM Netanyahu for the release of ALL hostages being held by Hamas and their partners in crime.

We had been promised on several occasions that if this did not occur “all hell would break out.”

There was nothing ambiguous about these messages. Every single hostage, including those alive and dead, had to be returned to their families if dire retribution was to be avoided.

All those who still naively believed that political promises are an ironclad guarantee of being fulfilled felt a sense of immense joy and satisfaction. Here at long last, these trusting souls understood, were leaders prepared to finally act tough against international terrorists. Gone, they thought, were the recent days of appeasement and double standards. Banished at long last were the daily acts of trying to bend over backwards in order not to upset the bullies. Finally, the optimists rejoiced, policies with a backbone had been born.

Realists, while happy to hear something other than a continual chorus of “don’ts” and pleas for restraint and futile gestures, reserved judgment until the appointed deadline had been reached.

To paraphrase the late Neville Chamberlain when his deadline to Hitler had been ignored in 1939, “I am sorry to report that no such release of hostages has been undertaken.”

The appointed date and time has been and gone. All that happened was yet another disgusting spectacle whereby three hostages were forced to endure a humiliating experience as Hamas drip feeds the agony.

We turned on the news after Shabbat expecting the worst and we were not disappointed.

The remaining hostages were still in their underground tunnels and the gates of hell remained firmly shut and silent. The only gates which opened were those releasing unrepentant murderers of Israelis serving life sentences.

It was always doubtful that the USA was going to put boots on the ground or undertake any sort of military intervention in Gaza. Sure enough it did not take long for Trump to clarify his original intentions. Still promising dire consequences, he now has thrown the ball right back at Netanyahu and the Israeli Government. Anything that Israel will do following the failure of Hamas to release all the kidnapped Israelis will apparently have the full support of the American Administration.

This is a welcome change from the previous Biden waffling and puts the onus where it most probably should belong.

Unfortunately, instead of resolute retribution as of this moment, all we can witness is more bluster and political hot air. Israeli families still grieving for murdered relatives are witnesses as the released terrorists are hailed as returning victors who will inevitably be recycled as future terror perpetrators.

Israel’s PM declared that neither Hamas nor the corrupt PA will have any chance of running Gaza. The US agrees yet at the same time Macron of France and other EU leaders as well as the UK are working towards achieving the opposite.

Which scenario will prevail?

Based on current developments, it is anybody’s guess.

As another example of huffing, puffing and bluffing, look no further than the ongoing farce of the Palestinian Arab Authority’s “pay for slay” theatrics and sleight of hand.

Past Israeli coalitions and the Biden/Harris Administration were all aware that the internationally anointed “peace partners” based in Ramallah were rewarding terrorists and their families with stipends, pensions and bonus payments. Despite offering lip service condemnation no concrete steps were taken to force the PA to cease these obscene rewards for terror. The UN was totally disinterested, democratic countries preferred to look the other way, the US State Department chose appeasement and Israel’s political elites swept the problem under the carpet.

Lo and behold, when the much-reviled current Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotritch, decided to deduct millions of shekels from the PA’s transfers, all hell broke out. Suddenly, those who had hitherto been unconcerned sprang to life and condemned this “robin hood” act. They huffed and puffed that it was “immoral” and against some sort of international law to garnish money and instead direct it towards the needs of victims’ families.

With the advent of Trump to the White House, the traditional chorus of disapproval disappeared to be replaced by a demand that Abbas stop rewarding criminal terrorists. Sensing a distinct shift in the winds blowing from a hitherto compliant Administration, the corrupt coterie of foreign aid kleptomaniacs in Ramallah started singing a different tune.

The response became one of perceived compliance with “payments” now becoming one of “financial need” as opposed to automatic reward and incentive. Additionally, it was hinted that instead of payment emanating from the PA itself, it would now be made via some sort of perceived independent foundation.

A spontaneous outburst of hallelujahs for this supposed u-turn erupted from all those who previously had ignored the scandalous situation. The media and other gullible sources embraced this seemingly stunning reversal as proof that Abbas and his cronies had acquiesced to the demands of Trump and his officials.

As on so many past occasions this charade was nothing but a big inflated bluff designed to pull the wool over the eyes of those who look for every opportunity to excuse the lies of terror supporters. It should not come as any revelation that murderers’ families and the murderers themselves are deemed to be suffering “financial hardship” and are therefore eligible for financial support. The PLO/PA still has its fingers in the financial pie and for all intents and purposes it is business as usual.

According to a decision made by the Knesset, all UNRWA facilities and staff in Israel are supposed to cease operations. Many officials have already left the country because their residency permits have been either cancelled or not extended. It took many years of exposing the organization’s infiltration by Hamas and other terror groups before action was taken. In fact, it was the sight of UNRWA employees participating in the 7 October pogroms that literally broke the camel’s back. Additionally, proof that some of the kidnapped hostages had been held in UNRWA facilities and employees’ homes finally convinced all those terrified of a UN reaction to actually act.

It now turns out that while some buildings have been vacated, schools still teaching Jew hate and other facilities in east Jerusalem are still open and operational. The uproar has been such that the Israel PM’s office has been forced to issue a directive enforcing the Knesset’s decision.

Once again, a massive bluff was exposed.

Much has been made of the International Red Cross and its supposed assistance in evacuating some released hostages from the hell of Hamas. Despite the complete and utter failure of the IRC to provide any sort of humanitarian help, mirroring its previous moral failure during the Holocaust, no tsunamis of condemnation or sanction ever erupted from the international community. The current attempt to portray this group as saints instead of sinners is nothing more than a futile exercise.

Israel’s Foreign Minister has revealed that Turkey with the aid of Iran is actively engaged in rebuilding Hezbollah. As a member of NATO one would expect that consequences against Turkey might follow. No such action however will occur because the bluff that this country is a champion of human rights has seduced the remaining democratic members.

Last but not least is one of the biggest bluffs of the millennium.

The proposition that the creation of a PLO terror State in the midst of Israel’s heartland will usher in peace, democracy, tolerance and fraternal feelings, defies history and reality.

The Jewish People have endured three thousand years of such brazen bluffing.

It is time to expose and call it out for what it really represents.