SUNDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2024

Slow start this morning.  My partner has gone dog sitting for a few days and the cats and I had to get up and get him going.  Well, actually, we woke up and said bye.  The cats are all curled back up napping.  Mike usually takes them outside in the morning for about an hour, but when he’s not here, they don’t make a big deal out of it.  They just have their breakfast and sort themselves back out in chairs and on sofas.

It looks like the bed we put “temporarily” in the library so I wouldn’t have to come upstairs after my knee replacement, has become a permanent fixture.  Pete regards that as his bed.  That’s where he goes at night when he’s ready to turn in.  Even when one or another of the cats joins him, it’s them joining him, i.e., still his bed.  For these former ferals, having something that is theirs is important.  Pete has a heating pad and I turn it on for him every time I go downstairs.  He loves it.

And now, on to politics.

HAARETZ: ISRAEL

• Netanyahu evidently released a post-war Gaza plan that Haaretz says “barely deserves serious review (Pinkas, 2/25/24)”
• Pinkas (2/25/24) calls it a “non-plan,” an “unviable list of principles that are untethered from reality.”  Pinkas also terms the release furtive, “as if the government had hoped no one would notice.”
• The plan, according to Pinkas is an open-ended Israeli control of Gaza.  “…it is just not feasible.”
• The statements are that
  • The Israeli Defense Forces will continue the war until “its goals are achieved: the destruction of Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s military capabilities and governing infrastructure.  (Note: Can Hamas be destroyed militarily without occupying the entire Gaza Strip for an extended time).
  • There will be a return of the hostages.
  • Any threat to Israel in the future from Gaza will be prevented.
  • Israel will maintain “operational freedom” (quote from article) throughout the Gaza Strip.
  • A security buffer between Gaza and Israel will be maintained for as long as warranted.
  • With Egyptian cooperation, Israel will maintain a “southern closure” to prevent Hamas from rearming.
  • Israel will have “security control over the entire area west of the Jordan River.”  (This precludes any Palestinian sovereignty)
  • Gaza will be totally “demilitarized.”  The responsibility to implement this demilitarization will be Israel’s.
  • (Note: Demilitarization has been a consistent Israeli position since the Oslo Accords in 1993, and was a basic tenet of the Camp David talks.) 
  • Giving Israel exclusive responsibility over both implementation and supervision translates into Israeli reoccupation of Gaza. 
  • Civil administration will be the responsibility of “local elements with administrative and management experience.”  Pinkas questions how many apolitical Palestinians would qualify for these positions.
  • De-radicalization is another part of the plan.  This would be a plan to deradicalize “religious, education and welfare institutions in Gaza.  Assisted in the effort the Israelis would have “Arab states with proven experience in promoting de-radicalization.”  How, Pinkas asks, would this be accomplished?  What is the incentive for Palestinians to de-radicalize?  Which Arab states have such a record?  And, there is also a question of whether Israel should itself “de-radicalize.”
  • Israel will work toward shutting down UNRWA and replacing it with other “responsible, international welfare agencies.”
  • Pinkas maintains that it has “been known for years” that UNRWA is “ineffective, disruptive and hostile to Israel.  But, what agency can take its place, especially in the short term.
  • Israel will be responsible for determining when demilitarization has been completed and de-radicalization has commenced.  Only then will reconstruction begin, funded by “countries acceptable to Israel.”  There is no indication that there are any Arab countries lining up to take on reconstruction.  And, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE are making the establishment of a Palestinian state a condition for their financial participation.
  • Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.  Such a recognition would be a reward for terrorism.  (Note: Last week the Knesset approved a resolution declaring that it was opposed to any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, CNN.)
  • Over 100 countries have indicated their intention to recognize a Palestinian state.  And, how and why would this prevent a peace settlement?
  • Netanyahu’s approval rating is less than 19%.  75% of the Israeli public views him as responsible for the October 7 attacks.  This includes 67% of the members of his own party, Likud.  71% believe he should resign.  66% favor an election as soon as possible.
  • This crisis is termed Netanyahu’s “last gamble.”
• Meanwhile, in the West Bank
  • Settlers attacked Israeli soldiers who were trying to help Palestinians find their stolen goats.  When soldiers arrived, settlers collected at the site, driving in to confront the soldiers.

Poland: CNN: Fareed Zakaria

Interviewing

• 75% of the nation turned out to vote for a pro-European and pro-democracy move for society. 
• Houthis have widened the scope of attacks in the Red Sea.  The US cannot guarantee the freedom of the seas. 
• There is an issue of cutting underwater cables if the US and Europe cannot enforce freedom of the seas.  Europe has lost its military/industrial complex.
• Zakaria is portraying the Republicans as “isolationists.”
•  
• Foreign Minister of Poland, Radoslaw Sikorski
  • Poland has been spending 2% of its GDP for 15 years on defense.  It is moving up to 4%.  This is a contribution to NATO.  (Note: If I am right, there is only a recommended contribution and it is figured out as a percentage of GDP).
  • “We will not be a Russian colony again.”
  • Poland sent troops to Afghanistan and to Iraq in response to 9/11.  In response to that we “did not send an invoice.”
  • Poland had ordered 50 billion in military equipment from the US since the invasion of Ukraine in 2021. 
  • “The Ukrainians have fought like lions.”
  • The cost for Russia has “been huge.”
  • “It is the credibility of your country that is at stake.”
  • Zakaria: For most of the past decade, Poland had been an example of the backsliding of democracy.  That has recently canged.
  • The right-winged Law and Justice party took steps to control the country’s courts and media.  The European Union warned in 2017 of a “clear risk of a serious breach of the rule of law in Poland.”
  • In October, a broad centrist government was elected. 
  • The turnout was 75%.  They voted to “end populist rule” and for a pro-European and a pro-democracy government.
  • The security services were used to target the opposition under this populist government.  The Pegasus spyware was used to target journalists.  There was widespread corruption. 
  • We need to bring back fair competitive examinations in the civil service.  This was one of the first things the populist government did.  (Note: And it is one of the priorities of the Heritage Foundation document laying out plans of the Trump future administration)  Judges who are able to judge fairly.
  • There has been “a rebellion against meritocracy.”  We are bringing that back.
  • “Constitutions don’t defend themselves.”