It appears from the news on the Devil Box that the American-Israeli captives taken by Hamas are not getting released in a speedy fashion.  This is so in spite of the eager role played by American officials in brokering the cease-fire in Gaza and the exchange of the detained.  Thing is it reminds me of the American embassy people held prisoner by the Iranians during the benighted Carter administration.  They didn’t get released until Reagan had been inaugurated.  Out of spite.  So maybe William Burns and Antony Blinken are embarrassed and scratching their heads that Hamas is holding onto the Americans.  “Don’t they understand that they are embarrassing the most powerful nation in the world?”  Sure they do.  It’s just that the Iranians are running Hamas.  Another chance at spite.  Probably need an expert on Persian culture (and not just a historian who will talk about the coup in 1953) to explain the role of spite in Iran. 

            Countries have foreign policies for their own advantage, not for the advantage of other people.  Israel always understood this truth.  Americans seem to have lost sight of the “self-interest” part of the “enlightened self-interest” formula that inspired the Marshall Plan.  Or perhaps it’s just the pull of Empire. 

            Now Biden has turned on Israel.  His motive appears to be advancing his own self-interest in November 2024.  He’s always been a time-server, a person who follows the course of thought at any given period, rather than a person with fixed convictions.  Now the Democratic Party is splintering over support for Israel’s brutal self-defense.  This change will not threaten Israel’s survival over the short run.  It will threaten Israel’s survival over the long run.  So, Israel is going to go in search of one or more new great power patrons.  (I’m looking at the Henry Kissinger obit on the front page of the Times as I write this.)  Will Israel pull along any of the Arab states in the process?  Who would you prefer to have as an ally, Israel or Iran? 

            How did Hamas get all the missiles it fired at Israel into Gaza in the first place?  Probably they smuggled them in through Egypt onboard the big semis hauling in food, medical supplies, building materials, and gasoline.  So, now that “humanitarian” relief is running in again, is Hamas bringing in more missiles, more ammunition, more explosives?  If so, I suppose you could call it “inhumanitarian” relief.  And is the UNRWA an objective ally of Hamas? 

            The Palestinian Authority (PA) seems to me to be a kleptocracy.  It won’t do anything to seriously rock the boat because that would interfere with the money-making.  This passivity has extended—so far, but who knows for how long—to dealing with the aggression of Israeli “settlers” on the West Bank.  That aggression isn’t new.  It’s been going on for years.[1]  Hamas’s attack on Israel and the subsequent trading of it’s prisoners for Palestinians in Israel’s jail has made Hamas increasingly popular on the West Bank.[2]  So, put the PA in charge of post-war Gaza, rather than let the League of Nations or Israel take over?  “Eeez joke, yes?” 

[1] On the origins of settlements, see: Revisionist Zionism – Wikipedia  In terms of political parties, Revisionists founded Herut, then changed the name to Gahal, then joined with some other small groups to create Likud.  Benjamin Netanyahu is the current leader of Likud.  Menachem Begin and Itzhak Shamir were previous leaders.

[2] Christina Goldbaum and Hiba Yazbek, “In West Bank, Trust in Hamas Only Deepens,” NYT, 30 Nov. 2023.