by Stephen Lendman

Israel and America give rogue state governance new meaning. Both are ruthless warrior states.

Living by the sword is longstanding. Naked aggression is official policy.

So is partnering in each other's high crimes.

Premeditated dirty wars without mercy repeat with disturbing regularity.

Israel and America are like Ukraine.

Infested with fascists making policy. Israeli Economy Minister/Bayit Yehudi party leader Naftali Bennett is more hardline than Netanyahu.

Haaretz calls him "israel's real leader and navigator." He threatens the entire region. Perhaps world peace.

He wants settlement construction accelerated, all valued West Bank land confiscated, Jerusalem exclusively for Jews, no Palestinian state, and war, not peace.

It's hard imagining a more ruthless, unaccountable, merciless agenda. Bennett hopes one day to be prime minister.

He, ultranationalist defrocked/reinstated Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and retired General Yoav Galant are vying to become Israel's next defense minister.

Each tries to look more hardline than the others. Galant said "(i)n war, we have to win. We can't live with a tie."

"The public needs to think who it wants to lead the fighting - he who proved he knows how to win, or those who hesitate and lack courage and leadership."

He accused current Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon of lacking creativity. He didn't kill and maim enough Palestinians last summer. Or turn all Gaza to rubble.

He vowed its next war "will be much shorter (with) much higher-quality results."

"(I)n such a sensitive issue like defense, it would be appropriate for someone who understands the area to deal with it, and Liberman does not understand it."

Lieberman calls another war with Hamas inevitable. Israel's summer aggression wasn't good enough.

"It cannot be that every two years we need another military operation," he said.

"If we want to change that so we can live here quietly, we need to change the balance of fear with our enemies."

"We need to make it clear to them that anyone who acts against us won't find himself underground in a bunker, but underground in a grave."

Bennett wants Hamas eliminated altogether. On Israel's Channel 2 News, he said "Hamas is Gaza. Gaza is Hamas."

"When Hamas shoots at homes in Israel, we will destroy its infrastructure right away." When asked why not already, he said "Bayit Yehudi needs more seats. We only have 12."

He says Israel has no partner for peace. He opposes Palestinian statehood. "We are not going to give up more land," he said.

"This approach has failed. Now, if it means that the world will penalize us, this is unfair, but so be it."

"I think the world right now is trying to twist Israel's arm into committing a huge mistake that would damage our own future."

He ludicrously blamed Netanyahu for being "too dovish" in peace talks. He rejects notions blaming Israel for negotiations breaking down.

Israel's current government is its most hardline ever. Infested with fascists. Bennett wants the new one formed after March elections to be tougher.

He wants virtual total control over Palestinian land. "Israel needs to do what is right for it, what is right for its people, what is right for its long-term survival," he said.

"We have a problem in the Arab world, which is getting more and more radical."

"Throwing (Palestinians) pieces of Israel's land and hoping that will satisfy the radical Islamist beast won't do it."

His fiery rhetoric made him one of Israel's most popular politicians. Israelis are as mindless as Americans.

Bennett is a Netanyahu coalition partner. He deplores political activism. He wants truth and full disclosure suppressed.

Last November, he headlined a New York Times op-ed "For Israel, Two-State is No Solution."

Saying "for its security, Israel cannot withdraw from more territory and cannot allow for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank."

He ludicrously claimed if Israel "pull(ed) out of the West Bank, the entire country would become a target for terrorists who would be able to set up rocket launchers adjacent to the Old City of Jerusalem and on the hills above the runways of Ben-Gurion International Airport and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange."

Withdrawing from Jordan Valley areas will "potentially open the door for" IS and other extremists to flood into Palestine, he maintains.

He absurdly believes denying Palestinian statehood, all other fundamental rights, and waging war is the best way for peace, security and economic prosperity.

Likeminded Israel lunatics think the same way. Bennett calls his extremism "realistic." Others say he advocates eliminating Palestinians altogether.

Israel invents nonexistent threats to justify hardline policies. Its Shin Bet security agency claimed credit for uncovering a Hebron-based IS cell despite no evidence proving one exists.

Accusations suffice. Guilt is automatic. So are convictions by hanging military judges.

A gag order was imposed on three Palestinians arrested last November. Then indicted in mid-December on charges of detonating a bomb against Israeli soldiers causing no injuries.

PA security forces spokesman Adnan Ameiri strongly denied any West Bank IS cells.

"We are obviously adamant not to have ISIS or umbrellas for them in Palestine," he said.

"Those who have been trying to create the ISIS phenomenon are Israel and Hamas given that the Muslim Brotherhood movement is the incubator which created al-Qaeda, ISIS, the Nusra Front and other Jihadist and Takfiri organizations."

Popular "awareness was the immunity and antibiotic against deferring to religious extremism, ISIS and infighting."

PA security forces interrogated several suspects on possible affiliation to IS. No evidence was found. All were freed.

Shin Bet accusations are baseless. They're used to vilify Palestinians, justify occupation harshness, continue ruthless persecution, and blame innocent people for Israeli crimes.

They continue unabated. Regardless of March Israeli election results, expect no end to merciless treatment no people should have to endure.

A Final Comment

On February 13, the Washington Post surprised and disappointed in the same article. It headlined "War Punishes Gaza."

It called things "much worse off now than before last summer's war…Scenes of misery are" everywhere.

Practically no reconstruction began. "At current rates, it will take decades to rebuild what was destroyed."

Gaza's economy is shattered. Pledged aid never arrived. "(H)umanitarian crisis" conditions are worse than ever.

"After every war, we say it cannot get worse, but I will say this time is the worst ever," said economist Omar Shaban.

"There is no sign of life. Trade. Import. Export. Reconstruction. Aid? Dead. I’m not exaggerating when I tell my friends abroad: Gaza could collapse, maybe soon."

Basic services are absent. Electricity is available only a few hours a day. Thousands sleep on floors of UN run schools.

"Many others (live) in caravans or tents, or huddl(e) in their bombed-out apartments." At least 100,000 are displaced.

Maybe many more. It's hard keeping count. Israel made large parts of Gaza moonscape-like with nothing left but rubble, despair and depravation.

People are freezing to death. A five-month-old's grandfather said "(h)e went blue. He "died in his sleep in freezing temperatures in a gutted home…"

UN aid stopped for lack of funds. WaPo spoiled a good report claiming Hamas readies for more war.

Implying it's responsible for Israeli crimes. It hones self-defense skills. It knows it's just a matter of time before more Israel aggression. WaPo didn't explain.

Abbas and other PA officials do virtually nothing to help. According to an anonymous foreign diplomat, he and his government see Gaza as " 'a dirty diaper.' No one wants to touch it."

Thousands of families lost everything. Adnan Abu Daqqa is like many others. Israel destroyed his home, farm and livestock.

He and family members live in tents. His wife cooks food on an open fire. Kids play in rubble. "The Jews will be back," says Daqqa.

After previous wars, people expected things would improve. At least for a little while. Not this time. "It won't get better" now, he said.

"Palestinians in Gaza say they are trapped now more than ever in what they call an open-air prison," said WaPo.

Mohammed Abu Anza can't reach Cairo's airport. He got scholarship aid to study engineering in Algeria.

He's trapped in Gaza. He can't attend. He finally got a seat on the 10th bus scheduled to leave.

Egypt let only seven out that day. He said he'd try again. "(H)e turned away, because it looked like he wanted to cry," said WaPo.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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