WikiLeaks: new light on Operation Cast Lead
Posted on Tuesday 30 November, 2010
Filed Under Israel
ISRAEL gave Egypt and the Palestinian Authority advance notice of Operation Cast Lead, asking both of them to run the show in the Gaza Strip once Hamas was deposed, according to one of the diplomatic cables published in Sunday by WikiLeaks.
We all know what happened next. Some 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed during the three-week military assault in December 2008 and January 2009.
In addition, 13 Israelis also died during campaign, which was intended to stop Hamas rocket attacks against Israel. But the one-hundred-to- one disproportionality in the death tolls is ample evidence of the brutality of the exercise.
The revelation that Mubarak and Abbas were onside all along strikes me as rather more substantial than many of the non-stories have dominated world headlines for the last two days.
Sure, the overtures were rejected. But that Tel Aviv felt able to have these kinds of conversations says much about the real alignments in Middle East politics.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports:
In a June 2009 meeting between Defense Minister Ehud Barak and a U.S. congressional delegation, Barak claimed that the Israeli government “had consulted with Egypt and Fatah prior to Operation Cast Lead, asking if they were willing to assume control of Gaza once Israel defeated Hamas.”
“Not surprisingly,” Barak said in the meeting, Israel “received negative answers from both.”
Let us sum up what we can conclude from the episode. Fatah and Hamas have effectively been at war since 2006, and the bitterness is of such a degree that Israel thought it worth a shot that Fatah would offer tacit endorsement for what it was about to undertake.
Egypt’s regime is sometimes moved to rhetorical support for Palestinian nationalism. Yet it is just as much responsible for maintaining the blockade on Gaza as Israel. Funnily enough, this is something most Palestine solidarity campaigners choose for one reason or another not to highlight.
Even at the height of Operation Cast Lead, the Egyptians only sent medicine and medical supplies through the Rafah border, with all other humanitarian goods going through the Israeli crossing at Kerem Shalom.
Hamas is not the kind of movement for which anyone sane would want to cheerlead. But on account of the degree of support it enjoys among those who live in Gaza, it is indispensible to any just settlement of the Palestinian question.
Such a process is not facilitated by Israel’s murderous armed incursions into the Gaza Strip. Clearly Hamas will now be asking itself exactly who its friends in the region are. Its isolation, it seems, is pretty much absolute.
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27 Responses to “WikiLeaks: new light on Operation Cast Lead”
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The surprising thing to me is not that they knew beforehand—because why wouldn’t they want Hamas destroyed?—but that they refused to take control afterwards. Perhaps Fatah would have changed its mind if it had been presented to it on a plate. As I don’t follow the issue in detail, what is the recent evidence that Hamas continues to enjoy a high degree of support among those who live in Gaza? I ask that not sarcastically, but just because it seems to me a bit counterintuitive, in that you might think that the frightening and miderable experience of life under such a bunch of murderous and reactionary superstitious thugs as Hamas would educate many people in the opposite direction.
The Egypt/Fatah stuff isn’t that surprising, I’d have thought – I think it’s been pretty clear for a long time that neither want to touch the place with a bargepole, so long as it’s filled with loony militiamen.
What I find really alarming is that the Israelis actually thought they could drive Hamas out of Gaza with airstrikes, without entirely destroying the place. I’m genuinely taken aback to discover they were this naive, especially after the 2006 war.
It tells me that they really thought that, if they a) tried to focus on Hamas itself rather than the general population a la Lebanon and b) kept journalists off the battlefield to minimise the number of splattered children on front pages, they’d miraculously excise the local militia as if it were a worm in an apple.
Seriously, after Mogadishu, Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon, both Israel and the US actually thought this would work. That’s a pretty brutal indictment of their political and military leaders, if you ask me – it implies that neither the Israelis nor the Americans have learned any lessons at all from this series of disasters. They seem honestly believe that almost any problem can be solved with a big enough zap, judiciously applied in the right place with the right voltage. Genuinely mental.
Would anyone seriously think that the Egyptian government would want Gaza under its aegis? The Egypt government would no doubt like to see Hamas out of the way and al Fatah in control in Gaza, as would al Fatah itself, but a large, compact bunch of Palestinians within its borders? No thank you.
Well, Egypt *did* control Gaza until from around 1948 to 1967…
Flying Rodent. You are talking piss. If Israel wanted to kick Hamas out of Gaza and were supported by their usual allies they could have done so easily. It is just attrition at the moment Rodent. The West has to cuddle up to certain Middle East states without actually invading them. The oil is still flowing that’s what matters. Get it Rodent, OIL wealth the fluid that keeps armies moving. And Your light switch.
Modernity: Things have changed since then, such as the rise of Hamas. Even if Hamas was defeated, Egypt would still be taking on more trouble than it’s worth. What possible use would it have for it? It’s not dissimilar to the realattitude in the South of Ireland towards the North: why bring into one’s borders something that’s nothing but trouble?
As for Israel and Hamas, I have a sneaking feeling that the former would prefer to have Hamas in charge of Gaza, as it benefits it to have the Palestinians voting in an extremist Islamicist group, as it ‘proves’ that the latter are, in modern parlance, a ‘terrorist people’ and therefore fit to be smited in Biblical fashion.
Dr Paul. I think the majority of people of South Ireland never really had a problem with the North unlike the fundamentalist Catholic fascist idiots. Lets face it, it is not just Muslims that are fruit-cases. The Catholics were with us before the Muslims. Thank goodness for Protestant Scotland. The Muslims need a Reformation. That will fuck them like it did the Catholics.
Dr. Paul,
Well, I wouldn’t want to simplify matters as attitudes in the Republic were complex when it came to the six counties, and they changed over time.
As for Gaza, I doubt that pop psychology is a worthwhile pursuit for those engaged in political discussions, as we invariably *know* the motives of everyone (or at least like to think we do), but it doesn’t help analysing the situations much.
It is in the Israelis long-term best interest to find some modus vivendi with the Palestinians, and it certainly arguable that it won’t occur whilst Hamas dominate discussions.
Low-level warfare, with periodic bouts of conflict who not benefit the Israelis nor the Palestinians, so it seems slightly illogical to argue that it could (as having Hamas in power would naturally lead to that situation)…
modernity. It is not in the interest of any State to have a dialogue with people that want to destroy you. Although in politics it may be pragmatic to go through the motions.
Not getting better
Dave,
This Wikileaks is certainly putting the cat amongst the pigeons, but I wonder if LP members will reflect on how they missed a bullet by NOT electing Davud Miliband?
As one of the items coming out points to the fact that Miliband knew of HMG’s intention to mislead the Iraq Inquiry.
Galloway was thinking that that was an important new revelation on Talksport last night (second only to the governer of the Bank of England being slightly rude about the Tories, which I also think will be yesterday’s news tomorrow). As far as I was aware, all that was said was that the terms of reference would be restricted to prevent US officials from being dragged in, which isn’t really of world-shattering importance.
In fact, HMG restricted documents to the Iraq Inquiry, which is a different matter.
And if Miliband knew, then probably senior LP leaders did too.
According to a guest on Radio Scotland today the WikiLeaks were already on the Net and available to anyone. He did mention Palin for once again shooting herself in the foot. That may help her to become President. Knowing the Yanks.
I have posted the mirror sites etc to wikileaks, and altho they are being subjected to a cyber attack, you can still read the documents at http://cablegate.wikileaks.org/
The best place, if there is a delay, is the google cache.
also, see http://modernityblog.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/wikileaks-and-its-importance/ the updates at the bottom have a lot more.
I have posted the mirror sites etc to wikileaks, and altho they are being subjected to a cyber attack, you can still read the documents at http://cablegate.wikileaks.org/
The best place, if there is a delay, is the google cache.
also, see http://modernityblog.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/wikileaks-and-its-importance/ the updates at the bottom have a lot more.
Egypt were offered Gaza back in 1979 as part of the Camp David settlement and Peace Treaty. They refused to take it back then either – and that was before Hamas were even formed.
Re the information from Wikileaks highlighted in the Haarretz areticle linked to in the main post, I can’t see why anyone might be surprised. To anyone who objectively follows Middle Eastern politics, this is as obvious one of the other leaks that Saudi, Bahrain etc have been asking the US to militarily intervene in Iran to stop their nuclear weapons programme.
WikiLeaks US Cables: Iran Armed Hezbollah Through Ambulances
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/29/wikileaks-us-cables-iran-_n_789056.html
I see the Israeli apologists are out in force. Fucking tossers.
Flying fuck said,
“I’m genuinely taken aback to discover they were this naive, especially after the 2006 war”
They weren’t you dumb fuck, the truth is they wanted to scare the living daylights out of Gazans, they wanted to cause terror. Fear = power, the Israeli’s are not above this you know.
Now give the Palestinians their land back you brutal fuckers.
Dean. I think some Jews were a bit scared when a suicide bomber shouted allah aaaakkkbbbaaar BOOOOOMM. Remember that mentally disabled lad that was caught just in time with the bomb jacket on. Only fascists would do this to a child.
Dave,
I assume that you are reading the Guardian with your usual critical journalistic eye?
Have you not noticed how many times David Miliband’s name pops up?
Would you like to comment on that, or is it forbidden for Labour Party members to remark on how the previous Foreign Secretary might have colluded with any number of dubious adventures?
Have you noticed how many times modernity has tried to change the subject away from one of the IDF’s most dubious adventures?
Skidmarx,
You always seem to assume the very worst motivation with many of your interlocutor’s.
Why you do this I can’t say.
I’m sure that you probably haven’t read the Wikileaks information with a critical eye, you don’t strike me as someone who makes informed decisions based on reading and thinking, although you are obviously highly intelligent, if impeded by a closed mind and dogma.
My point concerning Miliband is that Labour Party members might want to think on how he is implicated, and from what I’ve read it doesn’t look good.
I would assume that Labour Party members might wish to comment on someone who could have been their leader, and seems to me to be fatally compromised by much of the Wikileaks material.
If I get the opportunity I might write more on Miliband’s role, but I would like to hear from Labour Party members what their views were.
And, skidmarx that’s the difference between me and you, I am interested in an informed political debate with others, I don’t have to agree with them (and I don’t much agree with Dave on many matters), but I like to hear a different perspective from others and I like to ask questions.
I fully appreciate that you won’t understand or be able to comprehend what I have written, but, again, I wanted Labour Party members views on how their potential leader, David Miliband was compromised in the Wikileaks.
That’s it.
You try again to change the subject away from Israel and Cast Lead, and you’re the one who likes to hear a different perspective.Hmmm.
modernity. I am a Labour Party member and I have no interest in so called WikiLeaks. Lot of shite to distract the masses. I am only intersested in getting Labour elected. The Lib/Con scum are in power. We have to get them out at the next election. No point in dwelling in the past. Time to go forward. If Milliband loses the next election then we take stock and fight the next one.
skidmarx. The IDF do not have dubious adventures. They just go about killing their enemy. Only knobs like you call it dubious.