03/17 Links Pt1: Why All Jews Understand Ukraine; UN Sec.Gen. Guterres fiddles while Ukraine burns; Biden's priority is appeasing Iran, not helping Ukraine ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Why All Jews Understand Ukraine

For Putin, there is no Ukraine. There is no Ukrainian language, history, or culture — no independence or right of self-determination. There is no democracy, no nation, and no people. For Putin, there is only Russia.

The Jewish people know what this means, just as they understand what “from the river to the sea” means. Putin’s call — like the call of Palestinian terror groups — is the rallying cry of conquest masquerading as social justice, an affront to the norms of civilized society. It denies the humanity of people who want nothing more than the freedom to live, work, and worship in peace and in freedom, secure in their homeland and in their dignity.

The Jewish people understand the horrors of a war inflicted by a diabolical adversary who wants to drive them from their homes and their homeland. The indiscriminate rocket attacks and shelling of populated civilian areas in Ukraine is something that the people of Israel experience almost daily — and they saw it on a similar scale just last May when Hamas attacked Israel. The specter of unprovoked violence is something that Jews live with every day, be it in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, or New York City, or Colleyville, Texas.

Jews understand what it means to be attacked by much larger neighbors, who demand that you give up your land, your identity, and your democratic ideals. They understand the brutality of oppression, and the frustration of a people, like the Ukrainians, who need ammunition, “not a ride.”

The Jewish people understand why Putin’s illegal war of aggression is called the moral test of our time. Compromise in the face of terrorism does not restore humanity, it erodes it. It is the ultimate abdication of our shared responsibility for the preservation of civilized society. There is no compromise with Putin, just as there is no compromise with rogue states like Iran or North Korea, or with terrorist groups like Hamas or the PFLP. Compromise means victory for them, and victory for them means the end of us.

We all understand Ukraine, because, ultimately, we are all Ukraine. We strive for a better tomorrow, for ourselves and our families, and we recognize that to attain this future, our liberty and our values must be preserved, no matter the cost.

A dictator must always have enemies, at home and abroad, to seem powerful and to scapegoat his failings. After exiling, jailing, and killing them all, more must be invented, and endless purge. https://t.co/EjI77RYrv8
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 17, 2022

Douglas Murray: The West has rediscovered its purpose

Over recent days I have been reflecting on War and Peace. Or Special Operation and Peace as it must now be known in Russia, unless you want to spend 15 years in prison. And I am reminded once again of how utterly unpredictable war always is. On this occasion almost every-thing that people imagined just a couple of weeks back has been completely inverted.

In no particular order the list includes the following. A few weeks ago Vladimir Putin looked like a strongman. Today he looks like a weak and deluded leader. A few weeks ago Volodymyr Zelensky looked like an ex-comedian who might soon be out of his depth, if not his country. Today he looks like a remarkable wartime leader and an actual strong man. A few weeks back the Russian military seemed vast and unassailable. Today it looks corrupted, inept and surprisingly vulnerable.

In February the EU was riven and dis-united. Today it has rarely been more unified. Last month people still pondered the three-decade-old question ‘Whither Nato?’ Today the purpose of the alliance has rarely looked more obvious. Countries like Sweden which thought the second world war a murky conflict in which it was impossible to pick sides have started arming the Ukrainians. And even Switzerland has banned dodgy Russian oligarchs from accessing the country’s historically moral and transparent banking system.

On it goes. Poland has been transformed from a European pariah into a humanitarian superpower. Most astounding of all, Nato countries which spent decades freeloading off US defence budgets have suddenly stepped up. Germany just doubled its defence budget almost overnight.

So aside from the tide of bloodshed in Ukraine and economic misery inside Russia, the most striking thing about this conflict is that it seems to have overturned every recently held presumption. And, as in Tolstoy, it remains unclear exactly how this happened. Certainly it has not been due to any special leadership from the world’s hyperpower, led as it is by a president in cognitive decline and a vice president who talks as though she has, since childhood, never been in cognitive ascent. Still the West appears to have gelled for once, united by a common horror of seeing the type of land war Europe hoped to have left behind.

In such a moment, one might hope that there could be a certain ceasefire in the more minor conflicts that have riven the West of late. As at the start of the pandemic, is it too much to hope for that the war in Ukraine will provoke a permanent gear-change?

David Singer: UN Sec.Gen. Guterres fiddles while Ukraine burns

It is incomprehensible that the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has held its Fifth Consultation on Our Common Agenda (Fifth Consultation) on 10 March at the same time as 2.597 million Ukrainians, men, women and children, have been forced to flee their country which is being reduced to rubble following Russia’s invasion on 24 February.

Our Common Agenda is an 85 page Report prepared by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in 2021 following the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations when:

“Member States agreed that our challenges are interconnected, across borders and all other divides. These challenges can only be addressed by an equally interconnected response, through reinvigorated multilateralism and the United Nations at the centre of our efforts. Member States asked me to report back with recommendations to advance our common agenda. This report is my response.”

This utopian talkfest discussing Guterres’ personal ego trip into fantasyland should have been postponed – using the precious time gained to formulate and recommend concrete action that can be taken by the UNGA against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - which mandates the UNGA.

Remember?

“to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace”

The UNGA and its Secretary-General are living in a dream world - whilst the real world is drifting dangerously towards World War III as US President Joe Biden warned on 12 March.

Israeli Experts Oppose a Formal Defense Alliance with the U.S.

"The U.S. is weakened and withdrawing into itself," says Professor Eytan Gilboa, an expert on the U.S. and international relations at Bar-Ilan University. President "Obama said it as clearly as possible - America cannot and does not want to be the world's policeman." "Support for us has waned, and will wane further. As someone who has been examining U.S. conduct for decades, I am now seeing significant weakness," Gilboa says. "They are still investing in us, a lot. In the longer term, what I described is the true direction, and we should internalize that."

"A defense pact wouldn't be worth the paper it's written on," Gilboa thinks. "If there is a pact and they don't want to help, they won't. And if there is an acute need for their aid and they do want to help, they will, even without a pact....A defense pact adds commitments we don't need, and could limit us, such as on the Golan Heights or in Gaza. Imagine what would have happened if [Menachem] Begin had needed to consult with the U.S. and get its permission before deciding to bomb the Iraqi nuclear reactor?"

Maj.-Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen says such a pact would "completely bind Israel to American interests." The U.S. wants Israel to "comply with their view of Israel's defense needs and forgo our vital interests according to their wishes....The Arabs might take into account that America supposedly stands behind us and will be somewhat more deterred, but we would pay too high a price for what we would get."

Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, former head of Israel's National Security Council, said, "Israel was built on the binding statement of its founders that we will fight on our own, and will not ask foreign soldiers, especially not Americans, to defend us. A defense pact...would hurt our commitment to defend ourselves and one of our strongest points in dealing with the U.S. Israel shouldn't do that to itself, and moreover, we want to retain our freedom of action."

"To prevent threats against us from becoming an actuality, we take action in places, at times and in ways that no other country does, do crazy things. According to foreign reports, we are constantly carrying out strikes in other states....If there were a defense pact...we couldn't go nuts when we needed to, and wouldn't be free to act. So there are more disadvantages than advantages to an alliance like that....Our strength - at home and abroad - is that we fight independently, and so are also independent when it comes to our decision-making and operations."

Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, formerly head of the Military Intelligence Research Division and now a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said, "The truth is, even when it came to countries with which the U.S. had actual pacts, when it didn't want to take action, it didn't. The latest example, of course, is Ukraine. The U.S .and Britain signed the Budapest Memorandum in 1994 and committed to helping Ukraine if it were attacked in exchange for Ukraine giving up its stocks of nuclear weapons. But when that was tested, Ukraine was left on its own."

Headlines with the Haddads: Ukraine-Russia Special Edition (From Bahrain)

Emily and Yoseph are on the road and share this special edition with exclusive interviews on the Ukraine-Russia war from the Israeli perspective with Lt. Col. Eyal Dror, and have a discussion on NATO's role in the conflict with Brad Bowman of Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

Jonathan Tobin: Biden's priority is appeasing Iran, not helping Ukraine

If completely isolating Russia from the global economy was Biden's objective, then that should have been the end of the talks. The point of the nuclear deal is to bring Iran back into the community of nations and get its oil back on the international commodities market. Declaring that the sanctions don't apply to Iranian interactions with Russia would, along with Putin's alliance with China, allow him an escape hatch that could make the difference in helping his regime survive, irrespective of the outcome of the fighting in Ukraine.

But Biden and his foreign-policy team, who are led by people who are the veteran Iran appeasers who crafted the original nuclear deal, were not deterred by that prospect. So the news that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has pocketed "written guarantees" from Biden's Iran envoy Rob Malley makes it obvious that nothing, not even something that might sabotage their efforts to help Ukraine, will stop them from completing their mission to appease Iran.

Moreover, the means of this appeasement should be familiar to those who remember how the original deal was secured. Both then and now, the Iranians were able to extort exorbitant ransoms for freeing Western prisoners that had been taken hostage on bogus charges. The freeing of a British national and the prospect that American hostages will soon be released at the cost of billions of dollars is an appalling prospect for those who understand the way Iran has once again gotten away with criminal behavior.

The craven nature of Biden's approach was further illustrated by the administration's lack of a military response to an Iranian missile strike on an American diplomatic compound in Iraq. That some in the administration sought to claim the Iranians' real target were Israelis rather than Americans makes the disgraceful nature of their posture towards Tehran's terrorism even more apparent.

When this new Iran deal is rolled out, we can expect that the administration will falsely claim that it solves the nuclear problem while downplaying the way it enriches and empowers the ayatollahs, and gives them a get-out-of-jail-free card for terrorism.

But it also amply demonstrates that the idea that Biden is focused on helping Ukraine is a brazen lie. He's not just selling out Israel and its Arab allies that are directly threatened by the prospect of an Iranian nuke as well all kinds of other malign activities. It also shows that he will betray Zelensky and the Ukrainians so long as it enables his Iran appeasement to continue.

Team Biden Runs the Syria Playbook on Ukraine

Moscow, already familiar with the Syria playbook and no doubt fed up with having to play the administration’s sanctions games while its soldiers are dying in Ukraine, decided to make a point of exposing the administration’s double-game publicly for all to see. At the 11th hour, as the Biden team got ready to announce the conclusion of the deal with Iran, the Russians threw a wrench in the works. They demanded the United States announce written guarantees that its sanctions on Russia will not impede “our right to free and full trade, economic and investment cooperation and military-technical cooperation with the Islamic Republic.” In a line that deserves a place in the annals of Soviet humor, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov added, “We need guarantees that these sanctions won’t affect the regime of trade-economic and investment ties embedded in the [nuclear deal].”

Ridiculous, right? But it only took a few days before the Russians declared they were satisfied with the written guarantees they received from the Biden administration. That is to say, they’ve made their point, and everyone understood it.

As was the case in Syria, all the moral outrage about the horrors of Russia bombing civilian neighborhoods is just the lead in to the Iran deal. The American horror at Putin’s aggression, in other words, is not merely performative, but functional—all the more so after the instrumentalization of Vladimir Putin in domestic American politics since 2016.

For the Biden administration, unlike for Obama, there are necessarily two Putins. There’s Vladimir Putin, the realist head of state. He’s a stone-cold killer, to be sure, but he gets the job done in rough spots like Syria, where he helped keep America out of another Middle Eastern war while holding in check the U.S. allies and their domestic neocon lobbyists who wanted to drag us into that conflict and spoil the Iran deal. He’s a thug, yes. But it takes a thug to ruthlessly pound Islamist terrorists like ISIS and keep the Israeli Air Force grounded.

Then there’s “Putin,” the devious monster who hacked our elections to install a puppet in the White House in an all-out assault on American democracy that even some Republicans deplore. Clearly, no compromise is possible with that kind of hell spawn. But if Putin was instrumental in neutralizing pesky U.S. allies of old with his entry into Syria while Obama conducted the real business with Iran, “Putin” is equally useful toward the same end: browbeating U.S. allies put in danger by the Iran realignment into keeping their mouths shut while the 2.0 deal is sealed.

Sure enough, the administration has weaponized moral outrage over “Putin” in a messaging campaign against the Gulf Arab states and Israel. How can these countries be real U.S. allies when they don’t denounce “Putin”? While it’s perhaps unsurprising that the Gulf Arab states side with the authoritarian “Putin,” underscoring their incompatibility with American values, how can Israel call itself a democracy while it enables “Putin”? Like “the Palestinians” and “settlements,” “Putin” is a cudgel masquerading as a principled American stand on values that is meant to keep a downgraded Israel preoccupied and on the defensive as the administration gives nuclear weapons capacity to its enemy. If, with its faux outrage over “Putin,” the Obama-Biden crew manages to trip the Israelis into crossing a line with the actual Vladimir Putin, whom Obama helped install on Israel’s northern border, thereby complicating Israel’s ability to operate against Iran, then all the better.

That is to say, the administration’s moral outrage really isn’t about Ukraine at all. It’s another tool in the service of its deal with Iran. Which is the common thread between the timing of Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine, and the U.S. reaction to it. It’s all pegged to the realignment. That’s the lesson of the Syria playbook.

Russian tactics in Ukraine war mirroring Syria

Zelensky Officially Scheduled to Address Knesset Via Zoom

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is slated to address the Israeli Knesset from Kyiv via video link early next week, likely on Sunday, Ynet reported on Tuesday.

The report noted that since the Knesset is currently on its winter recess, “steps are being taken to ensure that as many [Knesset members] as possible attend the address in person.”

In recent days, Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy has been in touch with Ukrainian officials, who requested for special arrangements to be made to enable the virtual address.

Zelensky spoke to the Canadian Parliament on Tuesday, asking Canada to help “close the sky” over Ukraine. Last week, he addressed the British Parliament via video link with a speech echoing the late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s rallying call during World War II. “We’ll fight in forests, fields, streets,” he said during the speech to the applause of the British Parliament members.

“The Ukrainian president is also set to address the US Congress on Wednesday as he attempts to galvanize world leaders to aid his country in the wake of the Russian invasion,” said the report.

Zelensky tells German MPs ‘never again’ Holocaust slogan is now meaningless

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky evoked the Holocaust in his address to Germany’s parliament Thursday, telling lawmakers that vows to never let the atrocity be repeated are empty in light of a failure to prevent Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Every year politicians repeat ‘never again,'” the Ukrainian leader said, referring to annual Holocaust commemorations.

“And now, we see that these words simply mean nothing. A people is being destroyed in Europe,” he said, noting that 108 children had been killed in his country since the start of the Russian offensive.

Zelensky stressed that the future of the continent was at stake in the current war and argued that governments across the West were failing to meet the moment.

“Help us stop this war,” he said.

Zelensky has been on a virtual tour of Western parliaments, each time receiving a standing ovation from MPs for his wartime leadership. Appearing on a screen in his now trademark khaki t-shirt with dark rings under his eyes, Zelensky was welcomed by MPs in the Bundestag lower house with rousing applause.

In his emotional video address before the parliament, Zelensky called on Germany to help destroy a new “wall” Russia was erecting in Europe.

“It’s not a Berlin Wall — it is a wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this wall is growing bigger with every bomb” dropped on Ukraine, Zelensky told MPs.

Bombed Mariupol theater 'withstood impact' of attack, evacuation underway

Ukraine's ombudswoman Ludmyla Denisova says a theater in the besieged city of Mariupol has withstood the impact of an airstrike, and that the rescue of civilians from under the rubble of the destroyed building has begun.

"The building withstood the impact of a high-powered air bomb and protected the lives of people hiding in the bomb shelter," she said on the messaging service Telegram on Thursday.

"Work is underway to unlock the basement" and surviving adults and children are coming out, she wrote. She said there is no information on casualties so far.

Hundreds of men, women and children had taken shelter in the basement of the theater. Russia has denied attacking the theater on Wednesday evening.

Ukrainian authorities struggled to determine the fate of hundreds of civilians who had been sheltering in a theater smashed by a Russian airstrike in the besieged city of Mariupol as officials said Russian artillery Thursday destroyed more civilian buildings in another frontline city.

At least as recently as Monday, the pavement in front of and behind the once-elegant theater was marked with huge white letters spelling out "children" in Russian, according to images released by the Maxar space technology company.

Tass alleged that “Ukrainian nationalists” bombed this civilian shelter. These incredibly cynical misanthropes. https://t.co/pJR9nJXZcy https://t.co/dMB8wLXe5j
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) March 16, 2022

The Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Legal Aspects

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is the most extensive belligerent action between states since the end of World War II. The invasion constitutes an unequivocal and blatant violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which prohibits states from using, or threatening to use, force against the territorial integrity or political independence of another state. Putin tried to justify the invasion based on Article 51 of the UN Charter, which recognizes the "inherent right" of a state to use force in self-defense in response to an armed attack. Clearly there is no factual basis to the claim that Russia was under a concrete threat, which could justify a claim of "self-defense."

Furthermore, the use of force in self-defense is subject to principles of necessity, i.e., the lack of a non-violent way to remove the threat, and of proportionality, i.e., the force used does not exceed what is required to deal with the threat. The Russian action plainly fails to meet these principles. Moreover, there are many reports of Russian forces committing war crimes, such as deliberate attacks on civilians, disproportionate use of force, and use of prohibited weapons.

Physicians for Holocaust Survivors Provide Medical Care to Ukrainian Refugees

LeMa’anam, an association of doctors who treat Holocaust survivors voluntarily, has sent a large delegation of medical and humanitarian aid to refugees in Moldova.

The delegation includes 35 doctors and primary care physicians for families and children, in addition to doctors in other specialties including psychiatry, ENT, gynecology and orthopedics, along with nursing staff psychologists and social workers.

The delegation is working with refugees arriving in Moldova—mostly children and the elderly who were forced to leave their homes at short notice. In addition, the team will also provide initial treatment of the wounded.

CEO Elinoar Levitan said, “we immediately realized that as an organization of doctors, saving lives and humanitarianism is at our very core. We had to mobilize for those who are in grave danger. It is therefore a great privilege for us to help and support refugees in their difficult times.”

In the last few days, the delegation treated a 30-year-old woman with a severe leg injury. After first aid on the ground, she was sent to Israel for additional treatment. Another case includes a traumatized 14-year-old girl who stopped communicating; after receiving support from the delegation’s social worker, she began to talk again.

Founder and Chair of LeMa’anam Dr. Tamara Kolitz, who is leading the delegation, said: “As an organization set up for Holocaust survivors, it was only natural for us to get out there to help the refugees at this time.”

He doesn't care about the hospitals, schools and homes being flattened by Putin's bombs, or the men, women and children lying dead in the rubble, because all he can think about is Jews. This toxic, trivial fool is an antisemite to his very core, and hatred is what defines him. pic.twitter.com/VhsRVnB9id
— Never Again (@Never_Again2020) March 17, 2022

South African president blames NATO for Russia-Ukraine war

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday blamed NATO for the war in Ukraine and said he would resist calls to condemn Russia, in comments that cast doubt over whether he would be accepted by Ukraine or the West as a mediator.

"The war could have been avoided if NATO had heeded the warnings from amongst its own leaders and officials over the years that its eastward expansion would lead to greater, not less, instability in the region," Ramaphosa said in response to questions in parliament.

But he added that South Africa "cannot condone the use of force and violation of international law" - an apparent reference to Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

Ramaphosa also revealed that Putin had assured him personally that negotiations were making progress. The South African leader said he had not yet talked with Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but that he wanted to.

On Friday, Ramaphosa said South Africa had been asked to mediate in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He did not say who had asked him to intervene.

"There are those who are insisting that we should take a very adversarial stance against Russia. The approach we are going to take (instead) is ... insisting that there should be dialog," Ramaphosa added. "Screaming and shouting is not going to bring an end to this conflict."

Nelson Mandela’s Grandson Blames Russian Invasion on ‘Ukraine Neo-Nazis’ and ‘Apartheid Israel Dogs of War’

A South African member of parliament who is also the grandson of Nelson Mandela, the country’s iconic leader in the struggle against apartheid during the late 20th century, is making headlines for a bombastic speech in which he branded Ukraine’s leaders as “neo-Nazis” who are allied with “apartheid Israel’s dogs of war.”

Nkosi Zwelivelile “Mandla” Mandela, a convert to Islam who is one of South Africa’s most outspoken anti-Zionist activists, was speaking at a session of the Pan African Palestinian Solidarity Network in the Senegalese capital Dakar last weekend, where he began by greeting “the global BDS family” — a reference to the cluster of pro-Palestinian organizations pushing for a comprehensive boycott of Israel.

Omitting the basic fact that Russia — a country that went entirely unmentioned — invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Mandela went on to blame the war on Israel and the western alliance.

“The global military industrial complex that beat the drums of war in Ukraine feeds an agenda of which they are the sole beneficiaries. Behind them lies the ruins of Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. They are joined in this disgraceful endeavor by neo-Nazis in Ukraine, the apartheid Israel dogs of war and those in NATO intent on advancing cold war politics,” Mandela stated.

The false accusation that Ukraine is led by neo-Nazis originated with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other members of his inner circle. Despite being roundly condemned by Holocaust survivors, Jewish groups and western governments, the accusation has been endorsed by some pro-Russian commentators in the west on both the far left and the extreme right. On Wednesday, Putin doubled down on his claim, asserting that western countries sought “Russia’s destruction” by imposing sanctions whose effects were reminiscent of the “antisemitic pogroms” carried out by the Nazis.

#Russia’s unrelenting war against #Ukraine is now in its 4th week. And you know what @amnesty still has as their Facebook cover profile? Israel. How sick and twisted with Jew hatred must you be, @AgnesCallamard @amnestyusa? pic.twitter.com/Lh2n5NgdOb
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) March 17, 2022

Purim Shpiel: Israel sends janitor to speak at UN on Ukraine war (satire)

Representatives from over 65 countries gave speeches at the UN General Assembly this week, condemning the Russian attack on Ukraine and sending prayers and warm thoughts to the Ukrainian people.

In a move seen as an attempt to placate Russian strongman Vladimir Putin – and because Israel’s Ambassador Gilad Erdan had previously scheduled a hairdresser’s appointment – Israel decided to send the Israeli New York mission’s janitor and handyman, Moti Cohen, to deliver the Israel’s remarks.

“I’ve never spoken in public before,” Cohen said after his impromptu speech, in which he expressed admiration for Ukraine’s sanitation standards.

“I was just about to install the minister’s new flat screen TV, when his secretary asked me if I had a few free minutes. I didn’t even have time to change out of my overalls,” added Cohen about his sudden brush with fame.

“I had to look up where Ukraine was on the map.”

Cohen joined the other UN delegates in sending prayers and best wishes to the Ukrainian people.

When asked if those were going to be accompanied by a shipment of weapons or financial aid, a source in Israel’s UN mission, later identified as the office’s driver, said, “Let’s go one step at a time.”