Blundering

This past week has been characterised by a widespread outbreak of blundering among politicians and officials.

In Israel, election fever is growing, and with it, a guarantee that bluster and blunder will increase the closer we get to polling day. Legally, elections must be held no later than October. As part of pre-election chaos, no actual date has yet been determined, which gives all concerned a perfect opportunity to indulge in early inept attempts at subterfuge and hyper-inflated rhetoric.

Elsewhere in the world, Israel remains the perfect target for political and media mendacity. Needless to say, each and every utterance as well as decision by Israeli officials is dissected and analysed, following which the collective wrath of the international community descends.

Accompanying any blunders are “own goals” which present critics and haters with a perfect opportunity to censure and condemn.

There are many examples of how to turn pre-planned and orchestrated campaigns of incitement into a public relations disaster.

This, in turn, presents all those who believe Israel is living in perpetual sin with a perfect opportunity to demonise and denounce.

The latest crop of inept incidents demonstrates the unreal realities we currently confront.

The recent fake flotilla saga is a perfect example of blundering on a grand scale and scoring own goals.

It was always from its very inception going to be an exercise in smearing Israel and grabbing media headlines. The only thing actually missing on this particular farcical act of deception was Greta Thunberg, who, for some reason, decided to give these ships of fools a miss.

As per the ordained script, these mariners sailing to Gaza with very little in the way of any useful aid were intercepted by the Israeli Navy and taken to Israel for interrogation and deportation. In the absence of photos and videos of violent confrontations at sea, it was always a given that, following deportation, they would accuse Israel of various heinous crimes.

True to form, the anticipated accusations followed, swallowed as usual by a gullible media and blundering politicians. Not unrepentantly, the Australian women asserted that they had been sexually abused, raped and otherwise tortured. This unsubstantiated smear was eagerly lapped up by the usual quarters, including the Australian Foreign Minister, Penny Wong.

Not so many years ago, Jews were believed to have tortured and killed Christian babies. These days, all it takes for an updated version of this libel to go viral is a press conference and political ineptitude.

Talking of ineptitude, one must also marvel at the ability of Israel’s Security Minister to score an own goal by videoing himself taunting the arrested flotilla crews and bragging about their stupidity. That act destroyed any chance of positive publicity and confirmed Israel as a villainous perpetrator of illegal crimes.

It might have been wonderful election fodder for devoted followers, but it was a gross blundering on a grand scale.

Trump is a masterful blunderer, whether intentional or otherwise.

It has been reported that in a recent telephone conversation, he told Netanyahu, “Everyone hates you.”

There is no record of what the Israeli PM replied, or whether he indeed ignored this claim. He should have taken a leaf out of Golda Meir’s response to a former American President.

She famously responded: “We have no intention of going down in order that some should speak well of us. No people in the world know collective eulogies as well as we Jews do. If we have a choice between being dead and pitied and being alive with a bad image we would rather be alive and have a bad image. The world hates a Jew who hits back. The world loves us when we are to be pitied.”

As Trump’s original statement received major headlines, so would Netanyahu’s response. Remaining silent in the face of ignorant bluster is the negative reaction to blundering blathering.

As I write this op-ed, Iranian missiles are once again being directed at Israeli civilian targets after Israel responded to continual drone and missile fire from Iran’s proxy partner, Hezbollah. Any self-respecting democracy would normally not expect to be warned against retaliating against terror attacks, especially from those dedicated to one’s demise.

Obviously, this sort of logic does not apply to the world’s sole Jewish sovereign nation.

European countries, which know a thing or two about surrendering and compromising with international bullies, lost no time in admonishing Israel for having the temerity to fight back.

The UK Foreign Secretary chimed in, urging Iran and Israel to “show restraint for the sake of peace and stability and global trade recovery.” This gratuitous piece of chutzpah assumes that peace will break out if the missiles stop and Iran will do a 180-degree flip and miraculously embrace the existence of Israel.

The Turkish Interior Minister uttered the following prayer: “Oh Lord, grant me the governorship of Jerusalem. Just as Damascus was liberated let Jerusalem be liberated and one day may those lands be ours again.” This desire to “make the Ottoman empire great again” seems incompatible with Turkish NATO membership, yet not one condemnation has been heard.

To cap off another vintage week, Trump, the chief blunderer himself, contributed some more pearls of wisdom.

In an interview with NBC News, he claimed, apparently with a straight face, that the Iranian Supreme Leader is more “rational” than his deceased father. This must come as a surprise to most experts because nobody has seen or heard from the current leader.

Blundering on, Trump went on to say that “unless Americans were killed” he would not restart military counter measures. In other words, no matter how many Israelis are murdered by Iran and its proxies, the USA would only act if its own citizens or military were killed. What a great way to make the world a safer place and support an ally.

What followed was even more bizarre.

Trump maintained that “we are having very good negotiations with the people that are leading the country now. It’s the third group we’ve been dealing with and they are different. You could say it is regime change actually because these are very different people. I find them to be more rational, very smart.”

Either the White House is engaged in some brilliant strategic master plan or whatever is being smoked has a very strong hallucinatory effect. If it’s all a figment of an overactive imagination and overinflated ego, we are headed for disaster.

Meanwhile, a huge blunder down under has erupted.

The Maccabiah (Jewish Olympics) held in Israel every four years is scheduled to commence at the end of June, having been postponed last year because of the Israel/Iran war. Assuming that the fake ceasefire manages to hold, this year’s event promises to be a wonderful gathering of Jewish competitors from all over the world.

Missing in action, however, will be Australian sportsmen and women because the Australian Maccabiah sports body has decided to cancel and bail out. Apparently, according to them, the security situation is such that safety cannot be guaranteed.

Israel, as usual, will be providing world-class security, which then begs the question as to what really lies behind Australia’s withdrawal.

Could the decision by any chance have anything to do with the Australian Government issuing a warning forbidding travel to Israel?

To make matters worse, Australian competitors were told that they could go as individuals but could not represent Australia.

Australian expats I have spoken to are aghast and embarrassed at this move, especially as Australia has always been held in such high esteem and its competitors are strong supporters of Israel.

If ever there was an “own goal” this surely qualifies,

Australian Maccabiah officials need to take note of the comments made by the Chairman of Israel’s National Basketball League and the Wingate Sports Institute. He declared at the recent Jerusalem Post conference in New York: “The enemies of the Jewish People will not break us. Israeli and Jewish athletes will continue to compete, to stand tall in the face of these attacks and to bring pride, medals and international achievements.”

While he was referring to international sports boycotts, his remarks apply equally to the current situation.

Standing tall in the face of intimidation is surely one of the primary attributes of the Maccabiah Games.

The ancient Maccabees knew a thing or two about standing up to bigots.

Their modern-day compatriots must do no less.

Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel and is J-Wire’s correspondent in the region.