Between the Saudi nuclear program and the poison machine: the failures that threaten the future of the state

It seems that the term in office will not be Benjamin Netanyahu's last historical peak. After surpassing the founder of the state, David Ben-Gurion, in this context, it appears Netanyahu is on his way to another staggering achievement: there is a situation where in the not-too-distant future he will also surpass Shimon Peres on the nuclear issue. According to foreign publications (which Israel has never admitted), Peres is the one who signed off on the Israeli nuclear bomb.

Well, as the "Mr. Television" Haim Yavin once said, ladies and gentlemen, a turnaround: Netanyahu is moving decisively toward a situation where he will be signed off on both the Iranian bomb and the Saudi bomb. Eat dust, Shimon Peres. With this achievement, no one will be able to compete.

The agreement announced by the USA and Saudi Arabia, under which the Americans will establish a civil nuclear project in Saudi Arabia, which will include uranium enrichment on Saudi soil, is a huge strategic failure and a dangerous and destructive move in every sense. It will ignite a nuclear race throughout the Middle East.

If the Saudis get it, the Egyptians and Turks will want it too. And after them, everyone else. And what argument will there be for continuing the struggle against Iranian enrichment? A decades-long strategy designed to prevent the nuclearization of the Middle East is collapsing before our eyes. This is a fact. It is not I who determines it, but every expert you turn to and everyone who has dealt with the subject.

Take, for example, Netanyahu's former National Security Advisor, Meir Ben-Shabbat: "The emerging agreement with Saudi Arabia is a dangerous move," he said this week, "It is about opening the door for Saudi Arabia to use civil parts of a nuclear program, which could in the future also allow for a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. The move could affect the regional balance of power and Israel's security in the long term!".

Ben-Shabbat expressed himself sparingly. After all, he is close to Netanyahu, was appointed by him to the position of head of the NSC, and managed on his behalf the long and tender romance with Yahya Sinwar. Let us not forget that this possibility, for enrichment in Saudi Arabia, also came up during the Bennett/Lapid change government. The Joe Biden administration tried to explore an option for a deal that would include normalization with Saudi Arabia and a civil nuclear program in Riyadh. Bennett and Lapid said "no" outright.

"They need a civil nuclear program like we need Tali Gottlieb"

How did Bibi say? "An Israeli prime minister must have only one ability, without which he cannot be prime minister. The ability to say 'no' to the US president." Well, in such moments, one must say "no". And they said no. Biden upgraded the deal to a full peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

But in Israel, they insisted and also emphasized that they would go out to a public struggle, including in Congress, against this option. The Biden administration surrendered. This is a historical fact. Avigdor Lieberman also expressed himself many times against enrichment on Saudi soil, and as far as I know, Gadi Eisenkot does not think otherwise.

And what is happening meanwhile with Benjamin "different league" Netanyahu? The Saudis are getting enrichment on their soil, without Israel being in the loop. The agreement is signed and presented to Congress, and there is still no talk of Israel and any compensation.

The sun is setting, urgent and sweaty phone calls are running between the capitals, and President Trump updates that the agreement with the Saudis is conditional on normalization with Israel. It is clear that someone here is panicked and now everything depends on Trump's word. The Saudis have already responded and said they have no intention of giving gifts to anyone without compensation. How this will end, there is no knowing.

In parentheses: every Israeli patriot should hope that in the end there will indeed be normalization and even full peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia. In the same breath, it must be emphasized that even this does not justify uranium enrichment on the kingdom's soil. Imagine that Netanyahu was now the head of the opposition, and not the prime minister. Try to remember what he did after the agreement on the "economic waters" with Lebanon, multiply by a hundred million and you will understand.

The difference lies in the enrichment. The UAE, an ally of Israel, received a similar deal from the Americans, with one clear difference: there is no enrichment on UAE soil. They receive the enriched uranium from outside. And that makes the difference, because whoever enriches uranium on their soil is paving their own potential path to a bomb.

Enrichment, even to a relatively low level, is a school. It teaches the enricher the process and equips them with everything necessary to reach the goal. All that remains for them afterwards is to add the enrichment stages to higher levels. The Saudis are drowning in oil and eternal sun, they need a civil nuclear program like we need Tali Gottlieb.

The writing is on the wall and if the writing also had a volume knob, here too it would be completely Gottlieb. And yet, the Netanyahu government does not open its mouth and does not chirp. Accepts the verdict with a bowed head. Indeed, a completely different league.

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A resounding fiasco

"That's what interested him. To continue being prime minister"

Netanyahu failed in all areas and senses: "Mr. Security" failed to prevent a terrible massacre of his citizens, and now he is failing to stop the spread of nuclear weapons in his surroundings. From the Saudi bomb to the Iranian bomb. Everything has already been written about this.

Today it is clear even to the biggest skeptics that convincing Trump to exit the nuclear agreement in 2018 was a fatal historical mistake of biblical proportions. The agreement froze and imprisoned the Iranians at a distance of at least two years from a nuclear weapon in the field of enrichment.

The Iranians kept all its details precisely, according to the data of the Mossad, the CIA, the IAEA, and all other intelligence organizations in the world. Because of that exit, they closed the gap and closed the two years. All that remained for them was the "weapon group".

Netanyahu was warned in real time, but ignored it. Two weeks ago he said that the Iranians already had nuclear bombs (a gross lie, of course). If they had nuclear bombs, Mr. Netanyahu, who is to blame for that? The Attorney General? Shikma Bressler? No. That, even you will not be able to pin on someone else. That is all yours.

And if you ask me what is the difference between Netanyahu's war on the nuclear agreement in 2015 and the opposition of Bennett/Lapid to enrichment in Saudi Arabia in 2021, why I attack the former and support the latter, the answer is simple: the nuclear agreement was signed when Iran had a very advanced nuclear program, including enrichment to a high level, including sophisticated centrifuges and fortified nuclear sites.

There was an urgent need to stop it. The agreement froze the situation, rolled the nuclear program back, and promised us 15 years of quiet. At that point in time, it had no alternative. The administration did not agree to consider a military strike and there was no other agreement.

Netanyahu was explained that he would not succeed in stopping the agreement even if he went to Congress "over the head" of Barack Obama, but he insisted. He was warned that such a move would lead to historical damage to the relations between Israel and the Democratic Party, but he ignored it. He knew that the nuclear agreement would not be stopped, but he also knew that his chances of defeating Isaac Herzog in the elections that took place two weeks after the speech would increase greatly.

That's what interested him. To continue being prime minister. And indeed, all the predictions were confirmed: Netanyahu defeated Herzog on the wings of that speech, the relations between the Democratic Party and Israel began to deteriorate and in these days have completely crashed, and the nuclear agreement with the Iranians was signed.

"I wish the morbid stubbornness of the Revolutionary Guards would bring them to their end. As mentioned, this will dwarf everything else"

However, Netanyahu decided that it was necessary to continue harming the state and convinced Trump to exit the agreement. He hoped it would topple the Iranian regime. It did not topple it. It brought it very close to a nuclear weapon. And in the case of Saudi Arabia, there is no nuclear program there, no enrichment, there is nothing there. This is exactly the moment to oppose and that is exactly what the change government did, successfully.

Bennett and Lapid talked Biden out of this idea. Netanyahu? Crickets. From a different league, of course.

Every Israeli patriot should pray that this is not final. That the upcoming round against Iran (if it indeed breaks out) will topple the Iranian regime or in some way lead to the removal of the Iranian nuclear threat.

This is bigger, even, than Netanyahu himself. This is bigger than anything else. The problem is, the bigger it is, the further away it is. I wish I were wrong. I wish the morbid stubbornness of the Revolutionary Guards would bring them to their end. As mentioned, this will dwarf everything else.

If we add the nuclear program in Saudi Arabia to the situation in Gaza, where as time passes the scale of the fiasco becomes clear and the fact that no one has any intention of disarming Hamas, the penetration of Qatar and Turkey into decisions about the security of the State of Israel, the Sunni axis being established before our eyes between Riyadh and Ankara, including Pakistan, instead of the axis that was supposed to be established from India to Europe through Israel, we will understand the scale of the fiasco.

Netanyahu had to decide between Ben Gvir and Smotrich in the coalition or building a new Middle East based on Israeli power, based on Israeli technology and progress and on its accessibility in Washington. He decided in favor of Ben Gvir and Smotrich. Because Netanyahu is only interested in Netanyahu. This is a fact.

Meanwhile, he is doing everything to harm all our relative advantages. The accessibility in Washington no longer exists. Netanyahu did not hesitate to recruit a foreign president in favor of his efforts to escape the fear of judgment, and thus turned himself into someone who can no longer say "no" to the US president.

With the other hand, he is doing everything to downgrade Israel to the status of a third-world country. Investing resources in the Haredi society, in Haredi education, in cultivating non-productive sectors at the expense of science, education, academia, excellence.

Data published this week shows that Israel has deteriorated from third place on the list of educated countries in the OECD to 20th place, which is below average. The growth rate of academic degrees in Israel is the lowest in the group, except for Finland. On the other hand, the rate of flowing coalition billions to the Haredim and to Orit Strock is the highest ever. Thanks for that too, Bibi.

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Unity of Israel

On the eve of Tisha B'Av he spoke about "unity of Israel". His campaign will deal with this. Meet Benjamin Netanyahu, father of the nation, the great unifier and reconciler, the man who will heal the rift, heal the wounds. Two days earlier, the same Netanyahu distributed the sickening video about Eisenkot and a fighter who looks like his son Gal, of blessed memory.

You ask yourself where Netanyahu and his people get the abundance of venom and callousness required to distribute such a video. And against whom? Against someone who buried one son and two nephews (Yogev Pazi and Maor Atzmon) throughout the war. By the way, Gal and Yogev fell 11 months apart and 700 meters from each other.

Meanwhile, Yair Netanyahu was splashing in a pool in Miami and his brother Avner was moving on the London-Tel Aviv line. Now they are releasing this abomination into the air, intentionally. A first kick, as if unintentional, at a sacred cow. In a week or two it will already be common in the throats of the slaves and the shofars. This is the method. This is the way. This is the poison.

When in real life, Gadi Eisenkot symbolizes commitment while Benjamin Netanyahu is a symbol and ideologue of evasion.

Let's return to the video. The intention was to connect Mansour Abbas to Eisenkot, as if it were a malignant disease. One must focus here on the scale of the audacity required for this task. Eisenkot is one of the few on the political map who did not sit with Mansour, or intend to sit with him. The one who brought Mansour Abbas into the coalition equation in Israel was Netanyahu.

Long before Bennett-Lapid. Abbas cooperated with the Likud, voted with the Likud, conducted a romance with the Likud, during which Yariv Levin called him in the Knesset "sahibi al-aziz" (dear friend) and even a spiritual giant like Amichai Chikli recommended the appointment of Mansour as a minister in the government.

"Rest your mind, Mr. Netanyahu. This is your stain. It will remain there forever"

Netanyahu is the one who invited Mansour to Balfour four times, he is the one who conducted a campaign of monstrous pressure for his legitimization as a coalition partner, he is the one who threw into the fray his senior slaves, from Yinon Magal through Shimon Riklin and all the rest, he is the one who begged Bezalel Smotrich, he is the one who recruited even Rabbi Druckman, on his deathbed, to find the loophole through which it would be possible to establish a government with or with the assistance of Mansour.

If Netanyahu had to take Mansour as a wife to remain prime minister, that is what he would have done. Sara would have descended to the status of "common-law wife". And now, he is smearing all this on Eisenkot.

For the sake of full disclosure, I think Mansour Abbas is the greatest Arab-Israeli leader of our generation. The Anwar Sadat of Israel's Arabs. The coalition in which Mansour was a member improved Israel's situation in all indicators and areas.

This is also a fact. My problem is the hypocrisy. How can it be that one minute all the shofars and slaves are wailing about the greatness of Mansour and the great hope for historical cooperation with Israel's Arabs, and a few seconds later they move to horrific screams about the "Muslim Brotherhood" and "supporters of terror" and all the other evils that they attribute to Mansour, even though they happened precisely with Netanyahu, without Mansour.

A week before he started the "unity of Israel" campaign, Netanyahu passed the series of evasion laws, prevention of the arrest of deserters and other abominations, all of which are intended to continue tearing Israeli society from within, destroying the delicate fabric that creates here a kind of blood alliance and unity of fate.

He arrived at the vote on the deserters law on a helicopter flown by reserve pilots of the Air Force (lucky he didn't hear what they are saying about it, because I happened to hear), without shame. And then, with even less shame, he also fled at the last moment from the vote and left the stain to his various slaves. Rest your mind, Mr. Netanyahu. This is your stain. It will remain there forever.

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Garbage Gate

I often deal with the lies, conspiracy theories and blood libels that the various components of the Bibist poison machine try to stick to anyone who does not align with them. This week an attack began, still polite, on the journalist Ariel Kahana, who dares to think a little differently, that is, to also consider the facts and events that have happened to us in the last three years.

In Netanyahu's order of slaves there is a hierarchy, ranks, classes and different types. This is not the place to review this pile. I will suffice with the determination that the bottom of the barrel is registered in the land registry in the name of Yaakov Bardugo, the one for whom nothing is too small for his (clearly not small) dimensions.

To say that Eisenkot escaped from the fear of judgment in the Harpaz affair (not related at all)? Clear. To say that Benjamin Netanyahu is the first Eastern prime minister? No problem. The only one who challenges Bardugo is Avi Ratzon, who summarized last week Eisenkot's military career with the word "jobnik" (rear-echelon soldier). This battle of the dwarfs has not been decided yet.

My bewilderment is about people who are not supposed to wallow in this garbage. People who know the facts and the truth, people who have done something in their lives, who know the acting figures. Today we will talk about one, Colonel (res.) Ronen Cohen.

He, quite accidentally, heads the "advisory committee" to the special ministerial team on the security of senior officials in Israel. That is, the decision to attach special security of the Shin Bet to Netanyahu and his family members (except Noa of course) permanently, is his decision.

The aforementioned was interviewed on some radio this week and said the following things: "I am worried that people are caught by leaders who have nothing in them and they are very dangerous to the State of Israel. People don't know who this is and I am talking about Eisenkot. This person has 'October 7th' written on his forehead in two senses: about what was, and about the next October 7th. October 7th sits on his shoulders more than on most generals. He was head of the operations directorate, commander of the Northern Command and Chief of Staff. He knew about the Radwan force, knew about the tunnels and about the readiness of Hezbollah, but never pulled on the prime minister's coat tail and said: 'Let's do something offensive'. He continues to talk about a Palestinian state and about the entry of workers, and does not understand the scale of the disaster".

"I do not pretend to know who is right here, but to say that Eisenkot did not pull on Netanyahu's coat tail is to be a vile liar without conscience"

There are 99 words here and about 100 lies. "Eisenkot is dangerous to the State of Israel", he determines. Why? What danger is it about? After all, the massacre has already happened, on Netanyahu's watch. Not on Eisenkot's watch. All the most horrific disasters that happened to the State of Israel occurred precisely under Netanyahu.

"He knew about the Radwan force, knew about the tunnels and about the readiness of Hezbollah, but never pulled on the prime minister's coat tail!".

There is, there is no limit. After all, Operation "Northern Shield" was Eisenkot's baby, the thing he insisted on doing and completing before he finished his term, to locate and destroy all the penetrating tunnels of Hezbollah. On this background also the fight he had with Avigdor Lieberman, who thought that one should deal with Hamas first.

I do not pretend to know who is right here, but to say that Eisenkot did not pull on Netanyahu's coat tail is to be a vile liar without conscience, a conscious liar, who knows the truth and still decides to lie and dirty.

Cohen laments that Eisenkot never said to Netanyahu "let's do something offensive". Well, in 2018, when Eisenkot was Chief of Staff and Jabhat al-Nusra was rampaging in Syria and approaching our borders, he offered Netanyahu a maneuver deep in Syria led by the 7th Brigade under the command of Roman Gofman and the Golani Brigade, under the command of Shlomi Binder.

An armored, powerful maneuver, which would distance the threat and demonstrate Israeli power and determination. Netanyahu hesitated and decided not to approve. Not for the first time, by the way. Eisenkot offered him another move of this type on another occasion and arena.

Furthermore: Eisenkot led the "war between wars" strikes of the Air Force throughout all his years in office, with increasing intensity, almost across the entire Middle East. He does not "continue to talk about a Palestinian state" (are you willing to bring quotes, Mr. Cohen?).

He is not the one who gave the Bar-Ilan speech and repeated his commitment to a Palestinian state publicly countless times (that's Netanyahu, dummy), including saying "yes" to Trump's plan of the century. Eisenkot also does not talk about "entry of workers". The one who broke the record of workers who entered from Gaza to Israel was Netanyahu, on the eve of the massacre. This is an official figure. He also approved increasing this number, but did not have time, because then came October 7th.

Where did he scrape up the audacity to determine that "October 7th is smeared on Eisenkot's forehead"? There is no knowing.

When Eisenkot was head of the operations directorate, the Second Lebanon War broke out. The "Dahiya Doctrine" is named after him. He is the one who conceived and planned it and pushed to destroy the government quarter of Hezbollah. And in this context, hear a story about the same Ronen Cohen:

When Hezbollah killed and kidnapped Beni Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Sawaed in 2000 on Mount Dov, Cohen was the intelligence officer of the 36th Division, which was responsible for the sector. He was the direct person responsible for this failure. He did not provide a warning and afterwards, in the investigations, he tried to pin the blame on the command and claimed that they isolated him.

If this reminds you of someone, you have a not bad memory. In the Second Lebanon War, the guy was head of the terror arena in Lebanon. Direct person responsible for the arena of Israel and Hezbollah. And this time too, there was no warning of Hezbollah's intention to carry out the attack on the fence to kidnap Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. He was supposed to provide it, and did not provide it.

Furthermore: a few weeks before the Second Lebanon War broke out, Eisenkot, who was head of the operations directorate, returned from a discussion at the Northern Command commander Udi Adam. The discussion dealt with the possibility of a large-scale war against Hezbollah. At the conclusion of the exercise, it turned out that the IDF has no plan for a significant response against Hezbollah.

Eisenkot returned to his office and on the same day convened an emergency meeting and presented to the participants the "Dahiya Doctrine". In addition, he instructed the representative of the terror arena who was present at the meeting to prepare most of the buildings in the Dahiya quarter as targets for attack. Reminder: at the head of the Lebanon terror arena stood then Ronen Cohen. He sent his representative to the mentioned discussion. In the discussion, the representative is supposed to present the position of the arena, that is, the position of the head of the arena, that is, Cohen.

"And now, the same Ronen Cohen, whom you already know, is trying to dirty Eisenkot. Why? Only because he is running against Netanyahu"

And what did Cohen's representative say? He stood up, pointed towards the Amot Mishpat building which is located south of the General Staff building in the Kirya, and said: "Are you crazy? This is to attack buildings like this building. You want towers to fall to the ground? That dozens of civilians will be killed? You know what this means legally?"

Yes, Eisenkot went crazy. The war broke out and Dahiya was destroyed. In retrospect, Nasrallah said that if he had known the power of Israel's response, he would not have gone to war. It may be that this is what caused him not to join the Hamas attack on October 7th and saved, in retrospect, Israel.

And now, the same Ronen Cohen, whom you already know, is trying to dirty Eisenkot. Why? Only because he is running against Netanyahu.

What have we had so far? Ronen Cohen is an intelligence officer who failed in everything he turned to. The rank he reached is two or three clicks higher than the rank he deserves. Today he is responsible for the security of senior officials in Israel. He is the one who approved, with teeth and nails, the security "permanently" for the Netanyahu family.

I hope they didn't come to him with complaints about why he didn't also approve security after death. At the same time, he determines that Gadi Eisenkot is responsible for October 7th and essentially permits his blood. If only he had recommended also securing Eisenkot.

After all, this is a candidate for prime minister who leads, as of today, in the Maariv poll, by 3 mandates over Netanyahu. And here I prove that I myself am a delusional person: how will Ronen Cohen recommend securing Eisenkot? After all, in such a case, there will be no one found to secure Cohen himself.

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Lesson in democracy

A few words to the head of the Shin Bet Ronen Bar: you were quoted this week in the newspaper "Haaretz" as someone who calls the Israeli media "tshkoret" (distorted media) and claimed that we are doing a character assassination to you. I cannot speak on behalf of the Israeli media, but only on my own behalf.

It was not I who determined that you are "too messianic" and cancelled your candidacy for the position of military secretary to the prime minister. You know who did. I actually gave you a chance, despite the opinions, despite the belonging to a particularly extremist sector (the rabbis of Mor and Rabbi Tau), and published on several occasions that you are surprising for the better.

Meanwhile it turned out that you are surprising for the worse. Even compared to the low expectations. It is evident in you that you have no clue about democracy - that you are supposed to be the one who protects it. The media, in a democracy, is a cornerstone. "The watchdog of democracy" they call us in proper democracies in the world.

I hope that the democracy you are aiming for is not the Egyptian democracy, under whose auspices Mohamed Morsi, a man of the Muslim Brotherhood, came to power himself. Or the Turkish democracy, under whose auspices hundreds of officers and journalists sit in prison.

Democracy is a place where there is a completely free media whose main role is to criticize the government and yes, also its tools, such as the Shin Bet. You are supposed to protect us, Mr. Bar. Not to dirty us and fight us. The truth is, I am willing to declare already now that I am giving up on your protection.

"But instead of protecting democracy, it seems to me that you are already aiming for the next position: panelist on Channel 14"

We are also not "persecuting your family members". It seems to me that the one who is "persecuting" your brother Bezalel is the Shin Bet itself and the police. It seems to me that the evidence is quite clear. You have nothing to do with it and I am the first who called to disconnect you from the event. Family is not chosen. This does not mean that you can leverage it now for your benefit.

And since we are talking, then on the matter of the security of the Netanyahu family: as in the matter of the investigation of the nonsense of the "leak" about the outbreak of the war with Iran, also here I assume that you know the truth. I have no problem with the decision to secure the Netanyahu family. There are currently threats and they are known to all of us. The problem is with the "permanently". Security should be given according to the threat assessment. Permanently, they secure a king. Or a queen. Not a politician and his family.

It is not too late, Bar. You can be the head of the General Security Service for all of us, in a democratic state. Simply, try to learn what democracy is and understand that there are limits even to the tyranny of the majority and there are rights even for minorities, or for journalists, or for opponents of the government. Any other situation turns the state into a dictatorship. By the way, we are on the way there. And it seems to me that you know it. But instead of protecting democracy, it seems to me that you are already aiming for the next position: panelist on Channel 14.