Israel

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Yes, it might be relevant if Israel's military force was comparable to a rabbit and all of its neighbors comparable to wolves. Rather than the other way around being more accurate.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Yes, it might be relevant if Israel's military force was comparable to a rabbit and all of its neighbors comparable to wolves. Rather than the other way around being more accurate.

I suppose it makes more sense in the original war for independence, back in '48; its lost its relevance now.

[Franzl]

Yes, it might be relevant if Israel's military force was comparable to a rabbit and all of its neighbors comparable to wolves. Rather than the other way around being more accurate.

I suppose it makes more sense in the original war for independence, back in '48; its lost its relevance now.

then why bring it up now if you weren't trying to make a point?

[GMantis]

Israel has nuclear weapon, so a better analogy would be an elephant attacked by many sharp-toothed rabbits.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Yes, it might be relevant if Israel's military force was comparable to a rabbit and all of its neighbors comparable to wolves. Rather than the other way around being more accurate.

I suppose it makes more sense in the original war for independence, back in '48; its lost its relevance now.

then why bring it up now if you weren't trying to make a point?

I thought it had a point; turns out I was wrong.

[Хahar 🤔]

Yes, it might be relevant if Israel's military force was comparable to a rabbit and all of its neighbors comparable to wolves. Rather than the other way around being more accurate.

I suppose it makes more sense in the original war for independence, back in '48; its lost its relevance now.

then why bring it up now if you weren't trying to make a point?

I thought it had a point; turns out I was wrong.

Yeah, because the rabbit is owned by a guy with a gun.
Went to the mosque this morning, saw a nice little birthday party for Israel. Part of the parking lot was cordoned off with signs reading, "ISRAELI CHECKPOINT AHEAD: CAUTION". In that space, there were a bunch of Palestinian flags flying, along with a flag each from Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan and Morocco (I have no idea why the last two were there).

Not sure if this was at all relevant.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Yes, it might be relevant if Israel's military force was comparable to a rabbit and all of its neighbors comparable to wolves. Rather than the other way around being more accurate.

I suppose it makes more sense in the original war for independence, back in '48; its lost its relevance now.

then why bring it up now if you weren't trying to make a point?

I thought it had a point; turns out I was wrong.

Yeah, because the rabbit is owned by a guy with a gun.
Went to the mosque this morning, saw a nice little birthday party for Israel. Part of the parking lot was cordoned off with signs reading, "ISRAELI CHECKPOINT AHEAD: CAUTION". In that space, there were a bunch of Palestinian flags flying, along with a flag each from Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan and Morocco (I have no idea why the last two were there).

Not sure if this was at all relevant.

It wasn't.

[Хahar 🤔]

Yes, it might be relevant if Israel's military force was comparable to a rabbit and all of its neighbors comparable to wolves. Rather than the other way around being more accurate.

I suppose it makes more sense in the original war for independence, back in '48; its lost its relevance now.

then why bring it up now if you weren't trying to make a point?

I thought it had a point; turns out I was wrong.

Yeah, because the rabbit is owned by a guy with a gun.
Went to the mosque this morning, saw a nice little birthday party for Israel. Part of the parking lot was cordoned off with signs reading, "ISRAELI CHECKPOINT AHEAD: CAUTION". In that space, there were a bunch of Palestinian flags flying, along with a flag each from Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan and Morocco (I have no idea why the last two were there).

Not sure if this was at all relevant.

It wasn't.

I'm sure it has some relevance. But it'd be much more relevant to, say, Britain.

[JohnFKennedy]

Yes, it might be relevant if Israel's military force was comparable to a rabbit and all of its neighbors comparable to wolves. Rather than the other way around being more accurate.

I suppose it makes more sense in the original war for independence, back in '48; its lost its relevance now.

Not even then.

Problem with the metaphor:

1. Wolves hunt in packs whereas the surrounding Arab states were anything but united in their aims in the war of 1948 - as I have already stated in this thread, Abdullah of Jordan aimed at controlling the Palestinian segment of the partition.
2. Israel's military force was better prepared, better mobilized and better organized. The Haganah had a large reserve of Western trained and homegrown officers with military experience, an effective centralized system of command and control and in contrast to the Arab armies had short internal lines of communication enabling it to operate with greater speed and mobility.

Again I cite Avi Shlaim's 'The Debate about 1948' as my source, his conclusion on the military balance: 'In this war, as in most wars, the stronger side ultimately prevailed.'

His justification? During the unofficial stage of fighting (Dec 1947 to 14 May 1948) the Yishuv's armed forces were larger, better trained and more technically advanced. In mid May the Arab forces had between 20,000 and and 25,000 troops (regular and irregular) compared with 35,000 for the IDF not including second-line troops and by mid-July this force had expanded to 65,000, later peaking in December at 96,441 by which point its superiority ratio was nearly two to one as Arab states could not match the rate of increase.

Between May and June the IDF's greatest weakness was its inferiority in terms of firepower but this was rectified during the first truce when Israel breached a UN arms embargo to import weapons from all over Europe (particularly from Czechoslovakia) which tipped the balance in their favour.

So then does the metaphor even reflect the realities of 1948? Not really.

[Хahar 🤔]

We sem to have many topics about Israel, so why not use the ready-made one?

Flame on.

[DownWithTheLeft]

The answer is easy, stopping helping Israel and don't stop Iran from fighting them

[SPC]

Setting aside the non-interventionism argument, my sympathies are still with the Palestinians, since they merely want to be an independent state, and it is nonsensical for Arabs to be forced under the jurisdiction of a Jewish state. Therefore, I rank the U.S.'s options below in order of most rational to least rational:
1) Stay out of the whole conflict
2) Give aid to the Palestinians
3) Give aid to the Israelis
4) Give aid to both sides

Currently, U.S. policy is option #4.

Also, I find it funny that both sides invoke God's promise as a justification for their ownership of Palestine. My leftist science teacher was wondering when God because a real estate broker.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Also, I find it funny that both sides invoke God's promise as a justification for their ownership of Palestine. My leftist science teacher wondering when God because a real estate broker.

OMG SPC ACTUALLY MAKES A REALLY GOOD AND VALID POINT!

[Joe Republic]

Also, I find it funny that both sides invoke God's promise as a justification for their ownership of Palestine. My leftist science teacher wondering when God because a real estate broker.

OMG SPC ACTUALLY MAKES A REALLY GOOD AND VALID POINT!

He would have if the second sentence had actually made any sense.

[Albus Dumbledore]

The answer is easy, stopping helping Israel and don't stop Iran from fighting them

[SPC]

Also, I find it funny that both sides invoke God's promise as a justification for their ownership of Palestine. My leftist science teacher wondering when God because a real estate broker.

OMG SPC ACTUALLY MAKES A REALLY GOOD AND VALID POINT!

He would have if the second sentence had actually made any sense.

Who gives a about grammar?

[Хahar 🤔]

Also, I find it funny that both sides invoke God's promise as a justification for their ownership of Palestine. My leftist science teacher wondering when God because a real estate broker.

OMG SPC ACTUALLY MAKES A REALLY GOOD AND VALID POINT!

He would have if the second sentence had actually made any sense.

Who gives a about grammar?

I, the resident grammar Nazi of this forum, do.

[dead0man]

Subtle.  I like it.

[Joe Republic]

Also, I find it funny that both sides invoke God's promise as a justification for their ownership of Palestine. My leftist science teacher wondering when God because a real estate broker.

OMG SPC ACTUALLY MAKES A REALLY GOOD AND VALID POINT!

He would have if the second sentence had actually made any sense.

Who gives a about grammar?

Most people who take others and want to be taken seriously.  You could hardly have made a "really good and valid point" if people have to decipher its fractured syntax first.

[JohnFKennedy]

Why the sudden silence in here?

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Why the sudden silence in here?

Because it seems like every thread in this board ends up being a discussion of Israel.

[JohnFKennedy]

Well let's keep it here then.

[Хahar 🤔]

Yes, let's. This can be the receptacle for all Israeli topics.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I think Al deleted a thread about Zimbabwe because it ended up being another discussion about Israel.  We should try to keep everything about Israel here.

[War on Want]

Israel is an overrated country and its government is super sh**tty. We should not fund their military or be a major ally as they can take care of themselves and obiously do not care about our funding to please us.