Do you know what it's like to have a psychopath running your country? OH, WAIT....

Lessons from life with Iran pointing missiles at you and your PM being like, "Bring it on...."

Friday afternoon, news that Iran was DEFINITELY going to strike in a MAJOR way within 24-48 hours. Good shabbes….

How do you decide to spend those 24-48 hours? I spent most of it on the couch reading Barbra Streisand’s 900+ page memoir, which I then wrote about here and here. (Why not? Do you have a better idea?)

After Shabbat, I got off the couch to go to the weekly protest to bring back the hostages. The 27th weekly protest…..We listened to a sister of one of the hostages, to a relative of another, and to some political types. We heard speeches, heard musical performances, did some loud, tired, chanting, and maybe cried. Again. The woman who leads us in song and poetry every week wrote a tragic version of Chad Gadya. A friend of mine who stood in the back the whole time holding a massive sign yelled at me afterwards. “WHY ARE WE ALL BEING SO POLITE?” she demanded to know. She’s right, of course. I don’t know why.

And then everyone scattered. The hostages weren’t returned. The war didn’t end. Hubby and I went back home.

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Then, late in the evening when it was clear that 400 missiles were actually on their way to us, and we had four hours to brace ourselves, hubby and I got into the car to shop for “supplies”. There was no more bottled water in the 24-hour mart, but we found some Ben and Jerry’s. That worked for us. We sat down with big spoons and turned on Seinfeld reruns.

(Why not? Do you have a better idea?)

So that is how we waited for the missiles, with Ben and Jerry’s, Seinfeld, and frantic texts from our daughter about helping with childcare the next day as kindergartens all closed.

The next day, sleep-deprived Israelis were praising God, America, and the Jordanians for saving us. Except for parents of schoolkids who were still cursing everyone.

I took the opportunity to comment on the way wassach controls all our lives. What is wassach? It is a very Israeli type of macho bravado. What I call the turkey walk. The need to show off one’s big guns, or whatever they are called. I wrote about Iran’s wassach, created courtesy of GW Bush’s obsession with non-existent weapons of mass destruction that allowed a radical religious Iran to stockpile weapons with our names on them.

And I wrote about Bibi Netanyahu’s wassach. The kind where he thinks assassinating an Iranian general is a good idea. It gave him an opportunity to show off. Show he’s King. Who cares of he uses THE ENTIRE COUNTRY as bait.

And I also wrote about the fact that Israelis were saved not by war and bombings but by a show of international solidarity. Made possible by PEACE AGREEMENTS. Like the one with Jordan, for example.

Peace. We could have all invested in peace all this time. Instead of in Big Guns.

And then I wrote about the people in Gaza who have nobody protecting them from being bombed. From OUR bombs….

(You wonder how many times I can write about the same thing without getting tired of doing it? I wonder, too. We may find out soon.)

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So, you know, I did all this and still found the strength and energy to go back to work. I guess I assumed all that Iran stuff was over. We won. They went back to the corner. All is good.

Yesterday, I hosted the latest meeting of a group of women I’ve been working with since January called The 1325 Forum. It is based on the principles of UNSCR 1325 which calls for the inclusion of women around the table in all matters of peace and security. Because when countries sit down to create peace accords, efforts to ensure representation of diverse women around the table increase the chances of coming to a long-standing agreement by 30% or more. There is proof for this: Ireland, Columbia, the Philippines, and many other countries that signed on to UNSCR 1325, made an action plan, ensured that women had voices and power all created peace accords — and then managed to resolve their conflicts! Wow…. I once heard a talk once from one of the lead negotiators in Ireland who had been involved in trying to resolve the conflict for 30 years. He said that the decision to bring women around the table changed the entire atmosphere in the room. He came to Israel to say that we should be doing the same. That if we don't, we are just going to keep going in circles with violent thinking, violent talking, and violent action.

A diverse group of Arab and Jewish women discussing strategies for getting more women into leadership positions to bring about real peace and security in our region. Don’t let the relaxed veneer fool you. This is serious work. Perhaps the most serious.

This group was formed by women who participated in a two-year training program with Itach-Maaki on women’s leadership in peace and security. Yesterday they came together for the latest in a series of strategic planning meetings that I have been privileged to facilitate, in order to create a real, practical plan for applying 1325 in Israel. For getting smart, professional, experienced, peace-oriented women into locations of power in order to promote viable alternatives to the current seemingly incessant cycles of violence.

An earlier photo from one of our training sessions. It was still winter, as you can see from my sweater and boots. I’m struck by the tragedy of how many seasons pass by while we are still stuck in the same place of war.

*****

So I’m doing all this, but meanwhile, apparently it’s not over. Bibi is still at it.

Wassach. Still all that ridiculous wassach.

The government is STILL talking about attacking Iran. Even though Biden and the rest of the world are telling Israel not to do it. Even though they said that next time we won’t be so lucky. Nobody will come to our rescue. And Iran will definitely strike again.

In other words, he wants to keep this war going. When now is exactly the PERFECT TIME to let it go.

“Will Israel take the win?” is how one headline put it. Yeah, exactly.

Inside my brain, the words are far less polite. Really, I just want to scream ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?

But I don’t. Instead I sit back down at my computer and try to find words to calmly explain this insanity. To figure out if people with sane minds will ever run this country.

Because we need to understand: Netanyahu is doing this on purpose. He needs to keep the conflict alive in order to hang on to his power. This one little night of Atari Space Invaders with Iran suddenly put Israel back in the good books of world leaders —or at least he thinks so. Suddenly Biden is his buddy again. When Israelis are terrified, his seat is secure.

I mean, let’s call this what it is:

Netanyahu is a psychopath.

There is no other way to explain a leader who is willing to dangle his entire country as bait and risk ALL OF OUR LIVES in order to stay in power.

Americans may know something about being led by a psychopath, amiright?

But I digress.

The thing is, Are we even surprised about this with Netanyahu? We just need to acknowledge that this has been his strategy all along. He plays with the lives of Palestinians. He plays with the lives of soldiers. And he plays with the lives of hostages. He has zero intention of caring for any of them. And even his own negotiators have been saying that Bibi has no intention of ever getting back the hostages. He needs them there so he can hang on to his power.

That’s what I mean. Psychopath. Nobody’s lives matter. Nobody’s. Except his own.

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What now? What to do with this information?

We need new leaders. ASAP.

Before it’s too late for all of us.

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