From within the Israeli military’s main headquarters in Tel Aviv, Antony Blinken participated in the frantic discussions of the Israeli War Cabinet.

From within the Israeli military’s main headquarters in Tel Aviv, Antony Blinken participated in the frantic discussions of the Israeli War Cabinet.

  • Silverseren@fedia.ioOP
    01·
    1 month ago

    It’s an offshoot of The Intercept, which is quite easy to look up. The article seems to quite clearly point out that it is Israeli politicians claiming they had Blinken’s approval and backing for their actions. They are quite likely lying in retrospect, but the article does give all the information available on the topic.

    It also links to other sources for every statement and claim in it.

    But, hey, feel free to try and downplay the straightforward information presented in the article.

    • just_another_person@lemmy.world
      0·
      1 month ago

      I just went through the entire thing again. Only the top 1/4 of this article even mentions Blinken being involved in any kind of discussions, and aside from links to Twitter to specific sources named, there is absolutely no links to corroborating statements, evidence, or otherwise proof that Blinken was involved in any of the discussions at all.

      Feel free to link if you find it though.

      • Silverseren@fedia.ioOP
        01·
        1 month ago

        You seem to misunderstand the claim being made. The article is stating that Blinken was involved in creating the policy that said Israel had the right to fire on anyone they deemed to have been compromised by Hamas. Blinken absolutely was involved in drafting and approving that policy.

        After the multiple humanitarian aid bombings conducted by the IDF, Israeli politicians have been claiming that they’ve just been setting forth the policy agreed to by Blinken and the US. And there has been no evidence that Blinken or the US government as a whole has pushed back on that or changed their stance on the policy in question in the months since.

        • just_another_person@lemmy.world
          0·
          1 month ago

          I’m not misunderstanding anything at all. I’m saying there is literally no statement in this article that even says that aside from the title. It’s making logic leaps without any proof even hinting in that direction.

          You’re also doing the same thing by insinuating that just because he was there, he MUST have been involved somehow, when even the article says he wasn’t even in the room, or directly interfacing in the discussion.

          What do you think I’m missing in the article, please quote.

          Also, puhleeeaze with this bullshit about the US being involved with military targets and such. It’s absolutely not the case, and even news came out yesterday about Biden in Woodward’s new book calling Netanyahu a scary “son of a bitch”. Does that sound like he’s off doing the US’s agreed to things off a list, or like the psychotic maniac he truly is doing what we wants to do. They know they are our only Ally in that part of the world, and WE know they’ll be wiped off the map in a heartbeat if we don’t somehow arm and support them. You can’t have it both ways.

          • Silverseren@fedia.ioOP
            01·
            1 month ago

            It’s right there in the article.

            According to Channel 12 reporter Yaron Avraham, on October 16 and 17, “the [Security] Cabinet deliberated for hours over the precise wording of the decision, with each draft being passed between the Cabinet room and Blinken’s room, a distance of a few meters away, inside the Kirya…. Eventually, around 3 a.m., they arrive at an agreed upon text that is read in the Cabinet room in English.”

            Avraham’s account of the process was independently corroborated by a reporter for the competing Channel 13, who wrote: “The discussion with Blinken is conducted as follows: he is sitting in a room in the Kirya with his advisors and security team, while Security Cabinet holds the discussion; [Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron] Dermer goes back and forth and interfaces with him.”

            Blinken, for his part, concluded the day with a triumphant speech taking responsibility for the restarting of humanitarian aid to Gaza:

            "To that end, today, and at our request, the United States and Israel have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza – and them alone – including the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians our of harm’s way. It is critical that aid begin flowing into Gaza as soon as possible.

            We share Israel’s concern that Hamas may seize or destroy aid entering Gaza or otherwise preventing it from reaching the people who need it. If Hamas in any way blocks humanitarian assistance from reaching civilians, including by seizing the aid itself, we’ll be the first to condemn it and we will work to prevent it from happening again."

            Then later on it says:

            In a Zoom call with party members, Sa’ar declared “I’m currently of the opinion that humanitarian aid to Gaza should be halted immediately, until the formulation of a humanitarian aid [mechanism] which will not be subject to Hamas takeovers, nor the distribution of aid by Hamas to the civilian population.”

            This policy, Sa’ar said, was already anchored in “a [Security] Cabinet decision that was made at the beginning of the war, which stated that the humanitarian supply from Egypt will be allowed as long as this supply did not reach Hamas, and that the supply that does reach Hamas will be thwarted.” According to him, the policy was endorsed by “The United States of America … in the talks that took place in the middle of October, including the talks with Secretary of State Blinken, who was visiting [Israel] and took part in discussions, mainly with the War Cabinet, on the subject of humanitarian aid.”

            Further on regarding the WCK strike:

            The Israeli military ended up putting the blame on Colonel Nochi Mendel, who ordered the strike, and has previously expressed support for halting aid provision to Gaza. Mendel’s punishment amounted to being let go from his military service, and going back to his prestigious day job as director of the Settlement Department at the Israeli Ministry of Defense.

            But the right wing Makor Rishon newspaper concluded, on the basis of conversations with drone operators involved in the assassination of the aid workers, that Mendel was only implementing the official policy jointly set by Blinken and the Israeli cabinet back in October: “The mission order made it clear that the IDF is instructed to thwart an attempt by Hamas terrorists to take over the aid trucks that entered Gaza. The IDF received this instruction from the Security Cabinet at the beginning of the war, sometime around October 18, 2023, following heavy pressure from the United States.”