The Late Great State of Israel: How Enemies Within and Without Threaten the Jewish Nation's Survival
By: Aaron Klein
Reviewed by: Fern Sidman
In his latest book entitled, The Late Great State of Israel, Aaron Klein, intrepid investigative journalist and Jerusalem bureau chief of WorldNetDaily.com presents an ominous portent of the future of Israel. This meticulously researched exegesis of the imbroglio that has come to define the state of affairs of Middle East politics graphically depicts the pernicious agenda of those forces conspiring to eradicate the Jewish state. As we know, the motto of the New York Times is, "All the News that's Fit to Print" and this book is a thoroughly documented repository of "All the News That's Fit to Print, that the New York Times Wouldn't", or any branch of the mainstream media for that matter.
In this eye-opening account of the global machinations that are predicated on the vilification of Israel and surreptitious actions leading to its potential demise, we recoil in horror to learn that in addition to the list of "usual suspects", i.e. Iran, Syria and their proxies known as Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, etc., we find that other such players in the Middle East cacophony are also busy striking their own chords. Despite their declarations of support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the ultimate two-state solution, the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and other western governmental agencies, Klein informs us, have constructed their own end game as it concerns the viable future of Israel. What is most disheartening is the fact that Mr. Klein explores and spotlights in nuanced detail the sheer masochism of the powers that be in the government of Israel and the fact that it is they who are largely culpable for undermining Israel's survival as a Jewish state.
Mr. Klein is indeed a heteroclite reporter who blazes new trails in journalistic doughtiness as evidenced in innumerable and candid interviews he conducted with terrorist leaders representing Hamas, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Hezbollah, Fatah, Islamic Jihad, as well as other covert groups of that ilk. The scope and magnitude of his research illuminates the fact that Fatah, the "peace partner" of both Israel and the United States, is playing a dangerously duplicitous role in this scenario by positing themselves by day as ostensibly legitimate law enforcement officers of the Palestinian Authority and by night as heinous murderers representing the "military wing" of the movement, better known as the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Replete with arms and training from the United States, these Fatah operatives continue to plan and execute terrorist acts directed against Israeli civilians.
If that were not shocking enough, Mr. Klein also reveals that Fatah's purported enemy Hamas has successfully infiltrated Fatah to the point of mass confusion within their ranks. This essentially translates into the fact that massive US arm shipments to Fatah are now making their way into the hands of Hamas terrorists and that these very same Hamas members are also recipients of advanced US military training under the leadership of Lt. Gen Keith Dayton. We also learn that Hamas operatives frequently travel to Iran for extended training in guerilla warfare and return to Gaza to re-train other wannabe terrorists, all under the watchful eye of the United States.
What is most egregious is that Mr. Klein informs us that Israel too, aids and abets the infrastructure of Fatah while issuing a tacit imprimatur to their penchant for deadly terrorism by turning a blind eye to it. Having stationed himself in Gaza during the 2005 disengagement, Mr. Klein laments the fact that despite Israeli intelligence reports indicating that Hamas was planning to use the "newly liberated" Gaza as a launching pad for Qassam rockets into Israel, the government proceeded with this suicidal policy while treating the Jewish evacuees with colossal disdain. He also warns us that any attempt by Israel to negotiate away the West Bank and East Jerusalem in peace talks with the PA will inevitably lead to the creation of a state financed and controlled by Iran, with its day to day operations being carried out by its proxy known as Hamas.
Other paramount issues that are examined here include the role of the United Nations in creating the Palestinian "refugee" issue by conferring such status on offspring of Palestinians who fled Israel decades ago and have been residing in such countries as Jordan, Syria and Egypt. Through the creation of the UNWRA (United Nations Work and Relief Agency), the Palestinian demand for the "right of return" can arguably serve as the death knell for Israel in terms of the demographic time bomb that such an influx of Palestinians would represent for Israel's continued existence as a Jewish state.
Mr. Klein takes great pains to dissect and analyze the horrific loss that Israel sustained during the summer war of 2006 against Hezbollah; yet another Iranian/Syrian proxy, and gives us an historical backdrop of the region and the sordid Israeli military blunders that paved the way for the humiliating defeat that shocked the world. As the government of Israel remained in a state of obfuscation concerning the clear objectives of this military endeavor, its convoluted policies have led to a stronger, better funded and infinitely more confident Hezbollah. The burgeoning guerilla organization apparently now possesses lethal weaponry that can wreak deadly havoc on Israel's northern border and beyond.
Utilizing concepts and quotes from the Torah and Tanach, Mr. Klein connects the dots for us in terms of the historical and religious connection that the land of Israel holds for the Jewish people. He unabashedly admonishes Israel for relinquishing the vast majority of control of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem that miraculously fell into our hands at the end of the Six Day War in 1967. Designating ownership of the site to the Muslim Waqf has emboldened the Muslim claim to Jerusalem and has created a miniature theocratic state that seeks to spread its tentacles far and wide. As it pertains to the Tomb of Joseph in Schechem, Mr. Klein tells us that if we think the partial abandonment of the Temple Mount was bad enough, Israel's complete withdrawal from Judaism's third holiest site is a "travesty" that borders on the reprehensible.
Ultimately, Mr. Klein leaves us with sober assertions regarding the political agenda of the Obama administration as it pertains to the Middle East debacle as well as the role that Benjamin Netanyahu's new government can and will play. He warns us of the existential perils of both global jihadist proliferation and the very real threat of a nuclear empowered Iran. Israel, it would appear, is on its own, sans support from the West, yet through its own brand of distorted diplomacy is carving its own trajectory to self-annihilation. Klein makes an important point when he concludes that classical anti-Semitism is no longer considered politically correct by the liberal intelligentsia and has been summarily replaced by our enemies with the trendier term "anti-Zionism". He correctly equates the terms as one and the same and draws no differences. His final words might give us some measure of hope and bring us back down to earth at the same time when he opines, "I trust and believe that Israel will ultimately survive – against all odds and in spite of the threats from within and without – only through the grace of G-d. But for now, things don't look good."