The real obstacle
Mordechai Kedar’s “An elusive dream” (June 10) misses the mark entirely. The real obstacle to peace in the South Caucasus is the aggressive and expansionist policies of Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
Since the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Aliyev has continuously undermined peace efforts, using every opportunity to occupy more Armenian territory. His regime has stationed troops in Armenia proper, claims parts of Armenia as “Western Azerbaijan,” and engages in blatant ethnic cleansing, forcing over 120,000 Armenians from their ancestral homes in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) under the guise of “counterterrorism.”
Aliyev’s rhetoric and actions clearly demonstrate that he does not desire peace. His regime thrives on instability and hatred, consolidating power through anti-Armenian propaganda and military aggression. Only by holding Azerbaijan accountable for its actions can we hope to achieve lasting peace in the region.
RUPEN JANBAZIAN
Editor, Torontohye
Sad and dangerous
Regarding “Israeli battlefield commanders explain why they are breaking IDF rules to solicit donated gear” (June 16): It is a sad and dangerous situation when soldiers in the field – who are the only people qualified to say whether their equipment is sufficient and effective – are contradicted by upper echelon officers and members of government.
If only one or two soldiers complain, we might surmise that they are just unsatisfied. However, when entire battalions, with their commanders, say that they do not have sufficient combat-ready equipment, it should sound a red alert throughout the entire system.
JOE SIMON
Kfar Aviv
No value
“Misunderstanding Hamas” by Moshe Dann (June 16) is right on point, and is the basis for the Western world’s lack of understanding of the Palestinian mentality. Christians and Jews can’t fathom a religion that has no value for human life. The non-Islamic world needs to understand that when Islam preaches that all infidels must be killed, it means all Jews and all Christians.
It’s a crusade to kill all Jews and all Christians, and not just Israelis.
SHIMON GALITZER
Jerusalem
Tiresome vendetta
Douglas Bloomfield (“‘I can’t fix it,’” June 13) continues his tiresome vendetta against Donald Trump. This time he castigates the former president for touting his responsibility for overturning Roe v. Wade, yet stating, contrary to his supporters’ demands, that a national ban on abortion was out of his hands and up to the states.
Bloomfield hides the fact that the Dobbs decision did not make abortions illegal. The Supreme Court restored to states the authority to make decisions on abortion rights. Liberal state legislatures can allow broad abortion access, while conservative states may be more restrictive.
Many legal scholars had argued that Roe created a counterproductive constitutional right to abortion where none existed. As Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal icon, observed that Roe “halted a political process [i.e., open debate and compromise at the state level] that was moving in a reform direction, and thereby, I believed, prolonged divisiveness and deferred stable settlement of the issue.”
Compare Trump’s rejection of a national ban on abortion, entirely in keeping with the court’s decision, with President Biden’s repeated violation of his oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” For example, in spite of the court’s 6-3 decision that the president does not have the authority to grant debt relief to college students, Biden has spent billions of dollars doing just that.
Also, Biden issued over 60 executive orders violating immigration statutes and gutting established procedures that had substantially secured the border. Millions of illegal immigrants have since flooded the country. Even so, Biden, Vice President Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas absurdly maintained that the border was closed.
Biden then asserted that he had done everything he could to secure the border without additional authority from Congress.
However, when it appeared that the American electorate was likely to hold Biden accountable for the harm his failed border policy has wrought, he suddenly issued an executive order that he claimed would solve the problem. Whether or not this order succeeds (a doubtful proposition), how did he discover six months before the election the need and power to act on a border crisis that he said did not exist?
Contrary to Trump’s principled compliance with the law and Supreme Court decisions, Biden’s overarching principle seems to be crass political expedience.
EFRAIM COHEN
Zichron Ya’acov
Letter and the spirit
Regarding “State Dept. slams Smotrich move to give PA funds to terror victims” (June 14): Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, by denying $134 million to the Palestinian Authority, honors the letter and the spirit of the US Taylor Force Martyr Payment Prevention Act, which prohibits transferring funds to the Palestinian Authority as long as it financially supports the murder of Jews and others like Taylor Force with its perverse “pay for slay” program.
The US State Department’s position has its roots in the antisemitism of Breckinridge Long in FDR’s State Department. Mr. Smotrich respects the will of the American people, as made clear in the Taylor Force Act, much more than the Islamophiles in the State Department do.
RICHARD SHERMAN
Margate, Florida
Pigs can fly
Regarding “Failed leadership” (editorial, June 11): Of course, you were right to criticize the failure of Prime Minister Netanyahu to bring the hostages home. After all, he could have agreed to withdraw all of the Israeli military from Gaza, release all the terrorist prisoners in Israeli jails, and promise not to stop any rockets from reaching Israel – and pigs can fly.
HAROLD STONE
Jerusalem
What I have heard expressed very widely is a tone of disgust at Mr. Gantz for resigning from the war cabinet during the middle of this war. While The Jerusalem Post may be under the illusion that Mr. Gantz and Mr. Eisenkot are the “responsible adults,” many people know that they have been heavily influenced by the current US administration, which other more insightful journalists have been pointing out for quite a while has been repeatedly undermining us.
The American plans, such as the failed pier and now the idea of doing a deal with Hamas to release hostages who are US citizens, seem only intended to embarrass Israel. Mr. Gantz’s so-called conditions were impossible to fulfill, unless there was a total collapse of Israel as a proud independent nation.
In contrast to the Post’s quite misguided view, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich are actually seen by large numbers of people as acting as very necessary strengthening forces within the government, providing strong Jewish leadership which places Israel’s needs first, no matter how much others both from the outside and within might try to weaken our resolve.
JOSEPH BERGER
Netanya