700 Opinion. Tradition. MUSIC ISRAEL THE EXECS VERSUS COVENANT DISAVOW ANYONE? AND THE LOVE HATE A2. A10. A11. THE algemeiner JOURNAL $1.00 - PRINTED IN NEW YORK FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2020 | 17 AV 5780 VOL. XLVII NO. 2466 ‘Total Chaos’ in Israeli Leaders Locked in Budget Beirut After Massive Battle as Economic Blast Rocks Crisis Deepens Lebanese Capital BY REUTERS & ALGEMEINER STAFF A stand-off between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main coalition partner over passage of Israel‘s budget threatens to trigger its fourth election in a little over a year amid an economic crisis fueled by the coronavirus outbreak. A ballot is automatically mandated if a budget is not approved by parliament by Aug. 25. Analysts are concerned that a new election and likely protracted coalition talks after- wards would have a crippling impact on an economy already expected to contract 6% this year, with unemployment now Smoke rises after an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 4, 2020. Photo: Karim Sokhn / Instagram / Ksokhn + Thebikekitchenbeirut / via Reuters. Israeli Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issue statements. Tel Aviv, July 27, 2020. Photo: Tal Shahar / Pool via Reuters. BY REUTERS hit Beirut in years shook the ground, Footage of the blast shared leaving some residents thinking an by residents on social media above 21%.Such instability could also make prospects for any & ALGEMEINER STAFF earthquake had struck. Dazed and showed a column of smoke rising return to a long-dormant peace process with the Palestinians A huge explosion near the weeping, some of them wounded, from the port district followed by even more remote and complicate Netanyahu’s bid to annex, center of Beirut killed at least 10 people walked through streets an enormous blast. Those filming with US approval, parts of the West Bank. people, injured hundreds and sent checking to see if relatives were hurt. what initially appeared to be a big The budget is pivotal to a “unity” accord reached after shock waves across the Lebanese The blast occurred in the blaze were thrown backwards by an inconclusive March election. It calls for Defense Minister capital, shattering windows and city’s port area, where there were the shock of the explosion. Benny Gantz of the centrist Blue and White party to take over causing apartment balconies to warehouses housing explosives, At least 10 bodies were taken as premier from right-wing Likud chief Netanyahu in 2021. collapse, witnesses and security Lebanon’s state news agency NNA to hospitals, a security source and The power-sharing pact stipulated that Israel would pass sources said. and two security sources said. A a medical source told Reuters. a binannual budget but Netanyahu is now calling for a 2020 The most powerful explosion to third security source said there The Lebanese Red Cross said Continued on Page A3 were chemicals stored in the area. Continued on Page A3 The Judaism ShabbatCalendar Parshat EKEV Times for New York City, Friday Candle Lighting Shabbat Begins: 7:45pm | Shabbat Ends: 8:47pm פרשת עקב of Seth Rogan P.O.B. 208 East 51st St, Suite 185 New York, NY 10022 Tel: (718) 771.0400 | Fax: (718) 771.0308 page A8 Email: [email protected] www.algemeiner.com © Copyright 2020 The Algemeiner Journal - All Rights Reserved. A2 | FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2020 Opinion. Israel Versus Anyone: The Jewish State Is Not as Invulnerable as Believed comparisons of Israeli capability to the ability of Israel, but over the long term, of remote countries to project military power Israel would likely prove unable to KENNETH S. BOWER into the region, or the threat posed by poten- maintain the decisive technological superiority it now possesses versus NEW YORK tial enemies. The first of these assessments discusses the ability of the US or Russia to the current Sunni militaries. In such project conventional military power into the a scenario, Israel’s current exagger- ated emphasis on combat with Middle East, followed by threats posed by the non-state light infantry, located Most published Middle Eastern military Sunni Arab states and/or Turkey, and finally, within urban areas, under counter- net assessments are based primarily on lists of Shiite Iran and its proxies. insurgency rules of engagement, units and equipment. Unfortunately, history The study’s objective and fact-based would combine to compromise proved that such lists are all too often incor- assessments are often at odds with conven- its long-term ability to cope with rect. Even when they were correct, the overall tional wisdom. a Sunni conventional combined The IDF’s new ‘Ghost Unit’ conducts an assessments generally ignored the quality of First, it shows that, as compared to arms threat that could arise in the exercise. Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Office. personnel and/or equipment, as well as the Israeli military capability, neither the US nor future. decades of their own propaganda. They see extent to which rival defense systems could Russia can project meaningful conventional Israel can defeat Iran and its proxies at a weakness where the study sees strength. turn available financial, human, and material military power into the Middle East unless relatively acceptable cost — but only if there This compromises Israel’s ability to effec- resources into actual military power. they are provided with both many months to is decisive Israeli political and military leader- tively wage war and reach the compromises Almost without exception, these earlier mobilize and a lack of opposition during the ship, which is now lacking. If military power necessary to achieve peace with security. In net assessments ignored the impact of the long process of deployment. This conclusion has to be used preemptively to neutralize the the end, even if Israel somehow manages to time required by all militaries to mobilize and implies that any US-proposed mutual defense Iranian nuclear threat, Israel, acting unilater- achieve real peace with all its Muslim neigh- deploy. This is particularly true for the major treaty offered to Israel would be militarily ally, is far more militarily capable than the US. bors (which is doubtful), it will only remain powers that were remote from the Middle meaningless. Moreover, the study shows that, According to the study’s assessment, secure if it is the sole nuclear-armed country East. These countries had to project their over the long term, any such treaty would Israel cannot convert to an American-style in the Middle East. It will also have to maintain forces over intercontinental distances, which actually result in significantly diminished volunteer military based on active forces with a decisive superiority in terms of conventional was, and is, a slow and difficult process. Israeli national security. relatively small, low-readiness reserves. Such military power against any conceivable array The new study I have written contains no It is also demonstrated herein that Israel a conversion would result in a significant loss of possible enemies. lists at all. Its assessments are based on histor- can defeat any attempt by Russia to militarily of military capability that could ultimately put Kenneth S. Brower is a naval archi- ically proven combat data, which reflects the intervene against it. the state at existential risk. tect and defense analyst specializing in the impact of human and technical quality on The study assesses that a Sunni military The study provides a series of recom- interaction of technology and tactics and the military combat effectiveness. The study first threat, either with or without Turkey, could mendations that would improve Israeli Middle Eastern military balance. provides a summary of current Israeli military rapidly and unexpectedly emerge. The current political-military leadership. The fundamental A version of this article was originally combined military capability of the Sunni capability. Rather than simply providing conclusion is that most Israelis, as well as their published by the BESA Center. figures, it provides a baseline for subsequent states is relatively limited compared to that international supporters, have come to believe The Lonely, Angry Antisemite less: a 40-year-old female passerby who the synagogue had he managed to penetrate remonstrated with Balliet and a 20-year-old the sanctuary, he readily answered in the affir- BEN COHEN/ male customer at a Muslim-owned kebab mative. And when given the opportunity to JNS.org restaurant targeted by Balliet after he sped explain his act, he embraced it: What mattered, the away from the synagogue in his car. It is a he said, was that other lone white men consid- Algemeiner Journal macabre irony that neither of his victims were ering similar atrocities should take heart from Jewish or Muslim. the attention garnered by his attack, just as (USPS 927800) is published weekly At high school, he made no friends and As horrifying as this attack was to outside he had taken heart from the massacre a few (except for the week of Passover didn’t belong to any clubs. He liked girls, but observers, by the standards Balliet set for months earlier at a mosque in Christchurch, and Succos) having a girlfriend was beyond his abilities. himself — his stated purpose was to kill as New Zealand by a white-supremacist shooter. Subscription rate $40 per year Academically, he was undistinguished, doing many Jews as possible — it was a colossal (Not to mention the slaughter by another well in biology but failing in English. When it failure. “Balliet speaks of himself like a loser,” deranged lone-wolf white supremacist at Algemeiner Journal came to his free time, most of it was spent on the noted the correspondent of Der Tagesspiegel Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha congre- 208 E 51st Street, Suite 185 Internet.