Question:
Sada al-Balad published on its website on Thursday, March 09, 2023: ("The US Department of Defense 'Pentagon' announced on Thursday that the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to increase cooperation to confront Iranian aggression...") The meeting place was moved from the Ministry of Defense to Tel Aviv airport due to a wave of protests: ("The Pentagon said that Austin's meetings were moved from the Israeli Ministry of Defense to near Tel Aviv airport. Tens of thousands held protests in the streets of Israeli cities for the ninth consecutive week on Saturday against the hard-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and its plan to overhaul the judicial system... Reuters, 08/03/2023"). Austin's visit follows a surprise visit ("conducted by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, on Friday to 'Israel'. Anadolu Agency, 04/03/2023"). What is the objective behind the visit of these high-ranking American military officials to the Jewish entity? Does it have a significant connection to the Russian war on Ukraine? Or is it to cool down the Palestinian arena? Or are these visits different and have other objectives? May Allah reward you.
Answer:
To clarify the answer, we review the following:
First: It is unlikely that these visits are to prevent the Jewish state from "appeasing" Russia in its war on Ukraine and not taking a hostile stance like America. This would be to avoid angering Russia, which allows the Jewish state to bomb targets inside Syria without hindrance from its air defense systems in Syria. This is especially true as the entity’s government is embroiled in an internal battle with the opposition, and thus does not consider joining Western countries in their support for the Ukrainian army a priority. Therefore, it is unlikely that the Ukrainian issue is the reason for the American officials' visits...
Likewise, it is unlikely that these visits are to calm the situation in the Palestinian arena. Despite its heat and sensitivity, and being the main subject of previous American officials' visits (Secretary of State, CIA Director, and National Security Advisor), it cannot be the reason for visits by military officials of the magnitude of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense. Although sensitive, its nature is not a full-scale war for which America would mobilize its top military officials.
Second: However, it seems the visit has other motives... which can be understood from the following factors:
- Netanyahu was a close friend of the US Republican Party and stood against Democratic President Obama when he signed a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015. He annoyed Obama greatly, especially with his speech in the US Congress against the nuclear deal. His relationship with America was extremely intimate during the Trump administration, which rewarded Netanyahu by moving its embassy to Jerusalem, recognized his annexation of the Golan, and gave him the "Deal of the Century" in the West Bank, which was not completed.
- After the new Democratic US President Biden took office, he worked to support the alliance of the "Lapid" and "Bennett" parties and succeeded in that. Consequently, Netanyahu was defeated in the March 2021 elections, and a new alliance of "Lapid" and "Bennett" parties took power in the Jewish entity. However, this success did not last long; Netanyahu collaborated with hard-right parties and won the November 2022 elections.
- Netanyahu insisted on forming the cabinet in alliance with hard-right parties, turning his back on the Biden administration's wishes to form a government including the group loyal to the Biden administration (Lapid and Gantz especially). Upon announcing the positions of this new government, it was met with severe and unusual American criticism, such as the necessity of maintaining the "two-state solution," refusal to deal with ministers described as extremist in his government, and the "calamity of calamities" being the criticism of Netanyahu's policies regarding changing the status of the judiciary in the Jewish entity. These are issues usually considered internal, yet America criticized this policy publicly and encouraged the parties loyal to it to oppose Netanyahu's steps to dominate the judiciary.
- The Jewish opposition did not give Netanyahu much time; widespread protests made their way against him very quickly and with a force unusual for the Jewish entity. The struggle for power emerged in a way resembling "bone-breaking," and a new image was drawn in the Jewish entity that had never existed on this scale: demonstrations by tens of thousands against the government and its measures to place the judiciary in the hands of the government, protesters besieging the homes of government officials, closing streets and burning car tires, tear gas and sound bombs fired by the Jewish police against Jews. Things began to develop further; some police officials disobeyed orders to disperse protesters by force, the dispute between the government and the opposition intensified, Jews split into two opposing camps, capital began to flee the Jewish entity (50 large companies left), and reserve officers announced their inability to comply with the orders of this government... The atmosphere became intensely tense between government supporters and opposition supporters at all levels, and the positions issued by the Biden administration reeked of support for the Jewish opposition against Netanyahu.
Third: Faced with this state near chaos, Netanyahu tried to rally the Jews behind him and rushed to pour oil on the already burning fire in the Palestinian arena. This began by increasing the frequency of Jewish incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque and carrying out new massacres in Jenin and Nablus. Netanyahu wanted to show the Jews his firm stance against the Palestinians, hoping to calm the internal situation so he could change the judiciary in his favor and have all corruption charges in Jewish courts dropped—charges that have been a sword over his neck for a long time. However, that did not happen. Instead, the escalation with the Palestinians backfired; the Jenin camp massacre was immediately met with the killing of eight Jews in Jerusalem, and the Nablus massacre was met with the Huwara and Jericho operations. Consequently, Netanyahu found himself in a more embarrassing position, especially as he was met with even more heated opposition within the Jewish entity, which outbid him by accusing him of security failure and that his policies expose the Jews to more Palestinian strikes. Here, Netanyahu had to find another solution.
Fourth: Accordingly, Netanyahu began to adjust his plan quickly towards striking Iran as a way to rally the Jews behind him and ensure he retains power. This is for several reasons, the most prominent of which are:
- While the Palestinians respond to the Jewish entity strike for strike, the governments of the surrounding and nearby countries are submissive and do not respond effectively. Syria does not respond to Jewish strikes, nor does Iraq. Even Iran, which was recently subjected to a drone strike on military factories in Isfahan and accused the Jewish entity, responded two weeks later with a faint drone attack on a ship in the Arabian Sea owned by a Jew, which did not cause any casualties but only light damage to the ship. Before that, Iran accused the Jewish entity of sabotaging nuclear facilities, which the former president said caused a loss of $10 billion, and Iran did not respond, and so on... meaning Netanyahu estimates that Iran's response to any attack will be small, so Netanyahu wins the round according to his expectations, which encourages him to continue his aggression.
- Regarding the Iranian nuclear issue, Iran is subject to great and continuous international criticism, and negotiations have failed to return to the nuclear deal with the major powers. Because the Jewish entity declares that it cannot allow Iran to reach the nuclear threshold, this constitutes a major justification for it to launch strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities. In this context, Iran is accused by the West of crossing red lines and increasing the level of uranium enrichment: ("Iran can produce enough weapons-grade material to make a nuclear bomb in just 12 days, and could produce four more bombs within a month according to the Institute for Science and International Security. A report by the institute indicated that the Iranian regime could enrich enough uranium to manufacture a total of seven nuclear weapons in three months according to the institute in a report analyzing information provided by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Al Arabiya Net, 05/03/2023").
Fifth: By scrutinizing, we find that Netanyahu focused on these matters and exploited them by attempting to initiate strong attacks against Iran to rally the Jews around his rule and end the internal chaos that could weaken his rule if he surrendered to it and did not perform a major act on another stage that restores his glow of power and might and turns the internal equation in his favor. It appears that news of these intentions and plans of the Netanyahu government reached Washington, which began to hasten its steps to prevent the Netanyahu government from taking such a step. America's interest, according to its interests in the current circumstances, is directed towards Russia's war with Ukraine, in addition to the China issue. It does not want to be preoccupied with a war in the region between Iran and the Jewish state. America saw that to solve his internal problems, Netanyahu is seriously thinking about fabricating a war with Iran, which would embarrass Biden into intervening, because America declares in its many statements that it is committed to the security of the Jewish state, and as we mentioned earlier, America is now busy with other wars.
Sixth: This is why the visits of these high-ranking American military officials to the Jewish entity took place, to dissuade Netanyahu from this war so as not to embarrass Biden into intervening at a time when America does not want to be preoccupied with anything other than China and the Russian war on Ukraine. These visits were accompanied by two factors to achieve America's interests as shown above:
First: America pushed the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to tone down and soften the nuclear statements regarding Iran. The head of this agency visited Iran and met with senior Iranian officials during the same period as the American officials' visits to the region. He announced a major breakthrough and stated: ("Iran agreed to restart surveillance cameras at several nuclear sites and increase the frequency of inspections"... RT, 04/03/2023). Then came the notable statement by the agency's director; according to Al Jazeera Net, 05/03/2023: ("Grossi said during his visit to Tehran yesterday, Saturday, that 'any military attack on nuclear facilities is prohibited.' Netanyahu responded to him saying: 'Rafael Grossi made inappropriate statements'").
Second: The intensity of domestic protests against Netanyahu. Besides not wanting the Jewish entity to ignite a war against Iran currently, America wants Netanyahu to remain mired in internal chaos and for the state of protest to remain strong and momentum-driven, in the hope that this situation will topple Netanyahu's government, allowing America's followers—i.e., supporters of the Democratic Party—to return to power in the Jewish entity... especially since America has great influence within the Jewish entity in the political and military circles.
Seventh: It appears from the above that America will likely be able to prevent Netanyahu from starting an offensive war on Iran, especially since the Jewish entity is too cowardly to carry out such a war without American support.
ضُرِبَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الذِّلَّةُ أَيْنَ مَا ثُقِفُوا إِلَّا بِحَبْلٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَحَبْلٍ مِنَ النَّاسِ
"They have been put under humiliation wherever they are overtaken, except for a covenant from Allah and a rope [i.e., treaty] from the people." (TMQ Ali 'Imran [3]: 112)
The rope of Allah was cut after their prophets, and the rope of the people is their reality—this is from one side. From another side, if Netanyahu loses hope in carrying out such an attack on Iran, he will continue, in consultation with his masters in the American Republican Party, to take any other offensive step that would deprive the opposition's movements against him of their momentum. He may find nothing before him but to return to further heating up the Palestinian arena or directing strikes at the Gaza Strip or Lebanon. He is possessed by the obsession of staying in power and cannot imagine leaving it after gathering around him a coalition of right-wing and Jewish religious-right parties, who are more thirsty than him for spilling the blood of Muslims anywhere. This is what has begun to appear; Sama News Agency published on Thursday, March 09, 2023: ("Three Palestinians were martyred by the bullets of the occupation forces who assassinated them this morning in the town of Jaba', Jenin district. Israeli special forces infiltrated the town of Jaba' south of Jenin and fired at a vehicle carrying four young men, resulting in the martyrdom of three young men... Military reinforcements arrived in the town amidst clashes with resistance groups, before those forces withdrew.") Also, France 24 published on 10/03/2023: ("Jerusalem AFP – A Palestinian was killed Friday by an Israeli settler's bullets in the occupied West Bank, according to the Israeli army and the Palestinian Ministry of Health, following another day in the cycle of violence that saw the killing of four Palestinians, one of whom was the perpetrator of an armed attack in Tel Aviv that resulted in three injuries... A Palestinian opened fire on Thursday in Dizengoff Street in central Tel Aviv, wounding three people before he was in turn killed by police bullets. Israeli medical sources mentioned that the condition of one of the wounded is 'critical' today... On the other hand, the Israeli police said they arrested two... one from the city of Ramla south of Tel Aviv and the other from the city of Kuseife in the Negev (south), 'on suspicion of transporting the terrorist' who carried out the Dizengoff operation...")
It is clear that the Jewish state kills and arrests while it is safe from the rulers of the Muslims around it!
Eighth: Finally, this entity that lives in the region like a malignant tumor finds no one among the rulers of the region who seeks to eradicate it or even deter it; rather, they rush to normalize with it! Therefore, you find it constantly thinking of expansion and eliminating any danger it thinks threatens its existence... and it is not the one who eliminates it alone, but in cooperation with those rulers or their silence! This entity is established on the land of Islam, the blessed land of Palestine, and the relationship with it must be a relationship of war. Normalization with it is a major crime:
إِنَّمَا يَنْهَاكُمُ اللَّهُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ قَاتَلُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَأَخْرَجُوكُمْ مِنْ دِيَارِكُمْ وَظَاهَرُوا عَلَى إِخْرَاجِكُمْ أَنْ تَوَلَّوْهُمْ وَمَنْ يَتَوَلَّهُمْ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ
"Allah only forbids you from those who fight you because of religion and expel you from your homes and aid in your expulsion - [forbids] that you make allies of them. And whoever makes allies of them, then it is those who are the wrongdoers." (TMQ Al-Mumtahanah [60]: 9)
This is the Shari'ah ruling that must be implemented. Although the rulers in the Muslim lands do not want to apply it, or their colonialist masters do not permit them to apply it, this Ummah is a living Ummah that will not remain silent for long under injustice. Even if it calms down, it is nothing but the calm of the lion before its leap. It will resume its Islamic way of life anew and establish the Righteous Khilafah by the will of Allah. Its Khalifah will gather the Ummah behind him and lead the army of Islam to darken the faces of the Jews, enter the Mosque as the Muslims entered it the first time, and destroy what the Jews have taken over with total destruction.
وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَى هُوَ قُلْ عَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ قَرِيباً
"And they say, 'When is that?' Say, 'Perhaps it will be soon.'" (TMQ Al-Isra [17]: 51)
18th Sha'ban 1444 AH 10/03/2023 CE