Israeli planes and tanks pounded areas across the Gaza Strip overnight, residents said, as White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan travelled to the region amid U.S. calls for a more focused military campaign.
Archived version: https://archive.ph/uaVsM
non archived link: https://www.palestinechronicle.com/mad-dog-diplomacy-cornered-israel-baring-its-teeth/
Moshe Dayan, Israel’s most celebrated general, famously outlined the strategy he believed would keep Israel’s enemies at bay: “Israel must be a like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother.”
Until now, most observers had assumed Dayan was referring to Israeli military or possibly nuclear strategy, an expression in his typically blunt fashion of the country’s familiar doctrine of deterrence.
But the Israeli commando attack on Monday on the Gaza-bound flotilla, in which nine activists have so far been confirmed killed and dozens were wounded as they tried to break Israel’s blockade of the enclave, proves beyond doubt that this is now a diplomatic strategy too. Israel is feeling cornered on every front it considers important – and like Dayan’s “mad dog”, it is likely to strike out in unpredictable ways.