Chaim Levinson
@chaimlevinson · Israeli journalists — political, diplomatic, legal
Chaim Levinson is Haaretz's senior political correspondent, known for hard-edged scoops on the coalition.
A bit strange that Iran still has the ability to produce a nuclear bomb after 2 amazing operations that set them back a thousand years
Translated from Hebrew25 years since September 11. That afternoon, when there was still the “kibbutz channel” on television, and sharp-eyed people like me sitting in the newspaper’s reporters’ room noticed that, in the corner, on CNN, one of the Twin Towers was burning. 25 years. In between. What a lifetime. We like to live inside Hollywood stories in which good triumphs. Bin Laden hurt us, the good guys went into battle, and in the end they killed the bad guy. Roll the credits. But after 25 years one can say that Bin Laden won his game: causing enormous damage to the enemy, even at the cost of his life. Like Sinwar on October 7. The game is not symmetrical. Your goal is to stop the suicide attacker from activating the switch. Killing him after he has activated it no longer solves the problem. Bin Laden succeeded in changing the direction of the world. He shaped the global agenda over the last quarter-century. The damage he caused was not limited to bringing down the towers and murdering nearly three thousand people. He succeeded in dragging the United States into prolonged wars in the Muslim world, and into a chain of counterreactions that also fed the fundamentalists it sought to eliminate. The question is not only what became of Bin Laden. He is dead. The night of his elimination and the spontaneous celebrations are also an unforgettable event. But completely without importance. The question is what happened to the world that sought to strike at him. The 1990s carried a promise of reconciliation: the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the end of apartheid, the Oslo Accords, peace with Jordan, and the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland. There were wars and atrocities then too, but it seemed there was a direction. After September 11 came more and more wars, whose end is hard to find. Even now, after swearing to end unnecessary wars in the Middle East, Trump is wrestling with Iran. The United States entered this century as the sole superpower, and at the end of the 1990s it even recorded budget surpluses. Today its annual deficit is estimated at about two trillion dollars. Capital thrown in the trash. Trillions were invested in wars whose results are far from the promises that accompanied them. Iraq became an arena of terror and sectarian war. ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra grew out of the regional chaos. The overthrow of Saddam opened a new sphere of influence for Iran. Hatred of Muslims and radical Islam fed each other: each side supplied the other with proof of its righteousness and more reasons to recruit people to its ranks. During these years, Americans’ trust in their leaders and institutions was also eroded. The long wars deepened the aversion to another ground intervention and to more coffins coming home. Millions were uprooted from their homes in the Middle East, and the waves of refugees who reached Europe became a focus of political conflict. And in Afghanistan, after twenty years of war, the Taliban are again in power. Bin Laden set a trap. The United States entered it, and remained in it for years. We too like to pat ourselves on the back. Especially the Bibists. Always the most successful in the world. How strong we are. How much we are winning. An empire. A real superpower. Sometimes the same arrogance of the eve of October 7 can be heard there, in different clothing. In this sense, Sinwar also succeeded. The massacre he carried out dragged Israel from a path of expanding the Abraham Accords onto a path of protracted wars. He imposed enormous expenses on it and deepened the rifts within it. Above all, he returned the Palestinian issue to the center of the global agenda. It is hard to argue with the fact that the issue Israel hoped to bypass is once again standing before it and before the world. Yes, a phone call; no, a phone call. Sinwar managed to get on the bus and blow himself up with its passengers. So he is dead. That is what he wanted anyway.
Translated from HebrewSuddenly I remembered this comedic moment when Gideon Sa'ar announced that Yifat Shasha-Biton would be the acting prime minister in his government
Translated from HebrewAnother day of routine in the State of Israel, which is steadily being destroyed.
Translated from HebrewTell me, who is the mysterious man who gave Haim Katz five portfolios? Mansour Abbas?
Translated from HebrewDoes anyone know how this brave man voted in the secretariat on reserving slots for party activists? Surely he was against it.
Translated from HebrewI'm a little confused, Minister! An elected official! Wants to fire an official. Suddenly the entire deep state is against it? Sorry? If you don't like it, don't vote Likud—the minister will decide.
Translated from HebrewDoes anyone know why the foreign minister’s external communications adviser – Eliran Tal – is walking around with a diplomatic passport?
Translated from HebrewWhat a backstab Smotrich dealt Ohad Tal, nice
Translated from HebrewOh sure, Dobronsky too will be outside ministers
Translated from HebrewWhat cheek from the Democrats, who are now nitpicking over other people's lists: Previous government - the defector Zoabi Government before that - the defectors Peretz and Shmuli Government before that - the defector Gabbay (who was arrested at the last moment) and that's without mentioning Buji and Ehud Barak Cheeky people
Translated from HebrewWho would have believed that instead of Yossi Cohen, Rubik Danilovich, Gabi Ashkenazi, and Haim Bibas, Bibi will ultimately reserve a slot for Bardugo and Amir Avivi. Shock, shock, shock!
Translated from HebrewNetanyahu’s denial is interesting because it is binary. It would have been easier to drown the event in details such as this is not what he said, he spoke about the West Bank, nothing new, and within 24 hours it would drown in polarization. Here he claims that there was no conversation. Proving that there was a conversation is easy. If there was a conversation, it will already be impossible to deny what was said in it. Apparently, I was supposed to believe a person who goes out on such a high limb at enormous risk. But this is Bibi. He is a compulsive liar. We will wait to hear from Abu Dhabi. And I assume we will hear soon.
Translated from HebrewA day before - Dermer speaks with the Emirati ambassador in Israel. Related? Not related? We'll find out soon.
Translated from HebrewShlomi Eldar and Ruti Yuval do not specify the exact date of a call from bin Zayed. It allegedly takes place after September 15, when the warning reaches Ronen Bar. Netanyahu claims that no such call took place. September 16–17 is Rosh Hashanah. After that Netanyahu leaves for the UN. He returns on the 24th for Yom Kippur. On Friday the 29th, a phone call is recorded in his diary, blacked out for information-security reasons. An entry for a phone call in Netanyahu’s sparse and stingy diary is rare. It is usually something coordinated in advance, not a call made on the way. Who was the call with?
Translated from HebrewWe’re done with the Knesset. Even if Likud wins 100 seats, he won’t be a minister.
Translated from HebrewBibi offered Danilovich, Beitar wants Yarin Levy, Maccabi Haifa wants Gandelman, same spin every time
Translated from HebrewRemember: Oren Dobronovsky will not be a member of the Knesset or a minister. This is a fake candidacy for the election. Under U.S. law, when a person renounces their citizenship, it is treated as though they sold their companies on the day they renounced their citizenship. Assuming the gentleman has many investments, that means he has to bring tens of millions of dollars in cash to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. This is financial suicide. The process alone will cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars, to obtain an independent valuation for all his companies. It should be emphasized that the money also went down the drain. Let us say that today a startup he invested in is worth $10 million. He pays the tax. A year later, the startup fails; he cannot offset the loss. His idea “that there is an option not to do this” — beyond the corruption inherent in the notion that laws are not meant for you — will fail. In the case of Haim Yelin and Manu Trachtenberg, in Argentina there is no option to renounce citizenship. It was determined then that you have to show that you did everything to renounce citizenship. An easy petition to the High Court of Justice, and even the most conservative judge will throw the gentleman out of the Knesset if he does not show that he did everything, and there is no way for him to show that he did everything. This is a fake candidate.
Translated from HebrewThere is no one like the people of Israel; I admire them.
Translated from HebrewIt is sad that a joke places Yonatan Shalev six places above Vladimir Beliak.
Translated from HebrewIs there anything more symbolic than the fact that the two presenters of the Jerusalem light rail were born in the city and moved to Tel Aviv?
Translated from HebrewWhat a shitshow from Beitar, what a shitshow from Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball. Hapoel Jerusalem steals a win, and in a comeback at that. What a weekend delight
Translated from HebrewI didn't understand why Gafni deserves a seat in the Knesset forever. He failed totally in this term. Another one will come.
Translated from HebrewToday I listened to 4 different podcasts by Beitar fans lamenting Abramov and the start of the season. Shabbat delight
Translated from HebrewHow great that Beitar fans brought back the slang word "groshnik"
Translated from Hebrew
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