I had queued another 'On the Lighter Side' for today. But, I just can't do it, in light of the horrific world events this week (maybe I can try it again tomorrow...) — it would seem, somehow, disrespectful of the impacts of what appears to be the nature of our prevailing human condition.
Regarding why Israel was unprepared for the Hamas attacks:
“Israel has been governed by a populist strongman … who is a public-relations genius but an incompetent prime minister. He has repeatedly preferred his personal interests over the national interest and has built his career on dividing the nation against itself. He has appointed people to key positions based on loyalty more than qualifications, took credit for every success while never taking responsibility for failures, and seemed to give little importance to either telling or hearing the truth.
The coalition [he] established has been by far the worst. It is an alliance of messianic zealots and shameless opportunists, who ignored [the nation’s] many problems — including the deteriorating security situation — and focused instead on grabbing unlimited power for themselves. In pursuit of this goal, they adopted extremely divisive policies, spread outrageous conspiracy theories about state institutions that oppose their policies, and labeled the country’s serving elites as “deep state” traitors.”
-- Yuval Noah Narari, Israeli historian
Ultimately evil is done not so much by evil people, but by good people who do not know themselves and who do not probe deeply.
