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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Feb 8

Check out my new Substack article. It is free! Subscribe now!

The Unraveling: The Unusually Slow Death of the Liberal International Morality

We had a moral consensus surrounding basic human rights that the international community created with painstaking effort. Now we look around and it is completely gone. What happened?

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Feb 6

Subscribe to my Substack! My first post is on the foreign policy orientation of Marco Rubio.

shaielbenephraim.substack.com/p/what-kind-...

What Kind of Secretary of State Will Marco Rubio Be?

Marco Rubio's Foreign Policy Evolution: Between Hawkish Roots and Trump's America First

shaielbenephraim.substack.com

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Feb 4

However, Trump put his foot down and insisted that the team go, otherwise it would be a violation of the ceasefire. Right now Trump is the only thing keeping Bibi in this deal.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Feb 4

Netanyahu tried to avoid sending a team to Qatar to start discussions over the second phase of the ceasefire as required by the deal on the 16th day of the 1st phase.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 30

3) The is no contradiction between morality and strategic utility. Not complete contradiction anyway. If Israel had been more careful and had investigated its own actions, its position in the world would be far better.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 30

2) Nothing can bring Israel genuine long-term security but peace. The use of force only buys time and creates temporary security, often at the expense of long-term stability.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 30

The three most important things Israel can learn from this in the future is this:

1) Military force is important but it does not solve all problems. It must be combined with legal, diplomatic and political tools aimed at achieving its goals of security.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 30

These mistakes led directly to the unfortunate situation Israel is in now. Its soldiers and heads of state are afraid to go to other countries. Hamas remains in power, many hostages are dead, and Palestinian civilians have suffered far more than was needed.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 30

That could lead to needless bloodshed and a needless delay in the release of the hostages. I was, unfortunately, correct.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 30

3) That the Netanyahu government was motivated at least partially by an attempt to survive and keep Ben-Gvir and Smotrich in the coalition and not by the strategic interests of Israel.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 30

It became clear that the diplomatic clock would run out (it took far longer than I expected) and when the sides were finally forced into a ceasefire, Hamas would remain in power. I was, unfortunately, correct.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 30

2) Israel did not have a day after plan. That meant that no matter how many Hamas terrorists the IDF kills they will not be replaced.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 30

It became apparent that the Israeli courts were not investigating these things sufficiently and they will end up before international tribunals. I was, unfortunately, correct.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 30

1) Israel was not as careful with civilians as it should be and was not disciplining its soldiers properly leading to all sorts of issues, some of which were war crimes.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 30

When the war in Gaza started I supported it. I still think it had to be fought. But I realized the war had to end months ago. People wonder what happened to me and why I changed my mind. I realized three things, that would not give me respite. I simply couldn't ignore them.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 29

He is not the most deadly terrorist that will be released in the first phase, but likely the best known and most symbolically important. Hamas really wanted the pictures of his release to buttress their influence, and now they will get them.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 29

Responsible for the terror attack in 2002 Beit She'an attack that killed 6 people and two shootings on Israeli buses. But he also was the commander of the Palestinian forces in the horrific Battle of Jenin, where 23 IDF soldiers died.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 29

Zakaria Zubeidi will be released tomorrow. That is a massive deal because he is one of the biggest symbols of the Second Intifada to the Palestinians. He was the Jenin chief of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 29

Two months ago, my doctor told me I should stop drinking. I did not know if I could do it. But I have succeeded. Two months sober. Two months of meditating every day. I am so grateful.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 25

The US is currently the number 1 country in the world in terms of science research and university quality. This will change that. Dramatically

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 25

What a lot of people are missing is that Trump is declaring war on science and education. His policies include:

* Stopping funding for scientific research.
* Defund universities and replace them with his own online college.
* Close the Department of Education.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 24

It is almost as if he is signaling to Iran that not only won't he follow their policies, but that they are fair game.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 24

One of the weirdest things about Trump's turn towards Iran is how he is punishing Brian Hook, Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, the Iran hawks by revoking their security despite warnings that there are threats to assassinate them.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 24

3) Hamas are brutal and disgusting monsters whose existence is a blight on the face of the earth.

Anyone who actually understands what is happening in Gaza understands these three things.

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Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @shaielb.bsky.social · Jan 24

2) This is why most people do not rise up against Hamas. They don't want to get shot. Its Hamas that has the weapons and training. Even the IDF couldn't fully beat them and lost hundreds of soldiers. So stop telling regular people to rise up or free the hostages or whatever.

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