Yonatan Daon

I'm an advocate for beautiful art. Podcast host and a blogger. All views expressed are my own. I only speak for myself. RT ≠ endorsement.

[Yonatan Daon @YonatanDaon]

I'm happy to present my "Art Discourse" with @yaronbrook - What is art? Why is art selfish? How to properly enjoy art? How to listen to music?
Enjoy the show!
https://t.co/IAlrOTA8ZI

[Yonatan Daon @YonatanDaon]

I find the latest developments on the Iran situation too upsetting to write about properly.
At this point, I can only refer you to my essay on last month’s appeasement:
https://t.co/2vnR2VDwzh

[Eyal Ofer אייל עופר @Eyalo365]

**Instead of the Abraham Accords: The Muhammad Accords**

One small detail in the lost details of the 2.0 Iran nuclear deal carries far deeper significance: the United Arab Emirates has joined the Saudi-Pakistani axis — which is now also Iranian. For the first time, a Shia-Sunni alliance is being formed that will overshadow the Abraham Accords.

Saudi Arabia already signed a defense pact with Pakistan about a year ago. Pakistan is a nuclear-armed state that, until the war with Iran, had virtually no influence on Israel. Thanks to the war, Pakistan has become the country enabling the Iranian regime to survive: Pakistani mediation, a land supply route (connected all the way to China) — all of these will form part of the new power base in the region.

The one who stood in the breach almost until the very last moment was MBZ, the ruler of the UAE. At first, the Emirates expressed uncompromising willingness to fight. It wasn’t entirely overt (the principality’s insignia were removed from Emirati Air Force planes that bombed Iran), and statements from people close to the regime (the same insiders who only a few weeks earlier knew in advance about the OPEC exit) dropped clear hints: the UAE would take part in the attack on the islands in the Strait of Hormuz — islands that Iran seized from the Emirates in the 1970s.

But the economic price and the damage from the war were apparently more than the UAE could absorb. The UAE economy relies heavily on being a business hub for Western companies that settled there, among other reasons because of low taxes. The Iranians understood this. It’s no coincidence that the UAE absorbed more missiles than Israel or Saudi Arabia: Iran aimed at the UAE’s soft underbelly — to drive the foreigners out. Not the millions of Asians working in construction and services, but the layer of Western businesspeople and professionals (bankers, lawyers, accountants, management) who support the economy. The strikes on power stations and oil facilities (which Trump refused to respond to and did not view as an Iranian violation of the ceasefire) were only a hint of what was to come: Iran’s ability to damage the water desalination infrastructure and the electricity supply needed for air conditioning — right before summer — threatened the UAE’s ability to hold out. Without electricity and water, the UAE collapses. This is what was on MBZ’s mind, and the results of his joining the Saudi-Pakistani axis will echo for years across the Middle East and beyond: Islamist power is rising, and life in the region — for the one Jewish state that relied on American support — is going to become much harder. The Abraham Accords, which began as an initiative of Netanyahu and Trump and appeared to be expanding and bringing regional peace, are shattering against the UAE’s return to the bosom of the radical Islamic states. Officially they won’t be canceled — but in practice a strategic shift is occurring in which Saudi and Qatari money, Pakistani nuclear capability, and Iran’s military power to project force across the Gulf states are becoming the dominant factor in the region.

It will take Iran several years to rebuild its military capabilities — the money Trump is now releasing to them will allow the construction of a far more modern army than they had before. The old planes and ships that Trump is so proud of having sent to the bottom of the sea (how many times did he repeat that they have no navy — yet they still controlled Hormuz) will be replaced by brand-new Chinese and Russian equipment.

At the western end of this Shia/Sunni alliance stand Egypt and Turkey, which will link up with the Pakistani-Iranian-Saudi axis. An axis that, over time, will make life in the State of Israel extremely difficult.

The UAE was the first domino to fall — but the impact will reach far: to all Western countries. The rise of global Islamic power will not be limited to terrorist organizations like ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah — but to an axis of radical states. Countries that the UAE once thought to separate itself from — but is now returning to partnership with them.

This is the (unofficial, though not formal) end of the Abraham Accords and the rise of Islamist power to levels we have not known since Islam conquered parts of Europe. Trump’s hesitation and foot-dragging have created a dangerous monster.

[Tomer Persico @TomerPersico]

בסוף השאלה היא האם המערב מסוגל בעת הזאת לשלם מחיר כדי להאבק ברשע. האם, אחרי שהתברר שלא קל כל כך להפיל את המשטר באיראן, אנחנו דואגים קודם כל לבורסות ולמיד-טרמס, או מוכנים לתת ולהקריב את מה שצריך - וצריך הרבה פחות מאשר היה נדרש כדי לנצח את הנאצים - כדי לוודא שלאיראן לא תהיה אופציה גרעינית והיכולת שלה להקרין כוח במרחב צוצמה באופן ממשי. אם ההסכם הסופי לא ידאג לאלה, הכישלון האסטרטגי הברור רק ישקף בעיה תרבותית וחברתית עמוקה ומדאיגה.

[Yonatan Daon @YonatanDaon]

@Forest96SGX נכון. אז למה שחרננו אותם?

[Yonatan Daon @YonatanDaon]

Extremely pathetic postings from the OFFICIAL Israeli foreign ministry.
If these people are really that bad, why did Israel do nothing after they attempted a naval invasion?
The hypocrisy is only ours.

[Israel Foreign Ministry @IsraelMFA]

The flotilla anarchists bring provocation and chaos everywhere.
Here they are in Greece.

[Yonatan Daon @YonatanDaon]

@EylonALevy Sad that the most we can do to our enemy is to troll them.

[Yonatan Daon @YonatanDaon]

@amegamaa @IsraelMFA Of course. Attempted navel invasion and supplying the enemy is a very serious offence

[Yonatan Daon @YonatanDaon]

@avishai_matia בלצייץ על צביעות אנחנו מומחים.
מה בנוגע להגן על גבולות מדינתנו ולוודא שלעולם לא יעזו לעשות ניסיונות פלישה ימית דומים בעתיד?

[Yonatan Daon @YonatanDaon]

@EYakoby I don't think we're in a position to make a joke about this fiasco. Why were these people released back to Spain to begin with? How dare we accuse others of hypocrisy if we ourselves won't stand for our own security by locking up these bastards who just tried to invade us?

[Mark Wickens @mwickens]

“The best message Israel could send is very simple: if you invade our war zone, you go to jail. Not for a photo-op. Not until your embassy complains. You go to jail. That would be good Hasbara. Because the best PR is not better rhetoric or style. It is a country that behaves as if its borders, its soldiers, and its war matter. The scandal is not that Ben-Gvir stood there with a flag. The scandal is that the State of Israel will not do what that flag is supposed to mean.”—@YonatanDaon

https://t.co/ZudpS4sxqZ

[Yonatan Daon @YonatanDaon]

And they say the Jews control America

[Yonatan Daon @YonatanDaon]

Eurovision is not music as art.
It is a collectivistic ritual dressed up as music.
Manufactured by teams.
Selected by broadcasters.
Voted on by crowds.
Carried under a flag.
Nations do not compose music.
Only individuals do.
https://t.co/5IHYBfaORm

[Yonatan Daon @YonatanDaon]

@Betar_USA Remarkably tasteless and second handed

[Yonatan Daon @YonatanDaon]

We left the ghetto geographically.
We never fully left it mentally.
New essay:
The Ghetto with an Atom Bomb
https://t.co/AHqW4LxSGe

[Yonatan Daon @YonatanDaon]

As if we have an over abundance of soldiers to defend ourselves that we need to defend those who refuse to defend themselves. Disgraceful!

[Yonatan Daon @YonatanDaon]

Public speaking isn’t talent.
It’s discipline.
Conversation with @Nikos_17 on why most people fail and how to fix it.
https://t.co/pXUJ2mXNZw

[Yonatan Daon @YonatanDaon]

@NachumZvi Your list is Jewish by accident. Mine is Jewish in substance:

Gustav Mahler
Felix Mendelssohn
Paul Ben-Haim
Leonard Bernstein
Aaron Copland
George Gershwin
Erich Krongold
Isaac Stern
Jascha Heifetz
Valdimir Horowitz
Arthur Rubinstein
Itzhak Perlman

[Dr. Eli David @DrEliDavid]

America didn't ask Pakistan to ask Japan to come to "negotiate a fair deal".

America WON, dictated SURRENDER terms, and demanded that Japan sign it. Japan admitted DEFEAT and signed it.

That is what WINNING a war looks like.

[Yonatan Daon @YonatanDaon]

@Isaac_Herzog Peace has never come from goodwill.
It has come from strength and the willingness to fight for it as much as necessary.
This is what Israel has done for all of its existence.
That standard has never been met by the so-called good people of Lebanon.