Thomas Nides and the Fine Art of Shutting Up

When four Israeli civilians were gunned down at a gas station in mid-June, and the IDF then killed the terrorists, and followed it up with a raid into Jenin, Ambassador Thomas Nides decided he had to deplore equally the deaths of those Israeli civilians and of the Palestinian terrorists who murdered them. This was how he put it, tweeting that he was “deeply concerned about the civilian deaths and injuries that have occurred in the West Bank these past 48 hours, including that of minors. Praying for the families as they mourn the loss of loved ones, or tend to those injured.”

He immediately came under fire from Israelis, for seeming to equally deplore the deaths of the Israeli civilians and of those who murdered them. Stung by the criticism, within an hour Nides tweeted another statement, this time writing that “I condemn in the strongest terms the senseless murder of four innocent Israelis today — my heart is with their grieving family members.” That was exactly what was called for, but the fact that he issued it only under duress, after furious condemnation by Israelis, suggests he really does not see the difference between the Palestinian murderers and the Israelis who would punish them. It’s a good thing he’s soon to leave his ambassadorial post; he should be encouraged to retire – Jackson Hole? The Hamptons? Chilmark? — on his Morgan Stanley fortune, where he can’t do any more damage.

But Nides hasn’t left “public service” just yet. He had one last bit of buttinsky-advice left in him. After a series of recent murders of Israelis by Palestinians in Judea and Samaria – the two Yaniv brothers, the mother and two daughters of the Dee family, and then, the four Israeli civilians, three of them teenagers, gunned down at a gas station, settlers pushed to their mental limits went on a rampage. They attacked the village of Turrus Ayya, burning cars, damaging houses, setting fire to fields. One Palestinian was killed, 27-year-old Omar Qattin, in circumstances that are still unclear. The Police said an officer opened fire and hit at least one Palestinian who was suspected of shooting at security forces during clashes. Was that Qattin, or someone else?

In any case, while one can humanly understand the rage behind the rampage, the settlers’ behavior  cannot be tolerated and any settlers who were involved in these riots should be prosecuted. And that was made clear by Prime Minister Netanyahu, when he announced in a video statement that “There are days when you have to state the obvious — that Israel is a country governed by laws.”

“The citizens of Israel are all obligated to respect the law. We will not accept riots either in the Golan Heights [where Druze have been rioting against wind turbines] or in Judea and Samaria. I give full backing to the Israel Police and the security forces in their action to enact law and order,” he continued. “We will not accept any challenge against the police and the security forces in these places or anywhere.”

In other words, those settlers who went on a rampage will be punished.

Yet, despite that no-nonsense statement, Nides still felt he had to say something. Butting in is what he does. More on his latest remark can be found here: “As settler violence continues, Nides says US ‘won’t stand by’ and let it happen,” by Jacob Magid, Times of Israel, June 22, 2023:

US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides says the Biden administration “will not stand by and watch settler violence occur. No one should have to worry about a rogue army,” Nides says at a Tel Aviv gathering of young Israelis and Palestinians organized by the Geneva Initiative.

What is Nides talking about? Does he think the government of Israel has to take tuition from him on how to handle the rampaging settlers? What sublime arrogance, what surquidry, what swank. Is he aware that settlers have been arrested in the past? Did he not hear what Prime Minister Netanyahu said about Israel being a government of laws? And when Nides says that the U.S. “will not stand by and watch settler violence” occur,  just what does he think the U.S. can or should do about it, beyond what the Israeli government is now doing?

The Bidenites, including Thomas Nides, should be insisting on something quite different. They should be stating, so there is no mistaking their seriousness, that “we will not stand by and watch the P.A. continue both to reward, and to incentivize, terrorism with its ‘Pay-For-Slay’ program, after we have given  nearly one billion dollars to the P.A.  in the hope, and expectation, that the ‘Pay-For-Slay’ program would end. Most regrettably, it has not, and for that reason we will now end our aid program to the P.A. Its leaders can choose prosperity, with American help, or they can choose to continue to support terrorism, which will only impoverish the Palestinians whose well-being they claim to care for.”