Israel Strikes: Where we at

Let's review where things stand at the end of Israel Strikes, War of the Red Sea.

Israel has destroyed Iran's nuclear program and all but annihilated Hezbollah. Members cannot show their faces in Beirut. 

Later, Israel launched a mini-invasion of Sudan and destroyed Iranian bases there. During the War of the Red Sea, the Israeli navy waged a covert naval war against Iranian ships. 

The Israelis launched a lightening raid into Gaza to take the fight to Hamas and neutralize their rocket capability. 

International activists escorted by the Turkish navy tried to breach the Gaza blockade but were turned back by the Kriegsmarine(!).

Under the new prince, Saudi Arabia is modernizing and secretly allied with Israel. The Saudis have taken Arabian Gulf islands previously in Iran's possession. 

The Eitan Ministry has been voted out of office. In America, President Stettler lost the election.

So that's where we are. Iran is neutralized. So's Syria (talk about being overtaken by events). There's nothing more we can do to them. Things are set up for an Israeli/Turkish conflict, which would be interesting. Hmmmm sparked by mass unrest on the West Bank?

Yesterday's Best Seller...

Was once again Israel Strikes: War of the Red Sea.

Almost makes one think we should write the third installment. If anyone has an idea on this...well we don't as our original idea got OTBE'd and, well, lets just say we've gotten our armored warfare fix.

Lets see, here. What's happening over in the Holy Land...Lots Wuhan Virus from China cases. Lots of political wrangling. If anyone is interested in the shuttered Knesset rigmarole, which is an interesting political move, here you go.

By Adon's Ban, you people need to dump this apportionment system.

The Weekend's Best Seller Was...

...Israel Strikes: War of the Red Sea.

Are YOU reading it? If not, why not?

Just like real life there's plenty of Knesset intrigue.

In real life, Likud and the Blue and Whites continue negotiations. At this point it looks like a three year agreement with Bibi stepping aside after 18 months. We can live with that.

The Israeli police keep breaking up large Hasidim gatherings. We are having the same problem here in New Jersey. There's a large Hasidim population down in Lakewood, about half an hour from here. The cops have broken up two home pop-up weddings, arrested the home owners, and closed a Yeshiva that was still housing students.

Readers will perhaps understand our disdain for this people.

Anyway:

Yesterday's Best Seller Was...

...Israel Strikes: War of the Red Sea.

We still like our mini-invasion of Sudan and all the political wrangling.

Still not much progress in the real world. In an interesting move, the Knesset Speaker is keeping the Knesset closed, preventing a new government from being sworn in. He's doing for public health reasons, don't you know.

.

Yesterday's Best Seller

Israel Strikes: War of the Red Sea.

In fact sales are spiking. People cooped up? Algorithmic mischief? Who knows?

Meanwhile, the Arab Joint List, 15 seats in all, has backed Gantz and the Blue and Whites. We're getting close to driving Bibi down.

Gantz would need a Knesset majority made up of his Blue and White (33 seats), the hawkish Yisrael Beytenu (7 seats) and dovish Labor and Meretz (6 seats without Gesher leader Orly Levy-Abekasis), with support from outside of the coalition from the Arab lawmakers of the Joint List (15 seats).

If all those parties recommend him to form the next government, even without becoming part of it, he would have the backing of 61 MKs compared to 58 for Netanyahu from Likud (36), the ultra-Orthodox Shas (9) and United Torah Judaism (7) parties, and the right-wing Yamina (6). 

Liberman hates the Arabs, so I don't know how he joins a government with them. But still, with him and Bibi, it's personal.

In the meantime:

Strikes Israel?

We've once again gotten a visitor asking about a third Israel Strikes novel.

What third Israel Strikes novel?

Thanks folks, don't forget to tip your waitresses.

Anywho, alert readers will recall that War of the Red Sea ends with Iranian intel agents handing Rosensweig a dirty bomb.

To be honest, Israel Strikes was supposed to be a one-off novel. But it did so well we thought we'd be a moron not to do another.

We did some interesting things in War of the Red Sea, espionage, naval warfare, etc, and we planned to wrap things up in a third novel.

And then we got the idea for World War 1990. The series is all consuming and at this point we feel death will be our only escape.

Our tentative idea for a third Israel Strikes novel was a war with Egypt. But in the ensuing years we've kind of gotten our air and armored warfare fix, haven't we?

We have the germ of an idea, something with the Krauts and Turks and...we dunno.

If readers have a suggestion we're all ears. Is there some other angle we haven't thought of? What more can we do to Iran? At this point, we feel bad for them.

Also, if readers have any time to contirbute....

Tuesday Tally

Since someone checked in and asked about the Israel Strikes series. We had planned a war with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt but it's not happening.

Here are five reasons there will never be a third installment.

1-It's old hat. Jesus, we wrote that in 2012.
2-It's been overtaken by events.
3-The Muslim Brotherhood was overthrown by the army.
4-The sequel was probably unnecessary.
5-We have no new ideas.*
6-Holy Hell we're swamped.**
*Oh go ahead and put ideas in the comments.
**Ok Six reasons.

Strike This

We present as an Alpha male but are a born Beta. Our Alpha maleness is hard goddamn work.

We're actually pretty shy.

Which is why we've never really told anyone at our own synagogue that we wrote two novels about the Israelis blowing the crap out of Iran, or even what we do for a living.

Last week when taking our oldest to afternoon Hebrew school we brought a couple of copies of Israel Strikes and War of the Red Sea.

While waiting for our oldest to finish we paged through Israel Strikes. The writing is quick and sparse and holds up six years after publication.

War of the Red Sea came out in 2014. We left the latter with a cliffhanger. We never wrote the third novel. Five years on we are wrapped up in World War 1990. Frankly, we have no ideas.

If anyone has an idea for book 3, we'd like to hear it.

By the way, we left the novels lying around in the lobby and skulked off without telling anyone.

In which Life Continues to Imitate Israel Strikes War of the Red Sea

This Saudi Crown Price Salman continues to make waves.

[in the previous post you called him king-Ed]

Yeah, yeah.

Anyway this Saudi Crown prince ain't messing around. Via St. Breitbart of LA:

The sweeping arrests of dozens of Saudi businessmen, officials, and even royalty on Saturday – culminating in the arrest of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who is all three, and one of the richest men in the world – is one of the most dramatic events in the Kingdom’s modern history.

It is a clear sign of power consolidating around Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, upon whom a great deal of President Donald Trump’s Middle East policy is based. The chips are down, the wheel is spinning, and Trump is all-in on the 32-year-old future king.

Yikes.

This Salman fellow claims to be some sort of modernizer and reformer.

Personally our preference has always been for the destruction of the kingdom and the ceding of their oilfields to Kuwait.

We wish him well and luck.

Also, we predicted it. Israel Strikes: War of the Red Sea features a young Saudi King whose a modernizer and reformer:

Welcome Saudi Friends!

We can't help but notice a significant amount of traffic coming from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. For whatever reason, this Jew seems to be popular with the denizens of of the desert.

You know guys, the kingdom plays quite an integral role in Israel Strikes:

Also, Israel Strikes: War of the Red Sea:

Speaking of Syria...

I wrote Israel Strikes in 2012. Back then Syria's civil war was not the nihilistic bloodbath we see now. As such I imagined the nation cobbled back together under the rule of a military dictator.

When said dictator needs a way to rally and unify his people, he see's Israel's war with Iran and chooses to jump in. There follows a massive air battle and ground campaign for the Golan Heights culminating in the 'Highway of Tears':

As the platoon slowly made its way through the wreckage, Gonzo looked to his right, back toward the Golan. There were explosions in that direction as Israeli forces engaged the Syrian rear echelon elements. To the east, toward Damascus, he could make out the rest of Division 162, two brigades, as they pushed toward the city. The Beirut/Damascus highway was just ahead of them.They emerged on the other side of the now wrecked missile battery to see a vast open plain, dotted by only a few small ridges and the Beirut/ Damascus highway.‘Holy crap!’ said the gunner.Gonzo looked forward. About a kilometer away was the highway. From east to west it was packed with tanks, trucks, and armored vehicles - crawling along the road bumper to bumper to the Golan.‘Target, dead ahead!’ shouted the gunnerWithout waiting for the order, the gunner fired. A few seconds later a Syrian APC exploded in a ball of flame. The other tanks in the platoon fired, destroying three more Syrian vehicles in quick succession. The gunner looked at Gonzo. ‘Get down there and load!’ He pushed Gonzo down into the turret.‘AP!’ the gunner shouted at Gonzo.‘Huh?’‘A-P!’ he shouted again. The loader pointed to one shell storage locker. ‘This holds AP rounds!’ He pointed to the next. ‘This holds HE. This one over here holds Frag. Got it!’‘I don’t know anything about loading it.’‘Like this!’ In frustration the gunner pressed a lever on the turret floor which opened the AP storage locker, took a shell out, and slammed it into the breach of the main gun. ‘It is not rocket science, see!’‘I see.’’The gunner got back in his seat, lined up a Syrian tank, and firedThe gun breach flew back and spit out a spent shell.‘AP!’ the gunner shouted.Gonzo hit the floor peddle, grabbed an AP shell and slammed it into the breach.‘There you go.’Gonzo heard the company commander on the radio, ‘What is going on down there?!’The platoon commander responded. ‘We just found half the Syrian army in front of us!’‘Do not exaggerate.’‘Come see for yourself.’‘I am coming down to your position now.’‘Good, Captain, bring the whole company, and then the battalion. And whoever else you can find.’Minutes later, when the company commander had joined the platoon’s skirmish line, he reported back to battalion. ‘Yes, that is right, hundreds, thousands of vehicles here. Must be a division or more.’‘Do you want to retreat?’ the battalion commander asked.‘Hell no, we’re tankers.’‘You’re too weak to defend against them.’‘Then we’ll attack!’

The 'Highway of Tears' makes a cameo in War of the Red Sea:

Lovy ordered an aide to get Matti. He returned with him a few minutes later. He was the opposite of the burly, barrel-chested Nagid. Matti was a slight, thin man, well short of Nagid’s six feet. He had curly black hair and wore trendy, rectangular black glasses. Matti saluted and then extended his hand.            ‘Minister, we never met, but I’d like to say I was at the Highway of Tears. Thank you.’            Nagid shook the man’s hand. It too was small but his grip was like iron. ‘What are you thanking me for?’            ‘For allowing us to do our job. Sometimes, I close my eyes and see those Syrian vehicles on the highway, just before we shot the shit out of them. Sir, I wish you could have seen it. It was beautiful, like having a blonde laid out on the bed.’            Lovy laughed, Nagid smirked.            ‘Of course, we weren’t gentle with the Syrians, were we, Minister?’

Read 'em now, before they get Overtaken by Events!

Fook the Bloody IRA

Get a load of this:

Israel has strongly condemned the decision by a Dublin City Council subcommittee on ceremonies to raise the Palestinian flag over city hall in solidarity with the Palestinian people "who have lived under brutal Israeli occupation."
According to the decision Tuesday, the flag will be raised on May 15th, marking 50 years since the territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip came under Israeli control.

Is there anyone in the English speaking world smugger than the Irish? Oh....The Troubles...Ohhhh Bloody Sunday....the Famine....U-2....the Easter Rebellion. These goddamn people think their awful history gives them carte blanche to lecture the rest of us about human rights.

Sorry lad, I'm not taking human rights lectures from people who on the great issues of the 20th century didn't really have a strong opinion one way or they other. Hitler, Stalin...whatever. Get me another pint, mate.

Hell, Israel Strikes: War of the Red Sea has a tense moment where the Turkish navy is attempting to escort a bunch of Irish do-gooders to Gaza. Damn it, I should have blown that bitch right out of the water.

The above article goes on to explain that the Dublin City Council is controlled by Shin Fein. Now let's get something straight. Shin Fein is a terrorist group, perhaps you've heard of the their military wing, the IRA. Forget Michael Collins and John Ford films and any other movie with a coat and tie wearing, fedora sporting revolutionary. The modern IRA, the Provisional IRA is a '70's era Marxist organization.

John Ford would take one look at these people and think, 'Maybe I should make some movies about the Krauts?'

I can't wait to write World War 1990: Maggie's War. Just as soon as I clear out a few things...

Hezbollah Draws Redline

The Times of Israel Reports:

During a television interview with Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, the terror chief repeated a previous threat to fire rockets at Israel’s nuclear reactor in Dimona and at a huge ammonia storage tank in Haifa.

Hezbollah will not keep to any “red lines” in a future war with Israel, Nasrallah cautioned.

Israel has said much the same thing. As noted here before Israel has basically told Lebanon and the Lebanese people that in a future conflict they will be unconcerned with civilian casualties.

What's promised by both sides goes far beyond what I wrote about in Israel Strikes.

I started Israel Strikes in 2011. Seven years later both sides have surpassed my own apocalyptic vision.

This is one of the reasons why no sequel is in the works.

I had planned a war with Egypt but the circumstances have changed and the country has switched back to military dictatorship.

Also the Israel Strikes still fit into the geopolitics of the region even with the Syrian civil war which had not yet escalated into the nihilistic bloodbath we see today.

We've been overtaken by events as they say.

This is a great time for Israel Strikes and Israel Strikes: War of the Red Sea, no?

Boxing Day Q&A

Martin: Thanks for having me over, Will.
Prof Stroock: Call me Professor Stroock, goddamn it.
Martin: I really think...
Prof Stroock: Given you were canned from you last gig at MSNBC for those awful things you said should happen to Sarah Palin, maybe you should just shut the fuck up and do what you're told.
Martin: Quite right...Professor Stroock.
Prof Stroock: And I know you're faking that accent...Paki.
Martin: If you say so. Say, what's that pounding on the closet door over there?
Prof Stroock: Pay no mind to it. Let's get this over with. And please, won't you enjoy seem tea?
Martin: mmmm...thank you. Lemon-zinger?
Prof Stroock: Yes.
Martin: Now, you were pretty tough on President Obama and Samantha Power in that previous post, weren't you?
Prof Stroock: Damn straight.
Martin: Are you advocating then, more intervention in the Middle East?
Prof Stroock: Absolutely not.
Martin: But your harsh comments on Syria and Libya.
Prof Stroock: Yes, Barry royally screwed those up. Also Iraq. Also relations with Russia.
Martin: But you would not have intervened. And the banging on the closet door is getting louder.
Prof Stroock: No it isn't. And God no. I would not have intervened.
Martin: Despite your professed Necoconism.
Prof Stroock: I couldn't care less if the Arabs blow themselves to hell.
Martin: But the rise of Isis...
Prof Stroock: Isis arose because Barry abandoned Iraq and ignored warnings about Isis in Western Iraq.
Martin: How do you square this with your continued support of the Iraq war?
Prof Stroock: Campaign.
Martin: Huh?
Prof Stroock: Campaign, the Iraq  Campaign. Iraq was part of Bush's War on Terror.
Martin: How many Iraqis were on the jets al Qaida used on 9/11?
Prof Stroock: Same number of Germans that were at Pearl Harbor, fuck-stick.
Martin: So what is it you do want?
Prof Stroock: I dunno. Let the Arabs blow themselves to hell, I don't give a crap. And let the Israelis help.
Martin: Now, to wrap up...
Prof Stroock: Thank god. More tea?
Martin: Please. I swear that banging on the closet is getting louder.
Prof Stroock: You're hearing things, Martin. This is the Earl Grey.
Martin: Delicious. Why Earl Grey and Lemon-zinger?
Prof Stroock: Those are the only kinds of tea I've heard of.
Martin: Why am I not surprised?
Prof Stroock: Shut the fuck up.
Martin: Anyway...in your book Israel Strikes: War of the Red Sea, you included a BBC journalist named Martin.
Prof Stroock: Yes.
Martin:  Was that me?
Prof Stroock: Nailed it, Darwin.
Martin: One other question.
Prof Stroock: Shoot.
Martin: Did you have to make me an ass-slapping, intern snogging poof?
Prof Stroock: It was a moral imperative. Now get the hell out of here.
Martin: That reminds me, do you know what happened to the last journalist that came here.
Prof Stroock: No idea.
Martin: Hey I feel dizzy....why is everything so blury....
Prof Stroock: Heh, heh....