MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell took a brief break from all the Trump indictment news on her Wednesday show to discuss the current state of affairs in Israel. Teaming up with President of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haas, Mitchell said it was “unbelievable” that Israel would raid the Al Aqsa mosque to prevent would-be rioters from gathering stones and fireworks while Haass described it as “mind-numbingly stupid.” Both absurdly claimed it was an attempt by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appease “the far-right.”
Raf Sanchez was in Jerusalem to recap the day’s events, “The Israeli police say they had no choice but to go in because there were dozens of young Palestinians who had barricaded themselves in who were stockpiling rocks, stockpiling fireworks, and we do see in those videos there are fireworks going off inside of the mosque itself.”
Mitchell responded to Sanchez’s report by declaring “It's unbelievable to see them inside the mosque, and of course just a couple of years ago that set off an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas over Gaza.”
After introducing Haass, Mitchell continued, “Richard, Netanyahu is under so much pressure from the far-right after he paused that controversial judicial overhaul. He brought a vote to form a new national guard which critics is calling a private army of thugs. He took money to form it from the military, from the defense budget, so we don't see any real solution here.”
As Mitchell herself noted, a similar crisis erupted in 2021, but judicial reform was not on the agenda then, so to tie the decision to some domestic effort to appease “the far-right” is an example of Mitchell projecting her own biases onto the situation in an attempt to build a narrative.
For his part, Haass responded, “No, Andrea, two reactions. One is, I think it was mind-numbingly stupid, I don't have any other word for it, sorry to be so blunt, decision to send Israeli forces into one of the holiest shrines of Islam because people were piling rocks and fireworks, really?”
Does Haass think Israel should’ve waited until the would-be rioters or terrorists started throwing the rocks and shooting the fireworks at people?
Apparently, because he was just getting started, “The bar for Israeli entry into an Islamic holy site ought to be sky high, this wasn't even close to it and if the Israelis want to undermine the Abraham Accords, want to make it impossible for Saudi Arabia to ever move towards peace with Israel, they want to start another Intifada there's no better way to do it than we have just seen this just isn't warranted.”
Of course, Haas never bothers to ask why the Palestinians use their holy sites as a base to foment violence.
While Haass was brought to be the foreign policy expert, it is clear that he is not an expert on Israeli domestic politics, “My own sense more broadly is the Israeli government is probably looking to go -- to find some kind of a compromise on the judicial reform issue, maybe something on that and maybe compensating people on the far-right who aren't happy with any compromise with a tougher policy towards the Palestinians, but if this is an example of it, it is really counterproductive.”
Only MSNBC could believe that thwarting violence is something Israelis do to appease “the far-right.”
This segment was sponsored by HughesNet.
Here is a transcript for the April 5 show:
MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports
4/5/2023
12:54 PM ET
RAF SANCHEZ: Yeah, Andrea, this is a tense time in a tense city at a tense time of year. It has been peaceful here at the Al Aqsa complex for the last couple of hours, but this morning this holy site looked like a battlefield. As you said, Israeli police storming inside, these almost unbelievable videos showing officers in riot gear hitting people with night sticks, with the butts of their guns. The Israeli police say they had no choice but to go in because there were dozens of young Palestinians who had barricaded themselves in who were stockpiling rocks, stockpiling fireworks, and we do see in those videos there are fireworks going off inside of the mosque itself.
Now, what started here in Jerusalem spread pretty quickly to Gaza, which is the fear that everybody had. We saw these rockets fired by Palestinian militants there, the Israeli military responding with airstrikes, and we've seen just this wave of condemnation from all over the region, Andrea, including from the Jordanians who, as you know, administer the Al Aqsa Mosque. Andrea.
ANDREA MITCHELL: It's unbelievable to see them inside the mosque, and of course just a couple of years ago that set off an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas over Gaza. Thank you very much.
The White House is calling for both sides to de-escalate and joining me now for more is Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, author of The Bill of Obligations, the best-selling book The ten habits of good citizens.
Richard, Netanyahu is under so much pressure from the far-right after he paused that controversial judicial overhaul. He brought a vote to form a new national guard which critics is calling a private army of thugs. He took money to form it from the military, from the defense budget, so we don't see any real solution here.
RICHARD HAASS: No, Andrea, two reactions. One is, I think it was mind-numbingly stupid, I don't have any other word for it, sorry to be so blunt, decision to send Israeli forces into one of the holiest shrines of Islam because people were piling rocks and fireworks, really?
The bar for Israeli entry into an Islamic holy site ought to be sky high, this wasn't even close to it and if the Israelis want to undermine the Abraham Accords, want to make it impossible for Saudi Arabia to ever move towards peace with Israel, they want to start another Intifada there's no better way to do it than we have just seen this just isn't warranted. My own sense more broadly is the Israeli government is probably looking to go -- to find some kind of a compromise on the judicial reform issue, maybe something on that and maybe compensating people on the far-right who aren't happy with any compromise with a tougher policy towards the Palestinians, but if this is an example of it, it is really counterproductive.
