Likudnik Mischief On The Rise

Recently, unfit sociopath Donald "Rump" Trump unleashed a storm of regional and international protest when he flippantly announced his intent to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. For decades, the U.S. position under both Democratic and Republican administrations has been that the status of Jerusalem would be negotiated by the Israelis and Palestinians.

Emboldened by Rump's reckless move, Israel's right wing Likudniks and their allies are acting like they have a green light from the U.S. to be more aggressive toward the Palestinians. The extremist Likud Party passed a non-binding resolution urging the annexation of Israeli settlements on the West Bank, making them a part of Israel and denying any future Palestinian state the land as part of a "two-state solution." Such a move would also simplify new construction and expansion activities in the settlements, and would provoke a major conflict if ever enacted.

Israeli's hard-right Prime Minister Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu did not attend his party's conference, but may benefit electorally from the upsurge in right-wing fanaticism over the land issue. It also serves to distract: he's facing two corruption charges, one for accepting lavish gifts from two wealthy businessmen, and the other for enacting a law to damage a newspaper critical of him. Tellingly, Bibi Bomb Bomb has called the charges against him "fake news."