If you think you understand what’s going on in Gaza, think again.  At least, that’s what I had to do after listening to a week’s worth of podcasts of the John Batchelor Show.

Batchelor aired for several days from Jerusalem, and he interviewed a wide-ranging spectrum of guests based in Israel or who had in-depth knowledge about what was going on there.  The things that were revealed to me by the interviewees were startling and quite different from what I had been getting online or on TV.

Readers who might wish to broaden their knowledge of the situation may do so by listening here to the podcasts while they brew their coffee, scramble their eggs, or mix their martinis. 

Listening to recordings of them while working out or going to the mall, market, or to work would be a good use of that otherwise idle time.

The most important thing that I learned was what a game-changer the offensive tunnels are. 

Michael Vlahos, a professor at The Johns Hopkins University Advanced Academic Programs and the US Naval War College, talks about these expedited field fortifications here, and Batchelor talks with many others about them in several of the podcasts.

Their insertion into the equation has changed forever the nature of conflict that Israel has been in for so long, and it must and will change the future guarding of Gaza’s borders forever into the future.

Other interviews exposed how the banning of American and European flights to of Ben Gurion Airport sounded the death knell of the two-state solution, the extent to which the fighting represents not a war between Israelis and Palestinians but proxy wars between many entities, the important role Egypt, under former army chief Abdel Fattah al Sisi, is playing, the atrocious nature of Hamas, and the foul funding of Hamas by Qatar and the equally-foul basing by Dubai of Hamas leader Khaled Mashal.

I gave up checkers sixty-some odd years ago because I couldn’t quite figure out how to win at it, so figuring out what’s going on in this 3D Chess game is a real challenge now.  I’m most grateful that Batchelor gives me a lot of help!

This week should be very busy what with the new flotilla from Turkey, the bumbling and fumbling of Messrs. Kerry and Obama, and the expected heating-up of the conflict after Eid.  

And Israel might well find itself soon between Scylla and Charybdis as noted here:

Speaking at a high-level security conference in Aspen, Colorado, outgoing US Defense Intelligence Agency head Michael Flynn warned against the dangers of toppling Hamas, saying what may replace the Islamist group could be even worse.

Batchelor continued his coverage Monday, and brought in Bill Roggio and Tom Joscelyn of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies among others to connect the wars and unrest raging from the Maghreb to the Hindu Kush and beyond.

The author is retired, his profile may be found on LinkedIn, and he may be argued with at bilschan@hotmail.com.