I have never understood where the myth of the 'clever Israelis' came from (probably from the 'superior Jewish intellect' canard, itself a blatantly self-serving and racist belief). Today, the Israeli handling of the Hamas phenomenon appears to me as an ideal case study in stupidity and arrogance. I just came across such a perfect example of this delusional arrogance that I decided that I needed to share it with you.
Watch this 'security expert' explaining on Israeli TV how the world wide outrage over the Israeli policies towards Gaza is just, well, the result of bad PR. Heck! If the Prime Miniser had a specialist in charge of political spin Israeli policies would be far better understood. Just listen to this guy:
Amazing, isn't it? What I really would like to know is what percentage of Israelis today really believe that crap? Judging from the comment by a citizen from Haifa I posted at the bottom my analysis of the Gaza situation (see under 'update'), at least some are fully aware of the idiocy of such theories.
Bottom line: Chutzpah is not the same thing as intelligence or foresight, and while the Israelis seem to have the former in abundant supply, the latter is - by definition - something which is mutually exclusive with arrogance and self-worship.