Netanyahu, Sparta and Israeli Isolation

By Ali Saadeh

In a rare contrast to his arrogant, narcissistic personality, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel is being increasingly isolated in the international community, as more and more countries either suspend military cooperation, are reviewing arms deals with it, and/or in the process of imposing diplomatic, political, and economic relations with Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu has already acknowledged that “a diplomatic tsunami is on the way, [plainly speaking] isolation, and we will be forced to adapt, more and more, to an economy that, in certain aspects, has the characteristics of self-sufficiency.” He added: “We are Athens and Sparta,” in reference to the two ancient Greek cities.

Netanyahu chose Sparta, meaning isolation and self-absorption. “He chose Sparta specifically from among all the places in the world as it lived in ruins and under a harsh dictatorship, and finally was swallowed by its neighbors,” according to Yoav Limor, a military affairs analyst for Channel 12.

Benjamin Netanyahu was “successful” in his choice of Sparta, because today it has become clear to the world that he is leading the occupying state towards a fate similar to that of ancient Sparta, which built its existence on perpetual violence before eventually collapsing.

The Hebrew media focuses on the danger of the Israeli occupying state transforming itself into a society that thrives on violence and perpetual war, much like Sparta, which ultimately collapsed.

Of course, this comparison is not merely a historical image; it reflects a deep-seated fear that this occupying entity is in a state of true collapse and has entered a dangerous path that threatens its existence and long-term stability.

Some in Israel are even beginning to talk about the fact that Netanyahu may even possibly be the last prime minister of this occupation state.

Sparta turned to military rule after being forced to wage long wars with its neighbors, most notably Athens, fighting with it a devastating war that lasted a quarter of a century, known as the Peloponnesian War. Its influence, both real and moral, expanded over the neighboring Greek cities.

The occupying state appears to be on the verge of collapse under the leadership of Netanyahu and his government, which resembles a group of mentally ill people who have secretly escaped from a mental hospital under cover of darkness.

This opinion by Ali Saadeh was translated from the Arabic Al Sabeel website.

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So What if Abu Obaida Was Killed?

By Ali Saadeh

News websites and the social media are today concerned whether the official spokesman of the Izz ad-Din al Qassam Brigades Abu Obaida was killed or not by the Israeli war machine.

The most frequent question that is being asked: “Has he been martyred (killed) or not?” But really what does it matter if he was martyred or not?

Before this supposedly deadly incident there was Mohammed Deif, Yahya Sinwar, and Marwan Issa. They were martyred and killed during this genocide on Gaza.

Senior military leaders have long preceded them and in this war that started soon after 7th October, 2023. However the Brigades did not falter for one minute, continuing to fight more fiercely than before after significantly developing their organizational and tactical military capabilities.


Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh himself was martyred, preceded by Hamas leaders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Dr. Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi. The caravan of martyrs will not stop. Anyone who chooses to join the ranks of the resistance, whether militarily, politically, or in the media, knows full-well they are either a potential martyr deferred, or an eternal prisoner in the enemy’s fascist and brutal prisons.


Since the start of the war of extermination on Gaza on 7th October, the Israeli army composed of scums and mercenaries has killed a number of Hamas leaders, most notably Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of the movement’s political bureau, who was martyred in an attack in his office in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Ayman Nofal, a member of the Qassam Brigades’ military council and commander of the Central Region Brigade, Ahmed al-Ghandour, a member of the military council and commander of the Northern Brigade in Gaza, and Ahmed Bahar, acting head of the Legislative Council and former head of the movement’s Shura Council were also the object of Israeli targeting.

Jamila al-Shanti, the first woman to serve as a member of the Hamas Political Bureau and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was also killed. So were Osama al-Muzaini, a leader in the movement and former head of its Shura Council, and Zakaria Abu Muammar and Jawad Abu Shamala were also members of the Political Bureau.

The convoy continues on its path, and the lies and deception of the ruling gang in Tel Aviv, which seeks any victory to present to the Israelis, who know they are marching toward the unknown under the leadership of the reckless, arrogant, and psychopathic Benjamin Netanyahu, will not stop them.

The assassinations are nothing more than an official announcement of the Israeli military failure in the Gaza Strip. They are cowardly acts befitting a bloodthirsty man and a war criminal who has escaped justice.

The Palestinian people have sacrificed throughout their history hundreds of leaders who were martyred on the path of liberation and struggle, and no vacuum was created anywhere. On the contrary, whoever assumed the position outdid themselves to prove to us and to themselves that they were worthy of the trust and responsibility they carried.


Palestine, the birthplace of Palestine, will continue to produce heroes and will never cease to produce heroism, courage, and dignity.


“Abu Obaida” is not a person in the abstract or moral sense, but rather an idea, and ideas never die; they continue to blossom and grow until they strangle the occupier with their ropes.

Ali Saadeh is a columnist in the Arabic Al Sabeel electronic newspaper in Amman.

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