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Danon/McChrystal analogy limited

Reader comment on item: The Right Moment for Israel's Danny Danon?

Submitted by John in Michigan, USA (United States), Aug 5, 2013 at 18:24

When Dr. Pipes writes:

"In American terms, [Danon's] criticism resembles Gen. Stanley McChrystal's 2010 interview mocking Vice President Joe Biden"

There is certainly a limited analogy here, in that both Danon and McChrystal's criticisms were frank, no-holds-barred, reality-based, prophetic, etc. but also brusque and indiscrete.

However, if I understand the Israeli parliamentary system correctly, Danon is a case of one civilian politician violating Party discipline to criticize another civilian politician, whereas, McChrystal is a case of a soldier violating military discipline to criticize his formal chain of command, i.e. the National Command Authority which includes the Vice President who was the President's appointed deputy on Afghanistan. McChrystal's criticisms, however wise and sound, were periously close to a court marshal offence; whereas Danon's criticisms are certainly a scandal, but they seem fundamentally to belong to the civilian/political sphere.

I don't know enough about the IDF to know if the Deputy Minister of Defense and the Prime Minister are both part of the formal IDF chain-of-command structure, or not. If they are, then potentially Danon also violated chain of command, and Dr. Pipes analogy becomes somewhat more apt.

Even so, Pipes analogy would remain complicated by the fact that Danon wears five hats 1) Deputy Minister in the Government; 2) Member of the IDF chain of command, 3) Member of Parliament answerable directly to his constituency; 4) Member of Likud and 5) an individual with a duty and a right to speak his mind.

McCrystal is only supposed to wear one or at most two hats: 1) General Officer of the US Armed Forces and 2) an individual with a right and a duty to speak his mind. Arguably, he surrendered most of his individual rights when he became a solder. Therefore, McCrystal's duty to his chain of command is more clear-cut and straightforward (and formally defined by law), whereas Danon's dutes are multi-faceted and defined mostly by tradition (and informally at that).

I hope the previous paragraph makes sense! What I am trying to say is, McCrystal's criticism was more of a shock, and quickly ended up being self-defeating, since it broke his clear duty to refrain from publically and blatantly criticizing his chain of command during time of war. Meanwhile, Danon's roles, and the obligations that come with them, are more complex, so Danon's enemies may not be able to make as strong a case against him. But, they will certainly try.

Submitting....

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Daniel Pipes replies:

You are right about these many differences. I used the McChrystal analogy because it was recent and somewhat similar, not because it is identical.

Reader comments (37) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Foreign policy reflected by Ambassador appointments [95 words]David W. LincolnAug 14, 2015 15:25224696
danny danon [64 words]ELIEZER BEN ZE'EVFeb 13, 2014 06:05213177
Danon calls for the annulment of the Oslo Accords and a "3 State Solution" instead [19 words]PezDispenserSep 21, 2013 18:08209921
Israel's UN Amabassador Danny Danon "Three State Solution" [407 words]RobertApr 14, 2016 12:40209921
2I'm surprised you left out Feiglin [80 words]ShalomAug 9, 2013 11:20208897
1Do not be hasty [171 words]yuval Brandstetter MDAug 8, 2013 11:29208882
Danny, can I TRUST YOU? Call me and give me a promise ear ro ear, face to face, heart to heart [219 words]NuritGAug 7, 2013 19:02208856
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Danon [177 words]ericJul 17, 2014 05:13208835
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1Netanyahu may not be as befuddled as people think [324 words]Alan KaplanAug 6, 2013 00:39208820
1Danny Danon? [36 words]steven LAug 6, 2013 00:20208819
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A list of good men to choose from [113 words]GeorgeAug 5, 2013 22:12208816
Right. Israel needs new leadership [61 words]SalomonAug 5, 2013 19:18208810
So why didn't Danon quit the Knesset and the Likud in protest? [30 words]Fred McMurrayAug 5, 2013 19:11208809
Shook hands with him. [23 words]DmitryAug 5, 2013 18:46208807
Danon/McChrystal analogy limited [402 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
John in Michigan, USAAug 5, 2013 18:24208806
1Criticism In Israeli Politics [58 words]ZSIAug 6, 2013 05:38208806
Danny Danon, the leader [109 words]Linda KorrowAug 5, 2013 18:13208805
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SteveAug 5, 2013 18:05208804
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1Danny Danon [97 words]
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MartyAug 5, 2013 17:03208801
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More grovelling from Israel [57 words]Bob PrichardAug 5, 2013 16:47208797
1time for Israel to grow a pair [87 words]lippyAug 6, 2013 10:09208797

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