Okay, Israel has officially lost it. I will quote liberally from this story in Ha’aretz because it merits it so much:

The Pope and the cardinals of the Vatican help organize tours of Auschwitz for Hezbollah members to teach them how to wipe out Jews, according to a booklet being distributed to Israel Defense Forces soldiers. . . .

The story is narrated by a man named Avi, who says he changed his name from Ibrahim after he left Hezbollah and converted to Judaism. Avi says he was once close to Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, and describes Hezbollah’s purported close relationships with the Vatican and European leaders. . . .

The book describes the alleged visit of Hezbollah officials to Auschwitz, led by the Vatican: “We came to the camps. We saw the trains, the platforms, the piles of eyeglasses and clothes ... We came to learn ... Our escort spoke as he was taught. We quickly explained to him: Every real Arab, deep inside, is kind of a fan of the Nazis.”

The booklet also describes how European politicians and journalists ostensibly work against Israel.

“Our escort introduced us to important figures who identify with our causes. Rich people, people with authority ... They allocate big budgets to all sorts of Israeli organizations that erode the standing of the IDF ... We have a special budget for encouraging politicians and journalists who serve our purposes. Every opinion piece that conforms to our position is rewarded generously.”

Okay, you read this and think “wow, that is insane shit that the IDF is passing around,” but you may conclude that this booklet is a fringe conspiracy rag that has no credible authority behind it. Well, you’d be wrong:

Officials encouraging the booklet’s distribution include senior officers, such as Lt. Col. Tamir Shalom, the commander of the Nahshon Battalion of the Kfir Brigade.

The booklet was published by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, in cooperation with the chief rabbi of Safed, Rabbi Shmuel Eliahu, and has been distributed for the past few months. . . .

“The book is distributed regularly and everyone reads it and believes it,” said one soldier. “It’s filled with made-up details but is presented as a true story. A whole company of soldiers, adults, told me: ‘Read this and you’ll understand who the Arabs are.’”

Yes, Israel has become that paranoid, bigoted, stupid and self-destructive. A society cannot become so paranoid and believe everyone is against it and last too long. This hatred is so self-destructive. It raises Israelis to believe that a Gestapo is behind every door and instead of reaching out to their neighbors in pursuit of an equitable peace and embracing the world, they instead sink into this fear that will eventually turn Israel into nothing more than a militarized Jewish ghetto.

Now, the IDF has stopped distributing this once the press reported on it: “After we were alerted to the sensitivity of its content, distribution was immediately halted.” Sensitivity? What does that mean? That conspiracy theories are sensitive?

Although the IDF has removed it, this does not mean that many Israeli still believe this nonsense [just read the comments under this article (not my post but the Ha’aretz link) to see what I mean] and an aide to the chief rabbi had this to say: “Avi is a real person and everything in the book is absolutely true.”

As George Carlin might have said: Holy Cheeseballs!