Violence, Peace and Hypocrisy

It's said and sung that "money makes the world go around," but the grease that facilitates it IMHO is hypocrisy and antisemitism.  Jews and Israel are always held up to obey rules that no other People, country or society ever need to worry about, and unfortunately it seems to never end.



There's no rational, logical reason for people like myself, ordinary law-abiding people, Jews who live in Judea/Samaria to be condemned by international statesmen and media as "endangering" the peace while they coddle Iran trying to come up with all sorts of compromises to enable it to continue developing its nuclear industries,  including weapons.

I also don't understand how Hamas, a proven terrorist organization with a long bloody history can be protected by the British Government.

“British authorities have yet to take effective action to put an end to the exploitation of their country by Hamas for spreading incitement,” these reports assert.
The reports also say that while Hamas’ media is “guided from Damascus and assisted by Arab countries,” its “branch operating in Britain is used for printing and distribution of Hamas publications.”
Prominent among these publications is the monthly Filastin al-Muslimah, Hamas’ major publication since the 1980s, which is available in paper edition and on the Internet.Spreading incitement and hatred in the spirit of Hamas’ ideology, it preaches the justice of terrorism and glorifies its perpetrators. From Britain, it is distributed worldwide in both its online and hard copy editions. To avoid unwanted attention from British security services, Filastin al-Muslimah stopped publishing its address in the United Kingdom on the front page at some point during 2004. However, it is still published in the United Kingdom, openly and with impunity.

Iran, like the PA-Palestinian Authority hasn't been shy about revealing its true aims, the destruction of the State of Israel, G-d forbid.

When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad purportedly said that Israel "should be wiped off the map" there were, and still are, many who argue that the Iranian leader was misquoted or mistranslated. No such argument can be made however regarding the latest comments by the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces.
According to the Iranian Fars news agency, while addressing a defense gathering in Tehran on Sunday, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi stressed that the Iranian nation remains committed to the "full annihilation of the Zionist regime of Israel to the end."
According to Fars, Firouzabadi "reiterated the Iranian nation and supreme leader's emphasis on the necessity of support for the oppressed Palestinian nation and its causes," and noted, "The Iranian nation is standing for its cause that is the full annihilation of Israel."

• Why doesn't the western, pro-peace world condemn Iran?
• Why doesn't the western, pro-peace world condemn the "PA?"
• Why do they just condemn Jews like me for living in our historic homeland?

 

This international hypocrisy just encourages violence, violence against Jews and Israel.

Dry Bones

Disgraced Former MK and Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert Tries to Burst Jerusalem "Balloon"

Even though disgraced former Knesset Member and Mayor of Jerusalem Ehud Olmert has been charged with multiple charges of corruption the media, Israeli and international, absolutely adores and respects him.  The Jerusalem Post featured him as a main speaker at their New York Conference a few weeks ago, and now on the forty-fifth anniversary of Israel's totally miraculous 1967 Six Days War victory, the foreign press is publicizing Olmert's dangerous words about dividing Jerusalem again.

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday urged Israeli leaders to relinquish the idea of a unified Jerusalem if they truly want peace, contending in a pair of interviews that years of government neglect have kept the Jewish and Arab sectors irreparably divided.

His extreme and hypocritical comments have been lapped up by the foreign media.  When Olmert was Mayor he kept the Arabs separated from Jews and as Prime Minister offered them more independence aka separation.

In those talks, Olmert offered to turn over parts of east Jerusalem to the Palestinians, and have Jerusalem's Old City, home to the most sensitive religious sites, be administered by an international consortium including Israelis, Palestinians, Americans, Jordanians and Saudis.

Considering the charges against Olmert, how anyone can give him a "microphone."  It's obvious that those who do only do it because they don't care about Israel's future and security.

Israel has too many enemies always waiting to hear and publicize negative things about Israel.  The United Nations and the European Union consistently look for the most negative "news" they can find; accuracy be damned.  They don't care if their charges are based on reality, as long as they can use it against us.

A JERUSALEM-BASED organisation has released a report lambasting the European Union for spreading inaccurate information about Israel and the Middle East conflict.
Between 2010 and early 2012, six documents from the offices of EU representatives in Israel and the West Bank have been leaked, and all of them were critical of Israel. Now, NGO Monitor, Israel’s self-appointed watchdog of human rights bodies, said it has identified dozens of factual inaccuracies in the reports.

This is extremely dangerous for the future peace and stability in Jerusalem and the State of Israel.  They base their policies on anti-Israel NGO's.

It is bad enough that the EU funds a group whose leaders promote “one-state” polices and use demonizing rhetoric that incites hatred – the fact that this becomes the basis for policy is even worse.
While the EU/NGO reports are filled with false or misleading allegations targeting Israeli policy in Jerusalem, other basic information that contradicts this bias is entirely missing. Thus, there is no discussion of the role of the Jerusalem municipality in providing building permits for Arab residents of Jerusalem at a level comparable to Jewish residents; in opening post offices, public clinics, and classrooms; in inaugurating the light rail systems, which serves both Arab and Jewish neighborhoods; and with respect to other programs for the benefit of Arab neighborhoods.

Instead of encouraging and promoting true peace and coexistence in Jerusalem, Olmert, the European Union, the NGO's and the United Nations all endanger Jerusalem and the State of Israel.

Jerusalem Day, 5772, 2012, photo by Batya Medad

The Door Was Slammed in the Moshiach's, Messaiah's Face

The more I read about how the Israeli Government planned the 1967 Six Days War, the more conflicted I feel.  On one hand, I feel sick and embarrassed that the government showed such incompetence and lack of vision and faith.  And on the other hand I feel more and more grateful to G-d for His willingness to save us and take over.

Avraham Rabinovitch's second excerpt of his book appeared in this past Friday's Jerusalem Post.  It just confirmed my worst guesses about what had really gone on behind the closed doors of the ministerial meetings in May-June, 1967.

Both Allon and Begin said history would not forgive the government if it did not exploit this opportunity for restoring Jewish sovereignty over ancient Jerusalem, although Allon raised the possibility that Israel might make do with access to the Jewish holy places. Three other ministers pointed out how David Ben-Gurion’s determination to retain Sinai after the 1956 campaign had dissolved overnight, after US president Dwight D. Eisenhower said it was unacceptable and Moscow made dire threats. Jerusalem, they pointed out, meant more to the world than the sands of Sinai. Would the Christian world, particularly the Vatican, accept Jewish sovereignty over Christiandom’s holiest places? Perhaps, suggested one minister, it would be best to leave Jerusalem as an aspiration to be prayed for...
Close to midnight, he met with Eshkol in Tel Aviv and obtained his agreement to three war goals – the destruction of the Egyptian armored formations in Sinai, the capture of Sharm e- Sheikh, and the capture of Jordanian Jerusalem and the West Bank ridge line. He did not propose capturing the entire West Bank. Dayan insisted that there be no attempt to conquer the Old City by direct attack; it would be too costly to battle through its alleys, while damage to the holy places would be blamed on Israel.

And we wonder why today, forty-five years later so many of our politicians, academics and media want to return to a version of the 1949 ceasefire lines.

They're all thinking so small and narrow, as if we could live and thrive on a tightrope.

While some of us are celebrating the great miracle of G-d's interference and the subsequent great, miraculous victory which gave us the Golan, Jordan Valley, Sinai, Judea, Samaria and most of Jerusalem on Jerusalem Day, other Israelis want to cancel the holiday.  They are still fixated on 1949, not willing to accept change and move forward. That's extreme conservative, reactionary aka The Israeli Left.

I have no doubt that not only was our victory due directly to the Hand of G-d, and I also have no doubt that the Moshiach, the Messaiah had come to redeem us.  G-d's representative was here waiting to celebrate the Holiday of Shavuot, Weeks/Oaths with us on the Temple Mount.

Shavuot is the culmination of seven weeks of counting the forty-nine days between the second night of Passover and G-d's giving to us of the Torah, Our Holy Laws.  We count up, from one to forty-nine, as each day is greater than the one before it.  It is no random coincidence that the Six Days War took place less than two weeks before the Shavuot Holiday.  As General Mottke Gur had said on that joyous day forty-five years ago:

הר הבית בידינו Har HaBayit Bayadeinu, The Temple Mount is in Our Hands

In the second film you can already see that we were aiming too low, celebrating at the Kotel rather than at Har HaBayit.  And then, to make matters worse, Moshe Dayan soon gave Har HaBayit to the Muslims, refusing the gift G-d had given us. No doubt the Moshiach packed His bags and disappeared for now.   And then echoing the Biblical "sin of the spies" who returned to Moshe and the newly freed from Egyptian slavery Jews claiming that it would be too difficult to go to the Land:

Dayan, Rabin, and a few other senior officers returning from the Western Wall joined Narkiss in his command post in the basement of the Jerusalem International Convention Center late Wednesday.
They sat on folding cots and a few chairs in the windowless room lit by battery-operated lamps. A radio transmitter occasionally crackled with a report from one of the forces in Jerusalem or the West Bank. The men in the room were largely silent as they attempted to absorb in this first moment of postbattle tranquillity the amazing developments of the past 48 hours. It was Rabin who focused the diffused impressions into a stark bottom line.
“How do we control a million Arabs?” he asked, referring to the Arabs of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In Biblical times, the former slaves were punished, condemned to death in the wilderness. Only a new generation would enter the HolyLand.  They only waited forty years.  It's now forty-five years, and it doesn't seem like we're ready to accept G-d's gifts and welcome the Moshiach.

Iran, Obama and The Tooth Fairy

US President Obama and Russia's PM Medvedev
 (AP/Charles Dharapak)

There's just too much wishful thinking and make believe going on in the world of "international diplomacy," security etc.  The United States President Barack Hussein Obama, "leader of the free world," sic, has been using outdated child psychology with Iran to convince it to reduce, not totally stop, its nuclear development.

“And our hope is that we can resolve this issue in a peaceful fashion that respects Iran’s sovereignty and its rights in the international community, but also recognizes its responsibilities,” Obama added.
Iran had “the right to peaceful nuclear power,” he said, but had failed to convince the international community that it was not seeking a nuclear weapons capability...

I have no doubt that Obama really believes that somehow he and his allies can "peacefully convince" Iran to change its stripes.  That is really frightening.  The USA has a President who believes in the Tooth Fairy. 

Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu came out with this statement:

PM Netanyahu Comments on Baghdad Talks
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Following are remarks that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made about the Baghdad talks, earlier today (Friday), 18.5.12, at a press availability in Prague:
"Obviously, nothing would be better than to see this issue resolved diplomatically. But I have seen no evidence that Iran is serious about stopping its nuclear weapons program. It looks as though they see these talks as another opportunity to deceive and delay just like North Korea did for years.
They may try to go from meeting to meeting with empty promises. They may agree to something in principle but not implement it. They might even agree to implement something that does not materially derail their nuclear weapons program.
Iran is good at playing this chess game. They know that sometimes you have to sacrifice a pawn to save the king. The goal of these negotiations should be very clear:
Freeze all enrichment inside Iran.
Remove all enriched material outside of Iran.
And dismantle Qom.
When this goal is achieved, I will be the first to applaud. Until then, count me among the skeptics."

Netanyahu seems much more grounded in reality than Obama.

Another interesting article about Iran is by Ruthie Blum in Israel Hayom.  She reports about a conference she attended in  Italy and the meetings she had with Iranians there:

Regarding Iran, the prognosis was even bleaker. Author and Iran expert Michael Ledeen, from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, expressed disgust at the fact that no American administration since that of Jimmy Carter — whose presidency saw the ouster of the Shah and the ushering in of the Islamic revolution more than 30 years ago — has done anything to assist the Iranian people to rid themselves of their jihadist regime. He pointed out that no more intelligence-gathering is needed, nor any bits of information lacking about Iran’s nuclear program and intentions. The only question that remains, Ledeen asserted, is what the West should do about it. Bombing the facilities, he argued, would be of no use without taking down President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the mullahs. As someone who is convinced there is still time to accomplish this, and that it wouldn’t take much effort, his frustration is that much greater.
Much of what he said was echoed by Saba Farzan, an expat Iranian now living in Germany and a senior fellow on women’s rights at the Institute for Middle Eastern Democracy. What Farzan did was give a glimpse into the psyche of her former countrymen. Iranians are willing to put up with a lot of suffering, she asserted, if the end result is regime change. She claimed that the sanctions have been hurting them, and that the tougher the sanctions the better.
She also clarified to me in private that a military strike would not cause the Iranian people to rally around the regime, as some experts have been arguing. On the contrary, she said, it is the regime they hate. Therefore, a military strike without regime change would not solve the problem...
The Iranian regime, as everyone at the conference concurred, is behind radical movements all over the world. It would not need to use its nukes, once it acquired them, to do great harm to the rest of us — even without keeping its promise to “wipe Israel off the map.”
Instead of devoting all energy to that issue, the United States and Europe are going to engage in yet another pathetic and pointless summit — this one in Baghdad on May 23 — to negotiate a non-existent deal with a representative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Meanwhile, as the mullahs and their mad scientists work tirelessly to perfect nuclear warheads, and as the rest of the Middle East is in the midst of internal Islamic takeovers, Time magazine has devoted this week’s cover story to Israel’s prime minister.

I highly suggest that you read her entire article. Ruthie Blum makes more sense than op-ed's you'll find in the New York Times, Jerusalem Post and other media.

Latma Takes on the Supreme Court and The "New" France

There's nothing like Latma to get things just Right.



It's no secret that Europe's demographics are changing. Today's Europe isn't the same as a decade ago, and changes will be even more extreme in another twenty years.  White Christian Europe isn't "reproducing."  If it weren't for the immigrants and foreign workers, most countries would be suffering a very serious population decline.

The United States is also undergoing a major racial change according to statistics of babies being born there.

Yes, the world does change, and it can't be controlled.

Latma is a project of Caroline Glick.

Jerusalem Day, Yom Yerushalayim, יום ירושלים

This view of Jerusalem may not be a classic, but it's real.  The Jerusalem of today is a vibrant changing modern city.

A lot of people don't like to recognize that. They want Jerusalem to resemble something timeless and mystical.

Real people live in Jerusalem.  It's Israel's capital, but it's also one of Israel's poorer cities.

There's great variety in Jerusalem and constant changes.

Its recent growth, the past hundred plus years, has been do to one factor and one factor only, Zionism-Jews.  No longer do Jews just come here to die. 

Jews come to Jerusalem to live and work and build.

Jerusalem isn't just the past; it's the future, too.

Chag Sameach

Ancient Coins Found at Tel Shiloh

It has been announced that some ancient coins had been been found today at Tel Shiloh.

During the time of Biblical Shoftim, Judges, Shiloh was the official administrative center for the Jewish People.  This period lasted almost four hundred years.  To put it in perspective, how many of today's major cities have existed for that long?

And even after Shiloh's destruction, when the Jewish Kings, Saul and David ruled from other places, Shiloh still existed.  Recent archaeological finds and remains of more modern buildings prove that Shiloh was "always on the map."  And unlike many other Biblical sites, there's no debate about modern Shiloh being the location of Biblical Shiloh.

Here's the "unofficial" report in Hebrew about these coins:

בחפירות שלנו במשטח הצפוני של תל שילה התגלו היום שני מטבעות בתוך בור מים. על אחד המטבעות אפשר לזהות את האותיות ש ת ונראה שזהו מטבע של המרד הגדול. כיוון שהמטבעות עשויים מברונזה יש עליהן בליה והקריאה קשה מאוד לפני ניקוי במעבדה (זה מצב המטבעות העתיקים בדרך כלל).
לצד המטבעות התגלו בבור המים כלי חרס רבים מסוף תקופת הבית השני, וכן פריטי זכוכית וברונזה.
ממצאים כאלה התגלו גם במבנה שנחשף בחפירה והם עדות נוספת ליישוב יהודי בשילה בימי הבית שני. ככל הנראה היישוב היהודי בשילה נמשך ברצף מימי הבית הראשון עד מרד בר כוכבא.

My translation skills aren't good, but I'll try to give you the highlights:

In the northern part of Tel Shiloh being excavated two coins were found in a water well. On one coin it is possible to recognize the letters and may have been from the great revolt, because it's made out of bronze.  They need professional cleaning to make out more identifying  information.
In the water they also found pottery shards and glass.  More artifacts have been found in the house being uncovered which show proof of Jewish life in Shiloh during the Second Temple period.  Apparently Shiloh remained a Jewish city from the First Temple until the Bar Kochba revolt.

If you can give a better translation, please comment it, thanks.

Aliyah, Moving to Israel, Unusual or Normal/Logical/Common for Jews?

Great Neck North

Recently, I found myself emailing with a couple of members of my high school graduating class who probably never once spoke to me when we were students together.  Email and many decades are the great equalizer. 

They're trying to organize a big reunion in their part of the world, about half a world's distance from where I am in Israel.  I had replied to their query/announcement saying I'd love to meet anyone from our class who comes to Israel, but I can't make the reunion.  There were a few hundred Jews in our graduating class, but I'm the only one here in Israel.  One of them wrote that she considered my being here the most "unusual" of all the stories she knows.  I find that strange.

I live in a world full of Jews who have made aliyah from all corners of the world, all different backgrounds.  I talk aliyah  with people contemplating it.  Just last night I got a call from a total stranger.  Her aunt is a friend who gave her my number so I could tell her about Shiloh.

From our perspective here in Shiloh, it seems like a great tsunami of olim  is in the future.  Read about it in the new site Aliyah Magazine.

Many of my favorite jblogs are by olim and those planning aliyah.  If it weren't for my many relatives who, not only don't have aliyah on their minds but have never even been to Israel, I'd think that all Jews have at least toyed with the idea.  My perspective, like that of my former classmates, is very inaccurate.  We're both wrong.

Here in Shiloh, where we have such a broad representation of international Jewry it seems that no Jew in the world is immune from the "aliyah bug." 

When my husband and I first made aliyah in 1970, the only people our parents knew who had children in Israel were each other, but within a short time, they found themselves part of a growing group of middle-aged American Jews with children and grandchildren in Israel.  They were active in the PNAI-Parents of North Americans in Israel, going to meetings not only in New York but when they were visiting my sister in Arizona.  The meetings were both like a "support group" and also like a "badge of honor." 

But there are Jewish families that although dispersed all over the world, don't have any representatives in the Jewish Holy Land.  I wasn't raised with any awareness of Zionism, but I'm here in Israel.  So, who knows where those families will be found in another generation...

Best News Headline in a Long Time: "Time to Abandon Stalled Peace Process?"

Sounds good to me.

Time to Abandon Stalled Peace Process?

But then I read more...

Proposals Include Widening Talks and Unilateral Moves

Hate to break it to you, but "abandon" means, give it up, stop, don't keep shaking a dog dummy.  It's not going to bark.  The "peace process" isn't any more real than a teddy bear with fake fur.

The Arabs don't want peace with Israel. The Arabs want a world without Israel.  It's that simple.  Why don't people listen?

PMW Bulletins PA narrative: All of Israel is "occupied" land by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik May 15, 2012

PA narrative: All of Israel is "occupied" land by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik One of the most important impediments to long term peace between Israel and the Palestinians is the Palestinian Authority's refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist - and its teaching, especially children, that all of Israel is "occupied" land. As Palestinian Media Watch has reported, part of Israel is said to have been "occupied" since 1948 during the "Nakba" or "catastrophe," the term Palestinians use to delegitimize Israel's establishment. The rest, the PA says, was occupied in 1967 during the Six-Day War. All of Israel's existence is said to be an "occupation" and illegitimate.

The "Palestinian" Tragedy of Nakba Day

The Arabs, Leftists, antisemites etc who demonstrate on Nakba Day don't understand what their tragedy really is.  For them it should be a day of mourning.  They totally goofed it. It reminds me of the British officer who decided to ignore the Etzel's warning about a bomb in the King David Hotel should have had done the British equivalent of harikari.  That minimalist  State of Israel had no  plans to "dispel" Arabs.  The Arabs would have  been better off accepting the state then.




In 1948 the Arabs and their British advisers totally miscalculated.  David Ben-Gurion and the Jewish Agency had agreed to the totally indefensible, illogical and dangerous United Nations Partition Plan.  Look at the map:

The Plan was accepted by the leaders of the Jewish community in Palestine, through the Jewish Agency.[3][4] The Plan was rejected by leaders of the Arab community, including the Palestinian Arab Higher Committee,[3][5] who were supported in their rejection by the states of the Arab League.
Immediately after adoption of the Resolution by the General Assembly, the Civil War broke out.[6] The partition plan was not implemented.

There was no way that the State of Israel would have survived with those borders.

Nothing has changed in all these years.  The Arabs never wanted to have peace with a Jewish State.  That's why they rejected the Partition Plan.  And unfortunately, Israeli politicians haven't learned their lesson either.  There is nothing we can do to "make peace" with the Arabs.

You can only have peace with those who truly and sincerely want peace, and the Arabs don't want peace with a Jewish State. 

So we must stop begging and negotiating and offering them gestures and Land.  We must invest our energies into our own growth.  Those Arabs willing to live in peace will stay and the others will leave.

Elliott Gould in the Aish/Jewlarious Movie, Great Acting But...

Apparently I'm not the only viewer of the aish.com - Jewlarious.com three part movie starring Elliott Gould  left rather confused saying:

Duh... So what's the end?  It doesn't seem finished.

I've checked the comments. I'm not alone.  You watch them, if you haven't yet. 








Are we supposed to guess an ending?  And are we supposed to guess how his grandfather really feels about Andy?  We don't see more than some still photos of the mother/daughter who is apparently estranged from her father.  How does she fit into this "disengaged" family?

World Jewry is actually full of all sorts of family relationships like we see in the movie.  Intermarriage and distances have broken up many families.  Many Jews have no Jewish background or identity and don't know their Jewish relatives.  In other cases, people are raised feeling themselves Jewish, but according to Jewish Law they aren't.

What are we supposed to do with these movies?

The Same Old News, Insanity

Dry Bones reposts a lot of his cartoons, because they're never really out of date:

Dry Bones

Arafat got away with it for two main reasons:

1. The world has always been willing to believe the worst about us.
2. We (Jews/Israelis in general) hold ourselves up to a very hypercritical distorted mirror.

NGO Monitor's latest article tells more about the same thing:

Leaked documents on Arab-Israeli conflict promote misinformation from NGO grantees
Introduction
Since 2010, six documents from the offices of EU representatives in Israel and the Palestinian Authority have been leaked to the Israeli and international media. The leaked documents are:
•“EU Heads of Mission Report on East Jerusalem” (one from December 2010 / a second from December 2011)
•“Situation of Arab-Israeli citizens” (December 2011, Confidential Report)
•“Area C and Palestinian State Building” (July 2011)
•“Settler Attacks” (internal reports, one from April 2011/ second from February 2012, with cover note)-read more-

No matter what we do, we'll be criticized.  We must learn from it.  It's insane not to have learned by now.

During the Biblical conquest of the Land of Israel, our leader Joshua learned that he had to be in the forefront of the battle and follow G-d's orders.  After the great and easy victory over Jericho, led by Joshua with G-d's help, Joshua sent fighter to The Ai, Joshua Chapter 7 יְהוֹשֻׁעַ and we were easily defeated.

ב וַיִּשְׁלַח יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אֲנָשִׁים מִירִיחוֹ, הָעַי אֲשֶׁר עִם-בֵּית אָוֶן מִקֶּדֶם לְבֵית-אֵל, וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם לֵאמֹר, עֲלוּ וְרַגְּלוּ אֶת-הָאָרֶץ; וַיַּעֲלוּ, הָאֲנָשִׁים, וַיְרַגְּלוּ, אֶת-הָעָי. 2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spoke unto them, saying: 'Go up and spy out the land.' And the men went up and spied out Ai.
ג וַיָּשֻׁבוּ אֶל-יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו אַל-יַעַל כָּל-הָעָם--כְּאַלְפַּיִם אִישׁ אוֹ כִּשְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים אִישׁ, יַעֲלוּ וְיַכּוּ אֶת-הָעָי; אַל-תְּיַגַּע-שָׁמָּה, אֶת-כָּל-הָעָם, כִּי מְעַט, הֵמָּה. 3 And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him: 'Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; make not all the people to toil thither; for they are but few.'
ד וַיַּעֲלוּ מִן-הָעָם שָׁמָּה, כִּשְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים אִישׁ; וַיָּנֻסוּ, לִפְנֵי אַנְשֵׁי הָעָי. 4 So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men; and they fled before the men of Ai.
ה וַיַּכּוּ מֵהֶם אַנְשֵׁי הָעַי, כִּשְׁלֹשִׁים וְשִׁשָּׁה אִישׁ, וַיִּרְדְּפוּם לִפְנֵי הַשַּׁעַר עַד-הַשְּׁבָרִים, וַיַּכּוּם בַּמּוֹרָד; וַיִּמַּס לְבַב-הָעָם, וַיְהִי לְמָיִם. 5 And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men; and they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them at the descent; and the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.
ו וַיִּקְרַע יְהוֹשֻׁעַ שִׂמְלֹתָיו, וַיִּפֹּל עַל-פָּנָיו אַרְצָה לִפְנֵי אֲרוֹן יְהוָה עַד-הָעֶרֶב--הוּא, וְזִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל; וַיַּעֲלוּ עָפָר, עַל-רֹאשָׁם. 6 And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust upon their heads.

We need to have G-d with us.  The Jewish/Israeli army isn't just guns, tanks and airplanes.  We must follow G-d's instructions, like Joshua did the second time he attempted to conquer The Ai, Joshua Chapter 8:

כח וַיִּשְׂרֹף יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, אֶת-הָעָי; וַיְשִׂימֶהָ תֵּל-עוֹלָם שְׁמָמָה, עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה. 28 So Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a heap for ever, even a desolation, unto this day.
כט וְאֶת-מֶלֶךְ הָעַי תָּלָה עַל-הָעֵץ, עַד-עֵת הָעָרֶב; וּכְבוֹא הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ צִוָּה יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וַיֹּרִידוּ אֶת-נִבְלָתוֹ מִן-הָעֵץ, וַיַּשְׁלִיכוּ אוֹתָהּ אֶל-פֶּתַח שַׁעַר הָעִיר, וַיָּקִימוּ עָלָיו גַּל-אֲבָנִים גָּדוֹל, עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה. {פ} 29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the eventide; and at the going down of the sun Joshua commanded, and they took his carcass down from the tree, and cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised thereon a great heap of stones, unto this day. {P}
ל אָז יִבְנֶה יְהוֹשֻׁעַ מִזְבֵּחַ, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, בְּהַר, עֵיבָל. 30 Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD, the God of Israel, in mount Ebal,

Consulting with the United States President and groveling for the approval of various international leaders is not the way for the State of Israel to survive and thrive.  As we approach the forty-fifth anniversary of our great G-d given victory of the 1967 Six Days War, we must learn and internalize that important lesson.  We have no true human/foreign ally.  We just have G-d.  And we must live and govern according to G-d's Laws.

How About A "Gesture" To Jews?

Concession to PA Prisoners A 'Gesture' to Abbas

The deal that ended the hunger strike by Palestinian Authority prisoners is a “gesture” to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the PMO says.

The deal that ended the hunger strike by hundreds of Palestinian Authority prisoners in Israel is a goodwill gesture to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the Prime Minister's Office says.
Speaking for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, spokesman Mark Regev on Monday night called the deal brokered by Egyptian mediators a "confidence-building" gesture.

Insane, totally insane. "Confidence-building" for whom.  It seems to me that the Arabs are much too over-confident already. Bibi must think we're "in his pocket."  I'd like to see a "goodwill gesture" to law-abiding Jewish citizens instead of Arab terrorists.  Is this really another stab at "peace," sic?
 

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Abbas rejects Netanyahu's proposal to renew peace talks

After reviewing Netanyahu's letter on Israel's positions, Palestinian leadership rejects call to resume negotiations without preconditions, says Netanyahu's letter "doesn't include clear answers about the central issues that are undermining the resumption of the peace process" • Ministerial Committee for Legislation rejects bill calling for application of Israeli law to all Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

Daniel Siryoti, Edna Adatto and The Associated Press

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah rebuffed calls to return to the negotiating table, Sunday.

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Photo credit: Reuters

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah rebuffed calls to return to the negotiating table, Sunday. | Photo credit: Reuters

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offer to resume negotiations without preconditions, prolonging the long-standing impasse in the peace process.

The cool reception bodes poorly for hopes of the resumption of peace talks between the Palestinians and Netanyahu, who fortified his ruling coalition last week by bringing in the main opposition party.

Netanyahu's alliance with the centrist Kadima Party raised speculation that he might make a more generous proposal to the Palestinians now that he no longer has to rely on hard-line nationalists to keep his governing coalition intact.

Why do our Prime Ministers keep trying to do the impossible, turn turd into gold? 

The main job of the Prime Minister of the State of Israel is to make life better here for Jews, not Arabs and certainly not Arab terrorists.  We Jews should be encourage, not just allowed, to live anywhere in the Land of Israel!  Today, I traveled from Shiloh to Kochav Hashachar just southeast of us.  That part of the Jordan Valley is so empty.  There's room for millions of Jews.

Is Today's National Unity Government Like The One in 1967?

Here's my answer:

NO!

There is absolutely no similarity.  In 1967, which I remember much too well, the State of Israel was under attack by Egypt and its allies.  The first shot may have had only been in June, but the war really began the minute Nasser ordered the United Nations peace-keeping forces sic out of the Suez Canal area.

1967 - The Six Day War
In 1966 the Syrian attacks on northern Israel from the Golan Heights intensified, and in the spring of 1967 the armed clashes between the two countries escalated further. Fabricated Soviet reports of alleged concentrations of Israeli troops near the Syrian border made the Arab leaders step up their threats against Israel, and on May 15, 1967 the Egyptian president Nasser ordered his troops across the Suez Canal, into the Sinai Desert. In the following days Nasser expelled the UN peace-keeping force and reimposed the blockade of Eilat.

Israel had to take defensive actions at that point.  At that time, the Israeli public and Knesset was strongly divided among Labor, Herut (Revisionist and former Etzel and Lechi,) religious, communist and Arab parties.  There wasn't much of a "Center."  In my previous post, I quoted from . Abraham Rabinowitch's "The Battle for Jerusalem: An Unintended Conquest That Echoes Still" in which he describes the total panic and debate in the government between the politicians and the IDF on how to react.  It was a wise decision for the sake of the country to establish a national unity government and bring in Opposition Leader Menachem Begin.

Today's Israel and Knesset is a totally different kettle of fish, as the saying goes.  Then we had classic Geffilte Fish, made with both sugar and pepper, while today the government/Knesset is more like a tasteless, overcooked fish stew.  The largest political parties, Likud and Kadima like to consider themselves "Center" are are easily interchangeable.  Many MK's in Likud, Kadima and Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party have floated around the almost monochromatic political spectrum.

I think that most of the political parties in Netanyahu's bloated coalition are more afraid of elections than they are of our Arab enemies.  Even Bibi's  Likud is, because all the כְּמִתְאֹנְנִים mit'oninim, agitator Korach faux social justice street parties are aimed to raise the voter turnout on the Left. Apathy has been the Left's greatest enemy after small families, (low birthrate.)  I may not agree with Bibi's policies, but he's no dummy and no doubt he knows that the recent polls don't mean that he's a shoo-in.  The agitators have been planning all winter for a long summer of campaign/carnivals.  I considered the proposed September 4 election date to have been a terrible one for us.  The Leftist university students would still be on vacation working hard for the extreme Left.

Democracy has its dynamic and truth.  Only those who care enough vote.  We have to deal with the results.  Many people who voted Likud are totally opposed to Netanyahu's policies.  Honestly, I don't know why they voted for him.  They thought they were voting for those reliably Right, but they got Ehud Barak and Shaul Mofaz instead.  I hope they learned their lesson.

Looking Back, Those Tense, Frightening Weeks in May-June, 1967

For some of you, it's history, but for those of my generation and older, the 1967 Six Days War is a strong unforgettable memory.
I was a senior in high school, Great Neck North, in Long Island, New York.  The school was a typical suburban school with a scheduled Senior Class Beach Day, Senior Prom, Senior Dinner and other special events which were supposed to be the highlights of our final school year.  My class included a few who became celebrities, such as the late Andy Kaufman and Jon Avnet.  I guess I was one of the class eccentrics having decided to become an Orthodox Jew before my junior year and countered the "ban the war" posters with those publicizing SSSJ Student Struggle for Sovet Jewry demonstrations.  I added to my "oddness" by also becoming a Zionist and joining Betar.

The May, 1967, threats on Israel by Egypt's Nasser caught me at a very vulnerable time, newly religious, Zionist and part of an extremely idealistic, uncompromising world of the 1960's.  I had just chosen a very different priority from my peers.

But the Jews of Great Neck, almost totally secular and otherwise assimilated--this wasn't the Great Neck of today--went into a panic at the thought of the State of Israel being destroyed, G-d forbid.  We had massive unifying rallies, meetings and fund-raising campaigns.  I spent Senior Class Beach Day collecting money for Israel from my classmates at Jones Beach.

I had no idea that the Israeli government was in a total quandary about how to react to the threats of destruction. Abraham Rabinowitch's "The Battle for Jerusalem: An Unintended Conquest That Echoes Still"  tells of panic and indecision:

Photo by: Photos: Jerusalem Post archives

Eshkol opened by telling of being awakened before dawn Saturday by the Soviet ambassador with a warning from Moscow not to undertake war. A message from US President Lyndon Johnson had come the following night, also warning against firing the first shot. Johnson asked the Israelis to give him three more weeks to organize an international flotilla that would break the Tiran blockade. At a meeting with Foreign Minister Abba Eban, Johnson said, “Israel will not be alone unless it decides to go it alone.”
The generals warned against dubious promises of international assistance. Continued inaction was making a mockery of the Israel Defense Force’s deterrence, they argued. The meeting ended angrily, Eshkol taking umbrage at the aggressive tone of the generals. The government had decided to seek a political solution, he said, and affairs of state would not be directed by the military. The Americans would be given the time they asked for.
The generals were infuriated at Eshkol’s decision. The Arabs were growing stronger by the hour – the Egyptians building up their forces in Sinai to the west, while to the east Iraqi and Saudi forces, as well as two battalions of Egyptian commandos, were preparing to bolster the Jordanian front. Meanwhile, Israel’s economy was virtually paralyzed by mobilization and the IDF’s deterrence was dribbling away. A preemptive Israeli air strike was intended to offset the Arabs’ superiority in numbers. But if the Arab air forces struck first, the generals warned, Israel’s war plans would be knocked totally askew. The Egyptian air force had been training for offensive sorties more intensively during the past week than it ever had, they reported. Minister Yigal Allon, siding with the generals, warned that an Egyptian strike could come at any time.
“Whoever is first, by even half an hour, will win the day,” he said.

The Israeli defense experts had planned a defensive war, not a war to liberate more land.

THE GOALS the Israeli cabinet set out in authorizing war made no reference to territorial gain: “The government has decided to take military action which will liberate Israel from the military noose tightening around it.” However, the battlefield successes this first day of war began to stir thoughts for the first time about Jerusalem’s Old City. In the cabinet, Menachem Begin called for “liberating” it, and Yigal Allon said that Israel should either annex it or ensure access to the Jewish holy places.
At this point, this was still a minority view. The ministers well remembered the pressure placed on Israel after the 1956 Sinai Campaign by both Washington and Moscow to evacuate Sinai, pressure so strong that Ben- Gurion felt he had no choice but to obey immediately. It seemed clear to Eshkol and most of his ministers that the same thing would happen if Israel laid claim to any new territory after this war.

It's obvious that G-d took over the battle plan, because the speedy and final results would not otherwise make sense.  This is something I've thought and written about many times.  Here we are in the days leading up to the anniversary of the Six Days War.  The Jewish Calendar not only includes months, there's an annual division of the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, the Chumash.  Every year, during this time of the year, we read the same Torah Portions of the Week.  Yesterday we read Behar, On The Mountain, which starts with Leviticus Chapter 25 וַיִּקְרָא:

א וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, בְּהַר סִינַי לֵאמֹר. 1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying: ב דַּבֵּר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם, כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם--וְשָׁבְתָה הָאָרֶץ, שַׁבָּת לַיהוָה. 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD.
...כג וְהָאָרֶץ, לֹא תִמָּכֵר לִצְמִתֻת--כִּי-לִי, הָאָרֶץ: כִּי-גֵרִים וְתוֹשָׁבִים אַתֶּם, עִמָּדִי. 23 And the land shall not be sold in perpetuity; for the land is Mine; for ye are strangers and settlers with Me.

To me it seems so obvious that G-d had vetoed the government's minimalist military plans. Our Land is not ours; it's G-d's.  No other People/Nation have a history as long as ours, connected to the same religion and same Land for thousands of years.

I must say that it's a great privilege to be part of my generation and  have been a witness to so many miracles.  The return of Jewish sovereignty to our Biblical Homeland is no less a miracle than the Exodus from Egypt.

Chag Sameach!

Ariel Building Freeze Thawing

During the past few weeks I found myself traveling through Ariel a few times.  I know that it had been suffering severely from the Jews only building freeze. 

Ariel is a Jewish City in Samaria, just fifteen minutes from Shiloh.  At least the university end of the city is fifteen minutes away.  The section where a Rami Levy, Ariel Mall is slated to be built is another five minutes from us.

Driving along the outer road, we see lots of signs indicating building plans and some actual building.

Ariel is a "mixed city" with a very varied population.  There is an active culture life, because there are many immigrants from FSU (the former Soviet Union.)  As I mentioned earlier, there is a large and growing university.  In recent years many Shiloh kids return home after the army and National Service to study in nearby Ariel.  When my daughters were university age, the college was just starting and had very little to offer them.

Some of our neighbors take advantage of the nearby government offices in Ariel instead of traveling much further to Jerusalem.  There's also a discount supermarket at the "far (from Shiloh) end."

I'm not sure exactly how many homes, apartments are under construction, but projects in Ariel are generally large.  The larger Ariel grows the better for us and the entire country.

Latma Gets A Laugh Out of Mofaz

Here's the latest edition of Caroline Glick's Latma.

This week on the Tribal Update the satirical newscast produced weekly by Latma, the Hebrew-language, satirical media criticism website I run, we bring you Shaul Mofaz - stand up comedian on the Bibi Show. We also bring you Peace Now head Yariv Googleheimer - who served in the IDF for three whole years, (mandatory conscription period for men), waxing poetic about his Zionism. Finally, we bring you Oxford Don, Prof. Yousouf Al-Mahali explaining why winter nights are long.

Enjoy the show! (Caroline Glick)

Celebrating Jerusalem Day

My kids were raised celebrating Jerusalem Day, which is a great joyous day on the Jewish Calendar.

Just two days after the start of the 1967 war, when the Arab countries attempted to totally destroy and annihilate the State of Israel, we turned it around and liberated the Old City of Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and within a couple more days--remember that the war was over in six days--we had also liberated the Jordan Valley, the Sinai and the Golan Heights.  That gave the State of Israel defensible, logical borders for the very first time, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River and from the Golan Heights to the Suez Canal.

In Jerusalem and places like Shiloh, it's a major holiday, but I understand that the rest of the country ignores it.

The "great leaders," movers and shakers and media and ivory tower residents still haven't been able to admit that the defense plans of the government of the time (Labor Left, masked as National Unity Government) was totally faulty and G-d took over and corrected them.  These reactionaries, who call themselves liberals and are if you spell Liberal with a capital "L" refuse to admit that reality has changed.  The State of Israel can't survive without the Judea-Samaria Mountains, the Jordan Valley and the Golan.  Unfortunately, Menachem Begin's government gave Egypt the Sinai thirty years ago and Arik Sharon's gave Gush Katif to the Arab terrorists (Disengagement) almost seven years ago.  There is no longer any buffer zone to protect us.

Israel's resounding military victory in 1967 was due to G-d and G-d only.  There is no other reason for our survival.  Yes, without that victory, there wouldn't be a State of Israel today.  I say this as a pragmatist, not a dreamer.

Next week, the 28th of the Month of Iyyar on the Jewish Calendar is Jerusalem Day.  Wherever you are, thank G-d and attend whatever celebration you can.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!

Did UN Secretary-General Ban Speak Out So Firmly For Gilad Schalit?

I don't remember United Nation's Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon showing much concern over kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit during the years he was held incommunicado in an Arab terrorist prison.  Schalit was just an ordinary soldier in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The Arab terrorists captured him and didn't allow him any International Red Cross visits, communications with his family or any of the many benefits Israel (foolishly) grants convicted terrorists, even those convicted of murder.

And what protests did the United Nations do for Schalit against the Arab terrorists?

Nu?  Can you list them?  I can't.

But United Nation's Secretary-General Ban  is quick to the draw to support the Arab terrorists in Israeli jails.

9 May 2012 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed the importance of averting any further deterioration in the condition of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody who are on hunger strike, and urged everyone concerned to reach a solution to their plight without delay.
“The Secretary-General continues to follow with concern the ongoing hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody, in particular those held in what is known as administrative detention,” according to information provided by his spokesperson.
“He stresses the importance of averting any further deterioration in their condition,” the spokesperson added. “He reiterates that those detained must be charged and face trial with judicial guarantees, or released without delay.”
More than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners began an open-ended hunger strike two weeks ago, on 17 April – Palestinian Prisoners Day – to protest against unjust arrest procedures, arbitrary detention and bad prison conditions, according to the UN human rights office (OHCHR).

My reaction is to ban the United Nations!

וַיְהִי הָעָם כְּמִתְאֹנְנִים And the people were agitators, speaking evil

I have a new name for the Korach faux social justice crowd.  I've been learning the Torah Book במדבר Bamidbar, In The Desert aka Numbers in Matan with Atara Snowbell.  Some of you may remember that last year she taught us Megillat Ester, which inspired quite a few posts.  Now we're delving deeply into  Numbers Chapter 11 בְּמִדְבַּר, and I've learned a new word, כְּמִתְאֹנְנִים kimit'oninim,  like "murmurers" is the way most English bibles have it translated, but it would be more accurate to say "agitators."

א וַיְהִי הָעָם כְּמִתְאֹנְנִים, רַע בְּאָזְנֵי יְהוָה; וַיִּשְׁמַע יְהוָה, וַיִּחַר אַפּוֹ, וַתִּבְעַר-בָּם אֵשׁ יְהוָה, וַתֹּאכַל בִּקְצֵה הַמַּחֲנֶה. 1 And the people were as murmurers, speaking evil in the ears of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and devoured in the uttermost part of the camp.
ב וַיִּצְעַק הָעָם, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה; וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל מֹשֶׁה אֶל-יְהוָה, וַתִּשְׁקַע הָאֵשׁ. 2 And the people cried unto Moses; and Moses prayed unto the LORD, and the fire abated.
ג וַיִּקְרָא שֵׁם-הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא, תַּבְעֵרָה: כִּי-בָעֲרָה בָם, אֵשׁ יְהוָה. 3 And the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.
ד וְהָאסַפְסֻף אֲשֶׁר בְּקִרְבּוֹ, הִתְאַוּוּ תַּאֲוָה; וַיָּשֻׁבוּ וַיִּבְכּוּ, גַּם בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וַיֹּאמְרוּ, מִי יַאֲכִלֵנוּ בָּשָׂר. 4 And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting; and the children of Israel also wept on their part, and said: 'Would that we were given flesh to eat!
ה זָכַרְנוּ, אֶת-הַדָּגָה, אֲשֶׁר-נֹאכַל בְּמִצְרַיִם, חִנָּם; אֵת הַקִּשֻּׁאִים, וְאֵת הָאֲבַטִּחִים, וְאֶת-הֶחָצִיר וְאֶת-הַבְּצָלִים, וְאֶת-הַשּׁוּמִים. 5 We remember the fish, which we were wont to eat in Egypt for nought; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;

Those Biblical characters were on a mission, and it wasn't a holy one.  They  had an agenda to destroy morale of the people.  Their words were aimed to make the Jews unhappy and lose their trust and faith in G-d.

I'm not happy with Bibi's humongous coalition, but I accept that it's legal and the price of democracy.  Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is a brilliant politician.  Unfortunately he isn't a man of faith in G-d and he isn't strongly committed to Judaism.  I disagree with many of his policies.  But I don't consider these demonstrators as more representative than the government.

Protesters hit streets again: 'The entire nation is the opposition'

In protest of new Likud–Kadima unity government, hundreds demonstrate in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Beersheba • Seven protesters arrested in Tel Aviv • "Like thieves in the night, the prime minister and opposition leader met last night to steal our country," protest organizer says.

Yehuda Shlezinger, Yori Yalon, Gadi Golan and Mati Tuchfeld

Hundreds protest the establishment of the Likud-Kadima unity government, Tuesday night.

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Photo credit: Roni Shutzer

Hundreds protest the establishment of the Likud-Kadima unity government, Tuesday night. | Photo credit: Roni Shutzer

Several hundred people took to the streets of Tel Aviv Tuesday night to protest the establishment of the new Likud–Kadima unity government.

They and the media here in Israel would have been celebrating if Tsippi Livni had pulled it off.  They still haven't forgiven Bibi for successfully negotiated his ruling coalition.  No doubt they are sore losers.  And davka Bibi's policies are more to their taste than mine...

Israel's Humongous Coalition is Bad For the Country

Yesterday I posted my first reaction to the grand announcement of the "Bibi-Mofaz Elopement."  I stressed that I wasn't surprised, because PM Netanyahu had said, even before being elected Prime Minister that his aim was to bring back Kadima to Likud and Mofaz had tried to take at least some of Kadima into the coalition in 2009.

Now I'll give my opinion about this historic and humongous coalition that Bibi has constructed.  Think about it.  Out of the one hundred and twenty 120 Knesset Members over ninety, more than three quarters 3/4 are in the coalition government.  There isn't a viable opposition.  Blogger/commentators like Jameel are acting like this is a joke with the "winners and losers," but I'm worried.

Israel doesn't have American concept of a government controlled by a balance of power between the executive, legislature and judicial.  Our executive comes from the legislature and the judicial chooses itself.  Many times it's a strong smart opposition that keeps the government in line.  Menachem Begin did it brilliantly for over twenty years.  This no long exists.  Binyamin Netanyahu is much too strong.  He can pass any law he wants, yes, like a l'havdil,  dictator.  He controls too many MK's.  There is only one political party on the Right, National Union and it's much too weak to do more than flit around barely noticed.  The other opposition from the Left is mostly Arab and desperate Labor and Meretz, also incapable of mounting any serious control over the country.

I find this situation dangerous, but we have a democracy and no doubt things will change eventually.  As someone who has lived in Israel for over forty years, from when Labor totally dominated the country and Menachem Begin's party was mocked as never having a chance to rule, I see an irony it today's political situation.

But it still has me worried.

Bibi was elected with votes from the Right; ditto for Lieberman.  But somehow we've gotten a Center-Left government.  And it's the most powerful one in the history of the country.  That's not good.

Bibi's Coalition Surprise: Mofaz Joins! No Early Elections!!

From day one, the morning after the last elections here in Israel, the Likud's Binyamin Netanyahu has been after Kadima to join forces with him and establish a national unity government.  And even before then he hasn't been shy about bringing former Likudniks from Kadima back into the Likud.  I heard him say that myself when Bibi spoke at the International Jewish Bloggers Convention.

Remember that Shaul Mofaz, recently elected head of Kadima, had been negotiating to join up with Netanyahu in the past.

I'm not all that surprised at this morning's headlines that Bibi has pulled a fast one with Mofaz. They have "eloped."  Kadima's new leader Shaul Mofaz and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu have established a national unity government.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Shaul Mofaz met Monday in order to form a national unity government that would postpone early elections at the last minute.
The Likud and Kadima factions began emergency meetings after 2:00 a.m. to discuss developments, with Likud and Kadima eventually approving the deal.
"We got important things," a Mofaz associate said. "If we wanted portfolios, we would have gotten them."
The deal passed unanimously in the Kadima faction.
Netanyahu - who arrived at the Likud meeting along with his former chief of staff Natan Eshel - told the Likud faction that contact with Mofaz over forming a unity government began a few days ago and bore fruit. Eshel apparently played a role in brokering the deal.
Now, according to the agreement, Kadima has agreed not to topple the government until the official end of its term on October 22 2013. Mofaz will also become vice premier, and will fill in for the prime minister when he is abroad.

Am I surprised?

Not really.  One reason is that as I had just written, Bibi had been trying to make an agreement with Kadima from day one.  The Kadima member most opposed was former leader Tsippi Livni who was toppled in Kadima's recent elections.  Livni subsequently left politics.  And another reason is, as I've written in other articles, I considered Bibi's decision to have elections on September 4 a serious mistake/dumb move.  I certainly disagree with many of his policies and decisions, but I don't think him dumb.  I'm less surprised by this announcement than I was about that date.

And going back to Mofaz's own political history:

A few months after his dismissal from the IDF, former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon appointed Mofaz as Minister of Security in 2002, following the collapse of Israel's unity government at the time. Mofaz joined the Likud party and ran in the primaries, but did not get into the Knesset because of the cooling-off period imposed on senior military figures. Mofaz continued to serve as Defense Minister in the next Sharon government between 2003 and 2006, a period that also saw the disengagement from the Gaza Strip.
In 2006 Sharon quit Likud and formed the Kadima party, inviting Mofaz to join him. Mofaz refused, saying that "one does not leave his home," despite being offered the number two position in the party. He warned against Sharon joining a number of left-wingers supporting the Oslo Accords and a return to the 1967 lines. He also said that these people might drag Sharon to "dangerous" places in political and security-related terms.
However, a few days later, Mofaz changed his mind and joined Kadima, after polls predicted he was likely to lose the race to Likud's leadership. He then claimed Likud had become an extreme-right party. Mofaz was placed in the eighth place on Kadima's list, and after the government was formed, he was appointed to Transportation Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.

No doubt that Netanyahu and Mofaz have been cooking this up a long time. The inclusion of Bibi's former chief of staff Natan Eshel means that Eshel was probably heavily involved over the years as contact person with Mofaz.

What's A "West Bank outpost?"

As all public relations and spin experts know too well, you can score points or damage your opponents very easily just by choosing the right words.  The anti-Israel/Jewish rights in Eretz Yisrael team, both here and abroad, unfortunately, are real mavens in the negative word department.

Ha'aretz, the veteran, extreme Left Israeli newspaper can be used as a textbook.  I saw this headline today:

Israel's Supreme Court criticizes government for backtracking on demolition of West Bank outpost

It sounds rather awful and almost "unconstitutional" if you don't follow the code words and news.  As I continued reading, the article got stranger and stranger, inventing linguistic relationships and synonyms where none really existed. Here's the "subtitle:"

Government asks court to reconsider its pledge to demolish structures in the Ulpana neighborhood of Beit El.

And here's the opening of the article:

Israel's High Court justices sharply criticized the government on Sunday for not fulfilling its legal commitment to demolish a West Bank settlement.
During a hearing regarding the state's request to reconsider the demolition of illegally-built structures in the Ulpana neighborhood, which is part of the West Bank settlement of Beit El, Justice Uzi Fogelman said that "when the state claims it will do something, we do not imagine that it will not be done. There is respect between the branches."
The state asked the court last Friday to reconsider its ruling to evacuate and tear down five structures in Ulpana, which had been built on private Palestinian land. The state cited the difficult ramifications the move is likely to have for Beit El residents.

We have here a strange and totally inaccurate equation between:

• outpost
• neighborhood
• settlement
• structures

These four terms/words are described as "west bank" and "illegal."  Now, to be honest is a "structure" the same as a "settlement" or "outpost" or "neighborhood?" 

And Justice Uzi Fogelman who is quoted here demands that the government "respect" the court, but the court isn't respecting the government nor the actual laws.  The court is interpreting laws differently for Jews and Arabs, respecting Arab rights and word while questioning Jewish rights civil and religious.

Unfortunately, within Beit El itself, shades of pre-Disengagement, Rav Aviner has announced that the residents of the neighborhood shouldn't protest.  This is very disturbing.  We should never accept injustice, no matter who is the perpetrator. 

Not every "rabbinic opinion" must be followed.  In Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the Fathers, we're instructed to choose ourselves a rabbi/teacher.

Chapter 1:6. Joshua ben Perachyah and Nittai the Arbelite received the Torah from them. Joshua ben Perachyah said: Provide for yourself a teacher and get yourself a friend; and judge every man towards merit.

I always have a problem with "rabbinic announcements" which presume that I've asked that rabbi a question.  If/when one chooses a rabbi to whom a question will be asked, one is obligated to take the answer seriously.  But we're inundated with unrequested and unwanted pronouncements and instructions from a vast variety of rabbis and pseudo-experts, and we should just ignore them.

Unfortunately, Israeli Supreme Court Judges base too many decisions on their opinions and ideology, not on Law, neither Israeli nor Jewish.  And too many rabbis also make decisions and announcements based on fears and foreign ideologies, not on the Torah.  We're all human and make mistakes.  The final Judgement is G-d's.

And going back to my original question:

What's A "West Bank outpost?"

In all honesty, I think it's the fulfilment of the mitzvah, G-d given commandment to settle and populate the Land.  All cities, towns, villages no matter how large or small in the Land of Israel, including Tel Aviv, Tel Zion, Shiloh, Netivot, Rechallim and Chavat Gilad fulfilling that mtizvah.  They're all connected.  Weaken or delegitimize one and the chain of legitimacy breaks for all.

We, the Jewish People must unify, and only then will we be redeemed and live in true Peace!

Interfering in Foreign Elections

Oops...I'm guilty!

This post will be about American elections, not Israeli.  Although I was born and raised in the United States and do have American citizenship, I have never voted in their elections.  Legally I have the right, but I made aliyah (ascended/moved) to Israel just months before the first elections I could have voted in and in the almost forty-two years since, I have never taken advantage of my rights to vote from "overseas."

Considering that Americans, especially the politicians, media and the ordinary Jew who would never "risk" living in Israel, have absolutely no compunctions about telling us what's best for us here in Israel I certainly have the right to post my opinions about American election candidates.  Most of my family lives in America in all locations and life-styles.  I also visit annually and read/watch the news.  I'm not the only expatriate to do publicly voice my views. 

As the American Presidential election campaigns heat up, there will be be more and more such articles no doubt.

I'm an old veteran blogger and was blogging four years ago when Barack Hussein Obama first entered presidential politics.  I wasn't enamored with him then, and I'm not now either.  I still say that if he hadn't been Black he never would have gotten the nomination.  Many people, including the extreme/loyal Liberal (with a capital "L") American whites only saw his color and didn't look at his background, experience or qualifications.  Obama was a casting director's dream, even though he couldn't give a speech without a teleprompter.  The American public that pays good money to watch rock stars perform lip-syncing didn't consider that a disqualification.

What surprises me is that even after four years of Obama and America's sinking economy and reduction in world power, he still has a strong backing.



In Israel most men and quite a few women serve in the IDF, Israeli army.  Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was in an elite unit.  That's heroism.  Contrast that to Obama's taking credit for finding and executing Obama Osama Bin Laden.

His latest ploy to woo members of the public whose patriotism is not in question – but whose votes may very well be – is to put Osama bin Laden on display. Like a hunter mounting the antlers of a moose on a cabin wall, Obama has been using the one-year anniversary of the al-Qaida mastermind’s assassination to tout the accomplishment as though he himself had done the shooting.
Talk about low-hanging fruit.
Finding and killing the man behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks is the epitome of a “consensus” issue. When the deed was carried out a year ago, you could almost hear Americans from coast-to-coast singing, “Ding-dong the witch is dead!”
It was one of those moments when people like me rain on everybody’s parade. I didn’t see what there was to celebrate that day. Stomping on a cockroach in an infested kitchen does not eliminate the need for a massive extermination job throughout the house, if not the entire neighborhood.
Obama’s constant boasting about his having taken out bin Laden – and simultaneous accusations against Romney that he wouldn’t have done it – has to be one of the president’s slimiest, most cynical ploys to date. (read Ruthie Blum's entire article)

Also consider that the American economy is still sinking and shows no serious signs of improvement.  As an unknown, four years ago Obama was able to campaign by blaming everyone else, especially the Republicans.  Life hasn't really improved for Americans during the past four years.  Will the American public give him four more years?  Do they distrust the Mormon Republican Romney, who has more business, administrative and government experience even more than Obama's failing track record?

Unfortunately, I'm a pessimist.  I don't think that enough Americans have the guts to admit that they had made a mistake four years ago.  For that to happen, first prominent Democrats must admit that they shouldn't have backed Obama.  I don't see that happening at all.  The Clintons are heavily entrenched in the Obama "machine."  Bill is a big Obama fund-raiser.

The two men will appear together at a fundraising reception and then a dinner, both hosted by Terry McAuliffe, a close friend of the Clintons. Five hundred people will attend the reception, with tickets starting at $1,000, and 80 are to attend the dinner, for which tickets cost $20,000, the official said.
The money will go to a joint fund to support Obama's re-election campaign, the Democratic National Committee and several state Democratic parties.
Clinton's profile in the Obama campaign appears to be rising. On Friday, the campaign released a video of Clinton praising Obama for his decision to approve the raid that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. (Reporting By Jeff Mason; editing by Todd Eastham)

At this point, I don't see how Romney can beat them.