"...just a "step" away..." Ehud Olmert

It had seemed, ten or more years ago, that Ehud Olmert was "just a "step" away" from greatness.

What a waste of potential.
What a waste of intelligence.
What a waste of human resources, human lives during Olmert's reign as Prime Minister.

I remember telling a visitor from abroad when Olmert was still Mayor of Jerusalem:

"Olmert will be Prime Minister. He's the best administrator in Israeli politics."

I was right about both things. The only two things I didn't know were:

1. Ehud Olmert was/is corrupt.
2. Ehud Olmert would transform himself into Left wing Peace Now fan.

I'll never forget, about ten months after Olmert became Prime Minister, someone said to me:

"There should be elections soon. Olmert has been in office so long. Isn't it time?"

"It would be nice if there were elections, but actually, he has been Prime Minister for less than a year."

"Couldn't be. It feels much longer than that."

Consider that we have had our two least successful wars during Olmert's reign, and the coverage of his corruption charges make the Israeli media "read" like a a cheap sensationalist tabloid.

Caroline Glick considers Olmert "the worst prime minister Israel has experienced to date." I disagree. The other Ehud, Ehud Barak was even worse, and unfortunately, Barak is back. It took the Israeli public less time to get rid of Barak and his reign of terror. Arab terrorists were attacking civilians all over the country. But Caroline is right in that Israelis have a rediculously, dangerously short memory.

Because of Olmert's Revisionist Betar background, the Israeli establishment never warmed to him, no matter how anti-settlement and pro-"peace at any price" he became. For that reason, he may find the gate blocked if he tries to return.

Contrary to Olmert's statements, he wasn't "...just a "step" away..." from peace, but if he had remained true to his original pro-Land of Israel for the People of Israel, Betar ideology, and if he hadn't been corrupt, he would have had a chance to be our greatest leader.

Don't Let The Flags Fool You

And, please, don't let her pretty face make you think she's harmless. She is:

"New Balad MK Haneen Zuabi, the first woman to be elected to the Knesset as a representative of an Arab party, has welcomed Iran's growing influence on Palestinian affairs and praised Iran's quest for a nuclear weapon as a means of offsetting Israel's regional military edge." (complete article)

Samuel Sokol's interview with her for the Jerusalem Post is chock full of unpleasant surprises. I don't know how he kept his cool. He must have some poker face.

Having Israel as the region's sole nuclear power, she said, was "dangerous to the world."

... Iran's role in Palestinian affairs was "more useful" than that of regimes like Jordan and Egypt, in that Iran stood more firmly "against occupation than a lot of the Arab countries. This is our* interest."

*How does she define "our?"

The Iranian bomb was only "a potential" threat. The real danger was the Israeli army, she said. "Every day the Israeli [army] uses its violence, army violence."

Zuabi said that Israel was an aggressor state...

During the recent Israeli elections, there was controversy over whether Zuabi's party could run.

The Knesset Central Elections Committee disqualified the Balad party from running in the recent elections due to its members' refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and reported calls for violence against it. The ban was overturned by the Supreme Court.

Instead of investigating, spying on and detaining Jewish patriots, those who love our history and Land, the government should be more concerned about Arab Israeli loyalty. This woman sounds very dangerous.

Are There No More Terrorists?

Deadly Rampage in Pakistan Shows Reach of Militants*



According to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the War on Terror is over.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday the Obama administration had dropped "war on terror" from its lexicon, rhetoric former President George W. Bush used to justify many of his actions.

"The (Obama) administration has stopped using the phrase and I think that speaks for itself. Obviously," Clinton told reporters traveling with her to The Hague for a conference on Afghanistan, which Bush called part of his "global war on terror."

The term "war on terror" was coined after the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States, which were planned in Afghanistan by the militant* group al Qaeda. (complete article) *my emphasis

Does this mean that U.S. President Obama and government will not fight terror? Or does it mean that there is no terrorism?

The United States was never supportive of Israel's need to fight terrorism. For some "peculaiar" reason, the Arab terrorists who attack Jews and Israelis have never been considered a danger to world peace, nor connected to the terrorists whom the United States deamed worthy of being fought.

I presume that this new policy will only bode even more dangerous for Israel and Israelis. G-d willing, I should be wrong this time.

The Case of The Missing Youtube

*Thanks to YR. The video is still on The Jerusalem Post. I suggest that you watch/listen. Here it is:


Until a few hours ago, there was a ten minute youtube video of a much younger Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu aka Ben Nitay explaining very clearly and eloquently why there was no justification for a "Palestinian" State.

Was anybody wiser than me and saved it in their own computer? I didn't think of it. If so, please send me the link. Thanks

It was from thirty years ago. I think that's when Bibi was strongly influenced by the late David Bar Ilan. David Bar Ilan was an amazing person. He first became famous as a concert pianist.

The multi-talented Israeli David Bar-Ilan, who has died aged 73 after a heart attack, was a brilliant concert pianist, an influential journalist and spinmaster supreme for his country's controversial former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Known for his sharp intellect, deft prose and combative defence of conservative views, he was lead writer on the English-language Jerusalem Post from 1990, edited the paper from 1992 to 1996, and returned as an occasional columnist in 1999.

I remember speaking to him just before he took a very important job working for then Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.

...Netanyahu, having defeated Labour's Shimon Peres in the May 1996 elections, made Bar-Ilan his chief of information and policy planning - a testing assignment given western apprehensions about the ruling Likud party's policies. More than a mere spokesman, Bar-Ilan became Netanyahu's eminence grise, writing, for example, his boss's first speech to the US Congress, which reviled the "tyrannies" of the Middle East.

I was pretty suspicious of Bibi, even then. I davka had a talk with David right before he began working with Bibi in 1996. I remember the day well, because that was just a couple of hours after I was run over by an Arab terrorist.

Friends of mine were working in an office in the Jerusalem Post Building. One picked me up from Terem, the First Aid center where I had gone to be X-Rayed. I hobbled into David's office, interrupting a phone call and demanded that someone interview me, or he should let me type out my story on a computer.

David Bar Ilan suggested that I get comfortable on his office couch and then sent in a reporter for an interview. I wrote my op-ed from home, and he used my story as the basis for an editorial attacking the police for trying to prove the terror attack an accident. After the interview, when my friend was ready to drive us home, I thanked him and asked him if he really thought that Bibi would do the right things as Prime Minister. Bar Ilan said that if Bibi didn't, he'd leave the job. That was easier said than done.

And now for another cliche`, I hope that the video hasn't gone with the wind....

Big Difference Between Bibi and Obama

Hat tip: Jim

While Likud loyalists are chafing at the few remaining goodies Bibi has left to distribute, Obama is systematically attempting to satisfy his Muslim supporters by recruiting them for White House positions.

The move began with Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn, who took his oath of office with a hand on the Quran, to solicit the resume of what he considered to be the nation's most qualified adherents of Islam. (complete article)

Others, encouraged by Moshe Feiglin and Effie Eitam, voted Likud expecting Bibi to be his old self, rather than the Bibi of today who is worried about world approval, rather than Israel's security, independence and survival.

Peace is not up to Israel. The Arabs don't want it, and there's nothing we can do or should do, other than stay firm and strong. It will take a long time. The recent Arab condemnation of the Jenin Youth Orchestra's performance for Holocaust survivors is an example.

Neither the U.S.'s civil rights history, nor South Africa-Rhodesia are accurate templates for Israel and the HolyLand. It's like constructing a sports shoe on the mold for high heel stiletto shoes. You're just asking for trouble, and don't think that it will be contained in Israel!

I suggest that you listen to the young Bibi Netanyahu aka Ben Nitay. Just ignore the awful haircut.

Miraculous Nissan, Tel Shiloh in All Its Beauty

For some peculiar reason
blogger has been stalling

it is awful galling

that the pictures don't upload

Oh, the Tel was gorgeous

A green and lush, Rosh Chodesh

Nissan, the Month of Pesach

and the rhymes don't fit the tune...

And as I write this

I can only wish

you'll see the pics on it

Try singing this to "Some Enchanted Evening." Finally I tried just uploading one picture, and it crowns this ditty for your viewing pleasure.

Last week we went to Tel Shiloh to pray on Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the Jewish month. The recent rains definitely were felt there. It's very lush and green.

I ought to check statistics, but it seems to me that it has become very common in recent years for most of the rains to fall in the second half of winter. Better late than never...

Preparing For Pesach--Is There A "Rabbis' Sons" CD?

Way back when in the middle to late 1960's, some of the greatest Jewish Music was composed to the Jewish Prayers, Psalms and especially "Hallel." I'm not referring to Rabbli Shlomo Carlebach. I'm talking about "The Rabbis' Sons."

Over the years, my husband has bought all sorts of Jewish Music CD's, but theirs is the one I really want.

Every year at the seder table, when we get up to "Hallel," and every month, on Rosh Chodesh, when my friends and I sing "Hallel" at Tel Shiloh, I do my best to remember their tunes I heard all those decades ago.

Time distorts, and there's no way my memory can be relied on, just like the old LP's up in the attic can no longer be played.

Ahh... I can dream....

A Change For The New York Times

It's ironic to remember that the only newspaper I knew or read until I was thirteen years old, was The New York Times...

The New York Times is trying to balance things re: Israel. It has an article reporting that it's possible that Israel didn't commit all the atrocities it's being condemned for.

But the way it's written, with such, sneaky little nuances, like:

"Officers are stepping forward, some at the urging of the top command..."
“I heard about cases where people shot where they shouldn’t have shot and destroyed houses where they shouldn’t have destroyed houses..."
"Almost everything about the Gaza operation has caused controversy: how many Palestinians were killed and what percentage were civilians, whether the rise in the number of religious Israeli soldiers has led to zealotry, and whether the use of enormous military force was a legitimate response to years of Hamas rocket fire on Israeli civilians.
The dispute is a proxy for a debate, both here and abroad, over whether Israel should shift its policy toward the Palestinians and whether Hamas should be seen more as a resistance movement or as a tool of Iranian ambition and terror.
Those who wish to press for an end to the occupation and settlement of the West Bank and to the boycott of Gaza so as to create a Palestinian state, either out of sympathy with Israel or contempt for it, have focused on the accounts of abuses. Those who think such moves would endanger Israel have dismissed them as a blood libel."

I admit, that for The New York Times, it's balanced.

Chutzpah From the New York Times and Ghetto Mentality From Israel

Yes, I know, it's not the first time, and it won't be the last, at least not until the State of Israel is led by leaders who aren't enslaved by the ghetto mentality.

Yes, in the Haggadah which we'll be reading in less than two weeks, it says that we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt.

The New York Times and other foreign busybodies, politicians, philosophers and the media keep preaching to us how we're supposed to "make peace." Honestly, "peace" isn't some simple one-bowl cake.

Peace isn't up to Israel either. When have the Arab terrorists even offered us "peace?" If they wanted peace, we'd have peace, because you can't buy peace. It's not a diamond ring.

All this "advice" should be ignored. It's like those telling an abused woman that things would improve, her husband would be kinder if only she'd lose weight or have her hair style changed. If that doesn't work, they say she can always initiate kinkier sex.

The worst thing is that Israeli politicians, even those perceived by many as "Right wing" don't have the confidence, the moral and emotional strength to tell the truth. We are not the aggressors. We are the victims. We are an ancient people with a long history and unbroken connection to our Holy Land.

Davka, ironically, one of the very best Jewish History lectures I've ever heard on the subject was by Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu last summer at the International Jewish Bloggers Convention. He has the facts. The question is why does he think that he has to repress it? I don't have the patience to do a psychological profile on him. I did it with Begin and Sharon, who also defied their supporters and went against their own common sense and historical knowledge to try to please the world, rather than do what's truly best for Israel.

How many times will G-d be willing to rescue us from the snares and traps we've gone into for no good reason?

Rich In History

The Israeli building code has rules unlike any place else.

In many locations there are requirements to check for ancient artifacts, ruins and buildings before building something new. It sometimes happens that a building permit is cancelled, or plans must be drastically changed, because an ancient Biblical-time ruin is found where the new building was planned.

Traveling up in Northern Israel, Emek Yizrael, the Carmel etc was amazing. On the superficial side, we saw modern agriculture, but the entire location is so rich in Biblical History, that I'd have to study for years to remember all that Shuli Mishkin told us on our Matan tour.

Look at the rainbow and the gorgeous green fields, the hills and list to her:

The "Jewish Home" Joins Hands With Those Who Destroy Jewish Homes

Well, now do you understand why Hatikvah, National Union, Moledet, Marzel's people etc had to establish a strong uncompromising pro-Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel) political party? All those people who claimed that we were "dividing the Right" don't know their right from their left.

Hours after the NRP's (once NRP, always NRP) Hershkowitz was proudly and happily announcing that he's the new Science Minister, his coalition partners were proudly and happily destroying Jewish homes and a synagogue.

Bibi Netanyahu's plan is to pacify coalition opposition or rebellion by generously dishing out the perks of cabinet portfolios.

Netanyahu, like Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon, has an emotional need for world approval and aims to "... reshape his reputation as a foe of the peace process..." So like his Likud predecessors, he will do everything he can to show that he isn't Right wing. Well, he's wrong, not right.

And the new National Religious Party, shorn of its principled idealistic members, is reverting to its former status as "partner to anyone in power."

G-d save us!
Chodesh Nissan Tov!

Why Go Where You're Not Welcome?

Hat tip: Boris

The Jordanians have put up signs in Petra saying:
No Dogs and No Jews

Many Israelis who shun going to Chutz L'Aretz (out of the HolyLand) do take tours to Petra, because it is in Biblical Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel.)

Actually I recently spoke to a friend who had gone there. They packed up all the food they'd need for the two days in order not to buy anything from the Jordanians. That was for two reasons. One is the very simple one that you can't trust the Kashrut, and the other is because they didn't want to give any money to our enemies.

And, yes, the Jordanians are our enemies. Just because they haven't joined in the recent wars, since 1967, doesn't mean that they are our friends.

It Looks Like "From The Nazis"

A couple of years ago, I subscribed to "Pat Oliphant by Pat Oliphant." I love political cartoons.

When I was a kid, the only newspaper we ever got was the The New York Times. For me, the "Sunday funnies" were the political cartoons in The News of the Week in Review.

The Oliphant cartoons arrived by email a couple of times a week. On occasion, I really liked what I saw. That ended today. I unsubscribed, and I wrote a letter to the "service" explaining why:

I'm unsubscribing from Pat Oliphant for a reason.

Pat Oliphant's March 25th cartoon could be from the Nazis. It's anti-Semitic. Why hasn't he drawn cartoons of the Arab terrorists murdering innocent Israeli Jews?
Batya Medad
Shiloh
Israel

Did I over-react?

I Must Admit...

I must admit that though I predicted that Bibi Netanyahu would not form a Right Wing Nationalist pro-Eretz Yisrael for Am Yisrael (The Land of Israel for the Children of Israel) government, I had thought that Kadima would be more amenable to being part of the coalition. In the end, Barak and what's left of the Labor Party grabbed the goodies Bibi was offering. Ben Gurion must be rolling in his grave so strongly, that if there's an earthquake in the south, you'll know why.

And if the earthquake is centered more in the Tel Aviv area, it'll be from Tsippi Livni's parents moving around in their graves all upset that their daughter's idea of "principles" is establishing an Arab state in the Land of Israel.

Placing principles above politics also has kept Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni out of power after she refused to buy coalition partners with budget allocations and Cabinet posts while demanding that all parties accept the creation of a PA state. (complete article)

I'm not bothered at all by the fact that the Ichud Le'umi isn't part of the coalition. It doesn't belong there. We need a political "conscience." We need politicians who don't twist and spin with the "wind." Last night young MK Gilad Erdan was on the news rationalizing why Bibi was doing the right thing. That performance deleted the good impression he had made at the Jerusalem Conference.

Moshe Feiglin did a terrible thing by telling pro-Land of Israel Israelis to vote Likud. Bibi is taking their votes to the Left. You'd think that Feiglin would have learned from Sharon's and the Likud's Disengagement, but he hasn't.

At the course I just took at Matan, we learned about the ancient Biblical prophets and the Israelite Kings of the times. Nothing's new, unfortunately, nothing at all.

Jerusalem ReBuilt? Yerushalayim HaBinuya

Life in a construction site is no picnic, even if the workers seem to be picnicking too much of the day.

Will Olmert's "lightrail" ever be completed?

I try to be a careful pedestrian, but sometimes I'm forced to walk in the street. The pedestrian path here from Ramat Eshkol to the American Consulate suddenly ended without any warning.

I love this juxtaposition between the future and present.

Will we ever enjoy any convenience from Olmert's lightrail?

Provocation?

Tonight's news keeps mentioning "provocation."

They don't refer to Arabs like these waving enemy flags in what is technically and legally an Israeli city, Umm el-Fahm. Instead they're referring to Jewish Israelis, led by Baruch Marzel, who walked in that city with Israeli flags.

My Israeli tax money goes to Umm el-Fahm, which is part of Israel. But it's not governed by the same laws. The Arabs there consider it offensive, provocative to be reminded that they are living in the State of Israel.

If they don't like it, they should leave. There are over twenty Arab countries in this world. Israel is the only Jewish one.

Celebrate Rosh Chodesh Nissan, The Month of Miracles!

This coming Thursday, March 26th is the first day of the new month of Nissan. Please join us at Tel Shiloh, or at least help publicize our women's prayers.

ראש חודש ניסן
תפילת נשים
תל שילה
יום ה' 26-3 9:30

Rosh Chodesh Nissan

Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh

Thurs. March 26, 9:30am

No Joke, When Kosher Restaurant Serves Traif!

Reuven Blau, writer for the NY Post must have thought himself very clever when he wrote about the horrendous hot dog scandal.

I honestly believe that more women should be working as kosher food supervisors. Men certainly aren't as careful as they should be.

To keep a totally strictly kosher kitchen, you must be at least slightly paranoid. Always suspect that something may be wrong. Check every label very carefully.

According to the Post, a non-Jewish worker was sent to a kosher supermarket to buy more hot dogs. I wonder if he was given cash. When he returned, the hot dogs were cooked, and none of the other workers even bothered looking at the packaging or receipt.

Luckily a customer noticed that it didn't seem to be the usual hot dog, and he began checking. When the mistake/trick/scandal was discovered, the customers went berserk. And the guy behind the counter, who had cooked the traif hot dogs reacted in a threatening way.


Yes, that's him.

I think all the workers involved should be fired. This isn't simple mislabeling.

...And How Do They Treat Israel?

Hat tip: The New York Times

I must admit that I'm actually not a "news junky." I don't spend hours on the computer checking out what's happening all over the world. Nor do I have the TV or radio news on all the time.

So, maybe I'm the last one to know about this new news site, GlobalPost.com. I checked it out by going to its "middle east page," which has a title which makes me very suspicious, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

I live in Shiloh, which according to this site "isn't Israel." Considering that we Jews have more historic rights to Shiloh, Shechem, Beit El, etc than Tel Aviv, it makes me wonder about their grasp of history in GlobalPost.com. Granted, there are also many, too many Israelis who refuse to allow facts to get in the way of their philosophy.

My parents raised me with the "motto:"

"If everyone was jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you jump, too."

And I've always considered the little boy who shouted: "The king is in the altogether!" to be a great literary hero to be emulated.

Maybe I ought to stick with my usual news sites. In the meantime:

Danny Kaye - The King's New Clothes

This is the story of the King's new clothes:

Now there was once a king who was absolutely insane about new clothes and one day, two swindlers came to sell him what they said was a magic suit of clothes. Now, they held up this particular garment and they said, "Your Majesty, this is a magic suit." Well, the truth of the matter is, there was no suit there at all. But the swindlers were very smart, and they said, "Your Majesty, to a wise man this is a beautiful raiment but to a fool it is absolutely invisible." Naturally, the King not wanting to appear a fool, said:

"Isn't it grand! Isn't it fine! Look at the cut, the style, the line!
The suit of clothes is altogether
But altogether it's altogether
The most remarkable suit of clothes that I have ever seen.
These eyes of mine at once determined
The sleeves are velvet, the cape is ermine
The hose are blue and the doublet is a lovely shade of green.
Somebody send for the Queen."

Well they sent for the Queen and they quickly explained to her about themagic suit of clothes. And naturally, the Queen not wanting to appear a fool, said:

"Well, isn't it oh! Isn't it rich! Look at the charm of every stitch!
The suit of clothes is altogether
But altogether it's altogether
The most remarkable suit of clothes that I have ever seen.
These eyes of mine at once determined
The sleeves are velvet, the cape is ermine
The hose are blue and the doublet is a lovely shade of green.
Summon the court to convene."

Well the court convened, and you never saw in your life as many people as were at that court. All the ambassadors, the dukes, the earls, the counts, it was just black with people, and they were all told about the magic suit of clothes. And after they were told they naturally didn't want to appear fools and they said:

"Isn't it ohhh! Isn't it ahhh! Isn't it absolutely wheee! (whistle sound)
The suit of clothes is altogether
But altogether it's altogether
The most remarkable suit of clothes a tailor ever made.
Now quickly, put it altogether
With gloves of leather and hat and feather
It's altogether the thing to wear in Saturday's parade.
Leading the royal brigade."

Now Saturday came and the streets were just lined with thousands, and thousands, and thousands of people, and they all were cheering as the artillery came by, the infantry marched by, the cavalry galloped by. And everybody was cheering like mad, except one little boy. You see, he hadn't heard about the magic suit and didn't know what he was supposed to see. Well, as the King came by the little boy looked and, horrified, said:

"Look at the King! Look at the the King! Look at the King, the King, the King!
The King is in the altogether
But altogether the altogether
He's altogether as naked as the day that he was born.
The King is in the altogether
But altogether the altogether
It's altogether the very least the King has ever worn."

Summon the court physician! Call an intermission! His majesty is wide open to ridicule and scorn.

The King is in the altogether
But all together the altogether
He's altogether as naked as the day that he was born.
And it's altogether too chilly a morn!

Home For Pesach (Passover)

Yes, we'll be home for Pesach, Baruch Hashem, Thank G-d! We're not joining the exodus from our homes. We don't pack up our belongings, like Bnai Yisrael. We don't spend the most family-oriented Holiday of the Jewish Calendar in a hotel.

Preparing for the Passover Holiday isn't always easy and pleasant, but it's a spiritual and kinesthetic process. The air swarms with dust, rather than the Biblical plague of locusts. And after breathing in too many cleaning chemicals, bleach and detergent, there's the delicious smell of food cooking. Every family has its traditional favorites, for which we eagerly await.

Going away to a hotel just doesn't compare.

Jewish and Israeli publications are full of ads from all sorts of hotels, all over the world, tempting families to pay for someone else to do the cooking and cleaning. Yes, even if the family home is cleaned and checked for chametz before leaving, it's not the same as cleaning to be there for the Holiday. Jewish organizations invite, for a price, its members to spend the Holiday together.

Some families have been doing it for so long that the parents have never prepared the food for a seder and don't know what to buy nor how to cook it.

I admit to never have enjoyed the required pre-Pesach cleaning, but it all becomes worth it when we sit together and eat our home-made food, all Kosher For Passover.

Even Haifa's Not Immune To Terrorism

Haifa is the Israeli city with the most "integration" of Arabs and Jews. If there had, G-d forbid, been the sort of attack/explosion that could have been, not only Israeli Jews, but many, many Arabs woud have been murdered, too.

In the past, Arabs have been killed unintentially, by their fellow Arabs, but targetting a Haifa mall is something else. Arabs work there and shop there and own businesses, too.

Terrorism can't be contained. The very same people who support, excuse or defend Arab terrorism in Judea and Samaria must understand that some day, they too, may be targetted.

"Negative" Souvenirs, or Coming Home With Less

When I saw a headline on yahoo about airline employees caught pilfering luggage, it reminded me of the conversation I had with a young woman I waited with in the American Consulate last week.



It can be very upsetting and expensive when you unintentionally come back from a trip with less than you took or packed. This woman had traveled on Alitalia with her family and only months later discovered that a couple of their American passports were missing. They had them all when they began their flight home, and the last time they saw them all was when the Alitalia official was checking them against the tickets. Arriving in Israel, not all were opened and checked, which sometimes happens when the clerks are trying to be helpful to families with a lot of little kids. Since they didn't count their passports on the plane, they couldn't start any police suit immediately. I just wonder if anyone else knows of similar stories.

The only other Alitalia story I heard was of a suitcase which disappeared when using that airline. Of course, everyone knows that a certain percentage of suitcases are stolen or lost on/from every airline and airport. But in this case, the owner was a thirteen year old girl, who was that difficult size and had had such a hard time finding clothes to fit. Her entire summer wardrobe was in the suitcase and so were her camp pictures. Classic Murphy's Law, it was the only time her family ever took a regular suitcase. They only travel with hand luggage. Their motto is "Buy new sun screen and nail clipper in every port."

When I travel, I strap all valuables to my body. Some day, I must buy one of those old photographer's vests with lots of pockets of varying sizes.

The U.S. Gives Arabs More Weapons

The American Government is supplying the Pseudistinians with weapons and training. Who are the targets?

The base is part of an American policy to strengthen the PA armed forces with American training and equipment, except for weapons, which are provided by Arab countries. The objective is to change an overstaffed and corrupt system to an orderly authority that can take over security in Judea and Samaria and prepare the PA to become an independent country. (complete story)

This has me very worried!

Taking Responsibility, Truman, Obama and Madoff

Harry Truman was known for the saying:
The Buck Stops Here

And it seems like Obama has decided to use his version of it:

“Washington is all in a tizzy over who’s at fault,” Mr. Obama said. “Some say it’s the Democrats’ fault, the Republicans’ fault. Listen, I’ll take responsibility. I’m the president.”

Only time will show if it's just words, or will be really do something.

And continuing in the realm of financial responsibility, Bernie Madoff is no longer the sole "arrestee" in his Ponzi scheme. It did seem impossible to believe that he alone was/is the only person aware that his investment business was a fraud, fake and illusion. It seems obvious to many or most that he is protecting his family. The choreography of his sons turning him in is just too, too much of a screenplay.

Finally, his accountant was arrested, faces charges. David G. Friehling, one of the primary auditors for Bernard L. Madoff, is now out on bail.

The acting United States attorney, Lev L. Dassin, said that while Mr. Friehling was not accused of knowing about Mr. Madoff’s scheme, he was charged with deceiving investors for years by falsely certifying that he had audited Mr. Madoff’s books.

Is Friehling like a Kashrut inspector who won't eat from the places he signs the OK for?

And what will Obama do besides taking verbal responsibility for the AIG farce?

What is "taking responsibility?"

Death Penalty for Arab Terrorists!

Terrorism is a crime against humanity. True Justice demands that terrorists who attempt to murder innocents, whether they succeed or not, must be promptly executed. It is perverse, peculiar and beyond absurd that Israelis distinguish between terrorists with and without blood on their hands.

Why should the Israeli politicians, judicial, media etc consider it reasonable that an Arab terrorist who attempted to murder Israelis and failed should be given another opportunity?

There is an excellent pro-capital punishment article by Dudley Sharp in the Jerusalem Post.

Until now, only Adolf Eichmann has been executed in Israel. We have a few hundred convicted terrorists in our jails. Some are so vicious that not even Ehud Olmert agreed to free them in exchange for Gilad Shalit. I hope that a law will be proposed which would demand execution of all those terrorists.

This evening, the town of Shiloh and relatives and friends of the Eldar family welcomed a new Sefer Torah, Torah Scroll to our neighborhood synagogue. It was donated in memory of teenage Yonatan Eldar, HaY"D, who was one of the eight murdered by an Arab terrorist just over a year ago, in the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva, Jerusalem.

Bibi And Barak or "If You Thought Likud Was Right Wing, You Goofed"

When I heard Bibi Netanyahu last summer at the International Jewish Blogger Convention, it just reconfirmed what I had thought all along. Bibi sees himself as Centrist, not Right and will do anything to build a Center, even Center-Left coalition.

Bibi wants Barak. He doesn't want Avigdor Lieberman as his second in command. Bibi isn't interested in having the National Union in his government, either, though he'll try to make a deal with the NRP. And the NRP, (call it Jewish Home if you want, but it's still the NRP,) shorn of its principled idealists who went to the NU, will happily find an excuse to be part of the Bibi coalition.

Dignified, But Disappointed, Noam Shalit

Gilad Shalit's father spoke to the media today. He said that they'd be going home. He spoke sadly, as one would expect, since they have no idea if their son will ever return home.

The TV "journalists" on Israel's Chanel 1 were nasty as they interrogated government officials, especially Geula Evan. They were like nasty TV cops after a serial child-molester.

Noam Shalit sounded exhausted. Just across from the Shalit tent was the tent of the parents of terror victims. Arab terrorists who had murdered their children were on the lists of terrorists to be freed.

If Israel would only execute terrorists who murder, then it would be easier. There would never be the nightmarish threat hanging over us that those blood-thirsty terrorists could be freed to murder again. There is no way of rehabilitating terrorists. Why should we be feeding them, giving them places to live and medical care?

During the negotiations for Gilad Shalit's release, Israel started off agreeing to a small amount of terrorists and then gave in and approved more. And then each time names were agreed to, the Arabs demanded more and more, until finally, even Olmert stopped the deal.

I feel sorry for the Shalit family and friends. The media created a circus around them, hyping the chance of freeing Gilad to the point where everyone was certain that he'd be freed.

Of course, we don't know what Bibi Netanyahu will do. It looks like he has succeeded in buying Ehud Barak. The question is how many of Barak's Labor Party will join, too. And then there's more of a chance that some of Kadima will break off to be part of the coalition or even join the Likud. And as I predicted, Bibi's government will be far from Right. It will be Center-Left, not much different from Olmert's was or what Tsippi would have had if she could have.

I hope that Bibi will make a deal for Gilad Shalit which doesn't endanger innocent Israelis and doesn't reward terrorists. I certainly pray that Gilad Shalit won't join the long-term MIA's like Ron Arad and the IDF soldiers captured in Sultan Yakub.

Olmert Plays "Hot Potato"

The Israeli Government and media have been toying with the Shalit family ever since their son Gilad was captured by our Arab enemies. Treppenwitz describes the present situation very eloquently.

I'm sure that everyone who saw or heard Ehud Omert's "We have red lines" speech last night was amazed. Some, because they were certain that a deal had been reached and Gilad would be returned home, and others, because Olmert's a pro at moving and deleting red lines at his convenience. Why dafka now has he discovered an immovable red line?

As the wife and mother of Israeli soldiers, and having been injured in an Arab terror attack, I've always known the there are no guarantees that we'll all live "happily ever after." Actually, no society can ever guarantee such a thing. There are always illnesses and accidents even in the most peaceful of countries.

Two crucial and tragic mistakes in Israeli policy are its benevolent attitude towards the Arab terrorists in our own jails and the naked desperation offering anything and anyone in exchange for our soldiers. This results in that the Arab price keeps going up, and innocent Israeli soldiers like Gilad Shalit are left captive in enemy hands.

Olmert's a great actor. If you didn't know his background, all of the corruption charges against him, his one-hundred and eighty degree turn from his Right wing Betar-Revisionist background to extreme Left, you'd think the man really was principled. It was a great performance, a great speech.

Sadly, the media had prepared the Shalit family for something else. They had expected Israel to pay any price asked for Gilad.

Now, unless there's some great surprise, the "hot potato" will be passed to Bibi Netanyahu. I hope and pray that he'll play "hardball" with the Arabs. That's the only way to bring Gilad home, and it's the only way to get us closer to true peace.

No more Mr. Nice Guy...

That's what I'd like to see, but I doubt if Bibi has the guts.

Jiminy Cricket, The National Union!

At this point, what should the role of the Ichud Le'umi, the National Union, be in Israeli politics, in the Israeli Government in Israeli life?

Caroline Glick admits that their policies are consistently correct:

THE ONE POLITICIAN who has been outspoken in opposing the mass release of terrorists has been MK Ya'acov (Ketzeleh) Katz, the leader of the National Union party. Together with the families of terror victims who oppose the government's intention to release their relatives' murderers, Katz has been the loudest voice in politics stridently opposing the deal. He has made clear that it will endanger the country and guarantee the murder and abduction of still more Israelis.
Katz and the National Union have it right on this issue. Indeed, they have it right on just about every major strategic issue they have championed. From their opposition to the failed Oslo process to their opposition to the failed Camp David summit, from their opposition to the withdrawal from south Lebanon and Gaza to their opposition to the failed road map peace process and the failed Annapolis peace process, the National Union has been right all along. It has always stayed true to its principles.

But as right as they are, she claims that to be wrong.

FOR ALL of its strategic wisdom and clearheadedness, the National Union is a political home for delusional politicians. In all of its various incarnations - from Tehiya to Herut to Moledet to the National Union - the party has never been able to understand what it means to govern. It has never been able to recognize that politics is the art of compromise.

But why should the only honest, clear-thinking party back down and conform to the Israeli PC delusions? Don't blame the National Union and its predecessors, Techiya and Moledet, for Israel's problems. Just like Pinocchio endangered himself and Gepetto by not listening to Jiminy Cricket, Israeli politicians who followed American orders, rather than do what was best for Israel, must admit their fundamental mistakes.

In 1992, angry that Likud under prime minister Yitzhak Shamir bowed to US pressure and participated in the Madrid peace conference, Tehiya brought down his government. In so doing, it brought in Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres and brought the country the Oslo process and Yasser Arafat in Ramallah.
In 1999, angry at Netanyahu for bowing to US pressure and agreeing to the Wye Plantation accords, the National Union brought down his government. In so doing, it brought in Ehud Barak and Yossi Beilin, the withdrawal from Lebanon and the Camp David summit.

The Likud's tragic weakness has always been its desire to show that it's not an "extremist Right wing party."

That's why Menachem Begin defied his voters and supporters when taking office, in 1977, and gave the post-Yom Kippur War failed Moshe Dayan the authority to decide policy.

That's why Yitzchak Shamir agreed to go to the Madrid Conference and didn't pack and leave with a parting: "אין עם מי לדבר Ain im mi l'daber. There's nobody to speak to." After Arab terrorists shot at a bus full of innocent Israeli women and children on their way to a demonstration. The terrorists murdered two, my good friend and neighbor, Rachella Druk, mother of seven and the bus driver, Yitzchak Rofeh. A number of children were also injured. Shamir should have used this as an example of why it's impossible to negotiate with murdering terrorists.

That's also one of the reasons for Ariel Sharon's Disengagement policy which, besides destroying Jewish homes, towns, businesses etc and turning peaceful, innocent Israelis into homeless evictees, it brought Arab terrorist missiles closer to Israeli civilians.

Glick shouldn't blame Techiya. Shamir should have left the conference and apologized to Techiya and the Israeli People for his "momentary" weakness. Techiya would have then rejoined the government, and then we never would have had to cope with the increased terrorism caused by the Peres-Rabin Oslo Accords which gave even more advanced weapons to the Arab terrorists and facilitated the horrendous situation we're in now.

As a Techiya, Moledet and now National Union voter and supporter, I expect my party to be the conscience of the nation. Somebody has to be. Glick sure isn't. I don't want my MK's haggling over ministry perks like the NRP.

It took a while for Pinocchio to get it Right, and I hope we won't need to get swallowed by a whale first.

Give a Little Whistle

When you get in trouble and you don't know right from wrong
Give a little whistle! Give a little whistle!
When you meet temptation and the urge is very strong
Give a little whistle! Give a little whistle!

Not just a little squeak, pucker up and blow
And if your whistle's weak, yell, "Jiminy Cricket!"
Right!

Take the straight and narrow path
And if you start to slide
Give a little whistle! Give a little whistle!
And always let your conscience be your guide

Dry Bones--Brilliant!

Don't you agree?

Some Words Of Wisdom

I could never claim to know everything about everything. Therefore I'm recommending a few articles from a site with the most unlikely name. I'd love to know how they got it. Well, I'm talking about Pajamas Media.

Zbigniew Brzezinski: More Bad Advice on Iran
by Craig Karpel
The most discredited foreign policy official in U.S. history has the president's ear.

Churchill, Chamberlain, and the Modern-Day Appeasers
by Michael Ledeen
Advocating negotiation with the Taliban, Syria, Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah? Appeasement didn't work with Hitler and it won't work today.

Roger Cohen's Inexplicable Views on Iranian Jews
by Roger L Simon
The New York Times columnist's comparatively rosy picture of life under the mullahs is "self-delusional drivel."

Obama's Liberal Petri Dish
by Jennifer Rubin
Even some Democrats are upset with the president treating the economy like a lab experiment.

Durban II and Obama’s Foreign Policy Mantra
by Anne Bayefsky

Where Did The Guns Come From?

For the second time in two months, Arab terrorists shot at Jews in the Jordan Valley. Just two months ago, Moshe and Sarah Avitan of Shvut Rachel were shot at in the southern Jordan Valley, on their way to Kochav Hashachar. Moshe was seriously wounded in the head. Thank G-d, he has made a miraculous recovery, but his vision is now greatly impaired. Please pray for his refuah shleimah, a complete healing: Moshe Refael ben Aliza A'isha.

Last night Arab terrorists attacked and murdered two policemen.

The victims’ squad car overturned after the terrorists shot them in head. Medical officials say one victim died as a result of injuries suffered by the car overturning. (complete article)

Not long before that, it had been announced that Israel returned 300 confiscated weapons to PA. (hat tip IMRA) What do the Pseudistinians need with more weapons? Do they shoot rabid dogs?

Tonight We're Leaving Egypt!

This afternoon was the book launch of a very special Haggadah, Tonight We're Leaving Egypt, with commentary by the late Dr. Yisrael Eldad, father of MK Dr. Arieh Eldad Md.

There were very moving speeches and entertainment by MK Eldad, his daughters Karni and Roni and the book's editor, Yehuda Etzion.

The room where it was held in the Menachem Begin Heritage Center was packed. Eldad's surviving comrades in arms, such as the living legend, former MK Geula Cohen, were in the audience.

My husband was the MC.

To order, call 052-5665744
Commercial orders at Udi, 052-8319976

Madoff Shouldn't Complain

Is American justice blinded by the flash of billion$ of dollar$?

The entire Bernie Madoff affair just proves that some people get a better deal from American justice than others. An ordinary person would have been jailed from day one, and an ordinary person's top employees would have been charged and jailed, too.

There's no way anyone can convince me that Madoff's sons and other high-ranking officials in his Ponzi scam pyramid business weren't aware of the truth that there were no investments and the "income" sent to investors was just the money that new investors entrusted to them.



No surprise that Madoff's lawyers are trying to get him more time at home to "tie up loose ends," or whatever excuse they can come up with.

"For many years up until my arrest I operated a Ponzi scheme," Madoff told the court. "When I began I thought it would be over shortly, it became difficult to stop." (complete article)

Does such a man deserve to be free? And yes, although he has been and would be "monitored," he would only be "restricted" to a home and conditions more luxurious than most people could imagine or afford.

I have no doubt that the investigators haven't discovered the full entire truth, and if Bernard Madoff was to be kept in jail, incommunicado, there's a better chance they'd find out who else was involved. They haven't cleaned out the "can of worms" much. One big snake's not the whole story. There's some deal, which hasn't been revealed yet, and when it is, it will probably stink even more.

Madoff's victims are angry and a lot poorer than they had ever imagined, but I doubt if any will become homeless tent dwellers like these (hat tip Boris):

The "Sin Of The Golden Calf," Who's Really To Blame?

This week's Parshat Shavua, Torah Portion of the Week, is Ki Tisa, (Exodus 30:11-34:35.) It's a very powerful one which includes one of the best known Biblical stories, the "Sin of the Golden Calf."

During today's שיעור נשים Women's Torah Class, which was given by our neighbor, Rabbi Tzuriel Weiner, we were challenged to think about what happened and why. Being that it was Shabbat, I could't take notes. I may write more about it in the future, since so many thoughts went through my head, and I had to control myself from dominating the discussions.

Of course today wasn't the first time I studied this "Parsha," Torah Portion, but for some reason, today my mind saw it very differently.

The discussion began with the question of whether Moshe's breaking of the "Tablets of the Testimony" was right or wrong. I think that Moshe did the correct thing. He did something dramatic to grab the attention of the people, to shock them. If he had waited for G-d to react, G-d would have destroyed them. Moshe immediately took charge. He was the leader.

Today I was very understanding of the children of Israel's sin. Just forty days after their oath to G-d, "Na'aseh v'Nishma," "We will do and we will listen," they hadn't been ready to have been left by Moshe.

I was brought back in time to my NCSY days, and I thought of that moving Havdallah, end of Sabbath ceremony, at the 1967 National Convention, when Rabbi Pinchas Stolper's words touched something in my soul. I was standing with a friend, and we seemed equally affected. But I went on to adopt a Torah-observant life, and she didn't. And it was hard enough for me, because I didn't receive the immediate follow-up and support I needed. Maybe the rabbis and advisers didn't take me seriously. Maybe their time and energies were stretched too thin to find room for me. Maybe everyone thought that someone else was doing it.

Baruch Hashem, as I searched and struggled, another friend joined the quest, and that was the key. I wonder how many Jews are lost because of insufficient follow-up.

And I thought of the struggling and confused Jewish People, so recently escaped from slavery in Egypt and all the traumas. And then they were so terrified at Mount Sinai when G-d began presenting them with the Commandments, that they had to beg to get them in a gentler way.

They needed Moshe with them. He needed to train the next level of leadership. His brother Aaron wasn't capable of substituting for him.

Today I felt sorry for the people, and I felt sorry for Aaron thrust into a position he couldn't handle. And Moshe was just obeying G-d's instructions. And I guess that G-d had trusted that the people and Aaron could handle it. Yes, sometimes G-d challenges us and we succeed, and sometimes we fail.