Israeli Politics: Pre-Elections Shake-Ups?

While the Israeli Opposition hasn't let up much in its campaign to unseat Bibi and the Likud, things haven't been very pastoral on the Right of the political spectrum.

Pundits have been hinting and nudging the recently "retired" Gideon Sa'ar to reinvent himself and against Netanyahu, and they now claim he will. OK they've said it before... Let's see. I wonder about a lot of things when it comes to him, and the biggie is whether his wife, Israeli news anchor Geula Even, is willing to have her professional wings clipped if he re-enters politics. And I'm very cynical about his actual ideology, how Right he really is, especially push comes to shove...

And the other really big news is that in the newly Puritan Israel, which once prided itself on the sexual prowess of its politicians, considered it even admirable that sexual conquests were "easy" and condoned and even braggable, now condemn all that.

The latest "victim" of the new morality is none other than Sylvan Shalom who finally resigned when the accusations got too hot to handle even by his wife Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes. He'll be replaced in the Likud Knesset line-up by Amir Ohana, who'll be the Likud's first out of the closet homosexual MK. Let's see what the Israeli media will do with that.

And considering the super narrow coalition of 61 that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu heads, politics will stay rocky for as long as he has those thin delicate reins in his hands.

"Teflon" Lapid and Other Israeli Coalition Thoughts

Flash 90

Will Yair Lapid, Finance Minister pay a price for his Shabbat-breaking faux pas?

Will Lapid's Sabbath Desecration Bring Down the Coalition?
A coalition has already broken apart in a similar gaffe to Lapid's Shabbat press conference; MKs warning action may be taken.
Finance Minister Yair Lapid's (Yesh Atid) decision to hold a press conference in his Tel Aviv home on Saturday in open violation of the Sabbath has religious and non-religious MKs alike furious, with many waiting to see if the move may spell the end of the rocky coalition government.

Arutz 7, which observes the Shabbat, had the above article in a prominent position, but besides the also Sabbath observing Jewish Press, I couldn't find any other site that stressed the significance or possible ramifications of  such a breach of Israeli political protocol.

Sabbath observance, no matter how one defines Shabbat, is an integral part of Israeli life. Considering that Lapid is still campaigning for public bus service on Shabbat and supports stores being open seven days a week, it's pretty clear that he is against a public day of rest. Lapid wants shopkeepers, bus drivers and the media to work 24/7. His concept, if he has one, of human rights is rather cruel and old-fashioned.

It seems like Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu doesn't care, nor does the media, nor his coalition partners including the religious Naftali Bennett of the NRP aka Jewish Home. There should have been a major public hullabaloo protesting Lapid's Shabbat press conference.

Silence is acquiescence to this break in protocol. I think that Bibi is perfectly comfortable with Lapid's anti-Jewish policies. If Bennett wants to show his leadership potential he must break out of the coalition. I doubt if he or his MK's will do it. Their campaign promise was to be in the coalition, which is the main reason I refused to vote from him.

And about Gidon Sa'ar's resignation from Likud politics. Once I read that his wife Geula Even had been suspended just before the resignation for breaking her "don't interview Likud MK restriction," it was perfectly clear that their careers conflicted. One had to change jobs, and they decided that he would be the one.

Even and Sa'ar with
baby David, credit

Since Even is married to outgoing Interior Minister and Likud MK Gideon Sa’ar, she was instructed that interviews with Likud politicians are taboo on her nightly current affairs program The Supplement.
Despite the warning, Even interviewed Likud MK Gila Gamliel, which resulted in an argument between her and Hasson. (Jerusalem Post)

IMHO, it's pretty obvious that is the reason.

Another interesting political couple, Likud minister and media personality, are MK Sylvan Shalom, Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water, Minister of the Development of the Negev and Galil, Minister of Regional Cooperation (a hodge-podge of minor ministries because he is in competition with PM Bibi,) and Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes scion of Israel's main (Leftist) media dynasty. Last week Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes spoke at the Tefillat Chana, Shiloh Hakeduma-Tel Shiloh event, playing up herself as just like the religious women in the audience. For many of the attendees it was quite a surprise to see her in Shiloh. I heard from a friend that she spoke about her visit to Shiloh very positively on her radio show. She and her husband have been positioning themselves more and more on the religiously Traditional and Right of Israeli politics and life/society. I would keep that in mind when trying to predict what's next.

Israeli politics is never dull, and no doubt I'll have lots more to write about in the near future.

Shiloh, Strong Jewish Women!

Last night (and yesterday afternoon) was the Annual Tefillat Chana at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh. Yes, I live in Shiloh and have for just over thirty-three years. As I've written before, I feel that my living in Shiloh has changed me. It's hard to say and can't be proven if the changes are due to the wonderful neighbors I have here who have in their subtle ways influenced and changed me. Or is there a more spiritual immeasurable reason which stems from the holiness of the place?

Shiloh, yes, this very same Shiloh, was one of the most central/important/crucial locations in the History of the Jewish People. Our great Biblical leader, Joshua, did not have to battle/capture Shiloh before establishing it as the spiritual and administrative Capitol of the Jewish Nation after the Exodus from Egypt. The Bible clearly lists the many cities he did have to capture/liberate, but Shiloh isn't among them.

Shiloh, so geographically in the center of the Promised Land, was waiting with arms opened for Joshua to bring the Jews, the seven tribes that hadn't yet been allocated Land. In Shiloh the Mishkan, Tabernacle which had been transported during the wandering the desert was set in a semi-permanent spot where it rested/stayed in use for three hundred sixty-nine 369 years.

location of Biblical Tabernacle, Shiloh

It was Shiloh where the Jewish People came for the Pilgrimage Festivals over those centuries. And the most famous story, also depicted in the Bible, is the one of Chana who came with her husband and family to pray for a son. Chana didn't want a son for her own selfish reasons. She wanted a son who would lead the Jewish People into its next stage, a Kingdom. Chana promised G-d that if He gave her a son, she would give that son back to Him to work for Him as a leader.  And that's what happened.

Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi

At last night's event, the popular inspirational speaker Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi talked about the bravery and dedication of Jewish mothers, from the time of Sarah, whose only son Issac was bound to G-d in the miss-titled "Sacrifice of Issac." G-d didn't want Issac to be killed, He wanted Issac to work with him as successor to Abraham.

Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi spoke about the recently bereaved mothers, the mothers of the soldiers who had been killed in this summer's war, Tzuk Eitan, Protective Edge. She, who knows too well the pain of losing a child, told us how inspired she was by the mothers she had gone to comfort.











A surprise speaker was the well-known media personality, Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes aka wife of Israeli politician Sylvan Shalom. The women sitting near me was totally shocked when they found out that she was here in Shiloh with us. Judy Shalom-Nir-Mozes is still associated with the Leftist views of her family, but from what I've read, she is Right and more Jewishly traditional than most would expect from an Israeli media star.

In another generation, I have no doubt that with the leadership of strong Israeli women, we will see a much more Jewish and confident nation here in Israel.

That is the lesson of Biblical Shiloh.

Israeli Presidential Race Shock, Fuad Joins Sylvan Shalom

Bad timing for Fuad Ben-Eliezer who seemed to have a chance in the complicated race for the position of President of Israel. Fuad is the second candidate to bow out because of "allegations." Actually, his case looks worse than the never proven charges against Sylvan Shalom of sexual misconduct, which had stopped his campaign before he even officially threw his hat in the ring.

Shalom called the accusations part of a political conspiracy aimed at removing him from the race, and he has hardly been the only candidate besmirched in a race that has often been marred by scandal and controversy.
Read more: Likud minister Shalom said to nix presidential run | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/likud-minister-shalom-said-to-nix-presidential-run/#ixzz33z5KlqVo Follow us: @timesofisrael on Twitter | timesofisrael on Facebook

Fuad has joined the list of Israeli politicians accused of graft, accepting money.

"On Friday, in the final stretch of a long campaign, four days before the vote in the Knesset for the job of president, in which, and I say this modestly, I was the leading candidate, I was called with a 20-minute warning to the police for an investigation of how my apartment [in Jaffa] was funded," Ben-Eliezer recounted, adding that every shekel used to pay for the apartment was earned transparently...The police investigation is only one of several scandals that rocked Ben-Eliezer's campaign. Jerusalem Post

In Israel the president is not an executive position. Officially there's no real power. It's supposed to be "apolitical," even though most presidents have come from political backgrounds. Also the president is not voted by the people. The 120 Knesset Members choose the president. And now there is more and more campaigning among that very small group.

Personally, I'd like to see Ruby Rivlin as President. I think he'd do a good job. I just can't wait until Peres is out of office.

Sexual Shenanigans in High Places, Moshe Dayan vs Bibi Netanyahu vs Moshe Katzav vs Sylvan Shalom

To be clear to all, I do not condone the behavior of any of these actual philanderers. I'm just wondering about the honesty in those Israelis who are suddenly demanding a standard of behavior that had never been demanded before. And I also wonder about the power of accusations that can stop careers. It's a dangerous weapon. No real proof is needed.

Davka, now when past-United States President Bill Clinton's former mistress, Monica Lewinsky, has opened up about their affair, the Israeli public is putting a moral microscope on its ambitious politicians.
There seems to be new rules in the game here in Israel.

Maintaining that her affair with Clinton was one between two consenting adults, Lewinsky writes that it was the public humiliation she suffered in the wake of the scandal that permanently altered the direction of her life: “Sure, my boss took advantage of me, but I will always remain firm on this point: it was a consensual relationship. Any ‘abuse’ came in the aftermath, when I was made a scapegoat in order to protect his powerful position. . . . The Clinton administration, the special prosecutor’s minions, the political operatives on both sides of the aisle, and the media were able to brand me. And that brand stuck, in part because it was imbued with power.”

Israel was once more like France, giving its male leaders lots of leeway to sleep with whomever whenever. Things seem to be changing here. Yesterday I caught a TV talk show on the topic of morality in which the speakers insisted that a philanderer should be barred from high public office. Considering that such public morality runs contrary to the previous practice, there must be many ambitious Israelis who wonder if their successful careers will suddenly go up in a very public "smoke."

Moshe Dayan's philandering was not only legendary, philandering/adultry was part of his public persona.

Israel's most famous soldier, the late Moshe Dayan, is also widely considered the nation's most famous adulterer.
"Think what we would have lost if Moshe Dayan had been fired -- a chief of staff who won the Sinai War and a defense minister who won the Six Day War," said Dankner.
Dayan's daughter, Yael Dayan, agrees. She says the fact that her father was a recognized philanderer did not harm his reputation or his country.
"Someone who is disloyal to their wife, or a woman who is disloyal to her husband, doesn't mean they will be disloyal to their country," she said, adding that it can even boost an officer's career.

PM Binyamin Netanyahu was allowed continue his career after an unprecedented public admission/confession. And other top Israeli politicians had well-known affairs that were never condemned. That's one of the strange things about former President Moshe Katzav's conviction. Had the Israeli moral standards changed, or was it because he is the only Likud member to make it to the office of President?

Sylvan Shalom and wife
Judy Shalom-Nir-Mozes

The biggest problem with the Katzav conviction was lack of proof other than the alleged words of the women.  Accusations against Sylvan Shalom were based on old history and hearsay.

Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein on Wednesday officially closed the sex crimes investigation against Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom...
...First, the initial probe was started due to allegations of sex crimes by Shalom against an employee from around 15 years ago – meaning no indictment could be filed because too much time has passed.
Second, although the police were told of several other alleged incidents of sex crimes by Shalom in more recent years, also against employees, each incident had a roadblock that prevented prosecution.
In some cases the women informally confirmed the incident but refused to formally testify to police and in other cases the women denied the incident or could not be located.

Proof, conviction or not, Sylvan Shalom's candidacy for the Presidency went "poof."

That is the danger. It is just too easy to throw in a sex wrench to stop an opponent's political career. Of course, it would be much easier if all, both males and females would uphold truly moral marriages without cheating and without affairs, G-d willing...