Israeli National Budget, Not Leaking Money in "The Settlements"

As usual, Ruthie Blum hit the nail right on the head in her Israel Hayom article, Tax shekels poorly spent .  The Left loves to blame the normal living expenses of communities in Judea and Samaria for Israel's budgetary problems.  But the truth is totally different.

Caroline Glick, Moshe Arens, ?,

Ruthie Blum at the Emanuel Winston

Yahrzeit.

First of all, as Caroline Glick mentioned in her talk at the  2nd Yahrzeit of Emanuel Winston, the Israeli economic growth is far better than the American or European.  Contrary to Yair Lapid's scare-mongering, our economy is strong and healthy.

Blum wrote about the terrible results and financial wastes of the Masa Israel Journey program, which instead of encouraging support and aliyah of young diaspora Jewry is fermenting more extreme Leftist anti-Israeli activists.

A recent article by Greer Fay Cashman mentions the over budget expenses of President Shimon Peres.

No one will deny that Peres is the most active of Israel’s nine presidents to date, and travels abroad with far greater frequency than any of his predecessors.
Because he has to take several senior staff and security people with him, the cost of such flights becomes inflated, and last year came to NIS 8.4m.
What the Calcalist report does not mention is the exorbitant cost of flowers.
There are huge floral decorations in abundance at the President’s Residence, and they are changed two or three times a week – especially if there is a state dinner, when the flowers gracing the tables and displayed in giant urns in the reception hall are in the national colors of the visiting head of state. Today, when artificial flowers look so real, there could be a savings of hundreds of thousands of shekels – maybe even millions – if all state institutions made a huge initial purchase of artificial flowers that could be rearranged to suit the occasion.

And about the so called "extra expenses" of the settlements.  That's one of the Left's favorite lies.  Think about it.  Schools, medical centers and other services are needed for citizens wherever we live.  It actually cost less to build in Judea and Samaria, because there's more empty land and real estate cost less.  Teachers get the same salary wherever they live, and rural bussing to school cost the same if in the Negev, Galil or the Shomron.

Housing is less expensive in most Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, so families with lower incomes can live more comfortably.  That's a simple example of supply and demand.  And when families can live more comfortably, than there's less need for welfare and all sorts of social services.  The more homogeneous communities are also socially stronger, helping each other which also reduces government expenses.

As we all know, the Left doesn't let facts get in the way of their ideology.

Lapid, Livni, Peres and Bibi All The Same Dangerous Mistake

According to the headlines PM wannabe the present Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid doesn't like the "Leftist" label. 

Speaking at a meeting of his Yesh Atid party Monday, Lapid said that he had very clear ideas about Israel's relations with the PA, and that his views should not come as a surprise to anyone. “Whoever thinks that a diplomatic solution will not entail two states for two peoples is mistaken. Any idea of a bi-national state, whether on the left or the right, would mean the end of Zionism, and I am a Zionist,” Lapid said.
With that, he added that “I do not plan on falling into the classic trap of the left, which at the beginning of negotiations reveals immediately what it plans to give away – a situation that turns what is supposed to be the end of the negotiation process into the beginning. You don't come to negotiations with just an olive branch in your hand,” Lapid added. “We are looking for a fair divorce from the Palestinians.”

I don't think that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would accept it for himself too.  Livni once was comfortably in the more Right wing Likud with Bibi.  Only Shimon Peres isn't shy about calling himself Left. 

The big problem with what all of them, Lapid, Livni, Peres and Netanyahu preach, whether they call themselves, Right, Left or Center is that it's all the same.  They all believe two dangerous things can and should be done:

• negotiate with the Arabs for peace
• give the Arabs a state they'll call "Palestine"

 Both of those things will seriously endanger the very existence of the State of Israel.  At the event memorializing Emanuel (Manny) Winston, Caroline Glick and other speakers spoke about the terrible mistakes the State of Israel has been making.  One of them is that we, the State of Israel, demand security rather than sovereignty.  With true sovereignty comes security. The late Manny Winston understood it.  And unfortunately the Arabs do, too.

True peace is not the result of negotiations.  True peace is something that evolves when neither side aims to destroy the other one.  It takes time.  Whenever people claim that if we don't hurry we'll miss the "window of opportunity" they are not referring to true peace. 

photo credit

What they, the Left-no matter which label they use for themselves, propose is like a cake or bread quickly baked with too high heat.  On the surface, at least for the first few minutes it may look fully baked, but it will quickly fall, collapse, all wet and soft inside.

In Living Loving Memory of Manny Winston, ZaTz"L

Last night at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center I attended a very special event in honor of the 2nd Yahrzeit of Emanuel Winston.  It was MC'd by his amazing wife Gail.  We also heard messages from his two sons.  And there was a panel led by the multi-talented former aeronautics engineer, MK, Minister, Ambassador et alii, Moshe Arens. Other members of the panel were Caroline Glick, Ruthie Blum, Jay Shapiro and my husband Yisrael Medad.

At the event, it was announced that a new internet site has been created that will promote and publicize Manny's views and articles, http://winstonisraelinsight.com/.  Gail told us that there are thousands of articles waiting to be typed up and uploaded to the site.

The main subject, which was discussed in much fascinating detail was the tragic cancellation of the Lavi, the Israeli fighter plane.  Both Arens and Shapiro were heavily involved in that project, so hearing them speak added personal, factual details that can't be found from any other sources.  Arens, among other professions, is a historian and political scientist. 

Here's what Arens wrote about the Lavi three years ago. It's a must-read:

Who would have believed it? Some years ago Israel was developing the world's most advanced fighter aircraft, the Lavi, while the Western world's aircraft manufacturers were beating their way to our door, eager to participate in the Lavi project, or trying to sell their competing plane to the Israel Air Force. And now Israel goes hat in hand pleading for a chance to be allowed to acquire the F-35 aircraft, at a price tag of $150 million each. But it's not only the astronomical price. Israel is told that the F-35 must be taken as is - no changes or modifications to suit Israel's specific needs, and absolutely no Israeli systems included. Take it or leave it. Just imagine Israel's position today had the Lavi project not been canceled. The IAF would be operating the world's most advanced fighter, upgraded over the years to incorporate operational experience and newer technology. Much of Israel's industry would have moved a great step ahead, Israel Aerospace Industries would have become a leading developer of fighter aircraft, and most importantly, a number of options would be open to the IAF in choosing its next fighter. (complete article)

The Manny Winston site has a very good article, actually more, about the Lavi project.  I highly recommend reading it:

Don’t build a better aircraft, or we will shoot it down
Israel was told to drop the Lavi after Caspar Weinberger observed the flight test data.  It was too good; the results were coming in too fast on the plus side.  So the “Tucker” had to be killed again.
Regretfully, the Lavi was just what the United States needed, particularly after the A-10 was shown as incapable of surviving a heavy concentration of Ground-to-Air missiles.  The U.S. desperately needed a dedicated “CAS” Close Air Support aircraft and now.  Mr. Dov Zakheim, spokesman for Mr. Weinberger came in swinging.  His job was not only to kill the Lavi but to sell a revised version of the F-16 to be called the “A” Agile Falcon 16.  This very worthy, totally dedicated air superiority aircraft was now to be modified and called the Close Air Support “CAS” the Air Force was supposed to be looking for. (complete article)

I recorded some of the talk, (until my camera's memory card got overloaded,) especially what Moshe Arens said.  As the recordings finish uploading on youtube-shilohmuse, I will post them here.  So keep checking up over the next few hours or tomorrow, too.

Herew's Gail Winston talking about what we in Israel really need, Sovereignty!



Moshe Arens speaking...

The Threat From Syria

Thank G-d the IDF managed to liberate the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six Days War.  Without that crucial piece of land which overlooks and now protects northern Israel it's frightening to think of what could have happened to the State of Israel.  Whenever I hear/read of Israeli politicians and wannabes proposing negotiations  with Syria re: the "future of the Golan Heights," I feel sick.  How dumb and foolish these headline grabbers are...

Even though Israel defeated Syria twice, in 1967 and during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Syrians still unabashedly dream of destroying us. 

On May 10, Assad's leading Palestinian ally, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, said it was organizing attacks on Israeli positions in the Golan. PFLP-GC, sponsored by Damascus and financed by Iran, said it was recruiting Palestinians for combat missions. "The leadership of the PFLP-GC announces that it will form brigades to work on liberating all violated territories, first and foremost the occupied Golan," PFLP-GC said. "The Popular Front's leaders have opened the door to all Syrian citizens to volunteer in the formation of the resistance."

The Syrians not only "dream" of destroying Israel from the north; they are developing their military with Tel Aviv as their main target.

Screenshot/YouTube

Damascus has put a number of advanced weapons on standby to strike Israel, should Jerusalem hit targets inside Syria again, the UK’s Sunday Times reported Sunday.

According to the report, satellite images show Syria has readied its stock of Tishreen missiles for use against Tel Aviv.

We in Israel must keep that in mind.

Unfortunately, there are too many Leftists in positions of per and influence in Israel, and they get dangerously Pollyannaish about our enemies.  They believe that everyone has their "price" and "peace" is something you can buy with flattery and Land.  Due to their ideological orthodoxy, they consistently misinterpret our enemies.

According to the official, Israel has "underestimated" Assad's strength and the inner life force of the Syrian regime.
Currently, there are differing opinions within the defense establishment about what to expect in Syria and what outcome for its northern neighbor would benefit Israel.
The opinion that the fall of Assad and the assumption of power by the rebels would be good for Israel has become less popular recently, as it has emerged that the infiltration of extremist Jihad and al-Qaida elements is deeper and wider than was originally estimated.

These mistakes are nothing new.  That's how Syria and Egypt caught us totally unprepared on Yom Kippur 1973 when they simultaneously attacked from the north and south.  For the first few days of the Yom Kippur War, the State of Israel was in serious trouble of being destroyed.  I consider our victory then the greatest victory we ever had.

We can't just depend on miracles to save us.

Could That Really Be Common Sense From Tsippi Livni?

I took a double take when I saw this headline:

Livni: No chance Israel can reach peace deal with Hamas

Is the Moshiach, Messiah  really getting closer?

There is no chance that Israel could reach a peace agreement with Hamas, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said Saturday evening in an interview with Army Radio.
Livni - the minister responsible for peace talks - was referring to remarks made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday that Fatah-Hamas reconciliation is imperative to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
She added that Erdogan views Hamas positively, and this has been his stance for years. "This perception is not correct" she said. "Hamas represents an Islamic ideology that does not recognize Israel's existence. Hamas prefers to isolate itself than to say that Israel has the right to exist or to renounce violence."

This is the woman who rationalized her joining the coalition by saying that she'd only do it to "make peace."  Many Israelis, including me, are petrified that she'll make some horribly dangerous faux peace  agreement with the Arabs.  Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has put her in charge of negotiations with the Arabs who want us destroyed. The PA's Abbas is no better than Hamas according to various articles on the Palestine Media Watch site.

Abbas admits sending terrorists to kill Israelis "I demand [the release of] prisoners because they are human beings, who did what we, we, ordered them to do. We, the Authority. They should not be punished while we sit at one table negotiating. This is war. One (Israel) ordered a soldier to kill, and I ordered my son, brother, or others, to carry out the duty of resistance (euphemism for terror). This person killed and the other person killed. So why say this person's hands are stained with blood, and [he] must be kept in prison?"

Nothing Abbas has done and said since proves that he has changed since he made that statement.

Will Livni look at the entire picture and realize that she's barking up the wrong tree? 

Negotiations won't bring us peace.  We'll only have peace when the Arabs want peace with us and not want to destroy and murder us.

"The Pot Calling the Kettle Black," Latma's Take on the Latest "Bibi Scandal"

Caroline Glick's Latma, the Tribal update:

This week on the Tribal Update we bring you the Israeli media's response to the scandals now flooding the White House. (In a word, the media here have completely ignored the story.)

We also bring you an interview with a senior executive of Channel 10 - a station that exists only by racking up massive debt to the government.  And much, much more!

 

Latma is funded by donations from private individuals who believe that the voice of Zionism must be heard, loud and clear, in Israel and throughout the world. We need your help in order to stay open and continue sounding our voices.

If you are in the United States, Latma is  funded by donations to the David Horowitz Freedom Center's Israel Security Project which I direct. If you would like to contribute to our work, which is funded entirely by viewer contributions, please go to this link.

For donations outside the US, here is a link to the donations page for our Israeli non-profit, the Zionist Incubator. You can make credit card donations to Latma by contributing to our non-profit.  

I also suggest that you read Glick's latest article: Obama and the "Official Truth"

Jewish Blog Round Up, Let's Link Up Together

It has been much too long since a Havel Havelim has been posted, so this is rather unofficial.  Yocheved's may have been the last HH. I'm going to include all sorts of posts from various blogs, mostly those I'm familiar with, but as I search, I hope to discover some new ones.  Please share this round-up, comment and also visit and share the various posts.  For Havel Havelim updates, check out our facebook page, thanks.

Enough of an introduction, now to get started giving you a taste of what' s happening in the jblog  (Jewish blogging) world.  Have a Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach, a peaceful and blessed Shabbat.

The second longest running Jewish Blog Carnival is the monthly Kosher Cooking Carnival, posted on Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of each Jewish Month.  It includes all different aspects of kosher food.

Esser Agaroth's posts are always worth more than  2¢.  Read his latest Forbidden First Fruits.

By checking out the blogroll on Esser Agaroth, I discovered this charming aliyah blog post, Shabbat in Givat Ze'ev with the Ever Family.  And through this blog I found The Curious Jew, which has some amazing posts, Poetic Justice in the Deaths of Avner and Amassa? and Mother's Day: A Painful Day?  for example.

Another great jblogger and inspiring person is Yocheved.  Read her  Friending Disabilities.

My friend Miriam thinks she was had.   Read why. Did we Waste our Votes?

Another realtime f2f blogging friend is Ruti, who has a great post about shoes, sushi and her latest soldier.  (A lot of IFL players are glad that he's now in a different uniform.)

Everyone copes differently with challenges.  Read Crossing the Yarden

The Key to Mountain Biking…..and Dealing with Cancer and Superman Sam

Mellow {day 11}

 

Many of us have changed our lives and taken very different roads to do so.  Here's how one woman started:   My First Real Shavuot .

 

I have a question for you: Israel or The USA, Which is the True World Power?

 

Shavuot is more than just cheesecake; isn't it? Shavuot, The Holiday of Jewish Unity

 

I certainly can't leave out politics here: Lapid's Marie Antionette Style Budget

 

Since we're "the People of the Book, here's a book review: Lorri M. Book Review: Country of Ash: A Jewish Doctor in Poland 1939-1945

 

Blogging is something to do in one's "spare time."  A recent HH hostess, Haveil Havelim #405- The Boston Marathon Terror Attack Edition, blogged that her "spare time" has up and left her.  We hope that her life will get simpler soon.

 

I just realized that most of the jbloggers in this little roundup are female.  Hmmm how could that have happened?  I'll try to balance things here.

 

Here's the Mukata Forget Hawking - Invite someone MUCH better!  and Adventures of a Chief Rabbi: Ingredients of Trust and Seraphic Secret's Obama’s Lack of Leadership and Moral Accountability

 

And a post from my husband All You Have to Do is Threaten Violence

 

Let's end this with Dry Bones:

 

 

Israel or The USA, Which is the True World Power?

I'm really getting a kick out of the fact that the USA is so nervous about Israel policing Syria.  The link is from an article that topped the NY Times "Afternoon Update," which I get by email.

American and Israeli political analysts agree that Israel has little motive to intervene in Syria’s civil war, but that it is deeply concerned about the transfer of advanced weapons, as well as the danger that Mr. Assad’s stockpiles of chemical weapons could be used against it.

Take a look at a map and see how important it is to Israel that Syria remember that they will pay dearly for attacking us.

As you can see from the map, Israel's Golan Heights is full of small agricultural communities, lots of civilians.   The Golan Heights were liberated by Israel in the 1967 Six Days War.  Prior to that, the Syrians used the vantage to attack Israel's northern communities.

The Golan Heights and Syria are presently separated by "UNDOF Zone."  As we've seen many times in the past, the various United Nations peacekeeping sic forces  do not actively police between the countries. 

When there is an aggressor, however, when one side seeks to keep the peace and the other is devoted to its violation, as is now the case on the Golan Heights, the peacekeepers are asked to fill a role that they are, perhaps ironically, ill equipped to handle — actually keeping the peace.

On the Golan Heights, several experts say, the worsening situation is likely to lead to one of three options.

The first would see the retreat of the Golan peacekeepers, known as the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, or UNDOF, and the collapse of what has been a very successful peacekeeping program.

The second would see a shift in the force’s mandate, equipping it with more firepower and more authority, along the lines of the bolstered United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL.

The third would see a weakened force – much like UNIFIL before the Second Lebanon War of 2006 – that turns a blind eye to low-profile terror activity on one side of the border while vigorously documenting the violations by the IDF which are sure to follow.

They don't risk their lives fighting aggressors when one country invades or seriously threatens the other.  They leave.  That's what happened in the Suez Canal, when Egypt threatened to destroy Israel in 1967.  The UN made no effort to protect Israel against the three countries, Egypt, Jordan and Syria which announced to the world that their aim was to drive Israel into the sea.

And don't forget that the United States has never been quick to help an ally. 

That's right, not even when the German Nazis were invading Europe. The isolationists were ruling the State Department until America had no choice other than to join in the fight.  The same happened on the Pacific front.

The US was sucked further towards the conflict when its navy and air force began to ‘escort’ British convoys which transported Lend-Lease material across the Atlantic, protecting them from German submarines. Roosevelt’s announcement of a ‘shoot on sight’ policy in September 1941 following an attack on the USS Greer enraged isolationist senators; they alleged that Roosevelt was deliberately provoking skirmishes with the Germans. Meanwhile, Churchill repeatedly attempted to convince Roosevelt to enter the war. At the August 1941 Atlantic Conference, the two leaders composed a charter for the post-war world; Roosevelt tackled the thorny issue of the British Empire, promoting the recognition of “the right of all peoples to choose the government under which they will live.”
Churchill did not have to wait long. After the bombing of the US Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, only one congressman opposed the declaration of war; the vote in the senate was unanimous. Hitler’s declaration of war on the US, which came four days later, was actually a blessing in disguise for Roosevelt; it enabled him to legitimately pursue a ‘Germany first’ strategy. In November 1942, Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa, became the first US military offensive of the war in the West. Allied troops slowly cornered German forces in North Africa, who surrendered in Tunisia in May 1943. The joint British-US victory, costly and hard fought as it was, was invaluable in mobilising US public opinion behind the war effort.

Considering that the Untied States hasn't been in danger of invasion since its earliest history, it hasn't a clue as to Israel's dangers from.  We can't expect any real assistance from any other country or international alliance.

Words, platitudes and threats won't keep us safe.  We're a tiny country surrounded by enemies.  When in danger we must shoot first.

Lucky Obama. What if the Benghazi Leaks Had Hit The Fan Before Election Day?

The details about how United States President Barack Hussein Obama and his then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton handled the Benghazi crises is just now getting big play in the media. 

Friday, in a bombshell report that blew the long-simmering Libya scandal wide open and right into the arms of the mainstream media, ABC's Jonathan Karl reported that an email written by Rhoades specifically mentioned the State Department's concerns about the CIA talking points. Here is how Karl transcribed the Rhoades' email:

We must make sure that the talking points reflect all agency equities, including those of the State Department, and we don’t want to undermine the FBI investigation.  We thus will work through the talking points tomorrow morning at the Deputies Committee meeting.

Though this point wasn't the main focus of Karl's report, it was important because it showed that the White House was backing State in pushing inconvenient facts out of the talking points -- this included the fact that terrorists were behind the attack and that State had been negligent when it came to providing security for our diplomatic mission.
In the end, as we now all now know, and apparently due to the prodding of Hillary Clinton's right hand woman at State -- Victoria Nuland, the talking points ended up being completely wrong, which resulted in the American people being misled by the Obama Administration, straight through to a speech the President gave at the United Nations almost two weeks after the attack.

Do you think he would have been elected? 

The Benghazi terror attack was an issue in the campaign, but now it has been revealed that Obama had fudged his answers and statements about it.  Or should one say lied?  What's really clear and was clear all along to many was that the United States Government did reacted totally incorrectly.

And now, will this be the death of Hillary Clinton's last chance for the presidency?  Stay tuned...

Shavuot, The Holiday of Jewish Unity

I'm not referring to the traditional Shavuot menu, based (at least according to Ashkenazim) on dairy foods, because lactose intolerance aka milk allergies/sensitivity is the latest Jewish genetic trait. 

The more I study Jewish History, Biblical, ancient Jewish History, the more obvious it seems to me that there were always Jews who sinned, or skimped (a popular label for this in Israel nowadays is "dati lite," the diatietc/low calorie religious observance) on their observance of the Torah, G-d's instructions. Most probably the only few seconds in time when all Jews agreed, were united and obeyed were as long as it took to shout out in unison:

נעשה ונשמע.
Na'aseh vinishmah.
We will do and we will listen.

Those crucial, magical, life-changing historic event took place at the foot of Mount Sinai, after the exodus from Egypt when we, the Jewish People, accepted the Torah, G-d's instructions on how to live.

By saying "Na'aseh" before "Nishma" they expressed acceptance of Hashem's Torah "sight unseen" - without first understanding. After the unqualified acceptance of "Na'aseh, saying "Nishma" means that we are ready to open our brain, our intellect and our hearts to understand Hashem's Torah to the extent that Hashem will help us to do so.

If this sight unseen acceptance hadn't happened, Jewish History would have taken a different path.  But it did happen.  Chazal, our sages say that the soul of every single Jew to be born (or converted) was there at that great historic moment.  That was the pledge, the oath that linguists say is the key to the name of this holiday, which should be called Shvu'ot, oaths, not Shavu'ot, weeks.

Our ancestors, accompanied by our souls, pledged our allegiance, obedience to G-d all those thousands of years ago.  We saw, experienced the miracles which G-d produced to facilitate the exodus from Egypt, the end to the bondage to Pharaoh in Egypt.

Today we see, even among many Jews who claim not to obey the Torah that despite this they are attracted to the Torah.  There are "secular yeshivot" in which religious observance isn't required in order to study the classic Jewish texts.  Shavuot is a very traditional time to study Torah, Talmud and commentaries.  More and more we hear:

"The dati'im (Torah observant) don't have a monopoly on our Jewish texts."

I'm glad to hear this.  We're all Jews, and nobody "owns" the Torah.  The Torah must unite us to remain one people.

Chag Sameach

Have a Joyful Holiday

Lapid's Marie Antionette Style Budget

There isn't much  good I can say about our new Finance Minister's budget, except that Yair Lapid has a lot of guts.  There's hardly anyone, especially among those who voted for him, who likes and agrees with Lapid's first budget.  I agree this the detractors here.  This budget makes no sense to me.

In terms of the cuts in the military, it's outrageous, ridiculous and dangerous.   On one hand Lapid and the Israeli government still say that they want to draft pretty  much all the chareidi men, claiming the army needs them, but if the military budget is reduced, there won't be money for that.  And that's one of the simpler points to ponder.

With a vote in the full cabinet expected Monday on Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s budget proposal for 2013- 2014, the security cabinet met throughout the day Sunday and into the night to parse out NIS 4 billion in proposed cuts to defense spending.

I agree with Professor Ron Breiman that reducing army service will only endanger us.

Only once before in Israeli history has a similar measure been taken, and only two draft classes were able to enjoy it. I'm talking about those who were drafted in August and November of 1964 and served only two years and two months. Not long after, the quiet along Israel's borders, since 1956, was broken and the winds of war began to blow from Egypt, Syria and Jordan. The result was the Six-Day War in 1967.

In the years following the Six-Day War -- the years of the War of Attrition, the Yom Kippur War, the First Lebanon War -- it was clear to everyone that there was no choice but to maintain the three-year mandatory service policy. Only in the 1990s , when the bells of "peace" rang in "the new Middle East" did country's leaders think again about shortening military service. This time, however, the easing of the security burden was directed at the reserve army, not towards changing the three-year mandatory service policy. The reserve service cut-off was lowered to 40 years of age, the need to receive a permit for travelling abroad was cancelled, and more.

It will make a much less professional and competent IDF.

I call it a Marie Antionette budget, because it harms the poor more than the rich.  In a rare move, I agree with Labor's  Shelly Yacimovich.

According to her figures, after factoring in tax changes, price increases, National Insurance Institute child allotments and so forth, the bottom 10 percent of Israelis would lose a whopping 25.1% of their income while the richest decile would only lose 2.2%. The majority of the changes stemmed from proposed reductions in child allotments.
“A picture arises of a heavy bur- den from difficult, regressive, non-egalitarian cuts that clearly hurt the poor and middle classes, primarily, and hardly touch the rich,” Yacimovich said.

I work in one of those minimum wage jobs, and none of us have any "fat" to trim from our budgets.  So, big deal if the wealthier will take fewer trips abroad or keep their cars a year or two longer.  For many of us those sorts of luxuries are just dreams.

Please add your opinions on the various aspects of Lapid's budget in the comments, thanks.

Looking at The Whole Picture versus The Danger of a Distorted Image

The following picture has been making the rounds on facebook and other internet sites:

I'm not sure of the original source, but from the first time I spotted it, I  just knew that I had to write about it.

Here we are in the twenty-first century.  With computers, internet, smartphones, tablets etc., it's incredibly easy to do research  history, find out simple facts, truth. So how has the "Palestinian sic myth" taken such hold.  Supposedly educated, intelligent people are convinced that there had been an Arab Palestinian state which was invaded by Jews, the Zionists, and replaced by the State of Israel.

Just like the very cropped version of the picture here which only shows an IDF soldier hitting an Arab on the ground, too many people shorten the title this Land was given by the League of Nations in July, 1922, British Mandate for Palestine.

The Mandate system was instituted by the League of Nations in the early 20th century to administer non-self-governing territories*. The mandatory power, appointed by an international body, was to consider the mandated territory a temporary trust and to see to the well-being and advancement of its population.

In July 1922, the League of Nations entrusted Great Britain with the Mandate for Palestine. Recognizing "the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine," Great Britain was called upon to facilitate the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine-Eretz Israel (Land of Israel).  *The italics and bold here are mine.

There never, ever was a country called Palestine. Even on my relatively old and slow computer, it took just seconds to get this information.

It's a good idea to look at this phrase, which I highlighted:

non-self-governing territories

What does that really mean?  It means that there was no independent country, no state.  Actually, prior to the decision to entrust Great Britain with those territories, to prepare the Jewish population to rule it.  The Jewish People had always been present in the Holy Land and were the only people who had self-rule there with thousands of years of history including many kings, judges etc. all recorded in the Bible. That's the same Bible also read and recognized by Christians.

From the destruction of the Second Holy Temple in Jerusalem until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Land was held/governed by invaders.  Prior to the British Mandate, the Ottomans (Turks) ruled for four hundred years.

The Turks ruled Palestine almost uninterruptedly for four hundred years. The only break in their rule was from 1832-1840 when Muhammet Ali, an Egyptian vassal of the Turkish Empire revolted against his patrons and conquered Palestine, Syria and parts of Asia Minor. However, with the assistance of the British and the Russians, the Ottomans regained control of the area. The price of this assistance was various capitulations to foreign governments that increasingly undermined the Turkish domination of the area. By the latter part of the century it was clear that without European assistance, the Ottoman Empire would have collapsed.

The Ottomans never controlled Palestine as a single unit. Instead they divided the immediate and surrounding areas into a number of villayets (districts) whose boundaries altered over the years.

At no point was there ever a "Palestine."

The idea of a "Palestine" was created to sabotage the mandated Jewish State. The lie has taken off and is considered true fact/history by most of the world including the major world leaders such as United States President Barack Hussein Obama, academics, intellectuals and the media, even Jews and in Israel.  The name/term "Palestine" was used to designate some land on a map, but there never was an actual people, culture etc. by that name.

We must reveal, publicize the full, complete picture.  Only the Jewish People have a national history in this part of the world.  It's our Land and nobody else's.

Drawn to The Past; The Bible Lives

After over thirty years of living in Shiloh I'm not the same person I was when we moved here September 1, 1981.  And it's not just a matter of being almost thirty-two years older than I was then. 

Living a short walk from where the Mishkan, holy Tabernacle had stood as the central point of Jewish Prayer for three hundred and sixty- nine years has done something to me, especially since I began a monthly pilgrimage to pray on Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of each Jewish Month at Tel Shiloh.

There are other Jewish women fighting over how one should pray at the Kotel, but davka, it's Shiloh which is the most ancient place for Jewish women's prayers.  It was at Shiloh where the Biblical Chanah, Hannah, had successfully prayed for a son.  Her mode of silent prayer, while obviously mouthing the words has been adopted by Jewish sages as the correct way to pray.

When I'm at Tel Shiloh and hear the traffic below, my mind goes to Biblical Eli, the Priest, who educated Chana's much awaited son Shmuel, and how he heard the hullabaloo of the unnamed runner arriving with the news of the capture of the Aron HaBrit, Holy Ark and the death of Eli's sons.  No doubt the sounds traveled up to Eli, HaKohen, like today's modern traffic can be heard by us.

It's easy to imagine Shiloh as a busy administrative and spiritual center when you see the large jugs that have been found by the archeologists.  Not only did Jews live here, but pilgrims came on the Jewish Holidays and all year long to pray.

Next month, G-d willing we'll be back at Shiloh HaKeduma to pray, again, together.

Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh
Rosh Chodesh Tammuz

Sunday, June 9, 2013

1 Tammuz 5773, 8:30am

Tour of Tel & Dvar Torah, Short Torah Lesson

Please come and invite family, friends and neighbors

תפילת נשים
ראש חודש תמוז בתל שילה
יום א' 9-6 א' תמוז תשע"ג 8:30
יהיה דבר תורה קצר וסיור בתל
נא לבוא, לפרסם ולהזמין חברות, משפחה ושכנות

 

 

There's now a very well kept up tourist center in Shiloh, Shiloh HaKeduma, at Tel Shiloh.  You can arrange tours and events there by emailing visit@telshilo.org.il or call 02-994-4019. 

Some Truth About Israel From Caroline Glick and Latma's Tribal Update

Caroline Glick's article this week is about Arab integration in Israeli society vs the NGO's, something the Left claims isn't happening.

A poll of Arab youth carried out in late 2007 made clear how widespread this integrationist impulse has become. Seventy-five percent of Arab youth aged 16 to 22 supported voluntary national service.

And yet, despite these sentiments and developments, Arab Israelis who seek to integrate into Israeli society and reject the separatist messages of their political leaders are forced to contend with extraordinary social pressures and even coercion to prevent them from acting in accordance with their wishes.

A study completed this week by Im Tirtzu exposes the vast array of NGOs generously funded by the supposedly pro-Israel New Israel Fund as well as by foreign governments which are running a campaign to oppose Cpl. Joseph and her comrades - Arabs and Jews alike. Since 1999, these groups have been conducting a campaign to undermine Arab integration into Israeli society specifically and to demoralize and reduce the social standing of those who serve in the IDF, national service and IDF reserves generally. The campaign is being carried out on a dual track of discouraging Israeli Arabs from serving in the IDF or national service, and of opposing government benefits to IDF veterans, reservists and those who undertook national service by claiming that these benefits unjustly discriminate against Israeli Arabs.

And Latma's Tribal Update exposes the "cool," calm, quiet in Arab villages, sings for Jerusalem and Bibi's priorities.

Chodesh Sivan Tov, A Good Month of Sivan to You

and Shabbat Shalom!

The Voters Are Complaining of Being Conned

Sometimes I really get a kick out of how Jewish things are here in Israel.  Yes, I do complain frequently that it's not Jewish enough, but once in a while there's one of those "wow, only in Israel" moments that keep me going for a long time. *Read to the end, please.

Yair Lapid, Israel's newbie Knesset Member, leader of the second largest political party, Yesh Atid and our Finance Minister had been coddled and  touted by the media as the "great white secular hope."  Now that they succeeded so well in getting him elected, he's in position to be criticized.  There isn't a ministry that attracts anger more than the Finance Ministry does.

A feature newscast about a local politician in a southern city who had campaigned for Lapid is now complaining bitterly.  His townspeople gave Yesh Atid a very high percentage of votes, and now with Lapid's austerity budget they are going to suffer greatly.  Lapid campaigned that he wanted to help the middle-class.  His budget which includes raising taxes and decreasing benefits makes life a bit harder for the upper middle-class, (the income that Lapid touts as being "middle,") but it means starvation for the lower middle-class and those who try to survive on minimum wage and standard fixed pensions.  That's most of the population.

The ministry is looking to cut government spending by some NIS 6.5 billion (almost $2 billion) in 2013 and by NIS 18 billion (some $5 billion) in 2014, largely through the cuts in defense, child benefits (NIS 2 billion or $560 million) and transportation infrastructure projects (NIS 1.2 billion or $336 million). (complete article)

NRP aka Bayit Yehudi's Naftali Bennet has expressed his full support.

On Thursday, Economics Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) came out with emphatic support for his political ally Lapid.

That has his voters upset, too.  Miriam blogged this:

If this headline is true, you will not get another vote from my family. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/167877#.UYua9qLfCSo

We are pensioners who like many seniors live on a fixed income. Raising the VAT to 18% is going to hurt. Chopping the child family allowance is dreadful, and adding 18% VAT to basic daily..fruits and vegetables is immoral. Most people use their family allowance to help pay for grocery and school bills [tuition, clothes]. The average family will not be able to buy fruits and vegetables for their children. Fruits and vegetable promote good health. Adding the VAT to hotels will keep many tourist away and that will hurt our economy. The domino effect, employees will loose their jobs, putting more people to seek unemployment benefits. MK Bennett, we didn't vote for you to team up with Yair Lapid..He says, "I'm not my father" the truth is he is worse than his father..his father went through hell and back, what's Lapid's excuse..I'll tell you, he is an elitist who doesn't live from pay check to pay check and doesn't care about families that do..We didn't vote for you to be the anti haredi spokes person..some of your comments leave me shaking my head. We voted for you, because you said you would protect Eretz Yisrael...Bibi is calling for a building freeze in Yehuda, Shomron and East Jerusalem. Why aren't you screaming "NO, NOT ON MY WATCH!" Up to now, your actions have made me very sorry I wasted my vote on your party...  

*The TV news broadcast ended with:

"This is not the son we prayed for."

I had to laugh.  That's a play on a very famous Biblical verse.  It's from Chana's Prayer.  And davka the story of Chana took place in Shiloh.

1 Samuel Chapter 1 שְׁמוּאֵל א

כז  אֶל-הַנַּעַר הַזֶּה, הִתְפַּלָּלְתִּי; וַיִּתֵּן יְהוָה לִי אֶת-שְׁאֵלָתִי, אֲשֶׁר שָׁאַלְתִּי מֵעִמּוֹ.

27 For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath granted me my petition which I asked of Him;

Simply put, a large percentage of Israeli voters feel they were conned.

Chodesh Tov and Shabbat Shalom.  I must hurry up to join my friends for Rosh Chodesh Prayers at Shiloh HaKeduma, Tel Shiloh.

Proudly Israeli as a Jew

Last year at Yafiz, we had a variety of little boy sports outfits for sale.  They are faux soccer team uniforms kiddie size for all sorts of international teams.  As soon as the "end of season sale" had started, I quickly bought one to fit my grandson this year.  It's funny.  I doubt if he would have wanted to wear it last year, since then he wasn't very interested in sporty things. But this year I've seen him in it a number of times.  Kids grow up and change.

For some reason, it isn't very "in" in some Israeli circles to be patriotic.  Of course, we ought to define "patriotic."  On the Left of the Israeli political spectrum, the concept of "patriotic" is very different from on the Right.  The Left wants to see Israel is a state for all its residents, stressing multiculturalism. They worry that Arabs aren't comfortable living in a country established as a refuge for Jews to be a Jewish State for the Jewish People.  So they are trying to dilute the Jewishness of Israel.  The Israeli singer Ahinoam "Noa" Nini is one of those, so there were many complaints that she had been hired as a featured singer at the Jerusalem Day celebrations.

Gabay said that Nini has, on several times in the past, voiced her support for the Arabs and the Palestinian Authority, saying that their claims were more valid than Israel's. Nini, a radical leftist, does not belong on a Jerusalem stage, Gabay told Arutz Sheva. “Jerusalem Day is a national holiday that represents the unity and sovereignty of of the city. A singer who makes speeches and expresses support for a Palestinian state, with its capital in Jerusalem, cannot sing on this day. She can participate in other events, but not this one,” he added.

The point of Jerusalem Day is to celebrate the fact that the parts of Jerusalem, which had been illegally occupied by Jordan from 1948-1967, were liberated by the IDF on the third day of the 1967 Six Days War.  Someone who thinks that our victory harmed the enemy-Jordan, Syria and Egypt had planned on destroying Israel- and identifies with the enemy isn't much of a patriot.

I listened to Israeli President Shimon Peres's Jerusalem Day speech and he too, another extreme Leftist, stressed that Jerusalem should be for all its residents, not primarily Jewish ones.  This is very troubling and dangerous for our continued existence.

I'm not advocating banishing all Jews from Israel.  I just consider it of the utmost importance to make it clear de facto and de jure that Israel is to always be a Jewish country, not a multinational, multicultural one.

The Hawking Boycott, Fact or Fiction?

Today, as if Israel has no more pressing needs, the media is full of news about Stephen Hawking.  Is his change in travel plans, his cancellation of a trip to Israel due to a medical issue or an ideological one?

By the time I came home today, lots of keyboards have been pounded about the question.  First it was stated that he's staying away to boycott us.  And then I saw on Algemeiner.com that it was simply a deterioration in his medical situation. 

It turns out that Stephen Hawking’s cancelled trip to Israel is not a matter of boycotting the Jewish state, but rather merely a result of his health.
The Guardian, which broke the faux story late last night, claimed that Hawking was to boycott the Presidential Conference in Jerusalem next month after receiving an erroneous statement from the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP),  which claimed that it had issued it with Hawking’s approval.
The statement said that the move was “his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there.”

His Israeli fans were relieved and worried after hearing that news.

Then another news item was published saying that he is boycotting Israel.

A University spokesman told The Algemeiner that “We have now received confirmation from Professor Hawking’s office that a letter was sent on Friday to the Israeli President’s office regarding his decision not to attend the Presidential Conference, based on advice from Palestinian academics that he should respect the boycott.

IMHO, if he really likes and respects those Arabs so much, then he should be declared persona non grata and not allowed to enter Israel at all. 

Yes, the same should be for all of the international  extreme Leftists.

Just because Stephen Hawking has survived and functioned longer than probably anyone else with ALS doesn't make him right and correct in terms of his opinions and ideology, especially his opinion about Israel.  Everyone should stop judging him as some sort of miracle novelty item and listen to what he says and look at what he does.  Hawkin's support of the Arabs whose aim is the destruction of the State of Israel makes him a very dangerous man.  We shouldn't let sympathy for his medical condition cloud and distort our feelings for him.  If he prefers our enemies, then he is one of them, an enemy of the State of Israel.

Bibi Mocks The Six Days War

When G-d facilitated Israel's unexpected and glorious victory in the 1967 Six Days War, it was very obvious to many of us that we were supposed to have rapidly and enthusiastically begun settling all of the Holy Land liberated as a result of that victory.

Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley, Golan and the Sinai  were pretty empty.  Those lands had never been independent countries.  There had never been a "Palestine," sic, not there nor in pre-1967 Israel.  The Golan had been used as a launching pad for missile launchings and terror attacks on Jews in the valley below.  The kings of Jordan ignored and didn't develop the Jordan Valley, Judaea and Samaria.  When we first began visiting Shiloh in 1981, the few phones were via old-fashioned operators.  It was Israel that brought in electricity, modern phone systems, piped water and sewerage. Remember that this was the late twentieth century when computers were becoming popular all over the developed world.  Shiloh, even though it has always been a well-known archeological and Jewish religious site, was only reachable by a difficult to traverse path. It shouldn't be forgotten that Jordan illegally had taken over all of that land and eastern Jerusalem.  They took advantage of their closeness to Israel to send in terrorists and have snipers shoot at Israelis.

The Sinai was a loosely controlled buffer protecting Israel's south. But it, too, was a popular route for those who wanted to attack Israelis.

It's now forty-six years after the Six Days War.  Egypt now "controls" the Sinai, since then Prime Minister Menachem Begin, soon after his historic election in 1977, gave it to Egypt.  And a very large part of Judea-Samaria is in the de facto and even de jure control of local Arabs and the P.A.

 

Jews who live in Judea-Samaria are treated as second class citizens of Israel.  We're constantly maligned by politicians, the media and academics.  Even though we pay full taxes, we don't get full benefits. One example is the "TV Radio Broadcasting Tax."  All television owners in Israel, including Jews in Land liberated in the 1967 Six Days War are required by law to pay this tax.  Inspectors even go around the yishuvim, aka "settlements" fining families who own televisions but don't pay.  There's a big problem here.  The Broadcasting Authority doesn't broadcast to us.  We have never gotten the same TV reception you'd get in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheba, kibbutzim all over or Eilat.

It's also much, much more complicated to get building permits.  Supply and demand aren't factors in government decisions.  It's all politics.  The larger cities and communities in Judea and Samaria such as Ma'ale Adumim, Efrat and Ariel have suffered the most. Thousands of people want to buy homes in those communities and the government, that's the Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu,  keeps refusing to finalize permits, even after announcing that he is in favor of building.

Will this refusal by Bibi to sign the tenders break up his coalition? Many of Bayit Yehudi's voters and MK's won't stand for it.  By refusing to allow building for Jews in Judea and Samaria, Bibi is making a farce out of our great 1967 victory. 

War or Not War on The Syrian Front?

Please don't get me wrong. I don't like war. So when I recommend fighting our (Israel's) enemies it's not from a love of fighting.  It's strictly because I want us to live and survive.  It's like chemotherapy and surgery as a cure for cancer.  I've never heard of anyone who enjoys and looks forward to that. But if you want to live in good health, sometimes you must take difficult, unpleasant and risky steps.

As of late, Israel doing just that with Syria on our northern border.  Our military actions there are G-d willing going to prevent that enemy of world peace, Syria, from getting stronger and more dangerous.  Arlene Kushner has been writing some excellent articles about the issue/situation.  Here's the latest.

The original expectation that Syria would not retaliate for Israel's hits inside of that country appears to be holding true:
A Syrian government official has indicated that Syria would not be responding "immediately:  "Syria will respond to the Israeli aggression and will choose the moment to do so. It might not be immediate because Israel now is on high alert.  We will wait but we will answer."
It has been suggested that statements by Israel regarding the need to prevent Iranian weaponry from making its way to Hezbollah provides a possible out for Syria. While indeed, the strikes were on Syrian soil, they weren't intended as attacks on Syria -- which would require a response. (complete article)

And of course the best way to prevent war is prevention.  This Times of Israel article explains that.

photo credit: Yossi Zeliger/Flash90

On June 7, 1981, eight F-16s destroyed Saddam Hussein’s Osirak nuclear reactor in Baghdad. Less than a day later, the government of prime minister Menachem Begin acknowledged that the Israel Air Force was behind the attack, acting on the imperative to prevent an enemy state from obtaining nuclear weapons.

In 2013, three airstrikes were carried out in Syria — one on January 30 and two over the past weekend — that reportedly destroyed weapons convoys on their way to Israel’s enemies in Lebanon. All three attacks were blamed on Israel, but the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained radio silence. (In February, then-defense minister Ehud Barak hinted at Israeli involvement in the earlier strike but stopped short of directly acknowledging it.)  (complete article)

Israel is celebrating Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day, tonight and tomorrow.  It's now forty-six (46) years since the 1967 Six Days War, when Israel survived a war against three enemy states, Egypt Jordan and Syria.  Their expressed and publicized aim had been to destroy Israel push all Israelis into the sea to die.  This was no surprise attack.  They, Ehypt, Syria and Jordan proudly announced this to all as they gathered their troops. Egypt ordered the United Nations to take away the "peacekeeper" forces that had been stationed just to prevent such an attack. And the United Nations quickly complied with Nasser's demands.

World Jewry prayed and the world stood by, watched and waited to see what would happen.  That's why when I hear those useless, bombastic promises by American leaders to "stand by" Israel if we're attacked, I find no comfort.  I remember what standing by really means.  It's waiting like vultures to pick up the scraps that would be left, G-d forbid, if Israel was to be destroyed. We can't count on anyone, just G-d and ourselves.

There's an Israel Hayom article by Dr. Ronen Yitzchak that discusses how unreliable United States President Barack Hussein Obama and other western leaders are when it comes to following through on their threats.

The West does not really want to intervene

In a December 4 speech at the National Defense University at Fort McNair, Obama said "I want to make it absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command, the world is watching. The use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable. And if you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences and you will be held accountable."

Damascus received warnings from other European leaders as well. British Prime Minister David Cameron warned of a military option should Assad cross the red line and French president Francois Hollande declared unequivocally that "the international community will not stand idly by."

...

This is Obama's moment of truth. The lack of an appropriate military response in Syria will prove to the world, and especially to Iran, that his threats hold no weight. The conclusion is obvious: In the long run, Israel will not be able to rely on Western threats against Iran's nuclear program, because when push comes to shove they could turn out to be empty threats.

The West will not agree with Israel's red line, and will have a hard time admitting it was ever crossed. It will seek compromises and dither -- past the stage when it is possible to act militarily. (complete article)

 

The United States is an enormous country.  Even taking into account, attacks like the Boston marathon bombing, the continued existence of the USA is never in danger.  The same holds for  most of the west, so they haven't a clue as to the security needs of the State of Israel.  And in all honesty, I don't think they care.

The State of Israel must make its security decisions and policy according to what is best for us and not follow any other country's advice.

And will there be a war with Syria?  I don't know. But one thing for sure is that we must weaken them and show no fear.

Jewish Funerals and Jewish Mourning Customs

I was going to post about security, politics, the more usual topics, but considering that I had been at two funerals and a wedding in less than twenty-four hours, the funerals are weighing in more on my thoughts than the lofty news in the media.

Unfortunately, in the almost forty-three years I've been in Israel I've attended dozens and dozens of funerals.  Some have been under the broiling, bright sun and others have been late at night, even starting after midnight.

According to Jewish Law, one is to have the funeral as soon, as quickly as possible, because it's considered cruel to the body to make it wait for burial.

In Shiloh we have adopted the Jerusalem custom of nighttime funerals, sometimes just a few hours after death.  Scheduling a funeral for midnight or later is not unheard of, especially when the person had died on Shabbat.  That's what happened just this Saturday night in Shiloh.  It was the second time in recent months when a neighbor died on Shabbat or minutes later, and then we buried him a few hours after Shabbat.

Our Chevra Kadisha, burial society, is local and quickly prepares the pre-dug grave in the local cemetery.  A few months ago, it was winter, so Shabbat ended early, and we had time for a "two stop" funeral.  The custom is to take the body to his/her home, synagogue etc. on the way to the cemetery.  That neighbor had a sizable part of his funeral by the yeshiva where he had worked and studied for over thirty years.  Then we took him to the cemetery for the final prayers, eulogies and burial.  We arrived home after 2am.

Saturday night, being spring, after Shabbat was very late, so the family decided to do the entire formal funeral service at the cemetery.  There were a number of eulogies from members of his large family.  And then he was buried in the Land he loved so enormously.

Jewish Law does not demand that people dress in "formal black" for a funeral.  We don't dress up like that.  It's a Christian custom. 

At an Israeli funeral you'll see bright colors and prints on the mourning family and friends.  The official halachik, according to Jewish Law, mourners know that their shirts will be ripped.  The ripped clothes will be worn the entire weeklong shiva period, except for Shabbat.  Bathing and combing of hair also isn't permitted except before Shabbat.  Shabbat overrides mourning. 

There are mourning customs that continue for thirty days after death, such as no shaving/haircutting, new clothes, listening to music and more.  If one is mourning for a parent, most of those restrictions continue for eleven months or a year.  Jewish holidays, such as Rosh Hashnnah, Yom Kippur, Shavuot and first day of Succot and of Passover cancel the shiva and thirty day שלושים shloshim restrictions.   For more details about it, contact your local Orthodox Rabbi, LOR or other expert source.

During shiva, the mourners should be cared for by friends and relatives who are not required to sit shiva.  Food should be prepared, phones answered etc.  The mourner may talk on the phone but it's nicer if someone else answers to make sure all the calls are necessary.

It's not the purpose of shiva to entertain visitors.  It's customary to bring food the mourner can eat or serve to those who had come from afar.  Sfardim, Jews from North Africa have the custom of providing various foods for the visitor to say blessings out loud.  Some, like the Yemenites, have feasts every night to honor the dead.

Li'ilu'i nishmatam

May their souls be elevated...

Who is Bombing Syria? I Don't Care! My Enemy's Enemy is My Friend

Syria is a very dangerous country.  It's not just dangerous to Israel.  It threatens its own citizens, neighboring Arab countries and is a danger to that nebulous concept of "world peace."

So, the fact that "somebody" is bombing it doesn't really bother me, as long as its aim is accurate, hits the Syrian target and doesn't harm Israel in any way.

A series of explosions were heard in Damascus overnight Saturday, as the official Syrian news agency SANA claimed that Israel carried out a rocket attack on the Jamraya scientific research center in Damascus.

And from CNN:

An image taken from a Youtube video purportedly shows an explosion on a mountain filmed from a Damascus suburb Saturday.

(CNN) -- Syria accused Israel of firing rockets into the Damascus suburb of Jamraya on Sunday, striking a "scientific research center," Syrian state TV reported.

It is the second Syrian claim this year of a strike against what observers have described as a government defense research facility, and it comes one day after U.S. officials first told CNN that the United States believes Israel carried out an airstrike against Syria.

Israel Defense Forces declined to comment on the Syrian TV report. "We do not comment on these reports at all," an IDF spokesperson said.

This is the way a dangerous country should be stopped, not with talk and idle threats, the way it's being done with Iran.  The big problem now with stopping Iran's nuclear development is that it has been going on for years, and years and years already.  The whole world knows about it, and the whole world has heard rumors that Israel will bomb them like it did to Iraq decades ago if...   Well, it's impossible for Israel to bomb Iran the way it did Iraq way back when, because when then Prime Minister Menachem Begin ordered the air strike, it caught the world by surprise.  There hadn't been years and years of public and international discussion about the pros and cons and whether or not the United States would approve, support the move etc.



It's dangerous to delay in destroying enemies, just like when you delay treatment against cancer, the cancer grows and spreads.  So, I really don't care what country is bombing the chemical weapons plants in Syria. They should just do a good and complete job of it.

According to The Polls, Lapid's Still on a Roll

As many of you have known for a long time, I'm as out of the box as they come.  My opinions rarely are the popular ones.  If the Smith poll, which IMRA wrote about here, had asked me my opinion wouldn't be like most others. The poll shows/indicates that Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid political party is gaining in support and would receive as many seats as the combined Likud Beitenu, Likud & Yisrael Beiteinu.  Many of the new voters would be those who are abandoning Kadima and Tsipi Livni's Movement. If elections held today (expressed in Knesset seats) Current Knesset seats in [brackets]. Please note: There are 120 seats in the Knesset. Parties must receive a minimum of 2% of the valid votes cast in the elections to be included in the Knesset - this comes to 2.4 seats. After elections are held the coalition forming a government must receive 61 votes in a vote of confidence in the Knesset. 30 [31] Likud Beiteinu (Likud & Yisrael Beiteinu) 30 [19] Lapid "Yesh Atid" Party 13 [12] Bayit Yehudi 12 [15] Labor 10 [11] Shas 07 [07] Yahadut Hatorah 07 [06] Meretz 00 [06] Livni party "Hatnua" Party 00 [02] Kadima 11 [11] Arab parties Of course this poll is just taking into account the political parties in today's Knesset.  Every time we have new elections, new parties sprout up like weeds. And to be super honest, I don't see a party I'd vote for.   Actually, Lapid as Finance Minister, isn't doing all that well.  After campaigning to reduce the budget, he's now raising it.  Actually he had planned on increasing it much more but was taught that Israel would suffer in terms of its rating. Following a downgrade to Israel's S&P credit rating Thursday night, Finance Minister Yair Lapid on Friday backed down on his proposal to raise the 2013 deficit target to 4.9% of GDP from its current 3%, agreeing to set it at 4.65% instead. Arutz 7 reports something very troubling about Lapid and how he's functioning as Finance Minister.   "On Thursday it was reported that Lapid planned to increase the deficit target for 2013 to 4.9%. The move was met with anger because Lapid did not involve Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in his deliberations. Lapid's decision surprised Bank of Israel head Stanley Fischer as well. Fischer reportedly first heard of the news on Thursday evening as he landed in the United States."   It would be better if Lapid was more a team player.  He's not supposed to be making such policy decisions on his own.  Of course this is my opinion, and not all Israelis seem to agree with me.

Latma Explains Obama's "Red Line," Great Stand-Up

Latma's Tribal Update gets better and better:

This week on the Tribal Update, the weekly satirical newscast brought to you by Latma the Hebrew-language satirical media criticism website I run, we bring you and exclusive interview with US President Barack Obama, fresh from his brilliant performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

We also bring you an interview with a senior executive at Channel 10 in which he discusses the station's failure to notice alleged serial sexual harassment by the station's star, journalist Emmanuel Rosen.

Enjoy the show!
Latma is funded by donations from private individuals who believe that the voice of Zionism must be heard, loud and clear, in Israel and throughout the world. We need your help in order to stay open and continue sounding our voices.
If you are in the United States, Latma is funded by donations to the David Horowitz Freedom Center's Israel Security Project which I direct. If you would like to contribute to our work, which is funded entirely by viewer contributions, please go to this link.
For donations outside the US, here is a link to the donations page for our Israeli non-profit, the Zionist Incubator. You can make credit card donations to Latma by contributing to our non-profit.

Don't you agree?

And read Caroline Glick's latest article.

No, NO, NO!!! No Giving Away Our Land and No Referendum!!!

I am totally, that's 100% against any referendum about giving away our precious Holy Land.  Giving the Arabs more land shouldn't be an option.  Anyone in favor of a referendum is in favor of giving up Land.  And I'm against giving up Land to anyone, anyone at all.

The latest popular trial balloon many Israeli politicians have tried recently is the "referendum" option.  The government obviously has no principles, no ideals and no concept of who and what we Jewish People really are.  These government officials, the Prime Minister, his coalition, cabinet and too many of the MKs, Knesset Members aren't leaders.  They are followers.  They'll do and say anything to stay in office and increase their power.  But in actuality they aren't using their power in a positive way.  They aren't leading us to make the State of Israel better and stronger.

These politicians have no real Vision. Vision, or חזון Chazone, is best translated as idealism. The ideal/utopia these politicians dream of isn't a Jewish one.  They want to be accepted by the nations of the world, but that isn't what makes the Jewish People/State a light for all nations, the Jewish term they like to bandy about when trying to add some Jewish content to their pronouncements/policies/trial "balloons."

Unfortunately, our politicians and media and academics are willing to do anything to get the world's approval.  Nothing much has changed since this Dry Bones:

Pressuring Israel (1978)

Today's cartoon is 32 years old. I drew it in 1978. The latest news (at the time of this writing) is a trial balloon rumor of what America will "give" us if our Prime minister will bow to their demands.
What is offered (and was offered in 1978) is "continued support" if we will do as we're told! The clear message to the enemies of the West then, and now, is that American support of Israel is conditional. A message which is welcome news to the Arab, Turkish, and Iranian regimes which refuse to accept the UN's 1947 call for a Jewish State in Palestine.

The more we grovel, AKA offer concessions, the more pressure we'll be under.  And the PR campaign to convince the Israeli public, the voters, the citizens to approve giving Arab terrorists our precious Land will be the most professional, scientific, distorted, filled with lies and tricks of any marketing campaign in the history of the world.

Israelis, your ordinary Israeli will think he/she has no choice or we'll be wiped off the map.  And if we G-d forbid do the referendum and then give the Arab terrorists our Land, we will be wiped off the map again.  How long will it then take for us to return? That I don't know, but this Modern State of Israel is built on the history of thousands of years.  For two thousand years, the Land of Israel had a scattering of Jews and no other nation or people ruled here as an independent country.   That's right.  THERE NEVER WAS A "PALAESTINIAN" STATE OR NATION.  The lie that we took over their country/land is an outrageous lie that has taken on the semblance of truth, because people keep on repeating it.

Those who want us destroyed are working hard to sway Israeli public opinion, including our politicians that our only chance for peace is to endanger ourselves and do what no other nation would ever be willing to do. That is to give our Land to the enemy that has sworn to destroy us.