Conflicts in the Middle East

The Seventy Faces of Torah

2026-07-28T11:00:57.491+03:00

According to an ancient Jewish legend, there are 70 faces of Torah (Chumash - the Five Books of Moses). These are divided into sidrot (Torah portions) read in the synagogue on every Sabbath morning.

The phrase "70 faces of Torah" (in Hebrew, shiv'im panim la'Torah) is a foundational Jewish concept expressing the idea that the Torah is multi-layered and can be interpreted in countless valid ways. It means there is no single, one-dimensional truth to the text; rather, every verse can yield multiple insights and perspectives, much like a diamond with many glinting facets. [1, 2, 3, 4]

The origins of the concept and how it is applied include:

1. The Origin of the Phrase

The exact expression "the Torah has seventy faces" first appears in the medieval Midrash Numbers Rabbah, which was compiled around the 12th century. The sages derived the number 70 through gematria (Hebrew numerology). In Hebrew, the word for "wine" (yayin) has a numerical value of 70. Because the Torah is frequently compared to wine—which deepens and gets better with age—the sages concluded there are 70 valid modes of expounding the text. [1, 2, 3]

2. The Symbolism of the Number 70

In Jewish tradition, 70 is a typological number that signifies "completion" or "a whole set". It often refers to the completeness of the world, such as the traditional belief that there are 70 nations and 70 languages. Applying this to the Torah means the text contains a complete, all-encompassing set of truths that speak to the entirety of the human experience. [1, 2, 3, 4].

However, if we think of what is happening in Israel today with the 70 faces of Torah and various interpretations and commentaries, some of which may be antagonistic towards each other and a source of disagreement among Torah scholars. This is when the Yeshiva students engage in "pilpul," or arguments among themselves, over the correct commentary on various aspects of Torah teachings.

In Israel, some sects in the ultra-Orthodox community are not all that uniform in their various interpretations. The extremist sects are against compulsory service in the IDF to defend Israel from its enemies and seem to follow one face of Torah that is against defending one's country against Israel's enemies. The Torah Face number that allows for this interpretation is unknown. Is it possible that this Torah Face is a face that is part of Satan's attempt to create evil and to ensure the destruction of the Jewish People by being one of the Faces of Torah? Maybe it is the completion of the number 70? This is the way their Rabbis interpret it, by being against defending Israel by the defence forces. Praying for peace rather than defence by arms is known to be totally ineffectual in Israel's defence. This appears to be the desire of Satan that has entered into many sectors of the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi Community) and the strong influence of its rabbis. Official religious coercion seems to also be part of their tactics.

Nous Accusons!

2024-03-29T12:08:00.002+03:00

The history of Israel since its establishment in 1948 can be divided into 2 parts:

Part 1. Before October 7th 2023.

Part 2. After October 7th 2023.

The definition of “Zionism” simply is the belief in the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish People — nothing more and nothing less. There is nothing political about it at all. Today, “Zionism” has been twisted in many directions: racism, occupation of Palestinian lands and the most dominant is synonymous with anti-Semitism. The Jewish People, before the establishment of the State of Israel, were a persecuted minority in the Diaspora. The culmination of this anti-Semitism reached a peak in Nazi Germany, resulting in the Holocaust and the murder of 6 million Jews.

The establishment of the State of Israel was a big challenge and resulted in the Palestinian refugee problem that had never really been solved. We are all aware of the countless wars and acts of terrorism over the years, resulting in a tragic loss of lives on both sides. This was associated with Part I of Israel’s history.

Part 2, preconceptions of Israel’s Intelligence and Security services were proved wrong and inaccurate and the slaughter, rapes, kidnapping of hostages and destruction of homes of kibbutz members on the southern frontiers by Hamas terrorist savages was the result.

https://www.hamas-massacre.net/categories/the-nova-party-massacre

https://www.hamas-massacre.net/

Israel will never be the same after October 7th 2023. This is the Jewish People’s Holocaust number two in their homeland under the rule of Netanyahu’s phoney security bluff. Now these evil coalition fascists controlling Netanyahu have made their priority the destruction of Hamas and not the freeing of the hostages. Itamar Ben Gvir and Betzalel Smotrich, the puppeteers who pull the strings that control PM Netanyahu. Families of the hostages have been demonstrating for the release of their families held in Gaza under the most inhuman conditions. At the same time, the evil Netanyahu Coalition plays politics and false lip service to the freeing of hostages. The police are molesting the demonstrators, whose families are in captivity.

For years, we were all deceived by the Netanyahu Government coalition and after the various campaigns against the Hamas terrorists in Gaza that never solved the firing of missiles into Israel. The Iron Dome anti-missile system had saved many lives. We were led to believe that Hamas terror was halted. The Intelligence and Security forces underestimated Hamas' strength. There was no knowledge of the existence of over 500 Km of underground tunnels in Gaza, right under the noses of the IDF: so close to home! They also underestimated the strength of Hamas, who used these tunnels as shelters for terrorists as well as stores for their missiles. These tunnels were under hospitals, schools, and mosques in Gaza. Kibbutz members on the border with Gaza had been complaining for a long time that they heard activity and vibrations under their homes that were unheeded by the security authorities. Nothing was done! Hamas was given plenty of time by Israel’s Intelligence and Security Services to build underground tunnels under Gazan Cities.

Tatzpitaniyot on duty (Photo: Haim Horenstein)

Tatzpitaniyot (soldier observers, usually on the borders, who observe movements of suspected enemy activity against Israel). They had warned their superiors of suspicious activity, and it appeared that they were preparing for terrorist activity against Israel before October 7th 2023. The officers in charge had threatened these observers with court-martial for spreading rumours. The Macchio officers refused to believe these warnings from their “inferiors”. Hopefully these “know-all”, negligent officers will be found guilty under a Commission of Enquiry established after the Gaza War. What is the purpose of having tatzpitaniyot if their superiors do not take notice of their warnings of danger? Apart from that, they are the “eyes of Israel” that do important work and whose lives were endangered as well on October 7th 2023. Their contribution to Israel’s security has been compromised, and the results of neglect of their importance played into the hands of the Hamas Nuqba savages.

Now the Gaza War continues unabated, resulting in the loss of lives of close to more than 32000 innocent Gazans that has left most of us in a tremendous conscience dilemma including the lives of our soldiers. While Israel has achieved a strategic victory but has not won the war, the 134 hostages’ fate hangs in the balance. Netanyahu’s credibility is close to zero, and his popularity has fallen. It is in the evil coalition government’s interest to keep the war going, as this keeps Netanyahu in power and avoids his criminal legal problems. There is no doubt that new elections must be held as soon as possible. This evil coalition government is not achieving anything by misinforming the public and creating a rift with President Joe Biden, who has been more than a friend to Israel with the help he has authorised for Israel’s benefit.

Families of the hostages are demonstrating in their thousands to have the government make a greater effort to get the hostages released, rather than paying useless lip service to achieve this. The police are acting against these families with brutality. Israeli authorities investigate reports of police brutality after anti-gov. protest in Tel Aviv

A question we cannot avoid asking is: Where were the security forces at the time when Hamas terrorist savages managed with such ease to break through the security fences with bulldozers?

Israel has the right to defend itself from an enemy attack. There was every justification for Israel to protect its citizens from Hamas terrorist attacks. The support of Hamas by the Palestinians, according to Palestinian polls, is very high. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/gazans-back-two-state-solution-rcna144183

https://www.pcpsr.org/en/node/ Dr. Khalil Shikaki, Director and Senior Researcher: Associate Professor of Political Science, Ph.D. in Political Science, graduated from Columbia University in 1985

Dr Khalil Shikaki of the Palestinian Centre for Policy Survey Research, polls are reliable and accurate. This gives a good picture of Palestinian thinking and support of Hamas. The conclusion of these polls proves that Hamas by their admission are not interested in peace with Israel and are interested in Israel’s destruction and the establishment of a fanatic Islamist caliphate and the destruction of the Jewish People. The 7th October 2023 Holocaust is proof of Hamas's intentions. The leadership of Hamas have reiterated that they were prepared to carry out this genocide repeatedly.

Hamas’s October 7 Attack: Visualizing the Data

Much of this “Netanyahu War” is Bibi's fault. What was unmentioned was the amount of Qatari Dollars cash in suitcases authorised by Netanyahu to “rehabilitate” Gaza at the rate of 33 million Qatari Dollars a month. Undoubtedly, he did this to create a “divide and rule” situation between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. These Qatari Dollars were not used to rehabilitate Gaza, but rather for Hamas projects of terror tunnels and weaponry and of course the slaughter on the southern frontier of Israel.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/world/middleeast/israel-qatar-money-prop-up-hamas.html?auth=login-google1tap&login=google1tap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBdn2gyRR_g&ab_channel=Firstpost

The Right-wing Coalition Government must be blamed for the October 7th 2023 tragedy. It could have been avoided, as the government was warned about the manoeuvres of Hamas terrorists on Israel’s southern border with Gaza. We were all led to believe that Hamas was not interested in having any military confrontation with Israel, and Islamic Jihad fired missiles into Israel. This went on for many years, including the launching of incendiary balloons.

Another factor is the neutralisation of Israel’s security forces that were involved over the years in keeping the demonstrating citizens who were against the retrogressive court “reforms” to keep Netanyahu out of prison. These demonstrations were obviously under Hamas observation for nearly a year in 2023. Even Israel’s reserve air force personnel refused to do reserve duty to keep Netanyahu in power. Hamas was aware of Israel’s vulnerability, and they chose October 7th, 2023 to attack Israel with ease by crossing and destroying the security fences.

We accuse Israel’s “Mr Security” (Crime Minister) PM Netanyahu and his cabinet of clowns, intelligence, and security services for the tragedy of October 7th, 2023. They had failed to protect Israel’s citizens.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/world/middleeast/israel-qatar-money-prop-up-hamas.html?auth=login-google1tap&login=google1tap

All that I Believed and Hoped for, has been Shattered

2024-01-08T14:30:00.000+02:00

All that I believed and hoped for has been shattered. The cause of this was the horrific massacre of Israelis on 7th October 2023. I have always said and believed that Israel had failed to treat the occupied Palestinians fairly and plundered their lands as well as settling it with right-wing religious zealots over the years. These fanatic zealots and messianic settlers have enormous representation in the present Netanyahu extremist right-wing coalition. The violence of these right-wing fanatics also played a part in increasing the Palestinian hatred of Israel. On the other hand, Hamas-ISIS never recognised Israel's right to exist. According to them, the occupation began the day Israel was established in 1948. Hence, generations of Palestinians were brainwashed to hate Israel and Jews generally. Israel could have made a more effective effort to safeguard Palestinian human rights, which they failed to do. All of Israel's governments are to blame. Integration of education where Jews and Palestinians should have been made compulsory to attend integrated schools at an early age. This would have played a part in building a multiracial society living in peace. This was never done, and any attempt to educate the pupils not to hate was never achieved.

Unfortunately, this is the reality with all the horrors of suffering on both sides.

I cannot remain neutral when people here, who hate the present evil coalition and have helped the Palestinians, are tortured and murdered. I happen to know people whose homes have been destroyed by marauding terrorists. It could happen to us too. In this situation, I cannot remain neutral and keep to my beliefs but rather modify them to suit the situation as best I can. The IDF is protecting us, and many soldiers have lost their lives in their endeavour to protect us Israelis. Israel never realised how strong and well-armed Hamas-ISIS is. This dilemma, most of us face on the peace spectrum.

The Purpose of Yom Kippur

2023-09-25T11:45:00.000+03:00

The purpose of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is to cleanse oneself from one's sins and ask for forgiveness from one's fellow human beings for wrongs committed against them, whether intentional or unintentional. This of course includes slander ("lashon ra" in Hebrew). Before entering the synagogue on the eve of Yom Kippur the Kol Nidrei (All Vows) chant is recited or sung by the officiating cantor (chazzan). Forgiveness must be requested from one's neighbours before entering the synagogue and requesting from The Almighty. The fast begins before entering the synagogue for the Kol Nidrei service.

Israel's Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox political religious leaders in the Knesset, who fast on Yom Kippur should be asking for forgiveness before embarking on their fast for their slander against Arabs, non-Jews, refugees, left-wingers and fellow Jews who happen to be Reform or Conservative believers of Judaism. According to Halacha, these pseudo-religious hateful slanderers holding ministerial posts in the Knesset have broken the precepts of the Yom Kippur fast before it has even started.

The meaning of the fast for many traditionally observant Jews is to identify with the Am Ehad (One People). There is no such thing! Thanks to the present satanic, evil government of Judaic mutants that are leading the country with a xenophobic, racist "Jewish" supremacist outlook that is encouraged by their right-wing, rabbis give one the feeling that they hold the monopoly on Judaism in Israel.

I cannot identify with this kind of Judaism that rules Israel and is led by rabbinical bigots, who slander those who don't hold their despicable worldviews. Fasting in Israel is an exercise in futility and is meaningless when one has no purpose in identifying with such awful Jewish mutants led by satanic rabbis with enormous power in the Knesset. Some of them and religious cabinet ministers are a disgrace to Israel and the Jewish People. A right-wing extremist Jewish terrorist, who is found guilty of murdering the Dawabshe family in Duma by burning down their home, is considered a "tzaddik"(Saint) by a large amount of religious right-wing Zealots, who have raised over a million shekels to have him freed from prison. This is not a fringe group of thugs; they have fascist representation in the Knesset that supports them.

Tragic Deaths in Israeli-Palestinian Towns

2023-08-23T10:41:00.000+03:00

The tragic death of four Palestinian Israeli Citizens by a gang of Palestinian Arab murderers is shocking. Words of condemnation of the murder of innocent people, who have a right no less than Jewish Israelis for personal security against crime gangs in Arab Israeli towns. The number of innocent Palestinian Israeli Arabs murdered has risen to 159 since the beginning of this year. The blame lies with criminal suspect, PM Netanyahu and his fascist right-wing, scumbag cabinet ministers in the Knesset. The Minister of National “Jewish” Security, who refers to Jewish terrorists, who go on a rampage of killing innocent Palestinians, as “heroes”.

Ben Gvir has a history of incitement against Arab citizens of Israel and took part holding demonstrations with placards written “Death to the Arabs” with his fellow Kahanist fascist scumbags. Since he was elected to the Knesset, he modified his slogan “Death to the Terrorists”. The leopard never changes its spots. However, to Ben Gvir this does not apply to right-wing massive kippa-cladded, ear locks, and fringes dangling out of their shirts scum. The stereotype that the evil coalition government refers to Jewish Israelis as “Am Ehad” (One Nation) is far from the truth. We must dissociate ourselves from this neo-Nazi scum and their “godfathers” supporting them in the evil Netanyahu Coalition Government. The Arab Israeli Community have no personal security. The perpetrators of the murder of innocent Arab Israeli Citizens never seem to be caught. If it were Jewish Israeli citizens murdered in this fashion, the terrorists would be caught sooner rather than later. One seems to get the impression that the two homophobic, Arab – hating cabinet ministers, Itamar Ben Gvir and Betzalel Smotrich, are only too pleased when Israel-Palestinians kill each other. This is why there is no police force preventing this tragic bloodshed.

The lack of a Constitution in Israel makes the Law Courts vulnerable

2023-01-15T11:30:00.000+02:00

Israel has no written Constitution protecting citizens from human rights abuses. The reason is that if a citizen feels that he /she has been mistreated by the authorities, he/she has recourse to the Law Courts. According to the “reforms” by the Minister of Justice (perhaps the word Injustice” is more accurate), the selection of judges will be political and will judge within the framework of laws passed by the political parties in power. This means that the Law Courts, including the Supreme Court, will be subservient to the Netanyahu Coalition. The result for the complainant will be futile if political decisions govern the ruling of the judge.

This is how the justice system works in totalitarian communist and fascist countries. Britain has no constitution either, but they have committees and long traditions of justice ensuring that laws passed are acceptable and fair. Britain's unwritten constitution | The British Library that Israel does not have. Political judge appointments are the destruction of Israel’s system of justice. The Courts will protect the Knesset’s power and not represent justice for the citizens of Israel. The President of Israel has the last word in his signature to the poisoning of Israel’s justice system. He should refuse to sign the destruction of justice.

The Movement of Israel towards Fascism and Apartheid

2023-01-12T10:18:00.004+02:00

Israel is moving in a dangerous direction by politicizing the Courts and dispensing justice according to the party lines of the evil, homophobic, fascist government in power that is shooting holes in Israel's present faulty democracy. The courts will be subservient to the present evil, right-wing government

The solution does not lie with the Israeli electorate, as there is a move to destroy the left and possibly the center opposition. Demonstrations will not change the government. Apartheid SA ended by boycotting SA sports as starters followed by boycotting South Africa economically brought the end to apartheid. When Israel is harmed by boycotts, sanctions and divestment, democracy, and an end to the occupation of Palestinian lands will end and a two-state solution will be negotiated. If Israel is hit economically and things go bad for the Israeli citizen, then the evil, messianic, religious, racist, homophobic Netanyahu Government will lose support and disintegrate. I never supported BDS in the past. It may be the first stage of failure of fascism in Israel, which is now on the increase.

The right-wing extremists of the Itamar Ben Gvir-Betzalel Smotrich types and Likudniks and their gangster shenanigans will encourage antisemitism. The attitude towards destructive, racist changes against a country moving towards fascism logically encourages antisemitism. Discrimination against Reform and Conservative Jews and hatred expressed towards them by the corrupt, self-righteous orthodox rabbinical bigots, as well as the non-recognition of pluralism in Judaism. The fear of assimilation of the Jewish people is paranoia! It will result in the selection of Jews under the Law of Return. The direction Israel is moving is homophobic. It is developing into fascism and apartheid that is racist and homophobic - certainly not according to halacha. I don't think that reasonable Israelis will "put it down to antisemitism". What the Israeli Government is doing is creating antisemitism, creating hatred of the stranger, and those who do not tow the Netanyahu - Ben Gvir - Smotrich line. They may consider themselves Jews but lack Judaism's teachings of welcoming the stranger, the Jewish heart and soul. They have forgotten generations of suffering. Furthermore, they have forgotten what it is to be a Jew. Even the political rabbinical leaders, who are chief rabbis and those in the Haredi political parties, are corrupt and parasitic. If there is no food, there is no Torah! (https://www.myjewishlearning.com/.../no-food-no-torah-no.../ ) Ignorance because of not receiving a proper education in mathematics, sciences and English and only religious subjects will ensure that they remain parasites and eat the taxpayer's money. They are NOT JEWS IN SPIRIT, but JUDAIC MUTANTS.

Under the Kahanist, Itamar Ben Gvir the incoming Minister of Internal Security, the Israel Police Force will resemble the Nazi SA

2022-11-29T10:03:00.007+02:00

Under the Kahanist, Itamar Ben Gvir the incoming Minister of Internal Security, the Israel Police Force will resemble the Nazi SA

"The Sturmabteilung (German) SA; literally “Storm Detachment” was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purpose was to provide protection for Nazi rallies and assemblies. It disrupted the meetings of opposing parties. They fought the paramilitary units of the opposing parties, especially the Roter Frontkämpferbund of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), and intimidating Romany, trade unionists, and especially Jews:". (From Wikipedia)

The Israeli Electorate spoke at the ballot box on the 1st of November 2022. The results gave us a strong indication of what most Israelis want. A right-wing to extreme right-wing government filled with a macabre mix of racist, religious Orthodox extremists of the mould of the Kahanists, Itamar Ben Gvir, Betzalel Smotrich who did not serve in the IDF. They are racists and homophobes of the worst kind as well as fascists. It appears that those who support the ultra-Orthodox parties and their ilk, the Zionist Religious Party of Kahanist fascists that are tainting Judaism with a remarkable racist cover, creating a macabre messianic Judaism which is not true Judaism, but a heartless and merciless mutant faith. They are not a fringe group as once thought but over 12% of the electorate. They are a part of the Netanyahu Coalition.
The Israeli Police Force will be there to serve the illegal settlers in occupied territories and will become as lawless as their incoming Minister of Police, who by the way, HAS A CRIMINAL RECORD OF PROVOKING VIOLENCE AGAINST THE MINORITIES. His prize is a cabinet post in the incoming Netanyahu Government.
Germany in the 1920s and the early 1930s was a democratic country. The Nazis exploited German democracy and won the elections by destroying the democracy of those days. The Zionist "Religious" Party has used similar brainwashing tactics which appeal to young voters especially.
This extremist, right-wing, racist, pseudo-religious trend spells danger for Israel's future. They will not tolerate opposition to their views. Israel's faulty democracy is in danger. These incoming thugs will be Israel's destruction as a democratic state only to be replaced with an Iranian-type regime. The rabbis will become our Ayatollahs with similar views as regards women and those who are progressive and different.

Israel of Today Does not Care about Diaspora Jewry

2022-11-29T09:12:00.002+02:00

The new right-wing Netanyahu Coalition in the making is moving towards fascism that does not tolerate those who are different in thought and creed. Leftists are branded as traitors. Racist, Messianic Judaism (Betzalel Smotrich, Ben Gvir-style) is in, and true, tolerant Judaism is out. True democracy and this fanatic-heartless Judaism are not compatible. 50% of Israel's electorate voted for this. They use Israel's faulty democracy to push non-democratic and racist apartheid parties into the Knesset. Some members of the Knesset, have a record of criminal offences for sabotage and provoking violence against Arabs by the destruction of their property. They have received legitimacy in the cabinet of Netanyahu to halt his court case and keep this accused criminal out of prison. Israel is moving down the path of pseudo-fascism. Not much good will come of it.

An Extreme Right-Wing Break Away From the Likud

2020-12-11T08:28:00.001+02:00

We do not really have any cause to celebrate another breakaway from the Likud by Gideon Sa'ar. If it was a breakaway that moved towards the left of centre-right with a new approach then we could celebrate.

Gideon Sa'ar is even more right-wing than Netanyahu. At the end of the day, we notice a plethora of right-wing to extreme right-wing parties. These parties are Yamina, Likud, Sa'ar's yet-unnamed new party, Yisrael Beiteinu Party, Jewish Home Party and of course the ultra-Orthodox Parties, Basically all these parties have similar ideologies and do not weaken the right-wing bloc. They may even form a coalition after the upcoming general elections, despite denials of serving under criminal suspect, Netanyahu, who stands a strong chance of being re-elected.

The credibility of politicians in Israel is erratic and after elections, the ball game changes as well as their promises to their voters as we witnessed in the aftermath of the last elections.

These upcoming elections will bring no significant changes. It is a right-wing oriented election. The left-wing in Israel will be weakened even further. Basically the Israeli electorate is moving further to the right and the position of the centrist right-wing parties may even make a shift to a right-wing coalition. Even the Joint List, apart from the Hadash faction is certainly not left but Arab nationalist rather than egalitarian for all Israel's citizens. This leaves us with the left-wing Meretz Party that may get 6 seats according to the latest polls. The Labour Party will not have any representation in the Knesset.

Fourth Israeli Elections Coming Up!

2020-12-04T13:14:00.004+02:00

The present squabbling, ineffectual coalition is a total failure. They have wreaked more destruction on Israel’s health and Covid-19 is on the increase as well. The economy is in ruins because there is no policy. Israel still does not have a budget for 2920/21. Most of the decisions made by the appalling Netanyahu Coalition is not logical as well as confusing to the general public. An example is the pilot experimentations of opening only 15 shopping malls in the country instead of all the shopping malls. This has resulted in overcrowding and the impossibility of social distancing because long queues were created in the foyers of these malls and who knows how many people are asymptomatic carriers of Covid-19 standing in these queues.

The unemployment rate is high. Small businesses are bankrupt and much of the population are holding pirate weddings and parties, inviting many positively tested guests, who spread Covid-19. We must remember that the lack of discipline and not wearing masks properly or social distancing is to blame for the increase in Corona infections. It is the offspring of the unemployed that must bear the responsibility for the upsurge of new cases in all sectors of the population. There are also insufficient inspectors ensuring that the Covid-19 prevention laws are enforced. This pathetic, divisive Netanyahu Coalition always seem to be involved in political decisions that go against the Ministry of Health decisions. The blame for all the failures must be laid at the door of a criminal suspect, PM Netanyahu, who appears to be more involved in his upcoming criminal trial and postponing it indefinitely. The fourth upcoming election (whenever that will be) will solve nothing. The results will be the same - the Likud and right-wing will get the most votes and the accused PM Netanyahu will be given another shot at forming the next coalition government. So whether we have new elections or not it is a matter of six of one and half a dozen of the other - there will be no change.

Opinion polling for the next Israeli legislative election

There is nothing more predictable than the knowledge that the right-wing bloc will get the most support and we will be back to square one again with a very similar coalition combo failure as before. It appears that voting for a better government is an exercise in futility under Israel’s electoral system.

Meretz Can Only Survive as an egalitarian Jewish-Arab Party

2020-11-27T11:55:00.000+02:00

Meretz and the left will cease to be relevant or survive if they do not change their tactics and form a true united Jewish-Arab Party that embraces Zionists as well as non-Zionists. After all, Zionism today has become the monopoly of the right-wing including the extreme racist right-wing with a large proportion of adherents to orthodox, messianic Judaism (not to be confused with Jews for Jesus). Apart from Hadash that is left-wing, the Joint List is NOT left-wing. As is mentioned in the article, Ayman Oudeh, is opposed to joining Meretz in the formation of a combined Arab-Jewish Party which is a pity. Now with the possibility of the Joint List fragmenting because of Mansour Abbas making “overtures to Netanyahu”, we are in need of a united Arab-Jewish Party, representing all Israel’s citizens and not being involved with sectorial national interests as appears to be the case with the Joint List at present. Israel’s non-Jewish minorities’ interests and problems will be represented in an egalitarian Jewish-Arab Party on an equal basis.

Some Reflections on Rosh Hashana 2020

2020-09-19T23:33:00.005+03:00

The international community as we know has been hit severely by Covid-19. The Coronavirus pandemic originated in Wuhan, China and spread out of control to almost every country on earth. It is a pandemic that does not distinguish between races or religion and nobody is immune from COVID-!9 hence the three main precautions accepted internationally to prevent being infected.

Coronavirus spreads like wildfire in crowds, especially in limited closed spaces. The three main precautions to prevent infections as we are all made to feel aware are:

Wearing masks to cover the nose and mouth.
Social distancing - 2 metres between people to the next.
Personal hygiene.

Many people do not observe these simple precautions and until a vaccine against COVID-19 is available to the public, we have to adjust our lives within the framework of these precautions to avoid infection.

Israel is now under its second lockdown for 3 weeks which may even be extended after the end of Sukkot (Tabernacles).

Now for the religious aspect, which is also part of the story. I am not a religiously observant person and have strong feelings as to whether God exists or not but if I would be religious, I would have very strong doubts as to God’s existence and questions to ask.

A religious person would accept that the Coronavirus was created and sent by God. If this is the case, maybe God does not want people to pray in their respective houses of worship. Prayer in houses of worship, whether the synagogue, church or mosque or whatever, maybe considered evil in the eyes of God. Perhaps God does not want to hear the prayers of believers in Him. He punishes them by infecting them with Covid-19 if they crowd into a House of Worship. Maybe God wants to curtail the overpopulation on the planet and that we are all equal in His eyes and face the same destiny irrespective of our faith or lack of it. Excuse my use of anthropomorphisms but there does not appear to be any other way of my humble attempt to explain this theory.

Is it possible that God wishes to punish humans for their evil ways? The hypocrisy that seems to exist in all faiths may be a cue to His anger.

The scientists are in a race to achieve the invention of a vaccine against the Coronavirus. Nobody can predict when this will be achieved.

Here in Israel, while we are under lockdown and the threat of the ultra-Orthodox communities to overcrowd the synagogues during the High Holydays thus endangering themselves as well as all Israel’s citizens. Is it possible that they are acting against the Will of the Almighty, who will infect them and others with a vengeance?

References:

Why is Pesach 2020 Different from Previous Pesachim?

2020-04-05T13:36:00.000+03:00

In traditional Pesach (Passover 1) observance, the famous Ma Nishtanah (The Four Questions) are asked or recited in the traditional fashion. These four questions can really be reduced to one question involving one sentence. Perhaps we can use the term Pesach not as “this night is different from all other nights” but rather this period, including Pesach night, is different from all other periods in our history as Jews including our non-Jewish monotheistic brethren all over the world. Christians will be celebrating Easter and a week later, the month-long Ramadan fast will be observed by Muslims.

The traditional 10 plagues recited from the Haggadah are largely irrelevant today. There is only one very relevant plague that afflicts all mankind irrespective of race, colour, and religion - Covid-19! The Angel of Death is the Coronavirus that brings us all into isolation rather than having our doorposts painted with goat’s blood to avoid the slaughter of the firstborn.

Corona-virus-The Angel of Death

The Coronavirus pandemic does not care about signs to skip people from a deadly fate. Experts on the Coronavirus (if such experts really exist) advise us to avoid exposure to others, who may be carriers of the potentially deadly virus. Their advice is total isolation at home in order to remain free from Covid-19 infection. No contact with family is advised and enacted by the law, especially the seniors above 60 years of age.

This year there will be no seder. The child's questioning triggers one of the most significant elements of Passover, which is the highlight of the Seder ceremony: reading the Haggadah 2, which tells the story of the Exodus from Egypt 3. It will be illegal to hold any Pesach seder celebration except for the core family inhabiting its dwelling. The rabbis went on to say that in the question under discussion, it was asked merely whether one could turn on the electronic device before the Passover holiday begins and leave the Zoom program running during the Seder to allow family members to connect 4.

The Four Questions and the reciting of the Ten Plagues should be replaced by one question and by the recitation of one plague - CORONA-VIRUS!

References:

"Passover - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover. Accessed 5 Apr. 2020.
"Haggadah - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haggadah. Accessed 5 Apr. 2020.
https://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/1751/jewish/What-Is-a-Seder.htm. Accessed 5 Apr. 2020.
25 Mar. 2020, https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/raabis-approve-the-use-of-zoom-to-celebrate-passover-due-to-coronavirus-622221. Accessed 5 Apr. 2020.

Netanyahu May Be Israel's Enemy Today

2019-11-22T16:06:00.001+02:00

Netanyahu in his latest unstatesmanlike statement reacting to the AG accusations against him proves how arrogant and self-righteous he (Netanyahu) is. He is destroying the courts, the police, the left, the media which he failed to control in his attempts to bribe them to print what he desires. He calls it the free press that has been stifled by the opposition. Democracy to Netanyahu is he and his cronies' control of the press to give favourable coverage for his policies at the taxpayers' expense. In his own defence statement live on TV proves that not only is he his own enemy but also Israel's enemy even worse than Hamas, Hizbollah and Islamic Jihad in his attempts to disrupt the law courts, law enforcement authorities, the media and those, who oppose him politically as well as the Arab citizens of Israel who support the Joint List. He has declared war by demanding that those police investigators who questioned him ought to be investigated. He has also played a part in polarizing Israel's people by his disgraceful behaviour over the years during his reign. His reign is coming to a bitter end and he will scream and kick to prevent that from happening. After his hateful, remorse filled speech his defence lawyers should resign from representing him. He attacks the law enforcement authorities and his status has now changed from suspect to being the accused. He should resign and the sooner the better for Israel.

The die is cast and PM Netanyahu’s status from suspected criminal to an accused criminal awaiting trial. His statement after AG Mandelblit was a disgrace and far from being stately. It echoes Bibi’s narcism and his similarity to his favourite president - Donald Trump. Netanyahu’s attack on those who interrogated him saying that the “investigators ought to be investigated” as he, Netanyahu, has been framed and unjustly accused. The biggest problem is the increased ground support that he appears to be getting from his Likud Party and their massive support that the Likud still receives. Netanyahu ought to do the right thing and resign so that he can prove his innocence he claims. How can he represent Israel’s interests being under the accusation of fraud, bribery and breach of trust in three criminal cases? Netanyahu has chosen the path of war against those professional civil servants who carried out their jobs efficiently after perusing thousands of written statements, recordings and reports of state witnesses over a long time. Basically, Netanyahu has declared war on the courts, police, the press, the left opposition and even the Arab citizens of Israel, whose representatives in the Knesset he views as supporters of terror against Israel and failing to recognize Israel’s right to exist. He lies to the public to whitewash his accusations and viewing himself as the victim of a witch hunt orchestrated by Israel’s law enforcement authorities. The reality of the criminal accusations against him has made him declare war against the legal bodies that he is supposed to defend as prime minister. He is, in reality, the enemy of Israel by his unstatesmanlike behaviour against the state bodies that he should be supporting. He is unfit to be prime minister. He must go even if it means dragging him away by being handcuffed and placed under arrest for promoting sedition against the state. After all the accusations are basically the State of Israel vs PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

The accused, PM Netanyahu, is on the warpath in his fight against the law enforcement authorities of Israel. He had given a hint of that concerning the suspicions of his criminal involvement in the various cases mentioned ad nauseam over the last 3-4 years if not more. We now view a threatened accused criminal who proclaims his innocence at all costs, smearing everyone in his path that is carrying out their civic duty to society to combat crime in high places. Bibi, of course, with his wife Sara, and good-for-nothing son, Yair, the author of loutish tweets wreaking with racism are being witch-hunted by the courts, police, the left, the evil media that does not publish nice things about him and his family. Bibi views himself as pure as driven snow and above the law. He is now fighting for his political future using every lie that he can to convince his supporters of his innocence. Bibi must resign - the sooner, the better for all of us!

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The Inconclusive Israeli Election Results

2019-09-26T10:33:00.001+03:00

The 17th September 2019 elections have achieved a deadlock. PM Netanyahu is on the way out. According to nearly final Israeli election results, the opposition Blue and White party of Benny Gantz edged ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party 1. However, Benny Ganz may not be on the way in. Neither the Likud nor Kahol Lavan parties with their possible coalitions will make it to the minimum of 61 seats out of 120 Knesset seats.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin tasks Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with forming a new government, during a press conference in Jerusalem on September 25, 2019. MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images

It appears that it will take weeks of intensive negotiations between the factions to form a viable coalition which is very complex and Netanyahu, with his legal problems, may have to be replaced if Ganz does not succeed in forming a coalition that will have 61 or more seats. Somebody else from the Likud may replace Netanyahu, who will not resign without a fight. Netanyahu proposed leading “a broad unity government” that would include Likud in alliance with the Kahol-Lavan alliance, which won the most Knesset seats in the vote and is led by former army chief Benny Ganz 2. He will have to be dragged alive, kicking and screaming with his waning magic racist mantras and balls of rolling sweat pouring down from his brow. Much depends on his Likud cronies, who appear to be giving Netanyahu overwhelming support and to date are not prepared to desert him for a new leader or even pass a resolution to have the Likud primaries voting to replace Netanyahu.

President Reuven Rivlin faces one of the most, if not the most difficult challenge in Israel’s history to try and get the winning party to form a coalition with so many recalcitrant Knesset members, all pulling in different directions with different demands. The main question is whether Benny Ganz will go back on his electoral promise not to sit down and negotiate a unity government with Benjamin Netanyahu rotating the prime ministerial post with him, even if President Rivlin may request him to do so. Electoral promises and post-electoral decisions during negotiations may even be contradictory. Promises made during election campaigns may not be kept once the negotiations for forming a coalition government begin.

The formation of a government coalition, whichever way one views it, is a gargantuan task and the possibility of total failure is very large. The possibility of a third round of general elections cannot be ruled out if no government can be formed. If this occurs, it will cost Israel millions of shekels and the results will remain pretty much the same.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to form a unity government for one purpose only and that is to pass a law changing the electoral system to ensure that there is a change in the delimitation of parties by raising the percentage support they get or to change the system into a a system similar to the UK that has a constituency representation. The House of Commons and local councils in England and Wales use the first-past-the-post system.

The UK is divided into constituencies. Local authorities into wards.

At a general or local election, voters put a cross (X) next to their preferred candidate on a ballot paper. Ballot papers are counted. The candidate with the most votes represents the constituency or ward.

The voting system of proportional representation as at present in Israel will not allow any party to gain an absolute majority to win an election because of the diverse voting patterns of the electorate and a large number of parties participating. Hence many weeks if not months will be wasted in trying to form a government coalition. This exercise may be a test of total futility and the possibility of new futile general elections cannot be ruled out.

After much ado in the president’s residence, it was decided that Netanyahu get first shot at forming a government 5. His chances of succeeding are poor and he has a week to do so. Balad (part of the Joint List) decided to abstain from supporting Netanyahu or Ganz. This gave the right-wing block the majority which influences President Rivlin’s decision to give Netanyahu first choice. Balad’s expected 3 votes in favour of Ganz were withdrawn at their request.

After having been given a meaningless, futile mandate by President Rivlin to form a government, Netanyahu thanks the president for the mandate and gives an election propaganda speech about the importance of him forming a government and continuing as PM. He was campaigning for himself and his right-wing cronies to continue leading the country. The bottom line is obvious as well - getting immunity from a criminal trial pending his hearing in a week.

There are reports on Y Net that Kahol-Lavan requested Balad to abstain from voting so that Netanyahu is given the first option to form a government so that that he will fail and that Kahol-Lavan will be given second option to form a government assuming that their chance of succeeding is greater. Both groups, even with their respective supporters, are unable to win an absolute majority of 61 seats. There is a definite electoral stalemate.

At the end of the day, within a few months, there will be new elections. If there is no electoral reform or a change in the electoral system, there will be no change in the results and Israel will face inconclusive election results after repeat expensive elections that maybe Israel’s destiny.

References:

20 Sep. 2019, https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2019/september/benny-gantzs-blue-and-white-party-ahead-of-netanyahus-likud-as-final-votes-are-tallied. Accessed 22 Sep. 2019.
21 Sep. 2019, https://thearabweekly.com/netanyahu-seeks-stay-power-despite-likuds-failure-win-parliamentary-election. Accessed 22 Sep. 2019.
September 2019 Israeli legislative election
Israeli Democracy Institute - September 2019 Elections
After election deadlock, Netanyahu tapped by Israel's president to assemble a new government

The Upcoming Elections on 17th September 2019

2019-09-08T13:27:00.000+03:00

The Israeli General Elections are just around the corner. It is shocking that millions of shekels are being wasted because Netanyahu could not form a coalition. It is also President Reuven Rivlin’s fault as it was incumbent on him to give another Knesset member the chance to form a coalition government. Under the pressure of Netanyahu, in his determination not to lose the elections, the president succumbed to Netanyahu’s desire and new elections, only 5 months after April 9th election, was declared for 17th September. This did go against protocol:

After an election, the President, following consultations with the elected party leaders, chooses the Knesset member most likely to have the ability to form a viable (coalition) government. While this typically is the leader of the party receiving the most seats, it is not required to be so. In the event a party wins 61 or more seats in an election, it can form a viable government without having to form a coalition. However, no party has ever won more than 56 seats in an election; thus, a coalition has always been required.^[3] That member has up to 42 days to negotiate with the different parties, and then present his or her government to the Knesset for a vote of confidence. If the Knesset approves the proposed government (by a vote of at least 61 members), he or she becomes Prime Minister.

As the coalitions often prove highly unstable - given the number and diverse views of the political parties involved - parties (or portions thereof) quite commonly leave them. However, so long as the coalition has at least 61 members (and it is free to recruit from parties not originally in the coalition) it is entitled to remain in power. Such a case occurred with the 19th Knesset: Ehud Barak and four other members left the Labor in 2011 to form the Independence Party, and continued their alignment with Likud, while the remaining eight Labor members remained with the party, but left the coalition; after all the changes, the Likud coalition retained the support of the minimum 61 members, and so, it remained in power. If a coalition fails a motion of no confidence, it ceases to be in power, but only if the motion names a specific replacement to be the prime minister. That individual then has a prescribed amount of time to form a new coalition, and new elections are called if this attempt is not successful (known as a constructive vote of no confidence).^{[11] (Wikipedia)}

Netanyahu knows that he has the chance of being granted immunity from prosecution in 3 criminal cases of which he is a criminal suspect should he be reelected as PM.

This is the most shallow election campaign since Israel’s establishment and is mostly involved in various character assassination of opposition candidates by the right-wing Netanyahu coalition. Netanyahu, during his long rule, must go down in history as the most polarizing prime minister that Israel ever had. The electorate is tired of elections and many are apathetic as a result. His credibility and that of his shenanigans are questionable.

PM Netanyahu is a criminal suspect and within a week or two after the elections, he will be granted a hearing by the attorney-general on his suspected crimes. Netanyahu is behaving like a megalomanic cornered rat. He is on the warpath blaming the attorney-general, the press media, the law courts, the police, and, of course, the left. He believes that these institutions and the left are conspiring against him and his beloved wife, Sarah and that twitter “genius” his son, Yair, who tweets such a lot of rubbish without being scolded by his parents for it.

There are so many important issues at stake and not much mention was made of that by any of the parties standing for election.

PM Netanyahu is not interested in Israel. He is interested in one personal issue only and that is not to stand trial and being elected as PM is his only chance to gain immunity from prosecution and standing trial. He is dishing out jobs to pals in the Knesset, who are his yes-men/women, including the State-Comptroller. He is also not telling the truth to the Israeli electorate and is a purveyor of “fake news” to increase his support and that of his party.

There are so many reports in the Israeli media over the elections and there is no point in regurgitating them here.

We should all bear in mind that a leader of a country who lies to the citizens of whom he is the leader has no respect for the citizens of the country that he leads. Apart from that, it is not in the public’s interest that a candidate to lead the country is a crime suspect. He should have his name cleared from all suspicions before he can be allowed to stand as a candidate for prime minister. Some of Netanyahu's famous lies are accusations of opposition parties, including Israel Beitenu and Kahol/Lavan as "left" who are prepared to sit with Arab parties in a coalition despite their strong denials.

This is an appeal to all citizens of Israel to vote for sanity, democracy, and the end of the Netanyahu regime of neo-fascists, who are destroying Israel’s democracy and replacing it with a regime that polarises the nation and creates divisions in our society that Israel does not need. We must vote for a government that will abolish the racist Nation-State Law 1. and work towards the equality of all Israel’s citizens, irrespective of race, colour or religion. The present government is eroding the laws of the land for their own benefit and not for the benefit of its citizens. We have an opportunity to vote for a change of government for the better of Israel and all its citizens and this also includes moving to end the occupation and moving towards a true peace between Israel and the Palestinians as difficult as it is to achieve. We must also bear in mind that if we vote for a party that may after the elections be part of a Likud Coalition then we have not achieved anything for a change of government.

Reference:

1. "BASIC LAW: ISRAEL - THE NATION STATE OF THE JEWISH ...." https://knesset.gov.il/laws/special/eng/BasicLawNationState.pdf. Accessed 8 Sep. 2019.

Is Israel Becoming an Apartheid State?

2019-08-04T10:15:00.000+03:00

How history repeats itself in different circumstances. According to a Jpost report of July 21st, 2019 "Labor chairman Amir Peretz 1 said on Sunday in an interview with Army Radio that there is no way for the Labor party to run for the upcoming September 17 elections with Meretz or Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak's Israel Democratic Party. Peretz's words were made after the Labor party merged with Orly Levy-Abucassis' Gesher, which sparked waves of criticism among the leftist parties" 2. This means that Amir Peretz and Orly Levy-Abekasis have an agenda of joining a Likud right-wing coalition. Under these conditions, we must understand that a vote for Labour is a vote for a right-wing coalition. Meretz leader, Nitzan Horowitz, has stated this. It will be a fatal blow to the left. Labour and Likud have been in coalition numerous times since Israel's establishment and after these elections, it may occur again.

If Labour under Amir Peretz and Orly Levy-Abukasis join the Likud, it will not be surprising. Orly Levy-Abukasis grew up in the Likud and still holds much of its ideology. She is the perfect pathway for Labour to enter a Likud coalition after the elections even if Netanyahu is not indicted. They have kept that option open. If this occurs, most Labour supporters will have very red faces. After all, the upcoming elections give the voter a chance to oppose the Likud and company. Voting for Labour is taking a gamble and may favour Netanyahu. This will be a happy day for Netanyahu if this happens.

As things stand at the moment in this rather sleepy election campaign, the left-wing is in danger of being written off as a viable legislative force in the Knesset. Instead of forming a united front against the right-wing coalition government, they are splintered. As mentioned earlier, Amir Peretz, with his latest partner, Orly Levy-Abukassis of Gesher, who is apolitical on state issues and is involved in social issues exclusively with a tendency towards her Likud upbringing is a massive gamble that could add another nail in the coffin of the dying Labour Party.

A vote for the right-wing is a vote for an apartheid state as Rabbi Rafi Peretz, head of the Jewish Home Party supports, will be part of this despicable coalition. Not only is Rabbi Rafi Peretz, Minister of Education, the centre of controversy over re-educating the LGBT community to be heterosexual. He later softened his views on this issue because of the strong opposition to his support of “conversion treatment”3 He is really an Orthodox religious extremist and all that goes with it. This bigot must be forced to resign from being Minister of Education. He is a racist and wishes to turn Israel into an apartheid state by denying Palestinians in the occupied territories the right to vote. His agenda is to declare the occupied areas as part of Israel and the Palestinians will be denied representation. He waltzes with Kahanist fascists of the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power Party)4 to include them in an extreme, racist right-wing Zionist religious party - Jewish Home Party and United Right Alliance, which he heads. He will be negotiating with these Kahanists as the heat of the upcoming elections increases. This racist demagogue is a dangerous wolf in sheep's’ clothing. He had failed to include these Kahanists.

The cat that has been struggling in the bag of Israel's bigoted leaders has now been let out of the bag by Rabbi Rafi Peretz, Minister of Education, who clearly stated his desire that the occupied territories (West Bank) will be part of Israel and that the Palestinians living there will have no right to vote. He admitted this in his interview when asked if this is not apartheid. Peretz didn’t rule out the option that it is. So there you have it straight from one of the horse's mouth. This bigot will be in charge of educating the next generation - so it appears if the right-wing under the suspected felon Bibi Netanyahu forms the next government after the elections. This will give those who oppose the Israeli right-wing government justification of equating their rule with apartheid South Africa. This will eventually extend to the rights of non-Jewish minorities, who are Israeli citizens, being eroded and they will be second class citizens. The handwriting is on the wall. The recently passed Nation-State Law will assure that.

For those, who are still thinking of supporting Labour under Amir Peretz, will also get the right-wing extremists such as Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Transport and maybe Otzma Yehudit, (if they pass the threshold into the Knesset) the Kahanist fascist party as part of the coalition they do not want 5, assuming he forms a coalition with the Likud.

Perhaps if the left of centre are prepared to drop their egos and that, of course, includes members of the Arab Parties, then they could form a strong opposition to Netanyahu and his right-wing shenanigans and even have a possibility of forming a new centre-left government. The Arab Parties must drop their strong nationalist tendencies and work with the left to form a party that represents the interests of all Israel's citizens irrespective of race, colour or religion. A true Jewish Arab Party coalition including, the Democratic Camp and Hadash-Ta-al. This means that a common platform free of over-bloated egos and past individual gripes can be accepted by all the parties concerned. If this unity of the left is not accepted the alternative will be a fragmented left opposition. Many of these parties will not get sufficient votes to be elected to the Knesset and the right with its religious orthodox and ultra-orthodox parties will be the next government including Kahol-Lavan. This is the choice. Kahol-Lavan is sitting on the fence and will sway towards the coalition that has the best chance of forming a government. Avigdor Lieberman leader of Israel Beiteinu will be the trump card that decides which coalition group will be given the go-ahead by President Rubi Rivlin to form the next government.

This week Ehud Barak (Democratic Israel), Meretz and Stav Shafir (who left the Labor-Gesher Union) have decided to form a united list known as the Democratic Camp. It will be left of centre 6. Tactically, this is a good move but it might spell the end of the Arab vote that won Meretz representation in the Knesset after April 9th Elections. It remains to be seen if Ehud Barak, despite his apology for the loss of life of 13 Arab Israeli demonstrators in 2000 during the Um el Fahm unrest, will not lose the Arab Israeli vote.

Surely if the new Arab Joint List (an agreement on 27th July 2019 has been reached by Hadash-Ta-al and United Arab List. Balad will probably join at a later stage.) would join up with the Democratic Camp, it would strengthen the opposition to a Netanyahu led coalition. After all, their principles of democracy, abolishing the Nation-State Law, fighting against racism and fascism as well as equal rights for all Israel's citizens irrespective of race, colour and religion coincide with the Democratic Camp agenda. Economic improvements and a peace agreement with the Palestinians that will herald the end to the occupation and a Two-State Solution is also an essential part of the new Democratic Camp ideology. The differences between the Joint List and Democratic Camp can be ironed out. After all, unity is the strength to get the Netanyahu led coalition out is a goal of both party lists. Unfortunately, the Democratic Camp and the Joint Arab List will not be running together and this weakens the left-wing opposition to Netanyahu.

The Arab vote must not be overlooked. Only a true Jewish-Arab Party on the left will gain more seats than if they run on their own. This Jewish-Arab Party would be concerned with fighting for true equality between all Israel's citizens, women rights and freedom of pluralism that we so desperately need in this country and of course a renewal of meaningful peace negotiations with our Palestinian neighbours, which appears to be absent in all party platforms.

We must also bear in mind that a vote for the Likud and its right-wing future partners in a right-wing coalition also is a vote for including the right-wing extremist party, Otzma Yehudit that is Kahanist racist party that was banned from standing for election in the Knesset by previous Israeli Governments. Under Netanyahu, this Kahanist party is gaining legitimacy in order to save Netanyahu from standing trial for suspected crimes.

Well, the dye is now cast and the deadline for registration of parties standing in the elections has been decided on 1st August. The Arab Joint List has reincarnated, the right-wing of the Likud parties have formed a unity party leaving the Kahanist, racist extremist Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party and Moshe Feiglin’s Zehut running on their own. This means that these two right-wing racist parties may not even pass the threshold to enter the Knesset, which will be a small blessing.

Labour-Gesher Party will not unite with the Democratic Camp in order to keep its option open of joining a Likud led Coalition after the elections. This is probably the reason why Amir Peretz and Orly Levy-Abukasis leader of the Gesher Party have formed a unity party. Avigdor Lieberman, the holder of the trump card in a possible coalition government of Likud-Kahol\Lavan including Israel Beitenu(Lieberman’s party). Lieberman has made it clear that he supports this move, excluding the ultra-Orthodox and Messianic religious parties. If Netanyahu fails to form a government, Lieberman supports the idea that another Likud elected Knesset member will be given the chance of forming the next government after the elections.

My guess is that the results of the 17th Sept General Elections will not be much different from the results of the 9th April Elections. If we follow trends of Israeli citizens' voting patterns there is a definite trend towards the right with messianic religious fundamentalism on the rise.

References:

"Amir Peretz | The Times of Israel." https://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/amir-peretz/. Accessed 26 Jul. 2019.
"Amir Peretz: No way to run with Ehud Barak ... - The Jerusalem Post." 22 Jul. 2019, https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Amir-Peretz-No-way-to-run-with-Ehud-Barak-Meretz-596329. Accessed 26 Jul. 2019.
"Israel's education minister now says he opposes gay 'conversion ...." 16 Jul. 2019, https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-s-education-minister-now-says-he-opposes-gay-conversion-therapy-1.7532713. Accessed 26 Jul. 2019.
"Otzma Yehudit - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otzma_Yehudit. Accessed 26 Jul. 2019.
"Otzma Yehudit breaks away from Jewish Home in spat over Knesset ...." 25 Jun. 2019, https://www.timesofisrael.com/otzma-yehudit-breaks-away-from-jewish-home-in-spat-over-knesset-seat/. Accessed 26 Jul. 2019.
"Meretz, former PM Barak, Labor defector Shaffir announce joint ...." 25 Jul. 2019, https://www.timesofisrael.com/meretz-former-pm-barak-labor-defector-shaffir-announce-joint-knesset-run/. Accessed 26 Jul. 2019.

September 2019 Israeli legislative election: An explanation of the Israeli September 2019 Elections

The Decision of Holding New Elections is Absurd and Lacking in Logic

2019-06-01T10:38:00.000+03:00

This decision to hold new general elections because Netanyahu was unable to form a coalition government is so absurd and lacking in logic. The deadline for presenting President Ruby Rivlin with a coalition government had passed and Netanyahu’s failure to form a coalition because of Avigdor Lieberman’s refusal to be part of the coalition. Lieberman and Netanyahu dislike each other – the draft law that Lieberman insisted for compulsory conscription of the ultra-Orthodox to the IDF was the so-called excuse. This draft law was unacceptable by the Likud and the ultra-Orthodox parties. The rift between the two men goes deeper than that. There is much speculation in the press as to why the hatred between these two men is so intense.

As expected, Netanyahu has labelled Lieberman as a “leftist” who has joined the Arab opposition. This is such balderdash and typical of Netanyahu, who in his desperation views all his opponents as leftists, traitors, including the media, police force, law courts and the attorney-general, who are out on a witch hunt against him. As has been mentioned many times in the media, Netanyahu is interested in one thing only – not to stand trial for his alleged accusations of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Calling for new elections is his way of achieving that goal with a little help paradoxically from the Arab Parties as well. Netanyahu is a genius and he knows how to manipulate his supporters with his lies and deceit.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu

There was a rare unity between Hadash-Taal and the opposition parties at the largely successful demonstration on Saturday night 25th May 2019. What happened? They did not join the opposition and voted with the right-wing to dissolve the Knesset. They are not aware that this move will only strengthen Netanyahu and his right-wing toadies even more.

The mindset of many voters, especially in the periphery, is right-wing and they will not change their allegiance to the Likud and its right-wing parties, including the ultra-Orthodox parties. They have swallowed all Netanyahu’s lies with great enthusiasm and many believe every word of Netanyahu’s mantras. The fact that Netanyahu is accused of breaking the law does not affect their support of Netanyahu, it just strengthens it. These people believe that the witch hunt against Netanyahu is real and they must support him as in their view “Netanyahu is the best prime minister since Israel’s establishment”.

Netanyahu, his right-wing toadies and the ultra-Orthodox Parties will stick by his side once again. He and his party with its macabre mix have incredible support from "Talisman toters and those prostrating themselves in supplication on the tombs of the saints,” to use a quote from the famous Israeli artist, Yair Gabuz, in a speech he made at Rabin Square on the eve of Elections in 2015. In the speech, which took place a mere ten days before the elections, Garbuz spoke of "the handful" and said: "We were told that the despicable man who murdered the prime minister came from a handful of delusional people ... We were told that the yellow-shirted, black symbol-ed ‘Kahane was right’ people, and the 'Death to Arabs!' hurlers, were no more than a handful—a mere handful! ... That the wicked price taggers are certainly a handful ... and they told us that the threatening, disparaging racists do not represent Israeli society at all, that they are only a handful!” Unfortunately, these right-wing purveyors of racial hatred have grown immensely since then and this is Netanyahu’s powerhouse of support. Most of these people that he described are very much alive in the religious extreme right-wing parties - neo-fascist fanatics such as Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben Gvir, Benzie Gopstein and the list goes on not to exclude the parasitic ultra-Orthodox parties who contribute nothing to the country but “religious bullshit” and religious extortion, as well as eternal poverty-stricken Torah students, who do not work or serve in the IDF. The last elections on 9th April, they were very much alive with their poisonous pseudo-religious, hateful rhetoric. They will try to be “Netanyahu’s saviours”. They all share one mantra called “denial” of Netanyahu’s suspected criminality. The peripheral towns are where these types are found and they are enough to get Netanyahu in. Their mentors are racist rabbis that bless and curse at will.

Avigdor Lieberman

The time is now more than ripe for the parties that are left of centre to unite. The last elections have proved that. The Arab Parties are thinking of resuscitating the Joint List in order to win more seats. Perhaps it is time for Meretz to negotiate with the Arab Parties to form an alternative Jewish-Arab List. After all, it was the Arab voters that saved Meretz from losing their Knesset representation. If this is not achieved, Meretz will not be in the next Knesset. An Arab-Jewish Party should be open to all. This new Arab-Jewish Party will gain more support from the Arab communities who show disillusionment with their own representatives resulting in a low voter turnout. Many Arab citizens of Israel with whom I spoke had expressed support for such a move. The emphasis on common Israeli citizenship that embraces all Israel’s citizens irrespective of race, colour or creed will go a long way to achieve a better Israel for its entire people.

Israel's Independence Day Celebrations

2019-05-08T22:46:00.000+03:00

Israel has only one day annually that is celebrated without any religious constraints or “mitzvot”. This is a day that secular and religious Israelis celebrate as well as those who identify with Israel and its people.

Israeli Arab Citizens do not celebrate. There are no flags or symbols of celebration in their villages. It is a great pity that the two peoples - Jewish and Arab Israeli citizens are divided in their respective narratives causing the Israeli Arab sector not to celebrate Israel’s independence. Here in Israel, we have failed to achieve a common loyalty in Israel for all its citizens - Jew and Arab alike. It could have been achieved but Israel has failed to be the state of all its citizens for a number of reasons. The most striking, perhaps, is the non-inclusive character of Israel’s Jewish majority. An example of this is the non-inclusive wording of Israel’s National Anthem “Hatikva” - The Hope.

Hatikva - Israel's National Anthem

The wording of Hatikva could be modified to include Israel’s non-Jewish minority symbols of culture without changing the wording of Jewish desires and hopes.

Apart from the national anthem, there are other symbols of Arab Israeli culture that could be included and thus make them feel part of Israel's people rather than estranging them with all kinds of declarative laws that estranges them from Israel. This could go a long way in promoting a common patriotism that is all-inclusive. This could also be done through education from an early age as well as encouraging the establishment of integrated Jewish-Arab schools, where education in unity among all Israel’s peoples could be achieved.

Arab and Jewish Israelis could learn each other's languages as well as secular subjects to equip them for their future. Arabic and Hebrew should both have equal status. Both Arab and Jewish Israelis should have the same standard of education and go to the same schools from kindergarten age until matric. In most western democracies, pupils of all faiths attend the same schools. When it comes to religious instruction, religious leaders of different faiths instruct the pupils in their respective faiths.

Israel’s 71 years of independence should be a nation-wide non-political affair that is inclusive of all Israel's citizens. However, with the passing of the racist Nation-State Law last year, resulting in the grading of Israel's Arab Citizens as second class citizens that will estrange 20% of Israel's citizens even more.

Another upsetting development is the attempt to politicise the law courts that have been impartial since Israel's establishment. The outgoing Minister of Justice, Ayelet Shaked, had her agenda in interfering with the court system

It is a great pity that this year’s Independence Day celebrations will have a right-wing political slant to it which will, unfortunately, spoil its non-political nature. Ayelet Shaked will be replaced by Yariv Levin - a Netanyahu appointee, who intends to weaken the courts and make them subservient to the incoming right-wing coalition. Legislation will be passed to ensure that the court cannot overrule government decisions even if their legality is in question.

Independence of the law courts will be compromised. Israel is going down a path that threatens democracy if the Netanyahu Government succeeds in appointing conservative judges to the bench. The opposition is weak and will whimper impotently against the incoming ruling government anti-democratic bills.

Holocaust Remembrance Day has been Defiled!

2019-05-02T18:34:00.000+03:00

Holocaust Remembrance Day has been defiled by our present leadership. Have we forgotten the lessons of the Holocaust and trivialised it?

For starters, the opening ceremony addressed by President Reuven Rivlin was the beginning of the hint of the direction in which Israel is moving. It is a direction of realpolitik played out by PM Netanyahu towards the far-right, neo-fascist leaders that are ruling Austria, Hungary, Brazil, Poland and the Interior Minister of Italy 1. The list will continue to grow as many European countries move towards the neo-fascist right. It appears that Netanyahu is cultivating friendships with these far right, neo-fascist leaders, whose record of anti-Semitism is a blemish on their respective characters 2. This is what President Reuben Rivlin had hinted in his speech. It was obvious that this remark was directed at Netanyahu."Today, Europe is once again pursued by the ghosts of the past. Ideas of superiority, national purity, xenophobia, blatant anti-Semitism from left and right are hovering over Europe," Rivlin said. He spoke of rising anti-Semitism in conjunction with the anti-Israel sentiment, Rivlin said one cannot hate Israel and love Jews nor hate Jews and love Israel. Rivlin went on to warn of warming ties between Israel and right-wing leaders who have not recognized their nation's responsibility in "the crimes of the Holocaust."

After having heard and viewed President Rivlin delivering his speech, which was a good speech denouncing racism in all its forms, my feeling was that Netanyahu is the total antithesis of President Rivlin. Rivlin spoke as a true statesman. I just felt that I could not watch Netanyahu deliver his speech and left my armchair in disgust! Words! Words and more words of the same re-hashed stuff that Netanyahu is so expert in delivering! This is King Bibi - the heartthrob of most of the Israeli Electorate today. A racist has no place speaking at a Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremony.

There is no difference between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel, President Reuven Rivlin said at a previous occasion in an apparent rebuke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for saying that Israel is “the national state only of the Jewish people. 3”

If we view the various right-wing neo-fascist leaders that Netanyahu has been courting over the past few years it is quite disgusting. It is finding a consensus on re-writing the history of the Holocaust to suit the views of the neo-fascist leaders, whose friendship Netanyahu has been cultivating 4.

Another subject that is really painful concerning the observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day is the pitiful conditions under which many aged Holocaust survivors live in Israel. Many are caught up in crippling bureaucracy Israel-style in order to get reparations. Many have not received anything or very little and are living their last few years in poverty without getting any financial assistance 5. This painful subject is largely overlooked and the time has come for the government to give a hand to these survivors who have suffered so much so that at least in their last years they have a decent quality of life which to date they do not have 6.

Plans to evict 45 Holocaust survivors from their homes has been cancelled.

References:

"Israel's Netanyahu Embraces European Leaders With Controversial ...." 17 Dec. 2018, https://www.npr.org/2018/12/17/676017667/israels-netanyahu-embraces-european-leaders-with-controversial-views-on-holocaus. Accessed 2 May. 2019.
"Israel's Netanyahu Embraces European Leaders With Controversial ...." 17 Dec. 2018, https://www.npr.org/2018/12/17/676017667/israels-netanyahu-embraces-european-leaders-with-controversial-views-on-holocaus. Accessed 2 May. 2019.
11 Mar. 2019, https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5476970,00.html. Accessed 2 May. 2019.
"Netanyahu's flirtation with the far right, by Dominique Vidal (Le Monde ...." 12 Oct. 2018, https://mondediplo.com/outsidein/netanyahu-s-flirtation-with-the-far-right. Accessed 2 May. 2019.
"70 Years After WWII, Israeli Holocaust Survivors Suffer - Breaking ...." 11 Apr. 2018, https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/105691/70-years-after-wwii-israeli-holocaust-survivors-suffer/. Accessed 2 May. 2019.
"Tens of thousands of Israeli Holocaust survivors are living in abject ...." 27 Jan. 2016, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/12122754/Tens-of-thousands-of-Israeli-Holocaust-survivors-are-living-in-abject-poverty.html. Accessed 2 May. 2019.

Is Israel on the Road to a Fascism?

2019-04-13T15:00:00.001+03:00

It is a sad day for Israel with these electoral results! The road has now been paved for fascism to take root. The independent law courts will be packed with conservative judges, the media will probably be censured as we will be told what journalists may or may not publish. More schmoozing with right-wing regimes in the world. Democracy and human rights will be compromised. The majority of Israel's electorate has chosen the fascist path.

The parties on the left of the Gantz-Lapid Kahol/Lavan Party have been severely trounced and will be very weak in the opposition. The only way to strengthen the left in Israel is to find a formula that will unite the Labour Party, Meretz and the moderates in the Arab Parties into one party, whose members are Arab and Jewish Israelis. This is a link to a post that I wrote on 30th July 2015 and is still relevant today even though the Joint List and the Zionist Camp has disintegrated and Zahava Galon is no longer the leader of Meretz:

This new party could be a true Left Alliance with more influence and potential to gain support from all Israel’s people.

In the not too distant past, the analogy of apartheid South Africa and Israel was certainly wrong and showed ignorance on the part of those who viewed Israel as an apartheid state. However, with the reelection of Benjamin Netanyahu and a strong move towards the extreme right in March 2015 when Netanyahu stated that the Arabs are "coming in droves to vote" thus using Islamophobia tactics to encourage the apathetic, potential Likud faithful to vote “en masse” to prevent this disaster from occurring. This tactic worked and Netanyahu ceased to sweat.

The passing of the racist Nation-State Law 1 in the Knesset in June 2018, whereby Israel is declared the nation-state of "the Jewish People only," shows signs of some similarities to the cruel apartheid system, which was tailored for “whites only”. The blacks were not included. They had their Bantustans where they had “full rights” to vote for black government stooges of the apartheid regime. The racist Nation-State Law will be amended to make it more extreme and exclusive as the incoming coalition government has received a mandate to do what it wishes.

Non-Jewish citizens of Israel are viewed as second class citizens and the status of Arabic has been defined as a "special status" and nobody knows what that means.

Netanyahu's Likud Party volunteers placed cameras in strategic points in polling booths 2, where Arabs voted in the latest election on 9th April 2019 was another sign of an attempt to intimidate Arab Israelis by discouraging them to vote. It is an unfortunate development in Israel that it has moved far to the right that threatens its already faulty democracy.

The left-wing, as in apartheid South Africa, is viewed as treacherous. In apartheid South Africa they were arrested under the 90-day and 180-day detention laws without recourse to lawyers and their newspapers were banned. When they were released from detention, they were placed under house arrest or received banning orders forbidding them to leave the district where they reside. Between 1948 and 1991, the apartheid government banned more than 1,600 men and women. Banned persons endured severe restrictions on their movement, political activities, and associations intended to silence their opposition to the government's apartheid policies and stop their political activity. They also had to report to the nearest police station twice a day.

In Israel, however, they do have administrative detention which is similar. Administrative detention is incarceration without trial or charge, alleging that a person plans to commit a future offence. It has no time limit, and the evidence on which it is based is not disclosed. Israel employs this measure extensively and routinely and has used it to hold thousands of Palestinians for lengthy periods of time. While detention orders are formally reviewed, this is merely a semblance of judicial oversight, as detainees cannot reasonably mount a defence against undisclosed allegations. Nevertheless, courts uphold the vast majority of orders 3.

In Israel, Netanyahu blames the media, the Law Courts, the left, the Attorney-General and the law enforcement authorities for the legal problems of his own making. Despite that, the majority of the Israeli Electorate voted for Netanyahu and the right-wing parties, including the ultra-Orthodox parties destined to be his coalition partners. Israel's democracy is destined to be compromised.

Netanyahu is a genius. He knows how to manipulate and tell lies in an incredible way as to be convincing to his potential supporters with tremendous success. He maligns his opponents' characters with great success and spreads untruths casting doubts on the so-called "left" that has a very wide definition in his view, which he hates with a vengeance. Any political party, who disagrees with him is "left" and treacherous. We saw this in his campaign. He instils fear of the "Arab Threat" (in South Africa it was “die Swart Gevaar”4 or “Black Threat”) if he were to lose and the "treacherous left" wins. He is an expert on the Israeli racist psyche, which afflicts many Israelis and this is what winning elections in Israel is all about. Only a genius can serve five terms as a prime minister. This is one of the reasons why the Arab parties will never be part of any coalition deal.

If Israel becomes “a non-democratic Jewish apartheid state” then those who support a democratic Israel, according to Israel’s Declaration of Independence, would be justified to carry out a selective BDS programme to prevent this from happening. This BDS programme should be directed at the incoming Netanyahu Government Coalition and its right-wing institutions including the illegal settlements in the occupied territories, the parasitic ultra-Orthodox and right-wing religious parties. The tactics should be similar to the BDS applied to apartheid South Africa. While the fascist takeover becomes consolidated even though the majority of Israel’s electorate voted for it, it will be a disaster, racist and totalitarian. In this case, the majority is not always right (excuse the pun). Those who wish to donate to Israel should donate to NGOs devoted to maintaining Israel’s democracy and human rights programmes such as Peace Now 5, B’tzelem 6, Breaking the Silence 7 and New Israel Fund 8.

The justification of Likud and the right-wing supporters is based on xenophobia in which Netanyahu proved his adeptness at exploiting for his own political and personal gains to achieve immunity from his impending prosecution as prime minister.

It is a tragedy for the Jewish people that Israel is losing its Jewish heart and soul. This is certainly true of “welcoming the stranger in our midst” and the hatred for refugees from Eritrea and Sudan. We have forgotten as Jews that we were also refugees and strangers and not welcome in many countries 9 10., Now with Pesach - the festival of freedom - is upon us, it has become meaningless and hypocritical when we give no thought of freedom to others which is becoming trendy today in Israel.

The Orthodox Rabbinical establishment does not recognize Reform and Conservative Jews, who are in the majority in the US. These non-Orthodox Jews have greater freedom in the Diaspora than they ever will have in Israel. The present elected government will ensure that more now than ever before with the nature of its ultra-Orthodox partners, who wield great power, the move towards a bigoted theocracy is a possibility.

References:

"Israel's 'racist' Nation-State Law condemned in Westminster – Middle ...." 27 Feb. 2019, https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190227-israels-racist-nation-state-law-condemned-in-westminster/. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.
"Minority Arabs in Israel object to cameras at polling centres - Reuters." 9 Apr. 2019, https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-israel-election-cameras/minority-arabs-in-israel-object-to-cameras-at-polling-centres-idUKKCN1RL1LH. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.
"Statistics on Administrative Detention | B'Tselem." 3 Apr. 2019, https://www.btselem.org/administrative_detention/statistics. Accessed 13 Apr. 2019.
"What is swart gevaar - Definition of swart gevaar Word finder." https://findwords.info/term/swart%20gevaar. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.
"Peace Now: Home Page." http://peacenow.org.il/en. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.
"B'Tselem." https://www.btselem.org/. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.
"Breaking the Silence." https://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2019.
"Home - New Israel Fund (NIF)." https://www.nif.org/. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.
"Embrace the stranger in our midst | The Times of Israel." 28 Mar. 2012, https://www.timesofisrael.com/accept-the-strangers-in-our-midst/. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.
"The Moral Imperative of the Stranger | ReformJudaism.org." 25 Feb. 2017, https://reformjudaism.org/learning/torah-study/mishpatim/moral-imperative-stranger. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.

The Indictment of PM Benjamin Netanyahu

2019-03-02T22:21:00.000+02:00

All of us knew that eventually Netanyahu would be indicted. Netanyahu has a brilliant mind and he knew how to make the most of his status as prime minister (He is the longest-serving prime minister in Israel as well as the wealthiest) for his own creature comforts and that of his wife, Sarah, and his sons. He also tried to manipulate Noni Mozes, editor of Yediot Ahranot for positive press coverage and making the reader pay for Sheldon Adelson’s pro-Netanyahu freebie daily Yisrael HaYom resulting in its readership to drop.

Bibi had the knack for cultivating friendships with tycoons, not so much for friendships but for his own personal gain, whether financial or political.

A recent poll by the Israeli website The Times of Israel predicted that Mr Netanyahu's Likud would lose four parliamentary seats if the prime minister was indicted, while Mr Gantz's coalition, known as the Blue and White Party, could gain enough seats to take the premiership 2.

Israel's attorney general has announced his intention to indict the country's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in three corruption cases 3.

According to the various case indictments (Case 1000, 2000 and 4000), it appears that he was involved in gaining control of the press so that he would be portrayed in a very positive light thus ensuring that his rule would remain indefinite with the support of the masses. As for case 1000, this could be referred to as his creature comfort case with expensive cigars and loads of pink champaign, which the attorney-general viewed as a breach of trust and fraud case. Case 4000 is the most serious of the lot where he was indicted for corruption 1.

His methods of achieving this were based on fear-mongering. He delegitimized the Arab Parties by saying that they wish to destroy Israel and that the left relies on their support to prevent a right-wing coalition from being formed after the election by forming a left-wing bloc.

A leader of a country who has been elected by the voters of that country and lies to the public has no respect for the citizens of the country that voted him/her into power. He only has respect for himself. This is the impression we get from PM Netanyahu. He has been prime minister for close on 13 years if we take his first term into consideration. He uses Israel as one of his possessions and that of his immediate family.

He is behaving like a cornered rat. Cornered rats are known to be vicious and bite in all directions. He tried a gamble that did not pay-off. He knew that the Sword of Damocles was hanging over his head about an upcoming indictment against him so he brought the General Elections forward in order to stymy the receiving of the indictment against him.

By Netanyahu's behaviour, he has crossed the Rubicon so much so that he has been served an indictment by the AG and his status has changed from being an innocent, law-abiding leader to a criminal suspect. Now that he has this new status, he blames everybody but himself for his created predicament. He views himself as a victim of a national witch-hunt orchestrated by the left, the media, the courts and the police, even the AG, who he had appointed, the ex-Police Commissioner, Ronnie Alsheich (also one of his appointees). So where does the left come into the picture? All is a figment of his paranoiac imagination. He is behaving like a cornered rat. He knew that the Sword of Damocles was hanging over his head about an upcoming indictment against him so he brought the General Elections forward in order to stymy the receiving of the indictment against him. This would allow him time to win the elections and hopefully receive a majority in the Knesset to pass a law – an Israeli version of the French Law to grant immunity from receiving an indictment and that charges against him would be dropped. He also used this harangue of his to rabble rouse his supporters in voting for him. General Elections were due to be held sometime in November 2019. If he would have waited until then, the indictment would have been served months before the scheduled election date.

References:

Netanyahu charges: Is Israel PM in more trouble now than ever before?
28 Feb. 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/28/benjamin-netanyahu-indicted-corruption-charges-israeli-attorney/. Accessed 2 Mar. 2019.
28 Feb. 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/28/benjamin-netanyahu-corruption-charges-decision-expected-today. Accessed 2 Mar. 2019.

The Left's Dilemma in Israel's Upcoming Elections

2019-02-23T16:51:00.002+02:00

It would be a natural choice for those on the left in Israel’s upcoming elections to vote for Meretz.1 In fact, there really is a dilemma, especially now with the suspected felon, PM Benjamin Netanyahu, granting legitimacy to Otzma Yehudit 2, a Otzma Yehudit a Kahanist party (Jewish Fascist and a racist party consisting of ghastly thugs) to be part of the new Likud Coalition if they win.

There are other considerations that one has to take into account before one decides to vote for Meretz. The main consideration is to replace Netanyahu and his right to extreme right-wing extremists that are presently ruling the country. Meretz, unfortunately, is on the borderline of having any seats in the new Knesset. According to the latest Israel polls of 21st Feb, Meretz will win 4 Knesset seats, which is the minimum. In future polls, Meretz may even drop below 3.25% and not have any representation at all.

This means that those, who support Meretz (including myself) will have wasted their vote if Meretz does not make it. Wasting a crucial vote against Netanyahu and his Kahanist allies to form the next government would be unfortunate and opens the entry of Otzma Yehudit and its rehabilitation of that fascist Kahanist ideology to become part of the law-making processes in Israel. The alliance between Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) and Bennie Gantz (Hosen Yisrael) into a single party called Kahol-Lavan (Blue and White) has caused the small parties such as Meretz to fall into the twilight zone with 4 seats each, which may drop even further in future polls of which there will be many before Election Day on April 9th.

If Meretz disappears from the map in future polls then we have no choice but to choose a party that will oppose Netanyahu and his future coalition partners from forming the next government. Voting for a party that has plummeted below 3.25% will only aid Netanyahu and his revolting coalition partners. All that is left for us on the left is to follow the polls very closely before we decide to ditch Meretz, assuming that we wish to support them. I hope that we will not be faced with this dilemma as Meretz is really an important party, whose voice must be heard in the new Knesset.

PM Netanyahu has played it really dirty 3 as he is desperate to win. He has moved towards the fear tactic of rabble-rousing by deceiving the voters with his racist dislike of Israel’s Arab Parties in the Knesset, whom he views as the enemies of Israel and that their main desire is to destroy Israel. He accuses the opposition of wishing to form a coalition with them for that purpose. He may even succeed in this tactic. The “Generals” who are part of the new party alliance, were IDF chiefs-of-staff that Netanyahu accuses of being leftists that wish to give up Israel’s settlements in the territories to the Palestinians. This is a blatant lie that Netanyahu has stated, but then if King Bibi says it, it becomes truth and the thronging, ignorant masses may, as in March 2015, rally to support him at the last moment.

NETANYAHU SPEAKS AGAINST LAPID-GANTZ PARTY 'THEY WILL RELY ON ARAB PARTIES' This is the gist of his reaction for those who do not understand Hebrew

Another part of the left’s dilemma is the possibility of the new government being unable to form a ruling coalition. This could happen to the Blue and White Party as well as the Likud and their allies. The result could very well be a grand coalition of both opposing groups at the end of the day. After the elections, there is a clean slate and history does have a habit of repeating itself. It has happened before in Israel’s political history.

Let us examine what Otzmat Yehudit, the Kahanist rehabilitated party, stands for, and seem to be Netanyahu’s sure guarantors:

Otzmat Yehudit hates Arabs and is against mixed marriages of Jews and non-Jews to the extreme. When a mixed marriage does happen the Lehava 4 movement, whose head is Benzie Gopstein, organizes demonstrations that turn violent against the newlyweds. They are composed of thugs that are no credit to any country.

There is Itamar Ben-Gvir, attorney for a long list of Jews suspected of anti-Palestinian terrorism and anti-Arab hate crimes 5, and who prior to the Rabin assassination held up an emblem from the then-prime minister's car, declaring "we got to his car and we'll get to him too."

Baruch Marzel 6, another despicable Kahanist is also a member of this Otzma Yehudit.

In 1994, Kahane disciple Dr Baruch Goldstein, a Brooklyn native who moved to the settlement of Kiryat Arba, murdered 29 Muslim's in Hebron's sacred Cave of the Patriarchs, before he was beaten to death by survivors of the shooting.

They use Israel’s failing democracy in order to destroy what is left of it. They regard it as their democratic right to destroy Israel’s democracy. If they become part of the Israel Government it will be a gift to BDS and will prove to BDS that they (BDS) are correct in their assumption that Israel is on the road to becoming a fascist, apartheid state of the Jews. Elor Azaria, who was given a light sentence for killing a prone Palestinian terrorist, neutralised by the IDF about three years ago appears to have become their hero.

Even AIPAC condemns Netanyahu’s alliance with this thuggish party 7.

Thanks to Netanyahu, who must be held responsible for the rehabilitation of Kahanism and granted it legitimacy so that he can retain power at all costs.

Netanyahu is desperate to retain power because of the indictment waiting in Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit’s office prior to a hearing. So he is using every dirty trick in the Netanyahu Manuel of Deception so as not to lose.

If he wins then one of the first laws that the new coalition will pass is the Israeli version of the French Law that will grant Netanyahu immunity from being prosecuted for his suspected fraud, corruption and defeating the ends of justice crimes. This will give him breathing space for a while and may, Heaven Help Us, result in the Attorney-General closing the cases against him. So the wily Netanyahu has it all planned if he wins the elections with the best defence team in Israel.

There is no question that the Kahane ideology of Otzma Yehudit is fascism (Check this link and notice how relevant it is even today with the latest Bibi tricks) and if this gains legitimacy in Israel because of Netanyahu’s attempt to win and wriggle out of his legal problems then we have cause to be very concerned about Israel”s future.

References:

"English | מרצ." https://meretz.org.il/en/english/. Accessed 23 Feb. 2019.
"Otzma Yehudit - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otzma_Yehudit. Accessed 23 Feb. 2019.
"Otzma Yehudit's history of racism and provocation - Ynetnews." 21 Feb. 2019, https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5467651,00.html. Accessed 23 Feb. 2019.
"Lehava | The Times of Israel." https://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/lehava/. Accessed 23 Feb. 2019.
"Itamar Ben-Gvir - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itamar_Ben-Gvir. Accessed 23 Feb. 2019.
"Baruch Marzel | The Times of Israel." https://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/baruch-marzel/. Accessed 23 Feb. 2019.

"AIPAC slams 'racist and reprehensible' extremist party wooed by ...." 22 Feb. 2019, https://www.timesofisrael.com/major-us-jewish-groups-slam-racist-and-reprehensible-extremist-israeli-party/. Accessed 23 Feb. 2019.

The Upcoming Israeli Election Winds

2019-02-09T18:38:00.000+02:00

The upcoming elections 1 in Israel are a boring, predictable phenomenon. The majority of Israel’s Jewish Electorate are moving towards the right. The Benny Gantz 2 phenomenon is a distraction that PM “Bibi” Netanyahu does not like. He is determined to label him as “left” and a danger to Israel. Miri Regev, Commissar of Culture, is Bibi’s echo. This boorish, loud-mouthed, woman reiterates all Bibi’s prejudices and lies with gusto. She is also a racist that received a high place on the Likud list for the Knesset. She follows the Stalinist belief that if you tell a lie often enough it becomes the truth. Any cultural project that does not meet her approval does not get subsidized by the state.

The Ministry of Culture and Sport appears to be Miri Regev’s private property. She travels around campaigning in her mobile caravan expressing her pet hates for the “leftists” and those, who she views as haters of Israel, which includes in her view, Benny Gantz and others. This, of course, brings her lots of votes from the ignorant racists that are the grassroots of the Likud Party. After the “silent” Benny Gantz gave his speech, the polls 3 in favour of his new party, Hosen L’ Yisrael, soared but still remains 8 seats below the Likud Party. There is no chance of this party winning the elections as the situation remains at present.

Netanyahu is great at rabble-rousing the crowd with inaccuracies and punch lines that bring his party great numbers of votes. He labels his opponents as left to the extreme left even if this is not true. He is doing this with newbie Benny Gantz, who seems to pose a threat. If King Bibi says that Gantz is going to sell out Israel and has President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority’s apparent approval. This will be Bibi’s tactic aimed at the ignorant masses to believe him and will come to the polls “in droves” to vote for the Likud and its shenanigans. “If King Bibi says then King Bibi knows and we must not question his credibility”. Those who do are viewed as potential traitors to Israel and must be treated with contempt. The result is that the ignorant, apathetic voters will rally round to support the Likud and Company at the end of the day despite what the polls say. Bibi’s magic is his talent at misleading the voter with untruthful slogans that are racist and appeal to the Islamophobic mindset of the ignorant of which there is no shortage. We saw this after the 2015 General Elections when King Bibi stated that ”the Arabs are coming in droves to vote”. The effect was like magic and the sheep came out of the fold to vote en masse after flooding the parks with barbecue grills of shishlik, kebabs and steaks on Election Day (which is a public holiday). “God Forbid! The Arabs are a threat” was their winning slogan.

There is no reason to believe that the upcoming elections will be any different. The Likud just had their primaries for their Knesset list. Many of the same poor quality of Homo sapiens, whose fear tactics are so obvious, was re-elected and received much support. It is enough to view the Likud members in their masses voting for these rabble-rousing racists, who were responsible for the passing of the racist Nation-State Law in the Knesset.

Netanyahu has a legal headache waiting for him - depending of course on the indictment prior to a hearing of Bibi’s suspected illegal corruption follies in Case 1000, 2000 and 4000 that Attorney-General Mandelblit intends to issue before the elections. He, of course, is innocent as newly driven snow. He is sweating and floundering around like a paranoic, cornered rat subject to a witch-hunt. He is on the path of destroying Israel’s democracy, making friends with strange, right-wing despotic leaders in Brazil, Hungary, Chad, Poland, Italy and Philippines - maybe I have left out other friendly despots in the world - no shortage of those these days. Of course, President Trump is also on that list of devoted friends. Netanyahu blames the left, the police, the courts, the media and the attorney-general for his legal problems.

The upcoming elections, with all the blurb going around and polls on an almost daily basis all pointing to another victory for the Likud with the scum-like behaviour of its cabinet ministers and its MKs, many of whom have been re-elected on the Likud list after the recent primaries. This is far from Israel of its founding fathers and the Declaration of Independence being eroded by the racist Nation-State Law 4 to ensure Israel’s apartheid-like character with the non-Jewish Israeli citizen as second class.

If the Likud forms the next Coalition Government after the elections, and Netanyahu, despite his indictment becomes prime minister once again, new bills will be discussed resembling the French Parliamentary Immunity Law that will make it impossible to summon Netanyahu to court on the grounds of suspicion of him breaking the law and allowing him to mark time without him being accountable for his suspected illegal activities while he remains in office.

If this scenario does occur after the elections it will erode Israel’s battered democracy even further. The chances of a right-wing Likud Coalition after the elections is very high.

References:

"2019 Israeli legislative election - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Israeli_legislative_election. Accessed 7 Feb. 2019.
"Benny Gantz - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Gantz. Accessed 7 Feb. 2019.
"Israel Election 2019-Haaretz.com." https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections. Accessed 7 Feb. 2019.
"Final text of Jewish nation-state law, approved by ... - The Times of Israel." 19 Jul. 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/final-text-of-jewish-nation-state-bill-set-to-become-law/. Accessed 7 Feb. 2019.

Conflicts in the Middle East

The Seventy Faces of Torah

Nous Accusons!

All that I Believed and Hoped for, has been Shattered

The Purpose of Yom Kippur

Tragic Deaths in Israeli-Palestinian Towns

The lack of a Constitution in Israel makes the Law Courts vulnerable

The Movement of Israel towards Fascism and Apartheid

Under the Kahanist, Itamar Ben Gvir the incoming Minister of Internal Security, the Israel Police Force will resemble the Nazi SA

Under the Kahanist, Itamar Ben Gvir the incoming Minister of Internal Security, the Israel Police Force will resemble the Nazi SA

Israel of Today Does not Care about Diaspora Jewry

An Extreme Right-Wing Break Away From the Likud

Fourth Israeli Elections Coming Up!

Meretz Can Only Survive as an egalitarian Jewish-Arab Party

Some Reflections on Rosh Hashana 2020

Jews can’t gather as usual for Rosh Hashanah — and stay safe from COVID-19

Why is Pesach 2020 Different from Previous Pesachim?

Netanyahu May Be Israel's Enemy Today

The Inconclusive Israeli Election Results

The Upcoming Elections on 17th September 2019

Is Israel Becoming an Apartheid State?

September 2019 Israeli legislative election: An explanation of the Israeli September 2019 Elections

The Decision of Holding New Elections is Absurd and Lacking in Logic

Israel's Independence Day Celebrations

Holocaust Remembrance Day has been Defiled!

Is Israel on the Road to a Fascism?

References:

The Indictment of PM Benjamin Netanyahu

The Left's Dilemma in Israel's Upcoming Elections

NETANYAHU SPEAKS AGAINST LAPID-GANTZ PARTY 'THEY WILL RELY ON ARAB PARTIES' This is the gist of his reaction for those who do not understand Hebrew

"AIPAC slams 'racist and reprehensible' extremist party wooed by ...." 22 Feb. 2019, https://www.timesofisrael.com/major-us-jewish-groups-slam-racist-and-reprehensible-extremist-israeli-party/. Accessed 23 Feb. 2019.

The Upcoming Israeli Election Winds