Moving to Israel

As a common topic among concerned Jews around the world has always been whether or not the President of the United States is “pro Israel” or not, Danny Gottlieb provided a great piece of insight the other day in an article over at Arutz Sheva entitled “Obama is Not the Problem.”

It is a great read regardless of one’s opinion of President Barack Obama as Gottlieb makes the case that we should be more concerned about our political situation here in Israel and stop spending so much time worrying about the pros and cons of the leaders of other nations (yes, even America) via their affinity - or lack thereof - of our people.

He hits the nail on the head when he says “The Knesset is our national and natural home for decisive political debate, not Washington. When we take our fate back into our hands by taking back the Knesset from those who currently sit within it, only then will we get the kind of government we need. And not by expecting miracles from the tall skinny fellow with the different name who sits in that big white house, so detached from us in every respect.”

Here’s hoping we all heed Gottlieb’s message.

Ari

In an act contrary (and some would say in defiance) to the policies of President Barack Obama, a group of Jewish students from the United States spent last week working in hilltop communities throughout Samaria. The significance of this should not be lost on all of us as Obama is pressuring Israel to cease all construction in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem, and the students are volunteering in some of the very Jewish villages which the U.S. is asking the Israeli government to demolish.

This is, in this author’s humble opinion, a tremendously positive event for Israel as many of the university students participating in the program voted for Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential campaign but “oppose his imperialist approach to the Middle East.” They are showing that, while they approved of is political policies in the run up to the election, they oppose the administration’s efforts to shrink the State of Israel and ethnically cleanse our people from the heart of our land. In addition, the have transformed their disappointment in Obama into action by volunteering in the very communities that he is trying to destroy.

We can only hope that the upper echelon of America, Israel’s closest ally and friend, is able to see such occurrences from the very people that voted for them and begins to understand that a united, strong Israel is in the best interest of the entire West and free world at large.

Ari

While you tend to get used to the anti Semitic and anti Israeli sentiment around the world, there is occassionaly still a piece of news that comes along that will make me gasp in bewilderment.

This morning was one of those cases as I was reading the news and saw in haaretz.com how a group of British Lawmakers are urging the U.K. government to talk to Hamas. The British parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee said in a report that it stood by a recommendation it first made two years ago that the government should engage politically with moderate elements within Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

In explaining their position the Legistlators stated that “We conclude that there continue to be few signs that the current policy of non-engagement is achieving the Quartet’s stated objectives.” They went on to say that “We further conclude that the credible peace process for which the Quartet hopes, as part of its strategy for undercutting Hamas, is likely to be difficult to achieve without greater cooperation from Hamas itself.”

Needless to say, such assertions are both despicable and offensive. There should not be any discussion as to the potential to “communicate” with the murderous thugs of Hamas. This is a group of killers who (along with many other Arab “political groups”) dream of the day that all Israelis, Jews, Christians and other “infidels” are wiped off the face of the earth, never to be heard from again. The only connection we should have with these criminals is in discussing the best way to stop their vicious assault on the world once and for all.

Let’s hope with the help of Hashem that the  postion of these lawmakers is ignored and that the West’s policy of shunning the Palestinian Islamist group continues as they make preparations to uproot the Hamas terror network for good.

Ari

With all the troubles and concerns going on in the world today and with the relationship between the new governments of Israel and the U.S. still not on a stable footing, Arutz Sheva did a great job today to remind everyone that the issue of Jonathan Pollard must not get left behind. As the article says:

“Pollard, who has been in American prison since 1985, was not convicted of treason, but rather of one count of passing classified information to a friendly country – Israel. He is credited with having informed Israel of Iraq’s Scud missile plans, enabling Israel to prepare in advance of the dozens of Iraqi attacks in 1991.”

The article quotes activists  asking the government not to let up in its efforts to free Pollard while encouraging the public should do its share to show him solidarity by writing him letters.

We should always keep the issue of Jonathan Pollard in our minds and in our prayers and daven that his release should be, G-d willing, immediately forthcoming.

Ari

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how US President Barack Obama, along with his family, attended the second night Passover Seder in the White House with staff and friends. This is believed to be the first White House Seder attended by an American president. I also noted how we must look closely before celebrating such an event as being a positive occurrence for Israel and the Jewish people by noting that it was former President Jimmy Carter, hardly a friend of Jews of the world, who had set the closest precedence to this and we all know how his reign of terror played out (and, unfortunately with his world wide influence, continues to play out to this day).

Therefore, I thought it was interesting to point out an article by Carol Schwartz entitled “Seder in the White House, Oy Vey” that takes this point further and brings in examples throughout history telling us to beware of what such an event can mean. It is a truly chilling account as it makes us look at our own past and see how we are potentially putting ourselves in great danger once again when we take our supposed “great relations” with our host (and foreign) government and assume that it bodes well for our long term future there.

As Carol closes her article “Let us not forget our history and let us remember that history has a way of repeating itself. (May G-d protect us.)”

Ari

With election of Israel’s Knesset falling deeper into the past and the process continuing with a government being formed, you continue to hear stories of the behind the scenes developments of Binyamin Netanyahu and his attempts to put together a coalition. Some stories, such as this one about Netanyahu giving in to all of the demands made by Yisrael Beiteinu chief Avigdor Lieberman regarding various cabinet positions, are typical examples of these pieces.

While the forming of the government and who will be serving what position are certainly important, critical issues I can’t help but read them with a sense of “are you kidding me” attitude. The discussions and political maneuverings just seem to pale in comparison to things like the attack by a deranged Arab tractor driver last Thursday — the third of its kind in Jerusalem in a single year. A big part of me just wants to shout at these politicians about how we have enough to worry about with an unending amount of Arabs surrounding our tiny little country swearing to drive us into the sea. This should be the only issue when forming a government. The security and survival of the Jewish people needs to come first. 

Let’s hope that these are some of the behind the scene stories that we are not hearing about. The ones where the brave politicians forming the government are talking about nothing but how best to defend the nation and to make sure our enemies torment us no more.

Ari

For the first time since the British rule, Aliyah to Israel will be stopped. In an obviously cruel and racist manner the Israeli government will stop all Aliyah of the Falashmura from Ethiopia. In a decision made by the Jewish Agency, a quasi official government entity, all agency representatives will return to Israel, bringing to close a five year streak which saw over 16,000 Falashmura make the move to Israel.

If our readers will recall a previous blog post, the Israeli government had declared war on the Aliyah of Jews who are not wealthy. Apparently, a new front to this war has been opened as Falashmura Olim from Ethiopia can hardly be considered wealthy and therefore not of interest to Israeli government officials. Although Ethiopians are an honor and credit to Israeli society, they are usually only found working menial jobs for the Israeli economy and it is possible that their manpower is no longer needed or that quotas have been met.

Unfortunately for the rest of Israel’s citizens, this represents a further moral deterioration of Israeli government leaders. Further, if Israel was truly a democratic state then, at a minimum, citizens should be called upon to vote over the issue.