Moving to Israel

I talked the other day about my disappointment of the United States’ reaction after Israel announced plans to build 1,600 new houses for Jews in east Jerusalem. However,  this disappointment pales in comparison to the latest “words of encouragement” provided by UN chief Ban Ki-moon. On Saturday Ban spoke about how Israeli settlement building anywhere on occupied land is illegal and must be stopped. He also rejected Israel’s distinction between east Jerusalem and the West Bank, noting that both are occupied lands.

While one sided, Israel bashing statements are nothing new from the UN, it still never fails to boil my blood when I hear such garbage. There’s a whole world out there full of murder, slaughter, hunger and other calamities and, yet, the United Nations always seems to find time to condemn, make a resolution against or just generally criticize Israel…this time for building plans!

While we would be naive to believe that the UN will change their opinions about Israel and the Jewish people any time soon, the whole sad situation should really make us remember and be realistic about the world we’re living in and should raise the level of concern even more when the U.S., Israel’s supposed “best friend,” takes the liberty of joining the nonsense.

Ari

There’s a wonderful and sobering article out this week in Arutz Sheva that I wanted to share with you. The article is written by Prof. Steven Plaut of the University of Haifa and runs in parallel with the anti-Semitic propaganda play, “My Name is Rachel,” currently playing theaters around the world.

Plaut makes the case that the plays subject, Rachel Corrie, serves as the Horst Wessel of the anti-Israel Left. Wessel was an idealistic young German active in the Bismarck Youth organization, a nationalist youth group in post-WWI Weimar Germany. At 19 years old he joined the Nazi Party and, like Corrie, wrote poems and music, and he played the oboe. In 1930 when he was 23, he got into a dispute with his landlady, whose husband was a communist party leader. Probably in response, on  January 14, 1930, Wessel was shot in the face by Albrecht Höhler, an active member of the local Communist Party. This is where Plaut draws the analogy as the Nazi Party decided that Wessel would make a brilliant martyr figure, and his tragic death could be exploited as political ammunition to promote the agenda of the party.

He goes on to say that Horst Wessel was obviously the Rachel Corrie of the anti-Jewish movement almost 80 years before Rachel Corrie played a similar role and I’ll quote him in his explanation: “In both cases, their “martyrdom” was in fact a pathetic death due in large part to their own stupidity.  In both cases the death of a naive young person involved in extremist politics was exploited by the pro-terrorism groups to which they belonged.  In both cases the “martyrs” were beatified by those seeking the murder and annihilation of Jews.”

I highly recommend reading the whole article as Plaut does a fantastic job of identifying the utter disdain of those behind these farcical martyr shows and properly condemns them to what they truly are: more anti-Semitic rubbish.

Ari

Even after making Aliyah and moving to Israel, for an American, the deep roots of the United States never really leaves you. This becomes especially true when the worlds of Israel and America collide as it did this week with the death of former US secretary of state Alexander Haig.

Haig’s spokesman during his 1988 campaign for the Republican nomination for the presidency, Daniel Mariaschin, talked after his death about how he “always had a special feeling for Israel. I always had the impression that he considered himself a friend of Israel and understood its geo-security predicament as we moved through the years,” said Mariaschin, now executive vice president of B’nai B’rith International.

While in 1981, Haig, serving as secretary of state under president Ronald Reagan, proposed temporarily suspending the strategic cooperation agreement between the United Staes and Israel, he later on evolved into a firm believer in Israel as a powerful deterrent to terrorism. In 2001, he told the Jerusalem Post that it might not be a bad thing for Israel to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power. “If the Israelis do launch a preemptive strike [on Iran], it may be saving the world a lot of trouble,” he said.

Powerful people in such positions are not commonly known for their dedication to both Israel and America, two of  the leaders of the world in the championing of democracy and freedom. We can only hope that more people with such integrity rise to such lofty positions and are able to make such a difference in the fight against evil.

Ari

As many of you probably know, US President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union address the other day and, as usual, there are major ramifications for those interested in the well being of Israel.

The US is placing special ships off the Iranian coast and antimissile systems in at least four Arab countries, according to administration and military officials, in what appears to be the deployment of new defenses against possible Iranian missile attacks in the Persian Gulf, The New York Times reported on Saturday. The President warned that his administration’s diplomatic outreach will now be combined with the “consequences.” Obama’s administration is attempting to garner broad international consensus for imposing sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, which apparently controls the military side of the nuclear program. The deployments are an attempt to show Jerusalem that there is no immediate need for military strikes against Iranian nuclear and missile facilities, according to administration officials.

While we hope that the President is working with Israels’ - not to mention the worlds’ -  best interest at heart, it is worth thinking about whether, in the end, anything positive will result from these crucial decisions. Remember, the International community wasn’t exactly thrilled with Israel’s intentions to strike Iraq’s nuclear reactor in the early 1980’s and it turned out to be only through the grace of G-d that Israel acted regardless. It could very well be that Israeli action against Iran would be the best thing that could happen to the world at large and let’s hope President Obama and the US administration realize this before the ultimate mistake is made.

Ari

I’ve been writing this moving to Israel blog for some time now and, as my regular readers know, I am always trying to recommend any similar content I find on the Internet. Therefore, I was thrilled when a reader sent in information about their own Aliyah blog.

“Esther’s Aliyah Experience” is written by Esther Cohen, who made Aliyah one and a half years ago and chronicles her experiences as a new immigrant from North America. She recently started her own Wine Tour Company called “My Israel Wine Tours” (www.myisraelwinetours.com) and the blog is a great read for people like me who love reading about the Aliyah experience.

Check it out, let me know what you think and please always contact me when you see something you think might be of interest to our readers.

Ari

Ehud Barak’s abrupt ousting of the Samaria located Har Bracha Yeshiva from the Hesder (combined IDF and Torah study) program has been headline news in Israel for a week. He claimed that statements made by the Yeshiva “shake the foundations of Israeli democracy and encourage mutiny…and that there is no place for such behavior in a democratic country” and has, therefore, led the public to believe that Zionist rabbis, those heading Yeshivas that send their students to become officers and combat soldiers,  endanger the future of the army. These are very serious - and some would say libelous - charges brought against some of our leading rabbis and the Hesder community itself.

This is why I want to publicize the response given by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, head of the Yeshiva. His response is thoroughly thought out and well written and is a must read for everyone with an interest in Israel and its well being. With many slanderous accusations being lobbied at the religious community through the years (especially regarding the army) it is good to see someone stand up in their defense and challenge some of the authors of these libels.

May Hashem make the truth come out and keep our country protected.

Ari

As the festive holiday of Chanukah settles upon Jews all over the world this week we take time to remember some of the many miracles wrought for our nation. A nice piece I read this morning reminds us that is also a good time for a financial education.

This holiday, when even the youngest child may receive gelt (the Yiddish word for money; Chanukah gelt given out by parents and guests after lighting the candles is the traditional children’s present rather than gifts), provides parents with a timely opportunity to teach their children about money and good financial habits. The article mentions how, particularly in today’s times, impressionable children are constantly confronted with uneducational messages regarding money. For this reason, it is even more important for us to teach our children financial responsibility from an early age and Chanukah provides the perfect opportunity. We can teach them where this money comes from, the responsibilities it brings, how it can help others and more.

While the festive side of Chanukah will be bringing joy to the Jewish people in Israel and throughout the world this week, let’s all remember to take the valuable lessons it teaches us as well to further strengthen and fortify our people.

Chag Sameach.

Ari

Regular readers of this moving to Israel blog know that I regularly bring up the unique relationship between Israel and the United States (not to mention the fact that I am an American Oleh) and that is why I am anxious to feature this fantastic article by Harold Estes, an almost 95 year old U.S. Navy veteran who served proudly before, during and after WW II before retiring as a Master Chief Bos’n Mate.

The article is a scathing letter to President Obama which strongly rebukes the Commander in Chief for his very “un-American” attitude towards the very country which he leads. It is a very revealing and eye opening piece which speaks not just to the President, but to all those who, since 9/11, seem to blame America for all the hardships in the world, including the ones which effect America most negatively. This sounds very familiar to me regarding how many of our own leaders here in Israel often seem to be apologizing for the terror attacks we seem to “bring upon ourselves.”

It is important to read Estes’ letter and to remember that countries like Israel and the U.S. (and perhaps only Israel and the U.S.) have, throughout history, been the ones to defend liberty and protect the weak from the murderous dictators of the world. We need the leaders of these great nations to act like leaders and be proud of the high moral standards they have set for the world and not to apologize and appease the immoral majority that seeks to blame the west for all the heinous crimes perpetrated against it.

Ari

This being a moving to Israel blog and me being (as I often mention) an Oleh from America, I am always fascinated by the relationship of the two countries. They frequently both set examples for the rest of the world and, therefore, all news matters that focus on cooperation between the two always warms my heart. This is why I was happy to read this morning of a treaty to be signed between Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger regarding industrial cooperation in the field of renewable energy. The signing will take place in the course of Schwarzenegger’s visit to Israel as part of the Saban Forum.

The agreement with California will advance strategic commerce cooperation between the State of Israel and California in the renewable energy and environmental technologies fields, by creating partnerships between Israeli firms that specialize in these fields on the one hand, and California industries and municipalities on the other. Mutual investments between the countries will increase, as will research cooperation and other coordination in these fields.

The U.S. renewable energy market has tremendous commercial potential for Israeli companies and trade between the two countries, which dropped 12% between January and September 2009 and the same period last year, should be given a major boost by this latest announcement.

We hope the two democracies will continue to provide guidance to the rest of the world with the trade between them helping to form the foundation.

Ari

The issue of  the American government refusing to name Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is a long standing controversy in Israel-US foreign relations. Is was therefore noteworthy when, last week, seven United States senators sponsored a bill that would abolish the “security” waiver that American presidents have used to prevent implementing a 1995 law declaring that Jerusalem is, indeed, its capital.

Things like this always make me, an American born Israeli, proud but, unfortunately, we have heard many similar promises over the years from American presidents during their campaigns only to be dissapointed when the moments of truth have arrived. This is an important issue that we Americans need to push for, as Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said, “I believe moving the American embassy to Jerusalem will be the first step towards other embassies moving to the capital, as in every other country in the world.”

Strong words on an important matter.

Ari