Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, April 19, 2018

04/19 Links Pt1: Netanyahu: On 70th anniversary, Israel’s light will beat enemies’ ‘darkness’; Independence Day terror attack said foiled; Abbas warmly welcomes terrorist

From Ian:

Seventy years ago, on the 14th of May, David Ben-Gurion and his Zionist compatriots were poised to declare the first Jewish commonwealth in almost two millennia. Israel’s founders, however, were delayed, bogged down in a matter of textual minutiae. Rabbi Yehuda Leib Maimon, rabbinic representative of the Religious Zionist movement, proclaimed himself unwilling to sign any Declaration of Independence that made no reference to the God of Israel. Aharon Zisling, the secular head of the socialist party Mapam, asserted that he could not affirm the existence of a God in Whom he did not believe. The British were departing, the Arab armies were descending, and the Jews were debating whether God existed.

It was Ben-Gurion himself who proposed a compromise: Israel’s Declaration of Independence would conclude by asserting that each signer placed his trust in the “Rock of Israel,” the Tzur Yisrael, a phrase from the Jewish liturgy inspired by the biblical reference to God as tzuri ve-go’ali, my Rock and my Redeemer.

By referring to the “Rock of Israel,” but refraining from any explicit mention of divine redemption, Israel’s declaration was one that both devout and atheistic Zionists could affirm. For believers in the Bible, the phrase could refer to the divine defender of the Jewish people; for the secular socialist signers of the document, the words could instead make reference to the flint-like resolution of the Israeli army. The compromise was accepted, and the modern Jewish state was born by eliding the issue of the existence of God.

For myself, a religious Zionist and American-history aficionado, the story is doubly painful. Thomas Jefferson, the deistic drafter of the Declaration in Philadelphia, produced a first version without any reference to the divine designs of history. The continental Congress, however, representing an America obsessed with the Bible, edited the dramatic closing of the original draft so that it made clear that the revolution was being launched with “a firm reliance on divine providence.”

John Podhoretz: The Septuagenarian

Israel is the 26th-richest country on Earth, according to the World Bank. Now, Israelis will tell you, not without reason, that the wealth numbers provide an improper view of everyday life in their country. The inequality gap is a Grand Canyon–like chasm there. It’s hard for the young to find good jobs and decent housing, in part because an overly intrusive government sector has made workplace mobility nearly impossible and an overregulated economy makes home construction prohibitively expensive. These difficulties are especially enraging to Israelis because they are self-inflicted wounds that result from what might be called “democratic-socialist entropy.”

But still, Israel is the 26th-richest country on Earth—and the fact that you’ve probably taken this in stride is the reason it’s so extraordinary. Israel’s emergence as a wealthy country is among the countless facts of 2018 that would have seemed unimaginable to the Jews of 1948. Seventy years ago, even poor American Jews like my grandparents would scrape together precious dollars to send to relatives in Palestine, so hardscrabble was their existence. And it remained an economic basket case for decades. In the 1960s, consumer goods of any kind were so scarce in part due to startlingly stupid tariffs imposed by the economically illiterate Labour government that any American traveling there would put out an APB and collect all manner of stuff to bring to family members who were studying in the Holy Land or had made Aliyah. In 1984, while Western nations saw renewed economic growth, Israel had an inflation rate of—get this—450 percent.

The nation broke the back of its inflationary spiral, and then in the early 1990s, something amazing happened: An entirely new economic sector kind of snuck into existence because the hidebound labor apparatchiks in control of communications had no idea what cellular telephony was or what it could do. They were still focused on controlling the landline monopoly called Bezek.

Gil Troy: The Continuing Promise of American Zionism

Sixty-nine years ago, a 28-year-old rabbi published an essay in Commentary entitled “American Zionism at an Impasse: A Movement in Search of a Program.” What, the young Arthur Hertzberg wondered in that October 1949 essay, will American Jews do now, after the great fight to establish Israel had ended so triumphantly a year earlier, in May 1948?
Hertzberg understood how helping the Jews over there in the Middle East had helped Jews over here in North America. After decades of American Jewish ambivalence about Jewish nationalism, the Holocaust had created an instant consensus for a Jewish state. The fight to create that state galvanized the community, rousing it from depression—and shielding it from guilt. By doing the right thing in the late 1940s, American Jews atoned for their failure to save more of their doomed brothers and sisters.

Hertzberg’s fear that Zionism was “a movement in search of a program” in 1949 proved wildly premature, because Israel would continue to call on and depend on the support of American Jews for its survival. The nation’s creation was followed by a host of new problems and opportunities that kept the global Jewish community engaged with Israel and kept alive the American Jewish connection to “peoplehood”—even as many American Jews abandoned religious practice entirely.

In 1959, Hertzberg published a seminal anthology, The Zionist Idea, for the purpose of establishing the movement’s intellectual and ideological roots. At the time, Israel was fragile and the Zionist conversation was robust. Today, Israel is robust and the Zionist conversation has turned fragile. Israel’s 70th anniversary offers an opportunity to reframe the Zionist conversation—asking not what American Jews can do for Israel, but what Zionism can do for American Jews. Hertzberg understood that Zionism wasn’t only about saving Jewish bodies but saving Jewish souls. As the celebrations of Israel’s 70th birthday begin, Zionism’s capacity to save our souls remains vital.

Many American Jews in the 1950s helped their fellow Jews settle in the new land. The fundraising short from 1954, “The Big Moment,” featuring Hollywood stars including Donna Reed and Robert Young, celebrated the secular miracle. “When you support the United Jewish Appeal, you make it possible for the United Israel Appeal to help the people of Israel,” the short told its viewers. They could help “rush completion of new settlements, new housing for the homeless, the irrigation of wasteland acres…. Israel’s people who stand for freedom must not stand alone.”

A few years ago, there was another "march" on Israel. At the time, legal scholar Eugene Kontorovich wrote a relevant article on the legality of Israel defending itself in such a situation - using a startlingly similar event that happened in the Western Sahara:

In 1975, Spain appeared ready to pull out of much or all of Western Sahara, a large desert region between Mauritania and Morocco. Rabat hoped to annex the mineral-rich territory, but its claims of sovereignty were successively denied by a report of a U.N. fact-finding mission and an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, both of which favored self-determination for the region.

Morocco was not deterred. Right after being rebuffed by those international organs, it mounted the Green March — sending 350,000 unarmed Moroccans on a well-choreographed hike into Western Sahara. Spain was not willing to fight against such numbers, and evacuated the territory. The Moroccan military moved in, and the territory remains under Moroccan control to this day.

The press has taken to calling the Arabs marching across the Israeli frontier “protesters.” In fact, “protests” are contained within a country; the organized crossing of a frontier is an invasion. In 1975, when Western Sahara was the victim, the world community was clear on this point (even though the Moroccans were unarmed.). Other Arab leaders called the Green March “a violation of the sovereignty of” Western Sahara and “an act contrary to international law.” Prominent international scholars described it as an illegal use of force, a “stealing of the Sahara,” in the words of one of the leading international lawyers of the time. The U.N. Security Council passed a measure that “deplored” Morocco’s invasion.

Moreover, despite the nominally civilian character of the marchers, several U.N. General Assembly resolutions recognized that the enterprise constituted a military occupation by Morocco. Observers noted that the march could not have gone off without the permission, and indeed encouragement, of King Hassan of Morocco, and thus he must take responsibility as if he had ordered army units across the border. It was a conquest despite the lack of arms: A large organized mob can be as forceful as an armed military unit. Indeed, as the Spanish capitulation proved, a march could be a more effective tool of conquest than a military strike against Western armies reluctant to fire on civilians.

Also, the Lawfare Blog has an interesting article on Israel's rights under international law to act against Gaza marchers:

To be clear, the use of indiscriminate fire against civilians, even if they cross a border or sabotage a military installation, is absolutely prohibited. Still, the view that military forces defending the border should remain idle because the risk to lives is not imminent—even after the exhaustion of less-lethal means and amid the destruction of the border fence by a mob—is too strict and narrow an interpretation of international humanitarian law.

The purpose of IHL is to strike a balance between military necessity and humanitarian concerns during an armed conflict. Rules that ignore legitimate military needs are not likely to be sustainable. Moreover, a significant breach of the border fence could be exploited for planting IEDs or for entrance into Israel of terror squads or a violent mob aiming to attack Israeli civilians. Such developments present a grave and concrete danger to life, even if not imminent in nature.

In an extreme scenario, rioting civilians—even unarmed—can be considered as directly participating in hostilities provided that they perform acts of violence which are specifically designed to support their side of the conflict and harm the enemy state. Such acts of violence may include destruction of military equipment or diverting attention of the armed forces to support an attack occurring in another place. In fact, this opinion was expressed in an expert meeting convened by the International Committee of the Red Cross in 2012 on the use of force in armed conflict and the interplay between the conduct of hostilities and law enforcement paradigm. (See page 26 of the report.)

Note, however, that this was not the mainstream opinion of the experts present in the meeting. For that reason, as well as for practical and policy considerations, the defending military in extreme situations involving violent civilians should focus its use of force on people who appear to lead and instigate the rioters. Even then, the military should use the minimum amount of force needed to stop the harmful act.

Once again, the media is dropping the ball by not even pretending to look at the rights that Israel has under international law to defend itself.

(h/t Daled Amos, Irene)

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I wrote the original essay around 2002 and I have been modifying it since then. Here is this year's version:

Every year, the State of Israel seems to be up against yet another unsolvable crisis. These have ranged from wars to suicide bombings to terror rockets to facing the prospect of nuclear-armed enemies. Our enemies have come close to succeeding in demonizing Israel at most international forums. Today, even terror organizations are successfully portraying themselves as pledged to non-violence while engaging in violence - and the media is more sympathetic to them than to Israel.

Yet, here she is, 70 years old and more beautiful than she was at birth.

Yes, I am a Zionist and I am proud of it.

I know that Israel has the absolute right to exist in peace and security, at least as much as any other country. Given Israel's unique history and the resurgence of antisemitism worldwide, Israel arguably has more moral legitimacy than any other nation.

I am proud of how the IDF conducts itself during its war on Palestinian terror. There is no other country on the planet that tries to minimize civilian casualties in such a situation where innocent Israelis are being threatened, shot at, mortared, rocketed, stabbed and murdered in cold blood. At times there are discussions whether the IDF's moral standards are too high and end up being counterproductive - and what other army could one even have that conversation about?

I am also proud that Israel investigates any mistakes that happen on the battlefield and keeps trying to improve its methods to maximize damage to the terrorists while minimizing damage to the people that the enemy is hiding behind. This is not done because of pressure from "human rights" organizations - it is done because it is the right thing to do. Even when everyone knows that the world will accuse it of "war crimes," the IDF retains incredibly high moral standards, which can be easily proven for anyone who wants to investigate the situation impartially. (People willing to do that are, regrettably, few and far between.) It would be so easy for Israelis to say that since the world will accuse them of atrocities anyway, then why bother with holding to such standards - but young Israeli soldiers do, day in and day out. The rare exceptions prove the rule.

I am proud that Israel remains a true democracy, with a free press and vigorous opposition parties, while on a constant war footing. One only needs to read the hateful articles in Israel's left-wing publications on Israel's Independence Day to fathom how far press freedom goes in Israel.

I am proud of how Israel responds to seemingly intractable problems. In the early days of the intifada there seemed to be no solution - but the IDF found one, managing to bring deadly suicide attacks from 60 in 2002 down to practically none today. For every "successful" attack (if you can use such a term) there have been many failed attempts, and these are truly miraculous. The 'knife intifada," car rammings, and other violent "innovations" by Israel's enemies have largely died down because of Israeli defensive actions and innovative pro-active work on social media. Today there are new challenges, but each one is met and solved with brains and creativity.

The enemy has not stopped trying, and the history of antisemitism shows that it never will. If the Israel haters had their way, Israel would resemble Iraq or Afghanistan today with the Jews as frightened as minorities are in every other Middle Eastern country.

Jews know something about being singled out, about being judged with double standards. We have been attacked for being too rich and too poor, too successful and too needy, too capitalist and too socialist, too religious and too secular, too insular and too integrated. These same wildly inconsistent attacks are now targeting the Jewish state. Israel will survive and thrive, just as Jews themselves have, despite these attacks.

And the best survival technique is success.

Israel has succeeded and continues to succeed in its many accomplishments in building up a desert wasteland into a thriving and vibrant modern country, with its many scientific achievements, incredible leadership in high-tech and the environment, world class universities and culture. Practically every computer and mobile phone being built today includes technology and innovations from a single small Middle Eastern country. A tiny nation, under constant siege, with almost no natural resources besides breathtaking beauty, has used its smarts and strength to build a modern success story. In a short period of time Israel made itself into a strong yet open nation that its neighbors can only dream of becoming.

And they are indeed starting to dream. Arab nations are waking up to the reality of Israel and the desire to be more like her.. Despite the constant incitement against Israel in their media, ordinary Arabs know that Israel treats its minorities with more respect, and gives them more civil rights, than Arab nations give their own Arab citizens. Amazingly, only in the past year, we are seeing some of Israel's intractable enemies now accepting that Israel has the right to exist and seeking to partner with it. This was unthinkable a few years ago, and the reason is because of Israel's strength, both militarily and economically. The biggest (and artificial) dagger that has been used against Israel for 70 years, the Palestinian Arabs, is quickly losing its effectiveness in the Arab world except for lip service. Israel is simply more valuable to the Arab world as a partner than as an enemy, and this is directly due to wise and forward thinking Israeli policies..

Zionists have every reason to be proud of the incredible achievements of the Jewish national movement. There is a right and a wrong in this conflict, and I am proud that Israel is in the right.

The word "Zionist" is not an epithet - it is a compliment.

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The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terror Center has released its initial analysis of the first 32 people reported killed in the Gaza riots, and they find that as many as 80% of the 32 killed so far have been members of, or associated with, terror organizations.

During and after the events of “great return march” that began on March 20, 2018, between 32 and 34 Palestinians were killed (as of April 11, 2018). Most of them have been identified as terrorist operatives affiliated with Hamas and the other terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip. Most of them were killed while rioting against IDF forces. Some were killed while carrying out terrorist attacks, attempting to cross the border security fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip, or in IDF attacks following terrorist activities carried out during the “great return march.”
According to the initial ITIC analysis, 26 of the 32 (about 80%) Gazans killed were terrorist operatives affiliated with terrorist organizations, primarily Hamas. Nine were operatives in military wings and four in the security forces. The others were identified as affiliated with the terrorist organizations after death notices were issued by the organization or when their bodies were wrapped in organization flags at their funerals. Regarding the six whose organizational affiliation was not identified, it can be assumed that they were civilians.
The affiliation of the terrorists identified the following:
Hamas: Five of the Gazans killed were identified as operatives of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military-terrorist wing. Four were identified as operatives in the security forces controlled by Hamas and involved in their activities (such as the military police). Seven were identified as being affiliated with Hamas after Hamas held memorial services or issued death notices for them, or they were buried wrapped in Hamas flags. One of them was identified as affiliated with the Islamic Bloc, Hamas’ student movement.
Fatah: Six of the Gazans killed as operatives of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah’s military-terrorist wing. Four were identified as affiliated with the organization because Fatah issued death notices for them and their bodies were wrapped and buried in Fatah flags.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ): One of the Gazans killed was identified as an operative of the Jerusalem Brigades, the PIJ’s military-terrorist wing.
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP): Two of the Gazans killed were identified as DFLP operatives. One was identified as an operative in the military-terrorist wing and the other described as a senior organization figure in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP): One of the Gazans killed was identified as a PFLP operative.
The high percentage of operatives of Hamas and the other terrorist organizations clearly indicates their central role in the front lines of demonstrators and those who clashed with the IDF. There is a glaring absence of the “civilian” activists who were central in preparing for the march but who were left behind when the violence began.

This information was released on Tuesday, and yet I have not seen it reported. The Western media has been flatly claiming that most of the dead were civilians, when in fact they simply weren't.

The ITIC lists the names of each of the dead and the reason they believe that they were associated with terror groups.

To give you an idea of how intellectually honest the ITIC is: they do not count Abd al-Fattah Bahjat Abd al-Nabi, the person shot on video running with the tire, who the IDF initially identified as Hamas. The ITIC didn't feel there was enough proof.

On the other hand, teenager Hussein Muhammad Adnan Madhi was found to be an activist with the Hamas student bloc at his school.

This proves that the "Great Return March" is organized by and led by terror groups. The percentage of ordinary Gazans associated with terror groups is nowhere near 80%, so this indicates that IDF snipers are really aiming only at people who are doing something that is illegal or violent.

If this story does not get covered by the mainstream media that has been so certain that most victims are innocent civilians, then this is just more proof that the media is complicit with Hamas' aims in using these riots as a means to pretend Israel is shooting at innocents.

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04/18 Links Pt2: Pres Rivlin: Israel at 70 inspires the world, and the people of Israel inspire me; Alleged Hamas agent says he met Dutch officials at event organized by Oxfam

From Ian:

President Reuven Rivlin: Israel at 70 inspires the world, and the people of Israel inspire me

To all the readers of the Times of Israel, in Israel and around the world.

I want to start by wishing you all a very happy Independence Day. As I have said clearly, I believe that Israel’s special milestone is a celebration for the whole world. Because, today, we are not just marking the dream of restoring Jewish independence in our ancestral homeland, and we are not just celebrating all the great achievements of the last 70 years. Today, we celebrate 70 years of freedom and democracy in the Middle East. For seven decades, Israel has held high the torch of freedom and democracy in a difficult region. Surrounded by enemies and against all odds, we have been — and continue to be — guided by these values as the world’s only Jewish and democratic state.

But we know that we could never have done all this without our friends, both Jews and non-Jews, all around the world, who have dedicated their lives to building the State of Israel. We are grateful today especially for all those who stand up for Israel every day.

And of course, we owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude, to those who have lost their lives in the defense of our freedom. As we conclude Yom HaZikaron, we dry our tears, and hold close the memory of those who paid the ultimate price fighting to defend the land of Israel, and the people of Israel. They are with us always, and to all the bereaved families, we send our love and prayers.

During the last year, I have traveled all across Israel, and I have met Israelis from all our communities: Jews and Arabs, religious and secular. I have met teachers and doctors, farmers and entrepreneurs. I have sat with students in schools and universities. I have visited our soldiers and police who keep us safe, day and night. I have met with organizations and volunteers who give of themselves unwaveringly, for the sake of those less fortunate. They all have one thing in common — namely, their hope for Israel to flourish. They may have different views and opinions on any and every matter, but their argument is one “for the sake of Heaven” — for the well-being and prosperity of this country and its people.

On 70th anniversary, Trump says US has ‘no better friends anywhere’ than Israel

The United States has “no better friends anywhere” than Israel, US President Donald Trump said Wednesday while congratulating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israelis on the country’s 70th anniversary.

“Best wishes to Prime Minister @Netanyahu and all of the people of Israel on the 70th Anniversary of your Great Independence,” Trump tweeted. “We have no better friends anywhere. Looking forward to moving our Embassy to Jerusalem next month!”

On Wednesday evening, Israel began to celebrate the 70th anniversary of its founding on May 14, 1948. An annual tradition, Independence Day falls on Thursday, the 5th of Iyar on the Hebrew calendar.

Trump vowed to move the US embassy to the holy city last December, when he also formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In January, he announced that the process would be expedited and a new facility would open in May, deliberately coinciding with Israel’s birthday.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is being planned for mid-May. Trump has, as yet, not committed to attending the inauguration. The Times of Israel has learned that his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Kushner’s wife, White House adviser Ivanka Trump, are considering traveling to Israel next month to attend.

Man attacked in Berlin for wearing kippa is Israeli Arab

An Israeli man who was beaten in an anti-Semitic attack while wearing a traditional Jewish skullcap in Berlin told German television on Wednesday night that he was not Jewish but wanted to find out whether it was safe to walk in the street dressed as a Jew.

“I am not Jewish, I am an Israeli and I grew up in Israel in an Arab family,” Adam Armush, 21, told broadcaster Deutsche Welle. “It was an experience for me to wear the skullcap and go out into the street yesterday.”

He said he filmed the attack on him and a second man as evidence “for the police and for the German people and even the world to see how terrible it is these days as a Jew to go through Berlin streets.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the attack. “This is absolutely a terrible incident and we must act,” she said. “The fight against such anti-Semitic acts must be won, the reputation of our state is at stake, and we are committed to it with all our strength.”

Justice Minister Katarina Barley condemned the incident as a “disgrace” for German democracy after the brief video surfaced on news websites and went viral.

“It is unbearable that Jews in Germany are attacked on the open street in the middle of Berlin,” Barley tweeted.

Antisemitischer Angriff in #Berlin – ein Mann schlägt mit einem Gürtel auf einen Mann ein und bezeichnet ihn wiederholt als "Yahudi" (arabisch für "Jude"). #Antisemitismus pic.twitter.com/YCHVgCF1ox
— Jüdisches Forum (@JFDA_eV) April 17, 2018

Saying Kaddish for dead Hamas terrorists? How low can you get? Are such left-wing “Jews” even human?

These were the sort of remarks made after reports came out that New York Jews belonging to the Reform Movement had said Kaddish, the Jewish mourners’ prayer, for dead Hamas terrorists. The dead whom they hoped to memorialize had attacked Israeli soldiers; rushed Israel’s borders, and threatened the lives of Jewish Israelis. In saying Kaddish for terrorists who threatened Israel and the Jewish people, these Jews had made a clear statement in favor of antisemitic terror and against their own people, their own land.

One week later, a copycat Kaddish for terrorists was held by IfNotNow, another group of leftist Jews, this time next to the offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. News of this memorial service evoked similar expressions of umbrage from the pro-Israel Jewish community. The Kaddish-sayers, they said, were (choose one):

Vile garbage

Vermin

Useful idiots

Inhuman

Not Jewish

Some further expressed the hope that the leftist Jews might meet an end similar to that of those they mourned, preferably after bumping into some live Hamas terrorists in a dark alley.

But if you think about it, all they did, those leftist Jews, was praise God, express yearning for the Messianic era, and pray for peace in Israel and for the Jewish people at large.

Because that’s what Kaddish is. There’s not one word about mourning or death in the entire prayer—and certainly nothing about dead Hamas terrorists or an imaginary second state in the Holy Land. See for yourself—here’s an English translation of the traditional Aramaic:

Glorified and sanctified be God’s great name throughout the world
which He has created according to His will.
May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and during your days,
and within the life of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon;
and say, Amen.
May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity.
Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored,
adored and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He,
beyond all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations that
are ever spoken in the world; and say, Amen.
May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us
and for all Israel; and say, Amen.
He who creates peace in His celestial heights,
may He create peace for us and for all Israel;
and say, Amen.

What this brings to mind, these leftist Jews who would come to mourn and memorialize terrorists and instead praise God, is the story of Balak and Balaam. That’s the bible story in which Balak, king of Moab, orders Balaam, a famed non-Jewish magician, to curse the Jews. When Balaam opens his mouth, alas, only praises come out.

Here is where these Jews go wrong: they think that all death is bad, no matter who it is that is doing the dying. And since IDF soldiers ended these particular lives, it makes Israel evil in their eyes, the terrorists the victims. To them it does not matter that the terrorists were killed while attempting to commit murder—the murder of Jews. To them it is meritorious to die a martyr while to kill your would-be murderer is evil.

It is a stupid construct. They are unable to see the difference between attacking others and defending one's self and one's country. If everyone felt as they did, believed as they do, evil would triumph. They themselves, the "peaceful" ones, would all be dead, the world left to the murderers.

There would be no Jews left to say Kaddish, a primary goal of Radical Islam.

And so, if the death of Hamas terrorists at the hands of righteous IDF soldiers causes leftist New York and Los Angeles Reform Jews to praise God, pray for the Messiah, and beg for peace on Israel and the Jewish people—and moreover elicit in response a chorus of amens—then the deaths of these wannabe murderers of God’s Chosen People are more meaningful than any one of us might have possibly guessed.

via GIPHY

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High Court Issues Stay On Joshua's Demolition Of Jericho Walls (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

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Jericho, April 18 - Israel's supreme court ordered the divinely-ordered operation against this oasis city-state overlooking the Jordan River to halt Wednesday, a move that casts doubt on the Israelites' ability to continue their campaign to inhabit the land promised to their forefathers.

The court ruled 5-2 that the Israelites must refrain from marching around Jericho once per day, blasting ram horns, and seven times on the seventh day, steps that would lead to the city's defensive walls sinking into the ground. Court President Miriam Hayut authored the majority decision, and suggested the entire effort to bring the divine will into earthly manifestation will have to be abandoned, as it threatens to infringe on the rights of non-Israelites.

Most Israelite leaders now argue for a legislative act to overrule the court's self-declared right to assert supremacy, while a vocal minority defend the court as the last bastion of civilization in a society that can descend into fascism at any moment.

Few of the court's defenders, however, were willing to speak on record in favor of abandoning the enterprise of settling the Promised Land and driving out its immoral, idolatrous inhabitants. A Benjaminite speaking on background referred to an episode thirty-nine years ago in which opposition to reaching and settling in Canaan led to several decades of stasis as an entire generation of men died out.

Critics of the court, on the other hand, wasted no time in calling for measures to limit the body's power. "A small cadre of left-wing elitists thinks it can control all of us," charged Caleb ben-Yefuneh, one of only two grown men to live through the generational purge. "It's the same problem all over again as with the spies - people in positions of influence who feel those positions threatened by impending or ongoing changes in society, and sabotage the eternal mission of Israel in the world just to preserve their political or social status. That's not what we're called upon to do here."

Competing proposals for a law to restrain such judicial activism have been put forth by different Israelite factions. A more conservative version favored by most tribal princes would impose restrictions on the court only in the case of Jericho. Some, however, notably those in the House of Judah faction, aim to set limits on High Court authority across the board, as they anticipate similar instances over the expected seven-year process of assuming control over the land.

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04/18 Links Pt1: Dore Gold: Israel at 70: Flourishing against All Odds; Hamas "Press Office": Truth Finishes Last

From Ian:

Dore Gold: Israel at 70: Flourishing against All Odds

The rebirth of Israel is nothing short of a miracle. It involved dedication and commitment of a national movement that began with the establishment of Zionism, which is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people. That movement brought the energies of a people back together and allowed for the Declaration of Independence by David Ben-Gurion in 1948.

At its birth, Israel was attacked by multiple Arab armies around it. Territorially, Israel is a country with little or no strategic depth. It takes only four minutes for a jet fighter to cross from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, giving Israel very little early warning time. Ten thousand square miles. You could drop Israel into the Great Lakes, and you wouldn't even hear the splash. Our Arab neighbors have 650 times the amount of territory. That gives them a distinct strategic advantage.

That's the miracle that Israelis will think about when they consider what the meaning is of the country being 70 years old. There was this extraordinary commitment to innovation. Every time our adversaries threw at us another strategic challenge, we had an answer.

Recently, we've been facing this threat of rocket fire from Lebanon and Gaza. So Israel develops the first really working rocket defense system. To replace the rockets, our adversaries develop tunnels to allow terrorists to come in their hundreds into Israeli territory and kill innocent civilians. So Israel makes the first anti-tunnel system in the world.

Israel also developed a formula for integrating diverse immigrants into our society - people from backgrounds like the Soviet Union, Ethiopia, Germany, the United States, India, Great Britain - and despite many flavors of Israeli society we became one. That determination, that commitment to making the Zionist experiment work, gave us enormous strength for facing every challenge that was hurled against us.

People like to ask, is Israel closer to being a Sparta, a military powerhouse, or an Athens, a country with art, poetry, and excellent universities? Frankly, Israel has to be both. You can't have an Athens in a dangerous Middle East unless you have some qualities of being a Sparta, which is able to defend itself. Since the days of its founding in 1948, Israel developed a doctrine that it must defend itself by itself.

Hamas "Press Office": Truth Finishes Last

In this regard, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), a body dominated by Hamas's rivals in Fatah, seems fully to agree with Hamas. In a statement published in Ramallah, the PJS accused Israeli journalists of being "complicit in crimes and killings." It also claimed that Israeli journalists were part of the Israeli army's propaganda machine.

Such incitement against Israeli journalists should be taken with utmost seriousness. It endangers the lives of reporters who cover Palestinian issues and often travel to Palestinian cities and villages.

Hamas's incitement against Israeli journalists is predictable. But when the incitement originates from a Fatah-affiliated institution in the West Bank, and controlled by President Mahmoud Abbas's loyalists, it gives pause. Isn't Fatah supposed to be the "moderate" Palestinian faction that ostensibly believes in the two-state solution and peace with Israel? Isn't Mahmoud Abbas supposed to be the "moderate" and "pragmatic" Palestinian leader with whom Israel is supposed to make peace? Aren't Fatah and Abbas receiving financial aid from the US and EU because of their presumed support for a peace process with Israel? Why should the Americans and Europeans be supporting a Palestinian faction whose journalists openly incite against their Israeli colleagues?

The incitement by Fatah and Hamas is an attempt to intimidate and silence not only Palestinian journalists, but their Israeli colleagues as well. It is an attempt to force Israeli journalists to toe the line and endorse the Hamas and Fatah narrative not only regarding the "March of Return," but also the entire Palestinian cause. Apparently in agreement with Hamas and Fatah, international human rights organizations and advocates of free media around the world do not seem bothered at all by the life-threatening attacks on Israeli journalists.

Finally, the Hamas "Press Office" instructed Palestinian journalists to focus on the "humanization" of the stories of the Palestinians who are killed or injured during the mass demonstrations. The journalists are required to highlight the "various personal and social aspects" of the Palestinian victims. Translation: If the "victim" is a Hamas terrorist, the journalists are to avoid mentioning that and instead report about his having been a beloved husband, father, and community member.

Again, this is part of Hamas's effort to lie to the world and present the Palestinians killed and injured during the riots as unarmed innocent civilians. The truth, however, is that Hamas has sent hundreds of its militiamen to take part in the demonstrations disguised as civilians.

MEMRI: Column In Jordanian Daily: Trump And Netanyahu Are Worse Than Hitler; It's Possible That Some Of The Deeds Attributed To Hitler Never Actually Took Place

In his January 1, 2017 column in the Al-Ghad daily, headed "How Are Trump and Netanyahu Any Different from Hitler?" Jihad Al-Mansi claimed that "the behavior of [U.S. President] Trump and [Israel Prime Minister] Netanyahu is much worse than anything done by Hitler." He writes that some claims about Hitler's actions may be untrue, or else exaggerated in order to win world sympathy. Al-Mansi adds that if Hitler had won World War II, the world wouldn't have called him a Nazi or a fascist, but would have respected him while remaining silent about the burning of the Jews.

The following are translated excerpts from his column:[1]
"The U.S. sees itself as the leader when it comes to humanitarian values and tolerance based on freedom, justice, and equality, and the denunciation of hatred. But when its president [Donald Trump], speaks in a racist, fascist manner about countries in Central America and Africa, and views them as 'shitholes,' and when he is the one who has declared in the past that Muslims will be denied entry to the U.S., that many will be deported, that a wall will be built along the border with Mexico, and that women who have abortions will be punished, why, these types of statements surpass the racism and fascism of Hitler and Mussolini...

"And what about the racist declarations by Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of the oppressive Zionist entity, who said that the murder of any person by a Jew cannot be compared to the murder of a Jew by a non-Jew, or who, for example, described the UN as 'a house of lies' when the General Assembly was set to vote on a draft resolution calling on the U.S. to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and who said that Israel is totally opposed to this vote and that Jerusalem is the capital of the oppressive entity, despite all the international decisions that oppose this, in other words, in defiance of the UN and the entire world? Such statements are not very different from Hitler's ideology that the world later referred to as Nazi, extremist, and racist.

"The enlightened world, devoid of racism and fascism, did not call Hitler a Nazi, a racist, or other terrible names just because he burned the Jews, but also because of the horrifying deeds that he perpetrated in Paris and in other countries [sic], and because of his hostile declarations about the peoples of the world. Therefore, I insist that the deeds of Trump and Netanyahu are far graver than the deeds committed by Hitler, some of which may have happened, but others perhaps never occurred, [or else] have been exaggerated so as to garner world sympathy for some cause or another. Why, burning [people] is not very different from the collective slaughter perpetrated against the Palestinian people by Zionism over the years, starting with Deir Yassin, Qibya and Al-Dawayima, continuing with Bahr el-Baqar, Sabra and Shatila, and Qana, and dozens of other barbaric massacres in which the number of women and children killed is much higher than the number of men. And if we count the number of martyrs who fell at the hands of Zionist terror gangs, it is possible that their number is higher than the number [of people] that were allegedly burned by Hitler – especially since the number of those burned is not known and there is no clear number, and since some claim that it was actually a very limited number that was inflated for various unknown reasons. Others say that the number is slightly higher, and there are those who totally doubt the veracity of these stories.

Somehow, Chinese tourists manage to display Israeli flag at the Dome of the Rock

Breaking Israel News reports on a post at the StandwithUs Facebook page (I couldn't find the original.)

Yosef Rabin writes, “An Israeli Flag has not flown on the Temple Mount since the 1967 War. Today Chinese tourists brought an Israeli Flag up to the Temple Mount. I am not sure how they got the flag past security and how the Waqf [Jordanian Islamic security that controls the Temple Mount] or police did not notice, but this sets a massive precedent – I hope.

This is truly remarkable, since the Waqf has stopped people from wearing Israeli flag buttons.

In 2013, a small group of Jews unfurled an Israeli flag and were immediately escorted off the site by Muslim and Israeli police.

In 2015, a Christian tourist was beaten for waving an Israeli flag near the Dome of the Rock.

In 2016, an Israeli who photoshopped himself waving a flag on the Temple Mount was briefly arrested by Israeli police who thought he really did it.

So this photo is quite surprising.

Arab media, of course, are claiming that this group of Chinese tourists are Jewish "settlers."

(h/t Steven)

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The world moves on - but Palestinian Arab leaders want their people to remain in limbo forever

As the Palestinians continue to insist on no compromise in their demand for a state, let's look at what progress has been seen in the world since 2000, when they rejected the chance for statehood at Camp David.

Palestinians reject statehood offer at Camp David (2000)
Playstation 2 (2000)
USB Flash Drive (2000)

Palestinians reject statehood offer at Taba (2001)
iPod (2001)
Wikipedia (2001)
Skype (2003)
YouTube (2005)
Facebook (open to the public in 2006)
Twitter (2006)
iPhone (2007)

Palestinians reject peace offer and statehood offer from Olmert (2008)
Google Chrome (2008)
Palestinians reject statehood offer from
WhatsApp (2009)
Instagram (2010)
Kickstarter (2010)
Snapchat (2012)

Palestinians reject Obama framework for peace (2014)
Xbox One (2014)
Playstation 4 (2014)
Windows 10 (2015)
Oculus Rift (2016)
iPhone X (2017)
Tesla Model 3 (2017)

The world moves on. But Palestinians stay exactly the same - adding demands, rejecting peace, rejecting a state.

In 2050, this list will be longer, and Palestinian Arabs will be exactly where they were in 2000. Despite billions of dollars invested in them from governments and NGOs, they haven't progressed.

Because they don't want to create a state. If they did, they would have done it, and had years to build it.

They only want to destroy one.

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Yesterday I showed how enthusiastic J-Street members were in applauding Palestinian intransigence.

Compare that to this speech by Hawaii senator Brian Schatz, where the applause for pro-Israel positions like supporting Israel's right to exist and maintaining Israel's military edge were muted or nonexistent, but supporting the Iran deal and demanding that the US take in Syrian refugees were greeted rapturously.

Altogether, the representative of a terror organization received far more adulation than a Jewish senator who supports Israel's right to exist.

(You might argue that Schatz didn't pause enough after saying his pro-Israel positions so the audience couldn't applaud as much. Perhaps, but I would argue that he knew his audience - he is a professional politician and knows how to elicit applause with a pause, and he didn't want to risk an awkward silence.)

Schatz also made a pro-J-Street argument, claiming falsely that the Zionist crowd is unwilling to engage in debate and that this is undemocratic. No, we are happy to engage in debate - of all J-Street was doing was asking for debate there would be no shortage of people willing to argue for Israel against it. But J-Street is actively trying to undermine Israel's democracy while pro-Israel organizations support it. That's the issue.

Which he knows is true, because AIPAC always supported the Israeli government, left or right. It is J-Street that is manifestly undemocratic.

J-Street isn't a pro-Israel organization. It is simply a leftist group that is trying to split the American Jewish community to oppose Israeli policies.

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04/17 Links Pt2: Israel prepares to remember 23,646 fallen soldiers and 3,134 terror victims; Pro-Palestinian Students Protest During Holocaust Remembrance; 1,400-year-old menorah lamp, rare coin found Israel’s 70th trail

From Ian:

IDF Blog: What is Yom HaZikaron and how does Israel observe it?

Yom HaZikaron is the day of national remembrance in Israel to commemorate all the soldiers and people who lost their lives during the struggle to defend the State of Israel. On this day we mourn and remember our fallen soldiers and all lives lost by terror. Yom HaZikaron, which goes by the Jewish calendar, begins with a siren at 8:00 in the evening. As soon as the siren is heard, Israeli citizens stop whatever they’re doing, wherever they are, and stand firm to honor those they’ve lost. People driving on highways stop their cars in the middle of the road to get out and stand in remembrance. A whole office will stop working and a family having dinner will stop eating in order to spend a minute in respectful silence.

After the first siren, the State Memorial Ceremony begins at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff of the IDF, and the President take part in this ceremony. The next day, there’s another two-minute siren at 11:00 in the morning. This siren marks the beginning of private memorial ceremonies that take place in cemeteries or schools.

At night, the final ceremony is held at Mount Herzl National Cemetery. This ceremony ends Yom HaZikaron and marks the beginning of Israel's Independence Day.

Generally, in other countries, the Remembrance Day (Yom HaZikaron) of fallen soldiers and the Independence Day occur in two separate days of the year. In Israel, it was decided in accordance with the law that the Independence Day needs to begin the moment that Remembrance Day ends. This is because the State of Israel wouldn’t be able to celebrate its existence if it weren’t for those who gave their lives for it. We wouldn’t be able to have one of those days without the other one. We honor their memory and everything they fought for, so that today, we can celebrate our independence.

Israel prepares to remember 23,646 fallen soldiers and 3,134 terror victims

Israelis will bow their heads at 8 p.m. Tuesday for a minute of silence as sirens sound in remembrance the country’s fallen soldiers and terror victims.

In all, 71 new names were added over the past year to the roster of 23,646 who died defending the country. Thirty of those were disabled veterans who passed away due to complications from injuries sustained during their service.

Twelve names were also added to the list of terror victims who perished in attacks, bringing the total to 3,134.

The nationwide ceremonies for Israel’s Memorial Day, which begins at sundown, started in the afternoon with a commemoration event at the Yad Lebanim memorial for fallen soldiers in Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein took part in the ceremony, as well as top army brass and families of fallen soldiers.

“We bow our heads in memory of our loved ones whose blood has been spilled in our homeland,” Netanyahu, who lost his brother Yoni during the 1976 Entebbe Operation, said at the ceremony. “There is never a true remedy to that — to every family its own grief and its own courage.”

The prime minister mentioned the two Israeli soldiers who were declared dead after the 2014 Gaza war and whose bodies are held by the Hamas terror group, as well as an Israeli civilian who went missing after entering the Strip of his own accord.

“We don’t forget our missing [soldiers], Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, even for a single moment, and are committed to returning the boys home as well as Avera Mengistu.

“We don’t forget our wounded even for a moment and lovingly send them wishes for recovery,” he added. “The message left by the fallen is sharp and clear: Our lives may be too short, but we have guaranteed the life of the nation forever,” Netanyahu said. “And they have indeed given us the ability to live. It is thanks to them and their successors that we are here.”

Memorial for Fallen Israeli Soldiers Opened to the Public

From its unimposing exterior, one might be surprised to learn that what lies underground at the site of the new Memorial Hall of Israel’s Fallen is an architectural masterpiece. The emotionally impactful memorial, set atop the historic Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, was designed and constructed by Kimmel Eshkolot Architects to commemorate members of Israel’s security services killed in the line of duty.

The hall, commissioned by Israel’s Department of Families, Commemoration and Heritage, was inaugurated in late 2017 upon completion but it wasn’t open to the public until recently. Now, visitors can experience the memorial with public tours and follow along with a video app that takes them through the stories of the fallen and the uniquely designed site.

At the center of the memorial, intended to be both a collective and personal experience, is a 250-meter “Wall of Names” composed of 23,000 commemorative bricks, each individually engraved with the name of a fallen soldier and date of death.

A computerized system, custom built for the memorial in collaboration with ETH’s ROB Technologies, illuminates each engraved brick on the anniversary of the person’s death.

The continuous, spiraling wall wraps around a central commemoration hall, where an undulating funnel-shaped formation of bricks opens to the sky.

“The special shape of the funnel is like a vortex – a natural phenomenon – playing with the daylight falling into the hall, making the daylight a ‘building material,’” Etan Kimmel, cofounder of Kimmel Eshkolot Architects, told Dezeen.