Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, August 04, 2011

Syria hired PR firm to set up Vogue article on the Assads

Remember the absurd Vogue article in February that praised Bashir Assad's family and called Asma al-assad "A Rose in the Desert"?

Now we know a little more about how that article was placed.

From The Hill:

The Syrian government hired an international public-relations firm to help coordinate a Vogue magazine profile for Asma al-Assad, Syria’s first lady.

Brown Lloyd James agreed to a $5,000-per-month contract with the presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic in November 2010 to help with the interview and photo shoot for a glowing profile of al-Assad by the high-profile fashion magazine.

The piece has been criticized heavily due to its publication in Vogue’s March issue, which coincided with the Syrian government’s crackdown on anti-regime protesters.
The firm “liaised between the Office of the First Lady and the Vogue editorial team on the scheduling of interviews and photo shoots,” according to Department of Justice records. Brown Lloyd James also agreed to an extension of the contract for another $25,000, but its work for Syria has since ended, according to the firm.

“We look forward to an enduring and mutually beneficial relationship,” the firm wrote in its contract with the Syrian government.

The PR firm’s work for Syria was successful, as Vogue published a profile of al-Assad under the title “Asma al-Assad: A Rose in the Desert,” along with a full-page photo of the Syrian first lady.

Links to the profile of al-Assad on the Vogue website have since gone dead, sending readers to an error page. A spokeswoman for the magazine did not return messages from The Hill asking for comment on the profile.

Brown Lloyd James said in its statement that its work on behalf of Syria came at a time when the country’s relationship with the United States was changing for the better.

“Our project in Syria, for example, hewed with U.S. efforts at rapprochement and normalization of relations, which were a major strategic priority to the U.S. at the time,” the firm said. “During the time of our activity, the U.S. was engaged in a thaw in relations, highlighted by the appointment of a U.S. ambassador to the country. By complementing the efforts of traditional diplomacy, our approach seeks to establish a deeper reservoir of good will and a strengthening of international relationships. We aim to start dialogues and exchanges and develop constituencies for normalization in each country.”

It's funny that "hasbara" is considered a dirty word by anti-Israel leftists but no one seems to have a problem with Bahrainis and Libyans and Syrians hiring PR firms to burnish their images.

(h/t Folderol)

Think the UN is obsessed with Palestine?

Online you can find the UN's document "Annotated preliminary list of items to be included in the provisional agenda of the sixty-sixth regular session of the General Assembly" which is due to convene in September.

The document is 215 pages long and covers pretty much everything that the UN is planning to discuss in the upcoming session.

Here is a chart showing how often various countries/entities are mentioned in this document:

It's a big world out there, and the UN is obsessed with a real tiny part of it.

The imaginary state (Foreign Policy)

A very good article in Foreign Policy that demolishes the idea of recognizing a Palestinian Arab state in the desired borders:

In a few weeks, an overwhelming majority in the United Nations General Assembly will likely vote for collective recognition of a Palestinian state. But which Palestinian state? Of the three Palestinian states the assembly could recognize, two are real and arguably could meet the requirements for statehood. But it is the third, purely imaginary one that the assembly will endorse, one that neither has a functioning government nor meets the requirements of international law.

According to the prevailing legal standard, the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, a "state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: a) a permanent population; b) a defined territory; c) government; and d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states." Both the Hamas-controlled Palestinian entity in Gaza and the rival Fatah-governed Palestinian entity in the West Bank can be said to meet all four of these criteria of the law of statehood. The one on which the United Nations will vote does not.

In Gaza, Hamas controls a permanent population in a defined territory (i.e., Gaza within the armistice lines of 1949). Gaza has a functioning, if odious, government. And Hamas-controlled Gaza already conducts international relations with a large number of states. From a narrowly legal point of view, the Hamas Gaza entity could become a state, another miserable addition to a very imperfect world.

...The Fatah Palestinian entity in the West Bank also could meet the legal requirements for statehood, and it would have more international support. It has a functioning government in the Palestinian Authority (PA), a permanent population, and international relations with a very large number of states. It also controls a defined territory, which comprises what are called areas A and B as defined under the Oslo II agreement of September 1995, plus additional territory subsequently transferred by Israel in agreed further redeployments. (Area A is the zone of full civil and security control by the Palestinian Authority, and Area B is a zone of Palestinian civil control and joint Israeli-Palestinian security control.) The Fatah West Bank entity within these lines also could be recognized as a state under international law.

But Fatah, the PA, and the broader PLO do not seek statehood for this West Bank entity that arguably could meet the legal requirements. Their minimum demand is a state that includes Gaza along with the West Bank, the eastern part of Jerusalem, and all the other parts of mandatory Palestine that were under Jordanian and Egyptian control before 1967. Fatah, the PA, and the PLO are demanding title to lands and authority over populations they do not control, being as they are under the rule of Hamas and Israel.

Unlike the two Palestinian entities that already exist, either of which could be recognized as a Palestinian state because they seem to fulfill the legal requirements, the Palestinian entity that a General Assembly majority will recognize as a state this September does not actually exist on Earth. It is imaginary and aspirational, not real. And it does not meet the legal requirements.

...So there you have it. The General Assembly will make a remarkable decision about all this in the next few weeks. Instead of recognizing either of the two state-like entities that already exist, each having many of the attributes of statehood required by international law, the General Assembly will create an imaginary state that has two incompatible presidents, two rival prime ministers, a constitution whose most central provisions are violated by both sides, no functioning legislature, no ability to hold elections, a population mostly not under its control, borders that would annex territory under the control of other powers, and no clear path to resolve any of these conflicts. It is a resolution that plants the seeds for civil and international wars, not one that advances peace.

Read the whole thing; it does a great job documenting how dysfunctional the proposed state government would be. And this is without even going into the financial issues.

(h/t Folderol)

Administrivia: Advertorials

Advertorials are advertisements that look like normal editorial content. Newspapers and TV stations have been running advertorials for many years, and it is an accepted part of the media as long as it is made clear that the content is in fact an advertisement.

I'm going to test out advertorials at EoZ.

I do not want to just publish press releases. That would not be fair to my readers. So here are the rules for EoZ advertorials:

I must approve of the item being advertised. If I don't believe in the product or service, I won't pretend I do.
The product or service must be relevant to EoZ readers.
I write the article, in my style, as honestly as I can.
Obviously it will not be critical towards the item being advertised, but I will not write anything I do not believe. I will treat it as a blog post; use my own angle on the product or service, and do my own research if needed.
The article will be approved by the advertiser.
The article will be clearly labeled in the title and within the post as being an advertisement.

I think that this is fair; it allows me to make a little money but it should not detract from the blog experience. If you don't want to read an ad, you can skip it, but if you do read it the post will hopefully be as educational and entertaining as any other blog post.

The first one will probably be posted in the next couple of days.

If you have a relevant product or service you would like to have me write about, just contact me.

UNIFIL confirms that IDF did not cross Lebanese border

The Daily Star (Lebanon) buries the lede:

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams warned Tuesday that a war could erupt between Lebanon and Israel as a result of this week’s minor exchange of gunfire on the tense border.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Lebanon was determined to defend its rights and protect its sovereignty by all legitimate means against Israeli threats.

In response to the Wazzani incident, Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said: “Lebanon will file a complaint against Israel through its mission at the United Nations tomorrow for its violation of [U.N.] Resolution 1701 and the infiltration of its soldiers into Lebanese territory in the Wazzani area yesterday.”

Twelve paragraphs later:

Meanwhile, a UNIFIL official denied reports that Israeli forces violated Lebanese sovereignty near the Lebanese border village of Mais al-Jabal Tuesday.

“Israeli troops were carrying out routine maintenance work on the Israeli technical fence near the village of Mais al Jabal. There was no violation of the Blue Line. A UNIFIL patrol was sent to the area. The situation is quiet,” UNIFIL spokesperson Neeraj Singh told The Daily Star.

Of course, this information is still not available on the UNIFIL website.

Al-Qaeda group claims responsibility for two rockets

From YNet:

Two Grad rockets were fired from Gaza late Wednesday evening after a period of relative calm in the south.

The first rocket exploded at around 10:30 pm in an open area between Sderot and Kiryat Gat, near a town in the Lakhish Region. The second exploded some two hours later at the entrance to the southern city of Ashkelon. No injuries or damage were reported in either case.

Palestine Press Agency says that the Abdullah Azzam Brigades took responsibility for these attacks.

The same group took responsibility for a Grad attack in April. They are affiliated with Al Qaeda.

It is pretty much impossible to smuggle Grad rockets into Gaza without Hamas' knowledge and permission, so the "good cop, bad cop" routine that Hamas has been playing with the Islamist groups is mostly theatre. No doubt they have their differences but Hamas is well aware of their possession of, and use of, Grad rockets.

Israel releasing 200 security prisoners today

From JPost:

Israel on Thursday released some 200 security prisoners due to overcrowding in prisons, Israel Radio reported.

Among those freed was Hassan Yusuf, a senior member of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Yusuf, who had served six years in prison for his activities as part of the terrorist organization, was scheduled to be released in a month and-a-half.

The overcrowding reason seems unlikely. After all, the number of security prisoners today is roughly half what it was in 2007. Ha'aretz says it was a gesture for Ramadan (and gives more background behind Hassan Yusuf.)

It does look like most of the released prisoners did serve all of, or close to, their full terms, so this does not seem to be related to any Shalit negotiations, unfortunately.

Assuming that Israel released prisoners in May, June and July at the rates they did earlier this year, this means that there are now less than 5000 security prisoners in Israeli prisons.

The politics of honor/shame: PalArabs unlikely to drop UN bid

From AFP:

THE PALESTINIANS are unlikely to agree to drop their UN membership bid in exchange for new peace talks based on the pre-1967 lines, Palestinian officials and analysts say.

On Tuesday, an Israeli official confirmed that Israel has been working with Washington to hammer out a framework for new peace talks that both countries hope could convince the Palestinians to drop their bid for United Nations membership.

But Palestinian officials and analysts said the Palestinian leadership had already invested heavily in the bid, and would face public disgrace if it agreed to drop the much-touted plan. They described the new framework for talks as little more than a public relations exercise for Israel, allowing it to show willingness to resume talks while attempting to torpedo the UN membership campaign.

This is only a minor example, but the shame culture dynamic among Arabs gives them an advantage in any negotiations with a "guilt culture" adversary.

They can always fall back on the importance of honor and fears of disgrace to avoid doing things that are necessary.

In this case, as is often the case, the threat is exaggerated. Yes, Abbas would lose face if he backs down, but it would not be fatal to his hold on power.

What people are not discussing is the downside of going through with the UN stunt. Already, the PLO is planning mass demonstrations on the eve of the vote (under the guise of being "popular demonstrations," of course:)

Palestinian officials said Monday they plan to begin mass marches against Israel's occupation of the West Bank on Sept. 20, the eve of a largely symbolic U.N. vote expected to recognize their independence.

Palestinian official Yasser Abed Rabbo said leaders hope to attract millions, and the protest will be the first of a prolonged effort. He said the campaign would be called "Palestine 194," since the Palestinians hope to become the 194th member of the United Nations.

"The appeal to the U.N. is a battle for all Palestinians, and in order to succeed, it needs millions to pour into streets," he said.

It seems likely that these PLO-organized demonstrations will become PLO-organized "resistance" in short order. And while the PA is not likely to start an armed third intifada, it will have little incentive to stop Hamas and other terror groups in the territories from rebuilding their terror infrastructure and attempting to escalate attacks against Israelis. And even the PA considers rock throwing and Molotov cocktails to be "non-violent resistance."

This UN stunt, in other words, will cost many lives. Most of them will be Arab.

The stunt will also set back the chances for real peace by another decade. The relative security and prosperity that Arabs enjoy in their autonomous areas will disappear. It may be as disastrous for Palestinian Arabs as the second intifada was.

Yet no one is talking about the downside - and one reason is because no one wants to offend the "honor" of Abbas.

(h/t Mike T)

The cluelessness of Nick Kristof

From Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times:

Next month, Palestinians are expected to seek statehood at the United Nations. It’s a stunt that won’t accomplish much for anybody, but it’s more constructive than throwing rocks at Israeli cars — or, on the Israeli side, better than expanding illegal settlements.

Yet the American House of Representatives voted 407 to 6 to call on the Obama administration to use its diplomatic capital to try to block the initiative, while also threatening to cut the Palestinians’ funding if they proceeded to seek statehood.

Similarly, when Israel stormed into Gaza in 2008 to halt rocket attacks, more than 1,300 Gazans were killed, along with 13 Israelis, according to B’Tselem, a respected Israeli human rights group. As Gazan blood flowed, the House, by a vote of 390 to 5, hailed the invasion as “Israel’s right to defend itself.”

Such Congressional tomfoolery bewilders our friends and fritters away our international capital. It also encourages the intransigence of the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reduces the chance of a peace settlement.

Kristof apparently believes that an explicit abrogation of the Oslo Accords is praiseworthy.

He also apparently believes that Netanyahu was Prime Minister during the Gaza war.

He also believes that it has been Israeli intransigence, not the Palestinian Arab adding preconditions to negotiations in 2008, that has been the obstacle to moving forward towards an agreement.

And he believes, like many, that Israel has been "expanding" settlements - one of the biggest lies out there. Israel has not been building Jewish communities on land outside existing boundaries for many years, and the lie that Jewish communities are today continuously encroaching upon and taking over Arab-owned land is one of the more brilliant propaganda victories of the anti-Israel side.

(A good argument could be made that Israel should indeed do that - because that would lend some urgency to the PLO to restart negotiations. As it is, adding more apartments to existing communities does not affect Palestinian Arabs in the slightest way - except for providing many of them with construction jobs. )

In other words, Kristof has swallowed the Palestinian Arab lies completely and without the slightest bit of even-handed skepticism that one would hope a journalist would exhibit.

In the last few years, a former government official named Jeremy Ben-Ami has been trying to change the political dynamic in Washington with a new organization — J Street — that presses Congress and the White House to show more balance. Ben-Ami has just published a book, “A New Voice for Israel,” that is a clarion call for American reasonableness in the Middle East.

“If things don’t change pretty soon, chances are that the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will slip through our fingers,” Ben-Ami writes. “As that happens, the dream of the Jewish people to be a free people in their own land also slowly disappears.”

Only the Israeli side has made real concessions since Oslo. J-Street, and Kristof, are adamantly against pressuring the Palestinian Arab side to meet Israel halfway. And yet they claim, incongruously, that it is only Israel that needs to be pressured to give up even more!

American Jews have long trended liberal, and President Obama won 78 percent of the Jewish vote in 2008. Yet major Jewish organizations, like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or Aipac, embrace hawkish positions.

Since when is supporting a Palestinian Arab state "hawkish"? AIPAC's - and Netanyahu's - plans for a Palestinian Arab state effectively addresses all of Ben-Ami's stated fears. The problem isn't that Israel and AIPAC don't accept a two-state solution - it is that Abbas and the PLO don't accept the idea of compromising for peace. And Kristof gives them a free pass on their intransigence while calling Netanyahu a "hawk."

Kristof also shows his intellectual dishonesty on other ways:

There’s also some evidence that young American Jews are growing disenchanted as Israeli society turns rightward.

And the "evidence" he links to is the famous Peter Beinart article making that claim, with little proof - and there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.

And look how Kristof characterizes "Jewish Voice for Peace":

[JVP] supports divestment campaigns against companies profiting from the occupation of Palestinian territories.

JVP also supports the "right of return" which is a code-word for destroying Israel. Why doesn't Kristof mention that? Why does he make it sound like it is merely an organization that is against "occupation"? Is he ignorant - or is he trying to hide the facts?

Kristof also throws in this nugget:

(Whenever I write about Israel, I get accused of double standards because I don’t spill as much ink denouncing worse abuses by, say, Syria. I plead guilty. I demand more of Israel partly because my tax dollars supply arms and aid to Israel. I hold democratic allies like Israel to a higher standard — just as I do the U.S.)

The US also gives Kristof's tax dollars to the Palestinian Authority, where it is being used to pay salaries to terrorists and to the families of suicide bombers, where more than half of its budget goes to indirectly prop up Hamas' hold on Gaza. US aid is a much higher proportion of the PA budget than of Israel's. Kirstof's tax dollars helped pay for the second Intifada.

The principled Kristof, if he is to be consistent, should be demanding that US aid to the PA be conditional upon their continuing with existing agreements and not doing things that abrogate those agreements.

Which is exactly what Congress is doing - and what Kristof is calling "tomfoolery!"

Consistency is not what Kristof wants, though. He wants Israel to be pressured to do things that will inevitably bring more conflict to the region, not less, because he is so convinced that he knows better than most Israelis what is good for them.

Beautiful new gold coin depicts the Kotel

From YNet, in what appears to be a press release::

While coins have been issued by the Bank of Israel since the early days of independence, Jerusalem Day 2011 was special. Israel Coins & Medals Corp. (ICMC), exclusive distributor for coins of the Bank of Israel, launched a new coin, in gold bullion, which trades based on its precious metal content.

This is the second such bullion coin, called "The Western Wall", in the “Jerusalem of Gold” Series, each of which depicts a significant historical site in the eternal city. The initial coin, still available for purchase, was "The Tower of David", in 2010.

Each bullion coin is 32 mm (1¼ inch) and contains exactly 1 troy oz. of .9999 fine gold, with a face value of 20 new shekels. The Israeli bullion is different from more familiar coins, like the Canadian Maple Leaf, South African Krugerrand or the American Eagle, in that its mintage is limited to only 3,600 coins.

The coin is available for purchase 24/7 via the ICMC website (www.israelmint.com) or by phone (972-4-821-2807) from Israel, or can be ordered directly in the USA at toll free 1-888-421-1866, during east coast business hours. All orders are processed and delivered within a maximum 6 weeks from the date received. Each bullion coin comes delivered in a handsome display box and is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity.

The actual coin is strikingly beautiful. The obverse, which remains constant in the series, portrays the famous Lion of Megiddo, with its stylized curved tail, taken from an ancient seal dating to the 8th cent. BCE and excavated in the ancient Israelite city of Megiddo (Armageddon in the New Testament), in the Jordan Valley.

The seal belonged to Shema, servant of the Israelite King Jereboam II. The lion was also the symbol of the Biblical tribe of Judah and of Israel's eternal capital, Jerusalem. The same Lion of Megiddo appeared in the past on Israel's 5 Lira banknote (1958), 5 Lira coin (1978) and half shekel coin (1980). Above the figure of the lion is the State Emblem and below it the word "Israel" in English, Hebrew & Arabic. The obverse side design is by artist Meir Eshel.

The reverse shows the Western Wall ("Kotel" in Hebrew) itself, which is the retaining wall of the Temple Mount and the sole remnant of the Second Holy Temple in Jerusalem, destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. It is reputed to be close to where the Holy of Holies once stood and, at this sacred place—the most significant site in the world for the Jewish People—the Divine Presence is believed never to leave.

Hamas propaganda: "Gilad Shalit fasting during Ramadan"

Here's a disgusting attempt by Hamas to use Gilad Shalit.

The Hamas-affiliated Ar-Risala website reported Wednesday that captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has decided to fast during Ramadan.

The report comes as talks have stalled between Hamas and Israel over the possible exchange of hundreds of prisoners for Shalit, who was captured in a 2006 raid.

The report seemed to be intended to increase pressure on the Israeli government, whose prime minister has faced criticism over his perceived failure to prioritize reaching a deal with Hamas.

“A popular proverb goes that if one lives in a community for more 40 days, he becomes one of them. This seems to have come true in the Gaza Strip," the report in Ar-Risala said.

After years in Gaza, Shalit has become "embarrassed to ask for food during Ramadan despite the fact that his captors do not deny him that right,” the report, in Arabic, continued.

Shalit thinks the government "lost interest," it said, and he "abandoned Jewish traditions to mimic Muslims after the good treatment he received from his captors, even while they are fasting.”

The Israeli government, added Ar-Risala, is too busy with the demonstrations and protests in Tel Aviv, and so Shalit could not hear recently on Israel’s Channel 1 TV station any news about him.

The report claims Shalit noticed the protests against housing problems became too big, and that caused him "depression and disappointment. He lost hope of any prisoner swap deal that can secure his freedom."

He seems to be saying, “Shalit wants to topple the regime,” the report claimed.

Even if the blatant lies in the report were more believable, the story is still obviously garbage. Hamas is doing everything it can think of to keep Shalit's whereabouts secret, and no one who knows details about Shalit's captivity would dare speak to a newspaper about it.

It is a transparent, and sickening, attempt to influence Israeli public opinion.

However, I would not be surprised if Shalit fasts during the ninth day of Ramadan, and even the night before when the Muslims are feasting.

(h/t Folderol)

Nivea website excludes Israel, includes "Palestine Territories" (updated x3)

(see bottom for updates)
Here is a list of countries in the Middle East according to cosmetics manufacturer Nivea:

MIDDLE EAST

A screenshot:

Isn't that interesting?

An outraged former customer wrote to them:

Hi there,

My name is Rebecca Griffin, I am an Israeli-American that used to use your products-but never again. I believe in "Never say Never", but in this case it is fair to say that I will never buy your products, and I will make sure that others don't either.

"Why?" I hear you ask? Well, the answer is quite simple. I don't support racism and I don't support Anti-Israeli propaganda.

I was very surprised to find out that according to you, my country, Israel is good enough to sell your products in, but not worth being a part of the rest of the world. When asked to select my location on your website www.nivea-international.com/pages/int-country-selection I couldn't do so.

Israel, an entity recognized by the UN as a country, does not appear on your website. The Palestinian Authority however, appears, even though it is not recognized as a country. I would love to understand why you choose to eliminate us off the map of the world? Such behavior reminds me the history of your country, Germany, and the Nazi Regime. Or is it the Iranian regime that denies the holocaust and calls to wipe us off the map that you support? Is it the terror groups such as Hamas, Hizballah and IHH to name just a few that you wish to keep happy? Or is basic business- there are more 'Arab customers' than Israelis, so you would rather risk losing our business than theirs?

I simply cannot believe that I am even writing such a letter in the year 2011.

You should be ashamed of yourselves and yes, this will not go away quietly, or ignored.
You make me feel scared, and sick to my stomach.

I usually end letters with "Thank you" but I will not thank you for discriminating me, my people, or my country.

Nivea has a "Nivea Official Israel" Facebook page, but they have not yet responded there.

Their "Contact" page drop-down menu has Israel and "Palestine" listed.

It appears that Israel was listed under "Middle East" last year.

The Nivea Middle East Facebook page features a special Ramadan application.

This will probably get fixed in a day or two - but why did it happen to begin with? A corporate level decision or a single Israel-hating web designer?

But you can always go to Estee Lauder's Israel page.

UPDATE: Israel is now there, but it points to a blank nivea.co.il page.

UPDATE 2: Nivea has issued a letter explaining itself:

Today on Thursday August 4th, a discussion took place on the NIVEA-Facebook site concerning the lack of a link to an Israeli website on www.nivea-international.com. Background information: the homepage contains an overview of all currently available local NIVEA websites. The Israeli website is currently being constructed and is therefore not yet listed.

Unfortunately the lack of a link to an Israeli website was misinterpreted by some users as a possible non-recognition of Israel as a country. Beiersdorf quickly clarified that this is not the case in an own post on its NIVEA-Facebook-site. Beiersdorf pointed to the fact that the list of links on the homepage does not represent a list of the countries NIVEA is present in, but solely presents the currently available local NIVEA websites.

Beiersdorf develops new country homepages on a regular basis, which number is growing from year to year. Next to Israel there are numerous other countries and regions which do not yet have own local websites, such as Indonesia, Singapore, Tunisia, Taiwan or Luxembourg. The construction of an internet site for Israel in Hebrew and English has already started and will be launched in the fourth quarter of 2011 the latest. In the meantime a temporary website will as planned be online soon, so that Israeli consumers can already get basic information about NIVEA.

Sorry, but this does not ring true. The "Palestine Territory" page and the other Middle East country pages link to a generic Nivea Middle East website in English or Arabic. Israel could have easily linked to the same page.

Also, as I noted, there used to be a link to Israel last year.

Plus, here is a map of the Middle East according to its parent company Beiersdorf:

See anything missing?

UPDATE 3: They just put up a hasty webpage. The comments in the source show that it was created today.

I vote for a free market

YNet reports on Binyamin Netanyahu's reaction to the "tent protests."

"Populism is sweeping through the country. There is a serious expression of plight and not-so-serious suggestions for solutions," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu said that while Israel enjoys great successes in some field, it also suffers from plights that must be addressed. However, "anyone can benefit from the economy," he said.

He stressed the solutions must be devised responsibly, "In a socially and economically founded and solid manner," which would maintain a free market.

Netanyahu mentioned European countries as a model for what should not be done, economy-wise. "If what happened in Europe happens to us, the consequences in our case will be direr in our case," he said.

The prime minister spoke at length about the importance of a competitive market, comparing it to a tree: "The tree bears fruit which are ripe for the picking, but if after three years of picking you haven't tendered to the tree, it will wither and give less and less fruit. We cannot cut down the tree if we want to enjoy its fruits," he said.

The prime minister added that his government had reduced unemployment, invested in higher education while Europe was imposing budget cuts in the field, and "made sure the periphery is connected to the center".

He added that the cries on the street were real, as Israel is currently ranked number 40 in global individual income while ranking number 20 in cost of living.

Netanyahu explained that the discrepancy is being caused by a lack of competition in markets. He added that indirect taxation is an important issue he plans to address.

Forgetting politics, all of this makes sense to me. I am no economist but it sure appears that Israel's economy has prospered in the past decade precisely because it has been abandoning socialist economic concepts and embraced the free market. While I am sympathetic to those who cannot afford housing, a free market would say that they should move to a more affordable area. The inconvenience is more than outweighed by the benefit to the entire nation. Governments do not always do a great job at regulating prices.

Housing is expensive because it is scarce. It appears to be scarce because of the ridiculous amounts of red tape one must go through before building. The root cause must be addressed, which will take time, but a quick fix would almost certainly cause more problems than solutions.

Obviously social programs need to exist - I am not advocating a perfectly free economy, and that model would fail as well. A safety net needs to exist for those who would otherwise be homeless. But given a choice, a free market is the direction to go. Now is probably a good time to investigate and invest in areas around Tel Aviv that are affordable, as those prices will go up.

Given Israel's socialist history, I can see the romantic appeal of socialism as hearkening back to "the good old days." However, I am not so sure that nostalgia is accurate.

Tzipi Livni's response to Netanyahu was pure politics:

In response to Netanyahu's statements, Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni turned to Netanyahu saying: "They are populists? You're a populist. The government is one big political lie. The seeds of mistrust sprouted from every seat Netanyahu gave out."

According to Livni, "The government is deceased even if the obituary has yet to be published. The public understands that this government represents everything that is ugly from day one, its ministers and deputy ministers are redundant.

"Sowing fear of external threats, muzzling, an impervious government - for all these reasons we went out to the streets with one message and different reasons, for social justice and against Benjamin Netanyahu."

I cannot imagine that this screed enamored her to the protesters at all, even though most aren't fond of Bibi.

There seems to be no doubt that the protests are ready-made for the hard left, who are already pushing socialism both politically and economically. I'm not following the story so closely, but there is evidence that they are trying to hijack the protests for their own political purposes. This doesn't mean that the protests are necessarily illegitimate, but it should give one pause before believing that this is completely a people-driven revolution. As the Knesset debate shows, no one is above politicizing everything.

More details on the Knesset debate - and the transparent attempts to politicize them - at JPost.

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS HASBARA

For those whose worldview does not admit that Israel is anything but completely evil, it may be dangerous to continue reading this. This post is complete, 100% hasbara, and as such you will be forced to either denounce it as lies, or ignore it. We are not responsible for any cognitive dissonance or spontaneous brain embolisms that may come about from reading this post. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

From Israel21c:

The CleanTech 2011 mega-event in Tel Aviv displays Israel's advanced water, solar, wind and natural gas energy solutions.

Judging by the number of companies that have already signed on for next year's expo, Haim Alush, CEO of CleanTech 2011, says this year's event must have been a good place for people to do business with Israeli clean-tech companies.
The event, held annually in Tel Aviv for the past 15 years, brought out about 20,000 people from 85 countries. Early reports suggest some NIS 250 million (about $75 million) worth of business transactions were made during the course of CleanTech 2011.
The foreigners at the event comprised powerhouse delegations organized by countries including Canada, the United States, Africa, Poland and even nearby Jordan, which has strained political relations with Israel.
"We see that the clean-tech event was interesting people from all over the world," Alush tells ISRAEL21c. "There was very big business happening. The biggest success was that exhibiters want to exhibit again next year. We also have some companies that did not exhibit this year that want to exhibit next year. We'll have to open another hall to hold them; the biggest hall is already fully booked."
Solar still heating up the room
On the agenda was the opportunity to explore green building applications for the homeowner, like the solar walls produced by SolarOr, as well as other Israeli solar energy technologies such as Solar By Yourself, Ralco and SolarEdge.
Also on display were wind energy solutions, gray-water recycling tools, water technologies and environmentally compatible techniques for natural gas extraction, process and delivery.

And:

"What would you do for a fiver?" That's the question Israeli startup Fiverr asks in big letters on the site's home page. The answer: A lot of really weird stuff.

Ever wonder what it would look like to throw a toaster off a tall building to see how it smashes? There's someone on Fiverr who'll do that.

Want to see your face drawn as an "angry bird" (after the uber-popular mobile game)? $5 is all it takes.

Is a loved one craving a bedtime story? Hire someone at Fiverr to read you (or your kid) a Dr. Seuss book.

Need to promote a new product? One Fiverr member is offering to get the word out to his 40,000 Facebook fans.

Spending the weekend in Munich and don't know what to do? There are world travelers out there ready to share their expertise for just, you got it, $5.

If it's not clear yet, the idea behind Fiverr is dead simple: If you have a service you'd like to offer to the public, you can post it as a "gig" on Fiverr. Buyers can search by category, popularity or user rating. Fiverr takes $1 out of every transaction and the buyer doesn't pay until the seller has verified in some way that he or she did what was contracted (for example, posting a video of that smashed-up toaster).

If Fiverr sounds like a lightweight concept, with appeal to a limited number of loony users, consider that the site has thousands of gigs and some sellers are generating hundreds and even thousands of dollars a month.

And:

The physical deterioration of old age and illness is often manifested in what doctors call chronic wounds - wounds that just will not repair themselves. Petah Tikvah-based MacroCure has a product that aims to do what the body can't: Heal wounds that have festered for months, if not years.

CureXcell is unique in a number of ways, says Dr. Mitchell Shirvan, company CEO. "We believe that we have the most comprehensive approach to the problem of chronic wounds, showing a very significant reduction of the mortality rate in patients with deep sternal wound infections and a markedly improved healing rate for severe pressure ulcers."

CureXcell is made with white blood cells from healthy donors, using a safe and natural resource. Most important, says Shirvan, "our product is on the market in Israel, and it has already been administered by physicians to over 4,500 patients with severe chronic wounds that would probably have remained with them for years."

And:

A simple mobile-phone imaging system developed in Israel for diagnosing and monitoring malaria has won its developers a $100,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The grant is shared by biomedical engineer Dr. Alberto Bilenca of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and his research partner, Dr. Linnie Golightly of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.

Now in the prototype phase, this new inexpensive weapon against Africa's second-leading cause of death will be tested in the field in 2012. This will be a welcome advance in Africa, where the mosquito-borne disease causes an estimated 1,900 deaths every day in children under the age of five. This age group accounts for about 85 percent of malaria-related deaths.

Using an ordinary mobile phone camera with a $15 specialized lens, the system can detect malaria by imaging the eye or the skin to look for hemozoin, a pigment generated by the malaria parasite when it digests red blood cells. This pigment changes the orientation of light reflecting back from the tissue.

Significantly, the eye imaging also allows the system to determine the stage of the disease by measuring blood flow to the brain. Hemozoin blocks blood vessels and therefore slows the flow as greater amounts of it are released from the parasite. Monitoring blood flow in the brain is critical to checking the patient for cerebral malaria, the most serious form of the disease.

And:

At the offices of Keshet: The Center for Educational Tourism in Israel in Jerusalem, things are humming with activity. Every summer the organization's staff of 33 swells three fold, and this July is no exception.

Already 10 busloads of American Jewish high school-age students are exploring Israel with Keshet guides, alongside half a dozen synagogue and church groups from the US, Mexico and Europe.

And work is underway on Start-Up Nation tours, an ambitious new tour program launched this summer, which will be hosted by Keshet in collaboration with Dan Senor and Saul Singer, bestselling authors of Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle.

The idea is to bring the lessons of the bestselling book to life through visits to high-tech companies, meetings with CEOs and discussions with prominent venture capitalists. Participants will examine the cultural factors and government policies that have positioned Israel as a world leader in innovation and entrepreneurial initiative.

Yitzhak Sokoloff, a Boston-area native, began Keshet 16 years ago to offer inspirational identity-building educational experiences in Israel for Jewish students from across all spectrums of American Jewish affiliations. "We are one of the largest operators in the field," says the founding director.

This is only a sampling of stuff from the last few days that is happening in a tiny, amazing country.

Video of "Mubarak is Dead, Zionist Double took over" claim

Hamed Seddik, who claimed in court today that Mubarak had died in 2004 and was replaced by a Zionist double, spoke at Tahrir Sqaure afterwards.

Here's the video:

The circus has come to town.

(h/t A7)