Israel at 76

Israel is at war. Memories of October 7th have been mostly forgotten outside Israel, where anti-Semitism is on the rise. We are losing support from our allies while Hamas still holds over 130 of our citizens hostage in Gaza. There is political turmoil at home and no trust in our government. Still, as my country marks its 76th birthday (celebrate may not be the totally appropriate verb this year), Israel is my home and I would live nowhere else.

Here are my somewhat random thoughts on Israel's current state of affairs. I am hardly an expert on anything, just an average Israeli trying to live a normal life.

And, that's the strange, surreal part – my life is relatively normal. I go to work each day, walk the dog, enjoy my grandchildren and family, continue with my writing, hike, run, read, watch Netflix—and everything is normal. But a short distance from my home (in the hills outside Jerusalem), there is a war going on in Gaza. Recently I was unable to fall asleep after hearing reports that thousands of drones were on their way from Iran to attack Israel.

My family is all well and safe. My son and son-in-law are too old to do reserve duty in the army. There were a few rocket attacks overhead in the early weeks of the war that sent us into the shelter in our home, and there have been occasional disruptions in school schedules but on the whole, our lives go on as usual.

We have been asking ourselves who is responsible for what happened last October. How could we, with the best army in the Middle East, and possibly one of the best intelligence services in the world, have been taken by surprise by such a horrific, bloody invasion.

I can’t provide any sort of explanation for Israel's military failures, but I do have an opinion on our current government. It is the most extremist, right-wing, anti-democratic, corrupt government we have ever had. And the person responsible for Israel's current situation is the man at the top, who will do anything and everything to stay in power.

Netanyahu is responsible

Netanyahu allowed the transfer of millions of dollars to Hamas on a regular basis. He has partnered with extremist rightwing settler parties who regularly attack the Palestinians in the West Bank and, with government approval, steal their land. He has teamed up with the ultra-Orthodox, who take more than their share of public funds to support their institutions while their men don't share the burden of serving in the army. He encouraged his ministers when they attempted to overturn the court system, including delegitimizing our Supreme Court – acts which would effectively end Israeli democracy.

All of this in addition to Netanyahu's being on trial on corruption charges. In a normal country, after the failures of October 7th, the man at the top would say, "I am responsible" and resign. Netanyahu has never accepted responsibility for what he allowed to happen.

There is no doubt in my mind that Netanyahu's actions led Hamas to believe that Israel was weak, giving them an opportunity to attack. And there is no doubt in my mind that had our government acted differently, those hostages who are still alive would now be free.

Netanyahu's government's decisions regarding Israel's ongoing war in Gaza, the fighting with Hezbollah in the north, and the crisis with the United States and our other allies, are due to political considerations—Netanyahu's attempt to stay in power.

One thing should be clear, however. Israel lives in a very hostile neighborhood. Even if Netanyahu was not the prime minister, Hamas would still be plotting to attack us. Iran's desire to destroy the Jewish State is not dependent on which party forms the Israeli government. Israel is judged more harshly than any other country in the world, when all (or most) of our military actions are self-defense.

Anti-Semitism has been around forever

Anti-Semitism has been around forever, yet it raises its head whenever there's a serious crisis between Israel and the Palestinians. Let's face it, Jews are not particularly liked in many parts of the world.

Our critics claim that Israel is an apartheid state, yet we have Arab citizens with full rights, including representation in the Knesset. I live near a Muslim Arab village and the contractor renovating our house is Muslim. Our doctors and pharmacists are Muslim. The women who take care of my granddaughter in kindergarten are Muslim. We are all on good terms. We are all good neighbors.

Still, there are Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank (not all that far from my home) without rights or independence. For years, I have supported a two-state solution but unfortunately, I see no partner today on the Palestinian side with whom to make peace. Most of the Israeli public that previously supported the peace process have given up hope of ever reaching a negotiated end to our ongoing conflict.

There are as many opinions about the situation as there are Israelis, and it's hard to find a consensus about anything. That changed on October 7th when Hamas attacked all of us and Israel found itself in a war it didn't ask for. Israelis rose up to the challenge of defending their country. Soldiers and pilots who weeks before had been threatening to refuse service due to the government's plans to overhaul the judiciary, reported for duty without hesitation.

Civilians everywhere began volunteering their time and resources on behalf of the country. I personally found a place helping Israeli farmers in the communities near the Gaza Strip, whose foreign workers (mostly from Thailand) fled the country, yet were left with crops to harvest. I took days off from work to pick pomelos, oranges, clementines, red peppers, lemons, and to plant cauliflower and thin the fruit on peach trees. Thousands and thousands of Israelis helped in many other ways.

We are resilient

Israelis are resilient. Despite the ongoing war, despite the struggle to find our place as equals on the world stage, despite the decades-long conflict with the Palestinians and the surrounding Arab countries, we live in a wonderful place, with so much history, religion, culture, traditions, high-tech innovations, superb health care and education, and stunning nature.

I am not a demonstrator. I don't wave the Israeli flag on street corners or carry banners calling for Netanyahu to resign, new elections, or 'free the hostages', yet I support those who do.

Israel has a horrible, corrupt government and prime minister, yet I wouldn't live anywhere else. As Israel marks its 76th birthday, I have no hesitation to say - Israel is my home and I'm proud to be an Israeli.

War Diary: Living the Normal Life

It's a warm, sunny Saturday in December, a perfect day for hiking. I've never previously explored the forests and cliffs of the Mount Carmel Nature Reserve and National Park, but when I join a group of ten other avid hikers, I realize how much I've missed. Venturing downwards from a parking lot above Beit Oren, we make our way through the rugged woodland of the Alon Valley to where it meets the Oren Stream, with a stop at the En Alon spring.

Fifty kilometers to the north, Hezbollah shells Israeli kibbutzim and rockets are falling in Kiryat Shmona. Unidentified drones infiltrate into Israeli airspace and IDF forces respond with widespread strikes in southern Lebanon.

Sunday morning promises the same fair weather as the day before and I take the train into Tel Aviv to begin another ordinary work day at my high-tech Internet company.

Seventy kilometers to the south, Israeli forces push deeper into the central and southern regions of the Gaza Strip, backed by heavy air and artillery fire. Every morning, the media begins its news reports with "It has been cleared for publication that the following soldiers fell in battle." Luckily, my colleagues who were called up for emergency army duty are safe and I'm relieved to see them when they come to work for the first time since October 7th.

At home, renovations are three months behind schedule. Our contractor's regular workers live in the West Bank and Palestinians are not allowed to enter Israel these days. The contractor has been employing East Jerusalem residents on a day-by-day basis, and progress is never guaranteed.

But who am I to complain that there is still scaffolding outside my bedroom or that our new kitchen has no walls or floors or electricity? About 200,000 Israelis have been evacuated from their communities near the Gaza Strip and from the northern border with Lebanon. They lost their homes nearly three months ago, and it's not clear when they will be allowed to go back.

My family gets together every Friday night for a joyous, and quite lively Shabbat dinner.

Some 130 Israelis are still being held hostage in Gaza. We don't know how many of them are actually alive.

I continue to live my normal life, while in reality, nothing in Israel is normal these days.

Hamas still threatens to destroy Israel and we continue to fight back. We will fight back until there is no more Hamas, until our hostages come home, until our citizens can live safe and secure lives.

Life goes on, and if nothing else, this is Israel's biggest victory in the war so far.

Related articles:

Israel at War. Again.

War Diary: Day 5

War Diary: What Terrifies Me More Than Anything Else

War Diary - How Do You Cope?

 

Volunteering to Help Israeli Farmers

"I've been here for 60 years and I'm just not going to continue," said the tired-looking moshavnik from the south. His Thai workers had fled, a rocket had hit one of his greenhouses, his pepper plants' leaves were wilted, and the vegetables were dying on their stems. We were there, picking what we could to salvage his crop.

For the past month, I have been volunteering one day a week to help save Israeli agriculture in the hard-hit south. There are many kibbutzim and moshavim that need help and I feel like this is the way I can contribute to my country's war efforts.

I have found places to volunteer by following dedicated Facebook groups, and by visiting websites that advertise volunteering opportunities. A few back-and-forth chats on WhatsApp and the details are arranged. Where to report, and at what hour. 'Wear long pants', the advertisements state. 'Bring food for the day.' 'Come with a good spirit'. And the volunteers come.

My first volunteering was in a pomelo orchard jointly owned by a business entity and Kibbutz Bror Hayil. Before the war, Thai workers worked in the orchards, along with some Bedouins. Seventy percent of the crop is for export; the rest is for the local market. I set to work picking the thick-skinned green spheres. My arms were quickly scratched-up by the thorny branches. Along with other individual volunteers, the picking that day was done by a delegation of Knesset members, and a busload of soldiers, who picked the fruit with rifles still slung over their shoulders.

The owner of the pepper greenhouse on Moshav Shorsheret barely said a word to my daughter and me when we showed up to help pick his crop. We were told to pick every red pepper we saw, except for the very small ones. There would be no second pass through the plants because the farm had lost all its workers. The plants were in bad shape, for lack of care. Still, we filled crate after crate with red peppers. The owner stated that we were six weeks late with the harvest.

The avocados of an orchard near Ashkelon are mostly destined for export to France, and from there they will be marketed all over Europe. Here, too, all the workers had fled. There are three varieties of avocados grown; we were picking Haas avocados. The trees were tall and full of fruit and the leaves were very pleasing to the touch. The orchard's manager told me that they would be picking for the next three months, if they had enough volunteers to do the work.

There is a lot of satisfaction in picking fruit and vegetables, but planting shows that we haven't given up hope. We plant because we're preparing for next season, working towards a fruitful future.

I reported to an open field near Gedera. This farm is owned by two moshavim, and luckily for the owners, some of its Thai workers had remained. They were planting cauliflowers the day I arrived, something usually done with a machine, but it had rained the previous day. The seedlings needed to be planted now, and there was much work to be done. The owners were extremely grateful to the volunteers that had arrived to assist them.

It's extremely difficult to plant seedlings in a muddy field. The ground was wet, and in some cases, we stuck our hands through puddles of water to make sure the plants were properly spaced apart. Crouching down, I felt a physical strain on my muscles that would be painful for many days. I stuck one seedling into the ground after another. My clothes got dirty, and my boots were covered by so much mud it felt like they were filled with cement. But despite the mud, the entire field was soon planted with cauliflower. I promised the owners that I would be back in four months' time to help with the harvest.

Helping Israeli farmers, working to save the country's agriculture, is a very satisfying feeling. It gives a sense of playing an active role in the war effort. We are strong; we are resilient. Working together, in the orchards and in the fields, we will ensure the success of this year's harvest and next season's crops.

Originally posted on The Times of Israel.

The World Must Hear These Stories

No words can ever give justice to the victims of the horrific Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. Men and women, teenagers and babies, Holocaust survivors and soldiers – all of them innocent Israelis targeted by Hamas when it invaded their communities, destroyed their homes, murdered them indiscriminately, and took them hostage.

Tragically, more Jews were killed on October 7th than on any other day since the Holocaust. Countless stories are emerging from this tragedy. Firsthand accounts of the horrors as well as tales of those who heroically fought off the terrorists. The world must hear these stories.

A new website provides eyewitness accounts from inside the massacre. October7.org is a memorial for the victims and intended to make sure that the stories of survivors who endured unimaginable horrors are never forgotten.

The October7.org website was built by a group of dedicated Israeli volunteers who gave their time and skills to keep these memories alive. The site is currently in English, French, and Japanese, with other languages to follow.

Read the eyewitness and survivor stories on October7.org. And never forget.

Originally posted on The Times of Israel.

War Diary: Day 5

Our hearts break again and again with thoughts of Saturday's massacre. Women and children murdered in their homes. Families torn apart by death and destruction. Young infants, elderly grandparents, teenagers—taken hostage into Gaza. Soldiers shot down as they sought to protect innocent civilians. Over 100 members of Kibbutz Be'eri – murdered. 260 youths attending a music festival – murdered. The death toll keeps rising and is now over 1200, with thousands more injured. Our hearts break.

Having lived in Israel for five decades, we have experienced war before. Yom Kippur—when our country was taken by surprise by the armies of Egypt and Syria. The wars in Lebanon. The battles in Gaza. Terrorist attack after terrorist attack. Suicide bombings, stabbings, and even kidnappings. But nothing like this.

My son at forty-years-old no longer reports for service in the IDF reserves. My son-in-law is also over the age. I don't know any residents of the communities near the Gaza Strip. I am not related to any of those murdered, injured, or taken hostage. Yet, this war is very personal to me.

Two days ago, rockets struck near my home in Moshav Neve Ilan. One landed close to Highway 1, near Shoresh. Another landed in Har Adar, injuring two people. Another rocket struck Abu Gosh, near its new mosque. Each time the sirens sound, we take cover, and now we have a concrete saferoom to protect us.

We have been building an apartment on top of our house where my daughter and granddaughter will live. We were close, so close, to finishing the apartment. The kitchen was due to arrive this week and the lighting fixtures were to be installed. But now everything is on hold. There are no workers, no deliveries, no installations.

Our Arab contractor and his brother came to our house two days ago. They took down the temporary wall blocking the stairs leading up to the apartment. Now we can run upstairs to the saferoom when we hear the sirens. This saferoom will serve as my granddaughter's bedroom in better days.

On the moshav, the youth are collecting food to send to the soldiers on the frontlines. Soldiers who will inevitably advance into Gaza in the next stages of this war, ready to give their lives in defense of our country. Civilians are forming long lines to give blood. Schools are closed throughout the country. My office is working remotely from home. There is no traffic on the roads. Silence, mostly, except for the fighter jets in the skies.

Our house shakes when the Israeli Air Force strikes in Gaza. We hear the bombings. When a rocket is intercepted in the skies over Tel Aviv, we hear the explosion. This war is so very near. So very personal.

These are difficult days and there is more hardship ahead. The horrors of Saturday will continue to haunt us for years to come. Israel, which has been so divided over these past few months due to our horrible government (to put it mildly) is united like never before. We are strong. We will get through this.

 

# # #

Israel at War. Again.

It's early Saturday morning, October 7th, and my wife and I are sitting on the stairwell in our home with our four-year-old granddaughter listening to the sirens. A boom overhead, a very loud boom. "It's just a game," we reassure our granddaughter, and she laughs. We wait until the sirens stop before returning to the living room.

But this is far from being a game. Just hours before, dozens, maybe hundreds, of Hamas terrorists had driven unimpeded through the Gaza Strip border fence and invaded some twenty kibbutzim and nearby towns. They fired their guns and threw their bombs, murdering over 300 Israeli soldiers and civilians (at latest count) and injuring over 1,500. They abducted an as-yet unknown number of Israelis, including women and children, into the Gaza Strip and their fate is currently unknown.

Hamas captured a number of kibbutzim and entered an Israeli army base. They destroyed at least one tank. They went from house to house on their murderous rampage. They looted and set fire to homes.

By late Saturday night, Israeli security forces had regained control of these communities. Dozens of terrorists were killed after prolonged clashes. Soldiers and policemen were injured; some were killed. Hostages were released. But we are still counting the dead and our citizens are still captive in Gaza.

Israel is at war. Again.

It's early Sunday morning, October 8th. From my home in the Jerusalem Hills, I can hear Israeli Air Force fighter jets on their way to bomb Hamas infrastructure in Gaza. Last night, while watching the television newscast, we could hear the booms of the Iron Dome defense system shooting down Hamas missiles over Tel Aviv. Some of those missiles got through and landed in Israeli cities, causing more injuries and property destruction.

There is one person responsible for what happened yesterday, and it is Prime Minister Netanyahu. He allowed his extremist government to divide the country, to distract us from the real dangers threatening our existence. He was warned that the government's so-called judicial reform and the civilian protests that came in response would be seen by our enemies as a sign that we are weak. And Netanyahu, and his government, refused to listen.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of our finest soldiers and military pilots announced their refusal to report for reserve duty because the government was destroying democracy. Former IDF commanders and security officials spoke out against what the government was doing. And Netanyahu ignored them.

Taken by surprise

Just a few weeks ago, my wife and I saw the film "Golda", which portrayed our late prime minister during the days of the Yom Kippur War, when the IDF was taken by surprise. Even today, there are those who blame Golda Meir for her role in that catastrophe, although top defense officials were much more responsible.

There is no doubt in my mind that one day Netanyahu will be held accountable for what he has done to our country.

But, politics aside, there is something much more disturbing. Israel has the most powerful armed forces in the Middle East. Our intelligence system is regarded worldwide as being one of the best. We take out terrorists with precision strikes, we capture enemy commanders, and we have won the wars that threaten our existence. But yesterday, our military forces failed us.

These are the questions I ask:

·         Why didn't the army know about Hamas's plans, which must have taken months to organize and coordinate?

·         Why did the army rely on a billion-dollar anti-tunnel border system, allowing terrorists to simply drive through the fence to enter Israel?

·         Why didn't the army stop them at the border?

·         Why didn't the Israeli Air Force send our attack helicopters into the skies to bomb the terrorists' easily identifiable white pickup trucks as they sped around the country?

·         Why didn't the army stop the terrorists as they hurried back to Gaza with their Israeli hostages?

·         Why did the army wait for hours to rescue the civilians trapped in their homes as terrorists continued their mission of destruction? These civilians cried out on social media, "Save us!" They spoke with television broadcasters, "I don't know where my family is!" They said they heard Arabic being spoken outside their saferooms. And still the army didn't come.

·         Why did it take so long for the army to regain control of those communities?

·         Why did it take so long for the government to begin to respond with attacks on the Hamas terrorist state in Gaza?

Netanyahu is ultimately responsible for the attack that took us by surprise, but something must be clear. Hamas is a terrorist organization. They are not a humanitarian leadership concerned with the welfare of innocent Palestinians. They are terrorists who don't hesitate to kill women and children. They will stop at nothing in their fight to destroy Israel.

But we will stop at nothing to defend ourselves. Hamas must be defeated, once and for all. We have many days of war ahead, and it will be hard. Painful. Israel will win. Victory will come at a cost and we must be prepared.

This is not a game. This is war. 

Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

# # #

Wars of the Jews

Yom Kippur eve. At the very same hour that leftwing activists clashed with religious worshippers in Dizengoff Square, I was praying in the synagogue on my moshav. I was a secular Ashkenazi Jew standing alongside religious Sephardic residents of my community. Listening to melodies I wasn’t familiar with, I was very much out of my comfort zone, yet I felt very welcome. Isn’t this what Judaism is supposed to be like? The news from Tel Aviv suggested we are far from that.

The more I think about those events, the more I am abhorred. After the Supreme Court ruled that the Tel Aviv Municipality has the right to ban gender-segregated prayer services in public spaces, a provocateur gathered likeminded right-wingers and set up a mechitza divider of Israeli flags so that they could conduct Yom Kippur services there.

Yisrael Zaira, head of the extremist Rosh Yehudi Orthodox group, insisted on violating the court ruling to pray in public with men and women separated. Zaira has said, “When you see the secular world, you have to think of how to change it.” Instead of allowing him to freely act against the secular world, he should be arrested for his infractions.

On the other hand, leftwingers who have played a major role in the 38-week-long protests against the government, a battle to keep Israel’s democratic values that I completely support, took the law into their own hands and clashed with the religious Jews. They screamed at the worshippers, swore at them with cries of ‘Shame!’, physically assaulted them, and spouted hatred at their fellow Jews.

Left versus right. Religious versus secular. Jew versus Jew. And all this on the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Two wrongs don’t make a right. In these clashes there were no winners. We are all losers.

Where is the government?

You would think that in a time of clashes in our society, there would be an adult in the room to referee between the sides and calm everything down. In normal times we would assume that this role should be played by the prime minister. But these are far from normal times. Our prime minister declared that “leftists had rioted against Jews”, implying that he doesn’t consider leftists to be Jews. By siding with the rightwing extremists he brought into his government, Netanyahu has become a rightwing extremist.

There is a government outcry now, when secular Jews attacked religious Jews, but why is the government silent when religious extremists attack Women of the Wall prayer goers at the Kotel, Judaism’s holiest site? Where is the government when religious Jews attack Conversative and Reform Jews celebrating family events and prayers near the Kotel plaza?

Ask for forgiveness

We are all Jews, yet we are far from living up to what is expected of Jews.

Yom Kippur is the holiest day on our calendar, when we are supposed to come together as a people and beg forgiveness for our sins. In the violent acts we have witnessed, we have sinned against our fellow Jews, our religion, and our God. We need to ask for a lot of forgiveness.

Meanwhile, on my moshav, Yom Kippur prayers went on. I was entranced by the Sephardic melodies and customs, so different from the Kol Nidre services I have attended in the past. There are many types of Jews, with different backgrounds and customs, and yet we are all one people. I felt welcome praying on my moshav. I, too, was asking forgiveness. We should all be praying.

Originally posted on the Times of Israel

Photo by Maayan Nemanov on Unsplash

Hiking in Israel: Nahal Prat (in pictures)

Nahal Prat, commonly known as Wadi Qelt, is a stream in a Judean Desert ravine not far from Jerusalem. The stream, with its spring and natural pools, is a popular destination not only for hikers, but also for families eager to cool off in the easily accessible pools. Especially picturesque is St. George Monastery, an active cliff-hanging complex inhabited by Greek Orthodox monks.

Less accessible, and certainly more challenging, is the central part of the stream. As part of a group of 16 hikers, I made the steep descent from Kfar Adumim (knowing that there would be a steep ascent at the end of our circuitous route). This area of the stream is wild, although the paths are well-marked and there are metal rungs set in the rocks in sections where the path was narrow or climbing was needed. At a few spots we needed to cross the stream, jumping carefully from rock to rock. And there was one pool for those willing to take the plunge.

While the weather was cool making our desert hike quite comfortable, at one point we were surprised by an unseasonable downpour. This made parts of the hike a bit dangerous, not because of the fear of flash floods but because the rocks were very slippery.

Climbing the hill back up to Kfar Adumim after a 7.5 kilometer hike, I looked down at the ravine and said to myself that I will gladly come back for another enjoyable hike in Nahal Prat.

Related stories:

Hiking in Israel: Overlooking Jericho

Hiking in Israel: Dead Sea Sinkholes

Israel at 75

As Israel marks 75 years since its establishment as the Jewish State, the country is fraught with division, with a profound chasm between viewpoints about our future as a democracy. On the occasion of our Independence Day, I will refrain from politics and instead invite you to view some videos about everything positive in Israel.

Israel - a modern country based on ancient history. Home to three of the world's major religions - this is the land where King David ruled, where Jesus preached, where the Crusaders waged their battles. Israel has sandy Mediterranean beaches, a ski resort on Mt. Hermon, and stunning deserts.

Of course if you visit Israel, you'll see much, much more!

Flowers After Fire

In August 2021, an enormous wildfire consumed some 25,000 dunams (6,200 acres) of forest. At the height of the blaze, it was feared that Hadassah hospital at Ein Kerem might need to be evacuated, the Times of Israel reported.

The Jerusalem Hills, with their sprawling pine tree forests, are prone to forest fires. According to another Times of Israel report, "Israel experiences a massive wildfire every few years, with especially large ones in 1989, 1995, 2010, 2016, 2019 and last month. Climate models show they’re getting more frequent and more fast-spreading, in part due to rising temperatures and a longer summer dry season."

I remember the 1995 fire well. I was working at the Neve Ilan Hotel and one July afternoon, we were preparing to host the wedding of Israeli President Yitzhak Navon's daughter. A fire raced up from Sha'ar Hagay, burning trees on on both sides of the main highway connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The fire reached the hotel grounds and skirted the main buildings, but causing the wedding to be canceled. The fire made its way into the moshav itself, burning five homes, including the house next door to my in-laws.

The 2016 fire came even closer to my home. We could see the flames in the forest below our moshav. I wrote at the time: "We also saw fire racing up a distant hill across the valley. Along with other residents of Neve Ilan, my wife Jodie and I stood watching the flames, worried that danger was quickly approaching."

Yesterday I hiked at Sataf with my sister, Judy, in forests burned last August. Although I could see the charred remains of burnt trees, and the dry, brown areas that had suffered, the area was also beautiful after the plentiful rains of this past winter. As we go into summer, the wildflowers covering the ground will dry out, It will take years until the forest regains its former green splendor. But yesterday I could really sense how beautiful this area of the Jerusalem was, and how beautiful it will again be in the future.

Related article

When a Wildfire Endangers Your Home 

What Israel Needs Now

I would never have imagined that I would one day support Bennett as my country’s leader.

According to outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s new coalition is coming together only because votes have been “stolen from the right [and given] to the left.” In his words, the coalition formed by Prime Minister-designate Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid is “the greatest election fraud” in the history of democracy.

"Let go," Bennett beseeched Netanyahu in a televised address. "Let the country move forward." Bennett called on Netanyahu not to leave “scorched earth” behind him.

A unity government to bring our country back together

I have voted for the leftwing Meretz party in every election. Israel’s incoming government will be its most rightwing ever (despite Netanyahu’s repeated assertions that it will be a radical leftwing government). Still, I support it.

Meretz is one of eight political parties in the parliamentary coalition that will form the government. Rightwing parties, leftwing parties, religious Israelis and secular Israelis, and for the first time ever, an Arab Israeli party.

Habitual liar

What was so wrong with Netanyahu, Israel’s leader for the past 12 years (and 3 additional years in an earlier term of office)? Sure, he helped Israel get the vaccines necessary to combat the coronavirus crisis (although he totally mishandled the crisis due to political considerations, whereas Bennett offered a solid, carefully thought-out plan for recovery), and established formal peace agreements with four Arab countries, and kept Israel’s economy on track through difficult years, but he did this at a high price for Israel’s democracy. Netanyahu is on trial for corruption, in three separate cases. He is a master politician who will do everything possible to stay in power, including by lying repeatedly to the public.

“I have never negotiated with [Mansour Abbas, leader of the United Arab List party],” Netanyahu stated yesterday. According to Abbas, the two held many negotiations over the past few years on “forming a government, joining a government, and preventing a government.” Abbas will be part of the coalition that will replace Netanyahu.

(This is just one example of Netanyahu's blatant lies.)

Unprecedented warning

Protests against the new government are legitimate, Bennett said, but a "violent machine” was acting against the new coalition through “a funded and directed operation.”

The previous evening, Shin Bet leader Nadav Argaman warned that “this discourse may be interpreted among certain groups or individuals as one that allows violent and illegal activity and could even lead to harm to individuals.”

Analysts suggested his words came in the wake of rabbis who called on their public to do anything possible to stop the new government. In 1995, rabbis issued similar statements and a short while later, one of their followers assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Israel is on tenterhooks these days, and anything could happen before the Knesset votes on the new government. Bennett and Lapid are carefully navigating their way forward, despite ongoing protests and harassments.

I hope and pray that they will succeed.

Image from Naftali Bennett's Twitter feed.

Arabesque and Efendi

"Arabesque is much more than just a small boutique hotel ... It is a labor of love shared by Muslims, Jews and Christians alike.  At Arabesque we view art and culture as a unifying factor, even – or especially – in a region of contention like the Middle East." From the Arabesque website

Unfortunately, the 'unifying factor' was far from evident in the past week as riots and clashes between Arabs and Jews spread like wildfire through Israeli cities with mixed populations.

Evan Fallenberg, owner of Arabesque in Acre (Akko), posted the following on Facebook:

"On Wednesday, shortly after midnight, Arabesque fell to the hands of a violent mob, in spite of the best efforts of our neighbors, who deflected the attack time and again until the mob grew to fifty and there were threats to burn down the entire neighborhood."

Arabesque was not the only victim in Acre of the widespread violence. The nearby Efendi boutique hotel was also torched and its adjacent world-famous Uri Buri restaurant was burned down. Jodie and I had stayed at the Efendi and had eaten at Uri Buri on a romantic weekend four years ago.

Uri Jeremias, owner of Effendi and the restaurant, told Yediot Aharonot this week that they were specifically targeted because they served as an example of coexistence in Acre.

Coexistence in Israel seems to be hanging by a thread these days. There have been clashes between Arab rioters and Israeli police in Jaffa (Yafo), Lod, and elsewhere. There have been shootings and attempted lynches, of both Jews and Arabs. It should be noted that some of the violence has been perpetrated by right-wing extremist Jews.

There has been sharp criticism of both the police's inability to handle Israel's internal crisis (at a time when there is a serious war with Hamas in Gaza) and the government, which has consistently ignored the country's Arab minority.

But, despite everything, there is hope. Uri Jeremias remains optimistic and plans to rebuild Efendi and re-open the Uri Buri restaurant, "better than before".

Evan Fallenberg posted: "It is not yet clear whether the people in this sad, beautiful, ravaged land can ever learn to respect the differences and distinctions between us and use them for an enhanced joint future, whether the wrongs committed by all parties can be righted. Only this, I know for certain: the friendships I have made in Acre are real and unassailable, even by hatred, anger and muscle. From this, I will build a future."

Evan Fallenberg is an American-born Israeli author and a translator of Hebrew books, plays and films. I have previously reviewed his novels When We Danced on Water and The Parting Gift.

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The Sidewalk of Coexistence

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Election Day. Again.

Benny Gantz came to visit yesterday. Israel's Alternate Prime Minister and Minister of Defense stopped by my company's Passover toast as he campaigned one day ahead of Israel's elections, the fourth time we've gone to the polls in two years. Gantz was once head of the largest political party in Israel, the great hope to replace Netanyahu as prime minister. Today Gantz's Kahol Lavan (Blue and White) party is not even guaranteed a place in the next Knesset.

To say that I am disillusioned with Gantz is an understatement. I believe he is an honest, well-intentioned man but also a naïve, inexperienced politician who fell into Netanyahu's trap. He was warned, but he thought he could save the country. Netanyahu outplayed him at every turn and Gantz became a political laughing stock. Although a majority of Israelis believe that Netanyahu is personally responsible for the country's woes, and has led us to new elections because of his desire to avoid going to trial on charges of corruption, it is Gantz who will pay the political price.

I am very pessimistic about today's elections. I fear that Israel will soon see the establishment of its most extreme, right-wing government ever. An extremist political party that calls for the expulsion of Israeli Arabs from the country is bound to be a partner in the next coalition. The future of Israel's judicial system is at stake. And a corrupt political leader, whose time to leave office is well overdue, will continue to be in charge of our country.

I have never wavered from my support of Meretz, a left-wing, social-democratic and green political party that has maintained its values and principles throughout the years. In today's elections, Meretz is fighting for its political life. Like Gantz's party, Meretz may not make it into the next Knesset.

Hopefully, I will be proven wrong. Maybe the opposition parties will join forces to oust Netanyahu. Maybe Yair Lapid, Gideon Sa'ar, and Naftali Bennett will put their personal egos and political differences aside and jointly lead us to a better future. This would be the best result of the country's fourth elections in two years.

Today I will cast my vote as one of over 6 million Israeli citizens eligible to partake in the most important part of our country's democratic process. 

Passover, the holiday of freedom is just four days away. May we all be free men and women in the coming year!

 

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Vaccination!

If there is anything Israel did right in this past year’s battle against coronavirus, it was in securing enough vaccines to start a massive inoculation campaign. At this stage, citizens over 60 and at-risk groups are eligible and an incredible 1/3 of that population (nearly 700,000 as of yesterday) has already been vaccinated.

Israel currently leads the world in vaccinations per capita, with 7.44 doses administered per 100 people. Bahrain is second, followed by the United Kingdom and the United States. Although there is a fear that Israel may run out of vaccines in mid-January, enough are being reserved for the second required dose for those who have already been vaccinated.

With such a huge rush to get vaccinated, my wife and I were worried it would be difficult to set an appointment. We had heard stories about people waiting on the phone for over half an hour before getting disconnected. But for us, the process was extremely simple and efficient.

Jodie registered us on our health care provider’s website and our vaccinations were set for January 6th. However, a few days later, the nurse on our moshav called to say that there were openings on December 30th. We would get our shots at a clinic in Mevesseret at exactly 14:09 and 14:14 on Wednesday afternoon.

We showed up at the clinic and walked right in, directly to the nurse’s desk. No crowd at the entrance, no waiting in line. The nurse took our details and within 2 minutes, I sat down for my shot. And then Jodie got her shot. We were told to wait outside for 15 minutes, to make sure there were no immediate reactions to the vaccine, and then we were able to go home.

Today we will set our appointments for the second dosage in three weeks’ time. Both Jodie and I feel a slight pain in our shoulders—nothing more serious than a muscle cramp—but overall, we are just relieved that we got our shots.

As we start 2021, our sincere hope is that everyone will get vaccinated so that we can put COVID-19 behind us!

The New Normal?

Yesterday some 500 new cases of coronavirus were detected in Israel, the highest number since April. The number of cases keeps going up. Health Ministry officials warn us that we will soon have over a thousand new cases a day, higher than Israel’s peak in late March/early April.

The second wave of the disease seems to be a direct result of the re-opening of the Israeli economy. Life has returned to normal, but a new sort of normal. Things are different.

Political Leaders Behaving Badly

Our leaders have failed us at the time we need them most

During these difficult days, I no longer leave my home to go to work. I no longer shop, travel, go to movies, or eat out at restaurants. I am maintaining social distance from my grandchildren and have given up family dinners. I am staying in my house.

I am adhering to these restrictions because I must trust the leadership of my country to get us through this crisis together to better times ahead.

Unfortunately, our leaders have not earned that trust.

Review of ‘Saving Israel’ by Boaz Dvir

In the years following World War II, leaders of the Yishuv in Palestine were tasked with two major challenges. Transporting displaced Jewish refugees to their new homeland was impeded by the British blockade and obtaining weaponry for the Haganah was restricted by international embargoes. As statehood approached, an imminent Arab invasion threatened the entire Jewish community.

Desperate to get around the British, clandestine operations were launched to airlift weapons and aircraft. The story of efforts to save the Jewish state before its birth is told in Saving Israel: The Unknown Story of Smuggling Weapons and Winning a Nation’s Independence by Boaz Dvir (Stackpole Books, January 2020).

We Go to the Polls, Again

I usually refrain from writing about Israeli politics. I avoid discussing the subject but as Israelis go to the polls again*, for the second time this year, I can’t put my head in the sand to escape what’s going on. Every Israeli has a vote; every Israeli is responsible for the situation we’re in. Here is my viewpoint.

If you don’t know which party I’m voting for, you can see the ballot in the image (the photo was taken by a friend). Meretz is Israel’s left-wing, social-democratic and green political party. I’ve cast my vote for Meretz in every Israeli election that I’ve participated in.

I am comforted by the fact that as messed up as Israeli politics are, things are much worse in the US and the UK.

We will probably end up getting the extremist right-wing government we feared getting in April.

Bibi is not only fighting for his political survival. He is fighting to stay out of jail.

Review of Jerusalem Drawn and Quartered by Sarah Tuttle-Singer

Walking through Jaffa Gate you probably pay little attention to the merchants hawking olive wood crucifixes or to the man squeezing fresh pomegranates. You barely notice the women hanging laundry from their balconies in the Jewish Quarter and you take for granted the presence of the vigilant Border Guards. None of this matters as you gravitate toward Jerusalem’s main attractions—its holy places of worship. But what lies behind the green metal doors on the sides of the narrow alleyways?

Those doors are opened for us in Jerusalem, Drawn and Quartered by Sarah Tuttle-Singer (Skyhorse Publishing, May 8, 2018), an exploration of both the spiritual and the terrestrial aspects of the Old City. The book introduces us to the Armenians, Christians, Jews, and Muslims who live within its walls.

We join author and journalist Tuttle-Singer as she embarks “on a strange and wonderful adventure where [she is] actually living in Jerusalem’s Old City—a year of living as an insider-outsider, a visitor looking for community, but never really growing roots.”

Prayer of the Mothers

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Hundreds of women – Israeli and Palestinian, secular and religious, young and old – all marching in white. They marched from Metula on Israel's Lebanese border, from the Arab town of Umm al-Fahm, from Tel Aviv and from Eilat. They marched through the streets of Jerusalem; they marched to the banks of the Jordan River near the Dead Sea.

They marched for peace.