Eretz Yisrael Time

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Wednesday, December 31, 2008
OK, maybe not for real, but those in top political echelons would like it to be over already (particularly before ground troops are sent in).

Barak, Livni, and friends proved their mettle. They're tough. They can defend Israel when politically expedient. Now let's get back to our regularly scheduled elections where Bibi can no longer call them laf-lafim (spineless, wishy-washy and irresolute) for letting all those rockets hit Israel without response.

With publicly and anonymously attributed comments, those on top are making it clear that they don't want this war to continue on to victory.

In a rare break from his usual silence (walk quietly and carry a big stick), Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi completely distanced and disassociated himself from those remarks calling for a cease fire.

Ashkenazi must be in shock. Here he is, with his army trained and poised to win (and actually winning), his chain released a few meters, and suddenly he is being yanked and reeled back in.

Listening to the mixed messages coming from those currently on top of the political food chain it is clear that they don’t know what the goal of this war is supposed to be.

There have been vague statements that everyone is free to interpret however they want.

Meanwhile Gabi Ashkenazi wants to crush and obliterate the Hamas military and political infrastructure. That is his job as he understands it.

The only problem is what comes next? Reinstating Fatah? A Civil Administration? Exiting and leaving behind anarchy and a vacuum?

Any and all of those solutions are bad, and that is currently all that Barak and Livni can bring to the table, so instead they want a temporarily enfeebled and tranquilized Hamas.

While the truth is that only by returning to Gaza, rebuilding our towns, and expelling any enemy and terror supporting inhabitants from this general territorial region will bring quiet and peace to Israel.

And that is a declaration of failure for the entire ideology of the Left, particularly the Disengagement.

And that is too expensive a price for victory.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
In a lot of ways this war is incredibly similar to the last Lebanon war, where the general consensus was that Israel lost.

After all, we have much of the same leadership, massive numbers of Israelis (and Israeli towns and cities) are under missile threat and attack, we are running constant air sorties, the question has begun as to when to introduce ground troops, and the calls for Israel to cease fire (from the media, the left, and certain other politicized parties) has begun.

Yet, despite all that, this time around I think the universal feeling is that we are winning.

Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi seems to have everything in hand and well prepared, and it is pretty clear to all that Hamas is losing.

What a difference a ground forces RamatKal makes (as opposed to a pilot).

Unfortunately, the government still hasn't clearly defined the goals of this campaign, and worse, the options they are probably considering are lousy - a temporarily weakened Hamas, regime change to Fatah, or an IDF Civil Administration - but no return to our towns. Someone might say they learned from the last war not to announce goals - but even amongst themselves?

Meanwhile, the IDF is very angry at certain parties trying to influence their actions from the outside.

In the final analysis, Olmert will come out of this with his reputation rehabilitated, while he manages to B-slap Livni yet again simply by asking Netanyahu to talk to the foreign press as an official government representative. Barak comes out looking good after Ashkenazi did all the hard work and planning for him.

What actually ends up in Gaza, is still up in the air.
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With the war going on (and then again, also unrelated to the war), some of you may be interested in how you can help the people of Israel.

There is a Jerusalem organization called Warm the Needy that does wonderful work.

Every winter Warm the Needy helps thousands of poor Israeli families make it through the cold winter by supplying them with heaters/radiators and subsidizing their electric bills.

If you are looking to help the People of Israel, then Warm the Needy is definitely a good place to start.

Monday, December 29, 2008
With all the news going on today, there is one ray of hope that is shining through.

The right wing parties have managed to get their acts together and unite under a single party.

Yes, I'm ignoring the Mafdal Jewish Home as they will get their Bnei Akiva voters, and I'm ignoring Lieberman and his seven dwarfs, Uzi Landau and their Russian modeling agency who are getting Bibi's disgruntled former Likud voters.

I'm talking about a right wing party that you can look at their list and say this is a party worth voting for. This is a party with ideals. This is a party of quality.

To begin with, I want to thank and praise Baruch Marzel who showed true leadership, selflessness and dedication to the cause by putting aside his own ego and desires by willingly stepping aside to help put this list together - though I think Marzel in the Knesset would only have been an asset.

I have nothing but respect for Marzel for this selfless act.

Ketzale!

What can I say. The man is a legend - as a settler, as a soldier, as a builder, as a person. I've met him a few times, and he is also a really nice guy. It never occurred to me that he should run as head of this party, or that he would even be interested.

What a great choice.

There is no question that this is the right party to vote for.

What's it called? (Just kidding!)

It will be called Eretz Yisrael Shelanu - Our land of Israel.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Without even seeing any polls I can definitely say that so far the big winner of this war is Ehud Barak.

Riding on the coattails of Gabi Ashkenazi’s military planning, Barak (along with Livni) has delayed the Gaza offensive to as close to elections as he could possibly get away with.

This has resulted in 2 good things for Barak.

The first is that all the major parties have stopped their election campaigning, while Barak gets great face time as the Defense Minister – and can you beat that for free positive (and exclusive) campaigning ahead of elections?

The second is that when the other parties realize they have been hoodwinked and renew their campaigns they will have to concentrate their attacks on Barak instead of Kadima v. Likud which will just give Barak even more legitimacy (and Barak has no where to go but up), but of course it will be difficult if not impossible to attack Barak in the middle of a war which he plans to finish only right before election time.

If Bibi uses this war to get international face time explaining Israel’s position he faces a double edged sword. On one hand he seriously helps Barak (Barak wants to be Bibi’s Defense Minister if he can’t be Prime Minister) and on the other hand he helps himself. Livni of course will lose out, as she can’t compete with Bibi in the international media.

Furthermore, Bibi can just explain that this is Barak’s show and Livni is a bystander, pushing up Barak more at Livni’s expense (Kadima was the bigger threat until yesterday).

Livni can only come out ahead here if she somehow manages to pull some of the glory away from Barak and that is going to difficult because she is just the Foreign Minister and not a particularly good one.

So far, Round One goes to Ehud Barak for delaying the defense of Israel until it would best help him in the elections.
In October 2007 I discussed a study that seemed to have found a correlation between foreign aid to Palestinians and the number of murders they subsequently commit. 2007 had the highest amount of foreign aid, which implied that 2008 would have the highest amount of Palestinian murders.



It was also noted that when stymied from killing Jews they turned on each other.

A month or two ago I noted that they weren't reaching the expected number of homicides as predicted.

Rereading the article I noticed something I had missed before.

When studying the correlation, the author originally noted the correlation between increased foreign aid and increased violence. Specifically in the case of the Palestinians he chose successful murders as his violence index and in the article he appears to use both terms interchangeably.

If we step back from solely using successful homicides as our violence index, but instead take into account attempted (not just successful) murders and terror attacks (specifically the number of rockets launched, and even while ignoring the amount of attempted murders in a mega strike), in that case his numbers make complete sense.

How about that.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Israel has finally decided to join the war in the South.

Initiating what has been called a surprise attack (surprise, because no one thought for a second that this government would ever react to the continuing attacks against the country), it has given a decent enough first strike against Hamas targets.

(I heard all the jets flying this morning and was wondering what that was about).

But the questions are, what comes next, and what is the goal?

Is the goal to achieve a short term quiet? To remove Hamas? To reinstate Fatah? To create a unified Palestinian Terror State whose goal is to replace Israel (one way or the other)?

It certainly won't be to return our settlements or to remove the enemy population.

Will this be an excuse to delay or cancel elections? (Already most of the major parties have announced they have stopped campaigning while the war is going on).

Meanwhile Israeli Arabs (the ones in Israel) are busy rioting against Israel's actions. No surprise there.

The next questions are, will Hizbollah join the fray, and what about the Arabs of Judea and Samaria.



Stay tuned as we learn if this is for real, maneuvering ahead of elections, or even good for the Jews.

Regardless, let's pray for the safety and success of our soldiers who are finally being given a chance to defend our country (and perhaps find Gilad Shalit).

I'm posting updates over at the Muqata.
Friday, December 26, 2008
How strange is the Israeli.

With rockets pounding the South and the Kadima led government frozen in fear while Labor's Barak opens up the Gaza crossings to food and money (and who knows what else), Kadima has bounced back in the polls and is beating the Likud 30 to 29!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
So according to the JP, Bibi is trying to bring in Effy Eitam's party into the Likud.

All the details are strange. The Likud gets Eitam's party's 12 million shekels, and the party gets a very low position on the list (most likely not enough to get into the Knesset). In the meantime, the person on the Likud list is not Eitam.

What isn't being said is what is motiviating Eitam to destroy the remnants of his party. Most likely Eitam is horse trading the money for a Deputy Minister position (in which case he he doesn't need to be an MK).

Whatever, the Likud doesn't look like much of an interesting party anymore.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Now isn't that interesting.

"Yisrael Hayom" published a map this morning showing the acknowledged depth of Hamas missiles launches from Gaza.

What was interesting was how close the acknowledged depth is to settlements like Modiin and Beit Shemesh.

What is more interesting is that the unacknowledged depth actually does reach them.



(Thanks to Ben Bayit for the link)
I was discussing this with Jameel last night.

Do you give Presents or Chanukah Gelt?

I'm not actually sure where either tradition began, so if someone can fill me in...

Anyway, growing up we usually got both (plus chocolate coins), but I think the presents had a bigger impact, after all, there was always that element of surprise and trying to figure out where your parents hid the gifts (plus in good years, there were 8 days of presents).

Jameel feels that the whole presents think is too Xmasy, and he only does the Gelt.

My kids are getting presents (toys, books, and puzzles).

And we all eat Latkes!

What do you do?
Sunday, December 21, 2008


Happy Chanukah Everyone.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Dan Meridor is showing his true colors, and it makes you wonder what he is doing in the Likud.

Some key points from the A7 article:

Meridor "is 'working very hard' and 'making every effort' to convince Binyamin Netanyahu to 'make history' by changing Israel's posture towards Syria and the idea of ceding the Golan Heights in return for a peace treaty."

"Meridor, who supported Kadima in the previous election but recently rejoined Likud, told him he was 'working hard' to put together a Likud coalition with Labor and Kadima."

"Meridor is considered very close to Supreme Court President Justice Dorit Beinisch. "

So, this is what Bibi really wants for his Likud, and is why he brought Meridor in.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
You read it here first (on JoeSettler and the Muqata).


Dozens of Israeli policemen were seriously injured today during a training exercise.

The exercise was a simulation of a riot situation where the police were sent in to regain calm.

Some policemen apparently were unable to differentiate between the real world where they are told to savagely beat protesters and a training exercise against their fellow policemen where they are not supposed to hurt anybody.

Anyway, dozens of policemen found themselves on the receiving end of typical police violence commonly reserved just for settlers.

Dozens of policemen (possibly as high as 54) are being treated for concussions and possibly broken bones after their fellow overenthusiastic policemen confused their training partners with settlers and beat them mercilessly.

Also during the exercise another policeman fell asleep at the wheel while driving, injuring over 30 other policemen.

Do you think there is a problem in the police force?
There is talk that Aryeh Eldad may merge with Shalom Wolpe and Baruch Marzel.

This would create the beginning of a RW Dream Team, which would be complete with Effy Eitam and Benny Elon.

It would also get rid of the risk of running all these small RW parties where we all lose.

btw, Who actually is going to be voting for Mafdal II?
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
I couldn't find a bencher today (Beirchon, Grace after Meals, etc.) so I looked for one online and found this cute little site.

Now I'm looking for Ma'ariv (Arvit, the Evening Prayers).

Any leads?
The other day 2 idiots racing (each other?) to get into Jerusalem passed us at the entrance to the tunnels with oncoming traffic coming directly at us.

They nearly got us all killed.

Even in the tunnels they did that to cars ahead of them (and I saw that they had done that to the cars that were behind us along the way).

Following that, they were so busy weaving in and around the other cars on the road, jockeying to get in front of everyone, that by the time we reached the red light on Derech Hebron, I was actually in front of them, simply by driving safely, sticking in my lane and going at the legal speed.

Everyone in the car started laughing at them so they could see. That certainly annoyed them.

With all their shenanigans on the road, and their inability to think more than one car ahead (much less anticipate what other drivers on the road were clearly doing), because of their weaving they kept getting stuck behind slower trucks.

Meanwhile, as we reached the next red light, we and other drivers on the road were still ahead of them, and these idiots were fuming. And if they weren't enough of a danger before, they certainly were dangerous now.

It is unfortunate that people like these two drivers are on the road. They are dangers to everyone else.

In yesterday's Eilat accident it was discovered that the driver had 22 prior traffic convictions. 22!

What was that guy still doing on the road?

I am willing to bet, that these 2 idiots last week had a nice sum of tickets racked up between them.

In fact, now that I'm thinking about it, in a lot of the major accidents the drivers had a large number of traffic convictions or their licenses revoked.

After a certain amount of tickets, these dangerous drivers don't need to go again to driving school. They need to be sent for psychological evaluations to determine if they can or can't control themselves enough on the road to not be hazards to those around them.
I bet you're thinking that JoeSettler has passed 10,000 posts, or 10,000 readers, or maybe even 10,000 pageviews.

Nope. None of the above.

I'm talking about Israel passing the 10,000 mark on the number of missiles and mortars fired on us from Gaza without effectively responding in kind.

With 7000 since the expulsion and 255 just in the past 6 weeks (during the "truce")

Congratulations Israel.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Caroline Glick write an important article which I recommend reading.
This is not really an ad for Nefesh B'Nefesh's Go North program. I was reading YNET and there was an article about what NBN is offering to Olim that join the Go North program.
"New Anglo olim settling in northern Israel will receive a NIS 100,000 ($25,000) grant and a car for a two-year period, as part of Nefesh B'Nefesh's new 'Go North' initiative, aimed at encouraging the immigration of English speaking Jews to Israel's northern communities.

"Some $10 million were allocated towards the project.

"Nefesh B'Nefesh sources believe most of the families would prefer jeeps or pickup trucks that are more suited for the northern terrain.

"And if that's not enough, each immigrant child will immediately upon landing in Israel be given intensive private Hebrew lessons – free of charge.

OK, if that isn't enough financial incentive to make Aliya with the Nefesh B'Nefesh Go North program, especially with the US (and US Jewry's) economy in such trouble, then I don't know what is.

It's like winning the lottery.

(Mom, Dad, you hear me? I need the Hebrew lessons)
The Arab reaction to Muntadar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad on Sunday is all over the board.

Some are for, some are against, but all the reactions are strong.

I hope that one thing becomes clear to all these Arabs.

If Al-Zeidi had thrown his shoe at Mubarak, Assad, Abbas, or some Saudi prince he would be dead or expecting to spend the rest of his life in prison.

It may not have been the best use of one's right to freedom of expression, but in a typical Arab dictatorship that would have been the effective end of one's life.

Think about it.

(I do admit, I wonder if any Israeli would dare do this to Barak or Livni, and what the punishment meted out in Israel would be).
Monday, December 15, 2008
A University of Ariel study of Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria has come up with some interesting findings.

1. The Jewish population in Judea and Samaria is increasing at 3 times the rate of the rest of Israel.
2. The number of children per household is higher here than in the rest of Israel.
3. The average age here is younger here than in the rest of Israel.
4. The employment rate here is higher here than in the rest of Israel.
5. Jewish residents are more satisfied with their lives is higher here than in the rest of Israel.

Muqata adds that Jewish income in Judea and Samaria is 10% higher than the average family income than the rest of Israel. (Jameel's source: Galei Tzahal).
Well, you have to hand it to the State of Israel. They certainly know how to get rid of an offensive flag when they want to.

No. I'm not talking about the Nazi flag waving right across from an IDF pillbox just south of Gush Etzion, hanging on the Israeli Electric Company powerlines.

The Nazi flag there will keep waving in the wind as far as Israel is concerned.

I'm talking about some stupid Jew from the Shomron, who thought that he can walk inside a city within Green-line Israel proudly holding an Israeli flag.

Nope. That Jew was arrested and his Israeli flag confiscated.

You see, the town in Israel he walked through is called Uhm el-Fahm.

CORRECTION: The Jew from the Shomron was not inside Um el-Faham at all. He stood outside the entrance to the town!

There the Israeli flag is considered incitement.

I know people reading this are shocked, but personally I am relieved. Yes, it is insane, but at least the State continues to be consistent in its insanity. Imagine if everything was completely arbitrary, then we would have a real mess. Of course, the Jew from the Shomron was an idiot, he should have been waving a Nazi flag.


(In other news, terrorists to be released today have blood on their hands, and the High Court rejected the appeal to not free the ones involved in an attack in Gush Etzion. You see, consistency!)
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe and Baruch Marzel are expected to meet Sunday afternoon to discuss the formation of a new right wing political party.

So let's see. We have the (1) National Union that is breaking away from the "Jewish Home". We have (2) Aryeh Eldad's Haikva. We have (3) Effy Eitam who is still waiting for Bibi to reject his overtures. And now we have (4) the Jewish Front.

If I do the math right, each party will succeed in not reaching the minimum threshhold leaving us without rightwing representation and at least 8 lost seats.

Congratulations. Anyone else want to join the balagan.


WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? GET TOGETHER AND RUN AS ONE LARGE RIGHT WING PARTY OR I WILL NOT VOTE FOR ANY OF YOU THIS TIME AROUND.
Apparently what's good for the goose is not good for the gander.

As expected, the police have decided to block the right wing march near Um El Faham.

They claim it is due to expected violence.

But the police did not block the gay parade in Jerusalem, nor the Left-wing protests outside of Jewish homes in Hebron - despite the threats of violence and incitement.

You gotta love these one-sided decisions in the current state of Israel.
Barak said: “We must increase the penalties for lawbreakers in Judea and Samaria. The breaking of the peace in Judea and Samaria is the attempt of a small radical group to shake the foundations of the State.”

JoeSettler says “We must increase the penalties for lawbreakers in the Knesset and Government. The breaking of the law by Israeli leaders is the attempt of a criminal group to steal the foundations of the State (and whatever else they can get their hands on).”
JP interviewed the American General Keith Dayton who is training the latest incarnation of the Palestinian army.

He keeps repeating that the newly trained forces will not be used against Israel while proudly stating "Remember what I am emphasizing here. These are new security forces. They're the most capable you've ever seen."

All I see are gonnabe terrorists who have now been very well trained by the US.

I've seen this movie a dozen times. It always ends the same way.
Friday, December 12, 2008
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I've written about Western Wall Prayers in the past. They have added a new component to their campaign called Shidduch Segula.

This is the segula that I am personally very familiar with.

Typically girls who want to get married go to the Kotel and pray there for 40 days asking to find the one.

I know this, because my wife did that and met me on day 41 or 42 (no kidding).

(I won't mention how many times she repeated this exercise until we actually got engaged).

Of course, not everyone has the opportunity to go to the Kotel, so Western Wall Prayers gives you the ability to send a surrogate prayer partner to go to the Kotel for you.

This doesn't absolve you of your own participation, as they expect you to say the Tehillim for 40 days too, along with them from where ever you are.

As I've said in the past, I'm not into segulas, but I do believe in prayer and talking to God, so as far as I'm concerned prayer can only help. From what I understand, the money is going to help support the yeshiva students, rabbis, and others who are going to the kotel on your behalf, so you get a Tzedakah mitzvah at the same time.

So if you want to find your Bashert (the "one"), and want to try praying 40 days at the kotel (a segulah which my wife fully endorses) but you can't, then check out Western Wall Prayers. (Applicable to both boys and girls).
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Feiglin has just showed that he is so much bigger than Bibi.

Feiglin was interviewed on Mabat (Channel 1) and this is what he said.

To begin with Feiglin said he has no intention of taking his case to the Supreme Court - even though legally he should win.

First of all, because the Supreme Court is simply Left and he has no faith in it, secondly and more important, because he plans to enter the Knesset because of a large Likud and the will of the voters, and not because of some win in court.

Furthermore, he said Bibi is just shooting himself in the leg. He compared him to Sharon, who also went against the will of the voters.

Feiglin has chosen to not rip apart the Likud in a legal battle. He has shown that he is the leader that Bibi is not.
There you go, it took some time, but Ehud Barak finally acted with determination.

I don't know if you've seen his idiotic ads in the TA region, but they're idiotic. They're trying to portray him as some sort of iconoclast. A leader who bucks the trends.

So let's see.

Hamas is about to collapse financially (supposedly, as we know how believable their claims are). They need money.

They of course haven't release Shalit, or even stopped launching rockets at us.

But our Defense Minister acted with determination.

He sent them 100 million shekels to prop up their terror regime. No strings attached.

There is no shame.
There you have it. Sharon didn't respect the democratic will and rules of his party, and neither has Bibi.

Bibi has pushed Feiglin down to position 35 or 36. So much for the democratic process in the Likud.

But there is precedent for that in the Likud.

As far as I am concerned, we learned our lesson with Sharon, and we shouldn't close our eyes to what Bibi apparently is too.

This is not leadership.
Interesting article in A7 that discusses hard numbers regarding how the police do NOT treat Jews in Judea and Samaria the same as they do in the rest of the country. Quite unfair but not unexpected.
Wake up Bibi!

The Left, the media, Kadima, Labor - they're all attacking you because the Likud is now leaning Right.

Hurray. Finally.

Listen to them Bibi. They want a monolithic Left. They don't want choice. They don't want Change.

They are afraid, terrified even, because you can now offer the people an alternative from their extremist path.

The people are tired of capitulating to Oslo, tired of retreating from Kassams, tired of Olmert's failed utopian fantasy. The people want change, they want a strong Israel.

The Left know that as long as the Likud looks like a Kadima clone then they have a chance.

But if you pick up the gauntlet, they know they have lost.

But here you are trying to shoot yourself in the foot and lose the elections.

You don't have to embrace Feiglin, but you don't have to target him as your enemy. That is exactly what the Left wants. They know if you offer the people the same as they are, then there is no particular reason to vote for the Likud.

Furthermore, trying to nullify Feiglin now shows you to be a weak leader, a leader who is afraid and petty. A leader who can't even control his own party, much less the country. Worse, a leader who won't play by the rules - just like Sharon, and someone who does that deserves no respect at all.

Your actions are turning off your constituents and voters.

Offer us change. Offer us something different. Act bigger than you apparently are.

Keep going down the road you are on now, and Likud will continue to be a small, pointless, undifferentiated party, and you won't be Prime Minister.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Talk about moving the goal posts.

Bibi is out to oust Feiglin one way or the other. In his latest sponsored move, he is trying to have the regional seats moved up in the list (by 1 slot I'm sure), which would move Feiglin all the way from 20 down to the high 30s.

Come on, have you no shame whatsoever?
It must be good to be have a friend in the Supreme Court. Lose a case against a settler, just take it to the Supreme Court and it will be automatically reversed.

Noam Federman won a case against the State (in a lower court) for illegally detaining and holding him for months on end. The State was forced to pay. The State (illegally?) only paid part of the money, holding out until they could get the decision reversed in their appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court of the Left obviously reversed the decision, and now is demanding that Federman pay back the partial payment he received. They will of course send him to jail if he doesn't give it back.

I wonder what the precedents for that are?


In other news, I've never heard of the Toronto Zionist Council, but they have the right idea. Jewish communities in galus donate a lot of money to a lot of causes in Israel through various government and private organizations. (Also see this with Caroline Glick)

Jewish Communities can show their displeasure with what this government is doing by redirecting their fund raising directly to Hebron, the Settlement Organizations, and other targets of this Left wing government's ire.

That kind of action causes major ripples among these big fund raising organizations, who then send feedback directly to their friends in the seats of power that they have managed to go too far. Nothing sends a message clearer than a donation to the right causes.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
This one is for all you "feedburner" readers out there. I just checked and to my surprise there are a lot of you. Who knew?

What it does mean is that you don't see the ads on my blog, so I am giving you the opportunity to click on the ads without even having to go to the blog.

The advertiser I want to talk to you about is called StartFresh.

StartFresh is an online Kosher diet plan. You sign up with them, tell them your current weight, your desired weight, and they present you with 3 daily meal plans (full meals with recipes) for you to eat your way to a healthier you (I know I heard that phrase somewhere, must be some commercial).

Anyhoo, I don't really need it myself, but I took a look at the "Sneak Peeks" on their site and I liked the recipe for Oriental Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry.

This clearly isn't some boring food diet, but one where you eat tasty stuff, but in the right portions and with the right balance.

The site has a recipe library for members as well as holiday related recipes.

So with Chanukah coming up, you want to look good in front of that Menorah. Check out StartFresh.

They also have a FREE CD.
What exactly is Tzippy Livni trying to prove? That she isn't qualified to lead this country?

I can only assume she sees her statements as an attack on Barak (and not on herself) and not a statement on herself.

But listen to these idiotic remarks coming from her mouth.

"The strategic goal in my eyes is to prevent the establishment of an extremist Islamic terror state along Israel's southern border." Like the one that is already there?

"If Hamas knows that Israel won't be quiet when missiles fall on Ashkelon, they will feel the responsibility on their shoulders." But they know you will be quiet. And Ashkelon? What about poor Sderot?

"When we are faced with a decision to come to some kind of arrangement - like a ceasefire - which may seem in the short time a legitimate interest, we must remember that when Israel gets into these arrangements, they harm us and strengthen Hamas" Sort of like Hizbollah and Resolution 1701 that you are so proud of?

Sorry. Just not Prime Ministerial quality.
Well, that's interesting. I won't give a line by line analysis of the Likud's new list like Jameel did, but I will say it is interesting.

The list is much more Right in the realistic spots than I expected. Feiglin is happy, though people were talking that he would be in the top 10, but still, he is in a realistic spot.

I am unhappy that Dan Meridor is so high up on the list, but at least most of the other major Leftists Bibi brought in are low down.

The question is, what will Bibi do next? Will he try to merge some 3rd party in and lower Moshe down? It's possible.

Or perhaps he will run on the Center-Right ticket and leave the Left for Kadima-Labor-Meretz to fight between them.

Stay tuned.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Elections are coming up, and in all the recent elections I have voted (quite happily) only for Baruch Marzel, but perhaps times are a changing.

Let's look at what's available?

Likud? (I'm not talking about Feiglin in the primaries)
Let's get real, Bibi is trying to stack the deck with leftists, and he is calling for a national unity government? Who needs that? We've been trying to throw those Kadima and Labor jokers out, not let them in the back door.

Bayit Yehudi?
A mixed up version of the washed up Mafdal? So we all wear a kippah, that doesn't mean they deserve my vote.

Lieberman?
Does the party of Lieberman and his 7 dwarves even have a name? Uzi Landau joined up? So what, he just wants a chance to be a minister which Bibi will never let him have from inside the Likud. Lieberman sat quite nicely with Kadima. Goodbye.

What options are left?

I am seriously considering Hatikva. It is a right-wing party modeled after Gandhi's Moledet, though with some minor modifications.

I am not so comfortable with its current dearth of religious representation, but there primaries are tomorrow so we'll see who is on their list.

Furthermore, if Efi Eitam gives up wasting his time trying to merge into the Likud, he will find a home in Hatikva with a merger there.

And I actually spoke with Aryeh Eldad, and he could be quite comfortable with Baruch Marzel (though assuming an Eldad-Marzel configuration doesn't kill them in the polls). Though Marzel is likely to go with R. Shlomo Wolpe's new party.

Eldad-Eitam-Marzel: that could be a dream team.

But even Eldad-Eitam would be quite satisfactory.

BUT, I still want to learn more about Wolpe's party and see where Efi Eitam ends up.

I will let you know. (And what do you recommend)
Friday, December 05, 2008
Dear Friends,

I would like to thank the tens of people who called and sent emails to ask how I was doing. Thank G-d I feel better and returned home after having been in the hospital.

The many beatings by the expulsion forces dressed in black who kicked us and
beat us with their clubs during yesterday's expulsion from Bet Hashalom,
paralyzed me completely and the paramedics feared my neck and spine had been hurt. I was rushed to the Shaarei Tzedek hospital. Thank G-d, after different tests in the hospital all tests were shown to be ok.My body obviously hurts very much but that will pass in the next few days.My fighting spirit on the other hand has only increased and was strengthened after I had the honor to spend the entire last week, together with thousands of others, in Bet Hashalom.

We had the honor to get to know the 14 wonderful families who have been living in Bet Hashalom for the past year and eight months and the many other activists from Kiryat Arba Hebron. I am telling you, there are not enough words to describe those wonderful Jews. They gave us the most incredible lesson in hospitality and in love and total devotion to the Land of Israel. In addition, I want to salute the wonderful hundreds of youth who came to Bet Hashalom and strengthen them.

I would like to address the lies and disinformation coming out of Ehud Barak's office and being spread by the media. We are being told that the expulsion from Bet Hashalom went by "smoothly and was done within an hour".

It is important to announce that this is a complete lie . The truth is that against all expectations, the expulsion from Bet Hashalom took them at least four and a half days. As you recall, many expulsion troops already arrived in the area on Monday and it was clear that they planned to do it Monday night.

But thanks to the thousands of loyal Jews who came and stayed in Bet Hashalom, and thanks to the hundreds of youth who did not stay indifferent to the attacks by the Arabs, the planned expulsion was prevented and postponed.

This lasted till Thursday. Every day over a thousand people stayed in bet Hashalom and the government, understanding that this is not going to be as simple as they thought, just added more and more troops to the area.

In addition, the government did not expect that the planned expulsion would start such fierce demonstrations all over the country. There were daily protests all over the country by hundreds of jews outraged at the thought of the upcoming crime.

I am convinced that had we managed to keep over a thousand people in bet Hashalom also on Thursday, the expulsion would not have taken place and may this be a lesson for us in the future.

In addition, it is hard to say that the expulsion is over with. Yes, they managed to take us out temporarily from Bet Hashalom but since the expulsion there are demonstrations and disorder by loyal Jews protesting all over the country and hopefully this will just be the beginning. We must make sure that the government pays a heavy price for the expulsion of Jews so that in the future they will think twice if this is worth it for them. The message is clear: If it took so many days and so many forces to expel Jews from just one house-don't even think you will ever again be able to uproot Jews from an entire community. In addition to the protests all over the country, the bet Hashalom residents have already announced that they plan to go back to Bet Hashalom today, even if it means living in tents in the vicinity.

I am writing those words the day after the expulsion from Bet Hashalom. I am sure that in the next few days we will have many more conclusions and thought about what happened here so we can learn for the future struggles.

In conclusion, the expulsion forces who behaved like brutal violent monsters indeed managed to bruise our bodies but we are the ones who please G-d will give them the final blow. Our main revenge will please G-d come on February 10, election day, when the people of Israel will expel this anti-zionist, anti jewish bolchevic regime and will bring to power a national government. Let's just hope that this time, the new elected leaders will not disappoint us and will really be loyal to the Land of Israel, the People of Israel and the Torah of Israel.

Shabbat Shalom



Nadia Matar, co-chair of Women in Green and member of the Committee for the Struggle for Bet Hashalom
Thursday, December 04, 2008
The police have begun violently evacuating the Peace House.
Totalitarian
to·tal·i·tar·i·an
(t-tl-târ-n)
adj.
Of, relating to, being, or imposing a form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life, the individual is subordinated to the state, and opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed: "A totalitarian regime crushes all autonomous institutions in its drive to seize the human soul" Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.


"A country cannot have negotiations about its control over its citizens." Ehud Barak.


The words coming from various government official and Ehud Barak in particular should strike fear in the hearts of every member of democratic society.

Every statement is how the settlers are a danger to the State, how the State must be protected from the Settlers, how the State take precedence over all.

The State exists to serve the citizens – in a democracy. But in a totalitarian regime, the citizens are there to serve the State and follow the orders of its leaders (and they tend to remain in their seats of power for a very long time, sound like any local government you know of?).

But what about the Right of the Individual?

In a democracy, the Rights of the Individual is foremost, and only curtailed with trepidation and much discourse.

You would think that one word on the rights of the individual to buy property would be part of the discussion here, but of course it isn’t.

Instead what is discussed is that the individual using what should be his basic right to buy, own, maintain, and utilize his property is considered a threat to the very existence of what is now an apparently very fragile State.

But I have a surprise for you - Ehud Barak is right.

If Israel were a healthy democracy, then Jews buying land would never be considered an existential threat, but if Israel were a totalitarian regime with power being shared and rotated among the same individuals decade after decade, and some private citizens came along and utilized what should be an inalienable right, except under a totalitarian regime, then yes, those people would be a threat, but not the country or its citizens, but rather those clinging to their seats of power over the rest of us.

As Barak says, a State must control its citizens. There's no better description for what kind of government we find ourselves with.
It looks like negotiations have broken down. Barak is not looking for any reasonable solutions within the letter of the law. Ahead of elections, he wants to prove to his dwindling constituency that he is tough on somebody, and since he isn't tough on the actual enemy, it might as well be the settlers.

Maybe he is trying to get rid of his Barak Barach nickname ("Barak ran away", which he has done on a number of occasions).

From here it looks like he will try to expel the residents on Shabbat when they won't be able to call for local reinforcement from the surrounding communities.

I only wonder how many settlers has he ordered to be shot during the expulsion - and I'm serious with that question.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Reports are coming in that the army is pulling into Hebron right now with Bulldozers.
I just got back from the Peace House and I am trying to reach some conclusions.

I watched the “Hilltop Youth” today sitting in the main hall learning Gemorah, where just yesterday they were defending this stronghold and our right to be in Hebron - and Israel itself.

Some younger kids were acting up violently on the road outside, until the adults put an end to their shenanigans.

This evening was calm (though a friend of mine was arrested this morning in another event in Hebron – I happened to actually see that on a video on the internet).

I don’t think the police or the army were ready for yesterday at the Peace House. I suspect they figured that at worst it would be like Amona, where for the most part they got to break Jewish heads freely.

I suspect the police and army understand that if they continue in the direction Barak is forcing them to take, there will be a civil war long before Barak has a chance to lose any more seats than he has already.

I think it’s safe to assume that responsible leadership on both sides spoke today and decided to have the government forces back off before something irreversible happens. I am sure that a unilateral decision like that annoyed Barak, as something irreversible is exactly what he is hoping for.

Will the expulsion actually happen?

Based on yesterday I would say it is slightly less likely.

This won’t be a Gush Katif or Amona. The price for the Peace House is now far higher than the responsible members of the police and IDF are probably willing to pay. But then again, you have irresponsible politicians like Barak, who see this as a way to win Brownie Points from their dwindling number of constituents.

And then you also have members of the police that would be murderous sociopaths today if they hadn’t gotten a uniform which make certain actions socially acceptable. Clearly if one of those is in charge, we can still expect bad things.

A lot remains to be seen before I can draw some proper conclusions which I may try to do in another post another time.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Things are heating up at the Peace House in Hebron. Hundreds of Jews from all over are converging at the location, as the city is filling up with Yassam and Magav soldiers/policemen.

Extreme police violence is expected.

11:25 Police on loudspeakers are shouting orders.

12:02 Police shooting teargas, rocks being thrown, Arabs throwing rocks.

12:24 Police not doing anything right now. The local army base is packed with forces.

2:30AM Police reinforcements arrive.

3:00AM Police shoot rock grenades and tear gas.

It's a regular war zone.

Cameraman catches on film a policeman beating up a settler boy.

Generally assumed that the police did not go in to evacuate the house was due to the resistance they met outside.
Amira Hass, a Jewish Settler who lives in Ramallah traveled by boat to Gaza the other day. Upon arrival she was informed by the Hamas government that she must leave Gaza immediately. She returned to Israel occupied territory today.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Can you imagine living in a country where after a spectacular failure related to your job (and in my opinion, in this case, a totally unpredictable and unpreventable failure), a senior official immediately resigns on his own, with possibly more to follow.

Not in Israel.
Talk about an opportunist.

Meridor can't even toe the party line on something that has universal consensus within the Likud.

MK Gilad Erdan said "The Likud's stance on the legal system are substantially different than Meridor's"

Meridor said, "Wherever I go, people talk about Friedman. This is a battle we have lost. I cannot remember such damage to the faith of the public in the justice system, and so many complaints about the system."

Wherever you go Dan?

You're hanging out with the Lefties. You don't belong in the Likud.
As you probably heard, an army base near Kibbutz Nachal Oz was hit by Kassam the other evening, some 8 soldiers were injured and one unfortunately lost his leg.

The soldiers report that they and their commanding officers have been trying to get the base relocated to a new location (currently) outside of enemy fire - with no success.

The second option they requested was more reinforcements of the structures against the missile and mortar attacks.

So they asked to retreat. They asked to hide in bunkers.

The only thing they actually did NOT ask for was to fight the enemy and stop the fire on them and more importantly the civilian settlements around them - who don't have the option to retreat or bunker down.

This is the now ingrained result of the Left and Barak's philosophy to flee, whether it be from Lebanon, Joesph's Tomb, Gaza, Hebron, and anywhere else.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
For some strange reason certain people were claiming that having General Michel Suleiman as president was going to be a moderating force in Lebanon. I admit it probably helped with some of the internecine fighting as he would unite every under the Iran/Syrian/Hizbollah (pick one) flag.

In the meantime, "Iran and Lebanon have signed a security agreement, according to which Iran will supply the Lebanese army with weapons and equipment over the next five years."

"The agreement between the two nations was signed during Lebanese President Michel Suleiman's two-day visit to Teheran, which ended on Tuesday. The visit focused on security and defense cooperation, as well as on regional and international matters of mutual concern, an Iranian source revealed to the paper.

"By supplying the Lebanese army with weapons, Iran will thus be responsible for arming Lebanon's two major armed forces: the national army, and Hizbullah.

Well, there goes the neighborhood.
There were two separate interviews in the weekend's paper that I read, both of which surprised me.

The first was with Silvan Shalom. When asked about Moshe Feiglin in the Likud, Shalom said he has absolutely no problem with Feiglin being in the Likud.

Shalom said the Likud is the national politcal home for any and all Israelis who accept the basic positions of the Likud (which of course Moshe does and tries to promote to all the other Likud members).

Shalom of course is not exactly the best friend with Netanyahu which could explain the response, though you should note that Shalom didn't show up at Feiglin's primary convention.

On the other side was an interview with Benny Begin.

Begin responded to the question by answering that his disagreement with Feiglin is well known, and he needn't go into it, instead the interviewer should ask what he has in common with Dan Meridor (on the far left), at which point he describes how much he and Meridor have in common. Quite worrisome.

Of course, he owes his return to the Likud to Netanyahu - who absolutely hates Feiglin.

It seems after all, that it is all politics.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Wouldn't it be amazing if someone in the mainstream media asked what the Prime Minister's wife knew about her husband financial schemes.

After all, she profited off of him all these years, she obviously knew that his civil servant salary certainly didn't approach the amount of cash he actually supplied her with.

Obviously they will never ask.


In other news, it sounds like the Chabad family in India didn't survive. God avenge them.
It amuses me to no end the number of Israeli politicians that are trying to imitate Obama. Like his policies or not, one thing Obama has done is lay down a very detailed and organized visions and plan for his term (or two).

Meanwhile almost all the Israeli politicians are busy trying to imitate his email and internet campaigns - but are ignoring what made Obama's campaign unique, that he is planning and offering something (actually) different and has clearly mapped out his way to do it.

In fact there is only one Israeli politician who has done that, and he preceded Barack Obama by a number of years.

That politician is Moshe Feiglin.

For years Moshe had made his positions clear on every issue. Moshe has laid forth his 100 day plan for all to see. Moshe has offered the Israeli public an alternative solution.

Meanwhile the rest of the Israeli politicians continue to repackage the same old news they gave us yesterday that didn't work then and won't work now.

Like him or not, Feiglin is the only breath of fresh air in the cigar filled backrooms and corridors of Israeli politics.

Feiglin represents change (for the better).
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Last night I was at the Moshe Feiglin Primary event. The hall was packed and full of electricity.

One particular event stood out in my mind for its hilarity.

They showed a video of Moshe on some Israeli talk show facing off with one of the heads of Peace Now.

As expected, the Leftist was saying that they are the only game in town and the Right has no solution.

So Moshe took him to task.

He got him to admit what he defines as the crux of the problem – the friction between the Arab community and the Israeli community, that Arabs and Jews (or was it Palestinians and Israelis?) can't live together.

He had him say he loves Eretz Yisrael - all the while the Leftist kept trying to argue where the borders are, Moshe kept firm and said Eretz Yisrael and didn’t discuss borders.

Moshe pointed out that despite $150 Billion Dollars spent in additional security and peace measure since Oslo (from security guards to the Wall) we are further from peace and security than ever, and it is just costing more and more.

Moshe then pointed out 2 Arab university studies that clearly stated that 80% of Gazans and 60% of Arabs in Judea and Samaria would like to leave and permanently move elsewhere (Dubai, Canada, and the EU leading the list of desired locations).

The Peace Nower kept arguing that those studies are meaningless and irrelevant to any discussion. The show interviewer kept throwing up the word "transfer". They became heated and irrational in their responses.

But Moshe calmly continued and asked, why they didn’t have a problem paying Jews to leave, but do have a problem paying Arabs? Can they understand their double standard? Can they not accept that their Land for Peace formula is not working.

Then Moshe dropped the bombshell.

Moshe continued and pointed out that if the $150 Billion additional Dollars spent on all the additional security measures since Oslo had been wisely utilized, every Arab family in Israel could have received a minimum of $250,000 dollars each to start off a new life elsewhere. And as Israel continues to throw away money on never-ending security measure, the amount per family could actually double or triple that – not bad for your typical Arab who may at best make $5000 a year under Palestinian rule (average Palestinian salaries dropped a lot ever since the PA took over).

And what country wouldn’t want a new immigrant with a quarter million dollars in their bank account?

At that point, the logic hit some of the other people in the show (not right wingers in fact) and they started to argue that Moshe was 100% right, and why aren’t we considering that alternative instead.

Moshe continued to bash the Peace Nower and asked him, does he really love Eretz Yisrael like he claims, and can he consider a moral and workable solution like this one or does he just want to kick Jews out of their homes and in reality doesn't love Eretz Yisrael?

You can guess the response.

.

Thanks Hartzl for the link.


In the meantime, I just find it amusing that someone would consider it immoral to offer someone (who makes just $5000 a year) $250,000 dollars to move to a new location and start a new and peaceful life. There wouldn't even be enough conflict there to even turn it into a reality TV show.
This pilgrim will be celebrating the holiday of Thansgiving with a Turkey Rolleda (I guess that translates as sliced turkey pieces rolled up as a chunk of meat and held together by a string net), cranberry sauce, cranberry jelly, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin soup together with immediate family and friends (they'll be joining us at the meal, we aren't eating them).

I said Full Tachanun today, but without a Bracha. :)
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
There may be a righteous man in S'dom after all. Jerusalem District Court Judge Moshe Drori has permitted Noam Federman to return to the site of his home.

While the court didn't address the damage the government, army and police did to Noam by destroying his house, he did clearly state that the State and army acted completely improperly here and forget about out of proportion, the judge stated that the army completely misapplied the law.

Furthermore, the judge stated that the State has failed in any way to prove their case, and in fact their actions may have been unconstitutional.

The judge also threw away any claim of violence on Federman's part, as it was he that was totally bruised over and not a single policeman.

To quote the judge:

“Let every person decide for himself how he would act if a police officer turns to him at 1:30 in the night and wants to give him papers ordering him out of his house, with his wife and nine young children sleeping in their beds, and their father sees himself responsible for their welfare and safety… The State did not bother to explain why it needed a force of 100 policemen to remove a person from a military zone that had been closed for ten months, with no prior warning or attempt at dialogue… The eviction was not balanced, not reasonable, not right and not appropriate.”

Judge Drori is a graduate of Netiv Meir yeshiva high school in Jerusalem.

Where this will go remains to be seen, but at least there is one Judge in this country who isn't apparently corrupt and immoral.

Read more on A7.
Monday, November 24, 2008
The government would rather attack the Gush Katif refugees than Hamas (or Fatah) terrorists.

This morning 20 Yasamnikim entered Nitzan with violence on their hands and minds (and horses).

Nitzan is the "temporary" location of many of the expelled Gush Katif residents where they live in caravans while waiting for the government to provide them with a permanent housing solution to replace the one the government stole and destroyed.

One particular Gush Katif family had enough waiting and moved out on their own to the Shukda settlement in the Negev.

This left their 90 meter caravan open and available. So another family in Nitzan, tired of being squished into their 60 meter "temporary" caravan decided to move over to the 90 meter "temporary" caravan.

This morning, 20 black-uniformed Yasamnikim came and violently expelled them from their new temporary residence.

in response, the residents of Nitzan uselessly protested on the highway.

You can see an interview here.

Is there no end to the evil this government can do?
Saturday, November 22, 2008
The major Israeli papers this week published an ad from the League of Arab States.

The ad was address to all Israelis, telling them they could have a "Full diplomatic and normal relations for comprehensive pease (sic) agreement and Ending the Occupation."

Wow! Imagine that, peace with all the dictatorships and 3rd world countries in the Middle East.

And what are the Arabs asking in return?

Well, besides Israel evacuating all Jews to the pre-67 lines unconditionally (that would include the Golan, Gilo, the Old City and the even the Kotel), in using the codewords of 242, 338 and 194 they are simply saying that they will simply flood Israel with Arabs.

More openly, they even take it a step further, by saying "assures the rejection of all forms of Palestinian patriation which conflict with the special circumstances of the Arab host countries" they are simply saying that the descendants of the Arab refugees will be kicked out of their "host" countries and shipped over to flood Israel.

And they are counting on Israelis being stupid enough to fall for all of this.

I have to agree, there are certainly those that will want to be fooled.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Oh come on, how ridiculous can you get?

In Ashkelon, hundreds of local residents protested today the complete lack of military retaliation against Gaza for the missile fire.

That's not ridiculous, that's normal (if still a somewhat subdued reaction).

What has clearly reached ridiculous proportions is the Leftie counter-protest.

The Lefties were protesting that Israel closed the crossing into Gaza in response to the rocket fire. (Big deal, so they closed the crossing, they have unlimited tunnels in and out of Gaza for everything they need.)

No further comment needed.





http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/156202
You have to feel sorry for Peres.

Here he is the Prince of Peace, doing everything he can to give away the Land of Israel to the Arab enemy and no one will have any part of it. The Arabs refuse to create a state, and when Peres goes abroad to speak (such as in England, watch the video) he is attacked instead of lauded.

It reminds me of when he and Arafat were on TV and Arafat started lying and accusing Israel of all kinds of nonsense, while Peres stood there dumb-struck - after all they were there to talk peace on TV.

Peres never seems to catch on that his definition of Peace (an idiotic peace plan, but at least one where Israel still exists) is not what the world wants to hear about.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Despite all the irrefutable evidence of clear Jewish purchase and ownership, the left-wing controlled High Court is planning to have the Jewish owners of Beit HaShalom in Hevron evicted from their property - in what has been described as "judicial thievery" and "legalized injustice".

In Beit El, there is a similar situation regarding 9 homes owned by Jews on Jewish owned land.

Olmert, Barak and the Left are really instigating before the elections.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Here's something different that passed through my email box.

Remember when Supersol used to run their "American Food Week"?

That was great for those of us suffering from good food withdrawal. Now of course they don't have to do that anymore as Heinz Ketchup is pretty much ubiquitous anywhere in this country.

So now our problem is slightly different. You can easily and constantly find a range of American food products, but every store carrying American products is carrying the same exact stuff. There's hardly anyone bringing in anything new, different or exciting.

Despite all the amazing kosher food products available in the US, they are just bringing the safe stuff they are sure is sure to sell.

Don't get me wrong, I admit I am feeling a bit spoiled, but still... Boring.

Anyway, over at the KosherCookingCarnival.com they are going to be live blogging the Kosher Food Show in New Jersey.

Maybe some enterprising individuals will see this as an opportunity to bring over some different stuff.

I'm hungry.

(And don't forget to vote today).
Monday, November 10, 2008
My wife lost an earring last week when touring the City of David. Some archaeologists found it and are now claiming it is 2000 years old.



I've repeatedly asked the archaeologists to return it to no avail.

Some assistance anyone?
There is going to be one area of US foreign policy where I was sure that US President Obama would agree with JoeSettler (but for entirely different reasons), but it would appear to not be the case.

Back when, under Netanyahu, a plan was implemented to wean Israel off of US foreign and military aid.

And it was going great. US foreign aid to Israel was approaching zero (perhaps it already had).

And then Olmert came along and got another $30 Billion pledge from Bush (all in envelopes?) - undermining all of Netanyahu's efforts and planning.

Israel does not need US foreign aid.

We are now a strong country economically, and all foreign aid does is create an unhealthy dependency for Israel. Meanwhile, for the US it is actually good as it keeps Israel on a leash while looking good politically for local Jewish consumption. But tachlis, it is bad for Israel.

In terms of military aid, it is also extremely problematic. Local military industries find their arms tied because they aren't allowed to compete in certain markets or to develop certain products.

The military is forced to spend the money in the US, even if something homegrown would be better (for the military and the economy). And the whole purchasing system from the US is internally corrupt, lacks proper oversight and is effectively noncompetitive (meaning the military will pay more than they have to if they had their choice of sources -even within the US suppliers).

Furthermore, most of the big manufacturers have local representatives, and all this system does is cause problems as the military won't buy local for the same price or even less (to just touch on that iceberg)

I will admit that I would wean Israel off it slightly more slowly than from the foreign aid (to be on the safe side), but it has to go.

And again, foreign military aid to Israel is good for the US.

Much of the Israeli Military aid goes directly back into the hands of US contractors and manufacturers (it should be all, but that is another story).

Israel, the most innovative developer of weapon systems can be (and has been) forced to back down when they compete with US industries, and in the end, the US has a big influence (just like with the foreign aid) simply because they are supplying the money.

In fact, Foreign and Military aid is actually a keystone in US foreign policy, for instance, that is all that keeps Egypt from overtly attacking Israel. Without it, Egypt would financially collapse and the only logical move to save their dictatorial regime would be to attack Israel. There is simply no incentive for Egypt to change its political system or to fix itself economically as the US is propping it up.

Israel is not some 3rd world Arab dictatorship. It's time we divest from US foreign aid. When Netanyahu is back in power I assume that will be one of the first things he does. I will hope that Obama will cooperate with him and work with him towards Israeli interests as we define them.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Barack and Rahm (Lightning and Thunder).

Let's hope we can stay out of the storm.

(Actually it should be Ra'am, so let's pretend it is so this pun will work)

(I am not the person who first noticed this or originated this comment, but it is so appropriate).
While the Leftists (excluding the anarchists) are so proud of their wall they are building, it seems that the Arabs have found yet another way to circumvent it quite easily.

On Thursday morning, drivers on Route 60 (the main highway through Gush Etzion) found themselves under a barrage of Molotov Cocktails near the Beitar junction.

The Arabs are now launching them right onto the main highway from the other side of the wall.

In fact, the presence of the wall makes it difficult to catch them at all.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
I just got back from Beit HaShalom in Hebron and the Federman Farm in Kiryat Arba after visiting with some friends ahead of reports that the government was planning to kick out the legal owners from their homes tonight.

Luckily, at this point nothing was happening.

But after visiting the destruction at Noam Federman’s farm, one my friends said it right when he said this was nothing other than state-sponsored terrorism.

I am sure that you have this image in your mind that Federman's farm was just some hut or caravan in the middle of nowhere that was knocked down – and you couldn’t be more wrong.

What was destroyed was a house. A real house with stone walls, a roof and a Pladelet door (the door is still standing). A house that was lived in for years (not to mention all the other buildings of the farm).

But that isn’t even half of it. The farm is littered with destroyed furniture, toys, equipment and more. They even smashed the dog house.

And this farm isn’t in the middle of nowhere. It isn’t some outpost on some empty hilltop. It is in the middle of Kiryat Arba – inside the government-built security fence (what’s left of it at least) of the town!

When we got there Noam Federman was sitting in a chair around a campfire with some friends, burning what was left of his kitchen cabinets (and quite surprising to me, in a good mood).

Someone asked him why did they do this to him.

He answered quite simply, “When a good person does a good deed, you don’t ask why. When a Rasha (evil person) does a bad deed, you don’t need to ask why either”.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Man, the Lefties are going all out.

Apparently they are planning to take some major violent actions tonight against the Jews in Hebron, Migron, and some other sites.

Next the Shabak is going to be announcing that they heard about a Pulsa Denura against Olmert (of course no one will be arrested as there will be no one to arrest). Imagine what that will do for Kadima in the polls.

Meanwhile, back in the real world...

Two Jewish boys were kidnapped this morning at Migron by Arabs.

Border Police witnessed the kidnapping and did nothing.

Other Jewish youths near the site saw what happened and chased after the Arabs freeing the tied captives, though one was stabbed in the head and both were beaten badly.

One freed captive was taken to the hospital to treat his injuries. The other was arrested by the police (sic).
Sunday, November 02, 2008
It's time that an independent body be established to examine and handle complaints against the police.

Most people who have filed a complaint (with the police) will tell you a similar story. First a counter complaint and investigation was likely opened against the complainer, and second, ultimately the original complaint was ignored, lost, or closed for any number of inexplicable or unreasonable reasons (i.e. other policemen involved in the incident vouched for one another).

It is unacceptable that an organization that has proven to be so rife with corruption and non-compliance with the law actually be in charge of investigating and policing itself.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
It is an interesting question. Will Hamas resume attacks before or after the elections. Presumably it will be based on who they think will win.

The JP had an interesting article (I can't find the link yet) describing the scale of tunnels now crisscrossing the entire Gaza strip, as well as the few found in Judea and Samaria.

Barak is paying off Hamas for quiet to give him an advantage in the elections, and now hopes to extend the "ceasefire" for another 3-6 months. Basically so that the country will pay for it only after the elections.

And Hamas uses this time to continues to heavily arm and build more tunnels that are going to be difficult to dealt with (and even more difficult in 3-6 months from now).

Most amusing are the stories (from humanitarian organization sources) of cement shortages in Gaza . Israel has been letting in tremendous amounts of cement, so where has it all been going?

You guessed it.

In short, nothing new.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Will the Peace House be evacuated tonight (on Shabbat) despite further incontrovertible evidence that it was properly purchased by Hebron Jews?

Most likely, as the court is already suggesting that despite the additional new evidence they may want the house evacuated of Jews until they make a final decision (whenever that may be).
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Every now and then the good guys win. Well, maybe not win, but it is clear that they should have won. And that is in of itself a victory.

Almost a year ago I wrote about the Beit HaShalom in Hebron. The Left and the government have been doing everything they can to kick the Jews out of their lawfully purchased home.

The courts actually ordered all the Jews to be out by tomorrow - or else.

In a last minute save (hopefully) Hebron's Jewish residents have produced an audio tape of the former owner admitting he sold the house to the intermediary in question (after he claimed to the courts that he didn't).

The courts have rejected hard evidence in the past (signed sale documents, etc.), let's see what they do with this.


The Though Police have released the Kiryat Arba resident who cursed the security forces who destroyed the Federman farm. They discovered his identity only after he outed himself and apologized for what he had said. After learning of his identity (through the apology) the police arrested him.

He has since been released but his thoughts will be closely watched by those in charge.


And finally, in an excavation near Beit Shemesh a 3000 year old pottery piece was found with what appears to be ancient Hebrew writing on it.

Dr. Eilat Mazar has found a new tunnel under the City of David. This lady is great.

And the Copper Mines of King Solomon may have been found.


That's a good way to end the week.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Back when I was a soldier, one of the most important values they felt was a prerequisite for becoming an IDF officer was honesty. Honesty to one's self and to others. The IDF is built on trust and loyalty, and certainly the ability to honestly evaluate a situation.

When honesty doesn't exist, trust and loyalty soon follow suit.

The IDF lied to its soldiers.

During the destruction of the Federman farm the army gave troops orders to keep the area clear of Jewish civilians as they were going to be capturing a terrorist.

They lied specifically to their religious soldiers as they suspected they wouldn't follow the order if they knew they were going to be destroying a Jewish home. I hope they were right.

But now, all this means is that the IDF no longer has credibility in the eyes of its soldiers. They will now always question their orders. They will assume they are false. They will not trust their commanders again.

Once again, the IDF shoots itself in the foot as it lets itself be used as a political pawn in Barak's pre-election campaign.
Rumors are flying high on the internet that Sarah Palin is Jewish.



While she looks like a nice frum girl in this picture (except for the seatbelt), the rumors are probably quite false.

Sarah Palin: MoT? Unlikely.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
What an exciting evening it was.

I headed over to the OU Center to exercise my right to (absentee) vote and found myself surrounded by hundreds and eventually (probably) thousands of other Americans doing the same.


American expats were just streaming in and out of the building all night long.

Exit polls should be released on Thursday.

That was some shindig that VotefromIsrael put together.
Here's today's Voting event:

Jerusalem
For you residents near Jerusalem you can submit your absentee ballot and vote:

When: Tuesday, October 28.
5:00 p.m. till 10:00 p.m.

Location: The OU Center
22 Keren HaYesod, Jerusalem


If you have questions, just contact VotefromIsrael.org at: 052.569.7236


You will be able to drop off your official ballot, or for those who have not received their official ballot in the mail there will be Federal Write-in Ballots available at the event.

Now go and vote.
Monday, October 27, 2008
I was talking to a friend who bought a Hefziba apartment in one of the Yishuvim. He's very angry.

It's not bad enough that Boaz Yona got the equivalent of a slap on the wrists and a minor fine, but worse, anyone who bought from Hefziba is going to get royally *******.

As we all know, people gave their checks to the banks for their mortgages, and then a number of the banks, at the request of Boaz Yona, deposited the money into the wrong accounts.

And now the court has made a number of really wrong decisions.

The first is they gave exclusivity for handling this to the law firm of Yitzhak Molcho. No tenders, nothing, they just gave it to him on a silver platter. How exactly does that happen? Why does he get to get richer on the backs of everyone else?

Second, they all reached an agreement (umm, but who was representing the buyers?), that all the buyers would all pay an additional fee (1% to 2% of the cost of their house) to cover the shortfall caused by Yona's duplicity and the bank's irregularities (the banks broke the law actually by depositing the money into the wrong account, but no one is calling them on that).

So now the new homeowners (including those who thought they already paid in full) will be forced to shell out thousands of more dollars. If they don't, they can be fined, not get their apartments listed in the Minhal Karkain under their name, and possibly even even have their apartments repossessed for not complying with the court order!

There is something very wrong here.
As near as I can tell, HaAretz has written an article that apparently criticizes (again) the IDF Chief Rabbi.

From before, we know that Rabbi Ronski is a very active IDF Chief Rabbi.

He's feels it his duty to go accompany troops on their way to battles - even on Shabbat. He was criticized from a lot of religious circles for that, but he views his job as that of the Cohen Gadol before battle. In my opinion rightfully so.

But Rabbi Ronski has been in HaAretz's sites for a while.

A few days ago they wrote an article attacking him for providing some Jewish education to IDF soldiers. Apparently (as we all know) the Education Division doesn't exactly provide much in the way of Jewish content, and Rabbi Ronski has filled that gap - after all, isn't that what a Rabbi does?

HaAretz calls that brainwashing.

Personally I think they are worried that an IDF soldier that has a basic familiarity with Jewish values and Jewish history in Israel won't be able to throw another Jew out of his home.

Now, it seems that Rabbi Avichai Ronski has taken on a personal initiative to go to Jewish prisoners held incarcerated in the Jewish section of the prison (you know, the one that holds the right-wingers), and has been sitting with them teaching them Torah.

Shades of Reb Aryeh Levine!

The article is meant as an attack, certainly its tone indicates that, as do its words. But I can't understand what they are trying to criticize. Nor do I see what it is they are attacking. Yet that is what they are doing.

I read these articles and think, this guy sounds amazing, and what a shame he wasn't Chief Rabbi when I was in the army and needed a good one.
"Handcuffed Settler Beats up 10 Policemen." - That's what the headline might as well have said.

Noam Federman was arrested today as his house was illegally being destroyed by government forces.

He was charged with attacking policemen.

The court was forced to release Noam after the court discovered that some exceptional policemen were offering up some very different (and more credible) testimonies from their fellow policemen.

What became undeniably clear was that at the time Noam was supposedly bashing heads (according to the bad cops), he happened to have been already handcuffed and detained.

Can't hold much water in that cup full of holes.

Unfortunately the "Rule of Law" and those related to perjury are pretty meaningless at the moment, though it is nice to know that some cops can tell the truth on the stand, even though apparently most can't.

Two weeks ago I spoke about how Matan Vilnai (to name one Leftist) would like to see more of these false arrests result in jail time for the innocent victims of police brutality and perjury, as opposed to jail time for the cops who are acting illegally.

It's unfortunate that there are so many of these cases (another 2 girls were released at the same time, as they were innocent too).
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Hundred of wonderful Jews spent the day rebuilding the Federman farm.

People there said the destruction reminded them of Gush Katif. Perhaps one day soon we will be Zocheh to also rebuild Gush Katif and the Third Temple.

For more info.
It looks like new election might be on the table, but we have another 8 hours or so to see if Livni really follows through.


On Shabbat, residents of Otniel stopped another instigation attempt by leftists and Arabs who were pretending to go and pick olives - in the fields belonging to the town, within the towns boundaries no-less.

The Leftists came armed with their cameras hoping to film one-side of the story (the part after their provocation).

Otniel residents called the army and security forces quickly kicked the Left wing provocateurs out.

A similar event happened this morning near Kidumim/Shvut Ami.

While on Friday, the anarchists were seen near the gates of Efrat.


A volunteer policeman in Modiin spotted a suspicious Arab and captured him when he then attempted to stab the policeman in an attack similar to the one in Jerusalem last week.

This was followed today by a near stabbing attack of a municipal worker on Har HaZeitim (Mount of Olives, Jerusalem). The inspector happened to have been armed and subdued his Arab attacker.

In Acco, the Hesder Yeshiva was torched by local Arabs.



Police and Army destroyed the farm of Noam Federman near Kiryat Arba at 1-2AM in the morning. Police destroyed the home and all the contents inside - including smashing glass windows in on little children. The farm has been in existence for some 10 years. It is suspected that their is a connection between the Police's acts of vandalism and destruction to Federman's protests against allowing hundreds of armed Palestinian terrorists (policemen) into Hebron.
I popped into the Great Synagogue this evening to hear the candidates for Mayor of Jerusalem debate it out to an English-speaking crowd.

Perhaps I'll give my thoughts another time as there were some clear winners and losers, as well as some mistakes, but politicians aside, it was unbelievable how packed the auditorium was - all the way to the coat room, and up the stairs (both sides).

I heard that people were waiting outside the shul, but weren't allowed into the building as it was so packed.

I can't believe I forgot to bring my camera!
Friday, October 24, 2008
I’ve said it a number of times and it is worth repeating. The Right builds, while the Left destroys.

Let’s look at Gush Katif. Ignoring the obvious of the Right building incredible communities, and the Left coming along and destroying them, something more subtle was going on there.

The same is true in Judea and Samaria.

The Left come here specifically to snitch (to foreign governments), instigate and agitate for the purpose of destroying the Settler/Zionist enterprise. Meanwhile it is the Settlers who are building.

After the expulsion, thousands of Gazan Arabs suddenly found themselves out of jobs - thanks to the Left.

In Judea and Samaria thousands of Arabs may also find themselves out of gainful employment because of the activities of the Left.

What are you talking about, you ask?

Due to the agitation of the Left at least two large international companies have been forced to leave their factories in the Barkan Industrial Park.

Those on the Left actually see this as a great victory, and not as the Pyrrhic victory it really is. There is no doubt these people would cut off their noses to spite their face.

As a result of these factories leaving the Barkan Industrial Park, hundred of Arabs are now out of well-paying employment in jobs they liked with their good working conditions.

Of the 6000 employees in the Barkan Industrial Park, some 3500 are Arabs.

The Left would love to leave them all unemployed.

Meanwhile the Barkan Industrial Park is not concerned. The space is already being filled by new factories that want to move in, and they are even expanding the park due to high demand.

But I guess as far as the Left is concerned, these thousands of Arabs can go pack to picking olives, or just be out of work like they are in Gaza.
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