You know what?

If I was Israel and wanted to overthrow the Iranian government in a coup/revolution as a way to stop their nuclear ambitions and bring back the real Iranian moderates to power (without blowing them up by airplane), I'd arrange for Ahmadiginidad to win by a ridiculous landslide and let people do the rest.

We spent part of the afternoon in the Yishuv of Tekoa.

Tekoa is just an 8 minute drive from Jerusalem, which is surprising as most newspapers call it 'deep within the West Bank'.

Tekoa is a physically large Yishuv with a number of industries, as well as a swimming pool, a winery, and other interesting facilities.

We hung out at their horse ranch where dozens of children were learning how to ride and take care of horses and ponies.

The kids loved it, and it was a lot of fun.

Poll: 56% of Israelis back settlement construction.

In a separate poll that 66% of Israelis have little appetite for dismantling West Bank settlements.

36% percent oppose any evacuation as part of a final peace deal and 30 percent said only a small number should be dismantled.

The Jerusalem Post reports:

Likud MK and Minister-without-Portfolio Yossi Peled proposed Israeli sanctions on the US in a letter to cabinet ministers on Sunday.

Peled recommends steps Israel can take to compensate for the shift in American policy, which he believes has become hostile to Israel.

Peled recommends reducing our reliance on the US, expanding relationships with other countries, including major military and civilian purchases, and most controversially, getting directly and openly involved in US domestic politics - particularly in asking Jewish donors to not donate to the Democratic party while this antagonism continues.

He of course was attacked for promoting such ideas, the most common response is the backlash and unexpected results that can/will occur as a result.


Now of course JoeSettler has an opinion on this too.

To begin with, in principle I agree with him.

US policy and attitude towards Israel has radically and violently shifted under Obama, but "sanctions" have to be done far more subtly and intelligently than Peled is promoting. His idea is very Israeli, and too much "in your face". What needs to be done, should be done, but quietly.

To begin with, Israeli diplomats in America need to reach out to the Jewish (and pro-Israel Xian) community with a strong, clear, unified message and vision of what we think is good for us.

If Israel shows clear vision and determination, then these communities will get the message as to what Israel wants and needs, and they will independently take the proper steps on their own - and proper doesn't necessarily mean going head to head with the Obama administration, it also means quietly talking to the right people in the right way.

And from what I hear, there is already grumbling within the Democratic party regarding Obama's treatment of Israel.

Don't micromanage this - leave it to the local experts.

Next, shifting major purchases over to European countries is not the solution, as they can be even worse.

But certainly, Netanyahu can continue to work towards reducing US aid to Israel, which he has done in the past. It has tied our hands unacceptably when making certain strategic decisions (such as what airplanes to buy, and who to sell to) and no longer really helps us as much as it helps the US control us.

Israel needs to start internally building more manufacturing industries that are vital to our existence. More self-sufficiency here would be a good thing here. (And the new projects would be a great boost for our local economy.)

For instance, we have the technical know-how to build a next-gen stealth fighter plane. We should be building it (quietly) instead of being subject to the US whims as to whether we may buy theirs or not, and if so, with which parts the planes can have.

Obviously the US will see that a direct slap in their face, but in this particular case there is little choice, as they have made it clear if they will not sell us what we need.

I can see India buying 100 Israeli stealth bomber/fighters. Imagine what that would do for our economy!

We need to be promoting ties with India, Singapore, and Taiwan (and not China). India is a natural ally facing problems similar to ours. Together we can build certain joint industries that we both need, and reduce both our reliances on the US's radically changing tune.

Diversifying military sales is a good idea for some items, but still, we don't need China as a buying partner, as they will (a) copy our technology, and (b) sell it to the Arabs. That's rather self-defeating. We still need to be selective in whom we sell to.

And as radical as it sounds, Israel needs to expand its Navy. I'm talking longer distances, and expanded capability platforms. Being able to send planes from a closer staging point (and a different direction) would greatly enhance our first and second strike capabilities - and the need to get third-party permission for our defense needs.

It's not good to keep all your eggs in one basket, particularly while Obama is busy stomping on them, but Obama is just for another few years (P"G) and then the American people will wake up and take back the moral high ground. These changes need to be subtle, quiet, and not "in your face" to prevent a permanent rift.

Under Aryeh Deri, Shas became a dovish Left-wing party.

For the years in between it languished as a party apparently devoted to its own causes (money) and sector, with very few bright stars, besides perhaps Aryeh Attias.

But since the elections (and even slightly before) Eli Yishai started changing the party's tune.

Haaretz is reporting that Yishai is telling his Ministry (Misrad Hapnim) to do all they can to help the settlements.

In the Second Lebanon war he proved to be very intelligent, and understood what was going on there better than any other serving minister.

Yishai has always leaned more right than Deri, and it took a while, but perhaps he is finally coming out to his own.

He is certainly talking about doing the right thing.

That's for sure.

Terrorist organizations have a problem.

One one hand they want more resources for terrorism, more control of the population, and more legitimacy from other countries. On the other hand, they still want to destroy Israel as quick as possible.

The problem is, the former comes with a high price tag if you want to keep doing the latter.

The PLO wanted it, and it found itself forced to be more creative in its long term destruction goals. Now it has to use denials, diplomacy, education and proxy terror groups where once it merely had to hijack airplane, kill babies, and tell the world it was them.

Hamas wanted it, and now it finds itself having to actually take responsibility for the lives of its supporters, which of course it has made miserable; and of course it needs to be more extreme to keep holding on to that power.

So now these terrorists are in a funny situation. They have more money and destructive power than ever.

And there's no denying they use these new resources - effectively.

In fact, as a terror state they are actually causing more damage to Israel than ever before.

They have created more terrorists than ever before.

They have got the world hating Israel more than ever before.


But - they are no closer to overrunning and destroying Israel through violence and military force than before, mostly because the IDF adapts to their new tactics and capabilities.

So instead they find themselves forced to work at that goal through other, slower (less messy) means, such as the media, sympathetic diplomatic channels and education, which are no where near as much fun as openly blowing up a school bus yourself.

Worse, they sometimes even have to explain themselves when they get politically cornered (such as when terrorists who are reported to be in jail are filmed sipping coffee in a cafe and planning new terror attacks).

And now we have Hezbollah that wanted the same thing in Lebanon. If Hezbollah could control the Lebanese Army and the border with Syria, then they would have been in the catbird seat. Unlimited money, weapons, and no more hiding underground.

And they would have used it (just like Hamas and the PLO use it), except they would have found themselves in a situation just like Hamas and the PLO, where in between massive deployments of violence, they have been forced to repeatedly fall back on more creative methods of destruction as the responsibilities that come with keeping power demand it of them (and distract them).

But as one Hezbollah official commented, "We'll go back to doing what we used to do".

Hezbollah still controls their weapons and South Lebanon, and have legitimacy in the government - without any of the responsibilities. Ultimately, that's the ideal situation for any terrorist group.

In reality, they won.

For instance, in the United States, rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation. That's why I'm committed to working with American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfill zakat.

-Barack Obama

Hmmm. My first thought is that since Zakat seems to simply be a tithe, it shouldn't be any harder for Muslims to give Zakat, then say for Jews to give Maaser (except that Muslims are required to give much less).

In fact any changes in the tax laws regarding charitable donations should pretty much affect everyone equally.

So why is it harder for for American Muslims to to fulfill Zakat?

The only difference I can see is that it illegal to give money to foreign terrorist organizations (and certainly try to collect a tax rebate on it).

And with so many American Muslim "charities" turning out to be fronts or funnels for terrorist organizations (like the Holy Land Foundation), the American Muslim has less places to turn to if he wants to donate to Hamas or Hezbollah.

I guess that must be it.

Once again we see the same problem rearing its ugly head.

The Right overwhelmingly wins... and then its representatives are afraid to lead and use their power.

In the latest farce to pop up, the government is currently preparing to vote on which MKs will be on the selection committee for judicial appointments.

The committee includes two Knesset members, one from the coalition, and one from the opposition.

David Rotem from Yisrael Beiteinu was selected as the coalition member, and now they are voting between two candidates in the opposition:

The two are MK Roni Bar-On of Kadima, the largest opposition faction, and MK Uri Ariel of the National Union - forced into the opposition by the Likud.

Now quite unbelievably, Likud members are stating they won't vote for Uri Ariel.

This is the opportunity to reshuffle the judiciary. The balance it by introducing judges who don't blindly follow the far left path of Aharon Barak.

Yet, the Likud is afraid to rule, afraid to use their power, afraid to make changes that are necessary and demanded by the people.

God save us.

UPDATE!!!! June 8, 2009: MK Uri Ariel won!

(Perhaps due to something JoeSettler said to someone?)

If you happened to read the Jerusalem Post on Thursday, you would have seen the article entitled, "American-born bloggers vent anger at Obama online".

Unfortunately fame just seems to always sidestep JoeSettler as others continue to get credit for my words.

The article says,
"
Exactly what alternative reality does the president of the United States live in?" asked the blog "The Muqata" in response to Obama's assertion on French TV. "Perhaps it's time he learns how to Google on his Blackberry."

The Muqata, which is sardonically named after the Palestinian Authority compound in Ramallah where former PLO leader Yasser Arafat is entombed, is also one of the leading American-Israeli blogs based in Israel. The anonymous author, who uses the nomme de blog "Jameel Rashid," is an American transplant to Israel, who expounds on all things Israel, with an emphasis on the West Bank and Jewish settlements there.
"

Except that the anonymous author who wrote those remarks on the Muqata was once again... JoeSettler.

Some people seem to be upset that in Cairo, Obama stated that the Jews connection to Israel is related to the Holocaust, while completely ignoring our 3300 year history with our land.

(Others were upset that he compared the self-inflicted suffering of the Arabs with the Holocaust, but that is the subject for a different post).

In response, the Obama administration stated that he has mentioned the Jews ties to the land of Israel in the past, so there was no reason to reiterate it here.

I'm not going to discuss if there was or wasn't a reason to reiterate it here, because I am simply unaware of any other time he may have mentioned it at all! (and if someone has a link, I'll be glad to see it).

In fact, when interviewed by the Jerusalem Post, and specifically asked about the historical ties of Jews to our homeland, he quite pointedly ignored the question and didn't answer it.

If anything is clear to me, it is that Obama does not believe that Jews have any historical ties to the Land of Israel.

But I would love for someone to show me where he (not one of his anonymous official) has said so in a major (or even minor) speech.