It seems that the Jordanian government reads the Jerusalem Post, and unlike, as Orange and Black mentioned, they don't like Olmert's "trial balloons".

While giving their reason as not wanting to intefere with the fledgling Palestinian state, they made it clear they won't let Olmert drag them into the mess that the Left created. They have enough Palestinians (80%) of their own to deal with, and they don't need to deal with more, especially the uncivilized ones.

At least someone is thinking.

It would seem that this government’s policies are a series of random thoughts. It’s not even that someone is looking to create a policy plan, but rather they just blurt out whatever idiocy first enters their brains, and that is what is to be implemented.

Olmert’s latest brain spasm is to introduce foreign Arab troops into the West Bank to “fight terrorism”. It’s not enough that he armed up Hamas in Gaza by giving Fatah weapons, and he followed that up by further arming Fatah for apparently no reason except to give Hamas weapons again. He now has decided that he should let Jordanian troops patrol inside the Land of Israel – after all the model works so well in Lebanon, he spasmed again.

Following in the footsteps of that particular genius was the decision to cut Oleh benefits for Western Olim yesterday.

Personally, I’m of the philosophy that I expect nothing from the Israeli government, except that they will try to take as much as they can from my pocket, so my advice to Olim is very simple.

Don’t plan your Aliyah around any expected government benefits, whether they be living expenses, mortgage assistance, ulpan, lift rights, or anything else.

If you happen to get something, consider yourself lucky, but don’t ever build your financial and aliyah plans around it. That would be a big mistake.

But it goes to show how much brain power these people have.

So do these random thought have meaning? Clearly not, except that someone forgot to take their pills.

There is occasionally a bit of a disparity between the IDF’s motto of not abandoning a soldier in the field and how it actually works out in practice.

There are two ways this disparity comes about.

On one hand, we have Ehud Barak’s willful abandonment of soldiers in the field on more than one occasion (Tze’elim and Kever Yosef)– leaving them to die. This is what gave him the nickname “Ehud Barach” (Ehud Ran Away) –even before he ran away from Lebanon.

On the other hand, we have occasional negligence, human error, and plain stupidity. It looks like the third (stupidity) caused today’s mishap with the Golanchik who got left behind in Gaza.

As someone who got left behind in Lebanon many years ago after being sent out to do a very sensitive (and secret) mission – I can attest that the truth is, is that despite all the safeguards, mistakes happen.

Of course, that my immediate officers didn’t notice I was missing for a few days while I was wandering around the streets and roads of Lebanon until I hiked back into Israel was negligence (after I had completed my mission, I finally realized they weren’t coming back to retrieve me).

Though now that I think about it, I wonder who got kitchen duty while I was gone – they must have noticed the dishes piling up. :)

That I didn’t get shot on the border was luck, that I wasn’t shot in Lebanon was skill, and both times with the grace of God.

Anyway, mistakes happen, but I’ve met on another occasion another person with a similar story, so it is apparently not an unknown phenomena under battle conditions.

My point is though, sometimes soldiers get left behind by accident, and sometimes their superiors (usually a Prime Minister) abandon them in the field for political expedience.

It’s a shame the politically motivated abandoners get to keep their jobs.

Three (Israeli?) Arabs tried to kidnap a boy walking in the Sanhedria neighborhood (the boy may have also been an Israeli Arab - waiting for an update). The boy got away. The search is on. We need to find them so they can be declared "Peace Partners".

It is HOT in Jerusalem, and apparently going to get hotter.

And for a change there is going to be lots of free and cheap stuff to do in Jerusalem next month!!!

Me? I'm going to the Beer Festival.

By the way, one of the good things Luplionsky has done for Jerusalem is move all these events until after Tisha B'Av. I remember when Jerusalem would offer the concerts and events during the 3 weeks, in complete disregard for season.

Sometimes an intelligent, thought-out, and correct piece slips through YNET's censors.

Man, it has been hot in Israel this week. It's been at least in the 90s (F) if not higher. I've gotta get air-conditioning.

Here is the story of two particular busloads of Efrat residents that were rounded up yesterday and herded on to buses from the Eitam hill.

The residents were peacefully hiking on property indisputably owned by the town of Efrat. The residents went peacefully onto the buses when asked to do so by the police. They were told they were being sent back to the Entrance of Efrat.

After stewing on the sealed buses without air-conditioning for hours, just outside the entrance to Efrat the buses began to pull out.

Passengers on both buses knew the police were about to take them for a ride and dump them somewhere.

The passengers on the bus I described last night found themselves unceremoniously dumped in the middle of nowhere, only managing to get home some (minimum) 6 hours later from when they left Eitam.

The passengers on the second bus took a different course of action.

As the bus began to pull out, they rioted.

They broke out of their cages, smashed the windows and doors. They grabbed the keys from the driver. They all got off the bus, and for good measure, they slashed all the tires.

They then calmly walked back into Efrat (they also rented buses and sent them to the Beit Shemesh region to find and pick up the other passengers after they were dumped onto the side of the road).

Total time from leaving Eitam – maximum 2 hours.

I think the lessons learned are clear.

Update: Police handcuffed a girl on the Eitam hill and then threw her down, breaking both her arms.

Approximately 5 children (under age 12, exact number and names unknown) are missing after being forced off the bus near Beit Shemesh. No one saw where they went after being dragged off the bus, and they didn't get back to Efrat with the rest of the kidnapped residents.

Picture of policemen trying to force a 75 year old man off the bus so they can dump him in the middle of nowhere.


The policeman's words (I kid you not), "I am only following order".

(When asked whose orders, he refused to say.)

Many more pictures can be seen here.

And there is more information here.

Next time I hear another leftist talk about the “Rule of Law” in Israel, I think I will smack him.

There is no question that the Eitam hill belongs to the town of Efrat, nor that much of it is actually privately purchased by Jews from before the State.

Whether or not one believes that it is legal for Efrat residents to go up to their own property (and only in this sick government would it not be) the government must decide that either it follows the law or not. Because, if the government doesn’t follow the law, then the citizens don’t need to either.

This evening, the police gathered up residents of Efrat who were on the Eitam hill and piled them into police buses.

These residents went peacefully and were told they were being driven back into Efrat.

The Efrat residents were driven to the entrance of Efrat. The police then turned off the engine (and air-conditioning), left the buses, and left the residents of Efrat locked in to stew in the unbearable heat for hours without even the option of opening a window (or going to the bathroom either for that matter).

After a few hours the police came back and then drove the Efrat residents (who had peacefully, and in good faith entered the buses) out to the middle of nowhere, somewhere near Beit Shemesh, where they were unceremoniously dumped on the side of the road.

Oh, and I’ve also heard reports on how the police violently beat up people.


There are only 2 options here.

1) Either the Efrat residents did something illegal, in which case they should be arrested and charged – and not have been subject to police abuse and police brutality.

2) Or the residents of Efrat did nothing illegal, in which case they should not have been the subject of police abuse and police brutality.

Either way, the police abused their power, knowingly overstepped the boundaries of what is allowed by law, and no longer played by the “Rule of Law”.


If that is the case, I see no reason for the police to expect the citizens of this state to continue playing by the same rules the government purposely ignores to the detriment of its citizens.