Month: January 2006

Arik’s Bus

Excerpts;

“‘A bus is on the way from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” begins a story told by retired major general Israel Tal. “After Sha’ar Hagai, when the ascent begins, the driver stops the bus, turns around and says, ‘I can’t drive anymore, maybe there’s someone here who can continue until Jerusalem?’ Fifty passengers fall silent, look at one another, afraid to take responsibility. A bus is big and heavy and there are turns and cliffs, and 50 people have to get home safely. It’s complicated. But the moment a prime minister says ‘I can’t go on anymore,’ 50 people are candidates to replace him – because it’s only the premiership, you don’t need any special knowledge or skills, we’ll muddle through.'” read more

Neurosurgeon Thinks PM has Good Chance to Survive

Sharon’s Condition Serious but Stable; Vital Signs Normal.

Excerpts;

“Doctors at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem announced that the CAT scan conducted Saturday on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon showed a ‘very slight’ improvement. Professor Shlomo Mor-Yosef, the hospital’s director general, said that the intracranial pressure had decreased and that Sharon’s vital signs were normal.”

“Mor-Yosef reiterated that the prime minister’s condition was stable, but nevertheless serious. He also said that while the latest CAT scan showed that although the left side of Sharon’s brain appeared ‘normal,’ there would be no way of assessing the extent of the damage caused by the prime minister’s cerebral hemorrhage until doctors brought Sharon out of his induced coma.” read more

Police, Shin Bet Arrest Spy for Iran

Excerpts;

“The Israel Police’s Serious and International Crimes Unit together with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) has arrested the former head of the Fasuta Local Council in the Upper Galilee suspected of spying on Israel for Iranian Intelligence, it was released for publication on Friday.”

“Jaris Jaris, 58, was arrested on December 12, after police discovered that he had been recruited by Iran and was asked to use his political contacts to infiltrate the government and the Israeli political system by becoming a member of Knesset.” read more

Two Kassams Land Near Erez Crossing, None Wounded

Two Qassams Rockets Intended for Israel Land in the Gaza Strip

IDF Continues Aerial Assaults on Kassam Launch Sites

Palestinians Detained at Kissufim, Hawarah

Vilnai: Invasion of Gaza Strip Can’t be Ruled Out

Mazuz: If PM Doesn’t Recover, Cabinet Must Choose Successor

Excerpts;

“Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is currently defined as temporarily incapacitated, but should this definition change to permanently incapacitated, the cabinet will have to meet immediately to choose an acting premier.”

“Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said this during a special cabinet session called Thursday to discuss the legal implications of Sharon’s condition.”

“Mazuz explained that as long as Sharon is temporarily incapacitated, his appointed deputy, Ehud Olmert, will serve as acting premier. However, should Sharon be declared permanently incapacitated, then by law the cabinet must choose an acting premier from among the ministers who are also MKs and members of Sharon’s party.” read more

Olmert Demands Taxes on Donated Items for Israel’s Needy

Excerpts;

“Acting Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ehud Olmert demanded last month that taxes be paid on charity items recently donated by American Jews to help Israel’s needy population prepare for winter.”

“Olmert’s act raised a storm of angry criticism from Israeli and U.S. Jewish leaders, and has also created an unusually tense diplomatic climate sparking claims that trade treaties between Israel and America have been breached.” read more

Sharon Rushed to Operating Room as New Bleeding Detected

Excerpts;

“Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was rushed to the operating room at Jerusalem’s Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem, on Friday, to undergo emergency surgery intended to relieve intra-cranial pressure. Outside experts said the prognosis was not good.”

“The increase in cranial pressure was discovered during a CT scan Sharon underwent in the morning. The brain scan also showed some bleeding in his brain, a slight expansion of one of his brain lobes and a rise in his blood pressure, said Hadassah director Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef.” read more

IDF Makes 13 Overnight Arrests in the West Bank

Bomb Thrown at Israeli Car in W. Bank; No Damage

IDF Fires Shells in Gaza Strip after Kassam Attack

IDF Continues to Target Northern Gaza Roads and Fields

The IDF’s Offensive Doctrine Is Nosediving

Excerpts;

“‘In case you didn’t know, the IDF’s strategic doctrine is still offensive. IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz said so just this week. And it’s good that he did, because up until now, the way the IDF has been annihilating the Kassam rocket strikes out of the Gaza Strip has been mainly with robust and aggressive verbal threats, occasionally punctuated by artillery rounds blasting empty sand dunes – or propaganda leaflets dropped by combat aircraft.‘” read more

Parsha Vayigash 5766: Why is Yehuda Yaakov’s Advance Man?
By Moshe Burt

There has been much talk across the internet and in some religious circles about Rav Kaduri’s recent predictions that the current government will be the last of the “old era” and that Sharon will be the last prime minister in Israel as reported by Arutz-7 back in September, 2005. And a google search on “Rabbi Kaduri, Moshiach and Israeli Government” netted some interesting finds including this one. read more

Hadassah Dir.-Gen. Insists That Blood-Thinning Treatment Was Correct

Excerpts;

“Dir.-Gen. of Hadassah-University Hospital, Ein Kerem, Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef in a Thursday evening press conference reasserted that the prime minister’s condition was still serious but stable since the afternoon. He noted that all of the parameters that were measured – blood pressure, pulse, urine production, inter-cranial pressure – were all within the standards expected for someone in the Sharon’s condition.” read more