The Implications and Consequences of Expulsion for the Jewish People
The Coming Middle East War, by Michael Freund (Jerusalem Post)
“The government needs to begin seriously contemplating the possibility of launching preemptive and wide-ranging military strikes. Our foes are openly preparing for war, so why should we allow them the luxury to choose when it starts?
Passivity and indecisiveness cost us dearly in the past, and especially in Lebanon this summer. We can not allow ourselves to play by the enemy’s rules, or even by his schedule.”
Excerpts;
A Defunct Paradigm That’s Got to Change, by Daniel Pipes (Jerusalem Post)
“Western governments ‘need to see public relations as part of their strategy.’
The West is fortunate to predominate in the military and economic arenas, but these no longer suffice. Along with its enemies, it needs to give due attention to the public relations of war.”
Excerpts;
Soldiers, sailors, and airmen once determined the outcome of warfare, but no longer. Today, television producers, columnists, preachers, and politicians have the pivotal role in deciding how well the West fights. This shift has deep implications.
Do It Right, by Evelyn Gordon (Jerusalem Post)
“Our current system of government is undeniably problematic, and in principle, changing it would be a good idea. But any reform must include a functional system of checks and balances among the three branches of government. Otherwise, the new system is liable to wind up being even worse than the current one.”
Avigdor Lieberman has focused media attention on Israel’s system of government by conditioning his entry into the coalition on radical changes. Yet Lieberman is far from the only person advocating governmental reform. Various citizen lobby groups are pushing this issue, and a few organizations have even prepared draft constitutions. The Knesset Constitution Committee was working on a constitution before the March elections, and planned in this context to consider changing the system of government. And President Moshe Katsav appointed a blue-ribbon commission to examine this issue; its recommendations will be submitted soon.
Settlers Vow Tough Struggle, Efrat Weiss (Ynet)
Ynet learns that settlers won’t abide by any plan sealed between Yesha Council, gov’t.
For context, click here.
Excerpts;
Yesha leaders are holding contacts for the peaceful evacuation of ten illegal outposts but extreme right wing activists have other plans.
Ynet learned late Thursday evening that even before Defense Minister Amir Peretz’s meeting with Yesha leaders, extreme right activists held meetings in Jerusalem to prepare for the evacuations and agreed that “the Amona model will be the model for struggle in every outpost that is evacuated.”
Haredim: J’lem Gay Parade may Lead to Another War, by Neta Sela (Ynet)
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox protest at Jerusalem’s Sabbath Square against holding of 2006 Gay Pride Parade in city; ‘war in Lebanon broke out as soon as the parade was announced,’ haredi man says. Head of Eda Haredit rabbinic court: We did not succeed in Lebanon due to promiscuity in Holy Land.
Excerpts;
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox protested at Jerusalem’s Sabbath Square Wednesday against the holding of the 2006 Gay Pride Parade in the city, with most of them linking the parade to the recent war in Lebanon.
TV Report: Terrorists in PA Trained in Iran and Syria
Kassam Lands in Western Negev; None Wounded
Bomb Thrown at IDF Vehicle in Gaza; None Wounded
Hizbullah Accused of Using Cluster Bombs against Israel
Gaza: IDF Destroys 5 More Arms Smuggling Tunnels
Terrorists Attack Negev with Two More Kassam Rockets
Two Kassam Rockets Fired at Sderot; None Wounded
IDF Soldiers Targeted in a Bomb Attack
Molotov Cocktails Thrown at IDF Troops in Jenin
Nobel Winner Doubts Israel’s Survival, By Nadav Shragai (Haaretz)
Commentary;
This blog has asserted on numerous occasions, most recently in a Vort: Yom Kippur 5767: Unity, Brachot and the Jews; Kohanim to Mankind — Revisited;
“Sometime in the past few generations, particularly over the past 20 years, as prophesized by Moshe as the Jews prepared to enter Eretz Yisrael and to stand on Har Eival and Har Grizim to hear the Blessings and Curses, we forgot Torah; we forgot why there is an Eretz Yisrael, why it was given to the Jews for all times, why it is that we are living here now, why the land laid totally fallow in the years that our aveirot brought Hashem to banish us from it and how it is that Eretz Yisrael has thrived and flourished upon our return.” MB
The Jerusalem You Do Not Want to Know, by David Ha’Ivri
“We are talking about many kids from good Jewish homes in the settlements, many who have become disillusioned and lost due to broken expectations following the destruction of Gush Katif and the pogrom in Amona.”
Sunday, 01 October 2006;
Last night at 11 PM Moztie Shabbat on the day before Yom Kippur, thousands of Jews were making their way to the Kotel to take part in the last gathering of slichot before Yom Kippur. As the police in Jerusalem where blocking main roads and re-directing traffic because of the congestion, I too made my way into the center of the Holy city for a very unique tour. Along with 20 of my colleagues, all youth directors in the Jewish towns of the Shomron, we set out for a very different experience, a special sight-seeing tour that should stand as a wake-up call to all of us.
IDF Chief Rabbi: Not Sure Secular Zionism Exists, by Ariela Ringel-Hoffman (Ynet)
“The roots of the disengagement are not the political move, but a spiritual crisis, so when we want to deal with this issue, to prevent another disengagement from happening, we should address this spiritual crisis.”
Excerpts;
Rabbi Avi Ronsky can check yet another box. Ten months after they asked him whether he would like to serve as the chief IDF rabbi, he got the job. Chief of Staff Dan Halutz pinned the brigadier general’s insignia on his shoulders in mid-September, and he assumed office on Sukkoth eve.
Rabbis Push Jewish Alternative to Courts, By Matthew Wagner (Jerusalem Post)
Excerpts;
With a vision in their hearts of an Israeli state run in accordance with Jewish legal tradition, a group of leading religious Zionist rabbis and experts in Jewish law met in Jerusalem Tuesday evening for the official launch of a chain of rabbinic courts that aspires to replace the civil court system.
“Who is smarter, Aharon Barak or Maimonides?” the press release promoting the launch asked rhetorically, assuming it is clear to all that the 12th-century halachic authority is the correct answer.