DEAR JOE ...............

Imagine if Bibi sent this message to Biden

Friends should indeed be straightforward with each other.

 

By Rabbi Dov Fischer

 

JNS

March 20, 2021

 

 

 

Joe Biden has sent a message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In his public comments, Biden broke all international protocols and told Netanyahu how to run Israel’s internal affairs.

Israel has a severely flawed Supreme Court that rules autocratically and reverses whatever Knesset decisions it chooses. Netanyahu’s government is trying to democratize the judicial system. But because the left controls the Israeli and American media, news outlets in both countries have been reporting on the judicial reforms as if they were a fascist power-grab.

Joe Biden seems to agree. So, he weighed in, saying he has been Netanyahu’s friend for 40 years and friends sometimes need to be straightforward with each other.

“Like many strong supporters of Israel, I’m very concerned. I’m concerned that they get this straight. They cannot continue down this road. I’ve sort of made that clear,” the president said.

Bibi responded, “I have known President Biden for over 40 years, and I appreciate his longstanding commitment to Israel. The alliance between Israel and the United States is unbreakable and always overcomes the occasional disagreements between us.”

However, he added, “Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends.”

Bibi was being diplomatic. But imagine if Bibi had responded this way:

“Dear Joe, we have known each other for 40 years and I value our friendship. I was rather surprised that you recently interfered with Israel’s internal affairs, telling us how to preserve our democracy. We are simply trying to get things balanced after 30 years of judicial tyranny.

“Joe, you just named a woman who cannot define what a woman is to your Supreme Court. In your system, all you had to do was nominate her and have the Senate—controlled by your party—fall into line and confirm her.

“By contrast, in our country right now,  the people’s elected representatives do not control the judicial selection process. Rather, the justices self-perpetuate and control the Supreme Court as a closed shop. If you had the self-perpetuating system we are trying to fix, then Justices Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett would add or veto new justices to your Court. Your nominee never would have gotten to first base.

“But Joe, I need to say a bit more, because friends sometimes need to be honest with friends for their own good. I’m very concerned, Joe, about what’s going on in America. Your country cannot continue down this road. Since you feel comfortable telling us how to run our country, here are a few of my concerns.

“Gaza is run by Hamas on our southwest border. Lebanon and Hezbollah are on our northwest border. Syria is next door. Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority are on our eastern border. So, we control our borders, because we have to. I have been reading about millions of people illegally crossing your southern border. We can advise you on how to prevent that.

“I also understand, Joe, that your schools teach young children about transgenderism, and you even have cross-dressers read books to them. Although our society does not discriminate based on gender, our school curricula differ. Our parents do not feel they have to scream at school board meetings to protect their children. Our schools and textbooks are not imbued with critical race theory and intersectionalism.

“Not that your schools are any of our business, Joe, but our kids come out reading and writing, schooled in math and technology, knowing their history and prepared for great things.

“Our population of nine million is about the size of New York City. Thanks to our educational system, that small population has seen our kids grow up to create or co-create an extraordinary range of high-tech marvels. All without transgender studies.

“Joe, we hear about Saturday nights in Chicago and skyrocketing crime in your inner cities. We certainly have some crime here too, but our cities are quite safe. We have challenges in south Tel Aviv, where a few illegal migrants managed to get in. We took steps to take back those streets, but our Supreme Court stopped us, for now. Even so, we can advise you there too.

“Of course, we have to deal with occasional Arab Muslim terrorism. But we have safe streets and safe public transportation. Our citizens do not push others off platforms into oncoming trains. We do not have non-terrorists committing mass shootings at schools or shopping malls. It’s not as though there are no guns in Israel, Joe. We have plenty of guns. After all, we have Arab Muslim terrorists to deal with. It’s just that we do not use our guns on each other.

“Maybe this is because we have better programs for treating the mentally ill. Maybe it’s because our society is more traditional, with greater respect for parents and authority.

“Your problem with urban crime is really none of my business, Joe. But since we are such good friends sharing concerns, I’m concerned for your country. I’m concerned that you get this right. You cannot continue on this road.

“I deal with many issues, Joe, like assuring that trains do not derail, our mothers have adequate access to baby formula, we extract all energy resources available to us and our banking system is competently regulated—but I presume you already have these things under control. It’s the easy stuff.

“Thanks again for offering your good advice on how Israel should govern itself. I hope I have reciprocated collegially. That’s what friends are for.

“Bibi.”

AT ONE TIME THIS BRAZILIAN HAD NINE WIVES

Man, 37, with SIX WIVES says he plans to have babies with ALL of his spouses - but admits he struggled to decide who would conceive his first baby out of fears the others would be 'upset'

 

Daily Mail 

March 29, 2023

Arthur O Urso, 37, from Brazil, has revealed he plans to have a child with each of his six wives through surrogacy so that none of them feel left out. 

Arthur regularly hits the headlines thanks to his controversial marriage set-up. At his peak, the influencer, who boasts 198,000 followers, had a total of nine wives - but suffered heartbreak last year when he divorced three of them.

TRUMP MUST RUE HIS TIME BETWEEN THE SHEETS WITH STORMY

Stormy Daniels on Trump’s indictment: There will be ‘injuries and death’ 

 

By Natalie O'Neill

 

New York Post 

March 31, 2023

 

                     

Donald Trump has “done so much worse that he should have been taken down [for] before,” Stormy Daniels said. She said she’s “proud” of her role in Trump’s indictment.

 

Porn star Stormy Daniels called the indictment of former president Donald Trump “monumental and epic” but said she fears it will “cause violence” and “death” in an interview Friday.

Daniels, 44 — whose hush money payment is at the center of Trump’s recent Manhattan indictment — said she’s “proud” to play a role in the potential downfall of a powerful man who she believes has long escaped consequences.

“It’s vindication,” Daniels told the Times of London. “But it’s bittersweet. He’s done so much worse that he should have been taken down [for] before.

“I am fully aware of the insanity of it being a porn star. But it’s also poetic; this p—sy grabbed back,” she said, referencing vulgar comments Trump made to TV personality Billy Bush in a video clip that surfaced in 2016, just before he allegedly made hush-money payments to Daniels.

But Daniels warned that whether or not Trump is found guilty, violence and chaos are likely to break out.

“It’s monumental and epic, and I’m proud. The other side of it is that it’s going to continue to divide people and bring them up in arms. He’s already gotten away with inciting a riot, and causing death and destruction,” Daniels said of the US Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Whatever the outcome is, it’s going to cause violence, and there’s going to be injuries and death,” she added. “There’s the potential for a lot of good to come from this. But either way, a lot of bad is going to come from it, too.”

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford,  has said she first crossed paths with Trump during a charity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe when she was 27 and Trump was 60 years old.

She said she’s ready to face Trump in court  while admitting that she’s scared of backlash from his supporters.

“[I’m frightened] for the first time ever, yeah. And part of me is hesitant to say that because you don’t want blood in the water. It kind of encourages the sharks,” she said.

Within hours of the indictment on Thursday,  Daniels started receiving chilling threats of “all social media platforms, and email, and phone,” she said.

 

 

Trump reportedly paid Daniels $130,000 not to discuss their affair. 

 

“This time it’s straight-up violent,” said Daniels, who gave the interview from an undisclosed location in the US. “The first time it was ‘gold digger’, ‘slut’, ‘whore’ liar’ whatever. And this time it’s ‘I’m gonna murder you’. They’re way more violent and graphic.

“The country is more divided and people are more desperate. I’m not afraid of [Trump], or of the government, but it just takes one crazy supporter who thinks they’re doing God’s work or protecting democracy,” she said.

 Trump supporters rallied outside Mar-a-Lago to protest the ex-president’s indictment. 

 

On Thursday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office  filed an indictment against Trump, 76, related to hush-money payments made to Daniels, marking the first-ever criminal case against a current or former US president.

The payment was made ahead of the 2016 election by then-Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen to the adult film actress to silence her about an affair she claimed to have had with Trump in 2006.

On Friday, Daniels said she’s not intimidated by the prospect of facing Trump in court.

 Donald Trump was applauded at dinner at Mar-a-Lago Thursday night. 

 

“I’ve seen him naked,” she quipped. “There’s no way he could be scarier with his clothes on.”

After meeting Daniels at the golf event, Trump allegedly invited her to dinner in his hotel suite, where they had what in 2018 she described as “the least impressive sex I’d ever had.”

    

                                  

Daniels described sex with Trump as “the least impressive sex I’d ever had.”

 

Trump — who had married his wife Melania a year before his alleged tryst with Daniels — has denied they ever had sex, calling her claims are a “total con job” and accusing her of “extortion.”

NO WHITE HOUSE INVITATION? ..... BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT BLACK OR GAY OR TRANSGENDERS

Why no White House invite for the Nashville heroes, Joe? 

 

Post Editorial Board

 

New York Post 

March 31, 2023

 

Nashville police officer and Marine vet Michael Collazo stormed into the Covenant School in Nashville in search of the shooter. 

Nashville PD Officer Rex Engelbert entered the school with Collazo. 

 

Where’s the White House invitation for the hero cops who stopped deranged Nashville shooter Audrey Hale?

As bodycam footage reveals, two Nashville PD officers — Marine vet Michael Collazo and star cop Rex Engelbert — rushed the shooter with no heed for their own safety. 

They saved countless lives in the process, and deserve every imaginable commendation. 

So why the silence from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.? 

The Biden White House has never been shy in the past about inviting other brave souls. 

Brandon Tsay, the heroic civilian who disarmed the Monterey Park, Calif., mass shooter, was invited to the 2023 State of the Union address. 

Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, who faced down rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, was invited this year when he received the Presidential Citizens Medal. 

For the 2022 signing of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Biden’s big-deal gun control law, the White House invited Dayton mass shooting survivor Dion Green, the families of the victims in the 2018 Santa Fe school shooting and many others.  

The heroes of the Nashville school shooting have not yet been invited to the White House.

 

RowVaughn and Rodney Wells, the mother and stepfather of Tyre Nichols — murdered by Memphis police officers — were guests at the same SOTU as Brandon Tsay. 

Heck, K-pop megastars BTS got invited to discuss the rising tide of anti-Asian hate in 2022. 

Collazo and Engelbert demonstrated the same valor as Tsay and Goodman.

Their story deserves as much attention as Green’s or the Wellses’. 

 Engelbert fired at the mass shooting suspect in the Covenant School, according to the bodycam footage. 

 

And they surely have a better claim than BTS. 

But the reasons behind the White House’s cold shoulder are crystal clear. 

The shooter the two heroes took down was trans — so the Twitter wing of the Democratic Party is in full damage-control mode. 

 Nashville Police Officer Rex Engelbert (left) shot down Covenant School shooter Audrey Hale, according to reports. 

 

Note the desperate effort to portray trans people generally as the real victims of Hale’s massacre, not the dead adults and children. 

And the heroes belong to a group despised by that same wing of the party: the police. 

(Unless, of course, the cops are federal and they’re busting Trumpist heads.)

 

Audrey Hale shot and killed six people at the Covenant School.  

 

While we hope fervently there’s an invite for the Nashville heroes, we suspect there won’t be. 

For our utterly cynical president, political expediency trumps every moral consideration.

JUST A LITTLE MOONLIGHTING

California police union executive director ran fentanyl operation from home: feds 

 

By Marjorie Hernandez

 

New York Post 

March 30, 2023

 

San Jose Police Officers Association executive director Joanne Marian Segovia was arrested for allegedly running a drug ring from her home.

 

A California police union executive director allegedly ran a drug ring from her home and used her office computer and UPS account to order and distribute opioids and other drugs, federal officials charge.

Joanne Marian Segovia, who has worked for the San Jose Police Officers Association since 2003, was charged on Wednesday with attempting to unlawfully import a synthetic opioid called Valeryl fentanyl.

She faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison if convicted, authorities said.

Police union president Sean Pritchard was shocked by the charges, telling NBC Bay Area, “She’s been the grandma of the POA.”

“This is not the person we’ve known, the person who has worked with fallen officers’ families, organized fundraisers for officers’ kids — just not who we’ve known over a decade.”

According to the 13-page complaint, the 64-year-old allegedly received at least 61 packages at her San Jose home from various countries — including China, Canada and India — between October 2015 and January 2023.

The packages reportedly were marked as food supplements, wedding party favors, makeup, chocolates and other items to disguise the drugs, prosecutors said.

The packages instead contained various drugs, including deadly synthetic opioids and Tapentadol, which is normally used to treat severe pain from nerve damage caused by diabetes.

Prosecutors also allege Segovia exchanged messages on WhatsApp between January 2020 and March 2023 with someone who was using a country code from India.

In one message sent on May 2, 2022, Segovia allegedly wrote, “I’m so sorry, I’m on a business trip because we had 2 officers that got shot! I should be home tomorrow night so ill get them shopped as soon as I can.”

According to the complaint, Segovia took a photo of a shipment she sent to a woman in North Carolina and used the San Jose Police Officers’ Association UPS account.

Homeland Security agents learned of Segovia’s operation while investigating a network in India known to ship drugs into the US.

Investigators found messages from the network that mentioned “J Segovia” with an address in San Jose and the words, “180 pills SOMA 500mg,” according to the complaint.

Although she worked for the police union before being suspended, it is not thought Segovia had a history in front-line law enforcement.

The worker allegedly continued to order the drugs even after she was interviewed by federal agents in February 2023. 

 

Starting in 2015, Segovia had at least 61 drug shipments mailed to her San Jose home from India, Hong Kong, Hungary and Singapore

She allegedly imported illegal synthetic opioids from India and other countries and at least once used her work computer and address (pictured) and the union's UPS account to ship the drugs within the country

 

Segovia was arrested on March 13 after investigators seized a parcel in Kentucky that was addressed to her.

The package was marked as containing a “clock” and came from China, authorities said.

“This is an incredibly disturbing allegation,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement to San Francisco television station KRON.

“I want to thank US Attorney [Ismail] Ramsey and his colleagues for aggressively pursuing the sources of fentanyl coming into our communities and holding drug dealers accountable.”

BIDEN IS TAKING THE US DOWN AN ANTI-ISRAEL PATH

A new phase in U.S.-Israel relations

The Biden administration’s statements and actions this week, coupled with its overall policies towards Israel since entering office, indicate a sea change.

 

By Caroline Glick

 

JNS

March 31, 2023

 

Biden's State Department prohibited NASA scientist Dr. Amber Straughn from participating in the 68th Annual Meeting of the Israel Physical Society starting April 3.

 

Israel was rocked by the news on Thursday that the U.S. State Department had ordered NASA scientist Dr. Amber Straughn to cancel her participation in the Israel Physical Society’s annual meeting. The news came following Straughn’s posting on Twitter that her “travel authorization was revoked” on Wednesday.

The State Department’s move, which gives the appearance of an official boycott, would be stunning under any circumstance. But it is all the more alarming coming on the heels of U.S. President Joe Biden’s shocking remarks in relation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government’s efforts to place minimal limits on the Supreme Court’s currently limitless powers.

In apparently off-the-cuff remarks to reporters on Tuesday, Biden said curtly: “Like many strong supporters of Israel I am very concerned, and I’m concerned that they get this [judicial reform] straight. They cannot continue down this road. Hopefully, the prime minister will act in a way that he’s going to try to work out some genuine compromise. But that remains to be seen.”

Then, after interfering in Israel’s domestic affairs, Biden added: “We’re not interfering. They know my position. They know America’s position. They know the American Jewish position.”

When in a follow-up a reporter asked Biden if he would invite Netanyahu to the White House, the president’s response was immediate and unhesitating.

“No, not in the near term.”

Even before the State Department ordered Straughn to cancel her trip, it was abundantly clear that Biden’s statement wasn’t a fluke. And it wasn’t about Netanyahu. Despite the occasional compliments that Biden and his advisers showered on Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett, the administration’s policies were not more pro-Israel when they were in power. Notwithstanding the failure of the administration’s nuclear diplomacy with Iran last year, the Biden administration remained committed to its policy of appeasing Iran and facilitating its nuclear advancement, despite the previous government’s expressed opposition.

The Biden administration’s single-minded commitment to its pro-Iran policy was most unmistakable in the strong-arm tactics it used to force Lapid to agree to a gas deal with Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon on the eve of the Nov. 1 elections. Under the terms of the deal, in exchange for absolutely nothing, Israel was required to cede its sovereign waters and economic waters, and a natural-gas deposit to Lebanon.

The deal gave Iran’s Lebanese proxy a cash windfall and a foothold in the Eastern Mediterranean. When Israel tried to draw out negotiations, Biden publicly hectored Lapid to close a deal. He refused to speak with Lapid on the phone for months and only did so after Lapid capitulated to Hezbollah demands—transmitted by the U.S. interlocutors.

Then there are the Palestinians. Throughout the previous government’s time in office, the Biden administration was open about its rejection of Israel’s national and legal rights in Judea and Samaria, and Jerusalem. They sided with illegal Arab squatters and their supporters as they rioted against their Jewish landlords and Jewish neighbors in Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood in Jerusalem. They opposed Israel’s counterterror operations and opened an FBI investigation against soldiers and officers in the Israel Defense Forces.

The administration subverted the Abraham Accords by compelling Israel to accept the Palestinians in the Abraham Accord summits. Palestinian participation transformed what had been a working alliance against Iran into a pile-on against Israel—orchestrated and led by the State Department.

As for Democrats in Congress, they drew out the approval process of supplemental Iron Dome missiles following “Operation Guardian of the Walls,” making clear that Democrat-controlled congresses cannot be expected to automatically approve military aid to Israel.

All of this happened while the Israeli left was in power.

One of the notable aspects of Biden’s remarks on Tuesday is that the day before, Netanyahu already shelved his government’s judicial reform bill and opted to negotiate with opposition leaders to see if it is possible to reach a compromise package acceptable to a broader majority. Biden’s decision to escalate his rhetoric after Netanyahu had agreed to Biden’s position indicates that the administration was less interested in blocking judicial reform than in destabilizing Netanyahu’s government.

The administration’s statements and actions this week, coupled with its overall policies towards Israel since entering office, indicate that Israel has reached a new phase in its relationship with America.

Until now, Israel had a strategic alliance with the United States. Now as a decade of polling has shown, Israel is viewed with hostility by some Americans, and it is strongly supported by other Americans. The most recent poll of U.S. support by Gallup makes the point explicitly.

The poll showed that overall, most Americans are more supportive of Israel than of the Palestinians. But for the first time, 49% of Democrats are more sympathetic towards the Palestinians than towards Israel. A total of 38% of Democrats are more sympathetic towards Israel. Among Republicans, 78% are more supportive of Israel, and a mere 11% are more sympathetic to the Palestinians. Independents are likewise more supportive of Israel than the Palestinians but by a smaller margin.

All the same, the Democrats are one of two parties. And currently, they are more supportive of the Palestinians than of Israel, and that preference is reflected in administration and congressional policies and actions.

A different, deeper understanding of American society

How is Israel supposed to handle this new relationship?

The first place to look for answers is in the past. In the 1950s and 1960s, France was Israel’s closest ally. But following France’s withdrawal from Algeria, then-French President Charles de Gaulle turned towards the Arabs and against Israel.

Two things are different about Israel’s current crisis with the United States and the fracture of its relations with France. First, de Gaulle was at the height of his power and popularity when he turned his back on Israel. So when he abandoned Israel, he took France with him. This isn’t the case with Biden and America.

Following Biden’s remarks, some Israeli commenters argued that Biden is likely the last Democrat President who will define himself as a Zionist. If current trends continue, no future Democrat president will risk expressing support for Israel.

The truth is more complicated. For the past 20 years, progressives have built a creed predicated on identity politics. They wove together a coalition of predetermined victim groups tied to one another though the concept of “intersectionality.” Intersectionality asserts that all “victim” groups are automatically aligned. The Palestinians had long been allied with some of the designated victim groups—first and foremost, black nationalists tied to Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam. Using its existing alliances, pro-Palestinian activists lobbied to be included in the intersectional alliance. Their success was not a foregone conclusion. But so far, it has been wildly successful and has been instrumental in undermining support for Israel and the position of Jews in the progressive camp and the Democrat Party.

To change the situation, Israel needs to work assiduously to fray the unanimity of hostility among members of the progressive alliance. This won’t be easy. The work requires a different, deeper understanding of American society than most Israelis possess. But it is doable. Israel can make inroads within the African-American community, and the Latino and Asian communities. It can rebuild its longstanding relationships with labor unions, and high-tech and financial-sector professional associations, among others.

Beyond that, Israel needs to maintain and shore up its ties with the people and sectors of American society who support it. This includes evangelical Christians, Catholics and other conservative groups.

The most astounding claim Biden made in his Tuesday diatribe was that his views are shared by American Jews. Certainly, some American Jewish groups oppose the Israeli right. U.S. Jewish groups One Voice and the New Israel Fund, among others, reportedly financed a significant chunk of the left’s anti-government campaign for the past three months. Progressive Jewish groups are increasingly willing to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with anti-Zionists and BDS activists.

All the same, most American Jews are supportive of Israel, regardless of who is in power. They do not support the administration’s pro-Iran policies or its pro-Palestinian bias. Israel needs to stand with and empower this majority. It must stand with them as they defend themselves and their right to support Israel on campuses, in their workplaces and in their communities.

As for Israel’s relationship with the administration itself, it is fairly clear that Israel needs to recalibrate its strategic posture. It is impossible to know whether the Biden administration will want to negotiate another long-term military aid agreement, and it is also unclear whether Israel is better or worse off maintaining its position as a recipient of U.S. military aid.

Israel may be better off paying for U.S. military platforms out of its own pocket and transforming its relationship from that of a client into one of a partner in defense technology development. On March 13, the U.S. Air Force conducted another unsuccessful test of one of the two hypersonic missiles it is developing. Washington may or may not want Israel’s help with its hypersonic missile program, which is lagging far behind China and Russia’s programs. But Israel is probably the only U.S. ally capable of helping. Certainly, under the present circumstances, Israel’s relationship with the United States will be more secure if it is based on collaboration in areas of mutual interest rather than dependence.

With the U.S. position on issues of critical importance to Israel—first and foremost, Iran and the Palestinians, changing completely depending on the president’s partisan affiliation— Israel needs to stop relying on America on issues that require continuous, high-intensity cooperation.

Building interest-based partnerships with other nations

This brings us to the second difference between the new phase we have entered in U.S.-Israel ties and de Gaulle’s breach of Franco-Israeli ties in the 1960s. When the French leader turned on Israel, Israel had the United States more or less at the ready, willing to replace France as Israel’s superpower ally. Today, Israel has no alternative waiting in the wings.

But it may not need one. Israel is much more powerful today than it was in the 1960s. It doesn’t need a protector; it needs partners. Beginning in 2013, Netanyahu began a process of building interest-based partnerships with nations across the region and across the world. These relationships with states in the region and worldwide already form the nucleus of a strategic posture that can secure Israel’s position.

Biden’s statement on Tuesday was roundly applauded by Israeli leftists hell-bent on overthrowing Netanyahu’s government. They would do well to think this through. Sure, Biden has issues with Netanyahu. But the policies Biden pursues vis-à-vis Iran and the Palestinians work to Israel’s strategic disadvantage regardless of who is in power, as his strong-arming of Lapid on the Hezbollah gas deal made clear.

Biden is not de Gaulle, in stature or in influence. American support for Israel is diminishing in some quarters. Still, it remains strong overall. Much can be done to change the situation for the better. And Israel is a powerful, wealthy nation with viable alternatives to strategic dependence on the United States.

This has been a bad week for Israel-U.S. relations, but it isn’t cause for despair. Rather, it is cause for a sober-minded reassessment and rearrangement of Israel’s relations with America to bring them in line with current realities.

THERE ARE NETANYAHU SUPPORTERS IN ISRAEL

Typically Thought a ‘Silent Majority,’ Government Supporters Rally in Tel Aviv

Meanwhile, ongoing anti-reform demonstrations marred by sporadic acts of violence; Orthodox Jewish couple brutally assaulted in Tel Aviv.

 

By Bradley Martin 

 

JNS

Mar 31, 2023

 

Israelis attend a rally in support of judicial reform in Tel Aviv on March 30, 2023.

 

On Thursday evening in Tel Aviv, supporters of judicial reform—about 30,000 by some estimates (one police official put the number as high as 100,000)—rallied in Tel Aviv. Photos and videos on social media depicted masses of people and seas of Israeli flags.

Although judicial reform has been shelved until the beginning of May, those in favor of the effort nonetheless gathered publicly to express support for the government.

Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin wrote in Hebrew on Facebook that “photos of throngs of dear citizens demonstrating in favor of judicial reform strengthen me and warm my heart.” He encouraged those rallying to remain peaceful.

“Our justice and truth are stronger than anything,” he added.

Attorney and political commentator Daniel Tauber told JNS “the fact that supporters of the government, who would typically be thought of as the silent majority, are coming out to the streets is a real show of support for the reforms.”

 

Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi attends a rally in support of judicial reform in Tel Aviv on March 30, 2023.

 

The demonstrations are driven by millions who voted for the current government feeling “rightly” that their say in society counts for less, said Tauber, who is a member of the Likud Central Committee that approves changes to the party constitution and primary rules, and elects a portion of the list for Knesset.

“Instead of the Parliament deciding the laws and destiny of the country, based on the democratic process of open debate, elections and legislation, we have vetoes being cast by various unelected and undemocratic bodies, from the Supreme Court in its current composition, elite units in the army, the Histadrut, not to mention pressure from the Biden administration and the open prejudice against the reforms from the media, much of which is state-funded,” he added.

“In the face of all that, it’s important that demonstrations of support like this be held to ensure that the reforms, especially on the selection of judges, don’t get compromised to smithereens and actually get approved,” he added.

 

A man holds a sign that states “There are many politicians. One leader” during a rally in support of judicial reform in Tel Aviv on March 30, 2023. 

 

‘A delicate and sometimes chaotic balance’

Daniel Pomerantz, CEO of RealityCheck Research and former HonestReporting head, told JNS that those following the protests from afar may not realize that they are “democracy in action.”

“They are free, safe and incredibly patriotic,” he said. “At the same time, there is a legitimate need for certain judicial reforms—but to preserve Israel’s democratic character they must be carried out properly. Both sides focus on different concerns, but both sides are characterized by patriotism and a genuine disagreement on what is best for Israel.”

Israel does not have a constitution, so it has to navigate a “delicate and sometimes chaotic balance between the judiciary and the legislature,” according to Pomerantz.

“The current pause in the rush to pass judicial reform legislation indicates that a compromise may be possible, but it’s not clear what form that compromise might take,” he said. “Whether it would preserve and strengthen Israel’s delicate balance or disrupt it and endanger fundamental rights as provided in Israel’s Basic Laws. For this reason, there is a feeling among the protesters that to ensure the former, a degree of sustained pressure is necessary.”

“Israeli internal disagreement has come a long way since the sinking of the ‘Altalena,’” in 1948, “and the country may very possibly be on its way to becoming a more mature, stable and free democracy even than it was before,” stated Pomerantz as modern-day Israel approaches its 75th year.

Knesset member Simcha Rothman, who chairs the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, said in Hebrew in a recent television interview: “There is a huge public here with a voice that wants the judicial system repaired.”

“When there was a concern that it would be shelved, this public came out to protest,” he said.

Also on Twitter, Miki Zohar, Israeli culture and sports minister, said the demonstration “expressed the pain of an entire camp that won the elections and feels its voice is being disrespected.”

“We promised reform, and God-willing, we’ll bring it,” he added.

James Marlow, an Israel-affairs and political analyst, shared images of the rally on Twitter. “At least 30,000 pro-government, pro-reform supporters are on the streets of Tel Aviv from across the country,” he wrote. “Sadly, some news networks are calling this a far-right demonstration, but I know many normal, mainstream government supporters who traveled to Tel Aviv to show support.”

Lost Orthodox Jews couple attacked by reform opponents in Tel Aviv

An ultra-Orthodox couple driving through Tel Aviv on Sunday night found themselves trapped in an anti-judicial reform protest. Demonstrators attacked and wounded the husband.

The couple was returning from visiting their son in the city when they found their way blocked by protesters, they told the Kikar Hashabbat Hebrew-language haredi news site.

Video footage of the incident could be interpreted as showing that the couple was trying to run over protesters, something the couple flatly denies. They were only trying to exit from the crowd, they insisted.

“They started knocking on our car while screaming curses and tried to smash the window. My husband continued to drive. What’s interesting is that the footage released on social media does not show what happened before or after the lynching. I screamed from the first moment we entered the street. Everyone could see that we were a lost couple and not a threat, God forbid,” the wife told Kikar Hashabbat.

The husband, who was driving, stopped the car when he realized he couldn’t continue through the crowd and opened the door to talk to the protesters. Protesters responded by punching him. One jabbed him with a flag pole, gashing his cheek. The husband staggered back.

 

Thousands of Israelis rally in Tel Aviv against the government’s judicial reform program, Feb. 25, 2023.

 

“He said to me, ‘I’m fainting. Take me to a nearby hospital. I can’t see,’” the wife said.

She begged protesters to help but they refused. In a video, a protester can be heard shouting, “Take the engine out of the car so he’ll bleed to death.” Finally, one young protester agreed to drive the couple in their car to the nearest hospital.

The wife said the gash required stitches and her husband would have a permanent scar. “He’s still undergoing tests. He’s in a very bad mental state. My 19-year-old daughter is shaking all the time. It shook up [our] home,” she said.

“It was a lynching in every respect,” she said. “We didn’t want to publicize it, but friends said we must. It’s an unprecedented event. It’s important that the police deal with the rioters and bring them to justice.”

 

A haredi man was stabbed in the face with a flagpole in the midst of judicial reform protests, according to a couple who saw the ordeal.

The “outrageous thing” is that dozens of protesters filmed the incident with their cellphone cameras, but no one took their footage to the media, she said. “Everyone could see that we were a lost couple. My husband has a yarmulke on his head, a beard. I have a wig. You can’t mistake our appearance and our intentions and yet they chose to rain blows on him.”

The couple’s lawyer, Raphael Asulin, told Kikar Hashabbat: “The continuous incitement and the pointing of an accusing finger at the ultra-Orthodox community as if it is the one leading the people to dark times, something that is also expressed by ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ street theater shown in every corner of Israel and the world, causes people to commit unthinkable acts. My client’s entire fault is his ultra-Orthodox appearance, for which he was mercilessly attacked to the point of endangering his life.

“The police did nothing during the incident and even afterwards,” the attorney said, adding that his client found it necessary, despite his condition, to go to a police station to lodge a complaint.

The police said in a statement: “Every complaint received by the police in which suspicion is raised that a criminal offense was committed is examined and investigated in relation to the existing evidence, and so it is in this case.

“After an investigation and in accordance with the evidence, it was decided to close the case. Following new information received, the case will be reopened. We will continue to thoroughly investigate the case with the aim of arriving at the truth,” the police added.

THE REAL INTENTION OF ANTI-ISRAEL GROUPS ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES IS NOT TO CRITICIZE ISRAEL, BUT TO ELIMINATE IT

The Real Meaning of ‘Pro-Palestinian’

The real “pro-Palestinian” advocates are those who want to see a good life for the Palestinians, not those who encourage them to embrace terror groups.

 

by Bassem Eid

 

JNS

Mar 31, 2023 

 

Anti-Israel students at Columbia University erected a mock 'apartheid wall' in front of the iconic Low Library steps during Israel Apartheid Week,

 

An anti-Israel group called Palestinian Solidarity Forum (PSF) on March 20 invited officials from the Iranian-backed Palestinian terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to speak at an event at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

The two terror leaders, Khaled Qaddoumi of Hamas and Nasser Abu Sharif of PIJ, addressed students during the annual “Israel Apartheid Week,” a one-sided propaganda event smearing Israel that takes place every year on a number of university campuses in the United States and Europe.

Inviting Hamas and PIJ officials to participate in such events shows that the real aim of the so-called pro-Palestinian groups is not to help the Palestinians, but to incite and spread hate and libel against the only democracy in the Middle East: Israel.

This public display of support for terror groups does not serve the interests of the Palestinians. Instead, it sends a message to the Palestinians that the students and professors at universities around the world support terrorism as a means to kill Jews and destroy Israel.

The participation of the terror leaders in the “Israel Apartheid Week” shows that the real intention of the anti-Israel groups on campus is not to criticize Israel, but to eliminate it.

Hamas and PIJ, which call for the destruction of Israel and reject a two-state solution, are designated as terrorist organizations by the United States, Canada, the European Union, Israel, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Britain. The two groups have carried out thousands of terror attacks against Israel, including suicide bombings, drive-by shootings, stabbings and car-rammings. They are also responsible for the launching of thousands of missiles from the Gaza Strip into Israel over the past two decades.

It is ironic that those purporting to be “pro-Palestinian” would invite representatives of radical Islamist groups to spew hatred against Israel at a time when Palestinians living under the rule of Hamas and PIJ in the Gaza Strip are suffering from oppression and repression.

For the past two decades, the two Palestinian terror groups have dragged the residents of the Gaza Strip into several rounds of fighting with Israel, mostly after launching missiles towards Israeli cities and towns. The wars have claimed the lives of thousands of Palestinians and wreaked havoc on the two million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.

Anti-Israel students at the University of Capetown in South Africa invited officials from the Iranian-backed Palestinian terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to speak on campus during Israel Apartheid Week,

 

More disturbing is that the students at the South Africa university did not conceal their support for Hamas and PIJ “resistance” against Israel. The term “resistance” is a euphemism for terror attacks against Israelis. The “pro-Palestinian” students even held a “vigil” on campus in support of the “martyrs that sacrificed their lives for the liberation of Palestine.” The term “martyrs” refers to the terrorists killed while carrying out attacks against Israel or during armed clashes with Israeli security forces.

During the “vigil,” the students held flags and banners of Hamas and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terror group in Lebanon, as well as photos of Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander who was assassinated by the United States in Iraq in 2020.

If the “pro-Palestinian” groups really cared about the Palestinians, they would be speaking out against the repressive measures and human rights violations perpetrated by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

On March 22, Hamas security officers beat and arrested Palestinian journalist Hani Abu Rizek. According to sources in the Gaza Strip, Abu Rizek was arrested after he reported that Palestinians were complaining about high taxes imposed by the Hamas government.

By voicing support for Hamas and ignoring the plight of Palestinians such as Abu Rizek, the students marking the so-called “Israel Apartheid Week” are actually saying that they back the terror group’s crackdown on journalists.

Glorifying a mass murderer such as Soleimani is not an expression of solidarity with the Palestinians. In fact, many Palestinians have denounced the slain Iranian military commander as a murderer responsible for atrocities against many Muslims, including Iraqis, Syrians and Palestinians. When Hamas hung billboards with Soleimani’s photos in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians tore them down as an act of protest against his crimes.

The “pro-Palestinian” campus activists probably do not know that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were celebrating and handing out sweets upon learning about the assassination of Soleimani. Palestinian columnist Ibrahim Hamami commented:

“Anyone who praises Qassem Soleimani is complicit in his crimes. I consider any statement in this regard as political stupidity and a betrayal of the blood of the Muslims that was shed by this criminal.”

It is hard to see how support for a mass murderer such as Soleimani and Iran’s proxy terror groups—Hamas, PIJ and Hezbollah—does anything good for the Palestinians. On the contrary, those who are empowering these terrorists are doing a massive disservice to the Palestinians, especially those who continue to suffer under the rule of Hamas and PIJ in the Gaza Strip.

Instead of building schools and hospitals for their people, Hamas and PIJ are investing millions of dollars in smuggling and manufacturing weapons and digging tunnels that would be used to infiltrate Israel and kill Jews. Instead of improving the living conditions of their people, Hamas and PIJ leaders are imposing new taxes on Palestinians while leading comfortable lives in Qatar, Lebanon and other countries. Instead of bringing democracy and freedom of speech to their people, the terror groups are arresting and intimidating journalists, human rights activists and political opponents.

All these violations are, needless to say, of no concern to the so-called “pro-Palestinian” students on the campuses. Have these students ever denounced Hamas for suppressing public freedoms and depriving its people of a good life? No. Will these students ever call out the Palestinian leadership for the financial corruption and persecution of political opponents and critics? No.

The “pro-Palestinian” individuals and groups might also understand that by siding with Hamas and PIJ, they are harming, not helping, the same people—the Palestinians—they claim to support.

Hamas, for example, has a long history of going after journalists who dare to expose its corruption. These include Abu Rizek, arrested by Hamas last week; Saeed Ahmad in November 2022, for exposing the alleged involvement of the terror group in smuggling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Europe; and a year earlier, without providing any explanation.

In addition to journalists, targeted by Hamas on a regular basis, academics are also being arrested by the terror group. Salem al-Sabah, for instance, head of the University of Palestine in the Gaza Strip, was arrested by Hamas last year—without even an arrest warrant, leading social media users to denounce the episode as a “kidnapping.” His alleged crime was reportedly to have “exposed figures close to Hamas and accused them of money laundering and corruption.”

The silence of the “pro-Palestinian” students towards these arrests actually causes harm to Palestinians: it allows Hamas to continue its brutality without having to worry about negative reactions from the international community.

The “pro-Palestinian” campus activists have again proven that all they have to offer is hatred toward Israel. The real “pro-Palestinian” advocates are those who want to see a good life for the Palestinians, not those who encourage them to embrace terror groups.

Instead of sitting at a campus and aligning themselves with Hamas and PIJ, the “pro-Palestinian” activists should, for example, wage campaigns to demand democracy and freedom of speech for the Palestinians living under the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

These activists should be defending the rights of women and gays in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. That is the way to be a real “pro-Palestinian” activist. Being “pro-Palestinian” does not necessarily mean that one has to be anti-Israel.

Instead of calling for boycotts and sanctions against Israel, the “pro-Palestinian” students should invite Israelis and Palestinians to their campuses to build, not destroy, bridges between the two peoples. If these students want Palestinians to boycott Israel, they should offer the Palestinians jobs and salaries, not more messages of hate.

WAS THE NASHVILLE HE-SHE SCHOOL SHOOTER EXECUTED?

By Howie Katz

 

Officer Michael Collazo stands over and finishes off the fallen he-she school shooter

 

First of all, I want to congratulate the Nashville PD and its officers for the way they swiftly dealt with and ended the recent Christian school shooting. They shot dead transgender Audrey (formerly Adam) Hale before he-she could shoot any more children

Nashville was no Uvalde.

Unlike in Uvalde, the Nashville officers did not stand around waiting for someone to give some orders. Immediately upon their arrival at the school, the responding officer grabbed their assault rifles out of the trunks of their police cars and ran to enter the school. Once inside they conducted a methodical search until they found the he-she shooter on the second floor.

Upon spotting the shooter, Officers Rex Engelbert opened fire and brought he-she down. Officer Michael Collazo then stood over the fallen shooter and finished he-she off.

 

Officer Michael Collazo

Officer Rex Engelbert 

 

Officers Rex Engelbert and Michal Collazo, together with the other Nashville cops who searched for the shooter, are true heroes. Theirs was a job well done. 

 

 

 

Transgender Audrey (formerly Adam) Hale killed three nine-year-old children, the school principal and two other staffers at the Nashville Christian school

 

The police heroics aside, this brings up the legal issue of Officer Collazo shooting he-she Hale after the shooter was downed by Officer Engelbert. Was he-she reaching for one of three guns as Collazo stood over her? If so, there can be no doubt that the shooting was legal. But if he-she was still alive and did not try to reach for a gun, Collazo's shooting amounted to an execution and that would not be legal. 

As for the Uvalde school shouting, one should not question the bravery of the officers who stood around for an hour and 14 minutes while a shooter was killing 19 elementary schoolchildren and two teachers. 

There was a multi-agency response involving school officers, Uvalde city cops, sheriff's deputies and state troopers, all waiting for someone to order them to go after the shooter, an order that never came. It wasn't until a Border Patrol tactical team took it upon themselves to go after the shooter that the waiting officers joined in.

Who's in charge? That's the problem with hastily assembled multi-agency operations. 

Fortunately for the children that he-she Hale was prevented from shooting, Nashville did not have the problem of a multi-agency response.

TRUMP ARREST NEXT WEEK

'Florida will not assist in an extradition': DeSantis offers Trump sanctuary after former President's attorney said he was expected to surrender in Manhattan next week following grand jury vote to INDICT him over Stormy Daniels $130,000 hush money

 

Daily Mail 

March 30, 2023

 

A Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict former president Donald Trump over hush money paid to pornstar Stormy Daniels 

Trump played nine holes of golf at his West Palm Beach club on Thursday. He is pictured here a day earlier with Natalie Harp, who helps run his Truth Social media account

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said he had contacted Trump's lawyers to begin the process of bringing him to Manhattan to be arraigned

 

A Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict Donald Trump over hush money paid to pornstar Stormy Daniels. 

 

Trump has become the first former president to face criminal charges, which are expected in the coming days. 

 

It comes after it emerged New York prosecutors were looking to also charge the Trump over a $150,000 payment made to a former Playboy model. 

 

 

It also emerged on Thursday that New York prosecutors were looking to charge Trump over a $150,000 payment made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal

 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's team has questioned grand jury witnesses about cash given to Karen McDougal, who was Playboy magazine 'Playmate of the Year' in 1998. 

McDougal claims she had a ten-month affair with Trump which began in 2006. 

 

Trump's office released a statement on Thursday branding the development a 'hoax'. 

 

Evidence about payments to McDougal could either be used to bring new charges or establish a 'pattern of behavior' for the Daniels case, sources told the Wall Street Journal, which revealed the development.  

I WAS ASLEEP ON THE CONTAINER SHIP LIBRA SANTOS IN SANTOS, BRAZIL WHEN PIRATES BOARDED THE SHIP AND HIGHJACKED A CONTAINER LOAD OF MARY KAY JEWELRY

Sixteen crew on Danish oil tanker have been locked in ship's safe room for five days after being boarded by pirates in the most dangerous shipping lane in the world 

All 16 crew members sought refuge in a safe room aboard the Monjasa Reformer. Oil tanker was boarded by five pirates near Port Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo

 

By Chris Matthews

 

Daily Mail

March 29, 2023

 

 

The 16-person crew of the Monjasa Reformer (pictured before the attack) oil tanker barricaded themselves in the ship's safe room after they were attacked by armed pirates

 

Pirates boarded a Danish-owned oil tanker sailing in the most dangerous shipping route in the world, forcing its crew to barricade themselves in a safe room.

Communication was lost with tanker Monjasa Reformer after it was boarded by five armed pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of west Africa, on Saturday.

All 16 crew sought refuge in a safe room aboard, according to the cooperation centre. 

The Liberian-flagged oil and chemical tanker was boarded by the five pirates around 140 miles west of the Republic of Congo's Port Pointe-Noire. 

Danish marine fuels supplier Monjasa said the crew of the 135-metre tanker sought refuge in the secure room or 'citadel' when the pirates boarded, 'in accordance with the onboard anti-piracy emergency protocol'.

 

The last known location of the 135-metre tanker is hundred of miles off the coast of west Africa. Communication was lost with tanker Monjasa Reformer after it was boarded by five armed pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of west Africa, on Saturday

 

Monjasa said: 'Onboard communications channels are currently down and we are working with the local authorities to establish communication to understand the situation on board and provide all the support needed by the crew to overcome these dreadful events.'

It added 'the vessel was sitting idle' when the incident took place.

The ship was spotted about 540 miles further off shore on Tuesday, according to a maritime cooperation centre monitoring security in the area.

 

The ship's Danish owner Monjasa, a marine fuels supplier, said the attack was a 'dreadful' incident. The company added: 'Onboard communications channels are currently down and we are working with the local authorities to establish communication to understand the situation on board'

 

The nationalities of the crew members and the pirates are not yet known. 

The Gulf of Guinea is the world's most dangerous spot for attacks on ships. 

In June, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution strongly condemning piracy, armed robbery and hostage-taking in the area. 

This hijacking took place further south in an area that is not typically attacked by pirates.

Rida Lyammouri, a senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Moroccan-based think tank, said: 'This is worrying since it's rare in this area compared to the Gulf of Guinea, for example, where multiple ship hijackings take place every year.

'Hopefully we are not witnessing a new trend and [this] is just an isolated incident. This also could be explained by increased security measures in the Gulf of Guinea and pirates are looking into new areas of operations.'

Denmark, home to shipping giant Maersk, sent a naval frigate in 2021 to patrol the waters, after the country had pushed for a stronger international naval presence.

The Absalon-class Danish frigate Esbern Snare - equipped with a helicopter and around 175 marines aboard - was sent to patrol the waters between November 2021 and March 2022, a period when the risk of attacks was higher.

The Danish Shipping association said the latest incident shows 'problems with piracy off the west coast of Africa are far from solved.'

Although it acknowledged the war in Ukraine meant Denmark's navy was needed elsewhere, it suggested 'vessels from several countries in the area... particularly the EU countries should coordinate their presence' to provide the best cover.

In November 2021, sailors from the Danish frigate were involved in a firefight resulting in the deaths of five suspected pirates.

A suspected Nigerian pirate was transferred to Denmark to receive medical care after the skirmish.

After needing to have his leg amputated the man, who has also applied for asylum in Denmark, was put on trial for and convicted of endangering the lives of the Danish sailors.

CAPTIVE WOMAN WAS ABLE TO ESCAPE WHILE SHACKLED

Bomb found after shackled woman shows up at NYPD precinct, says BF tortured her 

 

By Joe Marino and Amanda Woods

 

New York Post 

March 30, 2023

 

Alexander Isaac, 30, allegedly raped his girlfriend, beat her and held her captive inside a mobile home in Staten Island.

 

A shackled woman showed up at a Staten Island police precinct and told cops she’d escaped a converted bus where her boyfriend had tortured her — sparking a search that yielded an active pipe bomb, law enforcement sources said Thursday.

Alexander Isaac, 30, allegedly held the woman captive inside his mobile home on Central Avenue near Slosson Terrace in Brighton Heights and raped and abused her, according to the criminal complaint against him.

The victim — who had shackles and handcuffs on her arms and legs — was able to flee and turned up at the 120th Precinct stationhouse on Monday, sources told The Post.

She told investigators that Isaac abducted her and kept her inside the bus, where he bound her arms and legs and placed a T-shirt around her mouth, pushed her face down on a bed and raped her, according to the complaint filed in Richmond County Criminal Court. 

He also punched her in the lip, eye and face, slammed her against a wall and struck her with a belt, she said, according to the court document. 

“You made it worse for yourself,” he allegedly snarled while assaulting her, the complaint states. 

Detectives arrested Isaac on Tuesday and applied for a search warrant. Investigators found what turned out to be an active pipe bomb, as well as multiple chemicals, inside the bus, while combing through it on Wednesday, according to the sources. 

Cops also found a 3D printer, along with a printed part for a Glock pistol — which appeared to be an inoperable ghost gun, the sources said. 

The NYPD’s Bomb Squad took the explosive device to the department’s outdoor range for analysis. 

 The victim walked into the 120th Precinct Monday after managing to escape the terrifying ordeal.

 

The city Department of Environmental Protection examined the chemicals and determined that all of the substances were available commercially — but they needed to be removed and disposed of properly. 

Isaac was charged with criminal sex act, rape, kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon, according to the complaint. 

He was ordered held on $700,000 bond or $200,000 cash bail. A temporary order of protection was issued, according to online records. 

Isaac is scheduled back in court Friday.

SECULAR JEWS AGAINST RELIGIOUS JEWS

With Judicial Overhaul Paused, Protesters Find a New Target

Was it really just about judicial reform? Anti-government protesters say they’ll continue to gather, this time against the Orthodox Jews.

 

By Ryan Jones 

 

Israel Today

March 30, 2023

 Anti-government protesters light a bonfire on a highway in Tel Aviv.

 

At this rate the “Start-Up Nation” is in danger of coming to be known as the “Protest Nation.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday announced a halt to his judicial reform, but anti-reform leaders almost immediately signaled their protests weren’t entirely about that as they insisted the mass demonstrations would continue.

On Wednesday, protest organizers called for a continuation of the weekly post-Shabbat mass demonstration at Kaplan Junction in Tel Aviv.

With judicial reform on the shelf, they needed another reason to gather, and turned to an old standby.

“We will no longer be silent about carrying the burden of Israeli society on our backs alone,” read a statement issued on social media. “We demand legislation for equal responsibility, in all areas of national life. It’s time to stop giving unreasonable budgets to those who do not serve in the People’s Army (IDF) or volunteer for national service.”

They were referring to the longstanding debate over military exemption for Orthodox Jewish yeshiva (seminary) students.

Back at the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, David Ben-Gurion granted military exemption to Orthodox Jews in order to win their political support for the reborn Jewish state. At that time, a majority of religious Jews saw a Jewish state founded by secular Jews as unbiblical. Today the situation has reversed, and religious Jews are generally seen as more “Zionist” than their secular counterparts.

 

Orthodox Jews are opposed to, and are exempt from, compulsory military service.   

But ultra-Orthodox Jews, who make up about 14% of Israel’s population today, continue to be exempt from military service that is mandatory for every other Jewish citizen.

This chafes secular Israelis, who point out that despite not carrying the same burden of responsibility, the ultra-Orthodox receive massive state budgets for their non-governmental education system and religious institutions.

Previous governments have tried to rectify this by bringing more ultra-Orthodox into the army, or other national service programs, but legislation on the matter is routinely halted when Netanyahu becomes prime minister, as the ultra-Orthodox parties are his most stalwart allies.

By appealing to this situation, which has been ongoing for decades, the anti-government protest movement says it will continue taking to the streets to “defend democracy.”