The Netanyahu-government in 2014 produced 460 new houses monthly in occupied territory

Har Homa (Jabal Abu Ghneim) near Jerusalem. (Photo Reuters) 

The Israeli organzation Peace Now reports:
Summary of the third Netanyahu government: A substantial increase in construction starts, planning and tenders – specifically in isolated settlements and the most disputed areas in terms of the chance for two states.

A.  Construction Starts - 40% increase in construction starts. 68% of the new construction is in settlements east of the outline proposed by the Geneva Initiative, the areas most challenging for the two-state solution.

B.   Tenders– A decade’s (at least) record of tenders in the settlements and East Jerusalem.  Tenders for 4,485 residential units were published in 2014 alone.

C.   Plans – The third Netanyahu government promoted an average of 460 residential units per month, mainly in isolated settlements, double the number promoted by the previous government.

Netanyahu wants to retain a fourth settlement bloc in negotiations with Abbas

 

Construction in Beit El in February 2013 (Activestills.org). 

According to a report Thursday on Army Radio, Netanyahu has been seeking to define a fourth bloc of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, in the vicinity of Beit El, that Israel would retain in any future agreement with the Palestinians.

The report, which cited an unnamed senior Israeli official involved in the negotiations, harked back to previous reports that the Israeli negotiating team has brought up the option of renting or purchasing land from the Palestinian Authority. The older reports did not specify which swaths of land Israel would seek to retain.

The Prime Minister’s Office declined The Times of Israel’s request for comment.

Located near the Palestinian administrative capital of Ramallah, the Beit El bloc joins three other West Bank areas — the Gush Etzion, Ma’aleh Adumim and Ariel blocs — over which Israel wishes to retain control, even after the signing of a peace agreement. In peace proposals that have been under discussion in the past, , it was proposed that Israel swaps land of an equal proportion to compensate the Palestinians for these territories.

The three blocs, together with the Beit El area, constitute a combined 13 percent of the West Bank.

Netanyahu wants to annex the four blocs but, according to the Israeli source, at this stage opposes compensating the Palestinians with a land swap of equal size and quality. The source added that the Palestinians had rejected the idea that Israel buys or leases some of the lands on which the settlement blocs rest. 

Israel's Supreme Court denies the existence of an Israeli people

The Israeli Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a ruling that in my opinion is problematic and quite revealing about the present state of affairs in the 'Jewish state'. In a case brought before them by a group of Israelis who requested to be allowed to change the ethnic registration on their identity cards from “Jewish” to “Israeli”, the judges decided that ''there is no proof of the existence of a uniquely “Israeli” people''. They also said that the issue is not for the court to decide.
Their decision upheld an earlier ruling from 2008 by their colleague, Noam Sohlberg, who - then a Jerusalem District Court judge - had rejected the group’s petition. Sohlberg at the time stated that “the requested declaration has a public, ideological, social, historic and political character – but not a legal one. This isn’t a technical issue of registration in the Population Registry, but a request that the court determine that in the State of Israel a new peoplehood has been formed, common to all its residents and citizens, called ‘Israeli.’ This issue is a national-political-social question and it is not the court’s place to decide it.”

Israeli Election Committee bans ad by Arab party that mocks Avigdor Lieberman singing the Hatikva

 (I lost this post earlier today, due to some malfunction)

Israel's Election Committee Chairperson, Judge Eliyakim Rubenstein, has banned a campaign ad of the National Democratic Assembly (NDA) for mocking Hatikva, the national anthem. The banned ad was to be heard on Israeli radio from Tuesday. Judge Rubenstein said that "from listening to the radio broadcast I learned that it broadcasts Hativka in a distorted manner that ridicules Hatikva, the anthem of the state of Israel. This is not acceptable to me as part of election campaigning. See the ad below. In the beginning and prior to the singing, Foreign Minister Lieberman is heard saying that "I've already tried to pass a law conditioning receipt of an identity card with a statement of loyalty to the singing of Hativka. In the next Knesset I will again attempt to pass this legislation. But now I've reached the conclusion that the anthem should be made suitable for the Arab population, so they can identify with it." Following the singing, the ad asks: "funny? the situation is really not funny. These laws must be opposed. We must not leave the arena to them. This is the time for the NDA. h/t The Alternative Information Centre.

There is more to this ad, though. From the site +972 we learn that there is an original version: Lieberman himself murdering the Hatikva at a party meeting in an unparalleled way:
.

The Lieberman performance led to some parodies, like this jazzy version: 


 Or a more 'classical' adaptation:


On +972 there is even more. None of these have been banned so far, it seems. But then, these are not used in election campaigns. And oh, they have not been made by Arabs...

Joshua Sombol: I''ve long been of the opinion that Judaism has a strong suicidal tendency'

Four quotes from an interview of the Israeli playwright Joshua Sombol with the daily Haaretz. I think they speak for themselves:

1) We’re on a plane whose pilots are suffering from vertigo. They think they are soaring, but actually they’re plummeting toward the ground at dizzying speed. Which usually ends in disaster.

2) I have long been of the opinion that Judaism has a very strong suicidal tendency. We’ve already managed to do it twice.

Sonbol

3)(..) I’m an atheist. All the justifications for our being here because of God’s will are worthless. So I have to explain to myself why I’m here.

And what do you tell yourself?

That this place, in the final analysis, saved my parents’ families. They were saved thanks to the fact that they were Zionists. My mother’s family fled from the pogromists in 1922, and my father’s family immigrated from Poland in 1934 because they realized that the ground was burning beneath their feet and they had to get out of there. So the tie to this place is actually historical – because my parents were atheists like me. What they did: building a place that saved them and saved their lives, and I feel obligated to continue what they did.

A tie of gratitude.

Yes. You could say that. And I’ll tell you something else. I think we have an obligation to prove that there can be Judaism that isn’t cannibalistic and barbaric and racist. It’s a battle, in effect, to rescue Judaism from the hands of those who are devouring it. When they say that “thy destroyers ... shall go forth from thee” [Isaiah 49:17], I see the people who presume to carry the banner of Judaism, and in my opinion are its destroyers. And I see the task of people like me as rescuing Judaism from them, proving that it doesn’t have to be Teutonic barbarism.

 4) I think, as Marx said in his day, that the situation determines awareness, and we’re in a situation of an occupying nation that is ruling over another nation and profiting from it. The settlers are living and benefiting at the expense of another people. People say to themselves, “What’s wrong?” They pretend the problem doesn’t exist. Anyone who is located west of the Green Line and votes for the right is, in effect, giving his vote, money and taxes to those living east of it. That’s the division.

The whole article can be found here

Israel goes to the polls in two or three months

 

Israel will go to the polls early. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday in a televised statement, that they will be held in two or three months instead of the end of next year. As his coalition government would not be able to agree on a national budget for 2013, he had "decided, for the benefit of Israel, to hold elections now and as quickly as possible," the Prime Minister said.

"In a few months, the tenure of the most stable government in decades will come to an end," Netanyahu said. "This stability has helped us achieve the two main objectives we promised the citizens of Israel – to strengthen security at a time when a dangerous upheaval is gripping the Middle East, and [to fortify] the economy during…a  financial turmoil."
"We must maintain a responsible economic and defense policy," Netanyahu added, "to ensure that Iran does not have a nuclear bomb." He said that early elections are a "national interest," and thanked the citizens of Israel for the privilege they have granted him.

 The prospect of early elections arose after minister Yishai (Interior) said his party, Shas, would not support wide-ranging budget cuts, particularly cuts to benefits for the elderly, single-parent families and the poor.
Observers agree that it is unlikely that Israel will attack Iran in the meantime. In fact Netayahu indicated already that much in his recent speech or the United Nations, when he positioned his 'red line' in the spring of just before the beginning of the summer. 

Haaretz: Netanyahu and Barak try to get majority in the cabinet for attack on Iran

Netanyahu and Barak (Photo Haaretz)

(See for more alarming news update below).

Till now I did not pay too much attention to the news coming from Israel that Israel was considering to attack Iran. Neither was I too much impressed by the commotion that was sparked by journalist Nahum Barnea's column in Yedioth Ahronoth last Friday,  in which he warned that the matter was serious and that Israel indeed was on the brink of attacking. It would not have been the first time some columnist ringed alarm bells in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem before there was in fact a real danger. I must confess, though, that a stern warning by former head of the Mossad, Meir Dagan, this summer, that Israel's leaders in fact had been considering to bomb Iranian nuclear sites and that he, Dagan had not succeeded in convincing them that this was too dangerous an option, did ring some bells. 
But by now the danger seems real enough. Haaretz today reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are trying to muster a majority in the cabinet in favor of military action against Iran. Haaretz quotes an official, who says there is a 'small advantage' in the cabinet for the opponents of such an attack, but that Netanyahu and Barak recently persuaded Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who previously objected, to support such a move.
According to Haaretz leading ministers were publicly dropping hints on Tuesday that Israeli could attack Iran, although a member of the forum of eight senior ministers said no such decision had been taken.It seems that a new report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is going tro play a key role. The report, which is due to be released on November 8, and of which the contents clearly have been leaked beforehand to Israel, seems to indicate that Iran is going ahead with its nuclear program. Intelligence services now say it will take Iran two or three years to get the bomb once it decides to have one. Something something it has not yet decided to do, though. 
===============================================

UPDATE  Thursday The same day Haaretz revealed the story of Netanyahu and Barak trying to draw the rest of the cabinet into their camp, Haartez also carried stories of the Israeli airforce holding exercices concerning the performance of long range attacks, as well as the test-firing of a ballistic missile. Quite a coincidence! To complete the picture on Thursday Haaretz also reported about a drill of the medical and civil defense agencies in which a rocket attack on Central-Israel was simulated. How many more indications wqould one like to see about what is being cooked over there?
 Here they are, the stories:
1) While the media and political sphere is abuzz with news on a potential attack on Iran's nuclear development facilities, the Israel Air Force continues conducting comprehensive drills on long-range attacks.
The last drill of this sort took place last week at the NATO base in Italy, in which six different types of air force squadrons participated. The drill was widely covered on websites around the world that specialize in aviation.

2) Israel test-fired a ballistic missile on Wednesday, at the Palmahim Israel Defense Forces base in central Israel. The test was part of an examination of a new missile currently being developed by the defense establishment.The missile left behind a fire trail that could be seen throughout central Israel. 

Smoke of the test-fired missile (Haaretz)

 A Defense Ministry official declined to comment on the type of rocket tested. Israel successfully test-fired a two-stage, long-range ballistic missile in 2008.

3) Sirens sounded throughout central Israel on Thursday as part of a Home Front Command drill simulating a rocket attack on civilian infrastructure. The drill comes against the backdrop of a fiery debate in Israel about a possible attack on Iran.
As part of Thursday's Israel Defense Forces drill, sirens went off around central Israel at 10:05 A.M for 90 seconds. Moreover, evacuation and absorption centers were opened in the central Israeli city of Holon and temporary centers in Holon and Bat Yam opened in order to hand out gas masks.
===============================================

Netanyahu did not rule out the possibility of the need for a military action on Iran this week. During his Knesset address on Monday, Netanyahu warned of Iran's increased power and influence. 'One of those regional powers is Iran, which is continuing its efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. A nuclear Iran would constitute a grave threat to the Middle East and the entire world, and of course it is a direct and grave threat on us,' he said.
From Haaretz' reporting we learn that divisions still exist in the ranks of the Israeli cabinet. Haaretz quotes Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon as saying that he prefers an American military attack on Iran to an Israeli one, while Interior Minister Eli Yishai has not made his mind up yet.In a recent speech he said to have sleepless nights if he thinks of the possible Iranian counter-attack with missiles that might reuslt from an Isareli attack. Also Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister Dan Meridor said he supports an American move. In an interview to the Walla! website some two weeks ago Meridor said "It's clear to all that a nuclear Iran is a grave danger and the whole world, led by the United States, must make constant efforts to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The Iranians already have more than four tons of 3-4 percent enriched uranium and 70 kgs. of 20 percent enriched uranium. It's clear to us they are continuing to make missiles. Iran's nuclearization is not only a threat to Israel but to several other Western states, and the international interest must unite here."

Dagan: warning (Haaretz)

 Ex-Mossad boss Dagan, in his warning in summer (which by the way was highly unusual as former intelligence bosses hardly ever speak openly about the knowledge they acquired in their former job), said that the possibility of a future Israel Air Force attack on Iranian nuclear facilities was 'the stupidest thing I have ever heard' and that 'if anyone seriously considers a strike he needs to understand that he's dragging Israel into a regional war that it would not know how to get out of. The security challenge would become unbearable.' Dagan said that he in vain tried to convince Israel's leaders to drop the idea altogether in light of the riks.
Defence Minister Barak seemed to refer to these remarks when he said  a few days ago that he did not rule out the possibility that Israel would launch a military attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. 'I object to intimidation and saying Israel could be destroyed by Iran,' he said. 'We're not hiding our thoughts. However there are issues we don't discuss in public ... We have to act in every way possible and no options should be taken off the table ...'

Israeli democracy mainly a democracy for Jews, according to findings of academic institute

President Peres receives the report from the hands of IDI-director Carmon. 

 The Israel Democracy Institute yearly takes a poll among the Israeli public in which it measures the democratic character of Israel and its institutions according to international standards. A few days ago, on 5 November  the results of the 2010 survey were published and made public during a conference in Tel Aviv.
A did hot have time to pay attention to it earlier. But some of the findings are nevertheless interesting enough, if not outright alarming. For that reason I devote as yet a few lines to the report. Particularly the attitude towards the Arab minority is what deserves attention. Here it goes:

' - Of the Jewish public, 86% believe that critical decisions for  the state should be taken by a Jewish majority.

 -  Almost two thirds (62%) of the Jewish sample feel that as long  as Israel is in a state of conflict with the Palestinians, the views of Arab citizens of Israel on foreign affairs and security issues should not be taken into account.
 - A total of 53% maintain that the state is entitled to encourage Arabs to emigrate from Israel.
 -  Roughly two thirds (67%) of Jewish Israelis feel that first-degree  relatives of Arabs should not be allowed entry into Israel under the rubric of family unification.
- As for equality in the allocation of resources, a majority of  respondents (55%) think that greater resources should be allocated to Jewish communities than to Arab ones, a minority (42%) disagrees. Nevertheless 51% of the general public say they support full equality of rights between Jews and Arabs.'
  
The rest of the report is probably less alarming, athough some of other the findings are remarkable as well:
 's for the democratic character of the state: there is broad support for the assertion that Israel must remain a democratic state, but the Israeli public tends to characterize the country’s democracy as weak and ineffective. The preferred solution is a more centralized government. The bulk of the survey’s respondents (60%) ascribe advantages to an authoritarian government and a strong leadership, which, as they see it, solve problems efficiently.'

The institute adds the remark that 'since the Democracy Index was first published in 2003, significant  gaps have been observed between the opinions of long-time Israelis and those of immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (hereafter: FSU immigrants). It seems, ' it says, 'that the latter are among the less liberal Israeli groups with regard to such issues as majority-minority relations and gender equality.'

As far as the concept of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state is concerned:
'Among the Israeli  public as a whole, the highest percentage—43%—consider both parts of this definition (“Jewish” and “democratic”) to be equally important; 31% classify the Jewish component as more important; and only 20% ascribe greater importance to the democratic component. Among Arab citizens of Israel, the democratic element takes precedence (38%).'

Remarkable is also the lack of trust of the general public in the state institutions:
'Only slightly more than half the general  Israeli public—54%—state that they trust the Supreme Court fully or to some extent, as opposed to 44% who state openly that they do not trust it. Only 41% of the respondents express full or partial trust in the police.'

Kahane' fascist Kach movement is still very much alive in Israel (1)

Arabs protesting against the demonstration of the 'Land of Israel Movement' demonstration are teargassed. (Picture Al-Jazeera)

Supporters of the late rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the Jewish Defense Ligue in the US and of the fascist Kach movement in Israel, which in the 90-ties was forbidden by the Israeli high court, have shown - an not for thye first time - that Kahane's ideas and movement are still very much alive. A day after attending a memorial service at the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Kahane's death, dozens of his supporters traveled under the banner of the 'Land of Israel Movement' from Jerusalem to the northern Arab town of Umm al-Fahm on Wednesday to protest against the Islamic Movement under tight police security. They were faced by hundreds of residents of the town and surrounding communities. Massive police forces fired tear gas and stun grenades at dozens of Arab and left-wing protestors, some of whom began hurling stones. The rightists were returned to their buses following the protest, and police forces stormed the crowd and arrested nine of the stone throwers.
Knesset Member Afu Aghbaria (Hadash) was lightly injured in the leg, apparently by a stun grenade. Knesset member Hanin Zoabi (Balad) sustained light wounds as well and was treated in a local clinic. A soldier disguised as an Arab was also wounded and evacuated to a hospital. Protesters said afterwards that in all 15 people were wounded, most of them by tear gas inhalation.
 
Itamar Ben Gvir, Baruch Marzel (second from right) and member of Knesset Michael Ben Ari (right). The picture was taken  a couple of months ago, after Ben Gvir was arrested for insulting Obama's (then) Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel during the latter's visit to Jerusalem.

Rightist Itamar Ben-Gvir said during the protest that "only in the State of Israel a faction can call for a third intifada, organize a flotilla and hurt IDF soldiers, while we're helpless." His protestors chanted, "Death to terrorists". Knesset Member Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) said the Islamic Movement (of sheikh Raed Salah) was part of the global al-Qaeda terror organization. "We are not afraid," he shouted. His colleague, Baruch Marzel, said that "if we concede Umm al-Fahm we’ll concede Tel Aviv too," while the protestors continued to chant, "Death to the Arabs" and "Umm al-Fahm is Jewish."
Umm al-Fahm mayor Sheikh Khaled Hamdan claimed that "this mess taking place here this morning is insane. It's not normal that 1,500 policemen have to be brought here because of one racist lunatic. We are not the one looking for a provocation. This visit is creating a provocation in the entire region.

Kahane's fascist Kach movement is still very much alive in Israel (2)

Hundreds of Land of Israel Movement activists and supporters of the radical movement Kach held a memorial service on Tuesday to mark 20 years since Rabbi Meir Kahane's assassination.

The assembly was held at the Ramada Renaissance Hotel in Jerusalem. During the meeting shirts, books and other Kahane items were sold. Speeches of the late Kahane were screened as well, while protestors went wild, clapping every time he said "Arabs out".
The founder of the Temple Institute, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, said under cheers of the audience: "Leaders who have ruined our country always tell us that no one can teach them how to love Israel. But this love they are referring to makes them establish an Ishmael state in Israel. If, G-d forbid, an Ishmael state will be built, we will destroy it."
Knesset Member Michael Ben Ari (National Union) also spoke. He said that a picture of Kahane stands on his office desk and on his desk at the Knesset plenum, next to his book and that he sometimes tells the picture: 'It is not a simple task to represent you; you stand up to countless attacks and I must say that your truth isn't a popular one. But Rabbi Kahane taught us not to speak the truth in the morning according to last night's poll results, as the prime minister does."

MK Ben Ari went on to say that the radical right-wing groups have been going through two tough decades since Kahane's murder, but that he 'was given twice the amount of time for my speech honoring Rabbi Kahane at the Knesset today, the same speech I wasn't allowed to give a year ago."
Activist Baruch Marzel mentioned the memorials devoted to the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. "Fifteen years ago memorials began for this one man. The state wasted millions on his legacy. There are almost no cities without a street or a hospital named after him. But after all of this, less and less people participate in his memorial services, because the truth gets clearer and clearer as years go by."

 The head of Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea, Rabbi Yehuda Kroizer, said, "Rabbi Kahane became a symbol and as time passes, instead of his Torah disappearing we see how vital it really is. In his book, Rabbi Kahane wrote that we are living in times of redemption, which is why he viewed Israel as part of God's plan. We must proudly carry on this mission assigned to us, and not grovel before the world's nations or the enemies of Israel, but only stand firm and strong."
Kach activist Haim Pearlman (small picture), currently under house arrest after his suspected killing of four Arabs in the 1990s, was also among the participants. The wife of the 'Jewish terrorist,' Keren Pearlman, told Ynet: "Today everybody knows that 'Kahane' is not a dirty word."

Kahane' fascist Kach movement is still very much alive in Israel (3)

For the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the death Meir Kahane the following comic appeared last week on an Israeli website called the Israel News Network, which is associated with Arutz Sheva and the settler movement. The comic, which is also available in print, is apparently meant to make the children of the settlers acquainted with the racist and fascist heritage of Kahane who was a strong proponent of kicking all Arabs out of (the whole of) the Land of Israel. The comic has been translated by Dena Shunra.

 

Miracle Man. Writing: Naama Nieman Illustrations: Dikla Sagiv

[Top right panel]
[Blue shirt boy:] I’m so sad I didn’t get to meet him.
[Gray shirt man] At least you got to be named after him.
[White shirt man:] You can study his books and get to know his theory. Rabbi Kahane left many books behind, and many lessons that he gave were recorded and disseminated widely.
[Plaid shirt man:] While you did not know him personally, the stories let you know him.
[Green shirt boy:] True, I really feel as though I had seen him myself.

[top left panel]
[Green shirt boy:] We are apparently only at the beginning of the road…
[Blue shirt boy:] Thank you for everything you taught us.
[Plaid shirt man:] You’re welcome. My prayer for you is that you have the privilege to put into practice the things that you learned.

[Middle row, right panel]
[yellow caption:] At home…
[Man with moustache] Hello, Meir-David, you’ve finally gotten here. Come see what I found.
[Blue shirt boy:] A MOVIE?
[Man with moustache] A movie about a popular meeting

[Middle row, middle panel] [VCR, TV, Kahane speaking]
[Middle row, left panel]
[Man with moustache] Did you hear what Rabbi Kahane Said? It’s just incredible, the meeting was held in 5750 [1990], when the PLO and its leader, Arafat, were considered the greatest enemies of Israel. Anyone who dared meet with Arafat was considered a traitor and tossed into prison, and then Rabbi Kahane said in his speech that you only have two options: either Kahane or Arafat.
[Blue shirt boy:] I do not understand. What is so incredible? What exactly does he mean?

[Bottom row, right panel]
[Man with moustache] He means that if they don’t listen to him and don’t get the Arabs out of the country, the day will come that there will be no choice and we’ll bring into here our greatest enemy.
[Bottom row, middle panel] [probably moustache man again] What’s incredible is that to our great sorrow, years later that did indeed happen, and Arafat came into the country.
[Bottom row, left panel]
[Blue shirt boy:] How did he know that? Was he a prophet?
[Man with moustache] No, he just knew how to see reality as it was.


[Top right panel] After the holiday of sukkot 5751, Rabbi Kahane went abroad, to give lectures in the U.S. At a lecture in New York, in a big Jewish college.
[Top middle panel] An Arab approached the stage and shot him twice.
[Top left panel]
[Plaid shirt man] Rabbi Kahane fell dead, and had enough time to say “Shma Yisrael”.
[Blue shirt boy] That is so sad!
[Green shirt boy:] And the funeral?

[Middle row, Right panel] His remains were brought to Israel. The funeral came right out of here, out of the Yeshiva. Before the coffin arrived the area was full of masses of people, all the streets by the Yeshiva were filled with more than 150,000 people…
[Middle row, Middle panel]
[Green shirt boy:] Were there so many people who loved him?
[Plaid shirt man] Yes, apparently so. Rabbis and public leaders eulogized him, including the Rishon LeZion, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, may the memory of that sainted man be blessed. He said as follows:
[Middle row, Left panel] People were not sufficiently familiar with Rabbi Kahane, his righteousness and scholarship, his fear of God. Rabbi Kahane gave much money to families and helped the many people who turned to him.

[Bottom row, Left panel]
[Plaid shirt man] I will tell you another story: the Kabala expert Rabbi Meir Yehuda Katz, may the memory of that sainted man be blessed, the rabbi of the Wailing Wall, joined the funeral procession and said:
[Bottom row, Left panel]
I dreamt tonight that the Messiah, descendant of Joseph*, was murdered in the United States. I could not sleep well, and when I woke up I heard the news that Rabbi Kahane was murdered.
[Yellow panel] * Traditionally, the Messiah, descendant of Joseph, deals in the practical and material salvation of the People of Israel.


[Top right panel]
[Green shirt] So what was the activity in the Kach Movement?
[Moustache man] It was very important to Rabbi Kahane to spread the truth and bring redemption closer. Every day he would go from place to place, throughout the country, and call on Jews to wake up.
[Beard man] He had conferences, took part in events, visited towns, villages, and markets and initiated meetings at homes. It was very important for him to connect with the people.
[Top left panel] At least three times a week the Rabbi would go to a popular meeting, and each such day he would hold at least three popular meetings in different places.
[Middle row, Middle panel] What were the main messages he gave in those talks?
[Middle row, Left panel] He called for the removal of the goyim from the land of Israel.
[bottom row, right to left]
[1] for retuning the Temple Mount to Jewish control
[2] for establishing Jewish sovereignty over all parts of the land of Israel
[3] and for restoration of Jewish honor.
[4] [Moustache man] I also remember that he also talked a lot about the social problems:


Top panel, clockwise, starting from the fist in the star]
Never again
Never again humiliation of Jews!
Never again Jews being slaughtered!
Never again desecration of God
Instead, Jews standing erect.
With no fear of the goyim.
[lower right panel]
[Blue shirt] I’m so glad you named me for him. I did not know how fortunate I was. When will I be able to meet Baruch Marzel already?
[Moustache man] I’ll call and coordinate a meeting with him. You know that it’s [very cold?] in Hebron. Maybe we’ll combine the meeting with him with a Vatikin prayer at the Patriarchs’ Burial Grave.
[Lower left panel] How nice! I haven’t been at the Patriarchs’ Burial Grave for a long time. I’m sure Elkana and his father will be glad to join.

[Top row, Right]
[Moustache man] I can also tell you an interesting story that I just read in a new book by Rabbi Shlomo Zalamn Auerbach, who was one of the greatest rabbis in our generation and lived next door to the Jewish Defense League offices.
[Blue shirt] Which would later be called the Kach movement…
[Top row, Left] Moshe Nieman, who was Rabbi Kahane’s right-hand man, says that when Rabbi Shlomo Zalamn Auerbach used to pass by the Kach Movement offices…
[Middle row, Right] He used to punch a fist, with a big smile on his face, and say “right on!” to the activists.
[Middle row, Left]
[Blue shirt] A fist?! Why a fist?
[Moustache man] The symbol of the Jewish Defense League was a star of David with a clenched fist inside it.
[Bottom row, Right] And that symbol is also a story in its own right. After the liberation of the German death camps, in WWII, a picture was found on one of the walls, showing a star of David with a fist inside, and the Yiddish words: “Jews! Revenge!”
[graffiti:] Yiddalach! Nekama!
[Bottom row, Middle] The picture was drawn by a Jew before he was murdered in the Holocaust.
[Bottom row, Left] Rabbi Kahane adopted the symbol, but added to it the words: “Never again!”

[Top panel, Top segment then clockwise]
He brought up the subject at demonstrations, everywhere possible;
Dance troupes that came to the U.S. from the Soviet Union were showered with boos from the Jewish Defense League Members;
Russian diplomats were afraid to walk free, lest they be hurt.
[sign] Let my people go.
Demonstrations were held in front of every Soviet embassy around the world.
And that was how the problem of the Jews in the Soviet Union came into international consciousness.
[Lower right panel]
[Blond, blue-eyed man] Excuse me for jumping in. My name is Dmitry. I heard that you’re talking about Rabbi Kahane.
[Green shirt] Ha! There’s another person who knows him…
[Lower left panel] No, no, I’m sorry to say that I did not have the privilege of getting to know him, although I did get to see him once!

Netanyahu wants to make loyalty oath for new Israeli citizens also compulsory for Jews

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to include Jews in a bill that requires people taking Israeli citizenship to swear loyalty to the country as a Jewish state. The bill has still to be passed by the Knesset.
.Mr Netanyahu's office said on Monday that he had instructed Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman to prepare a draft bill that would also require Jews to pledge allegiance to Israel 'as a Jewish and democratic state'.
The original proposal to require some citizens - mainly Israeli Arabs - to swear allegiance to a Jewish state has proved deeply divisive within Israeli society, and on Saturday thousands protested against the bill in Tel Aviv. Israeli media reported last week that all five ministers from the left-leaning Labour party voted against the proposal, as did three cabinet members of Netanyahu's own Likud. It had been welcomed by right-wing ministers in the coalition cabinet, including ultra-nationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. The bill was meant to be a trade off. Netanyahu decided to support it in order to buy the support of Lieberman for a building freeze of 60 days in the West Bank settlements. 
The law has angered Israel's Arab minority. Recognition of Israel as a Jewish state is a news demand that Netanyahu  is making as part of an eventual peace deal with the Palestinians. The PA, however, reject it, as the Palestinians have already  recognised Israel as a state. They argue that recognizing it as a 'Jewish' state will prejudice the rights of the non-Jewish minorities and preclude a deal on the Right of Return of the refugees of 1948.
The fact that Netanyahu now wants to make it also compulsory  for Jews to take the oath may seem to take away some of its racist character. But that is only a difference in appearance, as the demand remains no less discriminatory for the spouses of Israeli Palestinians from Jordan or the West Bank who want to become Israeli citizens, or for Arabs in general. Also some haredi (strictly orthodox Jewish) circles have a problem with the new requirement, because they don't recognoze a Jewish state that is not ruled according to Jewish (halakhic) law. And, I may add, Jewish people like myself who don't agree with the qualification 'Jewish and democratic state' will of course have a problem with their conscience as well.

Palestinians reject horsetrading effort by Netanyahu out off hand

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered the Palestinians a trade off on Monday to revive peace talks they quit -- a new freeze on building in settlements if they recognize Israel as a Jewish state.The Palestinians immediately rejected it.  "If the Palestinian leadership will say unequivocally to its people that it recognizes Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, I will be ready to convene my government and request a further suspension," Netanyahu told parliament. "This is not a condition but a trust-building step, which would create wide-ranging trust among the Israeli people, who have lost trust in the Palestinian will for peace over the last 10 years," he said.

"All settlement is illegitimate, it must be frozen for a return to negotiations," said Nabil Abu Rdainah, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "The issue of the Jewishness of the state has nothing to do with the matter," he told Reuters, adding that the Palestinians had already recognised Israel in 1993 and that this should suffice.

The Palestinian leadership argues that recognition of Israel as a Jewish state would compromise the rights of Arab citizens of Israel who make up 20 percent of the population. Such a move, Palestinian officials say, also would effectively forgo the right of return of Palestinian refugees who fled or were forced from their homes in Arab-Israeli wars to return to territory that is now Israel. (Reuters)
The direct talks were kicked off in Washington on September 2. Netanyahu made his move on Monday,  three days after the Palestinians and Arab powers had given the United States a month to persuade Israel to declare a new moratorium.

Netanyahu bragging about how he wrecked Oslo

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a visit to a bereaved family in the settlement Ofra, in 2001 when he wasn't in the government anymore. On the tape - which was filmed without his knowledge - he brags about how he wrecked the Oslo agreements. Also he tells that he knows how to handle the United States. 'America is a thing that can be pushed easily....'  

Knesset revokes priviliges from Arab member Hanin Zoabi due to her participation in Gaza flotilla

A fake Iranian passport for Hanin Zoabi (Picture Haaretz)

The Israeli parliament, the Knesset on Tuesday revoked privileges from MK Hanin Zoabi, due to her participation in the Gaza aid flotilla in May. With a vote of  34 against 16 MKs it voted in favor of invalidating her diplomatic passport and revoking her right to receive funding for legal expenses.
Zoabi, a member of the Arab Balad Party, spoke at a hearing before the vote and said the Knesset's conduct proved that ther was no democracy in Israel. She went on to say that, far from revoking her rights, the other MKs should be protecting them. "You should have protected me from the racism against me because of my opinions," she said.
"A debate such as this cannot be held in a proper fashion, and it would shame any other parliament in the world," said the Arab MK. "You can't claim that democracy exists here. I am an MK and I have the right, even the duty, to fight for my positions.I am an MK from Balad, which means I oppose the occupation and the blockade. Not only do I represent the opinions of my people, I represent those of other Arab MKs. I also represent a global consensus."

MK Anastassia Michaeli (Yisrael Beiteinu), who had previously attacked Zoabi on the stand, now presented her with an Iranian passport bearing her picture. She was thereafter removed from the plenum. But before she left Michaeli told Zoabi, "Most of the Arabs in Israel are smart enough and faithful enough to the state to open their eyes after your incitement. You do not represent them. I take your loyalty to Iran seriously and suggest that you appeal to Ahmadinejad for citizenship and a diplomatic Iranian passport. In the meantime allow me to supply you with a temporary passport that will certainly benefit you in your incitement tours, because we will be revoking your Israeli passport tonight."

MK Shai Hermesh (Kadima) told the Knesset why it would be wrong to push Zoabi out of  parliament. He quoted David Ben Gurion who once preferred to add Moshe Dayan to his cohorts. "I prefer to have him pissing out from my tent, rather than from outside in. Pushing Zoabi out from the Knesset would be a mistake. The damage she will do as a movement outside parliament that can accuse Israel of apartheid is inestimably greater than the damage she can do from inside," according to Hermesh.

{I'd like to add a remark concerning Geert Wilders, our Dutch member of parliament who is an great fan of Israel. If the Dutch parliament would have acted towards him like the Israeli one at present is behaving  towards Zoabi, he would have been  a new immigrant in Australia by now.}

Lova Eliav - long time dove and paticipant of the dialogue with the PLO - dies at 89

Long-time politician and educator Aryeh 'Lova' Eliav passed away on Sunday. He was 89. Eliav was  a senior member of the Labor party for many years, was for some time the party sectary, but fell out about Labour's settlement policy and the policy towards the PLO. Among people from the peace camp outside Israel like me, he will be best remembered as one of the people who started talking with PLO-representatives back in 1974, together with people like Uri Avnery, Matti Peled and Jaacov Arnon (Jaap van Amerongen).
Eliav was born in Moscow and arrived in Israel, then British Mandatory Palestine, with his family at the age of three. At the age of three. At age 15 he joined the Haganah Jewish defense organization, and in 1941 he volunteered for the British army and fought in World War II.
Eliav entered the political scene in 1965, winning a seat in the sixth Knesset with the (first) Ma'arach party, the predecessor of today's Labor. Also he became party secretary. He left Labor a decade later due to his opposition to the foundation of Labour settlemnets on the West Bank. He served as a member of Ya'ad, and then of Sheli, but returned to Labor in 1979 and remained in the party until 1992.