Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on December 26, 2021

So how did I get here? I mean wind up as a Jewish Cantor? A Hazzan and full member of the Jewish clergy. I wasnt born to it. Nope. I was raised in the most secular of Skokie homes. Sunday School, not Hebrew school (parental units though that would be a waste of time). BBQ ribs on Sundays. Glazed ham when we had company (though not on Passover!). Chanukah, yes. Yom Kippur? Only barely, and only until company came for the break-fast in the late afternoon. Friday night dinner, definitely: white tablecloth, baked chicken, and Liptons Chicken noodle soup. Kiddush in English from the old Union Prayerbook. Havdalah? I had no idea until I was an adult. Kashrut? No way. (My moms favorite argument against was the apparent arbitrariness of making chicken meat when eggs were parve.

My mom was spiritual and knowledgeable in her own way. She quoted Talmud (she learned in adult education classes) and insisted with engage in the Talmudic practice of pilpul (which was more or less argument for arguments sake) throughout my teenage years. But Ill pick up the story a few years later

When I was about 24 years old, I found myself sitting in Temple (or synagogue or shul)on a Saturday morning. It was probably the last place I wanted to be. I hadnt been in one in years and this particular synagogue was Traditional, a sort of Midwest Modern Orthodox (yeah, that helps!). Lets just say that pretty much everything was in Hebrew, mumbled quickly and incoherently to my then-20-something American ears.

We were there to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of my sister, who was marrying a guy raised traditionally, the son of Holocaust survivors. She was having an Auf-Ruf (a sort of feting of the about-to-be married couple) and her fiancs family belonged to this synagogue. We sat through what seemed like an interminable service conducted in a language I barely understood (barely, being a charitable term for my knowledgeor lack thereof.)

My father had passed away about nine months earlier. I sat between my mom and my uncle (who knew a lot more about this Orthodox thing), and I periodically glanced sideways at my uncle, assuming he knew more about what we should be doingand when. Should we stand? Sit? Bow? BOW???! I turned the page of my prayer book when he turned his pages.

Suddenly I heard a word I understood: Kaddish. Kaddish! I knew that word well enough. Like I said, my dad had just passed away less than nine months earlier and I knew that was the prayer youre supposed to say when youre in the first year (fine point: its not really a year) after a parent dies. So I heard Kaddish, and knowing you were supposed to stand for the Kaddish, I did. My uncle looked at me and tugging my arm, gesturing for me to sit, he said No. Sit. Its not the Kaddish you need.

Oh.

Now I was really confused. Several Kaddishes later, and nearing the end of the service, once again, the rabbi said Kaddish, by now quite knowledgeable that I was not to stand or otherwise acknowledge this prayer.

I had the whole thing puzzled out by then, being as the prayer book was of no use to me. Id figured out that my uncle knew that my mother had paid some guy in another synagogue to say Kaddish for the year. I figured that her transaction absolved me of this obligation. So, saying seated, I knew I was doing what I supposed to do, and that I wasnt going to appear once again to be the idiot in the room!

Out the corner of my eye I saw my uncle motioning to me. Get up, he whispered urgently. Up. Now! he said through his teeth. It was nearly the end of the service. And I finally got it. This was where you were supposed to say the Mourners Kaddish. Ahh. Needless to say, I was completely confused; perplexed, even.

Spending most of the service in a state of unending anxiety trying not to look completely ignorant in front of my sisters family to be (and she was more clueless than I was, trust me), I failed to connect what we were doing with anything remotely spiritual. And so it went. Synagogue services were a two-hour bore (unless the sermon happened to be unusually compelling), and I spent most of my time trying futility to keep up with the rapid Hebrew (and standing up at the right time). This was hardly the foundation for anything remotely spiritual.

This became a chronic problem when, after getting married, my husband wanted to join a Conservative synagogue. I was all for doing whatever he wanted to do; it certainly didnt matter to me which synagogue we didnt attend (except for the requisite High Holy Days and other special occasions). Except, there was a problem. He wanted to go. Like, often. As in every week (and on every holiday). OY!

By then (it was a year after my sisters wedding) Id figured out the Hebrew alphabet, more out of self-defense than anything else, and thought I knew my way around the curves and angles of the aleph-bet (thats what we in the Jewish ed biz call the Hebrew alphabet).

So I dabbled a toe and went with him. I could barely contain my glee to have recognized a word Id heardin Hebrew, actually finding it in the prayer book (tada!)and then my dismay as they quickly moved ahead of me, leaving me in the dust of the aleph-bet and trying catch up. All pretty much to no avail.

Sound familiar?

Eventually, I caught on and then some, especially after deciding that at the age of 35, it was time to have a Bat Mitzvah (nope, never had one when I was 13). So I studied and struggled and learned enough to get through the day, but something more important happened during that process: a spark lit long ago by I-dont-know-who ignited and suddenly I couldnt get enough.

Giving up a promising career as a public affairs consultant, I eventually made the life-altering decision to become a professional Jewish Cantor. Far from a voila, the process takes years of study and experience. But here I am doing what I lovewhat Im meant to do.

So, thats where I came from, and if youve read this far, hopefully, youll accompany me on this blogging journey. Well cover rituals, holidays and observances familiar and obscure, and much more. I cant promise to make you a maven (an expert), but I can promise that youll be more knowledgeable about this ancient and sometimes overwhelming religion of ours. And maybe youll even be able to keep up with your kids (or grandkids)!

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Jewish and Truly Perplexed: Cantor BB's Blog - Blogcritics

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Posted By admin on December 26, 2021

Farmer Marwan Abu Salah picks sweet potatoes from his land in Rafah, south of Gaza City. Fatima Shbair for NPR hide caption

RAFAH, Gaza Strip The Palestinian farmers of Gaza are attuned to the rhythms of the Jewish calendar and have anxiously awaited this moment.

Every seven years, the Bible commands farmers in the Holy Land to give their fields a rest (Leviticus 25). The yearlong agricultural sabbath, called the shmita in Hebrew, began this fall.

Most Israeli farmers continue to plow their fields. But to help feed the strictest Jewish followers of the tradition many of the ultra-Orthodox communities that make up nearly 13% of Israel's population Israel vows to loosen its tight restrictions on vegetable exports from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

Israel will allow farmers in the blockaded territory to export cucumbers, zucchini, peppers and sweet potatoes for Israeli consumption this coming year, according to Israel's Agriculture Ministry. Fatima Shbair for NPR hide caption

For the first time since the Islamist militant group took over Gaza in 2007, Israel will allow farmers in the blockaded territory to export cucumbers, zucchini, peppers and sweet potatoes for Israeli consumption this coming year, according to Israel's Agriculture Ministry.

"Every seven years is the year of the religious people," Gaza farmer Marwan Abu Salah says, referring to the devout Jews on the other side of the fortified Israeli barrier whom he has never met but hopes will become his prime customers.

The 37-year-old farmer plunges his bare hands into a sandy hill covered in leafy green located on the southern edge of Gaza near the Egyptian border and pulls out nine plump sweet potatoes. "Red gold," he says, cradling the pink newborns like a proud father.

Palestinian workers clean dirt off sweet potatoes to prepare them for export to the West Bank. Fatima Shbair for NPR hide caption

Palestinian workers clean dirt off sweet potatoes to prepare them for export to the West Bank.

Gaza could be an ideal source of fruits and vegetables for Israel this shmita year running from September 2021 to September 2022. It's next door, its prices are cheap, and Jewish tradition says it was ruled by Philistines during the time of the ancient Israelites more than 3,000 years ago, so many Orthodox rabbis consider it beyond the borders of the Holy Land and exempt from the biblically mandated year of rest.

But 14 years of conflict have kept most of Gaza's produce trapped.

In 2007, Hamas, considered a terrorist group by Israel and the West, overtook Gaza from the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. Since then, Israel and Egypt have imposed sanctions on the territory, tightly restricting travel and trade out of Gaza, and curtailing produce exports.

For this year's shmita, in addition to tomatoes and eggplants, Israel added other crops, including peppers and sweet potatoes, to its list of approved vegetable imports from Gaza. Fatima Shbair for NPR hide caption

Only after a devastating Hamas-Israel war in 2014 did Israel creak open the door to allow Gaza farmers to export produce to Israel and to Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank for the first time. Only tomatoes and eggplants were permitted into Israel, appearing on supermarket shelves for ultra-Orthodox Jewish buyers during the agricultural sabbath in 2015.

When that shmita year ended, Gaza farmers were in for a surprise: Israel let the tomatoes and eggplants keep coming year after year, according to Gisha, an Israeli legal advocacy group that lobbies for freedom of movement for Gaza civilians. Israel has also permitted Gaza strawberries to be sold in the West Bank.

For this year's shmita, in addition to tomatoes and eggplants, Israel added the extra varieties from peppers to sweet potatoes to its list of approved vegetable imports. Palestinian farmers submitted produce samples to Israel for sanitation inspection, and expected to begin sales at the start of the Jewish new year in September.

The farmers are still waiting.

Palestinian workers in Gaza prepare vegetables for export to the West Bank. They were promised a chance to export to Israel but have grown impatient. Some planted extra crops, expecting big sales in Israel, and ended up throwing away produce or selling it for cheap on the local market. Fatima Shbair for NPR hide caption

"It is supposed to begin soon," Israel's Agriculture Ministry told NPR by email.

Gisha says Israeli agricultural officials claim there is no need yet for Gaza produce because Turkey is meeting the current market shmita demand. Egypt and Jordan also supply excess vegetables to Israel during the biblical year of rest, and some ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities accept produce from Palestinian-owned farms in the West Bank.

Sputtering Egyptian-mediated truce negotiations between Israel and Hamas may also contribute to the export delay from Gaza.

"Every aspect of Israel's access policy for Gaza, including what goods can come out during the shmita year, is tied up in ongoing negotiations with Hamas over a long-term ceasefire and prisoner deal," said Tania Hary, director of Gisha. "This government, like those before it, is continuing to leverage its control over the economic life and well-being of civilians in the Strip for its own political gain, in violation of its obligation to protect human rights, not trade in them."

Israel has permitted the import of Gaza tomatoes since the shmita year in 2015. Gaza farmers protest Israeli agricultural requirements to remove the tomato stems, saying this damages the produce. Fatima Shbair for NPR hide caption

Gaza farmers have grown impatient. Some planted extra crops months in advance, expecting big sales in Israel, and ended up throwing away produce or selling it for cheap on the local market, losing potential revenue.

"We started to plant more tomatoes and zucchini because we understood there would be a lot of demand," Abu Salah says. "They tricked us."

Gaza farmers add it to a long list of grievances they hold against Israel. Not only does Israel restrict produce exports abroad, it has sprayed herbicides along the frontier with Gaza to kill off dense vegetation and keep the border region exposed for security monitoring. Farmers say this poisons crops in some of the few remaining arable lands in the densely populated territory.

When interviewed, Gaza farmers were not versed in the religious reasoning behind what they call "the year of the religious people," and some misinterpret the Jewish tradition as a commandment to buy produce from one's enemies. Fatima Shbair for NPR hide caption

In Israel, past reliance on Gaza produce for the shmita has stirred controversy among devout Jewish communities, between those bent on the strictest religious practice and others opposed to supporting the economy of a territory run by Israel's enemy Hamas.

When interviewed, Gaza farmers were not versed in the religious reasoning behind what they call "the year of the religious people," and some misinterpreted the Jewish tradition every seven years as a commandment to buy produce from one's enemies. The farmers' focus was not on religion but on a rare opportunity to boost their income after years of export bans.

Gaza farmers could have found a much bigger market in Israel this year if it weren't for a religious loophole.

A Palestinian worker prays near vegetables ready to be exported to the West Bank. The farmers are focused on a rare opportunity to boost their income after years of export bans. Fatima Shbair for NPR hide caption

Only 3% to 5% of Israel's farmers let their lands lie fallow as the Bible commands, the Agriculture Ministry says. The rest embrace a legal fiction facilitated by the country's Chief Rabbinate and accepted by most Jewish communities: They symbolically sell their farmlands to a non-Jew for the year and carry on growing and selling as usual.

That is how Brazilian road engineer Wesley Schmidt, 31, who moved to Israel with his Jewish wife five years ago, became the symbolic owner of about a million acres of Israeli farmland this year.

Rabbis say the workaround is necessary to maintain Israel's viable farming economy.

"Everyone recognizes this is a loophole," says Rabbi Yedidya Sinclair, author of The Sabbath of the Land, a book about shmita. "But it's a compassionate loophole."

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A biblical rest from farming in Israel could help Gaza's growers. They are waiting - NPR

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Posted By admin on December 26, 2021

Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit has approved the imposition of government restrictions on unvaccinated people in an effort to encourage them to get the jab, regardless of whether those restrictions are demonstrably epidemiologically effective.

In view of the attorney generals legal brief, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz are weighing bringing a few proposals to the cabinet, designed to bolster restrictions on unvaccinated people.

Until now, the attorney general has prevented the government implementing policies whose sole intention is to encourage vaccination regardless of whether it is epidemiologically justified. The prohibition included both the awarding of benefits to those who do get the vaccine and the imposing of restrictions on people refusing to get vaccinated.

Before any decision on augmenting restrictions, representatives of the attorney general generally request an expert opinion from the Health Ministry regarding the policy's epidemiological efficacy. Policies would be implemented only after such an opinion was received. These opinions have been used by the state in responding to the numerous petitions objecting to various coronavirus-related restrictions that have been submitted to the High Court of Justice.

With the rapid spread of the omicron variant, the attorney general's has shifted his position. The reversal came during a cabinet debate on a proposal that would restrict entry to malls to fully vaccinated people, while prohibiting entry to unvaccinated people, even when they present negative COVID-19 test results. Several proposals came up during the discussion, including rewarding vaccinated people through a financial bonus or giving coupons to parents who vaccinate their children.

Deputy Attorney General Ram Nizri agreed in principle to allow the government to take action against unvaccinated people, restricting them even without a formal justification. According to Nizri, if the cabinet approved such measures, the Health Ministry would need to write a memorandum stating that even though such a move lacked a direct epidemiological rationale, it was necessary due to its anticipated effectiveness in raising the number of vaccinated people.

It remains unclear if such a policy change will hold up to the High Court of Justice's scrutiny, but the attorney general would be willing to defend

The cabinet will be able to get legal approval for taking steps to restrict the unvaccinated in non-essential commercial and leisure venues, but sources stress that it will not be able to impose a complete lockdown on them. Moreover, there will be no limits on financial benefits the government will be able to give people who have been vaccinated.

Mendelblit's change of policy follows similar moves around the world, as governments buckling under the pressure of the new variant have notched up their efforts to incentivize people to get vaccinated, most recently across Europe.

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Israel's Attorney General gives nod to sanctions on unvaccinated against COVID - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on December 26, 2021

Mansour Abbas is the most important figure to arise in Israeli politics. Hes the man of the hour. As an Arab Israeli, he challenges not only Israelis Jews and Arabs alike but also the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank and Gaza.

He told journalist Mohammad Magadli in Hebrew last week what other Palestinian leaders have refused to declare for so long: The State of Israel was born as a Jewish state, and the question is how we integrate Arab society into it.

His comments provoked harsh criticism both from Arab politicians in the Joint List and his own party, the United Arab List and from the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank and Gaza. But Abbas didnt fold. He didnt wish to clarify or put things in context. He doubled down on what he said in Hebrew and previously in Arabic (in an interview with the Nazareth-based newspaper and website Kul al-Arab). Like a real leader.

For years, the paradigm that the road to peace in the Middle East passes through the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has held sway in Israel and abroad. Benjamin Netanyahu sought to switch to another paradigm: The Palestinians can be bypassed and regional peace pursued without resolving the local conflict. Within these two paradigms, the status of Arab Israelis has been stuck at the end of the historical line. Abbas turned this paradigm on its head, putting Arab Israelis at the top of the Palestinian agenda.

Did Netanyahu see in the distance some form of a Palestinian state autonomy plus or state minus as he talked about in his 2009 speech on a two-state solution at Bar-Ilan University? It doesnt really matter because his goal was to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. Netanyahus father revealed in an interview with Channel 2: Benjamin doesnt support a Palestinian state unless its under conditions they would never accept. I heard this from him.

Abbas may only represent Arab Israelis and not even all of them. Still, his willingness to accept the mother of all demands recognition of Israel as a Jewish state is significant because it could reveal the Israelis true face.

Generations of Israelis have been great at talking about how they seek peace but the Palestinians dont want two states, one Jewish and one Palestinian, but rather a Palestinian state alongside a binational state. These Israelis evidence: Theyre not willing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

What will the opponents of peace, supporters of the status quo or of greater Israel do now? Abbas might yet reveal their inherent opposition to peace, which doesnt depend on the Palestinians filling of one condition or another.

Abbas believes that you have to change to produce change, and he is changing and is changing reality before our eyes. Therefore, he has positioned himself as a relevant leader in Israel, more so than Ayman Odeh and Ahmad Tibi, and as an agent of real change, more so than Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

Its no surprise that he mentioned his bodyguards in the interview and talked about personal danger. Abbas is the most dangerous leader for opponents of peace and reconciliation, both in Israel and in Palestine. And we all know how peace-seeking leaders in the Middle East are repaid.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in his speech at the United Nations this fall that his government, which started as a political accident, can now turn into a purpose. And that purpose is unity. That statement reminded me of Fidel Castro, who is quoted as having said: Men do not shape destiny. Destiny produces the man for the hour.

Who knows if out of this political pileup that was probably caused by Netanyahus slamming of historys brakes, destiny has produced not just one man to meet the needs of this hour but maybe two.

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Islamist leader Mansour Abbas proves again hes Israels man of the hour - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on December 26, 2021

Likud MK ousted from hearing for comparing COVID measures to concentration camps

Likud MK Gadi Yevarkan is kicked out of a hearing of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee for comments comparing COVID measures to the Holocaust.

Yevarkan laments the widespread use of the Green Pass, which is available only to Israelis who have received a COVID vaccine booster dose or been vaccinated or recovered in the past six months.

The majority of Israelis dont have a Green Pass,' claims Yevarkan, adding that millions of Israelis are without one; youre leaving out millions of citizens.

The Likud MK is asked to be quiet by the committee chair since his time to speak was over, but he refuses.

Do like theyre doing in Austria, thats what you want to do, he shouts, a reference to the European countrys decision to institute a lockdown just for the unvaccinated. All thats missing is concentration camps.

Yevarkan is ordered to be removed from the committee hearing by its chairman, Labor MK Gilad Kariv, and forcibly taken from the room by a Knesset security guard.

Disgraceful words, says Kariv, calling Yevarkans comments a low point.

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Likud MK ousted from hearing for comparing COVID measures to concentration camps - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on December 26, 2021

Is the basic Israeli assumption that the Hamas leadership wants a continuation of the quiet in the Gaza Strip still valid? A number of recent statements by some of the top people in Hamas indicate that they may now be re-evaluating the situation along the Gazan border.

On Tuesday evening, Hamas announced it was prepared to establish a new equation regarding Israel because of the recent incidents in Israeli security prisons. The atmosphere in the prisons is deteriorating, partly in light of the steps initiated by the Israel Prison Service following the disorder revealed by the escape of Palestinian inmates from Gilboa Prison. In Damon Prison there was the unusual incident of female Palestinian prisoners complaining that female guards conducted a violent search for mobile phones hidden in their cells. The Palestinian media also reported that the prisoners were forced to remove their head scarves (hijab), which stirred agitation in the territories.

LISTEN: Why Israels decision to shut out Diaspora Jews will rankle for years

Things reached a peak when an imprisoned Hamas activist stabbed an Israeli guard in Nafha Prison, wounding him mildly. Prison Service sources said the stabbing was preceded by a number of intelligence warnings about expected attempts by prisoners to attack guards. The incident may have stemmed from laxity in keeping to security procedures in the prison, such as guards not wearing protective gear or entering cells individually instead of in pairs.

The language Hamas is using lately is reminiscent of the days prior to the previous escalation in the territories, Operation Guardian of the Walls, in May. At that time the Hamas leadership chose to throw itself into the tension that was swelling on the Temple Mount and at Damascus Gate, making threats and finally launching a rocket from Gaza at Jerusalem. The result was a sharp Israeli response, and in its wake the worst round of fighting in the Strip since Operation Protective Edge in summer 2014. This time Hamas is saying it will not hesitate to act as it did in May, and that the prisoners conditions are an important consideration, no less so than the situation in Jerusalem was earlier in the year.

There were additional threats voiced this past week surrounding the visit to Gaza by a delegation from Egyptian intelligence. The Egyptians are trying to advance three aims: projects to rehabilitate Gaza, practical talks on a prisoner and MIA exchange deal with Israel, and long-term quiet along the border. The gap between the sides on the exchange is making it difficult to achieve the other two goals.

At the moment, it seems the government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has very little room to maneuver to reach a deal. There is no real pressure from the Israeli public for the return of the two civilians and the remains of the two soldiers held in Gaza, and there is no real support for paying the high price Hamas is demanding: the release of hundreds of prisoners, among them murderers of Israelis.

Hamas is making threats because of the accumulation of burning issues from its perspective: stagnation in the negotiations on the exchange, complaints by the prisoners in Israel, slow implementation of the reconstruction process, the start of winter that is expected, as usual, to bring flooding and disruptions of the electricity supply, and fear of a renewed spread of the coronavirus with the arrival of the omicron variant.

Hamas representatives told the Egyptian mediators that they would like to increase the number of Gazan workers allowed to enter Israel. The Bennett government has given its unusual approval for 10,000 such workers. In Hamas they want three times that number, at least.

The recent threats are being interpreted in Israel as evidence of distress in Hamas, yet among the organizations leaders, there is a feeling of power. From its perspective, it won in Operation Guardian of the Walls and it is not afraid to risk another conflagration. The organization undertook a similar tactic in the past as well, when it hoped to pursue controlled escalation on the ground that would force Israel into economic and social measures. However, Hamas control of what happens is far from total. If, for example, it gives freer rein to the dissident groups and lets them send a rocket or two into the Israeli communities across the border, theres no certainty the matter will end there.

In the background, the tension between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is heating up again. The latter is showing weakness in the West Bank, while Hamas and Islamic Jihad are ratcheting up attacks against Israelis. These attacks are eroding the PAs control on the ground and increasing public dissatisfaction with it as a corrupt collaborator with Israel. In recent days the Palestinian media have been reporting that Israel has transmitted threats, via the Egyptians, that if the PA does not stop the Hamas leadership in Turkey and Lebanon from directing attacks in the West Bank, Israel will assassinate Saleh Aruri, a top Hamas official who moves back and forth between Turkey and Lebanon. It appears that these threats have increased the tension in Hamas and contributed to the harshening of its tone towards Israel.

Moreover, the intra-Palestinian conflict has spilled over into Lebanon: After the mysterious explosion that occurred last week in a Hamas arms depot under a mosque in a refugee camp in Tyre, exchanges of fire erupted at the funeral of the man killed in the incident, a Hamas member. Three Palestinians were killed in the explosion, and others were wounded, from both Fatah and Hamas. One of the wounded is a top Hamas man, Zaher Jabarin, who holds the prisoners portfolio in the organization.

Money time

The nuclear talks in Vienna between Iran and the world powers are approaching what diplomatic sources in Jerusalem, who adore the English language no less than their colleagues in the previous government, are calling money time. This expression is relevant in its original sense, meaning decision time, but also because there is literally quite a lot of money on the table. Israel is warning the United States that lifting sanctions in return for Iranian concessions will bring a deluge of dollars to the Revolutionary Guards, and the money will find its way into the hands of terror and guerrilla organizations throughout the region, including Hezbollah, which is in desperate need of economic aid.

Jake Sullivan, President Joe Bidens national security adviser, made a swift visit to Israel on the eve of the Christmas vacation. In an interview with Jonathan Lis on Wednesday, he said the United Sates has set a deadline of within weeks for completing the talks with Tehran. Other top American officials have spoken recently about a few months. Sullivan met here with Bennett and top diplomatic and security officials. As usual, Israeli sources criticized the world powers conduct in the talks.

In Israel they are always astonished anew at the Iranians success in maintaining a tough line at the talks, even while holding cards that Bennett and Defense Minister Benny Gantz think are far from great. Despite an almost unprecedented domestic crisis only last week the American media reported on tremendous difficulties in the Iranian water supply and massive emigration from the country in Israel it seems Iran is the side dictating the direction of the talks.

Nonetheless, Israeli officials acknowledge that the extent of their possible influence on the United States and the other powers in the talks is limited. Moreover, the Biden administrations agenda has changed in a way that is not to Israels benefit. Added now to the list of international issues on the presidents agenda the climate crisis, coronavirus and competition with China is another urgent issue: the worsening hostility between Russia and Ukraine. In Washington they arent ruling out the possibility that Russian President Vladimir Putin will ignite a war with Ukraine. The efforts to rein in Putins moves are now central to the administrations agenda.

In the midst of all this, the flood of belligerent statements about the possibility (which is very unrealistic) of an attack in the near future on the Iranian nuclear sites persists. The most recent to fall into this trap, this week, is the head of the IDF General Staff Planning Directorate, Tomer Bar, who in a front-page headline in Yediot Aharonot declared, There is no way we will not act in Iran and carry out the mission. Bar, who becomes commander of the air force next year, will certainly fill that position no less well than his excellent predecessors. However, even pilots need some instruction on how to talk to the media. These headlines arent contributing anything to Israels diplomatic efforts and are perceived, by the Europeans as well, as empty boasting. Bennett, who was surprised by the headline on Wednesday, thinks so too.

Israel is hoping that Irans hard line in the talks will lead down the road to America once again imposing harsh sanctions. Dr. Udi Levy, formerly a top Mossad official and the head of the Israeli team that dealt with the economic battle against Iran and the terror organizations, is not optimistic. In an article he published this week on the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security website, he wrote that despite Irans dire economic situation, the international sanctions have not succeeded in forcing it to compromise over its nuclear program.

According to Levy, to date the aim of the sanctions toppling the regime or applying pressure that will lead to Iranian concessions in the talks has not been defined. Levy writes that there has been a decrease in the ability to enforce the sanctions and that they are losing their effectiveness. In light of the tension between the United States and China and Russia, China has become Irans lifeline in the sanctions war. The Iranian leaders, wrote Levy, have learned to adapt themselves to the sanctions regime by building an economy within the economy. At a time when Iranian society is suffering from the sanctions, the Revolutionary Guards are flourishing and exploiting a large part of the weakening economy for their own needs.

Levy told Haaretz that in his assessment, there is not much chance that the United States will agree to Israels proposal to impose more sanctions. He urges the U.S. administration to focus on imposing personal economic sanctions on top people in the regime and the Revolutionary Guards. However, he says, the Achilles heel of the American campaign remains the crisis with Russia and China that is blocking international diplomatic coordination against Iran. Here, though, he sees a source for a possible solution. Maybe, he wrote, the Americans and the Chinese will ultimately reach a compromise in the economic struggle they are waging against each other, and in such circumstances Beijing would be prepared to sacrifice its relations with Iran.

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Hamas is back to threatening Israel, but that doesn't mean it's in control - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on December 26, 2021

Dont you dare take from us the term 'the best,' the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Aviv Kochavi, said this week during the graduation ceremony for a pilots course. He was responding to a billboard in Tel Aviv suburb Herzliya reading the best for cyber, a play on the old phrase the best for the air force.

"Dont you dare diminish it," Kochavi said. "Dont modernize it and dont force it into the supposed new zeitgeist. The best are those who do something for someone, something good, important and moral, and without asking whats in it for me? A country facing many threats and six fronts at once knows how to appreciate its elite operational units and combat troops, and knows how to say loud and clear the best are combat soldiers."

LISTEN: Why Israels decision to shut out Diaspora Jews will rankle for years

Kochavis tirade was against the economic and cultural aggrandizement of high-tech and the cyberworld within it maybe our main zeitgeist. Quality soldiers are recruited into technology units rather than combat units or the units that police the occupation. Kochavi's stance was powerful. The prioritizing of the cyberprofessions over combat, he said, reflects a loss of values and weakens the foundations of society. Its that bad.

Kochavis aggressive speech bordered on hysteria because it reflects the opposite of reality including the reality of the organization he leads. Kochavi knows that many candidates for service with desirable traits, who come from strong socioeconomic backgrounds, are plucked by the technology units. They don't have to chase stone-throwing kids in the West Bank or East Jerusalem in heavy bullet-proof vests under an oppressive sun or a driving rain.

The army is investing many resources in the technology units, providing its members with skills that train them as professionals in lucrative industries as they develop a very useful social network for the future. In contrast, combat soldiers, who risk their lives, filling their families with days and nights of worry, are released into the job market without any skills or training to help them earn a high salary.

After discharge, soldiers released from the armys elite technology units earn salaries many times those of veteran workers in other industries. We can praise or condemn this cultural development, but the reality is undeniable.

The loss of values and weakening of society's foundations that Kochavi is talking about isn't the main problem regarding the best to cyber reality. This reality isn't being created, its already a fact.

Some soldiers sacrifice their bodies and sometimes even their lives in primitive face-to-face combat, something deemed inferior because it's physical and doesn't reflect the controlling of the consciousness. The moment these people understand how low their rank is in the new hierarchy, they might rebel against it. And they dont love rebellion in the army, or for that matter in any other hierarchy.

Anyway, the way to test people's honesty on any subject is to examine the path down which they send their children. One of Kochavis daughters, for example, served in the elite 8200 intelligence unit. Theres nothing wrong with that, but maybe this is a good time to remember what Likud's Silvan Shalom told Benjamin Netanyahu at a cabinet meeting in 2014.

Shalom criticized the gearing of Mizrahi children into vocational schools, and Netanyahu replied: You're living in the world of yesterday. Today, metalworkers and welders earn good money. Shaloms answer was astute: Then let your son be a metalworker or a welder. Or, in contemporary terms of the army: Let your son be a combat soldier.

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Israel's best soldiers have long since fled the battlefield - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on December 26, 2021

As a proud Jew, and as the head of one of the oldest Jewish-American organizations, I make a point of coming to pray at the Kotel the Western Wall during my visits to Israel. It is one of the few places which allows me to reflect on my personal life and professional challenges, while being in the presence of a symbol of Jewish longing and Jewish continuity that has inspired our people for thousands of years.

I was therefore dismayed that, in the face of incitement and violent threats from extremist voices within the Haredi community, several senior Israeli government officials have called for yet another suspension of the so-called Kotel Compromise that would create a more open and welcoming egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall.

While opinion polls in Israel show that most Israelis dont consider this issue as one of great concern, I can tell you that it is an issue of great importance to Jews around the world.

It is disturbing that many Jews visiting the Koteltoday are still unable to worship in accordance with their religious practices and beliefs, reflecting the true diversity of Jewish practice around the world. This includes non-Orthodox Jews, who desire an egalitarian prayer space that is no less visible and comfortable than the main Kotel prayer area. Some religious groups, including the Women of the Wall, have even been subjected to discrimination and violence when they come to pray at the Kotel, simply because of their varied forms of religious practice.

This experience of sometimes violent exclusion is unfortunately part of broader trend of discrimination by extremist Haredi politicians and rabbis who seek to maintain a religious monopoly on Jewish issues and Jewish practice across Israel. And it is a trend that speaks directly to the lack of respect for the diversity of Jewish life and practice among Jews of all backgrounds.

The issue of egalitarian space at the Kotel is not news. For those who dont recall, back in 2011, a special government committee was formed to study the egalitarian Kotel prayer space issue, comprised of religious, political and societal leaders, and headed by my friend Natan Sharansky, then chairman of the Jewish Agency.

After several years of discussions, the committee proposed an arrangement known as the Kotel Compromise, which would have doubled the size of the egalitarian prayer space, created a more prominent and visible entrance, and allowed non-Orthodox religious leaders to have a say in overseeing the site.

Initially, the plan was endorsed by then Prime Minister Netanyahus government, which included several Haredi politicians. Though once the agreement was announced, Haredi politicians, who were subjected to heavy public pressure including from influential rabbis, pulled their support and the Compromise collapsed.

This was truly a devastating moment for Jewish communities in various parts of the world, mainly in the U.S., which resulted in increased tensions between Diaspora Jewry and Israel.

For my vantage point, not only had Israel missed an important opportunity to extend its hand to Diaspora Jewry the vast majority of whom are not Orthodox and create an appropriate egalitarian space at the Kotel, more disturbingly, the agreements cancelation resulted in increased hostility toward non-Orthodox Jews at the Kotel.

They became targets of verbal and physical abuse, and their prayer services subjected to deliberate and planned disturbances. We have seen awful images and videos of Women of the Wall members and other non-Orthodox Jews fending off physical attacks by extremist Jews while trying to pray on Rosh Hodesh simply because their practices differed from Orthodox ones.

As a pluralistic Jew who strongly believes in the importance of a Jewish and democratic State of Israel, and as someone who is greatly concerned about the distancing of the younger generation of American Jews from Israel, I can attest that these images negatively affect the sense of belonging and affinity many Diaspora Jews have to Israel.

And its not just about the Kotel. The Haredi Rabbinates continued monopoly over lifecycle matters in Israel including Jewish marriage and conversions is also disheartening for non-Orthodox Jews who care about Israel. When Jews in the Diaspora are subjected to antisemitism, no one cares about their denominational affiliation. These distinctions and inequalities exist only within the Jewish people, and are unfortunately negatively manifested in the lack of acceptance of non-Orthodox streams in Israel.

The current situation at the Kotel is one that should have been resolved years ago. The Bennett governments initial openness to the Kotel Compromise was a welcome change from years of tensions. Implementing the plan would represent an important step towards a broad recognition and understanding that Jewish identity is multifaceted, and that the Jewish communal tent is broad enough to accommodate a wide variety of beliefs and practices.

As tensions continue to rise around the Kotel issue, it is very disheartening that the government appears to have capitulated once again to Israeli societys most extreme voices instead of standing up to them. Failure to resolve this issue will only lead to increased tensions with global Jewry, and sadly possible further incitement, and, even violence on the ground.

I strongly urge Prime Minister Bennetts government to not suspend the Kotel Compromise and move quickly to implement this well-crafted and important plan. Doing so would send an unequivocal message to both Israeli and Diaspora Jewry that no one has a monopoly on Jewish practice, and that all are welcome to pray at Judaisms holiest site, the Kotel.

Jonathan A. Greenblatt is CEO and National Director of the Anti-Defamation League. Twitter: @JGreenblattADL

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Israel, don't capitulate to the extremists. Let all Jews pray at the Western Wall - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on December 26, 2021

Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, welcomed Israel's ambassador to the UAE, Amir Hayek, to his palace in Saqr bin Mohammed City on Sunday.

The ruler wished him success in his new role and in his efforts to enhance relations between the two countries.

Mr Hayek thanked Sheikh Saud for his hospitality.

Sheikha Amenah bin Saqr Al Qasimi, chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Investment and Development Office in Ras Al Khaimah, also attended the meeting.

Two weeks ago, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett arrived in the UAE for the start of his landmark visit.

The visit came after the UAE's ambassador to Israel Mohamed Al Khaja delivered an invitation to Mr Bennett in October on behalf of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

Since the UAE formally established ties with Israel, through the signing of the Abraham Accords in September last year, much work has been done to bolster a flourishing friendship.

This year, the UAE Cabinet approved the opening of an embassy in Tel Aviv.

This month, Israeli President Isaac Herzog called Sheikh Mohamed to congratulate him on the success of the UAE's Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Updated: December 26th 2021, 3:01 PM

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Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah receives Israel's ambassador to the UAE - The National

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Posted By admin on December 26, 2021

William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Organizations, joins the podcast to talk about what it means for Diaspora Jews to be barred from Israel for nearly two years. He sits down with host Allison Kaplan Sommer on the day Israel officially declared the United States a red country in its ongoing battle against COVID and the omicron variant, barring travel between the two countries.

LISTEN: Why Israels decision to shut out Diaspora Jews will rankle for years

The frustration of the repeated border closures and ever-changing rules, Daroff predicts, will have a long-lasting effect on Israels foreign relations. He also says he doesnt have a problem with Israel showing a preference for admitting Jews over other visitors, since it totally makes sense to me that, as I have a right of return, and as all Jews have a refuge here in Israel, that the standards would be different for Jews than for non-Jews.

In addition, Daroff reacts strongly to the newly released Trump tapes in which the former president said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had shown more desire for a Middle East peace deal than then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Daroff calls Trumps assertion outrageous, saying it is clear that Abu Mazen is not a partner for peace, that he is not someone who is engaged in a legitimate effort to bring about any sort of peace or solution.

At the same time, Trump, in his description and criticism of U.S. Jews, was fueling dangerous stereotypes and radioactive tropes.

Also discussed: Daroffs staunch belief that anti-Zionism is equivalent to antisemitism; his message to young progressive American Jews fighting for Palestinian human rights who feel alienated from the U.S. Jewish establishment; and whether there is still a role for an umbrella organization that professes to speak in one voice for the entire organized American Jewish community, in an age of such deep partisan divides.

Later in the episode (at25:00), Haaretz Opinion Editor Esther Solomon explains why it is imperative that Jews and Israel speak out over growing incitement against Muslims in Bosnia by the Serbs.

Jews, she says, cannot let genocide deniers win or allow the world to forget the atrocities that took place in the 1990s which included the creation of concentration camps, mass rape, deportations, destruction and systemic murder.

Want to get an email every time a new episode is available? Click "Follow" on top of this article, or "Register" with one of the podcast providers and you'll never miss out.

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LISTEN: Why Israel's decision to shut out Diaspora Jews will rankle for years - Haaretz

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