Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on October 20, 2021

By Ron Kampeas

You couldnt Torquemada it: Mel Brooks is making a sequel to History of the World: Part I, the 1981 revue that delighted and/or appalled Jews with, among other segments,a cheery musical take on the Spanish Inquisition.

The original was a feature film; the sequel on Hulu will be a variety series,Variety reported on Monday. Brooks, who is 95, will executive-produce and write; joining him will be professional funny people Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz, David Stassen and Kevin Salter. Production is set to begin in 2022.

Most of the original films cast, including Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Gregory Hines, Cloris Leachman and Sid Caesar, have died in the 40 years since it was released.

I cant wait to once more tell the real truth about all the phony baloney stories the world has been conned into believing are History! Brooks told Variety.

Brooks played a number of roles in the original History, including the Spanish inquisitor Torquemada in the Inquisition skit a tough competition for the most joyfully tasteless segment.We have a mission to convert the Jews, Brooks sings as Torquemada, after sliding down a bannister, Broadway-style, to greet his prisoners in the torture chamber.

Jew, Jew Jew Jew Jew Jew Jews! the chorus of monks replies. Were going to help them see the light and make an offer that they cant refuse, Brooks sings. That the Jews just cant refuse! say the monks.

Other sketches covered cavemen, Moses, the Last Supper, the Roman era and the French Revolution, in which Brooks, as King Louis XVI, uttered the immortal catchphrase, Its good to be the king.

The new series finally fulfills the teaser at the end of Part I, which promised a sequel that would cover Hitler on Ice andJews in Space.

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At 95, Mel Brooks Will Finally Deliver 'History of the World: Part II' - Jewish Exponent

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Posted By admin on October 20, 2021

According to the Israel Health Ministry 2020 report on health care personnel, Arabs and Druze in Israel who make up about 20 percent of the countrys population were the recipients of 46 percent of new licenses issued, up from 18% in 2010 and 11% in 2000.

For the Israeli venture capital fund Takwin, which invests only in startups led by at least one Arab founder, that trajectory is a good sign that Arabs will play a growing role in the countrys start-up ecosystem.

The future is very bright for Arab entrepreneurship in high-tech and for the integration of Arabs into the Israeli society and in its economy, Itzik Frid, Managing Partner and CEO of the Takwin firm, told The Algemeiner in an interview. Im very certain that the same thing that happened in the medical field that almost 50 percent of new medical licenses were issued to Arabs the same exact thing will happen in high-tech.

Considered a primary growth engine of the Israeli economy, the high-tech sector today is comprised of less than 3 percent Arab citizens, while no Arab-founded unicorn or large exit of an Arab company has yet occurred. There are currently an estimated 120 active Arab startups, according to Takwin, compared to almost 6,900 registered Israeli startups cited by the Start-Up Nation Central organization.

At the same time, Frid pointed out that about 20% of the students at top technology institutions like the Technion in Haifa, Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem are now Arabs.

We are now seeing the beginning of a trend, which is accelerating by the day and will burst once we have the first successful exit of an Arab-led startup because then, the mother of every youngster in the Arab society will tell them to go into high-tech, said Frid. This will be similar to what happened to Jews who 20 years ago aspired to be doctors and lawyers, and after a few big success stories like ICQ, their Jewish mothers started to understand that the next door neighbor is making tons of money from high-tech, more than they make from being a doctor.

The impact on the Israeli economy will be in the tens of billions of dollars, he added.

Founded in 2014 by Imad Telhami, the Haifa-based Takwin makes early-stage investments in tech companies run by Arab entrepreneurs in Israel. The VC fund describes itself as a journey enabler, which brings smart money and acts as a platform for innovators in various fields such as autonomous vehicles, agriculture, seismology, and nanotechnology. To do it, Takwin partnered with the founders of Israels two largest investment funds: Chemi Peres of Pitango Venture Capital who is also the son of late President Shimon Peres; and Erel Margalit of Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP).

We are investing to make money, because we believe that only economic success stories will entice the appetite with young Arabs to become entrepreneurs, Frid emphasized.

A recently published survey examined persistent gaps between Arabs and Jews when it comes to the sector, spotlighting opportunities to be part of the Startup Nations entrepreneurial space. In the survey conducted by PresenTense, with the support of Citi Israel, Arab and Jewish respondents were asked about their awareness and exposure to entrepreneurship and high-tech. 64% of Israeli Arabs surveyed said they were not familiar with Israels high-tech industry, entrepreneurship and innovation, compared with 88% of Jewish respondents who answered that they had heard of or been exposed to the industry.

A further 78% of Israeli Arabs said they had no personal connections with entrepreneurs or employees in the industry, compared with 62% of Jewish respondents. Only 1% of Arabs reported that they work in the sector, according to the survey.

One hurdle has been the importance of the military, which does not conscript Arabs, as a pathway to future work in the sector. Arab Israelis living in the peripheries of Israel may also be further removed from the tech hub of the Tel Aviv region.

We build a bridge to provide them with the tools that young Arabs who want to become high-tech entrepreneurs are missing when they come out of university, said Frid.

Apart from financing, Takwin also provides fundamental tools, support and mentoring by experienced investors on the technical side of how to build a startup and grow a team.

I have personally seen more than 1,000 Arab entrepreneurs in the six years that we have been active, Frid said. We do not ask anybody for a preliminary requirement. People can come to us and just talk about an idea that they have in mind.

The VC fund has so far raised $12 million from both Arab and Jewish investors, as well as from others in New York and Boston, and has invested $500,000-$1 million in eight companies. One of the funds first startups, Imagry a vision-based autonomous driving company in which it initially poured less than $1 million has raised funding at a company valuation of $80 million, Frid recounted proudly.

Another company in the funds portfolio is Seismic AI, which focuses on technology to predict earthquakes. SooS, a third, has developed a sound vibration technology to change the gender of chicks from genetic males into functional females during the hatching stage.

Among our eight companies we have eight PhD graduates and four professors, said Frid. This is not something you will see in Jewish-led, early-stage startups, as people start after their army service or after a first university degree.

We also take great pride that 25 percent of our companies are led by women, he added.

The aggregated valuation of the startups in the fund was once less than $8 million, and today stands at over $170 million. The companies started with a workforce of 14 entrepreneurs and are now employing a total of almost 200 Arabs and Jews.

Takwin is currently preparing to raise money for a second fund of up to $100 million, with Frid planning a roadshow on the US West Coast to meet investors. Though none of its startups have had any exits so far, the VC fund chief is optimistic.

We believe we can get to a value of hundreds of millions of dollars, with some of our portfolio companies that are doing very well, he said.

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'The Future is Very Bright': The Venture Capital Fund Investing in Israel's Arab Founders - Algemeiner

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Posted By admin on October 20, 2021

Benny Morris asserted in a recent articlethat Israel has two options both of which he admitted are awful for dealing with Irans nuclear threat. Either it destroys Irans nuclear facilities, which might well result in war with both Iran and its satellites, or it reconciles itself to a nuclear Iran, to living in its shadow and the risk of nuclear attack.

But theres also a third option that he ignored seeking a peace agreement between Israel and Iran, regardless of whether or not the latter becomes a nuclear power.

The options Morris listed and analyzed are both realistic ones that are clearly apparent in the existing political reality. The third option, peace with Iran, is an imaginary, unrealistic and utopian one. Nevertheless, Israel doesnt have the privilege of ignoring this option.

First, any nation that wants to live including nations fully or partially surrounded by enemies ought to bear in mind not only conflict scenarios, but also a diplomatic horizon for forging peace with its enemies at some point in the future. Second, ever since the beginning of modern Zionism, Zionist policy has been characterized not just by a keen sense for the current reality, but also by elements of utopian thought, to strive tirelessly to change the existing reality.

This unique Zionist combination of a realistic approach and a utopian one, which Prof. Yosef Gorny, an expert on Zionism, termed utopian realism, is completely absent from both Prof. Morris analysis and Israels policies on the Iranian threat.

One of the unique characteristics of historical Zionism was its ability to turn what seemed like a utopian vision at any given historical moment into a reality. Indeed, what seems on the surface to be a utopia detached from current reality often reflects a deep, hidden undercurrent in that reality that will someday surface and become relevant once circumstances change. The ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel may prove to be a salient example of this.

On the surface, the mutual hostility between Israel and Iran is a yawning chasm impossible to bridge. But when you look deeper, its clear that this hostility stems more from the rational world of interests and geopolitical power struggles than it does from religious zealotry or ideology.

Even though Shiite rulers frequently embittered the lives of their Jewish minorities over the course of history, the direct and primary cause of Irans hatred of Israel nowadays isnt Shiite theology, but the fact that Israel is Americas most loyal ally in the region. The United States is Irans sworn enemy, and it earned that title honestly through its incessant meddling in Irans domestic affairs during the second half of the previous century. Consequently, if relations between America and Iran someday take a positive turn, this might also favorably affect Irans relations with Israel.

Obviously, any scenario involving reconciliation between Iran and the great Satan, as America is deemed by the ayatollahs regime, is a utopian vision. Therefore, the option of a peace agreement between Iran and the little Satan, as the ayatollahs term Israel, lies strictly in the realm of imagination.

Nevertheless, the mere realization that the relationship between Iran and Israel depends on a factor that is fundamentally rational and might change Irans geopolitical interests regarding America, which, like any set of interests, has a tendency to change over time could contribute in the long run to promoting a future language of reconciliation between Israel and Iran.

This is so because the insight that our enemy, just like us, is driven by rational cost-benefit calculations could challenge demonization of this enemy. And challenging the demonization of the enemy is a basic condition for someday making it possible to reach a peace agreement with it.

In contrast, Israels current way of talking about Iran, which was clearly reflected in Morris article, is rife with sweeping demonization and ultimatums, to the point of absurdly depicting Iran a very cautious country that tends to work against its enemies indirectly, through its proxies as a country that would be willing to commit suicide in order to attack Israel with nuclear weapons.

This demonization is unnecessary for two reasons. First, it ignores the concrete factors driving Irans hostility toward Israel, and could therefore impair Israels judgment and its ability to assess the nature and dimensions of the Iranian threat matter-of-factly and judiciously. Second, this demonization which is an almost perfect reflection of Irans language of big Satan and little Satan with regard to America and Israel contributes to the regions continued slide toward an all-out war, without even attempting to open a dialogue of reconciliation.

Clearly, Israel must weigh both of the gloomy options Morris proposed in his article with all due seriousness and continue preparing for a possible military conflict with Iran. But at the same time, Israel should stop its demonizing babble about Iran and, in the spirit of historical Zionisms utopian realism, challenge its primary enemy with the language of peace.

Surprisingly enough, its not inconceivable that there are actually members of the Iranian establishment who, in their heart of hearts, are waiting to extend a hand to Israel in peace and longing for reconciliation between these two ancient peoples of Mideastern civilization.

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Israels third option for dealing with Iran - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on October 20, 2021

The Blue Flag multinational air exercise, which is bringing together the most advanced aircraft of seven nations' armed forces over Israeli skies, entered its third day on Tuesday.

The exercise, which is slated to run through October 28, has fourth and fifth-generation fighter aircraft belonging to Germany, Italy, Britain, France, India, Greece, and the United States train together. It is being touted by Jerusalem as Israel's largest and most advanced aerial exercise ever.

LISTEN: Trump's 'shadow government' in Jerusalem and the offshore accounts bankrolling settlements

In 2017, one senior IAF officer described the biennial exercise as aerial diplomacy, a demonstration by Israel that more countries than ever are willing to engage with it publicly as strategic allies, and put aside political considerations, like the concerns of Arab nations and the Palestinian issue.

The exercise will focus on broadening and enhancing the operational capabilities of the participating forces, with a focus on air-to-air and air-to-ground attacks, as well as evading ground-based air defense systems and various operational scenarios in enemy territory, the army said.

This is the first deployment of a British fighter squadron in Israel since the establishment of the country, as well as the first-ever deployment of an Indian "Mirage" fighter squadron in Israel, and the first deployment of a French 'Rafale' fighter squadron in Israel, the statement added.

"We are living in a very complicated region, and the threats to the State of Israel from the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran are only increasing, IAF commander Gen. Amikam Norkin said in a statement.

Holding an international exercise in this current reality, while continuing our overt and covert operational activities on all fronts, is of utmost strategic importance and has extensive impact over the Israeli Air Force, the IDF, and the State of Israel, he continued, stating that the current exercise acts as a stepping-stone toward regional and international cooperation.

On Sunday, the first day of the exercise, Norkin and his German counterpart, Luftwaffe commander Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz, led a joint Israeli-German flyover of Jerusalem before attending a tour of the capitals Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Center, where the pair lit the eternal flame and laid a memorial wreath in honor of the victims of the Holocaust.

On Tuesday, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi presented Gerhartz with a Medal of Appreciation in recognition of his efforts to advance close cooperation between the Israeli and German armed forces while German Ambassador Susanne Wasum-Rainer presented Norkin with the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, one of the countrys highest national decorations.

Israeli and German aircraft are training side-by-side to be best prepared for the mounting security challenges of our time, Wasum-Rainer said at the ceremony. The participation of Israeli aircraft in a German exercise last year was another meaningful step that demonstrated professionalism and the growing friendship between our soldiers.

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Israel's 'largest and most advanced aerial exercise ever' enters its third day - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on October 20, 2021

Israel hosted air forces from seven countries in a biennial exercise called Blue Flag. The last time the exercise took place was in 2019. That year, itincluded 725 personnel from Israel, the United States, Greece, Germany and Italy. This year,the UnitedStates, Germany, France, Italy, India, the UK and Greece took partin the exercisealongside Israeli pilots and advancedfifth-generation F-35fighter jets.

This is important because it brings together key Israeli partners and allies. Israel has become much closer to Greece in recent years. This is due to shared interests in the Eastern Mediterranean, including a planned pipeline. Israel alsohosts the Noble Dina naval exercisewhich has included Greece, France and Cyprus. Israel hasconductedjoint F-35fighter jetdrills, called Enduring Lightning, with theUnited States in2020. This is part of a wider process thatshowsIsrael integratinginto Central Command and Israel normalizingrelations with the UAE and Bahrain, two countries that also host U.S.military bases. In July,Israel brought together drone operators from the United States, France, Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom for the Blue Guardian drone drill.

Blue Flag is yet another capstone on top of these growing relationships between Israel anditsallies. Israeli F-35fighterjets participated alongside the warplanes of other countries.

Blue Flag is a biennial exercise that takes place atOvdaAir Base in southern Israel. As part of this years events, the commander of the German Air Force performed a flyover of Jerusalem and conducted a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. The honorary flyover included a joint formation led by Israeli Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin and German Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz, according to the Israeli Defense Forces. The flyover passed over the Israeli Knesset building, and ended overMalcha, according tothe Jewish News Syndicate.

The Israeli and German Air Force commanders also visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Center, where they toured the Flashes of Memory photographyexhibition, andparticipated in a memorial ceremony at the Hall of Remembrance, according to theJewish News Syndicate.During the ceremony, the commanders lit the eternal flame and laid a memorial wreath in honor of the victims of the Holocaust.

The exercise has been part of a series of important meetings Israel has hosted with foreign countries. Under the direction of Israels new government, its relationships with Sweden and Jordan have been repaired. Additionally, a virtual meeting was helped with the U.S. Secretary of State, the Minister of External Affairs of India, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel. The Indian Minister was visitingIsrael at the time. The Ministers decided to establish an international forum for economic cooperation, according to a statement from Israels Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

[A]round this virtual tablethere is a unique set of capabilities, knowledge, and experience that can be used to create the network that we all want to see created. . . I think the word were looking for here is synergybecause this is what were going to try and create starting with this meetingsynergy that will help us work together on infrastructure, digital infrastructure, transport, maritime security and other things that preoccupy us all,Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid said.

On the defense front, Israeli defense companies are continuing to show off cutting-edge technology. At theMilipolexpo in Paris, Israels Rafael Advanced Defense Systems is unveiling two new cyber solutions. One solution is called Cyber Situation Awareness, which the companysayscollects and aggregates information from across different infrastructure networks such as airports, railways, or seaports, and IT and OT operations networks to create a comprehensive image of current cyber threats. A second system called Cyber Management Systemis a unique, holistic solution providing automated reactive and proactive information gathering and incident response processes. It enables analysis to identify threats and vulnerabilities in advance of impact while simultaneously tracking incident response metrics, according to aRafael Advanced Defense Systems fact sheet.

Israel and its defense innovators have long realized that cyberand artificial intelligence are part of what will define war in the future. That is why Israel is also trying to put the latest technology into new programs like theCarmel program forfighting vehicles. In the United States, a number ofIsraeli defense companies took part in the Association of theUnited States Army Annual Meeting.UBlue Flag is yet another capstone on top of these growing relationships between Israel anditsalliedmilitary forces.ision, which makes loitering munitions, signed a deal with MAG Aerospace which will offer operational and training solutions for the Hero family of loitering munitions.

Israel Aerospace Industries was also at AUSA and showed off its new Rex MK II autonomous vehicle, along witha number ofdrones and loitering munitions. These include the Rotem, Harop and Green Dragon, and other munitions. Boaz Levy, IAIs President and CEO, said thatIAI is pleased to participate in AUSA 2021. We have a long history of supporting US defense initiatives and working side-by-side with the US defense industry to develop and provideground-breaking technological innovations. Just this past year, IAI supplied 400 Wind Guard Radar systems for the U.S. Armys Abrams tanks.

Our shared values of innovation, defense and economic development are the basis of our fruitful collaboration, and IAI is excited for the opportunity to create new partnerships and collaborations with local defense companies during AUSA. Levy said. Rafael also showed off its Samson 30-millimeterIntegrated Remote Weapons Station for light vehicles. The company said it was equipped with hostile fire detection capabilities and the ability to rapidly and effectively return fire via a fast, accurate slew-to-cue mechanism. It also includes a unified user interface for all subsystems, an inherent hatch for close situational awareness, and under-armor ammunition loading that increases lethality. These capabilities enable the Samson to turn a light vehicle into a lethal powerhouse on par with a main battle tank.

Meanwhile, Israels Smart Shooter, which makes a fire control system for rifles, announced a new deal with the U.S. Marine Corps. The systems will be delivered by the Israeli company later this fall.

Overall,the story of Israel hosting the Blue Flag drill and its participation at events such asMilipoland AUSA are part of the widening arc of Israeli relationshipsand alsothe way its defense innovations continue to play a key role in the UnitedStates, Europe and elsewhere. While Israel doesnt make large platforms like the F-35 fighter jet,it continues to make key elements for next-generation aircraft, missiles and vehicles. Forinstance, Elbit Systems plays a role in the helmets for F-35 fighter jets andhaddelivered, alongside Collins Aerospace, one thousand of the helmets by 2019. IAI makes wing skins for the F-35 fighter jets. Rafael has partnered with Raytheon on the Iron Dome system, of which two batteries have been delivered to the United States. This means that increasingly when pilots arrive in Israel for drills like BlueFlagthey are familiar with Israels technology and its place on the future battlefield.

Seth J.Frantzmanis a Jerusalem-based journalist who holds a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis and a writing fellow at the Middle East Forum. He is the author ofAfter ISIS: America, Iran and the Struggle for the Middle East(Gefen Publishing) andDrone Wars: Pioneers, Killing Machines, Artificial Intelligence and the Battle for the Future(Forthcoming Bombardier Books). Follow him on Twitter at @sfrantzman. This article is being republished due to reader interest.

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Israel Is at the Forefront of Cutting-Edge Warfare - The National Interest

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Posted By admin on October 20, 2021

An officer in the governmental body that oversees Israel's civilian policy in the West Bank was convicted in 2016 of raping a Palestinian woman and receiving a bribe of a sexual nature, the military's appeals court cleared for publication on Wednesday.

The officer was convicted on two counts of rape of a Palestinian woman who had requested a permit to enter and work in Israel. He was also convicted of receiving a bribe and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. He was also demoted and dismissed from the military.

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The officer was also convicted for sexual harassment and security offenses. A gag order was imposed on most of the details of the investigation, and details of the case were cleared for publication after a request by the Ynet news site.

The woman, identified in court only as M., said the officer took advantage of her request for a permit to force her to have sex with him. The officer told her that he liked her and began trying to have sex with her. M. expressed her refusal, but the defendant asked her to keep quiet, the court said. Later, he threatened that he would revoke her permit if she reported the rape. The court also convicted him of another count of rape, which also involved threats, the judges said in their ruling. He returned her permit, which he had taken earlier, told her it was valid and made it clear to her that she must continue to come and see him. She did not return.

The officer would sometimes call M. with requests of a sexual nature, and make various sexual advances, the court said. He also asked her to bring her daughter to him. In its verdict, the military court said M. showed by her behavior that she did not consent to having sexual contact with him, and the inequality in power between them and her dependence on the officer should be seen as coercion. Furthermore, he was aware that she had not consented, ruled the judges.

The military appeals court called it one of the most serious affairs that have been brought before the military courts in its ruling denying the officers appeal. The court also said the case had aspects that could have affected national security. "In his corrupt actions, the appellant exploited his military position in order to carry out personal desires in criminal ways and his actions disgraced and shamed the military, the court said.

The crimes occurred in 2013 and 2014, and the officer's identity is still under a gag order. The court said it was proper to release the new information now because the affair had serious aspects, and everyone agrees that there is a significant public interest in publishing the details to the general public.

The officer was also convicted of receiving bribes from another woman, identified as F. The verdict said he had sexually exploited her three times in return for approving permits. He also ignored the issue of consent in this case, ruled the appeals court.

The officer was also convicted of sexual harassment over conversations he held with a man and a woman, identified as H. and A., respectively. In addition, he was found guilty of exceeding his authority to the point of harming national security because of relations with two women from Jenin. In that case, he was convicted for receiving secret intelligence information in 2015 and telling the two women about it three days later.

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Cleared for publication: Israeli officer convicted in 2016 of raping Palestinian woman - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on October 20, 2021

The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the hatred of Benjamin Netanyahu. Nothing else in the world occupies the Israeli center-lefts attention, energizes and unites it, arouses and stimulates it like the murder of the father and the hatred of the successor. The camps two major obsessions joined up this week to become one.

Netanyahu chose not to attend the memorial ceremony at Mount Herzl, where it was proclaimed that the power of the people had defeated the power of one. The people being the center-left and the one, of course, is Netanyahu. The enlightened and the beautiful understood the situation. Weve transitioned from darkness to light, as the Rabin family rejoiced with other Israelis. Better that Netanyahu wasnt there to spoil the affair.

It began with the mass candle-lighting the day after the Rabin assassination by young people, the youth who proclaimed the ugliness of the other camp, which walks in darkness. They sobbed in the city squares.

The candles soon went out, but those who lit them spread out in all directions with an entire generation demanding peace. Thus began the ritual that has continued over the quarter of a century since: Twice a year, once on the Hebrew date and once on the Gregorian date, they gather, lament, sing, vow no more, talk about a heritage whose meaning no one is quite sure of, despise the rightists, and mourn a country that has gone to rot. By doing so, they are cleansed and purified.

These purification ceremonies are essential for the center left, which has been out of power for most of the years since the assassination and, even when it has been in power, has been unable to effect change. Worse still, the center-left camp has lost its way and so it has come to use Rabins murder as its spiritual shelter. You can always be against violence, hate and murder whos for it? You can always be for unity and peace whos against it? You can always declare that the death of Rabin was the death of peace. But what peace? Where is it? Why did peace die when Rabin died?

Time has done its work. Half the country is now named after Rabin, but in the meantime, a generation has grown up who never knew him. The death cult has been unable to preserve the extinguished candle's memory and the leftist camp that has since been silenced. Thus was born the hatred of Netanyahu. The hatred that fills the vacuum, energizes the camp into action and gives it an intoxicating sense of civic engagement, concern, and a spirit of struggle.

But just like the commemorations for Rabin, where the mourners dont know what it is they are commemorating, the struggle against Netanyahu likewise failed to provide an answer. What are we proposing instead? What should be in his place? Who should be in his place? What path should we be taking? Whats the difference between our path and the path of the hated right?

These questions remain unanswered as the center-left focuses on the goal of eradicating evil at all cost. The good, they reason, will naturally arise when evil is removed. The ending will be happy, everything will be good.

The good has now appeared, and its name is Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid. But it is doubtful whether it really is good, and, of course, it has nothing to do with the left.

This week it all came together: The eloquent but hollow speeches without Netanyahu, who declined this year to listen to the annual round of insults hurled at him at Mount Herzl. They spoke loftily about values, but no one said a word about actually ending the occupation during their tribute to the greatest man of peace, supposedly, ever to arise in Israel.

Instead, they spoke about Israels glorious democracy. We prevented the attempts to crush democracy, Lapid said proudly. Rabins grandson, Yonatan Ben-Artzi, went even further: After a long war for freedom and the image of democracy, the people of Israel won.

Such hypocrisy and piety, alongside the self-beautification so characteristic of this camp. What will we do, we guardians of democracy, while we exaggerate the danger to Israels sensitive democratic soul from the rule of the one? No word about the five million people who live under one of the worlds cruelest tyrannies, the Israeli occupation.

Not a word is spoken of this tyranny; we only adorn ourselves with the deception of a democracy that Rabin sanctified and Netanyahu desecrated. And this we call the camp of values and democracy, as opposed to the boors of the right.

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The Israeli left's two obsessions and their consequences - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on October 20, 2021

Top diplomats from India, the US, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) held a virtual ministerial meeting on Monday, which has been lauded as a first step toward expanding quadrilateral cooperation in the Middle East and Asia.

India's External Affairs MinisterSubrahmanyam Jaishankar and Foreign Ministers Yair Lapid of Israel and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed of the UAE were joined by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss "working together more closely on economic growth and global issues," and agreed on an "expeditious follow-up," Jaishankar tweeted after the meeting.

Jaishankar arrived in Israel on Sunday, and he appeared side by side with Lapid during the virtual meeting.

At a business roundtable along with government officials and CEOs on Sunday in Jerusalem, Jaishankar said Israel was in many ways India's "most trusted and innovative partner," the Times of Israel news website reported.

"The degree of trust between us is very high," Jaishankar said.

After Monday's meeting, Israel's Lapid praised the grouping's "unique set of capabilities, knowledge and experience that can be used to create the network that we all want to see created."

"The key to success is how quickly can we move from 'government-to-government' to 'business-to-business'? How quickly can we turn this into a working process that will put boots on the ground, changing infrastructure around the world," the foreign minister said.

After the meeting, there was agreement on forming a joint working group to come up with ideas for cooperation on economics, technology, transportation and security, India's Economic Times newspaper reported.

The virtual meeting takes place about a year after the Abraham Accords were signed in Washington, which started the process of normalized relations between Israel and the UAE.

The accords then opened up parts of the Gulf to Israel and vice versa, marking an end to decades of mistrust.

Since then, Israel has opened embassies in UAE and Bahrain, an unprecedented 130,000 Israeli tourists have visitedthe UAE and the UAE-Israel Business Council was set up.

Officials showed enthusiasm for continuingthe momentum on the back of the Abraham Accords.

A State Department statement released after the virtual summit said Blinken had reiterated the US's support for the Abraham Accords and "discussed future opportunities for collaboration in the region and globally" with the other diplomats.

This includes expanding economic and political cooperation in the Middle East and Asia, including through trade, combating climate change, energy cooperation and increasing maritime security.

India already is already part of the so-called Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) with the United States, Australia and Japan to ensure a "free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific" amid the backdrop of a rising China.

Any similar quadrilateral cooperation in the Middle East is likely to focus more on fostering economic, technology and development ties, rather than the security-oriented dialogue aimed at the Indo-Pacific.

Nevertheless, cooperation between India and Israel on counterterrorism and defense has expanded over the past few years. Israel has been one of the largest suppliers of military hardware to India with defense trade between the two countries valued at about $1 billion annually.

Energy and economic ties between India and the UAE have also expanded significantly.

Experts say cooperating with Israel, the US and the UAE could allow India to deepen engagement with Israel without harming its relationship with other Arab states in the Persian Gulf.

"The possibilities for New Delhi are immense," Lakshmi Priya, an analyst from the Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses, told DW.

She said India could benefit from development led by Israeli technology and UAE investment while contributing human resources and a large consumer market.

"It is an example of India's extending ties with the Gulf countries as it moves beyond energy, trade and remittances," she added.

Former Indian diplomat Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa told DW that the institutional framework of a potential Middle Eastern "Quad" could follow the evolution of the Indo-Pacific version.

"Areas of cooperation are similar," she said, "although the geopolitical challenges differ."

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met then Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in 2017 to sign a series of agreements

As India moves towards building partnerships, experts say New Delhi seeks balance and stability in the region by pursuing more multilateral approaches to shifting geopolitical challenges.

Raja Mohan, director of Singapore's Institute of South Asian Studies wrote recently in the Indian Express newspaper that New Delhi is now ready to move from bilateral relations conducted in separate silos toward an integrated regional policy

"The new Quad in the Middle East is unlikely to be India's only new coalition in the region," he said. "It provides a sensible template to pursue wide-ranging 'minilateral' partnerships in the region."

Indian foreign policy in the Middle East long defined the US as a destabilizing factor. New Delhi therefore kept a reasonable political distance from Washington's strategic policy in the region.

By deepening cooperation with the Quad in the Indo-Pacific, and now stepping toward building better ties with countries to the west, experts say, India is shifting its foreign policy priorities.

A Middle Eastern Quad "would project New Delhi's image as a South Asian power closer to Washington than Moscow and certainly hostile to Beijing," the analyst Priya said.

"Unlike other groupings where India is a member, this would be results-oriented," P R Kumaraswamy, professor of contemporary Middle Eastern studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told DW.

"The other three countries are more eager for results and hence their approach will force India to go beyond words," he added.

"Even if it does not become a structured organization, the mini-Quad will force India to abandon its perennial problem of not walking the talk," he said.

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Can India and Israel help drive cooperation in the Middle East? - DW (English)

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Posted By admin on October 20, 2021

SEOUL Major aerospace companies from Israel and South Korea have agreed to expand their partnership on deadly drone technology.

Israel Aerospace Industries, or IAI, and Korea Aerospace Industries, or KAI, signed a memorandum of understanding on Oct. 20 on a loitering munitions program for maximizing the effectiveness of strike missions against enemy air defenses, according to an IAI statement.

The agreement was made during the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition 2021 (ADEX 2021) running Oct. 19-23 at an airbase in Seongnam, just south of Seoul.

IAI is proud to continue expanding our collaboration with KAI, and share our combat-proven capabilities in the field of loitering munitions, Yehuda (Hudi) Lahav, executive vice president of marketing at IAI said. IAI is happy to partner with one of Koreans leading companies, and to continue growing our collaboration with he local defense market and Korean industry leaders.

KAIs Chang Heon-han, executive vice president and head of future business division, said: With the goal of leading the future of unmanned aerial vehicles, we are dedicated to developing next-generation unmanned aerial vehicle technology, and we will develop solutions that meet various customer needs.

Loitering munitions combine the capabilities of drones and missiles by searching, identifying, attacking, and destroying targets. The new class of weapons system can be used to target especially sensitive and moving targets.

In March the two companies signed an initial agreement to collaborate on loitering munitions with regards to the South Korean Armys pursuit of manned-unmanned teaming, or MUM-T, systems.

Under the scheme, a KAI-built helicopter would hover at distance while an onboard unmanned aerial vehicle searches for a target and strikes it immediately when necessary.

The expanded cooperation between IAI and KAI will offer the South Korean military with new technologies, and will establish concrete cooperation plans through joint feasibility studies between the two companies, the company statement said, referring to the Israeli companys HARPY NGW and HAROP loitering missile as combat-proven in many nations around the world.

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Israel and South Korea to boost collaboration on loitering munitions - DefenseNews.com

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Posted By admin on October 20, 2021

What was Jewish life in Israel like after Romes destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem? A new exhibition by the Israel Antiquities Authority in Kibbutz Ginossars Yigal Allon Center offers a glimpse of how the Sages managed to rebuild a community in the Galilee in the centuries that followed the great tragedy.

The Great Sanhedrin was the assembly of 71 Sages which acted as the supreme court for the Jewish people.

After the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, it was relocated several times, the Talmud recalls.

The Sanhedrin was exiled in ten stages at the end of the Second Temple period and after the destruction of the Temple. This is known from tradition. It moved from the Chamber of Hewn Stone, its fixed seat in the Temple, to anut, literally, shop, a designated spot on the Temple Mount outside the Temple proper; and from anut to Jerusalem; and from Jerusalem to Yavne; reads a passage of the Rosh Hashanah Tractate (31a) as translated by the William Davidson Edition of the Talmud.

Located in the central part of the Land of Israel, according to Jewish tradition, Yavne and its Sages were the reward requested by Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakkai to Roman general Vespasian after predicting that he would become the new emperor.

And from Yavne [The Sanhedrin moved to] to Usha; and from Usha it returned to Yavne; and from Yavne it went back to Usha; and from Usha to Shfaram; and from Shfaram to Beit Shearim; and from Beit Shearim to Tzipori; and from Tzipori to Tiberias, the passage continues.

The history and life of the five centers in the Galilee, Usha, Shfaram, Beit Shearim, Tzipori and Tiberias is one of the focuses of the exhibition.

Artifacts on display include an oil lamp, inscriptions featuring the words shalom and shabbat, and sages names such as Yaakov and Shimon in Hebrew and in Aramaic, and a hoard of silver and bronze coins from the time of the revolt against the Romans led by Shimon Bar Kokhba (132-135 CE), which was found in the middle of a burned building, suggesting the heavy toll that the conflict exacted even in the Galilee.

In addition, for the first time, the public is offered the opportunity to see the original Magdala Stone.

The stone was found in 2009 in Magdala, a large Jewish settlement during the early Roman period located on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.

The exhibition is unique, not only because of the fascinating finds on display but also because it provides a glimpse into the behind the scenes' of their exposure, said IAA general director Eli Escosido. The display shows the people who found the artifacts, whether in excavation or in the various activities behind the creation of the trail.

Visiting the exhibition and walking along the Sanhedrin trail complement each other like moving along a two-way street, it allows us to travel in time into our history and heritage.

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What was Jewish life in Israel like at the time of the Mishna, Talmud? - The Jerusalem Post

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