Surely Oslo (perpetrated by Labor with the support of Shas) and the Disengagement (perpetrated by the Likud under Sharon with the support of Netanyahu) can be seen as the sources of many of the problems we are dealing with today. I find it amusing as they try to rewrite history and blame everything on the Left when the Right bears as much responsibility as the Left for those events (and so many people seem to buy it). And let's not forget the Wye agreements in which Netanyahu gave control over most of Hebron to Arafat.

However, the world did not stop at Oslo or at the Disengagement. Nor did time.

At the time of those agreements/events, the leaders (Rabin, Sharon, Netanyahu and others) all said, they all justified it by saying, that if the Palestinians attack or shoot rockets or commit acts of terror against Israelis, Israel would respond harshly. Israel would break their bones. Israel would destroy Gaza over even a single rocket. etc. Many more statements like that.

I would say that as much as the problems are sourced in Oslo and in the Disengagement, they are also sourced in the 20 years since the Disengagement and in the 30 years since Oslo in which Israel, led by several different Prime Ministers, did not actually hit the Palestinians harshly as had been promised when they engaged in terror. Instead Israel allowed Hamas to formulate and grow and become a formidable terror organization. Israel let the terrorists become emboldened in their fight against Israel. 

While it is easy to blame Oslo and the Disengagement, and it makes for nice soundbites, the real problem is that Israeli leadership since those two events did not do what they were supposed and what had been promised. 

But now he took a position I strongly agree with and have said the same in the past.

Amsalem referred to the issue of appointing dayanim and said the Likud needs to be a part of any arrangement for appointing dayanim, or the Likud will not allow it to be passed. Amsalem said, "the days of dividing up the available positions between Shas, UTJ, and Mafdal are over. There is also the Likud! If the Likud is not part of the deal, there will not be any appointments of any dayanim!"

I have complained in the past about the Likud and other parties that they do not care about the issues that matter to religion and to the religious sectors and outsource issues of Judaism to the Haredi and DL parties. In my opinion, they should all have positions regarding the office of the Chief Rabbinate, in the appointment of dayanim, in the Ministry of Religious Affairs and in the various religious laws that get passed, and should not just be doing whatever UTJ/Shas/DL want like a rubber stamp for them.

I like that the Likud is finally starting to get involved. We'll see if this turns into one big nothing, just a way for Amsalem to make some noise, and maybe he wants something else and is using this to horse-trade, or if the Likud will really be pushing itself in on these issues. The Likud represents a sizeable, and growing, religious public.

“They are flying the Israeli flag in Rafah! We went to free Al-Aqsa, but we only ended up destroying Gaza and losing Rafah...”

It's beginning to sink in for them. pic.twitter.com/zIJCiNkrdO

— 𝗡𝗶𝗼𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗴 ♛ ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) July 19, 2024

Here is the original tweet in Arabic...

The Google Translate of the tweet reads:

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

בחור ישיבה, פעיל שלום וחייל נכנסו לחדר.
זו לא התחלה של בדיחה, זו המשפחה שלי. pic.twitter.com/9qOfNhVWle

— איתמר גרינברג Itamar Greenberg (@itamar_green) July 21, 2024

Translation:

Yeshiva bachur, Peace activist, and a soldier entered a room. 

This is not the beginning of a joke but this is my family...

nice. hopefully they all get along and dont let their political stances get between them...

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

Hezbollah has destroyed the northern region of Israel over the past nearly ten months, and while Israel has responded with targeted strikes, many times Hezbollah strikes on Israel go without response. The Houthis have shot missiles and drones at Israel and at Israeli shipping interests for the past ten months and until now they have all gone without response. The Houthis sent a suicide drone to Tel Aviv that gets through the defense systems and kills one and injures others (and also causes damage), and Israel responds by attacking and destroying a port and infrastructure.

Some are upset at the government saying that when it was just the peripheral communities being affected, Israel basically allows itself to absorb the damage with little to no response, but when it is Tel Aviv that is hit Israel responds big time. They understandably don't like being made to feel like second class citizens not worth defending. The government denies this type of attitude.

While the government denies this attitude of only taking it seriously when it is Tel Aviv under attack, the fact is the response only came when it was Tel Aviv that was hit, not when the Houthis from Yemen shot missiles at ships or at Eilat, and often not when Hezbollah sends drones in or destroys homes and kills people in the Upper Galilee or in the Golan Heights. 

So is the government treating them like second class citizens or is it not? In actions it looks like Israel takes it more seriously when Tel Aviv is hit than when Metulla or Manara or Eilat are hit.

On the other hand, this government hates Tel Aviv and what it represents (at least it seems that way), while much of the peripheral towns are this government's natural supporters. If they are only taking it more seriously because it was Tel Aviv that was hit, that makes little sense. Why would the Israeli government get more outraged when the Tel Aviv leftists are hit than when it is the residents of the peripheral communities being hit?

Israel's response in Hodeida (Yemen) to the drone in Tel Aviv puts everyone on warning...

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

the clip is from last year but it bears repeating..

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

It would take up to 15 years to clear around 40 million tons of war rubble in #Gaza says @UNEP. The effort would need 100+ trucks and cost over $500 million.

Debris poses a deadly threat for people in the #GazaStrip as it can contain unexploded ordnance and harmful substances. pic.twitter.com/KNyvXlZ0hC

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) July 15, 2024

I say good. The longer the better. They will be so busy clearing rubble maybe they wont get so involved in terrorism. 

from what I am told, this video is published by Hamas calling for their supporters around the world to target and attack Chabad, as they are part of the Israeli army

be careful out there...

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

@losttribe Is sabas advice valid 🤔 @Gishmak Herring #jewishcheck #jewishthings #manonthestreet #manonthestreetinterview #jewish #dating #datingjewish #datingadvice #romance #romantic #couple #couples #redflag #redflags #greenflag #greenflags ♬ original sound - Lost Tribe

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

this will be the actual PotD connected to Israel.. the site of the hit on Mohammed Deif yesterday in Khan Younis, Gaza. There has not yet been confirmation that Deif was taken out, and unless he makes an appearance we might never know if he was successfully killed or not, but Israel thinks with strong indication that Deif is no longer a threat.

May the rest of the Hamas leadership meet a similar demise soon..

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

My response to the survey of El Al in the previous post.

But they flew

When all other airlines, and most of all the airlines that fly to North America, disappeared during the war at the slightest appearance of anything concerning, El Al continued to fly.

Expensive? Yes, but that is the free market law of supply and demand. All the other airlines stopped flying, El Al had a limited number of seats available with many more people than available seats vying for them. Naturally the prices go up accordingly. As someone who had to fly during that period and had to pay the high prices of El Al, I still say this.

And mostly....

But they flew. When nobody else did.

A SURVEY OF EL AL AIRLINES IN WAR TIMES

 

By

Dr. Harold Goldmeier with assistance from Leora Cohen, Bella Katz, and Moriah Rosenthal.

Dr. Harold teaches at Touro College Jerusalem. He is an award-winning entrepreneur receiving the Governor's Award for family investment programs in the workplace from the Commission on the Status of Women. He was a Research and Teaching Fellow at Harvard.  Harold is a Managing Partner of an investment firm, a business management consultant, a free public speaker on business, social, and public policy issues, and taught international university students in Tel Aviv.

 

 

El Al is Israel’s flag-carrying national airline. It is prospering from the Hamas war recording its best first financial quarter of the fiscal year in the firm’s history. That is not as cringe-worthy as it seems at first glance. The company’s revenue in the first quarter of 2024 was 48% higher than the first quarter of 2023. Profit topped $80M.

 

When other major carriers erratically canceled flights and ultimately ghosted Israel after Hamas invaded, El Al swiftly added routes. Planes were packed with passengers and cargo. Ticket prices doubled and tripled, as weeks turned into months. The company CEO unashamedly told the press, to paraphrase, that is what happens when the competition folds under pressure.

My students in our Entrepreneurship class at Touro College Jerusalem surveyed a small sample of the English-speaking public at random in May to gain insights into the public persona of

El Al is under stress. 

 

Over decades of Middle East conflict, commercial airlines kept flying into Israel. They dealt with threats from terrorists’ missiles and anti-aircraft weapons. Flight crews operated in the liminal state between life and death. Open Skies sent a political message in addition to underpinning the nation’s commercial development.

In October 2023, alerts were issued warning pilots that a commercial plane might be mistaken for an enemy aircraft. There were warnings of debris in the sky from missile intercepts; manipulation of Internet location services to fool invaders; and GPS spoofing potentially affecting flight patterns. Pilots faced uncertainties about where to land in emergencies. In wartime, insurance premiums skyrocket. Planes had to carry extra fuel in case of diversions to other airports. Delays in take-offs and landings add to costs and money lost.

 

El Al is a cultural icon as well as a commercial venture. A blue and white Jewish star is the El Al symbol on every plane’s tail; the airline is woven into the fabric of the nation. Hostages in Entebbe? Divert El Al jumbo jets to extract them. Refugees fleeing Ethiopia? Build clandestine runways in the Sudan desert, rip out the seats in El Al jets, and pack men, women, and children on the floor for flights to their Biblical homeland. Rescue plans have sobriquets like Operation Solomon, Operation Magic Carpet, and Operation Ezra and Nechemia. El Al sent a plane to bring captured Nazi mass murderer Eichmann from Argentina to Israel for trial.   

 

It is the only airline equipped with onboard missile defense systems. Its airplanes did not fly Friday night until sundown Saturday night for 40 years until the state’s rabbis permitted Sabbath flights to bring home soldiers and military cargo from overseas after the invasion of Israel by Hamas.

   

The company is under relatively new management; kudos to them for keeping Israel's skies open to the public, essential cargo flowing into Israel, and turning a profit. There are problems they need to fix.  Here are highlights and lowlights from our findings.

  

El Al profited despite offering discounts to passengers rushing to Israel to rejoin military service units and a flurry of diplomats flying to foreign capitals. El Al became a lifeline for supplies when Red Sea ships became Houthi targets carrying cargo for the war effort and commercial goods for the public. Despite fewer tourists, El Al upped its market share to 80% in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to 22%, previous to Black Sabbath, October 7th.

 

In the end, record revenue and profits come down to supply and demand; i.e., ticket prices soared because El Al safely flew when other airlines canceled Tel Aviv service, citing safety concerns and sky-high insurance premiums. Perhaps competitors who cancel their flights and ghost Israel will be enticed to return to Israeli skies. That might lower ticket prices, increase tourism, and speed up deliveries of essential cargo.

 

My students each asked travelers between 21 and 55 years of age 12 questions about flying to Israel and El Al, specifically. Students describe the undertaking this way: “We raised questions about El Al that collected constructive criticism, identified competitors, quantified customer loyalty, and more. By receiving this feedback, opportunities to improve business success and business strategies can be identified.”

 

They found El Al is the most popular airline among Israeli respondents when buying tickets, with an average favorability rating of 7.5 out of 10. This coincides with other studies, for instance, as reported by Flight-report, that claim El Al gets an average 8 out of 10 rating by frequent fliers in peacetime. Students ranked respondents’ suggestions that the airline improves seating comfort, in-flight entertainment, and customer service. Americans believe competitors have “better frequent flier programs, more comfortable seating, and superior customer service…. The respondents’ dream flight experiences include easy booking, first-rate customer support, cozy seats, and reasonable costs.”

 

El Al’s support services rate poorly (5.5/10) by American fliers. The sky-high ticket prices that jumped since last October, dramatically contribute to the poor perception of El Al more frequently than it does of other carriers. Perhaps travelers see this as gouging in tough times; rightly or wrongly, we must see the long-term impact on El Al’s reputation.

 

“Younger respondents,” writes one student, particularly those in their early twenties, often prioritize affordability and comfort, while older customers in their forties and sixties focus on service quality and loyalty perks.” The breakdown applies to female respondents and male respondents, respectively. Long wait times for check-in service and misinformation from staff are particularly annoying to customers. “Despite these mixed reviews, many customers are willing to buy from El Al again, primarily due to the airline’s reliability and loyalty, especially in challenging times.”

 

Random comments from respondents point to other areas for improvement. Bathrooms on El Al can be filthy, needing regular cleaning; staff ignored complaints about a dog roaming the aisles on one flight; “teaching crew politeness and cross-cultural training would be an improvement… because El Al services globally to a large array of varying cultures.”

 

Notable comments include fliers’ appreciation for upholding Jewish values, particularly not flying on Jewish holidays and providing kosher meals. Elisheva got special attention from the flight crew when she was pregnant. Others take note that “El Al brought free bags to Israel for soldiers in the current Gaza war, and “they value the sense of security they experience on El Al’s flights because, for example, each flight has sky marshals with concealed arms.”

 

Finally, the students suggest El Al’s marketing ought to focus on people loyal to Israel and stop wasting marketing money on the general population. “Even in wartime, supporters of Israel have proven to be loyal and active consumers.” El Al is like an 18th-century poet’s lonely bird from “haunted places of sadness.” Israel is under siege. Our children are dying. Hostages are captive. But the national airline is “soaring in a flood of gladness” bringing hope with every Magen David landing and take-off on the tail of those lonely birds. 

 

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

the image has nothing to do with Israel but how can it not be the PotD?

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

headed by Rav Dovid Leibel.

Looks interesting. I wonder how they deal with the army issue...

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

Yes, I have heard and read all the statistics of divorce rates always going up and reaching new highs, and even the divorce rates in the religious and Haredi communities climbing. 

It is different to see it yourself, with your own eyes.

The place is hopping, all the time, during business hours, with couples breaking up and going through the process. the days I have been there the crowd was even mostly Haredi (all types, Hassidic, Litvishe, modern, sefardi, etc). The couples were mixed between those only married for short times and others who were clearly married for longer periods. All types of people and couples deciding to get divorced. I am sure each has their story and i no way am I saying that any given case is not justified. I dont know their stories.

But it is sad/disappointing/upsetting/depressing to see.

And on that note, I was surprised to see that among all these couple going in for their hearing, and sometimes with the voices behind closed doors getting raised and becoming screaming matches, young 16 year old women are also sitting their waiting to declare themselves  as religious before a beis din to qualify for an army exemption. Must these young ladies really sit there among all these divorcing couples, have to listen to their arguments and even screaming while they wait for their turn?

The beis din should separate these young women and have them do their declarations in a different part of the building.

And there should be more discretion in the lobby of the discussion halls - divorcing couples and their families have to sit there waiting while the other side to the dispute is sitting just a few chairs away and they both have to sit there uncomfortably. And that's if they aren't screaming at each other. And everyone has to hear everyone else talking to the lawyer or talking to the soon to be ex or families talking amongst themselves... At what is surely a private and sensitive, and emotional, moment, the people should be given more privacy.

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

Rav Dovid Leibel

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

נמות ולא נתגייס: הפרק השלישי בסדרת "צבא שמיים" - גלעד שלמור עם הקבוצות הקיצוניות ביותר בחברה החרדית pic.twitter.com/PaHBHoAjuc

— זירת החדשות (@ZiratNews) July 2, 2024

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

In light of the ongoing coalition crisis (which can fizz out just as easily and quickly as it can expand and intensify), here is what I think the various players should do, each from their perspective (as I understand it):

Itamar Ben Gvir: should resign and call for elections. Ben Gvir should declare himself as running for prime minister, no more being second fiddle to a party that is not as right wing as they claim to be.

Betzalel Smotritch: he has no hand to play, and he knows it. He has to just be as right wing extreme as he can and hope he doesnt get decimated in whatever happens next. He does not have the power to be proactive in this.

Moshe Gafni and Yitzchak Goldknopf: they don't have much of a hand. Quitting the coalition wont help them, but it also wont hurt them. If they have a serious enough crisis (eg yeshiva boys get drafted or arrested), they can quit. If not, they really have no reason to.

Aryeh Deri: he has a hand to play but has no real option. Bringing down the government won't really help them, but at some point, when they run out of complaints, they have to show they have some ideology behind them and not just looking for jobs. I dont think we are far off, if things keep not falling their way, but I dont think they are there just yet.

Benjamin Netanyahu: He should resign from politics, but he wont. Bring down the government, dissolve the Knesset, and call for elections, while stepping away from politics. If he does that now, his legacy is gone and destroyed and will only be remembered as having presided over the worst attack and massacre with all the failures involved, and having abandoned the hostages. So he can't do that, at least not now. He won't do that until he rebuilds his image a bit, and will need a big win for that to happen.

Netanyahu should take advantage of this current crisis, along with the other recent coalition crises, and say he has had enough (he has done this before in previous governments). He should blame the heads of all the parties for their bickering, blackmail, irresponsible behavior, and unreasonable demands. he should blame them for the impossibility of coming to a hostage deal (while stressing most of the blame is on Hamas). 

Netanyahu should declare that after elections he will move to form a unity government, not an extreme Right government. He needs to get into discussions with Gantz and Lieberman and others from the other parties (specifically the more center leaning parties) to talk about forming a government together, maybe as a rotation, though it can only work if Netanyahu offers to go second in rotation rather than first. Nobody will trust him to follow through with rotating when the time comes. Obviously specifics will depend on results of elections and which comes out the bigger party, but in general that is what he should be doing.

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

Obviously there are laws and everyone has to follow them. I am not privy to the evidence for or against whatever is claimed they did so I am not going to comment on their innocence or guilt. 

However.

However.

October 7, 2023 was an outrageous day, a chaotic day, a day of fear and adrenaline. A day the government and the IDF took 8-10 hours before responding. A day that private citizens from all around the country grabbed a personal weapon, if anything, and drove down south to fight the terrorists and save lives while the government and IDF did nothing. Private citizens, amidst overwhelming chaos and fear, with no organization, with perhaps not enough knowledge of laws and/or ability to evaluate the situation.

I don't know what they did or did not do. If it is clear and obvious that they were just murdering terrorists already in captivity, that is one thing and that situation has to be stopped. if it was not so clear and there is room to think the terrorists might still have been a threat in some way, the authorities should approach this differently. These were unusual and exceptional circumstances. The authorities should be saying thank you to all those people who went in and filled the void and prevented the situation from being even worse than it was. If there is any room for leniency, any way to see that the situation at the time was unclear and uncertain, they should be treated with the utmost leniency

Desperate times calls for desperate measures. Exceptional times calls for exceptional measures. Unusual times calls for unusual measures.

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

People are making a big deal about this, wasting State money, during a war, etc.

It does not bother me. This is pocket change for the State. Less than pocket change.  This is the change found in the couch cushions.

The issue is that this is what Netanyahu does when he has a problem. He throws other peoples money at it.

Netanyahu is afraid Katz might make coalition trouble for him, so he throws him a bone and lets him travel with his wife on the State dime.

He throws money at Hamas for a decade expecting it will keep them quiet - this time it being Qatar's money.

There is another report that UTJ is upset about their education system. Chinuch Atzmai, being in serious debt due to mismanagement of funds and they have been threatening the coalition over it to get the shortfall covered. Netanyahu has now said the government will cover it (though for now the finance Ministry is opposing this, according to reports). Throw money at it, not his own money, to keep them quiet and happy.

This is how Netanyahu works. He des what is good for him. I would add "not whats good for the State", but he is such a narcissist that he thinks what's good for him is automatically good for the State. 

החלק השני "צבא שמיים": גלעד שלמור בפרויקט תיעודי מיוחד pic.twitter.com/PYPK0XADg5

— זירת החדשות (@ZiratNews) July 1, 2024

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

Today the Israeli government connected Gaza to the Israeli power grid and let the electricity flow.

Now, if Benny Gantz would still be in the government coalition and War Cabinet, Ministers Ben Gvir and Smotritch (among others) would be screaming that Gantz needs to go, the Conceptzia Cabinet is destroying the war effort, Gantz is insisting we lose the war by giving them electricity and other aid, etc. But alas, Gantz is not in the government and Ben Gvir has nobody to blame and scream about other than his natural partners who he can only attack so much.

So now, with nobody to scream at, the full right wing government turns on the electricity in Gaza with nothing in return and nobody says a word.

This government is a riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma..

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

Channel 12 News is running a series of reports of Haredim and the army, sending a reporter to spend time in a mainstream Haredi yeshiva, one of the top yeshivas, talking with the rosh yeshiva and the boys... 

the 1st episode:

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

They should be held as prisoners and only release din a hostage exchange deal, if at all. Why are we releasing terrorist prisoners, for free, while our hostages are sitting in Gaza? Are they also offering goodwill gestures and releasing Israelis for free?

Yet all the people at the top, responsible for this decision, know nothing about it, only heard from the news, and pass the blame each to another office. Take some responsibility!

And having no control and really not knowing about it is no excuse. that might be even worse.

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

At this point, and it might be too early to know, especially with no elections on the horizon at this time, we don't know if they are joining  and merging into one party or if this will be two separate parties running a joint list (like was Degel and Aguda do, like what Hatzionut Hadatit and Otzma Yehudit did in the last election, etc).

Personally I think it is a mistake, a bad move.

Not the joining together to run on a single list (whether as a new unified party or as a joint list). That is fine and correct and should have been done before, even though there are significant differences between the two parties.

The mistake, the bad move, is the name. The Democrats.

Israel should stay bipartisan. A name like this aligns them too closely with the Democrat party in the USA, and that was obviously their intention. 

Even if their ideals are somewhat aligned, and even if they are somewhat loosely associated with each other, they should have chosen a different name. This ties them too closely to American politics and to one American side. Israeli parties should be independent, not branches of foreign political parties and not tied directly to them and not even thought as the local chapter even if there is no real association. The Israeli political scene should be thought of as independent and bi-partisan.

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------