For those of you looking for the birth of a revolution click here and advance the frame to 2:42.
I can tell you one thing, Bibi sure is nervous. We open a blog, he opens a blog (OK, his is prettier but Ron Lauder et al didn't pay for ours). We have a conference where twice the number predicted show up and he has to schedule a conference (wonder what he's paying per body and will he have sufganiyot?). Can someone put an original thought inside this man's head outside of a 12 hour planning horizon?
Peretz Has Moment of Lucidity (Quick, Get The Pen and Papers for the Home!!!)
From Ynet: "Peretz: I'd abdicate if it were for good of Israel"
Defense Minister and Labor chairman Amir Peretz told reporters on Wednesday evening that he "misunderstood the internal forces at work in the party," saying that he was for uniting the party ranks and not divisiveness but that today he understands that this is what the party is built on.
I judge myself very harshly, and if I believed that abdicating my post as defense minister would be in the best interest of the people, I would do it. But I know what I am capable of," said Peretz.
So do we, Amir, baby, so do we....
About that gentleman for whom 450 murderers were set free...
Well, Steve Plaut called it right..."Almost three years ago, Ariel Sharon released 450 murderer terrorists from Israeli prison in order to free Elhanan Tannenbaum, an Israeli criminal who had entered Lebanon under suspicious circumstances and was kidnapped there by the Hizbollah. Sharon also obtained the three bodies of Israeli soldiers (two Jews and one Bedouin) murdered in cold blood by teh Hizbollah, murders that were never avenged by Israel. At the time I published an article, "I am Ashamed to be an Israeli".
There I predicted that Sharon's cowardly capitulation would result in additional kidnappings and murders of Israeli soldiers and escalating terrorism by the Hizbollah. The mass release of terrorists also served as precedent, and that is why Olmert is currently considering putting hundreds more of murderers back on the street. At that time, and in that article, I reported the theory that the civilian held by the Hizbollah and released in the deal, Elhanan Tannenbaum, was in fact a drug smuggler, in Lebanon to buy drugs. In fact, I suggested that Israel might consider releasing some terrorists as a reward for the Hizbollah keeping Tannebaum in captivity. Some people criticized me harshly for that and for reporting the theory when Tannebaum was a fellow Jew who had not been convicted of drug smuggling nor had admitted publicly to it.
Yediot Ahronot today reports that Tannebaum has now indeed admitted he was in Lebanon as part of a drug smuggling operation. This means that hundreds of terrorists were released, Israeli deterrence was turned into a mockery leading to 4000 katyusha and other missiles landing on Israeli civilians this past summer, and serving as role model for new Olmert capitulations, all because of a now-admitted drug smuggler. Tannebaum was testifying in a customs smuggling trial for two other criminals and admitted all this in court. Tannenbaum, who personally did more to damage Israel than almost anyone else outside Israeli politics, has not been indicted in Israel for anything.
Wait, what's that? You're going to kill us AND we're going to pay you for it? Oh, OK.
From Arutz-7: Israel May Release Embargoed Funds to PA
20:42 Dec 20, '06 / 29 Kislev 5767
| (IsraelNN.com) According to unnamed sources quoted by Reuters news agency, Israel may release hundreds of millions of dollars in embargoed funds to the Palestinian Authority in efforts to bolster the position of PA President Mahmoud Abbas. The monies in question are taxes collected by Israel on behalf of the PA on goods coming into the areas under PA control. Israel has withheld the revenue as leverage against the Hamas-led PA government. The prime minister declined comment on the report. He and Abbas will likely meet in coming days to discuss the deteriorating situation in the PA and other issues. But Wait, I Haven't Turned The Other Cheek Yet!! From Arutz-7: PM Olmert, DM Peretz: Restraint Also Has Its Limits 21:33 Dec 20, '06 / 29 Kislev 5767 by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
The prime minister said that the restraint Israel has displayed thus far in reaction to the ongoing rocket attacks from Palestinian Authority-controlled Gaza will soon end. Ah Ehud and pray tell what will replace this incredible restraint? A harsh round of finger-waving with the Italian salute? Anybody got a good caption for the picture of the dynamic duo here? | |||
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1 comment:
I saw the video - very nice start. The only question I have is whether Manhigut Yehudit can get Yosef and Yehuda to live together harmoniously under the Israeli roof.
To explain: A few articles below, I wrote in that I had found an article by Reuven Koret of Israel Insider proposing the creation of a new state of Judea on the land of Yesha, and provided a link to it. I did not sense rebelliousness on Koret's part against the Israeli government as much as a desire to have a Jewish entity (state, country, government) that could speak and act pretty much in the Jewish people's interests without being beholden to other nations -- and defend a weakened Israel in the bargain.
I wouldn't have pursued this idea, but this week I found an excellent article written in 2000 (5761) by Rabbi Berel Wein (at torah.org)on Parsha Vayeishev called "Two Brothers, Two Opinions" (located at http://www.torah.org/learning/rabbiwein/5761/vayeishev.html),
an explanation of the existence at one point in history of two Jewish nations (this helped me realize why some people get upset when a suggestion resembling this history is raised today; for all I know, they may be right.). I have known all along that there was rivalry between the two kingdoms, but never understood that the kings involved were descendants of our fathers Yehuda and Yosef, and a continuation of their rivalry.
Rabbi Wein suggests that most of the divisions among Jews are the result of this rivalry. Each of them took a different path: Yosef interacted with the world while remaining holy and raising holy children, while Yehuda did not wish to become part of the outer society. "...in the end," Wein summarizes, "they are both the pillars of Jewish survival and society. They complement each other...They are partners in the messianic and redemptive historical process...They are both still here with us today in our own personal and national struggle to build a Torah nation and a good world."
Bottom line: we, the Jewish people, need both Yosef AND Yehuda to lead us. Can they do this in one country, or do we need two?
And, parenthetically, is there something intrinsically wrong with a second Jewish nation on this earth? The argument that Jews are better off spread out so that our enemies won't get all of us could be restated: As long as there is only one Jewish nation, we are vulnerable.
I am not suggesting that I know the answer; I just want to make sure the question is considered.
I can't wait for Parshat Vayigash, because Chabad discusses the Yosef-Yehuda rivalry in their Origins Torah studies book.
Chag Chanukah sameach!
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