The Israel Situation » Tel Aviv

Gilad To Be Released – The Agony With The Ecstasy

Anthony Reich — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 16:28:03 +0000

The mood across Israel was changed in a dramatic fashion on Tuesday last week when the news was made public during the early evening that an agreement had been reached with Hamas for the return of the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. After 5 long years during which Hamas had allowed no access to him at all, not even by human rights organisations like the International Committee of the Red Cross, it seems as though Gilad Shalit will finally be on his way home.

Of course, the agreement that was finally struck by David Meidan and the Israeli negotiating team comes at a high cost to Israel. The objective behind the kidnapping in the first instance, was to extract a high price from Israel by insisting that prisoners in Israeli jails be released in exchange for any agreement to release Shalit. This is exactly what they have achieved, even though it has taken more than 5 long years to finally reach the agreement. Israel will release 1,027 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in order to secure the freedom of one IDF soldier. Many of these prisoners are serving life sentences, and have “blood on their hands” for murdering innocent Israeli civilians. Among those due for release are those who planned the Sbarro and Moment restaurant bombings in Jerusalem, those who planned the Seder night bombing at the Park Hotel in Netanya and those who planned the kidnap of Gilad Shalit. There are also many others who were involved in numerous bus bombings, and others who have committed similar heinous crimes. Along with the euphoria of knowing that Gilad will finally be returned to his parents and to the people of Israel, have come searching questions about the terms of his release.

As we sat in our Sukkah on Wednesday evening celebrating the festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles), the conversation inevitably turned to the deal that was struck for Gilad’s release. There were some sitting around the table who felt that the price was too high, and that the deal should never have been done on these terms. All the old concerns and issues were raised to justify why this deal endangers Israel’s security going forward. One friend said that he thought that the prisoner exchange shows a weakness in Israeli society that we are prepared to contemplate a deal that will return only one of our soldiers for more than a thousand of theirs. It is his view that our one soldier should effectively be sacrificed in order to protect the security of Israel going forward. The welfare of one soldier should not be allowed to destabilise the security of the entire State of Israel by placing convicted murderers and terrorists back on the streets. This friend has a daughter currently serving her two years in the IDF. When I asked how he would respond if the soldier in question was Heaven forbid his own daughter, he brought me the story of Joseph Stalin who refused to accept a deal with the Germans for a prisoner exchange to return his own son, Yacov, from captivity whilst a soldier in the Red army. Yacov ultimately died while being held by the Germans. My friend’s point is that the state is larger than any of its individuals, and that the government should behave accordingly.

As expected, the prisoner exchange has come under a great deal of resistance from the families of the victims who were maimed and murdered at the hands of the prisoners due for release. Many have already made it clear how insulted they feel by the release of the murderers of their loved ones. We can all understand their pain, and the fact that they feel that this insults the memories of their dearly departed. The government went out of its way to arrest and imprison the perpetrators of these horrible attacks. Now, it seems that all is being thrown away by the prisoner exchange deal. This view would be entirely valid if our circumstances were normal. Unfortunately, like so many other things in Israel and the Middle East, things are never straightforward.

My view is that we should do all that we can to respect the memories of those who have fallen in the line of duty protecting their homeland, and those whose lives have been taken by those seeking to destroy our country and our people. While doing so, however, we are also forced to confront the new realities and circumstances that arise each day. I think that the strength of our society lies in the fact that we do value each individual as if he is the only one. While I agree that the price seems unbalanced when we exchange 1 for more than 1,000, the message that it sends to our serving soldiers and their families can only help to strengthen the resolve and the strength of our military, and of our society as a whole. Our security forces can operate in the knowledge that they are more than simply a number, and that the government will do all that is required to protect them, even under the most extreme situation. The argument that, through this prisoner exchange, the government is releasing murderers and terrorists to kill and maim again is valid. The security services have said that they can take care of this situation, and I believe that there are so many potential terrorists and murderers in the West Bank and Gaza, that the release of this motley crew does not significantly increase the risk. And while the exchange deal does reinforce what the terrorists already knew when they kidnapped Gilad, which is that Israel values each of its individual soldiers and will be prepared to strike an unbalanced prisoner exchange deal to release him, I don’t believe that this dramatically increases the risk of other soldiers being kidnapped in the future. This is because the risk has been at the highest level for many years, and the fact that 5 years have passed without another soldier being kidnapped is not because they have not tried. Regular attempts have been made to kidnap soldiers, and we should expect that such attempts will continue.

Israel is forced to exist under extreme and severe circumstances. The risk of a terror or missile attack against her civilians is ever-present. The act of rounding up those who have brought death and destruction on Israelis in the past is more about justice than it is about reducing the risk levels. It is clear that removing such individuals from a situation where they can repeat their crimes does give some increased level of security. I am not convinced, however, that arresting these individuals, even when related to 1,000 people, serves to dramatically improve Israel’s security. Apparently the Shin Bet security agency agrees with this assessment, and has given its approval to the prisoner exchange. The Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen described the prisoner exchange deal as “a bad deal, but the only one available to us”. This sums it up for many in Israel. We would prefer not to have to release criminals back onto the street, but the alternative of not doing so is worse.

The Israeli government last night released the names of the first group of prisoners set for release. This is to allow the 48 hour period that the law requires for any legal challenges to the prisoner exchange before it goes ahead. Objections to the exchange have already been filed with the High Court of Justice, and the court will hear these petitions during the course of today. Assuming that the court gives its approval to the exchange, it is expected that Gilad Shalit will return to Israel during the course of Tuesday. For one family and for many Israelis, this will be a moment of great joy and the ultimate fulfilment of the government’s responsibility to each of its citizens. For many families, it will reopen painful wounds and memories. Our joy is tempered by their pain, and the sacrifice that these fmailies have made will never be ignored or forgotten. Unfortunately, nothing can return their loved ones, and it is my hope that they will find a way to feel the joy of the Shalit family and other Israelis. We wait expectantly for the moment when Gilad will emerge, alive and well, into the arms of his family and the Israeli nation.

Gilad To Be Released – The Agony With The Ecstasy is a post from: The Israel Situation

Syria’s Bashar Assad Threatens Israel

Eric — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:33:59 +0000

Months of anti-government protests in Syria have left an estimated 3,000 dead. The Western world is looking on without intervening as it did in Libya, but they may not let the killing go on forever without intervening.

Syrian dictator Bashar Assad knows that the world is watching, so he made a bold statement. If NATO forces make any move against Syria, Assad will direct his military to launch rocket attacks on Tel Aviv. He said that “if a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, [he] will need not more than 6 hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv.”

He also threatened to unleash Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon to join in the attack against the only working democracy in the Middle East.

This is not the first time an Arab country has threatened Israel as a means to protect itself from a foreign power. During the first Gulf War, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq fired long-range missiles at Israel to discourage the American advance.

It is sad to see Israel caught in the middle of this mess, but I have faith that Benjamin Netanyahu would respond with much more force than Ehud Olmert during Israel’s most recent war. I also believe the United States would rush emergency supplies and defense aid to Israel to defend itself from the attack.

Assad also said that, in the event of a NATO attack against Syria, Iran would need only hours to begin a naval assault against US and EU vessels in the Persian Gulf and around the world.

Are we reaching a tipping point where the Arab Spring in Syria will lead to an international war? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Photo by syriana2011.

Syria’s Bashar Assad Threatens Israel is a post from: The Israel Situation

Recognizing The True Implications of Anti-Semitism

Paul — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:50:02 +0000

Lest we never fail to recognize the truly nasty and rotten core of the pseudo-intellectual conspiratorial and prejudicial form of bigotry and hatred that is the hallmark of anti-Semitism

The most infamous piece of anti-Semitic text that alludes to a conspiratorial Jewish world domination is The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fraudulent piece of writing that suggests a small cabal of Jews were smart enough to manipulate the masses to fall unknowingly under their control but dumb enough to write down their entire plan for those same masses to read. The text has been aptly described by historian Norman Cohn as Hitler and the Nazi Party’s “warrant for genocide.”

It is alarming to see similar Medieval myths and libels (such as the Passover and Blood libels) used to slander and foment hatred for the Jews in Christendom. These lies are now being reused by some official sources in the Disputed Territories, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia to incite condemnation, suspicion, and hatred of the Jews.

Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel’s annihilation, has the text on its website and preaches it as fact (as the Nazis had done before them) to instill the desire to take up the age old pathological creed of carrying out a campaign of genocide against the Jewish citizens of the world. When one believes such fabrications, what are the consequences?

Take another work of fiction as an example. The Turner Diaries a fictional diary of a neo-Nazi who, with a group of like minded individuals calling themselves the Order, carry out a campaign of sabotage and terrorism in an effort to overthrow the Federal Government of the United States. They succeed and instigate a race war and start a nuclear war in which they kill millions when they attack New York City and Tel Aviv in order to fulfill the said pathological creed. Here is a description of the aftermath of the nuclear attack on Tel Aviv:

“Within 24 hours after we hit Tel Aviv and half-a-dozen other Israeli targets last month, hundreds of thousands of Arabs were swarming across the borders of occupied Palestine. Most of them were civilians, armed only with knives or clubs, and Jewish border guards mowed down thousands of them, until their ammunition was exhausted. The Arabs’ hatred, pent up for 45 years, drove them on-across mine fields, through Jewish machine-gun fire, and into the radioactive chaos of burning cities, their single thought being to slay the people who had stolen their land, killed their fathers, and humiliated them for two generations. Within a week the throat of the last Jewish survivor in the last kibbutz and in the last, smoking ruin in Tel Aviv had been cut.”

Among other things, this book inspired Timothy McVeigh to carry out the now infamous bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing over 60 innocent people in 1995. It was this book, as a piece of anti-Semitic literature, that led him on the downward spiral that capitulated in him executing this horrendous terrorist atrocity.

Bottom Line: Antisemitism isn’t just another form of bigotry or intolerance. It is by all means a disorder that can prove to be life threatening to the bare foundations of civilization. It is a duty of civilization to ensure that its true meaning is never distorted and the term is never allowed to be degraded or devalued by those who wish to belittle the true nature of its callous, hateful, and superficial tenants.

Image by spletke.

Recognizing The True Implications of Anti-Semitism is a post from: The Israel Situation

Tel Aviv Missile Warning Time: 90 Seconds

Eric — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 20:57:44 +0000

photo © 2004 Ernesto JoryszThe Israel Home Front Command has decreased the warning time for incoming missiles to Israel’s most populated areas. Tel Aviv and Gush Dan residents now have 90 seconds warning.

The Home Front Command quotes advancing technologies that could allow a rocket emanating from Hamas in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon to reach central Israel faster than ever before. Ha’aretz reports:

In the past, The Israel Defense Forces were able to use sensors that would detect any incoming fire and missiles as well as the direction they were coming from.

The sensors would trigger a siren, giving Tel Aviv and Gush Dan residents a two-minute grace period to find shelter. After taking cover they were required to wait ten minutes until an additional siren was sounded, signifying the end of the threat.

However now, Hamas and Hezbollah can launch longer range missiles with heightened precision. They possess more missiles than ever before, concealed in buildings and underground bunkers.

This has prompted not only the 25 percent reduction in warning time, but also a modification of emergency Home Front Command protocol.

The Iron Dome missile defense system should be deployed within the several weeks, but military leaders warn that an additional 13 to 15 batteries are needed to adequately protect the population from short range guided missiles. Those missiles generally have a range of about 70 km.

It is good to see Israel making advances to protect its citizens from terrorism on all borders. I am afraid of what Hezbollah will throw at Israel during the next war, but I pray the IDF is ready.

Tel Aviv Missile Warning Time: 90 Seconds is a post from: The Israel Situation

Linkin Park Concert in Tel Aviv

Eric — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 03:26:11 +0000

For those of you who are rock music fans, you may be excited to read that Linkin Park, my favorite rock band, is stopping in Tel Aviv on their current European Tour. The band will play in Gan HaYarkon on November 15^th. I have seen Linkin Park four times in concert, and each show was amazing.

You can learn more, and buy tickets, at Linkin Park’s website. Here is a live video of my favorite Linkin Park song.

Linkin Park Concert in Tel Aviv is a post from: The Israel Situation

Setting The Facts Straight: 1948

Eric — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:18:15 +0000

Tel Aviv University Professor Carlo Strenger wrote a piece for the Guardian that discussed the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the 1948 war. While I disagree with many of his comments, a couple of paragraphs stand out.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is more than 100 years old. Israel is, no doubt, not doing what it should to end the occupation of the territories conquered in 1967. Along with many others in Israel I am committed to ending it. But there are many Palestinians and others who endorse their just cause who take every opportunity to return to what happened in 1948 – which is not constructive.

I think the first step is to get history right. Palestinians were not just passive victims in what they call the Nakba, as if it had been something like a natural catastrophe. Far from being only victims, they made decisions like choosing to follow Muhammad Amin al-Husseini who formed close ties with Nazi Germany. Arab rejection of the Jewish presence created a zero-sum-game that made the attempts of Jewish leaders like Magnes and Buber to seek cooperation and coexistence with Palestinian Arabs irrelevant.

It is important to remember that Palestinians made choices (and it is often conveniently repressed by them and their proponents). They could have accepted the UN partition plan of 1947. They chose not to. Let us not delude ourselves: if the Arab armies that attacked the fledgling state of Israel had won, not a single Jew would have been allowed to stay in Palestine, and countless would have been killed. Israel won the 1948 war, and, as is well documented now, used the chaos of war to expel 750,000 Palestinians from Israel. This is a tragedy for the Palestinians, but they are not the only ones who pay a heavy price for losing wars.

This great article is written for the 100th anniversary of the founding of Tel Aviv. I suggest you read the whole thing at the Guardian. Maybe the Palestinians will stop complaining and work to move forward. While I hate Kadima, the Palestinians could learn something from the word’s meaning. It means to move forward. Quit living in the past and work to make your life and your kids lives better. Fighting is getting us nowhere.

Setting The Facts Straight: 1948 is a post from: The Israel Situation

Israel’s Streets on Yom Kippur

Eric — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:44:11 +0000

Ha’artez has a great photo report of Israel’s busy streets on the not so busy Yom Kippur. It is worth taking a gander. The streets of Israel empty out every year on Yom Kippur and children are often seen riding bikes through major streets and highways.

Israel’s Streets on Yom Kippur is a post from: The Israel Situation

Israel Investigating Possible Soldier Kidnapping

Eric — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:22:00 +0000

IDF officials have begun an investigation into a reported Israeli soldier abduction. The Maan News Agency, a Palestinian news source in Beit Lechem, has reported that the “Al-Quds Army” terrorist group has claimed that they are holding a kidnapped soldier. The little known terrorist group is thought to be associated loosely with Hezbollah.

Israel has responded with roadblocks and a massive search. A major roadblock was setup on highway one between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem near Ben Gurion Airport and Lod.

The “dragnet” around the country has not yet produced any results. The terrorists claim they kidnapped the soldier in the area around the airport. The search began after a soldier reported seeing what looked like a group of people attempting to force another soldier into a car.

I hope we do not have another Gilad incident forming. I will keep you all updated if I find out anything more.

Israel Investigating Possible Soldier Kidnapping is a post from: The Israel Situation

Maccabiah Games Next Week

Eric — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:47:00 +0000

The 18th annual Maccabiah Games begin on July 18th in Israel. The Maccabiah Games are kind of like the Jewish Olympics. It is something interesting to read about and learn about. The open ceremony and most events are going to be held at Ramat Gan Stadium in the Tel Aviv region.

Maccabi USA

Maccabiah Games (Wikipedia)

2009 Maccabiah Games

Legacies continue at `Jewish Olympics’ – Miami Herald

Maccabiah Games Next Week is a post from: The Israel Situation

Israeli Posed for NBA Draft First Round

Eric — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:39:00 +0000

Omri Cassipi, a 6′ 9″ Macabbi Tel Aviv veteran is in the sights of the NBA. Word is that the Portland Trailblazers have their eyes set on Cassipi, who has spent 4 years on the Tel Aviv team, a member of the Euroleague.

Few Israelis have actually made it into the NBA, though many have tried. The JTA has a comprehensive history of failed NBA attempts. I wish Cassipi luck in his bid for the world’s top basketball league.

Israeli Posed for NBA Draft First Round is a post from: The Israel Situation