Sivan 18, 5777
June 12, 2017
The News on the Israel street
The electricity “crisis” in Gaza . . .
Of course, there is no actual crisis except the one manufactured by Hamas. The terrorist organization which skims hundreds of millions of dollars from donor countries and taxes, is now feeling the pinch from the Gulf situation involving Qatar which has apparently ordered Hamas out.
So, immediately Hamas has turned to Iran where a high-profile Hamas group arrived over the weekend. Obviously, what Hamas wants is for Teheran to replace lost revenues from Qatar. And Tehran, for its part, is more than willing to take up the slack. In fact, the Hamas bond with Iran and Turkey seems stronger than ever.
But back to electricity. The Israeli Security Cabinet voted today to reduce electricity to Gaza–in an effort to prop up Mahmoud Abbas of the PLO.
Yes, you read that correctly.
And the Egyptian government has apparently decided to cut off all of the electricity it provides to Gaza as well.
What do you think is the Hamas reaction to the actions taken by Israel and Egypt?
Yes, you are correct. Hamas is warning that the “increased pressure” on it will result in an attack on southern Israel. Not Egypt, but Israel.
Once more to the bomb shelters.
Interesting numbers from the Central Bureau of Statistics . . .
This time we have a demographic forecast for the year 2065.
1. The percentage of Arabs in Israel will continue to decline from 21% now to 19% then.
2. The percentage of ultra-orthodox in Israel will triple to the point that they will constitute 51% of the Jewish population.
Interestingly, even though Israel secular women have one of the highest birthrates in the developed world at 2.6 per woman, the orthodox birthrate is around 7 per woman–and that birthrate has been steady for some years, neither increasing nor decreasing.
A small political earthquake . . .
The rift between coalition members Kulanu (headed by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon) and Likud (Netanyahu) may be growing with the news that Kulanu stalwart Yoav Galant may be switching allegiance to Likud.
Galant, who should have been named IDF Chief of Staff some years ago but who was bypassed because of false allegations of his having built a driveway to his house on state land, is now set to take the “security position” in Netanyahu’s cabinet–the position formerly held by Boogie Ya’alon.
TODAY’S BLOG:
Naftali Bennett Tells It Like It Is
As you may not know, Israel’s ultra-leftist newspaper Ha’aretz has been holding an “Israel Peace Conference” this week. One of the invited guest speakers was Israel Education Minister Naftali Bennett–the head of Israel’s conservative Jewish Home Party.
When Bennett rose to speak yesterday, he was mainly greeted by boos and Nazi salutes from those in attendance, but that didn’t stop him from telling it like it is.
Bennett began by discussing Jerusalem:
“It is better to have a unified Jerusalem than a political settlement. I hear the scorn (from you in the crowd), but 85 percent of the public agrees with my statement, indicating the degree of your ideological distance from that of the public in the country.”
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Bennett continued by describing the impact of having Jewish Home in the government:
“When we entered the government in 2013, we gave it a steel spine. For example, we prevented the fourth stage of the terrorists’ release. For the first time, we returned to jail those released in the Shalit deal.”
Bennett continued on the subject of peace:
“As much as we do not want war with Hezbollah and Da’ash, there will be no peace. My dream is that there will be no war. No one has a monopoly on peace . . . I want peace no less than you. The right has no monopoly on patriotism.”
Bennett continued through the boos and catcalls:
“If we had listened to you and security experts who offered to hand over the Golan to Assad, today Da’as would be camped on the Kineret (Sea of Galilee) and we would have hell in the upper Galilee.”
As for land concessions to the Palestinians, Bennett observed:
“We have already handed over 80 percent of the land of Israel that was allocated to us in the Balfour Declaration. This huge concession has already been made.”
Pertaining to the current situation vis a vis the Sunni Arab world:
“Today our power derives from the economic power of our educational system and the power of high-tech. Because of this power, the Sunni Arab states come and do not demand the handing over of territories, but rather tell us that they need our power and intelligence in order to stand up to Iran.”
Related to the current situation vis a vis the Palestinians:
“As for the Palestinians, we are doomed to live alongside them. They’re not going anywhere and we’re not going anywhere. A second Palestinian state beyond the one that already exists in Gaza . . . will not arise. There will be no second Palestinian state.”
Addressing the future with Palestinian Gaza, Bennett said:
“So what is the way? Our interest in Gaza is quiet. We need to learn the lessons from 2014. We need to act wisely and firmly to prevent another round of war, but if necessary then we must win it.”
Addressing the future with Palestinians in Judea and Samaria:
“As for Judea and Samaria, there will be two areas: an area under Israeli control with maximum area and a minimum number of Palestinians, and an area of Palestinian autonomy, including including elections, a parliament, and a flag–in fact this situation already exists.
However, autonomy does not include security control and opening the gates of that entity to the millions of Palestinian refugees in Syria and Jordan. If refugees are allowed to enter, it would break the demographic balance. They will not be arrested in Shechem, and they will want to come to Jaffa and Haifa. Then all this trouble will bring about a demographic disaster.”
Finally, Bennett declared this on the subject of land concessions to the Palestinians:
“We have no authority to give up territory. No such concession is binding on the Jewish people. Our right to the land exists forever. And until the Messiah comes, we will not move from our historical right.”
And there you have it my dear friends: there you have the reason why your humble servant is a card-carrying member of Israel’s Jewish Home (Bait Yehudi) political party. I would strongly suggest your making the same affiliation.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.