27 December 2018
The Funny Story Of The Day That Is Not So Funny
Yesterday, Border Police stationed at the northern entrance to Eilat stopped a bus headed toward Eilat. Upon inspection, they discovered that the bus contained 50 Palestinian men, women, and children from the Ramallah and Hevron areas.
Somehow, they had made it through or around several checkpoints to reach Eilat.
Why were they going to Eilat?
They were taking a vacation.
Yes, a travel agency in Ramallah apparently run by a travel company in eastern Jerusalem sold them vacation packages.
In the end, the Border Police turned the bus around and sent it back to Ramallah, but not until they had arrested the bus driver and tour guide.
This entire episode is symbolic of what goes on in Israel everyday where thousands of Palestinians are easily able to evade checkpoints on their way into Israel illegally.
The News On The Israeli Street
Palestinian terror in Judea and Samaria:
*Palestinian terrorists attacked Israeli motorists at Hizma, Karmei Tzur, throughout Gush Etzion, Anatot, Beit Hagai, Hawara, Tapuach, all around Hevron, and at Luban A-Sharqiya among other places.
*Palestinian terrorists attempted to set fire to the Beitar Illit security fence.
A follow-up to yesterday’s blog about Syria . . .
Yesterday we suggested that we would know more about what happened in Syria two nights ago once the fog of war lifted.
One thing we know for sure is that the Russian claim that its vaunted missile defense system shot down 14 out of 16 Israeli missiles was patently false. In fact, it appears from satellite photos that no Israeli missiles were shot down, and the only damage done by the S200 or S300 Russian system was to Syria when the missiles exploded in Syria.
So for all intents and purposes discover my pharmacy store lowest price viagra is an identical copy of the original medication. It is a pocket friendly levitra prices canada medicine and obtainable in different packs through online service providers. Blood price for levitra lab exams are useful additionally to spot sugar. Managers who show india viagra up late for meetings (or cancel them at the last minute) want a more disciplined organization.
Every major installation targeted by Israel was obliterated.
Heavy rains and the Kineret . . .
Once again, Israel is being socked by severe snowstorms in the far north and thunderstorms everywhere else along the coast. Yesterday, the level of Kineret rose by 3 centimeters bringing it to height of 214.52 meters. Despite the rains, the Kineret remains more than 5 meters below “normal.”
The value of the shekel and dollar . . .
The dollar continues to strengthen against the shekel with the exchange rate today being 3.781 shekels=$1. This is the strongest the dollar has been in Israel in a number of years.
TODAY’S BLOG:
What’s In A Name?
The Leftist Messiah Benny Gantz Makes His Move
Gantz and Livni: birds of a feather.
As we noted several days ago, all of Israel has been waiting with bated breath to find out what former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz will do in the political arena. Leftists in particular have latched onto Gantz as their savior from another Netanyahu government.
With his incomprehensibly high popularity (incomprehensible because of his utter failure as IDF Chief), Gantz has been courted by every political party. Earlier this week, Avi Gabbai–the head of the Labor Party–offered to step down and run in the second spot if Gantz would lead Labor. Gantz declined.
More than this numerous polls have suggested that if Gantz joined Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party, that party could then pose a major threat to Likud and Netanyahu. Again, Gantz apparently declined.
Today, Gantz filed papers to establish his own party. It’s name is “Hosen Leyisrael” which roughly translates as “Resilience for Israel.” The name obviously echoes “Otzma LeYisrael” (“Strength for Israel”), an Israeli political party on the far right of the spectrum.* There has been much speculation today that the name was deliberately chosen to convey the idea that Gantz’s new party is on the “right.”
This is not the first time that a party has chosen a name to be manipulative. Back in 2015, Bougie Herzog’s leftist Labor Party joined with Tzipi Livni’s leftist Hatnua Party to form the rightist-sounding “Zionist Camp” party. The subterfuge did not work as Israeli voters recognized Zionist Camp for what it was.
Gantz may try to portray himself as a “rightist”, but everyone knows his past. And guess who is making noises about joining Gantz’s new party? None other than Tzipi Livni, though one wonders if Gantz would want to be weighted down by her. If she does joins Hosen Leyisrael, the only person missing would be another leftist, Ehud Barak.
We here at israelstreet have every hope that Gantz’s new party sinks like a rock.
*Otzma LeYisrael is now officially known as Otzma Yehudit.
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.