Friday, Yom Shishi
4 Kislev 5781
November 20, 2020
Quote of the Day
“The visit of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the Golan Heights yesterday was a provocation. Such criminal visits encourage Israel to continue its hostile and dangerous approach.”
The Syrian Foreign Ministry in a statement yesterday
In discussing Secretary of State Pompeo’s unprecedented visit to Psagot yesterday, we neglected to mention that Pompeo also visited the Israeli Golan Heights.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry statement makes it appear that the Golan Heights belong to Syria. But what claim did the Syrians ever have to the Golan? Just think about the last 500 years or so:
* from 1516 to 1918, the Golan Heights was under control of the Ottomans
*from 1918 to 1946, the Golan Heights was under control of the French (Mandate)
*from 1946 to June, 1967–a period of only 21 years-–the Golan Heights was under control of the Syrians which used it to attack Israel
*from 1967 until today–for the last 53 years--the Golan Heights has been part of Israel
The News On The Israeli Street
The “daily” Corona (Covid-19) update . . .
The following covers the last 24 hours (from 8 am yesterday until 8 am today):
There are 327,049 confirmed cases—an increase of 718
309 are in critical condition—a decrease of 8
127 of the most critically ill are on ventilators—an increase of 2
2,742 have died–an increase of 3
There are currently 8,377 active Corona cases in Israel.
It is a mixed bag of Corona statistics. After several weeks of decline, the number of active cases is now incrementally increasing by about 100 per day. However, this makes the 4th day in a row that fewer than 5 people have died from Corona.
Nearly half (46.7%) of new infections this past week have been in the Israeli-Arab sector. The Health Ministry is going to recommend that the largest Israeli-Arab city, Nazareth, be put on lockdown.
According to a survey conducted in the past few days, 52% of Israelis do not want to be vaccinated when a vaccine becomes available for fear that the vaccine may not be safe. This compares to 42% of Americans, and 20% of the people in the UK.
The IDF is determined . . .
. . . to absolve itself of responsibility for not responding to the missile fire into southern and central Israel this past week.
Yesterday, almost a week after the fact, the IDF General Command said that “IDF observers and cameras” have identified two lightning bolts that hit missile launch electrical boards in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza causing missiles to be fired.
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What unmitigated horse manure.
There is no way in the world that the IDF could possibly know whether a lightning strike caused the missile launch. Far more likely, terrorists in Gaza took advantage of the thunderstorm to confuse our Iron Dome missile defense (that failed to intercept a single missile). And, by the way, if we know where those electrical boards are why in the world don’t we destroy them?
No matter what the case, nothing absolves the IDF from not responding.
Huge news in Israel . . .
Deny on the court (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni).
Amidst Corona, terror, and threats on our borders, sports-crazy Israelis were thrilled to hear yesterday that Deni Avdija was selected by the Washington Wizards as the 9th choice in the NBA draft.
Avdija is 19 years-old and measures 2.06 m in height (6’9″).
Deny’s personal background is fascinating. His father Zufer was born in what is now Kosovo and is a Muslim with Serbian and Israeli citizenship. Zufer was a professional basketball player with a number of teams before winding up with Maccabi Tel Aviv. His mother is Sharon Artzi, an Israeli Jew from Kibbutz Beit Zera and a former basketball player and track and field star.
You might be asking why Deni is not serving in the IDF. When he was 17, he received a deferment to play basketball, but completed basic training this year during the beginning of the Corona outbreak. He will continue to serve in the NBA’s off seasons.
OneIsrael wishes him great success!
TODAY’S BLOG
Massive Civil Disobedience
So it has finally come to this.
Business owners can no longer take it. They are going bankrupt by the score; employees are laid off or fired; and there is no end to the lockdown in sight.
Last night, your humble servant broke the law. A good friend of ours who owns and operates a restaurant near here that had 60 employees told us that he was down to his last agorot and that he would secretly open his restaurant to a very limited number of people.
We decided to go. There were only 5 other people in the restaurant in separate rooms. We wore masks and applied ample amounts of hand sanitizer.
The relief to have customers was palpable on our friend’s face.
This morning comes news that dozens of stores have opened in defiance of regulations in malls throughout the country including the Ayalon and Kryon Malls in Tel Aviv, the Grand Malls in Petah Tikva and Be’ersheva, the Modi’in Mall, and the Big Mall here in Ashdod.
Police have been seen in many of the above places but no tickets/fines are being handed out–probably because the police are in sympathy with the business owners.
After all, why should a shoe store in a mall be closed when a shoe store on a street is open? Why should a paint or hardware store in a mall be closed when every other paint or hardware store elsewhere is deemed “necessary” and allowed to be open?
More generally, why should malls and restaurants be closed when people are allowed to flock to the beaches in the tens of thousands and sit maskless side by side like sardines when they get there?
It makes no sense.
And it makes no sense for our friend to lose his business when delivery “restaurants” like pizza places and even sushi restaurants are thriving.
The time for civil disobedience has arrived.
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.