UPDATES 10 am Israel time, Monday, October 28 2013:
**Southern Israel has been hit by 7 missiles and mortars over the last 12 hours with explosions taking place in the Chof Ashkelon and Eshkol regions. There are unconfirmed reports of Iron Dome intercepts over Ashkelon which, if true, would mean that Grad rockets were fired in addition to the Qassams that struck Eshkol.
**Your humble servant has long written that Jordan will be the next source of turmoil in the region. Rising religious extremism fueled by King Abdullah’s “reaching out”to the Muslim Brotherhood coupled with a disastrous economic situation exacerbated by more than 100,000 Syrian refugees are a recipe for disaster. Yesterday, one of the largest anti-government demonstrations ever took place in Amman.
**Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision yesterday to yield to the pressure of Western so-called diplomats and have Israel again participate in the absolute fraud of the United Nations Human Rights Council will be the subject of tomorrow’s blog.
**Bayit Yehudi’s proposed bill to stop future releases of Palestinian murderers failed in committee yesterday by a vote of 8-5 as Likud, Yesh Atid, and Hatnua banded together to stop the proposal from going forward. Those voting in favor of further releases were: Yuval Steintiz, Gideon Sa’ar, Limor Livnat, Gilad Erdan, Yair Lapid, Yael German, Yaakov Peri, and Tzipi Livni.
After the vote, Bayit Yehudi declared that “This is a sad day for the fight against terror in Israel. We will continue to fight with all our strength against the release of prisoners. We’re amazed and sorry that that the Likud ministers didn’t support the legislation that would have ended the release of murderers.”
Your humble servant is equally amazed–all the more so after listening to a senior Likud official pettily saying that the reason that Likud ministers voted against Bayit Yehudi was “revenge” for Avigdor Lieberman’s support for Moshe Leon in last week’s Jerusalem mayoral election.
Revenge for politics is a reason to put the lives of Israeli men, women, and children in jeopardy? If this isn’t moral bankruptcy, nothing is.
**Ahead of the Cabinet vote to release the Palestinian murderers, PM Netanyahu appeared to back down from his insistence that the PLO/Palestinian Authority recognize Israel as a Jewish state:
“We want to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians, primarily to guarantee security. Our demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people is not meant to obtain Palestinian ratification but is rather an acknowledgement that there will be no more claims.
Is not meant to obtain Palestinian ratification?
TODAY’S BLOG:
Yesterday was an extraordinarily black day for Israel.
Netanyahu’s decision to rejoin the so-called U.N. “Human Rights” Council, the vote to stymie legislation to stop the release of more Palestinian murderers, the backing off of the Israeli demand to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, and the release of 26 Palestinian murderers who murdered 27 Israelis between 1984 and 1994 are all signs of a morally bankrupt Israeli government presided over by a morally bankrupt Benjamin Netanyahu.
The release of more Palestinian terrorist murderers has Israelis yet again shaking their heads this morning as they wonder “for what?”
The answer to that simple question depends on whom you talk to. If you listened to PM Netanyahu yesterday, the release is being made because Israel “must keep its promises.” If you listened to one of Netanyahu’s aides yesterday, the release is being made as yet another “gesture” to restart the moribund “peace process”. Either way, the decision is morally reprehensible.
Just how bankrupt the process has become and how little the Israeli government cares about its own citizens was underlined by yet another Netanyahu confidante yesterday. Tzahi Hanegbi had this to say: “The process is underway, and a stabbing attack here and there will not stop the wheels of the process.”
A stabbing attack here and there?
Your disgusted and sickened humble servant has nothing else to add, and will let the list of victims speak for itself:
*Aharon Avidar, a 29 year old IDF corporal who was gunned down while on guard duty in Ramallah in 1985 by Mohamed Ibrahim Nasr and Rafi Farhoud Karajeh–both of whom will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*Hassan Katavia and *Lutfi Saadi who were shot to death in 1991 by Mohamed Ahmed al- Sabbagh–who will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
But fortunately things have changed somewhat, and there are cases when one drug is more helpful than viagra without prescription free another. On the other hand, in a few patients than levitra online cheap others; however its belongings in the long run wear off, so an alternate dosage needs to be taken preceding sex. Erectile dysfunction does not viagra cialis necessarily have to be sexual. This is done in situation where treatment would be effective through oral intake of prescribed medicine. levitra cheap online dentech.co
*Isaac Rotenburg, a 67 year old Holocaust survivor who was axed to death with chops to his neck by Hazem Kassem Shbair–who will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*Yigal Vachnin, a 22 year old Israeli who was stabbed to death in an orchard by Ahmed Said al-Damuni–who will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*Amnon Pomernatz who was burned alive in his car by Yusef Awwad Masalha–who will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*David Reuven, a 59 year old Israeli who was tied up and bludgeoned to death by Sharif Hasan Abu Dhailah–who will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*Avi Osher, an Israeli citizen who was killed by Mustafa Amer Ghnaimat–who will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*Meir Ben Yair, 33 years old, and *Michal Cohen, 32 years old, who were shot to death by Rizek Ali Salah and Afu Musbah Shakir–both of whom will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*Guy Friedman who was savagely murdered by Muayad Salim Hijja–who will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*Akiva Shaltiel who was brutally murdered by Najeh Mohamed Muqbel–who will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*Yosef Shirazi, a 62 year old security guard at the Marine Biological Lab in Eilat who was shot to death by Yosef Shirazi–who will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*Yakov Shalom, murdered by Issa Nimer Abed Rabbo–who will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*Yosef Eliyahu, 35 years old, and *Leah Elmakias, 19 years old, bound and strangled to death by a rope while hiking in the Gilboa forest by Haza’a Mohamed Sa’di and Othman Abdallah Bani Hasan–both of whom will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*Genia Friedman who was stabbed to death while walking down a street in Kfar Saba by Najeh Mohamed Muqbel–who will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*Moti Biton, a 32 year old store owner, who was shot to death (and his wife shot as well but survived) by Abdel Rahman Yusef al-Haj, Osama Zakariya Abu Hanani, and Mohamed Yusef Turkeman–all 3 of whom will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*Ravital Sari, 22 years old, and *Ron Levy, 23 years old, who were tied up, with a sack placed over their heads and shot to death at point blank range by Ahmed Said Abdel Aziz–who will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*David Kaspi, a 33 year old Israeli who was shot to death by Mohamed Musbah Ashour–who will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*Mohammed Al-Atwana, *Mycera Khalifa, and *Mohamed Hassouna who were all hatcheted to death by Omar Issa Masoud–who will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*Shimon Cohen, 71 years old, who was blown to pieces in the Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem by Khaled Daoud Azraq–who will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
*Tzvi Klein, a 44 year old reserve soldier in the IDF who was shot in the head by Israr Mustafa Samarin and Musa Izzat Kura’n–both of whom will be released by Benjamin Netanyahu today.
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.