27 Adar I 5776
Monday, March 7 2016
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UPDATES 5 pm Israel time
–>Palestinian terror today.
*Early this morning, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza opened fire on an IDF patrol near Kissufim. No troops were wounded; a terrorist was shot and killed.
*In the afternoon, a 60-year-old tourist was wounded when she was struck in the head by a “rock” near the Church of St. Anne which is located beside the Lion’s Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. She is currently hospitalized with “moderate” wounds.
*Shortly after the above “rock” attack, terrorists at Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem hurled IEDs at Israeli soldiers. Remarkably, none were wounded.
*In the midst of the above violence, numerous other “rock” and Molotov attacks occurred in such places as the Mount of Olives, Tapuach Junction, Jit Junction, Beit Furik, Geva, Makel, and Hizma.
–>Finally, something is being done to protect Israeli citizens.
After an inexplicable two year wait, the IDF is working today to reinforce bus stops throughout Judea and Samaria where many of the most egregious Palestinian terror attacks occur. Three of those junctions are the Tapuach and Jit Junctions mentioned above, and the Gush Etzion Junction.
New, larger concrete blocks are being put into place to stop Palestinian bulldozer attackers (car rammers), and cameras are being installed.
Why this hasn’t been done before now (after being approved two years ago) is anyone’s guess.
–>Maybe one reason is because of the continuing farce at Kiryat Arba.
While “rock” and Molotov attacks continue incessantly in Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem, the IDF and police arrived this morning at the Hazon David synagogue in Kiryat Arba–and destroyed it.
It is an exercise in futility.
At the latest count, the synagogue–which the Civil Administration claims was built without authorization–has been destroyed and rebuilt 36 times in recent years.
–>Why has construction halted in municipal Jerusalem?
That is the question which was addressed at the Knesset Land of Israel Lobby meeting today. In particular, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat demanded that construction resume in Ma’ale Adumim and in all areas between it and the other parts of that section of Jerusalem.
His demand was seconded by Yair Lapid, the leader of the Yesh Atid center-left party. Lapid said that this area will always be part of Israel no matter what happens with the Palestinians and that Israel should not fear international criticism.
–>Slightly good news on the housing front.
You may remember, dear reader, that one of the hottest issues in the last election campaign was housing–specifically, the lack thereof. Young people in particular were incensed at their inability to afford an apartment. Moshe Kahlon, the head of the Kulanu party was electorally successful because of his promises to alleviate the situation.
Based on statistics today, Kahlon is having some success. During January, 2,978 new apartments were sold in Israel, a 17% increase over the previous month.
There is still a long way to go.
There are currently 29,752 apartments for sale, but most of those are not in the price range of younger Israelis.
–>A fascinating find at the City of David.
Archaeologists have uncovered a 2600 year old seal which reads “Eliana, Daughter of Gal.”
The seal that has been discovered. It dates to the late First Temple period–probably about a hundred years before its destruction.
There is much speculation about the writing on the seal because virtually no seals have been found that belonged to a woman. Who was Eliana? Was she a businesswoman working in the First Temple area? At present, no one knows; there is no mention of her or Gal in the Torah.
TODAY’S BLOG:
Speaking of the Temple area, a major Coalition crisis may be looming.
An emergency meeting was called by PM Netanyahu today to discuss the situation at the Kotel (Western Wall). The meeting was demanded by the head of United Torah Judaism/Israel Health Minister, Rabbi Yaakov Litzman. United Torah Judaism is the ultra-orthodox Ashkenazi Jewish party which is an integral part of the Coalition along with Shas, the Sephardic ultra-orthodox party. Together, these two parties have 12 seats in the Knesset.
Twelve seats may seem small, but without those twelve seats the government would immediately fall.
Litzman and his followers are particularly upset about two recent decisions.
- The government decision to create a space between the Mughrabi Gate and Robinson’s Arch for Reform Jews to pray. Creating a place for the Reform Jews to pray entails having women rabbis there carrying Torah scrolls and reading from the Torah.
To the orthodox, it is appalling that Reform Jews will have such a space. But even more than this, the orthodox are seething over the fact that representatives from the Reform Movement will have representatives on a committee overseeing management of the Western Wall plaza.
2. A Supreme Court ruling that permits Reform Jewish rabbis to use mikvehs controlled by the Orthodox to carry out conversions to Reform Judaism.
In the meeting today, Litzman threatened that if these two issues are not addressed immediately, United Torah Judaism will leave the government.
The first issue concerning the management of the Plaza would seem to be relatively easy to address. Some formula will be worked out that divides the authority over the Plaza–and not place the entire Plaza under the control of one “management committee.”
The second issue is more problematical. The Supreme Court is not going to reverse its decision, so unless some kind of separate mikveh system acceptable to the Court is set up, it is hard to see how this will be resolved.
Please note that your humble servant prefaced this blog with the phrase “may be looming.” The truth is that as important as these two issues are to the ultra-orthodox–also important to them is staying in the government. Much to their dismay, United Torah Judaism and Shas were out of the last government, and they do not want to be so again. They will be looking for a compromise.
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.