11 Tammuz 5777
5 July 2017
The News on the Israel Street
Tragedy in Hevron . . .
David Golovenchich, a 22 year old IDF officer from Efrat, was accidentally killed yesterday during an IDF drill at the Gilber Checkpoint in Hevron. Apparently, the gun of one of his soldiers misfired.
Palestinian terror at Mizmoriya . . .
Border Guards captured a car full of terrorists on their way to carrying out an attack. The terrorists were armed with grenades, Molotovs, and other weapons.
An earthquake in Israeli politics . . .
The Herzog-Livni party (aka “Zionist Camp”) is no more.
Bougie (aka “Isaac”, aka “Yitzhak”) Herzog, the leader of the government opposition in the Knesset, has been deposed.
By members of his own party.
Tired of Herzog’s general ineffectiveness as Party leader and endless rumors that he was about to drag the Party into the Netanyahu Coalition, the rank and file overwhelmingly and unceremoniously tossed him out in the Labor primaries yesterday.
Amir Peretz (32.7%) and Avi Gabbay (27.1%) received the most votes and will vie in a runoff next week.
Trailing far behind were Herzog (16.8%), Eral Margalit (16.1%), and Omer Bar Lev (6.9%).
All in all, the vote was a stunning personal repudiation of Herzog.
What’s going on in Egypt? . . .
Egypt has opened the Rafah Crossing into Gaza this morning following talks last week between Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Egyptian President Sisi. At the same time, Sisi suddenly canceled a visit to Cairo by Mahmoud Abbas planned for Saturday.
After years of attacking Hamas, Egypt now seems to be warming to the Palestinian terror organization while distancing itself from the PLO, another Palestinian terror organization.
Speaking of terrorists . . .
What else would you call UNESCO and the World Heritage Committee?
Sponsored by Jordan, another UNESCO resolution passed yesterday denying Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem. In one sense, such resolutions are not surprising given the Netanyahu government’s abdication of Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount. After all, if our own government kowtows to the Jordanian Wakf on the Mount–busing in millions of Muslims to pray during Ramadan and denying Jews the right to even go to the Mount for days and weeks at a time–what is the rest of the world to think?
The vote was 10 in favor of the resolution (Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Lebanon, Tunisia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Turkey, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Cuba); three against (Philippines, Jamaica and Burkina Faso); and eight abstentions (Angola, Croatia, Finland, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Korea and Tanzania).
KUDOs to the Philippines, Jamaica, and Burkina!
Following the UNESCO vote, the World Heritage Committee began its meeting in Krakow, Poland–60 km from Auschwitz– by standing for a moment of silence for victims of the Holocaust, and then, outrageously, another moment for Palestinian “victims” of “Israeli occupation.”
Comparing Holocaust victims with Palestinians makes your humble servant want to scream at the insanity of the world.
Speaking of insanity . . .
Your humble servant was appalled by the news yesterday concerning President Rivlin and former Prime Minister, and criminal, Ehud Olmert.
The tablet will remain effective for around four unica-web.com buy cialis to six hours4. Where the disease is of erectile dysfunction, the little blue pill can pfizer viagra samples be life-changing. Of all of these, smoking and psychological tadalafil online australia causes are also common which include guilt, depression and anxiety. buy cheap sildenafil BPH stands for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia is weak.
No sooner had Olmert had been released than he applied for a “softening of his release restrictions.” Rivlin quickly agreed ordering that Olmert not be forced to report to the police twice a month, and enabling Olmert to travel abroad.
Your humble servant wonders how long it will be until Olmert begins his first “victory” lecture tour in which he raises tens of thousands of dollars for himself by delegitimizing our Israeli government.
All Israeli sports fans are cheering today . . .
First, Omri Casspi–the only Israeli in the National Basketball Association– has signed a one year contract with the world champion Golden State Warriors.
Second, Dudi Sela, Israel’s best tennis player has made it to the second round of Wimbledeon.
THREE CHEERS FOR ASHDOD! . . .
Pardon the chauvinism for my home city, but El Al announced yesterday that the first dreamliner in its fleet will be named . . . (you guessed it) . . . “Ashdod.”
The official naming ceremony will take place on July 23 at Ben Gurion Airport.
For some years, we Ashdodos have suffered from an inferiority complex of sorts. Ashdod doesn’t seem to be on anyone’s maps from those of TV weather people to descriptions of Israel in travel catelogues.
For being Israel’s 5th largest city and largest port, a city rich in history and massively important politically (witness the last election), Ashdod deserves some attention!
TODAY’S BLOG
Narendra Modi’s Amazing Visit To Israel
Modi lands in Israel (picture: Reuters).
It was a great day at Ben Gurion Airport yesterday. First we had 200 new Israelis making aliya from Canada and the United States. But their arrival was quickly overshadowed by that of the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.
The importance of Modi’s visit cannot be understated.
As the founder of the non-aligned movement, India played an important role for decades in a wide variety of international matters. Unfortunately, on many occasions, Israel found India on the opposite side as it supported the PLO in a number of venues.
Thus, when Modi landed yesterday, he became the first Indian prime minister to ever visit Israel. This is remarkable in itself, but almost equally remarkable is the astonishing fact that Modi announced that he would not go to Ramallah to visit the Palestinian Authority.
So it is not surprising that Israel has rolled out the red carpet for Modi or that PM Netanyahu will be doing nothing for the duration of his visit except escorting him all over the country.
At the airport yesterday, Netanyahu told Modi that “we have waited for you for almost 70 years.”
And Modi replied, in Hebrew: “I am very happy to be here; it is my honor to be the first Indian Prime Minister to come to visit to Israel.”
He continued: “Today is exactly 41 years since Operation Entebbe, the day that your prime minister lost his brother Yoni when he saved many people.”
He added: “India regards Israel as an important partner in the need to rely on advanced technology to break through its development challenges, build a partnership for a growing economy, and work together against against terrorist threats.”
And so, the world changes–often dramatically. The new alliance between India and Israel is indeed an amazing thing to behold.
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.