28-29 Elul 5777
19-20 September 2017
SPECIAL NOTICE
The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, begins tonight at sundown.
Shana Tovah and best wishes for a year of health, happiness, and prosperity!
The News on the Israel Street
*Hezbollah and Iran attempt to infiltrate Israel . . .
The IDF raised its military alert level on the Golan Heights Tuesday night following the attempt by Hezbollah/Iran to breach Israel air defenses with a drone. The drone was intercepted and shot down:
The trail of the Patriot interceptor missile that shot down the Hezbollah drone.
Palestinian terror continues . . .
There have been numerous terror attacks throughout Judea and Samaria including at attempted stabbing at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron. In that attack the terrorist was neutralized; no Israelis were wounded.
The cost of honey . . .
Responding to some outrageous prices for Rosh Hashana honey, the government has requested that all sellers keep the price to at least 36 shekels ($10) per kilo. About one third of all honey consumed in Israel for the year will be consumed during the coming holiday. During an average year, Israelis consume around 4,600 tons of honey, of about 1.2 pounds per person.
A foreboding of things to come . . .
2016 saw Israelis driving 57,000,000,000 kilometers (around 354 billion miles)–an increase of 4.4% over 2015. More mileage driven, more cars on the road, more people, more accidents . . .
A new U.S. military base in Israel . . .
Occurring almost simultaneously with the Trump-Netanyahu meeting on the sidelines the United Nations came news that for the first time in Israeli history, a U.S. military base has been established in Israel. It is actually located inside an Israeli Air Force Base not too far from here to the south. It is the location at which Israelis and Americans already man the giant radar assembly.
TODAY’S BLOG:
Trump’s Dramatic Attack on Iran at the UN
(and what he said about the Palestinians)
As regular readers of israelstreet know, your humble servant has been no great fan on President Trump.
However, his words at the United Nations landed like a bombshell here in Israel and elsewhere in the region. Here’s what he said about Iran (emphasis mine):
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“It is time for all nations to work together to isolate the Kim regime until it ceases its hostile behavior. We face this decision not only in North Korea; it is far past time for the nations of the world to confront another reckless regime, one that speaks openly of mass murder, vowing death to America, destruction to Israel, and ruin for many leaders and nations in this room.
The Iranian government masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy. It has turned a wealthy country, with a rich history and culture, into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos. The longest-suffering victims of Iran’s leaders are, in fact, its own people. Rather than use its resources to improve Iranian live, its oil profits go to fund Hezbollah and other terrorists that kill innocent Muslims and attack their peaceful Arab and Israeli neighbors.
This wealth, which rightly belongs to Iran’s people, also goes to shore up Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship, fuel Yemen’s civil war, and undermine peace throughout the entire Middle East. We cannot let a murderous regime continue these destabilizing activities while building dangerous missiles, and we cannot abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program. The Iran deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into. Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States, and I don’t think you’ve heard the last of it. Believe me.
It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Iran’s government end its pursuit of death and destruction. It is time for the regime to free all Americans and citizens of other nations that they have unjustly detained. Above all, Iran’s government must stop supporting terrorists, begin serving its own people, and respect the sovereign rights of its neighbors. The entire world understands that the good people of Iran want change, and, other than the vast military power of the United States, that Iran’s people are what their leaders fear the most. This is what causes the regime to restrict internet access, tear down satellite dishes, shoot unarmed student protesters, and imprison political reformers.
Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever . . .”
What can you say except “wow”–and what a slap in the face to the McMaster section in the National Security Council that openly seeks continuing rapprochement with Iran.
Not only does Trump explicitly compare the reckless regime of North Korea to that of Iran, he then goes down a laundry list calling Iran a “rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos.” And who are they funding? Hezbollah that kills its “peaceful Arab and Israeli neighbors.”
As for the Obama-Democratic Party Iranian Nuclear Appeasement Agreement, could Trump have said it any clearer?
We cannot let a murderous regime continue these destabilizing activities while building dangerous missiles, and we cannot abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program. The Iran deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into. Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States, and I don’t think you’ve heard the last of it. Believe me.
Your humble servant supposes that we will see in October what this means when the Appeasement Agreement comes up for re-certification.
Oh and I almost forgot, here’s what Trump said about the Palestinians:
Well, he didn’t say anything about the Palestinians.
Can you imagine an American President making his annual speech at the U.N. and not even mentioning the Palestinians? Your humble servant is sure that the Palestinians couldn’t.
In fact, Mahmoud Abbas was quick with a message of his own after Trump’s speech. He said that the PLO would never agree to the American-Israeli demand that the PLO stop funding Palestinian families, and that the PLO will not resume security coordination with Israel (this latter point means that we should expect increased Palestinian terror).
But back to the speech.
In sum, it was a stellar performance by Trump; whether he means what he says is a different question. We hope this speech does not fall into the same Trump wastebin as “As soon as I’m elected, we are going to move the Embassy to Jerusalem.”
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.