24 Adar 5778
11 March 2018
Quote of the Day:
“We are working for a stable government that will work until the end of the term in November 2019. We have great achievements and no small tasks ahead of us.
In order for this to happen, all the factions have to reach an agreement and decide that we are continuing together. We are working to try to achieve this, because the citizens of Israel want a stable government that will complete its days.
One thing is clear: A government of 61 seats is unsustainable.”
PM Netanyahu speaking this morning to a group of Likud members.
His last sentence “A government of 61 seats is unsustainable” is particularly important as it indicates that the Coalition will not continue unless Avigdor Lieberman signs on to the compromise agreement which Ayelet Shaked and Naftali Bennett have produced.
Intense negotiations to save the Coalition continue.
Graph of the Day:
Combat units available for IDF recruitment in March. The numbers you see simply refer to days of the month on which recruits will apply to serve in various units. For example, recruitment for the Givati and Golani will take place on March 11 ( 11.03).
Descriptive data from the March recruitment cycle:
62% are men; 38% women.
Average age: 18.9 years old.
10% not born in Israel.
477 are new immigrants.
Countries supplying at least one recruit: Uganda, Austria, Ireland, Bolivia, Gabon, Guatemala, Tajikistan, Taiwan, Morocco, New Zealand, Senegal, Spain, Philippines, Finland, Panama, Czech Republic, Sweden, and Thailand.
The News on the Israel Street
Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .
Palestinian terrorists in northern Gaza at Beit Lahiya fired a missile at southern Israel. Fortunately, the missile exploded in Gaza. One Palestinian was killed and two were wounded.
A Palestinian terrorist armed with a knife and a grenade was captured while trying to breach the central Gaza Border fence. Four more terrorists were captured on the northern Gaza border. Two more terrorists were wounded near Jabalya.
Palestinian terrorists opened fire on a Border Police position near Beituniya.
Palestinian terrorists opened fire on an IDF position near Psagot.
Palestinian terrorists fired dozens of rounds at an IDF checkpoint near Al Bireh.
Palestinian terrorists attacked IDF troops near Yitzhar. One terrorist was shot and killed; this morning the IDF has declared the area a closed military zone.
A Palestinian terrorist was shot and killed in Hevron after attacking IDF soldiers with Molotovs.
A Palestinian terrorist armed with a knife was captured at the Shuafat checkpoint just prior to carrying out a stabbing attack.
Two Palestinian terrorists carrying IEDs were captured at the entrance to the military court in Salem.
Three Palestinian terrorists throwing Molotovs were captured on Route 90 in the Jordan Valley.
Palestinian terrorists attacked motorists and soldiers with “rocks” at the British Police Junction, near Jayyus, Shechem, Luban a-Sharqiya, Mazra, Ein, and Jenin among other places.
Palestinian terrorists badly wounded a woman who was driving near Hizma when her car was hit with the “rock” shown in the picture below:
The rock came to rest on the floorboard of the back seat.
You might ask yourself how the woman driver was wounded so badly. This next picture shows how:
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The rock in the first picture went through the front windshield.
The “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza, again . . .
For reasons that are incomprehensible to your humble servant, the Trump Administration has decided to hold a conference at the White House next week on the so-called “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza.
Scheduled to be led by Trump envoy Jason Greenblatt, the conference has already had one cancellation.
The Palestinians announced yesterday that they would not attend. According to a senior Palestinian spokesman Ahmed Majdalani: “What is needed is a political solution to this situation–not a humanitarian one.”
In what must be the most unsurprising fact of the day . . .
Israel is one of the worst countries in the world in terms of traffic congestion. According to the OECD, the congestion in Israel is 2800 vehicles per kilometer of road as compared to the OECD country average of 800 vehicles per kilometer of road.
The following graph tells the sad story:
Note that Australia (AUS) has the least congestion–and Israel (ISR), by far, the worst.
Of course, anyone who regularly drives on the roads of Israel doesn’t need the OECD to tell us how bad it is.
It’s about time . . .
Finally, a petition is being brought to the Israel Supreme Court tomorrow in which the Jewish plaintiffs demand that the metal detectors at the non-Muslim entrance to the Temple Mount be removed.
Obviously, the current situation is insanely discriminatory.
None of the 10 gates through which Muslims access the Mount have metal detectors (remember the fiasco of last July following the murders of the two Israeli Druze policemen), but the one gate through which non-Muslims have access has several.
Despite the insanity, your humble servant fully expects the Court to rule against the Jews and order that the metal detectors remain.
TODAY’S BLOG:
“Any Israeli writer pairs nicely with a limonana.”
The Little Prince Cafe and Bookstore in Tel Aviv.
Following on the heels of such honors as “one of the five most creative cities in the world”, “the smartest city in the world”, and “the world’s most important innovation center outside of the U.S.”, Tel Aviv has now been named one of the ten most literary cities in the world by The Independent newspaper in London.
The award comes in advance of World Book Day on April 23.
One of the many portable beach libraries that dot the coast of Israel. This one is in Tel Aviv.
Accompanying Tel Aviv on the list are such cities at Dublin, Paris, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo, and Seoul. In including Tel Aviv, the writers include this about the city:
“Israel may be a young country, but the People Of the Book take pride in living up to their name. The great poets Rachel Bluwstein (generally just referred to as Rachel, or Rachel the Poet) and Chaim Bialik lived here, and many streets are named after famous writers. The Eretz Israel Museum highlights the best of Israeli culture from writers to artists in a series of rotating exhibits, while Bialik’s former home (on, you may have guessed, Bialik Street) is a regular stop on city tours. The best place to read, though, is unquestionably on the beach – in a warm city, it’s even better than cafe culture, and several beaches have lending libraries of books in multiple languages. Any Israeli writer pairs nicely with a limonana (lemonade with fresh mint).”
A limonana with an Israeli writer. . . sounds like a good idea for a Sunday!
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.