24 Tammuz 5780
16 July 2020
The Quote of the Day
“With the distribution of money, we will end up like Venezuela.”
Shaul Meridor, head of the Budget Department at the Ministry of Finance
Meridor was commenting last night on the absurd Corona stimulus plan rolled out by PM Netanyahu and Finance Minister Israel Katz. According to that plan, everyone in the country over the age of 18 will sooon receive these “grants”: 750 shekels for a single person, 1000 shekels for a couple with 1 child, 2000 shekels for a couple with 2 children, and 3000 shekels for a couple with 3 or more children.
What are the problems with this plan?
First, the amounts are relatively “nothing”. 750 shekels = $218. With the exorbitant cost of living here, 750 shekels will barely cover one trip to a grocery story and will certainly not be enough to go “shopping” and thereby boost consumer spending as Netanyahu claimed last night.
Second, the grants are one time. What’s going to happen next month and the months afterward?
Third, everyone gets a grant–rich and poor alike. Already there is a movement this morning for people who don’t need the grant to give the money to those who need it.
Fourth, where’s the money going to come from? No one seems to know.
As someone described it this morning, this Corona relief package is akin to dumping Monopoly money out of helicopter to reach people.
The News on the Israeli Street
The daily Corona update . . .
As of 8 am this morning (Thursday):
There are 44,188 confirmed cases—an increase of 1,828 since this time yesterday
19,989 of these have recovered—an increase of 324
204 are in serious condition—an increase of 21
57 are on ventilators—an increase of 1
376 have died–an increase of 5
There are 24,199 active cases.
A decision on whether to close down the country completely again will be made either on Friday or Sunday.
Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .
Palestinian terrorists attacked Israelis with “rocks” and Molotovs near the Tapuach Junction (wounding several people), Tekoa, Luban a-Sharqiya, outside of Hevron, and on Road 443 among other places.
Palestinian terrorists opened fire on a IDF pillbox at an undisclosed location in Samaria.
Palestinian terrorists once again fired on vehicles between Itamar and Elon Moreh.
3 Palestinian terrorists attempting to smuggle items into Gaza by sea were captured by the Israeli navy off the coast of Rafah.
4 Palestinian terrorists armed with IEDs and Molotovs were captured near Shechem before they could carry out an attack.
A bill to implement sovereignty . . .
The Land of Israel lobby in the Knesset led by Bezalel Smotrich introduced a bill in the Knesset yesterday to extend Israeli sovereignty to all Jewish communities in Area C of Judea and Samaria, preserve areas in Area C that would not be under Israeli sovereignty, and provide for the “humanitarian needs–including new homes–of Palestinians living in Area C.
However, with the new bonding together of Likud, Kahol Lavan, and the Joint Arab List (see the item about Ayelet Shaked below), you can expect this proposed law to go nowhere.
On the Iranian front . . .
*At least 7 Iranian ships were set ablaze in the port of Bushehr last night.
*An aluminum plant connected to the Iranian nuclear weapons program went up in flames.
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TODAY’S BLOG:
5 Events That Show The Government’s Slide To The Left
1. The PLO, European Union, and Denmark brazenly signed another agreement in Ramallah on Tuesday night. The agreement calls for the EU and Denmark to construct 16 Palestinian infrastructure projects in Area C at a cost of 6,000,000 Euros. This is just the latest project initiated by the Europeans to “change the facts on the ground” by encouraging Palestinians to move into Area C.
As you know, Area C is supposed to be under complete Israeli administrative and military control, but the Europeans and Palestinians don’t care. And why should they? The Israeli response to the announcement was silence. Dead silence.
At a time when Israel should be declaring sovereignty over Area C, it is the Palestinians who are doing so by their actions.
2. Speaking of brazen, we had the spectacle of Israeli-Arab Lenin Al-Turi two days ago. Al-Turi was released from prison after serving 14 years of a 16 year sentence for his part in the murder of Rafi Cohen in 2003 and his attempt to kidnap IDF soldiers for Hamas several years later. Al-Turi returned home to Kafr Qasem where he was celebrated as a hero.
Celebrating a murderer (photo kolhayehudi).
What was the reaction of our leaders in the government to this egregious display by Israeli-Arabs? Silence. Dead silence.
3. It was just over two months ago that Golani Staff Sgt. Amit Ben Yigal was murdered in Ya’bad by a 20 kilogram “rock” that was thrown off the roof of a house by a Palestinian terrorist. Amit died instantly when struck in the face.
Yesterday, the home of the terrorist was saved from destruction by our “High Court of Justice”. Two weeks ago, a demolition order for the house was signed by the IDF commander in the area. Judge Barak Dafna Erez suspended the order pending a hearing on the matter.
This latest suspension by the “High Court” follows the revocation last month of the demolition order for the home of one of the terrorists who murdered Dvir Sorek–on the grounds that the demolition would “injure the terrorist’s family.”
What was the response of our government and its leaders to this leniency displayed toward terrorist murderers? Silence. Dead silence.
4. In case you missed it, a major “leftist” demonstration against PM Netanyahu on Tuesday night in Jerusalem quickly turned into violent riot similar to the riots we have seen in the U.S.
Police were threatened, taunted, spit upon, and one policeman very nearly lost his life when he was beaten up and thrown to the ground. The scene was also very much like the scene we saw in Tel Aviv last week.
Can you even begin to imagine what would have happened if demonstrators on the “right” had engaged in such violence?
Yet what was the reaction of the government and the media? Lip service.
Just this morning, the Jerusalem Post ran an op-ed entitled “Demonstrate, Don’t Riot.” In that piece, the paper included these comments:
“. . . even rabble-rousing leftists . . . have the right to protest . . .”
“. . . the Police need to be careful. They need to give permits for protests so people can let off steam.”
” . . . gratuitous force need not be applied . . .”
In short, the paper condemned “demonstrator violence” but also condemned the Police. How long will it be until the Israeli “left” demands to defund the Israel Police?
5. As we reported yesterday, there were votes in the Knesset to choose two new members to the Judicial Selection Committee and to the Rabbinical Judges Selection Committee.
The most highly qualified candidate, former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked was running for a position on each committee. However, PM Netanyahu (and his wife) led a campaign to discredit her and to intimidate legislators into voting for another candidate.
As a result, Shaked was defeated in both elections. On the Judicial Selection Committee, Netanyahu loyalist and constant companion Osnat Mark was chosen. She took the occasion to ludicrously castigate Shaked for not installing conservative judges during her tenure as Justice Minister. In fact, Shaked was responsible for more than 200 such judges being selected.
In the Rabbinical Selection Committee contest, Shaked lost by 1 vote (66-65) to ultra left wing legislator Merav Michaeli.
Oh yes, and one other thing: denials to the contrary, Shaked was stopped by a coalition of Likud legislators, Kahol Lavan legislators, and Joint Arab List legislators.
All in all it was a dark day for the future of the Israeli judiciary and the future of Israel.
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.