Yom Shnee
Monday
22 Shvat 5783
February 13 2023
The Quote of the Day
“We have the right to Palestine, Jerusalem, and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and we also have the exclusive religious, historical, and legal right to the Kotel al-Burak (the Western Wall). The Kotel al-Burak is part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and it is a true Islamic endowment, and this right was established by the mighty Koran.”
PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen) speaking at the Al-Quds (Jerusalem) “Standing and Development” conference held in Cairo yesterday.
We in Israel have often heard Abbas say the same thing even though the rest of the world has always turned a deaf ear to his pronouncements.
Once again, he has made it clear that the Palestinians have “the right” to everything: Palestine (aka Israel to the Palestinians), Jerusalem (not just east Jerusalem), the Temple Mount (Al Aqsa), and the Western Wall and plaza (Kotel al-Burak).
The Outrageous Video of the Morning
Total unprecedented chaos in the Knesset Constitution Committee this morning as leftist members of the anti-government opposition (undoubtedly urged on by President Herzog’s speech last night–see Today’s Blog) jump over tables to verbally attack the chairman of the committee, Simcha Rotman.
Click here to see the unbelievable scene.
This happened as the Committee prepared to vote for the first of the legal reforms and send them to the Knesset.
The leftists who lost the November election have gone off the deep end.
Update: The Committee has passed the first of the legal reforms.
Speaking of Going Off the Deep End
Another leftist protest yesterday when the woman in the photo undressed in the women’s section of the Kotel.
Just unbelievable.
She was arrested for disturbing the public order.
This is just another example of the chaos being caused by leftists in the country.
The News on the Israeli Street
The war along the Gaza border and in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem . . .
On the Gaza border:
Sderot was the target again at 4:11 am this morning. 27 minutes later more missiles were fired at Ruhama.
If you recall, there was no IDF response to the last missile attack two days ago because “weather conditions did not permit one.” This time, we are back to the same old IAF routine of bombing sand dunes and empty buildings:
Just another empty building–that had been standing empty for years–was absurdly targeted by IAF early this morning.
The “Netanyahu-described ‘trickle’ of missiles is turning into a drizzle, and our poor citizens in the south are missile fodder once again.
In Judea and Samaria:
Shooting attacks.
Palestinian terrorists fired on IDF troops in Ein al-Sultan during an arrest operation there.
Palestinian terrorists fired on IDF troops in Al-Aida.
Palestinian terrorists fired on IDF soldiers in Jenin during the capture of Tanzim terrorist Jabril Zabeidi.
Palestinian terrorists fired on our soldiers in Shechem. One terrorist was wounded in the firefight.
IED, Molotov, and “rock” attacks.
Palestinian terrorists attacked on the Gush Etzion-Hevron Road near Mabatari Halhol, between Yatev and Road 90, between Magdalim and Jurish, between Beit Omer and Karmi Tzur, between the small and large Yitzhar Junctions, on Road 55 between Azzun and Shomron, in the vicinity of the Tanim Crossing, at the Shavei Shomron Junction, and at other locations.
Attempted stabbing attack.
A female soldier spotted a knife-armed terrorist approaching the Samson IDF camp in northern Israel. When she called for help, the terrorist dropped his knife and ran away; he remains at large.
It’s about time . . .
The Knesset Ministerial Committee on Legislation approved the Coalition-sponsored bill to deny citizenship and deport the families of terrorists with a blue identity card.
It should be noted that the last two terror attacks in Jerusalem were carried out by self-identified Palestinians living in eastern Jerusalem with a blue identity card (they had a blue identity card because they refused to become Israeli citizens).
One more outrage . . .
You remember that the Israel Supreme Court recently ruled that Shas leader Aryeh Deri was ineligible to become a Minister in the new government. The main reason they used was that Deri had agreed to not return to politics after accepting a plea deal on the charge of income tax evasion.
The attorney general who led the prosecution of Deri on that charge was Avichai Mandelblit.
Yesterday, in a bombshell interview, Mandelblit said this:
“Let’s do justice to Deri. The law enforcement system did not excel in this case. There was no commitment in the plea agreement that Deri would retire from political life permanently or for one or another period of time. I repeat unequivocally that this was not part of the arrangement.”
Where in the world was Mandelblit when the Supreme Court was hearing the petition to disqualify Deri? And the media was excoriating Deri for lying about the plea deal?
Once again, as in the cases involving Netanyahu, Mandelblit has been revealed to have been extraordinarily incompetent and extraordinarily lacking in ordinary decency.
Unbelievable news in Judea and Samaria . . .
In an astonishing move that last night which totally reflects the presence of Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir in the government, the security cabinet approved the regularization (aka legalization) of 9 new Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria that had been considered “illegal outposts”: Avigiyil, Bet Hogla, Givat Harel, Givat Haroeh, Givat Arnon, Mitzpe Yehuda, Malachei Hashalom, Asael, Boaz, and Shaharit.
For years, Smotrich and Ben Gvir have argued that the only real response to Palestinian terrorism should be the establishment of new communities in Judea and Samaria.
We will discuss this further in tomorrow’s blog.
To top off the good news, the Knesset began the process of reversing part of the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza. The reversal would apply to the 4 northern Samaria communities that were destroyed when Israel abandoned the communities in Gaza.
Those communities were Homesh, Sa-Nur, Kadim, and Ganim–which after their forced evacuation by the Sharon government became closed military zones.
What happened yesterday is that the Knesset’s Ministerial Legislative approved sending the necessary legislation to the Knesset. Next comes a preliminary reading the Knesset, followed by Knesset discussions on the legislation, followed by three more readings in the Knesset.
This is a long road, but the first step has been taken.
Yesterday was a wonderful day for Israel’s ancestral homeland of Judea and Samaria and the brave Israelis who live there.
TODAY’S BLOG
President Herzog’s Pathetic Nationwide Address Last Night
President Herzog on TV last night.
All of Israel turned its attention to President Herzog last night at 8:00 pm as he took to the airwaves for a nationwide address. The purpose of the address was supposedly to offer a way for both sides in the “legal reform” debate to compromise.
However Herzog did nothing of the sort.
After noting that Israelis have pleaded with him “to stop the fire of polarization before it consumes us” and recognizing that the Sephardic community has every right to feel disenfranchised because of the paucity of Sephardic judges since the Court was established, Herzog proceeded to fan the flames of polarization and discord.
What did he suggest?
That the government should compromise by putting a halt to the legal reforms and sitting down to discuss with the demonstrators how the reforms can be modified to make those demonstrators happy. According to Herzog, the government bears all “responsibility” to hear the pain of the protesters.
What compromises does Herzog believe that should the anti-government demonstrators should make?
None.
According to Herzog, the protesters are “an immense group of patriots who are using their right to demonstrate and are completely dedicated to the destiny of the state and its people.”
Say what? A group of patriots . . . dedicated to Israel and Israelis. Does this leave any doubt where Herzog stands?
If anyone had any doubt, Herzog blathered on: “the totality of the parts of the reform in its current form raise deep concerns about their potential negative impact on the democratic foundations of the state of Israel.”
No impartiality.
No compromise.
No call for the demonstrators to recognize the results of the November election.
No call for the demonstrators to dial down their protests a notch in the interest of Israeli unity–only the implicit urging of them to continue and become louder and more disruptive.
An urging which those anti-government protesters heard clearly. Last night, former PM Lapid proclaimed that “we will never stop the protests.”
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.