The “Million Person” March!

Yom Chamishee

Thursday

6 Iyar 5783

April 27 2023

The Quote of the Day

“There is no Palestinian history in Judea and Samaria which is the home of the people of Israel.”

Florida governor Ron DeSantis in a press conference in Jerusalem today. After the above comment, DeSantis added:

“It is a great honor for us to be in united Jerusalem to celebrate the Independence Day of Israel, which is 3,000 years old and a young country of 75 years.

The Balfour Declaration recognized the right of the Jewish people to establish a state here in Israel. When Ben Gurion declared the state he knew the odds were against him, but as David defeated Goliath, so Israel defeated its enemies. The rebirth of Israel is a significant historical event. It is not easy to maintain democracy in the Middle East.

Our mission is to stand with Israel and help it maintain its security, maintain its qualitative advantage, provide it with a budget for an Iron Dome, and make sure that the embassy will always be in Jerusalem. We must allow Israel to choose its own democratic path. She is smart enough to choose her own way.”

Kolakevod Governor DeSantis!

The War in Judea and Samaria . . .

Stabbing attack . . .

A Palestinian terrorist attempted to stab security personnel on the road near Gitti Avishar  this afternoon. Fortunately, no Israelis were wounded. Also fortunately, nearby soldiers shot and killed the terrorist.

IED, Molotov, and “rock” attacks:

Palestinian terrorists tried to murder Israelis on Road 55 near Azzun, south of Adam Square, in Huwara, beside the Tahsin gas station on Road 55, north of Psagot, on the Jerusalem-Gush Etzion Road near Al Khader, between Beit Omer and the Karmi Tzur Junction, on Road 443 beside Beit Horon, at Tikou Ha’Arabi, at Ein El Bida, between Tapuach and Migdalim, on Road 465 near Neve Yair, and at numerous other locations.

An intriguing study . . .

The Department of Organization and Relations with Israelis in the Diaspora at the World Zionist Organization has just published the results of a study with purports to show the attitudes of the some one million Israelis who live abroad.

We say “purports” because the pollsters asked questions to only 1,925 Israelis living outside the country.

Nevertheless, the results are interesting:

*50% of those who have left Israel say that they will never return.

Why did they leave?

*46% say the reason they left was because of employment opportunities.

*29% say the reason they left was because of their spouse.

*28% left because they disagree with the government.

What about their children?

*69% want their children to have a strong connection to Israel.

*Of the 74% who say that they want their children to marry a Jew: 31% believe that it is very important, 16% said it is important, 14% moderately important, 12% somewhat important, and the rest have no opinion.

26% believe that it is not important at all that their child marry a Jew.

*54% those who have left still want their children to serve in the IDF.

What would you conclude from these statistics?

The head of the study, Gusti Braverman summarized this way: ” . . . its results are unequivocal: the vast majority of Israeli citizens who moved abroad love the country, They are committed to it, represent it abroad while being an important strategic arm for the State of Israel, and want their children and future generations to have a strong connection to Israel and Judaism.”

Say what? Your humble servant would say that the results are very equivocal: more than half of those who have left have no desire to ever return, but, oddly, want their children to have a strong connection to Israel (despite the example they have provided). Worse, there is every indication that most Israelis living abroad ultimately do not have a strong opinion about their children marrying a Jew–indicating they will ultimately succumb to the same assimilation rates as those with American Jews.

TODAY’S BLOG

The “Million Person” March! 

The so-called “Million Person March” has now ended in Jerusalem–so-called because everyone knows that Israel doesn’t have the infrastructure to transport 1,000,000 Israelis to the area around the Knesset. Reports poured in all night of dozens of buses and thousands of motorists stranded in traffic and train routes choked with people unable to get to our capital city.

How many people actually came?

The estimates range from “more than 200,000” by the police to “400,000” by the organizers. We suspect that the actual number was somewhere in between.

Whatever number you would like to use, it was a huge demonstration in favor of the government and in favor of the judicial reforms. Finally, the Israeli “right” got its act together and presented an energetic, boisterous rejoinder to the endless anti-government demonstrations we have seen in Tel Aviv.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin was the lead speaker at the rally, and his speech was impassioned:

“In what kind of democracy do the legal advisers decide? I believe that it is possible to agree that the time has come for a court that does not grant rights to the families of the terrorists and does not allow the holding of fake memorial ceremonies together with supporters of terrorism . . .

We have the ability to reach an agreement. Agreement means substantive negotiations and also a willingness to accept large parts of the reform, and not for discussions to be held for over a month in which they say ‘no’ to every proposal.

In recent months, I have been dealing with wild attacks and incessant slanders, but I say clearly that this only strengthens me. Every day that passes proves how just and correct our path is. I will continue and do everything in my power to bring about the necessary change in the justice system.”

Levin could not be more correct. The time has come for a change; let’s hope this coalition has the resolve to see it through to a positive conclusion.