Put the lawyers on the front line

JEWISH PRESS

PM Netanyahu told the Foreign Affair and Defense Committee in a meeting yesterday that the lawyers won’t allow Israel to shut off the water and electricity to Gaza.

He said this in response to a request by the committee chairman, Minister Ze’ev Elkin, for Israel to take a more harsh response against Gaza, including shutting off the water and electricity.

Netanyahu said he will bomb them a little harder.

We’re glad the lawyers permit that.

Still, one wonders, if we moved the lawyers to Sderot, would they come up with a different legal opinion?

July 11, 2014 | 61 Comments »

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11 Comments / 61 Comments

  1. @ BethesdaDog:

    “PM Netanyahu told the Foreign Affair and Defense Committee in a meeting yesterday that the lawyers won’t allow Israel to shut off the water and electricity to Gaza.”

    “Let them — or him — state the legal reason WHY.

    — Surely the people are entitled to an explanation.”

    “Governments never give explanations when they don’t want to, or they don’t want people to know what they’re doing. The both go together.”

    NOBODY — in govt or out — ever gives up anything they don’t have to give up. That’s why you have to corner the govt and INSIST on explanations when they aren’t naturally forthcoming. What Reagan said about the USA govt is true of ALL purportedly democratic ones:

    “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

    “Is it true that Israel is now run essentially by about 8 super rich families? Go back to Mapai and Mapam, throw the capitalists out!”

    There will never be a more efficient and effective means of generating wealth than capitalism, regardless of WHO ‘runs’ Israel. Collectivist ideologues are hardly an improvement over individualist ones — and are certainly no safeguard against corruption.

    The traumata of Israel’s birth may have made a command economy necessary (or at least inevitable) in her early decades, but the move away from that toward a market economy has been a healthy sign. However, there will never be a substitute for the People asserting themselves against bureaucratic government’s inclination to concentrate power unto itself.

  2. @ BethesdaDog:

    “There are huge profits for them on supplying the enemy. Like they say in town… ‘Sham kavur hakelev’…”

    “Stateside equivalent: Follow the money.

    (For those unacquainted with SHmuel’s vernacular, THIS MAY HELP.)

    “Did not help. Since it was behind a pay wall, I only saw a couple of lines.”

    Sorry ’bout that. (Those sneaky buggers.) Here’s the full text of the Ha’aretz article:

    WORD OF THE DAY/ Po kavur hakelev, By Ruth Schuster

    Where is the dog buried? Who knows? But in Hebrew, when you find it, you’ll find that this is where the truth lies.

    Po kavur hakelev literally means “this is where the dog’s body has been buried.”

    It’s a common expression in Modern Hebrew used to state: That’s the real reason, the underlying cause, the root of the matter. As in:

    “Why did you fail math?” Mother inquires of Little Genius.

    “Because the teacher’s mean,” LG sniffs. Why is teacher mean? Mother inquires.

    “Because he took away my book so I couldn’t study for the test,” LG whines. Why did teacher take away the book? Mother inquires.

    “Because Sam was so annoying that he made me throw the book at him,” LG says virtuously.

    “Aha,” says Mother. That’s where the dog lies.”

    This isn’t one of those expressions of biblical origin like “be fruitful and multiply.” It originates from German, Da liegt der Hund begraben – “this is where the buried dog lies.”

    One might wonder at the parallel between man’s best friend and the whole truth and nothing but the truth. But it seems the whole thing originates from a mistake made some time in the evolution of the Germanic tongue. The German word for “dog” – hund – is very much like the old German word for treasure, “hunde.”

    In other words, originally the expression was, “Here is where the treasure was buried.”

    For what it’s worth, back when Germans used the word hunde for treasure, dogs weren’t considered particularly valuable. But in modern society the family pet is treasured indeed.

  3. SHmuel HaLevi 2 Said:

    re is where the dead dog is buried

    Sounds like something a Texan would say. I always say Israelis and Texan are a lot alike, its that ” screw you’ attitude.

  4. @ honeybee:
    This is to clarify the “Sham Kavur hakelv” remark.
    There is where the dead dog is buried. That’s were the stink come from.
    Hebrew is a very efficient language, honed during thousands of years.

  5. BethesdaDog Said:

    Now I wish I knew Hebrew

    Amen, just as I was learning Hebrew I was transferred to a Lutheran Sunday School, [ I loved Sat School] by my parents, who could not reconcile their religious differences.

  6. dweller Said:

    “PM Netanyahu told the Foreign Affair and Defense Committee in a meeting yesterday that the lawyers won’t allow Israel to shut off the water and electricity to Gaza.”

    Let them — or him — state the legal reason WHY.

    — Surely the people are entitled to an explanation.

    Governments never give explanations when they don’t want to, or they don’t want people to know what they’re doing. The both go together. Is it true that Israel is now run essentially by about 8 super rich families?

    Go back to Mapai and Mapam, throw the capitalists out!

    I’m sure that will get a lot of support on this board.

    By the way, I’m a lawyer, and I despise the profession, especially the judges, who are often the most unethical and dishonest of all.dweller Said:

    @ SHmuel HaLevi 2:

    “There are huge profits for them on supplying the enemy. Like they say in town… ‘Sham kavur hakelev’…”

    Stateside: Follow the money.

    (For those unacquainted with SHmuel’s vernacular,
    THIS MAY HELP.)

    Did not help. Since it was behind a pay wall, I only saw a couple of lines. I don’t get the vernacular. I don’t know Hebrew, I hated Hebrew school growing up in America. Who wanted to be sitting in a few more hours of class after all day in elementary school, when I could be out playing touch football or shooting baskets. It’s only common sense.

    Now I wish I knew Hebrew. Outside of the few words, the basic words, like Shalom, etc., the only other word that comes to mind is “jook.” I lived in Florida, had some Israeli friends in college, so you figure it out.

    This might help:

    http://forward.com/articles/8398/a-look-at-juk/

  7. dweller Said:

    “PM Netanyahu told the Foreign Affair and Defense Committee in a meeting yesterday that the lawyers won’t allow Israel to shut off the water and electricity to Gaza.”

    Let them — or him — state the legal reason WHY.

    — Surely the people are entitled to an explanation.

    Governments never give explanations when they don’t want to, or they don’t want people to know what they’re doing. The both go together. Is it true that Israel is now run essentially by about 8 super rich families?

    Go back to Mapai and Mapam, throw the capitalists out!

    I’m sure that will get a lot of support on this board.

    By the way, I’m an American lawyer, and I despise the profession, especially the judges, who are often the most unethical and dishonest of all.