By Ted Belman
My daughter Aliza, who is religious and a leftist, rarely if ever speaks to me about what is going on in Israel and the world but this debate brought her out of seclusion. She was a member of Israel’s diplomatic Corps and served for three years under Chaim Halevy who was Israel’s Ambassador to the EU 20 years ago.
She sent me a CNN VIDEO in which Amanpour interviewed Halevy. Much to my surprise, Amanpour did a good job and Halevy shocked me. He said ” cannot accept Netanyahu continuing to lead the country.” He also said that Israel will cease to be a democracy.
Halevy accused Netanyahu of not disclosing to the public during the elections what his intentions were regarding Judicial Reform because he though he would loose votes if he did. Is he right? I thought that at least Ben Gvir and Smotrich made a big point of it. Did Likud not mention it?
I then sent her this article.
Alan Dershowitz: ‘Judicial reforms don’t threaten democracy’
Halevy was previously appointed by Netanyahu to be the head of Mossad.
She went on to ask me if I wanted Israel to be a liberal democracy or a populous democracy.
After reading the definition of liberal democracy I replied:
I want Israel to be a liberal democracy with one caveat. Israel must remain the state of the Jews first and foremost.
The state should be empowered to maintain the Jewish majority which means excluding Arabs which may have the right to come to Israel under the family reunification rules or maintaining the law of return.
The state should have the right to contain the Muslim minority. Israel should have the right to ban any Arab speech which promotes the Naqba or the Palestinian narrative or the Palestinian cause in any way. It should have to right to restrict Imans from preaching anti-Israel and antisemitic stuff. You get the drift. The Arab Israelis must accept that they live in a Jewish state. I am against Israel being a bi-national state.
It should have the right to expel illegal aliens or other infiltrators. No broadcasting the call to prayer.
Furthermore the Courts should not be able to interfere in how Israel deals with the Arabs living in Gaza and J&S.
These are some of the issues I am concerned with.
She replied:
So you say now but wait until the religious parties drive all sorts of legislation in that impinges on your freedoms and you can t do anything about it because there are no limits on the Knesset’s power.
And by the way that will happen because the ultra orthodox is the fastest growing segment of Israeli society and so their power is just going to grow from here on in.
I replied:
I think the religious issue is bigger worry than the democracy issue. But both are fueling the protests.
She said they were the same thing.
Here is a n article by Israel Matzav on the subject.
Journalist: Public Furor in Israel is Over Chareidim, Not Judicial Reform 22.3.23
Veteran journalist Alon Goldstein wrote on Ynet that the public furor in Israel is not over judicial reform, nor over claims that the real purpose of the reforms is to free Netanyahu from court charges, but due to secular “outrage” that the chareidi public seems invincible.
“Large swaths of Israel’s secular-liberal society are in the throes of a historic process of mourning,” Goldstein wrote, noting that the chareidi population is growing by 4.9% annually, compared to the 2.5% growth of the secular population, and doubling every 15 years, leading to the possibility that every third Israeli will be a chareidi within three or four decades.
“Hundreds of thousands of Israelis were now in the midst of an existential crisis, with a right-wing and religious coalition set to implement their campaign platform,” Goldstein wrote. “They rightly understood that Israel was changing and will continue to change in the foreseeable future.”
“Dire prophecies of a future mirroring Afghanistan or Tehran were thrown up in the air, causing a rush to immigrate, remove funds to overseas’ accounts, and a fall into total despair,” Goldstein adds.
Goldstein also feared a chareidi takeover in his earlier years, he admits, but later realized that “the prophecies had not materialized. The chareidi population had grown considerably, but there was no religious coercion and Israel continued to thrive,” and “apart from our daily routines and practices, we are all the same.”
An American entrepreneur once told Goldstein that he mostly believes in the start-up companies established in Bnei Brak “because they work harder and are more motivated. They never sleep. They come with an open mind to the world and have a fresh and naïve perspective. They see what others miss and I tell you if given the chance, they would be Israel’s greatest economic engine with more potential than anywhere else in the world and not a burden on the economy.”
“According to CBS (Central Bureau of Statistics) data, the rate of employment among chareidi women reached historic highs of 85% in 2021, equaling figures for non-chareidi, Jewish women in high-tech and other technology fields,” Goldstein noted.
“If the anti-government protesters would realize that they were not lamenting the legislation, but a growing chareidi population, we could all begin to think clearly, have real empathy toward each other and more importantly, work together for a better future,” Goldstein concluded.
{Matzav.com Israel}
If she thinks I am extreme, she should read Ury Weiss on the subject:
The ABOMINATION called the Supreme Court of Israel
The Supreme Court of Israel is undoubtedly a foreign, paganic crime syndicate which doesn’t serve ordinary Israelis
https://drive.google.com/file/
There is some information in this video which in my view, few Israelis know about. For quiet a long time the majority of Israelis became aware that the Supreme Court is a foreign, pagan institution, which works against the interest of the people of Israel. In this film we learn how some past leaders of this country such as Shimon Peres, acted on behalf of foreign interests to undermine the interest of ordinary Israelis.
Most Israelis are aware that on the roof of the Supreme Court, the Israeli flag is absent and in its place stands the ILLUMINATI pyramid of the Free Masons.
Since 1992 once the new abominable building has been completed with Rothschild’s money, a dictatorship of the Supreme Court has been established in the Jewish state. Once legislation has been proposed following the last election in November 2022, to curtail the dictatorial powers of this arrogant crime syndicate, the true masters of our Supreme Court have been exposed. It’s no other than the American Deep State, the George Soros Open Society foundation, the Rotschild crime syndicate, the US State Department and the CIA. In no time these infiltrators organized massive paid demonstrations in Israel, which had characteristics of a staged COUP D’ETAT, similar to the one in Ukraine in 2014, when the CIA removed the previous elected Ukrainian government friendly with the Russian federation and installed in its place, a Nazi like regime led by Zelenski. There is hard evidence that the American Deep State was complicit in the stealing of the US Presidential elections in 2020 and the coup d’etat in Brazil 2022 elections which ousted President Bolsonaro. The US Deep State is heavily involved in ousting Bibi Netanyahu in Israel via weaponization of the Justice System to fabricate bogus charges against the Israeli PM in similar fashion they target former US President Donald Trump.
Once the order was given from the US Deep State, massive paid demonstrators took to the streets in Israel and threatened total civil war. This is unmistakably the signature of the Modus Operandi of the CIA.
Israel has been infiltrated by hostile elements from the Social Media platforms to the Main Stream Media, Senior Officers in the IDF, whose allegiance are to their masters in the US DEEP STATE, not to citizens of Israel.
The CIA involvement in domestic and foreign affairs started with an internal coup d’etat in America, in which President Jack Kennedy was assassinated and continues to this date in Ukraine, Brazil and Israel. The unrest fomented in Israel is NOT an Israeli grass root movement, it undoubtedly carries the signature of a CIA COUP D’ETAT against the Israeli people.
There are many “definitions” of democracy. The one that fits my impression of democracy is a dictatorship of the majority over the minority.
Of course the minority has a say in all aspects of government, but the majority wins.
The minority will have the chance to “fix” the situation at the next elections.
The current state of affairs in Israel is that the minority is doing its best to force the majority to declare new elections so that they can “fix” the issue.
With regard to the oncoming majority of Haredis or Haredim, I think that is democracy in progress. When they become the majority, it is their right to vote for their own leader. If that is an issue for anyone, they need to correct their ideas about democracy.
By the way, I am not Haredi, religious or even especially Jewish.
@peloni
The religious are told how to vote by their rabbis.
Change the name “Gantz” to “Netanyahu” and the description will still fit, pretty much.
The poor, innocent Deri was convicted twice for financial crimes and had to be jailed.
The thought of this kind of man being in charge of 3 ministries including that of finance turns my stomach.
If you are OK with that – what can I say?
What if the popular choice of a politician was someone who was a rapist, robber, and murderer – would you be OK with that too (after all, this is the will of the mob)?
You think he is innocent – go tell it to the judge.
I have never called for Shas to be dropped from the coalition.
I do think that Israel needs 2 things ASAP:
1) a constitution which has a clause on separation of religion and state so there are no more religious parties;
2) a huge aliyah (after the Ministry of the Interior removes the
“Judaism” test).
I hate wading through your super-long posts, please respond in short posts and don’t accuse me of things I haven’t said or done.
Edgar G 😀 I thought a medical circumcision isn’t counted. Wouldn’t I have to go through the Bris ritual and have the moil prick my prick with a needle to draw a drop of blood first before I could undo it? I can’t believe you think you didn’t have a religious upbringing after all the things you and your family observed. I had a Hellenist upbringing.
@Edgar The AI puts posts in moderation randomly. Just repost it.
@Reader
That is the most beautiful aspect of a representative democracy, you don’t have to like who is running as you can vote for someone less ‘odius’. That being said, 400k people found Shas being led by Deri to be less odius than all the others, even the Leftists whom you never seem to challenge or rebuke.
In any event, if we are to consider the odious aspects of Deri as having ‘had a certain reputation way before he was jailed’, let us compare Deri’s reputation and supposed crimes with those of someone far more odious and who is responsible for crimes far more significant than Deri has ever been accused of having committed. I am of course referencing the greatest criminal to ever serve in Israel’s modern history – Benny Gantz. Was it not Gantz who single-handedly revived the TSS? Was Gantz not also responsible for pursuing outside funding for the PA in breach of Israeli law, and did so without gaining from Mazen so much as the commitment to end, delay or even slow the PA’s pay for slay program? Was Gantz not also purposefully responsible for having scotched the Trump commitment to extend US recognition of 30% of Area C after Bibi closed that deal? Was Gantz not also responsible for facilitating Arab infiltration of Jewish lands with illegal settlements while bulldozing Jewish settlements already established? Was Gantz not also responsible for defying the courts as he continued to enforce Jordanian law over Jewish lands? Yes, Gantz has been responsible for all of this.
Hence, when we seek to talk about criminals serving in the Israeli govt, or having a certain reputation, I would posit that there has never been so great a criminal mastermind as Gantz, and Gantz himself has boasted of much of what I have described here, such as working to stabilize the terrorist regime of Abu Mazen and collapsing the support by Trump and Kushner to recognize Israel’s right to extend sovereignty in J&S.
So, whereas you might not care to trust your bank account with Deri because of crimes he denies having committed, you have been rather quiet with regards to having trusted the nation in the hands of Benny Gantz while he committed the crimes I listed here. Is it possible you would care to see him return to continue in this task as you call for Shas to be dropped from the coalition? I have never heard you speak of Gantz with any sign of condescension or trepidation as you constantly mention regarding Deri. Perhaps it was an oversight on your part, or perhaps it wasn’t. To clarify perhaps you care to compare the two or even simply comment on Gantz alone.
Ted you have scrapped my post to Sebastien on how to reverse his circumcision. I saw it printed and posted.
He asked and I responded positively.
SEBASTIEN_
I’m always ready to help out a fellow “Jew”. But first, you must wipe away the ham fat from your lips..
1) Acquire a cord, with 3-4 ends, which have rubberised clip-ons
2) Expose your penis….in a private surrounding.
3) Clip the several cords to the edges of the surrounding penile
skin.
4) Append a “comfortable” weight to the single string end.
5) Wear a “jockstrap” to help conceal the bulge from the public
gaze…… assuming to you are naturally modest…
6) When the skin has stretched enough, take yourself to a friendly
dressmaker
7) Place your penis in a suitable position, to allow the stretched
skin to be sewn partially together.
8) Don’t move………
9) DON’T MOVE. !!!!
10) On completion, hurry to the nearest synagogue and say a
Birachat HaGomel. !!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Reader
Nice try but no cigar. Jordan doesn’t have possession, Israel does.
@Reader All of the Jews in Area C have Israeli citizenship but Israel has yet to apply sovereignty. Territory and subjects are two different things. I think the idea that where you are horn defines your nationality must be a uniquely American thing. Historically, borders change but nationality is inherited. I gues that’s why they used to refer to the Italian race, the French race, etc.
@Ted Belman
If all the Palestinians in the territories are given Jordanian citizenship, wouldn’t this mean that these territories are now, de facto, Jordanian, and all which would be left for Jordan to do is to declare sovereignty over them and make them part of Jordan officially?
What would stop Jordan from doing this?
TED, READER, SEBASTIEN, PELONI,
I thank you all for your expressions of sympathy. Being now the only survivor of a large family, I am truly an anachronism.
I know some or all of you have gone through the same trauma, so you know how it feels.
Again thank you all, and “Shema Yisrael “Adoshem” Elohaynu “Adoshem” Echad. Some of my sister’s last words, I was told. I recall well, being ,present they were the very last words of my dear father.
Edgar, I was sadden to hear of the loss of your beloved sister. My condolences. I’ve noticed something in my own live. Those I have lost that are friends or extended family seem to fade somewhat and the image is not quite as clear as time passes. But when the lost is a Mother, Father, Sister or Brother it seems to me that that DNA connection keeps their image sharp and the memories relevant — like in current time. I often find myself thinking of them as if…… I”ll give them a call when I get in, then I realize they have no phone service on the other side. Condolences my friend!
@Reader That’s a distinction without a difference. Deri is the leader of Shas. Saying he can’t lead means Shas isn’t represented. I presume he was elected within the party, moreover.
Long as his running mate isn’t meat, it’s all good, right?