Restitution from Arab Countries: Who Gains?

Israeli political specialist Benny Mercury (Ben Caspit) has decided that that a recent Shas promoted and preliminarily-approved legislation, stating that any future political agreement that addresses compensation or relocation for "Palestinian refugees" must be accompanied by a parallel agreement providing compensation for Jewish refugees from Arab countries,-- will deadlock any future peace agreement.

Mercury believes that Netanyahu approved the legislation on purpose, to ensure he won't have to sign a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

The legislation states:

"The government of Israel with not sign, either directly or through a representative, any treaty or agreement with any country, party, or authority, that is a political middle east agreement, without ensuring the rights of Jewish refugees from Arab countries according to the Refugee Charter of the United Nations.

Any discussion in the matter of Palestinian refugees within the framework of peace negotiations in the Middle East, will require the government of Israel to discuss the issue of financial compensation for lost property, and equal compensation to that of Arab refugees that left their properties from the day of the founding of the State, and those of Jewish refugees from Arab countries." [NRG, Hebrew]

Mercury abhors anything to the right of Kadima, and is hardly a fan of Netanyahu, yet I think he missed the point completely.

PM Netanyahu supports this initiative not because it will deadlock future peace agreements, but it will actually give Shas and its voters a very clear reason to support a peace agreement which provides monetary compensation to Jews from Arab countries.

Unfortunately, choosing compensation money over destroying the settlements won't be that hard a choice for Shas.

Visiting Israel?
Learn to Shoot at Caliber-3 with top Israeli Anti-Terror Experts!

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Ashkenazi Rabbi Wins Position Reserved for Ethiopian

When I first read the headline of this story, I was less than impressed.

How could an Ashkenazi Rabbi get the position in the Bat Yam religious council slated for an Ethiopian Rabbi?!

To me, this smacked of the same sort of terrible discrimination that goes on in certain Ashkenazi, chareidi schools, which either do not allow Sephardim to attend at all -- and if they do, they segregate them into different classes, separate entrances and even require different school uniforms. Israel's Supreme Court's even ruled against this sort of segregation in the chareidi independent school system, "Chinuch Atzmai". (Source, JPost)

So what happened here? First of all, who is raging at this decision?

No, its not the Ethiopian community of Bat-Yam.

Its Shas Representatives and MK Yaakov Mergi (also from Shas) who is the Minister of Religious Affairs.

"Its not enough that those [Ashkenazi] clerks fill most of the State's public service jobs," said the minister, " but they [Ashkenazim] lusted after the poor man's lamb [alluding to the story where the propeht Natan chastises Kind David for taking Batsheva, and compares her to a poor man's only lamb] by changing the criteria for the tender for a Ethiopian Rabbi, from being an actual Ethiopian to being a Amharic-speaker [language of the Ethiopian Jews], so that they could win the tender.

An additional Shas person added that it is impossible to appoint a Rabbi who is not from the Ethiopian community because he's not familiar with the Ethiopian people and their customs. "It is impossible to win the battle against discrimination of the Ethiopians..." (Translated from the NRG website)

Sounds rather awful, doesn't it?

Despite their claims that an Ashkenazi Rabbi is simply the wrong person for the job, who in fact did win the appointment?

Rabbi Chananya Blumert, an ordained Rabbi from the Zionist Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Blumert is the only Ashkenazi Rabbi to be also considered a "Qes" -- an Ethiopian Rabbi and teacher. (They call him the "Qes Halavan" -- the White Qes).

He has been to Ethiopia, he's fluent in Amharic, and he's spent the past 20 years educating the Ethiopian community and helping their integration into Israeli society. He has tirelessly volunteered in Israel's immigration absorption centers with Ethiopian Jewry, teaching them about Judaism in Israel today.

Ten years ago, he married an Ethiopian Israeli.

Yet Shas seems to be rather annoyed and claim there's no way any Ashkenazi Rabbi can adequately understand the Ethiopian community and tend to their religious needs.

The NRG article (and even Rafi G at the LifeofIsrael blog) hints that the real reason for their anger is that Rabbi Blumert is not a Shas Rabbi...and to add insult to injury, he's Ashkenazi and a Zionist.

How depressing.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Shas: Yes we can.

translation; With G-d's Help. Yes. We can! Shas [party]

Is this really the new billboard sign for Israel's "Shas" Ultra-Orthodox Sephardi political party?

Its been flying around the web...




Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Surprise! Another Shas MK Convicted!

Shocking!

"Shas party Knesset Member Rabbi Shlomo Benizri was convicted by the Jerusalem's District Court Tuesday on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, committed during his tenure as labor and welfare minister.

Two years ago Benizri was indicted for passing on advance information to building contractor Moshe Sela which included details on the quota of foreign laborers expected to arrive in Israel.

The prosecution said that in return for this information the Shas member had received perks worth millions of shekels, including large sums of money, expensive furniture, cleaning services, electrical appliances and help in expanding his apartment. The MK was also convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud and disrupting court proceedings.

His spiritual and political patron, Rabbi Reuven Elbaz, was convicted of facilitating and accepting bribes and conspiracy to commit fraud." (YNET)

Money Quote: Regarding the indictment, Benizri stated: "After listening to the prosecutors say this is the most serious case of bribery in the history of Israel (I have to say), this is the biggest lie in the history of Israel."

Wow. The biggest lie! Rather impressive.

Benizri joins ranks with other fellow Shas convicted criminals:

Arieh Deri - convicted of taking a total of $155,000 in bribes while director-general of the interior ministry and later as interior minister.

Raphael Pinhasi - convicted of counterfeiting corporate documents, attempted extortion, acting as an accessory to a crime and giving false witness.

Yair Levi -- convicted of embezzling NIS 300,000 from Shas's El Hama'ayan non-profit association

Yair Peretz -- Peretz was found guilty of receiving a BA in psychology from the now-defunct local extension of Burlington University, after he copied nine essays written by former students at the school and submitted them as his own.

Opher Chugi - Guilty of a number of serious offenses, including aggravated forgery, using forged documents, receiving items through fraudulent means, false registration of a corporation and attempting to receive items through fraudulent means.

Shlomo Dayan - Convicted of Fraud (along with Raphael Pinchasi, see above)

For a political party that names itself for the Oral Torah and claims to act only under orders and directions from Shas Spiritual Leader R' Ovadia Yosef and the Shas Supreme Council of Torah Sages, I would posit that Benizri's conviction is a good definition of the word, "Chilul Hashem" -- a desecration of G-d's name, and an embarrassment to Jews everywhere.

Of course, don't get me wrong; Ehud Olmert's ruling Kadima party is not without it's criminals.

PM Ehud Olmert is currently under 3 different criminal investigations!

Finance Minister, MK Avraham Hirschson (indicted for breach of trust, aggravated fraud, theft and money laundering)

MK Tzachi HaNegbi (indicted, awaiting trial for fraud and breach of trust for allegedly making 69 inappropriate political appointments while serving as environment minister between 2001 and 2003)

MK Yaakov Edri (police recommend indictment for breach of trust and accepting a bribe, awaiting special hearing)

MK Eli Aflalo (under police investigation for bribery)

MK Ruchama Avraham (under police investigation for bribery)

MK Chaim Ramon (convicted sexual predator -- sexual harassment)

past MK Omri Sharon, convicted, currently in prison.

Mighty Impressive.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Ashkelon: Only 5 minutes from Tehran!

YNET via Reuters

Fun loving Hamas future-peace-partners check out the bomb-detection X-RAY machine at the Rafah crossing Customs Hall.

Today, Israel allowed Fatah VIP terrorists from Gaza into the West Bank, and it looks like things are going to be even safer here than ever before.

But Wait! I've been saying this for years, and here it is again!

THE MONEY QUOTE, today in YNET:

“I’m afraid to say this out loud, they may execute me for it, but there are a lot of people, including myself, who think it would be better if Israel came back here. Things would be much better than they are now,” said Samara (alias), a graduate of the Islamic University living in the Gaza Strip.

What?

Arabs thinking that the situation was better before Olso?
Before the Disengagement?

Yet another reason to thank President-Elect Shimon Peres and R' Ovadia Yosef for our new Middle East.

Shavua Tov...

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael