 | | Election Date to be Set for March 28
Final details of the election compromise are expected to be completed today. It will enable the setting of the date of the elections and the manner in which the interim government will function.
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More Details |  | | Editor: Hillel Fendel
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
21 Cheshvan 5766
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| | | 1. Election Date to be Set for March 28
|  | | By Hillel Fendel
Final details of the election compromise are expected to be completed today. It will enable the setting of the date of the elections and the manner in which the interim government will function.
| Attorney General Menachem Mazuz has confirmed the agreement furiously hammered out yesterday among representatives of the President's Office, the Prime Minister's Bureau, the Knesset, and Mazuz. There was some wrangling over details even between the Knesset Speaker and the Law Committee.
The issue in dispute was not only who would actually dissolve the Knesset - the President or the Knesset itself - but also the date of the elections and the authorities of the interim government. As it stands now, the date will be March 28, as the Knesset wanted, while Sharon will be empowered to appoint new ministers to his government.
Sharon fears that following the resignation of the Labor Party ministers, which goes into effect today, and the possible resignation of the Likud ministers, he will be left with only five ministers - Olmert, Hirschson, Sheetrit, Livny and Ezra. The Knesset, on the other hand, fears that he will appoint ministers only out of political considerations.
Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz, who is not only remaining in the Likud but has declared his candidacy for the party leadership, said today he will not resign his Cabinet post before Election Day.
Within Sharon's new party, named National Responsibility, a measure of tension has already been noted. Figures within the days-old party accuse Finance Minister Ehud Olmert, one of Sharon's chief allies for the past two years, of attempting to shape the party's list of Knesset candidates to suit his political preferences. Olmert, according to the charges, is attempting to place in high positions his allies Ze'ev Boim, Ruchama Avraham, Eli Aflalo and Avraham Hirschson. Other sources said, not necessarily contradictorily, that Ariel Sharon himself will formulate the list of candidates.
The Likud and Labor Party lists, in contrast, will be determined in internal primaries.
Olmert has also come under fire from the Likud for his plans to convene a group of mayors this coming Sunday. Likud members allege that he plans to pressure the mayors - especially those of the Likud - to join his new party by threatening to withhold municipal funding. Olmert denies the charges, saying he is planning to discuss "only general issues."
Likud MK Gilad Erdan has requested of Attorney General Mazuz to order Olmert to call off his meeting with the mayors. "This is an attempt at political bribery," Erdan said, "forbidden at this politically sensitive time."
Outgoing Minister Chaim Ramon plans to announce this morning that he is leaving the Labor Party and joining Sharon's new party. Ramon is, so far, the only Labor MK to make the switch. He is considered to have been among the first to publicly foresee the current re-arrangement of political parties in Israel. Ramon's decision was greeted with satisfaction within the Likud, as it signifies the Sharon party's leftward tilt and, as such, may even lead some of those who "defected" to return to the Likud.
Minister Yisrael Katz, another candidate for Likud Party chairman, said, "A vote for Sharon is a vote for Ramon. It's now clear that only the Likud can lead the nationalist camp in Israel."
It has been rumored that Shimon Peres may also join the new party - or at least a government formed by Sharon.
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| | 2. Charge: Israel Has Not Approached AIPAC on Pollard
|  | | By Hillel Fendel
Yitzchak Oren, the man responsible for the Pollard file on behalf of Israel's Washington Embassy in the late 1990s, says the key to Pollard's release lies with AIPAC - and that it's not too late.
| Oren, who was the Israeli liaison to the U.S. Congress in 1997, said, "I tell you with total certainty, as an expert on the matter and as someone who dealt with the subject on behalf of the government for a long period, that he could have been released. Very simple. One word: AIPAC."
Oren, who studied all the material on Pollard and visited him in prison seven times, spoke with Ben Caspit of Maariv.
AIPAC, the American Israeli Public Affairs Community, has been termed by The New York Times "the most important organization affecting America's relationship with Israel."
Oren said that in 1996, then-Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu decided to recognize Pollard as an Israeli agent and work to secure his release. The instructions were relayed to the Embassy in Washington, but the late then-Ambassador Eliyahu Ben-Elissar chose not to deal with it, and instead transferred it to Oren.
Oren explained that the long-time efforts by Pollard supporters to pressure the American President were in vain:
"Only Congress can force the release. The president [Clinton] tried, and we saw how it ended with [Clinton and Netanyahu] at Wye Plantation - the intelligence community forced the president to change his mind, with [CIA head George] Tenet threatening to resign. But with Congress, it's the opposite. The intelligence establishment receives funding from Congress, and Congress is its supervising body. One word by AIPAC would free up a giant and powerful lobby in this direction. I tell you with full responsibility that if AIPAC would just nod or hint, it would happen. The CIA would give in. That's how the American network works."
Oren said that though he and then-Cabinet Secretary Danny Naveh informed AIPAC that it would be desirable to work for Pollard, it didn't happen: "I remember an AIPAC event at which the Ambassador [Ben-Elissar] called openly and publicly upon AIPAC not to intervene in the Pollard affair. They really didn't intervene, and the whole thing hit an iceberg..."
"All these years," Oren said, "we wasted energies on the executive branch, the President, but it was hopeless. The President cannot bend the giant intelligence community - but Congress sure can... The CIA head can't threaten Congress that he will quit; Congress can fire him. All that was missing was AIPAC's blessing for the efforts to have him released. Senators like Arlen Specter and Ben Gilman waited for it, but it didn't come."
Asked if he can explain why Ben-Elissar objected, Oren said, "No. Perhaps because of reasons of recognition, or because of his past as a Mossad man... I can just say, as someone who worked under him, that this is what happened. He said this on-the-record." Caspit added that the Mossad had no sympathy for Pollard, who was employed by a different government organization.
Oren also cannot explain why the American establishment is so vengeful against Pollard: "It is unfathomable. It is, perhaps, an attempt to strong-arm and trample Israel, on Pollard's back. Very strange things happened here. After all, transmitting information to an ally is a relatively light crime. And yet, suddenly, [then-Defense Secretary Caspar] Weinberger gives the judge a 46-page memorandum that led to the unheard-of life sentence... "
"I also think it's not too late," Oren said. "Even now, via AIPAC, it can be done. There is a Senator named Chuck Schumer of New York who is willing to lead it. There is no reason that the State [of Israel] should not do this for Pollard - especially in light of all the dirty and strong-arm tricks that were used against Israel and against him in this story."
In February 1998, Pollard's wife Esther told IMRA that Israel had several easy options at its disposal in its attempts to secure her husband's release - and one of them was AIPAC.
"The State of Israel, in accomplishing any important initiative in the United States, first engages AIPAC," she said. "With the support of AIPAC Israel then gets the necessary meetings on Capitol Hill and the proper exposure. AIPAC also helps Israel to engage the American Jewish leadership. It doesn't matter if we are talking about advancing the peace process or selling any Israeli idea. This is standard practice. In 13 years [since Pollard's arrest], AIPAC has never been engaged by the Israeli Government on the Pollard case. In 13 years, the American Jewish leadership has never once heard from the Israeli Government, 'This is a national priority, we'd like your support on this.'"
Another example of an easy initiative, she said, is, "Israel simply had to go to the money people in the Jewish community who fund the Clinton Government. All that Israel had to do was to say to them, 'We could use your support on this.' You don't even have to threaten not to sign the checks. Just remind the President that releasing Pollard is a priority of the Government of Israel that you support.'
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Click Here! | | 3. Massive Pollard Rally in Jerusalem
|  | | By Hillel Fendel
Several Pollard events are taking place this week, including a mass rally Wednesday afternoon, a special Knesset session, school classes, and a rare televised interview with Esther Pollard.
| This afternoon (Wednesday), a mass demonstration is planned in Jerusalem, demanding Pollard's release from U.S. prison. The participants will first chain themselves with handcuffs, forming a human chain from the American Embassy to the Prime Minister's Residence several hundred meters away. At the rally to be held afterwards, Pollard's wife will read aloud a speech written for the event by her husband.
A special Knesset session on Pollard was held yesterday (Tuesday), at which the Knesset resolved by an 84-0 vote to demand that Prime Minister Sharon officially request a Presidential pardon for Pollard. The Knesset also recognized Pollard as a "Prisoner of Zion" - though Pollard supporters emphasized that efforts continue to convince the Government to officially grant him this status.
MK Uri Ariel said at the session, "The Knesset has made many resolutions over the years regarding Pollard, but they have not brought results. The Israeli public is united in its wish to see Pollard free. 112 MKs signed a request to President Bush to release him, but Prime Minister Sharon 'forgot' to bring it to him, and in fact never submitted it."
MK Ariel noted that Israel had "freed Elchanan Tenenbaum from Hizbullah captivity, and Azzam Azzam from Egypt, but Jonathan Pollard remains in prison in the United States. Today is a day of reckoning for all of us to see if we did enough to have him released."
MK Ariel also read aloud a letter from Pollard, in which he expresses his pride at having saved many Jews with his actions, and a prayer for his release written by former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu.
On Monday, public schools all over Israel dedicated an hour to learning about Jonathan Pollard. The instruction was issued by Education Minister Limor Livnat, who said it was "appropriate to do so because Israel's obligation to Pollard is not controversial." Livnat said, "The education system [should] bring his contribution to the State of Israel to students' attention."
On Monday night, Pollard's wife Esther was granted a rare television interview, with Ya'ir Lapid on Channel Two. Lapid played recordings of Jonathan Pollard speaking from prison on the occasion of last week's 20th anniversary of his incarceration. Jonathan spoke of the constant sense of danger he feels: "...living with the fear of imminent death - because violence occurs very quickly, and from out of the blue."
Pollard was also heard sharply attacking Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz for the fact that his name is not on the official Ministry of Defense list of captives. Saying it was a "calculated refusal to keep my name off the list," Pollard said, "Every Knesset Member that I've talked to about this has been shocked and disgusted when they realize what has been done. And I blame Mofaz himself, personally, for this. Mofaz has knowingly abandoned a soldier in the field."
An agent whose name is on the list is entitled to rights and benefits as an Israeli agent, including the fact that the Israeli Government would be obligated to seek his immediate release. It would also enable Pollard to receive financial benefits, which he has in fact never received.
During the interview, Mrs. Pollard also noted the ongoing struggle to have Israel recognize her husband as a Prisoner of Zion: "We made an official request, but the government did not agree, and so we brought it to the Supreme Court, where the issue currently stands."
She noted that this is just another struggle that the Pollards have had to wage in the Supreme Court against the government: "To receive his citizenship, we also had to go to the Supreme Court, and also to receive the recognition as an Israeli agent. We always have to struggle against the State."
Lapid asked if she accepts the explanation that the government has been working for his release "via secret channels," Mrs. Pollard said,
"How is it possible to have 20 years of secret efforts, without even one centimeter of progress? It cannot be... There are some thing that the government of Israel can do, but it is just not doing. For instance, it can officially inform the U.S. Justice Dept that he is an Israeli agent - but it has not done so, and he is therefore treated as a common criminal. The Americans also understand from this that Israel is not so serious about wanting him."
"Israel has not done the most essential and basic things to free this agent, as it did with its other agents in Switzerland and Cyprus," Mrs. Pollard said.
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| | 4. Hesder Student Saves Soldiers From Hizbullah Abduction
|  | | By Hillel Fendel
IDF paratrooper David Markowitz, a student of the Hesder yeshiva in Mitzpeh Ramon, became a national hero for a day on Tuesday when he killed four Hizbullah terrorists with one gun burst.
| photo courtesy of IDF Spokesman: the thwarting of an abduction
Markowitz, who will be 21 next week, has been in the army for only eight months. On Monday night, during the furious Hizbullah attack against northern Israeli targets, he and the soldiers in his unit prevented a planned abduction of an Israeli soldier.
He was the first to notice a band of Hizbullah terrorists that had crossed Israel's Lebanese border on jeeps and motorbikes - and shot them to death.
In a similar attack five years ago, Hizbullah terrorists abducted three soldiers - and never notified Israel that they killed them almost immediately afterwards.
This week's incident accompanied a multi-pronged Hizbullah rocket and mortar shell attack against Israeli military and civilian targets. When he saw the terrorists arriving, Markowitz later said, "I was scared" - but he kept his cool and composure, opened fire, and shot three terrorists dead. A fourth one died of his wounds a short time afterwards.
Markowitz's commander, Lt.-Col. Yaniv Aluf, described his actions as an "amazing display of courage, discipline and composure."
In summarizing the incident, the Northern Commander said that had Markowitz not noticed the approaching danger, the incident would have ended with many casualties and "in an extremely grave manner." "With his first shots, he determined the fate of the battle," Northern Command sources said. The army is considering awarding him a certificate of honor.
A resident of the small town of Gimzo in central Israel, Markowitz serves in the army in the framework of Hesder, which literally means "arrangement." It provides for five years of alternating periods of yeshiva study and combat army service.
The Hesder yeshivot, which are widely known for their highly-motivated and skilled soldiers, have come under fire of late from army officials for their stance vis-a-vis the Disengagement plan. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz has even gone so far as to demand that the yeshiva in Elon Moreh no longer be granted Hesder status because its Dean, Rabbi Yaakov Levanon, called upon students to refuse expulsion-related orders.
The final decision as to whether to close the yeshiva lies with Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz.
Rabbi Levanon himself said that this was not a personal issue and that he would not fight this battle: "I will leave this war for my colleagues, the other yeshiva heads... The question is when a Torah personality expresses a Torah opinion, is it right to punish him? Is it right to train people to deny their personal truth in order to 'get along better in life'? Every yeshiva head could find himself facing a question like this..."
The Hesder yeshiva heads are to meet today (Wednesday) to formulate a stance on this issue. Spokesman Rabbi David Stav said that the Union of Hesder Yeshivot "does not accept this decision by the Chief of Staff, and is trying to have the decree rescinded."
The Commander of the IDF Personnel Corps, Maj.-Gen. Elazar Stern, announced plans a few months ago to disband, to some degree, the Hesder yeshiva units. Relations between the yeshivot and the army are thus not at their zenith.
In the meanwhile, the fact that David Markowitz is a Hesder yeshiva student was all but buried in the press reports - despite the prominent role that Hesder yeshivot have played in recent news.
Army Radio interviewer Razi Barkai asked Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz this morning whether he does not feel "discomfited" by the fact that "a soldier" was so highly praised for simply "doing his job." Mofaz said he does not feel that way, that the soldier deserves to be praised, and that the army publicizes the details of failures as well as successes.
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Click Here! | | 5. National Union´s Desire for Unity, Unity & Unity - and Anglos
|  | | By Ezra HaLevi
The National Union Party, in addition to wooing the National Religious Party to join its ranks, continues its drive to represent Western olim (immigrants) in the Knesset.
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Uri Bank, who is currently in the ninth spot on the National Union list of Knesset candidates, believes that those who made Aliyah (immigrated) to Israel from Western countries have much to offer the Israeli political system, with regard to accountability and creative solutions.
Bank, who heads the Moledet Party's efforts to get English-speaking olim (immigrants) to join the party, did not make it into the 16th Knesset. His party won just seven seats and he was number ten on the list. Bank's supporters are circulating a petition to have him moved to the seventh slot on the list ahead of the upcoming elections – to ensure that the enthusiastic and vocal "Anglo" activists who have joined the National Union are represented.
One of the things Bank says matters most to his constituency is that politicians be held accountable to those who elected them. "Basically there is no accountability here," Bank told IsraelNationalRadio's Stutz & Fleisher Show. "And Anglos, coming from true western democracies throughout the world, are astounded by it."
Bank cites Ariel Sharon's implementation of his election-opponents platform as the most blatant example, but says that the lack of accountability did not start with the Disengagement Plan. "It became particularly evident in the past 10-15 years - starting with the MKs who sold their souls and totally betrayed their platforms in return for a Mitzubishi [the car that goes with being a Minister, awarded to at least one MK in return for voting in favor of the Oslo Accords in the Knesset]."
However, Bank does not see the purging of Likud’s Sharon supporters from the party as a positive sign. "It will have an adverse effect on the ideological camp in Israel," he said, explaining:
"The Likud voters who voted for Sharon last time around and were totally disappointed by his betrayal were thinking of leaving the Likud and voting for true right-wing ideological parties such as the National Union. Now that Sharon has left, I am afraid that Netanyahu is going to take control of that party - and Netanyahu is a total ‘false prophet,’ if you will. He is totally not what he makes himself out to be, and unfortunately in Israel the public has a very short memory. We know that he was the biggest, most vocal opponent of Oslo until 1996, when he was elected and implemented it. When the Palestinians shot at us during the riots against the Kotel Tunnels – Netanyahu, the great Oslo opponent, ran to Washington and shook Arafat's hand."
At the same time, Bank does not rule out the National Union joining together with the Likud to form a united right-wing bloc in the Knesset. The National Union has been trying to join up with the National Religious Party for weeks.
"I have no problem joining up with the Likud," Bank said. "But the problem is that the Likud has never had a solution. When they responded to Oslo and said that what Labor and Meretz are suggesting is horrendous – that is not a solution. When you ask any of them, even Uzi Landau, what the solution is – they raise their eyebrows and say, 'We don't really know.' And that is why Netanyahu and Sharon and even Uzi Landau - if he came into power - would start implementing something in the line of Oslo – maybe not the same as the left would, but the same direction."
The National Union, on the other hand, does have an alternative solution to that of withdrawals and adding another Arab state to the Middle East, Bank insists:
"The alternative that the National Union presents originated in Moledet and was adopted by all seven MKs of the National Union in the last election. It is the 'Jordan is Palestine' solution. This recognizes the fact that there already is a Palestinian state east of the Jordan river – the Hashemite Kingdom. Jordan's population is 75-80% Palestinian, and therefore a Palestinian state already exists. But only if we realize the mistakes that have been made over the past 15 years – the basic tenet of ‘land for peace’ and [the mistakes of] supplying the Palestinians with guns and sovereignty over land to the west of the Jordan River – will we switch our way of thinking about the solution."
The Moledet plan, termed the "Right Road to Peace," consists of dismantling and disarming the Palestinian Authority and persuading the international community (Bank says it need only be the U.S.) to resettle the Arab refugees in Jordan using American economic aid as leverage. The complete plan can be read on TheRightRoadToPeace.com.
"Once the Likud changes and finds a solution," Bank says, "- and it doesn't have to be the solution that I am advocating - then I would consider teaming up with them. But the Likud has absolutely no alternative – and it’s not only Netanyahu, it's Landau as well, and it's Feiglin as well. There is no alternative there."
It is not by chance that Bank dropped Moshe Feiglin's name as being part of the problem. Anglo Moledet has gone on the offensive in recent months, attacking Manhigut Yehudit's efforts to take over the Likud from within, on English-language email discussion lists and in public forums. Despite the fact that nearly all Manhigut Yehudit activists, many of them English-speaking olim, vote for the National Union, the Moledet activists feel that the efforts that go into trying to affect individual internal Likud votes could be better spent campaigning for the National Union.
There is also an element of defensiveness, as Moshe Feiglin has consistently been dismissive of the right-wing religious parties, saying they aim only to be "lobbies" and not to lead the country.
Bank is also dismissive of small parties, and that is why he says the National Union is putting so much effort into uniting the right-wing. Regarding Baruch Marzel's new Hayil party, Bank said:
"We are repeating the same mistakes again and again. We have to get politically savvy. And that is what Marzel, with all the good things he has done for the Nation and Land of Israel, doesn't have. He doesn't understand that splintering off – as wonderful of an individual as he is - means losing power for all of us, which means losing part of the land, which I am sure he is against. And it is especially egotistical on his part to consider running again, especially when he did it once and failed. All through the previous election we said that they are going to throw out two seats – and that is exactly what happened. The National Union would have had nine seats instead of seven during this term if [Marzel] hadn't run last time. To try to do it again just proves selfishness at this point. If we want the national camp to gain ground at this point – we need unity, unity, unity."
Bank truly believes that a right-wing bloc can garner more seats in the Knesset than the Likud Party – though he is hesitant to suggest that even then the National Union would lead the country. "Today we already make up 29 reigning members of Knesset. The Likud has 40. If the Likud bloc falls to 34 and we rise by [those] 6 to 35, then we will truly have the power. [Then we can] either suggest a prime minister of our own – and maybe for the first time we [will be able to put up a religious] prime minister in this country, and Benny Elon fits that bill. Or – if not that – [we can] come to whomever the Likud leader is and tell him, 'you want to be prime minister – you have to fork over the portfolio of Education Minister to Zevulun Orlev, the Justice portfolio to Benny Elon and you have to write in the guidelines of your government – which we will join – that there will be no more capitulation to the Palestinians and no more land or guns given to them.' "
Bank was asked by host Yishai Fleisher why Zevulun Orlev as Education Minister would make any more of a difference than the NRP's Zevulun Hammer, who was Education Minister for years.
"That was only under the NRP," Bank answered. "I am not talking about small partisan politics anymore. I am talking about a large bloc that will cooperate with each other…Our conclusion from the Disengagement was that the only way to prevent further disengagements is to garner a political force. If the politicians and Hareidim (the Agudat Israel, Shas, and Torah Judaism parties) don't understand that, we are going to lose a lot of ground in this country - fast.
"[National Union and Moledet Chairman Rabbi] Benny Elon has been putting all his efforts into unifying the right-wing camp. He has been talking to Eli Yishai of Shas, talking to the heads of [the Hareidi-religious] Agudah and talking specifically and especially about finally getting the NRP to join because we have been courting them ever since 1999. They have refused to join forces and really lead the National Union at various stages since then. Once we get this united bloc, we will become a true threat – a true power in Israeli politics."
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| | 6. Dov Shilansky: Sharon’s Views are Close to Those of Yossi Sarid
|  | | By Scott Shiloh
Former Knesset Speaker Dov Shilanksy, who fought alongside Menahem Begin during Israel's Independence War, explains that Ariel Sharon's views are much closer to those of Meretz MK Yossi Sarid.
| Dov Shilanksy, holocaust survivor and one the “fighting family,” the small cadre of fighters who made up the “Etzel” (Irgun), the underground, nationalistic group commanded by Menachem Begin during Israel’s War of Independence, is no newcomer to the Likud.
Shilanksy was in the Likud’s forerunner, the Herut party, well before Ariel Sharon got the idea of merging Herut with a number of small parties at the liberal center. That famous merger by Sharon turned into the Likud. Herut, though, with Begin at the head, still made up the party’s ideological core.
Before forming the Likud, however, Sharon had another brilliant idea: form a party with MK Yossi Sarid, whose political views put him at the far left of the spectrum.
According to Dov Shilanksy, Sharon has come full circle: “From our perspective, Sharon did the right thing,” by leaving the Likud. “Ideologically, he’s closer to Yossi Sarid than to the party I belong to [the Likud].” MK Sarid is a member of the Meretz-Yahad party that favors returning all of Judea and Samaria, as well as the Old City of Jerusalem, to Arab rule.
Shilansky says that in the last election, Sharon “stole” the votes of Likud voters. Shortly after the election, Sharon began espousing policies, such as the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, which ran against the party’s election platform.
Sharon’s plan to disengage or withdraw from Gaza and northern Samaria, destroying in the process 25 Jewish communities, was also diametrically opposed to the party’s platform. In fact, the idea for the withdrawal was put forward by Sharon’s opponent in the 2000 election campaign, MK Amram Mitzna of the Labor party.
“Now he’s gone back to where he belongs, with us remaining where we belong, faithful to our ideology,” Shilansky said.
Shilanksy, who served in the 1980’s as Chairman of the Knesset, has stayed faithful to the Likud’s core values of building Jewish communities throughout the land of Israel. Shilansky was one of the key speakers at the final rally against the disengagement in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square last August.
Shilansky said he is not worried about early polls that show Ariel Sharon’s new party attaining more votes than the Likud. He said Likud the party has endured unfavorable polls before, but despite this, the Likud must remain faithful to its ideology until it ultimately prevails.
Quoting Yitzhak Shamir, who as head of the Likud party served as Israel’s prime minister for most of the period from 1983-1992, Shilanksy holds that there is no need to change Likud ideology: “The Arabs are the same Arabs, and the sea is the same sea.”
“If we remain completely faithful in the justness of our ways,” he said, “our victory will be guaranteed.”
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| 7. Hevron Arabs Ask Jews For Help in Banishing Leftist Activists
|  | | By Ezra HaLevi
Arab leaders in Hevron have contacted the city’s Jewish leaders for help in getting rid of self-proclaimed anarchist volunteers who, they complain, are destroying their traditional way of life.
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The anarchists, many of whom are members of the International Solidarity Movement, flock to flashpoints throughout Judea and Samaria, ostensibly to help PA Arabs contend with IDF closures and protect them from harassment. In actuality, many of the volunteers seek confrontations with IDF soldiers and local Jewish residents, taking advantage of their Western passports to cause havoc – knowing that, at worst, they will be deported, not jailed.
The local Arabs in the Hevron region whom the activists claim to be helping are now complaining that the American and European students behave in a provocative and offensive manner in Hevron’s public areas. The Arabs say the activists disrespect the moral norms and standards of the local population.
Several local Arab residents told the Kol Ha’Ir newspaper that the activists have been exposing the local youths to drug use and sexual promiscuity.
One interviewee told Kol Ha’Ir that the volunteers show a disregard for the religious norms of the local villages and teach the local youth to reject and disrespect the traditions of their forefathers. "These anarchists come here and undermine the education we give our children. At first we took them in with hospitality - after all, they claimed they wanted to help us, so why kick them out? But very quickly they infuriated me with their lewd behavior."
In a bid to rid the region of the anarchists, local Arab leaders approached representatives of the Jewish community in Hevron – a rare, but not unheard of occurrence – in order to find a solution. The two sides agreed to have Arabic-speaking Jewish observers along Hevron’s main thoroughfares to replace the anarchists in ensuring calm between the city’s Jewish and Arab populations. The left-wings activists would then be informed by the local Arab population that they appreciate their offer to help, but that they are no longer needed.
Hevron spokesman Noam Arnon confirmed the arrangement to Arutz-7, saying that the new replacement observers will be acceptable to local Arabs. He added that the international anarchists came to Hevron come from Western cultures steeped in sexual lewdness and depravity, permissiveness, and drug use. "Their presence in Hebron serves to inflame violence because they are seeking to create provocations and encourage violence," Arnon said.
He added that the observers end up causing more trouble for the local Arab population, by antagonizing soldiers and brazenly leading local Arabs in between Jewish homes.
Arnon recalled a specific incident in which an Arab woman tried to stab an IDF soldier with a knife. The soldiers grabbed her, but were attacked by a group of anarchist volunteers who tried to free the woman and take the knife out of her hand and hide it.
In recent months, Jewish organizations have also come to Hevron to stand up to the anarchist activists. The Jewish activists investigate the anarchists regarding their entry to Israel and strengthen the morale of the soldiers in withstanding attacks by leftist extremists.
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| | 8. Evening of Study to Honor Anniversary of Nechama Leibowitz
|  | | By Debbie Berman
Israel's Open University will be hosting a study evening to mark the 100th birthday of the late Biblical scholar Nechama Leibowitz, and 900 years since the death of medieval commentator Rashi.
| The evening is scheduled for November 27th, at the Open University's campus in Raanana.
Nechama Leibowitz was born in Riga, Latvia in 1905, and passed away in Jerusalem in 1997, at the age of 92. Nechama, as she was widely known, is recognized as one of the leading Torah teachers of the twentieth century. She studied in the Universities of Berlin and Marboug, and immigrated to Israel in 1931 after completing her doctoral studies.
Leibowitz taught at the Mizrachi Women Teachers Seminary, Tel Aviv University and many other schools and Yeshivot throughout Israel. Professor Leibowitz was awarded the Israel Prize for Education in 1956.
Rashi (an acronym for Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzchak) was born in Troyes, France in 1040. He was educated in Germany and died in the year 1105. Rashi is known as the greatest commentator on the Jewish Written and Oral Law. Experts and beginners alike study Rashi's prolific exegetical writings on the Five Books of Moses and the Talmud.
Avraham Nussbaum, Educational Coordinator of the course entitled "The Commentary of Rashi on the Torah," and Dr. Avriel Bar Levav, the Open University’s History, Philosophy, and Jewish Studies Department Head, will head the program. The evening is open to the public and entrance is free of charge.
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 | Wide Range of Judaica Items
In www.mirrys-artglass.com you will see a wide range of judaica ( mezzuzot ; menoras; kiddush cups; havdalla sets; choshen;) and other items made from glass and copper with a silver or gold plated finish.
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| | Today on IsraelNN.com: |  |  | IDF Soldier thwarts Hizbullah abduction attempt
|   | | |  | |  | In Support of Right-Wing Unity
While Manhigut Yehudit supports this united front and encourages its creation, it will not join it. Allow me to explain.
|  | | | A Question to the Israeli Left
All of the sudden, the leftists are concerned for the safety and well-being of their Jewish brothers and sisters living over the Green Line (post-Six-Day-War borders), whom they refer to as "settlers".
|  | | | | |  | Biblical Litmus Tests
In teaching about Avraham, I always point out that the binding of Yitzchak is made all the more difficult for Avraham by his well-known trait of lovingkindness. The skeptic may ask how it is that Jewish tradition can consider a man who enthusiastically prepared to kill his son to be the epitome of lovingkindness.
|  | | | Chayei Sarah: Matchmaker, Make Me a Match
I am surprised at the glaring omission and no comment from the parshanim. Not once does it mention if Eliezer asked the "important" questions. For example: When clearing the table, did Rivka stack the dishes or take them away one at a time? Did her brother wear tie shoes or loafers?
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 | 'Israeli Salad' #113
with Yoni Kempinski - A visit to The Tomb of Rachel
- Dr. Rachamim Melamed-Cohen
paralyzed author and songwriter
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