They Are Very Afraid

The religous Zionist segment of Israeli society is disproportinately represented in the officer’s corps in the IDF. We comprise approximately 12% of Israeli society, but 35% of the officers in the IDF wear the knitted kippa (skullcap).

This disproportion is very frightening to some secular Israelis, especially in academia - so much so that it has been studied. Israel HaYom has an interesting article about this topic, which is essentially a book review of a collection of essays.

The essays are written from various viewpoints. I find it ironic that those who are most frightened of the fact that so many national religious young men are now officers are mistaken about the viewpoints held by these officers. They assume, wrongly, that those national religious soldiers hold views that are, for want of a better term “extremely right wing” concerning future borders of Israel, and that these viewpoints will seriously affect how they act in the army.

Perhaps it is all relative, but from my experience I see that the men in the national religious camp that are extremely right wing either do not serve at all, or serve for a very short time, and are most certainly not the ones who go on to become officers. They usually sit and learn in yeshiva, and do the minimum of army required by the hesder program (14 months, versus the committment to three full years for officers).

The religious men who do go on to become officers are committed to the army for the best of reasons, and with the guidance of their rabbis serve to the best of their ability while following the halacha. For the most part their motivation for being in the army in general and their desire to be officers in particular comes from an overarching ideal – that of serving Klal Yisrael and protecting their fellow Jews. This ideal then makes it easier for them to perhaps follow a more lenient interpretation on some halachic issues where others would take a more stricter view.

Therefore the fear by many in the secular camp in Israel about the national religious in the army is misplaced and completely blown out of proportion. It comes from not understanding the nuances of a different sector of the country.

Third Iron Dome System Operational in Northern Israel

The IDF has set up the third Iron Dome battery in the northern part of Israel.  The other two were set up within the past few weeks. This is a sign that Israel expects rocket fire coming from the north – either from Hizbollah in Lebanon or from either Assad or the rebels in Syria – or perhaps even both.

This comes in a addition to the anouncement that President Obama will (finally) come to visit Israel next month. He is coming supposedly to further peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians (good luck with that….) but I think he will be speaking more about the problems in Iran and Syria.

The fact that Ahmadinejad is visiting Egypt now – the first time an Iranian leader has done this in three decades – is a warning sign too. For those of you not familiar with history, the sliver of land called Israel has been in the middle of wars between the ruling powers around Egypt in the southwest and Syria in the northeast for centuries. The players change frequently but the fight for supremacy is the same. The fact tha Iran has backed Assad in Syria has made it in conflict with Egypt – but perhaps now that there is a new ruler in Egypt Iran wants to warm up relations.

In any case the IDF is making preparations for the next round.

The Blessing of Rain

Israel is always thirsty for rain. The Kinneret is our only source of “sweet” water – there are desalination plants that process some of the water from the Mediterranean Sea, but we are mainly dependent on the Kinneret and the underground reserves.

The heavy winter rains both last year and this have added precious centimeters to the level of the Kinneret – so much so that it is at its highest level in more than seven years. Most predict that it will reach its full capacity by the end of the winter.

Another blessing that the rain has given Israel is the fact that Hamas has ordered the closing of the  smuggling tunnels (from Egypt to Gaza), since the rain has caused more than one to collapse. These tunnels are used to smuggle in drugs and weapons used against Israel.

The blessings of rain.

American Jews and the Birth of the Israeli Airforce

American Jews were a crucial part of the birth of the Israeli Air Force, and helped the state of Israel survive the War of Independence. This sample video of a documentary in the making shows some of the interesting personalities that risked their lives to help win the war. Enjoy!

A Nice Profile Piece on Danny Danon – and Another Reason to Vote Likud

There is a nice profile piece on Danny Danon (not to be confused with Danny Dayan) in the Times of Israel website. Danon is a secular right wing candidate on the Likud Beitenu list. For those of you who are hesitant about whether to vote for Likud Beitenu or Bayit Yehudi, this article is worth a look. Danon is typical of the character of the Likud list.

The Likud has an excellent list of right wing candidates this time around, and it would be a real shame not to vote for them because of the desire to support a sectoral party. All of the members in the first twenty spots on the Likud slate, except for Moshe Feiglin, have been Knesset Members before. They have experience and know how to pass legislation.

The Bayit Yehudi list does not come close. The head, Naftali Bennet, is a newcomer to the Knesset, as is the rest of his list except for three members (Uri Ariel, Nissim Smoliansky and Uri Orbach). This means that if Bayit Yehudi gets 14 seats, 11 of them will be filled with complete newcomers. I don’t doubt their sincerity, but I do doubt their political savvy and their ability to get things done.

 

The Second Zionist Revolution – Im Tirzu Leads the Way

Im Tirzu, the pro-Zionist movement, has published a booklet called “The Guide to the Zionist Revolutionary”. This guide is only in Hebrew, as the organization is mainly geared towards young Israelis, especially those in college and university.

The guide states that it is time for a second Zionist revolution. The first returned Jews from the Diaspora to its homeland and rejuvenated the holy language of Hebrew. The second Zionist revolution’s goal is to return the Jewish nation to the original Jewish culture and values. These values have been undermined by the post-Zionist culture in Israel and it is time to turn it around.

The booklet covers a wide array of topics and suggests a number of actions. Some major points include:

“Don’t be afraid to demand academic pluralism!” This means that in the twisted academic culture that exists in Israel today, the pro-Arab point of view is usually the only one being voiced, and it is incumbent on the students to fight back.

“Join the culture war” It is time to push back at the post-Zionist culture in Israel, not by demanding censorship, but by putting forth something pro-Zionist.

“Bring Zionist ideas to the schools” The booklet suggests volunteering in schools to bring Zionism back to education.

I urge those of you who can read Hebrew to read the booklet. I found it inspiring.

The Forgotten Refugees

Today is the 10th day of the Hebrew month of Tevet – a minor fast day in the Jewish calendar. It is also called the Yom HaKadish HaKlali in Israel. This means that today is the official day of mourning for Jews who do not know the exact date of their relative’s deaths, and they say Kaddish for them today. Most of the people who fit this unfortunate category are Holocaust survivors, and the day is sometimes used to educate the younger generation in Israel about Holocaust history (usually in the Orthodox community, since it coincides with a fast.)

Today, in contrast to past years,  I would like to share a interesting video about the survivors of anti-Semitism and persecution from another part of the world – specifically from the Arab countries. They call themselves the “forgotten refugees” – since there is very little written about the million Jews expelled from the Arab countries around the time of Israel’s independence in 1948. Very little is written also about the riots and massacres carried out before the expulsions.

Beware of Those Provocative Houses

The American State Department is joining some in the European Union to censure Israel.

Have we used chemical weapons to harm our own citizens? (Of course not).

Did we give our army the ability to arrest civilians (in other words,  declaring martial law)? (Of course not).

Have we threatened to wipe another country off the map using nuclear weapons? (Of course not).

Then what have we done?

We’ve declared that we are going to build the deadly Israeli house!

I don’t know how anyone in Washington can take themselves seriously when they make these statements.