Raz

We are suffering from an unprecedented and inexplicable period of neglect! For decades the news media organs have devoted disproportionate attention to Israel. We have grown to accept both compliments and complaints because we are driven by a national ego that demands attention. Three times the prophet Isaiah describes us as a "light unto the nations." His most flattering prophecy foretells "And unto your light, nations shall walk, and kings unto the brightness of your rising" (Isaiah, 60:3). The current "blackout" is hard to live with.

A lead article in the Economist supplied one explanation for this "nothing is happening" state of affairs.

" Israelis have enjoyed one of their longest spells of relative peace since their army hammered the Gaza Strip more than three years ago. Their hawkish leader, Binyamin Netanyahu, who emerged shortly, afterwards as prime minister for the second time, has been riding high. Israel’s economy, though not without the odd tremor, has boomed in comparison with those of its floundering Arab neighbours, where governments have been driven to distraction or overthrown amid the turbulence of the Arab spring.." The article goes on to warn the prime minister that the present lull won't last for ever. The Palestinians are at the end of their tether and more worrying, "The more than 350m Arabs in the region are losing faith in a two-state solution. Many Europeans put most of the blame for the present impasse on Israel. And under a second-term Mr. Obama even America may start to lose patience with an intransigent Israeli government." The paper suggests, "Mr. Netanyahu is a consummate opportunist; let him grasp this opportunity."

This week Thomas L. Friedman wrote a piece for the New York Times called "Power with Purpose." Pointing to Netanyahu's huge coalition government Friedman remarked, "There are Arab dictators who didn’t have majorities that big after rigged elections. What is unclear is whether Bibi assembled these multitudes to be better able to do nothing or be better able to do something important to secure Israel’s future."

Friedman fears Netanyahu will choose inaction "I’m keeping an open mind, but the temptation for Bibi to do nothing will be enormous. The Palestinians are divided between Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and both populations are tired." Conjuring up a future historian's verdict Friedman wrote, "Netanyahu was the only Israeli leader who had the political power and he missed his moment in history." —. “Now is his moment to decide.”

If, however, Netanyahu sincerely wants to exploit this opportunity and believes he can cut a deal with the Palestinians, he won't be able to do that while he demands no preconditions. The Palestinians won’t talk as long as settlement building continues.

The author of the Economist article speculates "Had Mr. Netanyahu extended a ten-month moratorium on expanding Jewish settlements on Palestinian land back in September 2010, chunks of his coalition would have fallen away, perhaps even bringing down the government. Now, with Kadima in his fold, Mr. Netanyahu has less need to pander to the likes of Mr. Lieberman. Mr. Mofaz plainly accepts a two-state solution, even promoting his own plan, which advocates the immediate creation of a Palestinian state on 60% of the land captured by Israel during the war of 1967, as a step towards an eventual state based on the pre-war borders adjusted with land swaps."

Some analysts argue that the “power with a purpose” that Friedman wrote about has its limits. If the prime minister decides to renew the building moratorium he risks defection of some of his coalition partners. The size factor hasn’t deterred the coalition’s extreme right flank..

If the prime minister makes a sincere effort to reach an agreement with the Palestinians the true-blue right wingers might leave the government. After all they are answerable to the people who voted for them. A smaller coalition with its right flank pared off would probably be more to Netanyahu’s liking, however there is also a right flank within his own Likud party. It too could join the deserters. Of course this defection scenario is no more than conjecture.

Despite the dearth of news two attention grasping events occurred this week.

The first event occurred at the Citi Field and Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York. No it wasn’t the Mets that drew a crowd of 60,000 ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jews to the stadium, but a symposium to warn about the dangers of ... the Internet. An article in the New York Daily News quoted Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum of B’nai Israel , Linden Heights in Borough Park, Brooklyn, who mentioned an ironical aspect of the mass gathering. “Word spread from the synagogues like mine, and in newspapers like the Jewish Press, where I write a regular column, and, yes, by Internet, which is a positive use of this powerful tool,” Rabbi Tannenbaum qualified his statement adding, “The Internet can destroy families, be a colossal waste of time, and at times, a useful tool”.. “The speakers at Citi Field said that if improperly used, the internet can destroy families, with gambling, pornography and other addictions,” Tannenbaum says. “But mostly, surfing the Internet is a colossal waste of precious time young people could spend working or studying. I direct Internet surfers to www.HebrewBooks.org, where anyone can download 50,000 scholarly Hebrew books free, an astounding library at your fingertips. God created the Internet just for this site.”

As of 2011, more than 2.2 billion people – nearly a third of our planet’s population — use the services of the Internet.

Israel’s sizeable Haredi community was well represented at the Queens stadium gathering. The ongoing Internet debate in Israel concerns both Haredi and Orthodox Zionist leaders.

The 250 km stretch of border from Eilat to where it convergences with the Gaza Strip periphery fence, was until recently as porous as a sieve.. The impetus for the construction of an effective, cost efficient barrier along our border with Egypt came after a Palestinian terrorist attack launched from Sinai last year. Although the attack was an isolated incident it was considered the harbinger of more attacks of this kind. In addition the problem of mass infiltration of Africans seeking work and asylum in Israel heightened the need to seal off this vulnerable length of border. Probably more than 60,000 Africans have entered the country via the Sinai route. They are often referred to as Sudanese despite the fact that most of them come from Eritrea. Many of them claim to be asylum seekers, however it’s clear working in Israel is their main objective. In their quest for work they tend to move to large population centres. The problem is particularly acute in the poorer neglected area adjacent to Tel Aviv’s old deserted bus terminal. Since it is forbidden by law to employ illegal residents most of them remain jobless, homeless and desperate. The incidence of crime has increased in this particular neighbourhood causing considerable anger and resentment among Israelis living nearby. This is not a municipal problem; the government should be dealing with it. Once again it’s easier to blame previous governments for letting the problem get out of hand. Political opportunists are ever ready to propose popular cure-all solutions. Minister of Internal Affairs Eli Yishai wants to lock them all up in internment camps. He believes his “Gulags” (I purposely avoid using the name of another kind of camp that comes to mind) will deter future job seekers. The Police Commissioner suggested finding them jobs in agriculture and was censured. Eli Yishai has restricted the number of legal foreign workers coming into the country. As a result many farmers are short of temporary workers.

The working class HaTikva neighbourhood isn’t far from the old bus terminal. HaTikva residents gathered this week to protest the government’s inability to deal with the influx of illegal African job seekers. At first about a thousand protesters assembled in an orderly manner. Then the politicians arrived - two Likud party members, Danny Denon and Miri Regev . Denon a one time diplomat used a lot of undiplomatic language. Former IDF spokeswoman Brigadier-General (Res) Miri Regev has a way with words. I don’t know if the Likud Knesset members “comforting language” caused the disgruntled crowd to turn into an uncontrollable mob determined to vent their wrath on anyone and anything related to African job seekers. Fortunately the police were well prepared and succeeded in stopping the protesters in time. A few shop windows were smashed and one African was messed up a bit.

Cabinet ministers, Knesset members and other people demanding that we send them back to Africa don’t realise that it is easier said than done.

In a few months the fence will be completed and an additional fence along part of the border with Jordan will be erected to prevent further infiltration.

A suggested gradual repatriation programme seems to be the best course of action.

Without a doubt the event of the week was the Bat Mitzvah of our grand-niece Raz Oz at Tel Adashim in the Jezreel Valley.

Raz is our niece Ma’ayan and her husband Niv’s youngest daughter. Her Bat Mitzvah party celebrated in a corner of the field behind the family home was a very laid-back affair with plenty of rustic trappings. Giant bales of straw demarcated the area where the guests gathered, dined and watched the entertainment provided by Raz, her family and friends. And Raz, what can I say! She has oodles of unaffected charm and exuberance.

Permit me a lit nepotism.

This weekend we are celebrating Shavuot. I’ll write about that next week.

Beni 25^th of May, 2012.