Nonetheless, Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, ruled unanimously this week that the state must act to draft Haredi yeshiva students. Further to that, the court determined that there was no legal basis for the continued state financial support to yeshivas for students who had not received an exemption from military service.
The panel of nine justices found that at present there was no legal framework allowing a distinction to be made between Haredi students and others due for military service. Accordingly, the state has no power to order sweeping conscription exemptions, and must act in accordance with the Defence Service Law.
The 42-page ruling was written by acting president of the Supreme Court Judge Uzi Vogelman, with the concurrence of the other eight justices.
The ruling states that the distinction between yeshiva students and others liable for military service has no anchor in law, and that in seeking to distinguish between the two groups in enforcing the law "the government severely harmed the rule of law and the principle that all individuals are equal before the law."
The court found that, as a result of the conclusion that there was no normative framework for exempting yeshiva students from conscription, it was not possible to continue transferring financial support to yeshivas and kolels (institutes of higher rabbinic studies) for students who had not received a lawful exemption or whose service had not been lawfully deferred.
The petitioners calling for the end of discrimination in conscription were “The Movement for Quality Government in Israel”, the “Brothers in Arms” movement, and 240 mothers of both male and female combat soldiers. At the same time, petitions by the Ayalon Social Rights Forum and the Civil Democracy Movement were heard focusing on ending state support for Torah institutions whose students avoided conscription. Both groups argued that there was no legal basis for not conscripting yeshiva students.
In order to try to block intervention by the High Court of Justice, the government is currently promoting a bill allowing most yeshiva students to be exempted from military service. The bill is under discussion in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee before second and third readings. In the High Court hearing, the court made clear that there was no room to wait for further legislation after it had already waited six years, and after the issue had not been resolved in the past twenty-five years.
At this juncture while we are still bogged down in Gaza and precipitously close to a confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon I want to include ‘something lighter’, usually referred to as ‘trivia.’
According to a Walla News report, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested earlier this month that his wife Sara Netanyahu and their two sons Avner and Yair receive lifelong Shin Bet security details, even when he is no longer prime minister.
According to the report, Netanyahu approached the Advisory Committee for Personal Security with the request earlier this month, and was told that it would not be discussed further “at this time.”
The Prime Minister’s bureau said in response that the Walla report is “full of lies and slander about the Netanyahu family and the prime minister.”
I’m inclined to give the Walla news report, the benefit of the doubt.
Delving deeper I discovered that British prime ministers also enjoy special security privileges.
After years of political turmoil, it’s boom time for at least one British industry: Demand for political bodyguards is escalating.
For the first time in modern history, the U.K. now has seven living former prime ministers, all of whom continue to receive extensive — and expensive — security protection.
With the ruling Conservatives on their fourth leader in as many years, and with the three most recently-departed — Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss — visibly cashing in on the lucrative international speaking circuit for ex-prime ministers, some are raising questions about the mounting cost to U.K. taxpayers.
Because every time an ex-prime minister travels abroad — even to earn themselves a six-figure sum for speaking at an obscure business conference — U.K. taxpayers are likely picking up the security tab.
“It’s an industry, there is no other word for it,” Dai Davies, a former head of royal protection at the Met Police, said.
The number of living ex-prime ministers is only likely to grow in the years ahead.
If the opinion polls are correct, Rishi Sunak will likely be out of office following next year’s general election. And the youthful nature of the current cohort — Truss is 47, and Sunak just 43, while Johnson and David Cameron are both still under 60 — means taxpayers could be on the hook for decades to come.
But the collective security bill for protecting high-profile politicians and royals, shouldered by the Home Office, remains shrouded in secrecy.
Tracking the extent to which they are used is almost impossible, given the arrangements of former PMs who are no longer in parliament — a list which until recently comprised John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron — is a private matter.
A 2015 Daily Telegraph investigation reported Blair was racking up thousands of pounds in security expenses while visiting up to five countries a week as he built up his business empire.
“It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on protective security. To do so could compromise the integrity of those arrangements and affect individuals’ security,” a Home Office spokesperson said.
In a sign that efforts are now underway behind the scenes to scale back VIP protection costs, Prince Harry’s taxpayer-funded security was abruptly removed when he stepped back as a senior royal in 2020. He unsuccessfully brought a case against the Home Office to court, arguing he is entitled to police protection even if he has to pay for it privately.
On reconsideration, maybe our royals, King Bibi and family aren’t so bad after all.
Take care.
Beni,
27th of June, 2024.
Saturday 29 June 2024
Pursuing justice.
Tuesday 25 June 2024
Funerals.
In my weekly blog written in mid-November 2011, I deviated from my usual Middle East affairs briefing. Instead, I chose to write about the community I live in. Here is an excerpt from the things I wrote -
“On Sunday afternoon I went to a funeral here at Ein Harod. I'm not a compulsive funeral-goer, however, living in a tightly-knit community I feel duty bound to go to most funerals. While listening to the eulogies being read, I looked beyond the row of Cyprus trees that demarcates the cemetery from the field beyond it. It was a scene Thomas Gray could have described. Admittedly this shady enclave beside the avocado grove is far removed from Gray’s country churchyard. Our lowing herd never grazes in the lea or leaves the confines of the cow sheds. Moreover, the ploughman in the field beyond the Cyprus trees had just turned the last furrow with a reversible double mouldboard plough drawn by a John Deere tractor and had headed home. Just the same, our cemetery has a distinct rustic atmosphere about it.”
As the coffin was lowered into the grave I recalled an incident regarding our local Judaism study circle. The circle convened at Kibbutz Geva every Wednesday evening throughout the year except for a recess during the summer. Between two and three hundred people attended the circle’s lectures, most of us are secular Jews.
Margin note: Since then the circle functions via ‘Zoom’
On one occasion during the pre-Zoom era our lecturer Professor Uriel Simon was stuck in a traffic jam at the Megiddo junction. While we were waiting for him to arrive, we passed the time telling jokes, recounting anecdotes and personal experiences. One of our group, a retired drainage engineer, told about an amazing discovery he made a few years ago when he was working with a drainage installation team near Beit Shearim. The trenching machine they were working with struck a hard object. At first they thought it was a rock; however after digging around it they saw that they had unearthed a sarcophagus. They notified the local branch of the Israel antiquities department and a few hours later an archaeologist arrived at the site to verify and identify the object they had found. After examining the sarcophagus’ external features he opened the lid hoping to find objects that would help in dating the find. Often damage caused by grave robbers and the ravages of time leave little of interest for the archaeologists However in this instance the work team and the archaeologist were surprised to find a complete skeleton inside the stone coffin. Later the department of antiquities established that the skeleton was an 18-year-old male who had died about 1700-1800 years ago.
News of the sarcophagus reached the rabbi at Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu and he offered to bury the remains of the ancient John Doe in the kibbutz cemetery. When told there was no evidence to suggest that the deceased was Jewish the rabbi replied that even if there was doubt regarding his identity, he should be given the benefit of the doubt and a full Jewish burial.
That certainly wasn't a "ground breaking" precedent. The Ministry of Religious Affairs has always been over zealous about burying old bones even when there was clear evidence that the bones belonged to pagans or at the best to Christians. Perhaps the most famous case of post mortem conversions involved the skeletons found at Masada.
The Masada bones discovered by Yigael Yadin between 1963 and 1965 and later given a state burial by the Israeli government were not those of Jewish patriots but Roman soldiers, says Joseph Zias , who was Curator of Archaeology and Anthropology for the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Zias says that Yadin had doubts about the identification of the skeletons, but was coerced by Israeli political leaders to connect the bones with the Masada saga and agree to give them a state funeral.
Fast forward to Sunday afternoon this week. Despite the heat (40ºC at noon, cooler by 6pm at M’s funeral). Many came to pay their last respects. My daughter Irit attended the funeral and represented me there. I joined her an hour later at the ‘gathering’ in the kibbutz dining room.
In addition to family, friends and regular funeral attendees, there were many ‘ex-pats’. Namely, people who were born here as well as others who grew up here, but chose to live somewhere else.
By and large, my kibbutz is a secular community so we opt to dispense with the services of the ‘Hevra Kadisha,’ Orthodox Jewish burial society.
Let’s move on to other matters.
A Defence Ministry report provided details of massive exports as industries remain committed to the Israeli war effort; air defence systems account for more than a third of sales
Annual Israeli arms sales reached a new record in 2023, for the third consecutive year, amounting to nearly double the value of exports compared to five years ago, according to Defence Ministry figures released Monday.
The ministry’s International Defence Cooperation Directorate, known as SIBAT, said defence exports totalled $13 billion last year, up from $12.5 billion in 2022 — the previous record high. Between 2018 and 2020, that number hovered between $7.5 billion and $8.5 billion.
With the outbreak of the war on October 7, the Defence Ministry said it began operating in an “emergency mode,” with defence contractors being drafted to the war effort by manufacturing weaponry and equipment for the Israel Defence Forces around the clock, alongside previous orders for foreign clients.
Annual Israeli arms sales reached a new record in 2023, for the third consecutive year, amounting to nearly double the value of exports compared to five years ago, according to Defense Ministry figures released Monday.
“Despite the war, 2023 amounted to a new record and was characterized by significant export deals,” the ministry said.
Air defence systems made up the largest chunk of exports at 36% — up from 19% in 2022. This was largely due to Israel’s €4 billion sale of the Arrow 3 anti-ballistic system to Germany.
Exports of radar and electronic warfare systems amounted to 11% of arms sales, and weapons launchers made up another 11%.
While Israel is known for cyber-intelligence systems, these only amounted to 4% of all sales in 2023. Officials did not specify which countries they were sold to. Israeli sales of such technologies have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years due to allegations they were used by some countries to spy on political dissidents and journalists.
Unmanned aerial vehicles and drones, manned aircraft, avionics, observation systems, communication systems, vehicles, maritime systems, ammunition, and services accounted for much of the rest.
The Asia-Pacific region was the largest purchaser of Israeli defence goods, buying 48% of total exports, followed by Europe at 35%.
North America accounted for 9%, Latin America for 3%, and Africa for 1%.
The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco, which normalised relations with Israel in 2020 agreements known as the Abraham Accords, accounted for just 3% of the arms purchases — down from 24% in 2022.
“This year’s figures show that even though our defence industries are committed… to the war effort, they continue to sign more and more significant export deals, thus enabling the realisation of the effort led by the Defence Ministry to increase defence exports while opening them to new markets,” Defence Minister Yoav Gallant concluded.
However, an anticipated increase in Israel’s defence industry sales at the Eurosatory 2024 defence show, which began on Monday aren’t likely to materialise.
Seventy-four Israeli firms had been set to be represented at the June 17 to June 21 event at fairgrounds close to Paris’s main international airport,
The French Defence Ministry last month ordered the Coges Event to ban the Israeli defence industry from exhibiting at the show, saying that “the conditions are no longer right to host Israeli companies at the Paris show, given that the French president is calling for the cessation of IDF operations in Rafah.”
On Tuesday, The Paris Commercial Court struck down restrictions requested by the French Defence Ministry on Israeli companies at the Eurosatory 2024 defence show. Unfortunately, the ruling will be effective after the show closes.
Hopefully, the publicity surrounding the ban and the French court ruling will serve to arouse interest in Israel’s defence industries.
Take care.
Beni,
20th of June, 2024.
Friday 14 June 2024
Albanese again.
A recent CNN report told how the IDF rescued four hostages in a special operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza. Further to that, CNN relying on figures supplied by the Hamas-run health ministry and the government media office in Gaza said the IDF killed 210 people and injured more than 400 others in the rescue operation.
Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv, were rescued by the Israeli military, intelligence and special forces from two separate locations in Nuseirat, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said Saturday.
All four were kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7.
The rescue operation originally designated “Operation Summer Seeds” has been renamed "Operation Arnon," honouring Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, the police commando who led the rescue team before he was killed.
CNN thought it pertinent to add that it has no way of verifying casualty numbers reported by the government media office in Gaza. The media office does not differentiate between civilians and militants killed.
UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese wrote on social media on Saturday that while she was relieved that the Israeli hostages had been "released," the rescue "should not have come at the expense of at least 200 Palestinians, including children, killed and over 400 injured by Israel and allegedly foreign soldiers, while perfidiously hiding in an aid truck."
Albanese appeared to reference rumours spread by Palestinian and anti-Israel sources that US special forces had aided in the operation.
"Israel has used hostages to legitimise killing, injuring, maiming, starving and traumatising Palestinians in Gaza," asserted Albanese. "And while intensifying violence against Palestinians in the rest of the occupied territory and Israel."
You will probably recall a comment I made in my blog last November- “Currently in Australia, heading for New Zealand UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese is bent on gaining support for her insidious mission to demonise Israel.”
Albanese was the second Italian (after Giorgio Giacomelli and the first woman to be appointed as the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories. Her appointment generated some controversy due to comments she made criticising the US and Europe during the 2014 Gaza War. Albanese described the United States as "subjugated by the Jewish lobby " and Europe by a "sense of guilt about the Holocaust ", arguing that both "condemn the oppressed" in the conflict . The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Susan Heller Pinto of the Anti-Defamation League, and Michele Taylor, the American ambassador to the Human Rights Council, suggested the comments were antisemitic in nature. Albanese said that she has never been antisemitic and that her criticism of Israel is related to its occupation of Palestinian territories.
On 18 October 2022, Albanese recommended in her first report that UN member states develop "a plan to end the Israeli settler-colonial occupation and apartheid regime." The report concluded: "The violations described in the present report expose the nature of the Israeli occupation, that of an intentionally acquisitive, segregationist and repressive regime designed to prevent the realisation of the Palestinian people's right to self-determination."
In December 2022, sixty-five scholars of antisemitism, the Holocaust, and Jewish studies stated: "It is evident that the campaign against [Albanese] is not about combating today's antisemitism. It is essentially about efforts to silence her and to undermine her mandate as a senior UN official reporting about Israel's violations of human rights and international law."
In January 2023, a statement was issued in defence of Albanese by a number of human rights organisations, academic institutions, and other civil society organisations. The statement concluded by stating: "We commend Francesca Albanese’s tireless efforts toward the protection of human rights and in raising awareness of the alarming daily violations of Palestinian rights. We call on third world States to strongly condemn this politically-motivated attack on the Special Rapporteur's mandate and to compel Israel to comply with its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations."
In February 2023, a bipartisan group of 18 members of the United States Congress called for Albanese to be removed from her position saying that she has demonstrated a consistent bias against Israel.
Amid continuing efforts to have Albanese removed from her post, on 26 April, Amnesty International Italy published a letter of support signed by dozens of Italian rights groups, MPs, jurists and academics. On 27 April, three former holders of the position publicly urged the UN to defend Albanese and said that she has been "the target of attacks that have been 'slanderous' and 'personal'". On 3 May, Albanese tweeted that she "saw too many Palestinian deaths, too much arbitrariness, zero accountability" and faced accusations for her work in addressing these abuses.
In July 2023, during the 30th Meeting of the 53rd Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council, Albanese presented a report accusing Israel of turning the West Bank into an open-air prison. Briefing journalists, Albanese said "There is no other way to define the regime that Israel has imposed on the Palestinians – which is apartheid by default – other than an open-air prison." Israel was not present for the presentation but rejected the findings.
During the Israel-Hamas War, Albanese called for an immediate ceasefire, warning that "Palestinians are in grave danger of a mass ethnic cleansing." She further stated that the international community must "prevent and protect populations from atrocity crimes", and that "accountability for international crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces and Hamas must also be immediately pursued."
In February 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron described the 7 October attack as "the largest antisemitic massacre of our century". Albanese responded on Twitter that "the victims of the October 7 massacre were killed not because of their Judaism, but in response to Israeli oppression". The French Foreign Ministry condemned her remarks and the Israeli government declared Albanese persona non grata in Israel and denied her future entry to the country. In response to the reactions, Albanese said "I regret that some interpreted my tweet as 'justifying' Hamas's crimes, which I have condemned strongly several times. I reject all forms of racism, including antisemitism. However, labelling these crimes as 'antisemitic' obscures the real reason they occurred''.
On March 26, 2024 Albanese, presented before the 55th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva her report "Anatomy of a Genocide", stating "reasonable grounds" to believe that Israel is intentionally committing "genocidal acts against the Palestinians as a group in Gaza proscribed in the Genocide Convention.
International news outlets have invariably tried to toe the line regarding fairness in their reporting. They avoid anything that could possibly be construed as criticising designated terrorist organisations by adding the innocuous postscript “according to.”
Our weather is also cause for concern. We are experiencing an unprecedented heatwave. So, I’ll take Noël Coward’s advice and avoid “going out in the midday sun.”
Beni,
13th of June, 2024
Friday 7 June 2024
Gaza and Lebanon.
Last week a friend in Melbourne asked me to mention comments made by her granddaughter in this week’s blog. They concerned the rise of antisemitism in many parts of the world. I fully intended to include her remarks along with other items on the same topic. Unfortunately, events in Gaza and Lebanon have taken precedence over less pressing news items. Just the same, I will include a brief summary of some of the things she wrote: -
“Over the last 6 months, Jews around the world have been alluding to an exponential increase in antisemitism, synonymous with that which was witnessed in 1930s Europe. I wrote some of these sentiments off as melodramatic. How can we possibly compare our progressive 2024 to pre-WW2 Germany and the shadows of the Holocaust?
Over the weekend, the Jewish school I attended for the entirety of my schooling years had its front gates graffitied with the words ‘Jew Die’”.
Associated Press (AP) reported recently on the launching of a US lobbying blitz
to promote a Gaza cease-fire plan to Hamas through Arab and Muslim nations.
“The Biden administration has launched an intense drive to persuade Hamas and Israel to accept a new cease-fire proposal in the nearly eight-month-old war in Gaza while it also presses Arab nations to persuade Hamas to agree to the terms of the proposal.
However, Netanyahu has to consider far-right coalition members that have threatened to bring down his government if he agrees to the new cease-fire proposal, which Biden announced on Friday as an ‘Israeli plan.’ Since then, Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan have all made calls to regional leaders. In addition, Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, will be heading to the region this week to persuade hitherto ‘waverers’ to support the deal. The plan would aim to free remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas and lead to the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza in phases.
Since Friday, Blinken has spoken with the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Algeria, according to the State Department. Blinken also spoke over the weekend with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and war cabinet member Benny Gantz.
Biden spoke on Monday with the Emir of Qatar — whose country, along with Egypt, has played a major role in trying to negotiate a truce and persuade Hamas to accept one.
That was followed quickly by a joint statement from the leaders of the Group of Seven advanced democracies calling “on Hamas to accept this deal, that Israel is ready to move forward with, and we urge countries with influence over Hamas to help ensure that it does so.” The G7 includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.S.
Sullivan also spoke with his Turkish counterpart about the “urgent need for Hamas to accept Israel’s proposal.”
A Biden administration official repeated that McGurk, who has been shuttling between Washington and Middle East capitals throughout the war for talks with key regional stakeholders, would be returning to the region this week.
U.S. officials say Hamas has yet to respond to the proposal.
Netanyahu has said there are certain “gaps” in how Biden laid out the proposal and Israel would not agree to a permanent cease-fire until “the destruction of Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.”
In the Time Magazine interview conducted on May 28, three days before he announced the cease-fire proposal, Biden was asked about critics in Israel suggesting that Netanyahu was extending the war for political preservation. Biden initially said he wasn’t going to comment then noted that “there is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.”
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters Tuesday that the president's comments in the interview were “referencing what many critics have said. For our part, though, he and Prime Minister Netanyahu do not agree on everything.”
But Kirby said the U.S. would keep working with its ally to combat Hamas and get the cease-fire plan approved.
At this juncture, paging down through what I have written I don’t know how anyone can fathom it out. I myself find it mind-boggling.
Justifiably, Netanyahu has threatened an “extremely powerful” response to attacks by Hezbollah from Lebanon, which have escalated in recent days.
A few hours after Netanyahu spoke, drones fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon struck Hurfeish, in the Upper Galilee region, which has a largely Druze population, injuring 11 Israelis, one critically. There were several explosions and reports that air raid alerts failed to detect the drones.
Earlier this week Hezbollah launched a wave of attacks that set off substantial fires, which were fanned by dry and powerful winds. Television footage from the area of Kiryat Shmona showed firestorms engulfing nearby forests. Emergency services struggled for two days to bring the fires under control.
The dramatic and widely viewed images underscored the increasingly vocal complaints from community leaders in the area bordering Lebanon, largely evacuated at the beginning of the war with Gaza.
On Tuesday the Israeli war cabinet discussed the situation on the Lebanese border amid a flurry of visits by senior officials to the area. IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, said on a visit to the north on Tuesday: “We’re approaching the point at which we’ll have to make a decision. The IDF is ready for an offensive.”
The EU’s diplomatic service issued a statement on Tuesday saying it was increasingly concerned about “the ever-growing destruction and the forced displacement of civilians on both sides of the Israeli-Lebanese border”.
Calling on all sides to exercise restraint, it added: “Nobody stands to win from a broader regional conflict.”
While Hezbollah has indicated it is not seeking all-out war with Israel, the current position on both sides of the border is becoming untenable.
Searching for something more uplifting to contrast with our northern border situation, I called to mind something I wrote in 2011.
“Our relations with Lebanon weren’t always bad. By and large our ancestors regarded our northern neighbour favourably. I’m told that in the Bible alone there are 71 references to Lebanon.
Solomon's relations with Hiram were better than those of the present leaders of Israel and Lebanon, but that was a long time ago and Hiram of Tyre was a Phoenician.
Reciprocal relations between the two countries were generally good. The best-known exception was the bad deal Ahab got with his Phoenician bride, the infamous Jezebel.
Nowadays some enterprising Israelis import brides from the Ukraine. In biblical times Lebanese girls were in vogue:
"Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shnir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards." Song of Solomon 4:8.
The author, according to tradition Solomon himself, provides an erotic description of the new girl in the harem:
"Your lips distil nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon." Song of Solomon 4:11
Some biblical scholars claim the texts should be interpreted allegorically.
However, most of us accept them literally.”
Take care.
Beni,
6th of June, 2024.