Tag it:

From the headlines in Israeli newspapers, it is difficult to forecast what will happen on the northern front this summer. On the one hand, there are dozens of quotes from senior politicians, high ranking officers and "specialists," about the inevitable war with Syria this summer. If one follows Bashar al-Assad statements, it is clear that the Syrian president is not interested in a war: his numerous appeals to Washington and Tel Aviv to open peace negotiations are almost pathetic. If there will be a war between Syria and Israel, this summer or later on, it definitely will be an Israeli-American initiative: George Bush and the smaller and smaller neo-conservative gang surrounding him are pushing for a military confrontation with Syria, which is still in the Washington axis of evil.

On the other hand, more and more US officials, including some in the Republican Party are developing a different approach, aimed at isolating Iran, and calling to take seriously Assad's calls for peace.

Apparently, some negotiations are being conducted, under the mediation of Turkey, but it seems that Bush’s veto on the one hand, and the desire of some senior Israeli military officials to have a second round aimed to correct the very bad impressions of the Lebanon war last summer and to regain Israeli military deterrence, on the other, will sabotage these first steps towards an eventual Syria-Israel peace.

One Year after the War: How the Civilians Were Left on Their Own

This week, before the Winograd commission of inquiry will submit its final report on the failures of the Second Lebanese war, the State Comptroller of Israel, Judge Lindenstrauss, published his own conclusions concerning the way the government and the various State institutions handled the issue of the civilian populations during that war. It is a devastating report, claiming that the Israeli government, military, and local authorities totally failed to protect civilians or take care of the victims of the Hezbollah missiles which fell upon the north of Israel.

According to the report, not only was the government unaware of the risks of a retaliation by the Hizbollah rockets on Israeli cities—which put tens of thousands of Israelis under the fire of these rockets from the second day of the war onward—but it took the Israeli government two weeks to deal, for the first time, with the issue.

On the other hand, the report of the comptroller hails the excellent job of the voluntary organizations and NGOs in handling the day to day problems of the civilian population, which confirms the general trend in Israel towards privatization of the state’s obligations and responsibilities

First Class Justice

Several Israeli citizens and NGOs have appealed to Israel’s Supreme Court in order to challenge the easy way the state prosecutor is looking for plea-bargains, which are often very favorable to the defenders.

Of course, these plea-bargains are not for ordinary citizens, but reserved for buddies of the judicial establishment: ministers, members of Knesset, senior officers, etc.

The plea-bargain signed with Moshe Katsav, former President of Israel is indeed a real scandal, and contradicts even the text of the  law: he was initially charged with several acts of rape and sexual harassment. In the present charge sheet there is no mention of rape and the sexual harassment he is pleading guilty for is described in a very mild way. In violation with the law, the raped women were not involved whatsoever in the deal. As a result, one of them decided to submit a private civil lawsuit against Katzav.

In parallel to this, the whole establishment is mobilized in order to reduce the sentence of former minister Noemi Blumenthal, who was sentenced to several months in prison for corruption. Marvelous solidarity, indeed.

Chief Rabbi Samuel Sirat: “The Word ‘Peace’ Has Become A Dirty Word…”

In a symposium about “the future of the Jewish people” held in Jerusalem, the issue of peace was not even mentioned, but very few were the participants who paid attention to this silence. One of them was the former Chief Rabbi of France, Samuel Sirat.

The aim of the symposium was to reflect on “how to cope with the threats on the future of the Jewish people.” Politicians, academics, journalists and intellectuals participated in the symposium, and discussed anti-Semitism, the struggle against assimilation, and the demographic threat in Israel.

“It is unacceptable that peace is not part of the program about the future of the Jewish people. Without peace, there is no future for the Jewish people. I am aware of the threats and understand the problem of terror: my own brother weas killed by terrorists in Algeria in 1962… But it seems that we have forgotten that the aspiration for peace is a basic value in Judaism, and a religious duty which is not connected to Abu Mazen capacities or the probability for an agreement” said the former Chief Rabbi Sirat.

Apartheid Israel

Wednesday, 18 July, the Knesset passed a preliminary reading of a law aimed at forbidding the selling or allocation of Jewish National Fund lands to non-Jewish citizens of Israel. The Jewish National Fund, on behalf of “the Jewish People,” administers most of the lands of the State of Israel. This Zionist institution, which has a constitutional status defined by a Basic Law, anyway has an internal rule that forbids it to allocate lands to non-Jews.

The need for a specific law is the result of the famous Qaadan case, seven years ago, in which a Palestinian citizen of Israel attempted to purchase a piece of JNF land to build a house. The Supreme Court, more liberal in those days as compared to today, ruled that, in this case, the “democratic nature of State” should prevail over its “Jewish nature,” but recommended that the Knesset should pass legislation that would make it illegal to sell or to rent lands to non-Jews.

Though rightwing members of the Knesset submitted the proposed new law, it got the support of most of the Zionist parties.