Facebook prompted me; "What is on my mind?"
And WHAT "IS" on my mind is being truthful and stating the cold hard facts!
Allow me to begin by stating here, that for years many of us older American immigrants pushed for the need of the Knesset to ratify a written set of laws (a constitution) and to dissolve / abolish the "vote for party" adopted Mandate English parliamentarian system. We who campaigned for the change, wanted to institute the American style representative form of government. Whereby the individual voter would vote to elect representatives, who would be more in touch and receptive to their constituents, of specific areas in Israel.Furthermore, allow me to mention here, that though I was a delegate and member of the Labor Party for many years, I was NOT a "Peace at any price" left winger.
Neither was I personally opposed -as I have written in my blog entries - to the legitimacy and presence of returning Jewish residents to Judea and Shomron JUST as Golda Meir and David Ben Gurion believed and spoke about in interviews.
As a true Zionistic Jew, I am a person who is concerned about the social welfare of our people, and especially as a father, I believe that THE most important and pressing issue in our country is in allowing the construction of "quality housing" at lower prices for young couples.
I also see this as a dismal failure that Israel never adopted a “GI Bill” of rights system for ALL those who have given of themselves to defend the nation!
I have often spoken out many times on the dire need to revive (Amidar) the construction of subsidized rental (larger and quality) apartments especially for young families to make their lives easier and to encourage larger families!!
As we the previous generation are aging, there is a need for the construction of one- and two-bedroom apartments for us and a means for us to sell our larger "homes" or to have a program to eliminate the hassle and exchange them for the smaller housing and to receive a crediting for the difference.
For years I have been opposed to many of the policies of "King Bibi" and the general policies of the “overly free” market system as perpetuated by the Likud.
Bibi is the perfect example of just what is wrong with our electoral system and of those who remain in power way pass their time.
Though I openly disagree with the Prime Minister on many issues, I will be the first to readily agree with what he stated in his recent speech of the; “strategic imperative” to sever "Hamas’s pipeline for oxygen and rearmament”.
To all those who are rioting and demonstrating I can readily emphasize with you over your fears for the wellbeing of your loved ones. These latest anti-government protests in Israel, triggered by the murder of the six hostages, are being extensively covered and celebrated by Hamas-affiliated media outlets. The protesters are being referred to by Hamas and its supporters as "Jewish settlers," although they live inside Israel, not in "West Bank" settlements.
But first stop and internalize the cold hard fact and let it be remembered just WHO those barbaric murderous rapists were that abducted your loved ones that bloody Shabbat October 7th!
As Bassam Tawil recently wrote:
"Hamas, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist, views all Jews living on land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as "settlers." For Hamas and many Palestinians, there is no difference between a Jew living in Tel Aviv and a Jew living in a settlement in the West Bank: every Jew is a "settler."
Hamas, in addition, does not distinguish between a right-wing and left-wing Jew. Some of the thousands of Israelis murdered, wounded and kidnapped during the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel were known for their advocacy for coexistence with Arabs, providing employment for Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip, and fostering genuine connections."
Let us take note as to WHO the Hamas terrorists slaughtered and took hostage on the bloody Shabbat Morning of the Jewish religious holiday of Simchat Torah.
One of the hostages, 83-year-old Oded Lifshitz together with his wife Yocheved, were peace activists who worked for Israeli organization "On the Way to Recovery", which helps aid Palestinian citizens in need of medical care in getting transportation to Israeli hospitals across the border. Before his abduction, he regularly transported Palestinian patients from the Gaza Strip to receive medical treatment in hospitals across Israel.
Vivian Silver, 74, was an Israeli-Canadian peace activist from Kibbutz Be'eri near the border with the Gaza Strip. Silver was a former board member of B'Tselem,,was one of the founders of the "Women Wage Peace" movement that was established in 2014 to pressure the Israeli government to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians. She was murdered by Hamas terrorists during the barbaric October 7th pogrom.
These repugnantly blood thirsty "Untermenschen" were the product of systematic indoctrination of a extremist fanatical fundamentalist version of Islam as embodied in the Moslem Brotherhood and the extremists of the Iranian regime
As you stand there inconveniencing your neighbors by blocking thoroughfares you blithely fail to remember, that following the 2005 Disengagement, Israel controlled all of Gaza’s borders except the one with Egypt, and it was through that border that Iranian made weapons and material to make explosive laden rockets and ammunition reached Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip.
As Bassam Tawil points out in a recent article; "Let those protesting take note that Hamas official Ghazi Hamas has applauded the Israeli public pressuring their government to allow Hamas to "live to fight another day": to rearm, regroup and continue attacking Israelis"
"It has long been the dream of Hamas and many Palestinians to see the US turn its back on Israel. Hamas leaders are banking on the Biden administration to compel the Israeli government to give in to the terror group's demands...."
As we have all witnessed Bibi has come under immense criticism domestically for "allegedly" blocking a deal with his insistence since July on the continued Israeli control of the Philadelphi Corridor and central Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor, which divides the north of the Strip from its south.
"Hamas is insisting that Israel withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Israel's presence there obstructs Hamas's efforts to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip through cross-border tunnels, as it has been doing for the past two decades." -Bassam Tawil
Regretfully our recent history has shown the abject failure of our "Peace Partner" Egypt to stem the flow of weapons from Sinai to Gaza and their kowtowing to the powerful Bedouin clans and the corrupt Egyptian official who via to profit from the smuggling tunnels. El Sisi is aware of all this and is doing NOTHING to absolve the issue!
Due to the continual utterable failures of the Egyptian government, and the US Government guarantees from the "Camp David Accords", it is imperative that we keep Israeli troops stationed along the 14-kilometer (8.7 miles) "Philadelphia Corridor" along Gaza’s border with Egypt.
From our regretful past experiences, with international intervention of the UN and "Western Powers" as well as with Left-Wing domestic legitimacy we MUST stand fast on our demand to stay.
It cries out to be remembered that should the IDF withdraw, even for the 42-day first phase of a deal, in an effort to secure the release of numerous living hostages, we would never be able to return.
In light of the recent deaths of the six hostage it has been shown the abject barbaric cruelty of Hamas. To initiate a withdrawal will “not bring back the hostages” but would have the “opposite” effect leaving the "Philadelphi Corridor" will enable Hamas to spirit the hostages to Iran or Yemen, overground, during that 42-day first phase.
I also wholeheartedly agree with Bibi's statement; " in order to prevail in the existential war against Iran and its axis, “we must stand united as one person against a cruel enemy that wants to destroy all of us, all of us without any exceptions.”
Critic must remember that Israel agreed to what President Biden presented on May 31 as well as to the ‘final bridging proposal’ on August 16. The bottom line is Hamas has rejected ALL the proposals
In conclusion, "Even though we are very close to dismantling Hamas,” Israel still has to find an alternative to the terror group’s civilian control over the lives of the residents of the "Gaza Strip.
"Hamas's primary goal is to remain in power and return to the pre-October 7 era, when it built a large terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. Hamas knows it will not be able to accomplish its aims without a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and an official end of the war."- Bassam Tawil