Friday, April 10, 2015

Palestinian Arabs and the Nazis

The Arabs as a whole as then and today still see the Holocaust, solely as a barbaric ‎event on European soil for which the innocent Palestinian Arab population were made to pay the "ultimate" price. Their revisionist version of the post World War II era lays the blame for the UN Partition of "their land" - the post 1964 KGB-PLO invention of a previously non-existing Arab country named "Palestine", on the Christian European leaders at the UN in 1947.
According to "their version" of history the decision to "Partition" "Palestine" Arab lands was inspired solely by the view that the "colonial powers" did so "...as a way of seeking control over the Middle-East."

The basis for this view, as is seen in the "newsreels" of the time, was the overwhelming sad view of the displaced post World War II survivors of European Jewry attempting to enter the League of Nations Balfour Declaration decreed "Jewish homeland", that tortured the opinion of the world. These "Falestinian" apologists claim that the "Partition" was being unfairly "‎imposed" on the Arabs of Palestine.
The Arabs and their minions of supporters even today believe that the "colonial powers of Europe" who felt guilty ‎about "their Jews", should have assumed the burden of accepting Jewish refugees back among them, ‎rather than imposing them on the "indigenous" Arab population.
Furthermore it is this view that is used today in their hedious and heinous dezinformatsiya campaign to label ALL Israelis as "not indigenous" fake Khazarim "European" converts to Judaism and NOT true Jews. They could not see or believe then and even now the basis for the establishment of a Jewish state, even if it were to be in only part of the Mandated Palestinian Area.‎

These same Arab apologists hotly deny that The Grand Mufti Of "Palestine" Haj Amin Al-Husseini - "The Mufti" was one of the ‎initiators of the systematic extermination of European Jewry and that he had been a collaborator ‎and adviser of Eichmann and Himmler in the execution of this plan ...

"He was one of ‎Eichmann's best friends and had constantly incited him to accelerate the extermination ‎measures. I heard him say, accompanied by Eichmann, he had visited incognito the gas ‎chambers of Auschwitz." --- Testimony Of Deiter Wisliceny At The Nuremberg Trials in ‎July 1946.‎
Arabs were not highly regarded by the Nazi racial theory, however, the Nazis encouraged Arab support and unrest as a counter to British hegemony and as a means to tie down Allied forces in the colonized areas.

SS-Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler was keen to exploit this, going so far as to enlist the aid of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammad Amin al-Husseini, sending him the following telegram on 2 November 1943:

Photo of telegram from Himmler to the Mufti
To the left is a photo of a telegram SS Heinrich Himmler sent to the Grand Mufti Haj Amin el Husseini
in the autumn of 1943 at the height of the extermination of Jews in Europe.




"To the Grand Mufti Amin al-Husseini.

The National-Socialist movement of greater Germany has made its fight against world Jewry a guiding principle since its very beginning,  inscribed upon its flag the fight against the world Jewry.
For that reason it has therefore followed with particular sympathy the battle of freedom-seeking Arabs—and especially in Palestine—against the Jewish invaders," wrote the SS commander.

Himmler continued, saying, "The joint recognition of the enemy, and the joint battle against him are what creates the firm allegiance between Germany and freedom-seeking Muslims all over the world."

Himmler ended the letter with congratulations to the Mufti, saying, "In this spirit, I am happy to wish you on the anniversary of the infamous Balfour Declaration,  my hearty greetings and warm wishes for the successful pursuit of your struggle until the final victory." – (signed) Reichsfuehrer S.S. Heinrich Himmler

The Grand Mufti Haj Amin el Husseini  had previously arrived in Europe on November 5th, 1941, following the ‎unsuccessful pro-Nazi coup which he had organized against the British in Iraq.
He met German foreign minister ‎Joachim von Ribbentrop and was officially received by Adolf Hitler on November ‎‎28,1941 in Berlin.
The meeting took place despite Nazi Germany’s entanglement in Operation Barbarossa and the war against Russia. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al Husseini, recorded in his own handwriting his meeting with Hitler in his diary:

"The words of the Fuehrer on the 6th of Zul Qaada 1360 of the Hejira (which falls on the 21st of November 1941) Berlin, Friday, from 4:30 P.M. till a few minutes after 6. The objectives of my fight are clear. Primarily, I am fighting the Jews without respite, and this fight includes the fight against the so-called Jewish National Home in Palestine because the Jews want to establish there a central government for their own pernicious purposes, and to undertake a devastating and ruinous expansion at the expense of the governments of the world and of other peoples.
It is clear that the Jews have accomplished nothing in Palestine and their claims are lies. All the accomplishments in Palestine are due to the Arabs and not to the Jews. I am resolved to find a solution for the Jewish problem, progressing step by step without cessation. With regard to this I am making the necessary and right appeal, first to all the European countries and then to countries outside of Europe.

It is true that our common enemies are Great Britain and the Soviets whose principles are opposed to ours. But behind them stands hidden Jewry which drives them both. Jewry has but one aim in both these countries. We are now in the midst of a life and death struggle against both these nations. This fight will not only determine the outcome of the struggle between National Socialism and Jewry, but the whole conduct of this successful war will be of great and positive help to the Arabs who are engaged in the same struggle.

This is not only an abstract assurance.  A mere promise would be of no value whatsoever. But assurance which rests upon a conquering force is the only one which has real value. In the Iraqi campaign, for instance, the sympathy of the whole German people was for Iraq. It was our aim to help Iraq, but circumstances prevented us from furnishing actual help. The German people saw in them (in the Iraqis-Ed.) comrades in suffering because the German people too have suffered as they have. All the help we gave Iraq was not sufficient to save Iraq from the British forces. For this reason it is necessary to underscore one thing: in this struggle which will decide the fate of the Arabs I can now speak as a man dedicated to an ideal and as a military leader and a soldier. Everyone united in this great struggle who helps to bring about its successful outcome, serves the common cause and thus serves the Arab cause. Any other view means weakening the military situation and thus offers no help to the Arab cause. Therefore it is necessary for us to decide the steps which can help us against world Jewry, against Communist Russia and England, and which among them can be most useful. Only if we win the war will the hour of deliverance also be the hour of fulfillment of Arab aspirations.

The situation is as follows: We are conducting the great struggle to open the way to the North of the Caucasus. The difficulties involved are more than transportation because of the demolished railways and roads and because of winter weather. And if I venture in these circumstances to issue a declaration with regard to Syria, then the pro-de Gaulle elements in France will be strengthened and this might cause a revolt in France. These men (the French) will be convinced then that joining Britain is more advantageous and the detachment of Syria is a pattern to be followed in the remainder of the French Empire. This will strengthen de Gaulle's stand in the colonies. If the declaration is issued now, difficulties will arise in Western Europe which will cause the diversion of some (German-Ed.) forces for defensive purposes, thus preventing us from sending all our forces to the East.

Hitler continued: Now I am going to tell you something I would like you to keep secret. 

  • First, I will keep up my fight until the complete destruction of the Judeo-Bolshevik rule has been accomplished.
  • Second, during the struggle (and we don't know when victory will come, but probably not in the far future) we will reach the Southern Caucasus.
  • Third, then I would like to issue a declaration; for then the hour of the liberation of the Arabs will have arrived. Germany has no ambitions in this area but cares only to annihilate the power which produces the Jews.
  • Fourth, I am happy that you have escaped and that you are now with the Axis powers. The hour will strike when you will be the lord of the supreme word and not only the conveyor of our declarations. You will be the man to direct the Arab force and at that moment I cannot imagine what would happen to the Western peoples.
  • Fifth, I think that with this Arab advance begins the dismemberment of the British world. The road from Rostov to Iran and Iraq is shorter than the distance from Berlin to Rostov. We hope next year to smash this barrier. It is better then and not now that a declaration should be issued as (now) we cannot help in anything.
I understand the Arab desire for this (declaration) but His Excellency the Mufti must understand that only five years after I became President of the German government and Fuehrer of the German people, was I able to get such a declaration (the Austrian Union), and this because military forces prevented me from issuing such a declaration. But when the German Panzer tanks and the German air squadrons reach the Southern Caucasus, then will be the time to issue the declaration.
He said (in reply to a request that a secret declaration or a treaty be made) that a declaration known to a number of persons cannot remain secret but will become public. I (Hitler) have made very few declarations in my life, unlike the British who have made many declarations. If I issue a declaration, I will uphold it. Once I promised the Finnish Marshal that I would help his country if the enemy attacks again. This word of mine made a stronger impression than any written declaration.
Recapitulating, I want to state the following to you: When we shall have arrived in the Southern Caucasus, then the time of the liberation of the Arabs will have arrived. And you can rely on my word.
We were troubled about you. I know your life history. I followed with interest your long and dangerous journey. I was very concerned about you. I am happy that you are with us now and that you are now in a position to add your strength to the common cause."


Nazi Germany established a Bureau for "der Grossmufti von Jerusalem", ‎and gave him a monthly allowance of tens of thousands of dollars a month. He was instructed to hire dozens of assistants, each of whom also received a salary directly from the Third Reich. Among the individuals with whom he worked closely during his time in Berlin was Hassan Salameh – the father of the Palestinian terrorist Ali Hassan Salameh (aka “the Red Prince”), one of the perpetrators of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre of Israeli athletes from his offices in Berlin the Grand Mufti organized the following:
  1. Arabic-language radio propaganda station, that broadcast anti-Semitic propaganda in Arabic from 1939 until the Nazi party collapsed in 1945. This radio station was highly popular and could be heard throughout the Middle East. 
  2. espionage and fifth column activities in Muslim regions of Europe and the Middle ‎East;
  3. the formation of Muslim Waffen SS and Wehrmacht units in Bosnia-‎Herzegovina, Kosovo-Metohija, Western Macedonia, North Africa, and Nazi-occupied ‎areas of the Soviet Union; and,
  4. the formation of schools and training centers for ‎Muslim imams and mullahs who would accompany the Muslim SS and Wehrmacht units.
  5. the dissemination of Nazi propaganda translated into Arabic designed to encourage protests against British and French occupation.

As soon as he arrived in Europe, the Mufti established close contacts with Bosnian ‎Muslim and Albanian Muslim leaders. He would spend the remainder of the war ‎organizing and rallying Muslims in support of Nazi Germany. 

The mufti lived in Germany until May 1945, when the Second World War came to an end. Throughout this entire period, the mufti was involved in espionage, sabotage, terrorist activity against the British and the Jews, as well as anti-Semitic propaganda.

As part of his alleged struggle for independence for the Palestinian people, the mufti attempted to prevent at all costs the arrival of European Jews to Palestine, as well as the establishment of a national Jewish homeland in the Land of Israel. 

A plaintive Yiddish ballad written in the 1930s by the Polish Yiddish actor Igor S. Korntayer, describes in stark terms the dilemma faced by German Jews desperate to escape from their homeland after Hitler came to power.
"Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Geyn?
Tell me where shall I go,
Who can answer my plea?
Tell me where shall I go,
Every door is locked to me?
Though the world’s large enough,
There’s no room for me I know,
What I see is not for me,
Each road is closed, I am not free—
Tell me where shall I go."

The stiff Arab opposition and pressure led by the Mufti to prevent the creation of a Jewish homeland was reflected in the British 1939 "White Paper" policy. Britain redefined Jewish immigration by restricting its flow according to the country's "economic capacity" to absorb the immigrants. In effect annual quotas were put in place as to how many Jews could immigrate. However, Jews who were able to pay a large sum of money (500 Pounds) were allowed to enter the country freely.

The Mufti's plans severely limited Jewish immigration to the British held Mandatory Territory. Jews who wished to leave Nazi Germany, and the conquered areas before plans for the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question" were made on January 20, 1942 at the Wannsee Conference, could not enter the promised Jewish Homeland. Arab and anti-Semitic pressures prevented the Jews of Europe from finding countries willing to accept Jews. This "Closed Door Policy" led directly to the genocide of six million Jews in the Holocaust.

In an interview with former Dachau inmate Theodore Haas, conducted by Aaron Zelman in 1990 he Haas states;
"I was arrested November 10th, "for my own personal security." I was 21 years old. My parents were arrested and ultimately died in a concentration camp in France. I was released from Dachau in 1941, under the condition that I leave Germany immediately."
A distant relative in the Mid-Western United States was able to guarantee his entrance to the USA by signing an affidavit that he would be no financial burden to the US Immigration Service. "This was common procedure before the "Final Solution."

Theodore Haas was only able to survive the Holocaust because he was released from Dachau in 1941, before implementation of the plans for the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question" at the Wannsee Conference and because he had a place to go.

At the Wannsee Conference in 1942 the director of the SS-Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Main Security Office; RSHA) SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich voiced the disappointed of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi regime  at the problems encountered concerning the "Jewish Question".
The main purpose of the Wannsee Conference, lead by SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, was to ensure the cooperation of administrative leaders of various government departments in the implementation of the now proposed "Final Solution" of the "Jewish Question."

During the course of the conference, Heydrich outlined how European Jews would be rounded up from west to east and sent to extermination camps in the area of General Government (the occupied part of Poland), where they would be exterminated.
In this carefully calculated, organized arrangement, most of the Jews of German-occupied Europe would be rounded up to be deported by thoroughly coordinated train transportation  to specially constructed death camps in Poland.
These facilities were to be specially constructed for the systematic murder in an economically efficient manner of large numbers of Jews in gas chambers. Careful planning for the construction of crematoriums with large industrial size ovens with special elevators to bring the bodies up from the underground gas chambers were carefully made and implemented.Consideration for the re-use of  the belongings of the murdered Jews from their hair, clothing, shoes, bones and even ashes was made with German efficiency so as to make the extermination of the Jews profitable..

Conference attendees included representatives from several government ministries, including state secretaries from the Foreign Office, the justice, interior, and state ministries, and representatives from the Schutzstaffel (SS).

In an 2001 HBO/BBC TV re-enactment of the 1942 Wannsee Conference, "Conspiracy" Reinhard Heydrich (played by Kenneth Branagh) the main architect of the Holocaust states that Germany is facing the one drawback of world conquest as it continually increases its Jewish population as it annexes neighboring lands. "Germany acquired 2.5 million Jews when we conquered Poland, and we will get 5 million more when we take Russia," he says. 
"Emigration of the Jews is not a solution, because;"Who will take them? Even in the US , as Jews are whispering in Roosevelt's ear, they turn them away." Then, with studied rhetoric, he announces: "From Lapland to Libya, from Vladivostok, to Belfast, no Jews. Not one." This statement elicits an approving table-thumping by those present at the conference. America’s and the western world's lethargic response to the Nazi measures that became embodied in the Holocaust was embodied in the question; "Who will take them?”

In 1936 President Franklin Delanor Roosevelt proposed to the British to allow free Jewish immigration to the Palestinian Mandated Territory but the British refused due to the "blackmail" and threat of revolt brought upon them by The Grand Mufti Of "Palestine" Haj Amin Al-Husseini. The critical period of 1938-1941 was the period of the beginnings of war in Europe. It was also the period of British appeasement to the Arabs in response to the  1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. The Arab revolt was a nationalist uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine against British colonial rule, as a demand for independence and opposition to mass Jewish immigration.
The revolt in Palestine was unsuccessful, and its consequence was the imposing of severe restrictions of Jewish immigration in the White Paper of 1939 which doomed the Jews of Europe to death.
The mufti was constantly engaged encouraging the deportation and extermination of Jews from Arab countries and from Palestine. Here is the translation of a letter from, April 28, 1942, sent by the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop to the Mufti where he promises aid to Destroy the Jewish National Home:

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Berlin, April 28, 1942
Your Eminence: the Grossmufti of Palestine
Amin El Husseini.

In response to your letter and to the accompanying communication of His Excellency, Prime Minister Raschid Ali El Gailani, and confirming the terms of our conversation, I have the honour to inform you:
The German Government appreciates fully the confidence of the Arab peoples in the Axis Powers in their aims and in their determination to conduct the fight against the common enemy until victory is achieved. The German Government has the greatest understanding for the national aspirations of the Arab countries as have been expressed by you both and the greatest sympathy for the sufferings of your peoples under British oppression.
I have therefore the honour to assure you, in complete agreement with the Italian Government, that the independence and freedom of the suffering Arab countries presently subjected to British oppression, is also one of the aims of the German Government.
Germany is consequently ready to give all her support to the oppressed Arab countries in their fight against British domination, for the fulfillment of their national aim to independence and sovereignty and for the destruction of the Jewish National Home in Palestine.
As previously agreed, the content of this letter should be maintained absolutely secret until we decide otherwise.

I beg your Eminence to be assured of my highest esteem and consideration.

Signed,
Joachim von Ribbentrop

Not satisfied with the murder of the Jews daily in the Camps the Mufti continued to petition the Nazis to murder more here is a copy of a letter from "The Arab Higher Committee. Its Origins, Personnel and Purposes”. A documentary record submitted to the United Nations, May 1947.
Here is the letter from the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini to Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop Foreign Minister of the German Reich from 1938 until 1945. 

Berlin July 25, 1944
To His Excellency Joachim von Ribbentrop
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Berlin

Your Excellency:

 I have previously called the attention of your Excellency to the constant attempts of the Jews to emigrate from Europe in order to reach Palestine, and asked your Excellency to undertake the necessary steps so as to prevent the Jews from emigrating.

I had also sent you a letter, under date of June 5, 1944, in regard to the plan for an exchange of Egyptians living in Germany with Palestinian Germans, in which I asked you to exclude the Jews from this plan of exchange. I have, however, learned that the Jews did depart on July 2, 1944, and I am afraid that further groups of Jews will leave for Palestine from Germany and France to be exchanged for Palestinian Germans. This exchange on the part of the Germans would encourage the Balkan countries likewise to send their Jews to Palestine.

This step would be incomprehensible to the Arabs and Moslems after your Excellency's declaration of November 2, 1943 that "the destruction of the so-called Jewish national home in Palestine is an immutable part of the policy of the greater German Reich" and it would create in them a feeling of keen disappointment. It is for this reason that I ask your Excellency to do all that is necessary to prohibit the emigration of Jews to Palestine, and in this way your Excellency would give a new practical example of the policy of the naturally allied and friendly Germany towards the Arab Nation.
Yours,
Haj Amin al-Husseini
 The Mufti of Jerusalem

According to the mufti’s memoirs, he was informed and made aware of the "Final Solution" already in the summer of 1943.Here is yet another letter from The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini asking the leaders of Hungary to Send Jews to death camps in Poland.

Rome, June 28, 1943
His Excellency The Minister of Foreign Affairs for Hungary

Your Excellency:

You no doubt know of the struggle between the Arabs and Jews of Palestine, that it has been and what it Is, a long and bloody fight, brought about by the desire of the Jews to create a national home, a Jewish State in the Near East , with the help and protection of England and the United States . In fact, behind it lies the hope which the Jews have never relinquished, namely, the domination of the whole world through this Important, strategic center, Palestine, In effect their program has, among other purposes, always aimed at the encouragement of Jewish migration to Palestine and the other countries of the Near East. However, the war, as well as the understanding which the members of the Three-Power Pact have of the responsibility of the Jews for its outbreak and finally their evil Intentions towards these countries which protected them until now - all these are reasons for placing them under such vigilant control an will definitely stop their emigration to Palestine or elsewhere.

Lately I have been informed of the uninterrupted efforts made by the English and the Jews to obtain permission for the Jews living in your country to leave for Palestine via Bulgaria and Turkey.
I have also learned that these negotiations were successful since some of the Jews of Hungary have had the satisfaction of immigrating to Palestine via Bulgaria and Turkey and that a group of these Jaws arrived In Palestine towards the end of last March. The Jewish Agency. which supervises the execution of the Jewish program, has published a bulletin which contains Important information on the current negotiations between the English Government and the governments of other interested states to send the Jews of Balkan countries to Palestine. The Jewish Agency quoted, among other things, its receipt of a sufficient number of immigration certificates for 900 Jewish children to be transported from Hungary, accompanied by 100 adults.

To authorize these Jews to leave your country under the above circumstances and in this way, would by no means solve the Jewish problem and would certainly not protect your country against their evil influence - far from it! - for this escape would make It possible for them to communicate and combine freely with their racial brethren in enemy countries in order to strengthen their position and to exert a more dangerous influence on the outcome of the war, especially since, as a consequence of their long stay in your country. They are necessarily in a position to know many of your secrets and also about your war effort. All this comes on top of the terrible damage done to the friendly Arab nation which has taken its place at your side in this war and which cherishes for your country the most sincere feelings and the very best wishes.

This is the reason why I ask your Excellency to permit me to draw your attention to the necessity of preventing the Jews from leaving your country for Palestine: and If there are reasons which make their removal necessary, it would be indispensable and Infinitely preferable to send them to other countries where they would find themselves under active control, for example, in Poland, in order thereby to protect oneself from their menace and avoid the consequent damages

Yours,

Haj Amin al-Husseini
The Mufti of Jerusalem

The Grand Mufti el-Husseini was venerated as a respected educator and leader hero by ‎Yasser Arafat and the PLO. It should be noted, that Faisal Abdel Qader Al-Husseini (July ‎‎17, ‎‎1940–May 31, 2001) who was once ‎the PLO's top figure in east Jerusalem. Was the ‎son of Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni, commander ‎of local Arab forces who was killed during ‎hand-to-hand fighting for control of Kastel Hill on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road, on 8 ‎April 1948 during the siege of Jerusalem. Faisal Abdel Qader Al-Hussein was born in ‎Baghdad Iraq and he was the grandnephew of the Haj Mohammed Effendi Amin el-‎Husseini, the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. ‎
The members of the UN had been aware that their inheritance of the “Mandate for ‎Palestine” from the League Of Nations was a issue of grave proportions. Great Britain, ‎though nearly bankrupt from the cost of World War II, held steadfastly to their rapidly ‎shrinking post war Empire. The British government feared the loss of the “Mandate” if ‎they sided with the Jews for fear of upsetting the petroleum imports and their increasing ‎exportation of goods and services to Arab countries. During this period the British and ‎their government had turned a blind eye to the suffering of the Jews as they, at the same ‎time, distanced themselves from their promises made by Lord Balfour in 1917.

The British were in dire need of the immense revenues to be had through the oil pumped ‎from the British Petroleum oil fields in Iraq through the Trans Arabian Pipeline to the ‎refineries that they built in Haifa. They supposedly tried to work out an agreement ‎acceptable to both Arabs and Jews. However the British promises to the Arabs ‎guaranteed failure because the Arabs would not make any concessions. The British ‎realizing that their anti Jewish immigration policy stemming from the Peel Commission ‎report of 1937 and the White Paper of 1939 was causing immense criticism subsequently ‎turned the issue over to the UN in February 1947 in the belief that this would defuse the ‎issue and they would receive the continuation of the Mandate.‎

The UN established a Special Commission on Palestine (UNSCOP) which was sent to the ‎area to devise a solution and found that the Jews of the “Yishuv”(the settlements”), both ‎old and new immigrants, were imbued with the sense of right and were prepared to plead ‎their case for a homeland in “Eretz Yisrael” before any unbiased tribunal. On the other ‎hand the Arabs remained divided between the followers of the Grand Mufti and the other ‎leading clans in the area. These “Arabs of the Mandated Area” were too divided along ‎tribal and clan relations, from neighboring Arab countries, to form a central leadership. ‎
‎"Palestine was part of the Province of Syria [...] politically, the Arabs of Palestine were ‎not independent in the sense of forming a separate political entity."‎
‎(Representative of the Arab Higher Committee to the United Nations in a statement to ‎General Assembly in May 1947.
The Arabs as usual had rejected this plan because it forced them to accept the creation of ‎a Jewish state, and required some Palestinians to live under "Jewish domination." The ‎Zionists opposed the Peel Plan's boundaries since they would have been confined to little ‎more than a ghetto of 1,900 out of the 10,310 square miles remaining in Palestine. ‎Nevertheless like with the UNSCOP decision the Zionists decided to negotiate with the ‎British, while the Arabs refused to consider any compromises.‎

Once again in 1939 with the British White Paper, which called for the draconian measure ‎limiting Jewish immigration to no more than 75,000 over the following five years and ‎afterward, no Jews would be allowed in without the consent of the Arab population! ‎Once again a plan that called for the establishment of an Arab state in Palestine within 10 ‎years, and granted the Arabs a concession on Jewish immigration, and been offered the ‎goal of Arab independence they repudiated the White Paper.‎

The leaders of the varied Arab clans were active in their rivalries but the one driving ‎issue that united them all over and over again was the desire to eliminate the Jews. It is ‎this innate rivalry and their own greed for leadership has prevented them over and over ‎again from the establishment of a State of their own. ‎

Although most of the Commission's members acknowledged the need to find a ‎compromise solution, it was difficult for them to envision one given the parties' ‎intractability. In any case, under British rule, there were various Arab bodies to ‎coordinate the interests of the Palestinian community. Why didn’t these bodies evolve ‎into entities that might have paved the way for a Palestinian state, or at least provided the ‎necessary leadership to guide the Palestinians in moments of crisis? Surely the Arabs of ‎Palestine did not need a stamp of approval from the Mandatory authorities to wield these ‎institutions for their own purposes. Moreover, the Palestine civil service, judiciary, and ‎even elements of the police force were staffed by Arabs who could have formed the basis ‎of a civil administration within an Arab state. These Arabs were, after all, the employees ‎of the Mandatory Authorities, as were Jews who served in similar positions. ‎

When the Special Commission on Palestine returned, the delegates of seven nations — ‎Canada, Czechoslovakia, Guatemala, The Netherlands, Peru, Sweden and Uruguay — ‎recommended the establishment of two separate states, Jewish and Arab, to be joined by ‎economic union, with Jerusalem an internationalized enclave. Three nations — India, ‎Iran and Yugoslavia — recommended a unitary state with Arab and Jewish provinces. ‎Australia abstained.‎

The Palestine Arab Higher Committee rejected the Special Commission ‎recommendations out right because it did not meet their “All or nothing” attitude. This ‎decision of theirs was supported in their rejection by the states of the Arab League. In a ‎communication to the United Nations Palestine Commission dated 19 January 1948, the ‎Arab Higher Committee for Palestine stated that it was "determined [to] persist in ‎rejection [to the] partition and in refusal [to] recognize UNO resolution [with] this respect ‎and anything deriving there from".‎

The Arabs blame the inability of the Palestinians to establish an independent state before ‎the momentous and tragic events of 1947–49 on a variety of factors, including the public ‎commitment of the British government to establishing a Jewish entity in a land that had, ‎according to the Arabs, had been inhabited by an overwhelming Arab majority for ‎centuries.
To the Arabs it was plain to them that the British should have given them the exclusive right ‎to self determination when Great Britain contemplated carving up the Ottoman Empire ‎during and after World War I.
According to the "Arabs of the Mandated Areas" it was the British ‎who denied the Palestinians a formal representative body, a parliament of sorts that might ‎have given them practice at democratic rule and set them on the path to future ‎independence.
However the British officials made the creation of that elective body ‎conditional upon Arab recognition of Jewish claims of the Yishuv [the Jewish ‎community] as their “national home.” The Palestinians boycotted joint governing bodies ‎which they were invited to participate in due to this “British” commitment.‎

Although the Jewish community of Palestine was not happy with the fact that Jerusalem ‎was severed from the Jewish State and that the territory allotted to them by the ‎Commission was very small they nevertheless welcomed the compromise. The partition ‎plan took on a checkerboard appearance largely because Jewish towns and villages were ‎spread throughout Palestine. This did not complicate the plan as much as the fact that the ‎high living standards in Jewish cities and towns had attracted large Arab populations, ‎which insured that any partition would result in a Jewish state that included a substantial ‎Arab population. Recognizing the need to allow for additional Jewish settlement, the ‎majority proposal allotted the Jews land in the northern part of the country, Galilee, and ‎the large, arid Negev desert in the south. The remainder was to form the Arab state.‎

The Partition boundaries were based solely on demographics. The borders of the Jewish ‎State were arranged with no consideration of security; hence, the new state's frontiers ‎were virtually indefensible. Overall, the Jewish State was to be comprised of roughly ‎‎5,500 square miles 60 percent of which was to be the arid desert in the Negev and the ‎population was to be 538,000 Jews and 397,000 Arabs. ‎

The Arab State was to be 4,500 square miles with a population of 804,000 Arabs and ‎‎10,000 Jews. Though the Jews were allotted more total land, the majority of that land was ‎in the desert.‎

Further complicating the situation was the UN majority's insistence that Jerusalem remain ‎apart from both states and be administered as an international zone. This arrangement left ‎more than 100,000 Jews in Jerusalem isolated from their country and circumscribed by ‎the Arab state.‎

As the partition vote approached, it became clear little hope existed for a political ‎solution to a problem that transcended politics: the Arabs' unwillingness to accept a ‎Jewish state in Palestine and the refusal of the Zionists to settle for anything less. In a ‎meeting with Arab League Secretary Azzam Pasha on September 16, 1947, Jewish ‎Agency representatives David Horowitz and Abba Eban attempted to reach a ‎compromise with the Arab League Secretary who told them bluntly:‎
‎“The Arab world is not in a compromising mood. It's likely, Mr. Horowitz that your plan ‎is rational and logical, but the fate of nations is not decided by rational logic. Nations ‎never concede; they fight. You won't get anything by peaceful means or compromise. ‎You can, perhaps, get something, but only by the force of your arms. We shall try to ‎defeat you. I am not sure we'll succeed, but we'll try. We were able to drive out the ‎Crusaders, but on the other hand we lost Spain and Persia. It may be that we shall lose ‎Palestine. But it's too late to talk of peaceful solutions.”‎

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Israeli Elections

"I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it." From "The Friends of Voltaire", 1906, by S. G. Tallentyre (Evelyn Beatrice Hall)
On March 17th,2015 we Israelis –Jews and Arabs alike- will go once more to the polling stations and vote for a new government, yet again after less than two years. In respect to the subject of elections there are many things here I could speak about. The most important of them being the drastic need for a change in the Israeli electoral system which, I may add, has been a problem since the creation of the state. Israel is unique in that it is one of the few a true democracies. This is quite evident  by the many varied and different views that are realized at election time. We have our mainstay large political parties but we also have political parties from all walks and spectrum's of life.
Ever since Moses came down with the Ten Commandments and in a fatherly “pissed off at the kids urge” move and smashed the Tablets of God’s Ten Commandments. We Jews have had a problem with leaders and taking orders since we are truly the “stiff necked” people. Israeli politics reflects this part of our Jewish psyche. As humans have done ever since before the "Tower of Babble" we have expressed our need to argue and to be different. I guess that is why we have so many political parties.
As the years go by it seems, at times, that it only gets worse. Though in the past Knesset the members did vote in favor of raising the percentage of votes for a party to receive representation. Alas as in the Middle East bazaar, this has created a farcical market for small parties to sign agreements for favors for their “Lost” votes with larger parties.
In addition to the drastic need for electoral change is the need for the writing of a constitution for the establishment of a set of Israeli laws – many do not realize that we still use British and Mandatory Laws.
Clarification
Before I continue I wish to clarify. Here in Israel there are two main groups / camps that are labeled either "Leftists" or "Rightists". There are extremists on both sides of this spectrum and the intensify of the level of hysteria that one holds in regard for the other is despicable in it's blindness of human reasoning. It is literally biblical Cain versus Able. At times there is almost no possibility of civil debate between the two sides. However whenever the two sides begin a discourse the tone of speech is laced with epithets of blind hatred to the point of violence at times.
So very few people alive today remember that the dream of a Homeland for the Jewish people was only achieved a mere 67 years ago. The memory of it's foundation blackened and distorted by the tidal wave of abject anti-Jewish hatred and jealousy by a some of the people who resided here. But also by those who have loathed and despised the Jewish people through out history. In the beginning some of the Arab leadership even welcomed the return of the Jewish people, while those of the old Islamic ways hated our arrival from the beginnings and disapproved of our return. That the country's foundation is derived from the dire need to find a safe haven in the world for our people in our ancient homeland. The fact that finally and reluctantly occurred only after the systematic murder of six million of our relatives in Europe at the Partitioning of the Mandate by the United Nations vote of November 1947 will be forever a blight on the face of mankind.
On the Left of the political sphere in Israel are those who are from the original Communists secularist movements of the Haskalah movement from before the creation of the state who grasped the idea of society as expressed in the 'Critique of the Gotha Program'  by Karl Marx:
"In a higher phase of communist society, after the enslaving subordination of the individual to the division of labor, and therewith also the antithesis between mental and physical labor, has vanished; after labor has become not only a means of life but life's prime want; after the productive forces have also increased with the all-around development of the individual, and all the springs of co-operative wealth flow more abundantly—only then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be crossed in its entirety and society inscribe on its banners: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."

The first pioneers in the 1880's to Israel were believers in the dream that all men are equal and that all must be shared. That is the meaning of the commune or the Kibbutz. Those young idealist pioneers who came to farm and build the land of  Israel had learned in the Haskalah movement. They had rejected the Orthodox Jewish traditions and teaching but instead grasped the Biblical concept of reclamation of our homeland by hard physical labor and not by religious religious study. They also believed that religion and belief in God is abhorrent and that it leads to the base hatred between not only men/women but nations and peoples as well. They attempted to live and share with their Arab neighbors but they learned very quickly that not All Arabs were keen to the idea and because of this they formed Militias or Guard Movements to provide for the defense of their communities from Arab marauders.
On the other hand a large part of the Old Yishuv spent their time studying the Torah and lived off Ma'amodot (stipends), donated by Jews in the Diaspora. The Old Yishuv religious Jews, lived mainly in Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias and Hebron. Smaller communities were in Jaffa, Haifa, Peki'in, Acre, Nablus, Shfaram and until 1779 also in Gaza.
The parties of the far "Left" "Mapam" "Hadash" and "Meretz" are vilified and despised to the point of hatred and even violence by those on the right. They are widely vilified for their willingness to bend over backward to appease the Arabs in their rush to sue for Peace. They are not interested in the "Jewishness" of the link to the land. They see themselves merely as inhabitants who reside here.  They are hedonists and believers of "Gay" Liberal rights. The believe in a classless society. I call it the 'Kumbaya belief", a totally unrealistic view, since man's inner hostilities and fears of others have not developed enough throughout mankind to exist. One need only to look no further that the events of the ISIS in Syria and Iraq to understand the stupidity of this thought at this time. And regretfully as Mr Spock would surely believe we are not living in some science fiction movie of the future in space.
As to the "rightist" we have those religious Jews of the "Greater Israel" movement and their backers from the Fundamentalist Christian Messianic sects. They are the religious Jews of Orthodox heritage many from the "Knitted" kippah (Hebrew word for the skullcap traditionally worn by Jewish men it is also called a yarmulke or koppel in Yiddish.) of the National Religious Party (Hebrew: מִפְלָגָה דָּתִית לְאֻומִּית, Miflaga Datit Leumit, commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew acronym Mafdal, (Hebrew: מפד"ל))
The National Religious Party (NRP) was created by the merger of two parties—Mizrachi and Hapoel HaMizrachi—in 1956. It was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist movement. Formed in 1956, at the time of its dissolution in 2008. Throughout the NRP's existence it attempted to preserve the relevance of Judaism on issues such as Israeli personal status laws, education, culture, and municipal issues such as prohibitions on the selling of non-Kosher food (in prescribed areas, and occasionally throughout a given municipality), prohibiting transportation and public activities on the Shabbat.
After the victory of the 1967 War messianic trends among religious Israeli Jews were reborn and with the "Liberation" of ancient Judea and Shomron, in the June 1967 War many religious Jews affiliated with the Beitar and pre-state Etzel and Lechi have returned from abroad to make their homes in our ancient Jewish Homeland of Judea and Shomron.
The resettlement of communities ethnically cleansed in 1947 and 1948 resulted in many members of the NRP moving further right. Many descendants of the ethnically cleansed Jews from the Jewish Old City Quarter of Jerusalem, the settlements of "Gush Etzion" and Hebron began to return to their homes and lands. Many falsifiers of history have deleted the truth that Jews owned land and had homes beyond the 1949 "Ceasefire" or "Green Line". To this end their communities are vilified by being termed "Settlements" and the residents are labeled "Settlers" when in essence the area was once inhabited by Jews and owned by them. On the "Left" are those who attempt to negate the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel and 
euphemistically refer to the area as the "West Bank". 
According to the League of Nations resolution for the establishment of the Mandate for Palestine, the area of Judea and Shomron the “West Bank”, were illegally conquered and seized by Jordan in 1947. The area had been recognized as a cestui sue trust  for the Jewish Homeland in April, 1922 in the Treaty of Sèvres (Section VII, Art 94-97) by 52 countries at the San Remo Conference which granted the Palestine Mandate to Britain. The League of Nations officially granted Britain the Palestine Mandate on July 24, 1922.
Therefore Jewish communities that existed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip prior to 1919 were recognized as legitimate by the Mandate for Palestine, which was adopted by the League of Nations. The only administration that completely prohibited Jewish communities from existing in the captured “West Bank” was that of Jordan from 1948 to 1967. 
Regarding Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Israeli government has not forcibly transferred its population into the territories. The return of Jews to the Judea and Samaria (West Bank) is voluntary and does not displace local inhabitants. The land that was being to build new residential areas, villages and towns never had been under the legitimate sovereignty of any state beforehand.
There are no clauses in the Fourth Geneva Convention that can be used to prohibit the voluntary return of individuals to towns and villages from which they or their ancestors had been previously ejected by forcible means. The Jewish communities of;  Hartuv, Kfar Etzion, Hebron, and the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem had only been re established after exhaustive investigations making sure none were built on private land. Israel also argues that some of the communities are built in areas purchased by a Jewish land holding company in 1925 and where Jewish communities that existed before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War when many "West Bank" Jewish Communities were destroyed and the residents massacred or expelled, It seems reasonable to refer to the land of these communities as liberated as it was freed from the illegal occupation of Jordan and was returned to possession of its owners, the Jewish People. Therefore in these cases the application of the Geneva Convention is an entirely different issue.

 Now here is my brief introduction of the political parties.

The two largest parties are the Likud and the Labor Party cum “Zionist Camp”. These two fractions are mainstays since before the creation of the country based on two divergent Zionistic thoughts:
The “Revisionists” of  Revisionist Zionism ie Likud –(pre-State Irgun and LECHI some call them “Freedom Fighters and some call them "Terrorists")
and the “Socialists”or Labor Zionism  / Socialist Zionism – the Labor Party of The ‎‎“Zionist Camp”- (who are identified with the The Hagannah and the Palmach)

The other parties are:

Agudat Yisrael representative of the Religious; Ashkenazic (Western) “G” or Gimmel and the Sephardic Shas movement of HaRav Ovadiah Yoseph the (“Jews of Arab lands”) ‎‎[or if you prefer Matza Balls and Gefiltte Fish versus Mofletot and Dag Harif.] They want Torah Judaism, Yeshivot –seminaries for learning. They lead pious lives and want to be left alone to study. They usually do not serve in the Army. The men study and the great majority of them do not work. The wives work and provide meager incomes. They live very simply with no modern “luxuries”. They ask to receive government subsidies for their schools and centers of learning.
Yisrael Beitanu” The Russian Strong Man party of Avigdor Lieberman . It primarily represents immigrants from the former Soviet Union.  It takes a strong line towards the peace process and the integration of Israeli Arabs, characterized by its 2009 election slogan "No loyalty, no citizenship"‎. 
Yesh Atid” –there is a future – the party of Yair lapid basically a continuation of the party of his father Tommy Lapid. “Shinui” which was based on the Liberal Party - were derived from the “Second Aliyah” business class bourgeoisie who migrated to “Palestine” during the Mandate period from 1920. Basically they represent the middle class and the small businesses. Yesh Atid wants to reduce the financial burden –taxation on the middle class and young families especially those of small business owners.
Meretz”, which was originally formed in 1992 with the union of Ratz, Mapam, and Shinui. Meretz defines itself as a Zionist, left-wing, social-democratic party. They see themselves as the political representative of the Israeli Peace movement in the Knesset. They are against “settlement” in the “Occupied Territories. They believe in Gay rights and in secularization of the Israeli lifestyle.
 HaBeit HaYehudi – The Jewish Homeland- Naphtali Bennet they basically are what is left of the Religious Labor Zionist movement and the Greater Israel “Settler Movement of Judea and Shomron. They do not want to be removed from the “West Bank” and they are active to defeat the establishment of a 23rd Arab nation called Palestine. They believe in annexing the area to Israel.
Colanu” - All of us It is a breakaway party of ex-Likudnik Moshe Kachlon who was instrumental in creating some major changes in the control of monopolies on several businesses in Israel primarily the Mobile Phones monstrosity that charged ridiculously high inflated prices for their use. His reforms changed and revolutionized how monopolies do business in Israel. He was ousted from the Likud by “Bibi” more than probably at the urging of the financial Mongols who pull the strings of the “Likud” leadership.‎ ‎
Now as to the main adversaries we have the Prime Minister Benyamin “Bibi” Netanyahu  leader of the Likud Party - Hebrew: הַלִּיכּוּד  "Consolidation". Prior to the 1973 elections an alliance of several right wing parties; Herut, the Liberal Party, the Free Centre, the National List and the Movement for Greater Israel was formed as a secular party by the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin. The " Likud" (Hebrew: הַלִּיכּוּד ) or "Consolidation", as it is called represents the consolidation of the right wing of the spectrum of politics in Israel. Once more the Herut or Freedom Party became the senior partner as they had been in a previous coalition with the Liberals know as " Gahal" since 1965. From its establishment in 1973, Likud enjoyed great support from blue-collar Sephardim who felt discriminated against by the ruling  "Ashkeniazic" Alignment.
The Herut or “Freedom “ party is the outgrowth of the political beliefs of Zev Jabotinsky and the movement for “Eretz Yisrael” and the militant Jewish Beitar –Etzel Lechi group. The “non-apologists” group for the resettlement of Eretz Yisrael. The other part that formed the Likud was the Liberal Party who were derived from the “Second Aliyah” business class bourgeoisie who migrated to ‎‎Palestine” during the Mandate period from 1920.
The center-left is identified with the Workers party the “Poalim” the Israel Labor Party. The current leader of the Labor Party is  Issac (Yitzhak) “Bougie” Herzog  The party of the Labor Land movement Ohavei Zion who came in the 1880’s and established  the communal farms the Kibbutzim and the Moshavim. It's ideological vision for Israel is based upon the values of the Jewish labor movement, the social experience and cultural heritage of the Jewish people. The Labor Party is pragmatic in its approach. It recognizes the necessity to compromise in both the domestic arena and in foreign affairs in order to promote political stability and the advancement of Israel's fundamental interests. 
The rise to power of the Likud with it's victory in 1978 was based on the failures of the "Labor" lead government during the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the cynical use of the "Sephardic" card to garnish votes. Few of them realized that the "Likud" is manipulated by the Herut, who they themselves were on the whole "Ashkenazim". 
The whole episode of the white skinned "Ashkenazi Labor Party" animosity was an out growth from the reality of the early development of the state when housing, money and building supplies were far from enough to keep pace with the young countries post independence immigration waves.
David Ben-Gurion, who had been head of the Jewish Agency, and later president of the Jewish Executive, thereby became the de facto leader of the Jewish community in Palestine. Be Gurion Led the Jewish Agency in its struggle for an independent Jewish state under the British Mandate.  As the country's first leader he realized that it's first meager resources were urgently needed to foot the cost of the War of Independence. Ben-Gurion knew the crucial importance that an effective properly trained and armed army was needed to defend the fledgling state. Means of production were urgently needed and as all tested leaders in times of crucial leadership Ben Gurion made decisions which were not popular but helped to form a nation. In the post War of Independence years Israel began to develop but under an iron fist of draconian financial measures. A nation with no real natural resources and nearly bankrupt had to build the infrastructure of a state. Ben-Gurion who was a member of Socialistic Mapai (Labour) party won the largest number of Knesset seats in the first national election, held on 14 February 1949 and was elected Prime Minister of Israel. He would remain in that post until 1963, except for a period of nearly two years between 1954 and 1955. 
During the first two decades of Israel's assistance it had no extra income to splurge on "luxuries" the lifestyle was extremely "Spartan". There were few job opportunities. Many places of work were government or labor Union- Histadrut financed factories. Farming and produce came from co-operatives with Kibbutzim to provide badly needed foodstuffs for the country. As Prime Minister, he presided over various national projects aimed at the rapid development of the country as he oversaw the establishment of the state's institutions, the construction of the National Water Carrier, rural development projects and the establishment of new "Development towns" pioneering settlements that housed the mass immigration of Jews from Arab lands -"Sephardim" in outlying areas, especially in the Negev and the Galilee peripheral areas.
The animosity of the Sephardim developed from the program to settle them in Maabarot- Transit Camps of these "Development Towns" far from the center of the country due to the housing shortage. The level of education was inferior in the outlying areas due to the level of the overall population. Public and medical services were few and far between. Transportation was nearly non existent. The Government -represented by the Labor party was occupied with the building of a viable state under the constant threat of war. It was not until after the June 1967 War that the economy began to flourish and with it cases of abuse also identified with those aligned with the Labor Party.
Since its birth Israel has been plagued by a series of prolonged systemic failures that have affected our civil system of governance, law enforcement, justice, education, welfare and health. With the formation of the Likud governments they allowed the new survival-of-the-fittest capitalistic economics to develop at the cost of government subsidized businesses. Which were the only companies or businesses that existed in peripheral Development Towns. Those businesses that did open in peripheral areas took the government subsidies and paid minimum wage to workers. And as soon as the government benefits finished they would close leaving tens of families unemployed.
The “Free economy policy” of the Likud has allowed multinational corporations and obscenely wealthy individuals to manipulate the economy to their gain against the benefit of the Israeli populace and society on the whole. 
At an increasing speed over the past decade - Israel has had its sense of purpose and solidarity eroded by the insatiable greed of its economic elite of the descendants of the Bourgeoisie class of the Liberal Party who formed part of the Machal for inflated profits at the cost of the Israel workers. Politicians of the Likud  have benefited from serving them. Israel's original Labor party orientated socialist roots have been washed away to form a society that has the largest gap in income between rich and poor of any Western country. The development of multiple political parties each with their own agenda, have created through the wheeling and dealing to achieve political office in pass elections led to large cabinets packed with ministers who were empty chairs. Therefore there is a drastic need to reduce the size of the cabinet to enable government to manage its vital tasks, such as law enforcement and security.
Thousands of new Israeli millionaires were given blanket tax exemptions on stock exchange earnings, while hundreds of thousands of us in the middle classes can barely eek out a living for our family’s, while having large amounts of our income confiscated for taxes. Many Banks and companies, pay their executives obscene wages and retirement packages through government guarantees and subsidies. Small businesses must be liberated from strangling regulation and taxation. Educators are paid next to nothing. Our schools have forty children to a classroom. Only parents who can afford to finance the extra hours of "gray education" can insure their children's future. 
We have borne witness to government officials rushing to "privatize" the land that Zionist pioneers and their supporters sacrificed so much to redeem. These unscrupulous officials sell the land off to wealthy contractors in order to build suburban housing for the offspring of the well-off. Young couples are being strapped with ever increasingly high mortgages. Public housing for the poor has been ignored or placed at the very bottom of the social agenda. A public transportation system and a highway system that would connect the peripheral areas to places of job opportunities are slow to develop or go under-funded and under-developed for the sake of new roads in the "West Bank". The only reason that there is any movement in developing the transportation system is to satisfy the greed of car importers and building contractors who want to put up McDonalds and shopping malls off the highway exits like on the new toll road highway Kvish 6 or the Haifa bypass tunnel.
Today's pampered Israeli hedonistic teenage children of the very rich in Herzilya or Ramat Aviv can afford to hang out in malls, they can have a bite at McDonalds or Pizza Hut while texting to their friends on their newest iphones. They sit around discussing their latest purchases of electric powered bicycles and their trips to Europe and beyond. You will not be hearing that many of them plan on going to the army. They don't have too much feeling for Zionism, and most could not care less. Like their parents many have a deep and profound identification with Western “Liberal” values.
Now speak to any of the approximately 50 percent of Israeli children who will never have a chance to graduate from high school with a matriculation degree because of slashed funding to schools and the lack of funds to pay for enrichment after school programs. Those kids to those who reside in Ramle, in the neighborhoods of Jaffa or in Hadera, in Shlomei, in Shechuna Dalet of Beersheva or a hundred other impoverished and lower class neighborhoods and Development Towns. Let us not forget that many of the family’s of these children will not be able to afford to pay for food let alone enrichment classes for their children.
Many of these disadvantaged young people will not be able to go to the army because some of them will already have police records, meaning the army won't even want them, and some because they don't want to fight for a country that can't be bothered to give them an education. They cannot see a positive future for themselves or their families.
Yes, we do have a values problem here in Israel. Our children learn quickly. They see what is going on in this country, and that is what determines their attitudes. The media here idolizes those who have "made it" they all know of the reality shows and escapism it offers from the reality of the Israeli situation. They spend their childhoods under the very real threat of annihilation. That wars are fought on a regular basis because our neighbors have an insatiable thirst for ALL the land. Our children have witnessed dear ones: close friends, brothers, sisters and fathers go off to fight and die.They know the sounds of "Code Red" and the Iron Dome. They have seen the torn flesh and damage wrought upon our civilian population by "Falestinian" mortars and rockets. Yet still we still desire peace but NOT just at ANY cost. 
Oh yes there are many successes in Israel technology and in start ups, but what is equally as important is to strengthen the Jewish identity of the youth. Above all we need to elect government officials who will take bold steps not just in the quest for a just and lasting peace but those who will strive to make our lives and those of our children better.
We Israelis will not continue to allow economics based on naked greed and ignore the educational, health, employment and housing needs of millions of Israelis. Do not expect to us to continue voting for those who will not change. We need new leaders who will show us the way out of the financial quagmire and to help us improve our image and standing in the world.So we do not need rhetoric alone we need action.