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Recent fighting in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon has made many wonder who is really in charge there. The fighting began several days ago following a clamp down by the Sunni Muslim dominated government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora - himself a Sunni Muslim - on a media network run by none other than Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah’s Hezbollah organization. PM Siniora must have pushed the Shiite Sheikh and his organization a bit too far, as Nasrallah went on the air declaring in a fiery speech that Siniora and his “so-called” government’s actions were nothing less than an act of war against the Hezbollah.

Nasrallah’s tirade was almost immediately followed by Shiite gunmen setting up positions in various sections of the Capital, which forced Siniora to order the Lebanese army to send out troops with tanks and armored personnel carriers, as to try and show Nasrallah and his followers that the government meant business. All that can be said about these events is that the fighting which took place over the past few days in both Beirut and Tripoli indicates the Hezbollah appears to have the upper hand in this new conflict that many fear could turn into another civil war, like the one that almost destroyed the country back in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

The situation went from bad to worse with large areas of Beirut again becoming a war zone, and people being afraid to leave their homes, or even to purchase basic necessities.
Although the situation has begun to improve a bit since the fighting broke out (which coincidentally was about the same time that Israel was celebrating it’s 60th Independence Day), the relative calm only occurs because Nasrallah and the Hezbollah backed off a bit, for their own personal reasons. Most likely, the Hezbollah isn’t inclined to assume control of the entire country, and so its people are content to consolidate their hold on areas like West Beirut, along with their known strongholds in southern Lebanon.

Obviously, the Israeli government and military are keeping a wary eye on the developments in the north, as was noted by Defense Minister Ehud Barak during a visit to a kibbutz in southern Israel after a Hamas attack that took place there. Barak said that the IDF is “keeping one eye open in the south and another eye open in the north in regards to what is happening in Lebanon”.

That may be indeed a good idea, as Israel’s worst nightmare would be a Hezbollah-governed Lebanon on its northern border. The 2006 war is still on many people’s mind in Israel, especially those living in the north. The actions of Nasrallah’s organization during the past few days clearly indicate that Fouad Siniora and his government are not in charge of their country’s affairs — in fact, far from it. So, who’s really in charge in the “country of the cedars”? You, the reader, can draw your own conclusions.

It’s been 10 years since Mr. Ron Huldai was elected mayor of Tel Aviv - Israel’s second largest city, and the center of its economic and cultural life. It is a political position with a great public impact: It is a well known joke that there’s a stage in the life of every young secular Israeli, in which he (or she) finds himself moving to Tel Aviv, looking to absorb the urban lifestyle and to experience the “fast lane” of this Mediterranean metropolis; not to mention the scores of immigrants and the large Arab population of Jaffa — all of these under the administrative control of Mr. Huldai.

Later this year the people of Tel-Aviv will go to the polls to pick a new mayor. After two terms Mr. Huldai has spent in city hall, there are many who feel it is time for a change. Yet others adore the changes he brought to this dynamic city, sometimes pushing his projects through like a stubborn bulldozer despite the residents’ objections.

Ron Huldai was born in 1944, and spent twenty-six years in military service. He served as a fighter pilot, and later as the base commander of Nevatim Airbase in the Negev desert. He was chosen mayor in 1998 and very soon began a massive operation of infrastructure renovation across the city, as well as approving many new projects, that eventually completely changed the city skyline.

Among the many projects undertaken during his time in the mayor’s office, few are especially worth mentioning: The redecorating of many downtown venues, such as Rotchild Boulevard and Jerusalem Boulevard; the area of the old northern wharf had been turned into a stylish compound of designer warehouses, night clubs, and posh restaurants — preventing access to the sandy beach in this section of the shore line. A nearby park, the Yarkon River walkway, gradually regained a European look, with wooden decks and bicycle pavements.

Critics accused Mr. Huldai of not being sentimental, of turning Tel-Aviv into a pretty place with no soul. He himself was caught comparing the city to the military bases he had used to command, inspiring protesters who called out “We’re residents, not soldiers”. Another major complain directed toward him is the endless construction of newer and taller skyscrapers, all aimed at luring high-paying flat buyers.

Perhaps the greatest controversy involves the demolition of “Ussishkin” Basketball Hall — the aging home of the red team: “Hapoel Tel-Aviv”. It was a move accompanied by a loud public outcry; still, Mr. Huldai went ahead and approved the destruction of the building in 2006. Basketball fans were outraged, and the story culminated in the desecration of Huldai’s parents’ graves.

Personally I think that functionality, comfort and nostalgia don’t necessarily contradict each other. I find myself enjoying the new feel and look of the city much more than I used in the past. In any case, I am certain this debate is sure to continue and even to heat up as we’re approaching the municipal elections.

Source: Wikipedia

Today we’re informed that another major earthquake struck the surface of the earth. This time it’s the people of China who suffer the wrath of the planet. So far we’ve heard of 3500(!!) casualties, and the numbers are expected to rise.

Israel itself sits on top of the Great Rift Valley, also known as the Syrian-African Rupture. It is a distinct geographical trough that marks the junction of several geological faults. Over the years, many experts warn the Israeli public that they should be prepared for a mega earthquake hitting this tiny country, sooner or later. Now, it is true that several devastating earthquakes ran wild across the planet in the past few years, and that the countries afflicted (Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, to name a few) suffered heavy losses and great economical setbacks, and yet, they managed to recover, able to keep their heads above the tide. This wouldn’t be the case of Israel if such a disaster strikes unexpectedly.

Israel is a small state, only slightly larger than New Jersey, and most of Israel’s population is concentrated on the banks of the Mediterranean shore, in cities such as Tel-Aviv and Haifa. No wonder the Israeli government is so concerned about the Iranian threat — One nuclear bomb is enough to wipe out the state of Israel, and most of its population. Well, Prime Minister Olmert is definitely anxious with the Iranian A-Bomb, but what about the threat of natural disasters, such as earthquakes and droughts?

Numerous panel reports have been presented to the Israeli cabinet in the past decade urging the state authorities to take measures in preparation of a potential natural disaster. It was when the accumulating data persuaded news editors to feature this story prominently on TV and across the written media, that things “started to roll”. As we’ve been accustomed to in Israel, governmental agenda follows editorial agenda. Recently, we do hear about new protocols which the emergency services have prepared for such disasters, and even the government itself set up several web sites in order to educate the Israeli public as to what to do in such situations (so far, in Hebrew alone).

There is definitely much more to do, and I hope to see these official efforts taking one notch up. In the meantime, our prayers are aimed at the people of China.

This is something that I received from a reader in the US (thanks AG) and its a great article. It was first published in the WSJ. Worth a read.

Why I Left Israel, and Why I’m Going Home
By SHARI MOTRO

Today Israel turns 60. When I was growing up in Herzilya, people celebrated Israel’s Independence Day by shooting each other with toy guns that covered the victim with fluorescent string. Later, when I was studying Arabic in Jordan, Palestinians I knew mourned the 1948 war as the Nakba (Arabic for “catastrophe”).

Now I live in Virginia, where Israel’s birthday is invisible, and this year I mark it by packing. I’m preparing to move back for my sabbatical, preparing to embrace the double life I’ve been trying to deny since I dodged the draft into the Israeli army 18 years ago.

“Are you excited?” I get asked at least once a week. No, I say, I’m just going home.

I’m going home, and I’m scared. I’m scared not because of Iran’s nuclear capability or Hezbollah’s Katyushas or Hamas’s suicide bombs. These threats are real, but they feel abstract. I’m scared because I’m not sure I can resist absorbing their reverberations, the pent-up aggression that flows like a river through so many daily interactions; the constant noise, the sense that life is a zero-sum game, that the planet is too small for both of us, that your gain is my loss, that listening to your story will erase my own.

When we studied Zionism in high school, I asked my history teacher why Jews have a historical “right” to the land. I could understand saying we had a “connection,” but what do we mean when we speak of a “right”? What does that say about the rights of the people who were here before us?

“If you ask such a question,” he said, “you shouldn’t be here.”

So I left.

I left because I wanted to think my own thoughts, to read Socrates and Rousseau and Kierkegaard and ask the “real” questions of existence. I left and I built another life, not as a Jew, not as an Israeli, but as a human being. I left, and (even after returning briefly to Israel after college to complete my military service) I embraced what I imagined America could give me – an identity that was all about the future, all about possibility.

Being American, I imagined, meant that it didn’t matter what I came from: that I could shed my grandparents’ traumas and my parents’ generation’s sins; that I could claim America’s light without seeing its darkness; that I could take its freedom without its slavery and its Indians.

I was wrong. Slavery is part of my American self just as the Nakba is part of my Israeli self. America has taught me that these truths coexist, and that I can’t be a full human being without acknowledging and honoring what I come from. So I’m going home.

I’m going home not because I have a “right” to a home. Lots of people come from nowhere in particular, perhaps from a suburb their family left when they were teenagers, people with free-floating identities I can’t ever understand. I’m going home because I happen to have one.

I am blessed to have a home that still exists, a home with parents and sisters whom I love more than I’ve let them know. I miss them. I miss my family and I miss my childhood friends. I miss the dust and the sun, the warm salty Mediterranean, watermelon with Bulgarian cheese, droopy Eucalyptus branches and their brittle leaves crackling underfoot.

I miss Hebrew – rough, jagged, unforgiving Hebrew. When I hear it, an invisible film between me and the world dissolves. I come from a place – from streets I remember when they were still unpaved, from the house where I lost my first tooth, from the beachside terrace where my grandmother taught me how to tell time, from the cemetery where we buried her.

I didn’t choose these places, and I didn’t expel anybody. But that doesn’t change the fact that my joy is someone else’s pain. My home is someone else’s home, a home they can’t return to, because of me. I can’t reconcile this, but running from it doesn’t reconcile it either.

One of the Palestinian women I knew in Jordan believed that the Quran predicts the Jewish State will be destroyed and the Palestinians restored to their land. When I told her that in addition to being American I was also Israeli, and that I had served in the army, she was shocked. She liked me, and it took her a few moments to absorb that I could be this terrible thing.

I assured her that I enlisted after dodging the draft only so I could see my family, and that I had no intention of living in Israel again. She thought about it, and finally said something I didn’t fully understand until now, 10 years later. I’m so sad for you, she said, to have to live so far from your family.

She could feel both things at the same time: She could pray for Israel’s destruction and also hope that I might find a way home.

Ms. Motro is an associate professor of law at the University of Richmond.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert denies allegations for allegedly accepting bribes worth millions of dollars from US businessman, Moshe (Morris) Talansky. On Thursday, at the end of Israel’s 60th Independence Day, Olmert addressed the Israeli public during his post gag order press conference:

“I was elected by you, citizens of Israel, to be the prime minister and I don’t intend to shirk this responsibility. At the same time, and even though the law does not require me to do this, I will resign from my job if the attorney general decides to issue an indictment against me” , said Olmert.

Olmert says he will resign if indicted. Dramatic as it may sound, it would be impossible for any prime minister to stay in office if investigation continues.

“I was not born to be prime minister, and I’m not going to stay here until the end of my life. I’m too young for that. Right now, I think it will be a mistake (to leave), and I have a job to accomplish, a vision to realize. This is the great vision of peace which I think is possible this time more than ever”, he said to the American press during the weekend.

Moshe (Morris) Talansky, a key witness in the investigation, is now in Israel.

We will have to wait and see what happens next.

One thing you can say for sure while celebrating 60 years of statehood –there has never been a dull moment!

Sources: Ynet , Haaretz ; Picture by PM Office

Last Friday, May 2nd, a very interesting article appeared in the Weekend supplement of the Jerusalem Post, Israel’s oldest English language newspaper. The article, entitled Stigma of Surrender, and written by correspondent Larry Derfner, dealt with Israelis who had been taken prisoner in various wars, especially the Yom Kippur War of 1973 and the first Lebanese War of 1982. Former Israeli POW’s who had been taken prisoner and later released, recounted their experiences in the hands of the enemy, and what happened to them after being finally released. Many of them said that the treatment they received by IDF authorities who “interrogated” them afterwards was (from a psychological basis) almost as bad as when they were prisoners of war, or of terrorists.

With Israeli solders such as Gilad Schalit, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser still not back home after nearly two years, this year’s Solder’s Remembrance Day and Independence Day celebrations will take on a special meaning for members of their families, as well as for many other Israelis.

Israel will be celebrating its 60th anniversary as an independent state this week; and the matter of captured and missing soldiers is an issue even more important, especially in light of recent offers to affect a prisoner exchange with the Hamas organization for captured soldier Gilad Schalit.

Many people in Israel feel that trading this young soldier’s life (assuming he’s still alive) for several hundred Hamas and other terrorists who will only go back to killing Jews, is not going by the old Rabbinical context of “he who saves one life has saved the entire world”. This time it’s entirely different.

I wouldn’t want to be in the shoes of either Mr. and Mrs. Schalit or the Prime Minister in regards to what to do in this situation. Israeli prisoners have mainly been repatriated in wartime - and that most were from the Egyptians who were only slightly more humane than their Syrian allies.

Regarding soldiers being captured or taken prisoner by terrorist groups, it’s nearly always been a death sentence - except for some like Elkanah Tannenbaum, an Israeli reserve officer who was captured while in Lebanon on a “business trip” and who may have had “connections” which enabled him to stay alive.

Some people feel that Israeli solders should be issued a cyanide pill, like Mossad people are, and if they have the opportunity, to simply swallow it. At least it prevents the suffering, including by such as Ron Arad, who may actually have died long ago (it was supposedly verified by Russian and other foreign diplomats who had received inside information).

That’s the sad reality of being captured as an Israeli soldier. So much for the “Pinchas Shevi” (POW ID Card) issued every IDF recruit. Many say that it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on!

Or is it?

I’m quite sure that if one talks to parents and relatives of the three young men mentioned here, they will definitely agree that Israeli soldiers should not only come back alive but should be given the honor that they truly deserve. In fact, I’m sure these relatives feel that Israeli leaders are not doing enough to ensure their loved ones’ release.

As Israelis celebrate 60 years of independence, they should also take time to reflect on these brave young men who so much deserve to come home – with honor – to their loving and waiting families.

I was at Jerusalem Beach today and the Air Show was amazing. 60 Paratroopers started the day, then a Naval parade and finally an air show. There are so many pictures to show that you’ll need to click to see more pictures…

Riding through the streets of Tel Aviv, the Yarkon Park was a great experience. Independence Day in Israel has become a BBQ day. The “Mangalistim” (Mangal=BBQ) were out in full force and if it wasn’t tied down - it was roasting on an open flame.

There is a special feel for the 60th, there is a nostalgic, dare I say it, patriotic feel. We are proud that our little Israel is 60 and there is a certain pride in the air. People were having a good time, smiling to one another and generally more polite to one another. It was nice to see…

Happy 60th Israel !!!!

This past Sunday, the Russian Basketball team CSKA Moscow won the Euroleague crown after defeating Israeli basketball team Maccabi Tel Aviv 91: 77.

Despite a difficult year, the Israeli basketball team made it to the finals. The game against the Russian team was very close in the first two quarters. Although Maccabi struggled to cut the deficit , during the second half of the game, the Russian team dominated the field.

Yesterday, the players came back to Israel. When they arrived at the airport, only 50 Maccabi fans welcomed their return.

Who did not forget to show up? 500 fans of rival teams came to the airport only to mock the loss of their rivals.

Is this what is all about? Winning the crown? Why can’t we support our players when they need some encouragement? True winners know how to lose.

Of course it’s disappointing to the championship, especially when victory seems at arm’s reach. Nevertheless, many Israelis take second place for granted. Some people forget that is a small country competing against some of the richest countries in Europe. So, how about showing some appreciation?

Although I am not a basketball fan, I watched the game on Sunday. I truly believe that the Maccabi has done its best on this game under these circumstances, and gave a real fight.

Congratulation on a great game and effort!

Israel’s largest family numbering 22,437 members, the family of grief and loss, is remembered today. This day of remembrance is dedicated to all those who lost their life fighting for Israel, trying to get to Israel, killed in terror attacks and hate crimes anywhere in the world.

It’s a very difficult day where you take a closer look at the lives of the families who are left behind, the young soldiers who never had a chance to grow up. A day to remember young fathers who never got to meet their children, young women who were killed by terror attacks and other heart wrenching stories.

We sit at home and watch these TV articles and personal essays about people from all walks of life and backgrounds and how they lost their life for Israel. Israel that with all the issued it has (and their are many) is our only home. When Israel declared independence 60 years ago it had 873,000 people. There are more then 8 times that amount today. There are 7,282,000 people in Israel today - 75.5% are Jewish and 69% of Israelis were born in Israel.

When this day ends today at 8:00 PM the celebrations for Israel’s 60th celebrations will begin. It’s always an extreme yet somehow perfectly logical shift from extreme sorrow and grief to happiness and celebration..
I guess after we remember the people who made the ultimate sacrifice we need to enjoy the gift they left us…Israel.

Image: Reuters

****UPDATE****
This is from the NYPost

A Long Island mogul is at the center of a sensational bribery scandal that could bring down embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, The Post has learned.

Millionaire financier Morris Talansky - who runs an investment firm out of his tony home in Woodmere - allegedly passed money to Olmert while the politician was mayor of Jerusalem in the ’90s, sources said.

In a highly unusual move, Israeli authorities have barred the country’s media from publishing Talansky’s name - revealed now in The Post - saying it could hamper their investigation. Israeli media has referred only to the involvement of an “American businessman.”

Talansky is apparently set to sing to Israeli authorities about his alleged role in the scheme, sources said.
“It looks serious, and it looks like they have a state witness” in Talansky, one source said.

Talansky - a philanthropist and political contributor to everyone from Rudy Giuliani to Bill Clinton - is in Jerusalem, where he has an apartment, preparing to head to a closed-door court hearing as early as today, sources said.

The 75-year-old was earlier questioned about the alleged scheme almost immediately after arriving in the country for Passover, and he implicated Olmert, sources have said.

It was unclear what the alleged payments to Olmert were for, but sources said they involved hefty amounts of cash.

Talansky repeatedly appears - sometimes under the nickname “The Laundry Man” - in the logs of financial dealings kept by Olmert’s longtime aide, Shula Zakan, a source said.

Olmert was grilled by investigators Friday. He has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

The allegations are only the latest in a string of woes for Olmert, who has battled past charges of government corruption and questionable personal business practices.

“But this time seems very serious, and it seems eventually, we don’t know if it will be days, weeks or months, in the end, he may not be able to continue to be prime minister,” one source said.

A man answering the phone at Talansky’s multimillion-dollar mansion in Woodmere yesterday said, “He’s not available.”

Talansky lists himself as CEO of the Global Resources Group, a self-described financial-investment firm.

Ehud Olmert , the Israeli Prime Minister, is again suspected of corruption. On Friday, police investigators including the Head of the National Fraud Unit came knocking on Ehud Olmert’s door at his official residence in Jerusalem. Olmert was questioned on suspicion of receiving bribes from an American businessman a few years ago.

The prime minister answered all of the investigators’ questions on the subject, and will continue to cooperate with all legal authorities to the extent he is required to do so,” said the official statement from Olmert’s office.

Another official statement from the Prime Minister’s office said he “is convinced that with the discovery of the truth in the police investigation, the suspicions against him will dissipate.”

The Israeli Prime Minister might be facing serious allegations. Can Olmert politically survive this last high profile interrogation that connects him to severe corruption affair? In the last few years, Olmert has demonstrated fantastic survival skills in the political arena.

A senior source has told the media in response: “Olmert is in a grave situation, it is doubtful whether he will be able to continue to hold his position.” In the meantime, Ehud Olmert denies all allegations.

Israeli ministers certainly make police forces work hard these days. Israeli former finance minister , Avraham Hirchson, also faces criminal investigation , suspected of being involved in the embezzlement of 10 million dollars, partly from a charity fund.

The list does not end here unfortunately.
I guess many MKs will not be celebrating Israel’s Independence Day next week.