Israel’s News Blog Magazine: Daily Stories Video and Photos

There are some selected excerpts from Yossi Sarid’s article in Haaretz. It relates to a previous article we ran.

“Sharon should be praised for his actions to smash the Likud Central Committee, which over the years had become Public Enemy No. 1 in this country. Once again it takes that lawless man to smash things of his own making: after all, Sharon is the very creator, and the Likud Central Committee is the golem, and that golem served him loyally for many years until it rose up against him. It’s the prime minister’s way, first to build and then to destroy.”

…”There’s no doubt that there are honest people in the Likud Central Committee: Moshe Arens and Dov Shilansky, for example, and they are not alone there. But that institution is a collection of spreading pus and abscess; gangrene has reached the entire body, and not just the body of the Likud, but the state, which the Likud rules. If the infected organ was not amputated, it would have ruined everything.

All it takes is the scene of the central committee members gathered in the corridors of power, jumping on ministers and MKs, shaking them down and threatening them, to understand who rules here. None of this bothered Sharon as long as the rabble did what he wanted. It’s not out of ethics and the public welfare that he has opened the abscess and drained the puss. He is doing it because the golem has run amok, and all his efforts to take control over it failed. Whatever his motives, they weren’t about public hygiene.”

“There are known cases of members “from the field” getting to lobby high ranking officials, for cash. There are even known cases of central committee members asking for payment from interested parties, so that the committee member would arrange a meeting with ministers in their offices. The “powerful people” of the Likud are usually those who are more addicted to their “friends” - addicted, they sold out, sold jobs and other benefits.”

“The ministers and MKs only related to the central committee and its members, and what they wanted. Decisions about the anthem and the flag and the symbol, when to stand at attention and when to stand at ease, a memorial day for Rehavam Ze’evi and a day for Jonathan Polllard would not ever have been passed if not for the central committee men being present…”

“Sharon is disengaging them now, and setting the puppets free. Now they will have to be the sycophants of one person and not more than 3,000, which is impossible and certainly not human. After all, how much ass kissing can one do?”

I went for a check up yesterday. Just regularly scheduled maintenance, nothing special. The office is on the fourth floor of an office building on a main street in Tel Aviv. As I am browsing the National Geographic magazines in the waiting room a bull horn sounds. “Please clear the street we have a suspicious object here”.

The police found an “unattached” object (can be a backpack or shopping bag) sitting in a public area without an owner. I keep reading the magazine. Traffic in the street outside grinds to a halt. No cars or busses are heard. I am reading an article about Petra, some great shots in there.

(more…)

In Israel there is a common term when discussing third world, underdeveloped corrupt countries – A Banana Republic (no offence meant to any would be banana lovers). When there is a discussion on the absurdity of some of the things we see and hear in the news, we end it with “this is why we are a banana republic”.

Part of the reason that the Likud party is falling apart today is probably based on the weak foundation that it has come to rely on in these recent years. Not that any of the current political players minded, they were just too busy playing the game to their advantage to mind. They saw the corruption and criminal behavior around them, enjoyed the spoils and it was all good. Well folks, the party is over – Literally !

The Central Committee in the Likud is the body that actually runs the Likud, electing the Members of Knesset from within the group that is considered the core of the Likud. Over the years the membership of the Central Committee expanded and it became clear the a position in the club meant perks. Stronger members became power lords and wealthy gangsters called the shots and had the power to raise and drop a political candidate.

These sort of wheeling and dealings with political votes became so blatant in the 2003 Primaries (Internal Likud Elections) that some politicians like Neomi Blumental in the City Tower Scandal were caught exposed. Neomi was caught buying 15 Central Committee members and their wives a night at the City Tower Hotel and paying for it in cash (using her ministry driver who later turned government witness) in return for a promise of support in the coming primaries. It got to the point in those elections that one of these power lords actually had his young niece elected to the Knesset, just because he had the clout to spare. She had no idea how and why but she became a Member of Knesset.

Following these obvious scandals Sharon promised to make a change, clean house and suggested a change to the election process. The Primaries Law was for political parties with more then 15 seats in the Knesset. The new law was to insure that primaries in the big parties will be expanded to include all party members voting and not be decided on by Central Committee members.

Sharon’s proposal wasn’t well received by the Central Committee and a Likud party law was passed that stipulated that any Members of Knesset (MK) that votes in support of the Primaries Law will not be able to run for Knesset again as a Likud party member. This outright spelled out that the Central Committee will punish any Likud MK that tried to take away its power.

The Primaries Law wasn’t followed up by Sharon (after all Omri Sharon was also one of the winners from the Central Committee System) and once the public eye was away the idea was placed in the political freezer.

In April 2005 the Israeli Supreme Court warned the Likud Party legal counsel that the constitution of the Likud is unlawful. The Likud court decided that the law was constitutional but made an amendment – The MK voting against the Central Committee will have a chance for appeal !

This law is STILL in effect.

This is what one would describe as a Banana Republic type scenario !

As promised an interesting election race in Israel and this is as good as it gets. Shaul Mofaz is doing the political two step and quite blatantly. After receiving the latest polls for the Likud leadership he realized he can’t win and decided to leave his political party for Sharon’s Kadima (forward). Several days before he was protesting the desertion of others in the Likud, proclaiming the need to rally around the party and strengthen it against those who have made it weak and yesterday he just upped and left.

His letters to Likud members, telling them that “You never desert your home”, letters mailed just a few days before are still in the mail and the man is history !

Shaul Mofaz is a military man. A man that lived his life in an environment that promoted discipline, honesty and moral code. As a Minister of Defense he will need to command army personal and will require them to be honest, straight forward and above all moral. Hmm…

Like Shimon Peres who lost the leadership race in the Labour Party and immediately switched sides and joined big daddy (Sharon), he too put aside his credibility, political conviction and ran to get his next job. Sharon asked him to join him when he first set off to start his own business (I mean party) but he refused. Political conviction is a great thing as long as there is no risk involved I guess.

Some selected quotes from his announcement yesterday (based on Hazofe):

“I am joining Kadima (forward) to make sure that it doesn’t become too leftist. Things that happened in the past are behind us and we need to look forward.”
(pun intended ?)

“I don’t see any problem and no question with the issue of credibility. From the moment I decided that I am not going with the Likud I informed the Prime Minister. It’s true that I have been in the Likud for 3 years but it became a different party since the separation and an atmosphere developed that prevented me from moving forward…”

“The political polls in Israel are like the weather, there is no need to make decisions based on the polls and my decision had nothing to do with them.”

I am worried about Michael Jackson. First I heard he was making some antisemitic comments. I read this on CNN:

ABC’s “Good Morning America” aired portions of a 2003 voice message that Jackson was alleged to have left for a former adviser, Dieter Wiesner. A transcript provided by the office of attorney Howard King quotes Jackson as saying: “They suck them like leeches. … They start out the most popular person in the world, make a lot of money, big house, cars and everything and end up penniless. It’s a conspiracy. The Jews do it on purpose.”

Then today I read this.

Michael Jackson’s spokeswoman denying published reports that the singer suffered an overdose in Bahrain on Friday.

Bahrain…Hmm. I would be worried about this but this is Michael Jackson we’re talking about. Enjoy Bahrain Michael - less jews to worry about

YoYenta! - thank you for the artwork !

By Denis Schulz

Ex-president William Jefferson Clinton has been out of the loop for about five years now. That’s a long time for a politician but he still gets around quite well for a gentleman of his advanced years. He was in Jerusalem last week to honor the late Yitzhak Rabin on the 10th anniversary of Rabin’s assassination. On Saturday (Nov. 12) Slick Willie spoke to an admiring throng at the King David Hotel. These are not his exact words but they are close and may well reflect his inner thoughts.

(more…)

Well it seems like the Socialist Millionaire has some shame after all. I thought I saw it in and around Tel Aviv but I just got official proof. The “Not Ashamed of it” campaign has been put under wraps. Literally !! All around town the billboards for Avi Shaked have been covered. Here’s one on the Ayalon highway running North of Tel Aviv..

If nothing else it seems like this guy has some shame after all and in Israeli politics, that’s a first.
Good move Avi.

In the political race seems like Sharon is gaining. In the latest poll reported by Ynet this weekend Sharon’s Kadima party has reached 39 electorals while the Labour has dropped to 23 and the Likud has risen to 13. The latest terror attack has something to with this shift as a seperate poll indicates that 70% of the population feels that Sharon would make a stronger leader on security issues as opposed to 11% for Peretz. This is a new record for Sharon’s party and has prompted him to make this face:

This guy just keeps spewing pearls of wisdom. Yesterday, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president in a statement to the press in Saudi Arabia, made the following comments:

“Some European countries keep insisting that during the Second World War, Hitler burnt ,millions of Jews and sent them to concentration camps…but we don’t accept that claim”

“If European countries claim that they have killed Jews in World War II… why don’t they provide the Zionist regime with a piece of Europe,” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Iranian television.
“Germany and Austria can provide the… regime with two or three provinces for this regime to establish itself, and the issue will be resolved.”

So, I guess we are moving. I don’t really want to go, I mean I just moved and it’s a pain in the ass. Having to pack and then unpack again. Then there is the weather, Germany and Austria, the two alternatives, have really sucky weather. Today for example, its 25 Celsius (77 F) here ! I mean its great. In December.
In Germany right now, its like 0 Celsius (32 F) and they have some sort of snow and showers alert.

No, I think we’ll stay. Rather go to nuclear war then give this good weather up. Hope he won’t mind…

This is from the Irani press site reporting on the summit and the press release that was later given (above) – I love the use of the word extraordinary. Damn straight it was extraordinary…

On the sidelines of the two-day extraordinary summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Saudi King Abdullah welcomes President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Also I got a little peek at the official Irani press site - lovely. ( these were in the gallery)

(more…)

The Tel Aviv stock exchange is celebrating its 70th birthday this month. In Rothschild Avenue in Tel Aviv, an urban art display of bulls (Bulls and Rates) sponsored by the stock exchange, several leading companies and members of the exchange is being exhibited. The bulls are created by various local artists.

(more…)