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

Again, the legal system is stumbling through another scandal. This time its our Ex-Pantless President, the one that was charged with rape of several women. Menachem Mazuz (Mennie), Israel’s Attorney General agreed to plea down the rape charges to an indecent behavior charge against a subordinate. This came as a surprise to the main witness, defendant A as she is known, and victim in the case which was completely removed from this new deal and doesn’t even appear in the new indictment.

Haaretz: Katsav is accused of having twice raped a former Tourism Ministry employee while serving as tourism minister, and of forcibly hugging her and touching her leg, which is classified as indecent behavior. The indictment will include an indecent behavior charge, but Katsav will not be charged with using force - only with taking advantage of his position of authority, a lighter offense.

Katzav’s legal team apparently brought forward a 120 page document that made Mazuz agree to the plea bargain causing people to now speculate about this case. A large majority of people feel that something “stinks” about this plea bargain. Either the evidence that was brought forward was very convincing (apparently discrediting the witnesses) or this is a case of special treatment given to Katzav..

In both cases the Justice Department and Mazuz are once again looking incompetent. For one thing the initial feeding frenzy and very severe charges publicly made by Mennie Mazuz himself, should have been made with a more level head and using better judgment. As you recall there was a “fire and brimstone” speech by Katzav where he basically lashed out against the media and the prosecutors, charging them with conducting a witch hunt. Based on these new reduced charges and the big reversal of the Public Attorney would this mean he was right? After all, he is going to walk away with no rape charges at all, no admittance of guilt of any kind, and what amounts to an unlawful kiss…

Right now defendant A is trying to stop the Press Conference by appealing to the Supreme Court for a stop order. The press conference is due in the next few hours where details will be announced by Mazuz and Katzav’s lawyers.

Once in a while you come across some funny sites and this is one of them. I liked this JPhone video and there are some great jokes there as well, like this one..

An Al Qaeda guerilla, desperate for water, was plodding through the desert when he saw something far off in the distance. Hoping to find water, he walked toward the object, only to find a little old Jewish man at a small stand selling neckties.

The Arab asked, “Do you have water?”

The Jewish man replied, “I have no water. Would you like to buy a tie? They are only $5.”

The Arab shouted, “Idiot Jew! Israel should not exist! I do not need an overpriced tie. I need water! I should kill you, but I must find water first.”

“OK,” said the old Jew, “it does not matter that you do not want to buy a tie and that you hate me. I will show you that I am bigger than that. If you continue over that hill to the east for about two miles, you will find a lovely restaurant. It has all the water you need. Shalom.”

Muttering, the Arab staggered away over the hill. Several hours later he staggered back, near collapse. “Your brother won’t let me in without a tie.”

What about the refugees in Gaza? Gaydamak will take care of it…

Moshik

It’s a year today since Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas… Today they released an audio recording from him where he speaks. It’s the same thing we hear every time a group of terrorists in the Middle East kidnaps anyone, sad because you hear the people you love speaking someone else’s words. So painfully obvious that these are not the things a son would tell his parents after a year of nothing. I wonder if these people actually think this sounds real to anyone.

These are selected excerpts in their own words (Hat Tip: Ynet News) :

“Mother and father, my sister and brother, my friends in the Israel Defense Forces. I greet you from prison and miss you all.. I have spent a full year in prison, and my health is still deteriorating, and I need a prolonged hospitalization. I regret the lack of interest on the part of the Israeli government and the Israel Defense Forces in my case and their refusal to meet the demands of the al-Qassam brigades.. .. Just as I have parents, a mother and father, the thousands of Palestinian prisoners have mothers and fathers to whom their sons must be returned… ..I have a great hope from my government that it show more interest in me and meet the demands of the Mujahideen (captors).”

Just by way of comparison, this was the letter his parents wrote June 26, 2006:

Our dear and sweet Gilad: Mom, dad, Yoel and Hadas are very concerned for you and wish to hear from you. We hope that you are healthy and feeling well, as best as it is possible in your condition. We hope that you can read these lines and we want you to know that the greatest efforts are being carried out so that you can return home to Hila and the Galilee, to your family, and your room that awaits you as soon as possible.

We want you to know that we are thinking about you all the time and hope that somehow you are doing ok and surviving these moments.

We are confident that whoever is holding you also has a family and that they know what we are going through and will know to keep you healthy and safe.

Love you and support you,

Mom and dad

A new video by Noah Ickowitz - A Closer Look: The Politics and Future of Israel, questions on Sderot, life in Israel, our future and the Palestinians…

Sami Shamoon College of Engineering was selected from over 60 colleges and universities in Israel to be granted the Green Campus Award by Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Dr. Adi Wolfson, a member of Shamoon’s Green Processes Center in Beer Sheva, explained that the Green Campus Award judging committee looked at numerous markers to determine the prize, including courses offered, on-going projects for the campus and the surrounding community, and the commitment of students, professors and administration staff to environmental issues.

The Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection will formally present the award to Shamoon College this November at a national environmental conference.

The Ministry has also tapped Shamoon to be the model Green Campus, sending a presentation about Shamoon’s environmental activities to every campus in Israel.

According to Wolfson, Shamoon is the only Israeli college to offer courses in Green Engineering, which cover sustainability, green energy, green buildings and green architecture. Wolfson commented, “Our hope is that, along with the knowledge the students gain, will come a feeling of obligation to deal with environmental issues, both as students and in their future professional lives.”

With campuses in Beer Sheva and Ashdod, Shamoon College has extensive outreach initiatives to train parents, primary school students and teachers, and army officers about the importance of protecting the environment. The local towns benefit as well — non-Shamoon students can take a Shamoon course called “Chemistry and the Environment”, and college students lead environmental activities for the community and for grade schools in Beer Sheva and local Bedouin villages.

In addition to being the model Green Campus, Shamoon College of Engineering plays a unique role in Israel’s development. Shamoon recruits, produces and retains the brain trust in Israel’s southern region, which helps spur the area’s economic growth.

Recognizing Shamoon’s uncompromised academic excellence, Israel’s Council for Higher Education selected Shamoon to be the first and only college to open a second campus, in the port city of Ashdod.

Eighty percent of Shamoon students hail from Israel’s south, fulfilling the government mandate to make higher education more accessible to people living on the periphery. “We reach out to young adults who lack the typical opportunities,” Prof. Jehuda Haddad, Shamoon College President said. “We give them a vision - that of becoming professional engineers - to make better lives for themselves, and for all who live in Israel’s south. Then we give them a chance to realize that vision.”

Shamoon’s graduates are helping fill the shortage of engineers in Israel, especially in the southern region. Approximately 77% of Shamoon graduates stay in south Israel, employed at companies such as Intel, Amdocs, El-Op, Dead Sea Works (DSW), and Bromine Compounds.

The College’s architecture embodies its philosophy of innovation, aspiration and outreach. Designed by internationally acclaimed architect Haim Dotan, the famous “spaceship” building stands on the main street of Aleph, Beer Sheva’s oldest neighborhood. “This juxtaposition is symbolic of Shamoon College providing a bridge from the hardships of the past to the promise of the future,” commented Joshua Karlin, Executive Vice President of American Friends of Sami Shamoon College of Engineering.

For more information, contact Dahlia Greer, 310-339-1060, dahlia@annabellestevens.com or Annabelle Stevens, 310-435-6996, annabelle@annabellestevens.com.

Moshik has an idea of what Arafat would do if he saw the recent events in the Palestinian Authority and Gaza…

I got this from one of our readers and thought it was worth sharing. This is about the USS New York, this is the official Navy document, and this is the story (Hat Tip: Virginia)

It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center.
It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.
Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, LA to cast the ship’s bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept 9, 2003, “those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence,” recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. “It was a spiritual moment for everybody there.”
The Ship’s Motto? “Never Forget”

There is a whole bunch of fallout from the Maxim party in New York and the ad sponsored by the Israeli Consulate in New York. This is in general the story:

Andy Soltis of the New York Post broke the news on this unusual war. The bikini photo of 2004 Miss Israel winner Gal Gadot appears on formal invitations to an event hosted in New York tonight by the Israeli Consulate in conjunction with Maxim magazine.

The event is the “Women of the Israeli Defense Forces” article in the July issue of Maxim. The former Consul Colette Avital (Knesset Member), turned this into a shit storm and demanded a meeting with the Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik to discuss the cheap and “pornographic campaign,” she also said that “It’s unfortunate that the Israeli consulate chose to emphasize Israel’s relevance with a portrait of a half-naked woman, instead of with one of women of substance and accomplishments”.

Gawker is having a ball with this in a great post called Hatikva Hotties he’s suggesting some alternative titles to the one the New York Post used (”Piece In The Mideast”) with suggestions like:

Jew See The Cans On That Chick?

She Can Occupy My Territories Any Time!

Hear, O Israel, This Chick Has a Bod

Di-Ass-Pora

The official invitation that included the sprawled Gadot on the background on NYC would have probably been better off without the Official Seal of Israel and the New York Consulate hanging right there next to Maxim Magazine. Interesting choice guys

I guess I rather have this kind of heat then the ususal kind we get. It’s a nice change being in the headlines because of this sort of thing. Thank god for women. Aside from that I have always had the most profound respect for Israeli women. I am sure you agree
Hat Tip: IsraelMilitary.net

Strange things definitely happen in this world. And one of the strangest things is the sudden decision by Russian billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak to cancel his purchase of 51% of the shares of the non-kosher food chain Tiv Taam. Gaydamak’s previous announced buy-out of Israel’s third largest supermarket chain, albeit non-kosher, and known affectionately by many as “the chazer store” (chazer in Yiddish meaning pork), became breaking news a few days ago; especially since Gaydamak announced that he planned to “convert” the food chain to one either not serving pork, or actually to one being certified as kosher.

The offered sum of $100 million must have been a worrisome amount for even someone like Arcadi, whose accumulated wealth is estimated at between 1.5 and 4 billion dollars. With all the media hype that has been thrown at everyone by the press (their favorite pastime) during the past few days, Arcadi must have begun to have second thoughts concerning the validity of his offer to the company controlled by financier Amit Berger and former Tiv Taam CEO Kobi Tribitch. So serious was Gaydamak’s reservations, he decided to reduce his offer by $10 million, with the likely idea that he would need to spend at least this amount to “Kosher” all the stores properly as well as absorb significant losses until the general public decided to once again purchase products at the Tiv Taam stores. Even if pork and non kosher items were completely removed, including a big selection of non-kosher wines (one of the largest in Israel) there was still the matter of being open on the Jewish Sabbath and religious holidays. Consumers had gotten used to the convenience of being able to do their shopping there on both Friday evenings, until 8 p.m; and all day on Saturday. How Gaydamak would have gotten around this hurdle is still anybody’s guess.

So now the situation seems to have reverted to what it was before the earth shaking announcement of the proposed buyout less than ten days ago. One thing is for sure: non-kosher meat processing companies, including the one located at Kibbutz Mizra, located near Nazareth, are breathing a sigh of relief as a good deal of their income would have been lost had the deal actually gone through. And for those who appreciate being able to “run to the chazer store” for a few needed items on Shabbat, or for a tray or two of sushi, will now be able to continue to do so; unless some other billionaire like Lev Leviev (who is religious) might decide to purchase Tiv Taam and either ‘convert’ it to one selling only strictly kosher items or even close it down altogether.

Until that dark day happens, those who love wandering through what is considered a truly upscale European-style supermarket will still have the opportunity to do so.

Isn’t it interesting how things sometime work out for the best?