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

With the official 40 day mourning period for assassinated Hezbollah terror leader Imad Mughniyeh now over, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah hasn’t wasted any time renewing his rhetoric concerning his organizations plans to take revenge on Israel, whom he say’s are responsible for Mughniyeh’s death. In addition to the regular manner of reprisals, such as additional cross border attacks and kidnappings, possible renewed Ketiusha rocket launchings and the like, the Sheikh now has an additional new “game plan” up his black sleeves. And that plan is to literally saturate Israel with hard line narcotics such as heroin.

Nasrallah’s plan is really nothing new as opium and heroin have been smuggled into Israel for years – even with the “assistance” of the once Southern Lebanese Army which was closely allied with Israel. Raw Lebanese opium originates in the Beka Valley, especially near the town of Baal Beck. From there, it is sent to various “processing centers” where the raw opium is made into heroin and then sent to Kfar Roger on the border with Israel. After being smuggled across the border, it finds its way to Israel’ center, especially Tel Aviv and Lod, where the drug is sold to addicts through holes in the wall, called “Kaspomats”, which is the same term used by ATM machines. Other major cities, including Jerusalem, where large numbers of “users” live, also are eventual recipients of Lebanese narcotics.

The Sheikh plans to literally flood Israel with the hard stuff hoping to demoralize people and increase the number of addicts due to the availability of cheaper heroin. What he fails to realize is all he will be doing is helping to line the pockets of Israeli drug dealers, both Jewish and Arab, who will be happy to handle this new influx of dope, no matter what it’s origin.

To give one an idea of how much money can be made on the stuff, a kilogram of processed heroin brings $20,000 in Lebanon. In Israel, the price skyrockets to $100,000 after final processing in Israel. Illegal narcotics laboratories in Israel dilute the dope so a kilo of Lebanese “H” winds up as 4 to 10 kilos of diluted drugs when finally sold on the “street”. This also doesn’t take into account the risks that the addicts take by using heroin with talcum powder and other “additives” mixed in.

Israeli police officials are already used to having to deal with this kind of problem, which began in earnest following the 1982 Lebanese war. At that time, the border with Lebanon was so “porous” that literally everything, including AK-47 assault rifles and other weapons was brought in by Israeli soldiers and others who were in Lebanon following Israel’s invasion of that country. In the 18 year occupation of the southern “security zone” narcotics, including large quantities of hashish, was also smuggled across into Israel.

Police officials take Nasrallah’s new threat very seriously; and will have to be more vigilant as to these new quantities of “imported” merchandise, courtesy of the Hezbollah.

Who thought Israel would serve as a shelter for a Palestinian from Jenin?

This week Israel has granted a residency permit to a 33-year old gay Palestinian who asked to stay with his partner in Tel Aviv. This is not the first time that a Palestinian gay man asks for residency permission, claiming his life is threatened in their hometown.

Under the Hamas regime, the lives of Palestinian gays and lesbians have become more difficult than ever. According to the Palestinian law, homosexual sex is a serious offense punishable by law. The accusations lead to further charges such as spreading the HIV virus. Ten years ago, a Palestinian officer was executed for having sex with a younger man. Next to that, any act of homophobia in Israel looks like a walk in the park!

The lives of gays who live at the West Bank continue to be in constant danger. As part of Israel’s strict security policy, applications on the basis of sexual orientation are typically denied. The Defense ministry does not allow Palestinians to formally unite with their Israeli partners within its territories. This policy applies to both heterosexual and gay couples.

Peter Lerner, spokesman for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories says: “In this case the man’s lawyer said his life was in danger because of his sexual preference. On this basis we issued the temporary permit”.

Why the apologizing tone? Finally we can say that we have something to be proud about! There is nothing wrong with showing human decency in front of our neighbors and the rest of the world.

Major General Elazar Stern protested yesterday against girls who falsely claim to be religious to evade the military service.

According to enlistment rules, girls who identify themselves as religious are not required to join the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), a service that is otherwise mandatory to every young men and women who have turned 18. However, Stern mentions that according to the IDF statistics about 30 percent of the young women who are fit for service declare themselves religious in order to avoid the two-year term. Stern states that the Israeli army needs the female soldiers as much as it needs the men.

Stern draws attention to a troubling trend within the Israeli youth. Young people avoid military service with various excuses, especially those who feel that the IDF policy not to enlist orthodox Jews or young religious women is unjust.

The general feeling is that the attitude of the young generation has changed - many young Israelis are turning indifferent or no longer believe in the ideology of serving one’s own country. More seriously, dodging the army has gradually become a socially acceptable norm.

According to Stern, one’s choice to avoid the military service says a lot about the person’s character. Stern urges employers to ask their candidates about their past experiences in the IDF. “Don’t they deserve to be asked about the two or more years they contributed to their nation? The universities take personality into consideration. Doesn’t the military service say anything about personality? Why can’t we ask about it?”, says Stern.

An important question that IDF seems to pose is what would be the point of enlisting people who have no desire in serving. Would it not turn out to be a disadvantage to the military institution if it is run by unmotivated people?

On a positive note, it is good to hear that the role of women is finally recognized by a major military figure, unless of course Stern means that women are needed to make coffee for their officers.

Picture is part of the article about Ashkan Sahishi of Women in the IDF

No sooner had the fine china been put away for German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. Presidential candidate John McCain at Jerusalem hotels like the Kind David at Jerusalem hotels like the King David, when U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney came to town. Cheney, also back from a quick trip to beleaguered Iraq (where U.S. forces have just suffered their 4,000th war casualty) stopped off in Israel to visit both with Israeli and Palestinian officials.

Not exactly “Mr. Personality”, Cheney reiterated previous remarks by both McCain and Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice (who was also here recently) in respect to American support of a two state solution and a full partnership with Israel. Cheney also pulled no punches when he mentioned that Iran was not only a danger to Israel but to America and the non-Islamic world at large. This also was not anything new as both Senator McCain and Sec. Rice had made similar remarks.

In respect to relations between Israel and the Palestinians, Cheney said that in order for peace to be achieved, “some painful concessions need to be made”. Now, here is the kicker question in this remark: painful for whom? Israel, the Palestinians (the West Bank Palestinians, that is ) or for those nasty people called Hamas who nobody wants to deal with, except people like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Nasrallah, that is. And we might as well throw in people like Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s No. 2, and even more nasty than Osama bin Laden, so they say. Cheney’s visit with Palestinian President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas was also a bit lackluster, but what could one expect, since any rational person knows who the most powerful Palestinian leader really is.

Cheney has been behind much of America’s five plus year Iraq experience that is being “commemorated” today with the announcement of the 4000th slain U.S. combat soldier. Not as bad as Vietnam, which had at least 40,000 dead GI’s after the same 5 year period. But these new war dead are bad enough for a much scaled down professional military that requires it’s thinly spread-out troop contingents to spend at lest two duty tours in either Iraq or Afghanistan – take their choice.

As for Cheney’s short trip here, it will most likely be his last to the region, although his boss, President George W. Bush plans to be back in Israel to help celebrate the upcoming 60th Independence celebration. Busch better not plan to be here at the same time that former Beatles greats Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr plan to be here too, as they will surely upstage him.

Oh what the heck. The fact that he’s still alive with half a heart left feebly beating is a triumph in itself! Dick Cheney doesn’t need to worry about such things as upstaging the Beatles, since he won’t be attending the party.

Today’s been a record hot day for the season. I’m not sure what the temperature actually is but it feels close to around 90F. The heat in Israel can be uncomfortable, but it’s easy to get distracted from it when dealing with other things– like, say, the Israeli service industry.

My latest run-in– maybe “collision” would be a better word– was with the Internet and cable provider Hot. I’ll give a little background on the company in the form of telling you that there is a Hebrew website called “I Hate Hot.” The website is well built and seems very active.

The first salvo of stupidity occurred, naturally, the first time I contacted Hot about a problem I was having with my connection. The technician said, “How can I help you?” I said, “I have a problem with my internet.” There was silence until I said, “Hello?” The thick Israeli accent on the other end responded, “Ehhhh….yes, ehh, my computer is brroken, so I must to pass you to another person.” Bad omen.

They eventually managed to send out a technician– who didn’t fix the problem. They sent another one 3 days later and, you guessed it, no dice. They sent a third who decided it’d be better for him to not show up at all.

The first customer service representative to “help” me after the volley of failed technicians was a cute-sounding Israeli girl, Meirav. Meirav said she’d get back to me. Ha. The second one (also cute-sounding) told me she’d also call me back but I didn’t allow that to happen. Very angry by this point, I said, “No. Either I speak to a manager or I cancel the account. It’s that simple.” The girl pulled out a whole new strategy: she said “Okay, hold on please,” and then left me hanging on hold indefinitely. Clearly this girl was taught the art of attrition when she was in the army.

Then Yair called me from the tech department. “Ehhh…I must to know what the problem with internet.” Yair…Yair…are you really asking me this question again? We go through the motions of this silly dance of failed customer “service”. We reach a conclusion: someone who speaks English will call me back.

Are you still wondering if that actually happened?

I was initially going to use the first incident– the Hot computer technician who has a broken computer– as a metaphor to illustrate some sociological or economic phenomenon in Israel. I’m not sure what the metaphor means anymore, or if the situation is anything more than literal.

But with 18 families controlling the vast majority of the wealth, utilities and government institutions it’s not really that surprising. It’s even less surprising when you take into account a public that thinks an Ivri Lider-Aviv Gefen-Rita sing-a-long constitutes a protest. I say again and again that there’s only one real problem in Israel– it just has many facets.

I just got off the phone with another technician who told me confidently that he made an appointment with a “professional” technician to come fix the problem tomorrow, since the problem is complex and needs “professional” service (making me wonder what the other guys were). He asked me to hold, came back, and then told me that, actually, the pro can’t come tomorrow. Someone will have to call me back later.

Israeli doubles stars Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich have done it again by winning the men’s doubles championship at the 2008 Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells California. Ram and Erlich, virtually repeated their Australian Open feat by winning in straight sets over Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 6-4, 6-4 to achieve their second important Masters tennis title so far this year. When interviewed afterwards, Ram said that he and Erlich have been concentrating more on improving their game concentration, and that they “have been playing very solid tennis since last summer”.

“We are concentrating more on improving our game, match by match, and giving 100% concentration, rather than trying to win titles”, Erlich added.

The two Israelis are feeling more confident and this is apparently evident in their game performance.

The tournament, also known to many as the Indian Wells Tourney, saw a number of surprises in semi-finals individual matches on Friday, when American No. 1 ace Ron Federer was beaten by another American, Mardy Fish. Another star, Russian Maria Sharapova, was beaten by fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. Coming into this match, Sharapova had 18 straight wins to her credit.

Mardy Fish, who was beaten by Federer at the same tournament four years ago, was ranked number 98 going into this tournament, and if he wins the championship Sunday will regain much ground he has lost since being ranked number 17 four years ago.

As for Ram and Erlich, they are now in a very good position for advancing in world rankings, and are considered by many as the top male doubles team in professional tennis.

Israel’s female star, Shahar Peer, lost out to Indian female tennis star Sania Mirza in the third round of the competition. Mirza has dominated in previous encounters against the18th ranked Israeli player.

Israeli athletes are making good gains in both amateur and professional competitions, and this is especially so in sports like tennis. It only goes to show that Israelis are capable in holding their own against other players, and hopefully, they will perform as well in singles tennis competitions as they do in doubles matches.

The Tel Aviv Cinematheque is showing a new 30-minute comedy called Bombshell about a young Arab female suicide bomber who fails in her terrorist attack.

This is a story of a young female terrorist who plans to blow herself up on an Israeli bus. Her plan takes an unsuspected turn when she is running late and misses the bus. Meanwhile another woman, an Israeli, is on her way to a Leftists’ protest. Her name is Gali Fahima- a parody of Tali Fahima, a radical left-wing activist who has been accused of aiding a well-known terrorist leader Zakaria Zubeidi.

Terrorism and comedy - sounds like a paradox? Not to the creator of the film, Atar Offek: “A good satire, as I intended to make it, does not make fun at the expense of the weak ones but at the expense of the powerful forces in society.” “So here, too, the movie does not ridicule terror victims, it ridicules the terrorists and the (Israeli) army,” says Offek.

The movie satirizes the two sides of the conflict- Jews and Arabs who are both depicted as comical and absurd. The movie trailer introduces the audience to the “IDF absurd theater,” showing a Hamas woman with a gun who tells the viewers: “whoever doesn’t come to watch me is a smoked egg.”

This black comedy offers a different perspective on widely debated Jewish-Arab conflict. The relatively quiet period of the last four years has allowed this movie to pass under the sensitivity radar without raising too much public objection. Yet it managed to invoke considerable attention with its provocative outlook. But will people actually buy tickets to watch it?

Many Israelis look for escapism while others might not be so open to humoring this sensitive subject. An important quality of humor in our lives is that it acts as a great equalizer between people of different groups by bringing them to the same level of entertainment for the masses. Perhaps this is the recipe for making the enemy more of a human being and for normalizing life in the shadows of a violent conflict. After all, the basis of comedy is people and their human faults.

Tacking such a sensitive issue with black humor may seem out of line. But what is the purpose of art if not to provoke, shock and give a unique and unexpected perspective on life? The view taken in this film offers an attitude we may consider adopting though perhaps not to such a radical extent – despite the harsh reality we live in we should not loose sight of our humanity and our brilliant ability to make silly mistakes.

To everyone in Israel who woke up this week expecting a regular winter day, a big surprise waited at the door. In the last few days Israel has been experiencing an unusual heat wave. Winter is not over, and yet, temperatures keep soaring and soaring. The source of the heat wave is southern winds coming from Africa, causing an increase of 10 degrees Celsius above average. Still in the grip of drought yesterday surpassed the heat wave record of more than 50 years. Some areas in Israel have seen temperatures rise to as much as 38 degrees Celsius. You could have sworn it was a boiling day in August!

During the entire day firefighters dealt with frequent blazes around the country. Fortunately, no injuries were reported at any of these cases. A dangerous fire also broke out yesterday in a pesticides shed in Sade Moshe, a small southern community. Residents of the area were evacuated from their homes because of the toxic chemicals that spread around the area. The fire department still does not know for sure what started this fire.

The weather seems to be going crazy! Do we witness the effects of global warming? Possibly. At any rate, this winter provided us with poor rainfall. Our major problem is not so much the moist, the sweat, or dangerous fire breakout. Israel’s major concern at the end of winter 2008, is [or should be] the Kinneret Lake, better known as the Sea of Galilee, which is Israel’s largest source of drinking water. The Sea of the Galilee has not sot seen such a severe drought in years, and has recently reached its lowest level in five years. The long period of poor rainfall has resulted in the lake dropping few dozens feet below its “red line”. If this drought situation continues, Israel’s primary source of fresh water is at risk. At this low sea level, toxic substances can dissolve in water and pollute this most precious resource.

Israel’s Water Authority has recently launched a big campaign urging Israelis to save water at home. It seems though, that the Israelis do not take this water crisis too seriously, and this statement applies to both citizens and politicians. At the peak of Sunday’s heat, a group of young green activists chose to protest against the general lack of public interest, creating a human chain that demonstrated the extreme low level of Lake Kinneret. Indeed, not enough is done. Summer is on the way. So when you turn your air conditioner on, take a moment to think about these greater effects of the current weather. We should take actions now, before we have to pay the high price of losing one of our finest resources.

U.S. Senator and Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain didn’t just make a recent Middle East tour to say hello. McCain, being a former military man himself, decided rightly that he needs see for himself the current situation in countries that will be a big part of his country’s foreign policy dealings should he be sitting in the Oval Office next January 21st. After previous remarks that American forces will remain in Iraq “for 100 years, if necessary” in a manner similar to post WWII Germany and Japan, McCain realizes more than anyone that in order for his country’s 3 trillion dollar investment in post Saddam Hussein’s Iraq to bear fruit, American foreign policy must undergo some serious changes.

McCain’s visit to Israel, in which he made some very positive remarks about American Israeli relations, comes at a time when the Israeli/Palestinian issue is at a most volatile level, and is influenced considerably by radical Islamic fundamentalism; with the Islamic Republic of Iran being Israel’s greatest danger since becoming a nation. During an interview conducted with editors from the Jerusalem Post, McCain said the following concerning the Iranian threat:

“When you look at the multitude of challenges and the nature of the enemy, including a nation that is developing nuclear weapons and is dedicated to Israel’s destruction, then from my standpoint, Israel is probably at greater risk than perhaps it has been since 1947″.

McCain is careful not to appear that his country is trying to exert undue influence upon Israel’s dealing with “the Iranian and Palestinian problems”, and appears to fully understand Israel’s need to be able to defend itself against both entities, as well as by groups such as Hezbollah, who are Iranian clients. He appears to appreciate the fact that Israel is one of America’s closet allies and defense partners, and he emphasizes the term “partnership” in reference to current and future relationships between Israel and the U.S.

Dealing with ongoing Palestinian rocket attacks and Israel’s response, often referred to as a “disproportionate use of force” by many European countries, McCain repeated what he has said previously that Americans “especially in my home state of Arizona would not stand for such activity on their southern border”.

While Cain hopes that Israel will be able to reach some kind of peace agreement with Palestinian leaders such as Mahmoud Abbas, McCain is also realistic in the fact that as long as groups like Hamas (who are also tied to Iran) are in power, no final agreement is possible. “My personal feeling is that Israel should not talk to Hamas as they are dedicated to Israel’s extinction”, McCain said.

One thing is for sure; should McCain become America’s next president: he will not formulate policies that will be detrimental to Israel’s security interests, as he sees these interests as inseparable from America’s security interests. He sees the threat that Israel faces from Islamic radicalism, particularly from Iran, as no different than the one America faces, and that the greatest challenge he will have is how to fight this threat. With Israel on his team, he knows he has a strong ally in this part of the world.

The recent attention given by the news media to our water problems in general, and to the warning by Israel’s national water authorities about the seriousness of the present situation, clearly points out and emergency situation in which the country’s three major water sources are fast approaching the point of being too low to be safe for public use. This crises recalls a poster I saw in awhile back that read: “ The Next War in the Middle East Will be Over Water”. Although the poster really had nothing to do with this subject (it was advertising surfing clothing and accessories), the reality of our water problems is one for everyone’s concern.

With all publicity dealing with the ever decreasing water levels, desalinization plants and the like, one of the real problems stems from the very wasteful water usage of both agriculture and industry in Israel, and especially among the general public. I am amazed at how many times I have seen water irrigation and sprinkler systems in full operation either during or after a major rain storm. The only “logic” from this phenomena is that the kibbutzim and moshavim have to use their water “allocations” from Mekorot within a certain time-frame – or lose them. Or, in the case of parks, apartment buildings, etc., the water system is operated by a time sequence, and programmed in advance to dispense the water without any connection to what is happening via Mother Nature.

The growing of crops, such as cotton, consume large quantities of water (even if it is non-potable), and at subsidized prices, is a luxury that will have to be altered drastically or even eliminated. On the subject of growing cotton, I think this country can continue progressing very nicely without one single dunam of cotton being grown! We can purchase all the cotton we need from other countries (incl. the USA and even Egypt).

Another water using phenomena that has increased dramatically in recent years are both private swimming pools and automatic car washes. While both use recycled water (swimming pools filter the same water over and over), they still use water that can be allocated to other uses. When I came to Israel over 25 years ago, I could count the number of car washes in Tel-Aviv on the fingers of one hand. Now, it’s like having to use a computer data-bank to keep track of them.

Finally, the main problem hits closer to home, i.e., all of us and how we use water. When the water conserving publicity started drawing attention, I decided to begin my own personal water conservation “project”, and during the past several months, I calculate that I have personally conserved at least 6 –8 liters of water per day by engaging in the following practices:

1. Heating and using water that would have been thrown away ( from mineral water bottles, etc.,) for kitchen uses, shaving, etc.

2. By not flushing the toilet each time (depending on the reason for usage).

3. By careful use of water during teeth brushing, shaving, washing before bed or in the morning (not shower usage).

4. By never taking a bath (in a tub), and by “soaping down” in the shower before turning the water back on.

5. By forgoing at least one shower per week - it’s not the end of the world to not shower once a day (some people do this twice a day!).

6. By going back to the practice of using buckets to wash that Mazda that the
software company has given you as a job perk.

Now, I realize most, if not all, of the above practices seem a bit Draconian, but, the day may come when we will all think of the “good old days” when the stuff coming out of our taps could actually be drunk without using some kind of expensive filtration device – if anything comes out at all!

While awaiting our government to institute measures to solve our water problem in the “long run”, we can certainly help our “short run” situation by using some or all of the measures as noted above.

After all, if I, one person, can save an average of 165 liters of water per month, think of how much 1,000,10,000, or even 100,000 people will save. And, our personal life-styles will only be slightly altered.

We can either do this on a voluntary basis now or a forced basis later on. The choice is ours.