There are so many loose ends to tie before 5783, addressed here as briefly as possible:
1. A Saudi deal is not worthwhile if it means compromising a centimeter of Judea and Samaria or any aspect of Israeli sovereignty. A “settlement freeze” — Prime Minister Netanyahu’s hallmark step defining every single term he has been in office — is not worth a Saudi deal. Israel has lived 75 years without a Saudi deal, and she will live eternally more. The prospects are not as bright for the Saudis. Moreover, if a Republican is elected to replace Biden a year from now, the Saudis will come begging at a much cheaper cost.
2. Biden and Blinken and the World need to be told the “Two State Solution” is dead and buried. No, not buried but cremated. First, there are 350,000 Jews living permanently in the eastern parts of Jerusalem, and another 500,000 throughout the rest of Judea and Samaria. That is close to one million Jews. No “Palestinian” leader will accept those Jews remaining in “Palestine.” So Israel would have to relocate one million Jews, i.e. ten percent of the nation’s population. That is impossible. Israel barely managed to relocate 8,500 Jews from Gush Katif, one percent of 850,000. There are not sufficient homes elsewhere for 850,000 Jews and no schools for their children. The landed residents will not give up their villas. A whole bunch of Knesset members live in Judea and Samaria. So do soldiers. Now, thanks to the wonderful Left of Ehud Barak and Olmert and Gantz and Lapid, the taboo is broken forever, and religious Zionist soldiers will refuse orders to move Jews out. Indeed, they will refuse to move themselves out or their parents and children. Beyond all that, the prospect of mowing down Gush Etzion, home of “The 35,” is inconceivable and will not happen. Secondly, the Arabs of Jenin now manufacture rockets, albeit crude ones, that they shoot into Israel. This is a good thing because they now finally have revealed they are ready to turn “Palestine” into “Gaza 2” and can and will shoot rockets and eventually missiles into Israel. Once they become a country, their rockets would become more sophisticated, and Iran will ship better to them clandestinely. So, Hezbollah would be able to blanket all of Northern Israel with rockets and missiles, beyond Haifa to Tel Aviv; Hamas all of southern Israel, beyond Ashdod and Ashkelon to Tel Aviv; and “Palestine” all of Central Israel, leaving Israelis only to hope that “Palestine” missiles, Hamas missiles, and Hezbollah missiles might knock into each other. So the “Two State Solution” is dead and cremated, and it is time for Netanyahu and others to say so. Not that they “oppose” it but that it is dead and buried.
3. If 60,000 Africans streamed illegally into Israel, with 30,000 still refusing to leave, where is the apartheid? Why does Israel not make this point? And what other country ever risked its citizens’ lives to go into the depths of darkest Africa to bring 25,000 and more Africans to live as free citizens among the population? Why has Israel never pointed this out in response to those who call her apartheid?
4. How in the world do Arabs all through the Galilee and Negev in all-Arab cities have so many weapons? Aren’t they, uh, not supposed to be that heavily armed? Like, not armed at all? What is Israel waiting for — to have them form an auxiliary Arab Legion when there is a next war? Why is Israel not confiscating every pistol and bullet in the Arab sector?
5. Bibi is not my favorite, but he is the best of the worst. I am an Orthodox rav and have criticized him several times in the past, but he said nothing wrong — from an Orthodox religious viewpoint — in his comments that G-d has not always protected Jews in Europe. He was not making a theological but a political statement. He simply did not pause to weigh his words carefully as an Orthodox Jew would have, but public people misspeak all the time. His point is so obvious that it really does not need to be said: Jews get murdered in Europe. Lots of Jews. Plenty, plenty more than Six Million. Name the place in Europe. 1290 England and the blood libels over William of Norwich and Hugh of Lincoln. France — the 1171 Blois Blood Libel and Massacre, the expulsions, the burning of 24 cartloads of Jewish Torah books under Louis IX in 1242, the badges of shame. Italy — the papal bull “Cum Nimis Absurdum” of 1555, the ghettoes of Pope Paul IV. Spain — the Inquisition, auto-da-fé burnings at the stake, the expulsion. Germany — you fill in that one. Poland — same. Hungary, Rumania, all of them. And Ukraine — the locals assisted the Nazi Einsatzgruppen. Of course G-d is with us everywhere, as He likewise oversees all aspects of His world. But Bibi was making a different point: Zelenskyy made clear he cannot protect a mass of Jews pouring into Uman (which Jews should not be doing anyway because there are even more holy Torah sages buried in Israel, and the drain of Israeli currency caused by the Uman foolishness is tragic). G-d forbid what may happen this Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in Uman, all for no reason. Bibi did not want to cause a diplomatic incident with Ukraine or Putin by being more explicit, so he made his point gently. But he is right.
6. Bennett sold out his voters and is the reason the accursed Baharav-Miara became “Attorney-General.” His corrupt deal made Gideon Sa’ar Justice Minister, and Sa’ar had one focused purpose in naming a new Attorney-General: to appoint someone who would devote her every night-and-day with one and only one reason for living: to destroy Sa’ar’s hated Netanyahu. If Bennett had not sold out his voters, there would be an acceptable A-G. Moreover, because of Bennett, Lapid was enabled insanely to hand over strategic Israeli waters and gas fields to Hezbollah while barring a Knesset vote on the treachery. Even so, no one — emphasize: no one — has a right to impugn Bennett’s and his mother’s Jewish bonafides. It is wonderful that he won his defamation suits, and may he recover tons more money from the slanderers and libelers. If someone wants to attack Bennett for reasons like those discussed here, great. Don’t let up. But no one has the right to impugn a Jewish family’s authenticity unless he has crystal-clear incontrovertible evidence.
7. Israel must fix the Law of Return and stop the disaster of admitting thousands of non-Jews, mostly from Russia and Ukraine, who don’t even want to be in Israel and will leave once they get their footing. They are adding legions to Liberman’s constituency, too. Likewise, the homosexual and lesbian weddings done by Zoom to Utah must be stopped.
8. Next year’s Homosexual (“Gay”) Parade in Jerusalem, if not barred, must be re-routed to take place in Shuafat, Silwan, and Sheikh Jarrah. Share the Pride.
9. The Chief Rabbinate must be protected and supported. It is the bulwark against incursions by Reform Judaism into Israel. Reform Judaism’s disaster is on full display in America where their own national leader proudly declares that more than half of them are intermarried. At least 40 percent of them are not Jewish. They are at the forefront of advocating for transgenderism, which includes their advocating horrific gender-changing surgery that entails, inter alia, cutting off children’s body organs and consigning them to ruinous hormones for life. Yes, the Chief Rabbinate can and must improve. But it must not be compromised. Beware particularly of theologically left-wing Orthodox Jews and leftist Orthodox rabbis trying to impugn the Chief Rabbinate and weaken its authority.
10. Beware of Jack Lew. He will be no better and maybe much worse than Nides. He is not loyal to his people. Yes, an American ambassador must be loyal first to America. That is fair. But there are nuances. Jack Lew was as close as one could get to Obama, but he did not use that leverage as, say, David Friedman did with President Trump. Lew defended the disastrous Obama Iran deal. He blamed Bibi and defended Obama in every disagreement instead of holding his peace if he could not criticize his boss. Most powerfully, never forget that he was Obama’s chief of staff when the U.N. Security Council passed its despicable Resolution 2334, the only sharply anti-Israel resolution in history that America did not veto. Not only did Lew’s boss not veto it, but Lew did not even have the Jewish self-respect to gently and quietly resign his job afterward, which would have been of historic impact while costing him very little because his job and Obama’s term had only one month left. He could have made that statement. Rather, he later made a different statement: defending Obama for not vetoing 2334. Jack Lew is not good for Israel. He observes Shabbat, eats kosher, and his wife surely goes to mikvah — and he will sell Israel down the river to assure his continued status as Court Jew #1. The great Torah commentator, Rav Don Yitzchak Abravanel (Abarbanel) was Minister of Finance to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. When they expelled the Jews of Spain, they made an exception and begged him to remain. He responded that, despite his advanced age, he would face the burdens of the long trek out of Spain to join with his people’s fate. Therefore, Jewish history honors him. By contrast, Jack Lew will be forgotten.
11. The 30,000 Eritreans and Sudanese infiltrators may not yet be legally susceptible to expulsion, but they legally may be relocated, for their own welfare and happiness, to North Tel Aviv. Cheap but adequate housing should be built there for them. Upon mass relocation, they will find liberal-minded, open-hearted Beautiful People there to welcome them with open arms.
12. Arab terrorists who murder or even attempt to murder must be executed. The law should be that anyone who perpetrates an act of murder to advance a purpose aimed at harming the eternity of Jewish sovereignty in Israel must be executed and buried with a pig. All relatives of the murderer’s extended family must be expelled. In cases when Arab terrorists are killed in the course of their acts, their bodies should be stored in morgues with a pig in each Arab murderer’s drawer. None of their bodies should be released until Arabs release all Jews in captivity.
13. Israel must tear down illegal Arab homes and other buildings that have been constructed in Area C and in eastern communities of Jerusalem. The tearing down must be implemented on a massive scale. It should thereafter be extended to the Negev.
14. More and more Jewish communities must be built up and down Judea and Samaria while the Left is focused on court reform. Just build and build and build. The expansion of available housing will resolve a desperate need by bringing down home prices in the country, and will provide homes for young newlyweds, while further securing Israel.
15. Any proposed compromise on court reform that fails to include changing the built-in leftist monopoly for naming and perpetuating leftist judges to replace retiring ones is unacceptable. Likewise, the “reasonableness” standard must be held. There is room for compromise, but not on core principles.
16. Amiram Ben Uliel must be released or, at least, relocated to be with other Orthodox Jews. His false confession was coerced by Inquisition-quality torture. No civilized country’s judicial system would have accepted that false “confession.” He is being destroyed. As Jews gather in shuls on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur for prayers, the standard service must be paused at some point to recite at least one Psalm — and preferably several Tehillim — for the release and well-being of Amiram Ben Uliel, a victim of torture and injustice.
The rest can wait for 5784.
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