Opuscula Separate PM, Knesset vote When convenient

THE HEADLINE READS

Netanyahu facing political headwinds, makes plea for direct prime ministerial elections
^{https://tinyurl.com/9y777s46}

Israel tried (in 1996, 1999, and 2001) to separate the election for prime minister (PM) and members of Knesset, but the politicians got scared and canceled the idea.

Let the people decide? That’s not a politician’s way.

The same politician who today seems to call to separate the voting also is the politician who, before becoming prime minister, promoted term limits for that post.

Flip and flop.

According to the World Israel News,

“Netanyahu called for direct elections for prime minister and blamed Naftali Bennett of the Yemina party for preventing it.”

Naftali Bennett (l) and Benjamin Netanyahu (r) (Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Bennett is perhaps the Number One contender from the political right to be PM.

Netanyahu is facing a fifth plebiscite if he is once again unable to form a government.

In Israel, with more than 15 squabbling political parties, including far left, far right, religious, and anti-Israel (Ra’am, mostly), forming a coalition of 62 agreeing Knesset members is difficult; lately it has been impossible.

Electing a PM on his — or her — own would not quiet the political warfare, but it would mean the PM is secure — for the duration.

Currently, the PM usually is head of the political party garnering the most votes. For many years the leftist held control of the position, but since Menachem Begin, Israel's 6th PM, led the old Likud party to victory, the PM has been in right-wing hands. The Likud of Begin’s day is not the Likud of 2021. (Blogger’s opinion.)

England’s “gift”

Israel, fortunately or not, inherited many things from the English.

The political system of the tiny island off Europe’s coast is one of the legacies.

England, for all its problems, is not burdened by an over-abundance of political parties.

Plus it has a figurehead monarch that has more respect than Israel’s powerless president, usually a washed up politician with few political enemies.

The English PM almost always is from one of the two major parties on the island.

While if may be no better, the U.S. (usual) two-party system at least limits the number of candidates and members of each party sort out, via primary elections, who they want to represent them in the various levels of government. It does make voter fraud easier. This may change during the Harris administration when Washington intends to override state voting laws; a packed Supreme Court will uphold this attack on states rights. Again, blogger’s opinion.

Another U.S. idea that Israel could, but won’t, implement is a requirement that politicians reside in and represent a voting district. Again, this requirement is missing from the English model.

 

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

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Comment on Voting

Opuscula Dear Alan, When Did you become An Israeli resident?

U.S. ATTORNEY ALAN DER­SHO­WITZ, in a letter to the leftist HaAretz newspaper, posits that “indicting him (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) endangered Israeli democracy.“
Der­sho­witz chose the left-leaning newspaper to carry an “open letter” to Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit. (http://tinyurl.com/yxlxf64j )
In the letter, Der­sho­witz’ argued that indicting the prime minister put Israeli democracy at risk. “To bring down a duly elected prime minister on the basis of an expansive and unprecedented application of a broad and expandable criminal statute endangers democracy,” he wrote.

 
I HAVE SEVERAL PROBLEMS with Der­sho­witz’ pronouncements.
FIRST, unless I am mistaken, the gentleman is a U.S. citizen residing in the U.S. He also may be an Israeli citizen, but he lives in the U.S.
SECOND, does this legal opinion carry any weight in Israel? Is Der­sho­witz entitled to practice law in Israel?
THIRD AND MOST IMPORTANT, if Israel’s AG bows to Der­sho­witz, won’t THAT have a negative impact on democracy? It seems that Der­sho­witz would put Netanyahu above the law.”
Almost no one in the U.S. is above the law. (The Kennedys and the Clintons are the exceptions; Nixon was not above the law and it cost him his presidency.)
Granted Der­sho­witz and Netanyahu are self-proclaimed “conservatives” and that may be why Der­sho­witz is defending a man who would be prime minister for life if he can just control the voters “one more time.”
Perhaps Der­sho­witz really is a leftist rather than a conservative.
If the AG follows Der­sho­witz’ advice, many who reluctantly support Netanyahu might mark their ballots for another party.
 
In Israel, voters vote by party, not by candidate. The party that wins the most seats in the Knesset usually is allowed to name the prime minister, but there never has a single party controlled the government; a coalition always is required.
For one election, voters were able to vote for the prime minister on a separate ballot; the politicians quickly realized the folly of giving voters this opportunity and the separate ballot for prime minister was history.
 
It seems to me that Der­sho­witz is endowed with one Israeli characteristic: CHUTZPAH.
I hold both U.S. (by birth) and Israeli citizenship.
Because I no longer reside in Israel, I generally refrain from commenting on Israeli politics. I have an opinion — in fact, several — but since I don’t LIVE in Israel, it behooves me to keep them to myself. My relatives who DO live in Israel are smart enough to sort wheat from the chaff. Well, most of them, anyway.
Perhaps if Der­sho­witz relocates to Israel, even to a U.S. ex-pat community, THEN he will have right to suggest that the AG close his eyes to potential crimes by officials high in the government.
Dealing with the accusations against a sitting prime minister is not in any way a “threat to democracy.”
Ignoring potential crimes IS a “threat to democracy.”
Holding off on investigating crime “until after the election,” also is a threat to democracy.
AG Mandleblit is well advised to ignore Der­sho­witz’ letter and advice. Mandleblit is there; Der­sho­witz is not.
Der­sho­witz, who usually defends Israel against attacks from its many foes has, in my opinion, done Israel no favor with his open letter in the leftist press.

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.
Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Comments on Dershowitz

Opuscula Native Americans Had war chiefs To lead warriors

AS MOST BOYS GROWING UP in the U.S., I was fascinated by Indians, a/k/a “Native Americans” in PC-speak.

Many Indian tribes had a special chief — leader — who was skilled in dealing with threats from outside the tribe.

The only time a war chief had authority was when the tribe was threatened. Otherwise, the war chief was just another member of the tribe.

ISRAEL HAS HAD “war chiefs.” Menachem Begin was a war chief, which is how he, and Egypt’s war chief, Anwar Sadat, managed to make a so-far long-lasting peace.

Benjamin Netanyahu is NOT a war chief.

In fact, he seems to have worked against the men who could serve Israel as a war chief.

Netanyahu kowtowed to Hamas several times. The last time, this week, he obliged Hamas and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman resigned.

According to Liberman, “I have tried to remain a faithful member of the cabinet and to make heard another view, even at a great electoral and political price,” Liberman said. However, Tuesday’s ceasefire with Hamas “cannot be interpreted in any way other than a capitulation to terrorism." ¹

Netanyahu claimed he had “secret” information; apparently so secret he could not, or would not, share it with his war chief. Granted, Liberman is not a Likudnik; he heads the Yisrael Beitenu (Israel [is] our home) party.

Liberman is a “hawk,” a man who was frustrated by Netanyahu’s constant flip-flopping on Gaza and the “settlements” and many other issues.

Another “hawk,” Naftali Bennnett, also of Yisrael Beitanu, wants Liberman’s old job.

Bennett’s demand for the defense minister position is opposed by fellow cabinet ministers Moshe Kahlon of the Kulanu (All of us) party and Aryeh Deri of Shas (the late R. Ovadia Yosef’s party). Deri was convicted of corruption before being named to Netanyahu’s cabinet.

Bennett told Netanyahu "There is something to do. I told the prime minister yesterday to appoint me defense minister so Israel can back to winning."¹ Bennett has long criticized the Netanyahu government’s reluctance to respond more forcefully to Gaza rocket attacks, and has advocated ground incursions into the Gaza Strip.²

Both Bennett and Kahlon threaten to pull their parties out of Netanyahu’s coalition; Bennett and Yisrael Bietnu if Netanyahu refuses to appoint Bennett as Defense Minister and Kahlon if Netanyahu appoints Bennett to the post.

Either way, the current government is on shaky ground.

Meanwhile, there is, or was, a bill in the Knesset that would allow Israel’s president, a largely ceremonial position, to appoint whomever the president wished to form a new government. Currently, the president is obliged to ask the leader of the party with the most seats in the Knesset to try to form a government. All governments, from Ben Gurion on, are formed as a coalition, usually by blackmailing the person named to head the new government.

Sources

1. http://tinyurl.com/yafx7j7y

2. http://tinyurl.com/ycwcs59p

3. https://www.haaretz.com/1.4705992

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Comments on War Chiefs

Ahh, diplomacy Name calling

 

Did one of the sycophants of the current incompetent at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue actually call Israel's prime minister chicken manure (in a slightly less genteel word)?

Or, as a few have suggested, is the remark a figment of an anti-Israel Jew's imagination?

Having worked in a "lul," a chicken house for both chicks and layers, trust me, I know the foul smell of fowl feces.

The only manure smell worse than chicken poop is that of green feces from a new born. I have three children - now adults - and a grand-daughter so I am acquainted with that smell, too.

My personal opinion of Israel's prime minister is only slightly higher than my opinion of the U.S. president, which is to say on a scale of 1 to 10, both are in negative numbers. It's not a matter of party; I appreciated Harry S Truman and LBJ and, when I lived in Holon, I was 100% behind Begin. All three were, in my opinion, honest men who were true to their beliefs and worked for the betterment of their nations (although with LBJ, sometimes it was hard to determine).

Israel's PM reminds me of a wind sock at an airport; it moves whichever way the wind blows. The PM, of course, uses pollsters to determine which way the political winds are blowing: build on Jewish land today; tear down the homes built yesterday on Jewish land. (I have to wonder; does the PM have a financial interest in construction and demolition companies?)

As for as Washington goes, the U.S. has a president who has managed to hide his history from the people. No birth certificate. No college transcripts. We know he has no military service, not even pseudo-military in the National Guard a la Bush 2.

Compare that with Israel's PM. We know what he is - a Jew, perhaps not as observant as some would like, perhaps more observant than others prefer. According to a bio at http://www.biography.com/people/benjamin-netanyahu-9421908#early-years, Benjamin Netanyahu was born on October 21, 1949, in Tel Aviv, Israel and grew up in Jerusalem. He spent most of his teen years living in the Philadelphia area, where his father, noted Jewish historian Benzion Netanyahu, worked as a professor. In 1967, he returned to Israel to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces' elite unit, "Sayeret Matkal," and took part in a number of military operations, including the dramatic 1972 rescue of a hijacked Sebana passenger jet.

The entry at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/netanyahu.html states: Following his discharge (from the IDF), Netanyahu studied at MIT in Boston and received a B.S. in architecture and an M.S. in Management Studies. He also studied political science at MIT and Harvard University. In 1976, he was employed by the Boston Consulting Group, an international business consulting firm, where he befriended future American Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

While the PM's bio may be as fabricated as the U.S. president's, no one so far has proved it less than honest; I would trust members of Israel's left-wing and Moslem parties to uncover any falsehoods and broadcast them to the world.

We know the incompetent in D.C. is influenced by America-hating preachers and by Muslims and their money; we know that even his Jewish lackeys such as Democratic National Chair, US. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, put the president above her constituents. (Those Jews in her district who wanted anything accomplished on their behalf knew to turn to the congressman in the next district over, retired Army Col. Allen West . West was gerrymandered out of his seat.

I won't call the occupier of the White House "chicken manure" as his people refer to Israel's PM, but I will suggest that since he's been in office, Washington has generated an unprecedented about of bovine excrement regarding both domestic and foreign policy; actually the lack thereof. The only contemporary man who gives the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue competition for "America's Worst President" is Jimmy Carter.

The reason I have hope for the future is that I know "this, too, shall change." The change will HAVE to be for the better.

3 Thoughts

Prisoners

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his ally, Abu Mazen demand, and Netanyahu concedes, that Palestinian murderers be released from Israeli prisons so they can participate in new attacks on Israelis, infants to ancients.

Netanyahu and his staff, like his predecessors, request the release of spy Jonathon Pollard. The U.S. once again denies this request.

Pollard was convicted of spying for Israel, an ally.

Spies for enemy states such as Russia (today) and the former Soviet Union, are released after comparatively brief incarcerations. Even Al-Quida militants are allowed to return home (to plan future attacks on the U.S.).

Moslem terrorists give a new emphasis to the word “recidivism” and the U.S. political machine, more than the EU’s left, encourages this by its actions.

 

Religious extremists

I didn’t read or hear it first hand, but according to Yair Lapid – by the way, “Lapid” means “torch, flame” according to my Megiddo – I have a Webster’s Unabridged for English) as reported by Israel HaYom "Your [haredi] media compares all secular women to prostitutes and all secular youths to drug addicts and hedonists. And that's before we discuss the recent editorial in [the ultra-Orthodox paper] Yated Ne'eman that compared me to Hitler." ( http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=10891)

The haredi “leadership,” if Lapid is correct and its recent invective and actions seems to support the politician, is about equal to the imams and their calls to punish anyone who dares think in a non-imam-approved manner.

At one time the Catholic church behaved similarly. The results:

1. The Reformation

2. Those who remain with Rome largely ignore its dictates and lists of things banned

Judaism already is fragmented, but then it always has been a divided house. Internecine warfare is nothing new to us, although until recently it was low-key verbal.

Unfortunately, the rhetoric has become heated and has encouraged physical attacks, not only on non-haredim but against haredim who dare to be different (i.e., join IDF, get a job).

The imams and the haredi rabbis are interchangeable. The religion may be different, but the attitudes are the same.

Judaism already has had its reformations, but the rabbis’ invectives against anyone not like them, anyone who fails to completely agree with them, will only drive the Jewish “man or woman in the street” farther from the religion.

 

Finally

The question of the hour: Will the newest heir to England’s throne be circumcised and, if so, will tradition hold and will the Royal Mohel – a skilled specialist – be brought in – assuming there still IS a Royal Mohel.”?

Let’s face it; if you need heart surgery, you go to a heart surgeon. If you need brain surgery you go to a brain surgeon. If you need open AAA repair, you go to an old vascular surgeon who mentors a younger one (to pass along the technique). A brit melah is surgery. While it may seem minor to those gathered to celebrate the event, it is major to the infant and to the surgeon and deserves the attention of the best qualified, most skilled practitioner. Who better qualified than a professional mohel? For the English royals, it is not a question of religion; it is a matter of expertise.

I suppose a second question, one that relates to the rabbis above, is: “Will the mohel insist on metzitzah b'peh or will he use an intervening device to draw blood from the wound.

From Time magazine’s online Health & Family presence, ”The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Thursday that 11 baby boys in New York City were infected with herpes between Nov. 2000 and Dec. 2011 following an ultra-Orthodox Jewish circumcision ritual called metzitzah b’peh — or oral suction — in which the mohel puts his mouth directly on the newborn’s circumcised penis and sucks away the blood”
http://healthland.time.com/2012/06/07/how-11-new-york-city-babies-contracted-herpes-through-circumcision/#ixzz2Zs74ONSs