When They Come to Destroy Ulpana Homes

There are some calling for taking any steps that may prove necessary to obstruct the destruction and defend the residents of thirty families homes in the five buildings set for either being relocated or destroyed and duplicated to some alternate location. Rabbi Yuval Sherlow, head of the Petach Tikvah Hesder Yeshiva, has expressed rational warnings against taking such an absolute stand as such may lead to undesirable results which would cause violence and lead to injuries or even worse, death. Keeping this wise council in mind, what can be done which would prevent any actions from being executed by the government against these innocent Jews who reside in housing built with government assistance and are now under government threat of having the very same buildings destroyed? There must be some way of showing the government that the vast majority of Israelis are against such destructions without resorting to violence against our fellow Jews. Those who will be sent to execute this vile judgment are not the ones who made the decision and very well might be favorable to preserving these homes but left with little choice as they are under what may actually be a legal order from their superiors. They are not to blame and thus should not have the hands of their brothers and sisters raised against them. Should those judges, activists, or others who forced this situation upon their brothers and sisters bravely show themselves at the execution resultant of their vile deeds, the displeasure of the people should be made evident without threat or violence even to those guilty of this criminal action. Above all else, we need to remember that as Jews we are a family, we are all related even if we may need to trace our roots back to Joseph, we are still brethren.

What we are able to do is demonstrate overwhelming disapproval of these destructions. From articles, interviews and polls on this action it appears that the majority of Israelis disapprove and simply need to be given a path with which to display such. Give these people the chance to help resist the government action against our brothers and sisters. Use the social media as we have seen it used in many other demonstrations. Set up a system, an application whereby a call-up can be executed to gather masses of supporters relatively quickly. There is only a need to have a fast response sufficient to require twenty minutes delay by simply sitting and ringing the threatened buildings. No active resistance is necessary, passive resistance will be sufficient to start. Once the call has been sent, the chains of people who have promised their support can be called rapidly by social media and they can continue to gather replacing those already moved by taking their place. As long as the numbers continue to arrive the buildings cannot be taken down. There is a limit as to how many people can be taken into custody at one time. Once it becomes apparent that there are going to be far more protesters than the system is able to handle, the demolition will be postponed. And as the liberals use as their method against the price of cottage cheese, rinse repeat as necessary. Every time they come to destroy, then come and prevent by sheer numbers. As long as the majority of Israel is willing to bring these vengeful and horrific destructions of the lives of our fellow Jews, that is how long we need to show our love for our brothers and sisters who are under these attacks. Today it is Ulpana, where will it be tomorrow? One last thought, do you honestly believe that these challenges to where Jews live will stop at the Green Line or is it possible that these lunatics will eventually challenge Jerusalem, then the Galilee, then the kibbutzim, then the religious neighborhoods, and then who would be safe? All it takes for these demolitions against Jews to continue throughout all of Israel is enough people who want Israel destroyed. Trust that there are more than sufficient of these peoples. They came for the settlements, but I did not protest for I was not a settler. Then they came for the kibbutzniks, but I did not care as I was not a kibbutznik. Then they came for the Haredi, but I did nothing as I was not an Haredi. I think you can fill in the rest. Do not wait for them to come for you just because you are a Jew, for by then there will be too few Jews left to fight.

Beyond the Cusp

Time’s Up; Netanyahu’s Game Has Played Out

The importance of the vote today in the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, is of epic proportions. On this vote lies so many items in disparate areas all tied together around Prime Minister Netanyahu. Almost a fortnight ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu gave his word to Minister of the Knesset Yaakov Katz (National Union) that he would not oppose his Regulation Bill which would negate the Supreme Court ruling for destruction of five residential buildings in the Givat HaUlpana section of Beit El community should MK Katz postpone its introduction for a two week period. Well, MK Katz complied with the leader of the coalition, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and for his compliance, Prime Minister Netanyahu has gone back on his word and threatens to dismiss any coalition Minister who dares oppose his wishes and support the legalization legislation. This has already caused two of the member parties of the coalition, Yisrael Beytenu and Shas, to choose to be absent as they had previously decided they would support the Regulation Bill. Their absence removes any possibility that their parties would be thrown from the coalition. There are still some members of the Prime Minister’s own party, Likud, who plan to challenge his authority and support the bill. It will remain to see if Netanyahu follows through on his threat to remove those voting for the Regulation Bill. Those who have stated their intent to vote in favor despite the threat to their positions are Ministers Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, Gila Gamliel, Ayoob Kara and Daniel Hershkowitz.

So, why don’t we take a simple trip through the entire methods, manipulations, coercions and finagling done by Prime Minister Netanyahu in order to defeat those forces who had colluded to support the Regulation Bill and thus provide the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria some legal coverage against the political onslaught now being waged to destroy their communities, homes, lives, and in many cases livelihoods. When the destruction order first arrived at the front door of the Knesset after the Supreme Court decided that the five buildings in question in Givat HaUlpana, Beit El, the nationalist wing of Likud in concert with other nationalist Knesset members initiated a legislated solution to prevent the destruction and provide an alternative to future destructions. This was expected to be rejected by Defense Minister Ehud Barak and likely also Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein. Up to this case it had been assumed that Prime Minister Netanyahu was in agreement with the nationalist camp against the demolitions of communities in Judea and Samaria. This became the straw that would break the camel’s back. It also shined light on the real, true Netanyahu. Now the Prime Minister faced something he had been dancing deftly to avoid, actual legislation which had popular backing being introduced onto the floor of the Knesset with no conceivable way to prevent it short of preventing the demolition of HaUlpana by other methods. But that was a problem as Prime Minister Netanyahu was actually in favor of the demolitions and has secretively been favoring a unilateral disengagement from Judea and Samaria surrendering the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority in similar manner as previous Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. So, Prime Minister Netanyahu faced a difficult situation as if he were to come out of the closet and play his cards in favor of the demolition his coalition would collapse and he would be forced to call for elections. This was not something favorable and held some pit falls for Netanyahu.

Prime Minister Netanyahu realized at the very start that should he come clean and admit to favoring demolitions, he would face an impossible battle as his party, Likud, has stated in its platform its position against the demolitions. This meant he could not reveal himself before the next elections were held, but they are not scheduled for about another year and a half. What was he to do? I have to hand it to Prime Minister Netanyahu; he came up with a brilliant plan which forced some who thought they were in opposition to the presumed nationalism of the Prime Minister to join him or face electoral oblivion. Netanyahu instead of announcing a position on the Ulpana demolition claimed that what he wished he could do was impossible with the slight majority held by his coalition and in order to gain a stronger position he was going to call for new elections. The nationalists took this as a sign that Netanyahu was behind them and was going to take their nationalist message and present it to an approving public and form a stronger and even more nationalists, pro-settler government in order to legalize all the communities in Judea and Samaria and put an end once and for all to the political demolitions being pushed by the extreme leftists and the post-Zionists. This placed the Kadima Party in a position where they were facing a loss of power of immense proportions. The polling showed that Kadima would fall from their current twenty-eight seats down to as few as six or as many as possibly nine, either way they were going to lose BIG!

The new leader of Kadima, Shaul Mofaz, met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and they conceived of a way for Kadima to avoid political oblivion, have Kadima join the coalition. It is even likely that Netanyahu confided in Shaul Mofaz that he secretly supported not only the demolitions, but a complete, unilateral withdrawal from the vast majority of the so-called West Bank. This gave Prime Minister Netanyahu his necessary super-coalition which was completely safe from any threat from any group or parties threatening to pull down the coalition and force new elections. Now, with Kadima on board, Prime Minister Netanyahu could actually lose every single member’s support of Likud Ministers, his own party, and the coalition would still stand. With this huge number in the coalition, Netanyahu was free to come out of the closet and admit to his support of demolitions beginning with the Ulpana neighborhood. Sure, he threw the nationalists a bone promising to build ten residences for every one demolished knowing full well that between having to get it through the bureaucracy and resist leftist challenges in the courts, including the anti-settlement Supreme Court, the promised units would likely never be built. Now we need to look at what Prime Minister Netanyahu plans to do down the road with remaining time before the next elections.

I cannot see any path where Prime Minister Netanyahu remains in a Likud Party without the expulsion of its nationalist faction who could find a home with the Jewish Home Party. This would likely end the hopes of Moshe Feiglin to head an electoral ticket and become Prime Minister himself. Barring the nationalists departing Likud, expect that at some time as the election nears that Prime Minister Netanyahu will announce that he and Shaul Mofaz are reinvigorating Kadima as the true middle-of-the-road political party it was supposed to be with the two of them sharing the top position. Netanyahu will head the ticket under the Kadima Party which will also include Ehud Barak and his short-lived Independence Party joining the new and improved Kadima Party. This will leave the Likud Party in disarray with this announcement coming too close to the elections to allow them to get their house in order and take stock of who left with Netanyahu and who remains in Likud. I actually hope that the nationalists and others who support ending these demolitions or are opposed to a unilateral disengagement from Judea and Samaria giving the Palestinian Authority possession of vast stretches of land within their so-called West Bank regain control of the Likud Party. Even giving them all of the West Bank and even half of Jerusalem including all of the Old City will not end the terror war and claims of occupation by the Palestinian leadership. What comes next other than the likely unilateral disengagement or some similar form of complete surrender to the Palestinian terror machine is difficult to fathom, as if that would not be enough to endanger all of Israel sufficiently.

Would Netanyahu also give in to the Obama demands and return the Golan Heights to Syria once Assad has been removed and replaced by the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood? I would not bet against it at this point. Whatever Prime Minister Netanyahu has in mind, odds are it will be as surprising as was Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with his unilateral disengagement of Gaza which worked out so wondrously. One would think that the lesson of Sharon, Gaza and the ensuing rocket barrages and other difficulties would have taught even Netanyahu that giving land to the Palestinians in any manner is something that only will endanger Israel and her citizens, all of the citizens and not just the Jews. This move by Netanyahu to completely turn against those who elected him and break almost every promise he had made to MK Katz, the members of Likud, the coalition member parties, particularly Shas and Yisrael Beytenu, and to Israelis in general is heartbreaking and with any luck will take Prime Minister Netanyahu, Kadima Leader Shaul Mofaz, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and all those who follow their political lead to political oblivion and being unable to even garner sufficient votes to enable minimal seats in any future Knesset. I so dearly hope this is Netanyahu’s political Waterloo.

Beyond the Cusp

Knesset, Netanyahu Fleeing as Leaves Before the Wind

Both nationalist and post-Zionist Ministers of the Knesset and Prime Minister Netanyahu are chasing solutions to the problem of the challenged communities in Judea and Samaria appearing much like leaves fleeing before a gale. Ever since the post-Zionist leftists found that they had an ally in the form of the Supreme Court in Israel with which to attack the Jewish residents in Judea and Samaria, who they blame for the lack of peace, the rest of the government has been harried and frantic in trying to find a middle ground which is nonexistent. The fanatical secular leftists who believe that the religious and settler Jews are pretty much one and the same, have found by challenging the ownership of the lands those communities are built upon will cause the ordered destruction by the Supreme Court, and does so without ever demanding proof of actual ownership. Much of this vile arrangement stems from the refusal to admit that the main reason no peace has been reached between the Israelis and the Palestinians is the rejection by the Palestinian leadership in their refusal to admit Israel even exists. Instead, these anti-settlement Jews blame the lack of peace and the existence of attacks from the Arabs in Gaza, the West Bank or wherever such violence may originate, on the fact that Jews live on lands that the Palestinians claim for their own homeland. Included in this denial is the reality that any violence or terrorism existed before the Six Day War in 1967 when Israel defeated a combined Arab attack and took possession of the Sinai Peninsula and liberated the lands of Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights from Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian ownership or occupation. So, what can be done to correct this situation short of demolishing the residences and communities of three-quarters of a million Jewish residents?

The leftist solution is obvious, simply destroy these accursed communities and all will be sunshine and lollipops in the Middle East (be that it should be that easy). Many of the nationalist Ministers believe that by merely passing a piece of legislation declaring these communities legal and directing compensation for claims of ownership in any case where such claim is presented more than four years after the buildings and communities were constructed. Prime Minister Netanyahu fears that such legislation would be rejected by the Supreme Court and such a finding could possibly lead to the requirement to demolish all of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. There have been a small number of Ministers of the Knesset who have also proposed clipping the robes of the judges such that they no longer have jurisdiction over such cases and forcing the claims into the lower courts where ownership claims would have to be validated before actions can be initiated. This arrangement between the secular far leftists and the judicial activist Supreme Court which operates on the premise first put forth by previous President of the Supreme Court Aharon Barak who postulated that all matters upon which the court decides that there is a need for the court to adjudicate, then that becomes an area which is within the jurisdiction of the court and may then be adjudicated. This has led to the most judicially activist judiciary at the level of the Supreme Court found anywhere in the free world and has, in actuality, made the Supreme Court of Israel literally a second government which is above and superior to the elected government. It is the overreaching power which the Supreme Court has bequeathed to itself that is at the root of this and numerous other problems. When this is combined with the fact that the manner in which judges are chosen virtually allows for the Supreme Court to appoint them free of outside influences and input, one can see how this enables the judges of the Supreme Court to have near unchallengeable power. This has been used to perpetuate an excessively liberal court system with the Supreme Court leading the leftward charge. It is this definition of what lies within the purview and is judicable by the Supreme Court which has empowered this power play against those Jews residing in Judea and Samaria simply by finding anyone from the Palestinian population to claim that the Jews have built upon their land and with the assistance of leftist NGOs such as B’Tselem that suit is taken directly to the Israeli Supreme Court where the claim is rubber stamped and the demolitions are ordered. This is the question which is driving before it the Ministers of the Knesset and the Prime Minister as a strong wind drives the leaves of autumn.

So, what can be done to change this seemingly impossible situation? Obviously, any attempt to curtail the power of the Supreme Court will be immediately declared null and void by the Supreme Court, and there lies the rub. The one method in which this situation can be alleviated is to make sure it cannot be adjudicated. This would require a change to the Basic Laws which define Israeli governance. Such a piece of legislation would, be necessity, need to be defined as an amendment to the Basic Laws and crafted with care such that once passed it would clearly delineate and define the powers of the courts including but not limited to the Supreme Court. The one advantage Israel has is because they have no actual Constitution, they can modify the Basic Laws by simple majority vote. The one problem it may face is that it also would require the full backing of the Prime Minister where he would need to come out in full support while still allowing for the members of the coalition to vote their consciences. Then the Knesset could take up legalizing the settlements which they deem are intended to remain as part of Israel even after an agreement is achieved in some manner with the Palestinian Authority. What the nature and the mechanisms of attaining such an arrangement between Israel and the Palestinians is another matter for another article. The truth is that as long as the Supreme Court is allowed to operate without any limitations on the scope of their purview, then there is actually no elected government in Israel and the truth of Israeli governance is that the Knesset and Prime Minister and all other public officials are only allowed to rule as long as the Supreme Court does not oppose their decisions and actions. The real government under the current arrangement is the Supreme Court who, under the guidance from Aharon Barak, is allowed to overturn any legislation, reverse any judicial decision, void any regulation, remove or assign any responsibility, adjudicate absolutely anything performed by the entirety of the rest of the government and enact any law their little hearts feel is necessary without the need to consult or include any other member of all branches of the Israeli government. So, in order to repair the damages to the fabric of Israeli society, first the Supreme Court must have their robes cut back as you would trim a bird’s wings to prevent it from flight. Once such has been adjusted to return some semblance of balance in the Israeli governance, then the matter of how to address the communities and decide validity of claims of ownership can be done through a process which requires proof of ownership claims and allows for solutions other than the destruction of people’s homes and lives. Hopefully, such adjustments and alterations would lead to a more harmonious and balanced system within the bounds of sanity. The current system has to be attributed to the power grabbing of a power hungry, out of control madman.

Beyond the Cusp