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

Ramifications of New Coalition and the Revelation of the True Netanyahu

The inclusion of Kadima into the ruling Likud Coalition can only be described as a political coup. The ninety-four seat coalition is beyond any majority government in scope and size in the brief history of Israel. This makes the coalition safe from threat from any single coalition member as it would maintain the required sixty-one plus number of members. So, with all of the many different predictions, some of great possibilities, others of doom and gloom, what will be the biggest change this super coalition will produce? One simple truth is that now Prime Minister Netanyahu cannot lay the blame on threats to the coalition as the reason not to fulfill the promises Likud had made to the people of Israel. Now it is perform up to your potential or go-home time for Benyamin Netanyahu. No longer does he have any hiding place claiming threats to the governing coalition to put off those items everyone has been demanding of him from within his own Likud members. Many of these are things that Netanyahu has claimed he faced overt resistance and thus the implementation of any of these “extreme” positions was not possible. So, what are the first and most pressing of these “extreme” positions which are now presumably within reach?

The most obvious and likely the most transformative would be the legalization of the vast majority, if not all, of the threatened communities in Judea and Samaria. Legislation legalizing these communities should be possible within days, weeks at the longest. The legalization of the five homes slated for destruction in the Ulpana neighborhood Beit El Israel, the entirety of the Migron community, any threatened suburb around Jerusalem with emphasis on those in the north and south of the city as well as the majority of those to the east as these are necessary to retain all of Jerusalem as the true Israeli Capital, and any of the other communities of sufficient size or age within reason. Anything short of a strong move towards legalizing these communities, especially the older areas where the buildings were built with the assistance and blessings of the government of Israel of their time, is an abortion of justice and should never be permitted. It is a sin that these older residential projects are now held to be illegal simply because the bureaucracy has not gotten around to issuing the proper licenses and other legalities which have been made necessary well after they were constructed. Government lethargy should never be the excuse to ruin peoples’ lives, especially those who were initially placed there by the government.

Another problem thrust upon the government by the orders of the Supreme Court has been the struck down Tal Law. The Tal Law gave all Haredi Religious Jews studying Torah a complete deference from IDF or community service as is required, in theory and law, of all other Jews in Israel. The call which has gotten some popular attention has been the need to require either IDF or community service by every single Israeli citizen, be they Haredi, Arab, Bedouin, Muslim, Christian, Bahá’í, or other. So far nobody has been willing to provide what should be the consequence should anybody absolutely refuse to do any State service, whether IDF or non-military community service. My preferred idea is that such service should be required before any citizen is given the right to vote, hold political office, or serve in any sensitive or security positions in Israel. Perhaps even change their classification from citizen to something with the equal rights of a resident alien with the one difference being their children would be automatically returned to citizen status once they had done their State service. For those who might say that such punishment for non-service is somewhat extreme I would counter that Israel exists under conditions and threats that make allowing for those who are not willing to directly serve her with three or four years of their young adult life may not be sufficiently invested or trustworthy for the full trust of the state. I am a fan of Robert Heinlein’s idea that full citizenship should come with a price of displayed loyalty and some degree of sacrifice.

There are likely numerous other issues which are of varied levels of importance to the many members of the Likud and other coalition parties. All of these should be able to be given a full investigation and debate in the remaining months or for as long as the super-coalition holds together. This is an opportunity without precedent in the history of the State of Israel. My deepest hope is that it does not pass unutilized as such may not reoccur in our lifetimes. The one other item that has received some hushed whispers is the idea of proposing alterations to the nature, type, and mechanisms of Israeli governance. Perhaps another of my wishes which I sometimes dream about may become a reality. Israel might actually consider writing and ratifying an actual written constitution with complete definitions of each position and the powers allotted to each branch. I am among those who fear that Israel is currently facing the beginning of a dictatorship of the black robed judges. Restrictions on the scope, purview and seemingly unlimited powers of the Supreme Court could very readily be in need of being scaled back and strictly defined. Such a monumental change in Israeli governance, should such be accomplished, should be placed before the people as a Constitutional Referendum. There may even be a requirement of such a vote requiring a super majority in such a vote instead of a mere majority, but that is not my choice to make. The running of Israel using the “Basic Laws” as the origin of governmental powers is simply too vague and leaves way too many decisions over powers, jurisdictions, responsibilities, channels of redress, mandates, and options open to differing interpretations and implementation. A constitution would do for the Israeli government what transcribing the Oral Laws did for Judaism, give a defined codification that removed much of the doubts, disagreements and splintering caused by arguments over interpretations or simply over wordings. Israel now faces one of the greatest potentials for changes and defining moments unseen in its history.

Beyond the Cusp