Time to Claim that which Belongs to the Israelites

 

There is a strange thing which happens to people should they read the Old Testament with special attention initially to the first six books, the Five Books of Moses, or Torah, the scroll which is read from in Synagogues the world over during Saturday morning services and other days and holidays, and the first book of the remainder of the Jewish Bible, Joshua, sometimes thought of as the Sixth Book of Moses as the style of writing is so similar to those of Torah. Reading about the Prophets, Judges, Kings, Psalms and Proverbs, there are names of places. The realizations go even deeper should one study these writings and reference a map of ancient Israel so that the names of the locations can be located. Some of the places have identical names today and some have been changed, often to disguise their Israelite (Jewish) history and heritage. Temple Mount, Jerusalem, Hevron, Shechem, Jericho, Beersheba, all the precious tombs and the lands in which they lived, sanctuary cities and all are written about. One will read of the Tribes of Israel (see map below) which settles on both, yes, both sides of the Jordan River. The tribes northern border was the Litani River which lies in the center of modern Lebanon and was presumably the demarcation south of which the United Nations promised to prevent Hezballah from setting up as part of the peace agreement of the last Lebanon conflict. Promises to Israel appear to be the least kept of words between men as time and again any rumbling or threats from terrorists and the world runs frightened leaving Israel to face these threats without any trust in worldly promises. Yet, for reasons beyond all reason and logic, the Israeli government will always trust the promises of the world time and again despite every broken promise of the past; always ready to believe this time it will be different, despite all evidence to the contrary. Perhaps it is a character fault of trusting and believing in the best of people and nations despite all evidence to the contrary.

 

 

The problem is Israel has a history of trusting in the fairness and asking for the approval and constantly waiting for such approvals. It started long before Israel became a nation. We can start a short distance and work back. It was November 29, 1947 with the vote in the United Nations which suggested that when any nation would be made between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, it be divided between and Arab and a Jewish nation. This plan was made by the General Assembly which meant that should either side refuse the resolution the entirety was null and void. The Arab League immediately refused the resolution ending the patrician plan thus allowing for Israel to be established on all the land. When the fateful day arrived on My 15, 1948, the entirety of six Arab armies invaded at the break of dawn, or soon thereafter, and attempted to extinguish the nascent state and murder every Jew in a genocidal massacre. They failed in this endeavor but did manage to occupy Gaza and much of Judea and Samaria, which Jordan renamed West Bank to erase its Jewish root names, and held these lands illegally for the next nineteen years until the June 1967 Six Day War when Israel liberated these lands. But even this vote by the United Nations was far from the beginning, so let us proceed back further.

 

Left UN Partition Plan Resolution 181 Rejected by Arabs
Making Original British Partition Arab and Jewish Lands
as Only Standing Agreement Supported in 1921 Arab League
and Zionist Congress Backed by British Crown as Valid

 

Right after World War I ended there was a move in Europe to return the lands to the original indigenous peoples where such existed. This was what led to the British making the Balfour Declaration in 1917 which promised that the British would take it upon themselves to establish a Jewish homeland in the Middle East in the lands which had been ancient Israel. At the San Remo Conference the Allied powers met and drafted a paper in which they guaranteed and formalized their aims to establish a Jewish state and drafted the Balfour Declaration completely intact in a paper referred to by the name of that conference, the San Remo Conference. This paper was signed by all the Allied States other than the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, Russia and Japan. In the Treaty of Sèvres, signed on August 10, 1920, which formalized the San Remo Conference and also established the Mandate Systems which establish the British Mandate as well as the entire set of Mandates from which the Sykes-Picot Treaty, set up the remainder of the Middle East and North Africa countries which were to be martialed initially by the European Allies and Russia until self-government could be established. The British Mandate was meant to establish the Jewish State but as the British had promised the Hashemite Dynasty a nation; so they met with the Zionist Congress and petitioned them to accept a state solely on the west of the Jordan River while surrendering their claims to any lands east of the Jordan River so that the British could establish an Arab State for Palestinian Arabs under the Hashemite Dynasty setting the Hashemites as the monarchy leaving the western parts to be used for the Arab State (see map above). The Zionist Congress, feeling powerless and desiring to not anger the British who were one of the most powerful of nations at that time, agreed to accept a severely truncated Israel. Transjordan, later to become Jordan, was finally established formally in 1946, two years ahead of Israel. But it goes back even further.

 

The history of the Jews and Israel, since the conquest by the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great and then the Roman Empire and the two banishments after temporarily successful wars throwing off Roman rule briefly only to fall to Roman legions sent to teach the upstart Judeans (Jews) a lesson that Rome would not tolerate such revolts, has been a series of pogroms, murderous riots, banishments, cleansings and finally the Shoah, the Holocaust. The fact that this happened twice was proof that they deserved the Biblical description of being a stiff necked people. Unfortunately, these were pretty much the last times the Jews were truly a stiff necked people and instead became, over the intervening approximately twenty centuries, Jews having anything but stiff necks by any stretch of the imagination. If anything, they have proven to be amongst the most malleable of all peoples. They left nations at a simple behest leaving their businesses and often properties and wealth behind, and kept to their own portions of cities, often a Jewish ghetto. They feared the Church, Mosque, Priests, Imams, Kings, Queens, Caliphs, Barons, Emperors, Czars, Kaisers, Mahārājas, Padishahs, Rajas and all other titled and authorities constantly fearing pogroms, cleansings, inquisitions, purifications, jihads and any edict which might make them targets. What was sad is that had the majority of Jews worldwide ever chosen to return to their ancient homelands they might have been capable of turning realities into independence or at the least making of their homelands a partitioned semiautonomous region where they could have lived in relative peace. All it would have taken would have been faith in Hashem and their own worth, but instead the Jews continued to live at the tolerance and best intentions of others. Such has been the history and thus is the current leadership.

 

There is a question which is approaching by one means or another as the Arabs are restless and angered by their leadership under the Palestinian Authority and a sizeable majority are ready to elect Hamas into leadership across their towns, cities and other local governance. The majority of Palestinian Arabs reside in areas where they elect their local leaders and in what is misnamed the West Bank, they reside in an autonomous region where they elect their leaders. Their last election for President was held in 2005 where Mahmoud Abbas was elected. Since then he has feared standing for reelection and thus has found reason after reason to cancel elections. The real reason is he is afraid of losing power and being replaced by Hamas. This might lead to his being charged for corruption and theft of funds and standing trial under Hamas judges who would have him killed just as soon as they were sure they had found every dollar and Euro he has stolen and stashed in Swiss and other banks. Whatever such a future might hold, Abbas will do all he is able to avoid finding out what exactly would happen. Still, Israel needs to be prepared for a Hamas takeover by one means or another in the near future. Should Hamas take control of Judea and Samaria, Israel will be forced to confront a situation where Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion International Airport and the heart of Israel surrounding these areas and reaching as far north as Netanya would rapidly become uninhabitable due to rocket attacks carried out by Hamas as soon as they would be capable of building or importing even the most rudimentary of rockets (see map below). Such a situation would be untenable at best and an unimaginable disaster should such a situation arise. With Hamas ruling the majority of the localities and potentially, should Abbas allow elections to be held at any time, running the entire show; Israel would need to come to a decision immediately and set forth a strong and unambiguous situational criteria. Israel would have to rule that a single rocket fired from the Arab areas within Judea and Samaria landing anywhere within any areas within the Green Line or any of the neighborhoods outside of Arab autonomous regions that Israel would immediately claim and annex all the lands other than Gaza between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and all Arabs within the autonomous regions would be pushed outside of the State of Israel and its true borders under International Law. Simple statement and placing the IDF on alert should provide the reality check required as proof of the real intentions. Unfortunately, such a declaration would not likely be coming as the government would be worried over what the Americans might say or even think, what the Europeans and European Union would say, what Russia, China and anybody else might believe of them, especially if it was unkind, and finally they would be overly concerned what the Arab and Muslim world would do and react to their displacing even a single Arab from their home. Simply stated, they would need to sample every nation, international body, the United Nations, European Union, and possibly see what Viking rune stones might say in predicting the Scandinavian nations’ reactions. Unfortunately, the map says it all.

 

Katyusha Rocket Range by Mark Langfan
Depicting the Near Complete Coverage
of the Heart of Israel by Even the Smallest
Home-made Rockets Both Hamas and Fatah
Are Capable of Producing in Bulk

 

The time is rapidly approaching when Israel will be facing a choice, take all the land which is legally ours and grant the Arabs fair market share for their properties, except for those in governance as they have stolen sufficient to provide for themselves for a long period, and place them and the prisoners outside Israeli borders. This may require military force just as was used to destroy Jewish communities in Gaza and areas of Judea and Samaria to please United States President George W. Bush, his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the State Department and every other soul on the planet who supported the Gaza sacrifice which turned so disastrous that one hopes at least one lesson may have been learned. If the IDF can be utilized to beat down Jews and destroy their neighborhoods, livelihoods, businesses, communities and all else which had any real, intrinsic or emotional value, then Israel should sure as anything be capable of using at least similar force in extending the borders to their Internationally Legal limits along the Jordan River and making these lands safe for all Israelis of all religions. Families who have been completely free of any ties to terror and desire to remain as legal alien residents and obey Israeli laws and be aware that should any member of their family commit or support any terrorist activity, they will lose everything faster than they can protest the actions and be sent beyond the border without any remunerations for lost property et al. The world is steadily accelerating in their embracing of anti-Semitism and this has been steadily made evident by the adoptions of the BDS movement and the number of governments who refuse to relocate their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the true Israeli Capital City. No other nation is made to suffer the refusal of the world to accept their declaration of a Capital City other than Israel and Jerusalem. We recognize that the constant and incessant griping, sniping, threatening, and badgering of government officials by Arab Palestinian proponents sooner or later wear down many a government official which eventually snowballs into accepting their demand if only to have some quiet as the Jews won’t complain, they’re civil and meek like good Jews. Perhaps it is time to place some Israelites into the highest positions in our political establishment and finally stand up for ourselves and tell the world it is our turn to set some rules. Do we need to actually state these rules? We hope not as all Israel should demand and actuate upon are the exact things promised us since 1917, the lands of our ancestors, all of them. Read our history, read our Torah and Joshua and the rest of our Bible and become educated. We could demand what is actually Greater Israel which is defined as the lands taken at the height of Israelite power under King David and King Solomon (see map below). There is a lot to be stated about this area.

 

Eretz Yisroel as formed after the conquests by the Kingdoms of King David and King Solomon; both of whom allowed the Principalities of Edom, Moab and Ammon to be semi-autonomous as long as they and their armies supported Eretz Yisroel

 

We never did quite make it from the Euphrates to the Nile, but we did reach the Euphrates. Further, were Israel granted these lands, then there would be little left of the Syria Civil War as Israel would be dividing the warring parties and should the Islamic State insist on striking Israel, there would no longer be any need for any world hand wringing as all that would need be done would become done. Israel has attempted to please the world and the world cannot be pleased. Israel has attempted to live by the world’s rules but those rules claim that Israel never be permitted to win. Even when we have won and liberated our own lands the world demands we give away those very lands after we already returned an area of land which vastly outsizes our actual borders under International Law. We are talking of the Sinai Peninsula and our sitting on the eastern banks of the Suez Canal. The time for deference is rapidly coming to a close if it has not already come and gone and Israeli leaders are simply being too timid. Excess of timidity is as much as sin as being overly boastful. Perhaps the time is now to declare our annexation of all that is ours and allow the chips to fall where they may. We surrendered Gaza and got a fanatical den of annihilative monsters desiring our death over their own lives and the world did not budge from their demands that Israel and her people commit suicide. Israelis have had enough with the demands that Israel surrender to every tin pot demanding their pound of flesh. We are done with it or honestly should be. The Israeli leaders may still bend over backwards, but the people have reached the end of their rope and the politicians had best heed the growing growling as that growl is meant for them if they do not point it in a healthier direction. When even one of the major parties in the United States removes backing for the Two State Solution and in turn the Oslo Accords from their platform, it is time that Israel take that dead issue off our table as well. Now is the time and not waiting for Hamas to become further entrenched in Judea and Samaria and join the Islamic State bringing that misery to our doorsteps. It will be best to end all misery before it multiplies tenfold and that means now. Time is here for a new breed of leadership, one that will fight for the people and end the Oslo Charade which leads only to self-annihilation because suicide is not a viable solution.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Israeli Abuse of Power in a Purely Political Detention

 

Meir Ettinger is a political prisoner of the State of Israel. Much of his administrative detention has been spent in either actual or near solitary confinement. It has been solely through Meir Ettinger’s faith in Hashem and strong will that has prevented his going stir crazy from his ordeal. What, pray tell, is Meir Ettinger’s crime? No crime has been attributed to him and he has already been completely cleared from having any part in the Duma case which is another kettle of fish that smells about six weeks old. Meir Ettinger has not been charged with any crime yet he has undergone extensive and abusive interrogations. The presumed threat he poses is that he desires that the Israeli government be a Biblical government with a King, not him as King, and the rebuilding of the Temple and the reestablishment of the tribal lands and priesthood. I can hear some now wondering what might be wrong with dreams and we would say exactly except Meir Ettinger is the grandson of Rabbi Meir Kahane and that makes his visions dangerous. That is the position of the government who feel that this young man’s dreams for his nation to return to its biblical root automatically, because of his bloodline, a threat to their power and offices. Should I hold such desires, one must wonder if I too would find myself locked away from the world in administrative detention indefinitely.

 

Recently the detention of Meir Ettinger was requesting a reprieve long enough to go and attend the Brit Milah for his newborn son after spending the majority of his wife’s pregnancy in confinement unable to be with her through the miracles of life nor was he permitted to be present at his son’s birth. The Brit Milah is a very important moment in a newborn male’s life as this is his accepting of the covenant with Hashem as was the promise made with Abraham. But the secular Supreme Court which remains appointed by a small cabal of leftist jurists year after year as the manner for the selection of judges by the Judicial Selection Committee which consists of Justice Minister who is the Chairman; Cabinet Minister, chosen by the Cabinet; Two Knesset Members, chosen by the Knesset, since 1992 they usually appoint one member from the coalition and one from the opposition; two members of the Bar Association, usually selected by the two largest factions in the bureau; the Chief Justice, and two other judges of the Supreme Court who are replaced every three years by the panel of judges, the selection is usually by seniority. As these organization and at least one Knesset Minister and likely two if not all three members of the court which in most instances places often six but almost always five liberal to extreme leftists appointing new justices. In rare occasions a judge is chosen and they are then found to have been a closet conservative who believes in strict application of the law and not administrating laws from the court, a common practice of late along with choosing to nullify laws without any challenger calling for a review which was presumably beyond the courts power, but power is what you can get away with more often than what is written. This liberal body of Judges decided that Meir Ettinger and his thoughts are so dangerous that there could not be sufficient security set up so as to assure he would not taint the minds of anybody attending the Brit Milah. They did rule with great generosity to allow the Brit Milah to be held inside the prison and allowing a maximum of fifteen guests, at least there would be a minion if two thirds of the guests were male, with each guest meeting requirements and after they passed a deep background check, which takes a month so therefore no guests and potentially the child might be determined to be a risk being the great-grandson of Rabbi Meir Kahane, already decidedly a genetically tainted family whose mere bloodline is a threat to the establishment.

 

 

Rabbi Meir Kahane with Son
Rabbi Binyamin Kahane and Wife Talia

 

The complete idiocy and spitefulness against the family of Rabbi Meir Kahane who was assassinated by a Palestinian gunman in New York City and one son and his wife murdered (pictured above with Rabbi Meir Kahane on the right at their wedding) in an ambush as they were returning home by a number of shooters lying in wait. The perpetrators were never brought to justice for the murder of an innocent couple. This administrative detention is purely out of spite and fear of a family which does not necessarily believe that all is perfect with the government. They and others believe that things should be different, but have never shown any signs of following any path for change other than through the existing system. These individuals include Meir Ettinger and friends and the many followers of the teachings of Rabbi Meir Kahane and are opposed to the current ways in Israel using methods which consist of pure hate and spite and are very unbecoming. Such a detention for thoughts should have every last Israeli up in arms against this atrocity as if it be Meir Ettinger today it could just as easily be any of us tomorrow. This act of malice needs condemnation by anybody with a heart that knows the pride and wonder of having a new child and the joys of those first months and the special moments, a Brit Milah, the naming, their first blessings and a myriad of other events which from all appearances Meir Ettinger will be denied because he dares to dream of change and of an Israel which is ruled by Torah and not men.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Should the Haredi be an Israeli Priesthood?

 

There are a number of schools of thought on whether or not the Haredi should be permitted to study Torah and allow that to be their contribution generally to Israeli society. Some are demanding that the Haredi face mandatory enlistment into the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) exactly the same as the rest of Jewish youths. Some are in favor of just young men while permitting the women not need to be enlisted with some claiming they be encouraged or made to serve in alternate public service. Then there are those who desire to allow the entirety of Haredi population simply lead pious lives dedicated to learning Torah with the referencing the numerous Haredi who spend as much as twelve hours every day except Sabbath either in services or learning Torah. Some less observant Israelis have pointed out the appearance of Haredi young men apparently strolling parks or in other non-study activities as proof that such a deferment for Torah study has been abused by some Haredi with which they broad brush the entirety of Haredi. There are few who desire to force the true and studious Torah scholars to not be permitted their honest scholarly pursuits as thus too is an important service whether all understand or even believe such dedication actually serve the State. Any serious answer to this situation, this challenge to the leadership of both the State of Israel and the Haredi society must find a reasonable and sensible solution which also takes into account some obvious demographic realities of the situation.

 

The one problem is that the Haredi community is a growing sector which would eventually reach a critical percentage where they would exceed the ability of the nation to support their complete absence from the societal productive engines. Simply stated, at some point in the not far distant future the Haredi community will be required to become productive if only to offset any costs their entire segment of society places on the State. The claim that the Haredi cover their own costs may be accurate to a point but at some point just producing sufficient food and clothing would exceed the potential of the state to produce and/or import even if the Haredi pay for their consumption as should they become over half, if not merely a lesser percentage, the production of the remainder of the population could not produce sufficient without employing the entirety of the remainder at a pace to support twice their population. At some point the Haredi will be made to make a judgement of which of their population show a particular promise or special talent lending them capable of receiving support to dedicate themselves to Torah study and such deferment should also be provided for any Israeli judged and desiring such dedication. There should be similar requirements as exist for professors at universities and colleges or teaching at Yeshivas. Also the Yeshivas should also be teaching at the least a basic education in addition to Torah study and perhaps a Torah curriculum for the public schools could be taught by religious scholars not just at Yeshivas. Such dispensations could and should be pursued with a plan to utilize those best suited in Torah scholarship to pursue such ends while it will soon be imperative for parts of the Haredi community to join the workforce and also serve in the IDF in special units which would allow for their observant lifestyle and restrictions not be challenged either intentionally, as has been the appearance in some instances, or through misunderstanding. These units will also likely require that a percentage, if not majority, of the officers and command chain be Haredi such that the sensitivities of these units will be better accommodated and understood by their commanders. If Israel is going to be serious about incorporating the Haredi into the society as a whole and especially into the IDF then some accommodations will be required and some give and take will be necessary on both sides. This will even include some arrangements with employers which will benefit all religious Jews and give some additional freedom to secular Jews and Israelis who are not particularly or even slightly Jewish. These accommodations will necessarily include scheduling such that the Sabbath is a say free of work with the obvious exception should rotation require a Haredi combat or mission necessary unit be scheduled for a rotation which counters Sabbath as defense of the nation is an exception recognized under Torah and universally.

 

 

Haredi Soldiers Taking Time
for Morning Prayers in the
Field During Training

 

The accommodations in the workplace would be no different than the accommodations granted Islamic religious members of the workplace who require prayer five times each day with the times set fairly rigidly. There should also be a liberalized attire universally applied for any group which had certain requirements for their appearance and attire. As stated, such accommodations should be universal and inclusive such that every group is comfortable and not unnecessarily required to break with traditional attire whenever possible. Needless to point out, should the required attire of a workplace stand counter to one’s religious requirements they should not seek employ in such locations such as nightclubs, clothing stores with secular progressive clothing requirements, and any place equally obvious which would be stated up front such that those who objected to the requirements would know not to seek employment in such places. There has to be certain rights both respecting the employer as well as the employees. An upscale and modern liberal clothing store would not be a place where Haredi or Islamic attire would be an accepted uniform, of sorts, attire which would necessarily show off such attire as part of being a salesperson. Some things should be obvious even to the most casual of observers, and the law should recognize the right of an employer to have appropriate attire and acceptance of the cliental and activities. A disco might not be an acceptable place for a strictly religious person of many faiths to choose work and such a place could have expectations which would exclude such employees in the first place. Such things should be obvious, period.

 

Military uniforms and other specific requirements for position are also understandable. An elite force which is designed to deploy places where the requirement might include wearing of a gas mask that people with full beards would have difficulties with such a mask and thus might not desire such an assignment or must be willing to remove their facial hair. As far as working in close proximity with women offending some stridently observant individuals, there should be accommodations and allowances whenever and wherever imaginable with a very liberal interpretation if such is possible. The scheduling women singing before a Haredi unit should never even cross the minds of commanders and if such were to be scheduled, then those wishing to excuse themselves should be granted alternate assignments and not just necessarily set free of any work related requirements. They might perhaps be assigned other duties such as cleaning communal areas or guard duty or other duty as seen fit in place of the setting they find objectionable. There is always something that requires doing in a military setting or they could be assigned policing the area of the performance after its completion. Such assignments would be at the discretion of the commanders of each unit.

 

The Haredi community should be granted generous liberties to define who amongst their community show and should be granted liberal special rights classifying them as a Torah sage or an astute and capable educator capable of inspiring students in the ways of Torah and the Written and Oral Laws. Whether or not a quota or percentile of the Haredi population will be permitted special observance privileges to spend their lives studying Torah or teaching Torah and the commandments and traditions in an inspiring fashion will largely depend on the responsible response and classification of their population between dedicated Torah scholars and teachers and those who will serve in the IDF or social services will, in the best possible of worlds, be left to the Haredi for as long as they perform these functions responsibly. Such a compromise needs to be reached such that both the Haredi and the general population are served through a mutual agreement and not through actual legislation, laws, court cases and general animosity. The reality is both the general Israeli public and especially the Haredi are majority Jewish populations and it would be nice to believe they could reach some accord which satisfies both communities. One can only hope that such an agreement is possible and can be attained with minimal if any acrimony as we are both majority Jewish, right?

 

Beyond the Cusp