By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)Those were the daysI read “J’lem calls in Irish envoy to protest Dublin mayor’s anti-Israel campaign” (April 13) with a feeling of anger and deep sadness – anger at the ineptness of the Immigration Authority for allowing Mícheál Mac Donncha to pass through border control due to a misspelled name, and sadness at the state of the relationship between Ireland and Israel.I well remember the special relationship there was at the beginning. Ireland became a republic 70 years ago and I remember emissaries coming from Israel to help the Irish revive their language. Dublin had a Jewish lord mayor, Robert Briscoe, who was a great Irish nationalist and Zionist. My hometown, Cork, with a tiny Jewish population, also had a Jewish lord mayor who was an Irish nationalist and a great Zionist.Those were the days.EDDIE JACKSONShoresh Not the answer The final sentence in “PM set for battle against courts and Kahlon” (April 12) says it all: The Supreme Court would strike down any law that tries to limit its power.I’m surely not the only one who thinks the Supreme Court has arrogantly assumed powers to itself that it is not entitled to. If Israel is a democracy, then ultimate power should be in the hands of the elected assembly, not of some legal cabal that, while perusing its own political ambitions, attempts to claim the moral high ground of legal impartiality.No doubt Israel’s overabundance of lawyers will deny that the law is in any way political, but every time there is an opening for a new Supreme Court judge, the fight to appoint someone shows that the court is just politics in another form. I understand that the political system in Israel needs reforming, but it works, and abrogating power to the Supreme Court is not the answer.BOB KNIGHTModi’in Foolishness paysI wasn’t sure if I was reading The Jerusalem Post or Al Jazeera on April 11.An article headlined “In Gaza, family lights candles to mourn son on his 14th birthday” is very sympathetic to the cause of Hamas but misses one main point: Their son, by being in a known danger zone, suffered child abuse, which contributed directly to his death.The foolishness of parents who watch their children go off to die in a military zone is mitigated, in their eyes, by only one factor: They just earned $3,000. That’s what Hamas is paying the families of those killed near the fence.ZE’EV M. SHANDALOVMa’aleh Adumim Feel right at home Former deputy national security adviser Chuck Freilich writes: “Israel has succeeded in containing the terrorist threat, ever-present and tragic, at a level its society can tolerate” (“Israel at 70: Strong enough to chart a new national course,” April 11).I believe we should not have to tolerate terrorism at any level with a strong, able and willing IDF that can destroy our enemies. Sadly, our leadership is not of the same caliber.Our so-called historic opening with the Sunni states will last until we have served their purposes. The relationship with Russia is edgy, to say the least. Mr. Freilich goes on to tell us that Israel cannot defeat the Palestinians militarily as we have been fighting their national aspirations for a century.Nonsense! We have been fighting for our survival while they have been fighting to take over the Jewish land!Mr. Freilich’s opinion piece seems to boil down to Israel giving up its historic land and seeking to align its policies with those of the US so that when it does have to act militarily, it should adopt clear diplomatic objectives and seek prior agreement with the US, even when painful. We should also seek a defense treaty with the US, which would strengthen our sense of security, thereby diminishing security-based objections to a withdrawal from the West Bank and promoting the prospects for peace.This would mean a significant loss of our independence.He admits that we have long demonstrated remarkable restraint in the face of ongoing rocket attacks (which, of course, is why they are ongoing) but feels that even greater restraint is appropriate.After reading this rubbish, I am even more convinced that it is truly a miracle we are still here. I hope Mr. Freilich takes his defeatist ideas to the Arabs, to whom he wants us to surrender. I am sure they will make him feel right at home.EDITH OGNALLNetanyaChuck Freilich offers deeply flawed, old-hat leftist advice and presents it as new thinking. As he perceives it, everything depends upon Israel: If we only tried harder we could bring peace. Unfortunately, for him, peace is synonymous with a two-state solution.He tells us to position ourselves “as the side constantly pursuing peace.” This is an immediate tip-off to his lack of understanding of the Arab mindset: A conciliatory stance involving compromises on our part might seem wise to a westerner, but it suggests weakness to the Arab. We would be inviting additional intransigence, further demands and more violence.Since that two-state solution is so important, we are advised that if it cannot be achieved via negotiations, we should do it unilaterally. He is suggesting that we pull back to indefensible borders without so much as an end-of-conflict agreement in hand. That would definitely bring peace.Did he learn nothing from our unilateral Gaza pullout? As the Palestinian Authority was overthrown by Hamas there, so would it be in Judea and Samaria absent our presence.Enough already! It is time to speak out for our rights to the land.ARLENE KUSHNERJerusalem Win-win for all Joel Kenigsberg, in “Kosher pork? Not so fast” (Comment & Features, April 10), agrees that people are concerned about the future of the planet and how to feed its burgeoning population while at the same time stopping the cruelty to billions of intensively factory-farmed animals.The focus is on beef cells, as cattle farming is the least efficient and most damaging to the environment.However, Mr. Kenigsberg overlooks the most important development that completely eliminates the need for laboratory-grown cells from any meat, including forbidden pork. The plantbased food company Hampton Court is already marketing burgers in America and is looking to expand globally by using a fraction of the world’s resources. This means 87% less greenhouse gas emissions, 95% less land and 74% less water, goals that are in alignment with Jewish religious principles.So as he states, “Those who wish to save the world without compromising their time-honored beliefs and practices will have ample opportunity.” This is a kinder, healthier win-win for all.DIANE CORNELIUSSeacliff Park, AustraliaRemember them, too With the approach of Remembrance Day, when we remember the heroic IDF soldiers who gave their lives for the Jewish state, I believe it is unconscionable that there is no official recognition on this special day for the tens of thousands of soldiers who were wounded in Israel’s wars.Surely it would be incumbent for a representative of these forgotten heroes to be included in the Independence Eve torch-lighting ceremony as a gesture of appreciation for their great sacrifice in defending, with God’s help, the Jewish homeland.SHIFRA HOFFMANJerusalem
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