March 11: Lapid unqualified

Lapid unqualified

Sir, – Forgive me for showing just a little concern, but how is a man like Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid even being considered as Israel’s next finance minister when he has no business experience whatsoever (“Lapid eyes Finance Ministry as coalition talks near end,” March 10).

It is rather like a man who knows how to put a Band-Aid on a minor wound and then calls himself a doctor.

Without too much effort Israel could soon find itself in the same financial doldrums as much of Europe and the US, and it will need a very experienced person with a sound business and economic background to steer the economy. Lapid does not possess this experience or the judgment to appoint others to do so.

It is a reflection on his ego that he even thinks he is capable.

EDGAR ASHER
Petah Tikva

Perverse policies

Sir, – With regard to “Police clash with rock-throwing Lapid on Temple Mount Friday” (March 10), when Arab women surround and threaten a group of Jewish women on the Temple Mount, and police arrest and ban Jews from the mount, what should we really expect if not an escalation of violence by emboldened Arabs? How can a Jewish state institute policies as perverse and undemocratic as these against a segment of its own population? Arabs can pray at the Jews’ most holy site – but Jews can’t! When the Arabs cause a provocation there, the Jews are punished with banishment! These actions, condoned by our Supreme Court and supported by our attorney-general, are truly unbelievable. To force punishment on Jews by calling their very presence or prayers a provocation that could lead to violence virtually ensures continued violence.

In America, such actions would violate my religious rights. Violent people and groups would be incarcerated to bring about civil order. What a jolt – to find out how compromised my rights are here in Israel! Until we start holding Arabs to the same standards and laws as Jews, we will never have peace, let alone civil order. A united Jerusalem? What a joke.

As long as Arabs hold a powder keg in the very heart of our city we can never truly be free here.

To let them continue to use violence, intimidation and even hunger strikes to get their way, as well as use the media as a propaganda tool against Jews and the Jewish state, is unforgivable and a disgrace to our government.

Where are our politicians’ solutions to these important issues? Therein lies the problem: No representative form of government, no constitutional rights, no politicians who really care. God help us!

GLADYS KARLIN
Modi’in

Wonderfully funny

Sir, – I must congratulate you and Ryan N. Behr for the wonderfully funny, yet insightful, article on Zurich (“Zurich through the eyes of a 3-yearold,” Travel Trends, March 10).

I haven’t laughed so much in a long time.

JOHN DICKS
Kiryat Yam

Peacekeeping farce

Sir, – The United Nations Security Council is on the verge of becoming a footnote in history if all it is capable of doing is threatening the rebels in Syria for having kidnapped and held hostage the UN peacekeepers on the Golan (“Syrian rebels near Golan border kidnap 21 UN peacekeepers,” March 7).

It is meaningless to use only empty words. Why hasn’t the UN done something that affects the countries helping the rebels, perhaps by having others with leverage cut off their arms supplies? No on even knows who these rebels are. They are a motley group. Are we afraid of a confrontation with Iran, which has been supplying them with so much materiel? Certainly, the UN has to speak, but it must also be able to threaten to use force.

BATYA KOENIGSBERG
Jerusalem

Sir, – It is so very reassuring to know that the United Nations is there to ensure peace on Israel’s borders.

As The Jerusalem Post’s online edition reported on Friday, seven UN peacekeepers based on the Syrian side of the Golan border fled into Israel on Thursday night when fighting between government forces and anti-Assad rebels in the town of Jamla reached their post. They later returned to Syrian territory. Another 21 were taken hostage by rebels before being released on Saturday.

So let’s recap: As long as there is no danger, UN peacekeepers are not required to do anything but regularly draw their salaries (funded by all of us from our taxes). But the minute it seems they might have to earn those salaries by doing what they are paid to do, they demand that Israel provide them with shelter.

This is not only illogical and absurd, it is downright theft. I’ll have to try this on my employer.

All hail the expensive UN peacekeeping farce.

ILYA MEYER
Gothenburg, Sweden

The ‘friend’

Sir, – Did anyone really think that our “friend,” the best one we have, would speak in our Knesset in Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Israel (“Obama will not address Knesset during upcoming visit,” March 7)? That would go against everything this man stands for – a man who has made no secret of his desire to appease the Muslim world while throwing a few tidbits our way to keep Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his followers happy.

It really has to stop. Otherwise, there is absolutely no point in calling ourselves a sovereign state.

Even before the revered (by some) President Barack Obama comes calling it appears that Netanyahu could already be preparing concessions to keep our “friend” happy, except that nothing will keep him happy if it does not involve giving our land to the Arabs, which unfortunately could be what our prime minister is prepared to offer.

Netanyahu made clear in his taped speech to AIPAC’s annual conference in Washington last week that he would, in his usual grovelling manner, express his and his country’s “appreciation for what [Obama] has done for Israel,” and that he wanted to start afresh with the president (“What to expect when you’re expecting a visit from Obama,” Analysis, March 6).

Will the right-wingers in the government save the day or will keeping their jobs be more important? I pray the former will be true. Otherwise, I and countless others made aliya for nothing because nothing is what we will be left with.

EDITH OGNALL
Netanya

Weinberg fan

Sir, – With regard to “Reclaiming the ‘world of Torah’” (Observations, March 8), I enjoy reading the articles of David M. Weinberg. I try not to miss any of them.

Please continue publishing them. Better yet, increase their frequency.

JACK LEVENSTEIN
Jerusalem

Negative news

Sir, – It was nice to see some calm, positive news and perspective (“Rehab expert: Haredim addressing pedophilia issues,” March 6). However, a sense of reality and fairness would have been better preserved if the negative news (lack of funding for follow-up) was not addressed merely as an afterthought to a rather long, upbeat article.

Furthermore, specialists are deeply divided as to whether “injections known as chemical castration... work to remove any sexual inclinations.”

Together with psychological therapy they might help in some cases, while in others they do nothing short of giving a false sense of security.

MOSHE-MORDECHAI VAN ZUIDEN
Jerusalem
The writer has a BA in medicine from the University of Amsterdam and is a counselor on childhood issues concerning sexuality and intimacy.