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One of the main objectives of renovating Route 1, the highway into the capital from the west, is to ease the entry of traffic.While the project is proceeding apace, nothing is being done to facilitate the passage of vehicles past the traffic lights at the entrance to Jerusalem.I have attempted to draw the attention of the municipality to the urgency of this problem, but with no result. Its Traffic Arrangements Department informed me as long ago as December 2013 that it is working on the problem, but no results are in evidence.GERRY MYERS Beit ZayitCall it a spadeYour May 27 editorial “Unhealthy resolution” reveals quite clearly the extent of Israel- bashing by United Nations bodies. Of interest is to see who voted against the World Health Organization resolution against Israel (Israel, Canada, Australia and the US), while among those voting in favor were the United Kingdom, Germany and France, who claim to be our “friends.”The falsehoods propounded by the Syrian document that led to the WHO vote are well known to these countries. They provided for them an acceptable form of anti-Semitism masked as anti-Israelism.We need to call a spade a spade and forget about spending millions in futile attempts to expose the blatant falsehoods.MONTY M. ZION Tel MondThe nations of the European Union demand that Israel afford them a large role in negotiations between it and the Arabs. Yet they vilify our country by accepting the bogus resolutions of the World Health Organization, the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other groups.Why don’t our leaders demand a stop to this knee-jerk acquiescence to such anti-Semitic/ anti-Zionist resolutions? Otherwise, the EU should be told it deserves no presence at the “peace table.”STEVE KRAMER Alfei MenasheReader Jac Friedgut (“Morgenthau’s view...” Letters, May 27) says a state of Palestine would be “a vehicle to effect the annihilation of the Jewish state, and asks: “Is this what the western world really wants?” The World Health Organization condemned Israel for “violating the health rights of Syrians in the Golan.” The measure was adopted by 104 to four, with six abstentions and 65 nations not appearing.Anyone following the news knows that the answer to Mr.Friedgut’s question is a resounding “yes.”JACK BARETTI JerusalemGet it together Kudos to Isi Leibler for once again hitting the nail on the head (“Politicians: Get your act together,” Candidly Speaking, May 27).Yet “dysfunction,” “outrageous” and “scandalous” behavior aren’t strong enough descriptions to describe the disgust many of us feel when our MKs stoop to issuing personal attacks, undermining efforts to accomplish almost anything, and wasting valuable time by filibustering.When will our elected representatives put aside their inflated egos and work together for the good of our precious country? The adversaries within are already planning to bring down the government. And we’re supposed to be able to deal with the adversaries without?RIVKA ZAHAVY JerusalemOnce again, Isi Leibler is on the mark. Just when I thought that no real national leader could sink as low as House of Cards’s Frank Underwood, our prime minister has shown me to be mistaken.Indeed, truth is stranger than fiction.IRA GRINBERG RehovotIn their favorI had to rub my eyes in disbelief when reading the piece by Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar (“Yes, Mr. President, this is what a democracy looks like,” Comment & Features, May 26).The writers chastise US President Barack Obama for refusing to accept the will of the Israeli people, who ostensibly want to promote the application of Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.They expect him to honor and accept the election outcome, even if it does not suit his personal positions.One wonders whether Ms.Katsover and Ms. Matar honored and accepted every decision taken by Mr. Obama as the will of the American people. After all, he was reelected, much as some of their friends recently were in Israel.It seems the writers’ view of what democracy looks like is limited to accepting and honoring the results of Israeli elections – when the vote goes in their favor.ALBERT BAUMGARTEN JerusalemBBC and biasAccording to David Newman (“Bring back the BBC,” Borderline Views, May 26), the claim that the BBC has a bias with respect to Israel is a “myth which has been on the top of the right-wing agenda for many years.” I disagree.The myth lies in Newman’s claim that the BBC’s coverage of Israel is “balanced.” One typical example of this mythical balancing act was clearly demonstrated in an unforgettable radio report a few years ago on “honor killings in Israel.”This report, on the murder of a woman in Ramle, repeated a number of times that it was one of many examples of such killings in Israel. Only a listener with sufficient knowledge could recognize that the victim and the perpetrators bore Arabic names. The report repeatedly mentioned that this took place in Israel, but at no point did it say that this was not a Jewish/Israeli custom.This is one of many examples of the traditional BBC system of “balanced” reporting on Israel. It doesn’t need to lie when it can mislead by omitting an important part of the truth.PAULINE SHOMER Har AdarI was under the impression that belief in conspiracy theories is the province of the under-educated Right. Prof. David Newman’s assertion that YES decided to drop BBC World for political reasons shows that belief in such nonsense can be found among the over-educated Left.YES announced last October that it was going to drop the BBC news channel because of low ratings.If the channel had been popular, I would expect to hear a huge public outcry and a campaign to save it.The BBC does have a reputation for bias against Israel, but Newman fails to provide any evidence of a right-wing campaign to silence it in Israel. In fact, the only anti-media campaign I am aware of is the attempt by the Left to close down the Yisrael Hayom daily.Dare I suggest that Newman is suffering from a case of the pot calling the kettle black?SHIMON CROWN HashmonaimMaybe David Newman would like to join me in complaining about the BBC’s decision to stop transmitting its Radio World Service from Cyprus on 1323 KHz medium wave. This was the only way to listen to the BBC World Service on a car radio in Israel, and I deeply miss it.I encourage other fans of the medium-wave service to also complain.GEOFFREY COHEN Zichron Ya’acov
Letters to the Editor: Shot in the foot
With regard to “NGO paints Riskin hearing as Chief Rabbinate witch hunt,” it seems to me that the Chief Rabbinate is not missing the opportunity to shoot itself in the foot.
