Ganei Omer Refreshing sentiments Sir, – MK Haim Amsalem (“A call to rehabilitate haredi education,” Comment & Features, September 1) has apparently come to the same conclusion the modern Orthodox came to a long time ago. It is absolutely refreshing to hear such sentiments from one who categorizes himself as haredi.Amsalem’s ideas of combining Torah study with university education is something that should be very strongly supported. It is hoped that his status as a member of Knesset puts him in a position to carry them out.HAIM M. LERNER
Ganei Tikva Dollars for value Sir, – In response to “Israel’s educational mediocrity” (Fundamentally Freund, September 1), I would like to bring to Michael Freund’s attention a quote from an article on teaching by Thomas Friedman, which appeared in The New York Times in November 2010: If you look at the countries leading the pack in the tests that measure [learning skills and high levels of achievement] (like Finland and Denmark), one thing stands out: They insist that their teachers come from the top onethird of their college graduating classes.In a capitalist economy we demonstrate value through the cash value we place on items and professions. Pay teachers top dollar for their work and you will attract the very best from our universities.Raise the standards by investing in teachers, not in bureaucracy, and our schools will flower.EVREA NESS-BERGSTEIN
Jerusalem The writer is a teacher Get a grip Sir, – Douglas Bloomfield’s overthe- fold “Whose side is Ahmadinejad on?” (Washington Watch, September 1) asserts that Al-Quds Day marks a “Palestinian loss of Jerusalem.” Nevertheless, today the Waqf administers the Temple Mount, with all its holy sites visited by tens of thousands of Muslims every week, as well as by people of other faiths.Bloomfield’s bias shows in tired phrases like “right-wing forces in Israel,” “Israeli hardliners and rejectionists,” and the “Israeli Right.” He tells war-weary us – and only us – to “break the stalemate.”If Bloomfield glances beneath the fold to Isi Leibler’s “Explaining doublespeak to our friends” (Candidly Speaking), might he and other friends stop incessantly blaming “Netanyahu” and get a better grip on reality?ESTER ZEITLIN
Jerusalem Bleating chorus Sir, – Ray Hanania has joined the bleating chorus and found something else with which to beat Israel – the Arab uprisings (“Emotions and the Arab Spring,” Yalla Peace, August 31).Only by starting with a faulty premise can he make this claim: “Yes, by rejecting peace with the Palestinians, Israel gave the dictators an excuse to survive for many years.”The boot is squarely on the other foot. The Arabs have spurned our hand and blamed us so often it has become a sick joke.Every concession made to the Arabs has led to further aggression on their part.They have repeatedly stated that they will not accept a Jewish state, and that all of Israel is occupied land. So strong is this feeling that they want not a single Jew to live in any state of theirs.If Arab dictators flourished because peace was still not here, why are the Arabs revolting today? Where is the sense in this argument?EDMUND JONAH
Rishon Lezion No time for weaklings Sir, – Gil Troy has the right ideas but is far too diffident about implementing them (“Stop rockets by seizing Palestinian territory,” Center Field, August 31). He timidly suggests that this should be implemented only after preparing a well-documented legal defense of these actions – as if this would make any difference in the corrupt halls of the UN or the chanceries of Europe.We must recognize that unless we boldly act in our own defense in real time, no one will take us seriously.What has transpired so far is more than a sufficient casus belli.Let us act first and explain afterwards.If we reclaim 25 percent or 50% or even 100% of Gaza and expel its Hamas terrorists, the world might not love us but it would respect us.Our current stance of threatening, backing off and then abandoning our principles merely invites further oppression.It is significant that Israel’s standing in the world was never higher than immediately after the !967 war. It has been downhill ever since the Oslo accords.The world loves and respects a winner but has no time for weaklings.STEPHEN S. COHEN
Ma’aleh Adumim End the humiliation Sir, – The news that Israel is installing another missile defense against Gazan rockets is humiliating (“Third Iron Dome battery to be deployed near Ashdod next week,” August 30).It is time for Israel to stop pussyfooting around the rockets and the release of Gilad Schalit. It is intolerable that a democratic member state of the UN should suffer deadly attacks on its citizens in virtual silence, and by an entity that is considered by most of the world to be a terrorist organization.Israel should make a statement in the UN and other relevant bodies that it will no longer tolerate attacks, and that for every missile fired from Gaza a terrorist administration building will be destroyed. The same until Schalit is released in good health.We should stop supplying electricity and other services to Gaza.We should assure Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Maashal that we will grant them their dearest wish to become martyrs, and hasten their receipt of the delights of the 72 virgins.If the UN or its Security Council have a better way of dealing with the problem so that it permanently goes away, we can always take their advice. We can also ask NATO for its expert advice on how to make sure that there are no innocent civilian casualties, as it made sure in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Libya.ISIDORE SOLOMON
Beit Shemesh
Netanya Sir, – Congratulations on publishing many letters concerning the firing of columnist Larry Derfner, with expressions both pro and con.One factor not stressed in any of the letters was the fact that what Derfner wrote on his blog can justifiably be regarded as incitement to violence against Israeli citizens, including infants and children. The subsequent apology does not undo the damage.MYRA ZION
Tel Mond Sir, – Your personnel problems are of no interest to me. If you fire Larry Derfner or trash Barry Rubin or Caroline B. Glick, keep it off the front page and out of your editorial columns.I want to read news, not internal Jerusalem Post gossip.LLOYD LURIE
Ma’aleh Adumim