Clearly, Herzog has not learned that insulting the electorate is a sure way to lose an election.
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)What pols say...With regard to “Herzog catches flak for Amona ‘virus’ comments” (November 15), when will politicians in democratic countries learn to watch what they say? Opposition leader Isaac Herzog must know that a major reason Hillary Clinton lost the US presidential election last week was her comment describing Trump supporters as “deplorables.” So why make the same mistake and call those living in the West Bank and those who support a Jewish presence in that area a “virus”? Clearly, Herzog has not learned that insulting the electorate is a sure way to lose an election.PETER SCHWEITZERTel Aviv...and papers writeI think The Jerusalem Post should stop using our enemies’ terminology.We should always refer to Judea and Samaria, not the West Bank. It should be united Jerusalem, not east or west Jerusalem.They should be towns and villages, not settlements. They should be disputed territories, not occupied territories.Finally, we should refer to people living in temporary, squalid conditions under the rule of the Palestinian Authority not as refugees, but as Arabs for whom the PA refuses to provide proper housing and infrastructure.DAVID M. FEIGENBAUM NetanyaTrump, Trump, TrumpThe Jerusalem Post has yet to find a way, even in an article that could be viewed as “balanced,” to acknowledge in a positive fashion President-elect Donald Trump’s stunning, brilliant victory and his potential to stand by Israel faithfully. As was the case during the campaign, you continue to devote the majority of articles on the issue to anti- Trump viewpoints, referring to him in “Local party activists want Shalom, Magal to return to politics after Trump’s win” (November 15) as an “alleged sexual harasser,” thereby illogically linking him to Israeli politics.This is beyond the pale and truly a quantum leap into the world of defamation.In addition, including the quote by Likud activist Susan Ben Abu Madar, who referred to Kind David as having “cheated on his wife,” is repugnant. No wonder the image of the country’s media and, by association, its journalists, is so low (“Public faith in media lowest in 15 years, shows study,” November 15).SIDNEY (SHOLOM) STRAJCHER JerusalemThe people President-elect Donald Trump appoints will be a true indication of his presidency.The fact that he chose Vice President- elect Mike Pence to head his transition team leaves one to think that he will try to run a stable, conservative and values- based administration along the proposals he ran on.Trump said unequivocally that he was going to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. However, his first priorities seem to be domestic, and we will have to wait until he is sworn in before we push for the embassy to be moved.Meanwhile, the president-elect remains an enigma. It would be valuable for all of us in Israel to have someone who is very close to him visit us soon. It would help reassure us that we can be comfortable with a Trump administration.BATYA KOENIGSBERG JerusalemWith regard to “Bennett: Under Trump, Israel can ‘reset’ the Middle East” (November 15), why are we always looking to someone else to solve our problems? We could, and should, have reset the Middle East long ago – although I would settle for just resetting our own country! There would be no need for any resets if we declared sovereignty over our land. Rather than throw Jews out of their homes, we should throw our enemies out. No sovereign state surrenders its most precious commodities to its enemies. In our case, these commodities are our one and only historic land and the lives of our people lost due to policies of surrender.Bennett said the two-state solution – the idea of a Palestinian state side by side with Israel and at peace – was “effectively dead.” This would assume that there had been at any time an idea that it was feasible, which, of course, it was not.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should never have legitimized the sovereign rights of a fake people to Jewish land, something he continues to advocate most vociferously each time he speaks (and, regrettably, humiliates himself by begging the terrorist in a suit, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the monster who denies us any rights to our land, so as to entice him to return to negotiations over this Jewish land).Netanyahu proves so often that he has no pride or faith in this land, nor in its people. This shows in the concessions he makes to our enemies and the misery he inflicts upon his own people by refusing to declare sovereignty and refusing to build Jewish homes.Let’s stop blaming outsiders and stop looking to them to solve our problems, and face the reality that these problems all stem from weak and arrogant leadership that refuses to stand up for our just rights out of fear of confronting and destroying our enemies.EDITH OGNALL NetanyaDealing with Obama The Supreme Court’s decision not to grant the government an extension on removing the Amona outpost exposes Israel to international retribution in the last weeks of the current US administration (“Settlements bill puts Israel on collision course with Obama,” November 15).This makes the court’s decision highly political and justifies further government action to limit it, whether by reducing its power on the judicial selection committee or by legislation circumventing its rulings.ZVI FINKModi’inNotwithstanding President Barack Obama’s much vaunted and fearfully anticipated sting that is expected to smite us Israelis shortly, I think our prime minister deserves great honor for having outmaneuvered, outsmarted and, ultimately, outlasted what has arguably been the toughest and most antagonistic US administration ever.DAVID S. ADDLEMAN Mevaseret ZionPostal updateI wrote in not long ago to criticize the postal system, so it is only right that I now issue it my thanks.Last week, I found our mailbox full of mail! We received two New Years cards sent two weeks before Rosh Hashana. I received an invitation to a wedding I had attended two weeks previously. I also received three notices for packages we had picked up long ago, and two letters, one from Switzerland and one from New York, that were sent way before Rosh Hashana.I was especially happy to receive two speeding tickets sent from France on September 29.We were given 46 days to pay; otherwise, 50% would have been added to the fines. Wonder of wonders – it was exactly 46 days, so we were saved the additional penalty! For all that, I would like to praise the Israel Postal Company’s punctuality. We look forward to possibly receiving mail again after Hanukka.YOSEF TUCKER JerusalemCORRECTIONS • The article headlined “Hadar Goldin’s family asks High Court to help return his body” (November 14) should have been about the family of Golani Brigade St.-Sgt. Oron Shaul, who, like Goldin, was killed in the Gaza Strip during 2014’s Operation Protective Edge, and whose remains are claimed to be held by Hamas.All of the other information in the report is correct. The reporter deeply regrets any unintended harm to both the Goldin and Shaul families that resulted from the error.• In “What challenges will the CIA face under Trump?” (Analysis, November 15), the article erroneously refers to US intelligence cooperation with Syria. This cooperation is with Turkey.
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