At this rate, eventually the Knesset will curtail the presidency for fear of another loose cannon on the ship of state.
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)Partisan president I love Ruby Rivlin, I support his political ideas, but if he held substantive political discussions in Washington as implied in your story (“Rivlin seeks out-of-thebox ideas to end Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” December 9), he is pounding more nails into the coffin of the Israeli presidency.From an apolitical office, the presidency has been progressively changing, term after term, into the office of chief spokesman for the president’s own political bloc. From a cynosure of national unity, it is turning into a cynosure of partisan conflict, with successive presidents claiming the dignity that is supposed to derive from national consensus and using it instead to present their own debatable opinions as pronouncements from Olympus.At this rate, eventually the Knesset will curtail the presidency for fear of another loose cannon on the ship of state.MARK L. LEVINSONHerzliyaUnwarranted attackI am horrified at the nasty jibes that Isi Leibler has once more made against Jewish Leadership Council head Mick Davis (“British Jews under pressure,” December 9) Mick has a deep seated love for Israel and has made considerable contributions to the country.For this he was awarded a honorary doctorate from Bar Ilan University. Last week he was knighted by the Queen in the UK for his work on the Holocaust Foundation Both his brothers and many cousins have made aliya and live in Israel, and Mick and his family visit Israel at every opportunity.Israel is a democratic country and all Jews are entitled to think our own thoughts and ideas,and to voice them The fact that Davis does not agree with Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the Palestinian situation is his belief, and many Jews are in agreement with this.It does not affect his faith, love and support of Israel. I believe this does not warrant the vicious attack on Davis by Isi Leibler LeahHYMANBnei DrorBritain and Israel The article in Thursday’s Post by Richard Kemp and Jasper Reid (“The need for the closest friendship between Britain and Israel,” December 10) was excellent and covered most of the common history. There was no mention however, of the turning away of refugee ships from the shores of Palestine, often with severe fates, no mention of the internment camps in Cyprus and Atlit and no mention whatsoever of the internment of our underground fighters for years in various locations in Africa.For these mistreatments the British have never apologized, but it is never too late.LEON CHARNEYYehudRichard Kemp and Jasper Reid are to be complimented especially on their open admission of the perfidious conduct of Britain in the years of the mandate. However, the article is incorrect in one respect. Palestine was never the historic homeland of the Arabs. In the 19th century there were very few Arabs in Palestine.The vast majority came from Arab countries either to seek work or having been sent by Arab rulers there to counter Jewish immigration. Most Arabs living in the region today can trace their origin to some Arab or Muslim country.The British government allowed Arabs unfettered immigration to Mandate era Palestine while at the same time they severely restricted the access of Jews fleeing Europe.Messrs Kemp and Reid should correct their article and then send it to David Cameron and the Foreign Office.JONATHAN GRAFFRa’anana
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