By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)Horrendous mistake Your article “Police in Bnei Brak arrest 28 haredi draft protesters” (March 23) understated significantly the inconvenience foisted upon tens of thousands of commuters, as Route 4, a major north/south highway, was closed to traffic while these spoiled brats took to the streets.Other Israelis pay for their education, which guarantees dependence, and for the IDF, which protects them and in which they refuse to serve. There is a limit to how much selfishness the remainder of Israeli society can tolerate – and this includes most of us who are secular, traditional and religious. People who can’t even bring themselves to pray for the state or the IDF do not deserve to be supported while they supposedly spend a lifetime sitting and studying.When we have our next election, for many of us, the first question to be asked when deciding which party to support should be: “Would you welcome the ultra-Orthodox parties into your coalition and allow them to dominate decisions on their parochial issues?” The answer should certainly play a dominant role in our choice of a party.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a horrendous mistake in the composition of his government that should not be repeated.STEPHEN JEROME KOHNRa’anana Credit where (also) due It was certainly a pleasure this past week to read the continuing coverage of Israel’s revelation that it indeed bombed the Syrian reactor in 2007.It is unfortunate that both civilians and former military personnel have been bickering over who deserves credit for the success of the operation. At least they all agree that the real credit goes to our brave IDF soldiers – those in the IAF and those involved in gathering and analyzing intelligence. However, Avi Benayahu (“Remembering that September,” Frontlines, March 23) points to a forgotten message in all the talk about credit.He relates that at the wedding mentioned in the article, then-chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi turned to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbi of the Western Wall, and said: “Rabbi, I have an important mission for you to fulfill. You are to go straight from here to pray at the Kotel for the safety of the IDF commanders and soldiers and the entire State of Israel.”I doubt very much that Rabbi Rabinowitz would take credit for anything. But that does not prevent us, the Jewish people, especially during the upcoming Passover season, from heaping praise and giving credit for the success of the operation to the One who has given us the Land of Israel, “a Land that the Lord your God seeks out, the eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to year’s end” (Deuteronomy 11:12).AVRAHAM FRIEDMANGanei Modi’in Coming around only now With regard to “Preventing the next war” (Encountering Peace, March 22), no matter what you think of Gershon Baskin’s columns, you must feel a bit sorry for someone who sees his life’s work collapsing all about him.Dr. Baskin has only recently begun to understand something that most Israelis have understood since the collapse of the ill-conceived Oslo accords: It is the Arab intransigence and belief in their final destruction of Israel that is the real reason there is no peace between the Arab residents of the mandated territory the British called Palestine, and the Jewish State of Israel, successor to the mandate. He concedes at last that the leadership of both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are failed, although he makes a mistake when he says that the leadership of Israel is also a failure.In which way has Israel’s leadership failed? Dr. Baskin complains about conditions in the Gaza Strip but fails to mention that the conditions are those that the inhabitants chose when they elected Hamas, and continue to choose when they call for the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people. What would happen if the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip were to be open? Would he and his family as well as the rest of the inhabitants of Israel be safe?CYRIL ATKINSBeit Shemesh A loss to us all I was so sad and shocked to read of the death of reporter and columnist Daniel K. Eisenbud in David Brinn’s “His words will live on” (Observations, March 23). l always looked forward to, and enjoyed, Mr. Eisenbud’s articles and columns, especially the ones he wrote about his grandmother – which endeared him to me.My sincerest condolences to all concerned.RENE SIMPSONTel AvivI was so sad to read about the untimely death of Daniel K. Eisenbud.It seems not so many years ago that I was reading in his first columns – Eisenbud’s Odyssey – about how inspired he had been by his grandmother to come to Israel and make a go of it. Throughout the years, I noticed how his articles and his position at the newspaper grew in stature. It always gave me pleasure when he had written something well and topical that everyone would like to read. I would think his grandmother would be so proud.Please convey my sincere condolences to his family. I am truly sorry for their loss.LINDA HIRSCHNetanyaHow profoundly sad I was to hear of the untimely death of Dan.After having read his beautiful tribute to his beloved grandmother, Carola, a Holocaust survivor, I immediately contacted him. We became friends. I even tried to be a surrogate grandmother for him, telling him just how proud I was when he’d write other stories.He touched our lives for too brief a period, but I’m proud to have known him and been privileged to read the thoughts and feelings of an immensely talented and rare gem who was able to live out even a few years of his dream in the Land of Israel.Thank you, Jerusalem Post, for having hired him and for allowing us the great pleasure of getting to know this beautiful young man.Rest in peace, Dan.COOKIE SCHWAEBER-ISSANGizo Drivers and their bad habitsIn “Cops and the roads” (Letters, March 16), reader Alfred Inselberg makes a passionate plea for more police monitoring of drivers’ road behavior. As a fairly new oleh, I am struck by the discourtesy shown by some drivers.A popular misconception seems to be that the white line down the middle of a road is an invitation to position oneself on it. Some drivers clearly view roads as racetracks, their objective being to get in front of as many other cars as possible and by whatever means – passing on an inside lane, weaving in and out of lanes and honking to intimidate a “rival.” Add to that an overpowering reluctance to use turn indicators (“Why should I bother when I know exactly where I’m going?) and you have a situation that Mr. Inselberg describes as “lethal.”It’s not only a more visible police presence that might help; perhaps what is needed is a critical reexamination of the driving lessons regime, the competence of driving instructors and the rigor of the examiners. And if, somehow, we could all treat driving as less about “me” and more about others, then fewer of us would get killed and more of us would travel with less frustration.DAVID WEITZMANModi’in
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