Ra’anana is not Balfour,” declared Ra’anana Mayor Chaim Broyde in response to the nightly demonstrations outside the home of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, where right-wing activists accuse him of misleading the voters. Bennett’s neighbors are now getting a taste of what opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s neighbors experienced for more than a year when demonstrators from all over Israel came determined to oust him from leading the country. It wouldn’t much matter who the prime minister might be, there will always be a group of people for whom that person represents a red flag.
■ THIS COMING July 4 marks the 245th anniversary of American Independence and the 45th anniversary of the Entebbe Rescue Mission, which is generally known as Operation Jonathan in memory of its commander, Yoni Netanyahu, who was the only Israeli fatality. It will be interesting to see whether opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu and/or his brother Ido Netanyahu show up at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 29, when people directly or indirectly involved in planning the operation will come together to share memories.
Among them will be Ehud Barak, Doron Almog, Dalia Rabin, Tsvia Walden, Avi Weiss Livne and Amir Ofer. Master of ceremonies will be Ron Kitri. This will be an historic occasion in its own right, and hopefully, the powers-that-be at the Peres Center will have the good sense to record the event so that it remains available to posterity. Most of the participants have at some stage left an indelible mark on Israel’s history.
■ A BOOK may cost less than a bottle of pink champagne, but something in the nature of a book a month over a seven-year period may come to a pretty penny, which amounts to more than public figures who are state employees are permitted to receive and retain as gifts. The question is, will President Reuven Rivlin be permitted to keep all the books that have been presented to him by Yediot Aharonot publishing? It’s true that every publishing house puts aside a certain number of books to give to the author for whatever purpose they want, but nonetheless, each book is worth money.
On average, Yediot Aharonot ran a photo every month of a book being presented by an author to president Rivlin, as the CEO of Yediot Book Publisher Dov Eichenwald looked on. This happened just last week, when former government minister Haim Ramon presented Rivlin with his book Against the Wind. The two reminisced over their joint periods in the Knesset when Rivlin was speaker and Ramon a minister.
Despite political and ideological differences, the two found several issues on which they could agree. Rivlin is known to be a voracious reader, and one of the best gifts that anyone could give him is a book. Ordinarily no one would think twice about whether or not he is entitled to keep the books, or whether he should pay for them. However, in light of the fact that gifts they have received have cropped up so frequently in the legal cases of Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu, the question about gifts must be raised and answered.
On another issue, Rivlin recently received several bottles of beer, which undoubtedly cost a lot less than champagne, and in this case, they were a token gift. The Malcha Beer company, as a farewell gift to Rivlin, produced a series of draft beers called Ruvi, which is the name that Rivlin answers to among relatives and friends. The bottle features an illustration by artist Amit Shimoni of Rivlin in a sports shirt and straw hat, as distinct from the business suit that he usually wears. The beer is on the market, and soon we will be hearing patrons of pubs and other retail outlets where beer is sold, saying, “Give me a Ruvi.”
Considering that Rivlin has known US President Joe Biden for some 30 years, presumably when they meet this week. The meeting will not be entirely formal. It’s doubtful, but nonetheless possible that Rivlin will invite Biden to join him in downing a Ruvi.
■ SUMMER IS already here, and with it the attendant fear about the number of children who will die needlessly, or will come close to death, and will suffer traumatic repercussions for much of their lives. There are three main causes for children’s death: being forgotten in a hot car, traffic accidents and drowning. The best way to stop a parent from leaving a child in the car is to enact legislation that makes it illegal to do so.
If you can’t take the most precious thing in your life with you – then don’t go. Stiffer punishments have to be introduced against violators of traffic regulations, and more traffic police must be deployed. Children must be educated from the earliest possible age not to run out onto the road, and to cross the road only when the light is green, though many bicyclists, motorcyclists and scooter riders tend to ignore traffic light rules. Drowning is the easiest tragedy to prevent.
Many physicians agree that there is nothing wrong with teaching children to swim before they can walk. There is a reason for the Talmudic injunction that one of the three basic things a father should teach his son is how to swim. During the summer months, newspapers are filled with stories of how parents were engaged in conversation with friends and didn’t notice that their toddler son or daughter was missing until someone found the infant face down in a swimming pool. Putting a child on a leash may do some good, but not for long. Tiny tots are very clever in getting out of knotty situations. The most important thing that every parent can do is to teach their children to swim.
The Israel Life Saving Federation, whose members are mostly veteran and relatively new immigrants from Australia, headed by brothers Paul and Danny Hakim, runs a series of programs on beaches in various parts of the country in which children are taught to swim, surf and rescue others from drowning. Many grateful parents are delighted that their children have learned how to be safe in the water. Apart from its ultimate goal, which is safety and the preservation of life, the Federation’s programs – based on those used for decades on Australian beaches – will teach those children who are afraid of water how to develop confidence in the water. Here too, parents will be grateful, because a child frightened by water fights against having a bath or a shower. Once they know how to swim, that fear will disappear.
As they are taught in the company of other children and learn that the serious business of swimming can also be a lot of fun, the outcome will be a relief to many parents. The Federation has a website (israellifesaving.org) with comprehensive information and photographs.
■ FEARS THAT the pandemic is not yet over and that Israelis will have to go back to wearing masks indoors are becoming ever constant. But earlier this month, when it was thought that the virus had been conquered, Friends of the Rabin Medical Center got together and raised NIS 10 million for the development of the Davidoff Cancer Center at Beilinson Hospital.
They met at “Seven-A Venue for Events” in Tel Aviv and watched a moving performance by Daniel Solomon and Diana Adini.
“Finally, we can meet face to face,” said Friends chairman Pinchas (Pini) Cohen. In addition to Cohen and Rabin Medical Center CEO Dr. Eytan Wertheim, hundreds of well-known figures from academic, business and philanthropic circles happily mingled and later listened to cancer researcher Prof. Gal Markel who spoke about cancer and bacteria and what’s between them, and described a fascinating study.
Among those present who are well known for their generosity not only insofar as the Rabin Medical Center is concerned, but also in many other spheres were Clalit Health Services CEO Prof. Ehud Davidson; Varda and Boaz Dotan; Zvi Neta of Automotive Industries; Gideon Tadmor, Nava Barak and Shalom Singer; Shalva Hessel, Adv. and CPA Daniel and Michal Paserman of Gornitzky & Co.; Roy and Katy Hessel; Atalya Shmeltzer of Shlomo Group; Elias and Lillian Tanous of BST; Michael and Jasmine Fradis of Amisragas; Jacques Beer of Tempo; Avi and Dorit Abecassis, Nurit and Avi Farhi, and Shai and Orna Dahan of Eldan; Amnon Dick, Tami and Yehuda Raveh, CPA Doron and Anat Kaufman, Eliyahu and Hanita Ben Amram, CPA Shlomo and Dr. Sara Ziv of Ziv Haft; Tamar and Hod Gabso Arieli and many others.
■ HAVING MATURED greatly in the almost 10 years since his release from Hamas captivity, where he spent five years of his life, Gilad Schalit, once referred to as the “son of the nation”, (hayeled shel hamedina) got married last week to Nitzan Shabbat with whom he has been going steady for the past three years. Invited guests were asked not to disclose the venue of the wedding or any of the details related to it, other than the date. However, some of the photographs that were taken found their way to the Hebrew tabloids and included one of the traditional breaking of the glass by the bridegroom, who lifted his leg so high, it looked as if he had been in training for a sports event.
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