I hope an MK has the strength to put forward such a bill.
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)
“Knesset passes police ‘Polygraph Law’” (July 27) includes a quote by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who said: “We took a big step today to strengthen public confidence in the police.”I would suggest that with the number of cases of corruption that newspapers keep reporting, it seems the law should be extended and applied to all members of the Knesset, cabinet ministers, mayors and anyone in important public offices.I hope an MK has the strength to put forward such a bill. Any opposition would, of course, imply some form of guilt.MICHAEL H. DAVISRishon LezionAnything goes As a veterinarian formerly involved in the agricultural sector, I was surprised to see that Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel was a participant in the recent Knesset event promoting a revival of our agriculture and connecting it to our youth.During Ariel’s tenure, duties have been lifted or lightened on the importation of various agricultural products, including but not limited to dairy products and sheep and cattle for slaughter. These policies lessen our own producers’ ability to survive in the local market, and ultimately lead to decreased jobs, abandoned agricultural land and an increased chance of putting the country at food risk should there be an embargo. Ariel has passively let this happen.Showing up at the recent meeting seems a bit hypocritical to me, but I guess when your profession is politics and your goal is to stay in office, anything goes.ELLIS GROSSMeitarTemple Mount The first three paragraphs of Moshe Dann’s “Showdown on the Temple Mount” (Comment & Features, July 27) say it all. Israel is the country that all other democratic nations hail as the only democracy in the Middle East. It should be acting that way when it comes to the Temple Mount.The Arabs want the site to be just for them, their prayers and their narrative of the land – that it has belonged to them from time immemorial. We just had a perfect opportunity to let them know that in a democracy, places of worship, especially those with two different houses of prayer, are for two different peoples.The site has become a base for terrorist acts of violence against Jews and other visitors.This must be stopped.They don’t like metal detectors? Well, I suggest they stop going to malls and other places where such devices are in place to protect everyone.Why should Israel be backing down all the time to appease these terrorists? The Mount is not a “prayer site” for them, but a hiding place for weapons and an area for harassment. I’ve never seen guns, knives or Molotov cocktails stashed in any of the synagogues I’ve been in.Take the keys back from the Wakf and let the world know there is a new sheriff in town.It’s long overdue.DEBRA FORMANModi’in I can understand – but not agree to – Gershon Baskin being against building the Third Temple (“I don’t want the Temple Mount,” Encountering Peace, July 27). What I cannot understand is why he discriminates against Jews being allowed to pray there.It is a basic right for any person to be allowed to pray wherever he or she wants.This is pure anti-Jewish discrimination.Mr. Baskin would fight against it in any other country, but accepts it in Israel.This is called hypocrisy.SHLOMO BAR-MEIRTel-Aviv Gershon Baskin is an anachronism.Why he came to Israel in the first place is an enigma.Many Jews, including Israelis, do want the Temple Mount, the heart and soul of the Jewish people. The Muslims admit that they built their edifice on that place because they knew it was holy ground.Moreover, Mr. Baskin speaks as if God appointed him to deliver messages from on high. Better he, unconnected to reality, should just go away and bother others.ARTHUR S. SAFIRWarminster, PennsylvaniaThe status quo on the Temple Mount must be kept at all costs. There is no way Israel may usurp power and dominance over the Temple Mount just because it happens to be in Israel.Ever since the keys to the Temple Mount were given to the Wakf Muslim Trust by Moshe Dayan in 1967, the status quo has been upheld.Since then, when the Arabs throw stones from the Mount toward the Western Wall area, the Jews have had to run away under cover, with the Wakf doing nothing (at best). Why should this change? Any Jew nearing the Mount who merely looks like he might be praying is thrown out. Why should this change? Each time there are commotions on the Mount, Israeli police (not the Wakf) have to restore order. Why should that change? When Arabs bring armaments to the Mount, they are never stopped by the Wakf. Why should that change? Israel must realize that the status quo is an unbreakable agreement and there is no justification for the police to set up machines to check if armaments are taken onto the Mount, just like in the past.Hail the status quo!YOSEF TUCKERJerusalem Our first visit to Israel was in 1970. We were free to visit the Temple Mount without fear of harassment. We were surprised that Moshe Dayan had allowed the Jordanian-controlled Wakf to remain in charge after the deliberate destruction of ancient Jewish archeological and historic sites after the war in 1948, when Jordan took control.Why do we Jews allow the antisemites of the world and the revisionists of history to lie about an “occupation” and deny the murderous behavior of Arabs who came from elsewhere to kill the Jews of Hebron and Jerusalem? Why have the successive governments of Israel allowed that stupid decision of Dayan to evolve into banning Jews from the site of our Temple? The so-called status quo of 1948 changed over the years to allow the Arabs to spit on us, throw rocks at us and ban us as they saw fit.Prime Minister Netanyahu, where is the courage of your brother Yoni? Why do you not tell the Arabs that they have violated the trust Dayan so foolishly gave them? Tell them that they are free to pray in their mosques, but that Israel is in full charge of the security and safety of the Temple Mount and has the right to allow freedom to all religions.They lost seven wars but are allowed to kill us?SONIA GOLDSMITHNetanya Being prime minister of Israel is a task few can navigate successfully for any length of time. There are pressures that emanate from all corners, and navigating through multiple cases of Scylla and Charybdis is a monumental challenge.Benjamin Netanyahu’s political survival has been no easy feat. His operating procedure is to avoid crises by capitulating to major pressures and postponing the lancing of purulent boils. The Temple Mount situation is only the latest manifestation of the lack of a strong backbone, which prolongs the war against the Jews.A showdown has to come sooner or later. The Six Day War was the most propitious time to impose a long-lasting peace on the region. Backtracking by Israeli governments over the past 50 years has allowed the pustules to fester. Expect more of the same in the period ahead.FRED EHRMANNew York/Ra’anana
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