By LETTERS TO THE EDITOREnvelope(photo credit: ING IMAGE/ASAP)Repugnant commentsIn “Ex-Shin Bet head: Jewish terror more harmful than ISIS” (January 17), Carmi Gillon is quoted as saying: “There is not any difference between ISIS and Jewish terrorists.They come with the same agenda.”The unmitigated gall to make such a statement should earn Gillon damning condemnation from all sectors. How many Jewish terrorists have massacred hundreds of Yazidis? How many Jewish terrorists have dropped gays to their deaths from tall buildings? How many Jewish terrorists have put a bullet in the head of their mother in a public execution? Gillon’s comments are repugnant, sickening and loathsome, and should be roundly condemned by anyone who has any sense of morality.ZE’EV M. SHANDALOVMa’aleh AdumimWhy do past senior officials and leaders like to shoot off their mouths in public? ISIS is for brutal public beheadings, the rape and enslavement of women, and mass punishment and exile for thousands. How can anyone mention Jewish terrorists in the same breath? Where is the gravitas and temperance that should accompany past heroes as they age?J.W. KRASNERJerusalemP5+1 imbeciles! Regarding “Iran deal is implemented as world relieves sanctions” (January 17), this is another date that will live in infamy. We in Israel should be screaming: “You P5+1 imbeciles! How dare you endanger the lives of millions of people around the world!” Who was right in the 1930s? All the major world powers that appeased Hitler? Or was it Winston Churchill? One just has to look at Cologne and all the problems concerning the influx of Middle Eastern migrants to see the consequences of ignorance – except that the surprise coming from Iran will be much more devastating.MLADEN ANDRIJASEVICBeershebaShaked billJan Sokolovsky deserves to be commended for writing “Who’s undermining democracy? The pot, the kettle and transparency” (Comment & Features, January 17). She clarifies how the proposed NGO transparency legislation regarding funding by foreign governments “does not undermine democracy in any way.”Moreover, she exposes the US position against the legislation as hypocritical.Israel is a sovereign country and must protect itself from organizations that seek to undermine policies relating to its safety and security.FRAN GENDELMANJerusalemEditor’s note: Jan Sokolovsky wishes to add that Ariela Cotler co-authored “Who’s undermining democracy? The pot, the kettle and transparency.”By definition, a non-governmental organization is a group that is neither part of a government nor a for-profit business. When such an organization receives more than 50 percent of its funding from a government, especially a foreign government, it is reasonable to label it a foreign-governmental organization (FGO) – precisely what the Shaked bill does.Just as those who would label the origin of Israeli products from beyond the “Green Line” in order to inform consumers about their source, it is incontrovertibly appropriate to force foreign-supported NGOs to inform Israelis about the source for their ideas and messages.HARVEY KASDANJerusalemA prime example of the European Union’s blatant hostility to Israel and its very existence is its funding of a bypass road (“Regavim: EU funding Dead Sea road to help annex area to Palestinian Authority,” January 13). The road’s sole purpose is to enable the Arabs to take over parts of Area C.Control of Area C was given to Israel by the Oslo Agreements.Does the EU think that by enabling the Arabs to encroach upon more and more land in Area C there will be peace? Does this mean the EU wants Arabs to take over all or most of Area C, and thus demolish Israel? What is the purpose of building the road? Europe is turning into a nightmare, unprepared for the people fleeing from Syria and Iraq, some of whom are not refugees but in fact agents of terror. Europe cannot exist this way – and Israel must not be the gift that Europe plans to give to the Arabs.We are thankful that this road has been exposed and we pray that Israel will prevent its completion and stop Europe’s desire to make Area C so vulnerable.BATYA KOENIGSBERGJerusalemLeft-wing and liberal NGOs are complaining about transparency regarding foreign governments as funding sources.The Right and the Left have to abide by the same restrictions. The only difference is that NGOs on the Left do, in fact, get funding from foreign government sources that they don’t want to disclose.Why are they afraid? Right-wing organizations get funding from foreign sources, too.However, these sources are not governments.LAURENCE MORRELLMaitland, FloridaOff-compassHow can an advanced, ultraagile US combat boat suffer a navigational error that leads to a terrorist state like Iran capturing its sailors (“Iran frees US sailors after territorial infraction in Gulf,” January 14)? Doesn’t the US Navy use Waze?NORMAN DEROVANMa’aleh AdumimMethodist movesSo the Methodist Church is again trying to spread its blasphemous lies and libels by denying that Israel is the land promised by God thousands of years ago to the Israelite tribes headed by the tribe of Judah (“Methodist Church pension fund blacklists 5 Israeli banks for financing settlements,” January 14).I would like to ask this “Christian” church to respond to the following: Where was the circumcised Jewish child named Jesus born some 2,000 years ago? If this church has forgotten, I suggest its members read the New Testament again. As far as I – a simple Israeli Jew – recall after reading the New Testament, it states quite clearly that Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew) was born in Bethlehem of Judea, not “Palestine.”Today’s “Palestinians” are simply Arab Muslims who are trying to wipe Israel and its Jews off the face of the earth (in their own words) so that they can then settle in the promised land to make it part of the coming caliphate, even though they already have many states of their own.In those states, neither Jews nor Christians, including Methodists, are allowed to live or become citizens, unlike in Israel, where Muslims and Christians live freely and fearlessly among us and are able to worship in their legal churches and mosques.TRUDY GEFENKiryat OnoThe real culprit In “Chief Rabbinate: Jewish Vatican?” (Candidly Speaking, January 14), Isi Leibler blames haredim for the dismal state of the Chief Rabbinate and its extortionate stranglehold on religious life in Israel and its Treasury. Perhaps Mr.Leibler should look a bit closer to home to identify the culprit – specifically, to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who very openly announced his intention of selling out to the haredi parties prior to the most recent elections.Bibi’s desire to remain in power has far exceeded his commitment to the interests of the electorate.Indeed, he has sold us all down the proverbial river in order to achieve a nominal coalition majority, the price of which is ongoing extortion and blackmail. As a result, not only are Israel’s taxpayers footing the bill for an exponentially growing sector of world-class embezzlers, but we have become a global laughing stock, with a haredi interior minister who is an ex-con who achieved his notoriety by fleecing the very ministry he once again heads.It is reaching the point where the citizens’ cynicism will become equal to that of our duplicitous prime minister.YOHANAN AV-YAIRJerusalem
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