By LETTERS TO THE EDITORUpdated: FEBRUARY 14, 2016 21:17Letters(photo credit: REUTERS)Owes us loyalty With regard to “Balad MK: Terrorists are martyred victims of ‘occupation’” (February 12), MK Basel Ghattas is a Christian Arab who was educated through the Israeli school system. He had the privilege of attending Tel Aviv University and then the Technion, where he obtained a doctorate.The shocking treatment meted out to Christians in the Muslim Arab world has been well documented and does not need to repeated in this letter, but should be borne in mind by Dr. Ghattas, who might reflect on the wise decision his parents made to remain in Israel after 1948 and become Israeli citizens.All that he is, he owes to Israel, not to the Palestinian Authority or the people who live in the West Bank. He owes Israel his loyalty. He owes the lives of Israelis respect ahead of any imagined obligation, moral or legal, to Arab terrorists who kill and maim indiscriminately.I would suggest to him that he take an introspective look at his beginnings, where he currently finds himself, and where his loyalties should lie. Honest answers to those questions should bring about a change in his views and values. If not, my suggestion is that he forsake the wise choice his parents made, give up his Israeli citizenship and move to Ramallah together with other Arab List MKs who share his distorted views.PETER BAILEY Hod HasharonAchilles’ heel In “The IAF’s Achilles heel” (Column One, February 12), Caroline B. Glick’s expose of the vulnerability that the American stealth fighter would cause Israel, as alarming as it is, misses an additional element.The United States has entered into an alliance with Iran that obliges America to help defend Tehran’s nuclear project from attack or sabotage. This commitment is not reciprocal. As Israel is the enemy of Iran, to give the US control of our fighter aircraft would be utterly suicidal. This seems not to have sunk into the minds of Israeli policy-makers.High officials in the field of defense and security advocate that we respond to the newly magnified danger of Iran by intensifying our intelligence-sharing with the US. This, too, would be suicidal.Nothing can be divulged to the Americans because it will be used to protect Iran, and no information from the Americans can be trusted because the goal of its disclosure is to protect Iran.Glick suggests a joint fighter-aircraft development project with India based on the Lavi. Why is that not obvious?YA’AKOV GOLBERT Efrat Kotel prayers Yaakov Menken (“A monument to discord,” Comment & Features, February 11) says that the majority of Israelis “simply yawned” when the government approved an egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall. This is exactly what the canny Benjamin Netanyahu grasped.The peace treaty that then prime minister Menachem Begin signed with Egyptian president Anwar Sadat was a profoundly important moment in our history: Begin the terrorist had become a peacemaker! The cruel arch-nationalist F.W. de Klerk also acted out of character in unbanning the African National Congress and releasing Nelson Mandela from prison in the runup to the first democratic election, where Mandela became president of South Africa.Prime Minister Netanyahu has now joined their ranks. Without undue fanfare, he unleashed a movement that could transform Israel into the magnificent country it is supposed to be. He opened a box that will cause a healthy breath of fresh air to whip through the stale, petrified stones of our beloved Kotel.Politics is the art of the possible, and Netanyahu is a master politician. He now has the potential to move upward into the league of the world’s elite statesmen, helping set the stage for a great wave of tolerance here. Let us hope that he continues to welcome all denominations of Jews of the Diaspora, and then lead them in making peace with all the other peoples in this war-torn neck of the woods!SUSAN TUCKER Netanya My deep sadness goes to the precious Torah that will be used in the new egalitarian prayer venue at the Western Wall. How much blood was shed to protect it from the enemies of our people? How many Jews died because they refused to adulterate its message? The true Torah message sustained us through our long, difficult exile. It is the anchor to who and what we were and are.When a Torah scroll is damaged and irreparable, it must be buried like a Jew. When it is dropped, all present are required to fast. We treat a Torah with reverence and awe.How painful it will be to watch it being brought to our holiest site, the Kotel, and have it used in ways that are antithetical to the teachings within. How many tears God must shed in seeing the Torah misused by people who don’t understand Halacha and feel they can rewrite Jewish law and custom! As Jews, we believe that we can defeat our adversaries from without. How painful it is to be challenged by those from within.SARAH STERN Beit Shemesh We came on aliya in July 1970.The first trip we took was to Jerusalem.As we were walking down the stairs to go to the Western Wall, our eight-year-old daughter turned to her father and asked: “What’s so special about this place?” He answered: “When you believe in God, this is where you feel closest to Him.”She then asked: “Whose side is he on? The men’s or the women’s?” How appropriate for today!ANNETTE UNGERLEIDER MARTIN Kfar Shmaryahu Felon at InteriorArye Deri’s appointment as interior minister is another nail in the coffin, adding to the contempt and distrust with which the Israeli people view politicians (“NGO pleads with High Court to remove Deri as interior minister,” February 10).The cynicism displayed by placing a convicted felon in a financially powerful position, entrusting his ability to budget and control the public’s honestly- earned salaries and pensions, is beyond foolhardy. It is shockingly inept, to which the truism “a comedy of errors” is deservedly applicable.GISH TRUMAN ROBBINS Pardesiya EU-Israel relations With regard to “European MPs urge MKs to vote down NGO bill” (February 9), if European Union countries were serious about bringing back good relations with Israel, they would not need to negotiate with Jerusalem.They would just need to rescind their unilateral steps regarding the labeling of Israeli goods and produce from Judea and Samaria, and the blocking of EU research funding to Israeli universities in Judea and Samaria, and also reverse their general attitude in which they have a right to interfere in Israel’s democratic processes.PETER SIMPSON Jerusalem Succulent treif After reading two different Jerusalem Post restaurant reviews during the past several weeks, I could not help but write to express how offensive and disgusting I found that in a Jewish newspaper in the Jewish state, one has to read reviews of restaurants serving delicious and succulent pork and shrimp dishes.Please reserve these reviews for your international and Christian editions instead of offending Jews here.YOSEPH URSO Modi’inCORRECTION The watchdog group for Britain’s Jewish community mentioned in “Corbyn endorses twostate solution in meeting with British Jewish group” by Samuel Sokol (February 11) is the Community Security Trust, and not as stated.
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