Letters to the Editor June 2, 2021: Early to bedlam

I think that the headline “The end of 25 years of Bibi bedlam” (May 31) was a poor choice of words to describe the years of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration. 

No matter what one’s political association or views may be, there is no denying that for nearly a quarter century, certainly in the last 15 years as prime minister, Netanyahu has been a major force in Israel leadership and can be credited for enhancing the Israel economy, dealing with Hamas and other unswerving enemies, bringing Israel into the world diplomatic forum as a major player, and last but not least, this past year, leading the rest of the world in successfully fighting the coronavirus. 

The only bedlam in these years can be found in the multiparty, coalition system, which has resulted in four fruitless elections, and which denies the individual voter any direct say in the choice of prime minister, or, indeed, any direct representation in the Knesset.

The only resolution of such bedlam lies in the writing of a constitution that will, among other things, give representation to the voter, rather than to political manipulators, and, to avoid such future accusations of entrenchment of power, the establishment of term limits for office holders. 

It is not Netanyahu who caused the so-called bedlam, but rather, it is he who deserves the credit for providing the nation with superb leadership for nearly a quarter of a century, despite it.

Why is the Biden Administration even thinking of rejoining the contemptible UN Human Rights Council (“UN bias” editorial, May 30)? On it sit some of the worst human rights-violating regimes on the planet, protecting each other from well-deserved censure. Instead of addressing truly horrific human rights issues around the world, it obsessively focuses virtually all its attention on bashing Israel. 

The US twice left what former US UN ambassador Nikki Haley called a “hypocritical and self-serving organization:” 1) The Bush administration not seeking a seat in 2006, and 2) The Trump administration leaving in 2018. The futility of “being at the table” toward changing its malodorous agenda was evident then and should be now. Sooner or later the US will be obliged again to leave; the UNHRC is utterly unredeemable.

Like other failed organizations changing their name but not culture, the former Commission became a Council under the General Assembly in 2006, with human rights elevated as one of the UN’s three essential pillars. How miserably it has failed in that task! Its rockets having proved largely ineffective, Hamas has now effectively declared permanent investigatory war against Israel, while seeking to disarm it with an arms embargo. 

While a slim Council majority was likely always there, how shameful the abstentions of France, Denmark and Italy, and the active promotion by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michele Bachelet! 

Ruthie Blum (“Hasbara can’t combat Jew-hatred” May 21) is of course, correct regarding antisemitism fueling much of the international antagonistic sentiment towards Israel – the collective Jew. 

No amount of real facts will convince those who want to hate us. However, that does not mean that we or even the government should give up the PR war. Some significant battles can be, and are, won. Some among the great mass of the undecided and ill-informed may still be susceptible to the truth about Israel. 

However, one weakness of Israel advocacy in general is the inability to convey an emotional message. Palestinian Arab propaganda uses the microcosmic, human story that plays on the emotions. Moreover, it is peppered with misinformation and, often, outright lies, whereas Israel advocacy tends to try and win the PR battle with facts – which more often than not, fall on deaf ears.

It is difficult to counteract apples with oranges, so if we solely adhere to our fact-based model we can win some PR battles, but not the PR war, it seems. 

You get up in the morning in a fairly good mood and then you read in “To the leaders of US rabbinical schools” (June 1) by Irving Lebovics that 100 rabbinical and cantorial students at various USA rabbinical colleges have written a letter denouncing Israel as having committed racist violence in the recent Gaza war – with no mention of the more than 4,000 rockets fired by Hamas at Israeli civilians, no mention that we are at war with violent terrorists who are committed to destroy Israel and kill as many Jewish infidels as possible. 

Lebovics calls on the heads of the colleges to expel the signatories of the letter. Not nearly enough. I call on the heads of the colleges to publish the names of these “so-called” students so that they can be boycotted, divested and sanctioned for their unbelievably treacherous behavior. No letter of apology will be accepted. No regrets due to utter stupidity will be acknowledged. 

These traitors should be hounded out, not expelled only from their colleges but from the entire Jewish people. The leaders of the rabbinical colleges should be required to publicly acknowledge their failure to educate or lead. 

Regarding “Rutgers University’s chancellor condemned antisemitism – then apologized” (May 29), Jewish students are at risk at American universities – especially the young, Jewishly ignorant, gullible youngsters who will start in September 2021. They will be exposed to horrific distortions and a barrage of lies.

People involved with on-campus groups such as Hillel, etc, must be able to provide as many Jewish students as possible with the awareness that all anti-Israel propaganda, without exception, is untruthful, a bunch of lies.

In addition, alumni must be contacted and persuaded to stop donations to universities that in the name of alleged “free speech” allow their campuses to become hotbeds of Jewish hatred, and the administrators should be told very specifically why the donations are stopping.

The editorial “Need to Unite” (June 1) pontificates that now is the time for all sectors of Israeli society to unite. We must learn to respect each other, Jew and Arab, secular and ultra-Orthodox, Left and Right. 

It used to be understood that respect needs to be earned. I’ll respect the Arabs when their politicians stop criticizing and demonizing the State of Israel at every opportunity, claiming racism, discrimination, etc. I’ll respect the Arabs when their politicians occasionally praise Israel for its achievements even when faced with never-ending threats from the Arab and Muslim nations surrounding it. I’ll respect the Arabs when their extremists shouting the BIG LIE that al-Aksa is in danger are shouted down and silenced by Arab moderates. I’ll respect the Arab Muslims when their Imams stop preaching religious war on the infidels. 

I’ll respect the ultra-Orthodox when their rabbis start demanding (not blocking) the inclusion of secular studies (math, science, English) in their yeshivot so that their minions will not be destined to a life on the dole. I’ll respect the ultra-Orthodox when their youth start demanding to serve in the IDF. 

I don’t know when the ultra-Orthodox will start respecting me. Will I have to wear a kippa and tzizit? Stop driving on the Sabbath? 

I don’t know when the Arabs will start respecting me. It reminds me of the time when an Arab PhD student of mine looked at me whimsically and asked “What are you doing here?” (He meant living in Israel.) 

I guess that the Arabs will start respecting us when we start leaving. 

Regarding “Sinwar: Hamas ready for prisoner swap negotiations” (June 1), Hamas seems to be laying down the rules for continuing the ceasefire. I suggest that Israel should not negotiate with Hamas about the return of the MIAs but demand it without any conditions or another skewed prisoner exchange.

Hamas is regarded by the UN, the US, the EU and many countries as a terrorist organization. No country should negotiate with a terror organization as it gives them credence and emboldens them. If I were a taxpayer of a country that is prepared to give millions to Gaza to repair that which was destroyed in the recent Hamas murderous attack on Israel, I would insist that this is the last time my country should be willing to do so. I would further insist that the “Metro” be destroyed, that all rockets, mortars and other weapons be given up and the leaders of Hamas face trial at the International Criminal Court. Otherwise, every few years countries will be asked to contribute yet again.

It is about time that the world realizes that Hamas, like Jihadists, are the ones who attack Jews and Christians all over the world and that Muslim Jihadists were the perpetrators of 9/11. They are the ones shamelessly behind the demonstrations and attacks against Jews worldwide – and that should be remembered by all those being led by them demonstrating against Israel and the Jews.

“Sinwar” strikes me as a particularly appropriate name for the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip. 

The war his group launched by firing volleys of deadly missiles into population centers is not only a war crime/ crime against humanity – it is also a sin.

Regarding “Bennett says he will form government with Lapid” (May 31), has Yamina leader Naftali Bennett lost his mind? Has all sense of what is right deserted him? 

If he joins with Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, he will be setting himself and the new government up for a pull-the-rope contest, with him tugging one way and Lapid yanking the other way. A government that pulls in opposite directions is bound to collapse. 

I have long believed that Bennett would one day take the reins of government, but not with the desertion of his ideals. Benjamin Netanyahu has shown the way a prime minister should lead, and the proof is in the fact that he still consistently grabs the largest number of votes. There is much that Bennett can learn from him so, instead of trying to unseat him, he should join with him and insist that New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar should join as well. 

With the new American government unraveling all the good done by president Donald Trump in the Middle East and growing Jew-hatred everywhere, we need a strong right-wing government. These are troubled times for Israel and the Jews, so stop playing politics and concern yourself with the future of Israel and the Jewish people.

For many years The Jerusalem Post has contained articles relating to how to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Since the Guardian of the Walls campaign, the number of such articles has increased almost exponentially. Yet none of these analyses and proposed solutions has touched upon the two basic sources of the conflict – the Palestinian education system and the Palestinian clergy. 

Unless and until the Palestinians are educated by their teachers and preached to by their clergy to live in peace with Israel, there is no hope for peace. Since this change is unlikely in the foreseeable future, we will simply have to strengthen ourselves psychologically and militarily for the long haul.

Regarding “British Jews fear antisemitism has risen to unprecedented heights” (May 26), they do well to fear, but should have listened to the wake-up call 54 years ago, in 1967.

It was a bit uncomfortable to express antisemitic opinions after World War II, but the Six Day War made it fashionable again. British Jews have wasted two generations. Let’s hope they won’t waste a third one.

I have been giving some thought to the reasons why masses of Arabs leave their homelands and move to Western countries seeking asylum. I reasoned that they wish to live a life free from the restrictions imposed by the fundamentalist Muslim regimes, where women lack freedom to express themselves, where their every move is controlled and supervised by men in the household and even by their own male children, where the heads of mosques control their life.

The aim of those asylum seekers, I thought, is surely to escape from the extremism of life dictated by their religious leaders and the control of the myopic education of their children and to live a free life.

Countries like Sweden had good experiences from the Jewish refugees who settled after World War II and appreciated the opportunity to begin a new life. They followed the local laws in their everyday activities, while keeping a Jewish lifestyle in their homes. After a short time they became an asset to their host countries. I know, because my mother was among them.

Sweden, like other Western democratic governments, believed that Arab so-called refugees would also happily settle into the way of life of their adoptive countries, having left oppressive regimes. But apparently – not so.

Ironically, that they left the Muslim countries of their birth because of oppressive Islamic rule and now they are demonstrating against Western democratic states in which they received asylum, demanding sharia law, wanting to change their host countries into the system that was their professed reason for having left. In both Stockholm and Malmo there are Arab-occupied no-go areas, where even the police are hesitant to enter.

Denmark is canceling the temporary asylum visas of several thousand Syrians, saying that their country is now safe for them to return to. The real reason may be different. 

The realization of the consequences resulting from Europe’s ‘humanitarian’ action came too late.

It is mind-blowing that the genocide befalling the Uighurs in Xinjiang is disappearing from mainstream media outlets. 

China has espoused a heinous agenda to destroy the soul and beating heart of the Uighur nation. Its policies ranging from mass internment at reeducation camps to mass murder, the imposition of Mandarin Chinese, coercive labour, sexual slavery, forced sterilization, aggressive birth control policies, the effacement and destruction of mosques, libraries, traditions, rites, archives, sacred scriptures and monuments, the forcible separation of children from their disappeared parents, the murder of religious intelligentsia have been labeled as genocide by Western governments. 

Yet, it seems that realpolitik and the geopolitical and economic aspirations of powerful states override obligations under the international humanitarian law.