Letters to the Editor; May 27, 2020: Rockets for lunch
Readers of The Jerusalem Post have their say.
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: PIXABAY)Rockets for lunchRegarding “Corona puts Lebanon at risk of major food crisis,” (May 22), it is always heart-wrenching to hear of people who don’t have money to put food on their tables. In this case, the lack of money is due to the priorities of Hezbollah, which runs the country. They spent it all building terror tunnels and producing 130,000 rockets.I propose the following win-win plan for Lebanon to feed all of its citizens. Israel will exchange food credits for rockets turned over to Israel for destruction. A $5,000 credit for the purchase of food will be given for each rocket. If all 130,000 rockets are turned over, Lebanon will receive $650 million for food. As the Second Lebanon War cost Israel $3.5 billion in direct damages, this would prevent a future war, saving lives and the Israeli defense budget $2.85b.Food for thought!SAMMY HIRSCHMANKarnei ShomronForça BarsiOutgoing Health Ministry director-general Moshe Bar Siman Tov was criticized for overreacting to the COVID-19 risk with his dire predictions of high mortality, and at the same time was criticized for underreacting to the need for testing and ventilators. (“Confounded by coronavirus,” Front Lines, May 15). I am a physician, and I must say that I found Bar Siman Tov’s nightly appearances on TV intelligent, rational, authoritative and with the right balance of sounding the alarm and instructing us regarding what needed to be done. The bottom line is that (so far) Israel has come out relatively unscathed from the COVID-19 pandemic. Who could deserve more credit for this than the director-general of the Health Ministry, Moshe Bar Siman Tov?MAYER BASSANJerusalemLeft in the dustIn response to the May 24 report from Washington correspondent Omri Nahmias, “Democrats: Annexation puts Israel’s democracy at risk,” on a group of senators’ letter, which said, “[Annexation] would betray our shared democratic values by denying Palestinians’ right to self-determination in a viable, sovereign, independent and contiguous state,” the definition of democracy is under attack by the far Left.In Orwellian fashion, the left wing of the Democratic Party is trying to change the very definition of democratic values. To them, having democratic values means agreeing to support their undemocratic, illiberal Islamist allies.Israel is a vibrant, multicultural democracy by any rational standard. But the left wing of the Democratic Party warns us that if Israel annexes any part of the territory it liberated in 1967, it will accuse Israel of no longer having democratic values. On that basis, they will then try to block any US support for Israel and redirect that support to the brutal, tyrannical, undemocratic terrorist regimes that rule the West Bank and Gaza.For the Left, the world is simple. For them, the world is made up of Western colonialists, who can do no good, and the rest of the world, who have been colonized by Westerners at some time in history, and who can do no wrong. For them, terrorism is justifiable if it claims to be a struggle against colonialism. It doesn’t matter that the Age of Colonialism is long over.BARRY LEONARD WERNERNetanyaThe fight beginsHere come the wolves! With their teeth bared and their claws erect. The moment they have been waiting for. The final straight in the planned and engineered build up of pressure over the last year; the moment that represents the climax of the machinations and one-sided bias of the press – has arrived, and Bibi is cornered! (“Netanyahu’s public corruption trial begins today,” May 24).I can just see the sarcasm and glib sleight-of-tongue of the TV commentators (who never let the interviewee speak anyway) and the venom drooling out of the mouth of Channel 12’s Amnon Abramovich, even more than it usually does.It makes me vomit !Where is the gratitude and appreciation of all the good Benjamin Netanyahu has done this country. Was it not Shakespeare himself who said: “Blow, blow, thou winter wind Thou art not so unkind, As man’s ingratitude.”LAURENCE BECKERJerusalemTravesty of justiceI could not agree more with Herb Keinon’s assessment of the Netanyahu trial as a lose/lose situation, (“A defeat either way,” May 25).Without reference to the legalism of the case sans any capital offense, to the ordinary observer, it reeks of political motivation.It reminds me, as I wrote then, of when the primer minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, was indicted for spending too much money in the kitchen in spite of a clearly modest official household.In these days, when the country so desperately needs unity, this trial seems, rather than the pursuit of justice, almost a travesty of it.MARION REISSBeit ShemeshWe’ve already lostIn legal affairs corespondent Yonah Jeremy Bob’s Front Lines piece from May 22 (“The trial of the century begins”), regarding the statement that “Benjamin Netanyahu has managed to pull off the nearly impossible. He’ll be taking the [defendant’s] stand in a position of power, as the head of the government, a 72-person coalition that includes his Likud Party’s main rival for the last two years, Blue and White,” why did the reporter write that Bibi nearly pulled off the impossible? Actually, the prime minister had a lot of help from his friends... 71 MKs, besides help from many corporate pals.But let’s rephrase the question: How did Netanyahu form his fifth government? The reporter explains the “secret” to the leader’s success when he summarizes the charges in the cases he is involved in: bribery, fraud and breach of public trust. If true, bribery, fraud and breach of public faith are powerful helpmates, who assure (read: “grease”) Netanyahu’s reelections.When any leader accepts a bribe, it’s not just that he illegally enriches himself. It’s that he enriches himself at the expense of every single citizen. If the Bezeq-Walla charge proves correct, and the government’s policies netted that company a NIS 1.8 billion contract, then really every Israeli picks up a part of the bill – twice.First, bribery results in bloated government contracts (courtesy of taxpayers), and two, that recipient company charges customers higher prices for their services/products (since it undermines competition).But, the allegations, if true, do more irreparable damage. Purported, positive press and coverage allowed Bibi to dictate to Bezeq-Walla the brand/script/image he wanted them to print and broadcast.And branding is big business. Who can determine how much value Netanyahu allegedly reaped in branding services, services that likely created – and perpetuate daily – the “Bibi Brand”? It’s precisely this Bibi Brand that assists him to get elected time after time after time (not to mention how the Bibi Brand gives bad press to his opponents).The reporter might be right about the colossal significance of the prime minister’s present trial. But what the reporter failed to say was that Israelis – in a no contest – lost a long time ago in a protracted, orchestrated and cynical attack on their liberty and freedom.ZEV BAR EITANNof AyalonAbuse of powerThank you, Editor in Chief Yaakov Katz, for your prominent and forthright denunciation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s disgraceful attempt to subvert the judicial system (“The historic trial is finally here,” Editor’s Notes, May 22).Netanyahu is prepared to do anything and everything to distort the fact that it is he as an individual who is standing trial and not his party or political ideology. The frontal attacks on the judiciary and the police by Netanyahu and his cronies (particularly Amir Ohana in his capacity as public security minister) are malevolent and an abuse of power. The actions of our prime minister are those of a demagogue and stain the office that he holds.JONATHAN KALMANJerusalemHow times have changedWhen we made aliyah, one of our pleasures was being able to read The Jerusalem Post over coffee each morning. It was, of course, a much different time. The paper was just to the right of Center, and, amid the bus-bombings, intifadas, etc., we felt like the paper had our back. How the times have changed!Notwithstanding the sprinkling of conservative opinion-writers that still pop up, both the news section and the opinion section are overwhelmed with increasingly leftist editorializing, anti-Netanyahu screeds and puff pieces for the US Democrat Party.Witness the paean to former US vice president Joe Biden (“Joe Biden – mensch and true friend of the Jewish community,” May 26), who worked tirelessly for the Iran nuclear deal, who was against the move of the US Embassy to Jerusalem, who was against the annexation of the Golan and who is against every other normatively pro-Israel policy possible.With the current ownership of the Post, and the ceaseless efforts of the editor, we might as well be receiving Haaretz.CHAIM ABRAMOWITZJerusalem, IsraelUseless cries and complaintsRegarding “Annexation will destroy Authority, Erekat says” (May 25), what’s most disturbing is that after so many years, the naive and desperate-for-relevance Peace Now would still entertain anything serial-liar PLO diplomat Saeb Erekat has to say.Even among journalists, it’s only the laziest among them that accept anything he says at face value, while most know he’s throwing slop that doesn’t even reach the barn door. As always, his most recent diatribe described in the Post is a self-flagellation, ego-driven piece of useless observations, cries and complaints.He’s a long-time member of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s inner circle, which has entitled him for years to siphon off his share of international funds given to the PA.Those collections are probably the only thing that takes away from his time as the world’s leading proponent of a two-state solution, as he constantly reminds us. Never mind that the “Final Solution” is really more to his liking.ALLAN KANDELLos AngelesDiversity at the WallIn reference to “An open letter to the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs” (May 22) and the letter to the editor “Back to the Wall” (May 25), I just would like to say, as a religious woman who grew up as a “liberal Jew” in the United States, religious Jews in Israel don’t want a division between us. You’re right, “a Jew is a Jew”! We would just like people to follow the rules at the Western Wall.For thousands of years, men and woman prayed separately. It was started to help with concentration on the prayers. It is a well-known fact that human beings are easily distracted. A study was done on the affects of separating the boys and girls in public schools. The results of the study showed that boys received better grades when they weren’t distracted by girls. I hear that there are many public schools (not only religious schools) in the US that separate the boys from the girls.I feel much more comfortable praying separately from men, at the Western Wall or anywhere else. I don’t go to be entertained and do not appreciate the “show” put on once a month by the Women of the Wall. I don’t understand why the Western Wall can’t have rules like any other place of worship. You would never hear of a group of people refusing to follow rules at the Vatican! (“When in Rome, do like the Romans”, so to speak).SUSAN SHALEMJerusalem
