Differences in Ideology Keep Arabs Away From Peace Negotiations

Nadene Goldfoot                                          

                                            Map of Islamic World with Israel in Red.
                                                      See if you can find Israel.
On May 14, 1948, Israel became a state among the nations.  The Arabs of the area were also offered a state of their own and have resisted acceptance of such, though they cry out that they want their own state as well.  The problem is that the state they want is part of the small acreage that makes up Israel.

Here's a difference in ideology.  Israel's population is made up of 6 million Jews and 1.7 million Arabs and others.  It was created as the one Jewish state in the world on 8,000 sq miles and is to be the haven for Jews who have suffered from anti-Semitism for 2,000 years or more, depending on what attack we are starting from.  There are only 14 million Jews left in the world.  We make up only 0.02% of the world population.

 There are already 48 Muslim majority states, possibly even more so depending on the material one is using.  Wikipedia as of 2011 said this.    Islam is the 2nd largest religious group in the world.  There are 1.62 billion Muslims in the world making up 23% of the world population.  They already claim 5,120,000 sq. miles of land.

There is no comparison here.  One is on the verge of extinction and the other's numbers are bulging, both in land and in population.

The Arab Palestinians will not come to terms with the Israelis.  They are bickering over the issue of established Jewish villages, town and cities they refer to as "settlements,"  a very poor choice of a noun describing this population.  That's because they lie in the A or B section of Judea-Samaria, the Jewish land the Jordans have labeled as the West Bank that they want for their state.  This is because of the 1967 War when Arabs attacked the Jews of Israel and the Jews won, which meant that they inherited legally land which was originally to be theirs in the first place by the law of 1920 through the League of Nations.  It's funny how this worked out.  The Arab greed for Israel meant that they lost what they had to Israel. I'd swear that Ha-Shem (G-d) stepped in and ran  interferrence for Israel.

At the same time, the Arabs keep on announcing that their state is to be all 100% Muslim and there are to be no Jews allowed.  Thus there is the matter of boundaries, and allowing the Jews in section C to be a part of Israel rather than to be displaced.

The Arabs are not bending over backwards in displaying any neighborly tendancies.  Instead, their texbooks for schools do not show Israel on their maps in Geography lessons.  Instead, Palestine is written as the name.  Is this a Freudian slip?  No, this is their true intention.  Their pre-schoolers are taught to admire suicide bombers.  These are their heroes instead of Superman.  What a philosophy this is!

Moshe Ya'alon is the Israeli Defense Minister.  He spoke on Monday  to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, a group made up not only of Jews but Arabs as well who are in the Knesset.  His topic was "Prospects for Peace with Palestinians."  He told them that we are ready to begin immediately without preconditions and discuss all the issues.  Israel's aim is not to rule the Palestinians.  Israel wants to advance the diplomatic process but Abbas is avoiding this by setting preconditions.  Israel is not about to pay any more futile prices just to get them to come to the table.

Resource: http://www.dailyalert.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_by_country
lookisrael.com/files/jewishnmuslims.php-problem in retreiving.  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_world

Election In Israel with Netanyahu the Winner

                                                                                   Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu            
Nadene Goldfoot
Barack Hussein Obama had his hands full in a two-party race between Republicans and Democrats.  Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu of the Likud party (The Consolidation) of Menachem Begin, a combination of right and left wing parties, had 32 parties that were competing in a much different type of race; more like English Democracy.  It's a system of proportional representation for the 120 -seat Knesset. Netanyhu was Prime Minister before from June 18, 1996 to July 6, 1999.  He has been Prime Minister again since March 31, 2009 and won again just now, ready to do his 2nd term, just like Obama.

 Netanyahu  b: October 21, 1949 in Tel Aviv, won in the elections in Israel but with a few changes.  His majority of right wing alliances has been reduced.  This 63 year old Prime Minister will now reach out to other parties to create a wide coalition which might take weeks.    His pledge is that "tomorrow we start anew."

The results showed that Likud and the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu (Israel Our Home) group made up of more secular Russian speakers who follow the past hero, Zev Jabotinsky and now led by Avigdor Lieberman, would still be the biggest bloc in the assembly with 31 seats. They believe in holding to a harder line with the Palestinians.   This is 11 less than the 42 they held in the previous parliament.

Second in the lead was the centrist Yesh Atid party.  This was led by a former TV talk show host, Yair Lapid, b: November 5, 1963 in Tel Aviv.  He's a good looking 49 years old journalist, author, play writer as well as actor and son of another journalist.  They got 19 seats which was a surprise for this newcomer.  . Lapid created this new party which means "There is a Future" or "Future Party."  It is centrist.

Netanyahu got pluses for drawing the world's attention to Iran's nuclear program that he and most of us are very suspicious about.  We don't have to actually be there to understand that Iran doesn't like Israel and is too intent on working on something that must not be medical supplies.  I don't think either Netanyahu or I are paranoid.  There is good reason to feel they want a special kind of bomb.

He got some minuses because internationally he has continued to clash with "allies" over his handling of the peace process, but I certainly don't fault him for that.  It's really the Palestinians who have quit on Israel and refuse to come to the peace table.  It's ridiculous to keep harping on Israel to bring peace about.   Some feel, and certainly the USA is one, that says the peace talks are stalled because of his continued construction of Jewish homes in Judah and Samaria and East Jerusalem.  I happen to agree with him in that legally, and he has consulted with international lawyers, Jews have the right to build in these pre-decided areas.

Israel has 1.4 million Arab citizens.  They vote through many of the parties, including some strictly Arab parties.  One such party is the United Arab List, known by the Hebrew acronym, Ra'am.

What many of our politicians forget about is the law had already been laid down after WWI.  Netanyahu is only standing up for what is the rights coming to Israel instead of cowering and forgetting about them.  It may be an  inconvenient truth for the nations' politicians, but that it is to be.  Israel is not about to be squashed,   shrunk again and destroyed. It's people are not about to be tricked and  burned again in another Holocaust.   Netanyahu is another Bar Kokhba, and I believe he is even more astute than Bar Kokhba had been.  He's a fighter for Israel's rights.

Resource: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/372671?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yesh_Atid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yair_Lapid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yisrael_Beiteinu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Likud
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arab_members_of_the_Knesset
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_List
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knesset

Knesset Shook Up: Kadima and Likud Join Hands in Israel

Nadene Goldfoot
It didn't take long for Kadima (to go forward)  to join up with Likud over the weekend to form a national unity government in Israel.  Elections will come about in 2013.  Mofaz, former IDF chief of staff and Defense Minister had been  opposed to Netanyahu.  He has replaced Tzippi Livni as head of Kadima.

Mofaz and Netanyahu are both concerned about their domestic issues such as a law excusing  the ultra-Orthodox to serve in military service.  If they introduce a universal draft, he will not lose too many votes for doing so as he'll have the 28 members of the Knesset of Kadima instead to work with.

They also plan on rejuvenating talks with the PA and promote social justice.  The Iranian threat to national security is the biggest issue facing them which could be the impetus to form a new government.  Both leaders seem to be in full agreement on "how to deal with the Iranian threat".

It was Yuval Diskin, former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief and Meir Dagan, former head of Mossad, who are wary of Israel going alone to attack Iran by hitting their atomic weapon buildings.  So we have two slightly opposing opinions over the issue.  Ideally, if it must be done, they would like the USA to also participate.  After all, it is both of us that are threatened by Iran's atomic warfare plans.  If Israel goes down, the USA is next in line.

The window of opportunity is closing but the problem seems to be bigger than a little nation can tackle alone, like they have previously.    Now Netanyahu has the biggest coalition ever behind him.  I have no doubt that they will weigh this decision carefully.  They've been giving the world governments time to do their thing peacefully and stop the advance of Iran's maniacal mission.

Reference:  gerardrobins@sbcglobal.net: Israel's New National Unity government and the Iran Question by Yaakov Lappin 

Axelrod and Emanuel, Read These Facts About Israel! or How Would You Divide New Jersey? Israel is Smaller!

by Nadene Goldfoot

How many politicians know that Israel is slightly smaller than New Jersey. even with the 1967 gain after a war precipitated by an attack of all Arab countries against it. The population is about 7,026,000 as of a 2006 census. According to the CIA, the population was 6,353,117 including 187,000 Israelis living in the West Bank and 20,000 living in the Golan Heights and 177,000 living in East Jerusalem which would be our Arab citizens.

76.4% are Sabras, or Israeli-born Jews.

22.6% are European/American Jews.

5.9% are African born, probably those from Ethiopia

4.7% are Asian born (Israel took in boat people who had no place to go)

23.6% are non Jewish which would be mostly Arabs, and Christians.

How big an area are the Muslims occupying?

There are 44 Moslem states with 1 billion people in an area 672 times the size of Israel.

Yet Obama and our government are pressing to divide and give part of tiny Israel to an Arab population that has been warring against it since 1948 .

22 of these Moslem states are in the Middle East including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. They refuse to absorb the "Palestinian refugees". They have been keeping them on refugee status as political pawns to put blame on Israel for their situation.

21 Arab states have an area greater than the USA. None are democracies. Only Israel, the only Jewish state in the world, is a democracy in the Middle East.

They are taught by their Koran that they are destined to lead the world and see Israel as mocking their insufficiency of their inability to carry out their heaven-ordained mission. Obama thinks he can sway them to stop attacking Israel and settle down, but he's fighting something much larger than he is. I read where he's even planning on going on Israeli television to tell Israelis why he wants communities to not add on any more buildings; "settlements" are what he calls them.

Yasser Arafat had said,, "We don't want peace, we want victory. Peace for us means Israel's destruction and nothing else. What you call peace is peace for Israel and for the imperialistic America. For us it is shame and injustice. We shall fight onto victory, even for decades, for generations if necessary. " Fatah, the group now living in Judea and and Samaria that many call West Bank, is Yasser Arafat's movement. They haven't changed their outlook, just their tactics which sometimes bubble over the pot.

Many Americans are surprised to learn that Arabs live in Israel and are citizens. They have their political groups and a few have made it into the Knesset. Yet Jews are not allowed in Arab countries today, and the planned "Palestine" is to be free of Jews though it would be sitting right next door to Israel! An exception is Egypt who has signed a peace treaty with Israel.

Israel has absorbed millions of Jewish refugees from the Holocaust, the former Soviet Union and the Ethiopian black Jewish community. Most of the more than 850,000 Sephardic Jews were expelled from their homes in Arab lands where they had lived for generations. They left without any compensation for their property. In fact, it was confiscated.

It all looks pretty dismal to the younger American generation. They seem to lack the fortitude to see the way for Israel to live in peace and some may even contemplate giving up the fight. I see Netanyahu as revitalizing Israelis as he thinks out of the box and is finding ways of getting Arabs to come to terms with an Israel in their midst. What America should do is not meddle but back Israel in its good endeavors for peaceful coexistence. What's right is right and what's wrong is wrong. Who is ever going to see the difference?

Reference: My notes from my speech about Israel.

Defending Avigdor Leiberman, Israel's New Foreign Minister

by Tamar Boussi 

The last two weeks, of the Israeli election, I followed Avigdor Leiberman as he was obviously as important as the "top three" candidates that the media had determined should be followed and reported on. After listening to Leiberman in several different venues, then asking him a question regarding his purported "racism", I carefully read the platform of Yisrael Beitanu. I want to issue the following challenge. Show me where, in Mr. Leiberman’s writings, speeches or party platform he is a "hate mongering" extremist or a "racist" as he has been accused by one or the other of the above named.

First of all, the party platform in brief:
No negotiations with terrorists
Overthrow Hamas
Citizenship should be linked to loyalty to the state and its principles. (Remember there are two Arab parties who the Knesset voted to not allow to run in this election because their platforms call for the destruction of the state of Israel and replacement with a Palestinian state. The Supreme Court ruled they must be allowed to run) Americans elected to public office must take an oath of allegiance as well as new citizens. Nowhere does Leiberman call for only Arabs or any other singled out group.to be loyal to the state.

Legal residents who have served in the IDF or have done National Service will get preferential treatment when applying to Universities, receiving public service benefits and allocation of state owned land grants. (This applies to all sections of the population, not only Jews)The U.S. GI bill of rights comes to mind)
A coalition should be formed to change the system of elections to a more workable system, perhaps modeled after the American system.

A bill will be presented to allow civil union as well as religious marriage.
A special cabinet level position to encourage aliyah and integration of new immigrants from Europe and the U.S. due to the sharp rise in anti-semitism.
Remove the restrictions on the importation and sale of pork products.
Loosen Sabbath restrictions on commerce.
Some of these planks may be disagreeable, but which ones are right wing extremist and which are racist and in what way?

My question to Mr Leiberman on the borders was answered realistically and constructively. Borders are usually described as an issue in solving the disagreements between the parties in this part of the world. The idea of moving borders so most Arabs live together and will govern themselves autonomously and most heavily Jewish populated areas accrue to Israel, is basic idea behind the borders set by the UN partition. This would insure that no one is moved out of their homes. Israel is not the U.S. and the Middle East is not the Americas. How people live here is different in that cultural, religious and ethnic differences cause people to prefer living together in their own communities, in order to maintain those differences. While Arabs can live freely in Israel, Jews cannot live in Arab territories—why is that?

In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Leiberman stated he has two basic commitments, first the Security of Israel, second, prosperity for the Palestinians. He is a supporter of a two state solution and in fact believes this is the only way to solve the issue of security for Israel and prosperity for the Palestinians.
American Jews may support the Zionist enterprise or not, but to attempt to pressure the government of a sovereign state to form a government, that is contrary to the wishes of the voters, in this case, by delegitimizing one of its leaders is not their province. To quote the embattled Dutch film maker Geert Wilders, "Thanks to Israeli parents who see their children go off to join the army and lie awake at night worrying, parents in Europe and America can sleep well and have pleasant dreams, unaware of the dangers looming."

Demonizing those with whom we may disagree is not helpful, democratic or wise. While we can all read between the lines and determine that we know what another person thinks, but this is mind reading when there is no evidence to support it.

Israel's Elections by Tamar Boussi

Meandering through Israel’s upcoming election; by Tamar Boussi from Jerusalem

In the United States, we just finished a very long and somewhat angry election cycle and people have begun to put their differences aside and continue life normally. One of the great positives of democracies is their ability to change governments without violence and usually without bitterness. Yet different democratic countries have very different systems and all work fairly well.

Israel on Tuesday, January 27th began its official election cycle. This date is two weeks from election day and the first day that paid television advertising is allowed. The system in Israel is different from ours and since so many people have asked me, over the past years, "how does the Israeli system work" this seemed an appropriate time to talk about it. Imagine two weeks of political ads, vs the nearly 2 years of campaigning we have just finished.

Israel’s Knesset(Parliament) is unicameral and holds elections every 4 years. Voters choose their political party and vote in internal party elections to choose who will lead the party and a list of candidates, to hold Knesset seats, below the party leader. Voters pick a political party and pay a tax to the party to support it. The party decides who will be on the list and in what order, this becomes important when the general election occurs. The first name on the list will be the Prime Minister if that party gets the most votes and the names below the party leader are ordered according to the party’s judgement as to their importance to the party. For instance, if a party gets enough votes to earn 30 seats, the first 30 names become members of Knesset.

The President of Israel, currently Shimon Peres, then asks the leader of the party, who seems most likely to be able to form a government, to do so within 45 days. This is usually the party receiving the most votes, but not necessarily. Forming a government requires negotiating with other parties to form a coalition. . The cabinet ministers are members of coalition parties as well as the majority party, which sometimes creates volatility in the government. Imagine if President Obama had to insert Republicans, Green Party representatives, Independents and so on into his cabinet. While in the American system the cabinet is the pick of the President and they all work together, that is not always possible if some of your most important cabinet members are from other parties. Currently Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni are from Kadima but the Minister of Defense is from Labor and different cabinet members could have competed for the Prime Minister’s job in the past election and plans to do so in future elections. In the current Knesset there are 12 different parties represented (27 parties competed in the last election) and in the current election 38 parties are vying for seats.

A party must have 2% of the total votes to earn a seat. For most of the political parties this very low threshold is too high due to the number of parties involved. In the current election,the parties that will make up the next government will most likely be, the current ruling party Kadima, Likud (the current front runner), Israel Our Home, Labor, and Shas (a Sephardic religious party). Around half of the voting Arab citizens vote for left wing Jewish lists instead of any of the 5-7 Arab parties that put up a list. Also many Arabs boycott elections, which makes it difficult for them to get many seats, totaling the Arab parties together they usually pass the threshold and hold between 3 and 7 seats.

Polls show the top issues for voters are, first security, second the economy, third education. Although the elections for Knesset are set every four years very few governments have lasted a full term. In the last 10 years, four governments have formed, with three falling before their term is finished, the one that lasted was Ariel Sharon’s government from 2002 to 2006. In the last 60 years there has been only one government that received enough mandates to form a government without coalescing with other parties and it lasted only one year.
This can be a confusing system, but generally the parties have very clear differences and Israelis tend to be very loyal to a particular party. Since Israel has been at war for 60 years, every voter has concerns about security, after that the parties represent different strengths. Although the Likud has always been strong on defense, the leader of Likud, Benjamin Natanyahu is considered strongest on the economy, concerns about social issues such as poverty and education are strengths of Labor, although the religious parties are also strong on those issues as well as on the issue of maintaining Israel as a Jewish state. Israel Our Home is strong with new immigrants Jewish identity and defense. Meandering through 38 political parties is not a likely activity for most voters who will lean toward parties they have voted for in the past.

Whichever party receives the most votes will lead the government but will, of necessity, have to form a coalition with several other parties. These coalitions can create broader consensus, but often create differences that make decision making difficult.

This is Israeli elections 101, if you would like to know more feel free to contact me tboussi@yahoo.com