Israel Wrap Up Update 2023

Fallen Soldiers

Captain Shaul Greenglick z"l was killed this week in northern Gaza.  He was 26 years old.  He was an officer in the Nahal brigades, unit 931.  He was from Ra'anana.  Just a few weeks ago, he participated, in uniform, in Israel's reality singing contest "Kochav Nolad" ("A Star is Born") and passed into the next round. He impressed the panel of four judges with his rendition of a Hanan Ben Ari song, "Blind Bat."  After performing, he returned to Gaza to fight with his unit.  He was killed along with 26 year old Captain Shay Shamriz. In total, six soldiers were killed on Monday.  The IDF has just announced three more names of soldiers killed yesterday, including Eliezer Chitiz z"l, who was also from Ra'anana.   In total, 164 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the start of the ground operation in Gaza and a total of 498 soldiers have been killed since the start of the war on October 7, 2023.

Captain Greenglick's funeral was today in Ra'anana.  We joined thousands of Ra'anana residents to line the streets and wave Israeli flags as the military hearse drove by, escorted by several security vehicles.  I would think the same scene will take place again tomorrow in Ra'anana for the funeral of Eliezer Chitiz, who will also be laid to rest in the military cemetery in Ra'anana, which is two blocks away from our home.

Military Situation - State of the War

Israel is in a very dangerous phase of the war now.  The country's military forces are fighting actively (to different degrees) on seven different fronts.  One area of heavy fighting is in Gaza, where thousands of Israeli troops are fighting Hamas guerillas in many different locations.  The Israeli army has gone into the tunnel network in various locations and has been fighting in many different areas in northern and southern areas of Gaza.  Since the temporary cease fire deal ended, the casualty rate for Israeli soldiers has spiked dramatically.  I have not heard any reports to suggest that the fighting is close to a conclusion.

In the north, Israel is fighting on two fronts.  On the Lebanon border, from Israel's west coast to the point where Lebanon, Syria and Israel all meet, Israel is fighting a very active and very difficult war against Hezbollah.  Hezbollah is stationed right at Israel's border and has been launching anti-tank missiles against civilian and military targets, unmanned suicide drone attacks, weaponized, controlled drone attacks and other military and terrorist campaigns.  Israel has been defending against these attacks and launching its own counter-offensive measures on an ongoing basis.  Many Israeli soldiers have fallen in these northern battles.

In the northeast, Israel is fighting against Syria and Iraq, with Hezbollah and other Iranian backed military groups launching attacks from Syrian territory.  Israeli has responded to these attacks in many different ways, some  of which have been reported in the media - reaching as far as the Damascus area.

Israel is also fighting against Hamas-backed groups of terrorists in areas of Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank").  Some areas have seen particularly heavy fighting including Jenin and the Tulkarem area.

In the south, Israel has had to deal with proxy attacks from the Houthi rebels, an Iranian-sponsored military organization situated in Yemen that has vowed to attack any and all ships travelling through the Red Sea Strait en route to or from Israel.  The Houthis have fired several long-range, Iranian-supplied missiles at Eilat and other places in Israel.  To date, these missiles have been shot down by U.S. or Israeli defence forces using anti-missile systems.

The big "mastermind" behind all of this - and the main enemy is, of course, the Republic of Iran, which has armed, trained, sponsored and, largely, controlled all of these forces.  Iran is using Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and other groups as proxies to attack Israeli while, to date, avoiding any direct attacks on Israel.  As recently as yesterday, Iran threatened to begin direct attacks against Israel soon. Iran has, for several years, called for the destruction of Israel and is certainly the most hostile country in the region towards the State of  Israel.  Iran has also been the sponsor of virulent anti-Semitic propaganda including Holocaust denial and other poisonous forms of anti-Jewish bigotry.

To get to seven fronts, you can separate the Syrian forces from the Iraqi forces - though attacks and activity from these two groups are largely originating from the same place.

Now with that all in mind, calling for an "unconditional cease fire" is tantamount to calling for Israel to surrender to these various enemies, which Israel certainly will not do.  The Hamas leadership, in interviews since October 7, 2023, has stated that they plan to carry out the same types of attacks "over and over again" until "Israel is destroyed."  Iran has made similar threats. Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah started this war and they have not offered any proposals or concessions that would form the basis for a short or long term cease fire.

For now, the prospects of all of this ending any time soon seem bleak.  At this point, it seems unfathomable that Israel will conclude the war in Gaza without destroying the Hamas leadership or coming to a deal whereby the Hamas leadership leaves Gaza (like the Lebanon war deal in the 1980s in which Arafat and the PLO left Beirut and went to Tunisia).  Israel will also need to insist on a deal whereby Hezbollah moves back, several kilometres, from the Israeli-Lebanon border and the Israeli-Syrian border.  If there is no deal with Hezbollah, there may will be a full-blown war with Lebanon, that could start any time now.

As for Iran, I don't believe that Israel is about to launch a major attack on Iran, though there are certainly scenarios in which Iran could draw the U.S. into the conflict and provoke U.S. operations against Iran.  This does not seem too likely as of now, but the Middle East is quite unpredictable.

Israeli Appreciation towards Soldiers

One of our family members was home for a break from reserve duty in Gaza.  We went to grab breakfast before he had to return.  He was in uniform.  As we were sitting in the cafe, some Ra'anana residents came over to talk to him.  They thanked him for his service and insisted on paying for whatever he wanted to order (as well as anything his friend and fellow soldier ordered).  Of course we would have been happy to pay the bill but this was such a nice gesture.  It is something that happens all  over Israel wherever civilians see soldiers in uniform, especially these days.

Hostages

According to current reports, there are still about 133 hostages being held by Hamas who were taken into captivity on October 7, 2023.  Some were soldiers, some were residents of the various Kibbutzim and communities near Gaza that were attacked and some were concert-goers attending the Nova music festival. Some very young children are still in captivity, assuming they are alive.  No list has been provided by Hamas or the International Red Cross - or anyone else.  We really don't know how many of  these hostages are still alive, what condition they are in or where they are being held.  

Based on information we have received from released hostages, we know that the hostages were being held in very difficult conditions with very little food  and water provided each day.  Some of the women were separated out and kept in different areas.  There are reports (from the released hostages and others) about widespread sexual abuse.  Some of the other hostages were quite elderly, in their 80s, with various medical conditions.  

Israelis have been demonstrating in support of the families of these hostages and demanding that the government take all appropriate steps to return the hostages home.  But so far, there is no available deal on the table that would bring this about.  There are rumours of different negotiations taking place, brokered by Egypt, Qatar or others - but I have not heard any reports that a deal is close.

Civilian Deaths

Israel is obviously facing a difficult situation trying to extricate Hamas from Gaza while they have embedded their fighters in civilian populations and launched attacks from schools, mosques, hospitals and other crowded areas.  Even the Hamas leadership is apparently now using groups of hostages as human shields to avoid being killed or captured.

The Hamas Health Ministry has been reporting more than 20,000 Gazans as having been killed.  But there are a few things to remember.

First of all, the numbers are not verified and Hamas has notoriously exaggerated or fabricated numbers of casualties (remember the hospital incident early this year).  

Secondly, Hamas does not announce the numbers of fighters who are killed.  By Israel estimates, the numbers of Hamas fighters killed are 1/2 to 2/3 of the total number killed.  In other words - the actual Hamas numbers of total casualties my be anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 - we just don't know.

Of those, the number of Hamas fighters killed is between 8,000 and 12,000, according to different Israeli sources.

Suffice it to say that the civilian casualty numbers are therefore much lower than the numbers that are simply accepted and printed by publications and news media around the world.

This is not to say that anyone in Israel is happy to see high numbers of civilian casualties in Gaza.

But at the same time - we are dealing with an enemy that is trying to kill as many of us as possible- civilians and military personnel.  In that circumstance - Israelis feel that we are better off killing our enemies than being killed ourselves.  This is the same type of reaction that the Allies had when dealing with Germany - or Japan in World War II - or that any nation has when confronted with an armed conflict started by an enemy.

The Israeli army would rather protect the lives of as many Israelis (soldiers and civilians) as possible, even if that means that there are civilian casualties while fighting Hamas. That's unfortunate but it is a by-product of war.  Certainly the civilian casualties in Gaza or far lower than the casualty numbers in conflicts involving Russia, Syria or even the United States (see Afghanistan, Iraq or other places).

To call the Israeli war against Hamas a "genocide" is  nothing less than a morally vacuous blood libel.  Yet that is the language coming from Turkey, Iran, Hamas-sponsored university groups across the United States and Canada and other places.

Volunteers and Visitors

Amidst all of this, people are still visiting Israel, as difficult as it might be to get here (with El Al and Emirates being the only airlines that are currently flying to Israel).  One of our friends arrived last week and is volunteering with "Sar-El" a group that stations volunteers for two-week periods at army bases around Israel to help pack supplies, equipment, food and assist in other ways.  Another friend has been visiting and volunteering to pick fruit and vegetables at various sites around the country.  Israel normally relies on labour from Thailand, Judea and Samaria, some Gazans and other foreign workers for much of the seasonal agricultural work.  Very few workers from any of these places are available.  Farmers around the country have been begging Israelis and others to come help  out - sometimes on a paid basis and sometimes as volunteers.  Israelis and people from all over the world have been answering the call.

Many synagogues from across  North America and other places have been bringing "missions" to Israel.  A group from the Park Avenue Synagogue in New York came earlier this month.  In mid-January, a group will be visiting Israel from Beth Tikvah Synagogue in Toronto.  Just today, some friends told us that they will be arriving in mid-January for a 10 day trip - including some time volunteering in different places.

In short, there are lots of volunteer opportunities and I think Israelis are very grateful for the help - both from non-Israelis - who have shown up to volunteer - and from Israelis - many of whom are volunteering in different ways.

Of course, many other tours have been cancelled - including the various birthright groups. Some friends who were planning to come cancelled - and others postponed their trips. I think the short term future of tourism to Israel is very much up in the air - like so many other things for Israelis now including academic programs, social events, work and so many other parts of a normal routine. So many of our young people are cancelling all of these events to serve in life and death missions in Gaza, Israel's north, or wherever else they might be stationed.

Getting Here

As I mentioned above, only El Al and Emirates (as well as the Emirates subsidiary "Fly Dubai") are flying to Tel-Aviv now.  El Al is flying to several cities in the U.S. - so if you are flying from New York, Boston, Chicago, Miami or some other cities - and don't mind flying El Al - there are still available flights.

In my case, as I have written in different articles in the past, I tend to stick with Star Alliance airlines,  flying  Air Canada as often as I can.  So I have been joining Air Canada flights with El Al flights.  They don't have a baggage sharing arrangement - so I have had to collect my bags, go through immigration and then re-check-in to drop off my bag.  It is very cumbersome.  If you are doing this, you need to allow about four hours for a transfer.

For my flight back to Toronto, I flew through Amsterdam without a checked bag.  This was much better than flying with a bag since I did not have to go through immigration, security or anything else.  I was just able to make my way over to the Air Canada gate with lots of time to spare and even managed to spend time in the lounge in Amsterdam (which was nothing exciting).

On my way back to Israel, I flew Air Canada to London.  That part of the flight was fine.  I then had to collect my bags and walk quite a long distance to the subway system to take a train to terminal 4.  This took quite a while and was a bit of a pain since I had a suitcase with me - along with a carry on bag and a knapsack.  There were lots of escalators, moving walkways, corridors and other parts to this journey - which took close to an hour in total.

Once I arrived at terminal 4 - things were fine - though the El Al gate was not even open yet.  So I wound up sitting around in a coffee bar waiting for the El Al desk to open.

Overall, it was certainly better than Amsterdam but it was not fun. At least the immigration line was efficient.

I haven't found the ideal arrangement yet though I will have to go back to Toronto in mid-January.  My current plan is to travel again through Rome.  (El Al to Rome and then Air Canada to Toronto).

Although some airlines have announced a resumption of service to Israel, scheduled for mid-January, I don't believe that these flights will begin again until there is a cease fire of some sort. I guess we will have to see.

Entertainment

Throughout all of this, Israeli TV has continued to broadcast episodes of "Eretz Nehederet" ("It's a Wonderful Country") which is the closest thing Israel has to Saturday Night Live. The show is replete with satirical sketches involving impersonators of many of Israel's political leaders and other public figures.  Eretz Nehederet has aired some sketches in English poking fun at the BBC's coverage of the war, the U.S. college campus situation and other world events.  Much of the humour is very dark - but they are trying to bring a bit of levity to a very difficult situation.  The skits are hit or miss.  Some are extremely funny, some not so much.  Isn't that the case with any satirical show?

Last week's show included an impersonation of Tzvi Yehezkeli - an Israeli commentator who is fluent in Arabic and has been on Israeli TV continuously, providing interpretations of Arabic news releases and statements.  The Eretz Nehederet version was quite spot-on, making fun of Yehezkeli's  explanation of Arabic phrases and idioms.  At one point - the impersonator provided a sentence in Arabic - and then offered the translation - "The world is like a cucumber....one day you are holding it in your hand - and the next day it is stuck up your butt."  I'm not here to interpret these things - I am just passing on what I heard (and laughed at, I have to say).

Last  night, Eretz Nehederet aired a very serious sketch involving a traumatized soldier showing up to watch his family arguing about politics as usual. This one was tear-inducing and difficult to watch. The skit was done with an overlay of the song "Kama Tov She'bata Habayta" - ("How great it is that you have come home") - sung originally in 1971 by the late Israeli singer Arik Einstein. The song was originally written as a group effort by Yankele Rotblitt, Shalom Hanoch and Itzkhak Klapter.  The original version was written welcoming someone back after returning from a long trip abroad. Eretz Nehederet changed the words somewhat. Not sure if there is a translation available yet - but if your Hebrew is up to it - and the link works wherever you are - you can use the link above to watch it. Even without the Hebrew translation, you can probably get the mood from the sombre tone and the scene itself.

The other Israeli show that has been airing twice a week is "Zehu Zeh"  ("That's that") which is also a satirical show but a very different format. I think I have written about it in the past. They have also been airing skits making fun of the Houthis - implying that they are launching rockets at Israel from Yemen because they are bored. Zehu Zeh usually features two songs each episode, one with a guest singer.  Over the past few weeks - many different guests have appeared including Eidan Reichel, Chava Alberstein, and others.  The music has generally been excellent.  The comedy sketches - hit or miss.

Israeli singers have continued to travel the country performing for soldiers all over - whether in bases near Gaza, Gaza itself - or in different places in the north.  Some stand-up comedians have also been entertaining soldiers.  As you might have seen, Jerry Seinfeld showed up in Israel last week as a gesture of support - though I am not sure that he entertained troops anywhere.

December Holidays in Israeli

As you might know, Christmas is largely a non-event in Israel, outside of pockets of Christian communities.  It is a regular workday, everything is open.  It is quite something to see - for someone who is used to being bombarded with Christmas music in restaurants, shopping malls and everywhere else for two months before the holiday in Canada.

I have nothing against people celebrating Christmas - I wish all of my friends the very best in enjoying their celebrations. And if I am in Toronto and invited to a party or a dinner, I am certainly happy to join them.

At the same time, it is a season where, when I am in Toronto, I am constantly reminded how I differ from everyone else - how I stick out as a minority - and how I don't belong.  

Even though Israel is a majority Jewish state, the malls are not generally decorated with any particular holiday's decorations - and there is no time of the year where Jewish holiday-themed music is on the radio 24/7.  On the actual holidays, everything is closed. But it seems to me it would be a lot less "in your face" than the way Christmas is celebrated in North America - even though Canada is not supposed to be a "religious" country by definition.

In Toronto this year, the local Second Cup starting playing Christmas music right after Canadian Thanksgiving ended (in October). I would have thought that even people who celebrate Christmas would be happy with two to three weeks of Christmas music at most.  But maybe I'm wrong.

Anti-Semitism Around the World

One of the major effects of this war has been a massive ramp up in anti-Semitism around the world.  The U.S. Ivy League schools (many of which receive huge donations from Qatar) have been at the forefront of anti-Israel demonstrations - many of which have blended into anti-Jewish hatefests.  

In Canada, the universities have not been much better.  Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson) has been the source of some of the most vitriolic anti-Israel - and anti-Jewish hate speech.  York University has not been far behind. University of Toronto's "Varsity" publication has been spewing repugnant disinformation. CUPE (the Canadian Union of Public Employees) has a leader who "rejoiced" the day after the October 7th massacres and has engaged in an outrageous smear campaign against Israel.

Through all of this, Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, was the proud recipient of thank you video put out by one of the Hamas leaders - obviously an ignominious and dubious honour.  I think that Australia and New Zealand also received this fine mention from Hamas - and perhaps Ireland as well.

There have also been demonstrations across Europe and around the world, chanting "from the River to the Sea..." which is a call for the destruction of Israel. As a result, there is quite a feeling of isolation here right now. Israel seems to have very few real friends - the United States, Germany - and some days Britain  Maybe a handful of others.

Interestingly, there was a poll published last week in Israel - in which Israelis were asked "who is a better friend of Israel - Trump or Biden?" Far more Israelis went with Biden - which was a new phenomenon for Israelis, many of whom had viewed Trump as one of the best U.S. Presidents that Israel ever had as a friend in the White House.

But really - aside from all of this - for those European Countries that are wavering, and others, the situation is not that complicated.  You have on the one hand an axis of Russia, Hamas, Turkey, Qatar, Hezbollah, Iran and a handful of others. On the other hand - Israel, the U.S., Germany, Great Britain and some others.  I don't even think one needs to say more than that. For the countries supporting the Hamas-Qatar-Iran group - unfortunately, they will probably wind up next on the list soon enough.  And frankly, this is probably a very real warning to Trudeau and his government who want to bring hundreds of thousands of Hamas sympathizers to Canada. All I can do here is quote President Biden - "Don't!....just don't!..."

And I think that is about it for now.  I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2024 and hope that it will be a much more peaceful year.  Best regards from Israel.

Yom Hashoah v Hagvurah - Holocaust Remembrance Day 2023

It has been a very busy month - between Pesach (Passover), several weddings, a funeral,  and other events here in  Israel - including family visits and work obligations.  As well, as you probably  know, there is quite a great deal going on politically in Israel.   But I will come back to that in another blog soon.

Today is Yom Hashoah v'Hagvurah - the Day of Remembrance  of the Holocaust and Bravery in Israel - and around the world and I wanted to write some reflections about this  day.

Holocaust memorial day in Israel is one of the most important and one of the most sombre days of the year.  In cities across the country, ceremonies are held in city centres and are extremely well attended.  Restaurants, stores and shops close early on the evening of Yom HaShoah.  People put on white shirts and walk over to the local commemorations.

We went to the Ra'anana commemoration.  The theme this year was 80 years since the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.  The one-hour event included a torch lighting  by a survivor  of the uprising.  Teen participants in Jewish youth movements lit hundreds of candles to symbolize the  millions  of Jews killed in the Holocaust.

There were several  readers - who read out diary entries, poetry and other writings from people  who perished over the course of the Warsaw uprising - or others who somehow  managed to survive.  There were several musical performances as well which were powerful and emotional.  The mayor of Ra'anana, Chaim Broido, spoke about his parents - who were Holocaust survivors - and others spoke about the  horror of the events that took place in Warsaw.  The memorial closed with the chanting of "El Maleh Rahamim" by a Ra'anana Hazan (cantor) and then  the singing of Hatikvah, Israel's national anthem.

We walked back  home - and turned on the TV.   All of the Israeli stations show Holocaust programming on the  evening  of Yom HaShoah.  We watched one program about a heroic French Nun, Sister Denise Bergon, who saved more than 80 Jewish children - and the story, in particular, about two  French sisters who she managed to  keep alive.

We watched a few other programs, including a moving interview with several Holocaust survivors and the way in which their children have made efforts to spread their stories to as many people as possible.  

This morning, at 10 a.m., across Israel, there was two-minute long siren.  Everything stops across the country.  People who are travelling stop their cars and get out and stand  next  to the cars until the alarm is over.  It is extremely powerful.

Later this morning, I watched the National Holocaust commemoration  at  Yad Vashem featuring Israel's Knesset members, various rabbis, Supreme Court judges, survivors, and others who all participated in different ways.  The  last part of the event was "the reading of names."  Various participants, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, Chief Justice Hayat, cabinet members, opposition Knesset members and others - all took turns coming up to the microphone  and telling the story of a few Holocaust victims - and reading out the names of these victims and  others.

So many Knesset members and other Israeli officials told the story of their grandparents or great grandparents - or uncles or aunts - or other family members.  So many people were affected by the Holocaust - and lost so many family members.   I couldn't help but think about my family members who perished during the Holocaust as well.

My great grandfather, Moshe Yaakov and  his wife  Channa,  were murdered on August 16 or 17, 1941 by Lithuanian  Nazi sympathizers in the town of Kamajai, Lithuania.  We were later told by cousins of ours, who miraculously survived the war, that it was the son of  neighbours of my great grandparents - who actually murdered them.

On the other side of my family, my great grandparents Avram and Chaya were sent by train to Auschwitz-Birkenau.   Their son, Gabriel (my grandfather's brother), was also sent there with his wife and two children.  Gabriel was separated from the rest of the family and  somehow managed to survive the war.  He was eventually liberated from Auschwitz, emaciated, but alive.   His parents, his wife and his two children were taken away from him.  He never saw them again.  They were all murdered at Auschwitz.  After being liberated at the end of the war, Gabriel was sent to a displaced  person's camp.  He was able to find my grandfather and reunite with him in New York - and Gabriel eventually remarried and had one  daughter  (my dear cousin, who passed away just over a year ago).  

On both sides of my family - there were many others who were murdered - and whose names we do not have.  But for those whose names we do have - I wanted to state their names - in line  with the  well known Yad Vashem theme - "Each Person  has a Name."  

The Nazis and their collaborators not only sought to murder  all of the Jews in Europe.  They also sought to erase their identities  and  their memories.  They gave each imprisoned person a number and seared these numbers onto the arms of  the prisoners.  My uncle Gabriel  had a number like this burned onto his arm.

Many Jews in Europe were murdered - and in many cases - their identities were unknown.  Many were buried in mass graves or murdered or otherwise vanished.  And one of the key projects of Yad Vashem  has been to try and collect as much information as possible  about the victims - to dignify these people by finding their names, their  identities  and telling their stories.

To see the various Knesset members each coming up to the podium and recounting the names and stories of  different victims was not only powerful and emotional - it was also  another reminder of the importance of Israel as a Jewish state and as the only real defender, protector and haven  for the Jewish people.  For this one day - Knesset members from different sides of the aisle put  aside their  differences and all took part in remembering, dignifying and  honouring the  victims of  the Holocaust - and recounting stories of many  brave men, women and children who somehow  fought  back or  otherwise  survived.

May the memories of all of  the victims be for a  blessing - Y'hi Zichram Baruch.

End of 2021 Wrap Up

I haven't written very much the past few months.  I think my last few articles were reviews of different books about Bibi (both of which were actually quite interesting).  I have been back and forth a few times and I am now back in Ra'anana for some period of time.  So I thought I would write about a few things that come to mind as we conclude 2021.  

Since my blog is not the most regular blog out there, I try not to make it a news service generally, other than when there is an election or some other really big event.  Otherwise, it is more likely to be observational commentary or discussion of different topics that  have caught my attention.

Israeli Politics - a few short comments

First of all,  I might as well hit on Israeli  politics.  I don't have that much to say at this point (very surprising I'm sure for those who know me well).  In general, the current government under the leadership of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is continuing to remain in power and looks to be reasonably likely to do so for at least the next several months.  As you may know, it is a government made up of some very divergent voices.  It includes members of the fairly far right and members of the fairly far left as well as some centrists and an Arab nationalist party.  It is actually incredible that this group has been able to hold things together but in my view, there is a general shared commitment to trying to do things that will benefit the country and the people living in it.

The government has presented and  passed several pieces of legislation and is intent on bringing about refreshing reforms in a wide range of areas including some issues that involve religion and the state.  No government is  perfect (or even close) and certainly this government has made several mistakes.  But so far,  it seems to be holding on to the support that it had and probably represents, cumulatively, just  over 50% of the Israeli voting population.  It will be interesting to see whether the government goes ahead with the planned rotation and turns  power over to Yair Lapid, as scheduled, in July 2022.  I am not the only one with doubts that this will occur but it seems likely that we  will  avoid an election at least until some time after that date.

Meanwhile, the trial of former Prime Minister Netanyahu continues (on various charges of bribery, breach of public trust and related issues).  It is hard to say how that is going though it certainly hasn't "collapsed" as Netanyahu predicted it would.  Legal commentators that I have heard have suggested that it is not going particularly well for Netanyahu.  For what it is worth, I maintain that he will cut a  deal at some point in time before a verdict though it is hard to say when that will be.

As you may have read, the leader of the ultra-religious Shas party, Aryeh Deri, a formerly convicted fraudster, has apparently agreed on a plea bargain deal to address his current criminal charges.  Interestingly, he will only be required to pay back some  of the money that he allegedly acquired (improperly).  He will also stay on as leader of the Shas  party for now, though he will do so from outside the Knesset.  Apparently that is a thing.   This way he can earn money from different sources  and not face the constricting reporting rules of the Knesset,  which bar work that might create conflicts of interest.  

The leader of the  other ultra-orthodox party, Litzman, is also rumoured to be  negotiating a plea bargain deal for  his pending criminal charges though nothing has been finalized yet.

Of course once  we have  completed these plea bargain deals, Israel will be totally free of  corrupt politicians....Sarcasm aside, it is a  start.  We, in Israel, take comfort these  days in comparing what is now going on here to what has been going on the U.S. (and many other parts of the world) the past  few years and really don't feel as badly as we used to.  

December Holidays, here  and there

I happened to be in Toronto for a chunk of  November and December, which reinforced my minority status in Toronto and reminded me of one of the great benefits of  being in Israel.  

For  example, I enjoy grabbing a coffee at the Second Cup (Wilson location) before heading to my office.  I guess they decided  to turn their radio to CHFI and start  playing Christmas music right after Halloween.  So for the entire months of November and December, it was Christmas music  all the time.  I guess the equivalent in Israel is seeing donuts appear in the  bakeries about two months  before  Chanukah each year.

I have nothing against Christmas music and I am glad that people  enjoy it. But I wonder whether even people that  enjoy  the music want to hear it  non-stop  for  two full months.  

It seemed to me there were  more articles than usual this year on the North American Jewish tradition of ordering Chinese food on December 24th or 25th, which supposedly started  in New  York.  I guess  Jewish and Chinese places were the only types of places open on Dec 24th and 25th, so the Jewish community developed a  "tradition"  of having  Chinese food on these  days.  

In Israel that is not really a tradition of any kind.   In fact, for most people in Israel, Christmas is a regular work day.  Everything is open, there are few  decorations and  although we  have many "pan-Asian" retaurants (mostly stir free dishes and sushi), there are very few strictly Chinese restaurants, so there is no tradition of ordering Chinese  food on Christmas.

There are areas with significant Christian populations - in Haifa, Nazareth and other places.   And there are certainly Israelis, even Israeli Jews, who go  to take photos  in front of the trees and the beautiful Christmas decorations.  But for the most part, in Ra'anana and so many other cities across Israel, Christmas is one of those times where Jews genuinely feel at home in contrast to the experience  in so many other parts of the world.

Certainly there are a large number of expatriate Russians celebrating "Novigod" and putting up trees, christmas decorations  etc.,  More so in some cities than in others. But to this point, it is still very much a minority practice.

Travelling Back

As you might  know, Canada and the U.S. have  been classified as "red" countries now by Israel which means that  Israelis are officially forbidden  from travelling to those places without special  permission.  Israelis who were out  of the country before  the ban came into place can travel back to the country.

So  for  now, this also means that non-Israelis cannot come to Israel without special  permission. And Israelis cannot  leave  to go to  "red" countries.

I have many friends planning  trips to Israel for festive occasions or other reasons and it looks like all  of those  plans will be up in the air  for  now.  Hopefully we will soon see a big change though it is impossible to predict when that will happen.

In order to come  back to Israel this time, I had to make  sure  to have  lots of ducks in a row.

Air  Canada  cancelled  all of its direct flights so I was routed  through Frankfurt.

First  on the  agenda is making sure to complete the  Israeli entry form - within 48 hours of departure from the  connecting city.   In other words,  it had  to be  within 48 hours of  the connection time in Frankfurt  not the  Toronto  departure. We had a two hour delay in Toronto because some dufus was refusing to comply with the mask wearing requirement.  He was removed from the plane by security but we were two hours late. So I had to redo the form in Frankfurt before Lufthansa would allow me to board the plane.

Next, I had to arrange  a Covid test.  If you have  been  vaccinated three  times (or  received your second dose within  the past six  months), you can get a rapid antigen test within 24 hours of the flight time (the time of the flight leaving Toronto, even if you are transiting).  Now just a  couple  of  months ago, these tests were going for $25-$35 in contrast  to the PCR tests which are about $120 in Toronto.  So I  thought I would  save quite a  bit.  But many of the Toronto labs  have raised the costs to about  $60-$65. Still cheaper but the gap is closing.

I also had to arrange (pre-pay for)  a PCR test on landing in Israel.  That was 80 Shekels (about $32Cdn).  If you don't pre-pay, I believe it is  about 120 Shekels when you land at the airport ($48Cdn).

After all that, on landing in Israel from  a "red" country, you must stay  in isolation for 7 days.  If you test negative  on day 1 and  day 7, you can get released on the 7th day once you receive  back test results.   If you don't do the second test, you have to remain in isolation for  14 days.

The airport was quite empty.  Israeli customs uses a random inspection self-declaration system,  much like many places in Europe.  So as you pass  Israeli customs, they randomly pull over people and put their luggage into an x-ray machine to look for any improperly imported or undeclared items.  Since I often have a decent amount of luggage, I am pulled over with some frequency.   This time since the  aiport was quite quiet, I was probably a pretty enticing target with my overloaded baggage  cart.  But even though I was pulled over, had my bags put through the x-ray machine and underwent an additional manual inspection, the disappointed customs officers still  couldn't  find anything that was problematic.  And I was released and left to repack my violated luggage.  

As I understand it, they are mainly looking for fruits and vegetables, drugs, undeclared electronics and undeclared  commercial goods.  And alcohol  that is  over the limit.  Overall, it was simply a  minor inconvenience and  not a problem  of any kind.  But if you do bring something into Israel that you were supposed to declare but didn't, you can face a fine equal to  double the duty/tax on the item.  So for example, someone caught smuggling a $1,000 cell phone could have to pay about $360 if caught and  possibly as much as $540.  People tend to try and negotiate these fines with varying degrees of success.  Generally, I do my best to avoid these problems.

So here I am in "isolation" in Ra'anana.  The police have been sending me automated "check-in" messages several times a day to verify that the  phone and the person in isolation are  both where they are supposed to be.  I am not overly concerned about  this "invasion of my privacy"  if that is what it takes to try and control the spread of the virus.

Animal News

In animal news, we were in Haifa last month and actually saw familes of wild boars wandering the streets in residential  areas. They were very large.   I am  not sure that  I have the pictures - I will look for them but it was quite a site.  

As you may have read recently, Israeli is facing a huge  bird flu problem  which has killed thousands of European cranes.  Israeli  farmers have also had to cull more than 600,000 chickens. So we may see an egg shortage in the  coming  months.   Hopefully  this won't continue to develop into  something more  complicated.

Sports 

As I have  written on other occasions, I am not really a follower of any Israeli sports except for international competitions.  As a Canadian, hockey is the number one sport, though I also enjoy NFL football.  

With NHL hockey, while in Israel, that usually means watching  between 2 and 5  a.m. or similar hours. NFL games are mostly more  reasonable since they start at 1 p.m.  and  4 p.m. EST on Sundays which means being able to watch at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. here.

NHL hockey is facing all kinds  of challenges with Covid as you may know and has suspended several games.  The world junior  hockey tournament (which is one of my favourite  sports events in any calendar year) was cancelled after only a few nights of games since there was such a  wide spread of the virus  So I am not sure when I will be back to watching hockey and  I am not as  excited in any event about the regular season. I really enjoy the playoffs.

That  leaves NFL which seems to be determined to finish its season no matter what.  For geographic reasons, primarily, my team is the  Buffalo  Bills and they are poised to make a playoff run.   So the next several weeks should see some really exciting football games.   It will mean staying  up very late on Sunday nights - and some Saturday nights - but NFL  playoff football is worth it for  me.  Not sure that I have many others to watch with so  I might  have to text and  email my friends  and  family members while watching.

In case you are wondering, the  weather forecast is about  15-20C for  most days over the next few weeks.  I like spending time here in January  where I can get a 25-35 degree temperature differential.  I do enjoy some nice winter weather but -20 to  -30C is not that fun.  Between 0 and -10 can be quite nice, especially if it is sunny, though that might be  something that only a true  Canadian would say.

So that is my round up for the end of 2021.  I am grateful to have spent some time this year  with friends and family on both sides  of the  ocean - and  hope that 2022 will be a healthy, joyous and happy year for everyone.  Hopefully we will all soon see some semblence of a return to normalcy.

Yom Hashoah 2021

Today is Yom Hashoah  vHagvurah 2021 - the day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and Heroism.  This day is commemorated in Israel and by Jews and many others around the world to remember the 6 million of our people who were murdered by the Nazis and  their collaborators between 1939 and 1945.

Most years, I travel back to Toronto after Pesach and I am not in Israel for Yom Hashoah vHagvurah, which is only 5 days after Pesach ends.  But this year I have had the zchut (the privilege) to be here for this poignant and extremely important day.

Officially, Yom Hashoah began at sundown yesterday.  Perhaps as a starter with things to consider, someone sent me a video of a debate between Alan Dershowitz and the late Rabbi Meir Kahane.  It is interesting to watch, though Kahane was a purveyor of some extremely racist and repugnant views.  I'm not convinced that the way to defeat these folks is by giving them a big public stage.  Dershowitz did a decent job on some points, but fell quite short on many others.  Overall, I'm also not convinced that he  accomplished  his objective of "exposing and defeating" Kahane.  Instead, he probably gave him more publicity than he deserved.

I raise this because the Israeli Knesset has sworn in 6 member of the Religious Zionist party.  This collection of new Knesset members includes racists, xenophobes, homophobes, misogynists and generally extreme nationalist types.  Some of these  new  Knesset members have already spoken about proposing laws to make it harder  for  women to file complaints of sexual assault and harassment, limiting rights for  same  sex couples in Israel,  and legislation  aimed at  Israeli Arabs.  I'm not drawing parallels here but I am also not convinced that the best way to defeat these views is to given them platforms on an ongoing  basis.

In the evening  yesterday, we want to the Ra'anana commemoration at Yad  L'Banim (the City square, essentially).   This is an annual event.  Generally, the City of Ra'anana (like most cities across the country) honours  6 different  Holocaust survivors by telling their  life stories -  and then calling them up, usually with children or grandchildren, to light one of the 6 torches.   In between each group, there are sombre musical  performances.   There was also an interpretive dance performance this year.  Due to Covid, there was no event  last year.   This year's event was by advance registration only, for those with prove of vaccination only.  You had to show photo ID along with proof of vaccination to get in.  

These are powerful events, with lots  of tears.  Stories of people  who  lost their  entire  families but somehow made it to Israel and survived.  Horrifying  stories of harrowing  conditions, and cases where  these  tough individuals somehow eked out their survival.   Over the course of  the evening, a number of  poems were  read  (some  originally written in Yiddish, some in Hebrew) and we heard from a number  of speakers including  Ra'anana's mayor.  Special Yizkor prayers were recited in memory of those  who were killed including the El Maleh Rachamim prayer sung by Ra'anana's chief  Hazzan.  It was a powerful and difficult ceremony.

From  there, we went to a friend's house who had invited a member of a Holocaust survivor's family to come  and  share the  survivor's life story for a group of about  30  people.  

After that, it was back home to watch the national Holocaust  memorial  ceremony (we had recorded it) and several Holocaust themed  documentaries and programs.  The president of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, delivered a moving and thoughtful  speech.  Prime Minister Netanyahu also spoke and delivered what sounded like a campaign speech.   Most unfortunate for a Holocaust event.

I also attended a Toronto event, by Zoom, held by the  Law Society.  This was primarily about how to  fight hate speech, and Holocaust  denial by using various legal means.   It was an interesing and well attended event.

Today at 10 a.m., Israel blared a two minute siren across the country.   Everything stops.  People  get out  of their  cars and stop on the  side of the road for 2 minutes.  I was still  at home but stood up and observed the siren.

Yom Hashoah in Israel is one of the most important days on the calendar and  one of the most powerful.  Numerous speakers have noted that one of the raison d'etre's  for the State itself is to ensure that this could not happen again.  Many have noted that if Israel had been created in the 1920s or the 1930s (or earlier), it is extremely likely that a high number those who were murdered could have been saved.  

For many survivors, and indeed, many Israelis, the notion of seeing their children and grandchildren in the army, as pilots, combat soldiers, members of the intelligence forces - or in other important state positions gives them an incredible sense of pride but also a sense of comfort and security.   The State of Israel is there to protect them in a way that the Jewish people have  not had for more than 2000 years.

This particularist message is somewhat illustrative of the difference between Yad Vashem  (the Israeli Holocaust Museum)  and the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.  If you haven't been to one or the other, I would highly recommend  visiting  both.  The emphasis in Washington  is very universalist, in my view.  This could have happened to anyone and we need to fight all forms of racism and discrimination to ensure that it does not reoccur.  I'm not disputing the validity of  this message, though at times I have felt that the U.S.  museum downplays the Jewishness of the victims and history of anti-Semitism.  (I have visited several times).  

Yad Vashem emphasizes the Jewish experience including the history of anti-Semitism, the Jewish communities and culture that were  destroyed in Europe and the need, especially, for the  Jewish people to look after their own safety and defence rather than relying on anyone else to do so.  Yad Vashem  certainly addresses  others who were  targeted - the Roma community and gays and devotes a whole section to those  who went  out of their way to save Jews.  But the message is geared more towards the Israeli experience  rather than the broader multi-cultural messages that one might find in Canada or the U.S.  

Prime Minister Netanyahu took this a few steps  further in his annual Yom  Hashoah speech.  He sought to tie the fight to obtain vaccines from Pfizer to the commemoration of the Holocaust  and he also brought in the ongoing fight to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear  weapons.   So there are certainly those who will, at times, take the Holocaust as an event and use it for political purposes, even on Holocaust Rememberance  Day while we are remembering those who perished.  Fortunately, he did not also tie  it in  to his ongoing  criminal trial though many were expecting that  he might try to do so.

But  cynicism aside,  the notion that Israel in 1948 included a population of  whom approximately 25% were Holocaust survivors - and that these people were  able to build a country in the aftermath of such horrible experiences and turn it into a  successful, democratic, secure country is actually quite  mind boggling.  

We remember those who perished and hope and pray for the days of  world  peace, tolerance and an end to  anti-semitism, racism and  other forms of group  hatred.

  

Chanuka Approaching 2020: Virus Not Leaving Yet: Update from Israel

 

Chanuka is quickly approaching - only two days until the first candle - so I thought it was time to write an update about a few things going on here in Israel - and maybe some other comments, connected or not.

The photo shown is a random store on Ahuza street in Ra'anana with a table display of a variety of  Chanukiot (the 8-candle Menorahs that we light on Chanuka).  This is only one of many stores that has this kind  of display.   Retailers all  over Israel are selling Chanukiot, bakeries are selling sufganyot (jelly filled  donuts, usually) and caterers are offering latke specials.  So you could say that Chanuka is in the air, though it is not the only thing circulating.

To mark the holiday, the Israeli government, in its infinite wisdom, has decided on a two step plan to combat the  spread of Covid-19.  On the one hand, there will be an evening curfew for a period of two weeks.  Just about everything will be  closed, apparently, and  people will  be prohibited from travelling between cities, at night.  Remaining details are still to be announced if the "Corona Cabinet" can agree.  To complement this evening curfew plan, the government has decided to fully reopen all  malls,  across the country, during the daytime.   A few shopping malls in "red zones" will be the exception and will remain closed.  Now I may not be an expert but  I am scratching my head trying to figure out how this plan makes any sense at all.   Infection numbers have been rising in Israel  - and we seem to be in the range of 700 to 1000 new cases per  day.  Some government ministers have stated in interviews that they expect that the numbers will rise significantly by January 1 - and we will then have a full closure (the "3rd closure") for several weeks in January.  Really, I'm not making this stuff up.  That is the plan.  (Added new update - sounds like the Israeli courts have indicated that this plan would not fly so the "night curfew" is now unlikely to come into effect).

Speaking of the Israeli government, you may have heard that it is on  the verge of dissolution - maybe.  The Knesset has passed the first reading of a bill that would dissolve the current government and set an election date.  By law, if an agreement is not reached to stop the dissolution and pass a budget, the Knesset will automatically dissolve on December 23, 2020.  This would lead to Israel's 4th election in a span of 2 years. The dissolution bill would normally require two more  readings before it is passed - but  there could be an automatic dissolution as an alternative.  Or there could still be a last minute compromise.

Netanyahu's Likud party entered into a coalition agreement with Benny Gantz's Blue and White party following the March 2020 election.  One of the terms of the agreement was that the coalition would pass budgets for 2020 and 2021 in the Knesset.  But the coalition agreement also included a term that  stated if the government fell for any reason - other than a disagreement over the budget - Gantz would become the "interim Prime Minister" until after the election.  If the government were to fall because of a disagreement over the budget, then Netanyahu would continue to be the Prime Minister until the next government is formed.

Netanyahu was  not happy with this coalition from the  start, since it was not willing to grant him the retroactive immunity bill that he has been seeking to extricate himself from all of his legal troubles.  So he has been biding his time, waiting for his poll numbers to rise, and looking for an opportunity to call another election when conditions are more favourable in the  hope that he can piece together a right-wing coalition that will  give him  the  immunity that he has long sought.  He has refused to pass budgets either for 2020 or for 2021, since passing a budget would leave him vulnerable to losing his position, even on an interim basis.

Covid-19 has continued to hamper Netanyahu's plans.  His criminal  trial  has been delayed by a month and is scheduled to continue in early February 2021.  So he is really hoping  that an election can be  called before then, that he can delay the trial due to the election and that he can win the election and  pass an immunity bill.

Can he do all of this?   Well, Netanyahu now has a plan.  The Israeli government has  been buying  massive quantities  of vaccine, from Pfizer and Moderna as well as any other company that might have vaccinations to sell.  Okay, maybe not the Russian vaccine though there have apparently been some tests of that  one in Israel. Nyet, thanks.  In any event,  according to some reports, Israel will have more than 4 million vaccines available by late December or  early January, from Pfizer and Moderna, enough to vaccinate almost half of the population.

I read yesterday that Canada was getting ready to roll out  350,000 vaccines for a population of more than 30 million.  That number sounded very low.   Contrast that to Israel's plan to vaccinate a  huge percentage of the population by mid to late winter.  Maybe the numbers were way off. 

If the vaccine has been rolled out before the next Israeli election and it seems to be working - and the economy starts to improve - it is quite imaginable that Netanyahu will get the win he wants and get his "get out of jail free" card.  Of course the opposition is trying to schedule the election as quickly as possible, while the numbers show some possibility that Netanyahu may not win.  But it looks like it will be hard to bet against Netanyahu, especially if the vaccine works and the economy begins to pick up again.

Travel

One of the big accomplishments for the current Israel government has been the establishment of peace deals with the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan.  The UAE has indicated that it is very interested in a "warm peace" with wide-ranging cooperation in technological, medical, agricultural, pharmaceutical and military areas as well as  tourism.  Israeli and UAE airlines are now able to overfly Saudi Arabia and get to Dubai in about 3 hours.  To foster this tourism, the UAE has been  designated as a "green" destination, which means that 14 day isolation is not required for returning tourists.   Kosher food is available in Dubai for those who want it and Israelis are being  encouraged to visit and are being welcomed warmly.  I haven't heard of anyone visiting Bahrain or Sudan but thousands of Israelis, even in the  midst of this pandemic, are visiting Dubai.  Some Israeli ultra-religious groups have held weddings in Dubai - bringing the whole entourage there to ensure a restriction-free wedding.  Others are going to the UAE just to be able to go somewhere and get out of Israel for a bit.  

For those of us looking to fly to Canada, that still involves a 14 day quarantine - in both directions - which seems a bit impractical.  Maybe I'll manage to get an early vaccine  and that will help things.  Or maybe we'll go with the herd and visit the UAE.  Not too likely at this point.

TV

Over the past few month, we have watched some excellent TV series.  Most recently, we watched the Israeli-produced series "Valley  of Tears"  ("Sha'at Ne'ilah" in Hebrew) - about the 1973 Yom Kippur war.  The series aired over 8 weeks beginning in mid-October.  It is a 10 part series but double episodes were shown at the beginning and the end.  The final episode was last night.   It was very intense.  Excellent acting and very powerful.   The series follows two particular units, an intelligence unit and a tank unit and delves into the personal stories of many of the combatants, on the Israeli side.  It is a shocking reminder of the horrors of the Yom Kippur war and, really the horrors of any war.  At  times, it is graphic and  difficult to watch and it is quite stressful.  

After each episode, the Israel TV station had a panel discussion with surviving soldiers who had fought in the battle and discussed their experiences, their comments on the series, and the impact on their lives.  These discussions were as moving and emotionally draining as the show itself.  

Although there  were some unrealistic parts, in some of the early episodes in particular, the series has received favourable reviews.  Veterans have commented that the  last two episodes were incredibly realistic and have generally been grateful that the series has raised the consciousness of so many people about the Yom Kippur War.  Valley of Tears is now showing on HBO  Max, though I am not sure how Canadians can watch it.  Sderot.tv is probably an option.

A few months earlier, we watched the Israeli series Tehran about an Israeli agent, sent to disable the Iranian central electrical system to assist Israel with a strike on the Iranian nuclear reactors.   This was also fascinating.  Although much of it seemed much less realistic and believable than other TV series, it did seem reasonably balanced and had many parts that seemed very plausible.   Tehran is showing on Apple TV in North America.

We also watched "The  Queen's Gambit" recently, which is probably less related to this blog - though all three of us thought it was amazing (there were only 3 in the house at the time...).  I think it is on Netflix everywhere.  With its range of themes including gender equality (in the chess world and otherwise), addiction, competition and the power of chess, it is quite an impressive production.

Cooking

My ongoing  quest to make the perfect Humus continues.  I think I have been doing a pretty good job.  Recipe available on request.  For a while we were buying humus from a local humus shop.  While it was quite good and reasonably priced - I felt it had too much cumin in it for my taste.  So I decided to see if I could get my own homemade humus to compete for the hearts and taste buds of our family members.  Last  Friday's humus was probably our best batch yet, made with extra large chick peas, soaked over night - and then peeled individually after boiling.  Sure it was labour intensive  but very creamy and smooth.  

To  go with the humus, I have also been making Zhoug, a  Yemenite-Israeli hot sauce that combines hot peppers with fresh cilantro leaves and a  range of spices in small quantities - ground coriander, cumin, cardamon, cloves, black pepper and  maybe  even  a touch of  cinnamon.   This has also been a big hit - even among the hard to please Yemenite critics who have sampled it.

Next up of course will be latkes for Chanuka though I expect that we will just make the classic traditional type.  It's only once a year - a few latkes can't be that bad, can they?

On  the purely random side, I thought I would  add in this picture that I took in Tel-Aviv last week.  This bird was so close and so interested in posing that I had to oblige.

We were right near Rabin Square.   The nearby park area was filled with people  even in the midst of the pandemic.   Apparently, restaurants are serving "take-out packages" that include a blanket, a basket and everything you need to take the meal and go sit in the park and eat it.  Apparently  you return the blanket  and basket etc., when you are  done.  People are constantly coming up with ways to try and  do "normal" things in these pandemic times.

For my last  note,  I couldn't  resist including  this picture of a coffee cup that I saw in a small store.  As you may be able to see, there is a Hebrew blessing written on the mug.

You might be familiar with a blessing called "she'hechyanu"  - which is recited on festive holydays, joyous life cycle events - and other occasions.  It essentially thanks God for "giving us life, sustaining us  and  enabling us to reach this moment."  This coffee  cup changed the blessing a bit to give thanks for "giving us life, sustaining us and  enabling us to reach coffee time."  It is a very applicable blessing for many of my good friends, family members and completely unrelated readers who  love a good cup of coffee.

Here's hoping that the bright lights of the holiday season  - whether the candles we will soon light on Chanukah - or the Christmas lights for those celebrating later this month - will bring us all some real brightness, warmth and joy - and hopefully usher in a much better 2021!

Best of health to everyone.

The Lies They Tell by Tuvia Tenenbom: A Review

Tuvia Tenenbom's new book, The Lies They Tell, is a natural follow-up to his 2015 offering, Catch the Jew, which I reviewed at that time.  The writing style is the same but this time the target is the United States, rather than Israel.  Tenenbom sets out for a trip across the United States to meet people, ask difficult questions and gather material for his assessment of the current American condition.  The book was completed before the most recent election but many of Tenenbom's observations and insights were certainly prescient.

Over the course of his six month travels, he manages to visit quite a wide ranging section of the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii, as well as a large number of states across the mainland. He meets and speaks with many different types of people including politicians, native American leaders, black and white Americans in all kinds of locations, church leaders and other categories.  He asks them pointed questions, and wittily summarizes the responses he receives with his running commentary.

This certainly makes for interesting reading in a style that is light, irreverent, entertaining and often, quite sarcastic.  Like Tenenbom's account of his trip across Israel, this is ultimately a pessimistic account, at times arrogant and even patronizing.  But it covers a great deal of ground in places where many readers may not have had the chance to visit.

Tenenbom describes his journey in open ended terms.  A curious adventure to meet all different kinds of people from Muslims, Jews and Mormons to rednecks, gang-members, religious conservatives and others.  Some of the book seems to fit the bill.  Daring to go where most people would not, Tenenbom amasses a fairly diverse range of interviewees.

That being said, midway through, I came to view this as more of a Socratic method journey, with questions that were intended to elicit certain responses as opposed to truly open minded discussions.

One of the interesting themes that Tenenbom aims to cover off is to categorize people based on a few select questions.  The obvious and easy first question is whether a person is "blue" or "red," in other words Republican or Democrat.  This type of starting question seems to get many of the people riled up and marks the discussion as a political one.  Some people will only express their opinion if Tenenbom agrees to hide their identity or not record the answers.  Others simply refuse to provide any detailed responses.

From there, many of the discussions proceed to questions about Israel/Palestine and questions about global warming and environmentalism.  It is a fascinating linkage that Tenenbom proposes, aiming to group people with respect to their views on these two issues along with their approach to smoking restrictions.

Although Tenenbom claims that he "hasn't made up his mind" on the question of whether global warming is real (as opposed to a cyclical phenomenon, that has not been specially affected by human beings), he finds a consistent linkage between those who wish to take action against it and those who claim to support "Palestine" when asked questions about the Israel/Palestine conflict.  Splitting these groups on a right/left line, he adds smoking restrictions to the mix.

Tenenbom clearly has little time for those who advocate on the Palestinian side of the spectrum.  He views American leftists as hypocritical on this issue. In his view, they call for action against Israel while ignoring so many other conflicts around the world that are far more devastating and while ignoring so many serious U.S.issues including poverty and race relations.  Some of this scorn is directed towards American Jewish liberal groups, who spend more time worrying about attacking Israel than about supporting and building their own American Jewish communities. Even though Tenenbom purports to be coming at all of this from the left of the political spectrum, much of his derision is aimed at the left.  Quite a bit of it seems aimed at Obama and Kerry in particular.

Tenenbom ties "pro-Palestinians" in with environmentalists and the anti-smoking crowd.  It is a strange leap and one that seems awkward, at best.  While Tenenbom's explanation for his Pro-Israel leaning is cogent and analyzed reasonably, he has no explanation for his leanings towards anti-environmentalism.  His dismissal of global warming concerns seems to be based on gut reaction to the environmentalist crowd rather than any logical discussion of the issues. (And he repeatedly reminds the readers that there is lots of gut...)

But his glorification of smoking is even less compelling.  Since Tenenbom is a self-described chain smoker, his assessment of many of the people he meets and places he visits seems tied to whether not they support or oppose smoking limitations.  So Seattle, a place with a variety of smoking restrictions is very inhospitable for him.  Heck, you can't even smoke in your hotel room, imagine that.  On the other hand, in parts of the southern U.S., you can apparently smoke wherever you like, so Tenenbom is much more at home. 

As is evident in his first book, Tenenbom is somewhat of a narcissist.  His writing about some of his encounters is arrogant and even patronizing.  While he sometimes asks difficult questions out of interest, more often the questions are intended to attract a visceral, angry response.  He can then ridicule the subject simply by presenting the answers provided.

Tenenbom has very high standards for the type of food he is trying to find which goes along with his search for fine spirits, cannabis, places he can freely smoke and his mainly unsuccessful search for good coffee. There is also a great deal of discussion about his relationship with his car and about guns and gun control laws across the U.S.

Along the way, he also manages to visit a wonderful collection of American parks and natural landmarks.  Like in his previous book, these trips to beautiful sites (and to the really good restaurants) seem to be the highlights of his journey rather than the people he actually meets and the interviews he conducts, despite his protestations to the contrary. 

In fairness, Tenenbom does ask some pointed questions of those on right, including the religious right and the very far right.  Even though people on the religious right often claim to be "Pro-Israel," Tenenbom digs deeper to try and see if he can get them to state that only those Jews who accept Jesus are destined to avoid eternal damnation.  He sometimes succeeds. His point is that the veneer of pro-Israel support on the right side of the spectrum often masks a deep rooted anti-Semitism.  He also has some less than favourable things to say about Trump and references his own left-leaning political convictions on several occasions.

Interestingly enough, Tenenbom visits very few Synagogues or other Jewish institutions but seems to be in a Church just about every Sunday (as well as many days during the week).  He greatly enjoys trips to black churches that he portrays as inspired, spiritually uplifting and meaningful.  He is far more critical of other houses of worship, including the Synagogue or two and the many Evangelical churches that he visit.

Overall, the book is entertaining and, at times, insightful.  There are many other interesting encounters with places and people that this review does not describe.  But there are certainly some nagging concerns about Tenenbom's logic.  The hazy clouds of smoke that constantly surround him probably fog up some of his choices on places to choose, people to meet and conclusions to draw.  For example, visiting a few centrist, pro-Israel Jewish organizations would probably upset his characterization of American Jews as a largely self-hating.

That being said, one of his pessimistic themes is that America is filled with liars - politicians, everyday people disguising their animosity towards others and people who are simply afraid to stand up for their political views.  He warns of an America that has not well integrated its diversity and seems headed towards a boiling point.    Written all prior to November, much of this assessment turns out to be all too accurate and provides yet another reason to consider Tenenbom's escapades.

Major Israeli Storm December 2013

Israel is in the midst of a major storm.  Jerusalem has accumulated more than 30 centimetres of snow since yesterday.  That is a respectable amount even by Canadian standards.  Unfortunately, Jerusalemites and, Israelis in general, are not nearly as well equipped to deal with snow as Canadians.  Many Israelis took their families on car trips to Jerusalem to see the snow.  En route, the snow was so heavy that traffic ground to a standstill and cars became stuck in the snow.  Police and fire crews have indicated that they have rescued more than 1,500 people from stranded cars. 

Schools are closed in Jerusalem and many houses are not heated properly.  There have been power failures across the city and many gas stations are closed, as well as all kinds of other businesses.  Apparently, it's the largest snow storm Israel has had in more than 50 years.  A stalwart few have continued to pray at the Kotel despite the weather conditions...

Meanwhile, there has been snow in other parts of Israel including the Golan Heights.  But most of the rest of the country has been dealing with a major rain and wind storm.

In Ra'anana, the temperatures have hovered around 6-8 degrees, while we have been dealing with a major thunderstorm and blowing winds.  Last night and early this morning, there was sleet but so far, no snow.
After raining on and off for a few days, the rain has continued constantly since last night. 

Even by Canadian standards, this would be a significant storm.  But the major difference is that homes and businesses are simply not set up to deal with it.  For example, we stopped at the supermarket this morning.  There was no heating.  People were dressed in sweaters, jackets and gloves.  The cashiers were wearing gloves and hats.  We asked the customer service manager - who told us that you can't heat a supermarket - it would affect too many of the items in the store, he said.  Just after we paid, the store suffered a power failure and announced (though its emergency back up system) that it would only be accepting cash and no credit cards until the power returned.

Two nearby gas stations were closed due to the spreading power failure and some of the nearby intersections were running on flashing yellow lights.

The storm is expected to last another day or two.  The good news is that once the storm is over, temperatures will probably rise fairly quickly and things will get back to normal for a country not used to dealing with these types of storms. The other good news is that Israel is always happy to accumulate as much rain water as possible, which will hopefully cause the Kinneret, Israel's only fresh water lake, to rise from its low levels.

It looks like we will be eating Shabbat dinner with sweaters - and maybe gloves....but keeping dry inside.

Shabbat Shalom.

Municipal Elections in Israel 2013: Some Interesting Tidbits...

Municipal elections, no matter where they are held, in my experience, tend to attract more apathy than interest.  Some suggest that is part of a trend of more generalized voter disaffection.  But, it just may be that people simply don't feel it makes a difference who the mayor happens to be, much less the local councilors.  In any case, Israel is no exception from other democracies in this regard.  Voter turnout in Israel's municipal elections on October 22, 2013, according to Haaretz, hit a national average of 32.7%.  The turnout in Tel-Aviv was only 21%.  Contrast that with the 2013 Israeli national elections in which the voter turn out was close to 68%.  Still not a sparkling number, but not nearly as pathetic as the municipal numbers.

As much voter indifference as there may be, municipal elections are probably even less interesting to outsiders.  So to a non-Israeli, in this case, whether a Labour candidate or a Likud candidate happened to be elected in a particular city to oversee garbage collection and local education just does not seem too riveting.  After all, someone's arnona (Israeli property tax) might increase dramatically but as long as it does not affect your property taxes, do you really care?

Nevertheless, since there were municipal elections all across Israel, there had to be some interesting stories.  I thought you would enjoy a few interesting tidbits that emerged from Tuesday's election, some of which are rather amusing, in my view anyways.

1.  Jerusalem

This was probably the most interesting mayoral race.  Moshe Leon was the candidate favoured by the religious parties, backed by Avigdor Lieberman (leader of Yisrael Beitenu) (who is currently awaiting the verdict in a corruption trial) and by Aryeh Deri (a political leader of the ultra-orthodox Shas party, who was actually convicted of corruption and served his time).  Leon, who is not even a Jerusalem resident, was parachuted into the race to run against secular candidate and incumbent mayor Nir Barkat.  Well, don't we have to say "Thank G-d!" that Barkat won?   For many Jerusalem residents, it must have been a reverse endorsement for Moshe Leon to be backed by such esteemed public officials as Lieberman and Deri.  The race was not a landslide but Barkat managed to win, much to the chagrin of many of the ultra-orthodox.

2.  Ra'anana

Zeev Bielski

Of course I have to write about Ra'anana.  In Ra'anana, Mayor Nahum Hofri was one of the few incumbent mayors, across Israel, to lose an election.  But unlike some other mayors and mayoral candidates (many of whom were facing corruption charges or embroiled in different scandals), nothing of the sort was levelled against Hofri.  Rather, he found himself running against Ze'ev Bielski who had previously been a popular four-term mayor in Ra'anana.  Bielski had left to try his hand, unsuccessfully, in national politics.  Now he returned to Ra'anana politics and picked up 73% of the vote, a ringing endorsement for a returning former mayor.

3.  Beersheva

Ruvik Danilovich

I couldn't help but notice that the incumbent mayor Ruvik Danilovich won 92% of the vote.  Wow!  Either the candidate was immensely popular - or there was some funny water in the well somewhere....This is an incredible margin of victory in a contemporary democracy.  Okay, I guess it helped that he presented voters with a popular 10 year plan to turn Beersheva into a major Israeli metropolis...It is currently Israel's seventh largest city, with a population of just over 200,000.


4.  Kiryat Eqron

I have to mention the mayoral race in Kiryat Eqron, the small town located just outside of Rehovot (population 9,800).  Here, no one won.  That's right, there was no winner.  The incumbent, Arik Hadad, garnered just over 25% of the vote.  But there were a number of other other candidates with more than 10% each.  Sounds like there were almost as many candidates as voters!  So there will be a run-off election in Kiryat Eqron.  This is not surprising given that Kiryat Eqron, a small town, has more than 48 separate synagogues.  In some cases, there are two such shuls, right next to each other, on the same street, with different members of the same family attending different shuls.  With that type of community structure in place, it is not surprising that there would be large number of candidates.  We will eagerly await the results...

5.  Messy Bet Shemesh

Oops, I almost forgot Bet Shemesh.  How could I?  Incumbent ultra-orthodox mayor Moshe Abutbul apparently won the election in Bet Shemesh by less than 1,000 votes.  The problem is that, according to the Jerusalem Post, more than 800 ballots were declared "invalid."  As well, on election day, police raided two apartments owned by ultra-orthodox residents and confiscated more than 200 I.D. cards.  Let's see...800 plus 200...

Challenger Eli Cohen has indicated that he is considering a legal challenge to the results based on reports of possible electoral fraud and "irregularities."  According to the Post, more than 4,000 Bet Shemesh residents have signed a petition demanding that the results be suspended until a proper investigation is conducted.

6.   Corruption? Pshaw.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that corruption charges were no barrier to re-election in Israel.  This is illustrated by the results in Bat-Yam, Ramat Hasharon and Upper Nazareth all of which re-elected mayors facing corruption allegations or charges.  Only in the city of Hadera, voters ousted a candidate who had been accused of taking bribes.  In other jurisdictions these types of allegations seem to have enhanced electability or at least not impeded it.

None of the candidates, to my knowledge, were photographed smoking crack, talking on their cell phones while driving or accused of pinching other candidates in the buttocks at public events.  These are all accusations that have been leveled against the current incumbent mayor of Toronto, Canada - Rob Ford.  However, some of the allegations facing the Israeli mayoral candidates, some of whom were elected, - included bribery, corruption and racism.  These charges were on par with the Toronto municipal scene and were no impediment to re-election in Israel. 

Punctured Tire? Moshe Lis Tire Repair at Tzomet Ra'anana

We realized that we had a punctured tire this morning though the tire was only partially deflated.  Of course this ruined our mid-day plans.  But more importantly, we started worrying about the potential costs of replacing the tire or getting it repaired.  This was not the first time this has happened to us so we had a rapair shop in mind.

We drove over to Moshe Lis tires, located at the southeast corner of Tsommet Ra'anana (the Ra'anana-K'far Saba junction (09)7431395).  We were met quite promptly by one of the staff.  With a quick glance at the tire, he let us know that we had a nail in the tire and that he could fix it in no time.

He pulled the tire off, pulled out the nail, fixed the tire and filled the air in all four tires - in less than 10 minutes, which included, of course, a mandatory water immersion diagnostic test to ensure that the tire had been properly repaired.

The bill?  45 N.I.S. or about $12.50 including the tax.  I'm not sure I could have even bought a coffee at a Toronto area tire repair shop while waiting to have a tire repaired - at that price.  The service was quick, efficient and, most importantly, accurate.   This was really, probably, the least painful car repair I can remember going through in many years.

I am told by a very close personal source (who has used Moshe Lis several times) that they will come within 10 minutes to just about any location in the Hasharon region of Israel and fix a tire at the same price.

I have no relationship with these folks - other than as an arm's length customer - but I have to say I was quite impressed with the service, the process and the value.  In fact, we even felt that we had to provide a tip to the guy who did all the work.  I'm not totally sure whether this was appropriate or not but he didn't seem to mind.

Unfortunately, if you are stuck with a flat tire elsewhere in the country, the general expectation is that you will change the tire and get it repaired yourself, even if you are driving a vehicle that you have rented from one of Israel's major rental companies.  If you are here as a tourist, you certainly would not expect to dail a 1-800 number and have a CAA equivalent show up within 15 minutes.

But that is all a digression for visitors.  Moshe Lis is really for those who live in or are staying in the Ra'anana-Herzliah-Hod Hasharon area and find themselves needing a quick tire repair.  Based on the few times that we have used their services, it is difficult to see how another shop would do a better job.

Israeli High School Graduation

We attended our first high school graduation last night.  Our daughter graduated from Ostrosvky High School in Ra’anana, Israel.  Ostrovsky is a secular, public Israeli high school.  It is considered one of Israel’s best high schools with a matriculation (successful grade 12 graduation) rate close to 100%.  The school places a significant emphasis on academic excellence and features very strong specialized high school programs in math, physics, robotics and computers.  Ostrovsky is also the home of the best high school women’s basketball team in the country, which won the national championship once again this year for the fourth consecutive year.

This year’s high school graduation was held outdoors at Park Ra’anana, which is Ra’anana’s version of Central Park, a beautiful park that includes an amphitheatre, basketball court, roller hockey pad, mini-zoo, free outdoor exercise equipment and many other amenities.

The evening was divided into two parts, formal and informal.  The “informalities” began at about 6:30 p.m.  There were eight graduating classes, each with approximately 35 students.  The eight classes assembled in different areas of the park for the first part of the evening.  At these class ceremonies, the home room teachers presented awards to the students including excellence awards.  The home room teacher and some other teachers had the chance to speak to the students and some of the students made presentations and provided appreciation gifts to some of the teachers.

This part of the evening was very moving.  Teachers in Israel are on a first name basis with their students.  They connect via email and Facebook and take an active role in their students’ success.  Over the three years of high school, the students of each home room class remained together.  The class group went on trips together including trips across Israel and a trip to Poland to visit concentration and death camps and other sites.  The relationships between the teachers and the students – as well as the relationships among many of the parents and among the students themselves are often very close relationships – a tight knit community, if not a family. 

In our case, our daughter was fortunate to have had an outstanding home room teacher, whose sense of dedication to his students’ well-being was constantly evident.  He addressed the students and then provided them each with a few special gifts – a copy of his address, a small gift – and a DVD of all of the photos that he had assembled over the three years with the class group. 

The teachers did not all speak at this meeting.  However, one of the math teachers was the subject of a powerful presentation.  The teacher of the “5-unit” math course – the highest level of high school math in Israel – was called up for a presentation.  This math teacher, a PhD. in math, is known for being extremely demanding, rigorous and for running a highly disciplined class environment.  But his dedication to math and his commitment to excellence are contagious.  He pushed the students (including our daughter) for three years and produced tremendous results.  The students realized how fortunate they were to have this type of teacher and two of these students had special words to present.

After about two hours, we moved from the less formal part of the evening to the school-wide graduation ceremony with all of the students and their family members and friends in the Ra’anana Amphitheatre. 

The first part of this ceremony consisted of a number of speeches, which were probably similar to the speeches given at many different graduations around the world.  There were quite a number of speakers including the school principal, the guidance counselor, the mayor of Ra’anana, the head of the parent-teacher association and a few others.  In total, this went on for close to 1 ½ hours.

Some of the speeches were particularly poignant, especially the principal’s address.  A high school graduation in Israel is a very emotional evening.  Whereas in Canada or the U.S., or many other countries, most of the students are planning to continue their academic studies in September (or, perhaps, one year later), in Israel most of the students will be enlisted into the army (the Israel Defence Forces).  Since Ostrovsky has such a strong academic program, many of its students are recruited to serve in prestigious, high level units, including intelligence units, the air force, and some elite combat units.  A principal addressing these students knows that many of them may well face significant, dangerous challenges during their mandatory military service. 

The principal called upon these “students of the millennium generation” to continue to work to change society.  She highlighted the many positive ways that students have used technology in Israel (and worldwide) to help recruit more voters, to organize rallies and political campaigns and to push for social change.  She called on the students to take responsibility for helping make Israel a better place by working to reduce the gap between the wealthy and the poor in society, by working to support political candidates of their choice actively and peacefully (as so many did in Israel’s recent national election), by helping to promote tolerance in society, and by helping Israel to find a way to reach peace deals with its Arab neighbours. 

One of the speakers, I believe it was the head of the PTA, also had a very interesting message.  She recounted that when her son was young, he would climb up a neighbourhood tree and people would tell him to come down before he gets hurt.  Although he fell from the tree and was injured, it was not particularly serious.  She now urged him and the other students to “continue to climb as high you can, don’t be afraid of the heights and don’t let anyone tell you to come down from the tree.”  It is a message that resonates throughout Israeli society, in a country which must constantly cope with existential threats, even though the country may enjoy intermittent periods of relative quiet.

The school faculty then distributed awards of high excellence to students with averages exceeding 95%. Various other awards and certificates were handed out, recognizing a wide range of student volunteer activities and dedication to the school, the community and many different causes. 

Once the formal part of the evening was over – one and half hours later, the fun part of the evening began. The grade 12 graduating class presented a revue show entitled “Ostrovsky’s 51^st graduating class in 60 minutes.”  The show included various dances, some with more than 80 students on the stage at the same time, short skits, video clips that the students had prepared, one or two video clips prepared by the faculty, and a number of songs.  It was entertaining and fun.  One of the comedic highlights was a group of males students, dressed in tutus, singing Carly-Rae Jepson’s “Call Me Maybe” – with accompanying dance moves and gestures.  In another skit, A group of teachers produced a video clip of a mock classroom scheme – in which the students are doing a whole bunch of inappropriate things in the class – wearing sunglasses, talking on their cell phones, texting each other, putting on nail polish – and my favourite – one “student” asks if he can eat a snack in class – he then pulls out a chopping board and starts cutting up a cucumber and tomato to make a salad…it was quite funny.

The finale featured most of the students dancing and singing on stage.  And the students all headed out to a post-grad party – which I know very little about…

Most students have not yet completed all of their grade 12 exams and may still be writing them until mid-July, depending on which courses they took.  So the year is not yet over for everyone.  But some students have completed their exams and may enter the army as soon as early July.

 Students planning to continue on with their education will need to complete Israel’s “psychometric exams” – an SAT-type standardized test.  But first, they will need to complete their mandatory military service, which could range from twenty months to just under three years.  Some will choose to become career military personnel and may continue with their education under the auspices of the IDF.  Others will attend university as soon as they are able to do so after completing their service. 

For now, the students still have more exams to write and an upcoming prom (which is becoming more and more of a tradition in Israel, of late).  Then, for most of them, it is off to the “real world” in a way that is quite different from what 18 and 19 year-olds around the world experience. 

We can only dream for a day when Israel will be at peace with its neighbours and universal, mandatory service will not be necessary.  But looking at events taking place in Syria, Egypt, Gaza, Iran, Turkey and Israel’s other neighbouring countries it is difficult to be optimistic that this will occur anytime soon. 

We wish the students of the 2013 graduating class of Ostrovsky (as well all the other graduating students in Israel) success in all they do.  May they serve proudly and return home safely.  To all the 18 and 19 year-olds we know in other countries, who will be entering university or college in September, we wish them the best of success.  They should constantly remember how fortunate they are to be living in countries that are not facing these types of existential threats and they should take full advantage of their opportunities.