22nd
November 2019
Shabbat
Shalom dear friends. I wish I could tell you that this has been an easy week
but I would be lying and I never lie to you.
Yesterday
was a very sad day for Israel. Attorney
General Avichai Mandelblitt announced to the nation that after
exhaustive investigations, Prime
Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu has been indicted for fraud, breach of public trust,
receipt of illegal gifts and bribery. After so long, so many denials, so many
threats to States witnesses, one has a strange mixture of relief that it is
finally over, deep sadness that it was all real and anger at the brass of the
man to stand before us and take the nation through yet another round of
elections because he wouldn't step down – so great is his sense of misplaced
self-righteousness. I am also inordinately proud of the Israeli legal process
and the man at the head of it, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblitt who has
suffered constant insults and demonstrations beside his home by Netanyahu
supporters, he is an honourable man.
After
the announcement Netanyahu stood before the media and berated the legal system,
the police and the media claiming it was not a genuine investigation but a plot
of the left wing against him and his family in an attempt to depose him. He
spoke for 17 minutes, his face ashen, and I felt that he finally lost the last
semblance of honour. A brilliant man, a fine representative of Israel with so
much potential to become an historic leader, brought down by greed and a love
of power almost bordering on megalomania.
Now
to the other "plonter", the political one – we are still
without a working government, have operated under an interim, powerless
government for almost a year and yesterday Benny Gantz had to hand his mandate
to form a government back to President Rivlin because they did not reach a
centrist government majority. Blue and White made it very clear that they
wouldn't form a coalition with Likud as long as Netanyahu was at its helm and
under threat of indictment. In other words they refused to join forces with a
corrupt PM, but would have instantly joined with Likud if they agreed to dump
Bibi. Avigdor "Yvette" Lieberman refused to join either Likud due to
their coalition with the Haredim or with Blue and White and their possible
coalition with the Arab List. So, according to Israeli Law, before going to the
people, every Member of Knesset has the right to gather as many other Members
around them until a majority is formed (61 seats) which of course won't happen.
Please don't ask me how that works because it seems impossible to me. https://en.idi.org.il/articles/28659
The one
person who has remained above the nastiness of the last year and behaved with
supreme grace is President
Ruvi Rivlin who has taken a strong part in trying to bring the
people together and the political nastiness out.
With
great fanfare and amid a festive atmosphere, the Grand Rabbi of the Satmar Hassidic
Dynasty, Rebbe Zalman Teitelbaum, the virulently anti-Zionist
Rabbi distributed some $5 million on Wednesday night to approximately 150
institutions in Israel that do not receive funding from the state. The monies
were described as "Pure Shekels" since they do not touch the much
despised State of Israel. The rabbi was lauded by hundreds of his Hassidic sect
as he entered the celebration hall to the sounds of rapturous music. Personally
I would have denied him entry to Israel rather than stopping the traffic to allow
him free passage. https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Satmar-grand-rabbi-distributes-5-million-to-institutions-refusing-state-money-608539
Just
to make life perfect, after the rockets from Gaza, to which we responded as
responsibly as possible, suddenly four rockets were launched from Iranian held
Syria! We responded firmly but only against Iranian military sites in Syria.
Hezb-Allah
and Islamic Jihad are Shia Moslems under Iranian funding whereas Hamas is
Sunni, hence the rivalry between those terror organisations, don't be fooled by
their common determination to wipe out Israel. Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq
have all fallen under Iranian control, thus now Shia. Most of the Islamic Arab
countries are Sunni and although Iran is not Arab it is firmly set upon
reaffirming the Persian Empire. Iran's new BFF is Turkey which in turn wants to
return to the Ottoman Empire under Erdogan. The fascinating aspect is that both
Turkey and Iran were relatively free countries with excellent relations with
Israel until their current regimes.
After
President Trump's announcement over the legality of Israeli settlements I
thought I would check the legality of Israel's rights https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/294359/israels-rights-in-the-west-bank-under-international-law
and then I became curious as to how many countries have territorial
disputes. The answer? Over 200!! The fact that the world concentrates on just
one is quite phenomenal – I am not sure it is a compliment though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_territorial_disputes
I was
going to write about antisemitism in the Democratic and of course the Labour
Party, but the fabulous Maureen
Lipman has done it for me. I love Maureen Lipman, so clever and
funny and so Jewish. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fttknbIFiR4&app=desktop
Gosh
I need a breath of fresh air! I hate being negative and I know
everything will be fine, but I need something really positive – so here's
something to cheer us all up. Kelly
Craft. We aren't used to the name yet but I have a feeling we
are going to hear an awful lot about this incredible lady. Kelly Craft is the
new US Ambassador to the United Nations. She had very impressive shoes to fill
and it would appear she is just as tenacious as Nikky Haley. Here is her Maiden
Speech https://youtu.be/lPjp6ZpMM4k
Judge for yourselves.
The
media and political obsession with Israel is bordering on the insane. When one
considers that over 12,000,000 people have been displaced through wars in this
region, at least half of whom are children, it becomes obvious that as opposed
to the idiotic BDS, something must be done to educate the children, the next
generation, differently. I received a Tweet from Impact-se about a new project
which they have promoted, from Sesame Street. Yes really a Sesame Street in Arabic
which unlike the copy-cat Sesame Street of Hamas and co, encouraging beheading
etc, this is the real thing and encourages tolerance and openness. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/20/world/sesame-workshop-syrian-refugees-trnd/index.html
After
giving you the link to my website – please click to see the pictures therein http://www.theviewfrommyveranda.info/indictment-iran-and-irony/
I want to stop
talking politics and the diplomatic treachery against Israel, so I'm going to
tell you about our lovely week and the people we met.
As I
told you we spent last Shabbat in Tel Aviv. Ronit Dotan's birthday party was
gorgeous! Held in a beachfront hotel, women only we had a ball! A comedienne
who had us giggling and a wonderful singer from the Yiddishspiel theatre, the
party was beautifully organised down to the last detail as only Ronit knows.
Shabbat evening was spent with Nattie
and Yolli Zonszein who have fulfilled their mutual dream and
made Aliya. After a restful sleep at Amiad and Noga's we went round the corner
to Laura and Uri Neiger
who not only cooked up a storm but brought along delightful friends. We got
home after Shabbes just in time to pack for the next day!!!
Sunday
morning at 11 o'clock precisely we stood beside the coach taking us to the
Dead Sea, herded on board by Ronit Dagan, the charismatic and funny director of
our Community Centre. The driver was a Bedouin and he entertained us with
totally inaccurate "facts" of the landscape we passed. What a
fascinating geological area – moonscapes of lost water, mountains of folded
rock, sink holes, singular fauna which has learned to grow on arid, salty land
– like the Negev Acacia, capers and reeds. We relaxed, dipped in the hot,
healing waters and had great fun meeting new people.
Every
little boy's dream came true this week when Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini
landed in Israel, the great Messi. Despite many threats on all the players the
Uruguay and Argentina teams came for a friendly match held in Tel Aviv. It was
a brilliant game of football and the 2-2 result completed the joy of the fans.
A wonderful philanthropist called Sylvan
Adams covered the costs and brought phenomenal publicity for
Israel as the teams snapped their Instagrams of the wonderful life in Israel
and sent them around the world.
On
Wednesday
evening we found ourselves on the road to Tel Aviv yet again. I was happy to
drive because at the other end of the journey Zvi not only got to play football
in the park with Amiad, Ella and Yonatan but we went on to have supper with
delightful Mexicans, Perla
and Carlos Jinich. Such lovely people who spend at least two
months a year in Israel.
Although
it has nothing to do with Israel I just want to take a few moments to express
our distress and give our love to all our friends in Sydney, Australia who have
been suffering horribly from raging bush fires which have left the incredibly
beautiful city under a cloud of smoke and ashes which will take a long time to
dissipate.
That's
it! It's Friday again and another Shabbat. In a short while I will go to Givat
Ze'ev to see Rachel and the children then tonight we will spend our Shabbat
dinner with Leor and Shiri for two of their 4 daughters birthdays. Tomorrow we
will rest!!
The
weather has been unbelievably dry and windy bringing rather a lot of sandy dust
onto our veranda but the view remains breathtaking. The geraniums haven't
lost their crimson beauty and the Hibiscus and my "Valerie" Fuschia
are enjoying the cooler weather. The leaves of the pomegranate tree have blown
away exposing the big juicy fruits of the pomegranate behind them.
Hopefully
next week I will have time and space to send you recipes and talk about the
incredible fun one can have in Jerusalem. The plethora of museums, many of them
new, and the glorious parks. I fact it is a while since I have been to the
Botanical Gardens, hmmmm, I need to rectify that and share a huge Caffit
Oregnato salad. I thought you may want to see what I am talking about so https://caffit.co.il/en/menu/orgenato/#orgenato-2
Today
is the 56th Anniversary of the assassination of an American
President and the 56th anniversary of my beautiful Mother's passing.
She used to sing this beautiful Yiddish lullaby to me when I was a child. She
sang with so much love that I still feel it today. Roshinkes mit Mandlen
– Almonds and Raisins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDZJq6Hc9QI
This
has been such a tough week but maybe this scene from "The Life of
Brian" will put things into perspective. It really isn't heretical, it is
just reminds us to "Always
Look on the Bright Side of Life" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJUhlRoBL8M
"A Tribe of Brothers and Sisters
Together" Shevet Achim v Achayot Beyachad – is a song
performed by about 30 Israeli Singers for Yom Ha'Atzma'ut. President Ruvi
Rivlin speaks the words at the end.
If you
click on the 5th icon from the right you will get a translation in
subtitles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=22&v=xWx3R7WaAQY&feature=emb_logo
I wish
you a good shabbes – a day to forget about politics and war, just one day to
recharge our emotional and spiritual batteries, to say a prayer, to kiss your
family
"And
on the 7th Day G-d rested and looked at his work and it was
good".
With
much love from Jerusalem and our View from the Veranda
Sheila
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