This is an extremely important development in the media business. Buffett has shown interest in newspapers, and says their main job is to be indespensable to their local readers. Amazing.
Warren Buffett’s letter to his editors and publishers | JIMROMENESKO.COM.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the darkest day in Olympic history. On Sept. 5, 1972, during the Munich Olympics, eight Palestinian terrorists broke into the Olympic village: two Israelis were shot and killed, and nine others were taken hostage. The militants demanded that 200 Arab inmates held in Israeli prisons be released; the Israeli government refused to negotiate, and a tense 20-hour, televised standoff captivated the globe.
Men were sent out in the dead of night to scan the area and report back on the possibilities and dangers. An advance team was dispatched to lay the ground and keep an eye out for interference. Complete radio silence was maintained. It was an audacious mission, a high-risk, do-or-die operation cooked up by veteran commandos with everything to lose and everything to gain; veiled in secrecy, subterfuge, and Omerta-like silence; cloaked in an extremely loud and incredibly convincing decoy, a vivid and palpable illusion that fooled absolutely everyone; the main movement executed with a lighting-fast strike, in, out, and done, before anyone knew what was happening, leaving shock and awe in its wake. Continue reading
Here’s my article in the Mail and Guardian taking issue with Kevin Bloom’s article the day before.
As a former South African who grew up in the Eighties and Nineties in a Jewish family in Krugersdorp, and now as an editor of the English edition of Israel’s largest circulation daily, I believe I have an insight into Bloom’s contention that South Africa’s Jewish community needs a Beinart-type messiah to lead them out of the darkness that is their “Israel right-or-wrong” mentality.
On Sunday night at the Likud conference, the settlers won the battle by embarrassing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and forcing him to postpone the vote on his presidency of the Likud’s convention. On early Tuesday morning, Netanyahu returned the favor, and won the war.
By striking the kind of deal he struck with Shaul Mofaz of Kadima, the deal of his life, the Prime Minister has put himself out of the reach of his party’s right wing, out of the reach of Lieberman’s machinations, out of the reach of Shas’ extortions, and out of the reach of Barack Obama. He’s also buried Yair Lapid, who must now go back and have a hard think about his next move. Netanyahu is also out of the reach of Labor’s Shelly Yechimovich, Meretz, and the Arab parties – in other words, the Opposition, which together make up no more than 25 Knesset mandates. That’s not even enough MKs to force Netanyahu to appear at a Knesset hearing to defend his government’s policies. Without any real opposition to his government, and without a quarrelsome coalition to worry about, Netanyahu has put himself beyond anyone’s reach. He has, in essence, become the most politically powerful prime minister in Israel’s history. He has become the Supreme Leader. Netanyahu is so powerful he can legislate basic laws if he wants to. Now everyone will be obedient: Mofaz for sure, Lieberman will be, the haredim will be, the settlers will be, Barak obviously; Yechimovich is weakened, Lapid is destroyed. Netanyahu, like a supreme leader, has left destruction and creation in his wake. But with such power comes immense responsibility, and the pitfalls of hubris.
If Netanyahu can keep this coalition government together until October 2013, the date of the next elections, and if he wins those elections and manages to stay in power for a full third term after that, his combined rule as Prime Minister of Israel would be about 11.5 years. Just under David Ben Gurion’s combined 12 years.
And while Barack Obama will fight for four more years, Netanyahu has all but assured himself five-and-a-half more years in power. Netanyahu may be the Israeli PM until January 2018.
What effect will the deal have on the burning issues of the day? Netanyahu now leads a centrist government of 94 MKs, a wide and stable coalition. Foreign news organizations can no longer call his government a “narrow right-wing coalition government.” As his new coalition partner Mofaz said Tuesday, there is now a golden opportunity to make some deep, historic structural changes to Israeli society and politics. To change the system of government, to address the imbalance in the burden of military and national service, and to attempt a territorial compromise with the Palestinians. No previous Israeli prime minister has managed to do all three, largely because no previous Israeli prime minister has had such a wide coalition, with 94MKs, and such potential stability and power. In short, no Israeli prime minister has been a Supreme Leader before.
Netanyahu and Mofaz have set the bar very high for their joint government: producing an alternative to the Tal Law, changing the system of government, forging a deal with the Palestinians, and passing a balanced budget.
The question now is if we will see Netanyahu wield such power wisely and manage to make all these changes. Will we see what Netanyahu really wants, his diplomatic vision? Will the Palestinians miss another opportunity to make peace, now that their Israeli partner seems to be in a prime position to deliver a deal? Will there be progress on the Palestinian track? Potentially. Polls have consistently shown a majority of Israelis in favor of a peace deal with the Palestinians based on territorial swaps and solid security guarantees. It won’t be easy, and the American administration might push harder on Netanyahu now that he has the political depth to make such a deal.
Will Netanyahu change the Tal Law. Netanyahu will want to keep the ultra-Orthodox in the coalition if he can, just in case Mofaz or Lieberman or both play any dirty tricks on him. So he’ll have to find a watered-down Tal Law alternative, just strong enough to satisfy the secular middle class, and just weak enough not to break the china with the haredim. But even if the haredim bolt, Netanyahu will stay with a strong 78MKs.
Will we see changes in the system of government – this is the wet dream of many people, but this will be very hard to achieve, again because of the ultra-Orthodox parties, who will want to maintain the status quo. But even without Shas and UTJ, Netanyahu’s government will be strong enough to survive and make serious changes.
What about Iran? With or without a wide national unity government, Netanyahu would have made his own decision on whether to attack Iran alone, i.e. without American backing, or even American knowledge, with Mofaz or without Mofaz. But having Mofaz, a former chief of staff and minister of defense at his side, and with Ehud Barak on his other side, Netanyahu will feel more confident regarding the way forward regarding Iran. While it may make it easier now for the PM to strike Iran, he still has to wait out the P5+1 negotiations, currently scheduled for May 23 in Baghdad.
1. A father of two was from Beersheba was stabbed in the chest and left for dead when he went outside of his building to tell a bunch of kids to keep their noise down. It’s a story that happens all over the country, and it’s largely the fault of the police for not enforcing noise restrictions in residential areas after 11pm.
When I lived in Givatayim, I called the police hundreds of times to do something about the group of teens who would show up on the corner of my building every night in their cars, blare their music, drink, shout, and rev their engines until 4am. Finally the patrols started coming, the kids would disperse, but come back later at night. I carried on calling, and once I heard a cop tell one of the kids, “I’ve told you not to be here, I told you there was another place a few blocks away, why don’t you listen?” as if he knew the kid, and maybe he did. They went away for a few days and then came back. The cops never took their IDs, never took their names, never took away [their parents' cars]. And these kids never gave a damn about the people they were keeping up late at night. Education, enforcement, nada. I could never understand what was going through the minds of these kids. Didn’t they come from homes where people slept at night? Didn’t they have parents who go to work in the morning and need their sleep? Did these teens think that the surrounding buildings were vacant, that they could make as much noise as they wanted to because there was nobody around? No, I don’t think so. I think these kids just didn’t give a damn about anybody but themselves, because that’s how they were raised. Because their parents are the same. Because their parents are probably the kind of people who cut in front of you in line, cut in front of you on the roads, leave litter in national parks, and the millions of little things that people WHO HAVE NO CONSIDERATION FOR OTHERS do every day.
Police say they can’t be at all places at all times. So they should give the municipalities powers of arrest, give them a municipal guard, or civilian patrols. The residents know the neighborhoods better, let them do the job. But now the Beersheba mayor says the municipalities don’t have the manpower, or the mandate to do the job. The mayors want the responsibility and the authority. While the police and the municipalities pass the buck, and the government doesn’t decide how to act, people die.
I can’t tell you how many times I dreamt of walking down there to those kids, with my cricket bat in hand, cricket helmet on, and breaking their heads. But I never did, probably for the same reason that all of my neighbors never did either: because the kids who can so easily disregard the rights of others to peace and quiet can also so easily stab you in the chest and leave you for dead.
2. It’s incredible how many Israeli politicians raise their political financing in America from wealthy Jews, while at the same time doing so little to advance Israeli-Diaspora relations. They only talk to American Jews when they need money.
3. Palestinian administrative detention prisoners in Israel are on hunger strike. I wonder what Hamas would have done if Gilad Shalit had gone on hunger strike in their basement. Maybe that’s the order the IDF should give its troops in case of abduction: if you are kidnapped and find yourself a prisoner in a dungeon, don’t worry, go on hunger strike, the international pressure on the terrorists who took you will grow so intense that they will have to let you out. The Red Cross will cry bloody murder. Physicians for Human Rights will petition the UN. Yeah, right.
Here’s a quote from a briefing delivered last week by Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Esther Brimmer to American Jewish Committee of Greater Miami and Broward.
One constant we continue to hear from Israeli counterparts is how much they appreciate the Administration’s efforts and U.S.-Israeli cooperation at the UN and multilaterally, and how problematic it would be if the United States was not in these bodies to defend Israel.
Brimmer goes through an exhaustive list of things the Obama administration has done for Israel over the past several years, and if you look at the whole picture, you cannot but think that if it weren’t for the support of the US administration, Israel would be in deep, deep poo.
Worth a read. Quite remarkeable really just how dependent Israel is on the US for its diplomatic cover.
It’s hush-hush no more. Former spymasters are coming out of the woodworks to spook the current government into not attacking Iran.
First it was Meir Dagan, the “superhero” Spymaster from the Mossad, who, as soon as he left the service, launched a campaign against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak – over the issue of attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities. In his own words, Dagan says that a military attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities is the “stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” He also says that he has no faith in Netanyahu and Barak’s ability to lead the country into such a fateful decision. Continue reading
On Thursday we celebrate Israel’s 64th Independence Day.
I will leave it to others to expound on Israel’s wonderful achievements over the past 64 years. There are plenty of examples, and many people are doing great things to shore up our morale and show our positive side. We indeed have a wonderful country, a miracle really, a dynamo which thrives on adversity and intensity. We are unique in the world, and I love my country very much. It is because of this love, and because I believe that my job as a journalist is to point out the cracks in the system, the things that need fixing, I will rather give you my analysis of some of the important things that I think you need to know if you are to make informed decisions regarding your life here. Furthermore, it is quite likely that we will have general elections here before next year’s 65th Independence Day, and if elections are to be held, and you plan on voting, which I hope you do, you should make an informed choice. Continue reading
What does the future hold for the Israel-Egypt relationship? Will Egypt become increasingly, openly hostile? Will the Camp David Peace Accords between the two neighbors hold? Will Egypt provide diplomatic and security cover for Hamas in Gaza? How will the central government in Cairo, whoever it turns out to be, handle the growing lawlessness of the Sinai Peninsula?
These are just some of the important questions people are asking themselves regarding the important relationship between Israel and Egypt since the overthrow of the Mubarak regime. They are coming up again today as the Egyptian national gas company unilaterally terminated its contract with Israel. Continue reading
If you don’t understand the level of the outrage committed against the Jews in the Holocaust, you will not understand the determination of the Israelis to survive at all costs.
If you don’t understand the depth of the humiliation the Jews suffered at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators, you will not understand the Israelis’ fragile insecurity, and their indignation when it comes to threats against their existence.
If you do not see the Holocaust for what it was: the purposeful, single-minded continuation of an ancient, worldwide hatred which seeks to exterminate the Jewish people, you will not understand the shock it made to our collective subconscious.
The flames of the Holocaust seared our souls with a warning, and changed us forever.
If you don’t understand Israelis’ insecurities, their indignation, and their determination, you will not understand their policies.
The Holocaust is not something we can ‘get over.’ It was a manifestation of something that still exists and grows stronger today. So don’t tell us to ‘get over it,’ you don’t know what you’re talking about.
If you don’t hear the screams of our murdered brethren, if you miss the silence that six million people make, you will not hear Israelis when they speak of their fears of annihilation.
And if you’re not really listening to the Israelis, you are very likely to misunderstand us, and be surprised by us. Don’t be angry if we surprise you and act in a way that you disapprove of. Until and unless you have been in our shoes, when it comes to our lives, we don’t really care what you think.
On this Holocaust Memorial Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “it is the duty of the world to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but above all it is our duty [Israel’s] to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.”
European Flightilla activists scrawled a Swastika on their holding cell. Anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic.
More than 70 percent of Polish people believe that Jews seek to benefit from their forebears’ suffering during the Nazi era, a new report on racism and xenophobia in Europe shows. Continue reading
UPDATE: Lt. Col. Eisner has been kicked out of his position.
Lieutenant Colonel Shalom Eisner is a soldier’s soldier. The guy is a deputy commander of the Jordan Valley brigade in the Israeli army, an armored brigade trained to fight other armies, head to head, face to face. His whole life he’s been preparing to take on Syrian and Iraqi armored formations, not Danish peace activists. Continue reading
If demographic trends remain the same, the percentage of Israelis participating in the workforce is expected to decline by 6 percent in the next 20 years, according to a new report titled “Changes in the structure and composition of the Israeli population according to cultural – religious sectors in the coming twenty years and their consequences on the labor market.”
The report, dated November 2011, was issued this week [April 9] by the Research & Economics Administration of the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry, and predicts Israel’s demographic composition for the next 20 years and its expected impact on the workforce. Continue reading
I think it was a stupid decision to ban Gunter Grass from entering Israel, but I’m not surprised at Interior Minister Eli Yishai’s decision to do it. Our interior minister is a man who sees things in black and white only. Continue reading
Here’s a quote which caught my eye this week from a Haaretz story about IDF units preparing for another possible round against Hezbollah:
When you stick an [Israeli] flag [on enemy territory], there’s no question who won,” says a high-ranking officer who requested anonymity. “You need to seize a geographic space. This is the only way the concept of victory can be established.”
I couldn’t disagree more. Continue reading
I have recently found two examples which show that some haredim are actually working; very, very hard at work actually. Continue reading
My story for Wired Magazine’s Danger Room blog about the Iron Dome.
Read it here.
Here’s a picture of US Ambassador Dan Shapiro visiting the Iron Dome battery that went online on April 5 near Rehovot. The US government has funded much of the R&D for the system and will be heavily involved in its future development.
Matty Stern/U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv
Threats, extortion, blackmail, protection rackets, kickbacks, payouts and fraud – or in other words: journalism in the ultra-Orthodox community. A major undercover police sting has unraveled what must be the most interesting story of corroded ethics, criminal activity, and journalistic skulduggery in the news business since, well, since Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World was caught hacking into the cell phone messages of families of fallen soldiers. Continue reading
