Alan Dershowitz

I hope that this department will also work with the international jurists who have advocated so ably for Israel in the past, e.g. Alan Dershowitz.

in reference to:

"Following the decision, the Security Cabinet asked the Minister of Justice, in coordination with the Attorney General and the State Prosecutor, to immediately establish a new department within the Ministry of Justice. The department will handle all relevant issues pertaining to international legal proceedings that involve the State of Israel and those who act on its behalf to counter terrorism.The decision grants the department the mandate to handle (inter alia) legal proceedings before international tribunals and national courts of foreign states that are initiated against the State of Israel; to provide advisory opinions to Israeli officials who might be exposed to such legal proceedings; to establish throughout the world a legal network of law firms that have relevant legal expertise in international law in order to provide immediate legal advice and representation when needed; and to serve as an information center on relevant issues.The Security Cabinet also decided that the department will work in conjunction with a permanent steering committee composed of experts in relevant fields from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the IDF, and the Office of the Prime Minister. The steering committee will work with the department in order to establish and coordinate the relevant policy and activities entailed in handling international legal proceedings. The decision also mentions that the head of the department, who is required to have expertise and experience in relevant legal fields, will update the Security Cabinet on international developments that might impact Israel's counter-terrorism activities.[7]"
- Establishment of a Legal Department by the Israeli Security Cabinet to Deal with Issues of International Jurisdiction - The Israel Democracy Institute (view on Google Sidewiki)

The State of Israel as the National Home of the Jewish People

What's shocking is not that Israel's constituent assembly (Knesset) failed to ratify a constitution, but that they failed to even propose a tentative draft (they not only failed to complete the work; they never even began it)! The task would have a whole lot easier during the first 6 months (or even years) after Israel's formation than it is now, 60 years later.

in reference to:

"As  part of the Declaration, it was determined that the elected constituent assembly would ratify a constitution within half a year of the establishment of the State.  Because of the existential wars imposed on the State of Israel since its birth and because of  political disagreements (many of them partisan), Israel has remained until today without a constitution.  Because of this, the State of Israel's legal character as the National Home of the Jewish People was never explicitly delineated, leaving us only with the general principles stated in the Declaration of Independence."
- Jewish National Home - The Institute For Zionist Strategies-המכון לאסטרטגיה ציונית (view on Google Sidewiki)

Still a year to go!

Strictly speaking, 2010 is the last year of the current decade, not the first year of the next!

in reference to: You decide: Who was your Person of the Decade? - Haaretz - Israel News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Post to Maskil_Activity 12/29/2009

• The arguments made by climate change sceptics (BBC News)

  tags: climate change

• The pluralist (Jerusalem Post)

  tags: Religion and State

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Post to Maskil_Activity 12/28/2009

• Oren Asks for Inquiry on Wall Arrest (Forward.com)

  tags: Pluralism

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Post to Maskil_Activity 12/27/2009

• Oren Asks for Inquiry on Wall Arrest (Forward.com)

  tags: Pluralism

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

  • But Women of the Wall chairperson Anat Hoffman criticized the lack of political response to the treatment that Frenkel received. “I want Michael Oren to be drowning in e-mails and faxes and letters saying: ‘Do something about this. This is something we care about,’” said Hoffman, who is also executive director of the Reform movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.

    
    

    Hoffman said that when she led the women in Rosh Hodesh prayer at Kotel, she heard ultra-Orthodox men jeering them, calling them “prostitutes” and shouting that “the Holocaust happened because of you.”

    
    

    “But more than I heard the bullies, I heard the silence of all my supporters,” Hoffman said. “The silence of the majority of Israeli seculars, who have allowed this thing to happen; the silence of the court, the police, the mayor, the Knesset, and also the silence of my brothers and sisters, who know women read Torah and wear tallit.”

    
    

    
    

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Muddying the water

A good way to try to muddy the water, by equating the Galilee, Samaria, [the] Negev and Judea! The fact is that the Galilee and the Negev are (previously) undisputed parts of Israel proper, while Judea and Samaria are part of the territories conquered by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War, and which will probably never become part of Israel itself. For the last 40 years, the integration and development of the Galilee and Negev have been totally neglected in favour of pouring Israel's resources into YESHA, an investment that will now probably never be recovered. For Israel to reclaim the Galilee and Negev now requires that the investment in Judea and Samaria be liquidated. Thanks to the Settlement Enterprise, Israel's grip on its strategic north and south have been loosened, while Judea and Samaria are all but lost anyway. Good going, guys!

in reference to:

"instead of investing the money in building and developing the Galilee, Samaria, Negev and Judea."
- Settlers: Secret Plan Renders Barak ‘War Criminal' - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Eisengruppen? Einsatzgruppen

Eisengruppen should read Einsatzgruppen (German: "task forces", "intervention groups").

in reference to:

"Eisengruppen"
- East Of Auschwitz: New Book Fuels Shoah Debate (view on Google Sidewiki)

Post to Maskil_Activity 12/24/2009

• Are hesder yeshivas as united as they claim to be? - Israel (Jerusalem Post)

  tags: Hesder

  • Another hesder head, who was unhappy with the outcome of the meeting but who preferred to remain anonymous, said he was concerned that rabbis would lose their influence with religious youth.
    

    "Young people tend to be more extreme in their opinions," said the rabbi, whose yeshiva is located in Samaria.
    

    "When they see rabbis kowtowing to Barak they'll lose all respect for us," he said. "Without rabbinical guidance these young people are liable to stray off the track and abandon religion."
    

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Google Sidewiki entry by Russell

Thanks for setting things out so clearly. There's no doubt in my mind that this opinion is secretly (or not so secretly) shared by most of the Hesder Yeshiva heads.

in reference to:

""We should have told Barak that the IDF is subordinate to the rabbis," said Ilani, in an interview on Radio Kol Chai, a haredi radio station."
- Are hesder yeshivas as united as they claim to be? | Israel | Jerusalem Post (view on Google Sidewiki)

Post to Maskil_Activity 12/23/2009

• Jerusalem Journal - Challenging Traditions at the Heart of Judaism (NYTimes.com)

  tags: Pluralism

  • The Kotel is defined in Israel as a national and holy site that is open to all. In practice, the women say, it operates like an Orthodox synagogue, with separate prayer sections for men and women and a modesty patrol to ensure that visitors are appropriately dressed.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Post to Maskil_Activity 12/22/2009

• Spitting in spite (Features | Jerusalem Post)

  tags: Haredim

  • Christians in Israel are a small, weak community known for "turning the other cheek," so these Jewish xenophobes feel free to spit on them; they don't spit on Muslims in the Old City because they're afraid to, the clerics noted.
    

• Panel slams Water Authority over drought levy policy (Science and Environment | Jerusalem Post)

  tags: Water

  • While a little more rain this winter may have reassured some people, conservation efforts must continue without cease throughout the winter, the committee also strongly urged. One year of good rainfall will not solve this crisis. Even after all the desalination plants become operational in 2013, they will still need to pump water into Lake Kinneret and the aquifers to make up a two billion cubic meter deficit, a result of consistent over-pumping to match demand. In light of the severe crisis, which, they pointed out, no one should doubt for a second, the drought levy should only be dropped if immediate and effective alternative conservation measures are put in place.
    
    
    
    
    

• Hasmonean rule extended to Negev (10-Dec-2009)

  tags: Antiquities

  • According to Dr. Tali Erickson-Gini of the Israel Antiquities Authority, who is the scientific editor of the excavation, “We are talking about a revolutionary discovery that will redraw the maps of the region which describe that era and greatly increase the territory governed by the Hasmoneans into the heart of the Negev Highlands as we know it. This is an important discovery from an archaeological and historical standpoint. Despite the evidence of the historian Josephus, according to which King Alexander Jannaeus conquered the southern coast of the Land of Israel and the harbor in Gaza (which was of paramount importance to the Nabataeans) and even further south, no clear archaeological proof of this has been found in the field. And it was because of this lack of proof that historians were inclined to dismiss the possibility that the Hasmoneans did indeed control the Negev”.

    
    

• Akiva Eldar / U.S. tax dollars fund rabbi who excused killing gentile babies - Haaretz - Israel News

  tags: Settlements

  • How can President Barack Obama object to furthering education in a settlement like Yitzhar, located in the heart of the West Bank? After all, his own tax revenues contribute to the flourishing of the Od Yosef Chai Shechem yeshiva, the settlement's crowning glory.
    
    
    
    This is the same yeshiva whose rabbi said it is permissible to kill gentile babies because of "the future danger that will arise if they are allowed to grow into evil people like their parents." In his latest book, the head of the yeshiva, Yitzhak Shapira, who bears the honorable title of rabbi, even permits killing anyone "who, through his remarks and so forth, weakens our kingdom" (Obama, beware!).
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    	Advertisement

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    On November 17, this column reported that the Education Ministry's division for Torah institutions transferred more than NIS 1 million to this yeshiva in 2006 and 2007. The Welfare Ministry made do with a mere NIS 150,000.
    
    
    
    A report on donations submitted by the yeshiva to the registrar of nonprofit organizations revealed that the American public also participates in financing the message coming out of Yitzhar. It states that in 2007 and 2008, the yeshiva received NIS 102,547 from an American foundation known as the Central Fund of Israel.
    
    
    

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Google Sidewiki entry by Russell

Pretty much what I've been saying in my Med-Kinneret Canal proposal.

in reference to:

"Even after all the desalination plants become operational in 2013, they will still need to pump water into Lake Kinneret and the aquifers to make up a two billion cubic meter deficit, a result of consistent over-pumping to match demand."
- Panel slams Water Authority over drought levy policy | Science and Environment | Jerusalem Post (view on Google Sidewiki)

Religion, secularism and theocracy

The logic behind this article is so flawed that the article doesn't warrant a detailed critique. I do want to make a couple of comments however:
1. Gideon Levy is confusing the idea of religiosity and that of a theocracy. Even if 100% of the Israeli (Jewish) population was religious (in whatever sense), this still does not imply or require that Israel be a theocracy. Neither is a necessary precondition for the other. While I stipulate that Israel has too many theocratic features to qualify as a true democracy, it doesn't have to be this way. Stripping out the theocratic baggage from the Israeli system will not prevent or even affect anyone's religiosity.
2. "Only 44 percent of Israelis define themselves as secular, as opposed to 64 percent of Swedes who define themselves as atheists..." Secular has more to do with requiring a separation between religion and state than with religious beliefs as such. A secularist and an atheist are not one and the same. Someone who is religious (or observant, to use Orthodox terminoloy) can still be secular, i.e. favour a separation between religion and state.
3. Israel is something of an aberration regarding the Jewish attitude to secularism. Everywhere in the Diaspora, Jews tend to favour countries and political parties which oppose theocratic trends. Only in Israel are they neutral, in favour of (or at least not strongly opposed to) theocratic ideals. This simply demonstrates that the much-vaunted Jewish attachment to justice and equality has more to do with circumstances and less to do with an innate drive for prophetic values.

in reference to: Gideon Levy / Let's face the facts, Israel is a semi-theocracy - Haaretz - Israel News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Engaged or fielded?

The use of the term "engaged" here is somewhat confusing. It would have been better to use a term such as "fielded". Engaged gives the impression that this refers to the opposing force.

in reference to:

"the army that Alexander Jannaeus engaged was for the most part a mercenary force that was composed of non-Jewish soldiers."
- Hasmonean rule extended to Negev-10-Dec-2009 (view on Google Sidewiki)

Not one (more) dollar/shekel

Adds more weight to my contention that the only way to tackle the twin evils of subsidised Haredi and Settler growth and triumphalism is by means of a campaign to identify and prevent donor and taxpayer funds (both in Israel and the US) from being diverted to either cause.

in reference to: Akiva Eldar / U.S. tax dollars fund rabbi who excused killing gentile babies - Haaretz - Israel News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Post to Maskil_Activity 12/20/2009

• BoI: Child benefits boost Arab, Haredi birthrates - Haaretz - Israel News

  tags: Demography

  • 
    Economic assistance to families in Israel increased fertility among Arab and ultra-Orthodox with more than three children, according to a Bank of Israel study released yesterday and covering the 1994-2007 period.
    
    
    
    The payment of state-funded child allowances - NIS 500 per month for the fourth child in a family and each additional child up to the seventh, and NIS 560 for the seventh child and each successive child - increased the probability of a married Arab woman having another child by between 6% and 7% and of a married ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman doing so by about 3%. Child allowances increased overall birthrates in Israel during the study period by about 2%.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    	Advertisement

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    According to the study, the abolition of child allowances would result in an overall decline in fertility among Haredi women of about 0.2 children (one less child in one in five families) and 0.4 children among Bedouin woman in the south (two fewer children in one in five families. Overall fertility among Druze women and non-Haredi Jewish women would remain unchanged.
    

• Israeli settlements are more than legitimate -- latimes.com

  tags: Whose Land

• Is the Mossad Too Obsessed With Iran? - Newsweek.com

  tags: Intelligence, Iran

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Post to Maskil_Activity 12/16/2009

• Netanyahu and Barak must stand strong against right-wing yeshiva - Haaretz - Israel News

  tags: Refusal

  • Barak's decision is only symbolic: It does not release the IDF from its problematic arrangement with the yeshivas, which have become a right-wing bastion in combat units and whose students view their rabbis as a parallel source of authority to their commanding officers. But its importance should not be underestimated. This is the first time the defense establishment, which for years has been negligent in dealing with lawbreakers on the right, has set a "price tag" for rabbis who undermine the foundations of democracy and tell their students which orders to obey and which to refuse.
    
    
    
    The support for Melamed among the heads of other hesder yeshivas, and their threats to discourage their students from joining the army to protest this "interference in a rabbi's spiritual path," shows the grave danger of creating within the army a private militia of the extreme r ight, subservient to the directives of the rabbis. It is difficult to imagine a more clear and present danger to democracy, and to the strength of Israeli society, than such threats of rebellion - even if they come wrapped in pretty slogans about hesder soldiers' motivation and contribution to the army.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.