Nobel Prize winner Yisrael (Robert) Aumann reacted on Saturday night to reports that the University of Haifa considered granting him an honorary degree and decided not to because of his politics.
Speaking to Channel 1’s program Roim Olam, Aumann joked : “I’ve prayed and aspired to getting an honorary doctorate from Haifa University for my whole life.”
“I’m very disappointed,” he added, sarcastically.
Aumann linked the issue to academic boycotts against Israeli schools.
“I have to say that we create this issue of boycotts ourselves,” he
said.
There were also reactions from the political sphere.
Former Member of Knesset and professor Aryeh Eldad, head of the
Professors for a Strong Israel forum, responded to Haifa University’s
decision with a warning that the university is hurting itself, not
Aumann.
“The ‘blow’ to Professor Aumann does not actually exist,” Eldad said.
“The only party that could be hurt by this is the university. The
idiots sitting there are so dumb that they forgot that universities give
honorary degrees in order to honor themselves, not in order to honor
the recipient.”
“When Tel Aviv University gives a degree like this to Bill Clinton,
we can assume that he would have managed to get through the month
without the degree. But the university is honored by his honor,” Eldad
explained.
It is “excellent” that Haifa University allowed its decision to be
made public, Eldad continued. “It reveals the university’s true face,
which varies between five shades of anti-Israelism and anti-Zionism,
between simply recognizing the Arab right to the land of Israel and
establishing legal clinics for terrorists as an exercise for law students,” he said.
...
Minister Naftali Bennett made similar remarks
Saturday night on Facebook. "Haifa University’s refusal to grant an
honorary degree to Nobel Prize Laureate Prof. Aumann for his right-wing
views is like a minor league in Alaska choosing not to grant an honorary
degree in basketball to Michael Jordan. We'll get over it,” he wrote.
The real issue here is why state-financed universities like Haifa are allowed to play politics in this manner. One would hope - but don't hold your breath - that the Knesset's Education Committee will take up the issue.
By the way, for a taste of why the Left hates Professor Aumann, please read this post - one of the most important among the nearly 34,000 posts on this blog.
Two states for two peoples... on two sides of the Jordan
At a conference on Sunday about a two-state solution on the two banks of the Jordan River (Jews to the West, Arabs to the East), the results of a poll were released that indicated that 19% of Israeli Jews support the idea of Jordan being the 'Palestinian state.' But most Israeli Jews don't expect it to happen, and they support... the status quo.
Some 19 percent of Jewish Israelis prefer to see a Palestinian state in Jordan
rather than in the West Bank, but only 7% really think it could happen,
according to a Maagar Mochot poll commissioned by Professors for a Stronger
Israel.
“There are alternatives; we are not sitting with a gun to our
heads,” said former National Union MK Arye Eldad, as he addressed a daylong
conference on Sunday that debated all aspects of the question of two states for
two peoples on two banks of the Jordan River.
There are more options than
the standard equation of “Either we will have a Palestinian state in Judea and
Samaria, or we will have a bi-national state,” Eldad said.
...
[E]ventually King Abdullah’s Hashemite Kingdom will fall prey to the Arab Spring,
which has caused the ouster of other regional leaders.
“We need to have a
plan in the drawer for that moment,” he said.
...
Mudar
Zahran, a Jordanian- Palestinian political activist who lives in London, said he
believed that King Abdullah II’s reign would soon end.
Based on the
Maagar Mochot poll, however, only a minority of those questioned supported a
two-state solution in which Palestine was on the east side of the Jordan
River.
Out of those polled, 41% of Jewish Israelis preferred the status
quo and 51% said they believed that the situation would stay the same. Only 11%
said they preferred a two-state solution in the West Bank based on land swaps,
and only 21% said they believed this would happen. Some 29% said they did not
have a solution.
...
According to the poll, 53% of Likud Beytenu supporters said they
preferred the status quo, 1% wanted a two-state solution in the West Bank and
30% supported Jordan as a Palestinian state.
Among Shas and UTJ party
supporters, 67% preferred the status quo, 3% wanted a two-state solution in the
West Bank and 21% wanted Jordan to be a Palestinian state.
Among the Yesh
Atid, Hatnua and Kadima parties, 33% preferred the status quo, 14% wanted a
two-state solution in the West Bank and 8% believed that Palestine should be in
Jordan.
Out of those polled from the Labor and Meretz parties, only 7%
preferred the status quo, 52% supported a two-state solution in the West Bank and
none of them wanted to see Jordan become a Palestinian state.
Now, if only someone could find our Prime Minister's backbone.... .
Great news: Bennett positioning himself to go into coalition with 'Center-Left'
And you thought that by voting for Naftali Bennett's Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) party, you would stop Prime Minister Netanyahu from going into a coalition with Livni, Lapid and Yachimovitch. Well, you were wrong.
Turning to the Palestinian track, Bennett refused to declare he would
not sit in a government engaging with negotiation with the
Palestinians, indicating that he would be open to joining a possible
coalition with parties on the Center-Left. In an Channel 2 interview broadcast in part on Saturday, Netanyahu expressed a preference for forming this type of "wide coalition."
"My position is that there will not ever be a Palestinian state between the Jordan and the [Mediterranean] Sea," Bennett added.
Negotiating with which 'Palestinians' over what, then?
This will do wonders for the polling numbers of Eldad and Ben Ari (Otzma l'Yisrael) and might even help the Likud.
Disgraceful: Israeli police prevent burning 'Palestinian' flag
The Israeli police - who never act to prevent the burning of Israeli or American flags by 'Palestinians' - grabbed a 'Palestinian' flag away from two members of the Israeli Knesset on Thursday in order to prevent them from burning it. Then, since they could not arrest the Knesset members, who have legal immunity, they arrested three of the activists who accompanied the Knesset members.
Three right-wing activists were arrested on Thursday at a protest
outside the UN headquarters in east Jerusalem, after two members of
Knesset attempted to burn the Palestinian flag. MKs Michael Ben Ari and
Arieh Eldad (Strong Israel) wanted to burn the flag as a symbol of their
opposition to the Palestinian bid at the UN for observer status.
“We
will prevent any attempts to create a Palestinian state west of the
Jordan river,” Eldad said outside the UN Headquarters located in between
the neighborhoods of Arnon Hanatziv and Jebl Mukaber.
“The minute that Abu Mazen [PA President Mahmoud Abbas] begins his
speech, the Oslo accord is cancelled,” he said, since no state can take
unilateral actions.
“We will never agree to any foreign statehood other than the state of Israel in our homeland,” he added.
Dep. Cmdr of the Moriah precinct, Yaakov Cohen, asked the MKs not to
burn the flag. “This will disrupt public order and I ask you not to do
this,” he said.
“I ask that you take care of the terrorists before you take care of us,” Ben Ari retorted.
When
the MKs took out the Palestinian flag in order to burn it, police
forcibly tore the flag of their hands, initiating a short scuffle
between the twenty protesters and police.
Chanting “Strong
Israel!” and “No more Palestinians!” protesters screamed at police that
they had no right to stop them. Police arrested three right-wing
activists.
“There never was a Palestinian state and there never
will be a Palestinian state!” shouted an agitated Ben Ari as the protest
began to disband.
“Instead of taking care of our enemies they
are attacking members of Knesset. The UN is giving a tail wind to people
who are trying to destroy the state of Israel! Sixty five years ago
they gave us a little tiny piece of land. But this was ours and it will
always be ours – we don’t need them and we will never need them. This is
our land because it is our land, not because the UN gave it to us!” he
yelled.
Eldad slammed the police’s use of force. “This was not an
act to protect the order and the peace of Israeli society, it was a
violent act of the police against members of Knesset abusing their force
and preventing us as members of Knesset to express our objection to any
creation of a Palestinian state,” he said.
Let's go to the videotape.
Naftali Bennett, the new leader of Jewish Home, said on Thursday that the United Nations 'mess' is the result of Israel's schizophrenic policies.
"You can't support the establishment of a Palestinian state on the
one hand, and on the other – wonder when the world takes action to
establish it," he said. "This is schizophrenic policymaking."
Bennett added that "intensive negotiations" are underway with Ichud
Leumi (National Union) with the aim of unifying the two parties in a
common list ahead of the national elections.
"This is being carried out good-naturedly," he said. "I have
instructed the negotiations team to respect the other guys, and make
sure that unity is accomplished."
Bennett also denied having made a statement attacking Moshe Feiglin,
which has been attributed to him recently. "I respect him, and know he
is a man with values who loves our land and nation," he added.
By far the biggest news story this evening - it took up almost half of Israel Television's news magazine - is the government's war on the so-called 'price tag' attackers. As the day comes to a close, it appears that Prime Minister Netanyahu, at least, has understood, that escalating hysteria is not going to resolve the problem. Netanyahu this evening rejected an effort to have the vandals (yes, that's all they are) declared terrorists and to have the IDF's open fire orders amended to allow them to be fired upon! He did, however, allow them to be subjected to administrative detention, an odious practice that dates back to the British Mandate and which was used by the Peres-led Labor government in the period after Prime Minister Rabin's assassination to shut the mouths of dissent. Administrative detention allows law enforcement authorities to hold people for months on end without trial.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has accepted proposals by the ministers for public security and justice, but rejected calls for far-right groups to be labeled as terrorist organizations.
The recommendations included an immediate issuing of administrative arrest warrants for suspects, increasing the number of restraining orders placed on suspects, and trying them in military courts.
The recommendations were made after Public Security Minister Yitzhak Ahronovitch and Justicer Minister Yaakov Ne'eman met with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), police, prosecutors, and the army. The ministers also called for greater resources to be made available for investigations.
Netanyahu rejected the call to categorize far-right elements as terrorist organizations.
"Anyone who raises a hand on IDF soldiers or police officers will be severely punished," Netanyahu said. The prime minister called for far-right rioters to be treated in the same manner as Palestinian and far-left rioters in the West Bank village of Bi'lin. He added that the number of suspects is small, and that it did not represent the majority of settlers in the West Bank "who are loyal to the state and its laws."
The Shin Bet joined several police investigations into a series of far-right arson and vandalism attacks across the country, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told The Jerusalem Post Wednesday.
The Shin Bet's increased involvement underlines growing concerns by authorities over the scope of radical nationalist activities, and the lack of intelligence which has so far prevented law enforcement from preemptively moving to stop the succession of attacks.
"The Shin Bet is working with local and national police districts on the investigations. Coordination between police and the Shin Bet will continue to expand in the coming days," Rosenfeld said.
The incident that really has people here riled up is this one, which took place overnight between Monday and Tuesday.
Around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday some 30-50 Israeli extremists, including many teens, broke into the Ephraim brigade headquarters, located down a small road from the Kedumim settlement in Samaria, according to security sources.
Most of the combat soldiers normally stationed there were involved in activities outside the base, Mizrahi said.
The extremists burned tires, spread nails on a road and threw stones and paint bottles at vehicles, the IDF spokesman said.
According to Mizrahi they also punctured the tires of two vehicles. A rock was also thrown at the deputy brigade commander Harpaz Zur.
The rioters, he said, yelled at Zur, whose grandmother is a Holocaust survivor, that he was a “Nazi.”
As Mizrahi spoke with reporters outside the Ephraim brigade he defended the actions of those soldiers on the base, who did not arrest the extremists.
Their first priority, he said, was to defend the base, by forcing the vandals out. In some cases, they tussled with the activists and physically forced them out, he said.
According to Border Police, one 20-year-old resident of Beit El was arrested for trying to block an access road to the base by placing stones across it.
Mizrahi said the Ephraim Brigade headquarters are there so soldiers can work day and night to defend Israeli citizens in the area against terror attacks. The ID0F, he said, should not have to “protect the base from Jewish rioters.” Israeli forces have a responsibility to uphold the law and to execute government orders, such as the demolition of outposts, he said. Order, Mizrahi said, has to be restored before the severity of these incidents increase.
“If the government orders us to evacuate Ramat Gilad, we will do it,” he said.
He called on settlement leaders to do more to halt such attacks.
“I have not heard a serious enough condemnation,” he said.
But Dani Dayan, who heads the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, said Tuesday that such actions were shameful.
Dayan personally called Cahana to apologize and told him that he understands how hard he works to safeguard Israeli lives.
There was also a riot in Jerusalem on Wednesday, when police went to the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood to arrest some of the price tag attackers who were believed to be there.
Right-wing activists clashed with police forces in Jerusalem Wednesday during arrests made against suspected "price tag" act perpetrators.
The ensuing riot saw the suspects damage several police cruisers, shattering the windshield of one and slashing the tires of another.
The rightists claimed that three people were hurt during the skirmish: "Apparently the police are implementing the politicians' recommendations to 'stick it' to the Right," one of the rioters told Ynet.
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) summed it up best:
"Anyone urging firing at settlers is taking a big chance," MK Arieh Eldad (National Union) said.
"Alongside the censure of 'price tag' acts against innocent Arabs, mosques and IDF soldiers, we must also censure such advocating throwing the settlers to the wolves," Eldad said.
"There are definitely more lunatics around and we need a good dose of sanity – Jews mustn’t stone IDF soldiers and IDF troops mustn’t, heaven forbid, open fire on Jews."
MK Arye Eldad (National Union) responded by saying that there clearly are too many crazy people, and that the IDF must stop "price tag" activists from harming soldiers and innocent Arabs, but some sanity must be brought into the situation.
"Jews shouldn't through rocks and IDF soldiers, and IDF soldiers shouldn't, God forbid, shoot at Jews," he said. "Whoever calls to shoot settlers is trying to light a fire in hope that he can build his future on the ashes."
Anyone who thinks that Israel can just walk away from Judea and Samaria ought to think again.
IDF confirmed killing 10 Islamic Jihad members on Saturday. It struck four terror targets in Gaza between 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Saturday night. The targets included a terror cell in southern Gaza planning to fire a projectile, a terrorist planning a rocket strike, and two rocket launch sites in northern Gaza. An additional terrorist in southern Gaza planning a rocket attack was also struck from the air on Saturday night. Furthermore, a cell in northern Gaza was also hit by the Air Force.
But National Union's Arieh Eldad says that's not enough.
MK Arye Eldad (National Union) said, “After avoiding a military attack on the heads of terrorist organizations and instead surrendering to Hamas and freeing hundreds of murderers, we will now have to act.
“The excuse that Schalit will be hurt can no longer disguise the disgrace of our capitulation,” Eldad said.
“Now Israel must stop reacting and start preventing.
Only methodically wiping out the heads of terrorist organizations, especially [Hamas’s Ahmed] Jabari who held Schalit, will bring back our deterrence that was worn out by the deal [for Schalit’s release].”
Of course, Eldad is in the opposition - his party and views were too right wing for Bibi.
Kadima MK's back 'partner for democracy' status for PLO in EU
Knesset Member Arieh Eldad (National Union) has left a Knesset delegation to the European Parliament on the grounds that the putative chair of the delegation - Doron Avital of Kadima - supported the PLO being granted 'partner for democracy' status by the European Union, and because Avital used his status as 'head' of the delegation to prevent Eldad from speaking out against the proposal.
"Instead of fighting the Palestinians' attempt to better its international status in the Council of Europe, Avital supported the move, even when some European parliamentarians opposed accepting them as 'Partners for Democracy,'" Eldad said.
The National Union MK explained that "head delegate" is a symbolic position, and "a delegation leader has never taken advantage of his position in this way before, acting like the power had gone to his head."
Avital gave himself "the exclusive right to speak before the European Council," according to Eldad.
"When he realized that even his fellow Kadima member, Rachel Adatto, would not align herself with Avital's opinions, he would not allow other delegation members to speak," Eldad said.
Once Eldad was given the opportunity to speak, Avital prefaced his words by saying the National MK's opinions did not represent "the stance of the Knesset."
"I did not come to Strasbourg to hear harmful words from Arabs and hatred of Israel from some of the European parliamentarians without being allowed to respond," the National Union MK stated upon his return to Israel.
Following Eldad's departure, Avital told The Jerusalem Post: "Eldad had the opportunity to express his opinion before the European Parliament, and used it to say that Jordan is the Palestinian State. This stance is irresponsible, and not shared with the government of Israel or most Members of Knesset."
"If Eldad claims to represent the State of Israel," Avital added, "he should at least listen to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Bar Ilan speech, in which he discusses the future Palestinian state and its borders."
Avital also said that his support for the Palestinians' status was accepted as "responsible and mature" by the European Parliament. He explained that, while the PLO is now a "Partner for Democracy," the status will be subject to review biannually, and requires "steps towards democratization and a long list of demands.
"The democratization of Palestinian society is a clear Israeli interest," the Kadima MK concluded.
Who gives an opposition MK the power to decide what is a 'clear Israeli interest'? Do Netanyahu and the coalition believe that granting 'partner in democracy' status to an organization that seeks to destroy the State of Israel, and whose alleged 'democracy' has not held an election for more than three years since the term of its 'President' expired is a 'clear Israeli interest'?
Whatever Netanyahu's views may be, they seem to be much closer to Eldad's views than to Avital's. Especially given the Foreign Ministry's relatively robust defense of Israel's right to the entire country - at least recently - one would hope that members of the coalition will speak out against what Avital did and ensure that it will not happen again.
Knesset pushing to annex Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria
The leaders of four Knesset factions sent a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu on Tuesday asking him to consider annexing the Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria, and to sanction the 'Palestinian Authority' for its behavior at the United Nations. Three of the four factions behind the letter are from within Netanyahu's coalition, and one of them is his own party.
The letter, written by caucus leaders Likud faction chairman Ze'ev Elkin and MK Arye Eldad (National Union), as well as the faction chairmen of Shas, National Union and Habayit Hayehudi said that sanctions will show the PA that "Israel will not agree to be its punching bag."
"Israel will defend its interests, and turn the crisis into an opportunity," the letter reads. "Any diplomatic attack will be turned into a victory."
The Land of Israel Caucus called for a gradual annexation of settled areas in Judea and Samaria, as well as increased building and development of the region. The letter also demanded that any Palestinian construction in Area C be prevented, and that funds no longer be transferred to the PA.
"The Palestinian commitment to avoid unilateral steps is the only thing Israel got in return for all it has given up since the Oslo Accords," the MKs wrote. "The PA's unilateral bid for recognition of statehood in the UN is a clear violation of the agreements, which for the last 18 years cost us a high price."
The letter also explains that any country that cooperates with the PA in its statehood bid may no longer serve as a mediator in future peace talks.
If Netanyahu does not take such steps, the MKs wrote, he will "encourage the Palestinians to continue acting against [Israel] in the international arena."
"The international damage to Israel from the UN vote is much smaller than the damage Israel may inflict on itself if we do not follow the principle of 'if they give, they will get, if they don't give, they will not get,'" the letter reads, referring to a well-known quote from Netanyahu's first term as prime minister. "This principle has saved Israel from deteriorating into the abyss opened by the engineers of the Oslo Accords."
I'm all in favor. The fact that the 'Palestinians' have paid no price for their behavior - and that the world continues to oppose Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria - is absurd.
Knesset Members Arieh Elad (National Union) and Nachman Shai (Kadima) walked out of a NATO Parliamentary Assembly Seminar this week, after a representative of the Iranian government was asked to speak.
“It was an insult to the international community, NATO and Israel to invite Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Hani to speak,” Shai told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. “A state that acts against peace and stability should not have the privilege of speaking at such an event.”
"Representatives of Israel will not listen to a representative of a state that calls to wipe Israel from the map,” Eldad said in a statement. The National Union MK added that the Iranian diplomat should have listed ways to destroy Israel in his speech to the NATO event, which was focused on the Middle East and North Africa.
Shai said that he heard from other delegates that Hani said “interesting things” in his speech on Monday.
The Iranian diplomat reportedly discussed the importance of “human dignity, rule of law, justice and respect for different communities,” Shai said. He also called for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons.
“The Canadian representative said to me that he wasted half-an-hour, and couldn’t believe anything the Iranian said,” the Kadima MK added.
“I think that by leaving the conference, we made [the other countries] feel embarrassed about inviting Iran, which was the right thing to do,” Shai said.
What is wrong with these morons in the 'international community'? Do they really believe that we are Iran's only target?
Geert Wilders to speak at 'Jordan is Palestine' conference
Dutch politician Geert Wilders will speak at a conference in Tel Aviv in early December, which will be dedicated to promoting the idea that Jordan is 'Palestine' (original link in Hebrew, translation here) (Hat Tip: Didi Remez via Twitter).
Dutch anti-Muslim nationalist Geert Wilders will come to Israel in order to support the idea that “Jordan is the Palestinian nation state,” which is being promoted by MK Arieh Eldad (National Union).
Eldad, chairman of the Hatikva party, one of the constituent parties of the National Union, is convening a special conference of his party in order to discuss an “alternative foreign policy plan,” which mainly consists of recognition of the fact that Jordan is the Palestinian state, while only one state will exist between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea—the State of Israel.
MK Eldad will present the main points of his idea at the conference, which will be held in Tel Aviv at the beginning of next month. Eldad will be followed by a guest speech by the Dutch nationalist Wilders, in which he will voice support for the idea of establishing a Palestinian state in Jordan. Former defense minister Moshe Arens and former GSS director Ami Ayalon were invited to the conference in order to respond to the speeches.
So how 'mainstream' is the third largest party in the Dutch parliament with approximately one sixth of the seats (24 out of 150)? To put it in perspective, the only two Israeli parties with more than 20 (out of 120) seats in our Knesset are Likud and Kadima. Are all the other parties not mainstream? Or is 'Jordan is Palestine' gaining mainstream acceptance, at least in Holland?
In response to a parliamentary question from MK Arye Eldad (National Union), Housing Minister Ariel Atias of Shas admitted on Wednesday that we're a banana republic. All of our building permit decisions for Jerusalem are made in Washington.
And you thought we were a modern 21st century democracy....
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
