There's been a lot of commentary in the media - most of it negative - over Mike Huckabee's accusation that the Iran nuclear sellout has led Israelis to 'the doors of the ovens.' Mike French argues that imagery notwithstanding, Huckabee is spot-on when it comes to substance.
What matters is substance, and on the substance, Huckabee is
exactly right in his assessment of Iranian motives and Israel’s
potential vulnerability.
How many times do Iranian officials and Iranian allies have to express
genocidal intentions before we believe them? While there’s long been
argument as to whether former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
actually said Israel “must be wiped off the map,” there is an enormous
amount of evidence that this sentiment has been repeated (even stated in
English) and amplified by Iranian officials and allies on multiple
occasions. For example, the inscription below (on a missile, no less)
has been translated as saying “Israel must be uprooted and wiped off
[the pages of] history.”
And in the banner below, the Iranians helpfully provided their own translation:
Perhaps Obama wants to wait until Iran nukes Israel for it to be
politically correct to call Iran’s wiping Israel off the map a
“Holocaust.” But, make no mistake, Obama knows full well that Iran
intends to wipe Israel off the map with its Obama-blessed Nukes.
Come
on, does anyone (except the American left-wing cool-aid drinking Jews)
really believe that Iran will abide by their “voluntary” protocols under
the Vienna announcement? Of course not! Are Obama or any of the
European Union leaders so rank stupid and naïve that they think Iran
won’t build a bomb just like North Korea? Does anyone not know that one
of Iran’s first targets will be to annihilate Israel?
Of course Obama knows Iran will seek to annihilate Israel, so that must be what Obama wants.
Obviously, Obama doesn’t care if he enables the murder of another 6
million Jews through a Palestinian State’s chemical Sarin-tipped
Katyusha rockets, or an Iranian Nuke. It’s simple: Obama wants Israel
and its Jews offed. What is so difficult to understand about that?
Every move Obama has made from the very first moment of his presidency
has been to irreparably harm Israel and Saudi Arabia, and irrevocably
empower Iran. It doesn’t matter what Obama’s specific motivation is.
Obama may believe in Farrakhan’s and Rev. Wright’s virulent Chicago
anti-Semitism; Obama may be merely steeped in anti-British
anti-Colonialism; or both. All that matters is Obama is acting in ways
that will allow others to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.
If
Obama walks like a Jew-hater, arms Iran like a Jew-hater, and creates a
PA "West Bank" State like a Jew-hater, he’s a Jew-hater.
But,
now here come the American Leftist Jewish “Holocaust” speech-police like
Debbie Wasserman-Schulz who say one isn’t allowed to invoke the
“Holocaust” or “Auschwitz” into a political debate when it is Iran’s
highest leaders who have repeatedly, openly, and notoriously injected
into the political debate that they intend to wipe Israel off the map.
And, in plain sight, Obama is crowning Iran, the greatest openly
Holocaust-threatening, terror-state in the world, the nuclear
hegemon-state of the Middle East because Iran is “stable.” I guess Obama
forgot he helped quash a popular uprising there as his first foreign
policy debacle.
The cleric, Hassan Rowhani, 64, won a commanding 50.7 percent of the
vote in the six-way race, according to final results released Saturday,
avoiding a runoff in the race to replace the departing president,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose tenure was defined largely by confrontation
with the West and a seriously hobbled economy at home.
Thousands of jubilant supporters poured into the streets of Tehran,
dancing, blowing car horns and waving placards and ribbons of purple,
Mr. Rowhani’s campaign color. After the previous election in 2009,
widely seen as rigged, many Iranians were shaking their heads that their
votes were counted this time.
“They were all shocked, like me,” said Fatemah, 58, speaking of fellow
riders in the women’s compartment of a Tehran subway. “It is
unbelievable, have the people really won?”
Wish I could share S Bakhash's optimsm on #Rouhani but y do those who say Ah'nijad had no power believe Rouhani will?http://t.co/nw8XbwKWEe …
— Lenny Ben-David (@lennybendavid) June 16, 2013
This time, Iran’s Interior Ministry took no chances, releasing the
official vote total in live updates, which showed a steady increase in
Rouhani’s margin of victory over Ghalibaf.
Until last week, Ghalibaf was widely considered the front-runner, but he
likely lost votes to fellow conservative candidate Jalili.
In the end, though, it did not matter, as Rouhani took a majority of the
votes, which is already being viewed as a repudiation of not only the
Ahmadinejad years but also the hold that conservatives have maintained
over Iranian politics since 2005.
And further reported:
Rouhani probably will bring with him a cadre of more moderate diplomats,
technocrats and nuclear negotiators who favor a more pragmatic foreign
policy, said Trita Parsi, author of “A Single Roll of the Dice,” a book
on the Obama administration’s dealings with Iran.
But whether the political shift leads to a deal to restrain Iran’s
nuclear program depends on many factors, much outside the control of
Iran’s new president, Parsi said.
“Ultimately the ball comes back to our side of the court,” Parsi said. “Neither side can break this impasse alone.”
Frankly, this is inexcusable. Trita Parsi isn't a disinterested expert, but someone who actively advocates on behalf of the Iranian regime. (Whether or not he qualifies as a lobbyist for the regime seems to be a matter of some dispute.)
In this case, the New York Times was more cautious in predicting that
Rouhani's election would bring about change in Iranian policies than the
Washington Post. Worse, the reporters for the Washington Post seemingly
advocate for more American forbearance towards Iran.
Consider this: A stronger man and a more dedicated reformer and moderate
than Rowhani, Muhammad Khatami, was president for eight years and did
not accomplish a single reform under this regime.
Netanyahu: "15 years ago they said Khatami is moderate
but nothing has changed. Iran will be judged by its action regarding
nuclear program"
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) June 16, 2013
So how did a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts and Supreme National
Security Council – and a confidant of Khamenei – become the “great hope”
of the moderate camp? It may be the embrace he received from the two
former presidents, Khatami and Rafsanjani, rivals to Khamenei, that put
him into the reformist category.
“He never called himself a reformist,” explains Dr. Soli Shahvar, who
heads the Ezri Center for Iran and Gulf Studies at Haifa University.
“But he uses rhetoric that is less blustery than that of Ahmedinejad,
and speaks more moderately, including on the subject of nuclear
negotiations.” Shahvar’s conclusion with respect to Rouhani’s win is
unambiguous. “I interpret his election in one way only: The regime
wanted him to win. If they had wanted one of the conservatives to win,
they would have gotten four of the five conservatives to drop out of the
race, paving the way for [eventual runner-up, Tehran Mayor
Mohammad-Bagher] Ghalibaf to win. But they didn’t do that. Moreover, it
was the regime that approved the candidacy of Rouhani alongside only
seven others. This is striking evidence that Khamenei wanted Rouhani to
win, both internally and externally.”
According to Shahvar, from the internal perspective, a victory for
another candidate like Ahmedinejad risked provoking a renewal of the
demonstrations like those of 2009. “Victory for a candidate who is
perceived as more moderate yet still has the confidence of Khamenei,
serves the regime in the best way. Externally, Iran today is in a very
difficult situation with regard to sanctions and its international
standing. A conservative president would only have increased Tehran’s
isolation in the world. A victory for someone from the ‘moderate
stream,’ however, will immediately bring certain countries in the
international community to call for ‘giving a chance to dialogue with
the Iranian moderates.’ They will ask for more time in order to
encourage this stream, and it will take pressure off the regime. And so
we see that in the non-disqualification of Rouhani and especially in the
non-dropping-out of four of the five conservative candidates there is
more than just an indication that this is the result the regime
desired.”
Rohani is being called a moderate, much as Rafsanjani has
been in the past. Iranian moderates don't get past the Guardian
Council.
— Lynette Nusbacher (@Nusbacher) June 13, 2013
C'mon. do u really belief #Iran's Supreme Leader would have approved #Rouhani as a candidate if he were a reformer or moderate? Get real
— Lenny Ben-David (@lennybendavid) June 16, 2013
A "reformer" winning a clear cut victory was probably the best case for
Supreme Leader Khamenei. Someone who could put a more palatable face on
the regime, could lead to the relaxing of sanctions. A clear victory
meant no runoffs.
In the week before the election someone leaked and then denied that the
Guardian Council - the body charged with vetting presidential candidates
- was reconsidering Rouhani's candidacy. What better way to buttress his reformist reputation?
Then two candidates, including the other "reform" candidate, Mohammed Reza Aref, dropped out of the race. Then there was one reformer, Rouhani.
In the end Rouhani was approved by the Guardian Council and did not
stray so far as to be subjected to house arrest, like Mir-Hossein
Mousavi did four years ago. Is it really possible that Rouhani was not
approved?
Finally, Rouhani won 50.7 percent of the vote. That isn't even a full
percent more that what was required to avoid a second round of voting. A
second round of voting would have raised suspicions that the regime was
trying to cheat him out of his rightful position.
If Rouhani is a true reformer, his election could spell real trouble for
Supreme Leader Sayyid Ali Khamenei. But that assumes that Khamenei
isn't the real power behind the presidency and that Rouhani is a true
reformer. Evidence and experience suggest that neither is true and that
the Khamenei got a friendly face to present his extreme agenda.
We respect the vote of the Iranian people and congratulate them for
their participation in the political process, and their courage in
making their voices heard. Yesterday’s election took place against the
backdrop of a lack of transparency, censorship of the media, Internet,
and text messages, and an intimidating security environment that limited
freedom of expression and assembly. However, despite these government
obstacles and limitations, the Iranian people were determined to act to
shape their future.
The premise of this statement is that the Iranian voters demonstrated
independence from Khamenei. In a sense, they did. But it couldn't have
happened if he didn't allow it to happen.
For those of you who are celebrating the victory of 'moderate' Hassan Rohani as President of Iran. maybe this will get you to think again.
So how did a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts and Supreme
National Security Council – and a confidant of Khamenei – become the
“great hope” of the moderate camp? It may be the embrace he received
from the two former presidents, Khatami and Rafsanjani, rivals to
Khamenei, that put him into the reformist category.
“He never called himself a reformist,” explains Dr. Soli Shahvar, who
heads the Ezri Center for Iran and Gulf Studies at Haifa University.
“But he uses rhetoric that is less blustery than that of Ahmedinejad,
and speaks more moderately, including on the subject of nuclear
negotiations.” Shahvar’s conclusion with respect to Rouhani’s win is
unambiguous. “I interpret his election in one way only: The regime
wanted him to win. If they had wanted one of the conservatives to win,
they would have gotten four of the five conservatives to drop out of the
race, paving the way for [eventual runner-up, Tehran Mayor
Mohammad-Bagher] Ghalibaf to win. But they didn’t do that. Moreover, it
was the regime that approved the candidacy of Rouhani alongside only
seven others. This is striking evidence that Khamenei wanted Rouhani to
win, both internally and externally.”
According to Shahvar, from the internal perspective, a victory for
another candidate like Ahmedinejad risked provoking a renewal of the
demonstrations like those of 2009. “Victory for a candidate who is
perceived as more moderate yet still has the confidence of Khamenei,
serves the regime in the best way. Externally, Iran today is in a very
difficult situation with regard to sanctions and its international
standing. A conservative president would only have increased Tehran’s
isolation in the world. A victory for someone from the ‘moderate
stream,’ however, will immediately bring certain countries in the
international community to call for ‘giving a chance to dialogue with
the Iranian moderates.’ They will ask for more time in order to
encourage this stream, and it will take pressure off the regime. And so
we see that in the non-disqualification of Rouhani and especially in the
non-dropping-out of four of the five conservative candidates there is
more than just an indication that this is the result the regime
desired.”
Rouhani, in his new position as president of the country, will first of
all have to bring relief in the economic crisis facing the citizens of
Iran. Yet this is a nearly impossible task in light of the international
sanctions which themselves are the result of the nuclear policy that
has been set by the supreme leader Khamenei. In a few months, the
public’s anger will be turned against the same man on whom so many
Iranians have, as of now, seem to have pinned their hopes.
I've seen a lot of claims lately about how the candidates in Iran's election can discuss anything they want. Just like in 2009....
So here's a little perspective. First, there's this, which ought to put a damper on the discussions.
An IRGC commander said the candidates who spoke abt things they were not supposed to talk about, will be dealt w aftr the elections #iran
— Omid Memarian (@Omid_M) June 9, 2013
As news agencies in Iran cannot tackle sensitive
subjects and are obliged to employ a number of so-called “journalists”
who are in fact intelligence officers, foreign media coverage of the
persecution of Iranian journalists and civil society is a matter of
great importance.
“We hope that the foreign journalists who manage to
get into Iran will use the opportunity offered by the elections to
inform the rest of the world about the government’s suppression of
fundamental freedoms, including freedom of information,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We hope they will provide as much coverage as possible of the ordeal of Iran’s imprisoned journalists.
“Unlike their Iranian colleagues, foreign reporters will be able to interview the families of the 54 journalists and netizens currently detained.
This is a unique opportunity to remind the international community that
Iranians have been jailed for years just for exercising their
fundamental right to inform their fellow citizens.
“Two of the last election’s presidential candidates – Mir Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister and owner of the now closed newspaper Kalameh Sabaz, and Mehdi Karoubi,
former parliamentary speaker and owner of the closed newspaper Etemad
Melli – have been detained since 24 February 2011. Mousavi’s wife, the
best-selling writer Zahra Rahnavard, is being held with him.
“They are under house arrest and denied all their
rights. Nonetheless, government officials have insisted that they are
free. If that this the case, journalists should be able to meet with
them and talk to them.”
...
Because of infighting among the regime’s rival factions
and tension with the international community, this election is already
characterized by threats and fear. Between 17 and 27 May, nine daily
newspapers – Bahar,
Tabnak, Hezbollah, Kayhan, Vatan Emrooz, Sharvand, Iran, Haft Sobeh and
Madromsalari – received warnings from the Press Authorization and
Surveillance Commission, the censorship wing of the culture and Islamic
guidance ministry.
According to Iran’s media law, “a warning is the first step towards suspension.” The website of Madromsalari, which is owned by Mostafa Kavakabian, one of the candidates barred by the Guardian Council, and two conservative websites, Ibnanews and Seratnews, have already been closed on the orders of a "working group that combats criminal content.”
And one other thing to think about in this Iranian election: It's unlikely to have any impact on Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. Iran's Arak heavy water reactor (the one that's working on a plutonium bomb) is expected to be ready to go by March 2014.
A heavy water reactor in Arak, Iran, came one step closer to
completion after it installed the "upper container," according to a
report by the Fars News Agency, a news site associated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
"Arak
heavy water reactor will receive virtual fuel by the end of the
(Iranian) year 1392 (March 2014)," said Fereidoun Abbasi, head of the
Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).
Abbasi made his comments during a ceremony celebrating the new installation, which Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attended.
In
May, US diplomat Joseph Macmanus, who serves as the ambassador to the
UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), called the creation of
the Arak reactor "deeply troubling."
He
questioned Iran's refusal to "provide the requisite design
information," information which the IAEA said Iran must provide in order
to properly moniter the site.
In response, Iran's ambassador told
reporters that Tehran had every determination to continue with plans to
build the reactor regardless of international pressure to delay further
building.
"We will not yeild to pressure, sanctions, threats of attack," Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh said.
Those sanctions are really having an effect, aren't they? What could go wrong?
Iran's FARS news reports that the country claims to have broken up a Mossad spy ring that planned to interfere in Iran's June 14 Presidential election.
The ringleader of the spy group received a list from Israel of espionage
and terrorist actions against Iran, according a statement issued by the
Iranian intelligence ministry.
The statement said that the head of the cell was recruited by the spy
agency of an Arab country and was subsequently contacted by the Mossad
after traveling to Israel.
Mohammad
Heidari, accused of passing security-related information and secrets to
Israeli Mossad agents in exchange for money, and Kourosh Ahmadi,
accused of gathering information for the US Central Intelligence Agency,
were hanged at dawn.
It must be hard for the Iranian government to live with their paranoia.
Not only did the Obama administration not help the 'greens' in Iran in 2009, they now pretend that those demonstrations never happened and that the 'elections' in Iran in 2009 were as legitimate as Obama's own election. Ooops... Given how much cheating there was in the US election in 2012, perhaps that was not the best example.... But you get the idea....
Anyway, you'll all recall that 'slip of the tongue' in the Hagel hearings in which Hagel said something about Iran's 'legitimate, elected government.' Now, Secretary of State John FN Kerry has said the same thing.
"Iran is a country with a government
that was elected and that sits in the United Nations," Kerry said in France
standing alongside French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. "And it is important
for us to deal with nation-states in a way that acts in the best interests of
all of us in the world."
The comment is similar to what Hagel said on Jan. 31 when
he told the Senate Armed Services Committee Iran was "an elected, legitimate government,
whether we agree or not."
...
Hagel
had to walk back his declaration that Iran was "an elected, legitimate
government" after being
challenged in the hearing by Democratic New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
"I can understand if you meant it's a legal entity that has international
relations and has diplomatic relations, that is a member of the UN, I do not
see Iran or the Iranian government as a legitimate government, and I'd like
your thoughts on that," Gillibrand said.
"What I meant to say, should have said, it's recognizable," Hagel replied.
"It's been recognized, is recognized at the United Nations. Most of our allies
have embassies there. That is what I should have said."
So apparently, it is now official Obama administration policy that the Iranian government is 'legitimate' and 'elected.' So it makes perfect sense for the equally 'legitimate' and 'elected' government of Barack Hussein Obama to offer to open bilateral negotiations with them over their nuclear program.
Describing Iran as a country with an “elected” government and a
“remarkable history,” Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday
reiterated President Obama’s willingness to hold bilateral talks with
the regime.
“It’s a matter of public record that he personally communicated to
the supreme leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] that he was prepared to
engage and to discuss these issues,” Kerry told a news conference with
his French counterpart in Paris.
Responding to a reporter’s question about negotiating with a
“terrorist” regime, Kerry pointed out that “Iran is a country with a
government that was elected and that sits in the United Nations.”
“And it is important for us to deal with nation-states in a way that
acts in the best interests of all of us in the world,” he added,
drawing a parallel with President Reagan’s willingness to sit down with
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President Nixon’s decision to
engage with China.
While the U.S. and the EU do not advocate regime change in Iran, sanctions could breathe life into Iran’s struggling pro-democracy movement. Contrary to popular belief, robust economic sanctions have not unified the population against the West. Since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rigged the elections of June 2009, the Iranian government has been increasingly unpopular, and the people widely blame it for the country’s worsening economic situation.
The millions who took to the streets of Tehran in the aftermath of that election arguably constituted the first full-blown Middle Eastern reform movement. Since that time, despotic regimes have fallen in Tunisia and Egypt, and others — like Bashar Assad’s dictatorship in Syria — are on the ropes, but the Iranians have had no such luck. The unprecedented U.S. and European sanctions will not work overnight. By early summer, it will be clearer whether or not they’re changing Iran’s behavior.
Given Chinese and Russian resistance to a seventh round of U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran, the U.S. and its allies will likely have to continue working outside the U.N. The U.N. Charter provides for a comprehensive embargo against a country that violates U.N. resolutions, so the Security Council could issue a “complete or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations.” But the Russians and the Chinese will surely prevent the U.N. from doing anything of the kind.
It is a vexing predicament for the U.S. and the EU. Apart from Israel, the U.S., the U.K., and the Netherlands are the only three countries that have declared their refusal to live with a nuclear Iran. If these latest sanctions, crushing as they are, prove ineffective, this fall will bring hard decisions.
Well, maybe.
As we have seen in Egypt and Libya, and to a lesser extent in Tunisia, one of the questions we must ask is who will replace Ahmadinejad and Khameni. One of the flaws of the 'green movement' was that it, too, insisted on continuing to pursue the nuclear program, and there are no guarantees that it would not pursue nuclear weapons as well.
Sure, a dictatorship that holds a nuclear card is much harder to contain when it's also apocalyptic, but we don't really know where the green movement stands and whether it's the answer.
Iran looking more and more like Libya (with video)
Looking more and more like Gadhafi's goons, Iran's plainclothes mercenaries, the Basij, fired directly into crowds of demonstrators on Sunday.
For a second time in a week, Iran's opposition drew tens of thousands of supporters to the streets across the nation on Sunday calling for the end to the Islamic Republic's rule.
In response, the government unleashed what witnesses said was an extraordinary number of security forces to violently battle the crowds. Witnesses said mobs of anti-riot police and plainclothes Basij militia lined the streets and on several occasions fired directly into the crowd and beat protesters with steel batons. In one neighborhood, the Basij took over a commercial building and dropped tear gas canisters from the roof onto the protesters, witnesses said.
Basij militia dressed in black shot and killed two young men in Tehran's Vanak and Vali Asr squares, according to witness accounts posted on opposition websites. The victims haven't been identified. Dozens have been injured and arrested, according to witnesses.
"This was the most violent protest we've had by far, and people were also really angry and fearless," said one witness from Tehran, adding that the public seemed resolved to stay on the street.
...
Similar protests erupted in nearly every major Iranian city on Sunday with reports of dozens violently injured and arrested, according to witnesses.
Journalists were banned from covering the event and the Ministry of Information sent a letter to foreign media offices in Tehran warning that their bureaus would be shut down and their reporters deported if they wrote "negative articles" surrounding the opposition protests.
As battles raged and gunshots were heard around the city, the official news agency IRNA reported the situation in Tehran was "completely quiet and normal."
Germany's Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was in Tehran on Sunday meeting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to obtain the release of two German journalists detained for four months. The journalists were released and arrived in Berlin with the minister, but some Iranian opposition groups criticized Germany for sending an envoy to strike a deal with Iran's government while a pro-democracy movement rocked the region.
A spokesperson for the foreign ministry said, "The minister's trip only served a humanitarian purpose," according to media reports.
The government had warned it would crackdown on any illegal gatherings. Fars News Agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, warned the public that Sunday's protests would be bloody because the "opposition plans to shoot people."
This video is from Sunday in Tehran. Let's go to the videotape.
And here's a video from Sunday night in Tehran. According to my Iranian source, they're yelling "death to the dictator."
Let's go to the videotape.
At least this time, I'm sure the Iranians have no delusions that Barack Obama is going to back them.
Iranian opposition calls for demonstrations on Monday
The Iranian opposition has announced that it will hold demonstrations against the government in Iran on Monday in 35 locations throughout the country.
The Iranian opposition is defying a government warning and calling on people to stage a rally in solidarity with Tunisian and Egyptian protesters, a reformist website said Sunday.
Kaleme.com published a statement by a council of opposition groups inviting people to attend a peaceful rally on Monday.
The opposition statement also accused the government of double-standards, by voicing support for Egyptian and Tunisian protesters while refusing to issue permission for Iranian political activists to stage a peaceful demonstration.
Last week, authorities rejected the opposition's request to stage the February 14 rally and warned of repercussions if it does.
Mehdi Alikhani Sadr, a senior Interior Ministry official, declared that the request by Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi for a Monday march permit is "illegal." He did not explain how the request can be illegal when the permit is not even required -- Article 27 of the Iranian Constitution stipulates that peaceful gatherings and demonstrations are allowed.
New software has been made available to facilitate access to the websites that have been blocked in Iran, allowing Internet users to get the latest news about the Monday marches and spread the word. It can be found via sadrah.com.
The youth branch of the Islamic Iran Participation Front has issued a statement supporting the call to march on Monday and asking people to take part.
A commander of special forces during the Iran-Iraq War has called on young people to participate in the Monday marches. He writes, "I feel as though the 25 Bahman demonstrations have exactly the same symbolic meaning for our youth, the young Iranian lions and lionesses, that the war with Iraq had for us, except that this time the enemy is not Iraq, but Zahhak," the mythical Persian emperor who is the symbol of the tyrannical ruler.
There are many more details here. It should be an interesting day on Monday.
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
