Haaretz reports that the Palestinian Authority is facing a liquidity shortfall for September because the leading Arab contributors, which incidentally make up less than 30% of all aid to the Palestinians, have not met their pledges for 2010 (http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/palestinian-authority-faces-cash-crunch-as-arab-states-cut-aid-1.309025). Haaretz concludes that the two major non-western donors, the Saudis who contributed 242 million in 2008 and only 30 million this year and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which has a dismal 171/0 split, are trying to force Hamas-Fatah reconciliation.
This explanation is deeply flawed and is a perfect example of subjective journalism gone wild.
Deeply flawed because it assumes that 1) reconciliation will make it easier to achieve peace instead of re-radicalizing the moderate West-Bank faction of Palestinians who would likely be overrun as they were in 2007, by a Hamas coup and/or influence. 2) that Iran will not see this as ready-made opportunity to strengthen its hold over the Palestinians by filling the vacuum left by its Sunni adversaries by funding Fatah itself. 3) even if the Sunni Arab regimes give Hamas the benefit of the doubt, namely that they do not ascribe to their own suicidal charter and will support an equitable peace after reconciliation, will Iran just walk away from its investment in cultivating a major proxy-weapon on/in Israel?
To be sure all Arab states have an incentive to advocate for peace, so as to assuage their, often irritated, populations and their own oil filled but marginally guilty conscience. It is also true that solving the Arab-Israeli conflict takes on different levels of urgency for different Arab states. For example, the Saudis and other oil rich states have less domestic problems and less reason to perpetuate the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, because they are not is such a great need of a scapegoat. Indeed they now see Israel as the one sane power in the region that can check the mad ambitions of Iran and the misguided dreams of Erdogan’s Turkey. Other regimes like Syria, help perpetuate the Israeli/Palestinian conflict because it helps deflect legitimate domestic rage over endemic social ills and oppression from the Assads tyrannical regime to the oppressive occupier (Israel). There are even some linkers (I strongly encourage you to view the “linkers and thinkers” series, which explores the pros and cons of the American-Israeli alliance) who argue that Iran’s impetus for supporting Hezbollah, Hamas, and nuclear weapons would be undermined by Israeli/Palestinian peace. They are right insofar that Iran would be all the more exposed for what it is, an old decrepit regime dreaming of the glory days when it ruled the middle-east. But Iran’s quest for power has nothing to do with helping the Palestinians or Pakistan, or Iraq… Iran has a second rate army and third tier economy so it requires its proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, to counter Israel’s might if it can ever hope to be a hegemony in the region.
The Arab states, led by the Saudi’s, are the last ones to be fooled by Iran’s “altruistic” quest to end Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians –indeed the Iranians are relative novices, compared to the old guard Arabs, at manipulating and abusing the Palestinians out of pure unapologetic self interest.
The Arab states know that reconciliation between Hamas and the Fatah/PA/PLO means either that Hamas miraculously, separates from Iran and repudiates terror(!) or that Iran will have established its dominance over all the Palestinians through Hamas.
Given what happened last time reconciliation was attempted –Hamas and Iran won- and the fact that Hamas has actually gained strength since then, with the Turkish/Iranian alliance, it is ludicrous to assert that the Saudi’s, who discreetly offered their air space to attack Iran, would facilitate “reconciliation”.
Instead I believe the Arab states are pressuring Abbas and Fatah to stop their delay tactics and to immediately enter into the direct talks that Israel and America has been requesting all this time. Indeed the success of such pressure WOULD weaken Iran, proving that it is the Sunni-Arabs and America who are the regional movers, and that those states like Syria and Lebanon (please see post “http://factoru.blogspot.com/2010/08/was-syria-behind-recent-lebaneseisrael.html) which are leaning towards Iran should give review their policies.
Of course Haaretz prefers convoluted irrational explanations over the obvious one. Why? Because the correct explanation strengthens the hated Netanyahu administration by pointing out that Netanyahu and Israel want to talk, and that the US, the West, and the Arab states agree.
How cliche, the most liberal paper in Israel, and probably the whole middle-east, takes the post modern position on truth; humans are all inherently subjective and because the only purveyors of truth are human there is no one truth. Haaretz, like other media outlets encompassing the far-left, indulge in the notion that there is no one truth. Perhaps this is the premise at the foundation of their coverage of Israel.
A deeply flawed result is the bastard child of subjective journalism gone wild.
Showing posts with label Arab. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arab. Show all posts
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Should the ultra-Orthodox be required to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)?
Should the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) be required to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)?
The current system in Israel allows for Haredim to receive a deferment if they are studying in Yeshiva (Jewish institution for the higher learning) until they are 22. By that time most are married and are exempt from mandatory military service. Thus for all intents and purposes the Haredi population is exempted by the Israeli government from serving in the IDF.
The only other Israeli population that receives a blanket exemption from serving in the IDF are the Israeli Arabs who are allowed but not required to serve, though many choose to. Still, for the Israeli-Arab the reasons for such an exemption are clear; if they serve they will likely have to physically confront other Arabs and/or Muslims -it is a legitimate conflict of interest.
For the Haredi this reasoning only applies to a small minority. This minority includes those that refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of the state of Israel which they object to on questionable Talmudic/Rabbinical grounds. This small minority refuses to speak modern Hebrew, because Hebrew is the language of the holy bible, and shouldn’t be used for mundane speech. They also do not accept government funding of any kind. Thus requiring this minority to serve, is akin to forcing them to turn their back on their beliefs.
Yet the overwhelming majority of the Haredi public do accept state funds, speak Hebrew when required, and are accused of taking advantage of the system. Should they be required to serve?
To understand the implications of this question is to understand the nature of Israeli society. The IDF is a necessary defensive organization that literally foils daily terror plots and prevents Israels neighbors from seriously contemplating war. However, he IDF also enables a diverse mixture of immigrant populations to integrate and to acculturate. In essence, Bedouins, Eastern Europeans, North Americans, South Africans etc. enter the IDF and three years later (two for women) they exit as mature Israeli’s. The importance of serving in the IDF is amplified by the fact that potential employers will usually give preference to veterans of the IDF.
So not only does the fastest growing minority, the Haredi population, not contribute directly to national security they also are not integrated into the workforce. Ironically, those Haredi that choose to pursue a secular education, on average, score higher on reading and reasoning sections of standardized tests. In other words the Haredi choose not to integrate and succeed. Still, because they are generally not employed in the mainstream workforce (either because they do not serve, or spend their day studying) and have little or no secular education, they are a growing burden on Israeli tax payers.
But wait! I’m not one of those religious bashers, there is another side to this story.
You see, it was not always the case that the ultra-Orthodox ALL studied in Yeshiva. Prior to the holocaust, when there were myriad thriving communities spanning Eastern Europe, Jewish boys were given a chaider education (Jewish equivalent of early grade school). Those that showed promise continued their studies often for the rest of their life. Usually they were supported by their local communities, the private wealthy, or their in-laws who believed that it was a great merit and responsibility to ensure that every town, however small, funded the local study of the Torah. Indeed it was seen as a way to ensure that a town was blessed materially and spiritually.
Thus the holocaust did not only destroy Eastern European Judaism but also a complex array of institutions. These included the educational structure that ensured the continuity of, what many consider, Judaism’s most prized inheritance; the totality of the Biblical/Talmudic/Rabbinic tradition. There are a number of extraordinary accounts of efforts to save the institutions that carried this tradition from the fires of the Nazi ovens and/or the cold of Soviet Siberia.
A few yeshivas were saved, or survived, the terror and undertook a massive effort to rebuild the great intuitions of Torah learning that once existed in Europe. Part of this initiative meant that every Jewish boy was encouraged to pursue his Torah studies as long as he wanted so as to replenish the depleted stock of Torah scholars.
From this perspective, the Israeli government is basically continuing a millennia old tradition in the guise of public funds going towards supporting Torah study.
The Haredi position is even more persuasive when considering that they are both the proven guardians of an unbroken chain of Jewish tradition and were the ones that passed on and propagated the words of the great prophets. These prophets very foresaw that the Jews would eventually return to Israel their homeland. In other words, modern Israel, with all its secular tendencies, is basically a mundane interpretation of the Zion that religious Jews have mentioned in their prayers, over a hundred times a day, since the destruction of the second Temple by the Romans in 70 AD.
Could there be a State of Israel (or a Jewish people) without the memory and tradition that was jealously guarded by Rabbinic Judaism since the days of the prophets? Should the Haradi not be rewarded for their contribution to modern Israel?
That said, now that we do have a state of Israel, and numerous yeshivas churning out students of the highest caliber, why should we not return to the pre-holocaust system whereas only the studies of the best are publicly funded? It would be similar to the Western system, (if that system is not itself replicating the Rabbinic tradition) where PHD students and other important institutions of higher learning are funded by the public.
Israel is growing and needs productive citizens, Orthodox or otherwise. Anyone familiar with the Rabbis of the Talmud or the history of the greatest Jewish leaders of every generation, knows that they all had extensive secular knowledge and often supported themselves “with their hands” (they were doctors, jurists, winemakers, water-carriers etc. in fact it is laudable not to live off the Torah, Pirkei Avot). At the same time, there have always been a cadre of our brightest scholars who have spent their entire life in the study of Torah.
Therefore I propose that the Haradi sector be granted a certain quota for each Yeshiva, whereas the brightest students, as the dean so deems, receive a deferment. The rest should be required to serve. The Israeli government has already established a Haredi military unit, which meets all the strict requirements followed by Haredi individuals. One of the most successful programs in the IDF, the Hesder program, allows for religious soldiers to study Torah for 1 ½ years of their three years service.
For those searching for a Talmud-like reasoning to support the above: the influx of Torah-true scholars into the Israeli economy would not only give an already successful economy a massive boost, but it would also help the state of Israel look more like the Land of Israel.
The current system in Israel allows for Haredim to receive a deferment if they are studying in Yeshiva (Jewish institution for the higher learning) until they are 22. By that time most are married and are exempt from mandatory military service. Thus for all intents and purposes the Haredi population is exempted by the Israeli government from serving in the IDF.
The only other Israeli population that receives a blanket exemption from serving in the IDF are the Israeli Arabs who are allowed but not required to serve, though many choose to. Still, for the Israeli-Arab the reasons for such an exemption are clear; if they serve they will likely have to physically confront other Arabs and/or Muslims -it is a legitimate conflict of interest.
For the Haredi this reasoning only applies to a small minority. This minority includes those that refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of the state of Israel which they object to on questionable Talmudic/Rabbinical grounds. This small minority refuses to speak modern Hebrew, because Hebrew is the language of the holy bible, and shouldn’t be used for mundane speech. They also do not accept government funding of any kind. Thus requiring this minority to serve, is akin to forcing them to turn their back on their beliefs.
Yet the overwhelming majority of the Haredi public do accept state funds, speak Hebrew when required, and are accused of taking advantage of the system. Should they be required to serve?
To understand the implications of this question is to understand the nature of Israeli society. The IDF is a necessary defensive organization that literally foils daily terror plots and prevents Israels neighbors from seriously contemplating war. However, he IDF also enables a diverse mixture of immigrant populations to integrate and to acculturate. In essence, Bedouins, Eastern Europeans, North Americans, South Africans etc. enter the IDF and three years later (two for women) they exit as mature Israeli’s. The importance of serving in the IDF is amplified by the fact that potential employers will usually give preference to veterans of the IDF.
So not only does the fastest growing minority, the Haredi population, not contribute directly to national security they also are not integrated into the workforce. Ironically, those Haredi that choose to pursue a secular education, on average, score higher on reading and reasoning sections of standardized tests. In other words the Haredi choose not to integrate and succeed. Still, because they are generally not employed in the mainstream workforce (either because they do not serve, or spend their day studying) and have little or no secular education, they are a growing burden on Israeli tax payers.
But wait! I’m not one of those religious bashers, there is another side to this story.
You see, it was not always the case that the ultra-Orthodox ALL studied in Yeshiva. Prior to the holocaust, when there were myriad thriving communities spanning Eastern Europe, Jewish boys were given a chaider education (Jewish equivalent of early grade school). Those that showed promise continued their studies often for the rest of their life. Usually they were supported by their local communities, the private wealthy, or their in-laws who believed that it was a great merit and responsibility to ensure that every town, however small, funded the local study of the Torah. Indeed it was seen as a way to ensure that a town was blessed materially and spiritually.
Thus the holocaust did not only destroy Eastern European Judaism but also a complex array of institutions. These included the educational structure that ensured the continuity of, what many consider, Judaism’s most prized inheritance; the totality of the Biblical/Talmudic/Rabbinic tradition. There are a number of extraordinary accounts of efforts to save the institutions that carried this tradition from the fires of the Nazi ovens and/or the cold of Soviet Siberia.
A few yeshivas were saved, or survived, the terror and undertook a massive effort to rebuild the great intuitions of Torah learning that once existed in Europe. Part of this initiative meant that every Jewish boy was encouraged to pursue his Torah studies as long as he wanted so as to replenish the depleted stock of Torah scholars.
From this perspective, the Israeli government is basically continuing a millennia old tradition in the guise of public funds going towards supporting Torah study.
The Haredi position is even more persuasive when considering that they are both the proven guardians of an unbroken chain of Jewish tradition and were the ones that passed on and propagated the words of the great prophets. These prophets very foresaw that the Jews would eventually return to Israel their homeland. In other words, modern Israel, with all its secular tendencies, is basically a mundane interpretation of the Zion that religious Jews have mentioned in their prayers, over a hundred times a day, since the destruction of the second Temple by the Romans in 70 AD.
Could there be a State of Israel (or a Jewish people) without the memory and tradition that was jealously guarded by Rabbinic Judaism since the days of the prophets? Should the Haradi not be rewarded for their contribution to modern Israel?
That said, now that we do have a state of Israel, and numerous yeshivas churning out students of the highest caliber, why should we not return to the pre-holocaust system whereas only the studies of the best are publicly funded? It would be similar to the Western system, (if that system is not itself replicating the Rabbinic tradition) where PHD students and other important institutions of higher learning are funded by the public.
Israel is growing and needs productive citizens, Orthodox or otherwise. Anyone familiar with the Rabbis of the Talmud or the history of the greatest Jewish leaders of every generation, knows that they all had extensive secular knowledge and often supported themselves “with their hands” (they were doctors, jurists, winemakers, water-carriers etc. in fact it is laudable not to live off the Torah, Pirkei Avot). At the same time, there have always been a cadre of our brightest scholars who have spent their entire life in the study of Torah.
Therefore I propose that the Haradi sector be granted a certain quota for each Yeshiva, whereas the brightest students, as the dean so deems, receive a deferment. The rest should be required to serve. The Israeli government has already established a Haredi military unit, which meets all the strict requirements followed by Haredi individuals. One of the most successful programs in the IDF, the Hesder program, allows for religious soldiers to study Torah for 1 ½ years of their three years service.
For those searching for a Talmud-like reasoning to support the above: the influx of Torah-true scholars into the Israeli economy would not only give an already successful economy a massive boost, but it would also help the state of Israel look more like the Land of Israel.
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