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| Monday, Aug 17 '09, Av 27, 5769 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1. Huckabee: Would Israel Tell Obama Who Can Live in the Bronx? by Gil Ronen  Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Monday that the United States should not be telling Jewish people where they can and cannot live in Jerusalem, and he compared such a policy with racial segregation. “My question is how would the government of the United States feel if Prime Minister Netanyahu began to dictate which people could live in the Bronx, which ones could live in Manhattan, which could live in Queens, and say, ‘We only allow certain people to live in those neighborhoods,’” he said. “How would that go over? It wouldn’t go over very well.” Huckabee spoke with reporters as he toured the ancient remains at the City of David (Ir David) in eastern Jerusalem Monday. “The position that our government has taken recently is far more harsh [than the previous administration’, even halting peace talks until there is compliance with these demands,” he noted. “I’m not sure where we would get the authority to demand of the Israelis what they should do in their own country.” After touring the Pool of Shiloach (Silwan) and Hezekiah’s Tunnel, the governor said, “I think that there is some concern that many of us have who have been coming to Israel for many years. I’m not Jewish, so I am not trying to stand up for the Jewish people but for the freedom of the Israeli people who I feel have an organic relationship to the United States as the only democracy in the Middle East, as the only place where freedom and liberty and personal capacity to make choices really thrives. It’s in the vital interest of not just the Middle East but the world that freedom exists.” Asked if he would support an Israeli military strike against Iran, the man touted as the leading candidate for the Republican presidential ticket in 2012 stated he “would support Israel doing whatever Israel needs to protect [itsel.” He added that the United States would never want anybody to tell it the boundaries of how it can protect itself. “I think we can certainly advise as a friend to Israel,” he explained, “but we have no right to dictate and outright tell another country what it should or shouldn’t do. Heck, we don’t do that with North Korea! “I’d like to think that the rights of Jewish people in their own homeland would be the same as the rights of American people in their homeland,” Huckabee said. “We take our rights very seriously.” Comment on this story 2. Oren: Israel ‘Far from Contemplating’ Strike on Iran by Gil Ronen  Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, said that Israel is “far from even contemplating” attacking Iran at present. Speaking with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in his first television interview since his appointment as ambassador on May 3, Oren voiced his confidence in the Obama administration’s handling of the Iranian threat. A short segment of the conversation made available by CNN in advance of the airing of the full interview went thus: Zakaria: Let’s talk about Iran. John Bolton has recently said that he believes that Israel is likely to attack Iran by the end of this year. Is that true? Oren: I don’t think it’s true. I think that we are far from even contemplating such things right now. The government of Israel has supported President Obama in his approach to Iran – initially the engagement outreach to Iran… The Prime Minister… Zakaria: You’re just saying this Michael, you don’t really… it is well known that the government of Israel was deeply uncomfortable and nervous about the idea of engagement with Iran.... To read the rest of the story, click here! Comment on this story  3. Hamas Diverts Cement for Cemetery to Build Smuggling Tunnels by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu  Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ordered a halt in shipments of cement to Gaza after military and intelligence officials discovered that Hamas is using some of the material to build smuggling tunnels instead of using the concrete for stated civilian projects. Israel had allowed the cement in order to ease conditions for Gaza residents, who have been receiving humanitarian shipments despite continued mortar shelling and rocket attacks on southern Israel. Under pressure from the Obama administration, Defense Minister Barak authorized a large quantity of metal pipes and 300 tons of cement to be shipped to Gaza despite fears that Hamas would use the building materials for smuggling tunnels and to build more Kassam rockets. The cement was to be used for a sewage system, a damaged flour mill and for renovations of a cemetery for British soldiers killed in World War I. Instead, Hamas diverted part of the shipment to rebuild its tunnels, used to smuggle terrorists, weapons, ammunition and black market merchandise that has become a staple of the Gaza economy. Analysts have noted that Hamas is not interested in opening the Gaza crossings for regular shipments because of the powerful smuggling tunnel industry, from which Hamas reaps profits. Calves for Ramadan Israel also has agreed to allow 3,000 calves to be shipped to Gaza for the Muslim month of Ramadan, when every day from sunrise to sundown is a fast day until the end of the month. The month of Ramadan begins next week. Gaza officials also told the Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency that Israel will open the Kerem Shalom crossing and the Nahal Oz fuel transfer station. Egypt also has opened the Rafiah crossing, between Gaza and Egypt, to allow more than 2,500 Gaza Arabs to visit Mecca on the annual Islamic Haj pilgrimage via the Cairo airport. Comment on this story 4. Cabinet Ministers Yishai, Yaalon: Outposts Not Illegal by Hillel Fendel  Four Cabinet ministers toured several of the outposts that were termed “unauthorized” in a report by Meretz Knesset candidate Talia Sasson, and said that a new report is needed. Sasson prepared the report seven years ago at the request of then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The four ministers who were hosted by leaders of the Jewish settlement enterprise in the Shomron (Samaria) are Moshe Yaalon and Yuli Edelstein of the Likud, Eli Yishai of Shas, and Daniel Herskovitz of the Jewish Home. They were hosted by Shomron Regional Council head Gershon Mesika, and Amanah settlement organization head Zev Chever (Zambish) and veteran Yesha Council leader Pinchas Wallerstein were on hand as well. The tour took place in Rechelim, Bruchin, and Nofei Nechemiah – all listed as illegal or unauthorized outposts that must be destroyed. Rechelim, near Tapuach, was established in 1991 and has 45 families; Bruchin, 1999, west of Ariel, has 100 families; and Nofei Nechemiah, founded in 2002-3, has 21 families. Minister Edelstein recalled that in the previous Knesset, he established the "Homesh First" forum: "It was a mistake to destroy Homesh, and the government should now rebuild it," he said. Minister Herskovitz said, "No other country would allow other countries to let it determine where its citizens should live." Yaalon on Homesh, Outposts, and the Conflict The ministers also visited the Gilad Farm, as well as Homesh, the full-fledged town that was destroyed in the Disengagement four years ago. Former residents and other supporters have attempted to resettle the site over the past two years, facing opposition and repeated evacuations on the part of the army. Yaalon, Minister of Strategic Affairs, stated that he thinks that rebuilding Homesh should be considered. He added, “We were mistaken in thinking that the battle [with the Arab is over part of the Land of Israel. It is over the entire Land of Israel.” He explained how important it is that Israel control the mountain ridge heights. Speaking from Homesh with Voice of Israel Radio, Yaalon explained that the only reason many of the outposts are not yet legal is because of missing paperwork: “The people who live there received government mortgages, and water and electricity were hooked up by Israel’s water and electric companies, and the Housing Ministry built many of the housing projects. Israel must explain to the Americans that they are legal.” Understandings with the U.S. Analyst Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA writes, “A reading of the exchange of letters between Israel and the United States finds that Israel did not commit to physically remove the ‘unapproved’ outposts, but just to end the existence of ‘unapproved’ outposts. This can be achieved by changing their status to ‘approved.’ This is not a new concept; negotiations between Defense Minister Barak and Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria always were on the basis that the status of some outposts would be changed to ‘approved’ and thus removed from the list.” Interior Minister Yishai said, “There is no such thing as an illegal outpost. We must tell the truth to the public and to the Americans. These are sites that were established by the Government of Israel, and they should be further developed.” This is Minister Yishai’s second visit in one week to controversial areas in Judea and Samaria. Touring Maaleh Adumim last week, Yishai said that construction must continue “at least in the future settlement blocs,” even if the United States cannot be persuaded of its importance. Comment on this story  5. Israel Leads the World Coming Out of Recession by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu  The Israeli economy grew by one percent annually in the second quarter, making the Jewish State one of the first countries in the world to come out of the global recession. Analysts were surprised by the statistics, which were released Sunday. They had expected the economy to show no growth until the next quarter, following negative growth in the fourth quarter of last year and the first three months of this year. Monday morning, Japan also announced it is coming out of the recession. "The data ... are evidence that the situation of Israel's economy is better than that of other leading economies in the world," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Clal Financial investment economist Ori Greenfeld was more reserved, saying that “Israel's economy is surely on its way out of the financial crisis, but the growth that was published needs to be taken with a grain of salt.” The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) also revised first quarter gross domestic product to a contraction of 3.2 percent from 3.7 percent. For the first half of 2009, the economy shrunk by 1.7 percent, and the Bank of Israel has forecast negative growth of 1.5 percent for all of 2009. The surprise growth rate in the second quarter probably will cause more optimistic revised estimates. Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer’s current headache is the interest rate, which he has kept near zero despite a spike in inflation. The consumer price index for July soared by 1.1 percent, and the annual rate is around 5 percent, far above the accepted maximum norm of 3 percent. Raising the rate could discourage spending and would put downside pressure on the shekel-dollar rate, which would damage exporters whose dollar income from American importers would hurt profits after being converted into shekels at a relatively low exchange rate. Consumer spending in the second quarter soared by 4.4 percent on an annual basis after dropping 3.9 percent in the previous quarter. An optimistic sign for Israel’s unemployed came on Sunday from Tower Semiconductor, which is moving to a five-day work week on a bi-weekly basis after having switched to a four-day work week earlier this year, when it also fired hundreds of workers. Tower is now working at 70 percent of production capacity, compared with only 40 percent in the first six months of this year. Comment on this story 6. Israel Rescues Baby Deer from Arab Captors by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu  Israeli authorities have rescued a baby deer kept in cruel conditions and against the law by Arabs in Yesha. The deer now is safe in the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo but will not be able to return to nature because of the captivity. The saga began after the 'Green Now' organization noticed the baby deer “Ofir” on a Hebrew website after its picture was included in photos posted by the B’Tselem organization, which apparently ignored the unnatural conditions under which the Arabs were holding the animals. B’Tselem has provided cameras to Arabs to film Israeli soldiers and civilians. Deer are protected animals under Israel Nature Authority laws, and individuals are not allowed to keep them. The Arabs who captured Ofir live in a tiny illegal outpost near the Jewish community of Maon, located south of Hevron. Its residents have been involved in several violent incidents while trespassing and causing damage in Maon. The Civil Lands Administration, after seeing the pictures, planned to dispatch a large security force to the village but then settled on a smaller force consisting of two officers from the Nature Authority and the Civil Lands Administration. The father of the family holding Ofir initially denied the presence of a deer, then changed his story to say that the animal had run away and then changed it again to say that someone else had taken it away. After a search discovered the animal, he confessed to having held Ofir captive. Green Now has asked police to charge the captors, who could face up to two years in jail for holding a protected animal. Ofir now is at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, but officials said the domestication precludes the possibility of the animal returning to its natural habitat, where they said it would be killed very quickly by other animals. Comment on this story 7. Temple Mount Show: Judaism & Spirituality by IsraelNationalTV Staff  Broadcasting live overlooking the Temple Mount, Rabbi Tovia Singer & Jeremy Gimpel answer your questions on Israel and Judaism. Today's topic: Judaism & Spirituality [weJe Email readers, please click here to view the show! The Singer & Gimpel Show is broadcast live Thursday 11PM Israel 4PM EST on www.IsraelNationalRadio.com. Call in with your questions at 1-800-270-4288. More from Singer & Gimpel Does Hell Exist? Life After the Destruction of the Holy Temple Torah & Sacrifices Who is the Jewish Messiah - Part 2 Who is the Jewish Messiah - Part 1 Do we pay for the sins of our fathers? Bible - Can we rely on the translated version? Why don't Jews proselytize? Comment on this story  More Website News:
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