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1. Message to World: Jerusalem Gets Top-Priority Development Status
by Hillel Fendel
The ministerial committee for legislation approved a bill that will grant special benefits to the capital, including incentives for construction in western, eastern and northern Jerusalem.
The committee’s approval means the bill will have official government support when it comes up for its Knesset votes. Some 45 MKs are signed on the proposal, which should have no trouble passing in the Knesset.
The bill calls for an annual government grant to Jerusalem, as well as an upgrade of its status for the encouragement of investments in education, housing, and employment. Jerusalem will now enjoy the highest-priority classification in the country, with the goal of stopping the recent exodus of young couples – and strengthening the city’s Israeli status.
The upgrade in Jerusalem's city status was initiated by MK Uri Ariel (National Union), who said, “The true message given by the passage of this bill is the government’s change of direction regarding Jerusalem, and a signal that construction in the city will soon be unfrozen.”
The bill, which is a set of changes and emendations to the existing Jerusalem Law, specifically encourages the construction of “affordable housing complexes,” to be accomplished by simplifying the planning and approval processes. Many of the city’s reserves for future housing lie in neighborhoods such as Pisgat Ze’ev, Gilo, Ramot, N’vei Yaakov and Har Homa – which were liberated in the Six Day War in 1967 – and therefore some international condemnation of the bill is expected.
Jerusalem, Complete and United
Though visitors to the city can detect no difference between the built-up neighborhoods that were always part of Jerusalem and those that joined 43 years ago, many in the international community still regard the latter as “settlements.” However, Israel’s "Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel,” passed in 1980, begins with these words: ”Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel.”
Mayor Nir Barkat, who worked hard for the bill’s passage, thanked the ministerial committee for legislation, and said, “The Knesset’s and government’s formal recognition of the need to strengthen Jerusalem is critical for the city’s future and continued growth. This decision will help Jerusalem to continue to be attractive to the young, to tourists, and to investors.”
“This is a first step towards returning Jerusalem to the map of Israel,” MK Ariel said, “in terms of young couples and small and medium businesses. It will encourage housing starts in the capital; until now the policy has been to freeze and neglect Jerusalem, and this will hopefully signal a turnaround and new construction in the capital.”
Communications Minister Moshe Kachlon of the Likud said, “Whoever among the Palestinians and the world expects the present Government of Israel to recognize foreign claims of sovereignty in our capital – is mistaken and misleading.”
2. Nationalist Spokesman Ha'etzni: Revenge Attacks on Arabs 'Crazy'
by Gil Ronen
Kiryat Arba resident and prominent nationalist spokesman Attorney Elyakim Ha'etzni spoke out on national TV Monday against the so-called “price tag” raids that were allegedly carried out by Jews against Arabs in Judea and Samaria. There is no proof that this is what occurred, however..
Ha'etzni, a former Knesset Member for the now-defunct nationalist Techiya party, told Channel 10 news that the people who carry out such raids are “madmen.”
The alleged attacks on mosques damage the settlement enterprise, he said, and serve as weapons in the hands of the people who hate the Jewish settlers in Judea and Samaria. Ha'etzni added that if he were an anarchist who wanted to assassinate the character of Jewish settlers, he would do what the “price tag” raiders do: set a fire in a mosque and spray-paint the words “price tag” in Hebrew.
Arabs reported earlier this month that carpets inside a mosque in the village of Beit Fajr in Gush Etzion were set on fire and slogans in Hebrew were spray painted in the walls. They also claimed that a vehicle with yellow license plates was seen driving away from the village right after the fire was seen, but this was not corroborated.
Jews were blamed in two similar incidents in the past year – but the perpetrators have yet to be caught in those cases. Four yeshiva boys from Kfar Hassidim were arrested in the summer after a mosque was vandalized In the nearby Arab village Ibtin – but were released when no evidence was found to implicate them. They denied any connection to the incident.
In December, someone set fire to a carpet in the mosque at Kfar Yusuf near Yitzhar . Rabbi Yitzchak Shapira of Yitzhar and some of his students were arrested more than once, but no evidence has ever been found to link them with the act, in which they categorically deny involvement.
3. Knesset Approves Budget in Midnight Session
by Gil Ronen
With 62 in favor and 34 against, the Knesset approved the state budget for 2011 after midnight Monday. The Arrangements Law, which complements the budget, passed by a similar vote, 61 to 34. Both laws passed in the first readings, and require another vote to go into effect.
All members of the coalition voted in favor of the budget except for six MKs from Labor, who absented themselves from the plenum in order to protest the inclusion of 111 million shekels for stipends that will be paid to 'kollel' yeshiva students (who are known in Hebrew as 'avrechim').
The budget and Arrangements Law now go to the Knesset's Finance Committee, which is to prepare them for the second and third readings.
The vote on the budget was accompanied by much heckling from Kadima, with much of the main opposition party's contempt aimed at Labor, which vies for the same leftist voter niche as Kadima.
The inclusion of the 111 million shekels for avrechim stipends followed a heated public debate in which hareidi-religious politicians threatened to bolt the coalition if the state funding for 'kollel' students was not granted, and secular politicians demanded that similar stipends be given to students at universities and colleges. United Torah Judaism proposed a law dubbed the “Avrechim Law” that would have mandated the allocation of the funds, as a way of circumventing a High Court decision that opposed the “discriminatory” funding.
After the vote, a Kadima statement announced that “the mask has been torn off the faces of those who promised in their own voices, over every podium, not to lend a hand to the 'Avrechim Law' but gave their vote for the budget that includes that law.” Kadima singled out Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud), part of Labor and Israel Our Home, which voted in favor of the law and “proved that they have no backbone and their words lack value.”
"In the morning, they spoke in favor of the students, and in the evening they voted for the avrechim,” Kadima charged. They are “not worthy of leading [the country],” the 28-member faction stated.
4. Iran Loads Fuel into Nuclear Plant after Stuxnet Delay
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Iran has begun uranium loading fuel rods into the core of its Bushehr nuclear plant, one month, late due to problems, such as the Stuxnet virus that reported damaged key computers. Iran has denied that the plant was affected by the virus, which many accuse as having been generated by Israel.
Earlier this month, Iran atomic energy director said the plan will begin generating electricity January 1. Israel, the United States and other Western leaders figure that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is proceeding with plans to advance the production of a nuclear warhead, to be aimed at Israel.
Iran’s deputy atomic director Mohammed Ahmadian said that the delay was due to “minor problems, including a “small leak in a pool in the middle of the reactor." He explained it took one month to fix the problems before the fuel could be loaded.
Iran has rejected United Nations efforts to inspect its nuclear facilities under construction, and Russia, which helped build the reactor, has been a major stumbling block in U.S. President Barack Obama’s efforts to place tougher international sanctions on the country.
Iranian legislator Alaeddin Boroujerdi boasted that the loading of the nuclear fuel marks a victory for the Islamic Republic. "Once Germany, Britain and France were opposed to providing Iranian researchers with research centrifuges, but today [we] have over seven or eight thousands centrifuges," he told the semi-official Iranian IRNA news agency. "If they (the Western countries) do not build a nuclear power plant for Iran, the Iranian nation will build it on its own."
5. IAF Chopper Lands Safely after Flying into Electricity Cable
by Gil Ronen
An IAF helicopter flew into an electricity cable in the Golan Heights early Monday afternoon, but no one was hurt. The chopper's crew managed to land it, and the helicopter only suffered slight damage in the mishap.
IAF Commander Maj.-Gen. Iddo Nechushtan gave instructions for the establishment of a team of inquiry regarding the circumstances of the accident. In addition, he ordered all training activities in the Air Force, including a large-scale exercise that is currently underway, to be frozen for 24 hours.
The freezing of training is common procedure in the case of serious accidents, or potentially serious ones, in the IDF.
Last week, a Defender-type helicopter hired by the Israel Electric Company crashed in a low-level flight near Mitzpeh Ramon, in southern Israel. The pilot managed to extricate himself without suffering injury. The Ministry of Transportation launched an investigation.
6. US Researcher to Lead Diabetes & Metabolic Center at Rambam
by Chana Ya'ar
World-renowned diabetes expert Professor Derek LeRoith has been tapped to lead a new clinical research center at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. The new Diabetes and Metabolism Clinical Research Center is part of Rambam’s new Legacy Heritage Clinical Research Institute.
LeRoith, formerly of the National Institutes of Health in Washington D.C. and New York City’s Mt. Sinai Medical Center, directed diabetes centers in both of his previous positions.
The new director said in a statement to the media that he intends to begin immediately with research investigating why patients with obesity and Type II diabetes show an increased susceptibility to all types of cancers, as well as an unusually high mortality rate in connection with the disease – an area he has studied for more than five years.
“My long-range plans are to recruit three or four other investigators in the diabetes arena,” he said, “and to develop a center that will be internationally recognized in diabetes research.”
Legacy Institute Director Professor Michael Aviram added that LeRoith’s work will be focused specifically on its direct application to patient health.
“At Rambam [LeRoith] will coordinate diabetes research at the highest level,” confirmed Aviram, “and like other Legacy researchers will combine clinical work with basic research. Each researcher here will work on projects that are relevant to patients and their treatment,” he emphasized.
“Leading the Legacy center represents a new challenge for me, professionally and personally,” added LeRoith. “It will give me the chance to develop an internationally-recognized center that combines the exceptional expertise of the Technion, Rappaport and Rambam.
“On an individual level, it allows me to make Aliyah, after 31 years of wanting to. For me, this decision involved a little Zionism, a little meshugas [Yiddish for craziness - ed.] and a lot of medicine.”
7. A Christian Response to Synod Declaration on the Chosen People
by Pastor Ken Garrison (ret.)
Recently a Catholic synod led by Archbishop Cyril Salim Bustros declared that the promise made by G-d to Abraham and
Almost 2000 years after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem... behold, the Jewish people are still with us...and have...become a vibrant nation state.
his descendants to give them the land of Israel was abolished by Jesus. Specifically, Archbishop Bustros declared that “For Christians, one can no longer talk of the land promised to the Jewish people…. There is no longer a favored people, a chosen people; all men and women of every country have become the chosen people,.” Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, “Catholic Cleric; Jesus Cancelled Biblical ‘Chosen People’, Arutz Sheva, October 24, 2010. This position affirmed by Archbishop Bustros is a simple restatement of the ancient Catholic Church position of replacement theology which is a faulty interpretation of the Bible and it has been demonstrated to be historically incorrect. When G-d initiated the beginning of redemptive covenants with Abraham, He promised Abraham (i) blessing; (ii) global ministry and (iii) the land of Israel (G-d made Abraham and his descendants special stewards of the land). These promises were eternal.
“I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be G-d to you and to your descendants after you.” (Genesis 17:7)
It is difficult to understand how Archbishop Bustros could misinterpret such simple words as "descendants" and "everlasting".
Later the Jewish people had sinned so grievously that G-d was about to allow the Babylonians to drive them out of the land of Israel. Even under such circumstances G-d declared the eternal nature of His relationship with the Jewish people.
“Thus says the L-rd, Who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The L-rd of hosts is His name; If this fixed order departs from before Me,” declares the L-rd, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the L-rd, “If the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out below, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done,” declares the L-rd. (Jeremiah 31:35-37)
Beyond these references, we have bold affirmation of the same thing made in the New Testament by none other than the Apostle Paul and, believe it or not, written to the mother church which Archbishop Bustros serves.
“I say than, G-d has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” (Romans 11:1)
Lest we mistake who Paul is talking about, later in the same dissertation, he identifies his subject as those who are seen as “enemies of the gospel” so we know that he was not speaking of Christians as descendants of Abraham.
“From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of G-d’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of G-d are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:28-29)
Therefore we declare that the position advanced by Archbishop Bustros is Biblically inaccurate.
Historically speaking, the statement is equally absurd. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD/CE, when the doctrine of replacement theology was advanced by the so-called “Church Fathers” like Tertullian and Origen, any observer might think that the descendants of Abraham were being eliminated from the human community, at least, as a national entity. We now live almost 2000 years after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the partial exile of the Jewish people living in the land at that time. Behold, the Jewish people are still with us and even more amazing is the fact that they have, once again, become a national state, indeed a vibrant one. Their continued existence and the ingathering leading to statehood in 1948 is one of the most astounding miracles of our age.
One of the surest signs of a religious system in “rigor mortis” is its inability or unwillingness to recognize error in its system of thought and to make corrections in accordance with obvious Biblical and/or historical reality. The Roman Catholic Church as reflected in the statement of Archbishop Bustros is demonstrating this sad characteristic.
Finally, Archbishop Bustros declared that “all men and women of every country have become the chosen people”. From a Christian perspective, this “state of being chosen” may be considered correct if we think in terms of individuals being reconciled to G-d.
Chritianity, however, focused on the Kingdom of G-d which is G-d’s means of providing reconciliation to the nations of the human community. In this ministry, the nation of Israel stands at the center of the process. G-d’s election of Israel stands. Their right to the Land of Israel stands. Indeed, there is no real hope for peace within the human community until the Kingdom is realized and this will not occur unless and until the Jewish people live in and control Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the surrounding areas. They serve the human community by being the gatekeepers of the Kingdom (Remember G-d’s promise to Abraham that he would become a blessing to all the families of the earth). This is why G-d made Abraham and his descendants stewards of the land in the first place. They have been the “chosen people” since the time of Abraham: they are now the “chosen people” and they will always be the “chosen people”.
I am one Christian who is eternally thankful for their faithfulness in this capacity.
(for Israeli Foreign Ministry response, click here)
8. PA, Hamas Invest in Jerusalem Schools
by Hillel Fendel
In view of Palestinian Authority reports that it invested two million shekels in Arab schools in eastern Jerusalem, parallel reports of similar Hamas involvement are coming to light.
Yakir Segev, a Jerusalem city council member allied with Mayor Nir Barkat, says that both the Islamic Movement, which is based in Israel, and Hamas – two anti-Israel organizations – are pouring funds into Arab schools in Israel’s capital. He demands an investigation into the way previous Jerusalem city governments functioned and “left a vacuum in eastern Jerusalem into which Hamas entered.”
“For many years,” Segev laments, “the city and the national government buried their heads in the sand. They thought that if they don’t provide services [in eastern Jerusalem], everything will be OK. But it turns out that there is no vacuum, and someone else is providing those services. The way the city has functioned is something that requires a commission of inquiry.”
Segev, who lost his arm in a car accident at the age of three, volunteered for the Intelligence Wing of the IDF, completed an officers’ course with excellent grades, and was an officer in the IDF Commanders’ School. He led the reservists’ protests against the way the Second Lebanon War was handled and fought, founded the New Spirit association to encourage Jerusalem university students to live in the capital, and heads the Information Administration of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria.
Hamas-run day camps in the eastern parts of the city were very popular, Segev says, “and this is mainly because there was no official alternative sponsored by the Jerusalem Municipality… I am well aware that Arab residents are frequently threatened not to take part in official Israeli activities, but I still believe that many will still prefer [Israeli] alternatives if they are offered.”
Segev has criticism of the police as well: “For years, the police have neglected these areas, in the hope that this would calm things down, but in actuality, this merely fanned the atmosphere and led to a loss of Israeli control. When things are quiet, all is fine, but when the situation erupts, suddenly it becomes clear that it’s not so easy to go in, and many forces are needed, etc. Sending in inspectors without protection encourages the next riots. This sense of lack of control must be uprooted.”
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