Livni, Bennett call for one chief rabbi instead of two
Ministers vow to unite Sephardi, Ashkenazi chief rabbis into a single position, detach chief rabbinate from religious courts
July 25, 2013, 3:06 pm
0-the times of israel
Besides, the official added, “the chief rabbi
job is a busy one. He has to travel, give rulings on different issues.”
The new structure would enable the chief rabbi to focus on the job,
while giving the religious courts a more expert hand at the helm, the
ministry believes.The bill will likely fail to satisfy the demands of the rabbinate’s many critics, one
of the most vocal of whom is Finance Minister Yair Lapid.“An
institution that was irrelevant beforehand
to the lives and worldviews of many Israelis, will continue to be so
for the next 10 years,” Lapid charged in a statement on Facebook on
Thursday.“Those who wish to use the services of the
rabbinate are, of course, welcome to do so, but it’s inconceivable that
there is no alternative. The time has come for civil unions that will
offer a solution also for the LGBT community, for those who are not
Jews, and for all the beautiful Israelis who simply want to marry
without interference from the religious establishment,” Lapid said.“This
will be a dirty and probably prolonged political battle, but we will
carry on the fight,” he promised.Rabbi Uri Regev, director of Hiddush,
an
organization that advocates the separation of religious institutions and
the state, said on Thursday that “there are few government bodies
that muster as much disdain toward Judaism and distances Jewish Israelis
from their religion as the Chief Rabbinate.”“Israel must return to the authentic Jewish
tradition of supporting rabbis who operate by the virtue of voluntary
acceptance of their authority and leadership by their communities, not
by riding on coercive civil laws and political manipulation,” Regev
insisted.Earlier this month, Transparency International’s 2013 Global Corruption Barometer revealed that a large majority of Israelis believe their state religious institutions to be profoundly corrupt.Seventy-three percent of Israelis said the
country’s religious institutions were either “corrupt” or “extremely
corrupt,” putting Israel in 3rd place among 107 countries surveyed in
terms of the public perception of corruption in religious institutions.
Only Sudan (79%) and Japan (74%) had higher figures.The survey also asked respondents how
corrupt they believed the institutions to be on a scale from 1 to 5,
where 1 is “not at all corrupt” and 5 is “extremely corrupt.” Israel’s
religious institutions scored 4.1, tied with Sudan and Japan for first
place.
LIKE I SAID YESTERDAY.THE REDICULAS CONSPIRACY THEORIES ABOUT BABY GEORGE-ALEXANDER-LOUIS HAVE STARTED. OF COURSE THE WORST CONSPIRACY THEORY IS THAT LITTLE GEORGE IS A ZIONIST JEW AS THE ISRAEL HATERS CALL ZIONISM.WHEN THE TRUE MEANING OF A ZIONIST IS.THAT GOD PROMISED THE JEWS THEIR LAND FOREVER AND WILL KEEP HIS PROMISE TO ISRAEL.SO I AM A TRUE ZIONIST FOR ISRAEL.NOT LIKE THE FRAUD ISRAEL HATERS.THE
ISRAEL HATERS BLAME EVERYTHING ON ISRAEL.FROM CONTROLLING THE BANKS TO
CONTROLLING QUEEN ELIZABETH AND HER THRONE.SO THIS STORY SHOULD BE NO
SURPRISE.
His Royal Highness. Future Birthright Israel participant, 2031'? No.
Middleton, Shmiddleton. Britain’s new royal heir is not a Jew
Despite the claims of dubious experts, unnamed Sephardi rabbis, and an Iranian news agency, Prince George will not be England’s very first Yiddishe monarch
July 25, 2013, 11:22 am
5- the times of israel
LONDON – In the classic Monty
Python movie “Life of Brian,” the hapless title character is accosted by
a crowd that believes he is the Jewish Messiah. None of his denials
makes the slightest bit of difference — quite the opposite: “Only the
true Messiah denies His divinity,” says one girl.A
similar situation seems to be unfolding in Britain where, no matter how
many experts issue denials, the crowds online seem ever more insistent
that Kate Middleton is descended from Jews — and that therefore, the new
royal baby, Prince George Alexander Louis, will not be the latest in a
long line of Protestant kings, but England’s very first Yiddishe
monarch.Just three days old, the young prince has
already managed to unite two usually opposite camps, the anti-Semites
and the Jews. It’s hard to tell who’s keener on the idea.Even Birthright has got in on the
act, creating an infant garment which says on the front, ‘His Royal
Highness. Future Birthright Israel participant, 2031′-On the anti-Semitic side, there are endless forums discussing whether Kate is “tainted” by Jewish blood,
while Iran’s Mehr News Agency warns, in mangled English, that her
marriage ceremony in Westminster Cathedral was a sham.“This lady’s
family roots show that she is
considered a Sephardic Jew from her mother’s side. Moreover the timing
of the wedding and the way it was held which was based on Jewish culture
verify the evidences…. William’s marriage as the inheritor of the crown
to a Jewish girl will leave the future of Britain to the hands of the
couple’s Jewish children.”Most of the Jewish sources quote an “Orthodox
Sephardi rabbi in Israel” — unnamed, unsurprisingly – saying that Kate’s
mother’s parents were both Jewish, but on the whole tend to accept that
it’s probably not true. Not that anyone lets the facts get in the way
of a good story: “I say we send some Chabadniks after her,” suggests thecooljew.net. “Get her to start lighting candles and going to the Royal Mikveh. Maybe William will eventually convert.”
Even Birthright has got in on the act,
creating an infant garment which says on the front, “His Royal Highness.
Future Birthright Israel participant, 2031.”
So what are the chances that the young Prince
George will qualify for the free trip to Israel? Slim to none, and slim
just left town.The Times of Israel approached no less an
(ostensible) authority than Michael Cole, the BBC’s former royal
correspondent, who had a letter published in the Times of London last
month (and cited by the New York Post last week), asserting
that Kate’s mother, Carole Middleton, “is the daughter of Ronald
Goldsmith and Dorothy Harrison, both Jews. The parents of Dorothy were
Robert Harrison and Elizabeth Temple, both Jews. Elizabeth was descended
from the Myers, a distinguished 19th century Jewish family.”
Cole added in the letter: “The Duchess of Cambridge is a Jew on her
matriarchal side and therefore her baby will be a Jew, according to
Jewish law and tradition.” And he suggested that “a wise choice” of name
might be Solomon.‘Mrs Middleton, born Goldsmith, is
a talented businesswoman… You don’t have to live in a monastery to know
that Jewish people are good in business’ — Michael Cole
Unfortunately for the royal Jew-hopers, Cole
sounded a little more circumspect over the phone, admitting that “it is
only circumstantial evidence.”Like everyone else, he relied entirely on the
fact that the names in Kate’s family tree – Goldsmith, Harrison, Myers
and Temple – sound Jewish, and surmises that they were originally
members of the tribe. “There used to be a very strong impetus on Jewish
people in Britain and elsewhere to marry out and hide their Jewish
antecedents,” he told The Times of Israel.Asked whether he has any positive evidence
that this is actually the case for Kate’s family, Cole explained that
“Mrs Middleton, born Goldsmith, is a talented businesswoman… You don’t
have to live in a monastery to know that Jewish people are good in
business” – and referred us to his original source, a Jewish solicitor
friend, who claimed he was “really not qualified to advise [you]
properly.”According to Laurence Harris, former chairman
of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain and a regular
adviser to the genealogical television program “Who Do You Think You
Are,” there is no evidence of Jewish branches in Kate’s family tree–
“yet,” he added cautiously.The “Jewish” surnames were also used by
non-Jews, and “there is no evidence of synagogue marriages or Jewish
burials,” Harris noted. On the contrary, there are solid records of
church weddings among Carole’s ancestors going back at least five
generations.The office of the British Chief Rabbi, which
keeps records of marriages in the Orthodox United Synagogue, says that
previous publications debunking the Middletons’ Jewish heritage “make
the issue completely clear.”While Harris accepts that this is not
definitive proof either way, he noted that the ancestors largely lived
in areas and pursued occupations that were not typical of Jews in that
era. Carole’s great-grandfather John Goldsmith, for example, born in
1851, was a laborer in Middlesex near London. Joseph Temple, another of
Carole’s great-great-grandparents, was an iron miner in Yorkshire, as
was his son Thomas. Both were married in their local parish churches.
Thomas’s wife, Elizabeth Myers, came from county Durham in north East
England, which was not a Jewish area. Her father, Joseph, was an
agricultural laborer.The rumors of Kate’s Jewish ancestry, which
Harris began to research as soon as her engagement became likely,
“started as soon as there was an indication of her potential involvement
in the royal family,” he said.Quite why they flourish — despite all evidence
to the contrary — is unclear. Perhaps it’s just too much fun to
speculate about the Jewish royals, rather than admit for once and for
all — with apologies again to Monty Python — that the new Prince George
is “not a Jewish king. He’s a very naughty goy!” It takes three to peace tango, Netanyahu quips
Regional Cooperation Minister Silvan Shalom, meanwhile, hopes renewed talks with Palestinians could start Tuesday in Washington
July 25, 2013, 2:23 pm
0-The times of Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu on Thursday expressed hope for a determined effort by the
Palestinians to attain significant results in the upcoming round of
peace talks, which may start next week in the United States.“It
takes two to tango, but in the Middle East you need three,” Netanyahu
told new IDF recruits at the military induction center outside Tel Aviv,
Ynet news reported. “I hope that there will be a single-mindedness to
achieve a peace that we can protect.”Last Friday, US Secretary of State John Kerry
announced a new framework for renewed peace talks between Israel and the
Palestinians, hosted by the United States. Several days later,
Netanyahu announced that he would put any peace deal to a public
referendum.As Netanyahu commented on the upcoming talks,
Minister for Regional Cooperation Silvan Shalom remarked that the
roundtable meetings between American, Israeli and Palestinian leaders
could begin next week.“Things haven’t been finalized yet, but the
hope is for talks to restart on Tuesday,” Shalom said following a visit
to Jericho. “We want to move ahead with negotiations and at the same
time look forward to an improvement in the Palestinian economy.”Shalom remarked that he didn’t discount the
possibility that Palestinian prisoners could be released from Israeli
incarceration before the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end
of the month of Ramadan, in two weeks.Shalom attended the inauguration of a joint
Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian industrial park near the West Bank
city of Jericho funded by the Japanese government.The prime
minister also reassured the recruits that everything was being done to
ensure that planned defense budget cuts would not interfere with their
training.“I hope that the cuts won’t affect you and we
are attempting to see to it that you will have a continuous training
regime,” he said. “I determined that the damage done to training will be
minimal.”
Minister: Talks to Start Next Week
Silvan Shalom says Israel will begin talks with Abbas next week, and will free terrorists within two weeks.
Silvan Shalom-Flash 90
“The negotiations will not be based on the ’67 lines’ and there will not be a building freeze,” he added.
Palestinian Minister Hints Peace Deal Would Be Temporary Arrangement Before Conquering Israel Outright
At the Friday Ramadan services, which were attended by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and broadcast on Palestinian television, Habbash explained to Muslim worshipers that Palestinian Authority officials "only through the wisdom of the leadership, conscious action, consideration, and walking the right path" are headed toward "achievement, exactly like the Prophet [Mohammad] did in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, even though some opposed it."Palestinian Media Watch - an Israeli research institution that translates anti-Israel broadcasts in the Palestinian media - explains that the Hudaybiyyah peace treaty of 628 A.D. refers to "a 10-year truce that Mohammad, Islam's Prophet, made with the Quraish Tribe of Mecca. However, two years into the truce, Mohammad attacked and conquered Mecca."The Religious Affairs Minister emphasized that Mohammed's choosing the path of negotiation with an enemy was not "disobedience" to Allah, but was rather "politics" and "crisis management."Indeed, he broke the peace treaty two years later and conquered Mecca.The Palestinian minister called Mohammed's example "the model" to be followed.According to a transcript provided by Palestinian Media Watch, Habbash explained how Mohammed's followers who weren't enlightened as to his true intentions were upset. "The hearts of the Prophet's companions burned with anger and fury. The Prophet said: 'I'm the Messenger of Allah and I will not disobey Him.' This is not disobedience, it is politics. This is crisis management, situation management, conflict management," Habbash said, adding, "Allah called this treaty a clear victory."In his sermon, Habbash made a distinction between the Palestinian Authority strategy and Hamas which rules Gaza, saying "All this never would have happened through Hamas' impulsive adventure." In his speech, he insisted that "We hate war. We don't want war. We don't want bloodshed, not for ourselves, nor for others. We want peace."
The Palestinian Authority has been insisting to Kerry that it will only negotiate on the basis of the pre-1967 borders, which means it refuses to agree to anything less than a full Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and east Jerusalem, including the Old City, the Western Wall and the Temple Mount which is the holiest site in the Jewish religion. Some Israeli officials refer to those borders as "Auschwitz borders," because it would leave Israel only nine miles wide at its narrowest point.If Palestinian officials say this is just a stepping stone, the suggestion is that the true goal is to take over all of the land of Israel as part of a future Palestinian state. Note the Palestinian Authority is considered by the U.S. and Europe to be the more moderate Palestinian leadership, as opposed to the Islamist Hamas which states openly that its goal is to destroy the State of Israel.PMW writes, "Since the signing of the Oslo Accords, there have been senior PA officials who have presented the peace process with Israel as a deceptive tactic that both facilitated the PA's five-year terror campaign against Israel (the Intifada), and which will weaken Israel through territorial compromise that will eventually lead to Israel's destruction."In an article discussing Friday's sermon, Palestinian Media Watch provided past quotes from Palestinian officials touting the same piecemeal peace negotiations tactic.In 1994, Arafat also compared the Olso Accords to the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah saying, "This agreement [the Oslo Accords], I am not considering it more than the agreement which had been signed between our Prophet Mohammad and Quraish..."Arafat was speaking at a mosque in Johannesburg and did not know that he was being recorded on audiotape.Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki in 2011 tried to calm critics of the peace agreement with Israel, explaining, "the President [Mahmoud Abbas] understands, we understand, and everyone knows that it is impossible to realize the inspiring idea, or the great goal in one stroke.""If I say that I want to remove it [Israel] from existence, this will be great, great, [but] it is hard. This is not a [stated] policy. You can't say it to the world. You can say it to yourself," Zaki told Al Jazeera.Palestinian Authority Representative for Jerusalem Affairs Faisal Husseini said in 2001, "This effort [the Intifada] could have been much better, broader, and more significant had we made it clearer to ourselves that the Oslo agreement, or any other agreement, is just a temporary procedure, or just a step towards something bigger.""We distinguish the strategic, long-term goals from the political staged goals, which we are compelled to temporarily accept due to international pressure. ... [Palestine] according to the higher strategy [is]: 'from the river to the sea.' Palestine in its entirety is an Arab land, the land of the Arab nation," Husseini added.Here is the video of Habbash's Friday sermon excerpted and translated by Palestinian Media Watch:
Op-Ed: The EU, A Nobel Peace Prize Laureate's DoubleStandard
Published: Thursday, July 25, 2013 11:08 AM
The author, Andreas Boldt is the founder of a German pro Israel Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/Freunde.Israels
My profile on FB:
www.facebook.com/xBoas
Link to the mentioned quote:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-11-792_en.htm
www.facebook.com/Freunde.Israels
My profile on FB:
www.facebook.com/xBoas
Link to the mentioned quote:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-11-792_en.htm
The EU should look at its member countries more carefully before it criticizes others.
Here is the official press release from the EU in June 2011:“Brussels, 27 June 2011 - Today the European Commission approved €26.5 million of funding for the Turkish Cypriot community. These funds will focus on measures to promote reconciliation and confidence building. Beneficiaries will include civil society organisations, schools, farmers, villages, SMEs.Commenting on the decision, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Å tefan Füle said: "These 26,5 million euro demonstrate the continued commitment of the EU to the Turkish Cypriot community and to a Cyprus settlement. The activities implemented by the Commission with this fresh funding are reunification-driven, underlining the EU's expectations for a successful end of the talks towards reunification of the island.""The whole Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community will total €28 million in 2011. €1.5 million has already been approved earlier this year to fund the EU Scholarship Programme for the academic year 2011/2012."Today's decision builds on the earlier €259 million multiannual aid programme. This programme was fully contracted by 2009, with projects running until 2012.”So, when it comes to the occupied territories of Northern Cyprus, financial aid is seen to be helpful in bringing peace and unity. When it comes to the disputed territories in Judea and Samaria, how is i that financial aid is believed to bring the opposite? This is a double standard and cannot be accepted.I am a German and an EU citizen - and I call my German government to do whatever possible in the EU to stop this double standard. I also call to all Europeans who are struggling for justice and democracy: Let’s not accept this. We can all contact the EU via email and ask them to reconsider their decision.
AIRPLANES
ISAIAH 31:5
5 As birds flying,(PLANES) so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem;(WITH PLANES) defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.(NUKE OR BOMB ISRAELS ENEMIES)
US, Israel Air Forces on 2-Week 'Juniper Stallion' Exercise
The
US and Israeli air forces are carrying out a two-week set of joint
maneuvers designed to improve interoperability in the air.-By Chana Ya'ar-First Publish: 7/25/2013, 10:13 AM-Israelnationalnews
Juniper Stallion exercise-Photo: courtesy of IDF
The exercise, “Juniper Stallion 13" is a combined, bilateral F-15 and F-16 air to air exercise aimed at fine-tuning cooperation between the two air forces.The drill, began last week in Israel, and which has been in planning for more than a year, is expected to continue for two weeks.U.S. European Command said the exercise is an annual training event with “no relation to current real-world events.”While Israeli and American pilots are fine-tuning their skills in the skies, soldiers from the IDF Kfir Infantry Brigade have been training with sophisticated robots.The elite special forces of the Lavi Battalion are also learning how to fight terrorists in tunnels beneath the surface of the Earth.“We understand that in the next war, the brigades will need to face a different kind of enemy,” company commander major Baruch Ram told the IDF Blog.He added that a scenario in which soldiers are forced to deal with combat in shrubland – terrain with dense vegetation – as well as urban areas and underground terrain as well, “all three terrains in one battle, is likely.”
Hezbollah: EU listing gives Israel licence to kill
Today @ 09:25-JULY 25,13
By Andrew Rettman
BRUSSELS - Lebanese group Hezbollah has
said the EU listing of its military wing makes the Union a party to any
future Israeli assault.Its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, made the statement
on TV after a sunset
meal on Wednesday (24 July) with women who work for the Islamic
Resistance Support Association, a Hezbollah fundraising outfit.He said:
"They are giving legal cover to Israel for any attack on
Lebanon, because Israel can now claim to be fighting terrorism and to be
bombing terrorist targets."He noted that the blacklisting, decided by
EU foreign ministers on
Monday, undermines European countries' sovereignty because it was made
under Israeli and US pressure."Some EU member states considered the step
to be illegal, but they yielded to intimidation," he said.He called the
move an "insult" to Lebanese "resistance fighters."But he said the
related asset freeze will not make a difference because "we don't have
money in European banks."He added the EU should blacklist the Israeli army, the IDF, because it is an illegal occupying force which frequently kills Arab civilians."Those who kill, commit massacres, occupy land, and prevent an entire nation [Palestine] from returning to its territory, aren't they terrorists?" he said.Amid fears by some EU states the listing could destabilise Lebanon, Nasrallah warned the country's caretaker government not to "exploit" the European decision by trying to form a new cabinet without its people.He joked that Hezbollah ministers in the future Lebanese government will come from its military staff, after the EU said it wants to keep talking to Hezbollah politicians.But in a sign the group itself is keen to maintain contact, Hezbollah's website notes that one of its top foreign policy officials, Ammar Moussawi, will meet with the EU ambassador in Beirut, Angelina Eichhorst, on Thursday.Hezbollah is a Shia Muslim group formed during the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s.It claims victory in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict - which saw the death of some 1,000 Lebanese and 40 Israeli civilians - because it held back the IDF for 33 days before Israeli forces withdrew from Lebanon.Meanwhile, one motive for the EU listing is Hezbollah's recent defeat of Western-backed Sunni Muslim rebels in fighting around the Syrian town of Qusair.For his part, Alastair Crooke, a former British intelligence officer who now runs an NGO in Beirut, told EUobserver the Qusair story is more complicated than it sounds.He said when Lebanon gained independence in the 1940s, several Shia Muslim villages ended up in Sunni-majority Syria in the Qusair region. When the villages came under attack by Sunni rebels, they first formed town militias and then called for Hezbollah intervention."It is a grave mistake for the EU to take sides in the [Syrian] civil war," he said.