Only Netanyahu Can Lead Israel

As I feared, the time that should be spent solving Israel's many problems will instead be spent on an election campaign that the country just doesn't need right now.  Predictably, Israel's uninspiring left-wing politicians have decided to make this election all about deposing Prime Minister Netanyahu, notwithstanding the fact that none of them can even hope to be half the leader that Bibi is.

Okay, I know that Bibi isn't perfect.  No person is.  But who would you have replace him?  No one amongst Bibi's opponents, or even his supporters, has what it takes to fill his shoes.  For me, Prime Minister Netanyahu is our modern-day Winston Churchill.  Like Churchill, he tells people what the reality is, even if they don't want to hear it or choose to ignore it.  And like Churchill, he is always proven right.  In the 1930s, before World War II, Churchill repeatedly tried to warn the leaders of the time about the danger that Nazi Germany presented to the world, but was often scoffed at and ignored.  And as we all know, the failure of world leaders to heed Churchill's warnings came in the form of World War II and the Holocaust.  Today, Bibi is tirelessly trying to present to his own nation and to the world the dangers posed by global terrorism and countries like Iran which support it.  And just like Winston Churchill, he too is not being taken seriously by many of the world's current power brokers.  So unfortunately, history seems to be repeating itself.  My fear is that Israelis will elect a new Prime Minister that does not have Bibi's experience and is not in touch with the current reality as Bibi is.

I certainly do not agree with everything that Prime Minister Netanyahu does.  I have said, for example, that his recent attempt to pass a law strictly defining Israel as a Jewish state is a waste of time and energy.  I also believe that he needs to do a much better job dealing with Israel's socio-economic problems.  Right now, many Israelis believe that Bibi does not understand the plight of the average Israeli citizen struggling to make ends meet because of the soaring cost of living in the country.  And perhaps most importantly, Bibi needs to try and sound less arrogant.  Yes, I understand that when you're right as much as Bibi is, it's hard not to be arrogant.  Nevertheless, he has to try, because now more than ever, Israel must have a seasoned leader like Netanyahu who knows how to protect the interests of the country. 

   

A Message for Israel's Politicians: Start Tackling the Country's Real Problems!

Israel has the highest poverty rate of all OECD countries.  One in three Israeli children are poor.  Israel is now on the verge of recession.  And our so-called indivisible capital Jerusalem seems more divided than ever.  So are Israel's politicians addressing these problems?  Nope.  Instead, they're arguing over how Jewish the country should be.  I guess playing the game of who can be more nationalistic is more important for our elected officials than making sure that our children don't go to bed hungry.  What a shame, to say the least.

Unfortunately, I see the situation getting worse before it gets better.  Why?  Because not only are our politicians not addressing Israel's real problems, they're not even thinking about governing and instead looking towards early elections.  And if there is a call for early elections, alleviating Israel's problems and improving the lives of its citizens will be postponed for months of campaigning and then more months of trying to form a government.  Meanwhile, many of Israel's children will still go to bed hungry, Jerusalem will continue to be gripped by fear, and progress towards bringing peace and security to the people of Israel will continue to be nonexistent.

So my message to all of Israel's politicians is to stop talking about trivial matters, like how Jewish our country to be and start talking about how to deal with the real problems.  Start doing something about the high cost of living in the country.  Start improving our education system to ensure that Israel's tradition of scholarship and innovation continues.  Start looking for ways to make sure that all Israelis have a roof over their heads, enough food to eat, and the ability to live meaningful lives.  Because right now, the people of Israel don't need more Jewishness or more elections.  They need jobs, education, peace, security and most importantly, hope for a better future.

Law Defining Israel as Nation-State of the Jewish People is Pointless But Not Wrong

I have gone on record as saying that the proposed law supported by Prime Minister Netanyahu and other right wing members of the Israeli government is pointless because everyone in the world with even half a brain knows that Israel is the national home of the Jewish people.  As I have said in the past, everything in Israel from our flag to our Declaration of Independence says that Israel is the Jewish homeland.  But just because this new law may be pointless, doesn't necessarily mean that it's wrong.

Israel is surrounded by countries that clearly define themselves on an ethnic and/or religious basis.  Just look at our next door neighbour to the south, which is officially known as the Arab Republic of Egypt.  Or how about one of our neighbours to the north - the country officially called the Syrian Arab Republic.  Looking further east, we have the Islamic Republic of Iran.  In fact, nearly all of Israel's neighbours clearly define themselves as Arab and/or Islamic states.  So if it's okay to have an Arab Republic of Egypt, a Syrian Arab Republic and an Islamic Republic of Iran, why isn't it okay to have a Jewish State of Israel?  It doesn't take a genius to see the double standard here.

Moreover, it isn't just dictatorships like Iran and Syria that define themselves based on ethnic or religious criteria.  Many democracies, including several countries in Europe, do as well.  In the United Kingdom, for example, the Anglican church is a national institution.  Queen Elizabeth II, the UK's head of state, is also the head of the Anglican church.  In other words, Anglicanism serves as the UK's official state religion.  The same is true of the Lutheran church in several Scandinavian countries.  So if mature European democracies can declare themselves to be Christian states without so much as a whimper of condemnation from abroad, why should Israel not be allowed to declare itself a Jewish state without being condemned by the international community? 

Again, I still believe that this proposed law to define Israel as the national home of the Jewish people is pointless and a waste of time.  But I still contend that Israel has every right to define itself any way it wants, so long as it respects the rights of minorities, which of course it does much better than most of the countries that frequently condemn its very existence.   

Israel Fights Terrorism. Europe Rewards It

Cars used as deadly weapons, stabbing rampages, stones thrown at civilians by bloodthirsty hooligans - all of these have become hallmarks of what looks like a third Palestinian Intifada.  So how do you think the international community has responded to these recent acts of terrorism?  By blaming Israel, of course!  Actually, some countries in Europe are doing more than just blaming Israel.  They're rewarding the terrorists by according more recognition to a Palestinian "state" that promotes and incites terrorism on a regular basis.  Sweden has recently given official recognition to the state of Palestine, and the parliament of the United Kingdom passed a resolution calling for the recognition of such a state if it ever comes to fruition.  Similar resolutions are expected in the parliaments of France and Spain in the coming weeks.

So basically, as Israelis are dodging the cars, stones and fireworks being used by Palestinian terrorists, Europe is rewarding these same terrorists with more recognition of their proposed state.  In the meantime, the Europeans are also condemning Israel for wanting to build homes in its own capital and in part of its Biblical homelands in Judea and Samaria.  Obviously, this isn't the first time Europeans have tried to tell Jews where they can and can't live.  Ghettoizing Jews has been a European tradition for centuries, from medieval times, right up until World War II, when the Nazis established ghettos to concentrate the continent's Jewish population before systematically murdering them.  And now they are trying to ghettoize us in our own country!  I guess some things never change.  Clearly, Israel needs to respond to the ludicrous actions of the Europeans.  But how?

My suggestion: let Israel recognize the right of various European peoples to their own independent states.  So the British parliament passed a resolution calling for the recognition of a future Palestinian state.  Let Israel's Knesset pass its own resolution calling for recognition of an independent Scotland, an independent Wales, and the reunification of Northern Ireland with the Irish Republic.  If France and Spain decide to reward Palestinian terrorism by calling for recognition of the so-called state of Palestine, let Israel recognize and support the independence of Corsica and Brittany in France, and Catalonia and the Basque Country in Spain.  As a lot of people say, what goes around comes around.     

My Remembrance Day Rant

So tomorrow is Remembrance Day here in Canada.  At the 11th month, on the 11th day, at the 11th hour, we all pause and remember those who fought for our country and our freedom - or at least we're supposed to.  For too many of us, the 11th hour will just pass us by tomorrow like it does on any workday simply because no one is going to tell us that it's time to stop and remember.  This is the reason I like the way we observe our own "Remembrance Day" in Israel, which we call Yom Hazikaron - literally, the day of remembering.

When Yom Hazikaron comes around, our air raid sirens sound, prompting Israelis everywhere in the country to observe a moment of silence for our men and women in uniform, past and present.  In a way, it's too bad that we don't do this in Canada, because if we did, almost everyone would feel compelled to observe that important moment of silence as they do in Israel.  Now of course, I'm very happy that here in Canada, we don't need air raid sirens.  But it would be nice to see everyone on the busy streets of downtown Toronto come to a complete standstill to remember Canada's soldiers.  Half of the time, traffic in Toronto's downtown core doesn't move anyway, so they might as well stay still for a good reason, right?

 

Haredi Extremists: Israel's Enemy Within

For years, my father has had a saying: "The worst enemy of the Jews is the Jews."  He says this in reference to the efforts of some Jews to undermine the State of Israel - in other words, anti-Zionist Jews.  Now of course, anti-Zionist Jews can be found all over the world.  For those of us who live outside of Israel, the ones we usually hear about are the kind associated with left-wing movements that decry the existence of the State of Israel as an embodiment of Jewish fascism that wrongly persecutes non-Jews, specifically those who identify as Palestinians, and functions as a state similar to apartheid South Africa.  But there is another group of anti-Zionist Jews that gets a lot more press time in Israel than it does anywhere else: Haredi extremists.  The Haredim, or ultra-Orthodox Jews, as they are often called in English, are the community that many other Israelis love to hate.  Why? Because most of them don't work and therefore don't contribute to the Israeli economy.  In fact, they're a drain on the Israeli economy because they get handouts from the government that enable them to do nothing but study the Torah all day.  Moreover, since the Haredim have a penchant for bearing many children, it's getting more and more expensive to support them as their numbers grow larger and larger.  And quite frankly, other Israelis who do work and contribute to society are getting sick and tired of their hard-earned tax dollars going to support these welfare bums.  Yet, the Haredim continue to insist that Israeli taxpayers subsidize their medieval way of life and even seek to impose that way of life on the rest of Israeli society.

Every Israeli knows about the weekly Shabbat routine in which crowds of Haredim gather to swear, spit on, and throw stones at other Israelis who dare to drive cars near or in Haredi-dominated neighbourhoods.  "Shabbos!  Shabbos!" they keep chanting.  Actually, the fact that they say "Shabbos" instead of the Hebrew word Shabbat is just one minor example of their subversive attitude towards the state, because many of them prefer to speak Yiddish rather than modern Hebrew, which they consider to be an abomination, just like the State of Israel.  These are the same kind of people who burn Israeli flags on Independence Day.  They're the same people who verbally and even physically assault women for dressing "immodestly".  I can still remember the story of that poor little girl in Bet Shemesh who was spit on and pelted with insults as she walked home from school.  By the way, this girl belonged to a modern Orthodox Jewish family.  But of course, even those Jews who most people would call religious are not religious enough for some fanatical Haredim who might as well be a Jewish version of the Taliban, Al-Qaeda or ISIL.  These extremists have no respect for individual rights, women's rights, or rights of any kind.  And if they had their way, not only would there be no freedom, democracy or human rights in Israel; there wouldn't be an Israel.  Period.

Canadians Need to Complain Louder and More Often

If there's one thing that I can't stand about Canada, it's the "shut up and take it" mentality that many of us seem to have.  What do I mean by this?  I mean that whenever a government or private interest in this country tries to screw us, we usually take it lying down.  This is especially true when it comes to how often we get dinged in the wallet because a government or private company sees fit to make another cash grab.  But I'm not too surprised that we behave like this.  After all, Canada was created on the basis of not rising up in revolt like our American neighbours, who did so in part because they refused to pay taxes without representation in the British government.  "No taxation without representation!" was one of the slogans that America's founding fathers used to justify their revolt against the British.  Here in Canada, however, we're used to governments and private interests reaching for our wallets, no matter how unjust it may be.

Is it any wonder, for example, that Canadians pay some of the highest rates in the world for wireless services?  How about those ridiculous fees that the banks charge for you to get access to your own money?  Perhaps I should also mention the ludicrous charges that we have to pay whenever we need to fly somewhere - you know, the kind of fees that send thousands of would-be travellers in Toronto running to the airport in Buffalo so that they can avoid being gouged at Pearson Airport?  I could go on about how many dumb charges Canadians swallow every day, but I don't think I have to because those of you who are reading this and live in Canada know exactly what I'm talking about.  In fact, CBC's Marketplace has recently done a program on what Canadians believe to be Canada's Dumbest Charges.

Unfortunately, it is very likely that Canadians will continue to get dinged with dumb charges because most of us just grin and bear it.  But it doesn't have to be this way if we would simply start standing up for ourselves.

The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease

The truth is that some Canadians do complain louder and more often than others.  And it is these Canadians who ultimately pay less.  It often depends on the province you happen to live in.  In British Columbia, for example, when the government there tried to harmonize the GST and PST taxes to create a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), residents of the province rose up in revolt because they didn't want extra taxes put on nearly everything.  Eventually, a referendum was held.  The people of the province resoundingly rejected the new tax and forced the government not to implement it.  Contrast this with what I like to call Status Quo Ontario, the province in which I reside.  Ontario's provincial government introduced the same HST tax that its counterpart in British Columbia tried to implement.  But there were no mass demonstrations, nor was there any referendum on the matter.  Instead, people in Ontario just shrugged, "oh well" and accepted the new tax.  As a result, nearly everything in this province is more expensive, including necessities like electricity and gas.  Yes, anyone who lives in Ontario knows how expensive powering their homes has become after the HST was smacked onto their hydro bills.  
 
Indeed, Ontario is the worst example of Canadian complacency when it comes to another important expense: university and college tuition.  Paying for post-secondary education has gotten a lot more expensive in most of Canada over the years, but especially in Ontario, where students pay the highest tuition fees in the country.  So what do students in Ontario do about it?  Well, almost nothing.  Maybe a demonstration at the provincial legislature once or twice a year that's so quite and orderly that you can still hear the birds chirping over the chants of heavily indebted students.  But don't expect the same lackluster response to tuition increases in Quebec.  Back in 2012, when Quebec's provincial government proposed allowing tuition fees in the province to rise to levels at which they would still be the lowest in Canada, Quebec's students poured onto the streets in loud and sometimes violent protests.  The efforts of these students not only delayed the planned tuition increase, but were also instrumental in the fall of then Premier Jean Charest's government.  If only Ontario's students would put in half the effort of their Quebec counterparts, then perhaps they wouldn't be paying the highest tuition fees in the country.

If anything, the British Columbians' revolt against the HST and the Quebec students' uprising against tuition fee increases should teach Canadians that they don't have to be sheep; they can be wolves.  So my message to all of my fellow Canadians, especially those living in Status Quo Ontario, where "shut up and take it" seems to be the provincial motto, is essentially this: Complain more often and louder than you ever have before, until you see the change you want to see.