MEDIA-OCRITIES
“The central message of Christmas is that God became a baby. . . For the entire history of Israel, God was endeavoring to attract his chosen people to himself and draw them into deeper communion with one another. Yet a sad and consistent theme of the Old Testament is that despite the Lord’s efforts and institutions, Israel remained alienated from God: The Torah ignored, covenants broken, commandments disobeyed, the Temple corrupted. . . In the fullness of time, then, God determined not to intimidate or order us from on high but rather to become a baby. At Christmas, the human race no longer looked up to see the face of God but down into the face of a little child. . . out of self-preoccupation and into the space of real love.” [ A striking formulation of some of the standard exegetical themes of Christian antisemitism: Israel’s rejection of God, and of the mitzvoth, the commandments, results in the corruption of the Temple and the once-Chosen People’s alienation from God, and the just punishment of the translation, the bestowal of the true “New” Covenant, on a New People no longer concerned with “self-preoccupation”, but imbued with love for “the vulnerable, the poor, the helpless, the childlike”. Of course, inscribed on the reverse side of this exegetical coin is the two-millennia-long antisemitic suffering inflicted on the Jewish people by precisely these lovers of the poor, the lonely, . . .and the suffering. — Ed.]
Israel’s Far Right Targets Law of Return to Restrict Jewish Immigration: Shira Rubin, Washington Post, Dec. 20, 2022
Rodbell is one of nearly 4,000 Jews who have emigrated from the United States to Israel in the past year. But she has arrived just as the most religiously fundamentalist government in the country’s history comes to power, with plans to ban the immigration of Jews like her. Rodbell’s mother is not Jewish, so she does not fit the strictest Orthodox criteria for being a Jew. … The contentious initiative could strip at least 3 million Jews around the world of their right to Israeli citizenship, according to Israeli media. It is championed by Religious Zionism, a bloc of once-fringe far-right politicians that is slated to be the second largest in the incoming government, after Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party. [For an in-depth criticism of Rubin’s extremely misleading depiction of the proposed legislation regarding Israel’s Law of Return, which seeks to eliminate the “Grandfather Clause” that enables anyone claiming a Jewish connection “stretching back three generations,” the right to citizenship, and not people with one Jewish parent, see: ‘Major Factual Inaccuracies’: Legal Scholar Blasts Washington Post For ‘Hysterical’ Law Of Return Article and Potential Changes to the Law of Return: An Explainer – Ed.]
WEEKLY QUOTES
“We will establish a stable government for a full term of all citizens of Israel.” – PM-elect Benjamin Netanyahu following the signing of the final deal that will allow him to set up a government tomorrow. (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 28, 2022)
“In recent years we saw a parade of chiefs of staff who quickly ran for politics at the end of a short cooling-off period. The short cooling-off period brought a feeling to the public that there is politicization in the IDF. There is real concern that the conduct of a chief of staff who wishes to join political life will be geared towards scoring points with the public that will assist him politically.” — Ben-Gvir on Twitter. He responded to minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call for a minimum of ten-year cooling off period for IDF generals who want to run for public office. (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 27, 2022)
“Whoever wants to keep the IDF unified as an army of the people does not legislate a draft-dodging law, does not dismantle the defense ministry and the IDF into subdivisions and does not intervene in the appointment of IDF officers.”— Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Twitter. He responded to Bezalel Smotrich’s criticism of the three-year cooling-off period before IDF generals can run for public office currently in law. (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 27, 2022)
“Kanye West called me up, and he wanted to know if I could meet him because he has a lot of problems. And I did that. He brought some people that I didn’t — Nick Fuentes — who I didn’t know at all. We sat down, we had a very quick meal. I had dinner with a very troubled man who was asking for help, and I didn’t know his views on Israel because I don’t study Kanye. …” — former US President Donald Trump. He added that helping people in need is second nature to him, and that in this case, it had backfired and reflected poorly upon him. (WIN, Dec. 25, 2022)
“ … birth rates are plummeting, the thought police are gaining power, and even having an opinion is enough to be shunned. We are trending in a bad direction. If there is one information source that breaks ranks, then I think it ultimately forces others not to have the same narrative. If even one organization competes hard for the truth, others will have to follow. I’m sleeping at Twitter HQ for a reason. This is a code-red situation.” — Twitter owner Elon Musk to journalist Bari Weiss on why he purchased Twitter. (The Free Press, Dec. 27, 2022)
“If I took anything away from my week at Twitter, it’s about power. It’s about how a handful of unelected people at a handful of private companies can influence public discourse profoundly. They can do it because of how good the tools they made are—and how little the public understands them. They can influence the outcome of elections. And they do. Because all of those people tend to move and think as one, there is something refreshing about Musk barging into the Twitter Tower on Market Street and turning over the tables. But I’m not sure anyone should have that kind of power.” – Bari Weiss, one of four independent journalist Musk asked to examine Twitter’s internal emails. (The Free Press, Dec. 27, 2022)
“To be totally frank, almost every conspiracy theory that people had about Twitter turned out to be true.” — Elon Musk on Twitter Files. (Collin Rugg@CollinRugg, Dec. 25, 2022)
“Man, an adult who lives and identifies as a male though they may have been said to. . .have a different sex at birth.” — The Cambridge Dictionary’s revised definition of “man” as quoted by columnist Olivia Land. “The same definition is given for “Woman”, with ‘female” substituted for “male”. While deplored by many commentators, others greeted the revision positively, with the UK group “Bristol Leading Against Transphobia” hailing it as “fantastic news.” (NY Post, Dec.13, 2022).
“[With five million illegal immigrants expected to enter the U.S. by the end of 2022] a simple question: How could an administration allow a problem like this to escalate over two years into uncontrollable chaos? Simple answer: Look at what has happened to civil order in big Democratic-controlled cities. Simple explanation: they are incompetent. The new generation of progressive Democrats. . .don’t know how to govern. This galaxy of incompetents. . . have turned the realities of governing inside out. Their idea of governance is based on achieving abstractions like ‘justice’ or ‘equity’. . . They have demoted order to a secondary concern, if that. Oh, one more detail: the concurrent flow of fentanyl and methamphetamine across the southern border . . . To be blunt: It is hard to believe this degree of anarchy is actually happening in the United States. Someone said ideas have consequences. So does incompetence. Thank heavens Santa still works.” — columnist Daniel Henninger. (WSJ, Dec. 21, 2022)
SHORT TAKES
OVER 1000 FORMER IAF OFFICERS, EX-IDF CHIEF, URGE SUPREME COURT TO HAMSTRING NETANYAHU GOV’T (Jerusalem) — A letter, signed by 1,197 former IAF officers and officials, was sent to the chief justice of the Supreme Court Esther Hayut, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik, and several other prominent jurists. In their letter, the former officers claimed Israeli democracy is under existential threat from the incoming Netanyahu-led government, which is set to be formally presented to the Knesset this Thursday at 11 a.m. (WIN, Dec. 26, 2022)
SHIN BET ARRESTS EAST JERUSALEM ARAB FOR BUS-STOP BOMBINGS THAT KILLED TWO ISRAELIS (Jerusalem) — Six days after the attack, Shin Bet operatives arrested Aslam Farouk, an Arab from east Jerusalem and allegedly a supporter of ISIS, on suspicion that he was involved in the attacks. Two bombs placed at two different bus stops – one at the entrance to Jerusalem and one near the neighbourhood of Ramot – detonated within half an hour of each other on November 23. Two Israelis, Tadasa Tashume Ben Ma’ada and Arye Shechopek, were killed in the attacks. (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 27, 2022)
RABBI HAIM DRUKMAN, SPIRITUAL LEADER OF RELIGIOUS ZIONIST MOVEMENT, DIES AT 90 (Jerusalem) — Rabbi Haim Drukman, the spiritual leader of the religious Zionism movement, passed away at age 90. He had been struggling with COVID-19 for several weeks. Drukman founded and led for some 50 years the Or Etzion Yeshivah, a religious high school and military preparatory school in Merkaz Shapira. He also served as head of the Bnei Akiva seminaries, and was a member of Knesset from 1977 to 1986 and again from 1999 to 2003, mainly as a member of the National Religious Party. He was deputy minister of religious services in 1981-82. (JNS, Dec. 26, 2022)
2,700-YEAR-OLD BIBLICAL POOL OF SILOAM IN JERUSALEM TO BE EXCAVATED, OPENED TO PUBLIC (Jerusalem) — The 2,700-year-old Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem, an archeological site of “enormous significance” that was described in the bible, is set to undergo excavation work and be opened to visitors for the first time in the modern era. (Algemeiner, Dec. 27, 2022)
MOST PALESTINIANS SUPPORT TERROR GROUPS: POLL (Ramallah) — 79% oppose the surrender of armed group members and their weapons to the Palestinian Authority to receive protection from Israeli assassination, according to the latest poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR). 87% said the P.A. had no right to arrest members of these armed groups, either to stop them from carrying out attacks against Israelis or to protect them from Israeli retaliation. The poll also found that if presidential elections were held today, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would defeat P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas (54% to 36%). The results mirror those of three months ago, which showed Haniyeh beating Abbas 53% to 38%. (United With Israel, Dec. 26, 2022)
ORTHODOX RABBIS BLAST ‘ANTI-JEWISH HYPOCRISY’ OF REFORM, CONSERVATIVE RABBIS FOR BANNING RELIGIOUS MKS (Baltimore) — Coalition for Jewish Values, representing over 2,000 traditional, Orthodox rabbis in American public policy, responded to the pledge of 330 non-Orthodox rabbis to ban democratically elected Orthodox Jewish Members of Israel’s Knesset from speaking in their Temples and to lobby their communities to do the same. CJV pointed to what it said was an obvious anti-Jewish double standard displayed by all signatories to the pledge. (WIN, Dec. 26, 2022)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG REPEATS HOLOCAUST SLUR THAT GOT HER SUSPENDED FROM ‘THE VIEW’(LA) — The 67-year-old, who was born Caryn Elaine Johnson and has no Jewish ancestry, repeated in an interview with the British publication The Times that the Nazi-orchestrated genocide of 6 million Jews led by Adolf Hitler was “white on white” violence, and that Jews were not targeted because of their race. “Remember who they were killing first. They were not killing racial; they were killing physical. They were killing people they considered to be mentally defective. And then they made this decision,” she said. [I guess she’s retracting her original apology; any outrage in sight? – Ed.] (Algemeiner, Dec. 26, 2022)
NOT JEWISH BUT ‘JEW-ISH’: NY POLITICIAN ADMITS TO LYING ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL (NY) — Representative-elect George Santos, who managed to successfully flip a Long Island Democrat stronghold, had said in interviews and biographical materials that he graduated from Baruch College, worked at Goldman Sachs, and that his Jewish maternal ancestors had fled from Nazi-occupied Belgium to Brazil, all of which was untrue. When challenged, Santos, a practicing Catholic later admitted, “Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background, I said I was `Jew-ish.’” Weeks earlier, though, he had joined the Republican Jewish Coalition of Long Island under these false premises. (WIN, Dec. 27, 2022)
CONCORDIA WELCOMES PALESTINIAN ARTIST ACCUSED OF GLORIFYING TERRORISM (Montreal) – Montreal’s Concordia University has announced a two-year post-doctoral fellowship award in its Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology, to Palestinian-Canadian artist and photographer Rehab Nazzal. Concordia’s press release, which references “Israeli occupation,” and Israel’s “destruction of her homeland and people” completely ignored the issue of Nazzal’s past controversy when she was accused of glorifying Palestinian terrorism. (Honest Reporting Canada, Dec. 25, 2022)
SUPREME COURT AGREES TO KEEP TITLE 42 BORDER POLICY IN PLACE TEMPORARILY (Washington) — The Supreme Court voted 5-4 in favor of keeping Title 42 in place while legal challenges around the Trump-era border restriction play out. The decision comes about a week after Chief Justice John Roberts stayed a lower-court order that would have ended the pandemic-era policy on December 21. Title 42 allows for asylum-seekers at the border to be expelled to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. (National Review, Dec. 27, 2022)
ELON MUSK SAYS AROUND 100 STARLINKS NOW ACTIVE IN IRAN (Tehran) — SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk said that the company is now close to having 100 active Starlinks, the firm’s satellite internet service, in Iran, three months after he tweeted, he would activate the service there amid protests around the Islamic country. Activating Starlink is part of a U.S.-backed effort “to advance internet freedom and the free flow of information” to Iranians. (Reuters, Dec. 27, 2022)
EUROPE RUSHES ARMS TO THE FRONT BUT IS RUNNING OUT OF AMMUNITION (Brussels)– Europe, home to some of the world’s largest weapons makers, is struggling to produce enough munitions for Ukraine and itself, as a war of attrition between Ukraine and Russia morphs into a rearmament race. (Ukraine uses 3,000 NATO 155mm shells each month, while Europe produces ca.300,000 annually; and Russia, exhausting its own production, has turned to North Korea for munitions.) A Czech arms dealer said that, even if the war were to stop overnight, “Europe would need up to 15 years to resupply its stocks at current production rates. (WSJ, Dec. 22, 2022)
COAL, NO LONGER SHUNNED, KEEPS EUROPE’S LIGHTS ON THROUGH FRIGID WEATHER (Brussels) — Europe, and the world, is on track for a record coal consumption in 2022—it will be “the single [largest] source of carbon-dioxide emissions by far” (International Energy Agency). The insufficiencies of wind and solar energy, complicated by the Russia/Ukraine war and the rapid rise of natural-gas prices, have led to the increased resort to coal. The EU used 17% of its energy from coal in early December last year, and 22% in 2021, an increase which will no doubt increase over the next decade. (WSJ, Dec. 22, 2022)
FOR FURTHER REFERENCE
