CAROLYNE DAVIS’S THOUGHTS ON EARLY 2023 IN ISRAEL
As they say “every cloud has a silver lining”, and Harry and Meghan have done Israel a huge favour, as the UK news has taken its toxic focus off Israel and moved it to the non stop reporting about these two disturbed, highly privileged individuals, who have chosen to hang the “firm’s” dirty laundry out for all to see.
It is surprising just how many people have purchased the book, and the depth of interest, but Brits have a vested interest in the Royal Family as they represents the Head of State and are part of the British national life and psyche.
The interest the media and people show in Israel is even more surprising. Everyone seems to have an opinion on how to solve the Arab/Israeli conflict, and the mere mention of Palestinians promotes cries of protests and accusations towards the Jewish State. Neither based on evidence or accurate history. In fact, evidence and history are just pushed away.
Such is the public appetite to believe whatever they want and to focus on events that they have zero connection to. We witnessed this when Princess Diana died: the grief was palpable, but as Prince Harry rightly said , these people didn’t even know her. They had bought into her story, as today they are buying into Harry’s and are constantly buying into the Arab and left wing propaganda surrounding Israel.
Careless slinging around of phases like “tinpot dictatorship” even by those who claim to support Israel is dangerous. Bibi was elected fairly through the electoral system that operates in Israel. Claims that he is trashing democracy are nonsense. We have just had an alternative coalition in place and he clearly abided by the results. We had no January 6th here in Israel after any elections. Each person was free to vote for whom they preferred. Those who voted for Bibi consented to the mix of ministers he has chosen as it was clear the centre would not sit with him. Those who did not want to see this government in power voted for others. But Likud gained the most votes and he has made a government and the sky has not yet fallen in.
There are members of his coalitions who morally should not be in public office. But that is no different to so many politicians around the world. Biden is accused with his son of various misdemeanours , as yet not proven, but there is plenty of evidence that some skulduggery was at play.
Trump was accused of groping women and his tax affairs are clearly dodgy but nevertheless he was President of the USA. The current president Lula of Brazil had been convicted but the world welcomed his election.
None of this makes having people accused of crimes being in positions of power more acceptable but we cannot and should not single out Israel.
Rather than the hysteria about what this new government will do, we should focus on what they are actually doing and saying.
Netanyahu plans to confront the cost of living crisis as follows :
Freezing the rise in municipal taxes.
Lowering the price of gas/petrol at the pumps by 10 agorot per liter.
Reducing by 70% the increase in electricity (2.5% instead of 8.2%) and water (1% instead of 3.5%).
Other savings will reduce national insurance and health payments.
The cost of educating children from the ages 0-3 for working parents will be free.
He is also addressing the “pay to slay” policy and now each shekel that the PA choose to give to terrorists as a reward for killing Jews, will come directly from their own budget. “In the diplomatic sphere, the Security Cabinet convened last Thursday and decided on a series of measures against the Palestinian Authority for advancing a radical anti-Israel decision at the U.N.,”
The UN are very happy to call emergency meetings on Israel for just about anything. They immediately called an emergency meeting when Ben Gvir (Minister of National Security ) walked for 15 minutes on the Temple Mount. This in no way warranted an emergency meeting and it should be remembered that Jerusalem is the sovereign capital of the State of Israel.
The administration and care of Al Aqsa mosque was placed in the hands of the Islamic Waqf. However, the complex has been weaponised as a political tool against Israel and is used as a rallying call to violence and intifada by the PA and Hamas and all the other radical extremist groups.
Prior to 1948 Jerusalem was under the control of the British. During the period that the Jordanians controlled East Jerusalem (1949-1967), it was of no significant importance to the Muslim world and the Old City was left as a rubbish dump by the Arabs. Jews could not go to the Western Wall to pray. Today the holy sites are open to everyone regardless of faith or ethnicity except for the Jordanian controlled Temple Mount, who make every effort to ban anyone who is not a believer of Islam.
When Israel reunited Jerusalem it was agreed that the Jordanian Waqf should have custodian rights to the mosque and the Christian holy sites. This is a mistake that dates back to 1967, when Israel held out an olive branch to Jordan. Israel has learnt since then that any attempt to give something in exchange for peace is seen as weakness and ultimately used against Israel.
It is a difficult subject as the holiest site in Judaism is in fact, under that mosque that was built on the site of the ancient Jewish Holy Temple. Some rabbis says it is too holy to tread on that ground and others disagree. Undoubtedly, it was provocative of Ben Gvir to go there and he used it as a political statement, but the reaction was not proportionate, and we must calm the rhetoric as hysteria causes unrest and plays into the lie that Israel is trying to destroy the mosque.
In response to the walk, Jordanian MP, Yanel Frihat, called Jews "Sons of monkeys and pigs," and threatened that Jordan will join with Palestinians by "responding with lead bullets" and that "Jordanians will become suicide bombers for Al Aqsa!” This is in no way a proportional reaction to a 15 minute walk and shows how fragile the peace between Israel and Jordan remains.
The argument really is not about the Al Aqsa mosque, but it is convenient to use it to stir the rage of the Arabs and the outside world. Ben Gvir’s walk was to hammer home the point that while the Jordanians may have custodial rights over the holy sites, the whole of Temple Mount nevertheless remains fully under Israeli sovereignty. A Jew or Christian should be able to walk on this mount , and if they wish to say a prayer whilst doing so, then there should be no ethnic or religious barriers.
Ben Gvir is a hard line nationalist who wants Israel to take a strong line regardless of the outside opinions. He has since said, “It is inconceivable that lawbreakers will wave terrorist flags, incite and encourage terrorism, and therefore I ordered the removal of the flags of support for terrorism from the public space and to stop the incitement against the State of Israel. Identifying with a terrorist and harming IDF soldiers is not covered under freedom of speech.”
While Bibi will give him a certain amount of leeway, he is still a clever and crafty politician who will not allow this coalition to do “too much harm” to Israel’s national standing, that he fought so hard to bring about. Israel is now a partner on the world stage, The Abraham Accords stand testimony to the progress Israel has made in this area alone.
Israel participated as a major partner in the Middle East Summit in Abu Dhabi in which senior diplomats from the United States, Egypt, Bahrain, Morocco and Israel were hosted by the leadership of the United Arab Emirates to discuss regional development in food security and water technology, clean energy, tourism, health, education and coexistence, and regional security.
Internally, there is a bill being proposed that would change the way the Supreme Court President and the judges are elected . Currently, longest serving judge becomes President when the sitting President retires, but the proposals are that the government will choose the new President. It also proposes protecting the law itself from the Supreme Court, which in itself prevents the Hight Court from accessing if this law goes against Basic Law, as determined in the Declaration of Independence.These changes would allow this government to enact laws without hinderance. In the past 30 years, the Supreme Court has intervened in 21 proposed laws.
It is always a worry when governments try to grant themselves more power and fiddle with constitutional rights and the judiciary . This ultimately could lead to a constitutional crisis but Israel is unlikely to fall into dictatorship as the people are too involved. Petitions by judges and protests are already being planned.
So many changes so quickly, are of course causing concerns and anti government protests are planned in Tel Aviv for this weekend. There needs to be open and thorough discussion of the proposed reforms so the judiciary is balanced, which currently it is not as the judges who appoint themselves from within themselves.
Another worry is concerning LGBTQ rights, but as Amir Ohana was elected as the first openly gay Speaker of the Knesset, the concerns are unfounded.Netanyahu loyalists pledged that LBGTQ rights will not be infringed. Most residents in Jerusalem have not been happy hosting the Gay Pride, and as the city is mostly religious, it is understandable that they do not want a march, with scantily clad people promoting sexual preferences that are against their beliefs, in their city. Netanyahu, however , has said the march will go ahead in 2023. Just because some sections of society do not believe what other sections believe ,does not automatically spell a loss of civil rights for one group or another.
Control of policy in the West Bank is being discussed as Smotrich is being given control over building in that area . Previously, the PM had the final say over building and could nix any proposals, we will find out if Bibi has really passed power to this minister from a different party or it is just words and presentation.
The whole electoral system is Israel is flawed, as it passes the balance of power to smaller parties,( mostly extreme) whose co-operation is needed to make up a government. In recent years Likud always gains the most votes and if Israel wants a balanced government then the centre parties must agree to sit with the Likud. That way these small extreme parties that are punching well above their weight would not an opportunity to bring about extreme reforms that threaten the status quo.
Shabbat Shalom