Netanyahu’s Trip to Washington
As you read these words, Prime Minister Netanyahu will be on your side of the ocean, visiting the United States. Whenever an Israeli prime minister meets with an American president in Washington, the significance of the visit ranges from important to critical; it is never a trivial occasion. I have been reading about meetings in the past between Israeli premiers and American presidents, and I have seen that a single intelligent sentence—or a single foolish sentence—can make an enormous difference on the decisions made in the White House regarding matters such as monetary aid to Israel, to say nothing of actual defensive aid. Despite the high stakes, anyone who has emunah will have no fear; on the contrary, he will recognize that the hearts of kings and officers are in the hands of Hashem. Nevertheless, the people of Israel are monitoring Netanyahu’s visit to Washington with a degree of trepidation.
Their apprehension has nothing to do with the fact that Netanyahu is being hosted yet another time in the Blair House. Nor is it due to the fact that this is one of the first trips made by Israel’s official prime ministerial aircraft, Wing of Zion. Nor is it even because Netanyahu recently went through surgery and the public is concerned about how he is recovering. (Indeed, everyone looked carefully to see how he would climb the steps to the plane, and while Netanyahu did not hold on to a banister, his posture was somewhat stooped.) Rather, the real cause of their apprehension was the mosaic of circumstances that formed the backdrop to Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump: the hostage deal with Hamas, the Iranian nuclear threat, and the peace agreements that Trump is planning. It is that Netanyahu will be at Trump’s mercy.
Before boarding the plane, Netanyahu held a small press conference. “I am leaving for Washington now for a very important meeting with President Trump,” he said. “This will be his first meeting with a foreign head of state since his inauguration, and that has great significance for the State of Israel. First of all, it is a testament to the strength of the alliance between Israel and the United States. Second, it also attests to the power of the bond between us, a bond that has already produced great things for the State of Israel and the region, and that has brought about the historic Abraham Accords between Israel and four Arab countries, which were spearheaded by President Trump. I believe that we will also discuss the critical issues that are facing us: defeating Hamas, bringing our hostages home, and dealing with the Iranian axis with all its components, which is threatening the security of Israel, the Middle East, and the entire world.”
Was it wise for Netanyahu to reveal everything that he plans to discuss with Trump in the Oval Office? We must hope that Netanyahu knows what he is doing. In any event, he added, “The decisions that we made during the war, together with the heroism of the soldiers of the IDF, have already changed the face of the Middle East. It has been changed beyond recognition. I think that if we work hard together with President Trump, we will be able to change it further for the better. We can strengthen the security of Israel, we can widen the circle of peace even more, and we can usher in a wonderful era that we never dreamed of seeing. It can be an era of prosperity, security, and peace based on power—the power of our soldiers, the power of our citizens, the power of Israel, and the power of the alliance between Israel and the United States.” Netanyahu ended his statement, as is customary in America, with the declaration, “With Hashem’s help, we will be successful.”
Hostile Reporter Barred from Flight
Netanyahu’s trip began with a bit of a hitch. It seems that Netanyahu’s office decided to punish a reporter for Channel 13, a woman who has been undeniably hostile to Netanyahu, by excluding her from the flight. The other reporters who were permitted to join the expedition were required to pay their own fares, unlike in the past. As soon as the plane took off, the news station publicized the events that had taken place behind the scenes and condemned the prime minister’s office for its behavior, which they characterized as part of an ongoing feud between the office and the reporter. They claimed that the office decided to exact revenge on the news station by insisting that Netanyahu’s trip abroad would be covered only by the channel’s correspondent in America.
The mutual animosity between Channel 13 and the Prime Minister’s Office reached its peak last week, when journalist Ran Boker reported that Netanyahu’s staff had detained the hostile reporter for questioning, accusing her of searching through the office of his spokesman in the Kirya in Tel Aviv. Netanyahu’s office later announced that they had decided to exclude her from his trip to America. This led the news channel to demand that the PMO complete its inquiry into the reporter’s activities. At the same time, many other political reporters rushed to defend their colleague. When Netanyahu’s plane took off, however, it became clear that Netanyahu’s staff hadn’t given in, and the news channel continued denouncing the behavior of the Prime Minister’s Office. “Channel 13 has called on the PMO to complete its inquiry before the flight, or to allow her to join the flight and to continue the inquiry after their return,” the editors wrote in a public statement. “The office chose to ban the correspondent from the plane, which is a national resource, and to pass judgment on her before the facts were in. Compounding the absurdity is the fact that the PMO offered to include her in the prime minister’s entourage and to grant her access to limited briefings, provided that she takes a civilian flight. She was even promised a seat on Wing of Zion on the return trip. We could not agree to this absurdity. The visit will be covered by a correspondent in the United States.”
The Prime Minister’s Office responded, “We were shocked to see that it wasn’t enough that this reporter was caught snooping and searching through classified documents in the prime minister’s office, and that she didn’t even apologize for it, but she even had the audacity to claim that it was approved by the prime minister’s spokesman. That, of course, is a brazen lie…. After she was caught by the security cameras rummaging through the drawers and the office of the prime minister’s spokesman without approval, the security division of this office gave orders to prevent her from accessing classified facilities, including the Wing of Zion plane.”
It seems that Netanyahu’s office has begun to take lessons from Trump on how to deal with irritating reporters.
New Draft Law Still Shrouded in Uncertainty
A secular newspaper in Israel recently featured an opinion piece (which, I might add, was utterly foolish) drawing a connection between the second stage of the hostage release deal and the chareidi representatives’ positions on the hostages, the government’s quandary concerning the draft law, and President Trump. The following is a quote from this secular publication, which is ostensibly one of Israel’s more respected newspapers: “The battle over the second stage of the hostage deal will be determined before the parallel fight over the draft evasion law [the disparaging term that the chilonim insist on attaching to the law concerning draft exemptions for yeshiva bochurim, as part of their ongoing incitement and malicious subliminal messaging]. In the interim, the conflict surrounding that law between the chareidi and religious Zionist parties is heating up. The chareidim support continuing the deal, but the link that has been created between the fate of the coalition and the return of the hostages might mean that President Trump will be the one to decide the fate of the draft.”
I haven’t written about the draft law in a while, for several reasons. Perhaps my main reason is that the exact details of the law taking shape in the legislative committee have yet to be publicized. I am not certain if even the minister of defense is aware of the exact formulation of the law at this time. But it is moving through the process, and I can only say that we must daven for Hashem to protect us all.
The subject of the hostages in Gaza is occupying the attention of every citizen in Israel, for we are all concerned about all Jews, wherever they might be. Last Thursday, we all rejoiced when three hostages returned to Israel (Agam Berger, Arbel Yehud, and Gadi Moses). On motzoei Shabbos, we danced with joy at the news that three more hostages had been released: Ofer Calderon, American citizen Keith Siegel, and Yarden Bibas. Of course, we are all waiting for the remaining hostages named in the first phase of the deal to return home, and for the second phase to be signed and implemented so that the remaining hostages (most of whom are probably no longer alive) will return. Tears of joy and sadness are mingling together these days for the people of Israel. The overwhelming emotions running through this country are indescribable.
The Driest Winter in a Century
My next topic might seem like a relatively marginal issue, but it can be a matter of life and death: It hasn’t been raining in Israel. The rainfall this winter has been much sparser than expected and has fallen short of meeting the country’s needs by far. Israel has a Water Authority, and its director, Yechezkel Lifschitz, tried to calm the public. “We don’t expect disruptions in the supply of water of the citizens of this country,” he said. “Even if we experience a few more years of drought, the Water Authority will be able to respond to all the citizens’ needs.”
Nevertheless, Lifschitz admitted that he is worried. Israel is currently experiencing the driest winter in the past hundred years. Not only has the Kinneret level failed to rise during the winter months, it has actually dropped 38 centimeters below its position at the beginning of the rainy season. Lifshitz said, “In our forecast at the beginning of the season, we projected that there would be less rainfall this year than the average, but even our grimmest projections didn’t predict how bad this winter would be.”
Here are some statistics: By the end of January, the country had received only about half the quantity of rain that is typically expected by that time. As a result, the water level in the Kinneret rose by only two centimeters, and the measured flow of the Jordan River was at its lowest since 1960. The Kinneret has received only 18 centimeters of rainfall since the beginning of the season, and its water level has dropped by 38 centimeters. The dry winter was especially pronounced in the south. Idan Greenbaum, chairman of the Kinneret Municipal Union, added, “Every day, we are watching with worry as the water level steadily drops. We understand that instead of beginning the beach season with a high water level, as we have done in previous years, we will have to begin it on a low level, near the red line. During these days, we are increasing the volume of desalination… Next year, a seventh desalination plant will be added in the western Galil and we hope to use it to provide a complete solution for the increased demand and projected decrease in precipitation. We are also working on building an eighth desalination plant in Emek Chefer.”
It should come as no surprise, then that the Badatz of the Eidah Chareidis called on the public to add a special tefillah for rainfall to the Shemoneh Esrei. This week, gedolei Yisroel called on the nation to daven extensively and to engage in acts of tzedokah and chessed on behalf of the country’s inhabitants in general, and especially for the farmers who observe the Torah’s agricultural mitzvos, for Hashem to remove His wrath and shower their fields with rain.
New Chief of Staff Appointment Shakes Up the IDF
As I mentioned last week, Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi recently announced that he will be stepping down from his position as head of the IDF. I can now tell you that the prime minister and the minister of defense have chosen his replacement, a man named Eyal Zamir. Zamir, who serves as director-general of the Ministry of Defense, seems to be coming to the job from outside the army, but he is a retired general in the IDF and was a candidate for this position in the past, and has also served as a deputy chief of staff. And there is good reason that the position has been given to someone who was not a uniformed officer on Simchas Torah 5784.
Zamir will be the 24th chief of staff of the IDF, and what is unusual about his appointment is that he is almost the first chief of staff in IDF history to have served in the armored corps. Zamir is closely acquainted with the IDF’s senior brass, having served under them or alongside them in the course of his various positions. He is known to be extremely strict about military discipline, faithful to the classic principles of the army, and a strong believer in showing strength.
One of his first tasks will be the appointment of a deputy chief of staff. The leading candidate for that position at the moment is General Tamir Yadai, who was also a candidate for the position of chief of staff that was ultimately awarded to Zamir. His next order of business will be the appointment of various teams to evaluate certain important issues, including the subject of the chareidi draft, which has remained a hot topic for a long time. A team will also have to assess the IDF’s readiness for a strike on Iran. Zamir will also have to deal with the investigations into the army’s failure at the time of last year’s massacre, including the decisions that will have to be made regarding top officers in the army and how to restore the public’s trust in the army. It is believed that the new chief of staff will delve into the inquiries that have already been conducted into the events of the night before October 7, 2023, and it is possible that he will insist on further probes in order to uncover the full truth about that night.
His fourth task will be determining the character of the general staff. At the very beginning of his term, he will have to reinforce public trust in the IDF and its top brass following the historic failure of October 7. This will involve probing a number of senior figures including the commander of the Southern Command, the commander of the Northern Command, the head of the IDF’s operational division, and possibly other officials who had direct or indirect connections to the failures in question. Many sources in the IDF believe that Zamir’s involvement will lead to the resignation of quite a few senior officials.
Attempted Murder in the Jordan Valley
About two weeks ago, Rav Hillel Cohen was almost murdered on Route 90, the Jordan Valley Road, which connects Yerushalayim to Teveria and leads to Meron. Rav Hillel is a Breslover chassid originally from Beitar Illit and was one of the most prominent askonim in Kyiv, Ukraine, until the war broke out there. He is the founder of United Hatzolah of Ukraine and of the youth organization in Mezhibuzh. Since the war began in Ukraine, he has been in Eretz Yisroel and has opened a yeshiva for bochurim with special needs in Meron. On the day of the near-fatal attack, he was on his way to the yeshiva from Beitar when he pulled over to the side of the road due to a malfunction in his car, and a homemade explosive was hurled at him. The media reported laconically, “A 45-year-old man was moderately wounded after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at his car on Route 90 near Uja a-Tachta. An MDA team evacuated him to Shaare Zedek where he was found to be suffering from third-degree burns on about 18 percent of his body.” Despite the relatively mild nature of the term, even “moderate” wounds can cause terrible suffering.
I visited Rav Hillel last week in Herzog Hospital, where he was in the rehabilitation ward. After hovering between life and death for a long time, he had been moved to Herzog, and he had just managed to begin walking—or perhaps hobbling—this week, with the aid of a walker. It was very saddening to see such an active man confined to a bed. At the same time, I was happy to see that he had miraculously survived.
This week, MK Simon Moshiashivili sent a parliamentary query to the minister of national security about the incident. “Are the police aware of the background to this incident?” he asked. “Were there similar incidents that occurred on the same road in recent years? Is this incident under investigation? If so, what has the investigation determined? What is being done to guarantee the safety of motorists on the Jordan Valley Road? Have the police apprehended the arsonists or the perpetrators responsible for attacking the victim, who was severely burned?”
Despite his question about the background to the incident, no one has the slightest doubt that this was a nationalistic crime. The query was submitted simply because the investigation hasn’t gotten off the ground. Hillel’s cell phone was held by the police for a long period of time and was returned to him only due to the intervention of Chaim Bleicher of Honenu, the legal aid organization run by Shmuel Meidad (who bears the nickname “Zangi”), whom I once interviewed for this newspaper. Moshiashvili was informed at first that his query had been frozen since there was no minister to deal with it; the position of national security minister was recently vacated by Itamar Ben-Gvir. On Monday, Chaim Katz was temporarily assigned the national security portfolio, and the query reached its destination. We will now have to wait to learn the response. Meanwhile, Rav Hillel Cohen (Hillel ben Liora) is recuperating and is suffering greatly. He has a long road ahead of him before he will be able to properly walk, stand, or sit again; he will need extensive rehabilitation and physical therapy to achieve those goals.
A Pro-Israel Muslim Country
Much attention has been focused recently on the problematic tendency for government ministers to evade responding to parliamentary queries. I have mentioned a number of queries sent by members of UTJ and Shas that did not receive responses. In the process of researching this subject, I came across two more queries that have gone for over half a year without receiving responses. In this case, perhaps they have been ignored due to their sensitive topics.
Azerbaijan is a Muslim country that is extremely friendly to Israel. The Jewish community in Azerbaijan works hard to benefit their country, which naturally leads the government to take a favorable attitude toward them as well. The Jews of Azerbaijan also try to leverage Israel’s influence in Washington on behalf of their country. That makes it all the more puzzling that Azerbaijan found its way onto a list of countries subject to a travel warning for Israeli citizens, which was the topic of the first unanswered query.
Simon Moshiashvili is a member of the Knesset who hails originally from Georgia, which may be the reason that he feels a degree of kinship with the Jewish community in Azerbaijan. He is the author of the two neglected queries, one of which is introduced with the following statement: “The Jews live in security in Azerbaijan and are able to walk around freely in public. Azerbaijan is a friendly and sought-after country, and there are many daily flights to there from Israel. That is in spite of the fact that it shares a border with Iran (like Armenia, which is not on the list of travel warnings). The inclusion of Azerbaijan on the list of travel warnings, even at the lowest classification, is an injustice to a country that consistently maintains excellent relations with Israel and its citizens.”
The second query was directed to the minister of foreign affairs at the time. “Is Israel monitoring the apparent change in policy in Armenia?” Moshiashvili asked. “Do these concerns have any basis? Is Israel working through any channels following the reports of the agreement? What is Israeli’s position in light of these negative signs?”
Neither of these queries has been answered yet.
Eliyohu Bruchi’s Proposed Law
I enjoy perusing the various bills submitted by members of the Knesset. Every week, the list of newly introduced bills includes quite a few contributions from the chareidi political parties. Some of these laws pass through their preliminary readings and then are transferred to committees and reviewed in the Knesset for their first, second, and third readings. The chareidi MKs are among the most prolific lawmakers in the country, and many of their legal measures are designed to benefit the weaker sectors of the population.
While some of the laws introduced in the Knesset are admirable and beneficial, others are downright absurd. Here is the text of one bill that was submitted by a member of the Knesset: “Any government agency that has the authority to make decisions regarding the release of the hostages in captivity shall do everything in its power to secure the hostages’ freedom and to refrain from abandoning them.” Forgive me for saying this, but this bill is ludicrous. There is no one in this country who doesn’t yearn for the hostages to be released. What is the purpose of this law? To force the government to accept a deal at any price?
And there are some laws that are not only bizarre but actually malicious. A certain member of the Knesset from a staunchly secular party, who happens to wear a yarmulke, submitted a bill calling for the establishment of a state-run chareidi school system. Personally, I always find it concerning when others from outside the chareidi community attempt to “help” the chareidim by educating them in their own spirit. I didn’t even need to read the text of the bill to understand its agenda; the author’s name told me everything I needed to know. As the saying goes, we do not need this person’s honey any more than we need his sting.
To date, there have been a whopping 5500 bills submitted to the Knesset during its current term. MK Tzvi Sukkot authored a bill that would require the Shin Bet and the Prison Service to allow any member of the Knesset to visit any prisoner in a prison or jail, a privilege that is already enjoyed by judges but that they rarely utilize. It will be interesting to see what happens to this bill if Sukkot is removed from the Knesset, even if it is only for a single day. In that scenario, it is quite possible that he will have to resubmit his proposals. The introductory comments explain that an identical bill was introduced in a previous Knesset by MK Yinon Azulai and was recycled by Tzvi Sukkot in the current term. The original inspiration was probably Azulai’s father, the late Reb Dovid Azulai, who was known for his profound concern for the welfare of prisoners. Copying old bills is standard procedure in the Knesset; in fact, another new bill submitted this week came from Iman Khatib-Yassin, who wrote that she had copied a bill written by Yoni Mashriki. By now, Mashriki has managed to push the bill through its preliminary reading. This particular bill has the potential to save lives!
No review of the bills that have reached the Knesset would be complete without an examination of the prodigious products of Eliyohu Bruchi’s legislative pen. Bruchi’s bills include proposals touching on a wide range of topics such as enabling doctors to treat patients above the age of 15 without their parents being present, requiring every ATM to accept cash deposits, requiring the National Insurance Institute to coordinate the taxes paid by multiple employers, requiring prisons to allow every inmate to daven and observe mitzvos (this would include providing the inmates with siddurim, seforim, tzitzis, and tefillin), and obligating commercial chains to publicize their sales figures. The common denominator of all these bills is the fact that they are shaped by a pragmatic perspective and a desire to protect and aid average, ordinary citizens. Another interesting bill that Bruchi proposed would require newlywed couples to be granted free admission to national parks, nature reserves, and memorial sites. It is good news for Israel that there is another legislator following the example of Uri Maklev, who has acquired a reputation for his own concern for the needs of the average citizen.
Tens of Thousands Visit Baba Sali’s Grave in Netivot
This Sunday was the 41st yahrtzeit of the Baba Sali, Rav Yisroel Abuchatzeirah of Netivot, and the number of visitors at his gravesite this year was much larger than in recent years. During the period of the coronavirus, it was impossible to visit his grave on his yahrtzeit. Last year, there was great concern about the danger of missile fire, but the government decided to permit the site to be opened to the public. The Ministry of Religious Affairs projected that it would receive about 140,000 visitors, a figure that turned out to be fairly accurate. This year, they projected that there would be even more visitors, and it seems that their estimation was correct once again. Last year, I personally visited the tziyun (and wrote about it), but this year I did not make the trip. The Baba Sali’s hillula has become one of the most significant annual events in Israel, drawing a huge and highly diverse crowd every year. This year, as his 41st yahrtzeit was marked, there was much talk about davening at his kever for unity within the nation and Divine mercy for all of Klal Yisroel.
On motzoei Shabbos and Sunday, tens of thousands of people converged on the Baba Sali’s gravesite in the southern city of Netivot. The rabbonim warned the public in advance to refrain from violating Shabbos or from causing the security forces to work on Shabbos, and the people were therefore asked to refrain from arriving until some time had passed after the end of Shabbos. The train to Netivot, which had ceased operating after the war began, resumed its operation in honor of the event. For visitors traveling by car, three designated parking areas were opened, with free shuttle service to the tziyun.
The event ran smoothly, and everyone spoke highly of the two main entities responsible for overseeing it: the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the police. Information stands were set up in the area, and teams of skilled ushers helped the mispallelim reach the tziyun safely. The security presence in the area was beefed up, and the police, IDF, Home Front Command, and defensive services collaborated closely to ensure that the event would be a success.
The minister of religious affairs, Michoel Malchieli, and the police commander of the southern district lit a candle together in the vicinity of the kever. Malchieli said, “It was a great privilege for us to be partners in preparing for the tzaddik’s hillula, especially in these days, when Am Yisroel is in desperate need of a major salvation. The preparations for the hillula were conducted in professional collaboration with a variety of bodies including the Israel Police Force and the municipality of Netivot. The mispallelim who came to participate in the hillula dedicated their tefillos to the safe return of the hostages and the safety and well-being of the security personnel.”
Property Tax Doubles in Yerushalayim
Rav Gershon Edelstein often quoted the mishnah in Pirkei Avos that states, “This is the path of Torah: Eat bread with salt, drink water in small measure, sleep on the ground, and live a life of hardship while you toil over the Torah. If you do this, you will be happy and it will be good for you. You will be happy in this world, and it will be good for you in the World to Come.” Rav Gershon often pointed out that while it seems incongruous to claim that a person will be happy in this world with such a life, it is truly the case. What sounds like a life of privation and hardship is actually the best and most rewarding way to live. Personally, I was always troubled by this, since Rav Ovadiah Bartenura’s peirush on the mishnah seems to imply that it is not an ideal situation. He explains, “This does not mean that a wealthy man should live a life of hardship for the purpose of learning Torah. Rather, it means that even if a person has only bread with salt and the like, he should not refrain from learning Torah, for he will ultimately learn it in a state of affluence.”
In any event, Israeli society provides copious examples of the reality described in this mishnah. Thousands upon thousands of people in this country spend their days learning Torah while living in poverty. Many yungeleit with large families live on shoestring budgets, carefully weighing every expense in light of their exceedingly meager incomes, and the situation is only growing more challenging. The skyrocketing cost of living has hiked up the weekly price tag of a basic basket of groceries by hundreds of shekels, a sum that they cannot afford, and the problem is compounded by the fact that the government grants on which they subsisted have been slashed dramatically by order of the court.
To make matters even worse, a yungerman living in a new apartment in an old, rundown neighborhood in Yerushalayim will now see his property taxes doubled. If his wife is employed, then he will not even be able to claim an exemption as a member of a kollel. For an apartment whose annual property tax bill stood at 4000 shekels in previous years, the current year’s rate has jumped to a staggering 8000 shekels, placing the unfortunate residents under suffocating economic pressure. It seems that the municipality of Yerushalayim has decided that anyone who lives in a new apartment—i.e., an apartment built in the year 2020 or later—will now be required to pay double the tax. It does not matter if the residents are poor and received the apartment as an inheritance, or if it was gifted to them; the new tax is indiscriminate. The municipality claims that this policy is based on a directive they received from the minister of the interior. The interior minister, however, told me that this isn’t an accurate portrayal. “The municipality wrote the proposal and then brought it to me to sign,” he said. “If the members of the city council didn’t put their collective foot down, why would I do anything of the sort?” he asked. Maybe because one of the reasons he was elected was to help the citizens.
One can only hope that Mayor Moshe Leon, who enjoys tremendous popularity, will agree that it was a rash, thoughtless move and will overturn the tax hike. At the very least, one hopes that he will make a move to assist the thousands of poor yungeleit who live in new apartments that they did not buy—either as renters or as heirs—and for which they cannot afford to pay the tax. Their cries of desperation, even if unvoiced, are unmistakable.
