Ok, maybe not so subliminal.

It is a little hard to conceptualize this idea, that the very laws of physics, of the world turning and revolving around the sun is not automatic, but only occurs due to the constant will of G-d. But perhaps it is easier to understand this phrase if we apply it to the modern state of Israel.

Every single day that the Jewish state continues to exist cannot be explained adequately with historical or social or military reasons. Which means that we are witnessing a miracle every day.

The most recent years have been very hard for Zionists, as well as for religious Zionists. Some have been having a crisis of faith in Zionism, given the actions of the current government. Yet when we step back and look at the big picture, Israel remains something to be very proud of.

Yes, I am a Zionist and I am proud of it.

I know that Israel has the absolute right to exist in peace and security, just like – and possibly more than – any other country.

I am proud of how the IDF is conducting itself during the current war on Palestinian terror. There is no other country on the planet, save the US, that would try to minimize civilian casualties in such a situation where innocent Israelis are being threatened, shot at, mortared, rocketed, and murdered in cold blood. We may argue whether the IDF’s moral standards end up being counterproductive, but what other army could one even have this discussion about?

I am proud of how the IDF is performing doing the most difficult type of battle, urban warfare, while maintaining amazing professionalism under fire and minimizing its own casualties. I defy anyone to find any other nation who has performed as well — and as ethically — under similar circumstances as Israel has done during the current conflict.

I am proud that Israel remains a true democracy, with a free press and vigorous opposition parties, while in a constant war situation. Any other nation, again besides the US, would have imposed martial law to maintain peace.

I am proud of how the IDF responded to the terror attacks of the early days fo the intifada, managing to bring deadly suicide attacks down from 60 in 2002 down to a single attack in 2007. The enemy has not stopped trying, and if Israel hadn’t acted decisively things would look like Iraq today. For every “successful” attack (if you can use such a term) there have been many failed attempts, and these are truly miraculous.

I am also proud of how ordinary Israelis responded to the dark days of 2002-2004. People who lost loved one created charities in their honor; responding to horror with amazing strength and selflessness.

I am proud that Israel will investigate any mistakes that happen on the battlefield and keep trying to improve its methods to maximize damage to the terrorists while minimizing damage to the Palestinian people. And over the years of the “intifada” we can see that the number of civilians killed accidentally by Israel has gone down dramatically. I challenge anyone to find an example of a country that was as restrained under these circumstances as Israel has been.

I am proud that Israel takes steps to stop vigilante actions from its own citizens living in impossible conditions.

And, of course, I am proud of Israel’s many accomplishments in building up a desert wasteland into a thriving and vibrant modern country, with its many scientific achievements, world class universities and culture. A tiny nation, under constant siege, with almost no natural resources besides breathtaking beauty, has used its brains – and strength – to build a modern success story. In a short period of time Israel made itself into a strong yet open nation that its neighbors can only dream of becoming.

I am proud that the vast majority of Americans support Israel as I do, and that the rabid terror-lovers we see on the Internet are the aberration.

There is a right and a wrong in this conflict, and I am proud that Israel is in the right.

Right after the Jewish prayer phrase I quoted above is this one: ‘ מה רבו מעשיך ה , “How great are Your works, O G-d.” It is easy to find faults but in the big picture, the accomplishments are remarkable and need to be highlighted.

The word “Zionist” is not an epithet – it is a compliment.

Dear Israel,

Sorry I am not there to celebrate with you. But if it’s any consolation, I miss you like hell.

Love,

David

At 11AM this morning, a 2-minute siren wailed and Israelis stood silently and remembered the fallen. While I was on the other side of the globe this year, I can tell you it is an unbelievable experience and something I am so proud of as an Israeli.

To fathom what it is like to have a country stop for 2 minutes and pay respects to its fallen, here is a video taken this morning in a town in central Israel.

Probably the largest flight of Arabs occurred in Jaffa in April and May of 1948, and many websites have weepy articles about how the Jews drove the Arabs out of Jaffa, reducing its Arab population from 75,000 to less than 5,000.

What will not be mentioned is the fact that the first refugees from Jaffa were Jews.

In August, 1947, the Arabs started shooting at Jews in Jaffa. Since Jaffa was a predominantly Arab town, the lives of the Jews there were particularly precarious. Arab snipers shot from the minaret of a mosque in the Manshieh Quarter and forced 18 Jewish families to leave the city.

For three months, the families (except for the children) had to sleep outside, until accomodations were found for them in Tel Aviv.

The homes that belonged to the Jews were meanwhile occupied by Arabs.

From the Palestine Post:

Things quieted down in anticipation of the UN decision on partition, as the Palestinian Arabs used political means to make sure that the Jewish state would never come to fruition. But as soon as the UN voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab nations, the Arabs attacked immediately, and once again the Jews of Jaffa bore the brunt.

This time, about 5000 Jews (mostly Yemenites) lost their homes, and the Jewish authorities scrambled to find accommodations for them.

Meanwhile, the Jaffa Arabs who left in November and December of 1947 were hardly “refugees.” They were upper-class Arabs who could afford to move to Amman and Damascus and Beirut, in anticipation of a repeat of the 1936-9 riots when they moved as well. Like in 1936, they expected to move back to their houses after things died down. By no stretch of the imagination can these people be regarded as “refugees” even though they are counted as such today.

Their move away from Jaffa affected the rest of the residents, though, as they closed their businesses and unemployment skyrocketed in the coming months. This was one of the major factors behind the mass flight from Jaffa in April and May, 1948.

But the first ones to be forced to leave their homes were not Palestinian Arabs, but Palestinian Jews.

Israel’s 60-Year Test – WSJ.com

… In May 2002, at the height of the so-called al-Aqsa Intifada, I reviewed Israeli and Palestinian casualty figures, sticking to Palestinian sources for Palestinian numbers and Israeli sources for Israeli ones. Much was then being made in the Western media of the fact that three times as many Palestinians as Israelis had been killed in the conflict – evidence, supposedly, that despite the suicide bombings, lynchings and roadside ambushes perpetrated daily against Israelis, Palestinians were the ones who really were getting it in the neck.

But drilling down into the data, something interesting turned up. At the time, 1,296 Palestinians had been killed by Israelis – of whom a grand total of 37, or 2.8%, were female. By contrast, of the 496 Israelis killed by Palestinians (including 138 soldiers and policemen), there were 126 female fatalities, or 25%.

To be female is a fairly reliable indicator of being a noncombatant. Females are also half the population. If Israel had been guilty of indiscriminate violence against Palestinians, the ratio of male-to-female fatalities would not have been 35-1.

Previously:

Olmert’s Idiot Look

Olmert’s Idiot Look

Olmert’s Idiot Look

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday said he would not let a new police investigation into his conduct prevent him from doing his job – his first public comments on an affair that has threatened to further weaken him politically as he tries to make peace with the Palestinians.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s arrival in the region this weekend only highlighted concerns that Olmert might be too weak to shepherd through a peace deal that would require Israel to cede long-held land to the Palestinians.

The investigation is the fifth against Olmert since his government took office exactly two years ago and the latest in a longer string of probes to dog him during his three decades in politics. He has not been charged in the most recent corruption investigations, and has never been convicted of wrongdoing.

Still, the corruption probes have hurt his standing, which also has been battered by the inconclusive 2006 war in Lebanon, and ongoing Palestinian rocket and mortar fire at Israel from the Gaza Strip.

—-

The affair touched off a media tempest, with newspaper front pages and radio stations focusing almost exclusively on Olmert’s new predicament. Political opponents quickly predicted that Olmert’s days at Israel’s helm were numbered.

Against the backdrop of this latest investigation, the prime minister canceled traditional Independence Day interviews with Israel Radio, Army Radio and the news Website Ynet. His office confirmed the cancellations, citing the gag order on the investigation.

—-

According to sources in Kadima “this is a blow to the party, which only now has begun to recuperate in the polls and rehabilitate itself from the damages of the Winograd [2006 Second Lebanon War probe] report. This affair sounds dramatic, and is not confined to Olmert. We are all hurt by it. Either this is really serious, or [Attorney General Menachem] Mazuz will have a lot of explaining to do about how a prime minister was almost arrested on Friday.”

—-

Associates of the prime minister said that precisely now, “when Olmert is finally on the right track and is promoting political processes, an investigation such as this is a painful blow.”

—-

According to sources close to the investigation, the evidence against the prime minister is “very serious.”

“The initial evidence collected has been sufficiently sound, and there is a real basis for the suspicions against Olmert,” a police source said.

Police said Saturday that they view this as the most serious case against the prime minister with the strongest evidence.

—-

A Justice Ministry source close to the investigation said Saturday that the PM is not likely to be interviewed again in the coming days. The source described the evidence against Olmert as “not insignificant.”

—-

Attorney Yehoshua Resnick, a former deputy state prosecutor, said Saturday that there is nothing wrong with urgent interviews, but acknowledged that he does not recall any instances in which a public figure was called in for questioning with the urgency that Olmert has been.

“In the past there have been quick interviews that were authorized by the State Prosecutor’s Office,” Resnick said. “For example, raids on a ministry where it was suspected material essential to an investigation was being destroyed. Such an urgent investigation is normally required to prevent coordination of testimonies with other suspects or the need to receive initial testimony from a suspect.

Meanwhile, according to the Jerusalem Post, one of Olmert’s tactics is disguising himself.

Total Recall, anyone?

(thanks to David for sending me this latest Jerusalem Post screw-up)

Here’s his latest:

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations called former President Jimmy Carter “a bigot” for meeting with the leader of the militant Hamas movement in Syria.

Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, “went to the region with soiled hands and came back with bloody hands after shaking the hand of Khaled Mashaal, the leader of Hamas,” Ambassador Dan Gillerman told reporters at a luncheon briefing Thursday.

—-

The ambassador called last weekend’s encounter “a very sad episode in American history.”

He said it was “a shame” to see Carter, who had done “good things” as a former president, “turn into what I believe to be a bigot.”

Telephone calls by The Associated Press to two Atlanta numbers for Carter were not immediately returned Thursday.

During Carter’s visit, Gillerman said, Hamas “was shelling our cities and maiming and injuring and wounding Israeli babies and Israeli children.”

Actually, Gillerman is not completely correct. The hands of Arafat’s “dear friend” were well and truly bloodied before visiting Hamas. And Carter did not do good things even as a president, let alone as a former one.

Given my blood pressure at the moment, I am not sure I will be able to express my disdain for Olmet and this foolish act articulately enough. So I’ll quote Knesset Member Effie Eitam of the National Union-NRP, who said Olmert is sacrificing Israel’s safety in a “desperate attempt to show his constituents some sort of a political achievement… He is willing to give up the one strategic asset which has kept the northern border quiet for the past 40 years.”

I cannot stress the Golan Heights strategic value enough. Militarily, its high-altitude topography serves as a blockade against a Syrian military attack, the importance of which has increased due to advances in ballistic technology. It also enables Israel to keep track of Syrian military movements. In addition, the Sea of Galilee borders the southwestern Golan and provides one-third of Israel’s fresh water supply. The Golan’s fertile land has also enabled Israel to expand her agricultural sector, with approximately 40% of Israeli beef, 30% of Israeli fruit and 38% of Israeli wine exports coming from this region.

And what did Olmert ask for in return?

According to the officials, who confirmed that messages from Jerusalem to Damascus and vice versa have been going through Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office for months, Israel made clear that any peace agreement would necessitate Syria ending its support for Hamas and throwing Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal out of Damascus; ceasing support for Hizbullah; and distancing itself from Iran.

In other words, the same kind of dissociation from terrorism we have demanded from the PA for the last 15 years, and which they still haven’t fulfilled.

And as if on cue, today’s news provides us another reminder why Olmert’s offer is suicidal.

Defense officials in Jerusalem have expressed concern over the possible revelation of classified data pertaining to Israel’s bombing of a Syrian nuclear facility last September during Congressional hearings on the incident which are slated to begin Thursday in Washington.

The American administration is slated to provide Thursday, for the first time, extensive details about the nature of the compound destroyed by the Israel Air Force on September 6.

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that Congress will hear from the Central Intelligence Agency that the facility destroyed in the Israel Air Force attack was a nuclear reactor for producing plutonium.

But hey, we are consistent. We have already shown by our previous concessions that terrorism pays; now we are showing that taking larger steps to wipe us off the map also pays.

By showing his willingness to relinquish the Golan Heights for little in return, Olmert has caused more damage to our country. For even though this matter would have to go to referendum, a previously red line has been crossed, and new expectations have been set. Just like the first time Israel acknowledged the existence of a distinct palestinian people and their bogus right to self-determination, as well as her willingness to give up parts of Israel and divide Jerusalem, the holiest city in Judaism.

The only thing right now I would be willing to relinquish is Olmert. And I wouldn’t even ask for anything in return.