A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews.

 
Break From Blogging

I'm leaving for Israel tonight, returning in two weeks. In the interim, posting will be very limited at most.
posted on 7/22/2008

 
How Israel Lost Its Way

There was very little reason for hope that either Eldad Regev or Ehud Goldwasser would be returned alive. There has never been a sign of life from them. More than two decades have gone by since a captured Israeli soldier came home alive. The terms of the prisoner exchange strongly suggested that both Regev and Goldwasser were dead. And Israel had stated that the soldiers almost certainly died during or shortly following Hezbollah's attack two years ago.

Nevertheless, when my son's crying woke me up at 3:57 this morning, I immediately turned on CNN International, anxiously waited for the turn of the hour and then felt sickened when the headlines reported that Israel had received two coffins from Hezbollah.

I turned off the TV but the sickening feeling remained. Regev and Goldwasser were confirmed dead, joining the Israeli soldiers and civilians who were killed during the 2006 War. The same exact government remains in power, even after having been as incompetent in dealing with rockets falling on southern Israel as it had been in dealing with Hezbollah's attacks on the North.

I did not agree with the exchange but that decision is not, in itself, the reason why I still feel sickened at 6:30 p.m.

Israeli president Shimon Peres claimed that today is a moral victory for Israel and lamented the celebrations in Lebanon.

Indeed, the Arab world joined today in tribute to child murderer Samir Kuntar. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Fatah leader and purported peace partner Mahmoud Abbas both congratulated Kuntar. Meanwhile, Lebanon's various and usually warring factions - including the one led by U.S. backed prime minister Fouad Siniora - all participated in the partying for Kuntar.

Today could be - and should be - a day of moral clarity about the enemy Israel faces. One need not support nationalist or hawkish positions to recognize that the difference between the acknowledged terrorists like Haniyeh and Hassan Nasrallah, and the supposed moderates like Abbas and Siniora, is imaginary. None of these people are partners for real peace.

Amidst the indignation about Kuntar being an Arab hero is quite a bit of hypocrisy.

Kuntar's crime is particularly horrific because he smashed the skull of a four year old girl. But is Kuntar ultimately more evil than those who sent him on his murderous mission? Is he more evil than those who bomb civilians - young children included?

Israel lost its way when it signed the Oslo Accords. Not because it agreed to partition the land and to sign away its rights. Not because Oslo was inherently a risky proposition.

Oslo is when Israel itself accepted the idea of making those who murder its citizens peace partners. The killers of the 22 schoolchildren in Ma'alot were no less evil than Samir Kuntar. Those who planned the Munich Olympics massacre, and the Fatah peace partners who committed the Coastal Road Massacre, are the very same people Israel has decided to shake hands and talk peace with.

Of course Fatah supports Kuntar; they share a common cause. In the late 1970s, both murdered Israelis of all ages. The difference is that only the crimes of Samir Kuntar will Shimon Peres refuse to "forgive or forget."
posted on 7/16/2008

 
1. I still don't think the Talansky matter, as reported up to this point, evidences serious wrongdoing by Olmert. But the latest allegations, that Olmert arranged for multiple charitable entities to be billed for the same trip - and then had an account pocket the overage - clearly involve severe crimes. If the allegations are even partially true, presumably an indictment will be forthcoming soon.

2. When he is released from prison and arrives in Lebanon tomorrow, Samir Kuntar will receive a hero's welcome.

The Middle East conflict really is not very complex, contrary to the pronouncements of some experts, diplomats and politicians.

Israel has its share of extremists, but there is no Israeli version of Kuntar.

Alas, there are Jewish supporters of Kuntar, particularly Neturei Karta, which a few months ago sent a love letter to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
posted on 7/15/2008

 
The Home Of The Mets

Unlike some Mets fans, I appreciate Yankee Stadium and what it represents. I understand that for baseball generally, the imminent demise of Shea Stadium hardly compares to the end of Yankee Stadium.

In recent days, however, a number of commentators remarking on Yankee Stadium have taken pains to claim that even Mets fans hate Shea and can't wait for it to be dismantled.

That's simply not true. The Mets played in the Polo Grounds in 1962 and 1963 while Shea was being constructed, but Shea has been the Mets only home. Every Mets fans has his or her own cherished personal memories of Shea, as well as the memories of the epic Mets wins and losses at Shea.

Shea is not a great baseball stadium. It was a terrible football stadium. And yet nearly 25 years after the last Jets game at Shea, Jets fans also still have many memories of Shea.

Flushing Meadows Park is a nice place. A visit to the U.S. Open usually results in an appreciation of Flushing Meadows. Yet even though Shea too stands within Flushing Meadows, while at Shea, you're more aware of the ugly surrounding area of the Willets Point chop shops.

Nevertheless, for Mets fans, there is actually some comfort in knowing that even though Shea will be gone soon, the Mets won't be moving anywhere. The old rundown home will be knocked down and a fancy new place that we can't really afford will stand in its place right next door. The airplanes, the 7 train, the tiny signs for the Grand Central and the Van Wyck will still be here in 2009. The Mets will still be home.
posted on 7/15/2008

 
Rants Of The Week

1. A family who made aliyah from Baltimore were fortunate to survive last week's bulldozer terror attack in Jerusalem.

That's great, and certainly they should offer thanks to God for their good fortune. As the father said, "For reasons unknown to us Hashem did not let him kill us."

Unfortunately, he then speculated as to the unknown reason for why his family was not killed:

Eissenstat believes he and his family might have merited being saved as a result of their donations to the Chabad Terror Victims Project.

"Last year [at] this time we were visiting terrorist victims in Sderot," he said.

Rabbi Menachem Kutner, head of the Chabad project, said he was certain the Eissenstats' salvation was in part a result of their charity to terror victims.

"Eissenstat and his family were unique donors," Kutner said. "They did not just write a check and send it, they themselves visited the terrorist victims. They involved themselves, using their feet to walk from victim to victim and their hands to comfort the injured.

"Because they used their bodies to perform the mitzva of visiting the sick, Hashem protected their bodies from the terrorist."

This is very insensitive toward those who were murdered and their survivors.

2. The shul at which I daven on shabbos morning includes the prayer for Israel's missing soldiers.

Yesterday, prior to the recitation of the prayer, it was announced that Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser were now being removed from the list of missing soldiers.

I found the removal - and especially the announcement - to be disgraceful. Neither soldier has been declared dead, and whatever intelligence information Israel has presumably has not been provided to the shul. Who exactly will be offended by including Regev and Goldwasser in the prayer for a few more weeks, until the prisoner exchange is completed?

I complained to the people around me, but nobody else seemed to think there was anything wrong with the conspicuous announcement and the removal.

3. Today's New York Times put to rest any remaining doubt as to whether Bobby Valentine would return to the Mets.

Bobby V's father-in-law, ex-Dodger Ralph Branca, told the Times that "Valentine would take the Mets job if it were offered to him."

Our friends in the South cannot be faulted for insisting otherwise; after all, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution still blames Richard Jewell for the 1996 Summer Olympics bombing.

4. The Nets appear ready to give Nenad Kristic away. That's stupid and shortsighted, especially with Kristic's value artificially low following his serious knee injury.

5. During spring training, I wrote: "The Mets should have signed Kyle Lohse to be their number 5 starter."

I was wrong. Lohse would have been the Mets' number 1 starter.

6. I'm okay with all of the Rangers moves with the exception of their refusal to sign Sean Avery.

Many athletes wilt under the pressure of playing in New York. Avery loved it here and thrived with the Rangers. The decision to let him go has more to do with Glen Sather's ego than with Avery's contribution and unique value to the Rangers.

Avery's tenure with the Rangers was very short, but he will always be remembered fondly in New York.
posted on 7/06/2008

 
This Morning's Terrorist

1. Amidst the sadness - particularly as detailed information about the victims is reported - we can at least feel thankful that the terrorist was shot dead and was not merely arrested. Otherwise, he would have been sentenced to a few hundred years in prison and been released a few prisoner exchanges from now on the basis that bulldozing cars with people in them does not constitute "having blood on his hands."

2. At times like these, when Israel's government leaves its friends with feelings of despair, the heroism of the two men who climbed onto the bulldozer and shot the terrorist dead are a reminder of the real representatives of Israel and its people.
posted on 7/02/2008

 
Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser: The Obvious Question Everyone Is Failing To Ask

Israeli intelligence indicates with near certainty that either Eldad Regev or Ehud Goldwasser were killed by Hezbollah, and with probability that both were killed.

That said, Israel is not 100 percent sure that neither is alive, and indeed infers that there is a very remote chance that both are alive.

In light of this, isn't Israel's declaration that Regev and Goldwasser are assumed dead, and its agreement to the terms of a prisoner exchange on that basis, an invitation to Hezbollah to kill the soliders in the event that they are actually alive?
posted on 7/02/2008