JP, junary 29, 2007

Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Law held a conference on January 8 entitled "Security prisoners or political prisoners?" According to the original plan, all the scheduled speakers were from the Left, with some coming from the extreme, anti-Israeli Left. When this triggered an outcry, the faculty heads hurriedly added a couple of speakers representing mainstream Israel and its institutions.

But that changed nothing.

JP, Feb. 19, 2007

As Israel's new justice minister, Daniel Friedmann, takes office, we are hearing a great deal of talk about the "rule of law," but few people truly understand its full, complex meaning. This term has two definitions - one formal and the other intrinsic. In addition, it has another, uniquely Israeli meaning.

"Rule of law" in the formal sense means simply that the existing law should be implemented without discrimination and without analysis of its content. The intrinsic sense, on the other hand, is value-based in that "rule of law" relates to an existing law per se, analyzing it to see if it is in harmony with the worldviews of modern liberalism, if it is egalitarian, certainly not retroactive.

JP, March 8, 2007

Recently I received a letter from an old friend, Dr. Yigal Bin-Nun, a social activist who was a representative of the original Shinui party in the Histadrut Labor Federation. He was responding to comments of mine expressing apprehension over the future of the State of Israel.
He took issue with my pessimism: 'I have been in Paris for eight years and I teach in the university. The more I look at Israel from afar, the more amazed I am at the relative paradise in which Israelis live, in numerous areas, including some that might be considered a little bizarre, such as that of personal security, for example.

JP, March 14, 2007

How to explain the riddle? Israeli society, which some view as sick, others even as terminal, has produced a lively, successful and flourishing business sector, the target of international admiration. This sector, made up of tens of thousands of entrepreneurs and workers, has contributed to the dramatic growth in the economy and has even, despite the summer war in Lebanon, succeeded in increasing Israel's gross national product, bringing unprecedented foreign investments here.

JP, Mar. 28, 2007

This week, the Bank of Israel is expected to publish its 2006 Annual Report including a forecast for 2007 and the figures are very impressive. The Gross National Product will increase by 5.1 percent, just as it did in 2006, the business sector output will increase to 6.2%, and the per-capita Gross National Product and standard of living indices will similarly see increases.

The achievement of these notable figures is an exceptional success story, one that is all the more remarkable in view of the bleak failure of our feudalist Arab neighbors.

JP, May. 20, 2007

Two Sudanese refugees who trekked to Israel from Egypt took center-stage at a Christian conference in Jerusalem on Sunday that sought to focus on the plight of women worldwide based on shared Judeo-Christian values.

The two-day conference, which is being sponsored by the Knesset's Christian Allies Caucus and whose theme is "I am my Sister's Keeper," is meant to promote unity between Israel and the largely supportive evangelical Christian community around the world.

JP, April 17, 2007

It is sad that Gilad, Udi and Eldad were missing from the Shalit, Goldwasser and Regev family Seders this year. Not only their families but all of Israeli society felt their absence.
Our lives continue normally, but the abduction of our soldiers and dearth of information about their fate touches each and every one of us.

JP, Jul. 10, 2007

The kibbutzim are dying off and their members are leaving in droves. That's the prevailing wisdom. Actually, the opposite is the case.

After years of crisis, reduced productivity and departing members, kibbutzim have experienced a noticeable turnaround. If in 1997 the overall kibbutz product was at a level of NIS 20 billion, in 2006 the figure stands at about NIS 27 billion. In this same nine-year period, the kibbutzim have gone from a collective debt of NIS 700 million to a NIS 1.2 billion profit, accounting for 12% of all Israeli exports

JP, Aug. 6, 2007

What country in the world boasts the highest rate of support for Israel? The United States? Wrong. The highest rate of support for Israel can be found in the Ivory Coast, where 61 percent support Israel and only 16 percent support the Palestinians.

The same ratio is true where support for Hamas is concerned: Only 2% have a favorable opinion of Hamas and 37% have a "very negative" opinion of this organization.

JP, Sep. 4, 2007

A petition demanding that the Education Ministry introduce and enforce a core curriculum in haredi high schools, in accordance with a decision the High Court of Justice handed down three years ago, has renewed public debate. Are the tax-funded educational streams controlled by Agudat Yisrael, Degel Hatorah and Shas legal?

JP, Sep. 23, 2007

The latest statistics point to growing poverty among Israeli Arabs. Poverty is always bad. Poverty combined with national conflict is a recipe for disaster. But poverty compounded by increasing security tensions is a volatile mixture that exacerbates the threats posed to our state from near and far.

The vast majority of Israel's Arabs do not pose a clear and present danger - or any security danger at all - and it is truly a marvel that we have managed to maintain relative quiet even in these turbulent times. The danger that we face is that this relative peace and quiet will not continue forever, and that the incitement fomented by the Arab leadership, together with the continued occupation and tension along our borders, could spark insurrection, violence and terror the like of which we have never seen.

JP, Sep. 30, 2007

There was no freedom of speech issue in the Ahmadinejad-Columbia affair. Free speech issues arise when someone seeks to suppress speech and the US Constitution's First Amendment protections come into play. Nobody sought to censor the words, views or threats of the president of Iran. His views are well-known throughout the world. The UN General Assembly is a better platform than any university podium. Had anyone tried to suppress his views, the issue would arise whether incitement to genocide and Holocaust-denial are protected under the Bill of Rights. But that issue did not arise.

JP, Oct. 17, 2007

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's declaration regarding a worldwide Muslim referendum on the transfer of Israel to Europe, America or Alaska further serves to underscore the fact that we are dealing with a lunatic - a shrewd one, yes, but a lunatic nevertheless.

The problem is this: The world - and especially we Jews - have had bad experiences with lunatics who have military power; we have seen their mad visions become reality

JP, Nov. 13, 2007

Figures recently reported by the head of the IDF's manpower department are disturbing: 27.7 percent of Jewish males did not serve in the IDF in 2007, compared to 11.2 percent in 1991. The discrepancy is easy to explain. The haredi population is growing and their children receive wholesale exemptions from serving their country.

Almost half of all exemptions from military service go to ultra-Orthodox youth. The rest fall into the exemption categories of medical problems, being abroad and criminal records.