On December 24, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced that new elections would take place on April 9. This briefing examines how Israeli elections work, the reasons for the early elections; and analyses recent polling data.
Archaeologists Find First-ever Philistine Cemetery in Israel | Haaretz
Cemetery in ancient Ashkelon, dating back 2700-3000 years, proves the Philistines came from the Aegean, and that in contrast to the conventional wisdom, they were a peaceful folk.
A huge Philistine cemetery some 3000-years-old has been found in the Mediterranean seaport of Ashkelon. The manner of the burials proves, for the first time, that the Philistines had to have come from the Aegean Sea region, and that they had very close ties with the Phoenician world.
“Ninety-nine percent of the chapters and articles written about Philistine burial customs should be revised or ignored now that we have the first and only Philistine cemetery,” says Lawrence E. Stager, Dorot Professor of the Archaeology of Israel, Emeritus, at Harvard University.
Benny Morris on Why He’s Written His Last Word on the Israel-Arab Conflict | Haaretz
After 30 years, he’s giving up. “This is the last book I will write about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” declares historian Benny Morris, sitting on the balcony of his home, overlooking distant lush hilltops covered with cypresses and pines. A pioneer in researching the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and one of the most prominent Israeli historians of his generation, he has had his fill of the exhausting and bloody cycle that he has documented for the past three decades. “The decades of studying the conflict, which led to nine books, left me with a feeling of deep despair. I’ve done all I can,” he says. “I’ve written enough about a conflict that has no solution, mainly due to the Palestinians’ consistent rejection of a solution of two states for two peoples.”
This weary feeling about the bitter encounter between the two sparring peoples is given profound expression in the new Hebrew edition of his book, “One State, Two States: Resolving the Israel/Palestine Conflict” (first published in English in 2009). In the book, Morris describes for what he says is the last time another chapter in the history of relations between Israel and the Palestinians. Given the circumstances, he concludes his research with an incisive political essay that could be read as an indictment. “It’s a historical essay that has a political purpose and a political explanation,” he admits. “My aim is to open readers’ eyes to the truth. The objective is to expose the goals of the Palestinian national movement to extinguish the Jewish national project and to inherit all of Palestine for the Arabs and Islam.”
We are anti-Zionist Jews, we are not anti-Semitic | NZ Herald
This is controversial, what are your thoughts on it?
When Defence Minister Ron Mark met Israel’s Prime Minister on January 27, Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted as asking New Zealand to change its definition of anti-semitism so that it includes political opposition to Zionism.
Netanyahu’s office website reports that he told Mark, “The main attack against the Jewish people today is the attacks against the Jewish state and the attempt to delegitimise the very right of the Jewish people for a state of their own. This is called anti-Zionism, and we ask not only all our friends, but all decent countries everywhere to include [in] the definition of anti semitism, anti-Zionism as well. And so I’ve just made that request from you as well.”
We write as two committed Jews, members of a synagogue, engaging in regular prayer and daily study. We believe in the enduring, prophetic school of Jewish thought. As per our understanding of our religion, law and justice, we are not Zionists.
For that, Netanyahu would like you to call us anti-semites – pathological Jew-haters. He would deny us the right to challenge Israel’s actions, as we challenge the actions of any state (including our own). If New Zealand forecloses on political debate in this way, it will forfeit its potential role in seeking justice for Israel-Palestine.
Experiences and perceptions of antisemitism – Second survey on discrimination and hate crime against Jews in the EU
In December 2018, The EU completed a survey of 16,500 people who identified as being Jewish across twelve of its states.
In their words,
The findings make for a sobering read. They underscore that antisemitism remains pervasive across the EU – and has, in many ways, become disturbingly normalised. The important information provided herein can support policymakers across the EU in stepping up their efforts to ensure the safety and dignity of all Jewish people living in the EU.
The full report may be downloaded from here.
Half of evangelicals support Israel because they believe it is important for fulfilling end-times prophecy | Washington Post
Well before he was asked to offer a prayer at Monday’s ceremony marking the U.S. Embassy’s move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, earning the enmity of Mitt Romney, Pastor Robert Jeffress offered tangential insight into why he and many evangelicals think the move was so important.
“Jerusalem has been the object of the affection of both Jews and Christians down through history and the touchstone of prophecy,” Jeffress told CNN last year. “But, most importantly, God gave Jerusalem — and the rest of the Holy Land — to the Jewish people.”
The latter half of that quote hints at the deep religious meaning of the existence of Israel for Jeffress and other Christians. As University of North Texas professor Elizabeth Oldmixon told Vox last year, the issue of recognizing Jerusalem is inextricable from that belief.
“The tenet of Christian Zionism is that God’s promise of the Holy Land to the Jews is eternal. It’s not just something in antiquity,” Oldmixon said. “When we talk about the Holy Land, God’s promise of the Holy Land, we’re talking about real estate on both sides of the Jordan River. So the sense of a greater Israel and expansionism is really important to this community. Jerusalem is just central to that. It’s viewed as a historical and biblical capital.”
Polling bolsters Oldmixon’s explanation. In December, LifeWay Research conducted a poll evaluating the views of evangelical Americans on issues related to Israel and the politics of the Middle East. (The definition used to identify evangelicals, we’ll note, was more specific than most polls necessitate.) Among the questions was one about the biblical promise of the Holy Land to Abraham and his descendants. Two-thirds of respondents strongly agreed that the promise was an eternal one from God. (read more)
Lifeway’s full report may be downloaded from here.
Rob Berg: It is anti-semitic to oppose Israel’s right to exist | NZ Herald
Criticism of Israeli Government policy and actions is not only legitimate but is a vital and important aspect of any democracy. Israel should be challenged and scrutinised in the same way as any other country, yet too often this is not the case. Other countries, no matter how they came into being or how they behave, do not have their legitimacy or right to exist questioned or their outright destruction called for.
Anti-Zionism should not be conflated with mere criticism of Israeli policy. Anti-Zionism rejects the very idea of a Jewish state.
Zionism is the belief in the right to self-determination of the Jewish people (a right guaranteed to them by international law) in their historical and spiritual homeland, Israel.
It acknowledges the Jewish people as indigenous to the land and Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, although all citizens, including Israel’s 20 per cent Arab population, have equal civil rights. There are some people who identify as Jews who are anti-Zionist, but they are a tiny fringe. For most Jews, Zionism is core to their identity.
Zionism is often deliberately and falsely labelled by its opponents as a colonialist, racist ideology. Had a Jewish homeland been set up anywhere else, for example in Uganda which was “offered” to the Jewish people, then the accusation of colonialism would have legitimacy. But in the land of Israel, where Jewish people are the Tangata Whenua, accusations of colonialism are made to delegitimise the Jewish presence in their ancestral homeland.
Anti-Zionism has become the new form of antisemitism. The state of the Jews has become the Jew of the states. The same canards and conspiracy theories are applied to the Jewish state and Zionists, as have been applied to Jews for millennia.
Accusations are plenty, such as controlling governments, global banks and media, harvesting organs for sale on the black market – the equivalent of a modern day blood libel – creating world wars and controlling Isis. The Jewish State (instead of the Jewish people) is blamed for all the world’s ills and must be eliminated for the good of humanity.
Yet Zionism is not just an idea but a reality whose elimination would mean 6.5 million Jews facing the prospect of ethnic cleansing and a return to homelessness unless the Palestinian leadership and other Arab states suddenly decide to embrace the legitimacy of a Jewish presence in their midst and democratic ideals.
Antisemitism under cover of anti-Zionism can be illustrated by responses to two New Zealand politicians’ interaction with the Jewish Community.
The first example was when Andrew Little, then leader of the Opposition, visited the Auckland Hebrew Congregation. When Mr Little posted about it on his Facebook page, the level of antisemitism was so intense his office had to delete many comments, including accusations that Israel was responsible for 9-11, and a call for the death of all Jews, due to “the way they [are] treating Palestinians”.
The second example was in January this year, when an MP, Alfred Ngaro, changed his Facebook profile photo to show him standing near the Menorah (candelabra used during the Jewish Festival of Hanukkah) at a public event to celebrate the festival. The negative comments came flooding in quickly, accusing Israel of genocide, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and paying off New Zealand politicians, as well as praising Hamas.
So how is it possible to distinguish legitimate criticism of Israel from antisemitism? One simple way is “Sharanski’s 3D Test”. If Israel is delegitimised, demonised or double standards applied to it, then antisemitism is at play.
When Jewish peoplehood and their historic connection to Israel is erased, that’s delegitimisation. When the patently absurd accusation that Israelis are the new Nazis is made, that’s demonisation.
And when the UN General Assembly passes 21 resolutions condemning Israel, and six against the entire rest of the world, and none against China (which occupies Tibet and has imprisoned 1 million Uyghurs in concentration camps) or Turkey (which occupies Northern Cyprus and persecutes Kurds), as it did in 2018, that’s double standards.
All these three elements are present in the boycott divestment and sanction campaign (BDS) against Israel, which, if it achieves its three stated goals, will see the replacement of the world’s one Jewish state with another Muslim state.
Understanding the difference between antisemitism disguised as anti-Zionism as opposed to legitimate criticism of Israel, and not giving the former legitimacy, is key to finding a peaceful resolution to the current situation, and in doing so improving the futures for both Israelis and Palestinians.
Rob Berg is president of the Zionist Federation of New Zealand and president of the Jewish National Fund NZ.
Source: NZ Herald
Israeli PM confirms weekend strikes in Syria against Iran | NZ Herald
Israel’s prime minister says the country struck an Iranian weapons storage facility over the weekend at the Damascus International Airport.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments on Sunday at his weekly Cabinet meeting mark a rare public acknowledgement of Israeli activity in Syria. Advertisement
Israel is believed to have carried out hundreds of airstrikes against Iranian and Hezbollah targets throughout the Syrian civil war but has generally refrained from commenting about them for fear of being drawn into the fighting.
Only recently has it begun to speak publicly about thwarting the weapons smuggling from Iran through Styria into Lebanon. Israel’s outgoing military chief, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, did so over the weekend in various interviews.
Netanyahu says Israel says the recent strikes prove “we are committed more than ever to act against Iran in Syria.”
Malaysia says it won’t host any more events involving Israel | NZ Herald
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s foreign minister says the government will not budge over a ban on Israeli athletes in a para swimming competition and has decided that the country will not host any events in the future involving Israel.
Malaysia, a strong supporter of the Palestinian plight, is among the predominantly Muslim countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel. The government has said Israeli swimmers cannot join the competition in July that serves as a qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
