Israel and its Priorities

The World Turned Upside Down

By Sherwin Pomerantz

The world has reacted swiftly and obnoxiously to Israel’s announcement that to accommodate its growing population it is going to build more housing in places like Ramat Shlomo, Maale Adumim and Gilo which, although over that arbitrary thing called the Green Line, are nothing more than extensions of existing neighborhoods which everyone acknowledges will be part of Israel after any peace agreement is reached, if it is reached.

Of course there was no outcry at all from the world about the blatantly anti-Israel vitriolic that came from the mouth of PA Chairman Abbas as he pleaded his case at the UN General Assembly last month nor about the call to liberate all of Palestine from the sea to the river by Hamas leader Mashaal when he visited Gaza just days after the UN vote.

To make matters worse, on Tuesday, Hamas’ Director of its Jerusalem Department has called for Palestinians to take action against Israel’s attempt to Judaize Jerusalem, by starting a third intifada and to resume homicide bombings against Israel.  He also accuses Israel of working to undermine the foundations of the Aksa Mosque to bring about its collapse so we can replace the structure with the Third Temple.  And then he closes with calling our decision to withhold PA tax and customs revenues given the large debt the PA owes Israel for electricity which we supply as a “criminal and aggressive act.”  And, of course, no comment at all on this from the world’s leaders either.

But in Israel, in the face of these threats to our stability, what are our leaders worrying about?  Well the rabbinate this week warned hotels in certain parts of the country that if they ran New Year’s Eve parties for their guests they risked losing their kashrut licenses.  How so?  The logic of the rabbinate is that because many of these hotels have Christmas trees in their lobby to make their Christian guests feel welcome, the existence of a Christmas tree makes it impossible for the kashrut supervisors to enter the premises because Jews are not permitted to be in places where there is “idol worship” as evidenced by the tree.

So one wonders.  If this is indeed what Judaism teaches, does that mean that religious Jews living in New York cannot go into Manhattan where Christmas trees abound this time of the year, because they will be guilty of idol worship?  Is the rabbinate saying that such people should stay out of Manhattan from November 1^st until January 15^th, from the time the trees go up until they come down?  Are they serious?  And is this our most pressing issue?  Or are we witnessing just another flexing of muscles by the so called religious leaders of our community? 

And what about the recent decision by the Central Elections Committee to bar Balad MK Haneen Zoabi from running for Knesset in next month’s election?  Is this the action of a free and democratic society?  To prevent anyone from running for a seat in the country’s parliament?  Frankly, I think what she did by participating in the Mavi Marmara affair was treasonous and she should have been put on trial for that.  Then the courts could have decided if she was guilty or not, that’s how a free and democratic society operates.  But not to bar anyone from running for election.  That’s just stupidity.  And, of course, now the Attorney General says he won’t defend the Committee’s decision because he knows if it goes to the Supreme Court it will be overturned, as well it should be.

From the perspective of this writer, our opponents are on the field taking batting practice and hitting line drives our way while we are still in the locker room worrying about why the water in the shower is not hot enough. 

Does anyone remember Woody Hayes?  He was the football coach at Ohio State University for 28 years compiling a record of 238 wins, 72 losses and 10 ties. I met him briefly in 1962 when he made a visit to Parma, Ohio near where I was living at the time.  When he walked into a room the walls shook and no one spoke until he spoke.  He knew what winning was all about.  I remember him standing there in the auditorium of Parma Senior High School and bellowing out “Success – It’s what you do with what you’ve got.  You need to paralyze resistance with persistence.”  238 wins, 72 losses and 10 ties…one of the best records in US college football history.

We here could learn a lot of lessons from Woody Hayes.  We need to paralyze resistance with persistence and we know how to do that.  The question is are we up to the task and can we reorder our priorities in time to ensure our long term survival in this land we call home?