Despite the fact that he was the boldest, most prominent and most original of Jerusalem's architects, King Herod suffered from an obsessive mistrust of everyone around him. He murdered, tried and deported everyone in sight, both faithful friends and rivals. In the second half of the first century BCE, Herod even began to suspect his two sons from his wife Mariamne the Hasmonean, sending them to Rome to be tried before the Ceasar Augustus. Augustus handed down a harsh judgement to Herod's sons, and also famously remarked, "I would rather be Herod's pig than his son." I learned this from my teacher, Professor Menachem Stern, who was later murdered by terrorists in the heart of West Jerusalem, within the 1967 lines, while on his way to the university. I recalled his words recently when I heard reports of Bashar Assad's slaughtering his own people. I would rather be a pig in the Assad family pen than a Syrian citizen. The world was filled with courage and a fighting spirit when it came to Qaddafi. The world also aided the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. But when it comes to Assad, the international community is slow, moderate and hesitant. Maybe because he is backed by Iran, while Russia and China are shirk the international sanctions regime against that country. Even the Security Council condemnation initiated by Britian and France is sputtering.The world has returned to its evil ways from before the Red Empire's demise. It is interesting to follow the actions of Arab Knesset members in this regard. One of them recently said that Israel, in being forced to shoot border infiltrators, is perpetrating a massacre. That particular Knesset member has a doctorate but he clearly learned very little at the university. Catch them if you can It is worth pointing out that criminals' m.o. in attacking the mosque is reminiscent of anti-semitic acts of yore. When a European nobleman had a dispute with another nobleman, both of them would harras each others' Jews. In this case, when the Jewish state's security forces act legally against an outpost, some settlers choose to punish the Palestinians. If the hilltop youth are as courageous as they claim, why are they punishing Arabs as opposed to Jews? Rather than pile on words, let the government direct Shin Bet head Yoram Cohen to hunt down the criminals with same determination and doggedness he exercised in the Palestinian village of Awarta when he captured the murderers of the Fogel family in Itamar. By doing so, the government would send a message that would redound to the state of Israel's credit. And I can guarantee that this time around Machsom Watch women won't stand in the way of our security forces. What the chatterbox plague has wrought In a somewhat indignant tone, Meir Dagan's associates have been wondering: "What security damage did he do? What secrets did he reveal-" To set the record straight, here is an answer from authorized sources in the know: The United States is having a hard time dragging Europe and China into an economic sanctions regime against Iran. It has been using a variety of arguments, including that America will not be able to dissuade Israel from a military operation against Iran if the world sits there with its arms folded and does nothing against the ayatollahs' economy. It's a fact that this is what America has been doing. Did this argument lose some of its weight and impact after Meir "Mr. Mossad" Dagan presented the idea of a military strike on Iran as a dangerous and crazy- Yes, absolutely. Dagan's excessive chattering has caused great damage to Israel, even greater than that caused by Matan Vilnai's arrogant suggestion that some of Gilad Shalit's captors have already been assassinated, or Gabi Ashkenazi's awful admission that the IDF does not know where Shalit is being held. A bad crop for the harvest holiday, three self-inflicted wounds in two weeks. The government's supremacy Isser Harel is the most legendary Mossad head in Israel's history. He held the post for 11 years and was in charge of the Shin Bet as well. His accomplishments echoed far and wide, from Adolf Eichmann's caputure in Argentina to the conviction and imprisonment of the Israeli moles Israel Bar and Aharon Cohen. Harel was close to David Ben Gurion until 1926, when the two entered into a bitter dispute. Harel claimed that German scientists in Egypt were developing weapons aimed at destroying Israel, and began carrying out operations agaisnt them, but Ben Gurion, with Shimon Peres' full agreement, told him to stop assassinating the scientists. They believed the Egyptians were throwing their money away on the desert sand dunes while Harel painted a nightmare scenario whereby Ben Gurion was ignoring a catastrophic threat. Harel resigned in 1963 and proceeded to recruit the press to his side of the fight. Harel was also became envious of his successor Meir Amit, who expanded the Mossad's reach and responsibilities. That envy eventually became burning hatred, to the point where Harel recruited politicians to demand Amit's ouster and helped spread the rumor that Amit had been instrumental in a hit against an enemy of the Moroccan regime. In those days, when intelligence secrets were worthy of their name, these revelations amazed the public. Thus goes the glory of the world. A keystone of Ben Gurion's worldview was that the civilan government must always reign supreme. At the height of the War of Independence he fired senior military commanders for not toeing the line. He once became furious with Levi Eshkol for bringing his ministers to the General Staff for a meeting. In a democracy, he said, the General Staff comes to the government and not vice-versa. Meir Dagan has not invented anything new. He won't be earning any political patents. Like Harel before him, he said things he shouldn't have out loud, as well as implied things. Dagan left himself a defense lawyer's loophole because he did not speak to the successor generation's (Benny Gantz, Tamir Pardo, Yoram Cohen) professionally incompatibilty. Nor to that of Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak. With all due respect to the military elite--Meir Dagan, Yuval Diskin, Gabi Ashkenazi and military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin--those four top guns don't have a monopoly on wisdom. They are not more or less intelligent that Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, Dan Meridor, Moshe (Bugi) Ya'alon and Benny Begin. But even if their actions lead Israel, God forbid, into the abyss, the security elite has no right to undermine the government's authority. They may argue, persuade and advise, but that is all. About a year and a half ago Meridor, speaking in a closed forum, said that Dagan is an excellent Mossad chief who gave his organization a much-needed facelift--but that if you asked him he would not extend Dagan's term for an eighth year. It's not healthy for the smooth operation of government, said Meridor, even when the person is excellent. Meridor refrained from elaborating. Meridor's observation was wise. Something problematic is happening with retiring senior security personnel, as demonstrated by Dagan and by Ashkenazi before him, who had so much trouble retiring from his post as Chief of the General Staff that he made use of a questionable document to try to get his boss, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, into trouble. It seems that the natural process of retiring from a top defense post is now accompanied by a series of mishaps. These men are making the nation pay a heavy price for their career transitions. This ghost dance accompanying the retirement of senior defense officials is a warning signal for Israeli democracy. It can't end well. Just recall President Harry Truman and his struggles with General Douglas MacArthur. An Israeli legend Chaim Israeli passed away on Tuesday, Shavuot eve. I checked three different web sites the following day and could not find a news item about his death. But the obituaries did eventually show up. It's not that today's journalists are dismissive of his life's work but that they didn't remember who he was. They actually didn't know. This is the way of the world. He served as head of the defense minister's office for many years. Israeli worshipped David Ben Gurion but his integrity also allowed him to work alongside his bitter rivals, Pinchas Lavon and Levi Eshkol, as well as for Moshe Dayan, Shimon Peres, Menachem Begin, Moshe Arens, Ezer Weizman, Ariel Sharon, Ehud Barak--who didn't he work for? Israeli knew all the secrets and was involved in policymaking, but was always circumspect and never allowed himself to fight with his democratically elected superiors. However, his opinions were heard loud and clear in closed forums. Israeli died three times. First, when Ben Gurion exited the stage and second when Dayan died. He aided every minister on the one hand, and got pushed around on the other. He was a loyal keeper of the kingdom's secrets, winning the Israel Prize as well as awards from the Movement for Quality Government in Israel. He communicated in a way that was always brief and clear and to the point. After writing his book "Scroll of Life," which exposed only a fraction of what he experienced and kept most of his vast biography secret, Israeli got into the habit of frequently visiting Ben Gurion's old house in north Tel Aviv. He felt at home there, and would reminisce about the man who exited his life many years ago.Then Israeli himself was extinguished and faded from the scene. Who is really guilty? At points it seemed as though Judge Moussia Arad and her colleagues were masquerading as television host Amos Ettinger and that the courtroom had turned into the "This is Your Life" television series. Ehud Olmert spent three days telling his life's story. When will the really testimony begin- Perhaps the judges acted appropriately. They let Olmert hold forth for as long as he wished so that at least he won't be able to say in the future that he wasn't given an opportunity to explain himself. I don't it is worth paying attention to the content of Olmert's testimony. Except for one remark. Olmert said that peace with Syria had been within his grasp. "There was the possibility of a breakthrough," he was quoted saying in one of the newspapers. But due to the criminal investigations against him, Olmert said he had not had time to reach the finish line or close the deal. Mystery solved! It's wasn't Bashar Assad or Abu Mazen who thwarted a peace deal, but police major-general Yaakov Borovsky, Rina Kampf, major-general Yoav Segalovitch and Fraud unit commander Shlomi Ayalon who harrassed Olmert with investigations into money envelopes from Talansky, Rishontours dealings and suspicions of bribery in the Holyland affair. Who'd have though that they were the ones responsible? Traitors of the past Eldad Charuvi's new book "The Secret Police Investigate" is based on his doctoral thesis that looked into how the British managed to spy on Hebrew underground organizations in Mandate Palestine. The book is 514 pages long and contains evidence that the British were able to recruit not a few Jewish Zionist traitors. The book reveals that Irgun was massively compromised by moles. The main traitor was Yaacov Hilbitch, who got off only because Menachem Begin insisted on giving him an underground trial rather than immediately punishing him, giving him the opportunity to escape to the United States under British protection. Another double agent, Yechiel Reinhold (Yanai) also managed to flee. Charuvi focuses on one mole nicknamed Moli [sic], a senior Irgun commander in Jerusalem, who was ultimately exposed by the Irgun. I asked Dr. Charuvi why he didn't publish Moli's name and Charuvi said that he is afraid of libel accusations. But why wasn't Moli eliminated? Because Begin took pity on him, Charuvi wrote in his book. But why? I asked. "In my opinion," said Charuvi, "because in the interval he managed to marry and have a child." Unbelievable. One of Begin's close associates, Haifa-based teacher Moshe Bodek, himself an Irgun fighter, spoke to me about this. He said that Begin was indeed a great military commander but that he nevertheless acted like a "19th century Polish liberal, a leader whose sensibilities were not suited to this country or the Middle East." Footnote: To Joseph Cedar, screenwriter and director of the film 'Footnote.' From: An ordinary cinema-goer Subject: Thank you, thank you very much.
Let me add my voice to the condemnations issuing from Shimon Peres on down towards the arson perpetrated against the mosque northwest of Ramallah, as well as towards those who justified the crime as a "price tag" retribution for Israel's evacuation of the Alei Ayin illegal outpost.
