Way back when, almost thirty-eight years ago, when Israel’s great electoral “Mahapach,” electoral upheaval of 1977 happened and Menachem Begin’s Likud was elected to power the very first time after twenty-nine years of Labor rule, absolutely nobody expected davka him to make revolutionary policy decisions that would facilitate the establishment of a Palestinian State in the very heart of the Historic Biblical Jewish Land of Israel. Sorry for that very long opening sentence…

Yes, the supposedly Right, pro-Jewish rights in the Land of Israel Menachem Begin’s revolutionary “give the Arabs autonomy” policy opened the door to the security and diplomatic Hell that the State of Israel now suffers.

Until Begin began his policy of withdrawing from Land liberated in the 1967 Six Days War, today’s scenario was totally unthinkable.

While Menachem Begin had been in the Opposition, the Leftist Labor leadership never dared proposing withdrawing from any of the Land and certainly not destroying Jewish communities. But just over a decade after Israel’s totally miraculous victory in the 1967 Six Days War, Begin not only handed Egypt’s Sadat the Sinai on a silver platter, he turned thousands of Israelis into refugees, giving away their homes, communities, businesses and farms.

I’ll never forget the bombastic statements he made afterwards claiming that this decision will preserve Israeli rights to the rest of the Land of Israel and his promises that the new communities established in places like Gush Katif were guaranteed as permanent and Israeli. But we all know what happened since then. Begin’s successors in the Likud, Arik Sharon and Ehud Olmert came up with Disengagement and destroyed those very “replacement” communities in Gush Katif.

Even worse, the pressure on Israel to withdraw from Judea, Samaria and neighborhoods in Jerusalem have only gotten stronger.

Evil Genie Another part of Begin’s revolutionary policy, giving the Arabs “autonomy” has already turned them into a de facto and in many cases now a de jure country called Palestine.

That Palestine “genie” has grown and can’t be controlled. It will take a very brave and strong Israel to destroy it. Unfortunately, I don’t see any Israeli politicians with the guts to do it.

Visit Shiloh Musings.  / Batya Medad

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the government “has turned the Negev and Be’er Sheva into the cyber capital of the Eastern Hemisphere” and that “there will no trickle of rockets.”

Every prime minister for the past 20 years has promised Jews in Gaza, before they were expelled, and residents in the Western Negev, that Israel will not tolerate missile fire from Gaza.

Those promises were worth about as much as the commitment of Ariel Sharon when he encouraged Jews to live in Gush Katif and as much as the intellectual dishonesty of the Labor governments that offered incentives to Jews to live in the same communities in Judea and Samaria that they now want to dismantle.

After the expulsion of Jews from Gaza in 2005, the Palestinian Authority, then under the aegis of Mahmoud Abbas and later under the current Hamas regime, relentlessly pounded Sderot and Netivot with missiles. They developed longer-range rockets to hit Ashkelon, and then Ashdod, both of them key port cities where a single missile blast at the wrong place could blow up strategic  infrastructure, such as the electric generating, fuel depots and gas lines. Defense ministers talked, and terrorists fired. When the missiles stated hitting the area of Rehovot and Rishon LeTzion, cities that are part of metropolitan Tel Aviv, the government ordered the IDF not only to put an end to the attacks but also changed its policy and started retaliating for every rocket attack.

It is a sad fact that the government really does not care that much about the towns of Sederot, Netivot and surrounding rural areas. The votes are in metorpolitcan Tel Aviv, the home of most Israeli factories and offices and the homes of the power brokers, the people who really run Israel.

Tel Aviv is running out of room, Home prices are out of reach of the average family, and the Olmert and Netanyahu administrations made strategic decisions to invest in the wide open Negev, whose “capital” is Be’er Sheva, for decades an ignored outpost for Moroccan Jews and academics who learn and teach at Ben Gurion University.

A revolution is taking place in Israel, and it is in the Negev. A new high-tech park, with international investment, was launched earlier this year. The north-south Highway 6 high-speed highway is being extended to the outskirts of Be’er Sheva.

The IDF is in the process of moving bases, especially Air Force bases, from the Tel Aviv area to the Negev.

“We are in the midst of a revolution that is turning the Negev into a thriving center, not a periphery or branch, into a bustling center of Israel,” Netanyahu said Tuesday.

His last line, that “my policy is clear; any firing of rockets will be met with an immediate and sharp response,” was ostensibly irrelevant to the subject of development, but in fact it was part and parcel of the new Negev.

Israel now has a vested interest in the Negev, and it cannot afford even one rocket attack no more than it can allow rocket firing on Ben Gurion Airport.

It is not a very nice message to the pioneers of kibbutzim, moshavim and development towns in the Negev, but the truth is that the Iron Dome anti-missile system is just a Band-Aid.

The developing the Negev as the Cyber Capital of the Eastern Hemisphere is guaranteeing southern Israel peace and quiet.

Retired Supreme Court Edmund Levy, who headed a three-man committee that debunked allegations that Israel is an “occupier,” died Tuesday night at the age of 72.

He served on the Supreme Court from 2000 to 2011, capping a legal career that began with studies at Tel Aviv University several years after his family immigrated to Israel from Iraq.

Levy was the only dissenting justice who ruled in favor of petitioners against the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif and four communities in northern Samaria in 2005.

Levy immigrated to Israel from Iraq as a child in the early 1950s. He studied law at Tel Aviv University and served as a military

The “Levy Committee” in 2012 wrote a lengthy document that supported the rights of Jews to live everywhere in Judea and Samaria.

Shula Zaken’s career and her entire life have been intertwined with the life and career of top-level attorney, Likud “prince” (meaning his family belonged to the original, Jabotinsky-inspired Revisionist movement), Jerusalem mayor, government minister and finally prime minister Ebhud Olmert. Zaken was Olmert’s gatekeeper, and as such was directly involved in the complex and quite unappealing corruption quagmire her boss has been fighting in several court rooms over the past seven years.

This week, it appears that Zaken has agreed to become a state witness against her former boss, in exchange for reducing her sentence to one year in jail.

Until that crucial turn of events, the former prime minister had not escaped the long list of charges against him unscathed, he sustained an injury, in the form of a single conviction in one out of three separate cases, on breach of trust, for which he received one year’s probation and a $20 thousand fine. The last remaining case, regarding his role in the Holyland construction project—he was accused of accepting millions in bribes, while serving as Jerusalem’s mayor—was expected to be another squeaker for him. The prosecution’s key witness did not perform well at all, hard evidence was not offered, a walk in the park for Olmert.

Olmert might still beat this one, but a walk in the park it won’t be.

On Tuesday, Zaken went public on her Facebook page: “It’s no secret that in the last few days my heart’s been broken and what little joy I still had has also been almost extinguished. Until you came, dear people, family members, friends and just people – with blessings and support that I felt came from the heart. And those strengthened my faith, resurrected my joy of life, and this way I wish to thank you and bless each and every one of you that the Holy One Blessed Be His name fulfill all your wishes to a good end with health, happiness, pleasure, a good livelihood and, most important, joy in your hearts and a permanent smile on your faces.”

Convicted embezzlers who find God usually go a little overboard—I’m particularly leery of the permanent smile thing. I’m sure the prosecutors, should they accept her plea deal, will advise against it while on the stand. Could be off putting to the judges.

A week ago, Zaken reportedly told friends that she was feeling humiliated and was considering sharing with the authorities some of the vast information in her possession.

“If I open my mouth, forget it, Olmert will be sitting in jail,” she said to her friends. “I never said that he was corrupt, until he came up and said I was corrupt. I will talk about everything I have, amybe a few things that aren’t known yet.”

“After all,” Zaken emphasized, “I never did anything without instructions from him. Unlike him, I kept the covenant and the friendship until the very last minute.”

A few weeks ago, on a Friday, Zaken and Olmert happened into the same social event, and she told him, for all the world to hear: “You sold me out!”

Then, as a crowd was gathering, she shot: “You say I’m corrupt? I say that everything I did – I learned from you.”

Since, at one point, Olmert’s attorney Roy Blecher, accused Zaken of lying, it was becoming clear that the former PM was going to use Zaken as his fall guy—for everything. Zaken is now reacting like the proverbial woman scorned, complete with hell fury and the works.

“I lay down on the fence for him,” she said tearfully to her friends, citing the IDF combat method of going over a barbed wire fence – one guy throws himself on it and the rest step on his body. “I kept silent during the interrogations, I accepted responsibility, but there’s a limit to everything.”

The Gush Katif Committee has worked for several months with Housing minister Uri Ariel, and the Tnufa administration headed by Yisrael Melachi, to develop a working plan for the victims of the mass expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif in 2005.

The committee’s targets are to develop new communities, which besides fulfilling the obligation to help the expulsion victims also will help strengthen Israel’s periphery; dismantle the temporary caravilla sites by the end of 2015 with every resident finally living in a permanent home; completing the rehabilitation process; and helping to restore the unique social framework of the communities.

The Cabinet has signed an agreement to help the new Gush Katif communities and provide guidance for families seeking to move to their permanent homes. The agreement joins the all-too-short list of previous government agreements seeking to help rehabilitate the former residents of Gush Katif.

The $40 million plan includes providing professional guidance, lowering rent on the caravilla and selling the lot in order to purchase a house in another community, it also will help provide funding to complete infrastructure work in the new Gush Katif communities of Shvei Darom and Palmachi, which will enable those families to finally start building their permanent homes.

The root of the evil is the across-the-board political consensus to conduct negotiations over our land. When Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett does not oppose the negotiations, why should he complain about the prime minister? After all, Prime Minister Netanyahu is simply fighting an unwinnable war, searching for all sorts of innovative ways to improve his and our situation.

From what I know of Netanyahu, it is clear to me that he is not happy about giving up parts of our land. Just like Menachem Begin, who, at the start of talks with Egypt promised to move to the Sinai, and like Ariel Sharon, who originally said, “The status of Netzarim is the same as the status of Tel Aviv,” Netanyahu also has Zionistic ambitions. Perhaps he even believes that he will be able to realize some of them. But those hopes are not built on the right foundation. That is why they always collapse in the face of reality.

The rightist leaders of the past have always enjoyed the generous support of the national religious parties to advance their plans for retreat. Surely nobody wants to break up the coalition over mere talks. When the talks ripen into action, even if the national religious parties walk out of the government, it is already too late. That is how Sinai and its towns were erased by Begin and the National Religious Party’s Zevulun Hammer. That is how Gush Katif and its towns were destroyed by Sharon and the NRP’s Zevulun Orlev. Our good friends in the Jewish Home Party have their fair share in the tragedy that is taking shape before our eyes – even if, toward the end of the process, they will leave the coalition.

When you vote for the release of terrorists just for the “privilege” of entering negotiations to surrender your homeland, you and your party are part of the problem – certainly not part of the solution. When you run out of the Knesset plenum so that you don’t have to vote in favor of a law to safeguard Jerusalem from negotiations, you and your party are part of the problem – not even near the solution. And when you see how the sovereignty over the Temple Mount is being transferred to Jordan (through the Moslem wakf) and you don’t lift a finger, you are a central part of the problem – not the solution.

The same is true when you support the transfer of the Negev to the Bedouins and when you ignore the destruction wrought by the defense minister on outlying settlements. And to top it off: What is the connection between a Jewish home and the equal status afforded same-sex couples? How is it that when a national religious party boasts 12 Knesset seats and a place of honor in the cabinet, we are witnessing a wave of legislation that, in exchange for fleeting coalition benefits, rips to shreds the time-honored status quo on religious issues?

I have no doubt that if Bennett and his party would have remained outside the government and the ultra-Orthodox would have been in the coalition, the prognosis for the Land of Israel would not have been any worse. But at least we would have been able to preserve some Jewish values.

So now what do we do? After you have already entered negotiations following questionable means, what does Israel get? A U.S. demand for retreat to the 1967 borders and the establishment of the Palestinian capital in Jerusalem. Is there a way out of this mess?

Instead of meaningless advertising campaigns and ridiculous spats with the prime minister, we must make a simple and focused demand: a national referendum on the Kerry framework proposal. If Thomas Friedman, in his New York Times column, is correct in writing that the U.S. document includes a retreat to the 1967 borders with some land swaps and a Palestinian capital in Jerusalem, then, as we know from our previous experience, that will also be the final result – until the very last grain of sand. Let us not forget that the U.S. represents the so-called middle ground. On the other side are the Arabs and the Haaretz newspaper demanding much more. Kerry’s framework is most likely the picture of the final- status agreement.

We must not allow the Israelis leading the negotiations to continue to slice up the land like a piece of salami while urging the public to get used to the idea – which is what happened in the past. Bring the entire salami to a national referendum – now – before the slicing begins.

Ask the nation this question: Do you support a retreat to the 1967 borders with some land swaps, along with the establishment of a Palestinian capital in Jerusalem?

If the answer will be positive, Netanyahu will be able to tell Kerry that he has received a mandate from the nation to continue the process according to the secretary of state’s plan. If the answer is negative, we will most likely have elections that will focus on the real issue: not what we oppose, but rather what we support.

For my part, I will provide the Israeli public with the option to vote for the candidate whose vision is in line with the vision of the prophets – instead of the candidate who wages a hopeless war in the face of the vision of Oslo.

Yitzhak Aharonovich, of Avigdor Lieberman’s Israel Beiteinu party, is Israel’s Minister of Internal Security. His first government role was as Minister of Tourism, which probably qualified him for his latest career move.

I don’t like the fact that Israel has a ministry devoted to internal security. The name brings to mind not images of little children playing care free in the park as it does images of long, gray corridors and interrogation rooms. Until 1995, the office was named Ministry of the Police, which brought to mind traffic tickets and cops fighting over their pensions. I liked it better that way.

Israel already has a Ministry of the Interior, which, by rights, should be taking care of Internal security—it’s in the name, even. Who needs, on top of a ministry taking care of the interior, another ministry taking care of the security of the interior?

Here’s what Minister of Internal Security Aharonovich was busy with this week:

As you may have noticed wherever you looked or listened in Israel these past three days, former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon died on Saturday, after a long sleep. No one took the news lightly. The man had admirers, but, boy, did he have enemies. One of his loudest enemies inside Israel were the students of yeshiva Torat Hachayim, who were among the thousands of Jews Sharon had forcibly deported from Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip.

Some of those students reacted with exuberant glee to the news of Sharon’s passing, and even hung up leaflets literally congratulating him on his demise, complete with a citation from the Shulchan Aruch regarding the proper mourning ceremony for Jewish traitors (the terms mumarim and mosrim are subtler, but in this context, they mean traitors).

Our gemora teaches (Bav BB 16b) that a man is not judged for things he said or did in his time of stress. This is not a criminal rule, but a social one, and it also hints at the way Heaven evaluates our speech and actions at such times.

In my opinion, these yeshiva guys were entitled to their expression of satisfaction at the death of the man who ruined their lives. I wish everyone in Israel shared their freedom of spirit. What’s more normal and mentally healthy than to rejoice at the passing of the wicked man who sent brutal cops to drag you and your parents and your children onto the waiting buses, and abandoned your property so your enemies could come and burn it down.

Secular Israelis have a habit of citing bits of verses which turn out to mean entirely different things than the full verse does. Most memorable is the clipped cite “he who steals from a thief is absolved,” which basically means that if I ran off with your car after it had been stolen by someone else, I get to keep it. That’s a distortion of the actual mishna (Bav BK 62b) which says that while a thief must pay back double what he stole, the one who steals from a thief is absolved from paying double and must only return the stolen item to its owner.

A similarly convenient cite is from Proverbs 24:17: “Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice.”

That sounds like a firm warning by Scriptures that when you see your enemy getting what he deserves, you shouldn’t be happy. The only thing missing here is context, which is provided by the next verse, 24:18: “Lest God will see and disapprove of you and turn His wrath away from him (your enemy).”

In other words, this is good advise to anyone taking their relationship with God seriously: God is watching all of us, and if you make a lot of noise, you’re practically begging Him to judge you on your gloating.

Guards at the Knesset made sure that no one wearing anything with the color orange in it was allowed onto the Knesset grounds for Sharon’s lying in state.

Orange was the color of the protest against Sharon’s Disengagement plan from Gush Katif.

Guards checked visitors carefully for orange bracelets, shirts, banners, and other orange colored clothing or paraphernalia.

One person, inadvertently wearing an orange shirt unrelated to the Gush Katif protest, was turned away from the Knesset grounds and not allowed to pay his respects to the former Prime Minister.