YNET reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu has spoken with US President Obama and updated him on the IDF operation in Gaza, and thanked him for the USA support for Israel to defend itself.

Title: The Little Book for BIG Worries
Dealing With Serious Illness
Author: Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein
Publisher: Israel Bookshop Publications

Receiving a difficult medical diagnosis can easily spell trauma, anguish, and hopelessness for a patient and his loved ones. Yet even amidst the dark skies of such a situation, Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein affectionately known simply as YY assures us that there is still hope.

The Little Book for BIG Worries is a compact guide that offers chizuk and calm to those who have heard worrying news about themselves or someone close to them. The book offers answers to the questions we all ask when bad news arrives. It shows readers how to find the right people who can help them, and how to avoid those who can’t. Additionally, it includes advice from renowned doctors, which can provide direction toward making the often-confusing world of medicine work with and for the patient.

Most of all, The Little Book for BIG Worries will show those going through hard times how they can smile and laugh again… even when they thought they never could.

The Little Book for BIG Worries is informative, engaging and always insightful. Rabbi Rubinstein makes his points quickly and clearly.

Rabbi YY is one of the most sought after speakers in the Jewish world. Now based in New York, he regularly speaks in the UK, USA, Canada, France, Belgium, Gibraltar, South Africa and Israel. He is a regular broadcaster on National Radio in the UK and now USA and has written and presented shows for the BBC. The Independent newspaper cited him as among five people in the UK to turn to for advice. Queen Elizabeth has declared herself a fan of Rabbi YY’s broadcasts saying, “He’s awfully good!”

On August 9, 2001 a Palestinian Suicide Bomber entered the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem and blew themselves up. They killed 15 people, 7 of them children, and wounded 130 more.

The murdered:

Giora Balash, 60, from São Paulo, Brazil
Zvika Golombek, 26, from Karmiel
Shoshana Yehudit (Judy) Greenbaum, 31, from Passaic, New Jersey,USA
Tehila Maoz, 18, from Jerusalem
Frieda Mendelsohn, 62, from Jerusalem
Michal Raziel, 16, from Jerusalem
Malka Chana (Malki) Roth, 15, from Jerusalem
Mordechai Schijveschuurder, 43, from Neria
Tzira Schijveschuurder, 41, from Neria
Ra’aya Schijveschuurder, 14, from Neria
Avraham Yitzhak Schijveschuurder, 4, from Neria
Hemda Schijveschuurder, 2, from Neria
Lily Shimashvili, 33, from Jerusalem
Tamara Shimashvili, 8, from Jerusalem
Yocheved Shoshan, 10, from Jerusalem

Chaya Tova Chana Nachenberg – Still in a coma.

One of the terrorists involved in the attack was recently released from prison in exchange for Gilad Shalit.

I have said time and again, that the overwhelming majority of Israelis don’t realize the political power they have. While most eligible Israeli citizens vote on national election day, 93% of these same people sleep through primary day. Primary day is much more important than you think. It is the only day you actually vote for a person and not just a party. This is the day when the party of your choice decides who its representatives to the Knesset will be. This is the day when the Knesset slate is chosen and if you are a member of one of the few democratic parties in Israel, you – yes, you – get to choose who is on that list!

Will the Knesset list from your party be filled with people who identify with your ideology or will they be people who are opposed to it? You decide!

Will the Knesset list from your party be filled with honest politicians (yes, a few still exist!) or will they be ones who built their careers around bribes and payoffs? You decide!

Will the Knesset list from your party be filled with strong individuals with steel spines or spineless jellyfish who retreat, disengage, and surrender? You decide!

93% of Israelis are not members of any political parties and therefore decide on nothing. They come to the polling booth on national election day with the Knesset slate already set and locked. Their only vote is for which party gets in – not which person represents that party. Yet, like clockwork, that same Israeli will be the first in line to complain about this MK or that MK. What a shame. What a wasted opportunity.

For the last 12 years I have urged people to join a party, specifically one that has primary elections for the Knesset. My personal preference all these years – and I will explain why to anyone willing to listen – has been Likud, but if Likud doesn’t talk to you, then join a different party – just get MAD. This word is an acronym for Make A Difference. Don’t just sit on the side and complain but Make A Difference. Join a party where your voice will be heard and where your vote will be counted.

Today, several political parties have begun to have open primaries for their members. I salute these parties and urge all people to get involved. This is the boxing ring of Israeli politics. This is where changes can be made and where Knesset members can either be promoted or sent home on early retirement. Trust me on this one: You have that strength!

This political tool, like everything else in life, has been placed here by Hashem for us to use or ignore. Sadly, as stated above, 93% of our brothers and sisters in Israel ignore this tool, yet complain about how things are broken.

But there’s more. There is another tool that must be used in the battle for Jewish strength, unity and pride. This tool is the ability for every US citizen, even those living outside the USA with dual citizenship, to vote in USA elections. For me, this is simply another aspect of the M.A.D. program. Imagine this: You live 6,000 miles away from the closest USA city, haven’t visited America in over 10 years and no longer even eat Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. Yet – as long as you maintain your USA citizenship – you can vote in American elections! This is vital! I don’t need to tell you how important these upcoming presidential elections are and you can be a part of that! Don’t look at the numbers. Don’t ask: “Will my vote really matter??” Simply register (with no cost involved) and Make A Difference. Let the powers in America see how many expats voted. Make your voice heard in these presidential elections and in all elections in the States. That’s right, you can vote for Congress and the Senate from Israel as well! Use these tools, use every tool that Hashem has put at your disposal.

If registering to vote and voting required a tremendous investment of time, effort or energy, I would agree that they should not be done. But they don’t. Joining a political party in Israel means filling out a form and paying (based on the party) between 40 and 60 shekel per year! Once your form is processed, you will be asked to vote approximately once in 3 years! Did you read what I wrote? Once in three years. Do you think you can fit that into your schedule?

Jerusalem has been one of the most dramatic issues of discord between the will of the American people and Congress on the one hand, and State Department-driven presidential policy on the other hand.

In contrast to most Americans and their state and federal representatives, who cherish Jerusalem as the indivisible capital of the Jewish state, all U.S. presidents have embraced Foggy Bottom’s denial of Jerusalem’s status as Israel’s capital, or even as part of Israel. Moreover, the U.S. foreign policy bureaucracy has disavowed the 1947 non-binding U.N. General Assembly Partition Plan, but for one segment — Jerusalem, which the U.N. designated as an international city.

Israel is the only country in the world whose (3,000 year old) capital is not recognized by the State Department and by the presidents of the U.S. However, the American people consider Israel to be the second most trusted and dependable ally of the U.S. (after Britain), and 71% support (and 9% oppose) Jerusalem as Israel’s indivisible capital.

President Barack Obama has gone further than any U.S. president in implementing the Jerusalem policy of denial. He is pressing for an unprecedented construction freeze in Jerusalem beyond the 1949 ceasefire lines, and is trying to eliminate any reference to “Jerusalem, Israel” in present and past official documents and communications.

On the other hand, Jerusalem has earned the affection of the American people since the arrival of the pilgrims in the 17th century, who viewed the U.S. as “the modern day Promised Land,” establishing many towns with biblical names, including Jerusalem. There are now at least 18 U.S. towns called Jerusalem and 32 called Salem, the initial, biblical name of Jerusalem (Shalem), meaning wholesomeness, divine, and peace.

While the American affinity with Jerusalem has cemented the unique covenant between the U.S. and the Jewish state, the State Department never viewed Jerusalem as part of the Jewish state. In 1949, President Harry S. Truman followed Secretary of State George Marshall’s policy, pressuring Israel to refrain from annexing any part of Jerusalem and to accept the internationalization of the ancient capital of the Jewish people. In 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, inspired by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, opposed the relocation of Israel’s Foreign Ministry from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and prohibited official meetings in Jerusalem. In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson adopted the Jerusalem policy of Secretary of State Dean Rusk, who opposed Israel’s 1948 declaration of independence. Johnson highlighted the international status of Jerusalem, and warned Israel against the unification of, and construction in eastern, Jerusalem. In 1970, President Richard Nixon collaborated with Secretary of State William P. Rogers in attempting to repartition Jerusalem and to stop Israel’s plans to construct additional neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem.

However, the presidential pressure was short-lived and ineffective due to the defiant Israeli response, which benefited from overwhelming congressional and public support of Jerusalem as the eternal, indivisible capital of the Jewish people.

In 1995, Congress decided to implement the will of the people, passing overwhelmingly (93-5 in the Senate and 374-37 in the House) the Jerusalem Embassy Act. It stipulated the recognition of unified Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and the relocation of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. However, a presidential national security waiver, which was introduced into the bill by Senator Bob Dole with the support of Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin, has enabled Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama to avoid implementation.

In 1999, 84 senators realized that the national security waiver was misused by the White House, and that kow-towing to Arab pressure radicalized Arab expectations and belligerence. They attempted to leverage the co-determining and co-equal power of the legislature and to eliminate the waiver provision. But, they were blocked by Clinton and by then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

In 2012, the leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties should heed the historical will of Americans, synchronizing the White House and the State Department with the reality that Jerusalem is Israel’s indivisible capital. Still, the success of such an initiative requires Israeli leaders to resurrect the steadfastness and defiance which characterized Israeli prime ministers from David Ben-Gurion (1948) through Itzhak Shamir (1992).

Originally published at http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=1946

No, this wasn’t in the West Bank.  This happened in London on Monday, 14th May.  The Palestine Society of the University of London’s School of Oriental and Asian Studies (SOAS) held an event at the Khalili Lecture Theatre, advertised with these words: “I am Palestinian!  Representation and Democracy in the Arab Revolutionary Age.”  The event was open to the public, and – as is often the case – was being videorecorded by people in the audience.

Blogger Richard Millett was one of those using a video camera – for the first few minutes.  About 8 seconds into the presentation, Millett was prodded in the shoulder and ordered to stop recording.  When he refused, a man got in his face, demanding he stop recording, and said, “You’re a typical Israeli, you know.”  (Millett is not an Israeli, and it’s not even clear he’s Jewish.  I have no personal acquaintance with him.)  As that confrontation unfolded, a very large man seated in front of Millett got up, towered over Millett, ordered him to leave, and snatched Millett’s backpack, walking out of the auditorium with it.  The audience began rhythmic clapping, shouting at Millett to leave.  Millett tried to make the case for his presence at a meeting open to the public, being held at the taxpayer funded University of London facility, but the audience continued to shout at him – noise for noise’s sake; noise to drown him out and preempt any rational discourse.

Eventually, Millett did leave, in part to ensure the recovery of his personal belongings.  The audience clapped ecstatically for his departure.

If you go through Richard Millett’s website, what you will see is documentation of a number of such events (most of which he was able to remain and record throughout).  Millett is critical, no doubt about that, but all he does is document exactly what the anti-Israel – and often anti-Semitic – activists and lecturers themselves do and say.  He quotes them accurately and gets them on video when he can.  There is nothing unfair about his coverage; it is scrupulously honest.

The University of London should certainly look into this, and ensure that public events can be attended peacefully by anyone, and that videorecording is allowed to all or denied to all equally.  Such enforcement may have little effect, however, on a group mindset that resents not merely criticism but the simple truth.  If a civic or political group, meeting publicly, is not willing to have its activities and statements recorded truthfully by critics, its purpose is suspect.  Forcible suppression of truth only works one way:  those who practice it have wrong intentions.  There can be no good purpose for preventing third parties – i.e., the whole of society, whether friendly or critical – from seeing what is said and done at a public event sponsored by the Palestine Society.

The flip side of preventing the coverage of pro-Palestinian events is silencing supporters of Israel and those who make a pro-Israel – or even just a balanced – case in the matter of Israeli-Palestinian relations.  College campuses in the United States are the scene of a growing number of such attempts.

Quite a few of the most noteworthy have taken place in California (although by no means all.  On a slightly different head, see here for a Rutgers event to which putative Israel supporters were denied entry, based on blatant profiling by the sponsors.  And here for the attacks on Israel supporters who mounted political displays at UCLA and Penn State).  Back in 2010, writers for the American Thinker summarized a series of events at California universities at which critical or pro-Israel speech was shouted down – including an event made infamous for this exclamation by Dr. Jess Ghannam, a psychiatry professor at UC-San Francisco (emphasis added): “Now, every single Israeli military official and politician will be afraid to speak publicly. It’s huge!”

In a similar vein, Israeli soldiers giving a presentation at UC-Davis in March 2012 were relentlessly heckled by Palestinian-activist students.  One accused the Israelis of having turned “Palestine into a land of prostitutes, rapists, and child molesters.”  He hollered at the soldiers (emphasis added): “How many women have you raped?  How many children have you raped?  You are a child molester!”  And he admitted freely: “I can embarrass myself all I want.  I will stand here and I will heckle!  My only purpose today is that this event is shut down!”

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has announced that Israel had severed all working relations with the United Nations Human Rights Council as of Monday this week, and will block a U.N. fact finding team from entering Israel or Judea and Samaria to investigate Jewish settlements.

According to the Israeli government, the council has shown a clear anti-Israel bias, both in the content of its references to it, and its disproportionate attention to Israel’s Palestinian policy, as compared to all the other human rights issues on the planet.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said this “means that we’re not going to work with them. We’re not going to let them carry out any kind of mission for the Human Rights Council, including this probe.”

Speaking in Copenhagen, after a meeting with the Danish foreign minister, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said “Israel never cooperated with all fact finding missions that were sent and established by the U.N. to investigate the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians.”

The PLO ambassador at the United Nations on Wednesday condemned Israeli settlement activity in a series of letters to senior UN officials.

“There have been confirmations by the UN Security Council and General Assembly, Human Rights Council and the Social and Economic Council on the illegality of all settlement activity in a number of resolutions which are still available, and we are still calling on Israel to respect and implement the resolutions,” Mansour said.

The UN ambassador sent letters to the President of the Security Council and head of the General Assembly, criticizing ongoing settlement building.

Israel is obligated under the Road Map to freeze all settlement activity, Mansour said.

“Israel, however continues directly to neglect and violate all international commitments,” he added.

The ambassador added that settlements are proof that Israel rejects a two state solution based on 1967 borders.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week has legalized three Jewish outpost communities which were erected in the 1990s.

At a meeting late Monday, a ministerial committee legalized Bruchin (home to 350 residents) and Rechelim (home to 240 residents) in Samaria, and Sansana (home to 240 residents) in Judea.

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland reacted by saying, “We don’t think this is helpful to the process. We don’t accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity.”

Palestinians and Israeli anti-settlement organization Peace Now slammed the government, saying the government is hereby creating new settlements for the first time since 1990.

Senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi said that the legalizing ” sends a clear message to both the international community and to the Palestinians that Israel is more committed to land theft than peacemaking.”