But if you reward delinquents for their crimes, the implication is that the kids have not done anything seriously wrong–and you have. The criminals, then, will probably continue their path to adulthood as social parasites.

Apparently, Citibank thinks that is a good thing.* Or worse yet, it thinks that potential customers will think so. How else would you explain their endorsement of vandalism?

Paying criminals is the equivalent of giving in to blackmail. Unlike a certain Mediterranean country, at least the guy in the commercial is not giving the kids big chunks of his front yard.

Still, modern society seems to have forgotten that the carrot and stick method requires using the stick, as well. One day we will run out of carrots.

*Embedding is disabled on this video for some reason, hence the link instead of an embedded video.

As for the substance of the piece, the writer confuses two concepts: pricing-control and regulation of discrimination. “In the United States and Europe it is forbidden to refuse to rent because the tenants are homosexuals, immigrants, or even a family with children.” I do not know much about European law, but this statement of the law in the United States is misleading, at best. For one, there is no such thing as a single body of “American law,” especially when it comes to real property. Property law is largely regulated at the municipal level (not to mention distinctions between federal and state laws). Yet, addressing only federal law: (1) in most states, homosexuals are not a protected class; (2) in fact, the Fair Housing Act does allow one to discriminate in many ways, when it comes to choosing tenants (see ‘exemptions’).

Nevertheless, the result of such government intervention has been predicted, analyzed, and ignored long ago. As Richard Posner, has described, among others, rent control leads to a contraction in the housing market, because more people will decide that selling their property is a better financial move  (“if price is artificially depressed, or the costs of landlords artificially increased, supply falls and many tenants, usually the poorer and the newer tenants, are hurt”). The smaller number of rented apartments will be substandard, as it will not be in landlords’ financial interest to spend more than the minimum to maintain their apartments.

Ultimately, those who will be hurt will be the poor–not the evil wealthy. As described, there will be fewer low-cost apartments on the market, and those will be maintained even more poorly than they are now.  Rent control will “reduce the resources that landlords devote to improving the quality of housing, by making the provision of rental housing more costly.” (Posner)  The contraction in the rental market will lead to an increase in the supply of units for sale. The resulting decrease in purchase price will benefit the middle class, and the poor will be worse off than they are now. Another potential result is that wealthier tenants, who do not wish to buy, will opt out of governmental price-control, thus allowing them to benefit from a higher level of services–paid for accordingly.

The bottom line is that the ynet writer does not know the first thing about price control. Then again, the negative impact of such a move are unlikely to have a negative effect on her directly.

After more than 60 years of unwavering support militarily, diplomatically and financially . . .

As for military support, Israel’s strongest ally for much of its initial two decades was probably France. In 1956, Israel partnered with France and the UK, to launch the Sinai Campaign–in the face of American opposition.

Diplomatic support? The yea vote to recognize a Jewish State in 1947 was the very definition of wavering. While Truman may have been supportive, the State Department was opposed, and the American vote was not a given.

The United States simply does not provide Israel with real financial support.  Bribery ≠ support.  What the U.S. is trying to do, is to support the American defense industry. If the true goal is the betterment of Israel’s finances, the U.S. would keep its money, and allow the development, nay the creation, of a genuine Israeli market.

. . . beg the state of Israel for a mere 60-day extension of the settlement freeze . . .

No one is begging. The portrayal of states as people, as opposed to entities with cold, calculated interests, is simply wrong. Even accepting as true the claim of “unwavering” American support, for the sake of argument, that does not give the U.S. any relevant rights. The issue is not a mere extension–it is the infringement on the sovereign rights of another state. Pure and simple.

” . . . to facilitate an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority . . . “

Wow. Just wow. If this guy really believes that anything Israel does, short of deporting all the Jews to Poland, will “facilitate an agreement,” I’ve got a bridge to sell him…

Second, notice who the parties are in this hypothetical, snowballs-in-hell agreement: Israel and “the Palestinian Authority.” Let’s make a deal with a fictional entity! Not with “the Palestinians,” with “the Arabs,” or with any people. We need peace with the entity that Arafat and Rabin created in 1994.

. . . which is so important in promoting peace and security for the region and the world.

• Superficial reading: ‘We need peace to promote peace.’ This is the guy that sets up meetings to promote meetings.
• Secondary reading: An agreement will not be a peace agreement. We first need an agreement, and only then can we really start moving toward peace.
• Deeper reading: He thinks that Israel’s capitulation to its enemies will lead to peace in the entire region–and the whole world.
  1. If peace were to somehow materialize, regional instability would quickly follow. After all, what would the Arab regimes use to distract their subjects from their miserable lives?
  2. The whole world? I know, the situations in Korea, Iran, Sudan, Pakistan, the Congo, and Venezuela (to name just a few) are wholly dependent on whether 10 million people in the eastern Mediterranean get along. Utopia is just around the corner. If only those pesky Jews would get with the program.

As an American citizen of Israeli origin, I am angry and offended. It is time for the White House to explain to the nation . . .

His “Israeli origin” is irrelevant. Either he’s Israeli, and the NY Times and White House are the wrong address, or he’s American, and who cares. Who is the target of his anger, the source of his offense, and why?  It’s much easier to toss around empty slogans, than actually provide reasoned arguments.

And which nation deserves an explanation?  The one on the other side of the world, whose citizens don’t care–or the nation whose citizens are forced to put their lives on the line because every few years another rich American thinks he can fix the world?

. . . how American interests are still being protected within such an uneven relationship and what it plans to do about it.

Uneven relationship? Oh, please. I can’t even say that with a straight face. Which American interests are endangered? And why does this idiot pin the blame on Israel? These are American interests that are at stake–but blaming Netanyahu must be the solution.

The fact that the government has direct oversight over these issues is part a problem, but that is another story. My real qualm here is with another analogy drawn by a cellist interviewed for the Ynet article (Hebrew).  After a laughable attempt at analogizing a cello to a laptop, the cellist proffered an infuriating justification:  “[B]ut it’s absurd that we’re paying double for [the cello] . . . we put it in the aisle anyway, and it doesn’t bother anyone.” (emphasis added)

Doesn’t bother anyone?  Excuse me?  A loud minority of Israelis who use mass transit, ruin the already-unpleasant experience–and bother everyone.  Placing large items in the middle of aisles on buses is just one example of this behavior.  (I wonder what the Ministry regulations are on blocking exit routes on buses.)

The rush to board the bus (or train), as if it were a matter of life and death, is yet another example of this unpleasant behavior.  Never mind the elderly, and other who are unable to compete with 20-year olds (or with 40-year olds, for that matter).  The vigor displayed only moments earlier, in the fight to board–is nowhere to be found when an 80-year old lady is left with nowhere to sit.  Suddenly everyone is too tired, and the octogenarian may not find a seat at all.  Maybe they’re just worn out from overcoming the competition, striving for their entitled place on the bus…

Similarly, idiots playing loud “music” on cell phones, asserting a “right” to do so when to turn off the offensive noises (although annoyingly playing with your ringtones can be an effective counter).

So, no, cellists should not be placed at a disadvantage.  They should be treated the same as the musically-challenged (and those who prefer the clarinet or the flute). But the cellist quoted above will gain no sympathy by saying it’s just like another dismal act. And adding insult to injury, he then presumes to speak on behalf of the injured, by claiming that it bothers no one. It bothers many, which he might have noticed if he weren’t too busy asserting his “rights.”

Straight from the (other) horse’s mouth, Mahmoud al-Zahar:

“Arafat instructed Hamas to carry out a number of military operations in the heart of the Jewish state after he felt that his negotiations with the Israeli government then had failed.”

Failure, of course, is a relative term.  In this case, Arafat likely considered failure to be anything less than could be squeezed out of Barak at the negotiating table.

Unfortunately, he did not miscalculate too badly.

This post is dedicated to NG.

1. Cell phone idealism.
2. Misguided.
3. Trendy ingrates.
4. Rise in home births.
5. The future of Yiddish.. in Europe.
6. Breaking up is hard to do.
7. Positive signs. Finally.
8. Halacha in shuls.
9. Zion.
10. Home.

The latest Haveil Havalim is up at Jewschool.

Proponents of the bill say the ILA is a monopolistic, ineffective bureaucracy and hampers economic growth. Privatization, they claim, will make housing more affordable and promote overall transparency with regards to land use.

by zeevveez

Critics, on the other hand, say that housing costs will actually rise. The most convincing argument against the proposed bill is a Zionist-ideological one. If land is simply sold to the highest bidder, Israeli law would allow enemies of Israel to purchase large swaths of Israel, essentially buying out Israel from under her.

As anyone who has had the misfortune of applying for an Israeli passport knows, Israeli bureaucracy is not customer friendly, to put it lightly. Reform is necessary, and in that respect Netanyahu’s plan is not all bad. However, the current bill, if approved, would cause a great deal of long-term harm to Israel.

That is not the only problem. Netanyahu has announced that any minister who votes against the bill will be fired. Bibi has experience in this matter, and his declaration should not be viewed as an idle threat.

Firing ministers in order to secure artificial majorities has , in the past, preceded horrendous decisions. Israel has already paid a high price for Sharon’s error, and cannot afford any additional mistakes.

This week’s Haveil Havalim at Jack’s, and KCC at Leora’s.

The mother, a member of the anti-Israel Neturei Karta faction, was released from custody today, and placed under house arrest. This decision was made by the Jerusalem Magistrate Court, despite the prosecution’s request for remand.

These riots show a complete disregard for Jewish commandments that are not ritual in nature, but they are fairly successful. This is not the first group to have learned that it is not very difficult to bend the will of the Israeli government.

There is a world of difference between these rioters and wholesale murderers of Jews. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, capitulation is capitulation, and the message is clear: Terrorism is a rewarding venture in Israel.

Clarification: I am well aware that the rioters represent a minority within the diverse Haredi community. Nevertheless, the silence coming from the Haredi leadership is deafeaning.

And this week’s Haveil Havalim.

While many Israelis would like to be European or American, they are not. Modern Israeli culture and behavior is derived from numerous sources, and has morphed into something new.

The current level of language instruction in Israel has a lot of room for improvement. Though not as bad as English, Hebrew language instruction in Israel is poor, to say the least. Instead of improving, Israel’s Ministry of Education has decided that regional language skills are unimportant. As of last year, Arabic has been completely dropped from the mandatory core curriculum.

This was not in order to invest more in to Hebrew or English instruction. There was no pedagogical reason for this decision. This step down in Israeli education was “motivated by an effort to create a curriculum acceptable to ultra-Orthodox schools.” This capitulation to narrow political interests is corruption, pure and simple.

Things are different on the other side of the ocean. Instead of imparting the language of the Jewish people to the next generation, some Jewish day schools are expanding their language departments to include Arabic.

This is the right move in the wrong place. I am not saying Jewish students should not learn Arabic. They should – in Israel. The problem is prioritization. Adding another language to the mix will only serve to dilute the already lacking Hebrew instruction offered by the Jewish educational system in America. In other words, first Hebrew, and only then Arabic.

Israeli education needs to strive for nothing less than excellence. Excellence in today’s Middle East requires the knowledge of Arabic. Instead of eliminating three years of Arabic study from the curriculum, language instruction in Israel needs to be placed front and center. Along with Hebrew and English, students should begin Arabic studies in first grade, if not beforehand.

I am in no way advocating forgoing Hebrew in favor of Arabic. Nor do I think Arabic is more important than English. The three languages are not mutually exclusive. Nevertheless, understanding, and playing by “house rules” in the Middle East requires knowing the language. That language is Arabic.

Moment Magazine on Israeli blogs (including yours truly), and of course, Haveil Havalim.

Last week violent crime struck again. Enjoying their time by the Kinneret, visiting American college students were inexplicably attacked. Although having suffered serious injuries, one is still planning on leading a birthright-Israel trip after graduation. Nevertheless, he is concerned regarding the investigation of this incident. “If nothing happens, I don’t know how I’ll feel safe,” he said from his hospital bed. Most likely little will happen, unfortunately. All but one of the suspects fled the crime scene.

Safety has become a rare commodity in too many places. Bialik’s threshold for becoming a normal state has long since been passed – no one is pining for the first Hebrew criminal. Israel does not have a culture of law and order, partly because people know they can get away with so much. The courts are no help, handing down meager sentences  that do not serve as real deterrents, not even for the convicts themselves.

Furthermore, this case specifically would be a PR nightmare. Thankfully for the inept state authorities, it seems all of the major Hebrew-language papers have decided this attack was not newsworthy. American Jews constitute the largest diaspora Jewish community. Setting aside the issue political support, if they are in danger of other Jews in the Jewish state, how will they ever believe aliyah is the right move?

Israel Police needs to start doing its job. Judges need to start sentencing violent criminals to long sentences, with no incomprehensible furloughs. Not just for tourists, but for Israelis. Israel needs to be more than a haven for Jews but sadly, from (some) Jews, as well.

These protests are not peaceful demonstrations, but violent riots, and often take place on Shabbat, in violation Jewish law. Not only do the rioters ignore the concept of ואהבת לרעך כמוך (love your friend as yourself) by attacking people, throwing rocks is a violation of Shabbat. These rioters, and those who incite them are merely masquerading as observant Jews.

A few weeks ago, (former) Ha’aretz reporter Shachar Ilan wrote in his The Marker blog about the situation:

To embarrass! That is the name of the game in the new Shabbat struggle in Jerusalem. The Eda HaHaredit (a small fanatical faction) opposes the participation of the Haredi parties in the municipal coalition and so they protest. In the intra-Haredi political game the Eda HaHaredit is the opposition and the Haredi parties are the government. The opposition’s job is to criticize. The fact that the Safra Parking Lot is surrounded by restaurants, pubs and clubs that have been operating on Shabbat for years is irrelevant. As is the fact that the parking lot will not charge for parking, or that parking at Safra will prevent parking on Shivtei Yisrael Road near Mea Shearim, and will prevent serious safety hazards. The issue is the opening of the parking lot on Shabbat, and the Eda HaHaredit will not miss a golden opportunity to embarrass the Haredi parties.

…

The economic angle. There is a difficult crisis in donations to religious institutions due to the global economic crisis. The Eda HaHaredit subsists primarily on donations. It is a well-known secret that religious struggles and confrontations with the Zionist police encourage donations. Could it be that the new Shabbat struggle in Jerusalem is part of the fallout from the global economic crisis and that the reporting of the Shabbat protests should be done in the business section? Can’t be. No way. How could one suspect the Torah sages of such motives?

Ilan’s analysis is interesting, but the comments section is fascinating. A former Haredi,  Shlomo, shares his insight into the world of the young protesters. This perspective is rare to see, as airing dirty laundry is taboo. Teenagers were assigned to various locations for the protests, and participants were exempt from homework. In his words, they were but “mere cannon fodder.” When they threw stones, they thought about the punishment Shabbat violators will receive in hell. When they burned Israeli flags on Yom Ha’atzmaut, they thought about how the state is impeding the arrival of the Messiah. Vandalism or respect for property – “these were not terms that were in our lexicon.” These crimes are encouraged, and those who commit them are idolized:

Each of us that was arrested, turned into the darling of the class, or the Yeshiva, surrounded by love in shul, got calls of “yishar koach” from passersby, even though we only spent a few hours in the Russian Compound (police headquarters).

In addition to the brainwashing of these kids to commit crimes, the hypocrisy of the rioters is clear. On the one hand, they are anti-Zionist, disavowing Jewish sovereignty until the coming of the Messiah. On the other hand, their behavior exhibits their sense of entitlement in the Zionist state.

An old story (source unknown) about Rabbi Shach emphasizes this point. Upon witnessing a Haredi man yelling at an Israel Police officer, Rabbi Shach quipped that the man must have become a Zionist. The man was surprised, “What are you talking about?” Rabbi Shach responded, “Would you have dared to yell at a police officer back in Poland?” In other words, is there rioting in the streets of Brooklyn and Antwerp?