Response to the Illegal UN Declaration

In the waning days of the Obama Administration, the UN Security Council preposterously declared that settlements, if they are Jewish and in historic Jewish lands, are illegal. This distortion of truth is not in sync with International Law, nor with the UN's own charter. Some on the right have called for an escalation of building activity to answer this UN declaration. But the best response is simply to realize that the answers to peace in Israel have always been within.

* * * * *

International Law

In chapter 1, article 2:4 of the UN charter, states are not supposed to be bullied.
"All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations."

A reminder that Israel is a state, and the Palestinian Authority is not.  Only Israel can compel itself to potentially give up any part of their land for it to be considered Arabic, it cannot be forced or threatened to be forced from them. Unless such a complete transfer via treaty is enacted by Israel, there is no legal recourse under International Law for such pressure.

Unlike principle 2:7 of chapter 1 of the charter, this is not subject to security council review and is binding upon the United Nations members even if a rogue security council should vote foolishly one day. There is no clear and present danger to Palestinian Arabs that would justify security council involvement, on the contrary, Israel has been attacked tens of thousands of times.

All this, even as the Palestinian Authority continues to defy the very intentions of the UN as mentioned in chapter 1 article 1 of the UN charter by refusing to recognize a Jewish state of Israel.

It is not logical to argue that the framers of the United Nations intended to create institutionalized chaos in contradiction to half of the principles the entire organization is predicated upon. That a security council can be justified to practice xenophobic policy about any race or ethnicity as this decree and too many similar general assembly resolutions can only be described as an assault against the Jews of the State of Israel. This decree therefore is not a law.

Though the decree is not a law, the concept of security council decrees being view as automatic declarations of International Law is a reality. So out of context, we should be wary to not allow enemies to use it as a potential justification for escalation of violence against Israel. We must confront the perception of this decree being viewed as legal, even though it clearly is not.

* * * * *

A Torah Based Response

Applying the wisdom of Rashi on Proverbs chapter 26: "Do not answer a fool according to his folly lest even you become like him. Answer a fool according to his folly lest he be wise in his sight."
   Rashi: Do not answer a fool: with words of quarrel and contention lest you become like him. Do not answer: in a matter in which you will become like him if you answer him. Answer a fool: in a matter in which he will be wise in his sight if you do not answer him.

This means, answering the fool must 1) not make you act foolish, and 2) not lead to him thinking he is right.

So as a policy 1) In other words, we do not do a tit for tat reaction in the very area they are most aggravated in,

2) The UN is no longer a body that can offer sound advice on how to fix the situation, so bilateral or unilateral options from now on, but no longer multilateral.

If the fool decides to preemptively decide that he is wise in his own sight no matter what you do, then there is no point to answer him.

In other words, we do not become involved in a tit for tat retaliation, but a realization that attempting to please the UN has been the single greatest delay to peacemaking in the Middle East. It's not about 242 any longer or 338 or any other number they pull out of their hats, it is the question of how to bring peace when the leaders on the other side prefer bloodshed. In other words, a withdrawal of sharing responsibility for peacemaking with them. They went too far from logic and justice, we just can't keep involving them if there is ever to be peace.

YET, we should not go wildly unilateral at this time, We should find independence from UN interference, but not seek chaotic moves that could provoke more and more attention than necessary.

Whether Israel annexes some or all of Judea and Samaria down the road, that is not the question for today. The question is, what justification is there to support a terrorist regime as the governors of the Palestinian Arabs? Candidates for a new Palestinian Arabic political leadership council can be collected from among the non violent mayors and lay leaders in Arab towns and a new election can be held. whether they are the next leaders of a potential country or the leaders of a naturalization movement into the State of Israel can be answered another day.

We must not make the foolish side seem right in their own eyes, and merely because a more normal President is in office, start making unilateral moves. Rather we must de-escalate the blood-lust this evil decree has stirred in the Arab world and first ensure that no nation is on the brink of attack because they feel they are justified by this decree. First disprove the bad decree by making peace without UN interference, and then do what you wish in your land, this way or that, it is your choice, even according to the UN's own charter.

Trying to seek revenge against the United Nations, is foolish. We need to have more wisdom reach practical peacemaking efforts in the Middle East, if there is to be peace in the region. May it soon be so, by the grace of God.

Re-centralization of Halachah Essential to the Mission of Judaism

A thing in the Torah that I did not understand when I first read it as a young lad. In Parshas Netsavim, (Deut. 30: 12 & 13) Moshe Rabbeinu says that the Torah is not in the Heavens, and in the next verse, not over the sea (that we would have to send someone to get it for us.) If we would have to go to the heavens to get the Torah, kal vechomer, logically there is no need to say we would have to traverse  over the sea. Boats have existed for a long time, even before Moshe Rabbeinu. Spacecraft, only recently. Why did he not reverse that and say, it is not in the sea, and not in the heavens. The first verse refers to the generation of Moshe himself, he personally went to the Heavens to get the Torah. The second verse refers to the generation of Moshiach, where everyone’s rabbi speaks his own version of halachah and a ruling may be found on this or that side of the sea.

Assuming actual halachah is being spoken by a random rav, we can say eilu veeilu Divrey Elokim Chayim, these and these are the Words of the the Living God. But when those words contradict, what is going on may be the Words of God, but not the intent of God’s law, which would be one law for the stranger and the resident in the land. Sometimes there are strict rules or lenient ones that are suspended in midair, due to the power of poskim to change the way God’s world is run. But when the very rules divide rather than unite, the intention behind HaShem’s law is not being fulfilled. All of those congregations are fully religious and God fearing, and yet they follow 3 different rulings that allow no room for the other. It is no longer loshon hora that is the main cause of our nation’s strife, and exile, but also a symptom of the times. No longer are we in a position where we only need to repent and God will redeem, but we are at a crossroad and do not know which direction to go as a collective. Without redemption, we cannot achieve the full unity we need as a people in our time.

We need a single united assembly of halachic deciders, like the knesses hagedolah (Great Assembly) in ancient times, to put our nation back on one path again. Is a smart phone essential for business, is it a tool of the Satan? Is this eruv a source of unity or spiritual destruction to our people? We don’t need to vote, we only need to know what the Will of our Creator truly is, and we would follow it. That is the only way to win such a dispute.

We are bidden repeatedly in Tanach to not veer to the left or right from the Torah. Nowadays it’s like there is also an up or down by some rabbis, and new authorities are trying to put in diagonal ways as well. Therefore I say, the real tool of the Satan in our time is the decentralization of Torah authority. If the law is really more like the Chareidi Rabbis or the Modern Rabbis, or somewhere in between, so be it. We will not engage in activity of insulting the other side and making the Satan rejoice in our strife. We only need know the direction that our beloved Creator truly wishes us to go and there we shall.

May HaShem please send Moshiach ben David to bring back to our people this precious proactive unity in Halachah, without delay. Hashiveinu HaShem Eilecha, venashuvah, chadeish yamainu, kekedem, Bring us back to You, O God, and we will return, renew our days, as of old. Amain.

Temple Mount is the Heart of Judaism

In reaction to the UNESCO's assault on Jewish rights to the Temple Mount:

"The Temple Mount and Western Wall are obviously the seat of Judaism throughout history. A World government respects and upholds International Law. A wayward International Organization, not a governmental body, makes meaningless decrees like this one. 

This weak attempt at redefining history is not only one of the worse blatant frauds ever attempted, but any attempt to remove the Temple Mount from the Jews is an assault on the Jewish faith itself. A violation of their freedom of religion. 

There is no conception of sanctuary in Judaism outside of the Temple Mount. Synagogues are called, "Small Temples" in Talmudic law. An attempt to bring some of the holiness of the Temple Mount to the worshipers who can't go to the real Temple.  It is the heart of Judaism, the seat of it's connection between Heaven and Earth. The interface to imbue humanity with Godliness still flows from there, even today, in Jewish belief. The towering preexisting holiness in that sacred place overrides foreign worshipers and stone throwers that may frequent there today, and brings blessing to the world regardless." 


~ Rabbi Professor Alan Friedlander

*  * *

Arutz 7 reported:

The UN passed a resolution Thursday denying the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall. The resolution was supported by 24 states, including Russia and China. 6 countries opposed and 26 abstained.The resolution maintains that the Western Wall and Temple Mount will be referred to by their Arabic names and the Hebrew terms for the sites will only appear in quotation marks in UN references.

* * *

Prime Minister Netanyahu made the following statement at the beginning of the Bible study group at Prime Minister's residence:​​

"The UNESCO theater of the absurd continues. 

Today that organization adopted another delusional decision that states that the Jewish People have no connection to the Temple Mount or the Western Wall. 

Even if they do not read the Bible, I would suggest that UNESCO members visit the Arch of Titus in Rome. The Arch shows what the Romans brought back to Rome after they destroyed and looted the Second Temple on the Temple Mount 2,000 years ago. There, engraved on the Arch of Titus, is the seven-branched menorah that is the symbol of the Jewish People, and today is the symbol of the State of Israel. 

Soon, UNESCO will decide that Emperor Titus engaged in Zionist propaganda. 

To say that Israel has no connection to the Temple Mount is like saying that China has no connection to the Great Wall of China or that Egypt has no connection to the pyramids. With this absurd decision, UNESCO has lost the modicum of legitimacy it had left. 

But I believe that historical truth is stronger and that truth will prevail. And today we are dealing with the truth." 

* * *

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Hotovely responded regarding today's (13 October) decision of UNESCO's Executive Board: 

"The Executive Board of UNESCO has disgraced its international mandate in this politicized and distorted resolution. The fact that more states abstained than supported the resolution underscores the deep reservations of many states with regard to this shameful resolution. The countries that supported this resolution have lent their voice to the lie propagated by the Palestinians that the Temple Mount is an exclusively Islamic site. This falsification of history is an affront to the ancient Jewish and Christian connections to Jerusalem."

* * *

Some 26 nations abstained from the vote and two were absent all together. 

The six countries who voted in support of Israel were: the United States, Great Britain, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Germany and Estonia.

Redemption Without Cataclysm

There is debate among rabbis whether the main violence of the Final War of Gog and Magog has already occurred since the start of World War 1, or not. There is room to interpret that there could be a cataclysm before the final redemption. There is room to interpret that all such major tribulations have already been fulfilled.

The synchronicity where HaShem/God has set up the potential for redemption without travails or redemption only through further suffering, is apparent. God, in His infinite wisdom, found a way to allow for every potential spiritual choice of humankind and still give the world a chance at redemption without further suffering, or the opposite if the wrong choices would be made.

Since God is holding the door of mercy open for us, it would behoove us to participate in His preferred plan of proactive mercy, and do all the mitsvos we can to enable a peaceful resolution to all conflicts in the world without devastation.

After a series of world wars in the first half of the 20th Century, people got used to the idea that cataclysm is predestined. But it isn't, there is no commandment of cataclysm.  It is only that the possibility is allowed for. The prophets often spoke in allegories, and by Talmudic principle, only positive prophecies must occur, negative prophecies need not, people can repent, as the city of Nineveh did, and not be destroyed, even if the only good they ever did was that unified penance, God in His endless mercy will find a way to save. If we "allow" for it with our choices.

God humbly awaits our choices, and has advised us with many messengers and many ways, please choose what is right. So we should.

The main thing is to do our best to serve HaShem/God in every way we can according to the Torah from Sinai, and the traditions of the prophets as recorded in the Talmud.

This explains why many rabbis such as the Lubavitcher Rebbe said that in our generation(s) we are not in need of moshiach ben Yosef, the messiah who primarily wages war, we now need only moshiach ben David, the messiah who primarily brings peace. This also explains why the rabbis say we need a yeshua (salvation) more than a geulah (redemption). Because if we repent and improve sufficiently, the positive prophecies will not be delayed, and then the salvation would spur on an immediate final redemption. Once the final redemption occurs, the possibility for cataclysm by human hands will forever end.

Thus the Talmudic perspective is, sufficient repentance leads to the salvation promised in the Tanach, and that salvation leads to redemption without further cataclysm.

Since it is a possibility that this is in our hands to do, shouldn't we do our best to try to make sure that it can happen?

Therefore do not give up until HaShem sends our righteous moshiach to build the Holy Temple on its mountain in our days.

May it soon be so, B'Ezras HaShem Yisborach, by the grace of God.



--
Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av, 5776.

A Summary of the Everyone Wins Peace Plan

HaShem/God blessed me to compose the Everyone Wins peace plan 8 years ago.  With the new Republican platform allowing for a One State solution, it would seem appropriate to restate the key aspects of this plan. The truly best one state solution is different from other one state solutions. This essay is a restatement of what it is and a description of what it is not.

The "Kulam Marvichim", "Everyone Wins" Peace Plan requires the tying of Judean and Samarian (West Bank)/Gaza Arabic naturalization rates to the immigration rates of foreign born Jews. Whereas previous one state solutions called for relocating masses of people. This plan calls for no segregation whatsoever. Nobody has to give up their homes, neither Jews nor Arabs, only terrorists. Palestinians slowly but surely become complete Israelis without overwhelming the Israeli economy and infrastructure.

That means democracy without tyrannical leaders for the Arabs. Improved economic opportunity for Arabs without the need for any new infrastructure to power it.  And, of course, peace for Israel.

Peace plans offered by Labor, Kadima and Likud have all failed to sway me. The current Knesset's direction is toward Palestinian Autonomy, which in my mind is a guaranteed limit to security (making zones the IDF could not travel at will) as well as a hasbara nightmare. The two main alternatives to the Everyone Wins peace plan that could actually resolve the matter, that are currently popular, are the Jordan is Palestine peace plan of former MK Rabbi Elon and the annex Judea and Samaria plan of Jerusalem Post editor, Caroline Glick.

A major hurdle before "Jordan is Palestine" is it begins not as a one state solution but depends on the Kingdom of Jordan to first agree with it. One State solutions that do not allow for unilateral implementation of legal options for peace, are at risk to never get off the ground. Relying on political and diplomatic miracles that are not mentioned in the Prophets of Scripture, is unacceptable as policy.

If the opportunity somehow does occur through a diplomatic breakthrough with Jordan, I still do not prefer Jordan is Palestine from the aspect of forcing the good, non terroristic Arabs to lose their homes. If a terrorist should lose their home to a bulldozer, perhaps a non terrorist should not be forced to leave their home, even with compensation, if at all possible. If no other one state solution were possible, this would make sense, and I would support it under such a scenario, for the sake of stopping violence, but as there are other options, I do not actively support Jordan is Palestine as a plan for peace.

The main issues I have with Caroline Glick's proposed plan are that it does not, to my knowledge, demand that current criminals are filtered before given an option to naturalize into Israeli society, and it seems to kick the can of the entire Gaza Strip issue down the road.

I believe that you have to filter out terrorists if you are going to naturalize the Palestinian Arabs. You can't naturalize terrorists. As I wrote before,  "The beginning of peace does not come by the placation of terror; that is it's anathema."

I am also for a more decisive conclusion to the conflict with the Palestinian Arabs that does not allow for war over this issue ever again. As long as Gaza is still out there, what do you think a Hamastan would desire a few years down the road? Not trade and peace, that's for sure. If Fatah could not be trusted for peace, how can you possibly hope to trust Hamas? It seems as if this part of the plan is a manufactured vehicle to avoid naturalizing the Arabs of Gaza, not an actual solution based on a consistent policy. As if it is a straight line to political viability over substantive peace making. If no choice, I would support it to end the violence at least in the heartlands. But what about communities near Gaza like Sderot? How does that help them at all? As we do not need to rely on such a conveniency as this, we should not.

The process of naturalization, I feel, must be as methodical as necessary to not risk Israeli electoral balance or anything else. Using the slow nature of bureaucracy to everyone's benefit, we can reduce dangerous mistakes that could cost bundles of cash, or even lives. Trying to fix it all overnight is not as good as selecting the correct path as soon as possible, but then taking the time to implement it as wisely as possible. 

The Glick plan proposes to save the Arabs of Judea and Samaria from despotic leaders, but abandon their cousins in Gaza to that very fate. It calls for increasing the Arabic voting ratio within "Green Line" Israel, giving them more votes than today, but my Everyone Wins plan calls for maintaining current voting ratio levels in the State of Israel. 

Caroline Glick's proposed plan is very wise in several areas. It is unilateral and does not depend on bilateral negotiations with arch terrorists and their supporters. Or multilateral negotiations as does Jordan is Palestine. It also does not propose to ignore Scriptural "intel" that forewarns the world that Israel is going to have Judean and Samarian ("West Bank") territories no matter what people try to negotiate away, so it prevents running down a diplomatic path that would be doomed to fail from the start. As do Jordan is Palestine and Everyone Wins. It further does not destroy current societal configurations as most other peace plan suggestions of the past would. This is in Judea and Samaria, but Gaza, would remain forbidden to Jews, unlike Jordan is Palestine or Everyone Wins. Most importantly, and similar to, though not as well as Jordan is Palestine or Everyone Wins, it ends the possibility of those territories being used as staging ground for a war against Israel. This is a plan that actually has a chance to work. But for reasons stated, I do not support it as initial policy, only if it would be the only politically viable option.

To sum it up, Everyone Wins is more secure and strong against terror than the Glick plan, and more generous and politically viable than the Elon plan. It's political viability is open to unilateral implementation and not dependent on the whims of other nations.

In the spirit of Avraham Avinu, Abraham our forefather, it seeks to spare the righteous of the Arabs who are scattered among the thorns and keep good families and their friendships and societies intact.

In the spirit of King David, it does not allow the enemies of Israel to get away with it. Everyone Wins filters out terrorists and establishes unfettered rule of law throughout all land West of the River Jordan.

May all who need to understand this, do so, as soon as possible. May it soon be so, b''Ezras HaShem Yisborach, by the grace of God.

* * * * *

Further Details on Everyone Wins:

On Implementation of a One State Solution

Middle East Peace Plan Comparison Chart, Updated Edition

A Defense of Torah Based Zionism

There are those on the religious right who attack Zionism as being a rebellion against the sages of the 1940's. I previous condemned harshly the Neturei Karta movement as treasonist. But there are also those of that anti Israel perspective in philosophy, only who do not advocate actually supporting Israel's enemies. They think that way, but care too much about people in Israel to encourage terrorists. This essay is a defense of being completely religious AND pro Zionist in the face of that more benign, non treasonist, anti zionist perspective.

Halachic dissent with the government has to be in a respectful Torah way, like many great rabbis in Israel today, but not in the pro terror Neturei Karta way. Policy by policy opposition, but not as attacking an enemy. Such utter vilification is part of the sinas chinum, baseless hatred, that delays Moshiach (messiah).

As with Neturei Karta missionaries, anti Zionists like to quote rabbis from 100 years ago who opposed a philosophy that has little to do with the practical survival of Jews in the Holy Land today. That is due to God, and our faithful adherence to the Torah to the best of our ability. Including the Torah command to not sit idly by the blood of our fellow. That command is part of the halachic reason to support God's angelic army, the IDF, and do nothing to undermine it. A drowning person does not say to a lifeguard, "Stop, get on more clothes before you try to rescue me! You're not modest enough!" So too, we don't demand that the IDF first become completely religious before we stop trying to verbally bash it publicly.

If he who saves one life is like he saves the world, then what kind justification is there for those would would fight hasbara and risk increasing danger to men, women and children by adding moral support to terrorists incidentally while concurrently lowering the esteem of Israel and the IDF.

Metsiyus (actuality) has profound meaning in halachah (Jewish Law).  You can't only quote rabbis from long ago, you need to know the current halachic trend. This trend is only valid if the adherents are utterly dedicated to Talmudic principles. Most but not all Orthodox rabbis fall under this umbrella. Neturei Karta on the right and Open Orthodoxy on the left are examples of halachic deciders outside the bounds of Orthodox adherence to Talmudic law. The halachah follows the majority of kosher Torah sages in each generation.

We must protest outrageous public sin, otherwise it can seem like we are God forbid condoning it, (as per, the Talmud in Shabbos 54b-55a.) The government of Israel is not automatically immune to such protestation. A good Zionist would not want the government to do wrong policy either.

Secular Zionists who are under philosophic attack by this philosophy are often, at least in part, protected in halacha under the rules of “tinuk shenishba” from full liability for any aspects of foreign philosophy. But unfortunately the Neturei Karta themselves are involved with a first generation rebellion and it is forbidden to take their side in a dispute, as we are commanded to not only avoid a Korah, but also "his congregation."

For dissent against Zionism to not violate halachah, is to be done as a line by line protest, issue by issue. No global slander that saves nobody, but strengthens evil in the world.

If the Satmar Rebbe is your rebbe, so follow his opinion in your home, but don't use it to attack your fellow Jews whom you are supposed to show love for. It is an opinion (primarily from a previous generation), not a halachic mandate to campaign against the Jewish State. Great rabbis can surely express an opinion, but it is wrong to use any opinion, and certainly a minority opinion to hurt people with.

As the halacha for the nation is not like that opinion, but according to the majority, one surely can't use that minority opinion as justification to endanger the nation actively or even passively.  Free speech has a limit in halacha; you can't advocate that which would endanger life.

There is no justification to attempt to undermine hasbara globally whatsoever. Only an issue by issue protest is acceptable under halachah.

What I have written here is the basic halachah on these matters. I studied from great rabbis of blessed memory, my father, Rabbi Leon Eliezer Friedlander, and also Rav Aharon Soloveichik, and also Rav Chaim Yisroel Belsky from whom I received rabbinical ordination. There is no doubt among them as to the veracity of this position that we have stated here.

I hope this essay can help those on the wrong side of this matter to come over to the correct side of the fence. May those confused about this matter soon turn away from the wrong path and do good for our people.  May it soon be so, b'Ezras HaShem Yisborach, by the grace of God.

Something Foreign at the Foreign Ministry

Someone at the Foreign Ministry is inappropriately using their Website and especially their Facebook page to promote deviant lifestyles in the Holy Land.

On June 2, 2016 the MFA website posted the news story:
"Energy and joy at the annual gay pride parade in Tel Aviv"
How is this even a news story for the Foreign Ministry?

The comment by the administrator of the Foreign Ministry's Facebook page was this:

Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs We realize that the issue is sensitive to some, however, yes, we are proud. Proud to live in an open and liberal society, proud to live in a democracy where the LGBTQ community has equal rights and is not subjected to prosecution

Like · Reply · 517 · June 2 at 9:14am

And they repeated it the next day: June 3 at 8:11am

I voiced the following concern:

"The Creator knows what he is doing. The government should not be in the business of supporting things that are so anti God as forsaking how God made you. This is a misappropriation of the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Please concentrate on foreign relations, not on affairs foreign to the Torah."

Also posted this comment of mine to the Jerusalem Defender Facebook discussion group page:

It's good to protect homosexuals from violent mistreatment. But not praise what is so unnatural that 99.9 percent of the animal kingdom would never consider. No country should support such a personal choice like that with tax dollars.
For Israel in particular, it is especially wrong that some of the people of the very Book that declares homosexuality an abomination would try to take pride in supporting that lifestyle choice that God and our forefathers are clearly against. That is not the diversity that the world needs to preserve. God made different color races, that is clearly good diversity. God said don't do homosexuality, and that should be understood as bad diversity.
I don't know why so many just don't seem to get such a simple concept.

Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as the Lord, my God, commanded me, to do so in the midst of the land to which you are coming to possess. And you shall keep [them] and do [them], for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the peoples, who will hear all these statutes and say, "Only this great nation is a wise and understanding people. " For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is at all times that we call upon Him?
And which great nation is it that has just statutes and ordinances, as this entire Torah, which I set before you this day? (Devarim/Deuteronomy 4:5-8)
THAT is what correct foreign policy is all about.

May the government recognize these fundamental truths. May it soon be so, by the grace of God.

Bringing Peace to the Middle East

Somethings are better left alone is not a motto very often heard from would be peacemakers at the U.N. They need to feel that peace is making progress or there is risk they could attempt further pressures against Israel. There is a need to decisively end the conflict because the risk of continued conflict means continued pressure by world governments and international trade pitfalls. Conversely, resolving the Palestinian matter, would remove the pretext for such pressure.

Post Iraq War, there is a mood of proactive resolution of conflicts by multilateral negotiations via the U.N. whether or not such deals are effective, there is a desire for deals at all cost. The fact that U.N. involvement in a conflict may only makes things worse, does not prevent them from wanting to try and try again even harder. The fact that belligerent nations like to ride the wake of U.N. movement in and out of a troubled region does not seem to make the U.N. change policy either.

The only thing that would change U.N. policy toward Israel, is that a legal peace plan is in place, even if only as a long term process. If Israel were able to implement a legal One State solution, in a way that got many Palestinian Arabs on board, even if it was not a Two State Solution, it would remove U.N. pressure as we know it today. This is politically viable as the naturalization amnesty would be seen as a boon by many Palestinian Arabs in the territories today. Terrorists would then become a negative thing again to the U.N., since it would be the Palestinian Arabs themselves who would suffer if such a One State solution was NOT implemented.

The key parameter is that a One State Solution be comprehensive and whole. If even one scrap of contested land remained afterwards, the pressure at the U.N. would not likely stop. The only way to end this is to do so conclusively. The full annexation of Judea, Samaria and Gaza with the naturalization of Arabs who are willing to display loyalty to Israel, and the filtering and rejection of terrorist elements among them.

Then there would be no pretext for political pressure and financial boycott. No more potential for chaotic nations using perceived failures at the U.N. as part of a pretext for war. No more need for perpetual hasbara, just to try to have fair and balanced reporting. Hasbara would then be more about encouraging travel and aliyah than the bitter struggle for international fair play in politics and trade that it is today.

Then Israel could save the Arabs of Judea and Samaria from their despotic leaders, distance terrorists from Israel's heartland, and clean away the current tarnish to Israel's reputation all at once. In other words, have true peace at last. May it soon be so, by the grace of God.

By What Standard Compromise?

For 2000 years the Jews have had one method of prayer at the Western Wall, as one congregation. The new compromise to cater to some Reform activists is not religious in nature but political. Only the Rabbis of Israel should be deciding what to do with the holy sites, not foreign based religious interest groups and secular politicians working around the rabbinical authorities which by law, should have say.

Tearing apart a congregation to make a bunch of different prayer groups like this is not just inconvenient, but is actually a violation of a Torah law. Only the greatest Rabbis of Israel could hope to somehow find a workaround that does not assault Torah values in addition to millennia long customs of peaceful assembly by all denominations of Judaism in a united congregation. In lieu of that, the compromise is an offensive assault on Jewish unity for the sake of the freedom of small groups of worshipers, as meanwhile, the Temple Mount itself, the actual Holy of Holies of the Jewish people, remains truly free only to Muslims. If no workaround can be found by the Rabbis of Israel, then no compromise at all should be done.

When will the government stop trying to hinder Jewish freedom of religion on the Temple Mount? Politically inconvenient, no problem, compromise somewhere else. The problem is, the government has been compromising the rights of Jews to practice their faith on the Temple Mount since 1967. The current government has continued in that tradition.

But the longer tradition of Jewish unity is the tradition that should be upheld. In the video below, it can be viewed how Jews assembled united at the Wall before the Wall plaza was built, this back in 1945....

https://www.facebook.com/theisraelproject/videos/10154814049992316/

May the government of Israel allow the Rabbis of Israel to run the Jewish religion rather than secular politicians. May it soon be so, by the grace of God.

Speaking Opportunities

Need a speaker or forming a panel discussion on Israel?

You can contact me, Professor Friedlander, to join in. In addition to being a former adjunct professor of Political Science I am also an Orthodox Rabbi so I can bring a new dimension to a panel discussion, to mix with the other speakers that you have been planning to invite, for a more diverse range of views.

I am currently based in New York.

Please E-mail me.

Filtration of Terror Rather than Mere Separation

The Prime Minister's office pledged to catch the most recent murderer. But to fully police terror, there should not just be a policy to avenge it, but to prevent it as well. Not merely in the failed ways of the past. Build a wall, hide behind it, try to catch anyone going over it, chase down anybody you miss. There is potential temptation to rest on accomplishments, as the current method in preventing terror has a 99 percent success rate. But as good as that may sound, and as heroic every such success is, it has still meant 29 murdered Israelis, in the past 3 months alone. By implementing the proper filtration of terrorists, the violence could come to a standstill.

Buried today, slain mother of 6, Daphna Meir, who was brutally murdered in front of 3 of her children. The stabbing terrorist tried to go after her daughter next, but the blade became stuck, and then with a heroic effort she shoved the door shut against the man and locked him out of her house, before bleeding out before her screaming children, saving them from directly sharing in her fate.

We pray that God will avenge her blood. But we must not be fatalistic about that blood. We must not create vigilantes by being passive against innocent bloodshed when action is sorely needed. Do not say in a que sera, sera spirit, that this cannot be helped. Let the vivid sacrifice of Daphna and the 28 other martyrs awaken you. Humble yourself from what you thought you knew about security, and ask how this can be stopped.

Don't discuss political capitulation. That is how Labor governments became codependents to terror in the past. Besides, there is no more illusion that it could even be an option.

Now let the illusion, that the security status quo is good enough, also depart.

Forget about saying, "You can't fault 99 percent success." Yes, you can fault it; 29 times in the past few months alone, you can only criticize.

The case of Daphna Meir's murder highlights this glaring reality. This was not a terrorist tunnel assault. It was a guest worker in her home town. He was there WITH CONSENT of current Israeli security measures. Things must change. They undoubtedly will. But it must be without bureaucratic delays and in the right manner.

One such option is the method that I wrote of as a part of the Everyone Wins peace plan. A terrorist filter would have to weigh:

"...intel and acceptable probabilities. ...For those who are less of a risk but still a gray area, we consider a system of acceptable probabilities of loyalty. Acceptable probabilities are the expertise of actuaries and similar specialists. Just as credit card companies have a method to determine one's credit score and probable trust ratio, the same process can be held for people who are trustworthy enough to reach this level of appraisal."

If not flag waving, Zionist loving loyalty, at least law abiding fidelity must be ensured of any guest worker, OR THEY DON'T WORK HERE!

The bitter consequences of failure to implement such a protocol are now all too obvious. But the key is that the leaders of Israel not keep looking in the wrong direction to fix things.

This dilemma in no way calls for a political capitulation nor does it call for a military assault, but simply for preventative police action. That should be the easiest of options, but only if the Knesset looks at it that way. May it soon be so, by the grace of God.