Beyond Balfour

13 % of all those tested for Covid-19 in Israel were positive for the virus. This makes Israel one of the more infected, per capita, in the world. Nearly 8,000 people tested positive over the last 24-hours. This was the third day running with numbers over 7,000 new infections. Israel is 24^th in the world with the total number of infections now standing at 215,273 or 23,405 per million. Germany has 3,360 per million, Italy 5,035 per million, the USA number one in infections at 7,187,179 has 21,684 per million.

Other heavily infected per million were Qatar with 44,394 per million, Bahrain, 39,434, Kuwait at 23,906. Coming in after the Middle East was South America, Peru with 23,851 per million, Chile with 23,579, Panama with 25,108.

Staring Friday Sept 25^th at 14:00 Israel went into another period of lockdown, called “seger” in Hebrew, that will last until after the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah on October 10^th. Israel is the first country to enter a second lockdown. However, the lockdown has been called unduly harsh by Israel’s corona czar Prof. Ronni Gamzo, who thought a graduated lockdown would be more effective by focusing first on the “red” zones where the infection was the highest, allowing most businesses to stay open and the general population to move about freely albeit with masks, social distancing and paying attention to hygiene. Gamzo’s recommendations were ignored by Prime Minister Netanyahu, who appointed him.

“The end of the previous lockdown was done too quickly,” Gamzo told the Associated Press. “The end had to be done gradually.” Gamzo did take responsibility for allowing the upper grades of the schools to open too soon. However, by going public with his criticism, Gamzo was obviously looking forward to the end of his term in the job on November 1, when he returns as CEO of Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital.Pundits said that by publicly criticizing Netanyahu Gamzo had signaled he was through with the job of Czar.

A new amendment to the lockdown rules was brought up for a vote in the Knesset on Thursday but was sent to the Constitution and Law committee for approval. The amendment allowed protests only within a kilometer (0.6 mile) of their homes. This would effectively eliminate those who drove to Jerusalem from anywhere in the country to protest on Saturday night. The committee met on Friday and voted not to approve the amendment. Benny Gantz of Blue and White told his party members on the committee to vote against the amendment. This after Gantz had originally met with Netanyahu in a closed session with Blue and White’s Gabi Ashkenazi, the Foreign Minister, Aryeh Deri, the Interior Minister, Yuli Edelstein the Health Minister and Gantz to draft the amendment.

Gamzo also said he was “Sick to my stomach” by Netanyahu’s move for a total lockdown based solely on the Prime Minister’s desire to end the weekly protests outside the PM’s Jerusalem residence on Balfour street that has attracted over 10,000 people every Saturday night calling for his resignation, holding up signs calling him the “Crime Minister.” Netanyahu has been indicted on three felonies but has refused to step down as Prime Minister.

“Saying I’ve called for this lockdown to stop the protests is absurd,” Netanyahu said in a live speech to the nation on Thursday night. He went on to boast how well the pandemic was being handled in Israel. However, sources inside the cabinet, according to media reports, said every time the word “demonstrations” was mentioned, Netanyahu jumped.

Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Sephardi Shaas party, has said that allowing protesters to gather in huge numbers on Saturday night outside Netanyhau’s residence on Balfour street, but limiting the number of men allowed to pray in a synagogue, was anti-Democratic. Deri thought the continued protests would lead the ultra-Orthodox to ignore the regulations. Especially as the Yom Kippur holiday was approaching. One of the terms in the new amendment was that synagogues would be open on Yom Kippur. Deri had threatened to leave the coalition, forcing new elections, if his conditions were not met. They were, but still, in the end, were voted down in the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.

Health Minister Edelstein said he would table a motion in the Knesset calling for a state of emergency in order to ban demonstrations which he considered a severe health hazard. This even though it was shown that no one was directly infected at any of the demonstrations but that ultra-Orthodox in the synagogues and yeshivot, and the Arab population, who also ignored the rules and held large weddings, were to blame for the spike in infections.

Netanyahu, in his Thursday night speech, blamed the Israeli public for not heeding the restrictions, blamed the opposition for eroding faith in the government, and others who disagreed with him. He reminded the listeners that he’d often been told by advisers what was right and wrong and had ignored them when he thought he was right. He emphasized that he’d always made the right decisions in spite of what the advisers told him to do.

Appearing on Channel 12 news just before Netanyahu’s speech, Yemina leader Neftali Bennet said that the government had no coherent plan to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. Yair Lapid, leader of the opposition, also appeared in a televised speech before Netanyahu, using a graph to show the drastic spike in infections and blaming Netanyahu for the government’s failure in fighting the pandemic.

Following Netanyahu’s speech, Channel 12 TV news political commentator Karen Marciano said that Netanyahu blamed everyone else for the pandemic and the spike in infections except himself. As Prime Minister he was the one responsible for the war on Covid-19 and he should admit that.

Yuli Edelstein’s promise to table a motion to call a state of emergency, giving Netanyahu powers to ban demonstrations and set limits on those allowed in prayer halls, was met with skepticism by critics. Both Blue and White’s Benny Gantz and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit have come out against a state of emergency. Mandelblit reportedly said that the court would strike down such a move.

Whatever the next week holds, the Yom Kippur holiday is fast approaching. Protests will be held Saturday night. Synagogues will be open but with limited numbers Miki Zohar, Likud Party coalition whip, said in an interview on Israel’s Army Radio, that the protests would lead to a “Second Yom Kippur War.” (referencing the 1973 Yom Kippur war Israel fought against Egypt, Syria and other Arab states). Zohar said that by opposing the amendment canceling demonstrations, and limiting the numbers allowed in synagogues, the number of infections would surely rise.

While Yitzchak Yosef, son of Shaas founder, now Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv has said that synagogues should be closed for Yom Kippur. Deri and former Housing Minister Yitzchak Litzman, also former Health Minister, head of the ultra-Orthodox Degal HaTorah party, have said that it would be difficult to keep ultra-Orthodox men out of synagogue on the holiest day of the year.

One ultra-Orthodox rabbi in Benei Brak, a red zone with a large number of Covid-19 infections, has said as long as Israelis can demonstrate and go to the beach why should he and his people be kept out of synagogue.

Still, Covid-19 Czar Gamzo thought that the restrictions being put in place by the lockdown should see a downturn in infections within two weeks. The current spike, according to media reports, is based on the end of year parties among high school graduates, large gatherings at weddings in Jewish and Arab communities, and lack of attention to wearing masks and keeping a social distance.

A similar complaint is being heard against the ultra-Orthodox community in New York city’s Crown Heights and Borough Park neighborhoods, where a spike in infections has also been seen. City officials say that the ultra-Orthodox are ignoring the health recommendations of wearing masks and keeping a safe distance.

Whatever the outcome, as the Jewish New Year begins, unless the Covid-19 is brought under control, the physical and economic effects will, according to experts, bring countries like Israel to the brink of a cascading disaster. As Blue and White’s Gantz said, there are more important things to worry about than demonstrations on Balfour street.

A New Horizon

 As the world battles Covid-19, and Israel was seeing a startling 10% infection rate of those 

(Left,Bahrain FM Abdullanif al-Zayani, Israeli PM Netanyahu, US President Trump, UAE FM Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on White House Lawn, Washington D.C.) (Hebrew text at bottom of the page””Ceremony: Rockets over Ashdod and Ashkelon)

tested, with a record 5523 infections in a 24-hour period, and 1137 deaths, a new horizon, barely discussed in the US press, a brief mention in the New York Times, was reached between Israel and some of her Arab neighbors yesterday when the United Arab Emirates signed a peace accord with Israel on the White House lawn in Washington, D.C.  agreeing to normalize relations and establish diplomatic ties. While both Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump were at the signing, according to pundits, these accords were a long time in the making.

(Neither Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum , PM of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, nor Hamad bin Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa, King of Bahrain, attended the ceremony sending their foreign ministers instead. PM Netanyahu did not include his FM Gabi Ashkenazi in the entourage traveling to the US).

Ehud Yaari, veteran political commentator now with Channel 12 news, said that this was an agreement between countries not individuals. Between Israel and the UAE not between Prime Minister Netanyahu and the UAE Foreign Minister who signed the accords. Israel also signed an understanding of agreement with Bahrain.

Yaari said this was a historic development in the history of the Middle East. Israel was now reaching a level of acceptance with her Arab neighbors. Other analysts said that this agreement bypassed the Palestinians demands to first have a state before any Arab nations would accept Israel’s legitimacy.

Both President Trump and Israel’s PM Netanyahu took credit for this historic agreement.

However, speaking on Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet, Yitzchak ‘Bougie’ Herzog, former head of Israel’s Labor Party, said that when he was running the Labor Party he met with the heads of Bahrain and the UAE and other moderate Arab countries, all Sunni, enemies of Iran’s Shiite branch of Islam, all of whom expressed a willingness to sign a peace agreement with Israel. Herzog said that Britain’s former prime minister Tony Blair had been the conduit between Israel and the Arab nations.

On Tuesday, according to the Times of Israel, Blair said he understands Ramallah’s objection to the deals, but believes that “in time, the Palestinian people will understand that it is only by radically changing strategy that the legitimate aspirations for a viable Palestinian state can be realized.”

Yaari confirmed these claims and said that Israel has had unofficial relations with moderate Arab countries for years. It is well known in Israel that Israeli hospitals have treated Arab leaders who have no official ties to Israel.

However, just as the agreements were being signed on the White House lawn, Hamas fired rockets from Gaza to protest the new peace agreements. The rockets fell on the Israeli cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod injuring two Israelis, one lightly, one still in serious condition. Hamas also sent another volley of rockets into southern Israel on Wednesday morning. The Palestinians reportedly view the agreements as a betrayal by the UAE and Bahrain.

The editor of Jerusalem Magazine received a letter from a friend asking for a comment on an article written by Dr. Philip Giraldi, executive director of the Council for National Interest, that had a headline “Democrats Go All-Out for Israel: Joe is a Zionist and Kamala panders to Jewish donors.” The letter took the position of the “progressives” in the Democratic party who lambasted Biden for, essentially, being a lackey of Israel, and Kamala Harris, who is married to a Jewish man, no better. Dr. Giraldi also called for the US to curtail aid to Israel and claims Israel is out to destroy the Palestinians.

In reply, Jerusalem Magazine’s editor wrote:

“1.) Isolationism didn’t work with Europe in the 20’s-late 30’s. Won’t work now. Bin Laden didn’t attack the Twin Towers because of Israel. With a powerful ally in the Middle East to prevent fundamentalists from sweeping over the moderate and liberal countries the USA can avoid a larger confrontation.

2. BDS was started by a Palestinian to further Palestinian aspirations. A Palestinian state would be a good thing but no Palestinian leader will step up and make and implement a peace agreement. Sources in the UAE and Bahrain have reportedly said the Palestinians have been obdurate for too long and are obstacles to Peace. Those against the recent Peace treaty with the UAE are countries like Iran and Qatar both fundamentalists, and Turkey, one of the main donors and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. And Russia’s Putin for his own ambition to make Russia a superpower once again. Would liberals want this axis of evil to stand up and take over the Middle East with Islamic fundamentalism running rampant? With Iran a nuclear power? I think this anti-Israel bias is short-sighted.
If Turkey and Qatar can support Islamic fundamentalists why can’t Saban support Israel? (Giraldi claimed that Billionaire Chaim Saban, who was born in Israel, had an inordinate influence over US policies.) The Middle East is undergoing a transformation. Other Arab countries are about to recognize Israel’s existence as a nation and a neighbor. The Progressive Democrats are singing an antiquated song. The Palestinians have just been made irrelevant by their obduracy. They still have the opportunity to get a State but recognizing Israel’s right to exist would be a good first step.

3.) Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have the right idea. Debbie Wasserman Shultz, Bernie Sanders and other progressives are correct in the necessity for more social programs, health initiates and general equality for the poorer sectors of the USA, but in Foreign Policy the are misguided by others. Dr. Giraldi made a few interesting points but ultimately offered nothing new. Same song sung by the SDS back in the 60’s. And the Soviets who once Ben Gurion until he refused to make Israel a Soviet satellite in ‘48.

Old Communist party line. Hasn’t changed.

While I agree that there should be universal health care and support other progressive platforms when it comes to israel I’m afraid the progressives don’t have a clue what’s really at stake. In my opinion nothing less than the future of the free world.”

In Israel the peace accords made headlines and the entire signing ceremony was broadcast live on every tv station. Credit was given to PM Netanyahu and US President Trump for bringing the parties to the table. The quid pro quo, according to analysts, was Israel’s freeze of settlements in the West Bank, and allowing the UAE to receive advanced F-35 jet fighters, as well as other security measures, and advanced medical technology. Pundits say that both the UAE and Bahrain, as well as other Arab countries who are expected to also sign agreements with Israel, are seeking Israel’s backing against any Iranian aggression. Especially since the US has announced they are pulling troops out of the region. These Arab states are frightened by Iran and hope an alliance with Israel will dissuade Iran from any hostilities. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, as the Jewish High Holidays approach this weekend, the health ministry announced moves to try to stop the spread of Covid-19 across the country. Schools were closed for the next three weeks. As were restaurants, bars, and gyms. Synagogues were limited to 20 people outside and 10 inside, and all had to wear masks and keep a social distance. Residents were restricted to no more than 500 meters from their homes. Fines from $125 and up would be issued to those caught breaking the regulations.

This would be a completely different Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) than nearly any other. “Israel is at war,” said one observer. “In war everything is different. In this war rather than bullets we have microbes.” Dr. Israela Hirsch, a Jewish-based Ophthalmologist said, “The microbes are worse.”

With 167,000 cases and counting, with 18,135 cases per million, compared the the international average of 3824,  Israel has no  choice but to take drastic steps.

And the Peace accords, that coincidently fit in with President Trumps election campaign, and beleaguered PM Netanyahu’s legal troubles, as one man in the Israeli Arab town of Nazareth said, when asked about the UAE, Bahrain peace accords, “Who cares. We’ve got Covid-19 here, that’s where the government’s focus should be, not on some accord.” On that account, neither PM Netanyahu, nor President Trump have proved to be very good generals.

Setting New Records.

The USA is, according to the website https://ncov2019.live/ , still # 1 in the world with the most cases, now standing at 6,335,244, 19,120 per million, leading the world with 191,058 deaths, 577 per million, 15,042 critical cases, and 2,569,090 active cases. Next are Brazil, India, Russia and then Peru.

Speaking on Israel TV’s Channel 13, Israel’s Corona Czar Prof. Ronni Gamzu, said Israel has become the leader in overnight infections with 199.3 per million, ahead of Brazil with 188.8, Spain with 178.5 and the USA with 129.2.

Ynetnews reported that overnight infections crept up to just over 3,000 for the last two nights running. As of now, Israel is #26 in the list of the most cases, up from 35 a few weeks ago. Israels currently has 124,555 cases, with 13,531 per million; deaths stand at 991 with 107 per million, 417 cases are in critical condition, 24,825 active cases, and 117 on ventilators.

Ynetnews also reported that Gamzu said there was a “probable chance” that Israel would be placed under lock-down during the High Holidays later this month. Gamzu said, “We are at war..this is a message to the entire State of Israel: no weddings, no mass events, don’t flout the rules at a restaurant or anywhere.” According to Ynetnews, Gamzu also stated that the COVID-19 rates in the Ultra-orthodox and Arab sectors was exceptionally high. Ultra-Orthodox politicians have demanded the synagogues remain open for the High Holidays.

Israel has responded to the rise in cases with a partial lock-down of 30 cities around the country, closing off entry to the cities, limiting the number of people allowed in an indoor venue to 10 and outdoor venue to 20, and limiting the range a person can walk from their home to 500 meters.

Most of the 30 cities were either ultra-Orthodox Jewish cities, or Israeli Arab. Speaking on Reshet Bet radio yesterday, Attorney Adel Badir, mayor of the Israeli/Arab town of Kfar Kasem, said that this was the wedding season and the city, and Arab towns around the country, was hard-pressed to keep the celebrations small and observing social distancing. Israel TV’s Channel 12 aired footage of wedding in Israeli Arab villages and towns where hundreds of people were celebrating without social distancing or masks.

To further complicate matters, 93-year-old Ultra-orthodox rabbi Shmaryahu Yosef Chaim Kanievsky, considered a leading authority in Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jewish society reportedly instructed heads of Israel’s yeshivot (religious seminaries) not to test students for Corona. According to the website The Yeshiva World. Rabbi Kanievsky said the testing could lead to “mass Bitul Torah,” (damaging Torah study) as the students would be forced into isolation.

The Yeshiva World website also said that, Prof. Gamzu “chastised the Gadol Hador” (giant of the generation) saying his words could “endanger the Haredi public.” Yeshiva World continued, “A few hours after Gamzu chastised Rav Kanievsky, the Chareidi representatives resigned from participating in the Coronavirus Advisory Committee. Shas representatives claimed that the committee was simply a decoration and had no power or effect. Ashkenazi representatives, Deputy Mayor of Yerushalayim Yossi Deutsch and Head of Ezer M’Tzion Hananya Cholak both resigned as well, and claimed that they were strongly disappointed with the way that the committee was being run and felt that they had no voice in deciding issues that mattered.”

The Times of Israel reported that back in march, Rabbi Kanievsky’s spokesman announced that study halls should remain open as “canceling Torah study is more dangerous than the coronavirus.” The Times of Israel wrote that Rabbi Kanievsky later rescinded the edict but he was partially blamed for the high infection rates in ultra-Orthodox communities in Israel.

The ultra-Orthodox Yeshiva World website reported that “recent statistics have shown there has been a large sparke in the number of Chareidim who have contracted the virus, especially in Yeshivos. One Yeshiva in Carmiel (a norther Israeli city) had 200 students test positive for the virus on Tuesday.”

Benyamin Cohen, Director of the Yeshiva Committee Control Center told Israeli media that @500 Yeshiva students have been diagnosed with COVID-19 out of 25,000 students countrywide.” But other media reports dispute the low number saying as many as 800 tested positive, and thousands were put in isolation.

Media sources also reported that, according to Prof. Gamzu, 28% of the infections were in the Arab sector and 22% in ultra-Orthodox communities. However, Prof. Gamzu said that 80% of the new cases of infection are in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods.

Visiting the ultra-Orthodox town of Beitar Ilit on Wednesday, Prof. Gamzu told the media that 14% of the population of the town tested positive for COVID-19. The country average is @9%.

Following Prof. Gamzu’s criticism of Rabbi Kanievsky, ultra-Orthodox voices called for Gamzu’s resignation. Gamzu also found himself criticized for vehemently objecting to the annual pilgrimage to Uman, Ukraine, burial site of Reb Nachman of Breslav, a mystic and holy man. The ususal carnival atmosphere in Uman worried Prof. Gamzu. He stated that the many of the estimated 50,000 Israelis who travel to Uman for the High Holidays would return to Israel with COVID-19 and spread the virus.

Gamzu wrote to the Volodymyr ZelenskyPresident of Ukraine asking him to stop Israelis from entering that country. Ultra-Orthodox community even labeled Gamzu an anti-Semite and called for his resignation. Zelensky, who is Jewish, honored Gamzu’s appeal, some say because he thought Gamzu was speaking for Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu. Even so, media reported that many Israelis managed to sneak into Ukraine and head for Uman. United Torah Judaism’s Yaacov Litzman called on Gamzu to resign because of his interfering with ultra-Orthodox going to Uman.

Prof. Gamzu now finds himself nearly alone in the fight over curtailing the ultra-Orthodox communities. PM Netanyahu, who appointed Gamzu, has not come out publicly and backed Gamzu’s positions.

Neftali Bennet, former Defense Minister and leader of the right-wing Yamina party, is a harsh critic of Netanyahu. He told Channel 12 news that Netanyahu has not taken over leadership of the fight against COVID-19 but was too busy arguing about petty political interest, the budget, and worried about his trial.

Some analysts say that PM Netanyahu’s silence is caused by his fear of new elections. Should he back Gamzu and incur the wrath of the ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism, and Shas, those parties could bolt the coalition and force new elections. This would not be in Netanyahu’s game plan, say the analysts. Should the government fall then Defense Minister Benny Gantz would automatically become interim Prime Minister, something Netanyahu wants to avoid.

Rather, Netanyahu wants to wait until the end of December, say the analysts, when the 100-day extension on the budget ends. No new budget has been yet been drawn up nor, according to Shaul Meridor,  Finance Ministry head of the budget department, and son of Likud veteran Dan Meridor, who resigned this week, said that no work has even begun on a new budget. Finance Minister Israel Katz dodged the question of the new budget when pushed by Channel 12’s anchorman Danny Kushmaro.

With no budget by November 23, 2020, the government automatically falls. Then Netanyahu stays on as interim Prime Minister. This is because the coalition agreement states that if there is a budgetary issue that causes the government to fall Netanyahu, not Gantz, becomes interim Prime Minister. This is important to Netanyahu, according to analysts, because he is afraid that once out of the PM’s chair, a bill can be passed by the Gantz preventing Netanyahu from running for Prime Minister as long as he is under indictment.

However, Channel 12 political analyst Amit Segal said that Netanyahu needn’t worry about Gantz passing any legislation preventing him from serving as PM while on trial. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said in a statement on Thursday that Netanyahu could stay as PM even while on trial. This, according to Amit Segal, takes the pressure off of Netanyahu to go to new elections. Mandelblit also specified that Netanyahu cannot deal with any legal or judicial  or police issue that affects his trial as this would be a conflict of interest.

Meanwhile, the protests outside the PM’s residence are expected to continue even though the ultra-Orthodox parties complain that they should be allowed in their study halls and synagogues if fifteen thousand protesters can gather in front of the Prime Minister’s residence on a weekly basis.

A new issue arose this week after the historic flight of the El Al plane carrying Israeli diplomats flew over Saudi Arabia and landed in Abu Dhabi. According to the New York Times, PM Netanyahu secretly agreed to the US sale of advanced F-35 fighter planes, drones, and anti-radar equipment to the Emirates, ostensibly in exchange for the normalization of ties between Israel and the Emirates.

Netanyahu staunchly denies any such secret agreement.

Avi Issaroff, a veteran military and security reporter, also one of the creators of the popular Israeli TV series “Fauda,” writing in the Times of Israel, said that the “UAE deal shows Arab-Israel conflict starting to come apart before our eyes.” He wrote: “Israel finds itself in a place of honor in the moderate Sunni camp against the extremist Shiites: there are even signs of a certain shift in Hamas.” Issaroff said this was a sign of “a profound change in the Middle-East.”

So, even if Netanyahu did make a secret deal to get normalization, asks some pundits, was that so bad?

Some skeptics wrote of the danger of selling weapons to the Emirates as these weapons could be transferred to a third party, and be used against Israel. Neri Zilber, writing in foreignpolicy.com implied that the planes were the quid pro quo for the normalization. The article said that normally a large weapons deal like the one proposed with the UAE would take almost a year to process.” But, “the Trump administration wants to get it underway within two to five months, ideally by the time of the US election in November.”

Congress, Foreign Policy said, would need to be provided with details of a proposed sale by October so lawmakers could have time to consider it and raise objections. The UAE wants to deal to happen fast. “They read the tea leaves, and they know things will change for them in the next administration.”

And, should Joe Biden win, “This (deal) is never going to happen.”

According to Foreign Policy, “the UAE has wanted for years to buy the F-35, a sophisticated stealth fighter plane that only Israel among countries in the Middle East has been allowed to purchase. U.S. presidential advisor Jared Kushner, who mediated the UAE-Israel deal, said in a recent interview with CNN that the ‘peace agreement should increase the probability of them getting it.’”

Some analysts say that between the F-35’s, COVID-19, and political motives, both from Israel and the USA, we’re in for some very interesting times. Meanwhile, Israel has to content itself with setting dubious records, and the USA with the also dubious distinction of being the number one COVID-19 country in the world.