New Faces in the Government

After three elections and a prolonged negotiation to form a governing coalition, we can meet the new faces of our rulers. The nucleus of the government is the old Likud gang, but there are surprising people that emerged through the Gantz list. There are two Ethiopian-born Ministers, one with a community-organizing background, the second an unknown journalist.

In 2015 Tamanu-Shata was one of the leaders of the Ethiopian Israelis’ protests against police violence, and her initiative led to a government decision on the establishment of a special committee in the Ministry of Justice, which published the Palmor Report on reducing racism and discrimination in Israel, particularly against Israelis of Ethiopian descent, and on policy change and measures to combat this phenomenon. . She also led a new policy for the optimal integration of members of her community into society.


There is large number of females, including the daughter of former Minister David Levy, and a horrible, agressive female TV personality. There are two or three young politicians who emerged as leaders of students unions - a traditional path to power.  There are relatively few lawyers and no Left wing activists. Netaniyahu has erased several Likud chieftains that tried to compete with him. Except for the central nucleus of seasoned Likudniks, we have a majority of unknown, inexperienced and apparently weak personalities. Now they will have the opportunity to show their capabilities.

Israel is putting the Corona epidemic behind it. The damage seems to be minimal. The TASE stock exchange is rapidly re-gaining lost ground. Yesterday we went to my daughter in Dalia, it was 45.5 C at 3 PM, at home we survive and work thanks to air conditioning. I am wondering if to complete my article on virus transmission through sewage vents, as the suject is no more topical in Israel, is it?     

Israel Yesterday: Zero Infected, No Deaths

Daily Report 115 of the WHO shows that Israel has practically stopped the epidemic. In the most admired country, Nordic Sweden, dozens are dying each day. It must be the sharav (the hamsin in Arabic), a wave of hot desert air. Or, improbably, we are a most effective society.  

Things To Do: Tour Sanliurfa

Göbekli Tepe lies 15 km east of the city of Şanlıurfa, South EastTurkey. This prehistoric site is dated to 12000 years ago i.e. it is 6000 years older than Stonehenge. The "temple" was built in the Early Neolithic, when humans made the transition from hunting to gathering and farming, before even the pottery.

Sanliurfa is the center of bloody battles among several ethnic groups and is under military closure by the Turkish Army. I"ll have to postpone my tour.

Israel's water dilemma

After more than a year of uncertainty and transitional government, Israel succeded in forming a strong coalition led by Bibi Netaniyahu, supported by 75 (of the total of 120) Knesset members.

We had the honor of the visit of the American Secretary of State, Mr Pompeo. I suspect he came to forbid Israel to hire the Chinese firm Hutchinson to build and operate and own the Soreq Desalination Plant Phase B, planned to be the world's largest. The PPP licitation was published two years ago and is managed by the Hashav HaClali, the budget management arm of the Ministry of Treasure. The firms that have submitted offers are SUEZ (French), PMEC (Chinese), GES +Hutchinson (Israeli+Chinese) IDE+ACCIONA (Israeli-Spanish) and the WPI+AQUALIA partnership (Israeli-Spanish). I presume that Hutchinson is the cheapest, the best and provide financing. But America under Trump is fighting China's growing influence, and in this very serious world war, we are America's inconditional ally.  So there is no water dilemma at all. Viva Espana! and welcome to the EIB - European Investment Bank.

Now is the time to buy!

Mr Herbert Hoover says Now is the time to buy! He was right. Is now the time to buy? I think so.

"The Fed gave up on bazookas, skipped helicopters and went straight for B-52 Stratofortress Bombers to carpet-bomb the financial markets with cash," Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, wrote in a note to clients last week. "The immediate reaction of the financial markets was: 'It's raining money! Hallelujah! It's raining money!'"

World economy is suffering with this corona closure. The US unemployment rate spiked to 14.7% in April, the highest since the Great Depression. The same in Israel. How can be such a disconnect between the stock market and the real economy? This question occupied my mind for a time, till I understood that the stock exchange is not the mirror of the real economy. 

Its components, which include Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL) and Chevron (CVX), are industry leaders that generally have the financial resources to ride out the storm. Some of them, like Amazon (AMZN), are even benefiting from the disruption caused by the crisis.

Now is the time to buy!

New Baby Ella

Our replacements have arrived and we are approaching recycling time. It is as it should be.

I received several requests for proposals. People is full of nervous energy wanting to make up for the two months corona-closure. I dreamt of a misdesigned town where the new neighborhood had been built on the left side and I had to move it to the right side. I was calculating the geometry how to fit this triangular neighborhood on right side, turning it around in my mind.  

A Jew Must Live in Israel

Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, Head of Yeshivat Har Bracha, a settlement ovverlooking the city of Schem (Nablus) and facing Mount Avel, writes:

The mitzvah (obligation) of Yishuv Ha’Aretz (settling the Land of Israel) obligates the entire nation of Israel to inherit the Land, namely, to apply sovereignty over it, and settle it. As it is written (Numbers 33: 53-54): ” You shall dispossess the inhabitants of the Land and dwell in it, for I have given the Land to you to possess it…to inherit the Land…” or as Ramban defined the mitzvah: “We were commanded to take possession of the Land which the Almighty, Blessed Be He, gave to our forefathers, to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaacov; and to not abandon it to other nations, or to leave it desolate”. 

One can only respect the people who went up that stony, desolate hill, to build a Yeshiva (school) and spend their time studying old texts there. I designed the water, etc. infrastructure of the Yeshiva. It was difficult to get paid, but after two or three years they did pay me. It was frightful to drive to the site on those deserted mountain roads up the settlement, and to pass through enemy villages. The road was in fact the main street of the towns, with new mosques being erected and hundreds of children walking on the road, going to school. I was attacked only once. The courageous Rabbi reminds everybody the reason they are there.