‘Far From the Madding Crowd’

Israel is in the world’s headlines. At least in the ones I read from New York and London. The Anglo press is unanimous in its condemnation of our Prime Minister (often referred to as “Prime Sinister”) with his recent decision announced that he will seek to pass a law which will grant him immunity from prosecution while he holds the office of prime minister.

Once again his hypocrisy and lying tongue are revealed for all to see. Prior to the elections, he indicated that he would not seek to pass a law granting him immunity from prosecution in view of his pending indictment on three charges of bribery and fraud.

The High Court/ Supreme Court in our country is regarded with the highest respect for its strict attention to the law and to the welfare of our citizenry. Until now, I am not aware of any criticism of our court system nor of the decisions carefully rendered by our wise judges.

Politics and religious affiliation have no place in our courts. The judges decide based upon the testimony before them given by reliable witnesses. In this respect, they follow the laws of justice as dictated in rabbinic law and Torah admonition.

Netanyahu has failed dismally to form a coalition government. The person he needs most to join him and to give him a majority is Avigdor Lieberman, our former minister of defense. But Lieberman has too many demands, five in all, in order for him to agree to join Netanyahu’s coalition. And Netanyahu will be unable to fulfill most of those demands, in particular one which deals with concerns of the ultra-Orthodox parties. Lieberman is a secular Jew and he despises the greed of power-hungry rabbis.

Without Lieberman joining, Netanyahu has only eleven more days under the law in which to announce the formation of a working government. Pending failure, President Rivlin is obligated to turn the task of governing the nation to another member of the Knesset.

Who it might be is anyone’s guess. I would personally like to see the chance offered to Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid of the Blue-and-White party, the colors of our national flag.

Netanyahu’s era hopefully is coming to its overdue close. He will then have sufficient time to prepare for his hearing and trial. Without any doubt, Sara will have something to do with the writing of his remarks to be made at the hearing. Her finger as usual is frequently in the wrong place.

Israel is now a madding crowd. Lots of sweating and heavy breathing, not from the strain of physical exercise but rather from the fear of losing the emperor’s crown. That once-gold colored crown has now turned to rust.

Since the establishment of our State we have not experienced a situation which the government is now embroiled in.

Netanyahu’s promise of the annexation of the settlements in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) is seemingly agreeable to the American president, Netanyahu’s partner in deceit. Such an act of annexation would be a direct violation of international law and the decisions made by the United Nations.

It would mean the death of a two-state solution. But I believe that is exactly what Netanyahu and his “tribe” desire. He would, like many other Israelis, wish for the Palestinians in those areas to pick themselves up and move into the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan whose monarch, King Abdullah II, will not permit it. Albeit that his kingdom is the 77% of historic Palestine which was separated by the British in 1917 and given to his grandfather, the Emir Abdullah I of Trans-Jordan, the increase of a million or more Palestinians would result in the end of the Jordanian monarchy.

The American and British newspapers are filled with opinions and op-ed pieces, followed by sympathetic letters-to-the-editor on behalf of “the poor, suffering Palestinians”.

Few non-Israelis can understand the politics in Israel. I dare to venture a guess that some millions of Israelis cannot understand it either. I am, happily, one among the many.

I prefer my life to be void of political scheming and treachery of made-and-broken promises.

It is just more comfortable to be “far from the madding crowd”.