The current situation in Israel

Here are some thoughts on the situation.

1. The government is all talk and no action. So far the military action has been mostly cosmetic, blowing up empty buildings etc. What did bombing Haniyeh's emoty office accomplish? What has firing hundreds of artillery shells into empty fields accomplish except to waste money? Israel has become like the boy who cried wolf. Does anyone remember what Rabin said right after Oslo? Remember last year before the disengagement Sharon and Mofaz said if 1 Kassam falls on Israel we will strike back with all force. How many Kassams have fallen and what has been Israel's response? The Palestinians have figured out that Israel is all talk and no actions. Do you think that the latest threats realy concern them? Unfortunately, they have no credibility.


2. The left wing is arrogant and incredibly blind. Yossi Beilin was on the radio this morning saying how we need to negotiate etc. Not only is he not embarrassed to show his face after the disasters that he and his friends have created he is still giving bad advice. He stated this morning that we, Israel can bring peace. What an arrogant and stupid statement. He is the ultimate racist, discounting the Palestinian contribution. If the Palestinians don't want peace then he can spout off from here until tomorrow and there won't be peace.The fact is that the Palestinians have no interest in peace and all Yossi Beilin and company are doing is encouraging to continue with violence.


3. Olmert's התכנסות plan is DOA. The average person on the street has woken up and realized that it is a recipe for absolute disaster.


4. there has been a lot of dicsussion about the halacha of pidyon shvuyim and how much can you pay. RHS and many others (see for example כיצד פודים את השבויים? ) hold that today we are in a state of war with the Palestinians and therefore the regular rules of Pidyon Shvuyim do not apply. During a war we would not allow any kind of exchange for prisoners.
   
   We see this in last weeks parsha
   במדבר כא, א: "וישמע הכנעני מלך ערד יושב הנגב כי בא ישראל דרך האתרים, וילחם בישראל וישב ממנו שבי",
   
   Chazal comment that they captured 1 shifcha, to save her they did not negotiate but rather went out to war.