Steve Kramer

A friend in the US recently asked me what I thought about Israel’s new government. My replay: It’s a government! Finally, after four elections in two years, the victory of a wide-ranging coalition government last spring meant that there was a good chance the election frenzy would end. The prerequisite for the government’s survival was to pass a budget before mid-November. If not, new elections would be scheduled and the government would be reduced to “caretaker” status only. [Steve Kramer]

Yes, there’s gang violence in Israel, but not nearly on the scale of American gang violence. Violent crime in Israel is predominantly found in Israeli Arab towns and in mixed Arab-Jewish cities. It’s often clan/tribal related, consisting of organized crime disputes and more personal, vengeance attacks. In addition, there’s a continuing problem with so-called honor killings, which are intra-family. (In general, Israel is a very safe place, with women not afraid to walk on city streets at night and children having few limits placed on their play time.) [Steve Kramer]

We support the Forgotten People Fund of Netanya, which has Israel’s largest Ethiopian Israeli population. Our grass roots fund, composed solely of volunteers, attempts to fill the gaps left by the city’s social services department. The ultimate mission is to help our local Ethiopian Israeli community members to better themselves. FPF depends on donations to carry on the important undertakings like assisting the community to obtain professional qualifications, such as managers, teachers, lawyers, nurses, and engineers. See the website at: http://www.fpf.org.il. [Steve Kramer]

 Iran has never caused more trouble than it does today. It has successfully completed its “crescent” road eastward to the Mediterranean through Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. It’s proxy militias, most notably Hezbollah, can be stronger than national armies, as Hezbollah is in Lebanon. It is so powerful there that Hezbollah is in a standoff position with the IDF, which is generally considered one of the world’s strongest armies. This is due to Hezbollah’s arsenal of approximately 150,000 rockets (random) and missiles (targeted). Iran controls Lebanon, plays a big role in Syria, is the major power in Iraq, and is successfully confronting Saudi Arabia in Yemen.  [Steve Kramer]

Some members of the Likud party, those who say they want to head the party “after Bibi steps down,” are showing signs of insurrection. In the June 20 Jerusalem Post, veteran political columnist Gil Hoffman wrote, “In public, Likud MK and former health minister and head of the Knesset, Yuli Edelstein, has kept fairly quiet regarding his decision to run in the next Likud Party primary. In private, however, he has told other high ranking Likud members that he intends on winning [the next Likud primary] and didn’t spare any harsh words for his party leader and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ….” [Steve Kramer]

Now that the Lapid-Bennett government (aka Change government) has replaced the Netanyahu-Likud government, which “reigned” for 12 years, what’s next? From the above headline one can see that the average government has lasted only two years, not nearly the full four years allotted. This is the result of Israel’s parliamentary system, wherein the government falls if the prime minister fails a “vote of confidence.” Alternatively, the prime minister can call for new elections at any time if it’s thought to be advantageous, but it doesn’t always work out that way. [Steve Kramer]