December 21, 2010 Border With Gaza Heats Up? More Signs of Racisim in Israel. Netanyahu to Plea for Pollard's Release

A Daily Analysis

December 28, 2010 Fire On Train, Lieberman Saga Continues ?

To be expected, the first item dominated Israeli news today. A passenger train traveling from Haifa to Tel Aviv caught fire outside of Tel Aviv. Over 100 people were injured in the fire. The major story focused on the difficulty in escaping the train; on how the doors did not open and the windows were not designed to be emergency exits. It was up to the many soldiers on the train to use their guns to break the windows. The other problem, in my opinion, (that was not reported on at all), was the fact that, according to reports, it took the fire department 15 minutes to respond.

The second story reported that China National Chemical Corp. offered to buy a controlling stake in Makhteshim-Agan Industries Ltd., the largest maker of generic agricultural chemicals. The deal, valued at 2.4 Billion dollars, is no doubt good for the shareholders of Koor, the largest shareholder of Makhteshim. However, the deal is probably not a good move for the Israeli economy, that will no doubt see more of its knowledge moved to China, in return for a short term injection of money, (which is the last thing the Israeli economy needs today.)

The final story is the saga of Israel’s Foreign Minister. Lieberman, who most people were sure would have been indicted by now, (its easy to forget that almost two years ago the Israeli police recommended he be charged, but the wheels of Israeli justice spin so very slowly). Lieberman continues to be the gift to Israel’s enemies; a gift that just keeps giving. As I have said before, he is the man least suited for position he holds. It’s the Foreign Minister who is supposed to make nice when the Defense Minister upsets the world... not the other way around.

Lieberman is a complicated person. At the moment, he seems ready to provoke a major coalition crisis over the Conversion Bill. For the first time, it looks like he is not willing to back down from a confrontation with the Charedim over the bill that will officially recognize all the conversion done in the army. In the past, he has been willing to back down in the interest of maintaining the Coalition. However, if Lieberman backs down on an issue that is core to his Russian constituents, he might truly lose out politically. Therefore, Lieberman is taking a stand. Of course, the real key to changing the nature of Israeli politics would be trying to educate the Russian community that there is a clear disconnect between the liberal policies they want the Israeli government to adopt when it comes to issues of state and religion and how they want the country treat its minorities. You cannot insist Israel have liberal values in one area and denounce those same values in other areas.