Author: David Mark

David Mark is the founder and editor of Israel Rising. Besides Israel Rising, he heads up outreach for Ateret Cohanim in Jerusalem's Old City and acts as the Managing Director for Pulse of Israel. On the side he teaches classes that blend minimalism, mindfulness, and ecology with the teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov.
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Jerusalem: The United Capital of Palestine

Sometimes your enemies can teach you something.  In fact, many times they can teach you something.  Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen) has now stood up as the ultimate Palestinian patriot.  It’s true, he has aspired to that before, but has always fallen short. Incitement on PA TV just doesn’t cut it when compared to Hamas.  Renaming signs after terrorists cannot compare to actually planning and executing the attacks like Hamas and ISIS does.  So what’s left for Abbas?

Abbas has never retreated from bombastic verbiage.  His latest, is that Jerusalem belongs to “Palestine.”  Now that is not surprise. This time Abbas drew a red line for his own people.

“Anyone who accepts a Palestinian state without Jerusalem as its capital is a traitor,” Abbas said.

How refreshing. I have to say, at least Abbas can be admired for standing up and showing us what it means to be a patriot.  It’s true, our own leaders have said Jerusalem is the united capital of Israel, but we have never heard Bibi Netanyahu call Isaac Herzog a traitor for advocating the division of Jerusalem.

Ideology means something or at least it should.  The problem with our leaders is that the words leaving their mouths seem to be nothing more than noise.  We have to be willing to be as fervent with our belief sets as our enemies or we won’t succeed in preserving our inheritance. This is not to say we should knock the other side out using violence. Our enemies can raise that flag, but we have to believe strong enough in our convictions that we call out our internal opposition for what they are, traitors.

In no way am I referring to positions concerning, health care, infrastructure, taxes, or the economy.  These are agnostic policy choices that should be made based on professionalism.  I am referring to Israel’s future and its connection to its past.  When a politician is determined to trade away our national heritage as if it is a mere policy decision, yes that person is a traitor.  When he or she supports foreign influence that has caused the death and security deterioration of the nation, yes that person is a traitor.

“He that struggles with us strengthens our nerves, and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.” – Edmund Burke

Since the beginning of the Zionist Revolution and the Jewish people’s nascent liberation the political class has been afflicted by a ghetto philosophy, this dhimmitude wrought upon the Jewish nation after years in exile has yet to be shed.  Advancement within the nation has occurred because the Arab population within and without the Land of Israel has forced the political class’s hands.  We see this in 1948, 1967, and beyond. Despite Israel’s overwhelming strength, the government has never forced true sovereignty throughout Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria. The Arab leadership are here in many ways in order to refine us and make us reach to the next level.  If not the ghetto we have created would be far too comfortable to crack the complacency of ideological hollowness

Mahmoud Abbas may be a murderer, Holocaust denier, and thief, but he understands the need of the Arab street to cling to its absolutism, because for them there are things far more important than simply peace.

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Hebron and the Fall of Israel’s Government

See the update on the bottom of the article.

The acquisition of two Arab properties in Hebron by Jews and the new owners’ subsequent eviction by Defense Minister Yaalon has placed current Israeli government in peril. The government has a razor thin majority of 61 parliamentary members and needs only 2 to sink it.  Three MKs from the right have now stood up and pledged to vote against the coalition. Betzalel Smotritch, Ayoub Kara and Oren Hazan have now said they will not vote in favor of the coalition. Expect more to follow.

Responding to Ya’alon’s claim the residents were “intruders,” Smotrich blasted, “Intruders?! Residents who purchased homes at full price are intruding?! I listened to Bogie’s rhetoric against settlers in the interview and it’s just shameful.”

Why Hebron?

To understand how serious the situation is in relation to the government’s survival, it is important to grasp the role Hebron plays in the psyche of the Jewish nation.  The Patricarchs and Matriarchs of the Jewish people are buried there and  King David ruled there for the first 7 years of his Kingship.  Hebron also had a contiguous Jewish presence (save for the crusader) until 1929 when the Arabs rioted, massacring nearly 70 individuals and driving the remainder from the city.

It was not until 1967 that Jews returned to Hebron.  From the 1970’s onward the ancient Jewish community came back to life.

Since the beginning of the current security deterioration,  Hebron and the surrounding area has suffered the majority of shooting, knifing, and rock throwing attacks. Four residents of Kiryat Arba/Hebron and the wider area have been killed. For one moment on Thursday, there was a sense that some good had come from all of the violence. The purchase of the two houses provided a relief to the despair.

Yaalon in Control

Yaalon’s actions are in direct contravention to basic property rights.  In this case the Jewish buyers have all of the documentation necessary proving they bought the houses. In Israel, perfect documentation is needed because Arab sellers will often times change their mind under the fear of death.

Given the above fact, why would Yaalon spark a coalition crisis over two houses?  The answer is simple…control. Yaalon has spent the better part of his professional military career watching the army shift out of the hands of the children and grandchildren of the Kibbutz movement and into the hands of the Religious Zionist camp. Although there are many shades of gray within the Religious Zionist movement, Hebron represents something beyond just settlements.

By allowing private purchases to change the landscape of Hebron the way they have in Jerusalem (not under Yaalon’s department) the turning point for the State of Israel would be complete. Control is about direction. Religious Zionism in all of its myriad of colors strives for the leadership of the State of Israel by both connecting it to its past and using that past as a road map for its future. Hebron, even more so than Jerusalem holds the keys to nation’s roots.  Without Hebron the claim to any other part of Israel becomes shaky at best.

Hebron as the Symbol for National Liberation

The Zionist Revolution is more than a religious doctrine. In fact, it is one of the few national liberation struggles that has successfully born fruit in such a short amount of time. The return to Hebron has become a symbol for that return and stands on the frontlines of the Jewish Nation’s liberation struggle.

Surprisingly enough it was Ben Gurion himself who noted the importance of Hebron:

“we will make a great and awful mistake if we fail to settle Hebron, neighbor and predecessor of Jerusalem, with a large Jewish settlement, constantly growing and expanding, very soon. This will also be a blessing to the Arab neighbors. Hebron is worthy to be Jerusalem’s sister.”

Will the Government Fall?

Israeli politics has always been very unpredictable.  The government is very shaky and one false move by anyone can easily shatter it.  There is tremendous pressure due to the security situation for the government to act and act with an iron fist.  The fact that it hasn’t done that and rather chose to focus on chasing after a small group of young settlers, while paying lip service to defending the Jewish people has begun to take its toll on the citizenry. Evicting Jews from building they lawfully bought may actually be the trigger for the government’s collapse.

Those of us that have been through many of these situations also know that the Prime Minister and Defense Minister are fully capable of walking back their actions if they sense a mortal blow about to occur.  In the coming days as external threats pile up around Israel, the threat that the government may indeed collapse will grow.  At that point the Prime Minister may in fact be left with no choice than to force the Defense Minister to unlock the doors to houses himself, or find a new line of work.

UPDATE

Bibi just said that although he supports the settlements, purchasers must respect the law and wait for approval.  He hopes that happens soon. This is a vague statement and one wonders what will happen next or if he will really follow through. It would seem the ball is back in the corner of the young renegades.  My assumption is that they will give Bibi some room to maneuver, but hold him to his word. Hebron is now on the front line and symbol of the future direction of the State of Israel.

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The Great Unwinding Has Begun

[dropcap]D[/dropcap]espite the US Treasury’s best market manipulation, which may or may not save US Stocks for the day, the inevitable stomach turning feeling that the World is once again out of control is unmistakably in the air. There has been a subtle feeling that this could be the reality for months now and as Iran’s oil came into the global market, crude’s collapse has been assured. With oil down below $27 a barrel, the market rout that has been underway since the first of January will assuredly continue.

dow-30-days
Courtesy Bloomberg

In all honesty, the global recovery since 2008 has not really been a recovery.  Propped up by cheap credit and a farce of a fracking and shale industry as well the emerging markets, which have been more fictional than fact, the economy should have given way a long time ago.  Humans like to live in a bubble. So long as there has been available credit the false economy could continue lying.

Keynesian Economics is Bringing Everything Else Down

The game that has been played by the central bankers for the last few decades has reached the end.  Over manipulation of the markets which has flowed from the statist policies rooted in Keynesian Economics has warped the global economy.  This unraveling is picking up pace and threatens to derail the global economy.

Listen to the Podcast Below

Keynesian Economics never made much sense. The idea that central banks could increase deficit spending to ensure economic growth in times of stagnation would eventually be over used. The only surprise is that is has taken this long for a real decoupling to begin.

From Economic Collapse to War

One thing is certain. When global economic stresses increase to an unacceptable level, geopolitical friction begin to stir. Russia cannot sustain itself with oil as low as it is.  Neither can the Arab nations or Iran.

With no reason to keep the guns holstered expect Russia and Iran to be on the move. After all, the best way to raise oil prices is war. If there is war then why not make the most of it and restore some lost territory in Ukraine and other areas Mother Russia once had.

For Israel’s part, the economic level of most of its citizens have always been borderline poverty.  If the tech bubble bursts the government will have to instill emergency measure.  Of course, Israel has always functioned on a different wavelength and there is no reason to assume it won’t do so this time as well. Of course if there is real war, all bets are off.

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From Saudi Chaos to Iranian Stability

Sometimes Internet rumors do in fact exhibit a modicum of truth. The Internet has been filled with conspiracy theories on the sudden rise of ISIS.  Connecting this to Benghazi and the hidden hand of the USA behind it all.

A now declassified Department of Defense document seen here, proves that the government had an awareness that ISIS would directly develop from aiding Jihadist against Assad.  Given that even the Obama administration isn’t naive enough to think these rebels would remain on a tight leash, the question must be asked: why would the administration be dumb enough to repeat the same policy that gave birth to Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaida?

Block Iran

Most conventional thinking revolves around the idea that ISIS or at least its predecessor was funded or allowed to metastasize as a block towards Iran’s advancement across the Middle East to the Mediterranean. It would seem that America’s funding of the various groups that would form ISIS is proof enough. Besides that, America has taken a very lax approach to bombing the group. The fact that Saudi Arabia in concert with the West has supported Jihadists against Assad seems to complete the puzzle.

But what happens if we are actually wrong about this? What happens if the plot is far more thick than we think? What happens if funding ISIS is about a whole new Middle East and the Obama administration has crafted all of this for some much larger purpose?

Chaos Leads to Order…Always

The theory of spontaneous order is an idea whose roots date back over 2,000 years ago.  The theory is based on the idea that reality as we know it strives for order.  This is why in seemingly chaotic situations some sort of order always prevails.  

Obama and Kerry had to know that nothing good would come out of funding Jihadists.  Nothing that is, unless they wanted the chaos that has now been unleashed on the Middle East.  The forces are ripe for a new order and if one compares the speed of the rapprochement between Washington and Tehran it is no coincidence it has occurred over the backdrop of this growing chaos.

By creating the chaos or at least allowing it to mutate into a real enough threat, rapprochement with Iran can be peddled as a necessity. This is exactly why there has been a full court press on showing Iran as a truly amicable partner as we noted here. Strategically speaking the Obama administration has always seen Iran as the only country that could truly bring stability to the Middle East.  Obama himself was never really enamored by the aging Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and as a revolutionary he felt his Shiite friends could be counted on as new strategic asset.

We’ve Been Tricked

No two countries have felt more slighted than Obama’s rapprochement than Israel or Saudi Arabia. Not only have the Sunni states been put into a precarious position, but their resources have been used to fight a war that has led to the raison d’etre itself for the USA to basically switch sides.  

For Israel, there is perhaps nothing better than the solitary realization that we have nothing else to rely on than the Almighty himself.