Tel Aviv Diary December 2, 2022
Defense, Coalition Negotiations, Netanyahu Speaks to Bari Weiss,Business News, History and a Restaurant Review
DEFENSE
This week, Israel continued its aggressive efforts to arrest potential and actual terrorists in Jenin. On Wednesday night, during attempts to make an arrest, two terrorists were killed, including the field commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Aside from these two terrorists, as many as five
other Palestinians were killed over the course of the last 36 hours. The PIJ has threatened to respond with rocket fire from Gaza, a threat Israel is taking seriously.
Last weekend, Israel is said to have struck Iranian targets in Syria.
The IDF announced it has tested a LARD, (a missile system launched from a ship) that successfully intercepted an advanced cruise missile. The LARD system adds another level of defense for Israel’s naval vessels.
POLITICS
Initial plans to swear in a new government quickly have not materialized. Instead, coalition negotiations are slowly dragging out. The Likud has finalized three agreements with the three right-wing parties— one being with Noam, the far-right-wing homophobic party. Noam had always been a very fringe party, with no chance of getting into the Knesset — that is, until Netanyahu with his obsessive determination not to lose a single right-wing vote, insisted Noam merge with Ben-Gvir and Smotrich’s party. In the latest election, Noam party head, MK Avi Maoz, was given a place on the combined Religious Zionist list to ensure he would be elected into the Knesset. Once elected, Maoz was allowed to separate as an independent faction.
Maoz demanded that Netanyahu negotiate a coalition agreement with him independently, as well, and Netanyahu consented. At their meeting it was agreed Maoz would be given a special department inside the Prime Ministers office, with oversight on matters of Jewish Identity; an office budgeted with NIS 100 million the first year, and NIS 150 million the second year. In an even more troubling aspect of the understanding, the Ministry of Education will transfer control of its unit that authorizes outside speakers visiting schools to Maoz. As such, Maoz will have control over the extra-curricular content students receive from outside organizations in their schools. Maoz has also been put in charge of Noam, the organization in charge of bringing Jews to Israel from Russia. The problem is Maoz opposes the immigration rights of many of the Jews from Russia claiming that individuals not defined as Jews by Orthodox Rabbis should not be allowed to make Aliyah under the Law of Return.
The Likud has also signed an agreement with Otzma Yehudit, the party led by MK Itamar Ben-Gvir. According the agreement, Ben-Gvir will become Minister for National Security, which is an enhanced version of the position of Minister of Public Security. Ben-Gvir will have direct responsibility over the police.
On Thursday, an agreement was reached with the Religious Zionist party, led by MK Bezalel Smotritch — an individual who was once held by the Shabak (GSS) on suspicion of planning a terror attack. Smotrich, a hardline right-winger, with well documented homophobic views, will become Israel’s Finance Minister for the next two years. In addition, someone from Smotritch’s party will become Deputy Defense Minister in-charge of the Civil Authority in the West Bank. After two years, Smotritch will hand the baton of the Finance Ministry over to MK Arye Deri from Shas. In addition, according to the agreement, Smotritch’s party will also be given a newly created position, “Ministry for National Goals,” as well as, the Ministry of Aliyah and Absorption.
Before the coalition can be sworn in, the Knesset will pass a number of terrible laws, including one necessary to allow Deri — who was sentenced to probation after promising to leave politics — to serve as a cabinet minister. To ensure the Supreme Court can’t overturn this proposed law, that new majority in the Knesset will also have to pass an “override clause” that will allow a simple majority to nullify any Supreme Court decision. Only after those laws are passed will a government be presented and approved by the Knesset.
MILITARY
This week, there was a minor furor in Israel over the actions of a soldiers in Hebron, who attacked a protestor demonstrating against the occupation. A second soldier yelled at a protester to “just wait until Ben-Gvir becomes a Minister, you will be taken care of”. The soldiers, found to have acted improperly by the military, was court-marshaled and sentenced to 10 days in military jail. The soon-to-be National Security Minister, MK Itamar Ben-Gvir attacked the army for the sentencing. Ben-Gvir immediately received push back from the IDF Chief of Staff, the President, and even albeit mildly, from Netanyahu. The General in-charge of the Southern Command decreased the soldier’s sentence to six days.
NETANYAHU SPEAKS TO BARI WEISS
Netanyahu gave his first extended interview since the election on, of all places, Bari Weiss’ podcast. Honestly, I generally like Weiss’ analyses, although I do not agree with many of her positions. This podcast episode, which made some news in Israel, as it was widely quoted — especially, when Netanyahu declared he will be in charge of policy, and not the far-right-wing members of his coalition, and that the State of Israel will not be governed by halacha.
It’s clear why Netanyahu prefers to give interviews to foreign journalists, steering clear of their Israeli counterparts. In her introduction, Weiss acknowledged that Netanyahu was a controversial figure, but did not mention the fact he is currently on trial for corruption, bribery, and breach of trust. Weiss began the interview where Netanyahu started his recent biography — with the death of his older hero brother, Yoni. She characterized the last government as “a coalition of misfits”.
It was disappointing that Weiss made no attempt to push back against any of Netanyahu’s clear lies. Netanyahu stated the last government failed because “it included a party that supported terrorism and opposed the state of Israel.” In fact, Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Ra’am party, was the first Arab leader to definitively state— in both Hebrew and Arabic — that he has no problem with Israel being a Jewish State. Moreover, Ra’am has not supported terrorism. However, in this era of “fake news,” Netanyahu has become almost as good as Trump at successfully selling his lies to supporters.
During the interview, Netanyahu did offer his first ever criticism of Trump, stating he should not have invited Nick Fuentes and Ye to dinner. In that exchange, Weiss asked Netanyahu about rising anti-semitism in the United States, and how these days, during every dinner party with other Jews, the issue of Aliyah comes up — at least jokingly. Most Prime Ministers in Israel’s history would have used that opportunity to encourage American Jews to move here. Instead, Netanyahu effectively posited that American Jews should fight for the place of Jews in America.
BUSINESS
Nectin Therapeutics, developer of immunotherapy for cancer, announced it raised $35 million in an A-round. At the same time, Nectin announced it has begun Phase-One trials of its therapy.
Common Grand, creator of personalized three-dimensional avatars for use in virtual meetings, has raised $25 million, and has made a beta of its app available. I tried out the beta, but gave up on trying to position the screen correctly.
The US company, Symphony, has acquired Israel’s Amenity Analytics. Amenity utilizes NLP to analyze complex documents. The acquisition price is not known, but is estimated at around $20 million, which is below the $40 million the company raised. Amenity has 50 employees in Israel.
A PIECE OF HISTORY — HASHOMER, SELF-DEFENSE ORGANIZATION
In 1909, the Jewish settlers of Sereja, founded the first Jewish self-defense organization in Palestine. The organization began protecting the lower Galilee. Many Jewish pioneers of the Second Aliyah settled in the Galilee. Their prior involvement in self-defense organizations in Russia led them to set up Hashomer, the first Jewish self-defense force in Palestine, in 1909. The leading founders of Hashomer were Itzhak Ben Zvi, Israel Gil'adi, Israel Shohat, and Alexander Zaïd. Hashomer entered into agreements with settlements in the lower Galilee, which then dismissed their Arab watchmen. In 1911, the Jewish National Fund engaged Hashomer to guard its newly purchased land in the Jezreel Valley. In 1911, Hashomer expanded beyond the Galilee and began to provide security services to the settlements of Hadera and Rechovot. The initial membership in Hashomer was 30 members, and at no time did its membership exceed 100 members
.
A TASTE OF TEL AVIV— UMAI
RESTAURANT REVIEW, by Tali Schulman
This week I’m taking you somewhere really special. Umai by Chef Alex Abramov, offers an incredibly unique dining experience she describes as modern Japanese food. After many years spent in Japan and Asia, she brought her experience and knowledge into her incredible dining experience in Yafo. In her beautiful location she offers private events, as well as alternating nights of Omakase (Japanese chefs choice tasting meal), and Izakaya (al a carte menu). No matter the experience you choose, at Umai you are destined to have a unique and incredibly delicious experience. To pair with your meal, make sure not to miss out on the fabulously curated saké selection offered alongside your meal. The menu changes regularly, so your best bet is to take the chefs guidance. I can assure you she won’t steer you wrong! To be completely honest, my photos do not do her food justice. Do yourself a favor and checkout her website.
For more restaurant recommendations, you can find me on Instagram @talischulman where I save all my food adventures in my highlights!