Tel Aviv Diary October 7, 2022

Negotiations with Lebanon, Ukraine, American Jews and the Election, Restaurant Review and more

THE LEAD UP TO ELECTION

Thanks to Yom Kippur, this was another relatively quiet week in Israel. The upcoming Israeli election is only four weeks away, but you would not know it walking the streets, or casually listening to the news. There are no faithful supporters out asking passersby to vote for their party, no election propaganda tables at important places, no politicians at railway stations. All of the electioneering of this round (election #5) — and its not much — seems to be taking place on social media. The news stations still publish their latest predictive polls each week, which all seem to say the same thing, i.e., no-one is likely to form a coalition.

NEGOTIATIONS WITH LEBANON & GAS FIELDS

The major news story this week has been the negotiations to reach an agreement with Lebanon over a sea border, which would allow the Lebanese to exploit potential gas fields that lay close to the disputed sea border with Israel. Negotiations have been ongoing for months, led by the Biden Administration’s special envoy Amos Hochstein. After months of talks, Hochstein presented both Israel and Lebanon with his compromise proposal, which Israel accepted. The acceptance triggered a major attack against Prime Minister Lapid by former Prime Minister Netanyahu — with Netanyahu alleging Lapid was giving in to Nasrallah’s threats, something he (Netanyahu) would never do. In the US, Senator Cruz attacked the Biden Administration for pressuring Israel to make this deal; a deal that Israel wants. 

So what’s in the agreement? A line in the water was established between Israel and Lebanon, opposite Rosh Hanikra, at a location where Israel established a line of buoys, years ago. A small portion of the royalties for gas found in the area under dispute would go to Israel, the remainder to Lebanon. It looked like this agreement would be signed quickly. Hezbollah head Nasrallah signed off on the deal and said, “Whatever was good for Lebanon, was ok with him.”

On Wednesday, at the last minute, the Lebanese demanded two significant changes in the agreement. The first change was that they would not need Israel's permission to start drilling (a provision included to ensure Israel reached an understanding with the drilling company on its portion of the royalties). The second change was Lebanon’s unwillingness to accept recognition of the sea border as permanent. 

Israel responded by declaring these alterations unacceptable. At a security cabinet meeting on Thursday night, during which all the ministers reportedly supported the original deal, Prime Minister Lapid shared that the US was pressuring Lebanon to accept the original American proposal. 

In the meantime, Israel Defense Minister Gantz ordered the Army to assume a greater state of readiness in case of an attack by Hezbollah. The Defense Establishment is united in the belief that this maritime agreement is in Israel’s interest. Critics complain that Israel is giving up too much money to the Lebanese. In fact the total value of the field in dispute is estimated a $3 billion. To put that sum in perspective, Israel’s Leviathan gas field produces nearly $2 billion each year. I'll let you judge what is more important to a country like Israel, which is doing just fine economically — a quiet border, or a larger portion of the monetary value of the gas field?

Unrelated, today it was reported that a new gas field has been confirmed off of Israel’s coast. It's not as large as Karish, but its big enough to be economically viable.

With limited hard news this week I want to raise two problematic subjects:

ISRAEL AND UKRAINE

I remain disturbed by the limited aid Israel has been providing to Ukraine. I’ve been a strong proponent of Israel doing more for Ukraine, since day one. I believe this war is the most clear-cut example of good vs. evil since World War II, and resolutely think that Israel needs to be on the side of Ukraine. Moreover, I am convinced Israel’s concerns about the Russian military in Syria is ill-considered, as the Russian Air Force poses no serious threat to the IAF — a fact that has been clearly proven in the current war. 

After six months of combat, the Ukrainian Air Force continues to fly, while the Russians are unable to provide any significant air support to their faltering ground forces. Today, however, as the Russians are seemingly headed to ignominious defeat, the calculation has changed, and Israel needs to be very careful. At issue is the Jews who still remain in Russia. Part of me wants to tell those Soviet Jews — “You’ve had plenty of opportunity to move to Israel, and you did not. Now it’s time for Israel to stand with Ukraine.” 

As someone who was in the Soviet Union in 1975 trying to encourage Aliyah to Israel, that thought is certainly never far from my mind. However, if we take our (Israel’s) role as the last line of defense for Jews worldwide, then it seems Israel has to make an impossible choice — i.e. being on the side of right and endangering half a million or so Jews in Russia (especially since history has taught us when things start going bad, we know who is usually the scapegoat), or remaining on the sidelines. It is estimated that as many as 80,000 Jews would like to make Aliyah right now. Unfortunately, the number of Jews who are able to come to Israel at this moment is limited by twice-daily El Al flights to-and-from Moscow, because the Russians will not allow additional flights. The irony is that I was angered El Al was one of the few western airlines still flying to Russia, though today, El Al is the only lifeline to get Jews out of Russia and to safety.

AMERICAN JEWRY AND ISRAELI ELECTIONS

The second subject relates to an American politician’s recent attempt to intervene in Israel’s election. It was widely reported that when the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Committee, Senator Bob Menendez was recently in Israel, he warned Netanyahu not to include Ben Gvir in any potential coalition. Netanyahu was supposedly upset by Menendez's comments, although he is well aware of the international consequences of having Ben Gvir in a government. Nevertheless, if promoting Ben Gvir is the only way to form a coalition that will keep him out of jail, Netanyahu is going to do it. 

A more interesting development was the question raised by Israeli journalists as to why the leaders of the American Jewish community have remained so silent on the issue. The answer to that question comes down to the very complicated relationship between American Jewry and Israel. I certainly believed for many years that American Jews had no right to tell Israel what to do when it came to security. After all, it is not American Jews who would pay the price for any mistake, and their children do not serve in the army. Of course, this issue becomes more complicated when you take into account the influence of the ultra-Orthodox on Israeli politics, and their children don’t serve in the army either. Still, the ultra-Orthodox would be targets of missiles launched or terror attacks that transpire here. 

While organizations such as J-Street criticize Israel, without limitation (I have often agreed with the criticism, but not always their right to criticize), mainstream American Jewry has taken the position that its acceptable to protest against Israeli policy and become involved in the fight for issues of state and religion — since many of these decisions, like “Who is a Jew” obviously impact diaspora Jews, as well. Yet, regarding security and foreign affairs American Jewry has, by and large, supported the views of the elected Israeli government — and American Jewry certainly does not get involved in Israel elections, in a partisan manner.

This brings me back to Senator Menendez, who is a strong friend of Israel. He is not an American Jew, and the $3 billion a year the US provides to Israel gives America the right to be critical at times, and even make a suggestion or two.  

A PIECE OF HISTORY — YARKON PARK

Yarkon Park is on the banks of the Yarkon River. The River was originally considered the natural Northern boundary of Tel Aviv. In the 1940s, trees were planted on the southern bank of the river. In 1950, the Israeli government formally established a park in 175 hectares of the northern bank of the river. Work began in the 1960s to create a large park along the entire banks of the River.

Today, Yarkon park extends for 10 miles, with bike paths and many designated sites for children to play. The park has six gardens: Gan HaBanim (Fallen Soldiers Memorial Garden), Gan Nifga'ei HaTerror (Terror Victims Memorial Garden), Gan HaSlaim (Rock Garden), Gan HaKaktusim (Cacti Garden), HaGan HaGazum (Trimmed Garden), and HaGan HaTropi (Tropical Garden).

Yarkon park also offers boat rentals, a bird sanctuary and a mini zoo. The park starts at the old port and continues to the Tel Aviv border, near Highway 4.

A TASTE OF TEL AVIV — SUN YOUNG

Let’s talk Japanese food. For quite some time Tel Aviv just didn’t nail it. Most options were incredibly expensive, or even not worth eating. Which, was quite disappointing as a New Yorker who often craves fresh, delicious sushi. Fortunately, Sun Young came into the picture to fill that void. Located under Ink Hotel on Brenner Street, by night, Sun Young offers a Japanese inspired menu with both sushi as well a many other seafood, fish, and meat fishes. By day, they offer their own (not at all Japanese) twist on classic breakfast dishes in the same stunning space. While I love their dinner menu, which is very much worth checking out — I must highlight their breakfast menu, because it’s one of the best in the city. Between the hours of 8-11am, every day of the week, for 120 NIS you can choose a main dish (my favorite is the kadaif omelette), in addition to endless bread, spreads, muesli and salad along with two beverages. Truly delicious and such a fun spread of food! 

Find me on Instagram @talischulman and follow all my food adventures saved in my highlights!