The Israel Brief – 26 June 2023– PM refutes MK Strock. Police commissioner won’t extend term. Mossad foils attacks in Cyprus. Fiji to open embassy in Israel.
The Israel Brief – 27 June 2023– PM Netanyahu to visit China. IDF soldier killed in training incident. Ukrainian envoy summoned. Gal Gadot to receive star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Israel Brief – 28 June 2023– Ben Gvir vs Bibi and Gallant. Task force to investigate former PM Barak. BDS attack Robbie Keane. PM Netanyahu off to Ukraine?
The Israel Brief – 29 June 2023– Netanyahu tells WSJ he has scrapped override clause. Financial Times calls on Europe, US to boycott settlement goods. UAE thanks Israel for cyber Iron Dome. Disturbed rock Tel Aviv.
28 June 2023 – Rolene Marks discusses with Rob Schilling the rise in violence in the West Bank.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
On April 4, 1945, Leyb Koniuchowsky sat down in Kovno with Lithuanian Holocaust survivor Dina Zisa Flaum and carefully recorded by hand her testimony in Yiddish regarding her harrowing experiences during the Holocaust. Flaum was one of the very few survivors of the community of Rasein (in Yiddish), or Raseiniai (in Lithuanian), a pre-war community of some 6,000 Jews, and Koniuchowsky was a man on a mission, a sacred mission.
Telling Testimonies. Cover of the book that uncovers a dark past from actual testimonies taken from those in Displaced Person’s camps (1946-1948) who personally saw and experienced the horror and survived to tell the stories.
Originally from Alytus, Lithuania, Koniuchowsky survived the Kovno Ghetto and decided to record the testimonies of all the (few) Jews who had miraculously survived in the small shtetlach (villages with Jewish communities) in the provinces. Of the 220,000 Jews who lived under the Nazi occupation in Lithuania, only about 8,000 survived. The overwhelming majority of them, however, were from Lithuania’s large urban Jewish communities in Vilna (Vilnius), Kovno (Kaunas), and Shavli (Siauliai), where the Nazis had established ghettos and kept alive several thousands of Jewish forced laborers. The decimation in the small communities was almost total. Flaum’s testimony was particularly important because she had seen at least one of the mass murders in Rasein (not all the Jews were murdered at the same time) and could identify several of the killers. This is her description of one of the most horrific crimes she witnessed:
“While lying in the hay [close to the murder site], I clearly saw two women standing near the pit [which the victims fell into after being shot] smashing the skulls of small children with a large rock or killing the children by smashing their heads together. One of thewomen was the student Klimaite.”
Survivors with Stories. Survivors – all with horrifying stories – at the Feldafing Displaced Persons Camp. (USHMM, courtesy of YIVO Institute for Jewish Research – orig. Bund Archive of the Jewish Labour Movement).
Koniuchowsky started his project in Lithuania immediately after the end of World War II, and later continued in the displaced persons camps in Germany for several years. By the time he finished in 1948, he had collected testimonies that covered over 100 communities, and he sought a publisher to publish his collection in its entirety. And that’s where the story of this book hit a very unfortunate snag. Having by this time, immigrated to the United States, he could not find a single publisher willing to print his entire book as recorded by its author. And believe it not, that was still the situation 32 years later when I first met Koniuchowsky in 1980 in Israel while I was working as a researcher for the Office of Special Investigations of the US Justice Department, established to prosecute Nazis who had entered the United States illegally by hiding their service with the Nazis. I tried to convince Koniuchowsky to let me see the material, but he adamantly refused. He kept on saying that he collected the testimonies for the kedoshim [martyrs], to which I replied in utter desperation, that those who had turned them into kedoshim were walking around free, and that there is every chance that they will die in peace and tranquility if we cannot have access to his material – all to no avail. Only nine years later was the problem solved, after Prof. Dov Levin, a survivor of Kovno and the world’s leading expert on the fate of Baltic Jewry in the Holocaust, finally convinced Koniuchowsky to donate his collection to Yad Vashem, even though they did not commit to publishing his magnum opus. According to press reports, Koniuchowsky was getting old, and he wanted to make sure that he kept his promise to the victims. “They yelled, ‘Brothers and sisters, Yidden, please remember us! Take revenge for our poor blood! And I didn’t forget for a minute of my life.”
Protecting the Past. Seen here are a group of children in the Kovno Ghetto that Leyb Koniuchowsky – later a compiler of testimonies – managed to survive. This photograph was taken by George Kadish between 1941 and 1943.
What Yad Vashem did do was publish a book titled Expulsion and Extermination; Holocaust Testimonials from Provincial Lithuania. It gives an in-depth treatment of the various stages of the persecution and murder of the Jews, using excerpts from the testimonies to illustrate the trials and tribulations suffered by the Jewish inhabitants of the more than 200 Lithuanian towns and villages that had Jewish communities. The unique historical significance of Koniuchowsky’s project becomes clearly apparent because the witness statements provide critical dimensions and details of the tragic fate of approximately half of Lithuanian Jewry, the most important of which are the major role played by local volunteers from all strata of Lithuanian society in the mass murders, and the incredible cruelty of the perpetrators. In view of the persistent efforts of successive Lithuanian governments since independence to hide and/or minimize the role of locals in the murders, The Lithuanian Slaughter of Its Jews is an invaluable addition to the historical record of the annihilation of Lithuanian Jewry, and it makes available vital information for the English-speaking public. This is not an easy or comfortable read, and the format is not reader-friendly, but its 569 pages present a message that must be heard and learned.
Escape, Fight, Survive. Hashomer Hatzair group, Jurbarkas, Lithuania, ca. 1930 -1931. Courtesy of Michael Magidowitz, whose sister Chana stands second from right. Michael escaped the Kovno ghetto and joined the partisans in 1943.
I cannot conclude this review without two additional points. The first relates to the potential importance of the testimonies in the efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice. Koniuchowsky’s collection consisted of 1,684 pages of testimony in Yiddish, and listed the names of 1,284 participants, only 121 of whom we had information about from other sources. Given our ability to trace the immigration destinations of thousands of Holocaust perpetrators, especially from the Baltics, to the Anglo-Saxon democracies, the decades-long delay in obtaining access to the testimonies was a veritable tragedy, which allowed many killers to escape punishment. The fact that it was a survivor, well aware of the horrors of the Holocaust, who refused to cooperate, makes it much more painful.
One final note. This volume has 121 testimonies from the Koniuchowsky collection, but for some reason additional witness statements were not included, including the testimony of Dina Flaum cited above. Their omission is not explained.
The Collector. He kept his word by recording their words, Leyb Koniuchowsky, the collector of survivor testimonies.
The Lithuanian Slaughter of Its Jews: The Testimonies from 121 Jewish Survivors of the Holocaust in Lithuania, recorded by Leyb Koniuchowsky, translated by Dr. Jonathan Boyarin with a forward by David Solly Sandler. 2022; 569 pages. Available on line.
About the Writer:
Dr. Efraim Zuroff is the chief Nazi hunter of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and director of the Center’s Israel Office and Eastern European Affairs. His latest book (with Rūta Vanagaitė) is Our People; Discovering Lithuania’s Hidden Holocaust, published by Rowman & Littlefield
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
Beneath the veneer of Lithuania’s most beautiful capital, lies a dark past that should not escape the participants to the 2023 NATO Summit
Co-written by Lay of the Land and ICAN
The upcoming gathering of NATO Heads of State and Government will take place in Vilnius on 11-12 July 2023. An opportunity for allied heads of state, there will be much to discuss regarding the war in Ukraine and particularly deciphering Wagner’s attempted coup in Russia. After all, the question on everyone’s lips remains:
“What The Hell Just Happened?”
We may well ask the same question – without the word “just” – regarding the Holocaust when more than 95% of Lithuania’s Jewish population was massacred over the three-year German occupation – a more complete destruction than befell any other country affected by the Holocaust.
Historians in recent years attribute the mass murder on a monumental scale to the collaborationin the genocide by non-Jewish local Lithuanian paramilitaries. The tragedy endures to the present day in that all serious research of Lithuanian complicity of the extermination of its Jewish community is impeded, in some instances, obstructed by successive Lithuanian governments who would prefer that the past remains buried with the bodies. Towards this distortion of the past, Lithuanian museums and memorials honour past participants who although proved heroes against invading Russians were also later revealed to be murderers of Jews.
Full Disclosure. Many of those honored in the Genocide Museum – a stone’s throw from the nation’s parliament – were collaborators who participated in, or abetted, genocide.
It is for this reason that the Israeli-American Civic Action Network (ICAN), a leading U.S.-based non-governmental organization has launched a “culturally sensitive” website issuing a “travel advisory” for attendees of the NATO Summit 2023 in Vilnius, Lithuania. The advisory aims to provide attendees with crucial information about certain sensitive historical sites that may gloss over the Holocaust focusing instead on Lithuanian heroism. These include the following:
The Genocide Museum: This institution is known for its revisionist stance on the Holocaust.
Antakalnis Cemetery: This national cemetery is believed to contain the graves of individuals involved in the Holocaust, whom Lithuania deems to be national heroes.
Wroblewski Library of the Academy of Sciences of Lithuania: The exterior of this building displays a plaque honoring Jonas Noreika, a known Holocaust perpetrator. It has been removed in anticipation of the Summit but will assuredly be restored thereafter.
Dubious Hero. Memorial plaque at the Library of Academy of science in Vilnius of high-ranking Lithuanian police officer Jonas Noreika, who is believed to have personally overseen the murder of Jews and who many Lithuanians regard today as a hero.(photo credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/ALMA PATER)
Says ICAN CEO Dillon Hosier:
“ICAN is committed to promoting understanding and respectful engagement during the NATO Summit. Our travel advisory and website resources are designed to help attendees navigate Vilnius in an informed and sensitive manner, acknowledging the internalized oppression that can result from historical distortions.”
The travel advisory identifies several locations in Vilnius associated with Holocaust denial and distortion. These sites, which include monuments and plaques, “present a distorted view of historical events,” says Hosier, which can lead “to a dangerously corrosive form of cultural appropriation further undermining Lithuania’s already vulnerable Jewish population.”For this reason, ICAN encourages attendees to avoid visiting these locations during their stay in Vilnius to ensure focus remains on the important discussions and collaborations of the NATO Summit.
Eye Opener. ICAN CEO Dillon Hosier wants participants to the NATO Conference in Vilnius to be aware of those city locations associated with Holocaust denial and distortion.
PROCEED WITH CAUTION
ICAN’s new website also features an interactive map of Vilnius, highlighting both NATO Summit-related locations and sites of historical controversy. The map also includes ‘caution zones’ established around problematic sites based on line-of-sight considerations. These zones are designed to prevent dignitaries and other NATO participants from accidentally encountering one of these sites or being videotaped or photographed near them. The website provides a wealth of resources for attendees, including a detailed history of Vilnius during World War II and a comprehensive FAQ section.
“We believe in the importance of historical accuracy and the need to acknowledge and remember the atrocities of the Holocaust,” added Hosier. “Our resources are designed to foster a more informed and respectful dialogue about these sensitive historical matters, and to challenge any attempts to manipulate or distort historical truths.”
Recalling the line in the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust, “…..a commitment to throw light on the still obscured shadows of the Holocaust…”, remains poignantly pertinent to Lithuania.
The message from ICAN to the NATO participants is that as with the present so with the past – focus on the facts.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
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Can one open the page of an Israeli newspaper paper without wanting to instantly close it?
By David E. Kaplan
Ranting and Raving. An animated Tally Gotliv at a legislative committee meeting at the Knesset.
Irrespective of political allegiance, thresholds have been breached for average Israelis aghast at the misconduct and verbiage within Netanyahu’s excuse of a government. Tally Gotliv joins a growing list of coalition crazies whose performances on the national stage are proving to be an embarrassment and a danger.
Major Personality. Visiting Israel, media personality and author Major Daughter from South Africa.
Unlike her biblical forbear bearing spices, gold, and precious stones, this woman of Africa came to the land of Israel with the mission to rekindle that passion the African continent once had with the Holy Land. Responding to the lies and disinformation emanating from her South Africa, Major Daughter leads a delegation to Israel to help reshape the nature of the relationship.
BETWEEN THE MOUNTAIN AND THE SCHOOL FALLS THE SHADOW
Top Jewish Day school in South Africa’s “Mother City” targeted by politicians
By David E. Kaplan
No Kidding! One of Cape Town’s most outstating schools was under attack in local legislature.
Despite assurances in a press release by Jewish community leadership that “there is no need for concern”, the mere fact that a member of the third largest party in South Africa, the EFF, can call for a Jewish Day School, Herzlia High to be deregistered, must send chilling reminders.
LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche
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While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
Top Jewish Day school in South Africa’s “Mother City” targeted by politicians
By David E. Kaplan
The picturesque backdrop to the Cape Town Jewish community’s ‘Jewel in the Crown’ – Herzlia School – is the iconic exquisite Table Mountain. The latest media backdrop to this ‘gem’ is anything but “exquisite”.
High and Low. A member of the EFF in the Western Cape Legislature has called for the deregistration of Herzlia School (entrance seen here) charging that it is a “feeder for South African Zionists joining the IDF”. (Herzlia High/Facebook).
How can it be otherwise when antisemitism casts its dark show on the country’s Mother City, resting on a school, a Jewish school!
Shame on the Western Cape Legislature that a member should feel so emboldened to call for the de-registration of a school – for being Jewish!
Whatever such practical implications this would suggest, it sends a familiar message to Jews.
Cape Town to Cairo via Israel. A former member of Knesset, advisor to the late President Shimon Peres and Deputy Ambassador at the Israeli embassy in Cairo, this alumnus of Herzlia School, Cape Town, Ruth Wasserman Lande is currently chairperson of the Women’s Impact Forum at the World Jewish Congress.
Disregarding and disrespecting the School’s excellence and its proud history in being a feeder to the University of Cape Town (UCT), it ignores a long line of illustrious alumni enriching humanity both in South Africa and across the world. Such notables from judges, poets, artists and leaders in industry and the sciences include Ephraim Mirvis who is presently the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, Michael Hayden, Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia and Canada Research Chair in Human Genetics and Molecular Medicine and best known for his research in Huntington disease and Israeli diplomat, Ruth Wasserman Lande who was a member of the 23 Knesset had served previously at the Israeli Embassy in Egypt as well as serving as an advisor to President Shimon Peres.
Rabbi and the Prince. An alumnus of Herzlia School, Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth Ephraim Mirvis (left) with then Britain’s Prince Charles, now King Charles III at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Jan. 23, 2020 (Menahem Kahana/Pool Photo via AP, file)
Dismissing the phenomenal achievement of the school enjoying a 100% pass rate, the motivation behind the call of the member of the third largest political party in South Africa – the EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) – to de-register the school is its Jewishness embodied in its love for Israel – the national homeland of the Jewish people.
It’s a love that goes back in time to well over a century.
The hate that drives those supporting the deregistration of Herzlia School goes back a lot longer – 2000 years!
The love of Jews in South Africa for a Jewish state preceded its establishment in 1948 by half a century. It even preceded the establishment of the oldest liberation movement in Africa, the ANC – established in 1912 – when in 1896, the first members of Hibbat ZionHovevei Zion Society was formed in South Africa and a resolution establishing the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) was passed in 1898. That was one year after the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland. An enriching offspring of this movement is Cape Town’s Herzlia School established in 1940, that has above its entrance gate, the prophetic words of Theodore Herzl, after whom the school is named:
“If you will it, it is no dream”.
It is a dream that took 2000 since the exile under the Romans to come to fruition and it’s a monumental achievement that some South African politicians in the ruling ANC and the those in the EFF would like to see destroyed. Unable to build themselves, they chose instead to destroy the work of others.
In support for her calling for Herzlia School to be de-registered, EFF MPL Aisha Cassiemsaid during a debate in the Western Cape Legislature:
“It is insulting for the DA [Democratic Alliance] provincial government to condemn the war in Ukraine but do nothing with regard to this school [Herzliya School ] which is aligned to the apartheid state of Israel and encouraging learners to partake in apartheid.”
Gunning for Jews. Undaunted by the danger to Jews her rhetoric could cause, MPL Aisha Cassiem called upon Education MEC David Maynier to deregister Herzlia School as he had, according to her, the power to do so.
There may well be not another school in South Africa that its students while at school and thereafter, stood out as vocal opponents of Apartheid.
It may well be true that there is “no need for concern” as expressed by the South African Board of Deputies (SAJBOD) in its press release:
“By now you are aware of an article which has appeared in the Cape Argus calling for the deregistration of Herzlia High School. This article has also been shared on a variety of social media
Rest assured, the school is in no danger of being deregistered. It was tabled for discussion last week Thursday during a Western Cape Legislature meeting where this outrageous proposal was unequivocally rejected.
Obviously these reprehensible claims against the school have no substance and there is no need for concern. The Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies is in constant communication with Herzlia leadership and will continue to monitor the situation. ”
Adrienne Jacobson Chairperson, Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies”
Herzlia School’s proud badge
However “outrageous” the proposal so described so as not to cause concern, the public rhetoric of political leaders in South Africa today like Aisha Cassiem is false, dangerous and highly inflammatory that could so easy lead to physical violence on Jews.
Seduced by the parlance of the likes of EFF’s Cassiem, potential perpetrators of violence could so easily believe they would enjoy official approval. This is a familiar plot and script for Jews well versed in their history.
There is more than the electrical outages or loadshedding darkening South Africa today. Contributing to South Africa’s ‘Dark Ages” are its politicians and when they resort to antisemitism, the writing is on the wall or in this case, on the slopes of Table Mountain!
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
The Israel Brief – 19 June 2023– Heavy clashes in Jenin. Ryan Air apology. First lady of Ukraine visits Israel. Intel major investment.
The Israel Brief – 20 June 2023– Wounded soldiers healing. Gallant opens Paris air show. Smotrich attacks Herzog. Tel Aviv the worlds happiest city.
The Israel Brief – 21 June 2023– Victims of terror attack laid to rest. 27 countries stand with Israel at UN. Hizbollah in Israel? Medical clowns and the IDF.
The Israel Brief – 22 June 2023– Drone strike kills gunmen. Ukrainian First Lady interview. Australian Labor party in Victoria recognizes Palestinian state. SACH saves two more lives.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
Can one open the page of an Israeli newspaper paper without wanting to instantly close it?
By David E. Kaplan
Now into the 24th week, “Why are you still protesting?” is the question increasingly asked. Over and above the persistence of the Netanyahu government’s injudicious judicial overhaul, you only have to open the papers nearly every day to either sigh or grunt – with embarrassment.
Top Jewish Canadian philanthropist, Charles Bronfman the co-founder and major sponsor of the Taglit-Birthright programme, had it right when he recently said regarding the Netanyahu coalition:
“…There are some guys in there that shouldn’t be in any government anywhere…”
And yet there they are, making outrageous and dangerous statements that are published locally and then republished abroad.
Ranting and Raving. An animated Tally Gotliv at a legislative committee meeting at the Knesset on Monday, February 20, 2023. (photo: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
Take the following as reported on 21 June in The Jerusalem Post. Once again Tally Gotliv makes news – bad and embarrassing news, which she seems to be perfecting. Fresh out of her role in the recent Judicial Selection Committee vote fiasco, she tweeted following the horrendous Palestinian terrorist attack leaving four innocent civilian Israelis dead. Exploiting this tragedy for her extreme right-wing agenda, she writes:
“I am uncompromisingly right-wing. Wherever a terrorist comes from, the whole place needs to pay. Collective punishment.”
“Whole place?
She explains:
“Killing terrorists isn’t enough. It’s heroic and brave, no question, but it’s not enough.”
No, not enough for Gotliv; what needs to be done for this member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party is that not only the terrorist’s home should be destroyed but his or her hometown should suffer collective punishment. That should send shivers down any Jewish spine. It reveals – irrespective of one’s politics – why the country is so divided? This expression of Gotliv’s thinking is not an aberration – it’s her mindset! And it’s a mindset shared by others in the Netanyahu coalition.
Dark Times. Already back in May 2022, Supreme Court chief, Esther Hayut, was accusing politicians of seeking to ‘destroy’ Israel’s justice system warning that discourse about the court is ‘deteriorating’ to ‘dangerous places’
Earlier in the year, she blamed the High Court’s chief justice Esther Hayut for a terror attack in which three Israelis were killed. On a tirade tweet she wrote on February 12, 2023 :
“I blame the High Court Chief Justice for the terror attack. I blame her for the feeling of chaos amongst the people of Israel, I blame her for the destruction and severe damage to democracy and the rule of law.”
Is it any wonder Gotliv wants to undermine the High Court when she has so little respect for it that she can outrageously blame its Chief Justice for the murder of Israelis? Is it further any wonder that Gotliv put her name forward as a candidate to serve on the Judicial Selection Committee only so she could destroy it from within?
Facing Off. Supreme Court President Esther Hayut (l) and the target of Israel’s extreme right-wing in government and the Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin who is spearheading the judicial overhaul.
Is she not precisely a character who Bronfman was referring to when he said:
“shouldn’t be in any government anywhere…”?
This is precisely why Israel needs not a restricted – as preferred and proposed by Netanyahu’s coalition – but a robust Supreme Court. If for no other reason, the country needs it no safeguard minority rights that are being increasingly threatened. On the same day as Gotliv’s outrageous statement, Haredi MK Yitzhak Pindrus said that if it were up to him, he would cancel not just the pride marches in the country, but also get rid of the whole LGBTQ movement.
Uproar in the House. MK Yitzhak Pindrus, whose dream is “to blow up” the Supreme Court is seen here in February 2022 pointing an accusing finger as he is escorted out of the Knesset plenum during a stormy debate.(photo credit: OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90)
According to this United Torah Judaism MK, the LGBTQ community is the most dangerous risk to the State of Israel.
In an interview with Channel12, he said:
“The most dangerous thing for the State of Israel, more than ISIS and Hezbollah is the LGBTQ+ community,” and that “If it were up to me, I would prevent not just the pride march but also the whole movement.”
In other words you have a member in the coalition believing and publicly expressing that homosexuality is a threat to Israel’s national security! It is more dangerous than Hezbollah that seeks Israel’s destruction and in concert with Iran, is a constant threat on Israel’s northern border? One would be inclined to dismiss this as ‘crazy talk’ and ignore but this man enjoys a crucial vote in the Knesset and is exercising it to literally ‘take down’ the Supreme Court. Reflect on what he said on Israel’s 2023 Independence Day in May at the Nehora high-school yeshiva in the Mevo Horon settlement north of Jerusalem. Participating in a panel debate with Religious Zionist Party MK Simcha Rothman, who together with Justice Minister Yariv Levin are spearheading the devious judicial overhaul:
“You know what my dream is? To bring a D9[bulldozer]and blow up the building.”
Not content for his coalition colleagues to find more subtle ways to destroy Israeli democracy through the “judicial overhaul”, Pindrus wants to literally demolish the building that is the physical embodiment of that democracy!
Targeting Democracy. Consisting of 15 judges appointed by the President of Israel, upon nomination by the Judicial Selection Committee, Israel’s Supreme Court in Jerusalem is the highest court in in the land and is now the target of Israel’s present right-wing government.
When confronted afterwards by reporters, Pindrus said he had no regrets about what he said but that he spoke “in humour” and that his critics overreacted.
Really? That the character of Israel’s future is a laughing matter?
Is it any wonder that Bronfman said:
“…There are some guys,” in Netanyahu’s government “that shouldn’t be in any government anywhere…”.
To the question “Why are you still protesting?”, nearly every day brings news of the need to continue protesting and with more vigour.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
If she were a Biblical character, she would be the Queen of Sheba: an influencer, and a strong and inspiring leader looking to build alliances, to learn, to grow, and to bring better to the world. Coming from the tip of southern Africa, she is a tip of the growing movement across Africa to repair and restore relations with Israel and the Jewish people. She is also a popular media personality and author for whom her Christian faith is interwoven in everything she does.
Major Personality. Media personality and author Major Daughter from South Africa. (courtesy)
A decade ago, Major Daughter was given a vision for the imperative to restore ties with Israel as a pillar of Africa to correct the curse resulting from most of the continent breaking ties with Israel decades earlier. While she is not a formal educator, she knows that education is the key. Africans need to be educated to the reality that Israel is, Israel’s long-standing history in Africa, and to break the stereotypes of perpetual misinformation that, at best, is ill-informed. But in recent decades ‘ill-informed’ has become disinformation, even with malice and lies.
Much of the lies and disinformation emanates from the country of her birth – South Africa. It is something about which she is passionate about fixing, one by one. And that’s the nature of the unique trip she is leading to Israel, and her appeal to Israelis to join the movement.
On June 26, dozens of business, civic, academic, and religious leaders along with noted media personalities will be participating in a special event that gives voice to her vision. While coming from around the world, the Leadership Summit and Tour will start in Egypt, the northeastern corner of Africa, symbolically building a bridge between Israel and Africa. It will trace the route of the Exodus of the Jewish people from slavery to freedom, and as a reminder of God’s providence thousands of years ago, demonstrating His might at the time in contrast to that of the then, world superpower. It will culminate in bringing the Jewish people to the Land of Israel.
Now, as part of the 75th anniversary celebration of the restoration of Jewish sovereignty to the Land of Israel with the birth of the State of Israel, she leads a group of Africans and others to learn, grow, be inspired, and to build alliances. Just like the Queen of Sheba.
Many initiatives exist to build relationships between Africa and Israel. While there are several notable holdouts – including Major Daughter’s native South Africa leading a charge against Israel in the expansive continent. In recent decades, many African nations have gone out of their way to forge their own mutually beneficial relations with Israel. One thing that differentiates this effort is that it is faith based, but not only based on faith leaders. For that reason, Major is looking for Israelis to join the Summit on June 29 for a day of intense conversations, and networking. She says:
“Israelis should come out (to participate) because Africans are coming to learn, more than just networking, but to form partnerships. Israeli Jews should come out to be part of it, to support this global conversation, and how we can turn the tide. We want to see what can be done to make progress. Let’s not talk about the darkness of the past, we want to shine a light on the future.”
In a recent conversation on the Inspiration from Zion podcast, Major Daughter affirms that much of Africa is suffering the cumulative consequence of cursing Israel and is eager to change the course. Part of the “correcting the curse” is exposing Africans to the reality of Israel. Many think that Israel is an endless war zone, impossible to live within safely, much less thrive and prosper. The notion that there are people who don’t understand this, how Israel is truly a shining example for all, is astounding. She expects that the Leadership Summit and Tour will open their eyes, and then the eyes of many more back at home thereafter. Many also don’t realize that Israel is also a thriving democracy, for all its citizens. She decries the “Apartheid” label that was disingenuously branded on Israel in her own country, along with the scourge of BDS. Africans know the truth. They will see it first-hand.
The Summit will take place at Jerusalem’s Ramada hotel. Israelis are invited to register to attend the full day of programs, meals, coffee breaks, and forge their own relationships among the Summit’s diverse participants for only $50.
BUILDING BRIDGES
Striking another Biblical analogy, Major is clear that supporting Israel and building bridges is neither a one-way street nor exclusive to having positive relations with the Arab and Moslem world. Some think that supporting Israel is mutually exclusive to supporting Arabs, that Arabs and Jews are destined to be enemies, and that you can only support one.
“The opposite is true,” says Major and avers that because Jews and Arabs are related, “people can and must support both.”
Hers is a refreshing voice of intelligence, faith, and inspiration, and all participating are in store for something unique and remarkable, and will go a long way in advancing the cause of why she believes visiting Israel is something that everyone has to do.
When King Solomon in ancient times was visited by the Queen of Sheba, she brought gifts of gold, frankincense and spices; this ‘Daughter’ of Africa will bring energy, inspiration and understanding to build bridges and alliances of the future.
Jonathan Feldstein - President of the US based non-profit Genesis123 Foundation whose mission is to build bridges between Jews and Christians – is a freelance writer whose articles appear in The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Townhall, NorthJersey.com, Algemeiner Jornal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
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While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
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While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
