To provide greater exposure to primary Israeli news sources and opinions in order to become better informed on the issues, and to gain a better understanding of the wide range of perspectives that exist in Israeli society and politics. Issue 990 • January 22, 2016 • 11 Shevat 5776

AS HEZBOLLAH ROCKET ARSENAL GROWS, CREATES NEW intended to keep out illegal migrants and terrorists. BATTALIONS (JPost 1/20/16) It will be the latest "security fence" built by Israel, including one separating The IDF Home Front Command’s Galilee District has two new search and sovereign Israeli territory from Judea-Samaria and another in the Golan rescue battalions, which converted from their prior role as response units to Heights near Syria. nonconventional (biological, chemical and atomic) incidents. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said when it was approved in June that The move is a reflection of the decrease of the chemical threat to northern the new fence was a continuation of a 240-kilometer (150-mile) barrier built in Israel, due to the dismantling of Syria’s chemical weapons program, and the 2013 along the Egyptian border which "blocked the entry of illegal migrants simultaneous increase in the threat posed by Hezbollah’s ever-growing into Israel and the various terrorist movements." conventional rocket and missile arsenal in Lebanon. "This barrier is intended to protect Israeli citizens against any security threat The Galilee District is responsible for civil defense in communities close to coming from Jordan," Arielle Heffez, a spokesman for the ministry, told AFP Lebanon, and operates directly under IDF Northern Command. Col. Ron on Wednesday. Lotaty, commander of the Galilee District, told The Jerusalem Post in recent The Jordanian fence will be "based on the models erected along the Egyptian days that “growing threats from the north” are behind the move. “We border and the Golan Heights," the Defense Ministry said. converted these two battalions and deployed them to civilian defense, to It will include "roads, observation towers, operations rooms and other counter any threat to the home front. In Lebanon, we see Hezbollah advanced means." advertising its will to ‘conquer’ the Galilee, and we see its projectile The barrier will be 30 kilometers (19 miles) long between the resort city of capabilities. We take this seriously. Hezbollah is gaining operational Eilat and the site of the Sands of Samar and will cost 300 million shekels experience in Syria. We are preparing for all threats with our eyes open. We ($75 million), according to the statement. have to adapt ourselves to reality. As a result, we took this step,” Lotaty said. Describing Hezbollah as “an arm of Iran,” Lotaty said the search and rescue YA'ALON: IN CHOICE BETWEEN IRAN AND ISIS, I PREFER ISIS (YNet battalions will deploy near cities and towns, and provide rapid response to 1/19/16) civilians in built-up areas in case conflict breaks out. Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon declared on Tuesday that if he was to “We will have this available and professional force that can contain incidents. choose between Iran and ISIS - "I prefer ISIS." They rescue civilians and save lives in a very short time period. Civilians who Speaking at the Institute for National Security Studies' (INSS) conference in see them deployed near cities will have an added sense of security,” Lotaly , Ya'alon sought to clarify that "Iran is our main enemy, after I heard said, describing a policy of “making sure orange is visible to the public,” in voices saying different things." reference to the orange berets of Home Front Command soldiers. The defense minister was likely referring to comments made by IDF Chief of The battalions will “retain their knowledge and training, and their ability to Staff Gadi Eisenkot at the conference on Monday, who declared that "there deal with unconventional attacks,” Lotaty added. are opportunities in the nuclear agreement with Iran. Hezbollah - that is the

NOTHING THE EU DOES WILL REMOVE US FROM OUR LAND, SAYS Israel Report is a Student Publication of ISRAELI MINISTER (Israel Hayom 1/18/16) "Don't preach to us and don't threaten us," Science and Technology Minister Yair Knoller, Editor-in-Chief Zev Jarashow, Yosef Segal, Daniel Zolty, and Yonatan Kurtz, Editors Ofir Akunis () said on Sunday, directing his remarks at the foreign We are proud to be distributed by these institutions, though they do not necessarily support or condone ministers of European Union nations who were set to gather in Brussels on any of the material published: Monday to discuss a proposed resolution that would limit EU-Israel Anshei Chesed Cong., Boynton Beach, FL Hillel at California State University - Long Beach Bergen County High School of Jewish Studies Hillel at Columbia University agreements to inside the 1967 borders. Boca Raton Synagogue, FL Hillel at Johns Hopkins University Israeli officials in Jerusalem are furious about the EU Foreign Affairs Carmel School, Hong Kong Hillel at Yale University Chabad of Oak Park, CA Hillel High School, Deal NJ Council's expected approval of the resolution. Prime Minister Benjamin Cong. Agudath Achim, Bradley Beach, NJ Jewish Center of Teaneck, NJ Netanyahu spoke by telephone on Sunday with a number of European Cong. Ahavas Achim, Highland Park, NJ Kehillas Bais Yehudah Tzvi, Cedarhurst, NY Cong. Ahavath Achim, Fairfield, CT Kemp Mill Synagogue, Silver Spring, MD leaders in a bid to persuade them to oppose the resolution. Foreign Ministry Cong. Anshe Shalom, Jamaica Estates, NY Mizrachi Shul, Johannesburg, SA diplomats are also heavily involved in the effort to thwart the resolution. Cong. Beth Aaron, Teaneck, NJ North Shore Hebrew Academy HS, NY Cong. Beth Shalom, Monroe Twp, NJ Suburban Torah Center, Livingston, NJ At an annual memorial ceremony on Sunday for late former Ariel Mayor Ron Cong. Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, NJ The Learning Shul, Columbia, SC Nachman, who passed away in 2013, Akunis said, "Precisely here, from Cong. Ohr Torah, Edison, NJ Woodsburgh, NY Minyan Ariel, I am telling European Union ministers today: Nothing you do will Cong. Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, NJ Young Israel Bet Tefilah of Aberdeen, NJ Cong. Sons of Israel, Allentown, PA Young Israel of Brookline, MA remove us from our land. ... Don't label us or boycott us. Learn from history Cong. Zichron Mordechai, Teaneck, NJ Young Israel of East Brunswick, NJ and be ashamed. "We will continue building and developing Israel in all areas Cong. Zichron R. M. Feinstein, Brooklyn, NY Young Israel of Fort Lee, NJ Delray Orthodox Synagogue, Delray Beach, FL Young Israel of Hancock Park, CA and for the benefit of all its citizens. Europe would be wise to begin dealing East Denver Orthodox Synagogue, CO Young Israel of Holliswood, NY with its own real problems." Flatbush Park Jewish Center, Mill Basin, NY Young Israel of Houston, TX Harvard University Library Young Israel of New Hyde Park, NY Hebrew Academy of Long Beach, NY Young Israel of North Woodmere, NY ISRAEL BEGINS CONSTRUCTION ON JORDAN BORDER FENCE (Arutz- Hillel at Baruch College Young Israel of New Rochelle, NY Hillel at Brandeis University Young Israel of Sharon, MA 7 INN.com 1/20/16) YI Shomrai Emunah, Silver Spring, MD Israel has begun construction on a security fence along its border with We encourage our readers to subscribe to our sources on the internet. For more information or to Jordan, the Defense Ministry announced Wednesday, its latest such barrier subscribe by e-mail, reach us at [email protected] 2 most serious threat." called Dad," Renana says. Tehran, he said, "is a rogue regime with designs on a regional hegemony. Natan provides his own recollection of the incident: "I was in Alon Shvut at Hezbollah is Iran's proxy, with the ability to declare war. Iran currently has the doctor's with our youngest. Renana called me and said that a terrorist terror infrastructure in place in five continents: Asia, Africa, Europe and both had stabbed her mom, that [Dafna] was trying to breathe, and hung up." in South and North America." "She already understood, but gave me a little time to live with the doubt. I The nuclear agreement signed between the Islamic Republic and world tried to call her over and over and she just said, 'They're taking care of Mom.' powers, the defense minister said, "pushed back the clock from three months It was weird: they're taking care of Dafna, at home, for 45 minutes? I turned to one year. If Iran feels economically secure, it can breakout and produce a on the radio in the car, I heard there had been a murder in Otniel. I turned off bomb even faster." the radio. I understood," Natan says. Ya'alon doesn't put much stock in the Russians' ability to retake Syria from When anyone observes angrily that the information should not have been jihadists- including ISIS - who took over large swaths of land. "The Russians released before the family was notified, Renana says that she would have thought they'd get to the Euphrates River in three months," he said, noting preferred to hear about it on the radio than to be present at the attack. the Russian army is not reaching its goals and failing to achieve much in the Natan continues, describing his journey home that night. Golan Heights. "There are achievements in the fighting against ISIS - led by "I called my mother and said a blessing: The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh the US," Ya'alon said. "ISIS is suffering serious defeats in Iraq and Syria." away, blessed be the name of the Lord. I'm thankful for every minute I was "We believe ISIS will be eventually defeated territorially after the blows it has with Dafna. From when we were soldiers and I fell in love with her the first been suffering, and in light of the attacks on its oil reserves," he added. time I saw her until her last day. We had a marriage that was constantly The strategy in Syria, he said, should be "to strengthen local forces with being built, with endless support. We were on the path of a couple who were 'boots on the ground,' like the Kurds are doing." always in their first year of marriage." Earlier, Education Minister , speaking at the same conference, "Lately, it's become dangerous in our area. Dafna was aware of that and slammed the policies of the government he is a member of. avoided driving on certain roads. We talked a lot about death and terrorist "All the expensive F-35s will not help in the face of 50 commandos digging attacks, about who was gone. We live in a community that is battered, a the way to Netiv HaAsara," said Bennett. He argued that Israel is reacting to community that's taken hits from every direction. Dafna was happy about existing realities rather than shaping its own destiny. He further said that every gray hair in my beard, because she said it was nice to see a settler Israel must modernize its thinking about defense and not only weapons. getting old," Natan remembers. "I keep hearing, 'why aren't you doing a blockade?' We don't want to drive Natan adds: "I have and will [continue to] have Arab friends. I believe in them to terror," Ya'alon said in response. "I also heard calls for targeted people. I'm not giving up on peace. We are mourning and in pain, but there is killings. Targeted killings are done when we are not controlling the area." no anger or grudge in this house. Even the fact that they caught the terrorist Opposition leader Herzog also spoke at the conference on Tuesday, was of no interest to me. The Lord took the most precious thing I had. But if declaring Israel was "in the midst of a third intifada." that's the challenge -- let it be that way. We don't understand anything. Our He attacked some views prevalent among his own left wing. "If we keep measurements are too small. He can be present in the home even when denying the truth, it could be the gravest intifada of all. But some here keep there's a big question mark about life. Being religious doesn't mean being a on dreaming. The romantic dreams of some on the left that tomorrow person with answers; it's being a person with questions." morning we offer a hand in peace, and the Palestinians immediately shake it, Meanwhile, after paying a condolence visit to the Meir family, Prime Minister are just wild dreams. There's too much hatred and incitement." said Tuesday: "I just met a wonderful family with The right-wing, too, is dreaming, Herzog said. "The messianic dreams of wonderful spiritual powers: Zionism, patriotism, humanity, who lost a some on the right that tomorrow one state will rise here from the Jordan River wonderful wife and mother. I think that everyone who saw Dafna's picture to the sea and will be the national home of both nations, with six million was immediately struck by the light she emanated. Anyone who heard about Palestinians and six million Jews, is not a dream - it's a nightmare," he said. her ... understood that this was a special person." "Prime Minister Netanyahu's nightmare that he could 'manage the conflict' "The public has very healthy senses about a picture -- the story lets them also blew up in our faces and stabbed us all." understand how unique this soul was who was taken from us. I found that same spirit in the family, in Natan and the children. They asked just one thing DAUGHTER OF DAFNA MEIR RECOUNTS STABBING ATTACK (Israel of me -- that we keep uplifting the people of Israel," Netanyahu said. Hayom 1/20/16) She tells the story as if it were about someone else, another world. She holds MOODY'S: ISRAEL ONLY HIGH-RATED COUNTRY WITH PERSISTENT her father's hand, which rests in hers. They both lost their best friend: Natan, DEBT DECLINE (JPost 1/18/16) his wife, and Renana, her mother, when a terrorist stabbed Dafna Meir to Israel is the only country rated A3 or higher to have seen a consistent decline death in the family's home in Otniel on Sunday. in its debt burden, credit ratings agency Moody's said Monday. "I was talking on the phone downstairs and I heard Mom screaming upstairs, Noting Israel's unexpectedly low deficit of 2.15% in 2015, and the resultant in the living room. I thought she'd seen a cockroach or a centipede, which 1.8 percentage point decline in its debt burden to 64.9%, Moody's said that happened sometimes, but the screams were strange and went on and on," the country's fiscal performance was improving "beyond expectations." Renana, 17, recalls. "Among our 71 investment grade sovereigns, Israel is one of only two "I ran upstairs. When I got there, he had already knocked her down. He was countries (the other being the Philippines (Baa2 stable)) to register a trying to get the knife out of her body to attack us and she wouldn't let him. I declining debt burden every consecutive year since 2009, and the only one saw them struggling. I screamed from panic. I hope Mom didn't hear my rated A3 or higher," the comment said. screams. The terrorist apparently ran away because of them," Renana says. Israel's credit rating is A1, with a stable outlook. An improvement in credit "I saw that she was trying to breathe, but she wasn't responding. My brother ratings could help lower the cost of borrowing for the government. and sister started to come upstairs, and I screamed at them to stay down there. I ran to Mom, I thought to pull the knife out, but then remembered PALESTINIANS SEEK UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION foreign objects shouldn't be pulled out, so I ran to the phone. I called the DECLARING WEST BANK SETTLEMENTS ILLEGAL (Ha’aretz 1/21/16) paramedics. I couldn't remember the emergency number for the army. Then I The Palestinian Authority is trying to advance a resolution in the UN Security 3 Council that will condemn the settlements in the West Bank and declare them Surprisingly, the issue of normalizing relations with Israel came up a number illegal under international law and an obstacle to peace. of times over the three months. Senior Palestinian and Israeli officials say that the PA has been in contact "There is no justification for Sudan having hostile relations with Israel, with France, Spain and , all members of the Security Council, to get because it will pay a political and economical price for it," said the head of the them to draw up such a resolution and support it. Sudanese Independent Party, who viewed the lifting of US sanctions against Several weeks ago Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki visited Paris, Sudan as the opening point for normalizing ties with Jerusalem. The where he met with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and discussed sanctions were put in place around two decades ago as a response to submitting such a resolution. Fabius himself has been weighing such a move Sudan's support for terrorism. for several months, and raised it at a meeting of the foreign ministers of the The statements of the Sudanese Independent Party chairman were Middle East Quartet (United States, Russia, UN and EU) that took place on surprising, but not as surprising as those of Sudanese Foreign Minister the sidelines of the UN General Assembly at the end of September. Ibrahim Ghandour. Ten days ago Maliki visited Cairo and discussed the move with Egyptian "The matter of normalized relations with Israel is something that can be Foreign Minister Samech Shoukry. Egypt recently became a member of the looked into," Ghandour said during a convention in the capital Khartoum, in Security Council, replacing Jordan as a representative of the Arab world. response to an argument heard at the event that Sudan's belligerent stance While in Cairo, Maliki also met with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and towards Israel is an embarrassment to Washington. updated him on his discussions with Fabius in Paris. Maliki asked Jubeir to According to this argument, improved ties with Israel would open the door to pressure France to advance the resolution in the Security Council. creating better ties with the US government. Ghandour's announcement At the same time, PLO Executive Committee secretary Saeb Erakat met with stirred up controversy in Arabic media, leading him to clarify that Sudan is not Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby to begin discussing a draft linking its relations with any specific country to those with another state. resolution that would get Arab support. This week Maliki was in Madrid to Participants at the forum understood the message that the foreign minister discuss the resolution with his Spanish counterpart. was sending them and several dozen said that they support the Israel fears that Fabius will want to advance a Palestinian-related resolution establishment of ties with Israel under certain conditions. as one of the last things he does before leaving his post in a few weeks. "The Arab League supports this approach," said one forum member, Ibrahim Senior Israeli diplomats who recently visited Paris said that the message they Sliman. got from senior French Foreign Ministry officials was that no decision has Members of al-Bashir's ruling party say that there has been no discussion been made on submitting a Security Council resolution – neither on the relating to relations with Israel in any party meetings. settlements nor on principles for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Al-Bashir, who is subject to an international arrest warrant by the Hague for On the other hand, the French inserted a clause into the resolution on war crimes, said in November 2012 that normalization with Israel is a "red distinguishing Israel from the settlements adopted by the EU foreign line." His declaration came shortly after Israel attacked a weapons factory in ministers this week, calling for the weighing of actions in the UN Security the center of Khartoum. Council in an effort to formulate a multilateral approach to the peace process. The surprising dialogue that has arisen surrounding Israel-Sudan relations is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in Davos for the annual World likely due to the dramatic developments in the Middle East over the last few Economic Forum, will be meeting on the sidelines of that conference months. Nonetheless, it seems that full normalization is still some way off. Thursday with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and will have a separate Sudan appears to have been edging closer to the moderate Sunni camp over meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Palestinian efforts to the last two years, while distancing itself from Iran's Shi'i leadership. Two advance resolutions in the Security Council are expected to be discussed. weeks ago, Sudan cut its diplomatic ties with Iran following an attack on the The big question mark is what the U.S. position will be. The White House Saudi embassy in Tehran. hasn’t yet decided whether to resume involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian Over the last few years foreign and Sudanese media have addressed Israel issue during the last year of President Barack Obama’s term. Meetings at the Air Force attacks inside Sudan, aimed at, according to the reports, preventing White House and the State Department have come up with various proposals weapons deliveries to in the and Hezbollah. but Obama has yet to hold any discussions on the matter. Relations between Sudan and "resistance movements," i.e. Hamas and Senior Israeli officials noted that Jerusalem fears that during his last year in Hezbollah, strengthened during the 1990s, particularly since al-Bashir's office Obama may not veto a resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian issue in the assumption of power. Sudan's support for Al-Qaeda and its leader Osama Security Council, particularly given the increasing U.S. criticism of Israeli Bin Laden embroiled it in a dispute with the US, which hurt Khartoum both settlement policy. Palestinians, on the other hand, believe America will scuttle politically and economically. any resolution on settlements, either by pressuring member countries to vote The change began in September 2014 when al-Bashir closed Iranian centers against it, or by vetoing it. in Sudan and expelled the Iranian cultural attaché under the claim that he In February 2011 the United States vetoed a similar resolution on the had spread Shi'ism in the Sunni country. Sudan was one of the first countries settlements, even though the wording of the resolution was almost totally to join the war against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are supported by congruent with the administration position on the issue. Since then the United Iran. The peak was reached with Sudan's severing of diplomatic ties with Iran States has blocked at least three efforts to pass Security Council resolutions two weeks ago, a step taken by a number of other Sunni countries. on the Palestinian issue. ISRAEL'S EDUCATION CHALLENGE (Isi Leibler, Israel Hayom 1/20/16) GOODBYE IRAN, HELLO ISRAEL? SUDAN CHANGES ITS APPROACH Anyone following the leftist media in Israel could be forgiven for believing that (YNet 1/21/16) Israel is undergoing a Kulturkampf and that a desperate struggle is taking Relations between Israel and Sudan may be experiencing an unexpected, place in the secular school stream to retain freedom of expression from an albeit slight, thaw. A few days ago, an "international Sudanese dialogue extremist government seeking to subvert democracy and promote fascism. forum" came to a close in Sudan, aimed at uniting the various dominant A recent example was the headline reports in the Haaretz newspaper parties and armed groups in the country. During the forum, which was accusing Education Minister Naftali Bennett of Stalinist behavior and seeking launched in October by President Omar al-Bashir, the groups discussed to brainwash Israeli children and deny them access to good literature. He various topics such as state law, personal freedoms and foreign policy. was charged with instituting a "boycott" of a recent novel, "Borderlife" by Dorit 4 Rabinyan, which deals with a love affair between a Palestinian man and an together with an openness to a critical attitude" ("Curriculum in Citizenship for Israeli Jewish woman. General and Religious State High Schools," Education Ministry, 1976). But The Education Ministry stated that aside from other considerations, the book they were also unequivocally committed to nurture youngsters with a love of was not included because "young people tend to romanticize and in many the land of Israel and solidarity with the Jewish people and with an cases don't have the systematic vision that includes considerations involving appreciation of Zionism as the national liberation movement of the Jewish maintaining the national ethnic identity of the people." people. They stressed the historical roots justifying "the right of the Jewish The condemnations suggesting that extremist nationalist elements are people to self-determination." imposing a draconian censorship on the nation are simply hysterical and With the enthusiastic personal support of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, untrue. There is not and has never been a call for a boycott of this book. they linked the study of the Bible with a love of the country and ensured that There are hundreds of new novels appearing every year and those not its geography and history were central features of the curriculum. Ironically, selected as compulsory reading in the school curriculum are not being in many cases, graduates from the secular system were better versed in the boycotted. In fact, the publicity has now transformed "Borderlife" into a best Bible than their religious counterparts. seller and those who wish can purchase it at any bookstore. All of that changed when far-leftists, postmodernists and even post-Zionists, Contrary to media accusations, Bennett did not initiate his ministry's decision. took over the Education Ministry. The first was in 1992, Nevertheless, he emphatically endorsed the ruling, noting that in addition to followed by Yossi Sarid in 1999 and in 2006. Aloni and Sarid held the Palestinian's affair with an Israeli, the book also contained sections that office for about one year each, and Tamir for three. But in their relatively "depict IDF soldiers as sadistic war criminals" and equated them with Hamas. short tenures they introduced major changes that were not revoked by their Bennett recommended that schools promote authors like Nathan Alterman successors. Study of Bible -- a mainstay of Jewish identity in curriculum over and Judah Halevi for Israeli students to read rather than a book extolling the first half century of the state -- was virtually expunged. Jewish subjects intermarriage between Jews and Arabs and besmirching the IDF. The vast designed to promote the love of Israel were significantly eroded. majority of Israelis would undoubtedly endorse this. The dramatic change was exemplified in 1999 when Sarid, as Education But this issue is merely one example of the bogus efforts by the delusional Minister, incorporated into the curriculum two poems from the Palestinian leftists in Haaretz and other anti-government media outlets to demonize the rejectionist poet Mahmoud Darwish who had previously called on Israelis to government. Culture Minister faced an uproar when, some "dig up your dead, take your bones with you and leave our land" and broke months ago, she announced that government funds would no longer off relations with Arafat because he considered the latter too moderate. subsidize cultural initiatives that slandered or delegitimized Israel. She did not Public rage ultimately forced Sarid to backtrack, but this was indicative of propose banning such activities but refused to endorse the use of taxpayers' how the Labor Zionist education system, based on nurturing a love of the funds to vilify the state. This action was triggered by a government- land and people, was being downgraded by discussions on whether or not sponsored play that glorified and humanized the abductor and murderer of Israel was born in sin. Critics complained that the curriculum was better IDF soldier Moshe Tamam and scorned his surviving family. To cap it, groups suited for Hebrew-speaking Canaanites rather than proud Israelis. of schoolchildren were being taken to see this lamentable play. The generational change in the Labor Party was highlighted last month when Again, in this case there was not even a hint of boycott. Just the logical opposition leader MK (Zionist Union) cynically presented copies assertion that Israel was not obliged to subsidize demonization of the nation. of the book "Borderlife" to schoolchildren as a protest against the "boycott." Yet Regev was accused of acting as a commissar and stifling free speech. One wonders what his father, the late President Chaim Herzog, or his A similar scenario occurred when Bennett gave instructions that revered grandfather, Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Herzog (after whom he is named) organizations like Breaking the Silence, which incited against IDF soldiers, would have felt about his endorsing a book as compulsory reading for Jewish were to be denied access to schools. That an organization notorious for students, in which Israeli soldiers are defamed as war criminals and slandering Israel and accusing the IDF of wantonly engaging in war crimes intermarriage is approved. had to be formally prohibited from lecturing to schoolchildren reflects the Restoring a climate that nurtures love of Israel and promotes pride in Jewish current deplorable influence of marginal elements in the administration of the heritage will be a real test mainstream secular school stream. for Bennett. This requires In any society, the school fulfils a major role in molding national identity and courage and will lead to a good citizenship. This applies even more so in Israel, whose right to exist vicious debate in which he continues to be challenged, which is demonized throughout the world, and will undoubtedly be which faces additional hostility from its own entrenched post-Zionist accused of extreme academics and educators. nationalism and fascism. Incredibly, in the current Israeli secular educational arena there are elements But Bennett is articulate that criticize the inculcation of love of Israel as nationalistic and worse, as an and if he makes his case effort to promote patriotism -- a nasty word in the lexicon of the far Left. and demonstrates that he Furthermore, they portray the view that there is an intrinsic conflict between a is not imposing religious democratic and Jewish state. Some even suggest that Israel dispossessed coercion, the majority of the Palestinians and was thus born in sin. Needless to say, this type of Israelis will support efforts education serves to diminish the motivation of youngsters for future sacrifices to ensure that their schools that may be required of them in defense of their country. inculcate love of our land This negative atmosphere, accelerated after the Oslo Accords, contrasted and people, and promote starkly with the education of the earlier Labor Zionists. The founding Labor patriotism and pride in our Zionist education ministers were secularists but steeped in Jewish democratic Jewish state. knowledge, deeply sensitive to their Jewish heritage and passionate Zionists If Bennett succeeds, he will for whom the concept of Israel as a Jewish state was consensual. leave a lasting legacy that In line with Labor Zionist ideology, they sought to foster secular schools will benefit the entire designed to promote "a positive relationship to the values of democracy, nation.