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 1007 • May 20, 2016 • 12 Iyar 5776

LIEBERMAN TO JOIN GOVERNMENT, BECOME DEFENSE MINISTER talks. Meanwhile MK Shelly Yachimovich, the former leader of the Labor (YNet 5/18/16) party, harshly criticized Herzog, saying he was "a willing hero of a disgraceful Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Wednesday afternoon with Yisrael display that brings shame on the Labor party. As expected, he is licking the Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman to discuss adding his party to the boot that kicked him. The entire Labor party, its MKs and all of those who governing coalition and even offered him the positions of Minister of Defense believe in its values have suffered a serious blow under his leadership." and Minister of Immigrant Absorption. Lieberman accepted the prime minister's offer to take the defense portfolio, and the two hope to finish 'NETANYAHU GUARANTEED LABOR VETO POWER OVER YESHA negotiations to join the coalition by Friday morning. CONSTRUCTION' (Arutz-7 INN.com 5/18/16) If Yisrael Beytenu joins the coalition, the current minister of immigrant Speaking to reporters at a press conference Wednesday evening, Zionist absorption, Ze'ev Elkin, is expected to receive the limited economy portfolio Union chief Isaac Herzog addressed the likely entry of Yisrael Beytenu into including just industry and trade. the government and revealed details of his own recent coalition negotiations Senior officials involved in the negotiations estimated, "This will be closed on with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. within 24 hours. The chances that Lieberman will join (the coalition) are very According to Herzog, Netanyahu promised far-reaching concessions in high. It's nearly finished." exchange for the Zionist Union’s support of the Likud-led government, Netanyahu's Likud party announced officially following the meeting with including veto power over construction in Jewish communities in Judea and Lieberman that "The meeting was straightforward, was run with a good Samaria. But the Prime Minister refused to agree to a formal building freeze, attitude, and, at its conclusion, it was decided to establish negotiation teams. and insisted that the veto would be part of a verbal agreement and not part of The prime minister is updating the leader of the opposition on the details." the coalition agreement. Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin said following the meeting, "I welcome the Herzog claims he refused the offer, and the impasse lead to the suspension positive progress in talks to add Yisrael Beytenu to the government. I'm of negotiations. “In the middle of the night I informed Netanyahu that convinced that we'll be able to reach mutual understandings and agreements negotiations were being suspended. The talks stopped because we had on important agenda items." reached a dead-end after a string of far-reaching agreements. I demanded Netanyahu also spoke with current Minister of Defense Moshe "Bogie" that all of the agreements be in writing, but the Prime Minister refused that Ya'alon to inform him that his position had been offered to Lieberman. they all be written, particularly those concerning the two state vision, which "I've been hearing a lot of times in the media that we received one proposal would be a verbal agreement. I don’t believe in verbal [contracts].” or another," Lieberman said earlier in the day. "Supposedly there have been Nevertheless, Herzog noted that Netanyahu was prepared to concede on countless of mediators and emissaries, which I read in the papers have most of the Zionist Union’s core demands, saying that the Prime Minister had offered us the defense and immigration absorption ministries, pension agreed to “a veto over building in the settlements, an end to racist legislation reforms and the death sentence (to terrorists). In fact, we have not received against certain populations and people, a number of far-reaching economic any official proposal." Lieberman was speaking after Channel 10 reported on Tuesday evening that Israel Report is a Student Publication of Netanyahu had offered him the Defense Ministry several days ago, even before Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon's speech Sunday that led to a public Daniel Zolty, Editor-in-Chief Yonatan Kurz, Moshe Davis, Alex Ostrin and Eli Levine, Editors rift between Ya'alon and the prime minister. We are proud to be distributed by these institutions, though they do not necessarily support or condone "We have no intention of whitewashing the Labor party's entry into the any of the material published: government," Lieberman stressed. "We're the true national camp. We have Anshei Chesed Cong., Boynton Beach, FL Hillel at California State University - Long Beach Bergen County High School of Jewish Studies Hillel at Columbia University clear positions, primarily in the fields of security, immigration and absorption. Boca Raton Synagogue, FL Hillel at Johns Hopkins University If those issues are indeed on the table, and they're willing to talk to us—not Carmel School, Hong Kong Hillel at Yale University Chabad of Oak Park, CA Hillel High School, Deal NJ just over the defense portfolio but also defense policy, death sentence, Cong. Agudath Achim, Bradley Beach, NJ Jewish Center of Teaneck, NJ pension reforms—I don't see why not have these talks directly, instead of in Cong. Ahavas Achim, Highland Park, NJ Kehillas Bais Yehudah Tzvi, Cedarhurst, NY Cong. Ahavath Achim, Fairfield, CT Kemp Mill Synagogue, Silver Spring, MD the dead of night and through mediators and leaks to the press." Cong. Anshe Shalom, Jamaica Estates, NY Mizrachi Shul, Johannesburg, SA Lieberman said he knew he would not be able to receive all of his demands. Cong. Beth Aaron, Teaneck, NJ North Shore Hebrew Academy HS, NY Cong. Beth Shalom, Monroe Twp, NJ Suburban Torah Center, Livingston, NJ "We have several demands, but we want to see the full package. It's clear to Cong. Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, NJ The Learning Shul, Columbia, SC us we're not getting 100 percent, but I want to see the final mix," he said. Cong. Ohr Torah, Edison, NJ Woodsburgh, NY Minyan "Regarding the issues of religion and state - our positions are clear. It's clear Cong. Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, NJ Young Israel Bet Tefilah of Aberdeen, NJ Cong. Shomrei Torah, Fair Lawn, NJ Young Israel of Brookline, MA to us that ultra-Orthodox parties are part of the coalition. We're talking about Cong. Sons of Israel, Allentown, PA Young Israel of East Brunswick, NJ being reasonable, have good will if such exists. We've been in a coalition with Cong. Zichron Mordechai, Teaneck, NJ Young Israel of Fort Lee, NJ Cong. Zichron R. M. Feinstein, Brooklyn, NY Young Israel of Hancock Park, CA Haredim before," Lieberman added. Delray Orthodox Synagogue, Delray Beach, FL Young Israel of Holliswood, NY A former commander of Sayeret Matkal, MK Omer Bar-Lev (Zionist Union) East Denver Orthodox Synagogue, CO Young Israel of Houston, TX Flatbush Park Jewish Center, Mill Basin, NY Young Israel of New Hyde Park, NY commented on the Netanyahu–Lieberman meeting, "The picture is becoming Harvard University Library Young Israel of North Woodmere, NY clearer, and the extent of the disaster is being exposed. Ousting Ya'alon from Hebrew Academy of Long Beach, NY Young Israel of New Rochelle, NY Hillel at Baruch College Young Israel of Sharon, MA the Ministry of Defense is ousting the last defender of the IDF." Hillel at Brandeis University YI Shomrai Emunah, Silver Spring, MD Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Isaac Herzog stated that he would not hold We encourage our readers to subscribe to our sources on the internet. For more information or to coalition negotiations with Netanyahu while Lieberman was holding parallel subscribe by e-mail, reach us at [email protected] 2 and social achievements, policy changes for the outlined gas deal, [Labor] The head of the Israeli delegation, Lt.-Col. Ori Arnon, said that the reason for control of the State of Israel’s foreign affairs, the immediate resumption of holding the drill was to "share information and techniques with other diplomatic talks [with the Palestinian Authority], the convening of a regional militaries, sail to a far off destination, and learn from mutual debriefings." peace conference, [control] of the Foreign Ministry portfolio, the Economic He went on to say that "at the end of the day, this was a cross-cultural Ministry portfolio, seven additional ministerial portfolios, five deputy ministers, meeting. Unsurprisingly, the Israeli forces performed well under pressure and control of fours Knesset committees including the Foreign Affairs and changing conditions. Meanwhile, the Americans and Greek stuck to their Security committees, and after one year the transfer of the Defense Ministry plans. All of our fighting techniques are similar, and the drills were in to the Zionist Union.” accordance with NATO standards." The Zionist Union leader, who has come under fire from within his own party for pursuing negotiations with Netanyahu, blasted former Labor Party chief IS THE IDF ABOUT TO GET ITS SECOND FEMALE MAJOR GENERAL? Shelly Yachimovich for her public attacks against the talks. (Israel Hayom 5/18/16) “She begged to get a ministerial position in the government,” Herzog said. Brig. Gen. Rachel Tevet-Wiesel, IDF adviser to the chief of staff on gender affairs, is one of the top two candidates in the running to become the next IDF INTRODUCES SKYLARK 20 TACTICAL UAV FOR BRIGADE Military Court of Appeals president. If chosen, she will be promoted to major COMMANDERS (Israel Haytom 5/15/16) general, becoming only the second woman to reach that rank. The IDF is currently in the process of incorporating the Skylark 20 miniature The first was Maj. Gen. (res.) Orna Barbivai, who headed the IDF Personnel tactical unmanned aerial vehicle, and intends to make it available to Directorate from 2011 to 2014. commanders on the brigade level. The other favored candidate to head the Military Court of Appeals is its The Skylark 20, manufactured by Elbit Sytems, is the next generation of the current deputy president, Brig. Gen. Doron Piles. Skylark 10, which has been available to battalion commanders. The Tevet-Wiesel is one of only four women in the IDF holding the rank of upgraded model, earmarked for use by brigade commanders, is capable of brigadier general. She is a judge by profession and served in the past as staying in the air longer with longer range and can operate in difficult weather president of the Northern Command and Navy Military Court as well as conditions. president of the Central Command and Air Force Military Court. In 2012, she Unlike the previous model of the Skylark, which was capable of staying in the began her role as IDF adviser to the chief of staff on women's affairs, a title air for just two hours at a range of 20 kilometers (12 miles), the Skylark 20, recently changed to IDF adviser to the chief of staff on gender affairs. Tevet- designed for brigade commanders, has twice the range and can fly for six Wiesel made strides in promoting women's status in the IDF and established hours. At this time, the IDF has acquired three Skylark 20 systems, which will a sexual assault crisis center for soldiers. likely become operational toward the end 2016 and the beginning of 2017. Piles, who has served as deputy to Yaniv since 2008, was featured in the The IDF plans to acquire additional Skylark 20 systems in the future. media recently after presiding over an appeal hearing in the case of Elor "The Skylark 20 can work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without the Azaria, the IDF soldier who shot a neutralized terrorist in Hebron. Piles need to stop and refresh the operating crew or replace the aircraft," Maj. rejected the military prosecution's appeal against a prior ruling by military Shlomi Buskila, head of GOC Army Headquarters' Tactical UAV Division, told court judge Lt. Col. Ronen Shor, which sought to prevent Azaria from being Israel Hayom. released to open custody on a military base. Following Piles' ruling, Azaria According to Buskila, "The brigade commander will always have an aircraft in was released to open custody, where he will remain until the end of his trial. the air, the quality of his view [of the battlefield] will be higher and the aircraft's reliability will be better. There is a platform here; or an organic ISRAEL OIL RESERVE WORTH 2.1 BILLION (Ynet 5/10/16) multipurpose UAV on the brigade level, with advanced capabilities to gather The holders of the Hatrurim land license for oil, located near the Dead Sea, intelligence and direct fire. It operates continuously and independently, and reported on Sunday to the Stock Exchange that according to a resource represents a part of the [IDF Artillery Corps] operational 'Sky Rider' report, the area contains an oil reserve worth approximately 1.2 billion deployment during routine duty, in emergencies or in wartime." shekels. Israel Opportunity – Oil and Gas Exploration Ltd, one of the partners The new UAV is currently undergoing final test flights, and the belief is that holding the license, went up by 35 percent. this coming November the first aircraft will be integrated into operational duty. According to the report, completed by an external appraiser, Dunmore Dozens of IDF battalions currently use the Skylark 10, which allows Consulting, the reserve contains anywhere from 7 million to 11 million barrels commanders to "see beyond the hill." Because brigade commanders have of oil. The amounts in the report were classified as "contingent resources," a not had a similar battlefield tool, battalions often share their Skylark 10, which high classification that indicates 100 percent geological certainty that oil is to has led to situations in which some battalion commanders do not have be found. This is in light of the fact that oil has already been procured from access to a UAV. the reserve, in the Halamish section. The Hatrurim land license covers an area of some 94 sq. km in the Dead Sea ISRAELI NAVY HOLDS EXERCISE WITH GREECE, US (YNet 5/18/16) area. In 1995, another group drilled approximately 2 km deep in the area and A joint training exercise between the US, Greek and Israeli navies held at a struck oil. However, it was decided then not to develop the reserve because NATO facility in the Greek islands has recently concluded. of the low prices of oil at that time. The drill included several training missions, with Israeli missile boats, patrol Last October, the petroleum commissioner of the Ministry of National boats, swiftboats, rescue helicopters with para-rescue soldiers from the elite Infrastructures authorized the Israel Opportunity partnership's request to 669 unit, and search and rescue vessels all took part in the exercise. receive 25% of the Hatrurim license. The application was filed jointly with One of the training missions involved "Snapir" underwater sappers taking Zerah Oil and Gas (28.75%), Gulliver Energy (28.75%), Cyprus Opportunity, over a cargo vessel which had been "hijacked" by terrorists who were armed registered in the Cypriot Stock Exchange (5%), Ashtrom Group (10%), and a with sub-machine guns. The Snapir forces "rescued" the ship's crew and company controlled by Dr. Eliahu Rosenberg, the founder of Avner Oil and neutralized the "enemy" forces. Gas LP, which will hold 2.5% of the license. The Snapir unit's day-to-day tasks include swimming under dozens of cargo On receipt of the license, the partnership announced that it intended to drill ships arriving in Israeli ports every day to make sure that there are no bombs again at Halamish, performing directional drilling to the predicted center of strapped to the bottom of the vessels that could blow up the ports. the reserve. The drilling plan, which was made at Rosenberg's initiative, is 3 based on a previous survey from the drill's hole. deeper into Lebanon, and they only returned months later. According to the drilling plan attached to the license, the companies holding it Yet despite the attack on Taiba, relations remained good, Maayan said. “In were required to publish a report on prospective resources by May 1, 2016. November 1948, Ahmad Bey Asaad even ordered cooperation with the Israeli army after it took control of 15 Shi’ite villages in south Lebanon, ISRAEL’S NEVO NABS SILVER MEDAL AT EUROS (JPost 5/19/16) including Taiba. He sent his brother-in-law, Sabri Hamada – the speaker of Gal Nevo claimed Israel’s first medal at the European Swimming the Lebanese parliament who in the 1930s sent Lebanese laborers to work Championships in London on Wednesday, taking a silver in the 200-meter for [Jewish construction firm] Solel Boneh – to meet with the Israeli individual medley final. representatives.” Maayan says the area’s elders claim that Asaad made sure The 28-year-old clocked a time of 1:59.69 thanks to his excellent finish, with Lebanese forces didn’t attack Kfar Giladi because of the alliance between only Greece’s Andreas Vazaios (1:58.18m) beating him to the wall. them. In seventh place after the first 100 meters of the final following the butterfly Ehud Neistein, a farmer and fourth-generation resident of Metula, built and backstroke, Nevo surged ahead in the breaststroke and freestyle to win vacation cottages in the village 20 years ago and says visitors started “asking his second career medal in the event after taking a bronze medal in the 400m for stories.” He purchased a video camera and starting filming testimonies IM in Budapest six years ago. from Metula residents. Since the town doesn’t have an archive, these historic Nevo, who had already qualified for the Rio Olympics, will take part in the testimonies about the warm relations between residents on either side of the 400m IM in London later in the week. border are stuffed into drawers in his home. Nevo also has seven medals to his name from the European Short Course “There were instances where Jewish women didn’t have milk to give and Championships, one silver and six bronzes, the last of which coming at the Lebanese women would nurse the children,” he recounts. Neistein and his six Wingate Institute in Netanya last December. sisters had Lebanese caregivers, and before Metula had a doctor, residents Two more Israelis will take part in a final on Thursday, with Guy Barnea and were treated by Dr. Majle, a Lebanese physician from Marjayoun “who Jonatan Kopelev qualifying in the 50m backstroke. arrived on a donkey.” Four years ago, Kopelev won the gold medal in the 50m back at the But all these ties were severed by the War of Independence. “We had European Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, while Barnea took the relations with [the Lebanese], the War of Independence was imposed on us,” bronze. says Neistein. “Suddenly they closed the border and there was no help.” According to Abbasi, the subsequent rise of the Palestine Liberation GOOD NEIGHBORS: WHEN ISRAELI AND LEBANESE COMMUNITIES Organization in 1970 led to a weakening of the Asaad family’s position, and HELPED EACH OTHER (Ha’aretz 5/19/16) this signaled the end of good neighborly relations. But Neistein says that To many Israelis, Lebanon is a gaping wound. Years of rocket attacks, when Israel operated the so-called “Good Fence” along the border during the incursions and more than 1,000 Israeli soldiers and civilians killed have left Lebanese civil war in the late 1970s, some ties were restored. He clearly their mark. Yet it wasn’t always like this, and some academics and residents recalls “there were some Lebanese who spoke Yiddish.” of Israeli border towns remember more cordial times. Neistein also, after 30 years, met one of his old babysitters, Lila, when she During the 1920 battle of Tel Hai, in which Israeli commander Joseph came to his house crying one day. “She told us about her two children being Trumpeldor was killed, 10 Arabs were also killed. According to Prof. Mustafa held in Al-Khiam Prison [controlled by the South Lebanon Army] … and Abbasi of Tel-Hai Academic College, the Jews feared revenge. But the leader asked us to help free them.” of the Lebanese Shi’ites, Kamal Asaad, sent his men to gather the Jewish During the 1980s, Neistein had Lebanese laborers working in his orchards. residents of the “Galilee Panhandle” into his village of Taiba to protect them. “We would eat our morning snack under a tree,” he recalls. “I would say to “They entered the Asaad palace compound and other homes in Taiba and them, ‘See how we get along – Jews, Druze, Arabs.’” some went to Sidon,” said Abbasi, who has studied the ties between the But in 2000, after Israel withdrew from Lebanon, the era of neighborly residents of Metula and their Arab neighbors from 1896 until the War of relations ended for good. “The descendents of the Shi’ites who helped us Independence in 1948. “Even at that difficult stage, when one Arab party was then are our enemies today,” says Neistein. “Both sides made mistakes, but I attacking Tel Hai, we see that a different Arab party provided assistance, think we want peace more.” took the evacuees into his village’s homes and gave them all the help they needed to return them safely to the Land of Israel.” THE TRAGEDY AND TRIUMPH OF THE PALMACH ON THE 75TH The battle of Tel Hai was on March 1. By March 4, 65 Jewish men had ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FOUNDING (David Shayne, Times of Israel returned to the northern kibbutz of Ayelet Hashahar. According to the late 5/17/16) Nakdimon Rogel, they returned on mules lent to them by Kamal Asaad. This week, as we do every year, we remembered May 15 as the anniversary Asaad, who died in 1924, had no sons and the leadership passed to his of the establishment of the State of Israel (per the Gregorian calendar). May nephew, Ahmad Bey Asaad, who maintained the tradition of good relations 15 should also be remembered for another important event on that day in with the Jews. Documents in Kfar Giladi’s archives quote Tova Portugali – a 1941: The Haganah formed nine Plugot Mahatz — loosely translated, “strike member of Hashomer who visited the Asaad family during the Arab revolts of companies” — that would comprise full time recruits under arms at all times, the 1930s. “He told us that when the mufti arrived in Beirut, he invited him to be known by the acronym “Palmach.” and demanded that his men join the gangs. Asaad refused,” she wrote. A few days later, while the Palmach existed only on paper, the Haganah lost But in May 1948, Palmach fighters (the elite strike force of the Haganah, the 23 of its best fighters during an attempted raid on Vichy French military underground Jewish militia) invaded Taiba and torched the Asaad family targets in Lebanon. Many of the fallen were slated for leadership positions in palace, along with seven other homes in the village. Residents of Kfar Giladi the new force. Thus, the Palmach’s first commander, the legendary Yitzchak and Metula had opposed the Palmach operation. Sadeh, heart-broken over the loss of so many young men he had nurtured “There were a lot of arguments about who would prevail – the central force or and trained personally, chose new commanders to act as his deputies: the locals,” says Guy Maayan, a doctoral student in Middle Eastern Studies Moshe Dayan and Yigal Allon. at Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan. “Yigal Allon decided that the Palmach had The Palmach’s first mission was reconnaissance, supporting British to determine policy.” operations against pro-Nazi, Vichy-controlled Lebanon. During this The attack on Taiba on May 23 led many Lebanese village residents to flee campaign, Moshe Dayan became the first battle casualty of the Palmach 4 when he lost his eye in combat. had been using Liberman’s refusal to join the coalition as a pretext to True to its socialist orientation the Palmach recruited women as well as men, persuade Likud hawks of the need for the Zionist Union to join a unity some who served in combat. Although it had a command structure, all government. Netanyahu’s associates pushed reporters to use a quote “comrades,” as they called themselves, lived and worked together. expressing disappointment that Liberman was preventing a wide, rightwing Distinctions based on rank were minimal compared to regular armies. coalition. Channel 10 even reported that Netanyahu had offered Liberman Nevertheless, Sadeh and Allon, succeeded in molding the Palmach into a the Defense portfolio, and he rejected it. Liberman denied the report, but the nimble and highly effective guerrilla army. politician with a reputation for having a short temper did not get angry. He got The Palmach led the struggle against British rule. It carried out a series of even by accepting the offer. spectacular raids, culminating with “The Night of the Bridges” during which Now Liberman, who was once a bouncer in a Jerusalem night club, will be in Palmach commandos destroyed bridges linking Palestine to its neighbors. charge of the latest F-35 planes, tanks and antimissile defense systems. Palmach operatives likewise helped smuggle Jewish refugees over land and His party will once again control the Immigration and Absorption Ministry to sea. Unlike the right-wing underground militias also fighting the British, the help his Russian immigrant constituents, and Yisrael Beytenu, which saw two Palmach tried to avoid harming British personnel, inflicting only a handful of new MKs leave out of boredom, has regained its self-respect. British casualties in their operations. The opposite can be said of Zionist Union head Isaac Herzog, who, just In 1947, Britain announced it would quit Palestine in 1948. On November 29, Tuesday, looked like he would soon be criss-crossing capitals and pitching 1947, the UN General Assembly proposed to partition Palestine into a Jewish peace processes as foreign minister. Now that even his low asking price to and Arab state. The Arab side rejected the proposal and on the very next enter the coalition was rejected by Netanyahu, his chances of getting day, Israel’s War of Independence began, when Arab armed gangs attacked reelected Labor leader have nosedived. Jewish targets across Palestine. While the Haganah scrambled to convert it’s Herzog warned Netanyahu on Wednesday afternoon that he was choosing large militia into a full time fighting force, only the Palmach was ready to between funerals and hope, craziness and sanity. But a few moments later immediately to resist Arab aggression and provide security to beleaguered his own sanity had to be questioned when he said that if the prime minister Jewish villages and transportation lines. When the Jewish side went over to chose Liberman, he and the Zionist Union would bring down the government the offensive in March, 1948, Palmach units spearheaded the attacks on from the opposition. Arab strongholds and strategic positions. If Herzog could not bring down a narrow majority of one that relied on On May 15,1948, seven years to the day from when the Palmach came into rebellious MK Oren Hazan, how will he topple a solid, 67-MK coalition that is existence, the State of Israel declared its independence and several Arab about to pass a two-year budget? But the biggest loser of the day was regular armies invaded the country. For the first month of the war, the most actually soon-to-be former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon. Even if he winds dangerous in Israel’s history, Palmach units bore the brunt on all fronts, up becoming foreign minister, the man who built himself up as Israel’s top fighting desperately with nothing but light arms against mechanized units, security authority will now have to give his job to one of his fiercest critics. artillery and aircraft. Palmach units stopped the Lebanese army in the north, Ya’alon’s departure will prove once again that politicians who challenge helped stop the Syrians in the east, blunted the Egyptian thrust northward Netanyahu from within the Likud, as he dared do in recent weeks, pay a hefty towards Tel Aviv and fought pitched battles against the superior, British-led price. Politicians on the Center- Left had even talked about supporting him as Arab Legion in and around Jerusalem. a challenger to Netanyahu, making him that much more vulnerable to the During the first of three truces, the Israel Defense forces (IDF), established prime minister’s revenge. on May 26, 1948, began the daunting task of organizing from the disparate When nearly every Likud minister put out a statement Wednesday calling for underground military organizations into a cohesive, modern army. The Liberman to join the government, it was not only due to their ideological Palmach would soon cease to exist on paper, but when the fighting resumed, disputes with Herzog but also because they wanted to see their rival Ya’alon Palmach units continued to operate independently and would do so until the fall from grace. end of the war with great valor and success. A famous picture shows the Netanyahu and Ya’alon held a regularly scheduled meeting on security Palmach’s Avraham “Bren” Adan raising a home-made Israeli flag over what issues Wednesday. Both sides said afterward that the defense minister’s job would become Eilat as the last act of the war. security did not come up. But Liberman was waiting outside, and left his Adan, Allon, Dayan and future Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin were just a few meeting with Netanyahu having received exactly what he wanted. of well-known Palmach veterans who would go one to be key leaders in the Liberman emerged the big winner Wednesday, but he should keep in mind IDF and the government. So many Palmach veterans became leaders in the another Welles quote for the future. ‘60s and ‘70s that it is almost easier to recount who did not have service time “If you want a happy ending,” Welles said, “that depends, of course, on where in the Palmach. Such is its legacy and one that should be honored in at this you stop your story.” time of its auspicious anniversary.

RAGS TO RICHES FOR LIBERMAN (Gil Hoffman, JPost 5/19/16) American film legend Orson Welles wrote, “Nobody gets justice: People only get good luck or bad luck.” After many years of criminal investigations and bad luck, Avigdor Liberman now has gotten more good luck than he could have dreamed of in the not too distant past. Fourteen months ago, his Yisrael Beytenu party nearly failed to pass the electoral threshold that was raised at Liberman’s initiative in order to block Arab parties from entering the Knesset. Only on Tuesday, it seemed that Liberman’s nemesis, Joint List head Ayman Odeh, would become the head of the opposition in the Knesset that Liberman had been a part of. Odeh would have received regular security briefings while Liberman kvetched outside. Wednesday, Liberman brilliantly called Netanyahu’s bluff. The prime minister