This short fun show reveals some of Israel strength.

These few minutes of joyful music in Tel Aviv food court will show you also the large variety of foods available, I am getting hungry just looking at these foods from all over the world, the casual way regular Israelis dress, and the fun they have despite the security pressure.
Matania

Some 30 singers from the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, mingling with the crowd in the Friday morning Food Market at Dizengoff Centre, all at once started singing a much-loved chorus piece

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNqosHRbWog

Some may say I have a right to criticize Israel when I feel it has done something wrong. After all, they say, you helped create Israel; you joined the Lechi, most dangerous underground against the British, at 15 and served almost five years until liberation. Instead of enjoying your youth, sport and fun you chose to risk your life. You were arrested, twice. You helped start a new border kibbutz near Gaza while several of your friends were murdered there. You served in the Israeli Air Force too. All true, but then I left Israel to study electronics in the US.
I continued my love of Israel but after ten years here I decided that to preserve my family I would stay and become an American citizen. My right to criticize Israel as an insider stopped with this difficult decision. I was no longer an Israeli. I was not subjected to the same risks and same conditions Israelis were facing. My sons were not facing active military duty and my home was not facing rocket attacks

I continued to love Israel deeply but it was a distant love affair, an affair that does not give direct benefit to Israel. I was here while Israel needed me there to contribute to its growth and the defense of the country.

I do not say I have no right to my feelings and ideas about Israel. I may disapprove and even be angry at some of the misdirection I see there sometimes. I can say what I want and scream too, but I have no special right to claim that since I was an Israeli I have the right to pressure Israel or oppose decisions by the people of Israel. I am an outside observer. I also have no special right because I am a Jew. I am not facing the dangerous situation there and I am not risking any skin of mine when Israel decides on one course of action or another. Obviously American Jews or non-Jews have no moral right to dictate to Israel how to behave.

Just one example of how different it looks from here than from Israel. And how different is our reaction and that of the Israelis. In 2004 I was in Israel when the Palestinians destroyed two Israeli armored vehicles and played football with the heads of the dead Israeli soldiers. And they showed it with glee on their TV. Israel was in shock, how could they defile the dead with joy? All Israeli radio and TV were concentrated on this desecrating "football game." But the Israelis did not want to show the Palestinian TV movie that celebrated that macabre football game. I felt very strongly that it should be shown globally so people could grasp the joy of killing that Palestinian terrorists demonstrated on their TV to great applauds of their Arab audience. The Israelis, however, decided not to show it in respect for the dead and their families. Yet, every American Jew I have discussed it with said they never heard about this case and Israel should have shown it to explain the mentality of Palestinian extremists and their supporters.
.
It has puzzles me for many years how some good, caring liberal American Jews [and non - Jews], have set a very high moral standards for Israel and do their upmost to hold Israel to these standards, while holding all other countries, including the US itself, to minimal moral standards. For example, the amount of mistaken civilian killing by UN and US forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan is many times the unintended civilian deaths that Israel had. I wonder what is it that drives these caring, good, moral people to concentrate almost all their attention on Israeli collateral deaths? Why they forget that Israel is responding to relentless attacks by Palestinian terrorists?
Not only that, Israelis are defending their OWN civilians while the US and UN civilians are NOT under continuous and direct attacks?

When a Jew feels he/she has the right to organize pressure on Israel, or to attempt to reduce US support of Israel, or even send money to organizations whose sole aims are to weaken Israel, I wonder what is driving that person?
There is so much anti-Semitism who is disguises as anti Israeli propaganda around the world. These anti- Semite use the extreme critical views of some Jews to justify their attacks. "You see, even their Jewish brothers condemn Israel."

Are these Jews expecting Israel to risk its future to satisfy their own dreams of a peaceful world? Are they carrying some guilt? Are they trying to be more religious than the Pope?
I never heard a reasonable answer to this question.

What is this compulsion to attack Israel?

Matania

There are some Jews who do not like to accept the generous hands our Christian friends give Israel. These Jews suspect that Christian support is tied to some messianic expectation. Who cares? It is like a drowning man asking the religious affiliation of a potential rescuer before accepting his hand.

There are millions of Christians in the US who stand with Israel. These generous Christians who love and support Israel are the main reason why the US supports Israel, not the political acumen of some Jewish organizations. There are tens of million more Christians world wide who support Israel. They deserve our thanks, our embrace, not suspicion.

Noam Bedin say it well- below:

When the Messiah comes, we could argue

In a world that turned its back to Israel and push us to the wall, we do not have the privilege or time to discuss some theological nuances of our Christian friends. They are almost our only friends who stand with us even in the most difficult times and clearly understand the importance of spreading the truth about Israel across the world.

Noam Bedin, Sderot media Center.

Another well reasoned and expressed position.

It has long been my position that the time is at hand when, in order to defend itself, Israel may no longer be more concerned about the safety of arab civilians than it does the saftey of the IDF and Israel's civilian population.

I plan to begin to circulate our letter to selected people in my address book
X

Dr Ginosar,
Again you have done an excellent job of disclosing the facts. I thank God for persons like you who will stand up and resist the "lamestream" media.
One of the results of being outspoken is finding out, in many cases, where the support lies. I have found that many who I consider friends, are apathetic to the truth and would rather follow the easy routes. To see that you also have this reaction, and will still express yourself is very warming to this cold heart.
Thank you again.
C

Thanks, Matania.
Sadly Americans know more about their evening TV programs and celebrities than they know about what's really going on in the world. Worse, they don't seem to want to know. Those Jews who are attacking Israel should at least subscribe to Daily Alert to get a different view of what's going on in the middle east. I also monitor Military.com for another view. What's sad is that our own media is really letting us down. For example, they seem to still portray Turkey as our friend. Few mention how Turkey has been shifting from a secular regime to a Jihadist/Islamist regime. Turkey, China, Russia and even Brazil are now lining up with Iran. But, there's nary a mention in the press. And, our politicians seem to have their head in the sand. It's not just Israel that's in trouble here. I seems to me that we are heading down a treacherous road; and, nobody seems to care.
Y

Yes, you are correct-from one who lives here in Israel-
D

This is a quote from the NY Times about the ability of Iran to circumvent some of the embargo:

"We are dealing with people who are as smart as we are, and of course they can read our list."
- STUART A. LEVEY, the under secretary of the Treasury who oversees the
sanctions effort and the blacklist of Iran and its fleet.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/world/middleeast/08sanctions.html?th&emc=th

Excuse me; they are way smarter than the USA and Europeans. It is part of their culture to outsmart their opponent all the time. Nothing is wrong with that. That is natural and long practiced globally. The problem is that we are so surprised by it.
Why should they behave in any other way? You have to expect this with any opponent all the time, and with Iran that have been outsmarting us for years.

To be a leader in Iran, or most other Muslim countries, you go through a very difficult, tumultuous life on your way to the top. You outsmart and out maneuver your enemies with all the means in your command, and you eliminate [murder] when needed.
In the Western world, especially the US, the only thing you need is strong ego, ability to talk well and much money behind you. Very little life experience is required beyond local politics. Result- we get often "leaders" with little savvy beyond their narrow range of experience.

It was extremely obvious that Iran's endless maneuvering over the last decade was to proceed as fast as possible towards nuclear bombs while playing with the naivety of the Western world and especially the US. The present administration has been so adolescent, waiting to "negotiate" with the Iranian leadership to find what they really want. They want to control the Middle East, as a starting point to a wider global influence. That is what they have been saying and doing

But the Obama administration said from the beginning, we can deal with them, we will talk to them, may be we can find mutual grounds. How infantile.

How can national "leaders" not realize that they are our enemies? As I said: they have declared it for decades and actually did all they could, short of open war, to cause the US trouble.
It is dangerous for the US to have this kind of inexperienced and naïve leadership.

The only thing that would show that this administration has finally learned how to deal realistically with global problems is for the US to distinguish clearly between friend and foe.

We must bomb Iranian nuclear installations to gain world respect and influence.
And the sooner the better.

That would be the only way that the enemies of the US and Western civilization realize that we mean business and are determined to push for a free and safe world.