July 31/2015

No Place for Hate Crimes in Israel

 Every society has its negative elements, miscreants who seek to undermine its fundamental values and pollute it with their hateful agendas. Such criminal elements belong behind bars but unfortunately they will succeed, on occasion, in rearing up their ugly heads and spreading mayhem and destruction. No society, even the most democratic and enlightened, is free of such “bad weeds.” Israel is no exception.

This week we witnessed two hideous attacks in Israel. The first was an arson attack on a Palestinian family in which an 18-month old toddler was murdered. His parents and four-year old brother were seriously injured. There is evidence pointing to the attack having been carried out by Israeli extremists. The second was a stabbing spree at the Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem that injured six people, two of them seriously, carried out by an ultra-Orthodox man with an existing criminal record.

There are no other words to describe these attacks other than despicable acts of terror. They shocked the Israeli public and were condemned unequivocally by public figures from across the political spectrum. The murderous attack against the Palestinian family was condemned as well by the Yesha Council, the umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

Such attacks are an assault on all who cherish human dignity. They are, in effect, an attack on Israel as a democratic society. In the words of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, released immediately after the attack on the Dawabsha family: "This is an act of terrorism in every respect. The State of Israel takes a strong line against terrorism regardless of who the perpetrators are… On behalf of the citizens of Israel, I would like to share in the sorrow of the family of Ali Dawabsha and wish a quick recovery to the family members who were injured." Similarly, in response to the attack at the Gay Pride parade, he declared: “A despicable hate crime was committed this evening in Jerusalem. In Israel everyone, including the gay community, has the right to live in peace, and we will defend that right. I welcome the Israeli religious leadership’s condemnation of this terrible crime, and I call on all those in positions of leadership to denounce this contemptible act.”

Our hearts and minds today are with the grieving Dawabsha family and with those injured at the parade attack in Jerusalem. We wish them healing and a speedy recovery. 

Shabbat Shalom,

  

Yaron Sideman
Consul General Of Israel,
Mid-Atlantic Region

July 24/2015

A License to Nuke

It has been two weeks since the signing of the agreement with Iran and we all have had an opportunity to read it closely. The issue at hand is too critical and serious to be debated solely through slogans and sound bites; one should read the agreement and absorb its details in order to thoughtfully discuss it, whether one supports it or opposes it.

We have read it. Carefully. Going over the details of the agreement only reinforced our notion that this agreement spells disaster. It is a notion no longer. Now we are convinced. Allow me to provide some examples that illustrate three crucial points:

First, the agreement is not enforceable – the critical leverage on Iran that allows effective enforcement of this deal is the threat of reactivation of sanctions, which has been referred to as the “Snap Back” mechanism. The specifics of that mechanism are available in the text of the agreement. There one finds that Iran is an equal partner in the decision making process, determining in the end if it violated the agreement. The most incongruous part of the agreement – should “Snap Back” sanctions be reintroduced, Iran has the right to renege and not be obligated by it, rendering the whole “Snap Back” mechanism irrelevant and entirely ineffective.

Secondly, the agreement is not verifiable – it is important to understand that a huge part of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, particularly in the area of enrichment, were attained over the years while it was under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) supervision, in a clandestine manner, in several undeclared sites. Given that -even the strongest most stringent forms of IAEA inspections have inherent limitations. One can then understand how critically important it is that IAEA inspectors attain immediate access to any declared or suspected site in Iran. Indefensibly, that is clearly not the case in the agreement at hand, which stipulates bureaucratic and therefore ineffective processes for IAEA inspectors to physically inspect suspected and military sites. That is - if Iran adheres to the agreement. Alternatively, it can choose to go the North Korean route and simply block inspectors altogether.

Finally, the agreement lacks balance, Iran was on the receiving end of concession after concession and  it really only gave back a promise that it will adhere to the agreement for a few years until it naturally expires, and a promise to refrain from abusing its vast nuclear infrastructure after that expiration date for military use. Based on past promises that Iran has made – I wouldn’t put my money on them keeping this one either.

The devil is in the details, they say, and this agreement fails that test. It is flawed fundamentally and rotten from its very core. It is the clear antithesis of its intended goals - the dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. This agreement paves the way for Iran to be a legitimate military nuclear power on the world stage in a mere decade. It essentially gives Iran a license to nuke.

Shabbat Shalom,

  

Yaron Sideman
Consul General Of Israel,
Mid-Atlantic Region

July 17/2015

The World Just Became Way More Dangerous

This week the world became a much more dangerous place, as world powers signed a nuclear deal with Iran that practically paves Iran’s way to becoming a military nuclear power.

The intent of a nuclear agreement with Iran was meant to dismantle its nuclear infrastructure and maintain cohesive international pressure until it became certain that Iran will never develop a military nuclear capability.

The agreement announced this week does the exact opposite. The new agreement effectively dismantles the sanctions regime against Iran, which took years to put together, while leaving Iran’s existing nuclear infrastructure intact.

True. There are some temporary and limited restrictions on what Iran can do with that infrastructure for the duration of the agreement. If past behavior is any indicator of future behavior, Iran will ignore the temporary and limited restrictions. Iran previously ignored international limitations placed upon it in a series of Security Council resolutions, what makes the international community believe that Iran will honor its latest commitments?  

Even if Iran does honor the agreement, the stipulations of the agreement will reach their expiration date a mere 10 years from now, allowing Iran at that point to legitimately go ahead and spin centrifuges and reach nuclear capability. Given that Iran’s vast existing nuclear infrastructure will not be physically dismantled under the terms of the agreement intact, Iran is allowed to keep its nuclear capabilities resting on a shelf for future use. It would be like switching off a light switch, only to be able to turn it right back on at a more convenient time.  . Does the international community truly believe that Iran will not turn the switch back on when the agreement expires? That’s right – they will switch it all back on again and cruise leisurely towards a bomb.

In the meantime Iran will be rewarded with hundreds of millions of dollars is sanctions relief. That money will likely flow to the Shiite militias in Iraq, the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Palestinian terror groups and a bunch of other bad actors in the region and across the globe whose sole business is to undermine regional and global stability by conducting terrorism.

I am sorry I am not a bearer of positive news this week, but the truth has to be said and it must be said clearly - the agreement signed with Iran this week is nothing short of a terrible historical mistake. If adopted, it is destined to equip Iran with a nuclear weapon, spark a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and place the entire world in great danger. 

Shabbat Shalom,

  

Yaron Sideman
Consul General Of Israel,
Mid-Atlantic Region

July 10/2015

 One Year since Operation Protective Edge

Sixty Seven IDF soldiers and six civilians were killed last summer during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. They gave their lives for the State of Israel. The 67 soldiers who fell and left behind 131 bereaved parents, 11 widows, 36 orphans, 187 bereaved brothers and sisters and a total of over 350 grieving family members, whose wounded soles will never be healed and for whom the immense void created in their lives will never be filled.

This week Israel remembered and honored it’s fallen in a state ceremony held on Mount Herzel, commemorating one year to the operation protective Edge, which began a year ago on July 7th. It has been a year of pain and longing. In the words of Israel’s Prime Minister as he addressed the bereaved families “'I'm feeling great pain in my heart, but also great pride'. I know well that there is no end to your grief, but alongside this you have the knowledge that your sons' bravery saved many lives in Israel."

“This was a moral, legitimate and appropriate campaign of a sovereign country seeking to protect its civilian population. In the weeks prior to the campaign, Israeli towns and cities were subject to daily barrages of rockets from Gaza, assault tunnels were dug under kindergartens and public gathering venues, with the sole purpose of reeking death and destruction” said President Rivlin. 

The campaign in Gaza took Fifty days, during which most of Israel’s population was under attack. A year has passed, but for many the campaign has not ended. For those people, the end of the military operation was just the starting point of a no less challenging, hard, personal never ending battle. It is a battle they will have to fight for the rest of their lives; A daunting battle with no cease fires, and in which no medals are presented.

Unlike our enemies who sanctify death and are consumed with hatred, we sanctify life. Those killed in operation Protective Edge are a link in the chain of heroism of all those brave men and women who fought and gave their lives so that all of us can live proudly in our country, in Israel.  

Shabbat Shalom,

  

Yaron Sideman
Consul General Of Israel,
Mid-Atlantic Region

July 02/2015

Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof

Many of you recognize this verse, from the book of Leviticus. It is inscribed on the Liberty Bell which, upon ringing proudly in Philadelphia in the year 1776, proclaimed the independence and liberty of this great nation. Sixty-seven years ago, on May 14, 1948, on a Saturday afternoon, Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, proclaimed Israel’s independence, reciting Israel’s Declaration of Independence, which stipulates that, “…the State of Israel will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel.”

It is by no mistake that those principles of freedom, liberty, justice and peace -inscribed on the Liberty Bell and stated in Israel’s Declaration of Independence - are the core fundamental values of both of our countries. It is not incidental that those fundamental values, articulated so clearly by our biblical prophets, form the bedrock of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States. With those shared values at the foundation of our special relations, it should come as no surprise that the United States was the first nation to recognize the State of Israel, merely 11 minutes after David Ben Gurion declared Israel’s independence, and it should come as no surprise that Israel and the United States are closest allies. After all, it is an alliance rooted in values founded in the book that binds us all together.

Nearly 150 years prior to the ringing of the Liberty Bell, William Bradford stepped off of the Mayflower in the year 1620, and quoted the words of Jeremiah: “Come let us declare in Zion the word of G-d.” How prophetically accurate he was.

Let us look back with pride at the miraculous birth of both of our nations. Let us uphold the values underscoring our democracies, dating back to biblical times and inscribed in our foundational documents. Let us rejoice in the modern revival of those values of freedom and liberty - as we celebrate the Independence Day of this great nation, the United States of America.  

Shabbat Shalom,

  

Yaron Sideman
Consul General Of Israel,
Mid-Atlantic Region