The selection of former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak to represent Israel on the panel of judges of the International Court of Justice is further proof that peace can be achieved between long-term enemies when they face a common foe.
A champion of judicial activism and a fierce opponent of the kind of judicial reform envisaged by Justice Minister Yariv Levin and MK Simcha Rothman, Barak’s appointment by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the ICJ hearing on Thursday and Friday of this week met with angry opposition in certain right-wing circles. Transportation Minister Miri Regev, a Netanyahu loyalist, though not in favor of Barak and convinced that there are other legal experts in the country who would have been more acceptable, used the controversial choice that had been approved by the prime minister as proof that he put national interests above personal interests, and for this reason, she said, she would respect his choice. Fellow Likud MK Tally Gotliv, who sharply criticized the choice, writing on X (formerly Twitter), stated that she found it extraordinary that a person who had spoken against the government should now be representing it. She considered the choice of Barak to be humiliating to the Right.
But for the most part Barak’s appointment met with approval, even from moderate right-wingers who were in favor of judicial reform, but who nonetheless acknowledge Barak’s status in international legal circles.
Just as the Gulf states reached a strategic decision to make peace with Israel not because hostility suddenly turned to friendship, but because they, too, realize the dangers of Iran becoming a nuclear power, so Netanyahu, who has spoken against Barak, is well aware that in the present political climate, there is no one better qualified to represent Israel. Even though he disagrees with Barak on certain powers that he believes the court has arrogated to itself, he respects him, and he knows that Barak’s reputation, his wealth of legal knowledge, and the fact that he is an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor will stand Israel in good stead.
A royal procession
■ FOR THE first time since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles this month presided over Britain’s New Year Honors ceremony, in which outstanding citizens are officially recognized for their achievements and their contributions to British society in a number of fields.
Among the honorees this year was Auschwitz survivor Lily Ebert, who was one of the founders of the UK’s Holocaust Survivors’ Center, and who for decades has been lecturing about the Holocaust. She was recognized for her services to Holocaust education. It was the best birthday present anyone could give her. Ebert turned 100 last month, and received a warm letter and a bouquet of flowers from the king. It has long been customary in Britain for people marking the passing of a century since their birth to receive a congratulatory letter from the monarch, but Ebert, who has been previously decorated, never expected to receive an MBE.
Speaking at Windsor Castle, where the investiture ceremony was held, Ebert said: “Not so long ago, there were people who wanted to kill me for my religion, and today I received this honor.
“Words cannot explain how much this means to me.
“I promised myself that if I survived, then I would tell the whole world what had happened to us in Auschwitz – that there were people killed for no other reason than their beliefs, because we were believed not to be worthy of life.”
Ebert was accompanied to the palace by one of her 37 great-grandchildren, 19-year-old Dov Forman, who cowrote her best-selling book about her wartime experiences, Lily’s Promise. The book was published in 2022, and the foreword was written by the man who is now king of England, but who then was the Prince of Wales.
Following her liberation from Auschwitz, Ebert came to British Mandate Palestine, which is now Israel. She and her late husband moved to Britain in 1967.
Another dual national who was British before he became Israeli is Walter Bingham, who celebrated his 100th birthday last week. Bingham, who was among the oldest of the Kindertransport youngsters brought to Britain from Continental Europe on the eve of the outbreak of the Second World War, as soon as he was old enough joined the British Army. He will be visiting Britain at the end of January, under the auspices of the International March of the Living, and is hoping to secure an audience with the king.
Remembering a leader by example
■ WHEN WE look backward, time seems to have passed incredibly quickly, yet when we look forward, time seems to move with excruciating slowness. Considering that he was one of the most influential philanthropic figures to share his wealth with various Israeli institutions, it is difficult to believe that three years have gone by since the death of international businessman and mega philanthropist Sheldon Adelson.
Last Thursday members of his family, together with close friends and colleagues, came together at his graveside on the Mount of Olives, to mark the third anniversary of his death.
Adelson and his wife Miriam were the largest ever donors to Yad Vashem, followed by Roman Abramovich.
The Adelson Family Foundation has also provided tens of millions of dollars for health services in Israel.
At the graveside, Miriam Adelson spoke of her husband’s passion for Israel, his unwavering support for the Jewish state, and of how he would have reacted to Israel’s current predicament and its war with Hamas.
Alluding to her husband’s steadfast loyalty to the Republican Party, she said that he would have looked US President Joe Biden in the eye and said “I never voted for you and never would have voted for you, but I’m grateful you stood unwaveringly on Israel’s side.”
Yasmin Lukatz, one of Miriam Adelson’s two daughters from her first marriage, had a very close relationship with her stepfather. He had chosen to be buried in Jerusalem not only because of his great love for the city and what it symbolized as the eternal and undisputed capital of the State of Israel, and of the Jewish people, she said, but because of Jerusalem’s important place in his heart, and his desire for his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren to be in Jerusalem at least once a year to visit his grave and to experience the amazing landscapes and the sanctity and importance of the city
Tension behind a camera
■ THOUGH JEWS and non-Jews alike refer to Jerusalem as the city of peace, this is largely a misnomer. Yet terrorist attacks, political and religious animosities, and other negative factors do not keep people away. The vast majority of foreign visitors to Israel include Jerusalem in their itineraries.
Avi Melamed, a fourth-generation Jewish Jerusalemite and former intelligence officer who is fluent in Arabic, hosts the documentary series The Seam Line, which unravels the intricate and often conflicted tapestry of Jerusalem, where religion and politics tend to clash. The first session of the series begins at the Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem on January 17.
An address to the start-up nation
■ OTHER THAN at conference sessions, lectures that are open to the general public are seldom held during working hours. But these days, it’s hard to define what constitutes working hours, because many offices and some stores operate around the clock, as do airline companies, electricity corporations, the police, the fire brigade, and more. So no one should be surprised that former ambassador to the US and former MK Michael Oren will be lecturing at 10:15 a.m. on Thursday, January 18, on the subject “Where we are and where we are going.”
The lecture is intended for wide distribution and will be presented in the presence of a senior business delegation from the United States and a film crew. The event, under the auspices of the Health Ministry, will be held in the auditorium of the Herzog, Fox, and Neeman law offices, 6 Yitzhak Sadeh Street, Tel Aviv.
Labor day-party
■ IT WAS almost but not quite like a meeting of veteran Labor Party stalwarts, including President Isaac Herzog, who is a former Labor Party chairman. The occasion at the Rabin Center in Tel Aviv was the launch of the autobiography of former finance minister Avraham “Beige” Shochat. Published under the title of Between the Desert and the Treasury, which sounds witty in Hebrew, it is a memoir reflecting a long life of public service.
Public figures, when they have a major upheaval in their lives, such as the death of a spouse, often turn to writing for solace. Tama Shochat, who was the daughter of former prime minister Levi Eshkol, died in September 2022.
Avraham Shochat, who was born in Tel Aviv in June 1936, has witnessed and contributed to a large chunk of the history of the State of Israel. After completing his army service as a paratrooper, he studied civil engineering at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and subsequently served as a branch director of the Solel Boneh construction company, and a board member of Israel Aircraft Industries and Negev Phosphates. He was one of the founding members of the city of Arad, where the Negev and Judean deserts meet. Arad, which was founded as a development town in 1962, was the first planned city in Israel.
Shochat was elected mayor of Arad in 1967 and remained in office till 1989, having been reelected several times. During this period he served as deputy chairman of the Union of Local Authorities and chairman of its Development Towns Committee. He left local politics to enter the national arena, and became an MK by default in 1998, replacing Aharon Harel, who resigned. After serving as chairman of the Finance and Economic Affairs committees, Shochat was twice appointed finance minister. He was later appointed national infrastructure minister. After Ariel Sharon was elected prime minister, Shochat bowed out of national politics, but was frequently interviewed by electronic and print media journalists, especially during periods of economic crisis.
He was also tasked with preparing special reports for various national projects, including those of the government.
The presence of Herzog at the huge turnout at the book launch testified to the esteem in which Shochat is held.
The final edit
■ MOST PROFESSIONAL writers have experienced the frustration and annoyance of rewrites. Sometimes it’s the writer who is dissatisfied with the finished product, and sometimes it’s the editor or publisher, and sometimes it’s simply a force of circumstance. This is what happened with Target Tehran by Yonah Jeremy Bob and Ilan Evyatar. At the Jerusalem launch of the book this week, the two disclosed that due to changing situations in the Middle East, they had been forced to keep updating the text, and when they thought they had gone as far as they could go, and could submit a final draft to the publisher, they were confronted with the events of October 7.
They had hoped to paint a broader picture of former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and the Mossad’s operations which helped in thwarting progress in the Iranian nuclear program during his tenure. But the story ended up evolving backward more than forward, according to Bob. There was considerable focus on Cohen’s immediate predecessors Tamir Pardo and Meir Dagan, and his immediate successor and current Mossad director David Barnea.
The story expanded in other areas as well, with the upshot that some reviewers acknowledged that even though it reads like fiction, with cyberattacks, people disappearing, behind the scenes diplomacy, espionage, and changes in the region, it is actually entirely based on fact.
What differentiates it from many other books that deal with geopolitical issues is that it doesn’t delve into events that took place half a century ago; 70% of the content dates from 2020 onward.
It also poses questions as to what will happen in October 2025 when Iran’s limits to uranium expire, enabling Iran to have unlimited centrifuges. Will there be a nuclear crisis? Will Israel have to take action?
In researching material for the book, the authors spoke to intelligence officers, diplomats, political figures, and more.
The Hebrew edition of the book is due to be published in April. Bearing in mind their updating experiences with the English edition, the authors are hopeful that, aside from the return of the hostages, the only major change they will have to make may be the normalization of relations with the Saudis, which they believe could occur by 2025. Even without normalization, there is close cooperation in the exchange of intelligence. But to achieve normalization, said the authors, Israel will have to make concessions.
Jewgle maps
■ UNLIKE TEL AVIV, Jerusalem is not a grid city which makes it more difficult to find certain streets and alleyways. Not that it’s all that easy in Tel Aviv and other parts of the country these days. With all the construction that’s going on and streets being blocked, and traffic regulations changed to accommodate light rail projects, navigating some of the streets of Israel can be a real nightmare. Not everyone likes to use GPS or to read a Google map. A lot of people prefer the old-fashioned sheet map, with the alphabetical index that enables those with a poor sense of direction to trace the route before setting out.
Chanoch Shudofsky produced A Neighborhood Street Guide to Jerusalem. The problem was that people with minimal or no command of Hebrew could not use it. He’s now come out with a second edition, in English, including maps. It also has a lot of information on the history of various neighborhoods. Anyone interested in obtaining a copy should contact chanochshudofsky@gmail.com
Stay updated
■ THE HERZLIYA Cultural Group on October 29 launched its twice weekly “War Briefings” on Zoom with leading journalists, including some from The Jerusalem Post. In just under three months, there were more than 4,000 viewings.
As an extension of this initiative, the group decided to include input from the Diaspora on the experiences of journalists and Jewish community leaders following October 7. The first of these will be on Sunday, January 14, at 5 p.m., when veteran British journalist Alex Brummer will present “An Anglo Jewish Perception.”
Participation is free of charge, and contact can be made by telephoning Maurice Ross, 054-446-1242.
Brummer has, since 2000, been the chief economics commentator and city editor of the Daily Mail on Sunday. Before that, he spent 26 years at The Guardian, including 10 years as the paper’s Washington bureau chief. He also held other senior editorial positions. He is a regular contributor to the Jewish Chronicle and is chairman of the editorial board of Jewish News. He also sits on the advisory committee of Jewish Renaissance, is a former vice president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and a former chairman of the British branch of the Abraham Initiatives.
Too much to handle
■ ON THE one hand, people are complaining that since October 7, there’s simply too much news and they can’t absorb it all. On the other, numerous organizations are hosting well-attended Zoom meetings with the aim of disseminating as much up-to-date information as possible, with the specific aim of drumming up support for the speedy return of the hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas under the most inhuman conditions.
While its tailor-made webinars do not present this kind of information on a regular basis, the Israel-Australia Chamber of Commerce (IACC) is nonetheless part of the national information campaign, and on Tuesday, January 16, at 8 p.m. AEST, corresponding to 11 a.m. Israel time, will host an hour-long webinar with Lt.-Col. Amnon Shefler, international spokesman, Israel Defense Forces.
Shefler’s admirable 20+ years career in the IDF began as an F-16 fighter pilot. Over time he rose through the ranks to become a deputy squadron commander and later head of the international branch at the IDF’s Strategic Planning & Cooperation Directorate.
Outside the IDF, Shefler was chief of staff to the military secretary of the prime minister and a graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He is currently the IDF’s international spokesman and head of its International Public Affairs, Public Diplomacy and Social Media departments.
Paul Israel, the executive director of the IACC, says that there will be ample Q and A time. To find out how to register and where to send questions in advance, contact: pauli@iacc.org.il
75 years young
■ LAST YEAR, Israelis and Jews around the world celebrated the 75th anniversary of the sovereignty of the Jewish state. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the first Knesset and the first Israeli government.
The first Knesset elections were held on January 25, 1949. In those days, the Knesset was called the Constituent Assembly. It did not yet have a permanent home, and its inaugural session at the Jewish Agency building in Jerusalem on February 14 coincided with Tu Bishvat. The 120 elected representatives came from all over the country and stopped on their way to the Jewish Agency building for a tree-planting ceremony. Ever since, tree planting in Jerusalem and its surrounds has been integral to the annual anniversary celebrations.
This is particularly poignant this year, not only because it marks the 75th anniversary of the Knesset, but also because Tu Bishvat is known as the New Year for Trees and is a symbol of growth. After all the destruction that has brought so much pain and misery to so many people, the planting of trees is a sign of hope and belief in the future.
The formation of the first government by founding prime minister David Ben-Gurion took far less time than did the formation of the present government, and was in place only a month and a half after the Knesset elections.
Ben-Gurion’s Mapai Party formed a coalition with four other parties: United Religious Front, Progressives, Sephardim and Oriental Communities, and the Democratic List of Nazareth.
Altogether there were 12 ministers, compared to 37 ministers at the outset of Israel’s 37th government.
Over the years, the Knesset has remained fixed at 120 representatives of the public, but the number of political parties has tended to change from one election to the next. The number of ministers is triple that of the first government, simply because the prime minister, when signing coalition agreements, has to make room for at least one minister from each of the coalition parties, and has to give approximately half of the portfolios to party activists to prevent them from becoming disgruntled and a threat to party unity.
From time to time, ministers disagreed with the prime minister and were unwilling to toe the party line. It was rare for them to resign from the government, and if they did, they did not resign from the Knesset. A recent example was public diplomacy minister Galit Distel Atbaryan, who, after gradually being stripped of her authority, reached the conclusion that the ministry could not live up to its title and that to keep it going was a waste of public funds. So she threw in the towel and went back to the Knesset. Now there is talk of closing down more ministries, because in the present circumstances, they aren’t really functioning. The ministers who are busy doing nothing may fume at the loss of status, but if they genuinely care about the country, and not just their careers and the fat pensions they will receive when they are out of office, they would do better to resign than to have the prime minister close down the ministry and throw away the key.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, who also held the social equality portfolio, resigned from the latter, but remains a minister.
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