Jerusalem Post (etc) colonial extracts

These notes explore the planning and population trends behind any 'Nile to Euphrates' claim or expansion by 'Israel'. Some quotes are extracted before a three-day limit after which subscription access hides and commoditises this world-important information: wisdom requires greater morality?

Oct06: East Europeans top brain drain from Israel "According to a report by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), 68,900 people left Israel between the years 1990 and 2005. The largest number of emigrants are between the ages of 20-30 and college-educated, the CBS said. 'There is a very clear brain drain created by our best and brightest leaving Israel because they cannot find the employment and quality of life they seek,' said MK Michael Nudelman (Kadima), chairman of the committee. The report showed that immigrants of Eastern European origin leave Israel at a rate five times higher than native Israelis. The top reason for leaving was given as unemployment, with rate of living and high taxes also listed. Many immigrants from the former Soviet Bloc had a difficult time being absorbed into the Israeli school system and returned to Russia or the Ukraine to complete their education, said Eli Zarkhin, the CEO of the Israeli Association for Immigrant Children. Meanwhile, others find that the quality of living and employment for the college-educated is higher in Eastern Europe, and therefore return to that region after receiving their degrees in Israel. 'While it is excellent that we have such successful aliya programs, we must also focus resources on making sure that people stay here,' said Nudelman. 'We must find ways to prevent people from returning to Eastern Europe.' The CBS report stated that non-Jewish Eastern European immigrants are twice as likely to leave Israel than their Jewish counterparts. Non-Jewish immigrants are not considered Jewish by halachic standards; they often include cases of people who are born to a non-Jewish mother or come to Israel with a Jewish spouse, specified a spokeswoman for the CBS. 'Emigration certainly happens, but it likely happens when people's expectations don't meet reality,' said a spokeswoman for the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel (AACI). A search of organizations listed by the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption shows that nearly twice as many organizations exist to help Anglo immigrants than Russian immigrants. While many organizations have emerged in recent years, representatives at the Knesset committee noted that immigrants from the former Soviet Bloc were less likely to ask for help from organizations"
Netanyahu: No future for Jews in the Diaspora "Likud leader says their only hope is in Israel" migrant pitch '2006 saw Israel become numerically the largest Jewish community in the world' @c5.4/13.5M ahead of Los Angeles
Many Israelis living abroad mull returning home "Ministry of Immigration and Absorption.. estimates that there are 650,000 Israelis living abroad: 60 percent in North America, 25% in Europe & 15% elsewhere"
Rejected: Solomon's wisdom "the fact that anorexia is becoming so pronounced in Orthodox circles is the ultimate proof of the tragic failure of Jewish education in our time to cultivate a healthy self-image among young girls that is based on Torah, rather than secular values"
Saudi envoy slams US role in Mideast "The US standing in the Middle East is at an all-time low and can be helped only by pressing Israel to relinquish all occupied Arab land and Jerusalem to the Palestinians, says Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States [Turki bin Al-Faisal].. 'friendship should be used to push Israel' to relinquish the land the Arabs lost in the 1967 Six-Day War and provide the Palestinians with a state they have been denied for more than a half-century"

Nov06: Jerusalem Jewish pop'n in decline - c1948 75%, 2006 66%, 2030 58% of total inhabitants - cramped, low-income, unpopular home
'Iran will be nuclear-capable within six months, unless stopped' - MKnesset
Sneh to 'Post': 'IDF must stop Iran' "Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh.. untenable scenario of Israel 'living under a dark cloud of fear from a leader committed to its destruction'.. under such a threat, 'most Israelis would prefer not to live here; most Jews would prefer not to come here with their families; and Israelis who can live abroad will. People are not enthusiastic about being scorched.' Thus the danger, Sneh elaborated, was that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would 'be able to kill the Zionist dream without pushing a button. That's why we must prevent this regime from obtaining nuclear capability at all costs'.. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said.. 'coolheadedness and wisdom.. Even the Russians don't want a nuclear Iran. We have to talk to everyone and remind them of the danger of a Muslim extremist nation using a nuclear weapon to harm another nation. The big countries have to lead and we have to push them'.. Sneh.. priority was to define Israel's national goals, including 'preparing the IDF for victory in the next round with Iran and its proxies.' High on the list was the need to improve the country's defense systems, he said. 'We developed and produced the Arrow, the only system that can intercept nuclear missiles. Depending on the altitude, when intercepted, the warheads do not detonate. But Israel needs to substantially improve its indigenous long-range capacities'"
'Military must reorient ready for conflict with Iran & Syria' - IDF officer
Embrace Christian evangelical support "How can Israel survive as a tiny democracy in a hostile sea of Arab tyranny? And with Jewish numbers declining throughout the world, how can Diaspora communities influence their respective governments to support Israel, or indeed even fund their local responsibilities when their donor base grows smaller each year? No doubt, the fact of pitifully low Jewish numbers must finally be addressed through a vastly increased Jewish birthrate. But the new answer must be Christian love and support for the Jewish people and the State of Israel"
Jordan: 3 civil wars in Mideast possible "King Abdullah.. 'We could possibly imagine going into 2007 and having three civil wars on our hands,' he said, citing conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon and the decades-long strife between the Palestinians and Israelis.. Unless something is done soon to lower the tension, he said, the two-state solution of Israel and an independent Palestinian state existing side by side becomes less a possibility. 'If we don't solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem then how can we ever solve the Israeli-Arab problem?' he said. 'Do we resign this whole region to another decade or two of violence?'"
Middle Israel: What went wrong in Iraq? "Classic Republican realism is back, post-9/11 Messianism is history.. 'prosperity now, freedom later'.. Putting the Arab world to work and helping it build more kindergartens, schools, colleges, highways, railroads, hospitals, factories, banks, malls and airports is currently America's most practical option for long-term impact in the Middle East. In due course, such a policy will also deliver tolerance, democracy and peace"

Dec06: US Defense Secretary-designate Robert Gates: Iranian attack on Israel possible "'If Iran obtains nuclear weapons no one can promise that it would not use them against Israel'.. the United States would pay an extremely high price for a military attack on either Iran or Syria"
Official: US talks could isolate Israel "a senior defense official said US talks with Iran would lead to a slippery slope that would eventually leave Israel alone facing the Iranian nuclear threat, other government officials indicated that US-Iranian talks were needed to stabilize the region since Iran was 'calling the shots' everywhere from Lebanon to Gaza. 'US won't order a preemptive Iran strike'"

Jan07: Research: Cutting VAT on food would be a boon to poor "..poverty in Israel, about 20.6 percent of all households, is the among the largest in the developed world.. six other steps.. Drastic reduction in the number of foreign workers in Israel, to encourage employment of Israelis and increase wages in the weaker sectors.. in 21 percent of all poor households the average age of the head of household is over 65.. 'Their economic condition is not expected to improve unless they receive additional income from the state'" & Help, they want peace "Israel's leaders are trying hard to prove to its citizens that they are not involved in a move to end 60 years of hostility with its Syrian neighbor.. kowtowing to residents of the Golan Heights, the settlers and the American government.. A high barrier of fear, enmity, and substantive disagreements and prejudices separates Israel and Syria.. Preserving the status quo will necessarily lead to armed conflict. The assumption that Syria will forever accept the occupation of the Golan is an illusion that will be shattered some day in a bloody war.. Official Israel is behaving this way to avoid paying the price of peace - giving up the Golan. But in unofficial Israel there is a substantial public that prefers peace over territories" (haaretz.com) + 12 Kadima MKs sign 'rebellious' petition on Golan "coordinating strategy for how to topple Olmert without forcing elections" jpost.com + Pilgrims' road to Temple unearthed in City of David dig Jerusalem "excavations are funded by the Elad Association, which buys houses in the City of David area and populates them with Jews" & Bird count cancelled due to pressure from religious factions (haaretz.com)



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