MK Shelly Yachimovich | Holding a note with her name at a Labor Party vote

Did Netanyahu Declare War?

“I’ll trick Roy Tov to praise a Zionist,” Haaretz editor apparently thought while approving an article named “Netanyahu is working to limit free speech in Israel, Labor leader says,” which was published today, November 13, 2011. This is less presumptuous from my side than you may think, after all one of this newspaper past editors was an acquaintance of me. Moreover, Haaretz is widely considered to be “The Voice of the Shin Beth.” What better platform and occasion to attempt manipulating me into fervent Zionism? Unluckily, the abuse on the reader became evident only a few rows after the article’s beginning.

The basic facts behind the odd article were simple: today, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved two bills that would limit foreign funding for Israeli human rights organizations. If approved, the new laws would cap foreign governments' contributions to political non-governmental organizations at NIS 20,000. Of course, the Israeli government would keep a monopoly on the interpretation of what is a political NGO. They would be able to claim that an NGO feeding Palestinian orphans is political in nature since it obviously works in favor of the Palestinians. Knowing Israel, it would probably behave in such a hideous fashion.

Netanyahu had already announced support for one of the bills, sponsored by two members of his Likud party - MKs Tzipi Hotovely and Ofir Akunis. It is hard to see a new policy in this. It is just another step in the usual politics of the Likud. Certainly, this is not a declaration of war; if anything, it just continues the Zionist war against humanity. Yet, the article centered not in this, but in the reaction of Knesset member Shelly Yachimovich to these bills.

Shelly Who?

On the same day, Shelly Yachimovich said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has set upon itself to limit free speech, declare war on Israel's judicial system, and push itself further away from the democratic, enlightened world. Then, she added that Netanyahu cannot hide behind his party's MKs anymore and wash his hands from the deluge of undemocratic bills. Her strong words made the secondary title of the article.

“Interesting,” one may say, “finally a Zionist leader favoring democratic principles over Zionist wishes.” This is important since the Jewish Fatherland Law is threatening to define Zionist and Jewish principles as being over democratic ones in Israel. This situation already exists, but the Jewish Fatherland Law threatens to formalize this horror.

The current leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Shelly is a well known figure in the Israeli media. She began her career as a journalist of Al HaMishmar (“On Guard” in Hebrew), an extreme left newspaper related to HaShomer Hatzair (“The Young Guard,” a youth movement) and Mapam (a worker’s party). She went on to become an anchor for the Israel Broadcasting Authority's radio station Reshet Bet (state owned) and afterwards moved to the Army Radio (state owned) and Channel 2 TV. She led a campaign in favor of Superpharm (a pharmacies franchise) workers, eventually winning them the right to sit during their long shifts. This event catapulted her into the Knesset, as a member of the Labor party. Her career couldn’t have flourished in such a way without serious links with the Israeli security services. HaShomer Hatzair, Mapam, and Al HaMishmar, were all major strongholds of the Zionist ethos.

Hints of these links to the security services hide beyond her formal CV. During her extraordinarily popular morning program at Reshet Beth, she disclosed in the mid nineties that Wing 2 – an air force base near Moshav Zecharia – is the place from where Israel will launch Jericho nuclear missiles. This scoop was odd. Every person aware of this base, knew before her scoop that it also serves as the alternate General Headquarters of the IDF. Yet, she said nothing about that. It seems she just discloses the information the Shin Beth wanted to disseminate and nothing more.

Then, today she hurried to present herself as a human rights champion, in yet another brave and disinterested struggle for the wealth of the people. Can we accept the charade?

Thwarting Shelly

Today, Shelly was on fire; she also added that the Labor party will continue to struggle with all its might for the preservation of democratic values and will work to thwart similar bills.

It is easy to concentrate on the legal atrocity about to be committed by Netanyahu’s party; yet, the insolence of Shelly is on the limit of Goebbels-styled Nazi propaganda. Let me repeat her words: the Labor party will continue to struggle with all its might for the preservation of democratic values. The Labor party is – as Mapam was – a Zionist party. This is the party behind the Return Law; the first law legislated by the Knesset, a law that gives automatic citizenship to any Jew landing on Israel. This is the law which is about to be cemented into a Basic Law by the upcoming Jewish Fatherland Law. This is the basis for Israeli racism; but Shelly as a member of the Zionist Labor party supports it. There is no difference on this between the Zionists parties, which compose the vast majority of the Knesset. They all discriminate and are anti-democratic.

So Ms. Shelly, please clarify, did Netanyahu declare war on the judicial system, or did you declare war on Netanyahu and are using dirty tricks of a class-c politician?

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