Nachman Shai's open letter to Benjamin Netanyahu

Update: in the first version of the post the letter was wrongly assumed to be by Benny Begin. Apologies.
(With thanks to Vittaly).

Nachman Shai with an message for Bibi. Apologies for bugs in translation, if encountered.

***

Without flaming, out of appreciation and clear vision.
(Published by Ynet)

My acquaintance with Bibi, I call him Bibi, is long-standing. I first met him 43 years ago, after his brother Yoni's death in Entebbe. Yoni was my classmate at Rehavia Gymnasium in Jerusalem. A few years earlier, immediately after the Yom Kippur War, I interviewed him as commander of the Golan Heights Armored Battalion. It was the only journalistic interview Yoni had ever given.

In 1976, Bibi asked to speak to me and presented his vision for the war on terror. He was 27 years old and already brilliant at the time. He has developed an international counter-terrorism project and recruited people from all over the world to assist. The project exposed him both in Israel and in the US. Later, the late Moshe Arens chose him to serve as his deputy at the Washington Embassy. At the time, I served as the embassy spokesperson and couldn't help but admire his personal and policy capabilities.

Once again, we worked together in the First Gulf War - he in political PR and I in the military, and later in the Madrid Conference and beyond. Of course, I also followed him during my years in the Knesset, and occasionally we even talked and exchanged opinions.

I value and respect him even today, so I refuse to join the chorus that now rolled him in the tar in the outskirts of the city. But last Thursday I listened to the things he said on television - true, with great excitement, a stir of emotion and lack of sense - and realized that he could go no further.

It's over, Bibi.

The Israeli prime minister cannot burn the house on its residents. No, you can't. Only yesterday and maybe tomorrow you will send Air Force pilots or other IDF fighters to protect this home. A home is not just land, roads, buildings. The home is the set of values ​​and norms we all share.

You, the Prime Minister of Israel, have to respect our democracy, which has been serving you for 13 years. This democracy rests on the foundations of law and order and morality. Without them, it would not be democracy and will collapse. So many countries have already seen it. It might happen to us too. The distance is short.

No, this is not a "coup" and it is not an attempt to oust illegally a prime minister. The law keeping and enforcement system has come to a wise and measured conclusion that the Israeli prime minister should be prosecuted. Even now my hands are shaking at the sound of those words. This system may be faulty. But once a decision has been made, after many hesitations and varied considerations, including the timing, the way is now open to you to fight for your innocence. Not through the microphone and booth, which you so well use, but in court. There and only there.

I wish you got out of the indictments. It's hard for me to watch another convicted prime minister go to jail, but the decision is not mine or yours, and at this moment no longer public. Only the justice system, which you have complimented at the beginning of your speech, then roasted it on fire. The court will hear you, Bibi, with an open heart and soul. Go there, cope, and if there was nothing, there would be nothing.

***

To be on the safe side, follows the original in Hebrew.

Read more »

So, how about it now, Bibi?

In this recording Bibi, at the best of his glorious indignation and superb powers of speechifying, explains why Olmert, suspected of corruption, must resign. A part of his tirade reads:

A prime minister neck deep in investigations does not have a moral and public mandate to make fateful decisions for the State of Israel. There is a fear, I must say, and it is real and not unfounded, that he will make his decisions for his personal interest of political survival, not for the national interest.

To remind you all, at the time Olmert resigned even before the charges against him were finalized to indictment.

Bible stories - in the language you know and love

The silence here is temporarily interrupted to let you enjoy something completely different.

It starts with one Shaul Reznik, who decided to refurbish several Tanach (Old Testament for some of you) stories, presenting them in the language of modern mass media headlines. Some of his readers joined the effort. This post will try to present the most worthy results (so far) in English.

[If you are offended, please go away. Quietly.]

A pensioner tries to kill his son for religious reasons.

Two cities in the south of the country suffered serious damage during shelling with fire and sulfur.

A family of sectarians drove a maid with a child into the desert.

Killing of a farmer: G-d suspects brother.

After marrying an immigrant, the Egyptian leader was diagnosed with urinary tract disease.

Two stone data carriers are broken, an elderly stutterer is suspected.

In the area of ​​the Dead Sea, two daughters got their father drunk and raped him.

The couple was kicked out of a nature reserve for eating fruit.

An Israeli scientist presented a technology of extracting water from a rock.

Amateur shipbuilder invests in creation of a unique zoo.

Children of a large family of religious fanatics decided to get rid of their brother by selling him to merchants of live goods.

The wife of a Sodom lawyer replenished the salt reserves of the city.

Bears gobbled up a group of teenagers.

A cloned woman fell prey to a snake.

UN protests: Israel destroys Palestinian buildings with advanced sonic weapons!

Shock! Another victim of the slander by a #Metoo activist. (In a candid interview with Zuleika, Potiphar discovers shocking details).

SENSATION! A local madman was swallowed by a whale.

Israeli bodybuilder brutally killed a rare predator.

Scandal in the royal family: intimate correspondence between the crown prince and his boyfriend was published.

The battle of psychics on Carmel ended with a stabbing.

The prisoner discovers paranormal abilities and receives an offer to take a high post.

Journalistic investigation: who is behind the string of climate anomalies in Egypt?

Ballistic examination: the world champion in power-lifting was killed by a shot from a slingshot.

Passion for quail meat led to mass poisoning in a nomadic tribe.

The effects of global warming: Red Sea has become catastrophically shallow in one day. Scientists are sounding the alarm!

Animal rights advocates are outraged by the increasing incidence of tearing of the mouths of lions in Palestine.

SHOCK! Donkey's jaw can be used to ...

Tons of counterfeit groats have been sprayed over the supposedly empty desert for decades. The investigation is ongoing.

Was there a boy? A senior citizen claims that he killed a ram on the mountain.

And more from the commenters:

A successful hair removal method invented by the king of Israel. Read the interview with Queen of Sheba about the results.

Elderly vegan destroys an expensive cultural symbol of veal lovers.

As a result of the disproportionate use of force, a building collapsed on pilgrims in Gaza.

Construction of the tallest skyscraper in the Middle East is suspended. Disagreements between unions are growing.

Prosecutor's office is investigating the scandalous affair of the Israeli leader with the wife of a general who died last year: the investigation revealed new facts.

Targeted assassination of a Palestinian field commander by the David's Sling system.

Medical phenomenon in a nomadic tribe. A woman gave birth at the age of 90 years.

A shepherd is wanted for an attempted coup.

In a village near Lake Tiberias, a group of unknown people burglarized a bakery. Police suspect a gang of so-called "Folk healer."

A young man marries two women through his father-in-law.

The elements claimed millions of lives, but a group of enthusiasts managed to save a zoo.

Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Joseph. Feminists are furious!

The Shechem population is slaughtered as part of the #MeToo campaign.

The UN Human Rights Council condemned Israel for the killing of Egyptian soldiers in the Red Sea.

Etc. etc.