by Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks
The Jewish connection with Israel goes back 4,000 years to the first recorded syllables of Jewish time.
My great-grandfather Rabbi Arye Leib Frumkin, went to Israel in 1871; his father had settled there twenty years earlier. His first act was to begin writing his History of the Sages in Jerusalem, chronicling the Jewish presence there since Nachmanides arrived in 1265.
In 1881 pogroms broke out in more than a hundred towns in Russia. That was when he realized that aliyah was no longer a pilgrimage of the few but an urgent necessity for the many. He became a pioneer, moving to one of the first agricultural settlements in the new yishuv. The early settlers had caught malaria and left. Rabbi Frumkin led the return and built the first house there. The name they gave the town epitomizes their dreams. Using a phrase from the book of Hosea, they called it Petach Tikva, 'the Gateway of Hope'. Today it is the sixth largest city in Israel.
The Jewish connection with Israel did not begin with Zionism, a word coined in the 1890s. It goes back 4,000 years to the first recorded syllables of Jewish time, ...   more »

By Fadi Eyadat, Haaretz Correspondent   
A man in his 70s picks up one whole chicken, a package of rice, a loaf of bread and fruit and approaches the check-out counter at Super Dahan's grocery store in Sderot. He produces a NIS 100 voucher he received from storeowner Daniel Dahan.
The cashier rings up a total of NIS 240, and the man must return some of the products to the shelves.
The cashier at the next counter catches an elderly customer stealing basic products.   
"People are leaving Sderot every day. Those who stay in town are the lowest income earners and now with the rise in food prices they have to steal," says Dahan. He has a drawer full of vouchers he hands out to needy people. "They should come to me and ask before reaching this situation," he says.
Dozens of stores have shut down in Sderot in recent months, leaving an empty space in the town's center. Suppliers are fulfilling fewer orders at local grocery stores, fearing they will not be paid.
Those who have not closed down are hardly making a living. "On days when there's a rocket alert, people stay at home, work goes down ...   more »

By Yossi Verter   
When a supporter of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Saturday "That's it, it's over," it was not clear whether he was asking a question or stating a fact. This was a statement repeated in different words over and over during the weekend - by ministers, MKs and political allies. Like everyone else, they were all in the dark, driven by rumors, hints, innuendos, flying through the cellular telephony at tremendous speeds.
Even the more experienced among them, the veterans of past affairs and the two Winograd Committee reports, are sounding defeated. They did not know how to defend themselves against this enormous tidal wave. On the one hand, the law enforcement and the prosecution were leaking that it was a most serious affair that would bring an end to Olmert's tenure as PM; on the other hand, the court is preventing the man under investigation to talk and present his version of the story.
Those on the right who wish for Olmert's fall also found it difficult to come to terms with this upsetting decision. Would an American court prevent president Clinton from responding to the allegations against him in the Lewinsky case? Or president Nixon ...   more »

By Haaretz Service  
William Fraser  
The American bodyguards of a Bush administration envoy who was dispatched to the region to monitor the implementation of the road map engaged in a violent confrontation with right-wing Israelis who sought to disturb a visit to Hebron on Friday, Israel Radio reported.
One of the rightists is reported to have driven his jeep into the convoy accompanying General William Fraser. Subsequently, one of the vehicles in the convoy heavily collided with the jeep, according to Israel Radio.
A fracas ensued between the guards and the rightists before the Americans decided to cut the visit short, Israel Radio reported.  
Original Source
   more »

Transportat Ministry to establish committee on readjusting traffic in capital. Amongst recommendations: Turning site into pedestrian street. 'The movement of vehicles in the Old City disturbs tourists,' says Tourism Ministry director-general
Ynet
The Tourism Ministry on Monday announced a plan to establish a combined committee that will work towards modifying the traffic infrastructure in the Old City of Jerusalem to one that is acceptable in major tourist cities around the world, as part of the efforts being made to improve the tourism there.
The committee will be run by the Transport Ministry, and will consist of members from the Tourism and Finance Ministries and from the Jerusalem Municipality.     
The committee will discuss the option of turning the site into a pedestrian street. Other options include paving safe inlets on which tourists can walk, expanding existing traffic lanes and paving additional lanes to the Old City.  
Transport Ministry Director-General Shaul Zemach noted in a press release that the street and parking systems in the Old City are not prepared to comply with the growing demand, stating that "the movement of private vehicles and public transportation within the Old City cause a great disturbance to tourists and to visitors of ...   more »