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
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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 »

6-3 opinion on photo-ID law opens door for more privacy intrusions
Monday's Supreme Court decision upholding a harshly restrictive photo-ID requirement for voting deals a severe blow to people who value privacy and individuality. That's all of us, by the way.
But it's future generations that will really pay the price, because they may grow up in a country whose governments and corporations will routinely track their movements, activities, likes, dislikes, opinions, resentments — just about everything they say or do.
Monday's 6-3 court decision upholds a misbegotten Indiana law requiring voters to present photo IDs.
But it opens the door wider for more sophisticated uses of photo IDs, such as facial biometrics for tracking your movements and buying habits. That's all in the near future, in part thanks to RFID tags (which I wrote about earlier in an item about Vegas casinos).
My take is that once photo IDs are going to required for voting (and many states will now try to pass laws modeled after Indiana's), the government and corporations will have all sorts of tools to play with. The court decision blesses such attempts because Indiana's law was particularly intrusive.
So go to the Electronic Privacy Information ...   more »

By Brendan O'Neill 
In the 1950s and 1960s, bunkers were a feature of many American suburban homes, populated by families fearful of the prospect of nuclear war. That threat has subsided, but now many reasonable people are stocking up on essential supplies in preparation for a new cataclysm.
When you hear the word "survivalist", what image comes to mind?
Perhaps you think of a gun-toting loner in Mid-West America, who lives in a shack surrounded by tinned food and emergency water supplies.
Or maybe you think of end-of-the-world religionists retreating to a fortified camp with enough food and drink to last them until Judgement Day.
But today there is a new breed of survivalist – and they're well-heeled, well-educated and more likely to wear an immaculately pressed suit than a camouflage flak jacket.
Civilisation breakdown
Barton M Biggs is about as far as you can get from the old John Rambo-style survivalist. Forget long, unkempt hair and a sweat-stained vest. Mr Biggs is a former chief global strategist for Morgan Stanley, who now runs the hedge fund Traxis Partners in New York.
Yet in his latest book, Wealth, War and Wisdom, he suggests that all right-minded people should "assume the ...   more »