Syria Condemns Israel

For yesterday's border crossings and subsequent riots on the Syrian-Israeli border, Syria has condemned the shooting of its citizens by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

I guess the Syrian government believes that only  they have the right to shoot at the Syrian population.

Does the world not see anything wrong here?

Nakba Day

So, this day is marked (on the Gregorian calendar) by Arab riots calling for the end to Israel. The May 15th date was the date that Israel was established in 1948 and each year the Arabs continue to mark with a day of terro.

This year is no different - it opened with an attack on the streets of Tel Aviv, where an Arab truck driver plowed into a crowd with his vehicle, killing one person and injuring 17 more innocent civilians.

As I am writing this, the Syrian border has become a hot spot with Syrian rioters crossing the Israeli border and infiltrating a Druze village inside of Israel. Arab media has reported that some of the infiltrators are Hezbollah terrorists.

Outrageous as it may seem, this is happening on May 11, 2011.

A Typical Weekend

Words are funny sometimes. The difference a space can make in the meaning of a word or words. Atypical or a typical.

This weekend, close friends sent their children to the wife's parents in Ashkelon to stay for the weekend. A change of pace for the kids and a bit of peace and quiet for the parents.

At 4 AM, there was a siren - indicating a incoming missiles or rockets. The grandparents, the grandchildren and two uncles had to make their way to the "mamad" - a reinforced security room.

During the afternoon, while playing in a park, another siren, another incoming projectile. everyone, again, had to run to the nearest shelter.

A city of almost 20 elementary schools is under constant barrage of missiles from Hamas in Gaza. A city, which, hosts a hospital that caters to Jews and Muslims alike, is also under constant attack (they are building a new rocket proof emergency room).

So, I ask is this a typical weekend for our children or the atypical weekend?

I sincerely hope the latter.

Iron Dome Works

Yesterday, the Iron Dome system deployed in southern Israel intercepted two short range (Hamas-fired) rockets.

This marks the FIRST TIME in the world that short range rockets have been intercepted.

Though, I do believe that it is important to focus of the success of the deployment and some others will focus on the potential rising costs to the deployment of Iron Dome if Hamas continues the barrage of rockets into Israel (the system is supposed to be able to tell if the rockets will hit a populated area and then deploy and if it will avoid a population zone, the system will not intercept), I think the focus should be on where money IS spent.

Israel is spending billions of dollars to protect its civilians in a purely defensive strategy - this system, bomb shelters, tests run by the Home Front command on dispensing gas masks, etc., while the Hamas and others (inclusive of the Palestinian Authority) spend no money on their people's defense, choosing instead to spend their money on terrorist infrastructure or weaponry.

Interest Rate Rises

Keep your eye on the interest rate, which jumped 50 basis points from 2.5% to 3.0%. The inflation rate was higher than the 1-3% that was the estimate and therefore the Bank Of Israel wants to keep a close eye on an inflation run.

Additionally, the housing prices continue to rise, but it seems to still have little to no impact on the applications for mortgages.

One suggestion would be to approve the new building in Judea and Samaria. The availability of more housing may normalize the prices instead of the continuous rise of prices due to a lack of housing.

Israel and Canada

The Canadian Government has fallen. I think with all that is going on around the Middle East right now - Egypt, Libya, Syria and others, I think the Canadian news is maybe even more significant.

Israel had no greater friend in a leadership role than Stephen Harper, the prime minister of Canada. To see him leave office is a sad and depressing event to us all.

His quotes on Israel include:

"An attack on Israel would be considered an attack on Canada"

"Canada will always stand beside Israel"

“The Liberal government is more frequently taking the view that Israel’s attempt to defend itself is equal to the terrorist attacks launched against it”

"Our government believes that those who threaten Israel also threaten Canada!"

The future remains uncertain - but we hope that the Canadians remain in support of the one democracy in the Middle East, eh! (Could not resist the last part...)

New Blog

I have decided (after a year and a half of inactivity) to change my focus from solely business in Israel to my general feelings and observations on my life, where I life, the immediate area around me and the world at large.