Inside Israel Today: The Honey and Stinging of Israeli Democracy

you're listening to inside Israel today with Gil Huffman on the Land of Israel Network hello and welcome to inside Israel today here on the land of Israel Network on the land of israel comm broadcasting from jerusalem where it's another beautiful day the kids have gone through school the traffic is back in the streets and rosh hashanah is on the way when we're going to stop that traffic again and have the kids back home from school and the then God will be the one who'll be busy he you'll be busy hopefully inscribing us in the book of life for a good and sweet year judging our actions over the past year we're all waiting for that important verdict from God which really controls the world and a year ago at this time I had a very exciting show where I took my audio engineer mr. van brettski to the community of Cadoo meme in Samaria in the biblical heartland of the Jewish people and right around the corner from where God gave the Jewish people a blessing near a harbor Akali the amount and blessing where there was a honey farm and still is the honey farm of a relative of mine Yael farbe Steen and that honey one it and the international award for honey that is given in North Carolina every year I believe it was called like the black jar some of the black something that was a honey test that was given sight unseen without knowing where the honey was from and these blind taste testers who as far as you know are not Jewish or evangelical Christian or have any connection decided that the honey from the land of milk and honey happened to be the best honey in the world and so this was very exciting when she won this award but then I got a message from my uncle telling me you have to call ul Farb Steen her fun her honey farm has been ransacked by Arabs and so Ben and I came to that Honey Farm we saw her beehives full of dead bees who were burned alive in a terrible act of vandalism and we interviewed her even though her English wasn't very good translating what she said in her we videotaped it wearing her her whole beekeeper outfit I recommend you watch that show and we heard about the terrible tragedy because Russia Shawna was coming up and she didn't have the boat honey to be able to meet the demands of her customers now sure enough people listen to that show from around the world including in organization people working for an organization called Israel 365 which is a company that reaches out to Christian evangelicals and tells them about the good coming out of Israel and they conducted a fundraising drive for the honey farm of yell Tharp's teen and huge amount of money I believe thirty thousand dollars in small donations came from all over the world to help her honey farm and because of that she was able to buy a new equipment keep in mind it wasn't just the the hives a her equipment that was used to take the raw honey and make it into real consumer eatable honey I'm not a honey making expert but that there are very expensive machines that do this work were completely destroyed she was able to buy new equipment thanks to mostly Christians around the world who cared about her devastating story and so um I spoke to her last night I wanted to update my listeners about what's going on with yet Ella Farb Steen today and she was overjoyed when I contacted her she said we were just on the way to you today we got something happened we didn't end up going to you today but we will soon we have a jar of honey for you and she told me that not only did they refurbish all and buy new equipment but they also moved it to a safer place her honey farm was outside the city limits of dooming the community in which she lives her community is gated the area where she and other farmers had built up an industrial zone was not and therefore it was unsafe and so now it's in a place that's safe and she has an alarm system and everything over there and her honey is protected and so you would think that she would have had a much easier time but what happened ladies and gentlemen it didn't rain enough now it's very nice that we have a Jews who who care a lot about Israel Christians who love about Israel who listen to this show and it's very nice that that you've proved over the last year you're willing to to donate when a tragedy like this happens but what are you gonna do about the rain all we can do is pray ladies and gentlemen and and you know we believe God listens to our prayers so let's pray that there will be rain in that biblical heartland of the Jewish people for the coming year so the Farzin family will be able to provide the honey that people enjoy here in Israel and that wins competitions around the world now she also told me that her neighbor suffered a similar tragedy to what she went through last year she had a neighbor there in that I guess for lack of a better word we would call it an industrial zone where they grew out of trees and used those olives in order to make olive oil and that is one of the seven species the the products the agricultural products of the land of Israel going back to the days of the Bible and so this olive farm was ransacked again by apparently local Arabs who are not very good neighbors and perhaps it's easier to move a honey making operation from outside the fences into the fences and make it safe it's much harder to uproot a bunch of trees and now you know it's just to be fair there have been incidents of Jews burning down Arab olive trees also it works both ways unfortunately around here or land that Arabs work that because of security reasons the IDF prevented them from going to their trees and this so people do have complaints on both sides but it would be very sad if because of this act of vandalism those olives that are used to make olive oil will not be usable and there won't be enough olive oil for Hanukkah which is now only what about three months away and we use olive oil to light our menorahs our Hinoki oat and so look at this just shows how the holidays in Israel are so tied to the land of Israel that you know we are really living the biblical dream over here that with all due respect to the beautiful lives that Jews have around the world God wanted there to be Jews living here on the land of Israel working that land and using it to practice their religion and we as religious Zionist and would like to believe that God also wants there to be a State of Israel a State of Israel in which we're able to practice that religion here on the land that God gave the Jewish people and having a state of Israel is not easy it's not easy to run a country especially when it's a very unique country a country that's a Jewish country a country that's a democracy a Jewish state and a democracy together and those concepts normally work beautifully together but lately there have been challenges in how we act as both a Jewish state and a democracy and so I'm gonna purposely take a break here between talking about the Land of Israel and talking about the democracy Israel and we'll be right back stay with us the majority of those that under registers as refugees are not refugees by any international standard Josh Houston here is real uncensored on the Land of Israel network at the Land of Israel calm and on my show this week an exclusive interview with dr. a NAT Wolff former member of Knesset leading intellectual here in Israel she says that the Unruh organization should not exist they were never displaced by war and yet they are registered by an agency that has the words you and image as refugees from Palestine catch my show Mondays here on the land of Israel network and all the other wonderful programming here on the land of Israel network of the Land of Israel calm [Music] and we're back here on inside Israel today on the Land of Israel network on the Land of Israel dot-com broadcasting from here in Jerusalem in the State of Israel which as we spoke about in the first half of the show is both a Jewish state and a democracy and those concepts normally work beautifully together but sometimes there are a challenge and so that's what we're going to be talking about here we can call this half of the show when democracy sucks ladies and gentlemen the democracy is not always easy there was a there's a famous quote that was wrongly attributed to Voltaire I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it now this quote was apparently instead said by a woman named Evelyn Beatrice Hall who wrote under the pseudonym SG Tallentire she was an English writer best known for her biography a Voltaire entitled the life of Voltaire first published in 1903 so sometime around then she said this quote I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it now that's true more than ever here in Israel and where there have been quotes lately by Arab Knesset members and by Jews reacting to Knesset members and some of those things are not particularly pleasant and the question is where do you draw the line between what is acceptable and what is not and I'm not going to give an opinion here you know we have plenty of listeners who have opinions and they that are entitled to them and show hosts over here I there are much more opinionated shows on the Land of Israel Network than this one are in Jeremy and Josh hastin and EJ Fleischer and Eve Harrow I'm sure have many strong opinions that they deliver on their shows week in and week out here on in Israel today we make a point of for the most part when it comes to internal political issues in Israel giving people the facts and letting them decide for themselves so let's start with what's going on right now what's going on right now is that Arab Knesset members who are against the policies of the State of Israel are taking those opinions and taking action okay they are going to the European Union today they are there meeting with the European Union foreign secretary Frederika mogherini and complaining to her about the Jewish nation state law okay the Jewish nation state law that was passed on the 19th of July is certainly controversial but it is very declarative it says a lot about Israel being a Jewish state and what that means it there are no real operative clauses there that would definitely change anything but I understand that they are very upset about this law and saying that they're upset about this law and no one would dispute that that is their given right here in a democracy but going abroad and lobbying against the law asking the European Union to condemn Israel for this law that's a lot more controversial and I wouldn't be surprised if those who have other shows here on the Land of Israel Network would say blatantly that that should not be permitted and we received statements today from the joint list explaining why they are doing this they said that it's very important to them to get the international community involved in trying to get this law change that perhaps if there would be pressure from the European Union on Israel telling Israel that they're violating international law which I don't really understand how they could claim that but whatever perhaps even get the European Union to threaten Israel with cutting off ties that Israel would be pressured to change the law now truth is I don't think it could work Israel right now is diversifying its economy the European Union is and they're a lot more pressure to stop doing business with Iran with all due respect and that they've managed to stand up to that pressure to the detriment of their own people in their own economy but fine they have the right to do that I don't think what the Arab MKS are doing will help their case in any way now another red line that the Titor around is calling Israel apartheid okay I've been to South Africa I've seen the effects of apartheid I learned a lot about apartheid in the apartheid museum a lot of that museum you learn about how the people advocating against apartheid the lawyers who were working to fight apartheid day in and day out were Jews there in South Africa we're very proud to have a state here with equal rights and that allows there to be Knesset members who are Arabs as even off my TV pointed out a member of Knesset from the joint arab list in an interview with me over the weekend that encourage you to read online he pointed out that while initially there were black and and what we're called colored members of parliament in the apartheid regime they were they were gradually disallowed and there were decades that they weren't allowed and here he is an Arab Knesset member calling Israel apartheid and he couldn't really justify it he just said that that sitting in Parliament is not the only thing that makes you democratic which isn't really much of an explanation they're doing other things these Arab Knesset members that people in Israel that not Arab Knesset members don't like very much they wrote an op-ed in The Guardian a newspaper in Britain that is seen as not very pleasant for Israel and they were in which they were defending Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn the leader of the Labour Party who has not only made statements that are anti-semitic has actually taken action in supporting Hamas and Hizballah terrorist organizations that are working to destroy the State of Israel the people of Israel and the Jews in Britain have really united against Jeremy Corbyn and there are Arab Knesset members write an article in The Guardian defending him absolutely their right to do it but you can decide for yourself ladies and gentlemen whether these Arab Knesset members have crossed the red line our Minister of Diaspora Affairs and education Naphtali Bennett said this morning in a message that he sent to me there's no greater hypocrisy than that of TB and their supporters they sit in the comfort of Israel's democracy living off his Railly taxpayers while they spend their time not working to represent their constituents and improving the lives of Israel's Arab community but writing letters to the international media and supportive anti-semites and supporters of terror indeed they've shown their true colors by going out of their way to voice unanimous support from a man who has been labeled an existential threat to the British Jewish community they've chosen to stand up for a man who honor the the planners of the Munich Massacre so let's be clear today the joint arab list members of Knesset have made clear their supporters of anti-semitism and terror I call on the Speaker of the Knesset to censure in the strongest terms the activity of these MKS especially tibi Queen's Deputy Speaker of the Knesset chose to use his position of honour and Israeli democracy to give legitimacy to voices of hatred and racism so that is a very strong condemnation there by enough Tully Bennett and he is condemning them for writing a letter okay they have the right in a democracy to write a letter in we they say things that we don't like whether they've crossed the red line enough Dali Bennett says yes you listeners you can decide for yourselves Jeremy Corbyn he who perhaps could be easier to argue as cross red lines he is actually making Jews feel that they're not safe in Britain especially if he would come to power and there are constellations within British politics that would allow that to happen and that could really result in there being a lot of British Jews deciding that they don't feel comfortable living in Britain anymore and coming here and we of course invite them to join us here in Israel a wonderful British Jewish community in Netanya on the coast here in particular we in Jerusalem we don't mind so much that our property values go up our and the cost of living and the the ability for us to purchase an apartment is harder because there are so many people making a yachtie that's a very good reason that our life is more difficult come on bring them on maybe you know but bring more people here the more the merrier so this is another question of democracy of whether what's called in the United States crying fire in a public theater that red line has been crossed now there are also Jewish members of Knesset who say things that are let's call them problematic and let you decide whether they cross the red lines so in response to the Arab Knesset members going to the European Union and writing this letter defending Jeremy Corbyn and a member of Knesset from the by dudy party moti yogev said this is the land of his not your land go out okay well they are citizens of the State of Israel a member of Knesset yogev they are very much citizens just like you even though they don't happen to be Jewish member of Knesset II we said in response I told you to take he's a doctor so he said I told you to take your medicine three times a day did you forget and member of Knesset job marine from the joint list party said to him you're the one we should go out no no neither of them you should go out this is the land of Israel the land of the Jewish people but there are Arabs living here too and we defend their right to live here in a democracy now number another member of Knesset said something could make people feel uncomfortable from the Likud Party there's a member of Knesset named Mickey Zohar you'd probably haven't read very much about him in the Jerusalem Post or other newspapers is not among the more prolific members of parliament he said that the Arabs have a right to be on our beaches hmm our beaches huh as if the beaches belong only to Jews and we as Jews are being magnanimous or generous in letting Arabs be on the beaches that's the kind of attitude that certainly could make Arabs feel uncomfortable living here I don't know if as the Arab Knesset members including TB allege that such statements lead to Arabs actually being attacked on beaches which is something that happened ten days ago over here that that might be going too far in those allegations but I can definitely understand why hearing such a statement would make people feel uncomfortable and and that's what democracy is ladies and gentlemen democracy sucks democracy is not pleasant at times democracy is what makes people suffer but alternatives are even worse and we have to endure that here living in a Jewish state that is also a democratic state and we got to love it we gotta love that these are the challenges that we're dealing with isn't that better than dealing with the challenges that we were dealing with before we had a state seventy years ago when the Jews did not have democracy to protect them when they were the minority there in Europe and so I'm very thankful as Rosh Hashanah approaches that we are living here in a Jewish state in a democratic state that has a bright future and is succeeding and thriving despite all the challenges that it's facing today so I hope that God writes the Jewish people and others who love the Jewish people around the world in the book of life for a good and sweet year and so happy Rosh Hashanah from here in Jerusalem and thank you for listening the inside Israel today on the land of Israel that worth on the land of Israel hi this is Eve Harrow host of rejuvenation on the land of israel network you can hear a new show for me every Sunday and every day of the week shows from another one of my very talented fellow show hosts reach me Eve at the Land of Israel calm and keep listening everybody we love your feedback the Land of Israel coming at you every day every week that's the Land of Israel Network on the land of Israel calm