Israel Uncensored: Josh Reflects

Josh hastin here Israel uncensored in the Land of Israel network at the Land of Israel calm it is Monday the 25th of May 2020 the second of Sivan five seven eight oh hope you are doing well and your part of the world hope you are saved hope you are healthy in the midst of this coronavirus pandemic and i know here in israel thank God things are much much better the country is everyday it seems is opening up a little bit more I am staring outside at a beautiful beautiful day here in Jerusalem the eternal capital of the Jewish people and things aren't back to normal hundred percent there's still a sense in the air that the traffic is lighter things are not things are not a hundred percent but nevertheless we have to really really appreciate the fact of where we are and and sadly I know a lot of the world is not in the situation we're in here in Israel I mean things are opening up each and every day you can check the Ministry of Health website and we'll talk about specifics in a few minutes but transportation is opening up the schools are now open the beaches are open people are taking precautions wearing the masks and trying to maintain the social distancing but things are are getting there things are moving in the right direction thank God let's hope there isn't a any type of second wave here in Israel and I hope the first wave goes away in many many places around the world and I was actually trying to figure out you know I mean there's definitely a hand of God in it in terms of how we're we were able to come out of the situation we were in but I'm talking about the fact that that you know just in Israel we are we are so for better for worse I mean we are so used to crises I mean or this is a country that's 72 years young in modern times of course we're 3,000 years old but just think of what we have gone through over the last 72 years with all of the wars and rockets being fired at us and terror attacks and emergencies I mean Israel is if I'm not mistaken is still technically officially in a state of emergency we have been that way ever since we were established back in 1948 but a friend of mine was talking about the resiliency and coronavirus is is not an exception in other words the reason why you walk down the streets and there are people out there now even with the masks and everything is that Israelis are used to going through these traumas and getting back to business as soon as possible and I said before for better for worse because I remember in the days of the terror attacks when I made alia when I moved to Israel during the Oslo award with some a war rather Oslo war what some call the Second Intifada where a bus would blow up there be a terror attack and within an hour there'd be people waiting for that same bus line at the same stop where the attack book took place I mean literally just an hour later so in one hand there's a great deal of sense of resiliency on the other hand sometimes I think we have to slow down just a bit and that's why for me personally this period is much more difficult than the actual quarantine period which was basically you know it seems like yesterday but it really was you know last week last month over the last couple of months this to me personally is the is the most challenging because there are all these question marks are we moving too fast are things opening too fast so far so far everything seems to be headed in the right correction terms of the curve being flattened and all the numbers and statistics they put out and the active cases of coronavirus on the down swing on the downturn and everything's headed in the right direction so let's let's keep on keepin on and let's hope it continues that way and we don't have any other waves and and and then I'll be able to relax a little bit more as we head towards this I guess new normal things will never be the same I don't think ever I mean we may get to somewhat the same but I don't think anything will ever be the same I don't know maybe years from now when there's a proven vaccine and and everyone is headed back I'm not and again you know we really need to reflect on this period and ask ourselves do we want things to go back to exactly the way they were and I think the answer is no I think we really have to learn from this entire experience and really try to apply it to our lives as we head forward and for everybody it's a different experience and it's and it's something that each individual can learn from in his or her way but yeah I don't I don't think things will be exactly the same nor should they be and as I'm staring out this beautiful beautiful Jerusalem day with the wind blowing I mean I can hear the birds chirping there are still a somewhat of a a sense of quiet from where I'm sitting whereas in normal times perhaps there would be a lot of people moving around and a lot of a lot of action and now it's really just the wind and the birds from my vantage point right here anyway I just wanted to share that with you here this morning with as I'm looking outside the Israeli flag blowing in the wind we just celebrated Jerusalem Day the reunification of our capital in 1967 along with the liberation of Judea Samaria the Golan in other parts of the country we just had that and now this week we're already back into holiday mode as we head towards the hog of Shavuot where we commemorate the Jews receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai thousands of years ago but obviously so relevant each and every day here in the Land of Israel and around the world so I'm gonna go ahead and get to all the latest in the news but I just started the show off I guess a little bit differently some personal reflections here from Jerusalem as we head through this cove at 19:00 coronavirus together because no one is no one is exempt from from this reality not one person in the world this applies to each and every individual out there anyway on that note turning to the news front page of today's Jerusalem Post of course defended number one Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday yesterday became the first sitting Prime Minister in the history of the country to enter a courthouse under indictment he is facing charges of bribery fraud and breach of trust speaking outside the courthouse in town yahoo said broadcasting his trial was necessary so there would be full transparency and the public would know the entire truth behind his cases he repeatedly charged that his criminal cases were intended to bring him down because he is a right-winger the cases against him are ridiculous and delusional and had been tainted said Netanyahu adding that the announcement of the indictments against him were intended to prevent him from winning the last two elections that effort did not work and he only got more support and a vote of confidence in himself speaking alongside Likud ministers and MK s Netanyahu said it was a farce that after enduring decades of bad press he was being charged with receiving positive news coverage he quoted legal scholar attorney Alan Dershowitz as saying if Netanyahu would be convicted on that charge it would send a bad president internationally so Alan Dershowitz who is not known to be a right winger by any means perhaps he's got he's gone more to the right in recent years saying that this is a terrible precedent for Israel and the world that's just one of his charges is that he was guilty of trying to receive good press and now it's uh this is a long drawn-out process folks yesterday was only the first day of this indictment of this trial rather and this thing could take months and weeks and years before the judges rule on the fate of the prime minister will he remain our prime minister will he be forced to set a step aside and all this after such a long period without a government here in Israel now we have a government and now we're dealing with dealing with this as well reported by the Jewish press here Knesset speaker yariv Levin from Likud posted on Facebook yesterday saying the opening day of Prime Minister Netanyahu's trial will be remembered as one of the low points of the Israeli legal system the charges against him are unprecedented in Western democracies Levin continued saying they'll read their realm if at all should have been the ethical and non criminal sphere and it's no wonder that the world's top jurists have been harshly criticizing it referring referencing rather Dershowitz and others so so there we have one opinion and there's so many opinions out there there were demonstrators Pro Netanyahu yesterday and just on the other side of the road I guess the word demonstrators against Netanyahu calling on the Prime Minister to be removed on the right they're saying this is a witch trial against the right wing even though some some a debate whether Netanyahu is truly representing a representative of the right-wing based on this policy some would say he isn't he the some would say he's more to the center but for all for all practical purposes and the larger scheme he is he is being viewed as a right winger who was on trial because of his politics and not because he broke any laws that is the logic and that is the the reasoning and the rationalization coming from the Likud and others who think this is a witch-hunt and then again you have those on the other side who say that nobody's above the law the Prime Minister perhaps perhaps broke the law he definitely and there in their opinion is deserving of this trial and many pundits I'm reading this morning are talking about long term how this will damage the fabric of the State of Israel people will lose confidence in whether it's the politicians or the juju ditional system or what-have-you and they're saying that nothing nothing good can come out of it whether he is found guilty or acquitted everybody loses in this in this long and drawn-out process but it is the first time that we have seen anything like this here in the State of Israel with a sitting Prime Minister entering the courthouse facing indictment we had former Prime Minister Olmert actually went to jail was convicted but that happened after he was already well he was already no longer Prime Minister so again this is going to go on for weeks years who knows we'll see what happens and hopefully we will be able to heal as a country regardless of what the decision is and I'm going to talk a little bit more and the last thing I'm going to discuss later on is how truly United we have become and I've seen it before here in Israel whether it was 2014 and the kidnapping the bow of the boys and the murder of the boys and the following war in Gaza I've seen the unity here before and I'm going to give you another example of it hang in there don't go anywhere we'll get to that as well in other news here to J post reports and many others reported over the weekend the top religious official of the Republic of Iran supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the weekend threatening the State of Israel saying that quote the Zionist regime is a deadly cancerous tumour in the region region it will undoubtedly be uprooted and destroyed there he is threatening the state of the State of Israel and I saw something also the other day where he some of his propaganda which he released was very reminiscent of Hitler of course and he and people say no he's just against Israel he's not against the Jews Yeah right he is the leading anti-semite in the world today the religious spiritual leader of Iran and Prime Minister Netanyahu fired back saying anyone who threatens Israel is in danger he warned responding making his comments at the opening of Sunday's cabinet meeting following what the leader of Iran said over the weekend again this is not the first time at Iran I mean this happens is what nearly daily but this is a special occasion because this was a Jerusalem day for Jerusalem day in Israel at the celebration of liberation the Jerusalem day in Iran is a means to rile up the general public against Israel but I know and I'm convinced and I if anyone out there is listening from Iran I'm convinced that the Iranian people know what the reality is and that Israel is not the enemy of the Iranian people and I hope one day the people over there who know right from wrong and I've have not been brainwashed by the propaganda are able to overthrow this this tyrannical horrible evil regime and overthrow these mullahs one day please God it'll it'll happen but again more threats against the State of Israel which is not a rare occurrence but this one being more more special I guess because it is it came on Jerusalem day our guru some day and their Jerusalem day polar opposites that's for sure turning to the Israeli policy or stated policy we'll see what happens of applying sovereignty over Judea and Samaria the J Post reported over the weekend that a group of eighteen Senate Democrats have sent the letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu and alternate Prime Minister Gans urging them not to move forward with annexation on Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria a quote from the letter says a deep commitment to Israel's security and a shared set of democratic values are foundational elements of the close relationship between our countries we are therefore concerned that unilateral annexation puts both Israel's security and democracy at risk so Israel let me get this straight Israel's security is at risk or would be at risk if we annex or apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria that can't be more far from the truth in every single case in every case where Israel has made gestures of land for peace those areas have become launch pads for terrorism whether it's in Gaza whether it's in Hebron Heffron Judea Samaria wherever it is Lebanon wherever Israel has made concessions in the form of land those have become launching pads so how can you tell me that applying sovereignty over our communities will put Israel's security at risk imagine imagine of Israel agrees to turn over territories to full PA control whereas the IDF could no longer enter those areas if there was let's say God forbid a ticking a ticking time bomb as they say someone who is on his way to carry out a terror attack the way things are now in areas a what is known as area a under the Palestinian Authority the PA has were supposed to be in charge of both municipal and security control over those areas that being said as a result of Israel's military operation at the start of the rather as a result of the owsla war the Second Intifada the IDF ever since then over the last almost two decades has had full access if necessary to go into area a and take care of the terrorists each and every night talked about this before each and every night the IDF goes into these villages and arrests suspect the terrorists it doesn't make front page of the news but it happens each and every night imagine a situation where Israel could no longer go in to these villages and make these arrests and you're saying that will improve our security this is an absolute absolute nonsense okay and the goal when they go on here in this letter these Democratic senators talking about of course the creation of Palestinian state which would be an existential threat to the State of Israel it would be committing suicide in my opinion and of course they bring up all this democracy talk yeah like the Abbas regime which hasn't had an election in what 14 years like there are true democracy the regime which arrests journalists which arrests those who seek true cooperation with with Israelis these people are our peace partners why would these Democratic senators try to push a failed policy which is going on out for it's going on for 25 years a failed policy which legitimizes the Palestinian Authority which incites the terror and violence against Israel each and every day why would that why do they deserve a state which of course they reject the time and time again any form of state why keep pushing down this path we all know the definition of insanity is repeating the same same thing over and over hoping for hoping for different results that's not the case so leave us alone please you Democratic senators here who think you know what's best from 6000 miles away when you really don't okay and another aspect of this as they keep saying that they're opposed to unilateral actions either party Israel over the PA we're against unilateral actions well they had no problem when Israel in 2005 took every Jew out of Gaza unilaterally there was not one complaint saying oh if this was done unilaterally it should have been done when Israel is willing to make concessions they have no problem with any unilateral move this is complete hypocrisy and of course that was a terrible mistake that Israel made Israel should not be let off the hook for making that mistake but that being said these are hypocrites and their true goal the fact that they were quiet then when Israel makes concessions their true goal is to force Israel to make more and more concessions okay they have no problem with unilateral action as long as it's as it's Israel not applying sovereignty over our biblical heartland Judea and Samaria if we give up those areas unilaterally with coordination collaboration whatever it is they have no problem with that that is the point this is listen this is who we're dealing with alright the headline here and the J post UN coronavirus aid going to Palestinian terror linked groups here is an article which talks about millions of dollars of international funding set to go to the average Arab living in Judea and Samaria under the PA diverted for funding of Terror the money taken by the PFLP terror organization this is a this was based on a report by NGO monitor pointing out that the organization and UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs och a have been sending them money and the money is going is being diverted towards organizations with links to terrorism so what what are these PA related organizations what are they value what's the most important for them not fighting Korona it siphoning off this money which is supposed to help people in this time of crisis siphoning off and using it for Terror purposes it's not the first time we've seen seen something like this but these are the people who who who the Democratic senators want us to deal with ok pflp another branch within the PLO you have Fatah and the PFLP these are all terror organizations with different names different initials but they're one and the same their goals of the structure of the State of Israel and these Democratic senators want us to deal with those who divert funds supposed to go to corona and are going to terror instead another sad example of our neighbors unfortunately the Jewish Press reports this morning that while the entire world was holding its breath following the progress of the corona virus pandemic with millions of railey citizens in quarantine the PA seized the opportunity to illegally dumped millions of gallons of garbage in Area C those are areas in Judea and Samaria under Israeli full Israeli control this reported by this was a reg of eeeem the organization raghava meu ever heard of them check them out report done by that organization yesterday the results are being released rather yesterday indicating that only in a few weeks while everyone was quarantined at home millions of gallons of garbage from the Arab cities from Ramallah and Albuera were dumped into a quarry near the Binyamina industrial zone thousands of trucks took advantage of the temporary lull and law enforcement monitoring pouring their contents from the top of a cliff straight into this quarry should the Israeli authorities not do something about it thousands of tons of garbage will be set on fire will burn days and nights making the area's Jewish inhabitants a living hell and creating a huge environmental damage to the air into the soil whether it's a legal illegal building which the Arabs carry out with support by the way from the EU when Israel celebrating holidays like Passover and those who are in charge of inspecting those areas are having Passover Seder that's when these people act that's when the PA builds illegal structures that's when the PA dumps 2.2 million gallons of garbage illegally I mean where are the environmentalists here why isn't everyone you know save the whales and everyone green Greenpeace and all these organizations why aren't they screaming from the rooftops this is an environmental disaster this is air pollution this is damaging people's ability to breathe okay where are all these groups let's see if they respond to this criminal activity undertaken by those under the PA just a couple other things here before we go for today we started off by talking about the lifting restrictions here in Israel it's just it's unbelievable how we're able to continue down this path of lifting restrictions transportation Minister Mary reg F and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein reported by Israel national news reached an agreement under which trains will resume operating according to the pre lockdown schedule On June the 8th June the 8th trains once again will open up here in Israel and all these different restrictions the amount of passengers they're allowed how far away everyone has to sit from each other mini buses and shared taxis were allowed to travel as well with 75% capacities private taxis allowed to accept up to 2 passengers in the back seat all these restrictions are being eased which I've been in place since the start of this corona but we are headed as I said before in the right direction just hope it's not too fast things are looking positive please God please God they should stay the same one last story here and the question in here asked by Israel national news why did dvf and cried you-know-who Aviv Geffen is he is an Israeli singer very very popular singer he has been for decades here so he was interviewed on one of Israel's main TV news stations yesterday about one topic about performing during corona and then he broke down according I didn't see the whole video but I started watching it I'm gonna have to watch the whole video he started he broke down Aviv Geffen ok about an entirely almost completely different matter so here's the story during the Krone of crisis he appeared at the outdoor amphitheater the EM fishin II without a crowd ok he did one of these live broadcasts to try to raise spirit spirits here in Israel and what a Viva Geffen did was he dead I didn't even know this happened he dedicated a song with love to the residents of Bnei Brak Bnei Brak of course the ultra-orthodox city just outside of Tel Aviv at that time they were receiving ugly attacks since some of the city's residents had been accused of violating lockdown measures I mean you had these horrible videos which seemed to be picking on the residents of Bnei Brak ignoring the fact that perhaps other communities were violating quarantine rules the focus was on the ultra-orthodox so Aviv Geffen dedicates a song to the residents of Bnei Brak this is the story he's telling the interviewer he left the stage and he saw he had 420 messages on his phone so he says that he started opening them scrolling and someone had somehow gotten his phone number and passed it out to the residents of Bnei Brak and the residents of benamber are called Aviv Geffen and Aviv Geffen cried and couldn't stop crying from the the love and the heartfelt messages which he got from the people of Bnei Brak now for those of you who know Aviv Geffen Aviv Geffen has been the poster boy again for years for years and years the poster boy of the soap called left-wing in Israel the anti religious the anti God all these labels and perhaps it's even unfair that I characterize him as such but he basically has been the poster boy for all for all those things for anti religion okay and certainly anti Judea and Samaria anti her ad ultra-orthodox all these different things so here he is crying not only was he crying during the interview but he was crying when he got off that stage after dedicating that song and receiving for over 400 messages of thanks okay four o'clock in the morning he's still up there on that stage crying and the theater staff told him to go home so the interviewer Dana Weiss wondered why Aviv why did you cry then and why are you crying now during the interview and he answered the following he said quote for years we learned how to hate the other he's religious he's secular I too was a soldier in this game suddenly I saw the other so how did the krona change me just like this I learned to respect a flame of love simply amazing was lit I cannot even describe it in words only in tears unbelievable and again this by the way is on Israel national news as reported according to this by C Vaughn raha may are very popular journalist for Channel 12 News and an inspirational figure in her own right so she reported this and was printed by Arutz Sheva Israel national news and my message after hearing the story is this is I mean this is the ultimate example of what this horrible Corona this horrible virus gave to us the ability to see the other the ability to see the other side and I don't know as ivv effing gonna now become a religious or a traditional or observant Jew I don't know and I don't care that's his that's his business I'm not I'm not asking him to do so but the fact that this as he admitted the poster boy the soldier in this game the soldier of of dislike of disdain for others if I heave Geffen is able to see the other side then we are we are headed in the right direction in terms of unity amongst the Jewish people if all of us and again I myself I'm sure I've many times been guilty of berating those who have different political opinions for myself Jews who identify as being to the left and that's something I have to work on as well but I've if I've Eve Jeff and can do it we all can do it this is a real inspiration for those of you are not familiar with him living abroad you know go check out a Google Aviv Geffen and check out his music check outs maybe some of the things he has said in the past and and see where he's coming from as he says he was a soldier in this game now you as he has reflected he's been able to see another side of Israeli society and recognize bottom line that we here are all Jews we were all responsible for one another we may not like the actions of one another but Jews are not allowed this is from the Bible ok I'm not one of the rabbis here in the Land of Israel Network but a Jew is not allowed to hate another Jew you may dislike what he does and say the way I do know I dislike that thing that he did but you're now allowed to hate another Jew and I think this is the ultimate example of what we can learn from Aviv from from the corona situation thanks to Aviv Geffen and the powerful experience and the 400 messages he received from the ultra-orthodox thanking him for recognizing what they have been going through during this corona and on that note when I wish everyone out there only good whoever is celebrating the holiday of Shavuot this Friday starting Thursday night and Friday want to wish you a Hux I'm a fan wonderful hog outside of Israel it's a two-day hog Friday and Saturday no matter where you are you're gonna be celebrating though for those who celebrate rather it's a two-day or in Israel its shoveled on Friday than a regular Shabbat and the outside of Israel take two days chef what wishing you'd a Hux I'm out only health only good things wherever you are the wonderful world of ours get in touch with me during the week Josh had the Land of Israel calm I decided not to interview anybody on this week's show I just wanted to talk a little bit hope that's okay on Facebook Joshua Houston or Josh hastin Israel advocacy in journalism on Twitter at Josh hastin on Instagram as well at Josh a stand big shout out to be me and breastfeed engineer extraordinaire Tabitha Steen for all the work she does behind the scenes and again just one more time be safe out there be healthy and please God will speak again next Monday Shalom Shalom a beautiful beautiful day in Jerusalem they turn the capital of the State of Israel [Music]