Tzedek-Tzedek

Ivanka and Jared Kushner are probably the world's most powerful Jewish couple. Whereas Benjamin Netanyahu is a vastly more mature statesman and head of state, and so the most powerful Jewish man, the Kushner/Trump couple, now with senior (if unsalried) jobs and titles in daddy's White House are poised for global influence. Jews have long memories and so various historical prcedents come to mind. Most immediately, with Purim just passed, Mordechai and Esther could be en equivalent couple. Queen Esther used her family position of power (one of many wives to the King) to obtain influence, and following that, her uncle Mordechai's position as Prime Minister, to save the Jewish people from genocide. Not much is known about their wider influence in the Persian Empire, but a mention is made in the Book of Esther of levying taxes (boo, hiss). Less sympathetic is the model of the "Court Jew". During the Middle Ages, due to the ban on usuary (money lending) in...

Donald Trump's wild accusation that Barack Obama was wiretapping his phones in Trump Tower have astounded commentators the world over. Trumps accusation is grave, and it appears to be baseless. This follows Trump's unprecedented and fierce attacks on the Press, calling them liars, deliverers of 'fake news', and the 'enemy of the American people', and Trump's bitter campaign to stop leaks from the FBI and secret services. Attacking the Press for telling lies, while accusing the FBI of leaking true information to the press, appears contradictory. Either the stories in the press are false, or the unnamed sources of secret information are telling the truth - it can't be both. The link between Trump's senior campaign staff and Russian Government officials is now undeniable. Attorney General Jeff Sessions met Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak twice last year, and lied under oath about it to the Senate confirmation hearing. Michael Flynn, the sh...

https://youtu.be/hPpSwvvWdGg

There's a Chief Rabbi, a Prime Minister and a President in a cell together.... What sounds like the beginning of a joke, is painfully close to Israel's reality. Ex-Chief Rabbi Rabbi Yona Metzger will be imprisoned for three and a half years for corruption, having pocketed millions of shekels in illicit funds during his tenure as Chief Rabbi. He may have the distinction of 'sitting' with ex-Prime Minister Olmert, and he narrowly missing hob-nobbing with ex-President Moshe Katzav (who has been recently released after serving time for rape). With at least four investigations against Prime Minister Netanyau, perhaps something will stick and Bibi might join these celebs. Before the current batch of Very Important Prisoners, Shas Minister Aryeh Deri did his time, and Ariel Sharon's son Omri also; Prime Minister Sharon Minister may well have been imprisoned with Omri also, had it not been for Gush Katif and then his vegetative state following a stroke.   I...

The Bibi-Noni scandal appears to have shone a spotlight upon a murky world of politics plus journalism. A series of tapes, now in the hands of the police, reveal that Prime Minister Netanyahu held secret meetings with Arnon "Noni" Mozes, owner of Yediot Acharonot - a devotedly anti-Bibi newspaper. Various deals were being discussed between Bibi and Noni, with a view to reducing the criticism of Netanyahu by Yediot, in return for Netanyahu taking measures to reduce Israel Hayom's circulation. Israel Hayom is a free, Bibi aligned newspaper, founded and funded by Sheldon Adelson, which had undercut the tabloid market where Yediot had previously dominated. The quid pro quo appears to have been that Yediot would lower the volume on anti-Bibi journalism, in return for Bibi cutting Israel Hayom's circulation. Indeed, a bill was presented to the Knesset in 2014, nicknamed the "Israel Hayom Law", which effectively illegalized free mass-circulation newspa...

Poor old Donald. Had to move from here into subsidized housing which was vacated by a black family