Jackie Mason '08 Vlog 24 Obama's Fraud

Jackie says what some people aren't saying.

Obama will hurt Israel.

He supported Edward Said, that was enough for me.

We do not need to break down America to build it up fairly.

Vote for the old guy....

this month every man should take a lamb

"Speak to the entire community of Israel, saying: In the tenth day of this month every man should take a lamb, according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household."

The midrashic account of Avraham avinu - our patriarch Abraham - in which he single-handedly smashes the clay idols of his father's idol shop, destroying not only the inanimate figures, but also the false pagan doctrine that informed the city of Ur, at once fills us with awe and inspiration. After all, people of Avraham's vision and integrity aren't found every day. And, as for most of us, we are quite prepared to wage our wars against the idolatry's of our day vicariously, through the hearing and telling of stories such as this.

Imagine for a moment if G-d were to call upon an entire nation, man, woman, child, and elder, to simultaneously engage in an activity every bit as provocative and audacious as that of Avraham's. Imagine that that same nation were given explicit instructions to do this act of iconoclasm in the most public and "in your face" fashion as is possible, so that their collective act of rebellion could not possibly go by unnoticed by their neighbors, overseers, police officers, government ministers, high priests of morality and public opinion, and even the ruler at the top of the pyramid, whose sovereignty and legitimacy is solely dependent on all that they are calling into question?

Imagine that you were a member of this nation and that you had but four days to complete all the preparations necessary to perform this deed of open rebellion, to actually carry out the act, and to ready all your household and possessions to face the inevitable consequences.

No way? Yes way! This is exactly what the nation of Israel, man, woman, child, and elder, were called upon in Egypt to do without delay. Insurance policies, lay-away plans, savings accounts, job security and the myriad other amenities of society that effectively shoe-horn us into the narrow confines of our well-planned lives are of no relevance any more. One, and only one quality comes to the fore here, as all other safety nets fall away. Known in Hebrew as emunah, it is no more and no less than absolute faith and trust in G-d.

We all spend most of our days in a situation not unlike that of the Hebrews in Egypt - Mitzrayim - literally a narrow place. We are slaves to routine, to inertia, and to the prevailing dogmas of our day. We can shake our fists at the television news anchor, and argue with the morning newspaper, but until we are ready to actively and openly, provocatively and brazenly take society's godless precepts by the throat, and slaughter them for all to see, we will never emerge from our lethargy. The process of liberation begins when we unequivocally cut our ties with all that rules in the name of mistruth, and attach ourselves uncompromisingly and unshakably to the G-d of Israel, who created the heavens and the earth, and who brought the children of Israel our from their bondage in the land of Egypt.

The korban Pesach - Passover offering - referred to in Exodus 12 is the essence of the annual Passover re-enactment of our liberation from Egypt, not merely symbolically, but in the very act of performing the commandment. For too long the nation of Israel has been bereft of the korban Pesach, and, of course, of the very place where that public offering is to be performed: the Holy Temple. This year, for the first time in nearly two thousand years, the Temple Institute led a day long symposium in Jerusalem, overlooking the Temple Mount, in which, not only were practical issues concerning the renewal of the Passover offering discussed by leading Rabbis, but a one year old, flawless lamb was ritually prepared, slaughtered and tended to according to halachah (Jewish law), and the specific instructions concerning how such an offering would be made at the Holy Temple. Although this event was only for instructional purposes as the nation of Israel readies itself for the renewal of the Passover offering, and was not an actual offering, (and although the meat was distributed to needy families), the controversy that it raised in Israel clearly reminded us that liberation from the narrow straits of the politically correct, post modern society in which we live, is no less urgent to us today than it was those many years ago, when an entire nation made known its trust in G-d.

Blessings from Jerusalem,
Yitzchak Reuven
THE TEMPLE INSTITUTE
PO Box 31876
Jerusalem, Israel 97500
www.templeinstitute.org

The Golan Heights Peace Model

by Moshe Feiglin, Candidate for Prime Minister

Is there a solution for the military crisis plaguing Israel's south?
Can Israel successfully deal with the Kassam rockets?
Or is Olmert right when he tells us that we just have to get used to it?
You don't need to be a military expert to come up with a plan to solve the Gaza problem. Israel already has a successful model that works perfectly.

Have you ever asked yourself where the safest place in Israel is?
Where do you not have to worry about Arabs throwing rocks at your car?
Where can you walk around at night without fear of arms or drugs smugglers crossing the border? Where missiles don’t fly and where bombs don’t explode?
In short, where is the place that you are safest from both external enemies & from internal Arab terror & crime? That place is the Golan Heights. Without even trying, possibly even by mistake, Israel enjoys real peace there.

Any peace plan must follow the principles that have brought true peace in the Golan.

There are just five easy steps:
1- Encourage Arab emigration
2– Israeli Conquest;
3- Israeli sovereignty
4– Jewish Settlement
5- No peace accords!

60,000 Syrian Arabs who had been scattered throughout the Golan disappeared even before the Golan was liberated. The only ones who stayed were the Druze in the north. These villages are the exception that proves the necessity of implementing the first principle.

The second principle, conquest, was fully implemented by Israel in the Golan.
No foreign forces remained there. The area is entirely controlled by Israel.
Israel declared sovereignty over the entire Golan, settled it and most important of all - never signed a peace treaty with Syria. This is how we have prevented the war under the guise of peace that we suffer on our border with Egypt from repeating itself on our border with Syria.

These five steps will bring peace and security to Gaza, Judea and Samaria.

How do we encourage the Arabs in these places to emigrate without a major war?
Al-Najach University in Shechem answered that question with a recent poll.
It turns out that over 60% of these Arabs don’t need any encouragement to leave. They are disgusted with the rule of the armed thugs that the “Oslo Peace Club” forced upon them. Their preferred destinations are the Gulf States and Canada.

Many Western states currently suffer from negative demographics - less than two children per family. They are anxious to absorb skilled immigrants such as the Arabs of Judea, Samaria & Gaza who have learned quite a lot from Israel over the past 60 years. The huge current of Moslem immigrants that has engulfed the Western world in the past decades points to the fact that this solution is entirely possible. Israel must make available to the Arabs all the resources necessary to encourage this trend.

Approximately 10% of Israel's entire budget is wasted annually on impossible solutions based on the Oslo eagerness to partition the Land of Israel. This sum constantly grows as mega-costly solutions like the Separation Fence are proven absurd. They are then exchanged for even more grandiose defensive schemes such as cutting edge space technology to protect Israel's citizens from flying pipes.
The colossal sums of money spent on these unrealistic programs could be spent more effectively. Instead of paying for more white elephants, Israel can give $250,000 to every Arab family that will stake its future far from Israel's borders.
Israel can implement a political plan based on the Golan Heights model.
It depends on nothing more than our mentality. All that we have to understand is that this is our land - not theirs. The question is if Israel really wants peace or if the "Peace Process" is just a euphemism for getting rid of the settlements that force Jewish identity on Israel's tiny "elite".

As simple and effective as this plan may be, it will most likely not be adopted. Instead, Israel's current leaders will stubbornly continue down the Oslo path of blood and terror because the alternative means returning to their Jewish roots. The sensible, Jewish solutions will all be pushed to the sidelines because the minority
ruling our country today is simply not interested.

As his US speaking tour draws to an end, Moshe Feiglin reports significant progress on all fronts. In the face of disappointment and despair from Israel's current leadership, more and more Jews are connecting to the hope that Manhigut Yehudit projects. Lectures in places that used to draw tens of people drew hundreds this time. The audiences were warm and receptive - repeatedly interrupting Moshe's
speeches with enthusiastic applause and standing ovations. For Moshe and Shmuel Sackett (Manhigut’s International Director), the most moving part of the trip was their annual visit to Jonathon Pollard.

Moshe and Shmuel reported that as usual, Jonathon was completely and painfully aware
of events in Israel and offered some keen insights into the political situation. Manhigut Yehudit continues to act and pray on his behalf!

Several Moslem newspapers in the US and Canada took note of Moshe's speaking tour and wrote about the visiting Israeli leader who endangers the Arab struggle against Israel.

Police were called out to secure the lectures. Showing the universality of our message, a Philadelphia detective approached Moshe after his speech and said, "I’m not Jewish, but what you just said is extremely logical." Moshe Feiglin, Shmuel Sackett and the Manhigut Yehudit message have broken through the cynicism barrier and have brought hope to thousands. Now is the time to get involved.

If not for us and all of Am Yisrael, do it for you, as it is now clear that the stronger Israel is, the less anti-Semitism there is in the entire world

The American who spied for Israel.

By Avi

Jonathan Pollard - November 21, 1985

By instruction of Israel, Jonathan Jay Pollard and his wife Anne went to Israel's embassy in Washington, DC. They were admitted, and after several minutes asked to leave. They were then arrested by waiting FBI agents.

Jonathan Pollard was charged - conspiracy to commit espionage
Anne Pollard was accused of unauthorized possession of classified documents.

Anne was released after serving three years of a five-year sentence.
Jonathan - sentenced to life without parole and remains in a federal prison.

I have heard two conflicting opinions.

1) Of course as Jews we support Jonathan and understand they tried to make an example of a Jew who seemed to value Israel over the US.
The truth is that the information Jonathan passed to Israel was supposed to be given freely under an agreement signed by both countries. The Anti-Semite Casper Weinberger (I believe) put a block on this information EXCHANGE.

2) I have a non Jewish client who worked in Wash DC - Military and said the real reason Jonathan was being made an example of was that he released US secrets of style on covert actions and that these "styles" were used regularly and that the US
felt this put agents at risk.

Regardless of the truth, his case was handled like a banana republic would handle a case or even like perhaps... China. His conditions have been deplorable and he has been treated as a traitor who gave state secrets to an enemy.

The time is way past the normal 3-5 year sentence that any other convicted party would serve.

Free Jonathan Pollard NOW!

http://www.jonathanpollard.org/

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/pollard.html

Sale of Hametz on Passover in Israel?

Jerusalem Municipal Affairs Court OKs Sale of Hametz on Passover

In the case of the State of Israel v. Terminal 21 and others, Judge Tamar Bar-Asher Tsaban cleared four businesses of wrongdoing for their sale of hametz over the Passover holiday last year. While the Hametz Law explicitly prohibits the display by "business owners" of specific leavened products "in public," Judge Tsaban ruled that "those places of business owned by the defendants - a grocery store, restaurants and a pizzeria – do not fall under the definition of a 'public' place." Therefore, according to the ruling, "their actions are not a violation" of the law.

I am confused, Is Israel Jewish? Does each individual government agency have the right to step over over Jewish Law? Does the public agree? Are there no public referendums in Israel, the alleged Democracy?

The problem is, for Israel to be considered the Jewish State, Israel must must observe some Jewish Law. That does not mean that all Torah law must be instituted...
When Israel stops being considered the Jewsih State, the Gentiles might decide that we have no right to the land....no matter how misguided they remain!

Freedom is the central theme of the Passover seder. It echoes and re-echoes throughout the Haggadah. But it is for the freedom of Jews, not Gentiles.
Nobody is saying that only Jews can live in Israel. What I am saying is that the Jewish Laws and customs or traditions need to prevail.

The freedom for Jews in Israel to not be confronted with what we are confronted with in the US because it is a Xtian country...

Pay Gazans to Leave, Right-Wing MK Says

By SHERI SHEFA, Staff Reporter
The Canadian Jewish News
Thursday, 03 April 2008

TORONTO - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wants citizens of Sderot and Ashkelon to get used to constant rocket barrages from Gaza, but the problem could be solved by paying Palestinians to leave the territory, a prominent right-wing MK said in Toronto last week.

"Every year Israel spends 10 per cent of their national income on the concept of [the Oslo accords]-on building fences, on destroying Jewish villages, on putting guards at each coffee shop or store. It's crazy," Moshe Feiglin, right, leader of the Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) faction of Israel's Likud Party, told some 200 people at Shaarei Tefillah Synagogue, after a March 27 speech sponsored by the Jewish Defense League of Canada.

"We're talking about more than 60,000 people on the payroll. We're talking about $150 billion that Israel spends every 10 years," the former Likud leadership candidate said, noting that a survey done recently at a Palestinian university found that most of the students want to leave Gaza.

"That money is enough to give every Arab family in Yesha [Gaza] $250,000. They want to leave, we have the money. We're spending it anyhow. We have the money to help them, encourage them to have a future somewhere else."

According to Ynetnews, Olmert recently told board members of the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon that living with rocket attacks has been Israel's reality for the past 60 years, and that he has "no way of preventing these things from recurring."

"Basically, he said, 'Get used to it. I have no solutions. Get used to it,'" said Feiglin, who co-founded the group Zo Artzeinu (This is our Land) to protest the Oslo accords in 1993.

"That means that 63 years after the gates of Auschwitz opened, they are supposed to get used to the fact that every once in a while, a Jew is going to get killed because he is a Jew. He has an army, a president, the most modern, strong army in the Middle East, Parliament - why did we do all that? Why did we even establish the State of Israel to begin with? Because we agreed that we would not get used to that."

Feiglin admitted that his Gaza solution would likely not come to pass, and he ventured another approach that he said could improve security in Israel.

He said the best way to remedy the problem in Gaza is to consider the case of the Golan Heights.

"The border of the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria is the quietest border and the safest and most peaceful border," Feiglin said.

He argued that Israel achieved peace on the Syrian border by following five rules: the Syrian Arabs who lived there were evacuated and "encouraged to leave." As well, the land was occupied, it was annexed, Jewish settlements were established, and Israel and Syria never signed a peace treaty.

"And look what we have: a great peace in the Golan."

Feiglin said the biggest obstacles Israel must overcome are within its own borders, adding that from the moment the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shook hands with the late Palestinian Authority president Yassir Arafat, Israel started playing a completely different game, one that gave the advantage to the Arabs.

"Let's assume someone comes to your house and tells you, 'Your house is mine.' And you shake his hand and you tell him, 'You know what, let's compromise. What will people think? Who will they think the house really belongs to?" Feiglin asked.

He said most homeowners would do whatever it takes to kick that person out of their house.

"You would do everything you can so people would understand that you don't accept this claim. The minute you shake his hand, you lost the match," Feiglin said.

He said when Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005, media from around the world flocked to witness the event.

"There was no one in the world who did not see what the Jews were doing to themselves. The Jews showed the entire world that the land of Israel does not belong to them, but that it belongs to the Arabs. And from now on, we are the bad guys and the good guys are the Arabs."

He said part of the overall solution to Israel's problems is to seek leadership that works in the name of God.

"Israel needs leadership that leads the State of Israel [based] upon Jewish values, leadership that knows where he comes from, knows where he is going."

In last August's primaries, Feiglin who ran for the Likud party leadership with the tagline, "Feiglin, because he has a God," received about 24 per cent of the votes against Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu's 73 per cent.

Feiglin said that a few years ago, no one would have believed that he would garner a quarter of the votes against Netanyahu.

"But I'm telling you that, with G-d's help, next primary, I'm going to win."

The Golan Heights Peace Plan: By Moshe Feiglin

Adar II, 5768 - April, '08

Is there a solution for the military crisis plaguing Israel's south? Can Israel successfully deal with the Kassam rockets? Or is Olmert right when he tells us that we just have to get used to it?

You don't need to be a military expert to come up with a plan to solve the Gaza problem. Israel already has a successful model that works perfectly - at least since the Yom Kippur War. It is the real peace model that has been implemented for years in the Golan Heights.

Have you ever asked yourself where the safest place in Israel is? Where do you not have to worry about Arabs throwing rocks at your car? Where can you walk around at night without fear of arms or drugs smugglers crossing the border? Where don't missiles fly and where don't bombs explode? In short, where is the place that you are safest from both external enemies and from internal Arab terror and crime?

That place is the Golan Heights. Without even trying, possibly even by mistake, Israel enjoys real peace there. Any new peace plan must follow the principles that have brought us true peace in the Golan. There are just five easy steps:

Encourage Arab emigration
Conquest
Israeli sovereignty
Settlement
No peace accords!
Sixty thousand Syrian Arabs who had been scattered throughout villages in the Golan Heights disappeared even before the Golan was liberated. The only ones who stayed were the Druze in the north of the Golan. These villages are the exception that proves the necessity of implementing the first principle.

The second principle, conquest, was fully implemented by Israel in the Golan. No foreign forces remained there. The area is entirely controlled by Israel.

Israel declared sovereignty over the entire Golan, settled it and most important of all - never signed a peace treaty with Syria. This is how we have prevented the war under the guise of peace that we suffer on our border with Egypt from repeating itself on our border with Syria.

These five steps will bring peace and security to Gaza, Judea and Samaria.

How do we encourage the Arabs in these places to emigrate without the necessity of a major war? University Al-Najach in Shechem answered that question with the results of a poll that it had taken. It turns out that over 60% of the Arabs in Yesha do not need any encouragement to leave. They are disgusted with the rule of the armed thugs that the Oslo Peace Club forced upon them. Their preferred destinations are the Gulf States and Canada.

Many Western states currently suffer from negative demographics - less than two children per family. They are anxious to absorb skilled immigrants such as the Arabs of Yesha who have learned quite a lot from Israel over the past sixty years. The huge current of Moslem immigrants that has engulfed the Western world in the past decades points to the fact that this solution is entirely possible. Israel must make available to the Arabs all the resources necessary to encourage this trend.

Approximately 10% of Israel's entire budget is wasted annually on impossible solutions based on the Oslo eagerness to partition the Land of Israel. This sum constantly grows as mega-costly solutions like the Separation Fence are proven absurd. They are then exchanged for even more grandiose defensive schemes - cutting edge space technology to protect Israel's citizens from flying pipes. The colossal sums of money spent on these unrealistic programs could be spent more effectively. Instead of paying for more white elephants, Israel can give $250,000 to every Arab family that will stake its future far from Israel's borders.

Israel can implement a political plan based on the Golan Heights model. It depends on nothing more than our mentality. All that we have to understand is that this is our land - not theirs. The question is if Israel really wants peace or if the "Peace Process" is just a euphemism for getting rid of the settlements that force Jewish identity on Israel's tiny "elite".

As simple and effective as this plan may be, it will most likely not be adopted. Instead, Israel's current leaders will stubbornly continue down the Oslo path of blood and terror. The sensible, Jewish solutions will all be pushed to the sidelines – because the minority ruling our country today is simply not interested.

Pesach 5768

Passover this year - 2008, starts on the eve of Saturday, April 19, 2008.

How free are we in the Diaspora?
When do we realize that we are in exile?
From the time the US Jewish leadership turned their backs on the Shoah,
to the Jews in the USSR...Jewish leadership seems to be afraid to be Jewish.

They are scared that if the leadership speaks out, Jews will be persecuted...

Ask Shoah survivors, hidden children, offspring of thus if they believe a Shoah can happen in the US...

What do you think they say.
Those have assimilated put their Gentile friends ahead of Temple/Shul.
They believe they are off the hook. They don't realize that no matter what they do they are Jewish and will be judged accordingly.

Since they don't follow the Torah or interpret it so as to release them from guilt,
they probably also feel that when they do come for us...they will be spared like the German Jews thought before the Shoah...

This is Pesach....reconsider and make a fresh start ...one Mitzvah at a time!
Do it for you and do for your family!!

All the Best to everyone!!
B*H*

"The heavens rejoice and the earth is glad"

(Psalms 96:11) 27 Adar 2, 5768/April 3, 2008

This coming Saturday evening marks Rosh Chodesh Nisan, the first day of the month of Nisan, and it is certainly a time for rejoicing. What distinguishes Nisan from the other months of the Hebrew year, and in particular, what is so special about the first of Nisan?

As opposed to the previous month of Adar, which is characterized by the attribute of hidden miracles, which reaches its most articulated expression within the Purim message, (in which the scroll of Esther, read on Purim, does not contain within its text a single mention of G-d's name), Nisan is described as the month of revealed miracles. Again, this is most clearly articulated by the miracles which bring about the climax of the Exodus from Egypt, the plague of the first born and the splitting of the Sea of Reeds. This latter miracle was performed expressly for all the world to see.

There is a blessing that we are instructed to say only once a year, and only during the month of Nisan: "Blessed are you, G-d, King of the universe, in whose world nothing is lacking, and has created beautiful things, and goodly trees for man to take pleasure in." This blessing is to be recited only when viewing two blossoming fruit trees. Why?


We know that Nisan, the month referred to in Exodus 12:2, "'This month shall be unto you the beginning of months,'" is the first month of the Hebrew calendar, and is considered the new year for marking the Temple pilgrimages, and the reigns of the kings of Israel. And we know that the commandment to mark the month of Nisan was the first commandment given to the nation of Israel as they prepared to leave Egypt. We also learn that the first of Nisan which began the second year of the Israelite sojourn through the desert, was the day that the tabernacle was inaugurated, and G-d's shechinah - presence - was made palpably manifest to the children of Israel for the first time: "And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and came out, and blessed the people; and the glory of HaShem appeared unto all the people." (Leviticus 9:23)


The answer to our questions is beginning to emerge. Two history making events took place on the first day of Nisan, within the space of one year. The first was when G-d, for the very first time directly engaged the entire nation of Israel and commanded them to begin marking time from the new moon of Nisan. Though still in Egypt, this marked the beginning of the end of Israel's exile as G-d has re-engaged the people. He takes them out from exile and places them in His world, as it were, the desert. But man is meant for this world and to exist indefinitely on the rarefied level that the Israelites now found themselves in was simply not viable. In order to make permanent and eternal their convenant with G-d, He had to be brought into man's world. And this is the intention of the tabernacle: to make a place, around which the entire nation is arrayed, in which G-d's very presence can dwell and be made manifest to the people. This is what took place on the first of Nisan, in the second year in the desert. And this is what G-d desires most of His children: to be welcome in this world.


And now we know why spring occurs each year during the month of Nisan: "The heavens rejoice and the earth is glad." (Psalms 96:11) The heavens and earth are rejoicing because G-d is "happy." His "dream" his been fulfilled. His children have returned to Him, and He to His children. Therefore we make the blessing in the month of Nisan: "Blessed are you, G-d, King of the universe, in whose world nothing is lacking, and has created beautiful things, and goodly trees for man to take pleasure in." What could possibly be lacking in a world in which G-d is present and His presence is manifest? Even the flowering trees, like the two witnesses who testify to the appearance of the new moon, these two trees that we bless, like all of nature, are witnessing G-d's nearness. Witnessing and rejoicing.

Blessings from Jerusalem,
Yitzchak Reuven
THE TEMPLE INSTITUTE
PO Box 31876
Jerusalem, Israel 97500
www.templeinstitute.org

Exposed: Israel is negotiating Jerusalem

PM Olmert repeatedly denied holy city discussed with Palestinians

By Aaron Klein 4/1/2008

Illegal Arab construction in Jerusalem (WND)

JERUSALEM – Israel is negotiating with the Palestinian Authority regarding “all core issues,” including the status of Jerusalem, PA President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday.

“[Talks deal with] all the core issues without exception: Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, borders and security. We hope to achieve a settlement in 2008; there are many obstacles but we hope they will be removed. We are all pressing to reach a settlement by the target date,” Abbas said.

His statements fly in the face of recent claims by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who repeatedly has denied Jerusalem is being discussed. The ultra-Orthodox Shas party, a key member of Olmert’s coalition, has pledged to bolt the government if Jerusalem is negotiated.

Shas has denied Jerusalem is being discussed during regular weekly Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which commenced after last November’s U.S.-sponsored Annapolis summit.

“Nobody is talking about Jerusalem. The moment Jerusalem is being discussed, Shas will leave the government – period,” Shas spokesman Roi Lachmanovitch told Israel National News.

Abbas’ statement yesterday was specifically referring to the weekly meetings between chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

The PA leader’s comments are sure to result in increased pressure against Shas to leave the government, a move that likely would send Olmert’s government into crisis and could result in the prime minister’s downfall.

Last week, WND reported the son of the Shas spiritual leader demanded his father’s party immediately bolt the government amid rampant media reports Jerusalem is up for negotiations.

Rabbi Jacob Yosef accused the Shas party of “selling Jerusalem” for 478 million Israeli shekels, or $138 million. Yosef’s father, Rabbi Ovadye Yosef, serves as the spiritual leader of Shas, where he is also considered the party’s most important and revered figure.

Earlier this month, the Knesset’s Finance Committee approved $138 million in government funds to Shas’ educational institutions as part of the party’s coalition agreement with Olmert.

“How dare you sell out Jerusalem for 478 million shekels. Jerusalem is worth more than all monies in the world,” said Jacob Yosef, rabbi of the Givat Mordechai neighborhood in Jerusalem, addressing his father’s party.

Jacob Yosef is also a member of the Rabbinical Congress for Peace, a coalition of more than 350 Israeli rabbinic leaders and pulpit rabbis.

Yosef accused his father’s party of staying in the government until a formal announcement regarding dividing Jerusalem is made, by which time, the rabbi said, it will be too late.

“When someone brings a rope to hang your child, will you say, ‘Oh, it’s nothing, he only brought a rope?’ Or if a killer is only sharpening the knife, will you say, ‘It’s nothing, he’s only sharpening the knife?’ You will stop him right at the beginning, because by the time the knife is on the throat it will be too late. What is Shas waiting for? It must leave the government right now,” Yosef exclaimed.

Olmert’s government has hinted a number of times it will divide Jerusalem and reportedly has halted all Jewish construction permits for eastern sections of the city.

In December, Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon said the country “must” give up sections of Jerusalem for a future Palestinian state, even conceding the Palestinians can rename Jerusalem “to whatever they want.”

“We must come today and say, friends, the Jewish neighborhoods, including Har Homa, will remain under Israeli sovereignty, and the Arab neighborhoods will be the Palestinian capital, which they will call Jerusalem or whatever they want,” said Ramon during an interview.

Positions held by Ramon, a ranking member of Olmert’s Kadima party, are largely considered to be reflective of Israeli government policy.

Olmert himself recently questioned whether it was “really necessary” to retain Arab-majority eastern sections of Jerusalem.

Israel recaptured eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount – Judaism’s holiest site – during the 1967 Six Day War. The Palestinians have claimed eastern Jerusalem as a future capital; the area has large Arab neighborhoods, a significant Jewish population and sites holy to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

About 231,000 Arabs live in Jerusalem, mostly in eastern neighborhoods, and many reside in illegally constructed complexes. The city has an estimated total population of 724,000.

Olmert to blame for dividing Jerusalem?

Ramon listed population statistics as the reason Olmert’s government finds it necessary to split Jerusalem.

But WND broke the story that according to Jerusalem municipal employees, during 10 years as mayor of Jerusalem, Olmert instructed city workers not to take action against hundreds of illicit Arab building projects throughout eastern sections of Jerusalem housing over 100,000 Arabs squatting in the city illegally.

The workers and some former employees claim Olmert even instructed city officials to delete files documenting illegal Arab construction of housing units in eastern Jerusalem.

Olmert was Jerusalem mayor from 1993 to 2003. As mayor, he made repeated public statements calling Jerusalem the “eternal and undivided capital” of Israel. Jerusalem municipal employees and former workers, though, paint a starkly contrasting picture of the prime minister.

“He did nothing about rampant illegal Arab construction in Jerusalem while the government cracked down on illegal Jewish construction in the West Bank,” said one municipal employee who worked under Olmert. She spoke on condition of anonymity, because she still works for the municipality.

One former municipal worker during Olmert’s mayoral tenure told WND he was moved in 1999 to a new government posting after he tried to highlight the illegal Arab construction in Jerusalem. He also spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for his current job.

Aryeh King, chairman of the Jerusalem Forum, which promotes Jewish construction in Jerusalem, told WND an investigation by his group found Olmert’s city hall deleted files documenting hundreds of illegal Arab building projects throughout eastern sections of Jerusalem. He said he forwarded his findings to Israel’s state comptroller for investigation.

King also claims Olmert told senior municipal workers not to enforce a ban on illegal Arab buildings.

“Ehud Olmert gave the order not to deal with the problem and not to put Israeli security forces to the duty of taking down the illegal Arab complexes,” said King. “Senior municipal workers told me Olmert said not to bother with the illegal Arab homes, because eventually eastern Jerusalem would be given to the Palestinian Authority.”

King’s report alleges Jerusalem municipal officials erased the files, which detail over 300 cases of Arab construction in eastern Jerusalem deemed illegal starting from 1999. The illegal buildings reportedly were constructed without permits and are still standing. According to law, they must be demolished.

Local media reports investigating King’s charges alleged the files were erased by Ofir May, the head of Jerusalem’s Department of Building Permits, with the specific intention of allowing the statute of limitation on enforcing the demolition of the illegal construction to run out.

The Jerusalem municipality released a statement in response to the allegations claiming the threat of Arab violence kept it from bulldozing the illegal Arab homes.

“During the years of the intifada, the municipality had difficulty carrying out the necessary level of enforcement in the neighborhoods of eastern Jerusalem due to security constraints,” the statement read.

King said the hundreds of buildings allegedly detailed in the deleted municipal files house more than 20,000 illegal units.

“We’re talking about perhaps 100,000 or more Arabs in eastern Jerusalem living in illegal homes with the government doing nothing about it,” King said.