Inside Israel Today: Shaloha from Hawaii Back to Israeli Politics

you're listening to inside Israel today with Gil Hoffman on the land of Israel Network hello and welcome back to inside Israel today here in the Land of Israel Network in the Land of Israel calm I haven't been here now for three weeks because I was in America on a speaking tour of red states and blue states talking about the relationship between those red states in the blue states and the Jewish state over here in Israel there's lots of fun speaking to the wonderful people of Chicago Philadelphia New Jersey New York Connecticut South Carolina Florida Dallas Seattle and last but certainly not least Honolulu I got to meet some wonderful people in the four corners of the United States really four corners with the Hawaii being the lower west corner of the United States often forgotten Seattle being the Upper West Miami Beach being the southeast and in the Northeast I spoke on the Upper East Side Oh New York so didn't go to Maine this time but Upper East Side of New York I got to see many of people who really really care about the future of Israel and are very very concerned that really connects to what we're going to be talking about in our show today in the first half of the show we're going to be talking about what I've been reporting now since I came back which is about a very curious character in Israeli politics the leader of the Labour Party and the Zionist union Aviv gab I and in the second half of the show and go back to my speaking tour and talk about Hawaii I've been told that GABA in Hawaii do not rhyme so we're going to be starting over here with gob I so avi gaba has been saying some controversial things lately just in the last month or so Lobby gaba has caused many an uproar first of all he said that in any kind of peace agreement he doesn't think that Jewish communities will need necessarily to be evacuated you know that is sector here from the leader of the Israeli left what are called settlements I don't even know if we're allowed to use that word on the Land of Israel Network might end up staying even in any kind of peace agreement that would if the left if gob I would come to power he said quote why do you need to evacuate if you make peace you make peace solutions can be found that don't require evacuation he also said he would not sit in the governing coalition with the joint Arab list and he's not sure if there's a partner on the Palestinian side and that quote the whole land of Israel is ours because it was promised to Abraham by God and that statement at the end there about God is certainly not anything you would expect to hear from the leader of the Israeli left for years it was the Israeli right that was the representative of those who believed in God and those who believe that all the land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people and the Israeli left were the ones that were in favor of territorial compromise for Israel's own good from their point of view and did not have too many religious representatives the ones that there were were rare and kind of strange and so now here comes avi GABA and he decides to reclaim Judaism and Zionism for the Israeli left even says yesterday to an audience of students at ben-gurion University of the Negev that the left has forgotten what it means to be Jewish now that statement the left has forgotten what it means to be Jewish was at first said by Netanyahu whispering in the ear of a Kabbalists rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri back in 1997 and when this was caught on tape by Haim Rivlin of Israel radio at the time this caused a big uproar that Netanyahu was diligent amaizing half the population at the time at the time the left was half the population now they're much less in part because of Netanyahu's political success and in part because of the Palestinians and know what they have done to discourage Israelis from believing in peace and and in part because of poor American leadership now for for two decades but this was Netanyahu whispering he didn't have the courage to say what he believed out loud and here comes avi GABA speaking about his own community and saying it loud and clear and he's saying it not just tactically to get him votes but because he really means it so let's speak about first of all why it would get votes and then why he really means it so when Netanyahu was Prime Minister the first time his political strategist was the late Arthur Finkelstein Arthur best Israeli public opinion and he found that votes are often decided by whether Israelis see themselves as more Jewish or more Israeli the ones who considered themselves more Jewish were more likely to vote for Likud and those who saw themselves as more Israeli were more likely to vote for the Labour Party in its various incarnations since then more and more Israelis see themselves as more Jewish than Israeli what does that mean it means not necessarily that they're religiously observant but that they're proud Jews that they're proud of who they are they put their Jewish values above liberal values even though they are very often one in the same and even though they go together quite beautifully most of the time when there are conflicts between the two though that they will choose their Jewish values first in part because of international pressure on Israel to make concessions that it wasn't really backed up by support in the long run Israelis more and more have stopped caring about the world and what the world thinks of them you know Jews and Israelis in particular but in particular always a want to look good to the world but in the end if there's a choice between looking good and being safe and secure the people of Israel are choosing to be safe and secure if the world wants Israel to make certain concessions to people that want to kill us Israelis are much less willing to do that after certain experiments have not proven successful and so here comes a hobby GABA and he appeals to those masses who maybe in the past were willing to make concessions and now aren't so much and those people couldn't have vote for the Labour Party with the policies that had in the past but maybe if they believe avi GABA if they see him as genuine even if he sounds like Likud niché's do maybe if they're mad at that they could for various legitimate reasons they'll end up deciding to vote for GABA a lot of will depend on what candidates he brings in and what candidates he keeps out from his Labour Party list but I think out of the reactions that there have been since avi GABA said it the most interesting one came from the leader of Shah Saria dairy who wrote Java gah by praising him for saying what he did and in saying that it does indeed need to be more embracing of Jewish values and him ending his comment by saying a word in Moroccan that I can't really pronounce but means you're one of us that's a very risky thing for area dairy to do Aria dairies shots party is teetering on the electoral threshold and his voters tend to be much further to the right even though he himself personally is not and when he goes and complements ABI GABA and says you know you're one of us I'm from Morocco you're from Morocco that means that GABA is really hitting the nail on the head because you know he could end up taking voters away from shots I think that I read air he's not being smart when he complements him but I think it shows that avi GABA his comment which attracted a lot of attention was indeed successful now when I said before he really means it avi gaba comes from a liquid family he formed colano ahead of the last election with Moshe Coughlin who also sees himself very much as of liquid Nick and says it with pride even though he formed his own party he's not religious he his family is and he has a lot of respect for the religion and he means that the left-wing politicians have gone too far out on a limb and abandoned where a lot of the voters are and that they need to return to speaking about their Jewish pride about Shabbat and about other you know value values that the Jewish people gave to the world he spoke about why socialists tend to be Jewish because of their need to embrace social justice about some of the values of about workers rights about helping minorities helping the stranger and really do come from Judaism I think that he really does mean it now he was attacked on the radio this morning by a lipid who said don't go telling people who's Jewish and who's not and that just shows that the peat is missing the point Lupita's also reached out to more religious or certainly not anti religious voters because he has the anti religious voters in his pocket he went and he put on a keeper in the western wall he had his wife do the mitzvah of Hoffa Shakuntala over removing a baking challah and removing a part of it that was seen as really artificial even hypocritical and I think his criticism of God by shows Lapita very often doesn't get what a big a bio about what a lot of the people of Israel are looking for they're looking for this element of Jewish pride of being able to say to the world you know we appreciate your recommendations but we are who we are and we're not going to change we like being who we are we are proud Jews we are proud Israelis the Land of Israel does belong to us the center-left might want to make concessions on that land for whatever reasons but even if they did they wouldn't stop loving the land they wouldn't stop thinking that it's ours that if we gave it we're giving our land we're not giving land that doesn't belong to us and that really connects to the other statement that avakov I made last night which was equally risky he said when he was asked about being the peds number two not about running under him in a head of the election but being the peds number two after the election about joining a government led by Lapine he said yes I don't have to be the number one I don't have a fetish with being Prime Minister he said if Lapita would form the government then I would be willing to be his number two because Israel needs change now only one of them could be the number one only one of them can be the one who gets the bulk of the votes to the right to the excuse me to the left of the Li could what's been happening over the last few elections is that the public ultimately decides to go with one party that that center-left public and whoever isn't there in that one party it doesn't get the votes it's either gonna be gaavai or Lapita right now they're polling very similarly but what happens ahead of Election Day is they the voters that are to the left of lis could ask who can beat this any out and they go with one of them so chances are one of these parties is going to have more than 20 seats the other one could have only ten right now in the current Knesset there there are 24 seats in the Zionist union there are 11 in Yasha teed the next time it could be the same or it could be the opposite Ireland refused to answer the question of whether he would join a government led by GABA he just said when he was asked about it I'm going to win the election and then I'll form a government together with labor and liquid unity government because that's what the people of Israel want I'm not so sure the people of Israel want that Jewish pride and I'm not sure that the peat can deliver it if Abu GABA continues to present himself as this alternative who can appeal to the center the left and the right he might be able to do what lahpet can't do and that's form a government so I think Israeli politics are getting more and more interesting as time goes on we're certainly waiting to see what's gonna happen with Netanyahu and the criminal investigations hanging over his head which are really the only thing that can bring him down with all due respect to gobble up Eid and the the IDF Chiefs of Staff that are waiting on the sidelines to enter politics at the right moment none of them could beat Netanyahu right now only the only politician who could bring Netanyahu's Netanyahu himself his own hedonism his own hubris that has been revealed more and more by the leaks from the criminal investigations that are surrounding the Prime Minister and really uh harming his ability to govern right now and I'll just end by saying I found in my talks in America that the people of America I guess especially wealthy American Jews really really don't get these criminal investigations especially the one about receiving expensive gifts cigars and pink champagne from a rich Hollywood producer don't worry not that Hollywood producer but from our known milchin the man who introduced Brad to Angelina in a of a marital a setting up that I think lasted longer than most Hollywood she'd do him do the people here that Netanyahu's been accused of receiving these gifts and they're like great you know I want to give him gifts so what's wrong with giving gifts to the Prime Minister of Israel you know if you host him or you're friends with him of course you want to give him things and we're you know we're juicer are giving people especially to people who we want to find favor with and they're coming from a place in America where that's part of the culture and where their own American president even though he has everything when he goes abroad he receives gifts a Donald Trump went to Saudi Arabia and the Saudis presented him with no less than fifty gifts including matching bathrobes for him in Melania made out of the fur of a cheetah they actually had to go and catch two cheetahs in order cheetahs are fast animals in order to get these bathrobes Netanyahu doesn't have anything made out of cheetah fur but Netanyahu went a little too far in what he thought was acceptable and it'll be up to the Attorney General to decide whether that means that Netanyahu can no longer remain prime minister and if he can no longer remain Prime Minister the political field is wide wide open stay tuned to hear on the Land of Israel network on the Land of Israel calm to watch all the excitement as it happens and of course to the Jerusalem Post where I'm proud to work day in and day out and night in and night out lately after the break we're going to be speaking about the 50 of the States of America and it's connection to Judaism its connection to Israel its connection to me we will be going from gob I to Hawaii and I think it does right hi this is Eve herro host of rejuvenation on the Land of Israel Network you came here 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 and we're back here on inside Israel today on the Land of Israel Network in the Land of Israel calm where we are going from speaking in the first half about AVI yeah by to speaking in the second half about Hawaii so I had the honor and privilege of spending last week in the most beautiful state in America one of the most beautiful places in the world outside the Land of Israel we're on the land of Israel that Conell of course always say that the Land of Israel is the most beautiful land and was given to the Jewish people by God and it's beauty cannot be compared to anywhere else so let's leave the Land of Israel out of it for the rest of this show here in the Land of Israel Network and speak about its law it's about the land abroad look I was brought there to speak by the Jewish National Fund a raising money for the land of Israel so it's I guess it's a back connected and that's okay and I spoke at temple Emmanuel a thriving reformed temple in the suburbs of Hawaii of Honolulu on Oahu and I found that not only is Hawaii a beautiful beautiful state but its people are beautiful as well and it and it's it's Jewish people in particular the community that I found it really loves Israel they're very proud Jews both the american-born Jews that are there in the reformed community and the Israelis who attend to go to the Habad led by Rabbi hol and Pearl Krasny on ski that's right next to a shopping mall that is full of Israelis who work in the kiosks and stalls in the middle of the mall and love Israel very much but are temporarily working there in Hawaii which is better than I working in a place with the less good weather there the let's just say the this the kiosks and the stalls in the middle of the Mall of America in Minnesota are also full of Israelis and I like to think that they Envy the Israelis we chose the mall in Hawaii over the mall in the Snowy Minnesota I'm very excited that I had this chance of going to Hawaii and even it's in yow who in the last year and a half as he bragged as in the UN speech was in East Africa West Africa became the first Israeli sitting Prime Minister to visit Australia in Latin America was in Singapore was in Muslim countries Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan Netanyahu has never visited Hawaii at least not as Prime Minister what he's done in his own time in between it we don't know no but I probably check on that and so take that Bibi I to Hawaii I did my best to represent Israel in my talk there I did my best to display my pride in the State of Israel and my and my Jewish pride there in Hawaii I'm very thankful to God for this opportunity that I had to speak in 50 states I believe I am the first Israeli to speak in all 50 to speak in all 50 states about Israel someone has pointed out that the Lenny Solomon of schlock rock has performed in all 50 states and that when he performs he also speaks about Israel I don't think it counts it did not sing I spoke pretty sure from the reception that I received in Fargo in North Dakota and in Jackson Mississippi that they haven't had Israel speakers so I'm glad that I came to all of them and got to see all around America the red states and the blue states the great variety of opinion that there is and to really see that Israel is the one issue that can unite Americans today when America is more divided than ever I want to thank all the people who were involved in being able to reach all these 50 states I've spoken for many wonderful organizations really starting with JNF that's brought me to much of America AIPAC ADL American Friends of McCann debido Dome the Jewish Federations of North America Israel bonds just recently Shaarei Tzedek Hospital Hadassah Hospital of course and synagogues across America reform conservative Modern Orthodox and Chabad with the Habad movement growing by leaps and bounds and really reaching out to American Jews all over America in a beautiful kind of way they beat me to 50 states when they open their not necessarily necessary surely in South Dakota but I beat them to South Dakota and had a great audience there the reformed synagogue there organized by Carol and Steve Rosenthal wonderful people I'm very thankful to everyone who has allowed me to make that history who has enabled me to achieve that kind of success which I'm not letting go to my head Hawaii Hawaii really shows us the world is bigger and all of us seeing the beauty of the beaches seeing the beauty of the water getting to Paris sail near a volcano and think God created this beautiful beautiful land it's hard to not believe in God when you see that kind of beauty you know how could this have been created just by science and evolution and whatever there had to be some kind of supernatural kind of hand in creating this and so my belief in God would I think has been strengthened by seeing so many beautiful places all around America you know not just Hawaii Miami Beach is pretty nice too people don't realize how beautiful Pittsburgh can be people don't realize how beautiful a little rock is there on the river and the I'm not a winter person but Minnesota Minnehaha Falls over there is also very beautiful in cities can be beautiful as well with Chicago being the most beautiful city in America though I'm kind of biased coming from there new york new is impressive it's not pretty so the upstate New York however it's very nice but New York City it'll never as a Chicago and it it'll never get me though I know it gets a lot of people so here we are here on the Land of Israel network on the Land of Israel comm speaking about the beauty of America and that's important most of our listeners are there in American you can be very proud of the country that you live in and I recommend seeing all of it I still recommend living over here in the State of Israel in the Land of Israel among the people of Israel greatest people in the world greatest and in the world Raina's Torah so see all of America join us over here in Israel that's my message it's been a pleasure being with you here on inside Israel today on the Land of Israel Network I'm the Land of Israel calm Shalom from Jerusalem