Letters
No to the deal
In my view, this horrendous “deal” with Iran constitutes incompetency, capitulation and deceit. Far beyond that, I consider this to be a crime against the security of the United States. It literately hands nuclear weapons to a rogue state intent on world destabilization and conquest. Incredibly, the Islamic Republic will have this destructive power in hand within a few short years.
I urge Congress to reject it. Furthermore, I urge that the House bring articles of impeachment. The president must be brought to trial before the Senate. Even if he is (as is likely) acquitted, all the details of this disaster will be graphically displayed before the American people and the entire world.
Jerrold Terdiman MD
Woodcliff Lake
Editorial lacks objectivity
In his editorial, “Fires of inclusion and exclusion” (July 17), Mr. Yudelson writes well while commenting on New Jersey but lacks objectivity concerning Israel. He writes: “the silence of the Israeli leadership has been stunning” concerning vandalism in Israel of churches and mosques, as if nothing has been done, nor comments from the government made against the actions of a few. He fails to include vandalism against Jewish religious sites. If one is to believe Mr. Yudelson, it was only “official outrage from the Vatican” that caused arrests to be made. Investigations have taken place after every incident but it has been very difficult to find and prove the guilt of the perpetrators.
We then find out from Mr. Yudelson that “knowledgeable insiders — such as Carmi Gillon, the former head of Israel’s General Security Services, the Shabak — have said the perpetrators were well known to the security services.” If they were well known, why no arrests? Gillon was the head of Shabak from March 1995 to February 1996. He resigned as a result of the Shamgar Commission’s findings, which were critical of his actions before the Rabin assassination. I’d like to know the names of some of the other “knowledgeable insiders” who know the perpetrators. Will their knowledge hold up in a court of law?
Mr. Gillon is well known in left-wing circles and is very anti-Netanyahu. At a left-wing rally against the government legislation in favor of defining Israel as a Jewish state in November 2014, he was quoted as saying, “The State of Israel is led by a group of pyromaniacs and headed by an egomaniac towards final destruction.”
“Politicians questioned about the lack of arrests have said: ‘It’s all politics.’” Who are these politicians? Why not name them?
Mr. Yudelson writes that the perpetrators are not “fringe loners.” It’s unfortunate that he does not pass on his information to the powers that be in Israel or name the guilty in an article in the Jewish Standard so that they can be arrested and brought to trial.
Once more he accuses the Israeli government and condemns it for not taking the attacks on religious sites seriously. It has investigated every incident. Some have proven to be accidents, not attacks. Israel is a democracy, bound by the rule of law. In order to prosecute, evidence that will hold up during a trial must be found and presented.
The way the Netanyahu government has been attacked in this editorial is quite partisan and lacks objectivity.
Howard J. Cohn
New Milford
Mr. Cohn is indeed correct: The response to the attacks on churches and mosques in Israel, like so much else there, has become a partisan issue. This contrasts with the distinctly nonpartisan response to the attacks here in New Jersey.
A particular issue is how far Israeli authorities should go in investigating those suspecting of taking part. If the attacks are attacks “on all of us,” as Prime Minister Netanyahu said after the attack on the historic church on the Sea of Galilee, shouldn’t the same investigative techniques be allowed as on other crimes against the state? The suggestion has been raised, and voted down, on clear partisan lines.
As to whether laying a problem that has erupted on his watch at the feet of the prime minister is objective or partisan — there we will have to agree to disagree.
A year ago, we editorialized that Israel’s Ministry of Religion should follow the lead of the U.S. Congress and begi n offering grants to increase security for churches and mosques. A ten thousand shekel security system would have gone a long way toward identifying the vandals who set fire to the Church of Loaves and Fishes. We repeat that suggestion.
Larry Yudelson
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