when will our government learn tolerance of all mankind. Its as if they are not sure of their own beliefs and don't want to allow anyone else's customs in, just in case they will be persuaded to do that same. How sad is that!

USA is christian country which not welcoming resist people like you

No -- a Christmas tree is a distinctly Christian tradition which has no place in the Knesset. This is just a guess; correct me if I am wrong: England does have an official state religion, does it not? The Anglican Church. I know that there are Christmas trees in Parliament; and in Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, and probably a few other official residences of the royal family as well. Any menorahs to be found? Didn't think so. Well, Israel does have an official state religion: Judaism. Surprise, surprise! If England (and other Christian countries) do not have to have a menorah in official buildings and residences at Chanukah, then why on earth should anyone expect Israel to have a Christmas tree? Especially given the torment that Jews have suffered over millennia at the hands of Christians. No enjoyment over that, Bertie -- at least not for me and most Jews I know. I suppose you are the exception that proves the rule.

I do not wish to hear any more the mantra, "a country for all its citizens". Also consider no Hanukkah lights in the White House, or none in Public places in London, NY and Paris etc. The world is a two way street, do not forget this.

The problem is what a Christmas Tree represents. It would also take a small mind not to understand this.

For Jews Christmas has always been a problematic time. Even today we're blamed for the death of J.C. Our religion has other symbols which are displayed on other times and are equally or more peaceful than a Christmas tree. You can have all the Christmas trees you want in Poland, as we do in sunny Mexico. Not in Israel.

For starters, Hanukah is a relatively minor Jewish festival, as it's not prescribed in the Torah and thus its observance is much, much lighter (no pun intended). In the USA you've blown this festival out of proportion, because of its proximity to Christmas with which it has nothing to do! It's much more serious to host a Passover Seder, which is one of the most important festivals, in the White House. That's why you guys are being assimilated.

In Odessa between 1888 and 1908, when she emigrated from there. She survived at least a dozen of them, if not more. For the remainder of her life, Christmas trees were a symbol of the Jew Killers who murdered her childhood friends and neighbors. How many are there still like my grandmother? Enough to prevent a Christmas tree from being put up in the Knesset lobby, I hope.

symbols should be banned. As a Christian nation why cater to the 2%.

The past two weeks, anywhere I go from Tel Aviv to Nazareth Ilit I see lots of Christmas trees and Christmas ornaments. I even saw in kosher restaurants and hotels. It's very nice

To all of you that are so anti Christian- the are couple of things that come to mind: That Israel owes its existence to the Christian countries that voted FOR the establishment of Israel, and 2 EVERY Danish protestant church has a menorah to commemorate that the Christian Church is based on Jewish/ Hebrew roots.

from ALL public places !

Alexander, in every posts you write you always have to reaffirm your power over minorities in Israel. You even used the word "masters" lately. You mean like Germans wanted to be masters of Germany? Do you feel threaten and persecutated?

1. Thank you for telling us about the menorah in Danish Protestant churches. Nice to know. (Not the Catholic churches?) 2. You are wrong when you think that Israel owes it existence to ANY country. The vote for partition was only a vote. The Jews then had to fight tooth and nail for it, with little, if any help from other countries. They brought Israel into existence, not a vote. When Israel was accepted into the UN, it was already a country.

Peaceful symbol , how many pogroms in Poland broke out on Xmas . ? Ever hear of the Crusades ,

After all, I live as a free human being in my ancestral Jewish homeland in which we Jews reign supreme. We are equal as human beings - always, but I am the master in the land of Israel - non-Jews will never be the masters of Israel only guests and foreigners - on the exact same premises, that Jews and other minorities are guests and foreigners in European nation states. What has that to do with racist genocidal ideologies and radical nationalism and imperialism espoused by the WW2 Germans? Mastery as in national independence and sovereignty - mastery over one's own destiny and once existence as an individual and as a nation - not masters over others - that's your speciality in Europe - particularly in Germany. Germans are certainly masters in Germany - the land belongs to them, but the Germans are no masters of anyone else but themselves.

the world thinks of Israel as the Zionist Apartheid state.

and not the other way around. There is no reciprocity here. Judaism does not owe anything to either one of the other two monotheistic cults.

trees and decorating them is an abomination to the Lord. It is something the pagans do. At least the Knesset is pagan-holiday-cut tree with decorations-free.

From the beginning, the US has kept (or is trying to keep) a separation between Church and State. Israel is not. You may argue that it should, but keep in mind that the basis for the founding of these two countries are very different (except for the fact that they each had to throw off the yoke of the British).

even in the shopping malls, and in shop windows. No one is disturbed by them in Haifa apart from a tiny group of people who are not secure enough in their own beliefs. Are we Saudi Arabia that we fear someone else's decorations and festivities? I love this time of year with all the lights and decorations, very nice and pleasant.

US is tolerant, Israel is not.

To allow religion to control our country is madness.

If we did that it would make us like Germany in the time of Hitler who wanted a so called pure nation. Israel is comprised of peoples from all over the world with many different religions. we go backwards when we are intolerant of others and it does not make for peace.

Why the constant need of reafirming your mastery over minorities? Why do you feel threaten by some tree? I thought that when a belief is strong enough nothing can threat it.

For many Eastern Europeans or "Orthodox" Christians, raised in the former USSR, the yule tree is more symbolic of a pagan celebration of the rebirth of the sun ushering in a new year than a religious holiday celebrating the birth of the man who is arguably the world's best known (and misunderstood) Jewish prophet.

The prohibition was not for all Christmas decorations but for Christmas decorations in Israeli government institutions. There still are arguments in the US, through courts, whether religious symbols should be banned from government properties. Separation of Church and State means separation. Yet the US was not founded on the basis of one religion. If you say yes because of the Pilgrims, then I refer you to William Penn.

There are clear prohibitions involved in Jews imitating customs derived from pre-Christian Nordic heathens, but in previous years the Jerusalem municipality has gotten around this by giving free evergreen trees to Jerusalem Christians who can then do whatever they choose with the 'neutral' trees. In previous years the municipality of Jerusalem has placed a 'seasonal tree' in an Arab area near a gate to the Old City. Don't forget the American Puritans banned Christmas merriment in Boston as a heatenish cutom!

If Hanna Swaid is an MK for the Israeli Communist Party, don't communists oppose all religion? Something doesn't add up.