Opinion
A good year for Israel
Yair Lapid
Published: 27.08.10, 15:32
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31 Talkbacks for this article
1. Yair is the Pope of gossip and smearing
Nick ,   Tel Aviv Israel   (08.27.10)
I know you write lovely children's books, and are fairly clever with your wisacre witticisms. But look at yourself and your legacy. You have been a major force in creating the very things you pretend to criticize at the end of your well-written, grammatically correct comment. Many of us truly hope and pray that you make Tshuvah and remember why the International powers set aside all the land from the Jordan to the Mediterranean so that we could re-establish the Jewish Nation in our ancient homeland. Shabbat Shalom
2. may G-d bless Israel
reuben   (08.27.10)
Shana tova le kol am israel
3. wow
Golan ,   Modiin   (08.27.10)
I'll disagree on some points, I see some of the "good" as bad, and some of the "bad" as good. But overall what a nice uplifting and poignant statement. There is a national discourse problem. And it has to do with bumpersticker mentality and half-thought-out positions (most notably in the Schalit camp and its well intentioned supporters.)
4. Jews do well at expense of native Arabs
Steve Benassi ,   Silver Bay, MN USA   (08.27.10)
..and with a lot of help, money, weapons, and special treatment from Uncle Sam. But Israel's dream is America's nightmare, we got in return 9/11, two wars, another trillion in debt, and global terror.
5. When Yair Lapid or any leftist speak well
Israeli 2   (08.27.10)
of his own country especially when a conservative is in power, I am assured that they are correct. Israel is and will always be the GREATEST! I like Upbeats too.
6. A good year indeed !
Charles ,   Petach Tikva   (08.27.10)
I would like to add three negative points .1 ] The dead toll on our roads , much to high . 2 ] the charidim who still don't contribute to our country , but want to impose their lifestyle on us , and 3 ] the light railway to Tel Aviv ......
7. a good year 'but'
moron ,   galut   (08.27.10)
lapid doesn't like talkbacks--abolish political correctness,the fraiud of global warming,the fictions of 'palestine',gay 'rights',and women's lib, the meddlingand legislating by israel's judges, and the foolish happy talk from the left about obama bringing 'peace' and the daily attacks in israel's press on the idf,the jewish religion and any politicaian who is not leftist--then you will have fewer talkbacks and more serious civil discourse and as a result more tikkun ulam,
8.  Mr. Yair Lapid ,look at "Israel" without Make Up!
Salma ,   Palestine   (08.27.10)
"Israel" can't Live without Make Up ! As far as makeup goes, "Israel" can't look fine . Don't try to Beautify "Israel 's" Ugly Face or to to dress up the unpleasant truth for you!
9. Hey Salma!
Dan ,   Dallas, Texas   (08.27.10)
How do you know that you aren't just demonizing Israel. Everything he said is 100% true, and Israel without it's make up is just fine.
10. JESUSALEN
JESUSALEN ,   JESUSALEN   (08.28.10)
why do we sit around and break each others hearts tonight why do we dance around the issues till the morning light when we sit and talk and tear each others lives apart you were the one to tell me go but you were the one for me and now you are going through the door when you take that step I love you more and more we need to laugh and sing and cry and warm each others hearts tonight observing the fun of eveything and loving all of God you are tearing us you are tearing us you are breaking us you are breaking us you are killing us you are killing us you are saving us you are saving us forever alive(I lie) forever alive(I lie) forever forever never and ever again.
11. #4 you have that backward
Julie ,   Israel   (08.28.10)
Arabs do well at the expense of Jews and Israel. They take all and give nothing. case in point - Zoabi and Tibi
12. To #10 Jususalen
Gershon Reed ,   Be'er Sheva, Israel   (08.28.10)
Dude, your talkback is one looooong run-on-sentence. Try some punctuation for clairity.
13. More:
Joe ,   USA   (08.28.10)
Yair forgot to mention that this year National Geographic Magazine rated Tel Aviv as one of the top 10 beach cities in the world, and Forbes Magazine rated Israelis as one of the "happiest" people on Earth. I just spent the summer in Israel on vacation, and except for the horrible drivers, Israel is THE best place in the world for fun. If you want to relax, go someplace else. But if you want an interesting and fun time. THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE ISRAEL!
14. 4#, Minnesota nutcase get off the Indians' lands
Judah ,   Golan Heights,ISRAEL   (08.28.10)
And by yourself a bible so that you can read that the Jews are the "natives" of Israel.
15. @#4:
Bat Zion ,   Centre, Israel   (08.28.10)
1. There are no "native Arabs" in Israel. Arabs are immigrants from the peninsula of Arabia, and are not the native population here. If you say that, you can also say that we do well at the expense of the Sudan work immigrants that flood our country. 2. please describe the "help" that enabled Israeli high-tech and medicine industry, or the "help" that won prof. Ada Yonat win a Nobel Prize this year. 3. If we are given money (which can only be used to buy weapons from the USA), weapons (for which we pay with the money we receive) and special treatment (forcing us to freeze settelments) - what does Uncle Sam expect from us in return? 4. Wikipedia states the support of Israel as only one of the reasons to 9/11: the other two are: a. Muslim fanatics around the world, opposing American involvement in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries and exploiting their oil resources while local populations live in poverty. b. Invasion of Western culture into the Muslim world. My question is, would general Arab anger and hatred towards the West be negligent if it wasn't for their support in Israel, given the two other reasons? Didn't Obama say "it's the economy, stupid"? 5. Wars, debt: see 4. 6. Global terror has a political target: Islamic ruling over the West. It includes many aspects, like mass immigration into USA and Europe, building Mosques in strategic points and using them as front bases for ruling the Shariaa worldwide. Israel, with it's brave stand against this invasion, diminishes the effect rather than strengthen it - we are the Front post in defiance, and we do much to deter it. If it wasn't for Israel, much security procedure wouldn't be there to stop the terrorists, and Europe would have been taken by surprise with it's pants down.
16. Bat Zion @ 15 , you forgot
Charles ,   Petach Tikva   (08.28.10)
That if we "receive" some help from the USA , it's also because they know that we are the ONLY sure allies in this whole region . And giving us some money [ we need to spend in the USA ] can be seen as an insurance by them . Those arabs who live here are the descendants of those who came here when Jews in the 1880's began to build this country , began with agriculture and so , and needed workforce . They came from all the countries surrounding then called Palestine , but also from Yemen and Sudan .
17. "If you remove them from the statistics"
kelly ,   toronto   (08.28.10)
"If you remove them from the statistics, we are at a much higher spot, alongside Western Europe’s most developed states." Sure. But not if you also let Western Europe remove poor people from their statistics too! Hate to break it to you, but poor people do count when you describe/evaluate your country!
18. effect of non workers on Israel per capita
bob ,   New Zealand   (08.28.10)
did a quick check at www.state.gov to see how big an effect that non-working Haredi and Arab population you mentioned might have on Israel per capita income performance Israel and NZ have the same per capita income of $US30,000. The NZ workforce as a percentage of the total population, is 15% larger than Israel's. If you do a correction to account for those extra non-workers in Israel compared to NZ you would boost Israels ''true haredi arab non-worker corrected'' per capita figure by 15% This would put Israel about half way between NZ and Australia in terms of ''haredi / arab corrected'' per capita income. That is to say about $34,500 Thats about the same as Sweden. Germany by comparison has a per capita income about $44,500 All research done in a hurry so could be complete bollocks but thought it might be of interest anyway Israel- population 7. 23 million about 40% of population work Economic growth 4% p.a 7% of GDP spent on defence Better healthcare system than USA New Zealand -population 4.3 million about 46% of population work Economic growth stalled by recession 1% of GDP spent on defence Better healthcare system than USA Lower tax burden than USA or Israel No military ties with USA
19. MONEY TO IMPROVE GOVT?
roxanne ,   haifa, israel   (08.28.10)
Please can I get the link to that story? That is really good news!!!
20. JESUSALEN
JESUSALEN ,   JESUSALEN   (08.28.10)
israel is of hebrew origing,possibly God perseveres,contends,biblical when yaakov son of isaac God changed his name to israel as a token of blessing his 12 sons became the ancestors of the israelite nation.Yisrael means quite literally he has striven with God or he has been saved by God ,the origin came from bereshit where yaakov struggles with a man all night long until he is blessed,the man ask yaakov name then tells him that his name is no longer yaakov but israel because he has striven with God and with man therefore we can definitively say that the word israel based on the bible means he has striven with God,yaakov now israel became the father of the nation of israel through his twelve sons which is why you may hear the phrase children of israel referring to the nation itself. there is no town as biblical as J"ALEN but it was neither built nor named by hebrews,remnants of a canaanite town called salem date back to the early bronze age,it was a jebusite city until david overtook it by the time the hebrews had a say in it the name J"ALEN had been long established,most likely the original name that sounded something like foundation of shalem,the reason why the hebrew did not rename the city when they had the chance may be because its name was easily transliterated into something very striking in hebrew,without a doubt the second and dominant part of the name reminded then and now of the word shalom peace,the root of this word denotes completeness,wholeness and soundness,the first part of the name J"ALEN may likely have reminded a hebrew audience of the verb yara throw,cast or shoot this verb is used when arrows are shot,stones are thrown or stacked and even when lots are cast other derivations of this same verb is yoreh early rain and moreh which means both early rain and teacher,basically the verb and its nouns have to do with many little impulses that cause a larger and unified event or serve to obtain a larger and unified objective,most striking however is the derivation tora which is the word torah or law,J"ALEN was to be the radiating heart of a world of completeness and wholeness,it seems that history supplied it with a most suiting name Jesus which means Yah will save,zion was originally a jesubite stronghold located in or near J"ALEN or is equal to J"ALEN,king david captures this stronhold and it is renamed city of david,david sets up the tabernacle there and solomon retrieves it from there to place the ark and utensils in the temple,isaiah mentions that YHWH dwells on mount zion and later writers relate the name zion to the eternal J"ALEN and heaven because zion was originally not israeli the name zion comes probably from a laguage other than hebrew an arabic root s-w-n to protect,defend which may give zion the meaning of fortress,spelled the way it is however the name zion is identical to the word sayon meaning a place dryness occurs in tehilim 105:41,perhaps the notion of a dry place taps into the creation account and specifically the third day or in the noahic flood account,a dry place is not a place where people die of thirst but rather a place where the sea is no more after it has given all her treasures revelation 21 on the biblical canvass the name zion means dry place.
21. 12 - good job there...
mike ,   israel (formerly usa   (08.28.10)
just ignore him. he won't go away, but the last thing he needs is attention.
22. Slick John......
Harry ,   Jerusalem   (08.28.10)
Hi Yair! So happy you think you had a good year. You are a sly one, smooth talker, and then the kill. "If you remove them from the statistics". Boy, wouldn't you like that to happen soon. Remove them. I can't speak about the arabs, but get use to it, oh blind fool. TORAH IS HERE TO STAY. Your good year, any year is good, because of TORAH. OUR existence is because of TORAH. Happy New Year. Still worried about your son.
23. god bless israel
gays4israel ,   toronto   (08.28.10)
24. to 17
(08.29.10)
i like your post it is logic but even if it is not logic it is the opposit looking like ...here the star of israil some say it is two triangles over each other one say it is 6 headed star but i see it --6 khawazeek around israil - sorry as iam an araby i do not know the english meaning of -khazook
25. 22 , harry , you still live in the middle ages
Charles ,   Petach Tikva   (08.29.10)
and think that Israel exists thanks to the torah . The torah is only our History book , nothing else . And yes , had'nt we this charidi burden , we would be MUCH better off .
26. to 22
(08.29.10)
god say .. if you carry your book in your right hand you will be blessed but if it is in your left hand you will be in hell ... i think it is the real existence to be right
27. Samonella #8
Mongo ,   Paris   (08.29.10)
Arafat was probably the ugliest looking terrorist in recent human history. Examine your premises first before condeming others.
28. We also have a new Fields Medal winner
not less then Nobel   (08.30.10)
29. Right but two important negative developments missed
Shalom Freedman ,   Jerusalem Israel   (08.30.10)
There were other positive developments including the first Israeli to win a Fields prize. But two negative elements of possible major weight were not mentioned. One is the alienation of Turkey and its becoming in effect an enemy. The second is the going hot of the reactor at Bushehr.
30. The Beach
Chaim ,   Jerusalem   (08.30.10)
Good to hear the news. BUT- Israel must rank high in countries that love to trash their environment. Been all over the world,and ours is a garbage dump. Palmachim beach? Walk up the north side and witness the sand entirely covered with garbage. Walk the forrests nearby and throughout our beautiful country and see the result of native's litter on the ground -near garbage cans! The beautiful cliffs of Netanya -utterly strewn with garbage. It goes on and on.
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