Roundup

Ariga has some interesting analysis of potential Olmert coalitions, and also reminds us of exactly who Rafi Eitan is:

longstanding friendship between Olmert and Pensioner Party leader Rafi Eitan, the Palmahnik turned spy who captured Adolf Eichmann and ran Jonathan Pollard, spending the last 20 years making millions as an 'international businessman,' with close ties to the Cuban government.

Oh yeah... that should be interesting, particularly the next time a U.S. envoy meets with the government. Both Ariga and the Jerusalem Post, incidentally, favor the likelihood of a Shas and UTJ coalition with Kadima, not Beteinu. This sounds contradictory given Shas' rhetoric until you look at its track record, which is basically dictated by getting money for its programs. Observe:

Last week, Yosef said this:

"whoever votes Kadima [forward in English] goes backwards to hell"

Yesterday, he said this:

"I won't let our representatives enter the government if the child allowances aren't returned."

Consistency does not seem to be the Rav's strong suit.

In other Shas news, their token Ethiopian is going to the Knesset. Who'd have thunk? Probably not Shas, for one. Oh, and Shlomo Benizri (and his rabbi patron) was indicted for fraud and bribes. But never mind that; let's all celebrate Shas' love for black folks! (As long as they're Jewish.) Rabbi Bayana will be the second Ethiopian MK in Israel's history (the last one, Avraham Neguise, elected with Peretz's Am Echad party, only served one term).

And, in an interesting twist, though there were six other Ethiopian Jews running for Knesset, only Bayana made it in.

Speaking of Beta Israel- things still aren't going too well with them, either outside or inside Israel. Not only aren't they being integrated; they're actually becoming a sore spot with the "veteran" Ethiopians!

Israel's veteran community of Ethiopian Jews, the bulk of whom came to Israel in the airlifts of 1984-85 and 1991, are still struggling to find their way in Israeli society. Battling poverty, crime among the younger generation and unemployment, some are wary of scarce resources going to the Falash Mura community instead of their own continuing absorption. Others welcome the Falash Mura as extended members of their own families and see political and social strength in the growing numbers of Ethiopians in Israel.

Currently some 100,000 Ethiopians live in Israel. The government's plan is to expedite the immigration of 13,000 to 20,000 Falash Mura over the next two years. Some of the leaders of the veteran community had been outspoken against bringing additional Falash Mura to Israel but once the plan was approved by the government, the criticism on a public level has been largely muted.

...stark divisions between the communities when it came to religious practice. The veterans, for example, prefer to pray in the traditional Ethiopian language of prayer called Ge'ez while the Falash Mura pray in Hebrew. The Falash Mura will also often only eat food deemed kosher by the Chief Rabbinate while the veteran Ethiopians follow kashrut standards set by their elders.

The two communities, Hadane said, live fairly separate lives in Israel.

...Adding to the sense of alienation are rumors circulating in the veteran Ethiopian community that some Falash Mura return to Christianity once they are in Israel, even attending church services. Suspicions have been heightened by rumors that Christian missionaries who falsely converted to Judaism are among those immigrating.

..."We don�t feel like we are part of this society," he said. "If the first and second immigration waves did not work, why should the third and fourth ones work?"

I wonder how the people who think all Jews should move to Israel are ever given pause by stories like this which clearly expose Israel's failure to live up to the pie-in-the-sky dreams its emissaries in the Foreign Ministry sell to any poor Jews who will listen. Someone needs to stop and carefully consider exactly what the point of bringing more people to Israel IS. If it's just to have more Jews crammed in, fine. If it's to actually create a minimally just, cohesive and functioning society, they need to start working on that, and BEFORE the next batch o' settlement fodder arrives.

Lastly, there's this story from the Post on the ongoing Wall construction, and various settler reactions to it (they aren't all what you'd think).