The Israel Institute Issue 2

Educating about Israel’s history, geography, culture and people Vol.4 | Issue 2

Moments in History

Ben-Gurion Forms First Elected Government March 8, 1949 - 75 Years Ago

David Ben-Gurion’s Knesset-leading Mapai party joins the United Religious Front, the Progressive Party, the Sephardi and Mizrahi Communities, and the Arab-led Democratic List of Nazareth to form a government after Israel’s first parliamentary election Jan. 25, in which nearly 87% of eligible voters are estimated to have participated. As he did for the provisional government Israel formed after declaring independence May 14, 1948, Ben-Gurion serves as the prime minister. Israel’s Declaration of Independence called for elections by Oct. 1, 1948, but the War of Independence forced a postponement several times.

The provisional government had established rules and guidelines for free and fair democratic elections and named Israel’s legislative body the Knesset (the Assembly). The 120-seat size of the Knesset is inspired by the ancient Knesset HaGadola, an assembly of 120 Jewish scribes and sages in the first two centuries of the Common Era. Mapai, the forerunner of Israel’s Labor Party, holds 46 seats in the first Knesset and forms a coalition with several smaller parties

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What do you think the main idea of the cartoonist is? Do you agree or disagree with the cartoonist’s point of view ?

Recommended Reading

Ethics of Our Fighters: A Jewish View on War and Morality

By: Shlomo M. Brody

“Thisisafascinatingbookon numerous topics, including military history, ethics, halacha, and more. Brody accomplished his goal by writing a work that gives the reader a complete perspective on Jewish military ethics. War is hell and quite bloody. But Brody has shown that for the IDF, it too can be a Kiddush HaShem. May God bless all of the soldiers of the IDF success and that they return safely.”

BenRothke,TimesofIsrael

Book Review

What does it mean to fight an ethical war? This has become an essential question as Israel defends itself on the battlefield and in the court of public opinion. After centuries of military powerlessness, Jews in the 20th century began to ask themselves fundamental questions of military ethics. Wars – including current conflicts in Israel – are inherently brutal. How, then, should Jews respond to the great Arab revolt? What does Judaism say about the bombing of Dresden, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, or how to push the British out of the land of Israel? Is “land for peace” a moral option? What about preemptive attacks in 1967 or after 9/11? Can we fight terrorists in urban settings while protecting our soldiers, avoiding non-combatants, and preserving our public image? Ethics of Our Fighters tells the story of these political dilemmas and moral debates. It draws from the pivotal historical moments of the last one hundred years to weave together the most important ideas of contemporary ethicists with the insights of the greatest rabbinic scholars.This book systemically presents, for the first time, a holistic Jewish perspective on military ethics. Jews and non-Jews alike, from the halls of Congress and West Point to batei midrash and IDF bases, can draw from Jewish wisdom on these life-and-death matters. This worldview that is at once distinctly Jewish and more broadly insightful can help all civilized nations fight wisely and act nobly.

Israel at

Lower rating increases borrowing costs for banks, which in turn will likely be passed on to consumers and lead to higher lending rates

Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the deposit ratings of Israel’s five largest banks, a move that could push up borrowing costs for consumers and businesses. The US credit ratings agency cut the long- and short-term deposit ratings of Bank Leumi Le-Israel, Bank Hapoalim, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, Israel Discount Bank and First International Bank of Israel by one notch to A3 from A2.

The agency said its decision comes on the heels of “potential further weakening of the sovereign’s capacity to provide support” amid the ongoing war with the Hamas terror group. That decision saw Moody’s cut Israel’s sovereign credit rating to A2 from A1, the first ever downgrade, and attached a negative outlook as the “ongoing military conflict with Hamas, its aftermath and wider consequences materially raise political risk for Israel, as well as weaken its executive and legislative institutions and its fiscal strength, for the foreseeable future.” The ratings agency also lowered the debt outlook on the five Israeli banks to negative, citing the “potential for a significantly more negative impact on the economy in the event of an escalation in the ongoing conflict, which could lead to the banks’ standalone fundamentals being impacted more severely than is currently assumed.”

“The decision to lower the ratings of the banks is not much of a surprise as the downgrading of Israel’s government debt has an impact on the risk perception of the banks, as they rely on the economy,” Liran Lublin, head of trading at IBI investment house, told The Times of Israel. “A lower rating means that the financing sources of the banks become more costly which they would then pass along to consumers and that will likely make it more expensive for borrowers or customers to get loans.”

In general, commercial banks raise capital from two main sources: deposits from the public and issuing bonds on the capital market. The banks charge a lending or interest rate to consumers who take out mortgages and other household and corporate loans and they pay interest on deposits by the public depending on their size and duration. A lower credit rating translates into higher borrowing costs for the banks when issuing or rais-

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TEL AVIV

Since October 7th, hundreds of thousands of citizens, including students, have answered the call for military duty, setting aside all personal responsibilities to protect civilians from the attacks of Hamas. According to new data concerning the initial months of the war, 6,657 students from TAU (Tel Aviv University) were called up for reserve duty, and among them, 2,228 were women (34%).

As of January 24th, after most reservists have been discharged, 2,545 students from Tel Aviv University are still serving in the military reserve duty, with 755 of them being women (29%).

Prof. Neta Ziv, Vice President for Equity, Diversity and Community commended the reservists on campus: “Indeed, the significant contribution of women is evident in all areas of life: military, public, and of course, civilian. Tel Aviv University recognizes and appreciates the contribution of reservists, and does everything to assist all its students who serve in the reserves to successfully integrate their service with the challenging academic year we are in the midst of.”

Shir Shachar, 28, an MA student in the Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University: “I was recruited into the reserves immediately after the outbreak of the war and served as a researcher in the Ground Forces. Our team consisted of both men and women, and the feeling was very touching; each and every one of us contributed immensely to the joint war effort! The commitment, dedication and determination of every reservist in their role, whether in the field or behind the scenes, have a significant impact on success in combat—and only through joint work and commitment from everyone can we win”.

Carmel Cohen, a third-year student in the Department of Theatre Arts: “The moment they called me up for reserve duty, I didn’t think twice and immediately reported to Home Front Command and served there for about three months. Every day we assisted civilians affected by the war, and the feeling was incredible; everyone does everything for the sake of the IDF and the country. Recently, I returned to my studies, and I want to fulfill my dream of becoming an actress and making people smile. And of course, the moment they call me again, I’ll report immediately.”

Tel Aviv University is the largest and most diverse university

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After credit downgrade, Moody’s lowers deposit ratings of Israel’s five largest banks

Strength in Diversity: 1 Out of Every 3 Reservists on Campus is a Woman

a Glance...

OP-ED

BY MICHAEL OREN

The US charge of ‘indiscriminate bombing’ is over the top. Washington should know that the Gaza civilian death toll is relatively low – its accusations endanger Israel’s security.

Every civilian death is a tragedy. Another country, struck by the type and immensity of the atrocities committed against Israel, would likely have responded with vastly greater force and inflicted far greater numbers of civilian casualties. But Israel is the Jewish State, not only in the way we conduct our daily lives but in the moral manner in which we defend ourselves. Even when the enemy is using its own population as a human shield, Israel must do its utmost to reduce the damage to civilians. This is not only a strategic interest for Israel – civilian casualties help substantiate the charges of war crimes and genocide that could result in boycotts and sanctions – but also a moral imperative.

For that reason, the IDF takes unprecedented measures to warn civilians of impending actions and to evacuate them from combat zones. It’s why, despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Israel has maintained the lowest combatant-to-civilian casualty rate in modern warfare – as Hamas’s own statistics show.

How, then, can the Biden administration accuse Israel of “indiscriminately bombing” Gaza, of reacting “over the top” to the events of October 7th, and of dehumanizing the Palestinians? The oft-leveled charge that “too many Palestinians have been killed” implies that a smaller number would have been acceptable to the White House. The history of our previous rounds of fighting with Hamas, each of which produced similar claims of “too many Palestinians killed,” suggests that no such number exists. President Biden and his staff continue to uphold Israel’s right to self-defense, to supply us with vital forms of ammunition, and to resist mounting calls for a permanent ceasefire. Yet, the accusations they level at Israel do far more than insult our soldiers. They fundamentally endanger our security. By asserting that Israel is violating international humanitarian law, our American ally is bolstering those who accuse us of committing war crimes and perpetrating genocide. The next time Israel faces these charges in an international court, statements by the president, the secretary of state and other administration officials will be adduced as exhibit A for the prosecution.

That evidence, moreover, would be demonstrably false. Israel’s efforts to reduce civilian casualties, often at the expense of our own soldiers’ safety, are well documented. “Despite the unique challenges Israel faces in its war against

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ISRAEL'S CHIEF RABBIS: JEWISH SELF- DEFENSE

Born in 1880, Rav Yaakov Moshe Toledano studied in his father’s yeshiva in Tiberias. He joined the city council, headed the local Mizrachi branch, and corresponded with Theodor Herzl and Nachum Sokolov. He moved to Pekiin for four years, strengthening Jewish life and founding a school. During World War I, the Ottomans exiled the Toledanos among 800 Jewish Galileans who held French citizenship. Taking refuge in Corsica, Rabbi Toledano helped establish local Jewish institutions before returning to Israel.

Rav Toledano joined the Chief Rabbinical Council of Tangiers in 1926, and there he established a Rabbinical Court and a yeshiva. In 1928 he became head of the Rabbinical Court in Cairo, then Deputy Chief Rabbi of Cairo, and then Chief Rabbi in Alexandria. From 1942 to 1958, Rav Toledano served as Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv-Yafo; then he became Minister of Religion. He was awarded the Rav Kook Prize in 1956-1957. Today, the Religious Council of Tel Aviv awards “The Rabbi Toledano Prize” for outstanding Torah literature, in his name.

Rav Toledano was asked whether the mitzvah of settling Israel includes fighting for the land, and whether Jews may undergo weapons training and learn self-defense. He replied in responsum #57 of his Yam haGadol collection: Many of our great Rabbis of previous generations and our own generation erred and misled our nation, the simple masses, into thinking that as long as we are in this national exile, we may not raise our head, but we are commanded to bend ourselves to every tyrant...

I say without fear, with their honor’s forgiveness, they have caused the loss of many lives and many wish communities, which often could have saved themselves from murder and destruction, had their leaders and the rabbis of the generation ruled that they must defend their lives against those who rise against them, as in, “When one comes to kill you, rise early to kill him. (Berachot 62b)” They did not do thus; rather, they justified the Divine verdict and gave themselves like sheep led to the slaughter. And all of this was caused by the aforementioned erroneous idea and Diaspora habit of thinking of themselves like a silent stone, a dirt-crawler, nothing and null, without understanding that all such things recorded in Torah, Prophets and the Tal mud, like “And your enemies will rule over you”... are only curses and temporary punishments, not duties and decrees...

This is what our Sages said, “Rabbi Yosi bar Chanina said: What are the three oaths mentioned in

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Rabbi Yaakov M. Toledano

Moment in History - Continued from page 1

to keep its pro-Soviet left-wing rival, Mapam (19 seats), and its primary right-wing rival, Herut (14 seats), in the opposition. Besides Ben-Gurion, the first Cabinet includes two future prime ministers: Moshe Sharett and Golda Meir.

Before Ben-Gurion officially forms a government, the first Knesset meets a few times, and it elects Chaim Weizmann as Israel’s first president Feb. 16.

The Blogs - Continued from page 3

Hamas,” the internationally recognized urban warfare expert John Spencer recently wrote in Newsweek, “it has implemented more measures to prevent civilian casualties than any other military in history.” Such unprecedented steps include the use of precision and small-diameter bombs, warning civilian populations through dropped leaflets, text messages, phone calls and even military maps indicating intended combat zones, and designated four-hour pauses on multiple days for civilian evacuations. Though Hamas obstructs and sometimes even shoots civilians fleeing the fighting, countless civilian lives have been saved by Israel’s restraint.

Far from being indiscriminate, each air strike in Gaza must be approved by IDF intelligence and legal officers to assure the minimal impact on civilians. Mistakes tragically happen, especially in densely built-up environments where terrorists in civilian clothes routinely mix with the local inhabitants. Such incidents are scrupulously investigated and the appropriate lessons drawn. The administration’s charges not only ignore these extraordinary efforts, they fly in the face of their results. Though Hamas is well-known to grossly inflate its casualty figures, even that of the 28,000 civilian deaths cited by the “Gaza Health Ministry” actually proves Israel’s case. The 28,000 includes the nearly 12,000 terrorists killed by the IDF. Deducting that number as well as the civilian casualties caused by the thirty percent of Hamas rockets that fall short within the Gaza Strip, and the total will be roughly 13,000 civilian fatalities. That is a ratio of nearly one combatant death for every civilian. According to The New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the Watson Institute of Brown University, in America’s wars in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, the ratio was four civilians killed for every combatant. The record for NATO’s 1999 intervention in Serbia was similarly four-to-one. Apart from the unprecedented challenges confronting Israeli forces in Gaza, their success in reducing civilian casualties is also unmatched.

That success, however, is nothing to be celebrated. On the contrary. Israel’s goal for its terrorist-to-civilian fatality ratio should always be one-to-zero. Outrage at the civilian casualties, meanwhile, must be directed at those who cynically and barbarously engineer them. Hamas’s goal is to delegitimize Israel and brand us as war criminals. That is precisely the objective served by accusations of “over

the top” reactions, indiscriminate bombing, and dehumanization.

Rav Yaakov Moshe Toledano - Continued from page 3

Song of Songs? One that Israel may not ascend as a wall, one that Hashem made Israel swear not to rebel against the nations, and one that Hashem made the nations swear not to enslave them too much.” The oath was only not to rebel, but not to be lowly and degraded before the nations...

Moshe Rabbeinu, when he saw an Egyptian beating his Jewish brother for nothing, killed him – for he knew that this was not included in the subjugation... There is a mitzvah and duty for all leaders of Israel to establish such studies in the schools of Torah and yeshivot, a set hour each day, so that the students and youths will be ready for battle for any trouble, that should not happen...

Reprinted with permission from Torat Chayim, ECDP, Rabbi M. Torczyner

Lower rating - Continued from page 2

ing debt because investors view them as riskier bets, which means that their cost of money or capital becomes more expensive. As such, higher borrowing costs for downgraded banks can influence lending rates.

Meanwhile, Moody’s expressed that it “continues to assume a very high probability of government support for the five large Israeli banking groups that it rates given their systemic importance and the Israeli government’s long-standing practice of supporting such systemically important banks, in case of need.”

However, the ratings agency said it expects the banks’ loan quality to suffer from the war impact because of their “relatively high, albeit varying, exposure to the construction and real estate sectors.” Many building sites have been shuttered and real estate projects are being delayed following Hamas’s devastating October 7 attack and the subsequent war.

Palestinian workers, upon which the construction industry relies, disappeared overnight, as Israel enacted an immediate ban on workers from Gaza and restricted access to most of those from the West Bank.

Diversity - Continued from page 2

in Israel with nearly 30,000 students. In a recognition of our students’ devotion to their national and military responsibilities, TAU has been implementing many variations of assistance to assure their students’ well-being, aiming to help students restore their academic, social and financial status. In addition to postponing the academic year to ease the pressure on reservist students, TAU has also made sure that all students who have served in the reserves are entitled to a scholarship ranging from 2,000 to 9,000 shekels, depending on their educational and natural needs.

Rabbi Joseph Beyda Head of School

Ms. Esther Hidary Associate Principal

Rabbi Yigal Sklarin Associate Principal

Dr. Michael Atlas Associate Principal