May 3, 2010- Proximity Talks To Begin, Tel Aviv Mayor Speaks Out Against Funding Charedi Education

"Proximity Talks" begin tomorrow between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Expectations are very low that anything can be accomplished. The Palestinians have assigned a complete team of experts to participate in the negotiations, while Prime Minster Netanyhu’s personal attorney is representing Israel, "if necessary" Netanyhu will become involved. You never know what might happen once negotiations begin, but it is very hard to believe anything serious can be accomplished.

The Mayor of Tel Aviv, Ron Huldai, made major waves yesterday when he gave a speech,calling for a civil rebellion against the continued funding of Haredi education; an education that does not teach basic secular skills. He was the first public figure to speak up after a number of studies have shown the rapid growth in the number of students in the Haredi stream of education, and the projected increase over the next decades. Those numbers have been taking place against the ever lowering number of Charedi men working. London and Kirschenbaum had an authors of one of the recent studies, together with former Shas Minister (and convicted felon) Aryeh Deri. Deri first tried to change the subject, by decrying the fact that the statistics for the Haredim are combined with numbers in the Arab sector. When he was pushed on the matter, Deri stated the problem was that the state was not creating enough jobs for Haredim, when the interview interjected that Haredim had to be trained for 21st century jobs in school, Deri basically said it would never happen and that the Haredim would not only need separate education, but separate employment outside of the mainstream. Any attempt to try to integrate them educationally, or in terms of employment (he implied) would result in civil war.

It's interesting watching Israeli TV's coverage of American news... Be it the oil leak, the terroror attack on Times Square or other related matters. For the last few days, Israeli TV analysts have been consistently saying that these events are weakening President Obama, and that he is being blamed for them. Furthermore, they have been reporting on a sexual scandal involving Obama and a campaign worker that has not been covered in the mainstream US media.