April 8, 2012-Roads Crowded on Passover, Is there a Reason For Optimism on Iran?

Happily, the major news in Israel today has been about the throngs of visitors flocking to the north to enjoy the spring weather, the full rivers, and the snow on Mt. Hermon this Passover vacation. For the first time in years the ski resort is open during this holiday season. It is estimated that 500,000 Israelis have streamed up north.

Meanwhile, there is cautious optimism in Israel over the American conditions for Iranian talks. The talks will open in Istanbul, despite the fact that the Iranians originally did not want Istanbul as a venue, but have now acquiesced. The American position is that Iran can have a nuclear program, but they cannot have a nuclear bomb. The American proposal to Iran, that was supposedly accompanied by a clear warning that time is running out, would require Teheran to give up all nuclear material that has been enriched to 20 percent. Iran would also have to destroy its underground enrichment facility. In the past few days there have been a number of public utterances that it is against Islamic law to develop nuclear weapons and that Iran would not. Clearly, the leadership of Iran is divided. However, there is a sense of optimism that those who feel the sanctions are too much for Iran to bear may be getting the upper hand.

I came aross interesting short article on the Charedization of Religtiuos Zionism called the Excessive Separation of the Sexes Stems From teh Ultra-Orthodox's Inferiority Complex