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Israel News for January 27, 2017

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Bus Tragedy
An Egged passenger bus (462) traveling from Jerusalem to Ariel yesterday veered off of Route 60 during stormy weather and fell 300 meters (1000 ft.) off a cliff into a ravine near the settlement of Eli. Two men were killed and seven injured. One of those killed was the bus driver, 37-year-old Avishai Kroani from Ariel, a husband and father of five. The other person killed was Ofir Rahmanov, a 23 year old resident of the Ramot neighborhood in Jerusalem.

United Hatzalah volunteer, Michael Chai Cohen, who arrived on scene stated: “We had to walk for 10 minutes in the rain and mud until we reached the bus. We requested helicopters to help evacuate the injured. Unfortunately, upon arrival, we found several victims who were unconscious and without a pulse. Others sustained varying degrees of injuries.”

To see photos of the crash and rescue click here.

Embassy Move
When asked about moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, President Trump told Fox News today, “I don’t want to talk about it yet. It’s too early.” Apparently it’s a bit more complicated than he thought when he promised, “We will move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem,” at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in March.

Regarding the $221 million that was transferred  to the Palestinian Authority by former President Obama shortly before Trump was sworn in as president, the president said “We’re going to see what happens. I don’t want to talk about it.” But yesterday PA officials announced that they have already received the money, so it’s unclear what Trump could do about it now.

Regarding the importance of repairing the US-Israel relationship, Trump responded,  “It is repaired. It was repaired the minute I spoke to Netanyahu.”

For further reading click here.

Aliyah Drop
In 2016, a total of 27,000 people immigrated to Israel versus 31,000 in 2015, according to Immigration Ministry numbers. That represents a 13% decline in the overall rate of Aliyah. Around 7,000 immigrants were from Russia, 5,500 from Ukraine, 5,000 from France, 2,900 from the US and hundreds from Brazil, UK, Belarus and South Africa.

For further reading click here.

Iceland Flights
Icelandic low-cost carrier WOW Air has requested slots from the Israel Airports Authority for six weekly flights between Ben Gurion International Airport and Icelandic capital Reykjavik. WOW is planning to start the flights in June.

WOW Air hopes not only to encourage tourism between Israel and Iceland but primarily to eat into the lucrative Israel – North America stopover flight market. Passengers traveling from Tel Aviv to Reykjavik will then have the choice of vacationing in Iceland or travelling onto nine locations in Canada and the US: Montreal and Toronto, Boston, New York, Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

For further reading click here.

Holocaust Remembrance
Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp in 1945 by the Russian army. The day was designated by the UN in 2008.

As part of Holocaust Remembrance Day I’d like to share the story of my own family.

My father’s family lived in a small town called Mosciska in Eastern Poland, which is today part of the Ukraine. The town had around 2,500 hundred Jews, about half of the entire population, included scores of our relatives.

Not long after the Nazis occupied Mosciska in the summer of 1941, they launched an aktzia to roundup the Jews, most of whom were deported or murdered. My father, who was then 8 yrs old, hid in the fields along with his older sister and mother. My grandfather hid in the forest, but was captured by a farmer and taken to the train station. Luckily, the train had already left and he ended up being released. The family moved into the ghetto along with all of the remaining Jews.

At that point my grandparents decided to send my father away to hide with a Christian woman in a city in central Poland. There he posed as her nephew for over two years. Meanwhile, my grandmother’s uncle and his son had gone into hiding (after his wife and other children were murdered) with a Polish farmer in the area. He arranged for another farmer, who had been employed by our family, to hide them.

To make a very long story very short, for the next two years my grandmother and grandfather, along with their daughter (my aunt), and my grandfather’s two single brothers, hid in a barn behind a secret wall they constructed. Unlike most Jews who attempted to hide in Poland and the Ukraine, they survived.

After liberation they picked up my father and went on to build a new life in America. Other than one of my grandmother’s sisters who survived in a labor camp with her husband, where she gave birth to her first child, and my grandmother’s uncle and his son, the rest of our very large family perished in the Holocaust.

My mother was just 2 yrs old when the Nazis attacked Warsaw in 1939. My grandparents decided to flee the city. They ended up in Uzbekistan with thousands of other Jewish refugees. My grandfather joined the Polish People’s Army (communist). He fought on the front lines to help drive the Nazis out of Poland. After the war they returned to Poland where they lived for over 10 years until immigrating to Canada. Other than one of my grandfather’s six brothers and one of my grandmothers sisters, their entire families perished in the Holocaust.

May the memories of the millions of martyrs be blessed and remain with us forever.

Holocaust Resistence
In commemoration of Intenational Holocaust Remembrance Day we wanted to recommend an excellent book called Isaac’s Army: A Story of Courage and Survival in Nazi-Occupied Polandby Matthew Brzezinski, that recounts the gripping story of Jewish resisitence in the Warsaw Ghetto and afterwards through the eyes of several fighters. To read more reviews and get the book, click here



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Israel News for July 11, 2016

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Terror Attack
A terrorist waiting in ambush at the side of the road near the settlement of Tekoa, in Gush Etzion, opened fire at a vehicle containing a Jewish couple with six children in the back seat.

Eitan and Tamar Finkel were returning home with their kids on Saturday night, after visiting Tamar’s parents in the nearby settlement of Metzad, when they spotted a terrorist at the junction aiming a machine gun at them. Then they heard gunfire and their windshield exploded. Eitan managed to continue driving and find a military jeep. That’s when he realized that his leg was bleeding. He had been hit in the leg, but his wife and children were unharmed.

Finkel later said, “I was hit by one and the rest of the family came out without a scratch on them, it was a miracle. If the terrorist hit me, he could’ve hit everyone. That was his plan, to hit the driver, or the wheel to stop the car and then shoot everyone.”

For further reading click here.

Hamas Soccer
The parents of Oron Shaul, whose body is being held by Hamas in Gaza, petitioned the Supreme Court to prohibit Hamas prisoners in Israel from being allowed to watch the Sunday night Euro Soccer final. The petition was filed against the Israel Prison Service, the Internal Security Ministry, the Office of the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister himself. It claimed that permitting Hamas prisoners to watch the game “is a decision which the public can not accept… there is no rational to this, it’s illogical, and it hurts the sensibilities of the general public. The decision is disgusting and repulsive.”

The Court rejected the petition. Justice Ori Shahem wrote in his ruling:

“There is no legal way to prevent security prisoners from watching the Euro Cup final on Channel 2, which is a public station. The petitioners didn’t use any factual or legal basis in their request to restrict the prisoners from watching the game. The court is not under the impression that preventing the prisoners from watching the Euro Cup final will put pressure on Hamas to release our soldiers and citizens held in captivity. Therefore, we do not see it fit to prevent the prisoners from watching the game. The conclusion is reinforced by the timing of the request. The date and time of the final game has been well known for a long time, while the request was filed on the day of the game.”

I assume they’ll be allowed to watch the Olympics too. Can’t no TV be part of their punishment? I hope they don’t get cable.

For further reading click here.

Crowdfunding Success
The family of Sgt. Elor Azaria, the ID soldier on trial for shooting to death an already-neutralized terrorist in Hebron, raised over NIS 400,000 last night through a crowdfunding campaign on the Israeli website Headstart.co.il, to fund Azaria’s legal expenses. The campaign was organized and launched by former right-wing MK and journalist Sharon Gal.

Likud Transportation and Intelligence Minister Israel Katz said in a radio interview that he and his wife would seriously consider donating to the fund.

Azaria is facing manslaughter charges and is being defended by a team of expert attorneys. The trail has been ongoing for several weeks in a military court. The IDF offers all soldiers free legal defense, but the family chose to hire their own team.

For further reading click here.

Democratic Platform
Supporters of Hillary Clinton voted down a proposed amendment to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) platform by Bernie Sanders supporters, which would call for “an end to occupation and illegal settlements.” The proposal was voted down 95-73.

The committee also rejected an amendment to “rebuild Gaza which the UN warns could be uninhabitable by 2020, and where poverty and hopelessness undermine peace and security for both Palestinians and Israelis”. Another amendment to remove the military option from the Iran non-compliance language failed 67-98.

So while the “cooler heads” of the Clinton camp have prevailed, the Sanders camp has displayed significant strength and influence in the party.

A draft of the approved 2016 DNC platform released last week said, “We will continue to work toward a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiated directly by the parties that guarantees Israel’s future as a secure and democratic Jewish state with recognized borders and provides the Palestinians with independence, sovereignty, and dignity. Israelis deserve security, recognition, and a normal life free from terror and incitement. Palestinians should be free to govern themselves in their own viable state, in peace and dignity.”

On the Republican side, Trump adviser David Friedman has stated that Trump would consider the two-state solution as one option in the search for a solution to the conflict — not the only option.

For further reading click here.

Polish Massacre Site
About 150 people commemorated the 75th anniversary of the massacre of the Jewish community of Jedwabne, Poland by their Polish neighbors. Most of the towns 1,500 Jews were brutally murdered in a pogrom launched by the local Polish population, with over 300 being burned alive in a barn. The story of the massacre was brought to light in a 2001 book by historian Jan Gross called, “Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland”.

The commemoration at Jedwabne was led by Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich and attended by Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League. The mayor of Jedwabne did not attend the event, nor did any of the townspeople.

Polish Undersecretary of State Wojciech Kolarski represented Polish President Andrzej Duda at the event and laid a wreath at the monument for the victims. He said, “To be clear about what happened here: Polish citizens killed their own Polish compatriots of Jewish origin in a way that damaged a long tradition of living side-by-side. There can be no justification for that.”

The fact that many Poles played an active role in the persecution and murder of Polish Jewry during the Holocaust is widely denied by Poles today. Deniers include government official, intellectuals — the kind of folks you’d expect to know better. Regarding the ordinary people…well, you can figure that out for yourself.

May the memory of the victims be a blessing for us and may we never forget them, and how they died.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for May 5, 2016

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Gaza Strikes
In response to six mortar shells that were fired at Israeli soldiers from Gaza yesterday, the Israeli Air Force launched several airstrikes against Hamas targets in the Strip. An IDF statement said, “The IDF sees terrorist activities conducted above or below the ground as a violation of Israel’s sovereignty, and sees the Hamas terrorist organization as solely responsible for this terrorist activity.”

Both Hamas and IDF sources confirmed that Egyptian officials were mediating a cease fire to restore calm in the area.

The IDF revealed today that it had uncovered another Hamas tunnel that reached as deep as 30 meters below ground.

For further reading click here.

Holocaust Commemoration
Today Israel is observing Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah). The official commemorations began with a siren throughout the country that marked two minutes of silence during which all pedestrian and vehicular traffic came to halt and people stood silently, in place.

Following the two minutes of silence, a wreath-laying ceremony commenced at Warsaw Ghetto Square at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Supreme Court President Miriam Naor, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, Police Commisioner Roni Alsheikh and delegations from Israel and abroad were all in attendance.

During the ceremony, six Holocaust survivors told their stories in a prerecorded video before they lit the six torches representing the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust.

Commemoration events will be held throughout the day. Television and radio programming is also dedicated to remembering the Holocaust, particularly through the broadcasting of testimonies of survivors.

In Poland, over 10,000 Jewish students will take part in the March of the Living, from Aushwitz to the gas chambers in Birkenau, where they will hold a commemoration ceremony.

This year, the march will be led by Israel’s Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, former Chief Rabbi of Israel and current Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv Yisrael Meir Lau, and a delegation of five Knesset members and international law experts who participated in a conference organized by the March of Living Foundation on Wednesday to mark 80 years to the establishment of the Nuremberg Laws and 70 years to the Nuremberg Trials.

For further reading click here.

To watch videos of the six survivor testimonies, click here.

Survivor Stories
As part of Holocaust Remembrance Day I’d like to share the story of my own family.

My father’s family lived in a small town called Mosciska in Eastern Poland, which is today part of the Ukraine. The town had around 2,500 hundred Jews, about half of the entire population, included scores of our relatives.

Not long after the Nazis occupied Mosciska in the summer of 1941, they launched an aktzia to roundup the Jews, most of whom were deported or murdered. My father, who was then 8 yrs old, hid in the fields along with his older sister and mother. My grandfather hid in the forest, but was captured by a farmer and taken to the train station. Luckily, the train had already left and he ended up being released. The family moved into the ghetto along with all of the remaining Jews.

At that point my grandparents decided to send my father away to hide with a Christian woman in a city in central Poland. There he posed as her nephew for over two years. Meanwhile, my grandmother’s uncle and his son had gone into hiding (after his wife and other children were murdered) with a Polish farmer in the area. He arranged for another farmer, who had been employed by our family, to hide them.

To make a very long story very short, for the next two years my grandmother and grandfather, along with their daughter (my aunt), and my grandfather’s two single brothers, hid in a barn behind a secret wall they constructed. Unlike most Jews who attempted to hide in Poland and the Ukraine, they survived.

After liberation they picked up my father and went on to build a new life in America. Other than one of my grandmother’s sisters who survived in a labor camp with her husband, where she gave birth to her first child, and my grandmother’s uncle and his son, the rest of our very large family perished in the Holocaust.

My mother was just 2 yrs old when the Nazis attacked Warsaw in 1939. My grandparents decided to flee the city. They ended up in Uzbekistan with thousands of other Jewish refugees. My grandfather joined the Polish People’s Army (communist). He fought on the front lines to help drive the Nazis out of Poland. After the war they returned to Poland where they lived for over 10 years until immigrating to Canada. Other than one of my grandfather’s six brothers and one of my grandmothers sisters, their entire families perished in the Holocaust.

May the memories of the millions of martyrs be blessed and remain with us forever.

Israel News for January 19, 2016

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Terrorist Captured
Early today security forces arrested Moras Adais, a 16 year old Palestinian, for murdering Dafna Meir in Otniel on Sunday. Adais was arrested at his home in a village near Otniel and has no previous record of terror activity. It appears he acted alone, like most of the “lone wolf” terrorists in this recent wave of terror. His father told the Palestinian media that he fully supports his son’s actions, saying “I am proud of my son”.

Adais was not employed as a laborer and presumably snuck into Otniel. The settlement is fenced only in the forested area between one of the large yeshivot and Highway 60, from which terrorists infiltrated in the past. In other parts of the settlement there is no fence, but only electronic measures such as motion detectors and security cameras.

The PM and Defense Minister visited Otniel today and paid a Shiva call to the family of Dafna Meir. They blamed the Palestinian Authority for inciting violence and the international community for using a double standard vis a vis Israel.

Meanwhile, PA President Abbas said in a message to Palestinians that he was opposed to any violence and that “the resistance will continue through peaceful means, and we will not call for anything else.”

For further reading click here. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4754849,00.html

Workers Banned
Starting today, Palestinian laborers have been temporarily banned from working in settlements. The IDF said this was not a “collective punishment” against the workers, but that it was necessary in order to maintain order and to better supervise the workers inside the settlements. The fear is that other attackers might try to imitate the two recent attacks that occurred in Otniel and Tekoa.

According to army statistics, around 120,000 Palestinians are employed by Israelis, legally or illegally, both within and beyond the Green Line.

For further reading click here.

EU vs Israel (again)
The Foreign Ministers of the EU passed a resolution yesterday requiring that all agreements between the European Union and Israel must “unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967.”

The resolution states that,“The EU and its Member States are committed to ensure continued, full and effective implementation of existing EU legislation and bilateral arrangements applicable to settlements products. The EU expresses its commitment to ensure that – in line with international law – all agreements between the State of Israel and the EU must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967. This does not constitute a boycott of Israel which the EU strongly opposes.”

The resolution condemned Israeli settlement activities, calling them illegal under international law and a threat to a two-state solution, and urged Israel “to end all settlement activity and to dismantle the outposts erected since March 2001, in line with prior obligations,” adding that, “Settlement activity in east Jerusalem seriously jeopardizes the possibility of Jerusalem serving as the future capital of both states.”

Believe it or not, the language of the resolution was supposed to be much tougher against Israel, but a coalition of smaller EU members, including Greece, Poland, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic, blocked the language from inclusion. The tougher language was formulated by France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain.

On the bright side the resolution called on all parties (meaning Israel and the PA) to “condemn attacks when they occur.” THat’s something that the Palestinians have not done.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that even though the drafts were softened, the EU “continues to employ a double standard with Israel, while ignoring the PA’s responsibility for the diplomatic stalemate as well as its incitement which is feeding the wave of terrorism.”

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid said the conclusions published by the foreign ministers of the European Union continued a problematic line of attempts to intervene in Israel’s sovereign affairs.

For further reading click here.

U.S. Ambassador
Speaking at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference in Tel Aviv, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro criticized Israeli settlements and Israel’s lax law-enforcement against settlers in the West Bank.

Shapiro said, “Too much Israeli vigilantism in the West Bank goes on unchecked,” and that “there is a lack of thorough investigations… at times it seems Israel has two standards of adherence to rule of law in the West Bank – one for Jews and one for Palestinians.”

Shapiro supported the two-state solution as the only way of preventing Israel from turning into a bi-national state, and noted the American administration’s concern and displeasure with Israel’s settlement policies.

The Prime Minister’s Office rejected Shapiro’s allegations of double standards and issued a response saying,”the ambassador’s statements, on the day when a mother of six who was murdered is buried, and on a day when a pregnant woman is stabbed – are unacceptable and wrong. Israel enforces the law on Israelis and Palestinians. The onus for the stalemate in the diplomatic process is the Palestinian Authority, which continues to incite and refuses negotiations.”

Apparently, having a Jewish U.S. Ambassador is not such a great thing for Israel.

For further reading click here.

Heritage Cartel
It has become tradition for Israeli high schools to organize heritage trips to Poland to teach students, close up, about the Holocaust. The logistics behind the tours go like this: The Education Ministry publishes tenders for tour companies to fly the high-schoolers to Poland. Six companies apply. Each school can then bargain with the six to negotiate the lowest price. The reality of the situation turns out to have been much different.

Following a months long investigation, the police uncovered price fixing between the six companies to eliminate any competition. Great for the companies, but a rip off for the schools and students. Police raided the offices of the six companies yesterday and confiscated property and assets. Homes of some of the company executives were also searched. Suspects were arrested, including several CEO’s and high ranking executives.

Shame on the companies for taking advantage of kids trying to learn more about the Holocaust. How low can you go?

For further reading click here.

Israel News for August 24, 2015

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Court Promotes Charedi Minister
The High Court has ruled that Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman of the charedi United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party must either assume the position of Health Minister or resign from his current post.

Background
The UTJ party represents the Ashkenazic charedi communities. It was formed in 1992 as a merger between the Chassidic Agudas Yisrael and the Lithuanian Degel Hatorah party. The parties policies are decided by a council of Torah Sages from each of the two factions.

Because of its fundamental opposition to a secular run government, the UTJ and its predecessors have always refused to accept ministerial portfolios in the cabinet (except for one post in the first government in 1948). Instead, they assume the title of deputy minister while performing the duties of full minister.

In the current government PM Netanyahu officially holds the title of Health Minister and Yaakov Litzman of UTJ holds the deputy minister title. But semantics aside, Litzman functions as the Health Minister.

Opposition party Yesh Atid called them on this ministerial charade and petitioned the High Court to call a spade a spade (instead of a deputy spade). The High Court agreed and ruled that Litzman must either accept the title of Health Minister or resign his post altogether.

Result
Litzman must wait for the Council of Sages of the Agudas Yisrael faction of UTJ to decide, in their meeting this Wednesday, whether to modify their policy and allow him to be a full minister. The word on the street is that the council, lead by the Gerrer Rebbe (Litzman is also a Gerrer follower) will allow him to take the ministerial post.

Upshot
Even though it is really just a question of semantics, allowing Litzman to be a full minister might represent a major philosophical shift in charedi ideology and possibly bring about a greater sense of unity between them and the non-charedi right and centrist parties.

Abbas Going to Iran
Iran already has proxies on Israel’s northern border – Hezbollah and pro-Syrian government militias – and southern border – Hamas. Now they might be preparing to close the loop in the east.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told Polish reporters that he intends to visit Iran in an effort to improve ties with what he calls a “sister” nation. The Palestinians already have an embassy in Tehran, located in the building that housed the Israeli embassy prior to the Iranian revolution.

Should Israel be worried? Maybe, if the Palestinians gain independence and call in the revolutionary guards, or if Iran donates millions of dollars of terrorist funding.

Terror cell arrested
Israeli security services announced that they arrested a cell of nine Palestinians two weeks ago in the terrorist attack near highway 443 that injured three Israelis three weeks ago. The suspects, five adults and four minors, were residents of Beit Hanina and the Old City of Jerusalem. They are also being indicted for other attacks including throwing molotov cocktails at a Jewish home in Beit Hanina, where two people were injured.

The suspects admitted that they carried out the attack to avenge the Duma attack. Since their attack there have been several more molotov cocktail attacks in that same location.

Israel Helping Kurds
According to the Financial Times, Israel has purchased over $1 billion worth of oil from the Kurds in Northern Iraq. Records show that from May to August Israel bought 19 million barrels, which is about 77% of Israel’s total oil consumption of about 240,000 barrels a day.

Some sources say that Israel is choosing to buy specifically from the Kurds in order to support them in their fight against ISIS. Other sources claim that Israel is getting a discounted price on the oil. In either case, if they’re spending those billions anyway, they might as well get some indirect security benefits as a byproduct.

PM Netanyahu has stated his support for the formation of an independent Kurdish state in Northern Iraq. That hasn’t done much to improve Israel’s relations with Turkey, which fears that the Kurds will want to integrate the heavily Kurdish areas of Southern Turkey into their state. Ironically, the Kurdish oil is transported to Israel via a Turkish port.
Business is business.

American Scraps Israel Flights
American Airlines, the world’s largest airline by fleet size, passengers flown and revenue, has decided to stop flying to Israel. They claim it’s due to financial consideration and that they lost $20 million last year on their Philadelphia – Tel Aviv route. Industry experts say that American’s Israel route is profitable. They claim that American made the decision due to their leading role in the OneWorld global alliance, whose members include Arab carriers like Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian and Malaysia Airlines.

Whatever the reason, it’s good news for the carriers that do fly to Israel. Whether it will allow them to raise prices is still to be seen.

Shas head protests Shabbat Work
Economy Minister Aryeh Deri sent a strongly worded letter to PM Netanyahu and Transport Minister Katz protesting the desecration of Shabbat by government employed construction workers. The workers were clearing up the rubble following the demolition of the Maariv Overpass on Friday, which was leveled as part of the Tel Aviv light rail construction project. Deri threatened to take action the next time work was done on Shabbat on the Tel Aviv light rail or for any government project.

Meat Wars
Ketchup isn’t the only food they’re fighting about in Israel. The pre High Holidays meat wars are heating up, and Israeli meat eaters are benefitting big time.

Background
In Israel you can buy three types of meat (from cheapest to most expensive): frozen, defrosted and fresh. Most of the frozen or defrosted meat, which leads significantly in market share, is slaughtered and prepared in accordance with kosher laws overseas and shipped to Israel. Fresh meat can either also be imported or slaughtered and prepared in Israel. It’s cheaper to import.

Shufersal, one of Israel’s largest supermarket chains, last week launched their own private label brand of fresh meat which they fly in from overseas in sections, which is cheaper than importing the calfs and then slaughtering and preparing them in Israel.

In response, Tnuva, the giant Israeli food conglomerate, has just announced that they will be importing fresh meat from Poland and selling it at prices equivalent to Shufersal’s defrosted meat. How can they do it so cheap? They’ll be shipping the meat by boat instead of by air. (Poland just got approved as a supplier of meat to Israel.)

Upshot
Something about importing meat from a country that actively participated in the slaughter of millions of Jews just doesn’t seem right. Does the savings make it ok? Perhaps.