It has been very hard to watch the chaos in Israel. Netanyahu has been carrying out long-overdue judicial reforms, and the opposition has gone outside the rules of the game to shut down the country.
It seems to me that if you give in to such tactics, you lose the country. Military desertion, for example, which the left has used to pressure the government, is a complete disaster if it is legitimized.
It does seem, though, that the Israeli left is prepared to destroy the country rather than to live under a more democratic system in which Netanyahu and his political allies have a say in judicial selection.
The Israeli right is not prepared to give up the country, and so it is preparing to pause the judicial reforms, in the hope of returning the country to normal. The left plans to continue protests, regardless.
Some very smart people are arguing that it is all right to pause the reforms, because Netanyahu has exposed the rot for all to see, and that judicial reform is now inevitable, even a consensus position.
Maybe so. But I have to say, as someone who has always thought of Israel as a refuge, that the sight of that country transformed into yet another political battlefield by the radical left is really disheartening.
I have yet to hear one argument -- even one -- in favor of the system as it currently is. I have yet to hear one lefty consider the risk that if left-wing reservists desert, right-wing reservists may one day do so.
I am coming to the conclusion that the only real refuge for the free is in our own hearts and minds, and the only place for faith to reside is between the individual and God. There may be no real sanctuary.
I should have noted in my message about the weekly Torah portion that this week is Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath of Vision. We are about to mourn -- but see through that pain to something better that lies beyond, on the other side.
Wishing you the best vision -- and an incredible reality to follow. It happens!
We begin the final speech of Moses to the people of Israel before they enter the Promised Land. He relates the ups and downs of the years of wandering in the desert, before, finally, the people have the merit to enter the land itself.
This Sabbath always precedes Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It is the anniversary of the destruction of both of the Holy Temples, and a catch-all for many calamities that befell the Jewish people.
A word on Tisha B'Av. This year I am leaving for an overseas trip during the afternoon of the holiday -- in the middle of a fast day. Not idea, but there was no other choice. But my flight is in the afternoon, which is significant.
We relax some of the harsh, mournful customs of the day in the afternoon. We start to pray normally; we sit on regular chairs; we start to have hope again in the redemption that will, one day, lead us all back from exile to our home.
I'll be taking a trip to a land where an important part of ...
President Trump is in Scotland, playing golf and making big trade deals -- a major deal with the EU, in fact. Meanwhile, there is a global outcry about humanitarian aid to Palestinians (not about the Israeli hostages, mind you).
On top of that, Democrats are at their lowest polling numbers ever -- so they are trying to win control of the House by redistricting in the middle of a 10-year Census cycle. Oh, economic optimism is up, so they have a tough road.
And Tulsi Gabbard's revelations about the Russia collusion investigation make it clear that Obama's lieutenants lied to Congress. How deeply was he himself involved? The media continue to ignore the evidence, but we certainly won't.
Special guests:
Nick Gilbertson - Breitbart News White House correspondent, on EU deal
Frances Martel - Breitbart News foreign editor, on Trump abroad and Russia
John Spencer - urban warfare expert, on humanitarian aid and war in Gaza
Bradley Jaye - Breitbart News congressional correspondent, on the ...
