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Jewish Journal

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July 19, 2012

Wildebeests, Will, And The Specificity Of Need

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Here’s a question from Melanie R. of Baltimore, Maryland:

“Dear Big Muse what’s the best way to actually finish something? I walk around with all these ideas for things I want to accomplish creatively but I can’t seem to see them through.”

Melanie, without knowing what you’re working on specifically, I’m going to take a guess and say that in general, your problem might be that you’re dreaming too broadly.

Notice I didn’t say that you’re dreaming too big. One never wants to limit the scope of their aspirations, at least not from the outset. What I mean by broadly is that ideas come into being just like starfish, poison mushrooms, and wildebeests:

They all start from very tiny pieces.

That is, they grow into complexity from microscopic parts. In the case of living organisms, I’m referring to individual cells – but even they can be broken down into smaller and smaller components: molecules, atoms, and quarks. But for now, let’s not go there -as a matter of fact Melanie, let’s never go there.

How does this relate to your problem? Here’s an example I often use from the world of songwriting which might help shed some light on what I mean.

Let’s say I want to write a song and I’m motivated by two factors, one of which will be helpful in terms of my finishing the song and one less so. See if you can tell which is the more effective motivation:

1. I have a desire to become FAMOUS! I want to become the greatest songwriter of all time.

2. I have a desire to write a song for my Mother for her 75th birthday party which will take place at my brother’s house in Minneapolis on Tuesday April 17 at three pm where there will be about thirty guests at the party and if I were to perform a song about my Mom there -a lovely song that captured her wonderful energy, her kindness, her beauty, and the love we all have for her, then I would feel special, my Mom would feel like a queen for a day, and I could bask in the love and the appreciation that everyone would have for me.

Sorry for the run-on sentence but do you see where I’m going? In the second motivation, I’ve begun to break down my desire to write a song into small pieces. Not quite cells or quarks, but small do-able pieces that will no doubt motivate and stimulate the completion of the task.

In the first motivation, the one where I want to be (FAMOUS!) there is a big dream, which as I said earlier, is a great thing and you need that impetus to fuel the overall cause. But without breaking the dream into specific components, the chance that a song – or anythng else- will actually emerge hovers around zero.

The specificity of need has to be identified.

Why are you doing whatever it is you want to do? When do you need it done? And perhaps, most importantly, for whom are you doing this? Who will benefit from its emergence in the world? If you can answer those questions you will be well on your way to “finishing things.”

Wildebeests, Will, And The Specificity Of Need Read More »

L.A. rabbi reflects on Rabbi Elyashiv’s death

Leave a Comment / Is Featured?, Judaism, Mobile, News /

Hundreds of thousands of mourners reportedly attended the funeral of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv in Jerusalem on July 18, and across the world, people remembered the eminent Orthodox rabbi who died on Wednedsay at the age of 102.

Rabbi Gershon Bess, the spiritual leader of Kehilas Yaakov in Los Angeles, said he would visit Elyashiv at least once a year, to consult with him on matters of Jewish jurisprudence.

“This is a person that one could ask any halachic question on any topic and get a well-researched answer based on Talmudic and later Responsa,” Bess said on Wednesday. “I don’t believe that there is anyone else in the world at this point now who is able to replace him.”

More than one obituary likened Elyashiv’s stature as a Jewish legal authority to that of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, who died in 1986. Bess agreed with that analogy.

“Even the greatest rabbinical authorities in the United States would show extreme deference to anything he [Elyashiv] would say,” Bess said. “Nobody but Rabbi Moshe Feinstein was considered as a final decisor on so many issues.”

No plans for a Los Angeles-based memorial have been discussed, Bess said, but he speculated that some kind of public remembrance might take place in the city at some point in the coming days or weeks.

L.A. rabbi reflects on Rabbi Elyashiv’s death Read More »

July 18, 2012

Leave a Comment / Israel, Must Reads /

In-depth

Unsettled Times in Israel

Bernard Gwertzman of the Council on Foreign Relations holds on a wide-ranging conversation with Elliott Abrams about the state of affairs in Israel, including the possibility of new elections, unease over Syria and whether a strike on Iran is imminent.

The Israelis would like to postpone having to make a decision as long as possible, on the off chance that the diplomatic track reinforced by sanctions will work, or on the off chance that the United States would at some point strike the Iranian nuclear program. They know the United States has far more power that it can bring to bear than they do. Also they’re going to suffer from any Iranian counter-attack, particularly if they lead the strike instead of the United States.

Public, peace, turmoil

Israel’s new Peace Index has some interesting findings to offer:

The fierce debate over drafting the Haredim has drawn widespread public attention lately. It seems, though, that there is considerable agreement among the public about the preferred solution, whether it is realistic or not from a practical, political standpoint. The majority of the Jewish public (58%) supports exempting a limited number of yeshiva students who are “great Torah scholars” from military service, but opposes deferring the service of all the others and favors their enlistment at age 18. Only a small minority (18%) would leave the present situation as it is. A similar minority (19%) supports the Plesner Committee’s recommendation that a few young “great Torah scholars” should continue their yeshiva study, while all other Haredi men should be drafted into the IDF at age 22 or 23.

Daily Digest

  • Times of Israel: On a bloody anniversary, Israel points the finger of blame at Iran

  • Haaretz: Israel has no doubt about who is behind the deadly attack in Bulgaria

  • Jerusalem Post: ‘Bulgaria attack work of suicide bomber with fake US ID’

  • Ynet: Will Israel respond to attack now?

  • New York Times: Washington Begins to Plan for Collapse of Syrian Government

  • Washington Post: Stop waffling on Syria

  • Wall Street Journal: Adelson’s Lawyers Fight Prostitution Accusations

    • July 18, 2012 Read More »

    Americans ‘favor diplomacy over military action on Iran’? Well, not exactly‎

    Leave a Comment / Israel, Middle East, United States /

    Since we run our own tracking of Iran polls, we pretty much know what they say ‎about American public opinion as it relates to policy options on Iran (you can see our ‎Iran Trend tracker here). To sum it up very briefly: Americans do not want Iran to ‎become a nuclear power; they want to prevent such scenario from happening.

    When ‎presented with various options for halting Iran’s nuclear program, they’d choose the ‎less violent option (diplomacy, sanctions) over attacking Iran. That’s quite reasonable. ‎However, when Americans are presented with only two options – learning to live with ‎a nuclearized Iran or attacking it to prevent this from happening, they tend to support ‎an attack (but not as consistently). ‎

    Three days ago, the Council on Foreign Relation has released its updated report on ‎Public Opinion on Global Issues, a report that includes a chapter on Dealing with ‎Iran’s Nuclear Program. Here’s what this chapter says – a conclusion that is almost ‎identical to ours:‎

    A large majority of Americans believe that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, rather ‎than limiting itself to energy production, and there is substantial concern over this. ‎There is widespread pessimism that a nuclear armed Iran would be deterred by the ‎threat of retaliation. Nonetheless, presented a menu of options, few endorse a ‎military option while majorities favor either diplomatic options or sanctions. ‎Majorities express pessimism about the likely effectiveness of a military strike. ‎Diplomatic efforts to engage Iran are supported by majorities. However, questions ‎that present a choice between a military option and inaction, imply that a military ‎strike would be effective in preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon (a ‎controversial assumption), or pose a hypothetical scenario in which Iran is clearly on ‎the verge of acquiring a nuclear weapon, elicit support for military action among ‎about half of respondents or modest majorities.‎

    The interpretive CFR tone, though, is a bit different from ours. Look at the manner ‎and the language Stewart Patrick of CFR employs as he describes the report’s findings ‎to CFR and The Atlantic readers:‎

    Amidst the heightened cacophony of policymakers and pundits, there remains ‎strong public support in the United States—and in many countries abroad—for ‎sanctions, but widespread opposition to the use of military force.‎

    Have something to say about this? Join the debate at Rosner’s Domain on Facebook

    Patrick also provides the readers with a link to a graph of polls – a graph that includes ‎only the results of the polls that reflect his ultimate argument:‎

    Photo

    Reading through his article I was struggling to find a word of explanation that could ‎put these findings in context – but all I found was this:‎

    American support for military force rises if depicted as a last resort. In 2011, the ‎German Marshall Fund (GMF) presented U.S. and European citizens with two ‎options: take “military action against Iran” or “simply accept that Iran could ‎acquire nuclear weapons.” Faced with this scenario, 49 percent of Americans and ‎‎42 percent of Europeans favored the use of military force. (This question ‎assumed, somewhat problematically, that military force would necessarily achieve ‎the goal of dismantling the Iranian nuclear program.)‎

    I’m sorry, but this is a manipulative way of presenting the findings. The author ‎emphasizes the fact that presented with an option of diplomatic prevention, most ‎Americans would prefer it to military action (and why wouldn’t they?), without even ‎hinting that the possibility of diplomatic prevention is viewed by some as an ‎illusionary course. ‎

    On the other hand, when Patrick reports that the majority would support an attack if ‎this were the only option for prevention, he hastens to dismiss such a line of ‎questioning, on the grounds that it “problematically [assumes] that military force ‎would necessarily achieve the goal of dismantling the Iranian nuclear program”. Well, ‎doesn’t the first line of questioning, the one with many options, also “problematically ‎‎[assume that diplomacy] would necessarily achieve the goal of dismantling the Iranian ‎nuclear program”?‎

    In Patrick’s tone there’s clear motivation: He wants his readers to assume that the ‎public opposes an attack on Iran. But that is not what the polls are telling us. Patrick ‎might be right to be skeptical about the option of attack, as Prime Minister Netanyahu ‎might be right to be skeptical about diplomacy. No option is free of weaknesses, and ‎no option assures success. ‎

    Looking at polls though, is not the way for one to get an answer on the right policy, it ‎is a way for one to understand where the public stands. And unlike the impression ‎Patrick creates, the public is undecided on the method but quite sure about the desired ‎outcome: Iran’s nuclear program must be stopped – by whatever means the pollster ‎puts before us. ‎

    Americans ‘favor diplomacy over military action on Iran’? Well, not exactly‎ Read More »

    Northridge mother pleads guilty in syrup swastika vandalism

    Leave a Comment / California, Mobile, Mobile Sections, News /

    A Northridge mother pleaded no contest Wednesday to a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for helping her teenage daughter and two friends deface homes with maple syrup swastikas, human feces and toilet paper, according to the L.A. city attorney’s office.

    Catharine Whelpley was ordered to complete 80 hours of community service at Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles’ SOVA program and attend one year of parenting classes.

    If Whelpley completes both within one year, her case will be reduced to an infraction.

    “It is important that persons responsible for such conduct, including parents, have taken responsibility for their improper actions,” City Attorney Carmen Trutanich said. “Hopefully, these enforcement actions will deter others from engaging in such bad conduct.”

    Whelpley had faced multiple criminal counts, including three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, two counts of vandalism, two counts of trespassing and two counts of tampering with a vehicle.

    The charges stem from an April 3 incident in which Whelpley drove her 14-year-old daughter and her daughter’s two friends – ages 14 and 13 – to two homes in the San Fernando Valley that were defaced, prosecutors said.

    At the first home, the residence of a former middle school friend, the teens allegedly defaced the property with toilet paper and maple syrup and smeared feces on the homeowner’s vehicle.

    Whelpley then drove the juveniles to a store to purchase additional toilet paper before arriving at the second home, according to the city attorney’s office. Whelpley’s daughter allegedly wrote the word “Jew” and drew three swastikas on the front walkway of the home, which belongs to the son of a Holocaust survivor.

    During today’s proceedings, the homeowner was allowed to read a statement that delved into his family’s experience with the Holocaust, Deputy City Attorney Ayelet Feiman said.

    “I do believe it opened the defendant’s eyes to what her daughter actually did to his family,” she said.

    Whelpley has attended a Museum of Tolerance program with her teenage daughter and wrote a letter of apology to the victims. In addition to the parenting classes and volunteering for SOVA, Whelpley has been ordered to pay a $200 fine and approximately $600 in additional penalties.

    The three teenage girls did not face criminal charges because their actions did not cause permanent damage to the properties. However, the teens faced disciplinary action at their school for the defacing, which they admitted to doing, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

    Northridge mother pleads guilty in syrup swastika vandalism Read More »

    Planes with wounded return to Israel; Peres: ‘Israel will act against terror’

    Leave a Comment / Is Featured?, Israel, Lead Story, Mobile, News /

    President Shimon Peres said in response to the deadly attack in Bulgaria that Israel will “locate and act against terror all over the world,” as the wounded and dead arrived in Israel.

    Two planes carrying Israelis wounded from Wednesday evening’s attack were landed in Israel at approximately 3:30 local time on Thursday. After landing, passengers were sent to hospitals near the airport or near their homes. A third plane has brought home the 70 Israelis who escaped injury in the attack.

    Brig.-Gen. Itzik Kreis, head of the Israeli Defense Force Medical Corps, said that the wounded returning to Israel were “less seriously hurt than we expected.”

    Two of those wounded in the attack remained in hospitals in Sofia, Bulgaria—with one in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

    Kreis said that victims “got very good medical care in Bulgaria.” He said that injuries suffered in the bus bombing were similar to injuries caused by bus bombings in Israel.

    “This was a bloody attack against civilians going on vacation. Many of them lost their lives, others were wounded for no reason, for no purpose. They were attacked for the simple and unacceptable reason that they were Jewish or Israeli,” Peres said.

    “We will not forget, we will not ignore and we will not give up. Israel will locate and act against terror all over the world. We have the capabilities for it and are committed to act. We have the ability to silence and incapacitate the terror organizations. Anywhere in the world where it is possible we shall build friendship and anywhere in the world where it is necessary we will chase murderous terrorists. We will uproot terror both near and far.”

    Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday morning that of the seven dead, five were Israelis, one was the bus driver and one the suicide bomber.

    Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Thursday that Israel has concrete information that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group carried out the attack.

    The dead have not yet been positively identified, according to reports.

    Meanwhile, Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry released video footage of the man identified as the suicide bomber.

    The bomber was dressed like a tourist and carried a fake Michigan driver’s license, Novinite.com reported.  He reportedly had hung out near the buses slated to take the Israeli tourists to their hotel for more than an hour.

    Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov reiterated on Thursday that Bulgarian officials had received no warning of an imminent attack on Israeli or Jewish targets.

    Planes with wounded return to Israel; Peres: ‘Israel will act against terror’ Read More »

    This week in power: Bulgaria, Government disbanding, Adelson petition, Condi rumors

    Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /

    A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:

    Bulgaria bombing
    A bus full of Israelis exploded on Wednesday in a Bulgarian resort, killing at least eight people and wounded dozens more, ” title=”http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/18/from-iran-to-bulgaria.html” target=”_blank”>said Trita Parsi at The Daily Beast. “The question is: Can the two sides continue to level charges of assassination plots against each other without this conflict morphing into an actual war?” ” title=”http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/world/middleeast/unity-government-in-israel-disbanding-over-dispute-on-draft.html?hp” target=”_blank”>said The New York Times. Netanyahu will keep office for the immediate future in spite of centrist Kadima party’s decision to leave the government it joined this spring. “In the end, in the worst Israeli partisan political tradition, perceived self-interest prevailed over all the highfalutin rhetoric about the good of the state,” ” title=”http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/17/kadima-just-trying-to-go-home.html” target=”_blank”>said Yehudah Mirsky at The Daily Beast. It’s bittersweet, said a Jewish Week ” title=”http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/07/11/3100531/njdc-removes-adelson-petition” target=”_blank”>said the JTA. The petition stemmed from a claim by Sen. John McCain that Adelson was secretly sending Chinese money into the campaign. “This week Jewish Democrats took a clumsy swipe at Adelson’s credibility. Then Jewish Republicans responded with oblivious defenses that only make Adelson look more manipulative than before. And then the Democrats had to give the Republicans a win, not on the strength of their defense but on the total weakness of the Democratic offense. At this rate the Knesset will have to come and train our political spokespeople in effective PR,” ” title=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/16/sarah-silverman-indecent-proposal-romney_n_1676669.html” target=”_blank”>other ways to tackle Adelson…

    LePage apology
    After comparing the IRS to the Gestapo, Maine Gov. Paul LePage ” title=”http://www.journaltribune.com/articles/2012/07/14/columnist/doc5000a5b0eebaf160601818.txt” target=”_blank”>said in the Journal Tribune that there’s no room for these remarks. “Disagreement is essential to our system, but extreme and unwarranted vilification of one’s opponents makes it impossible for Americans to work together to deal with the challenges and opportunities we all share.” “LePage is a governor, so he gets more national scrutiny. But even the left within New Hampshire did not denounce the Hitler comparison. Some applauded it,” ” title=”http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/condoleezza-rice-still-not-interested-in-vp-slot/” target=”_blank”>rumors swirled that Condi Rice was being sought after for the VP nod. “Her nomination would also undercut the Republican Jewish establishment’s multi-million-dollar campaign to make Israel a wedge issue in this election by accusing Obama, who also pushed to revive the peace process, of being insufficiently supportive of the Netanyahu government,” ” title=”http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/106544/what-condi-says-about-romney” target=”_blank”>he said.

    This week in power: Bulgaria, Government disbanding, Adelson petition, Condi rumors Read More »

    Suspected suicide bomber had fake U.S. I.D.; Surveillance camera captures image

    Leave a Comment / Is Featured?, Lead Story, Mobile, News, Worldwide /

    A suicide bomber carried out an attack that killed seven people in a bus transporting Israeli tourists in Bulgaria, the interior minister said on Thursday, and Israel said Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants were to blame.

    Iran denied it was behind Wednesday’s attack at Burgas airport, a popular gateway for tourists visiting the Black Sea coast.

    Video surveillance footage showed the bomber was similar in appearance to tourists arriving at the airport, Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said.

    The bomber had been circling around a group of buses, which were about to take Israeli tourists to a resort near Burgas, for about an hour before the explosion, the footage showed.

    “We have established there was a person who was a suicide bomber in this attack. This person had a fake driving license from the United States, from the state of Michigan,” Tsvetanov told reporters at the airport.

    “He looked like anyone else – a normal person with Bermuda shorts and a backpack,” he said.

    The bomber was said to be 36 years old and had been in the country for between four and seven days before the attack.

    Special forces had managed to obtain DNA samples from the fingers of the bomber and were now checking databases in an attempt to identify him, Tsvetanov said.

    The foreign ministry said seven people were killed in the attack, including the Bulgarian bus driver and the bomber. The Israeli foreign ministry confirmed that five Israelis were killed.

    The tourists had arrived in Bulgaria on a charter flight from Israel and were on the bus in the airport car park when the blast tore through the vehicle. Body parts were strewn across the ground, mangled metal hung from the double-decker bus’s ripped roof and black smoke billowed over the airport.

    AIRPORT CLOSED

    On Thursday, the airport in Burgas – a city of 200,000 people at the center of a string of seaside resorts – remained closed and police prevented people from approaching.

    Beyond the cordons, about 100 holidaymakers waited for their flights but had been told they would be there until midnight. Officials were setting up portable toilets and tents for stranded travelers and Bulgaria’s parliament opened with a one minute silence in memory of the bombing victims.

    “It felt like an earthquake and then I saw flying pieces of meat,” said Georgi Stoev, an airport official. “It was horrible, just like in a horror movie.”

    “Yesterday’s attack in Bulgaria was perpetrated by Hezbollah, Iran’s leading terrorist proxy,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “We will continue to fight against Iranian terror. It will not defeat us. We will act against it with great force.”

    Israel however indicated it would not hasten into any open conflict with Iran or Hezbollah.

    Defence Minister Ehud Barak said Israel would “do everything possible in order to find those responsible, and those who dispatched them, and punish them” – language that appeared to suggest covert action against individuals.

    Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev linked the arrest of a foreigner in Cyprus this month on suspicion of plotting an attack on Israeli tourists there with the Bulgaria bombing.

    “The suspect who was arrested in Cyprus, in his interrogation, revealed an operational plan that is almost identical to what happened in Bulgaria. He is from Hezbollah … this is a further indication of Hezbollah and Iran’s direct responsibility,” he told Reuters.

    “BASELESS ACCUSATIONS”

    Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman dismissed Israel’s “baseless accusations” that Tehran was involved in the bombing.

    The blast occurred on the 18th anniversary of a bomb attack on Argentina’s main Jewish organization that killed 85 people. Argentina blamed Iran, which denied responsibility.

    Medical officials said two badly injured Israeli tourists were taken to hospitals in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia. One woman was in intensive care with head and chest injuries and a man was in a critical state with burns covering 55 percent of his body.

    About 70 Israeli tourists, including those lightly injured by the blast, left Burgas on a Bulgarian government airplane to Israel, the interior ministry said.

    The European Commission and NATO condemned the attack, joining criticism from the United States, Britain, France and Germany, and the mayor of Burgas announced a day of mourning.

    Israeli officials had previously said that Bulgaria, a popular destination for Israeli tourists, was vulnerable to attack by Islamist militants, who could infiltrate via Turkey.

    Israeli diplomats have been targeted in several countries in recent months by bombers who Israel said struck on behalf of Iran.

    Some analysts believe Iran is trying to avenge the assassinations of several scientists from its nuclear program, which Israel and Western powers fear is aimed at developing a nuclear bomb.

    Iran insists its uranium enrichment work is strictly for peaceful ends. Both Israel and the United States have not ruled out military action against Iranian nuclear facilities.

    Additional reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova in Sofia, Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem and Madeline Chambers in Berlin; Writing by Sam Cage; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Giles Elgood

    Suspected suicide bomber had fake U.S. I.D.; Surveillance camera captures image Read More »

    U.S. officials discuss possibility of Israeli attack on Syria

    Leave a Comment / Mobile, News, Worldwide /

    U.S. Pentagon officials discussed with Israeli defense officials whether Israel could destroy Syrian weapons facilities in the event of the collapse of the Syrian government, The New York Times reported.

    The Obama administration is not advocating an attack, according to newspaper, citing unnamed American officials. The officials said the administration feared that such an attack would breathe new life into Syrian President Bashar Assad’s power, by shoring up support against Israeli interference.

    Several top U.S. administration officials have visited Israel in recent days, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon. Syria was part of their discussions with Israeli leaders, according to the Times.

    The news comes a day after a suicide bomb attack on a meeting of top Syrian officials in Damascus killed several of Assad’s closest allies and advisers, including Syria’s defense minister, and Assad’s brother-in-law, who also serves as deputy defense minister. The attack came after four days of clashes in Damascus between government troops and anti-government activists.

    During a briefing on the Golan Heights Thursday morning, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel is concerned about chemical weapons scattered throughout Syria falling into the wrong hands, and said that Israel is monitoring that possibility.

    “We obviously are not the only player in the region that is anxious; anxious about the fact that an anarchic situation will bring about the transfer of sensitive systems into the wrong hands. There is no small amount of chemical weapons dispersed all around the country and there is a lot of weaponry in the hands of the civilians,” Barak said.

    Barak said the military is also monitoring the possibility of a wave of refugees seeking to enter Israel through the Golan, and is prepared to stop them if they do.

    “We also estimate that the longer the civil war lasts; the greater the resentment, the greater the will for vengeance, and the greater the anger between the sides. Assad’s fall could therefore lead to a continuous civil war and chaos. In this situation we could also find ourselves with the Golan Heights serving as a new platform from which terrorists could launch attacks against Israel. Therefore we need to have a quiet presence in this area, and be both alert and ready” for every scenario, he said.

    On Tuesday, Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi told a Knesset committee that Assad had removed many of his forces from the Golan Heights to the areas of conflict inside Syria, according to news services briefed by a Knesset spokesman.

    “He’s not afraid of Israel at this point, but mainly wants to augment his forces around Damascus,” Kochavi reportedly said.

    U.S. officials discuss possibility of Israeli attack on Syria Read More »

    Deadly Bulgaria attack survivors recall chaos, tragedy

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    Vered Kuza was standing with her daughter, Amit, on an airport shuttle bus at Sarafovo International Airport in Burgas, Bulgaria, when she suddenly heard a blast.

    “It’s an attack!” Kuza, 54, shouted at Amit, 26. “We need to get out of here!”

    She pushed her daughter through the door just as the bus exploded. Kuza was knocked unconscious. Her daughter landed on the ground, debris ripping into her left shoulder, through her chest and down to her liver.

    When Vered Kuza regained consciousness, her feet “were swollen to a ridiculous size.” Her daughter was nowhere to be seen.

    “Everything was broken,” Kuza told JTA, lying in a hospital bed in a Tel Aviv emergency room on Thursday, her feet wrapped in gauze and plastic and a red No. 2 scrawled on her forehead. “There were body parts around me. I didn’t know what was happening. It was smoking, hellish. It was horrifying.”

    Five Israelis died in the attack that Kuza survived. According to Israeli reports, the five deceased are Amir Menashe, 27; Itzik Kolengi, 27; childhood friends Maor Harush, 26, and Elior Priess, 26; and Kochava Shriki, 44. In addition, the bus driver and suicide bomber died in the attack.

    Ynet News reported that minutes before the attack, Shriki called her sister and told her that she was pregnant for the first time. Shriki’s husband, Yitzhak, survived and spent hours searching for his wife.

    After the bomb exploded, “I walked toward the exit and called to my wife, ‘Come toward the door!’” he told Ynet. “After a few seconds I realized she wasn’t with me. The fog was thick like sand, and I went to look for her but it was impossible to get through.”

    Kuza was one of 33 Israelis injured in the attack to be flown back to Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport on Thursday afternoon and sent to hospitals throughout the country, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Her daughter was one of three Israelis who were too seriously injured to make the trip and remained hospitalized in Bulgaria.

    The head of the IDF Medical Corps, Itzik Kreis, said that the injured passengers who arrived in Israel “got very good medical care in Bulgaria” and “were less seriously hurt than we expected.”

    The IDF Medical Corps landed in Bulgaria on Wednesday night to tend to the victims and bring them back to Israel. Kreis said that the injuries the corps saw were similar to those suffered by bus bombing victims in Israel.

    A plane carrying 70 Israeli tourists in Bulgaria scheduled to fly home on Wednesday night was delayed, but arrived on Thursday.

    Seven people died in the attack, which occurred Wednesday at about 5 p.m. The dead included five Israelis, the bus driver and the suicide bomber. Names of those killed were scheduled to be announced on Thursday night after their bodies arrived in Israel.

    An airport security camera at the Sarafovo airport in Burgas revealed that the bomber was a Caucasian man with long hair and a backpack who had been wandering around the area for about an hour. He reportedly was carrying a fake Michigan driver’s license.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly accused Iran of sponsoring the attack. In a statement on Thursday, Netanyahu called on “the world’s leading powers” to recognize “that Iran is the country that stands behind this terror campaign.  Iran must be exposed by the international community as the premiere terrorist-supporting state that it is.”

    Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he had information that the attack was the joint work of the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to The Jerusalem Post.

    Iran has denied the allegations.

    Soon after the attack, Amit Kuza was taken by paramedics to a hospital in Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital. Her mother “sat on the side of the road,” unattended for two hours because she was deemed to be in stable condition, she said.

    “I had no one to talk to,” Vered Kuza said. “I didn’t even have a glass of water. They don’t know English. It was primitive.”

    Bulgarian officials told Kuza that her daughter was in Sofia and in a stable condition. But Kuza was not able to speak to her daughter until Thursday morning. Amit and the two others who had remained in Bulgaria were scheduled to arrive in Israel on Thursday evening.

    When news of the attack reached Israel, Arik Kuza, Vered’s husband, called the Foreign Ministry to find out if his wife and daughter were alive.

    “I called 50 times,” he said, standing at Vered’s bedside. “They put me on hold and I heard music. I waited for hours.”

    Lying in her hospital bed, she spoke in a calm and even tone. With her daughter scheduled to arrive in a few hours, she said she felt lucky to be alive.

    Deadly Bulgaria attack survivors recall chaos, tragedy Read More »