Ami on the Move: Open Anti-Semitism At UNC And Duke Conference
Ami on the Move: Open Anti-Semitism At UNC And Duke Conference
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April 13, 2019
Beresheet 2 Project to Launch Immediately, SpaceIL Chair Says
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Beresheet 2 project will launch effective immediately, SpaceIL chairman Morris Kahn announced on Saturday evening.
In a statement posted on Facebook in both English and Hebrew, the South African born billionaire said: “We are going to actually put a new spacecraft on the moon and we are going to complete the mission.”
He announced that a task force would meet on Sunday to start setting the plan in motion.
He added in the Hebrew announcement: “As for my message for all the youngsters – if it doesn’t work at first, stand up, and complete it. And this is what I’m doing, and what I wanted to tell you this evening.”
Kahn, who gave a large amount of the $100 million required for the Beresheet moonshot, added on Channel 12’s “Meet the Press” on Saturday night that “We started something and we need to finish it. We’ll put our flag on the moon.”
His announcement comes less than two days after the Israeli spacecraft Beresheet crashed into the surface of the moon after a six-week journey.
SpaceIL said in a statement on Friday that “a technical glitch in one of Beresheet’s components triggered the chain of events” that led to its crash on Thursday night.
“Israel Aerospace Industries, together with SpaceIL, built the first Israeli spacecraft, Beresheet, which succeeded in traveling 400,000 kilometers (248,548.5 miles) from Israel until it touched the moon,” said
Harel Locker, chairman of Israel Aerospace Industries, which together with SpaceIL built the Beresheet spacecraft, said in a statement that the fact that Beresheet traveled 248,548.5 miles from Israel until it touched the moon “is a tremendous technological achievement for the State of Israel, which is now among only seven superpowers who have reached this close to the moon. This project lasted eight years and contributed significantly to the Israeli space industry, which today became one of the leading space industries in the world. Space travel is infinite, exciting, and inspirational.”
The spacecraft was developed in response to the Google Lunar X Prize competition, which challenged nongovernmental groups to land a spacecraft on the moon. That challenge finished last year, without a winner of the $30 million prize.
But the prize committee on Friday announced that it would award SpaceIL a $1 million “Moonshot Award” for its achievements.
“SpaceIL’s mission not only touched the Moon, it touched the lives and hearts of an entire world that was watching,” said XPRIZE founder and executive chairman Peter Diamandis.
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Bibi and Gantz Should Put Their Country First and Unite
If there’s one thing that has done significant damage to Israel, it is a parliamentary system that gives inordinate power to small, extremist parties which don’t represent the Israeli mainstream. Because the electorate has been so fragmented, larger parties have been forced to hook up with smaller parties who wouldn’t mind, for example, turning Israel into a theocracy or annexing the West Bank tomorrow.
In return for their valuable seats, these parties extract concessions that lead to divisive policies which alienate much of the Diaspora, not to mention many Israelis.
The good news is that with the results of the April 9 elections, these extremist parties can go where they belong—out of power.
For one of the rare times in Israel’s recent history, two parties—Likud and Blue and White—have garnered a significant majority of 70 seats, with each party gaining 35 seats.
For the good of Israel, these two parties must unite.
While there are members of Likud that many would consider extremist, they’re still better than the alternatives. Moreover, in a coalition with a centrist party like Blue and White that would garner the support of the majority of Israelis, extremist impulses are more likely to be tempered.
Under the right-wing-religious coalitions of recent years, the opposite has happened. Instead of tempering their extremist impulses, the smaller parties have flaunted them. They’ve had so much power for so long they now expect to get their way.
Having these kinds of coalitions which reject so much of the Israeli mainstream is corrosive to democracy. The Israelis who voted for two parties and 70 Knesset seats are the new Israeli mainstream, and their collective voice must be heard.
Over the next few weeks, as the traditional coalition horse trading will dominate the news, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz have an opportunity to do something extraordinary— they can unite and take their country in a healthier direction. They can put the interest of Israel first.
Yes, it will take an enormous effort to swallow egos, bury hatchets and negotiate compromises. The looming indictment of Netanyahu further complicates the picture. But if a center-right coalition that has the support of most Israelis and can lead to more reasonable policies is not worth the effort, nothing is.
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