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Jewish Journal

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May 3, 2020

If You Hate Flying Now, Just Wait

Leave a Comment / Columnists, Commentary, David Suissa, Editor's Note, Opinion /

Everyone’s got an opinion on what the post-Corona world will look like. What will the economy look like? Which businesses will remain and how will they adapt? How will our work lives and social and communal lives change?

Most of us agree it will be a different world; we’re just fuzzy on the details.

There’s one detail, however, that I feel pretty confident about: We’re going to hate going to airports.

If you think flying is a schlepp now, wait until you see what our nervous airlines and transport authorities have in store for us.

Remember how annoying it was to adjust to the post-9/11 world of flying, with endless lines and security checks and the humiliation of having your skin cream confiscated because it was more than 3.4 ounces?

That was a picnic.

In these pandemic times, “safety first” has gone from a cliché parents utter at children’s playgrounds to the mantra of an era.

“The impact of COVID-19 on air travel will be even more far-reaching,” says airline consultant Shashank Nigam, CEO and founder of SimpliFlying, in a blog post.

He’s not kidding. In a report titled, “The Rise of Sanitized Travel—70 areas of the Passenger Journey Set to Change Forever,” Nigam’s website lays out a future for air travel that might as well be called “The Biggest Schlepp.”

I won’t list all 70 areas, but to give you an idea, here are seven highlights of the report from the excellent Morning Brew newsletter:

  1. Online check-in: Besides choosing their seat or paying for checked bags, passengers might also need to upload a document to confirm the presence of COVID-19 antibodies before they fly.
  2. Airport curbside: Passengers could be required to arrive at least four hours ahead of their flight and pass through a “disinfection tunnel” or thermal scanner to check their temperature before being allowed to enter the airport.
  3. Check-in and bag drop: New touchless kiosks would allow passengers to check in by scanning a barcode, or using gestures or voice commands. Agents would be behind plexiglass shields, and bags would be disinfected and then “sanitagged.”
  4. Health check: Passengers would undergo a health screening, and potentially even have their blood tested. In April, Emirates became the first airline to conduct rapid on-site COVID-19 testing of passengers before boarding.
  5. Security: Each carry-on bag and security bin would be disinfected when entering the X-ray machine, using fogging or UV-ray techniques, then “sanitagged.”
  6. Boarding: Passengers would need to be present an hour before departure, maintain social distancing in the gate area and board only when they receive individual notifications on their smartphones to prevent crowding in the jet bridge.
  7. On the plane: The pre-flight safety video might include sanitation procedures, as passengers wipe down their seats and tray tables. In-flight magazines will be removed, seatback pockets emptied, and passengers will likely use their own devices to watch videos. An in-flight janitor might keep lavatories and other high-touch areas disinfected after passenger use.

Get the picture? The “friendly skies” of a COVID-19 world will be neither friendly nor pretty.

Of course, it’s not as if the authorities and companies have much choice. In these pandemic times, “safety first” has gone from a cliché parents utter at children’s playgrounds to the mantra of an era.

When you’re dealing with a lethal virus that can pop up anywhere and can break out anytime, and you’re trying to bring “safety first” to crowded public spaces like airports and airplanes, extreme levels of precautions become the norm.

Before booking flights, we will ask ourselves: Do I absolutely need to go on this trip?

Just as we paid a high “schlepping price” for the safety measures implemented after 9/11, we’ll be asked to pay an even higher price in the world of the coronavirus.

It’ll come down to one question: Is the hassle worth it?

Before booking flights, we will ask ourselves: Do I absolutely need to go on this trip? Can I do the business on Zoom? Can I visit family or friends fewer times? Can I take the car or train?

In other words: Can I do without this flight?

As someone who’s hooked on visiting Israel about twice a year, this is not happy news.

But “not happy news” is our new normal. We can look for all the silver linings and hidden blessings in the world — and yes, there are several — but in so many areas of our lives, this crisis is forcing us to confront grim realities.

In the first phase of the crisis, the fear of being infected has dominated. We’re now approaching a second phase, when we’ll fear losing some of the freedoms and conveniences we’ve long taken for granted.

Flying around the country and the globe is certainly one of those conveniences. At least for the foreseeable future, in this new safety-obsessed world we are entering, the option of staying put in our own towns may become more appealing.

Instead of schlepping through airports, we’ll do more schlepping on freeways.

If You Hate Flying Now, Just Wait Read More »

Hospital Workers Flood Suicide Crisis Line With Coronavirus-Related Calls

Leave a Comment / Culture, News /

Dr. Lorna M. Breen, an emergency room doctor in New York who had been treating COVID-19 patients, died by suicide on April 26. While there has been a lot of discussion around the enormous stress and feelings of fear that have been brought on by the pandemic, Dr. Breen’s death has shone an even stronger light on those who are dealing with thoughts of suicide and self-harm.

Here, in Los Angeles, Carolyn Levitan, the crisis line director at Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services’ Suicide Prevention Center, can attest to that. She told the Journal since the outbreak of the coronavirus, she has seen an increase in the number of calls from people seeking emotional support.

Levitan said of her organization’s 70 staff members and 215 volunteers, “We’re anticipating an increase in calls as these consequences are felt for a longer period of time.” She added that over the past few weeks, Didi Hirsch has fielded 1,800 COVID-related calls. Of those, 43% have been about anxiety or stress related to health concerns, job loss, evictions, purchasing food and relationship problems. 

Callers have included first responders and hospital workers, the elderly and stressed-out parents, she said. “I can’t think of one group it hasn’t impacted, honestly,” Levitan said, including Did Hirsch’s own staff and volunteers. Prior to the virus outbreak, employees and volunteers took calls out of one of Didi Hirsch’s several locations across the city and had each other to lean on after a particularly difficult phone call. 

Now working remotely, taking calls from their own homes, Didi Hirsch staff and volunteers are missing the support they once had from each other, Levitan said. 

The organization has tried to tackle this challenge by holding virtual gatherings for the team along with other online social activities.

“For everyone to be spread out and in their own homes is unique for us, and it’s harder to get support,” Levitan said. “There are things we can do to maintain community and belonging among our staff and volunteers and we’ve had to think outside the box.”

While Didi Hirsch is not an explicitly Jewish organization, Chabad, the Jewish outreach organization, participated in a suicide prevention training with the organization a couple of months ago. 

“Chabad is recognizing suicide is an issue all people deal with, no matter what group you are part of,” Levitan said. “They are starting to address that and provide support to people in their community.”

Didi Hirsch is currently seeking new volunteers. You must be over 21, willing to make a commitment to the work, have a capacity for empathy and do not associate any stigma with mental health issues. More information is available at didihirsch.org.

Crisis counselors are available 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week at (800) 273-8255. 

Hospital Workers Flood Suicide Crisis Line With Coronavirus-Related Calls Read More »

Saudi Arabian TV Series That Portrays Jews Positively Draws Ire in Arab World

Leave a Comment / News, Worldwide /

A Ramadan TV series aired by the private Saudi-owned satellite channel MBC that shows Jews in a positive light has drawn the ire of some in the Arab world, who say it promotes normalization with Israel at a time when Israel is planning to annex parts of the West Bank.

The show, “Umm Haroun” (“The Mother of Aaron”), portrays a Jewish community in the Gulf at the time Israel was founded, according to an AP report published on Sunday.

“I wanted to write this drama to deliver the message that our societies were much more tolerant than they are today, and people should go back to the same values,” Ali Shams, the show’s head writer, told the AP. However, he added that “we differentiate between Jews and Israel. Israel occupied Palestine and committed atrocities against the Palestinian people.”

“I wanted to write this drama to deliver the message that our societies were much more tolerant than they are today, and people should go back to the same values,” Ali Shams, the show’s head writer, told the AP.

Producer Emad al-Enazy said the show was developed by MBC, Kuwaiti and UAE production companies, with no government involvement. The show, he said, had nothing to do with normalization.

“Our work has nothing to do with politics or normalization. The Palestinian cause is our cause,” he said, according to the report.

The Zionist movement and the formation of the Israeli state led to the persecution of Jewish communities throughout the Muslim world, with many emigrating to Israel or other countries as a result.

Israeli relations with the Gulf states have grown stronger as the threat from Iran and its allies has increased. Media in the Arab world is strictly controlled by authoritarian rulers.

Another Saudi-made show, called Exit 7, has also sparked controversy. In one clip, according to the report, two characters debate the Palestinian situation, with one defending them and the other saying he would be happy to do business with Israel and accusing the Palestinians of being ungrateful for Saudi aid and saying they would attack the country if they could.

There have been calls online to boycott the MBC channel over the new shows, while Cairo-based Union of Arab Television Producers called for them to be canceled.

Saudi Arabian TV Series That Portrays Jews Positively Draws Ire in Arab World Read More »

Despite Coronavirus, Jews’ Bodies Still Being Flown to Israel for Burial

Leave a Comment / Israel /

Despite the coronavirus outbreak and almost the complete shutdown of international travel to Israel, deceased Jews from around the world continue to be flown to Israel for burial.

“The Land of Israel is a very special place for Jewish people to be buried. The flights have been reduced heavily, but there are cargo flights. So it may take a bit longer, but we are getting people coming in,” said Rabbi Michoel Fletcher, who works with Jews abroad seeking to buy burial plots in Israel, The AP reported on Saturday.’

Fletcher said some in New York have decided to temporarily bury their dead in the United States, and then later exhume the bodies when flights to Israel resume.

Jews have sought to be buried in Israel for thousands of years and continue to be flown in by private charter planes, cargo flights and other companies. A burial plot can cost from between a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the cemetery.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said 300 bodies, some of COVID-19 victims, have arrived since February, according to the report. The process is complex and involves handling companies, local Israeli consulates, and the Israeli Health Ministry.

An unidentified Israeli aviation official told the AP that a cargo flight that arrives in Israel from Belgium five times a week brings in about 20 bodies a flight—“an exceptional amount.” Most of the bodies come from France, and there is also a weekly cargo flight from New York, the official said.

Despite Coronavirus, Jews’ Bodies Still Being Flown to Israel for Burial Read More »

Israeli Kids Head Back to Class as Schools Cautiously Reopen

Leave a Comment / Israel, News /

After more than six weeks in home isolation, hundreds of thousands of Israeli children returned to school on Sunday morning, under strict COVID-19 regulations. Following heated debates last week between health officials, the Education Ministry and the Treasury, the government reached a final decision over the weekend that grades 1-3 and 11-12 would resume classroom activities. There are currently 493,933 in the former category and 200,000 in the latter.

An additional 80,000 special-education students joined the 60,000 who returned to school earlier this month; and 127,000 pupils (grades 7-12) in the ultra-Orthodox community also resumed their studies.•

According to Israeli media outlets, 20 percent of local authorities—including those in Tel Aviv and Be’er Sheva—announced that they were not prepared to reopen schools due to the strict measures required for the move. While the vast majority consented to the directive, many parents also expressed reservations about the potential health risks involved and said that they would not comply.

Nevertheless, parents and children wearing surgical masks and adhering to the two-meter (six feet) social distancing rule lined up at 8 a.m. outside schools across the country to undergo a strict registration process, which included their signing of a health affidavit and having their temperatures taken. Each pupil was given a colored wristband corresponding to a designated, pre-fumigated classroom. Since regulations forbid more than 15 pupils in a single class, half of the students were assigned new teachers and different rooms.

As of Sunday morning, Israel’s COVID-19 death toll stood at 230, out of 16,193 total confirmed cases of infection. According to the Israeli Health Ministry, 103 people are in serious condition, 82 of whom require ventilator support.

Israeli Kids Head Back to Class as Schools Cautiously Reopen Read More »

Can Netanyahu Legally Be Prime Minister?

Leave a Comment / Israel, Opinion, Rosner's Domain /

Israel’s Supreme Court convened Sunday morning to discuss whether the president can ask an indicted person to form a government.

The law specifically states that a person can serve as prime minister under indictment. Previous court decisions forbade a person under indictment to serve as a minister. The result of a judicial decision that prevents such person from forming a government is obvious: a fourth election. So, this is a highly charged question — legally, politically and socially, because the court’s activism is a hotly debated issue.

Eleven justices convened to hear the arguments for and against letting the prime minister continuing to serve. The session was broadcast live, and the notes below are written at the end of a long day of watching the proceedings.

  1. What’s good for Netanyahu?

The bottom line is: if the court lets Benjamin Netanyahu form a government, Netanyahu wins. If the court doesn’t let him form a government, he probably still wins. In the latter case, Israel has another election, and judging from the polls, Netanyahu has every reason to assume that he will win handily. His next move will then be to enact a new law that annuls the court’s decision.

Netanyahu has two options for winning. The first allows him to remain as prime minister at the head of a wide and incoherent coalition. The second gives him a chance to get his coveted majority of right-wing-religious parties, but he runs the risk of not winning the next election.

  1. What’s the legal argument against Netanyahu?

In the 90s, the court ruled that a prime minister must dismiss a minister when the minister is indicted. In the same way, the court can forbid the president from asking an indicted Member of Knesset to form a government. According to this argument, the fact that this MK currently serves as prime minister is irrelevant.

  1. What’s the legal argument for Netanyahu?

Ministers can be dismissed by the prime minister. Dismissing the prime minister is something that only the parliament can do. This is one of the core principles of Israel’s political system.

Since the majority in parliament wants Netanyahu to be prime minister, the court must not intervene. Moreover, the Knesset specifically determined that a prime minister can serve under indictment. Hence, it is clear that the Knesset had no intention of making an indictment of a prime minister a cause for termination of his term.

  1. The Knesset’s role

Can the MK’s vote for an indicted MK to become prime minister? One of the arguments against such idea was as follows: The MK’s vote for Netanyahu follows a preceding agreement — the coalition agreement. If the coalition agreement is illegal, then what the MK’s do by following it (supporting Netanyahu) is void. This raises the question: Is the coalition agreement illegal? The plaintiffs say yes. The court will hear their arguments on this issue tomorrow (Monday).

  1. The president’s role

An intervention by the court could target both the Knesset and the president. It could restrict the ability of MK’s to elect the prime minister they deem fit. It could also chain the president by mandating that his ability to choose which MK gets the mandate to form a government is limited to a person not under indictment. That is, even when the president knows that such restriction means a failure to form a government.

And remember, there is no specific law mandating that the president cannot ask Netanyahu (or any other indicted Member of Knesset) to form a government. If the court makes such decision, its critics will say that this is a clear case of “legislating from the bench.”

  1. Legislating from the bench

The critics were unhappy with the court’s decision to consider the case. They were worried that the court intends to legislate from the bench because that is what happened when the court forced Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to dismiss the indicted Minister Aryeh Deri and the indicted Deputy Minister Raphael Pinchasi from their positions. There was no law then that a minister could not serve under indictment. The court created this law. Some of the plaintiffs in the Netanyahu case made a similar plea. They argued that the court must fill a legislative vacuum and design a norm according to which an indicted MK cannot be prime minister.

Rabin was not pleased with the decision against him. He thought that the court overstepped its mandate. Today, some of those pretending to be Rabin’s heirs asked the court to decide in the same way that made Rabin unhappy.

  1. Consistency and politics

The justices might be too eager to educate and restrain the politicians, but they are not dumb. One of the things they do efficiently is expose the many inconsistencies in the positions of both supporters and opponents of Netanyahu.

Example: The legal counsel for Netanyahu did not have a good answer to the question of what happens if the current Knesset decides to legislate that Netanyahu cannot form a government.

On the one hand, the prime minister argues for the supremacy of the Knesset (when it decides to vote for Netanyahu’s government). On the other hand he is likely to argue that the Knesset cannot change the law after an election under a certain assumption (if it decides to currently change the law to forbid Netanyahu from forming a government). On the other other hand he also must argue (when the next case comes before the court, tomorrow) that the Knesset can change a basic law even though an election were held under a certain assumption. He must argue for it, because the agreement on which the next coalition is based necessitates a change in basic laws (to appoint the newly created “alternate Prime Minister.”)

  1. Let’s just admit it

The question before the court is a highly charged political question and hence consistency is rare. What Netanyahu says today (as the slated prime minister) is the opposite of what he demanded when he was the head of the opposition (and Ehud Olmert was prime minister). In the same way, Netanyahu’s rivals, who just two weeks ago cried foul when the Speaker of the Knesset did not let the majority have its way and elected Benny Gantz to be the new speaker, now cry foul when the majority wants to have its way and elect Netanyahu as prime minister.

  1. What will the court decide?

I don’t know. Luckily, it must decide quickly. If there is no decision and no political progress by Thursday, Israel will be forced into a fourth election.

But like everyone else, I have my own view and I share it not because I consider it especially important, but because of my awareness that no matter how hard I try to be impartial my personal view probably colors the way I write about this issue.

My view is that the court must let the legislative branch play its role and vote for the prime minister of its choice, unless such vote contradicts a clear law. I am not convinced that there is such law.

More on this issue

Indictment: Seven Comments on the Indictment of Netanyahu

Podcast: Dr. Ido Baum: Understanding the cases against Netanyahu

Can Netanyahu Legally Be Prime Minister? Read More »