Knesset Member Tzvi Hendel (National Union) modified disparaging remarks he made from the Knesset podium yesterday directed at US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer. Hendel apologized from the Knesset podium today for calling Kurtzer a “little Jewboy,” explaining that he in no way intended his comments to be interpreted in an anti-Semitic vein, but in the context of the ambassador bending over backwards to be more American than necessary, despite his being an observant Jew. Hendel apologized to all those who were offended, but still lashed out at Kurtzer for his statements and blatant interference in Israel’s domestic affairs. Hendel told Arutz Sheva, \"The term I used was not necessary, but Kurtzer\'s criticism is the main point… I have received phone calls from many people including left-leaning professors who distanced themselves from my choice of words but enthusiastically-agreed with my criticism of Kurtzer.\"
Hendel was responding to a speech made by Kurtzer on January 2 in which he implied that Israel should take money away from the battle-beleaguered areas of Judea, Samaria and Gaza and transfer the funds to help the needy. Kurtzer was speaking before the Orthodox General Assembly, himself a member of an Orthodox synagogue.
He said: \"Today, there is a budget debate raging in Israel and about which I spoke publicly some days ago… Some politically strong interest groups within society have tended to dominate in the budget debate. Yesterday, for example, in Yediot Acharonot, there was an article detailing the degree to which expenditures and government grants and incentives for settlements have continued without disruption or diminution, even during these troubled days of the Israeli economy… I would suggest, however, that budget allocations - either direct or in the form of subsidies and tax incentives - fall into the same category, and thus require a religious response that seeks to direct public dollars to the poor and the unemployed, to development towns and the Israeli Arab sector, to immigrants and the disadvantaged.\"
Herut Party Chairman MK Michael Kleiner said, \"When Dan Kurtzer was U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, he never advised Mubarak to divert American aid from the purchase of weapons against Israel to helping Egypt\'s poor. Kurtzer has confused his role as ambassador and his being a Jewish Arabist - and he should be put in his place.\"
Arutz Sheva\'s Yosef Kroopnick asked Paul Patin, spokesperson for the ambassador, if Kurtzer\'s remarks don\'t indeed constitute meddling in Israel\'s internal affairs.
Kroopnick: It would be like an Israeli telling America to spend more money to help the poor, and stop spending money on defense.
Patin: In fact, the Israeli Ambassador to the US does do that all the time. It\'s his right to do it. The Israeli ambassador talks to congresspeople all the time, and he\'s constantly telling them how we should spend our money, particularly for Israel. That\'s legitimate.
Kroopnick: That\'s a foreign matter which affects Israel. This is an internal matter of Israeli politics.
Patin: The US is a significant investor in the economy and policy of Israel. We provide, I think, $2 billion per year in military assistance, that\'s money that Israel would have to find itself if it weren\'t provided by the US, and there\'s almost $1 billion …in purely economic assistance. None of this even includes US private sector investment in the Israeli economy, as well as US imports from Israel. The actual total is enormous… As a significant investor in the Israeli economy, it\'s natural and legitimate that we take an interest in how this money is allocated.
View the full text of Ambassador Kurtzer\'s speech.
In related news, the United States continues using satellites to monitor construction of Jewish homes in Yesha (Judea, Samaria & Gaza). In a recent meeting between US Ambassador Kurtzer and Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer, the ambassador presented satellite photos of new Jewish homes and requested an explanation since Israel officially informed the U.S. that there was a construction freeze. Sources in Ben-Eliezer’s office said that an in-depth investigation was underway, with the senior minister assuring Kurtzer that he would not tolerate illegal construction in Yesha areas.
Hendel was responding to a speech made by Kurtzer on January 2 in which he implied that Israel should take money away from the battle-beleaguered areas of Judea, Samaria and Gaza and transfer the funds to help the needy. Kurtzer was speaking before the Orthodox General Assembly, himself a member of an Orthodox synagogue.
He said: \"Today, there is a budget debate raging in Israel and about which I spoke publicly some days ago… Some politically strong interest groups within society have tended to dominate in the budget debate. Yesterday, for example, in Yediot Acharonot, there was an article detailing the degree to which expenditures and government grants and incentives for settlements have continued without disruption or diminution, even during these troubled days of the Israeli economy… I would suggest, however, that budget allocations - either direct or in the form of subsidies and tax incentives - fall into the same category, and thus require a religious response that seeks to direct public dollars to the poor and the unemployed, to development towns and the Israeli Arab sector, to immigrants and the disadvantaged.\"
Herut Party Chairman MK Michael Kleiner said, \"When Dan Kurtzer was U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, he never advised Mubarak to divert American aid from the purchase of weapons against Israel to helping Egypt\'s poor. Kurtzer has confused his role as ambassador and his being a Jewish Arabist - and he should be put in his place.\"
Arutz Sheva\'s Yosef Kroopnick asked Paul Patin, spokesperson for the ambassador, if Kurtzer\'s remarks don\'t indeed constitute meddling in Israel\'s internal affairs.
Kroopnick: It would be like an Israeli telling America to spend more money to help the poor, and stop spending money on defense.
Patin: In fact, the Israeli Ambassador to the US does do that all the time. It\'s his right to do it. The Israeli ambassador talks to congresspeople all the time, and he\'s constantly telling them how we should spend our money, particularly for Israel. That\'s legitimate.
Kroopnick: That\'s a foreign matter which affects Israel. This is an internal matter of Israeli politics.
Patin: The US is a significant investor in the economy and policy of Israel. We provide, I think, $2 billion per year in military assistance, that\'s money that Israel would have to find itself if it weren\'t provided by the US, and there\'s almost $1 billion …in purely economic assistance. None of this even includes US private sector investment in the Israeli economy, as well as US imports from Israel. The actual total is enormous… As a significant investor in the Israeli economy, it\'s natural and legitimate that we take an interest in how this money is allocated.
View the full text of Ambassador Kurtzer\'s speech.
In related news, the United States continues using satellites to monitor construction of Jewish homes in Yesha (Judea, Samaria & Gaza). In a recent meeting between US Ambassador Kurtzer and Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer, the ambassador presented satellite photos of new Jewish homes and requested an explanation since Israel officially informed the U.S. that there was a construction freeze. Sources in Ben-Eliezer’s office said that an in-depth investigation was underway, with the senior minister assuring Kurtzer that he would not tolerate illegal construction in Yesha areas.