Transfer Tel-Aviv

This Morning At The Western Wall
I happened to be in downtown Tel Aviv last week. The place where I was, Shenkin Street, is known in Israel for being a center of secularism-and rightfully so. Many of the youth have tattoos. I have never seen such a high concentration of people walking their dogs as on that street. Pet ownership is a phenomena of secularism in Israel-I saw many Pit-bulls and Rottweilers. One thing that I didn’t see was Arabs.
This morning I was at the Kotel (Western Wall), part of a minyan led by a well known (formerly) American Rabbi. Leaving the Old City, we passed by dozens of Arabs sitting outside of the Old City, congregating. As we walked by a group lined up on both sides of us forming a kind of Arab corridor, one of the Arab youths let out a loud, intentional shriek. Its only purpose was to startle and provoke.

Sarid’s Proposal
Former Knesset member (Meretz) and infamous “peace activist” Yossi Sarid has penned a frightening declaration of war against Jerusalem’s Jewish inhabitants.
Sarid (whose name means survivor in Hebrew) whose anti-Torah views have unfortunately been presented to generations of Israelis, starts out by attacking Orthodox Jews:

We will find out today or tomorrow whether the mouths of the rabbis that slipped the leash are also the mouths capable of reining in the bestiality. Like you, I will watch the ultra-Orthodox demonstrations – sometimes against the opening of a parking lot, sometimes in support of a yeshiva student who killed his baby or a mother who almost killed her son. And like you, I will ask, “What has happened to them, these strange Jews, who are acting like madmen? Are these the eternal people? Is this Jerusalem?

The sad irony of this statement is that it echos the sentiments of Adolf Hitler, who wrote in Mein Kampf:

There were very few Jews in Linz. In the course of centuries the Jews who lived there had become Europeanized in external appearance and were so much like other human beings that I even looked upon them as Germans. The reason why I did not then perceive the absurdity of such an illusion was that the only external mark which I recognized as distinguishing them from us was the practice of their strange religion.

Here we see what our secular European contingent in Israel things about religious Jews. The secular Jewish world has its share of crime-their proclaimed secularism doesn’t exempt them from the Torah’s commandments.
Sarid continues by expressing his disdain for Jerusalem:

I thank God I no longer live there. How terrible that place is. I think that for me, it is lost.

We thank G-d that Yossi Sarid no longer lives in our midst! No wonder this man has decided, from his bully pulpit in Tel Aviv, to declare war against the city in Israel. Here is a secular Israeli who has no respect for the history of the Jewish people and the central role of Jerusalem in Judaism and the Jewish consciousness. So how does Yossi Sarid feel about our capital?

In the holy city, I felt choked and oppressed. Is Jerusalem too holy for human beings to inhabit?

Now Sarid must choke and oppress Jerusalem and its citizens? This is the Jerusalem that has an Arab population of over 30%, as opposed to Tel Aviv-with a 5% Arab population. Perhaps Sarid felt choked by the same group of non-Jews that he claims to champion? Here is the racist hypocrisy of the secular European “intelligentsia” in Israel.
I just come back from Tel Aviv last week, with its drug dens, street-walking prostitutes, not to mention the stench of urine rising up from its dirty ragged streets. Coming up to Jerusalem, with its beautiful Jerusalem stone, rocky backdrop, and mountainous air, I am puzzled by Sarid’s next comment about Israel’s capital:

It is a poor, dirty, ugly city.

This is simply a vengeful, hateful remark. Compared to New York or other great cities, Jerusalem has a unique and unforgettable character. Tel Aviv, the home of Israel’s mafia and drug activities is quite forgettable. In fact, Sarid’s description is more fitting for Tel Aviv than Jerusalem.

Transferring Tel Aviv’s Population
The reality is that Jerusalem, Israel’s most populous city, is certainly Israel’s future. Many of the dedicated immigrants-the most capable ones-have chosen Jerusalem as their home. Jerusalem is the center of the world’s attention. Tel Aviv, the artificial mountain whose brief importance in Jewish history has now been eclipsed by Jerusalem, the envy of the world and the proud religious and political capital of the State (and Nation) of Israel.
So of what value is Tel Aviv? None. Yossi Sarid comes to the conclusion about our majestic city:

Let us hasten to divide it – not only into two cities, but into three, before we lose it forever.

I seek to the following counter proposal. Tel Aviv, home to nearly 400,000 people-most of whom are non-Arabs, could benefit Israel more by being “moved” to the territories-to Judea and Sameria. The vacated population of Tel Aviv would be replaced by the bursting Haredi (black hat) population of Bnei Barak and other ultra-religious towns. Tel Aviv would essentially be transformed into the continuation of Bnei Barak. The growing Haredi population will need to expanded into additional areas. This is a more realistic solution to the Zionist crisis in Israel today. Time is on the side of the non-”secular Jewish” population of Israel. It is time for the population of Tel Aviv to once again become relevant in the settlement of the Land of Israel. Perhaps people like Yossi Sarid will feel more useful if presented with more creative solutions to Israel’s demographic problems. The stench of urine and presence of drug addicts will be replaced by the crying of Jewish babies and tranquility of the Jewish sabbath.