Slifkin, you should be ashamed of yourself for maligning Deri. I have no doubt he has accountants and lawyers that advised him he was technically on safe ground in his reporting his income. But the fact is, the Left is out to GET him. To me the proof was that they agreed to a plea bargain. Believe me, if it was so clear cut that he cheated on one shekel of taxes they would have had his butt in jail. His original conviction years back for bribery, was also a fraud. The main witness was so unreliable and such a crook himself, that ANY court in America would have dismissed the case. The Left was out to Get him. And Slifkin, I see you don't know why they were out to get him. It is because he was GOOD, even Great at his position as Interior Minister. That's why Bibi wants him, and not just because he needs Shas. Deri is a fabulous minister, just like Netanyahu, that's why he's gone out on a limb to keep him. As for Deri reneging on the plea deal. Those who "offered" him the deal are a bunch of low-life mamzerim, to save himself, Deri fooled them, and rightfully so (Tehilim 18:27). Wouldn't you as a frum yid in the USSR, about to be put in a KGB insane asylum, put on an act to keep yourself out of such a place?
Tell me about upstanding law and order ministers on the left. Rabin was caught with foreign dollar bank accounts, something totally illegal back then; nothing happened to him except a little shame.
"That is the challenge of Judaism in the state of Israel in our time. Its place is not in party politics. , not as an arm of the state, not as a set of segregated enclaves, not as an 'adversary culture', and not as a territorial ideology. Is role is to create, shape, drive and motivate civil society. If religion is not seen by Israelis as a unifying force in society, if religious Jews are not admired for their work with the poor, the lonely and the vulnerable, if Judaism is not the voice of justice and compassion, then something is wrong in the soul of Israel. To be sure, some of this work happens already; there are admirable examples. But there is much more to be done. Judaism in Israel today has lost the prophetic instinct when it needs it most. Judaism is about society, not the state."
Blah, blah, blah. Doc, sounds like you're bored again. This is umpteenth time you've written about Deri's corruption. Here, if you want something more exciting, check this out:
I happen to agree with Natan's description that they are exchanging a bad system for a terrible system.
If you need a simple majority for anything, and the court has no control, what's stopping Lieberman from gassing all the chareidim next time he's in power? The problem is there's no good solution.
I have no idea what Deri did or did not do. But there is no question that what he said is correct. As the saying goes in America, if the FBI wants they can indict a ham sandwich. Same is true in Israel no doubt.
So I wouldn't build anything on the fact that he was found guilty for all these crimes.
Look at America for example, where every single one of Trumps friends mysteriously went to jail for tax fraud or the likes, which for some reason they never picked up on until Trump became president (Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Steve Bannon etc etc etc)
You really have no shame, do you? You fabricate a quote out of thin air, and then proceed to base an entire post on it. Deri never said "everybody does it", as you falsely misquote him in both your headline, and he never said "everybody fails to report income" either, as you again misrepresent him. Did you even bother to read the article you linked to? A guy has to be a fool to believe anything from you.
There’s a soft antizionism underlying such comments. Endemic fraud on the public purse and tax avoidance are partly the result of ambivalence about the state itself.
Small quibble: I don’t think he was saying that everyone does what he actually did. He was misrepresenting what he did as a small underreporting of income or somesuch, so that people would imagine that the prosecution was political because many others do the same.
The income tax is legalized theft. The only problem I have here is that a lawmaker who has no problem robbing the public to pay for his government programs, has the audacity to not contribute himself.
Watching the commenters grapple with the proposed changes in the Israeli judicial system, a nagging question resounds in my mind: why must it be an all-or-nothing proposition? Why must we choose between a dystopian banana republic where the judiciary is a puppet of the leftist elite, or a bleak banana republic where the judiciary has been stripped of all its powers and is reduced to a mere bystander? Is it not possible to craft a more nuanced and sophisticated system that can strike a delicate balance between these extremes?
One possible model that comes to mind is the US judicial system, which is built on the foundation of checks and balances. In this model, the judiciary serves as a powerful counterweight to the legislative and executive branches, providing a much-needed check on their excesses and abuses of power. The judicial branch acts as a bulwark of the rule of law, ensuring that the rights and freedoms of citizens are protected, and that the government operates within the bounds of the constitution.
Of course, the US system is not without its flaws and imperfections. There are valid criticisms of the role of money in politics and the influence of powerful interest groups in shaping judicial appointments and decisions. However, these flaws do not detract from the fundamental strength of the US system, which is its ability to balance the competing interests of different branches of government and uphold the rule of law.
In contrast, the proposed changes to the Israeli judicial system threaten to upend this delicate balance and tilt the scales too far in one direction. If implemented, these changes could undermine the independence and integrity of the judiciary, which is a cornerstone of any functioning democracy. It is imperative that we resist the urge to pursue short-term political gains at the expense of the long-term health of our democratic institutions.
I don't know anyone who would pay anything to the government, if he could help it. The government officials and rabbinical leaders should be doing so for obvious reasons, but they often don't. Nothing new or different from the DL, MO or chilonim here. Same goes for sex abuse and other vices which are genetic and distributed among population.
Was it only a few weeks ago that Deri was serving as the active PM in a temporary status? I don’t know how many politicians in Israel are qualified to do that, but evidently he seems to be an effective one.
The sad fact is that many people do not report income and many who have no choice because they are on salary wish they could. "The Marker" estimates it at 40%. This includes appliance technicians, teachers who give private lessons, and doctors who have all kinds of tricks. People justify it by saying that the state uses the money for all kinds of doubtful purposes , such as soccer on Shabbat (or at all )? Is doing what so many do or wish they coulkd a chillul Hashem.
Slifkin, you should be ashamed of yourself for maligning Deri. I have no doubt he has accountants and lawyers that advised him he was technically on safe ground in his reporting his income. But the fact is, the Left is out to GET him. To me the proof was that they agreed to a plea bargain. Believe me, if it was so clear cut that he cheated on one shekel of taxes they would have had his butt in jail. His original conviction years back for bribery, was also a fraud. The main witness was so unreliable and such a crook himself, that ANY court in America would have dismissed the case. The Left was out to Get him. And Slifkin, I see you don't know why they were out to get him. It is because he was GOOD, even Great at his position as Interior Minister. That's why Bibi wants him, and not just because he needs Shas. Deri is a fabulous minister, just like Netanyahu, that's why he's gone out on a limb to keep him. As for Deri reneging on the plea deal. Those who "offered" him the deal are a bunch of low-life mamzerim, to save himself, Deri fooled them, and rightfully so (Tehilim 18:27). Wouldn't you as a frum yid in the USSR, about to be put in a KGB insane asylum, put on an act to keep yourself out of such a place?
Tell me about upstanding law and order ministers on the left. Rabin was caught with foreign dollar bank accounts, something totally illegal back then; nothing happened to him except a little shame.
We should remember what Rabbi Sacks z"l wrote:
"That is the challenge of Judaism in the state of Israel in our time. Its place is not in party politics. , not as an arm of the state, not as a set of segregated enclaves, not as an 'adversary culture', and not as a territorial ideology. Is role is to create, shape, drive and motivate civil society. If religion is not seen by Israelis as a unifying force in society, if religious Jews are not admired for their work with the poor, the lonely and the vulnerable, if Judaism is not the voice of justice and compassion, then something is wrong in the soul of Israel. To be sure, some of this work happens already; there are admirable examples. But there is much more to be done. Judaism in Israel today has lost the prophetic instinct when it needs it most. Judaism is about society, not the state."
Future Tense : from the chapter "A New Zionism"
it's entirely unremarkable that a scoundrel like Deri sees nothing wrong with what he does
The lack of public condemnation from the Charedi circles is far more disturbing.
Blah, blah, blah. Doc, sounds like you're bored again. This is umpteenth time you've written about Deri's corruption. Here, if you want something more exciting, check this out:
https://irrationalistmodoxism.substack.com/p/natan-and-the-cavemen
Or, if you want something in the Adar spirit, try this one:
https://irrationalistmodoxism.substack.com/p/a-halakhic-endorsement-of-coed-schools
Why is it that the excuse everybody does it only applies to financial crimes.
Why not use it for chillul shobbos or treif
I happen to agree with Natan's description that they are exchanging a bad system for a terrible system.
If you need a simple majority for anything, and the court has no control, what's stopping Lieberman from gassing all the chareidim next time he's in power? The problem is there's no good solution.
I have no idea what Deri did or did not do. But there is no question that what he said is correct. As the saying goes in America, if the FBI wants they can indict a ham sandwich. Same is true in Israel no doubt.
So I wouldn't build anything on the fact that he was found guilty for all these crimes.
Look at America for example, where every single one of Trumps friends mysteriously went to jail for tax fraud or the likes, which for some reason they never picked up on until Trump became president (Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Steve Bannon etc etc etc)
You really have no shame, do you? You fabricate a quote out of thin air, and then proceed to base an entire post on it. Deri never said "everybody does it", as you falsely misquote him in both your headline, and he never said "everybody fails to report income" either, as you again misrepresent him. Did you even bother to read the article you linked to? A guy has to be a fool to believe anything from you.
There’s a soft antizionism underlying such comments. Endemic fraud on the public purse and tax avoidance are partly the result of ambivalence about the state itself.
Small quibble: I don’t think he was saying that everyone does what he actually did. He was misrepresenting what he did as a small underreporting of income or somesuch, so that people would imagine that the prosecution was political because many others do the same.
The income tax is legalized theft. The only problem I have here is that a lawmaker who has no problem robbing the public to pay for his government programs, has the audacity to not contribute himself.
Watching the commenters grapple with the proposed changes in the Israeli judicial system, a nagging question resounds in my mind: why must it be an all-or-nothing proposition? Why must we choose between a dystopian banana republic where the judiciary is a puppet of the leftist elite, or a bleak banana republic where the judiciary has been stripped of all its powers and is reduced to a mere bystander? Is it not possible to craft a more nuanced and sophisticated system that can strike a delicate balance between these extremes?
One possible model that comes to mind is the US judicial system, which is built on the foundation of checks and balances. In this model, the judiciary serves as a powerful counterweight to the legislative and executive branches, providing a much-needed check on their excesses and abuses of power. The judicial branch acts as a bulwark of the rule of law, ensuring that the rights and freedoms of citizens are protected, and that the government operates within the bounds of the constitution.
Of course, the US system is not without its flaws and imperfections. There are valid criticisms of the role of money in politics and the influence of powerful interest groups in shaping judicial appointments and decisions. However, these flaws do not detract from the fundamental strength of the US system, which is its ability to balance the competing interests of different branches of government and uphold the rule of law.
In contrast, the proposed changes to the Israeli judicial system threaten to upend this delicate balance and tilt the scales too far in one direction. If implemented, these changes could undermine the independence and integrity of the judiciary, which is a cornerstone of any functioning democracy. It is imperative that we resist the urge to pursue short-term political gains at the expense of the long-term health of our democratic institutions.
I don't know anyone who would pay anything to the government, if he could help it. The government officials and rabbinical leaders should be doing so for obvious reasons, but they often don't. Nothing new or different from the DL, MO or chilonim here. Same goes for sex abuse and other vices which are genetic and distributed among population.
Was it only a few weeks ago that Deri was serving as the active PM in a temporary status? I don’t know how many politicians in Israel are qualified to do that, but evidently he seems to be an effective one.
The sad fact is that many people do not report income and many who have no choice because they are on salary wish they could. "The Marker" estimates it at 40%. This includes appliance technicians, teachers who give private lessons, and doctors who have all kinds of tricks. People justify it by saying that the state uses the money for all kinds of doubtful purposes , such as soccer on Shabbat (or at all )? Is doing what so many do or wish they coulkd a chillul Hashem.
A few points.
1. He did not renege on his plea deal. The Attorney General at that time stated that leaving politics was NOT part of the plea deal.
2. The attorney general also stated that the 6 year investigation was way too long and was עינוי הדין.