Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem Blog

In addition to my work as a business coach, one of my interests is blogging about life in Israel. This is a country full of contrasts – over eight million citizens living in an area the size of Wales. You can see snow and the lowest place on the globe in the same day. Although surrounded by geopolitical extremes, Israel has achieved a decade of high economic growth. My work brings me in contact with an array of new companies, exciting technologies and dynamic characters. Sitting back with a relaxing cup of strong tea (with milk), you realise just how much there is to appreciate in the Holyland. Large or small operations, private sector or non profit, my clients provide experiences from which others can learn and benefit.

It is now official. Israel’s economy is growing at its slowest rate for five years. A 1.5% boost for the second quarter 2014 has been seen as a poor return, when analysts had been predicting a report of around 2.5%.

Compared to much of the OCED, this growth level seems very reasonable. However, the stat barely covers the growth in population. It also includes the boost from the new wealth of off-shore energy resources, implying that other sectors are performing poorly. Israelis are used to benefitting form 4% annually returns. So, is it all doom and gloom?

Well the answer is no. Let me point out three high-tech successes in recent weeks that indicate why the economy is very likely to see better days in 2015.

  • The startup Fitterli, a service that provides an online virtual changing room for shoppers, was announced as the winner of the Intel Business Challenge Europe 2014.
  • ReWalk Robotics RWLK that manufactures motorized wearable robotic exoskeletons which are used to help those who are paralyzed  from the waist down regain mobilityday, saw their shares more than double in days, following an IPO in America.
  • Israeli cyber solutions are seen amongst the leaders in an increasingly dynamic global market.

It cannot be an accident that three of Israel’s universities – Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa – have been placed amongst the world’s top two hundred establishments. This is how Israel builds its future – based on a greater understanding of new cultures and ethics – and this is what these three high tech examples are portraying to the wider  international community.

 

So after much prelaunch hype and speculation, Apple’s new iphone and watch has hit the market. Lots of cool new features for the geeks to swoon over. But where did they all come from?

The bottom line is that outside America, Apple’s largest r&d centre is in Israel, operating in the Holy Land since 2011. In fact from the beginning of 2014, the operations have been ramped up even further with an additional 12,500 sq meters in Herzylia, just past north Tel Aviv. We are probably talking of around 800 employees in total.

The importance of Israel to Apple can be seen in so many different ways. Co-founder, Steve Wozniak, paid a high-profile visit to the country during the midst of the recent war with Gaza. A sales center has been opened up. And Apple CEO, Tim Cook, met up with Prime Minister back in March this year.

As for the latest round of Apple goodies for its global clientele, well the Israeli brain will be right there, on everyone’s mobile and now even sitting on their wrist.  How so? Well Haifa-born Israeli-Arab Johny Srouji is now VP of Hardware Technologies. And it is widely understood that the Ra’anana plant has supplied much communications tech in the watch.

It certainly seems that Israel tech will have a welcome place in the homes and offices of billions around the globe.

The movement to boycott, divest and sanction (BDS) the Israeli economy has recorded several triumphs in recent weeks. Protesters have tried to block Israeli ships docking in America and halt British purchases of military equipment. However, the truth is that apart from isolated case studies, the noise has yet to convert into any tangible negative impact on the Israeli economy.

So is it possible to take BDS to a new level, even with some help from the Israelis themselves? Consider for one bizarre moment what would happen if Israel was to embrace BDS, either because global opinion forced it to do so or out of some sort of revenge.

Well, one of the first acts is that Israel would no longer be allowed to support the shekel ‘overseas’ in places like Gaza, where it is the official currency. I assume that Gaza’s banks would default immediately and the savings of two million people would be wiped out overnight.

Similarly, Israel could no longer sell gas to Jordan, where vast swathes of the population are connected to core Palestinian history. As the Financial Times put it, the US$15 billion deal with Israel is supposed to ease an energy crunch for the Hashemite kingdom, whose economy is already struggling. Well, imagine who might control Jordan if there was to be a power struggle?

Within the Holy Land, Israel would be forced to cease investing in Arab vicinities. For example, earlier this week, the Jerusalem Municipality announced approval for “a new development plan for the Arab al-Sawahra neighborhood that will help bridge gaps in eastern Jerusalem. This will include the construction of 2,200 residential units and the addition of public spaces for the benefit of residents.” This, promoting the incubator in Nazareth, providing the infrastructure for the new Palestinian city of Rawabi and a slurry of other on-going investments in the Arab sector would move straight to the rubbish heap.

Israeli compliance with BDS would also impact on the medical sector. For example, 11 of the world’s leading innovations in wound care have emerged from Israel in the past few years. This includes the first aid item that saved the life of Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords, after she had been shot. Under such new rules, these capabilities would not be available to those who demand boycott compliance. (Similarly, neither would a US$7 stick that would control the whole of a computer’s operating system.)

As an economist, I know that my ‘theory’ has little practical substance. However, I believe that by turning the story of BDS on its head, I have drawn out the maliciousness of its basic premise.

Promoters of Israeli advocacy are eloquent at pointing out how Israeli tech can be found in Intel computers, mobile phones, water purification plants, bank security and much more. In other words, Israeli brain power improves the lives of billions around the globe at any given moment.

The logic of this argument is that champions of BDS know that they cannot truly invoke a full global boycott. Therefore, BDS is aimed at something far more sinister, which commences at the denigration of the Jewish State, and sinks into further sinister hatred. As Mick Davis argued in the British newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, BDS is another form of anti-semitism, dressed up in politically-correct Newspeak to make it look, feel and sound acceptable.

And how do we know that? Because, as explained here, BDS will hurt those very people it is designed (purportedly) to help. Thus, overriding anything else, the true prime aim of BDS is evidently the elimination of the Jewish State.

Name the country. Name the time in history. For thousands of years, we humans have been complaining about our bosses, who are unfair to us.

The senior supervisor shouts, gives out contradictory messages, works on unrealistic timelines, demands impossible work hours, and – worst of all – never listens. Clearly, the environment becomes depressing, for yourself and your colleagues. With little avenue for redress and even less opportunities for alternative employment, you become stuck. Life sucks and it begins to impinge on how you feel outside work.

I have been put this question recently by a couple of clients. What can be done?

Each situation is different. That said, there are some ‘rules of thumb’ that can be applied.

First, usually you cannot change the supervisor. That is not in your control. And usually, they are acting out on you because of their own internal stresses. I recall one boss of mine in the public sector from years ago, who would bellow at his staff. Awful. Most of us believed (with no proof) that his wife was half his size and gave him a rough time at home.

Second, it is often the case that the supervisor has a boss, who is not interested in hearing about complaints. If the job is done (well, better than before, or just keeps it away form the next echelon), they do not care.  Neither is there likely to be a collective threat with other colleagues. So no hope on both of these fronts.

I propose a different route, where you focus on…………yourself.

What do I mean? There is an old motto from the cub scouts: “do your best“. Be professional. Ensure that whatever you prepare and carry out has been double checked. Think out of the box. Look good. Smile. Be proud of yourself.

All of these actions are in your control. All of these issues are the opposite of what the supervisor is trying to make you feel. And no matter how much they regale you with their fury, they cannot take away from any of these points.

And will they continue to belittle your work? Maybe, but then you will know it is simply a lie. You should be able to smile back and walk tall. The supervisor will be annoyed, but stumped. And you will have finally started to manage your own boss.

Israel’s economy has recorded an average annual growth rate of about 4% since the trough of 2002. So this week’s announcement that GDP had dipped to 1.7% – which after allowing for population changes means zero change in reality – is a real shocker. The concern has led the Bank of Israel to slice unexpectedly its interest rate down to a historic low of 0.25%.

Many analysts are questioning if the bubble has burst.

The Economist has focused on the damage caused by a strong shekel and its impact on exports. The BBC has examined how the war with Gaza is devastated parts of Israel’s blossoming tourism sector. There was always going to be a tremendous strain juggling the demands on the 2015 budget,  as the Minister of Finance is refusing to raise taxes (for now).

As one commentator surmised, Israel’s economic star may be waning.

The pressures are immense. The military needs money to replenish its arsenal and pay for the 80,000 reservists called up. The army is developing sophisticated yet expensive technologies to detect invasive tunnels as well to counter the rocket threat of Hizbollah in Lebanon. Add in the threat from the Syrian border and Iran, you have billions to find for defense needs alone.

This is just one facet. The mandarins of the treasury must fathom out rapidly how to relieve small businesses, whose cash flow has been knocked by the war. And there remain outstanding structural issues such reforms of the ports and the Electricity Corporation. Very challenging times.

Challenging, but not doom nor despair. As mentioned above, the economy will face these onslaughts from a position of strength, following a decade of polished performance. For example, foreign currency reserves are at a record high. Israel’s high-tech sector still attracts the attention of overseas investors. And Israel’s new-found  gas reserves are starting to pull in a staggering amount of revenue, including from Egypt. Even the shekel has depreciated about 4% against the dollar in the past month.

What this adds up to is a problem for the politicians. Evidently, the Gaza war exacerbated the issues of an economy that was already beginning to slow down. In parallel, the Israeli economy continues to demonstrate the signs that key fundamentals remain secure and in place. It is for the Prime Minister and his relevant cabinet colleagues to show professional skill in handling the fine balancing act when allocating budgetary resources, rather than caving in to the pressures of the obvious selfish interest groups around them.

That is a whole new campaign in itself.

For all the wonderful programmes like power point and emaze, it is incredible how many of us still sit through really bad presentations. Internal end-of-year reviews, appeals to investors, business plans and more – time after time we flop at them.

Over the past two weeks in Israel, I have read through business proposals and been asked to comment on logo designs. Although submitted by experienced commercial operatives, the submissions have been wide of the mark.

Very few of us reach the heights of Steve Jobs. About a year ago, I read somewhere of a CEO of a Californian start-up. Along with several others, he had been summoned to pitch to investors. The candidate in front of him was going overtime, and he garnered from outside the room that there had been a lot of smooth talking. Our CEO began to panic. He felt that he was about to forget all his lines that he had been rehearsing for days.

When his turn came up, he was in such a state that he found that all he could do was to throw his prototype on the table with no explanation. Amazingly, the hosts took an interest in the unusual object, and started to discus the product amongst themselves. Mr. CEO walked out with a healthy promise of support, having never given a formal presentation.

With hindsight, our hero had tapped into a key rule. When preparing your presentation – otherwise known as a marketing document – check out your audience beforehand. What are they looking for? What do they want to hear and in what format.

What the CEO only appreciated afterwards was he was meeting a group of people, who did not want to be lectured to. Nor did they want to hear another talk about “unique product, with mega market size and best team since the World Cup”. They wanted to be allowed to think for their arrogant selves.

As a follow up to the previous point, this is the key reason why many advocate that presentations slides should contain the minimal amount of words. Cluttered slides turn into a passive form of lecturing. It also detracts away from what you, the speaker, need to add.

My second key rule is to remember who is in charge of the presentation – you! It is not the person who has invited you to turn up.

Now this may sound surprising, especially to those who are nervous before such occasions. However, consider that the audience want to listen to you. They are looking for somewhere to place their support. They are dependent on you providing the right kind of information.

You, the presenter, are the one in control and you can allow yourself to wear that responsibility with pride as you enter the room.

(For further tips, I point you to an excellent article featuring Donna Griffit)

 

Israel barely has eight million citizens. For nearly seven days, it is created a defensive strategy based on short, sharp wars, as it’s army is dependent on the manpower of reservists. So, how can it continue to support a war with Hamas that has been continuing for over a month?

The truth is that economic growth was already slowing down in the first half of 2014. The second quarter revealed GDP rising by only 1.7%, barely in line with population change. Import and export figures are also pointing towards a reduction of economic activity. Clients of mine in Jerusalem have been disclosing lower sales since the winter.

And then the war comes along. How will this impact on the economy?

Israel’s central bank made comments to the effect that 0.5% may be shaved off the economic growth forecast for the year.” I read of an estimate that a billion or two shekels (say US$0.35 – 0.7b) could be lost in revenues to the government. Businesses in the south of the country near Gaza have reported a 40% downturn in activity. Maybe most importantly but lost amongst the number crunching, reservists will not be able to run, operate and service their own small enterprises.

So can we expect a further knock on the GDP figures? In the short term, absolutely. There again, many analysts have recalled that after previous such military operations in Gaza and in Lebanon over the past 15 years, the economy rebounded back very quickly and into much stronger positions. It is certainly fair to say for now that the economy has demonstrated resilience. Note that foreign direct investment from the likes of GoDaddy continues to turn up.

There is much empirical evidence why Israel’s economy is likely to be a key position for global investors after the guns have ceased shouting at Hamas leaders. “Many of Israel’s most amazing contributions to the world – from the DiskOnKey to the PillCam –result from its existential need for innovation in the military.”

And this conflict is no different. For example, until July 2014, the Iron Dome system against short range rockets had not sold one unit overseas. The interest has been so great in the past month that visiting defense officials have literally been able to watch it function in real-time. And consider the start-up eVigilio, whose 35 workers have developed an application that can warn entire populations about incoming threats within seconds. This can apply to Kassam missiles in Israel, as well as earthquakes in California or erupting volcanos in Iceland.

So where to now? During the fighting, an exciting conference took place 10 days ago in Jerusalem, often considered a backwater for innovation. The Jerusalem Business Networking Forum bestowed awards on outstanding Jerusalem-based startups BrainswayGlide, Revelator, Freightos and Abe’s Market. The message is clear. The overall Israeli economy may dip briefly, but it will be back and better than before.

Mention Jerusalem to an outsider and they will often associate the city with the bible, modern day conflict and religious tourism. All very true, but there is another totally different side to this Holy City. As demonstrated at the first annual conference of the Jerusalem Business Networking Forum (JBNF), Israel’s capital possesses a nucleus of new technology that is already making an impact around the globe.

At a time when Israel’s overall growth is slowing down and the war with Hamas is having a dire effect on small businesses, Jerusalem is managing to take a lead in a more positive direction. Just taking the first seven months of 2014, there are at least 122 new start ups. Consider Orcam that received US$15m from Intel to perfect glasses for the blind and severely visually impaired. At the other end of the spectrum, Mobileye’s recent IPO on the New York Stock Exchange raised over US$1 billion, the largest ever for an Israeli company.

The JBNF conference summarised the ten or so incubators, hubs, and accelerators  that have sprung up, each with its own niche community: women, young entrepreneurs, Arab, ultra orthodox, and plain boring ‘mixed’. For example, Shaindy
Babad, director of Temech, announced the opening of an incubator for observant women. Ziv Barcesat, presented Yerushalab, a community centre for artisans in Musrara neighbourhood, with their own 3D printers. The list is too extensive to present here in detail.

Hanan Brand, from Jerusalem Venture Capital and which specialises in new media, observed that the level of known funding of Jerusalem-based startups has almost tripled in as many years; from US$45m in 2012 to US$110 million in 2013, and now has already reached US$122m for 36 start-ups in the first 8 months of 2014.

The Jerusalem Development Authority (official sponsors of the conference) via BioJerusalem is deliberately targeting the pharma sector. It is estimated that 50% of the start ups can be found in the field of biotech and nanotech. Marx Biotechnology and NDT Ultrasonics are two fine examples of this entrepreneurial trend featuring disruptive technologies.

Where to next?

Evidently, Jerusalem has moved on since the days of the prophets, the siege of 1948 and even the Intifada of 2000. Mobileye can be mentioned in the same breath as Glide, Revelator, Brainsway and many more whose Jerusalem-based technologies can be seen on the mobile phones of tens of millions, promoting the pop music as countless talented artists and enhancing the health of the previously untreatable. It is time for the world to welcome the Jerusalem economy.

Last week I wrote how Robin Williams “allowed us to consider a “whole new way of thinking” about ideas”. As business mentors, we feed off his absurdities to encourage people to change.

I have just returned from sessions in Jerusalem with two different clients; a high-tech start-up and a family retail business. Both have solid core positions, yet I contended that neither were asking a basic fundamental question. “What is it that I need to do in order to enable my potential customers – angel investors or consumers – to change their minds and thus buy into what I am selling?”

Yochi Slonim recently gave an excellent presentation on this subject to the annual conference of the Jerusalem Business Networking Forum. No stranger to JBNF meetings, Slonim challenged the large audience to answer whether we should be selling products and services or ideas. Let me elaborate.

The art is to understand how products have been turned into a commercial success. The company often plays on an idea that conflicts with established understandings and is then lodged in the mind of the intended target. Remember the highly provocative adverts of Benetton, which placed beautiful jumpers over dead bodies in former Yugoslavia? Slonim invoked the advert of Volkswagen in the 1950s, which asked people to think small – just when large cars were the order of the day. In both cases, sales boomed.

Slonim argued that Jack Trout came up with the concept of “Positioning – The Battle for your Mind” over thirty years ago. A more recent adaptation of the same theme can be read in “Made to Stick“, authored by the Heath brothers. The trick is to find an emotional link or idea between your target audience and what you  are selling.

Slonim was scathing of the much-used phrases such as innovative, unique, qualitative, platform, etc etc. They are repeated so often as to be near meaningless. Just find that golden idea, promote it and your product will began to stand out from the crowd.

I apologise if I may appear to be jumping on a bandwagon, but I feel obliged to say something about Robin Williams, who I simply adored. See him in concert, on TV or in a film, you come away aware that you were ‘better off’. You had learnt something.

It is difficult to know just how many were impressed by his talents. I have seen one analysis, explaining that the number of tweets about his suicide was almost as prominent in non-English speaking countries.

And this point brings me to my profession of business mentoring. Robin Williams was able to impact on nearly all of us. How?

Well, I want to stay clear of any psychoanalysis of his talents. To borrow a phrase from a recent blog, I believe he allowed us to consider a “whole new way of thinking” about ideas, almost any idea.  For example, as a result of his film work:

  • Brilliant mathematicians are no longer seen as freaks
  • Old works of English literature have taken on a new meaning
  • We have begun to enter the minds of those who appear incapable of thought
  • And genies may not be real, but he taught us how we can trust in our dreams.

What these ‘case studies’ add up to is the concept, which represents some of the core values of business mentoring. My colleagues and I are approached by individuals and organisations, who are frequently set in the ways, yet looking to move beyond. They are stuck, yet we show them a new line of self-discipline that allows them and encourages them to change.

How to build up a new team; how to resist procrastination; how to prepare a clear presentation for investors – these are just a small range of issues that I deal with on a weekly basis. And while much of my work is conducted in a bland setting over cups of tea, I have been known to get my clients to ‘act out of the box’ – just as Williams did with his co-thespians. The results are almost invariably enlightening, a game-changer if you wish.

Captain Williams – we will miss you, but your work will survive in so many guises, beyond what even you may have dreamed.

On either side of the Gaza-Israel divide, hundreds of thousands have fled their homes. That means countless livelihoods destroyed or close to ruins.

Because of the greater loss of life and larger physical destruction, the focus has been on the Gaza side. After all, in recent years Israel’s high tech economy has seen it become a member of the OECD and enter the top rung of stock exchange indexes. And by this reasoning, the harm done towards Israelis has a lower social value to news followers overseas.

Read any economic report on Gaza since 2000, when Chairman Arafat launched the Intifada, and there is very little positive information. That ranks in stark contrast to the three previous decades, when the World Bank estimated that under Israeli rule real annual average GDP growth was around 5.5% .

Today, unemployment is in the tens of percents. The border with Egypt has been sealed shut for nearly a year, and around 95% of the smuggling tunnels have been destroyed. On the Israeli side, hundreds of trucks still deliver provisions daily, even during the war, as many locals depend on food hand-outs.  It is an accepted fact that by mid summer 2014, the Hamas junta was bankrupt and could not even pay its supporters. (It should be pointed out although most factories were barely operating, the military underground complex continued to be funded and extended).

There are those who argue that Gaza can return to its better days, especially by leaning on the Egyptian economy. What people forget too readily is that up to 1967, Egypt ensured that Sinai and Gaza had remained a pathetic economic backwater. The irony is that the World Bank has confirmed that the main commercial boom for Gaza in the past century emerged during Israeli governance after 1967.

However, for one strong minority, this analysis is irrelevant. Since 2007, a nouveau elite has come to the forefront in the Gaza Strip, as described by the BBC. For the all the squalor, a Pan-Arab newspaper, estimated that there were around 600 millionaires in the area.

Many of the party and military elite are rumoured to live in the Rimal district. There you can find the Palestinian Presidential Palace, the Governor’s Palace, the Gaza Mall, the Roots Club (frequented by most overseas journalists), and the United Nations beach club. Interestingly, the quarter also hosts the Al-Shifa hospital, which is considered the HQ of Hamas military operations. It is nearby that the Prime Minister of Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, purchased his four million dollar home in 2010.

Rimal has not escaped the attacks of the Israeli air force. For example, one assumes that Haniyeh has now sought the help of the local insurance companies for what happened to his own property. There again, one wonders just how many times the area needed to be targeted, assuming that Hamas was not readily prepared to use this specific community as a cover to launch Kassams.

I have previously cited Doron Peskin from Infoprod. For Peskin, Raed Al-Atar symbolises this new group of Gazan yuppies. Today, Al-Atar is head of the southern command of the Hamas military wing. This gives him direct control over the tunnels going out towards Egypt – there were probably over 1,000 at heir peak, creating annual revenues estimated between three and nine billion dollars. Somewhat unsurprisingly, given his biography on Wikipedia, Al-Atar would make an excellent occupant of Broadmoor or Alcatraz.

It was through these tunnels that new cars entered the district and the fashionable shops of Rimal could be stocked. Peskin estimates that this micro-economy was controlled by between 600 to 1,200 cohorts. I assume that many of these people have ensured that they have remained hidden away from the war in the underground labyrinths built for them………..by underage slave labour.

I live in Israel. I see my commercial clients cry, as the war dampens local sales. And from my comfortable chair, I read the reports of the suffering of 1.5 million people in Gaza, where a military oligarchy has invested billions in violence and hatred rather than in its own people. And that is the tragedy of the two economies of Gaza.

Yes, the overwhelming majority of Israelis have supported the war in Gaza. Even bastions of opposition to government policies in the West Bank, such as internationally celebrated author Amos Oz, gave an unequivocal thumbs up.

And yes, Israelis do not understand why they have annoyed many of the world’s diplomats and politicians, who reject such actions. Can the two views be justified?

On the one hand, hundreds of lethal rockets have been lobbied callously into Israel every year from Gaza, and the world kept silent. The Hamas fire prior to Israel’s response had yet again turned tens of thousands into refugees. Using aid given as charity, Hamas has dug dozens of threatening tunnels under the homes of kibbutzim and other civilians. This netherworld has been furnished with weapons, chloroform, and even motorbikes – all to be used to kill, kidnap and maim – yet that is seen as a casus belli by Israel’s opponents.

However, when Hamas broke a UN-sponsored ceasefire last Friday with a murderous and premeditated act, the primary concern of Philip Hammond, the British Foreign Minister, was the plight of the poor Palestinians as opposed to Israelis blown to pieces (literally). Israeli society just does not get it. As I quipped previously on Facebook, the world appears interested in peace in Gaza – fair enough – but few are concerned about peace for Israelis.

Moving forwards and now that the fighting has ceased (for the moment), are neutral observers that interested why and how Israel believes that it went above and beyond the letter of international law in order to protect innocents during the fighting? The points below are not extensive, but I was warned how they might be interpreted as repetitive and even patronizing.

And so the list goes on. Israel can justifiably pat itself on the back for its past achievements. Israel in 1948 was a country of refugees and today is a member of the OECD. Gazans consider themselves to be refugees, yet their rulers invest in teaching hatred and destruction, a tasteless recipe for poverty. Hamas main building project has been the construction of tunnels to attack and then murder its neighbours.

And yet most of Israel’s 8 million citizens do not understand why the neutral observer and many world leaders do not buy into their arguments. How else, they cry, can you defend yourself against Hamas, dedicated to the violent destruction of a Jewish-based democracy, protected by human shields?

This international rejection was driven home on Sunday. When it seemed that Israel had bombed a school and killed children, the international media rushed to cajole global leaders into condemning the Israeli military……..even though much of the story is turning out to be a sick and cynical hoax!

Similarly, in an interview on Channel 4, seasoned British reporter Jon Snow repeatedly challenged the Israeli ambassador to the UK as to when the killings will stop. The denigrating implication is that Israel is responsible for the deaths. What Mr Snow managed to forget was that Hamas had flagrantly broken six ceasefires.

And during the conflict, Israeli newspapers observed how ‘the neutrals’ have responded to news elsewhere in the world.  Planes have been downed around the globe; ancient Christian communities have been wiped out; ISIS slaughtered children in Iraq; a few more thousand Syrians have perished, as thousands of others face torture. These are terrible acts, but the world, the UN and Ban Ki Moon have not been forced to move too far out of their comfort zone…. except when it comes to Gaza.

In an interesting anecdote on Al-Jazeera television, Israel’s Minister of Economics was interviewed. He explained that it comes down to: “Do I let Hamas kill my mother or do I take pre-emptive action?”. What characterizes this conflict from Syria and others is that Israel has fought back, without waiting for permission. And it is this proficiency that acts as an embarrassing projector on the inabilities of Hammond, Moon et al.

I offer that Israeli society should learn to accept that neutrals are not anti-Israel, yet they are driven by two intertwined considerations, which count against the Jewish State.

First, when the world sees pictures on destruction on their TV screens, the revulsion about tunnels and rockets and the facts of Hamas using human shields all become redundant. Blown up buildings imply de facto that Israel has not reacted ‘proportionally’. Such images do not appeal to a sense of fair play. In England, it is not cricket.

(For the record, it must be stated that many homes were destroyed and innocents lost their lives. This is not the place to drown in an argument over stats. However, it must also be stressed that Hamas fought the war in built up areas, as per their manual.)

So what is allowed, proportionally? Apparently 2 million poor Gazans can attack 8 million Israelis. Or as Rabbi Ari Kahn observed, Israel was encouraged to release over 1,000 Palestinians in return for Gilad Shalit. And David Miliband, leader of the British socialists, argues that Israel has his backing to defend itself, so long as Gaza is not attacked, whatever that may mean.

The true disconnect of the proportionality debate is that it is designed to force Israel to accept current UN standards, which demand …..… inaction. Proportionality is a baseless and malicious argument because its proponents fail to explain what Israel can do to ensure Hamas ceases to launch rockets from built up citizen areas. (And yes, that is a war crime in itself, yet ignored).

The other consideration about neutrals brings me to an interesting discussion on CNN led by Wolf Blitzer, who asked why the international media seem to target Israel. The BBC is a great example. (For the record, It is estimated that over 700 journalists form 42 countries entered Israel to cover the war, doubling the current high entourage.)

The CNN panel concluded that the ‘world expects more or better’ from Israel.  Enough said, no?

No! Better than what? Than Hamas? Of course not, because there are no expectations about those naughty people. OK. Better than how the West has performed in the Middle East? Well, a thousand kids have been killed in Afghanistan so far in 2014.  Or more moral than South Africa, whose countryperson is the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.?  There, the abomination of rape is now an accepted instance of life, and commonly practiced by the teaching profession.

Israelis are livid. There is mounting evidence that Hamas bludgeons reporters into silence. Witness the features from Italian and other correspondents. So-called massacres in Sejaiyah have been miserably misreported. Networks like the BBC so rarely show Hamas soldiers in uniform. France24 has taken off its website a video showing the launch of a Kassam missile from the al-Shifa hospital, where the Hamas high command is encamped.

I think that the phrase ‘expecting more’ has the same function as ‘proportionality’. It is a polite way for the world to ask Israel to shut up. Politicians, diplomats, intellects and journalists around the globe are demanding that Israel does not force them to analyse some their own moral inadequacies.

So maybe I started out from the wrong premise. It is not really a case of what Israeli society does not understand about the world. More poignantly, it is time to consider what the world does not want to comprehend about Gaza. Just because Hamas operates with halo of the underdog, the biblical David,  that in itself does not automatically mean it has ‘right’ on its side

In effect what Israel has done in the past three weeks is to force the so-called leaders of the world to ask what they would have done if they had been in her shoes. And that change in the way of thinking, just like many other changes in life, is very difficult to accept. And the consequences of that new opening are not too easy to digest.

At least once a week I come across somebody who works hard, but never actually catches up with their backlog. They seem to expect me to wave a magic wand so that by tomorrow evening their desk will be clear. It is as if I am tackling a secret international crisis on time management that only business mentors can overcome.

There are many tools available to resolve such issues. Much revolves in ensuring that the client is familiar with their key priorities, and thus responding accordingly. Delegation is another subject to be explored. And there is the familiar topic of procrastination, which – pardon the pun – many of us like to shy away from.

Here is an additional consideration. I recently had a follow-up session with somebody in Jerusalem, who was clearly not very alert during our meeting. It emerged that she worked most evenings towards midnight. However, many of these late hours were brought upon herself by the fact that she could not work effectively during the afternoon.

In other words, our subject matter was devoting 12-14 hours per day to work, of which only ten or so counted. That means the bodily machine was recording approximately a 25% rate of inefficiency. Now, if that was just metal and wires, my client would have thrown herself out ages ago.

So what was missing? Simple, she had tried to cheat and had been caught out by the body police. How so?

First, she skips breakfast most mornings. In contrast, nutritionists teach us that this is the time of day when we most need to pump ourselves with some sugars. This is when we have to be alert, racing to work and flying off new ideas at our colleagues.

Additionally, lunch is a must. The body is like an automobile engine. If it does not have food (petrol), it will not function. And in that case, it is shut-eyes time (siesta) in the middle of the afternoon, as my client knows several times a week.

A balanced diet is also a must. Eat your carbs, because you need internal energy. Buy protein, like a tin of tuna. Try to restrict bread intake to the morning hours. And drink – this makes you feel fuller in your stomach.

One final tip: Nobody can rush around non-stop for over 12 hours, and carry on like that most days a week, every week.

Have a break. Have a proper break during the day. You will feel more relaxed. Your productivity will go up. And you will find yourself allocating your evening hours to more fun activities, which you will be awake for. Want to risk trying the new technique?

I have been living in Israel since 1982. I write about Israeli society and the economy. For all the battles and bloodshed, I never seen a war like this one in Gaza.

I live in a country, where nobody agrees on anything. Nearly 80% Jewish, there is an old Yiddish joke – in a conversation with 2 Jews, there will be 3 opinions. There are frequently demonstrations against government policies – any government, on any policy. Even now, the army has called the fight with Hamas “Operation Protective Edge” while the Israeli media labels it a war.

But this war…….Surveys reveal that 90% of the public supports it fully. Talk to just about anyone and they are saying the same thing. Despite the heavy price of soldiers’ lives, the hit on the economy, the roaring uncertainty of Kassam missiles, Israelis are in favour (for now) of continuing the fight.

In over three decades, I have never seen such a commitment to unity and for so long. What has changed? How can this be explained to an outsider, who is primarily exposed to the harrowing pictures from CNN, BBC and SKY?

Israelis do not ignore the fact that Gaza is such a tiny strip of sand. I have read off-line witness accounts from journalists, and I am sure they are not exaggerating about the amount of destruction left after the fighting. The near constant Israeli gunfire must be horrendous to live with. Whatever the numbers, and we know they are exaggerated, even one innocent killed is one too many.

So what is it that unifies the Israeli consensus? Why does Israel, which sends aid to the Philippines, Haiti and to elsewhere, find itself going to war? Why should this country sacrifice tens of its best youngsters in the army? Why does my client plead in front of his bank manager as clientele are staying at home, yet he is in favour of the war?

Please understand that the answer does not lie in some hatred of Palestinians. I long for the days when I used to buy in Bethlehem. Neither is it because of some subconscious militaristic drive in Israelis. Our neighbourhood alone is replete with parents petrified about what is happening to their beloved ones at the front. And while I am no big fan of our Prime Minister, I refuse to accept the pathetic accusations how he has launched a personal crusade for future glory.

Four very obvious buttons have been pressed at once, which the mega media channels, Ms S Gomez, Mr M Ali, Ms P Cruz  and other celebs prefer to ignore, for all their state of politically correct ignorance

First – Hamas war crimes will no longer be accepted by Israel: Since Israel left Gaza in 2005, Hamas and its allies have launched thousands of rockets against civilian populations centres in Israel. If the US, UK et al can send troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, Israel has a right to defend itself militarily, and that includes from within Gaza.

To put it bluntly, Hamas built a network of tunnels, deep into Israel, designed to attack, maim, kill, kidnap and destroy. Which country in the world would accept that from a neighbour without a military response? No more.

Second – Israel is refuting and rejecting actively the inhumanity of Hamas: It was the shouting antics of Condeleezza Rice, who twisted Israel’s arm to withdraw from Gaza. In turn, Hamas threw out Fatah a year later. UNRWA schools, funded by Western taxpayers have become military establishments, which teach hatred. Having rejected at least 5 ceasefires, Hamas armaments are killing their own children. It slays opponents without due recourse to law. Hamas admits to exploiting human shields. Israel is saying a big NO to this way of life, both in a military manner and, in parallel, by providing medical supplies to Gazans.

Third –  Israel is no longer prepared to accept the malicious rhetoric of Hamas. The proponents of Hamas argue that the inhabitants are densely caged into a narrow strip of land. Yet, every day including during the war, hundreds of trucks cross into Gaza from Israel. It is the border with Egypt that is sealed hermetically. And anyway, the wealthy yet tiny Singapore is far more congested. It is clear that Hamas has attacked and will continue to attack for reasons of pure hatred.

Fourth, and potentially the straw that broke the camel’s back, Israel has watched as the West has repeatedly failed to keep moral commitments. In 2014 alone, tens of thousands have died in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. Compared to the diplomatic noise over Gaza, politicians and civil servants have been pathetically inactive. Even while Israel has been forced to destroy the military prowess of Hamas, the 60,000 ancient Christian community in Mosul, Iraq, has been wiped out.

Take all of these points together and you can understand why Israelis, even though the government has accepted ceasefires, are very wary of laying down their weapons so quickly. For example, the Druze commander of the Golani brigade, which has seen some of the worst fighting, was injured yet publicly announced his determination to return to the frontline a.s.a.p..

And while we are talking about it, what is a humanitarian ceasefire, as opposed to any other truce? And If Hamas are so worried about its people, why has it not stopped fighting long ago?

This war started back in early July. The 4th of July is noted in Israel to recall the Entebbe raid of 1976. An elite Israeli crack unit rescued those stranded in Africa because of their religion, their nationality. Led by Yoni Netanyahu, Bibi’s brother and the only fatality during the action, Yoni famously addressed his troops before departing. “If we do not do this, nobody else will”.

Let me repeat that: “If we do not do this – get rid of those tunnels, rockets, hate –  nobody else will”. Thanks to Hamas, this Gaza war has never made the Israeli public so united in decades.

Call it a war or an operation. Support whichever side you want. What cannot be denied is that the lives of hundreds of thousands of people on both sides of the Gaza-Israel divide have been shattered.

In Gaza, one estimate is that barely 100,000 people had employment with a regular salary. As most of that was in the government sector, the number could be about to drop sharply. Today, whole neighbourhoods are deserted.  700 hundred have died to date and around 5,000 are wounded. (To give that some perspective, approximately half those numbers are assumed to be men in arms. And in Syria, this week,  700 were slaughtered in two days.)

France, the USA, the UK, the UAE and others have all promised initial aid for Gaza. However, something more substantial will be needed.

Over in Israel, the international press cannot (thankfully) report such casualty figures. And yet, for years around 1.5 million people in the south of the country have lived in daily fear of their lives from Kassam rockets. Understandably, yet again, many have fled northwards this July. Reports from the retail sector and other businesses in these districts report a 30% drop in revenues. Tourism across the country is also down by around 30%. At least four significant offerings planned by Israeli companies on the USA stock markets have been postponed. And now that 50,000 reservists have been called up, small businesses are bound to suffer.

There are some bright spots. The Israeli shekel has actually improved its position against other leading currencies. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange has hauled back the sharp losses felt at the start of the battles. The Bank of Israel has described the economy overall as “resilient“.

In Gaza, there is not too much hope. The Hamas economy was dependent to the tune of billions on smuggling tunnels, which Egypt had blocked months ago. Daily aid still comes through from Israel. The private wealth and homes of Khaled Mishaal, Haniyeh and other leaders has not been obviously touched, while the average citizen has to wait for a new dawn.

Moving forward, historically Israel’s economy has tended to emerge from wars in an improved position. Simply put, the pick up afterwards helps to generate a mini boom. And the IMF deputy spokesman William Murray explained how he expects this phenomenon to continue: “However, we need to make clear that once the conflict ends, we expect growth in Israel to rebound relatively quickly”.

Meanwhile, the Hamas has already made it perfectly clear that it expects to be bailed out by the international community. In a fascinating comparison, CNBC financial news summarized that:

Just since 2001, Israel’s GDP has grown 1,000 percent and its economy is now larger than Egypt’s economy despite the fact that Egypt has 10 times Israel’s population. At the same time, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have received billions of dollars in foreign aid and support. But instead of joining in Israel’s modern economic boom and encouraging partnerships, the political leaders have clearly invested in rocket launchers and terror tunnels instead.

Where to now, especially for Gaza? They cannot blame the so-called Israeli blockade, because goods come through, yet not from Egypt. They cannot complain about the density of the population, because places like Singapore have shown how this can be turned to an advantage.

I was struck by three developments this week, which possibly indicate how the respective governments will seek to look after their peoples after the guns have stopped firing. As noted by the Ma’an news agency, the Israeli army set up a field hospital in Gaza to treat the wounded. Further north in Jerusalem, a brand new centre was opened to treat people with Alzheimer’s, whatever their ethnic background. Third, no such equivalent initiatives could be found from the leaders of Gaza.

 

My posts recently have reflected on the economic absurdities of the Hamas war with Israel. Yet while battles are fought, sectors of the population try to carry on with their business.

Somebody called this isolating or ‘compartmentalising’ issues. Maybe. It is certainly about self control.

A blog by Annie Pilon considered how this can characteristic can be a critical factor in driving towards commercial success. Amongst her tips, she stressed the importance of achievable goals and – one of my favourites – sticking to proper eating diets. Pilon also referred to recognising one’s limits.

I disagree with the emphasis of  last point. Instead, I believe that we should concentrate on our strengths to carry us through. And here is what I mean.

This week, I completed a contract with a small client in the Jerusalem area, as she tries to build up a small business with minimal resources. Unprompted, as we were saying our goodbye, she blurted out; –

You see the good in people. You articulate it and thus allow them to get ahead.

I hope, dear reader, that you forgive the immodesty here. However, my point is that we all have core strong skills that are sometimes buried amongst mounds of self doubt or other subconscious factors. Mentoring and coaching help you see the way through to your vision.

 

An outsider looking in on the Middle East must be wondering why Israel and Hamas are fighting a war over a series of tunnels. After all, if Gaza is so poor, as its supporters maintain, how could they afford to build such a network?

It is an open secret that for at least a decade how the tunnel economy has funded Hamas, even before it came to power. Before Egypt shut down the Sinai side of the operations last year and sealed up its side of the border, it is estimated that via taxes and sales the trade was valued in billions for the Hamas exchequer.

So how much does it cost to build a tunnel?

I have already cited Doron Peskin last week. Yesterday, writing in Hebrew, he estimated that one meter costs about US$200, and tunneling work can achieve about 20 meters per day. The cement used to be smuggled through from Egypt. More recently, it has come in ‘regular’ lorry-loads via Israel. Since 2011, Qatar has replaced Iran as the prime paymaster.

Israeli reserve Col.Miri Eisen – former deputy head of IDF’s combat intelligence corps and former assistant to the director of Military intelligence, commented in an interview: –

It is a lucrative economic job in the Hamas. It is their top-tier unit, which is called the tunneling unit. They have put an enormous amount of money when they saw that the tunneling itself was something which Israel has intelligence challenges in finding the tunnels themselves while they’re building them. They put an immense amount of money and effort. They put the best into the tunneling units. They’ve built tunnels from the Gaza Strip into Israel that are a mile, a mile and a half, a mile and 800…I mean incredibly long tunnels and we’re not talking about a little mole tunnel which is dug and a person goes through like in [Shawshank] Redemption… We are talking about tunnels that are done in the tunneling mode, the way you would build nowadays trains, roads, anything that goes underground into a mountain. They are tunneling out, they are using their money, their capabilities, with little Caterpillar tractors that go in and dig out the dirt, covering it with an enormous amount of cement, and you’re all aware of the issue of cement going into the Gaza Strip.

However, in economics, for every cost, there is an alternative cost. In other words, if you can spend on X, that means you did not invest in Y. And therefore, those needed the benefits of Y lose out.

I have no idea how many tunnels exist in Gaza or how long they are. The IDF claims that it has already found 13. So, let’s assume conservatively there are only 20 in total and each one is 2 kilometers long. By my wobbly maths, that is close to a US$100m investment. The alternatives?

Point 1: 13 tunnels may have been found so far. There is no record of a one public bomb shelter being discovered in Gaza. In contrast, history has forced Israel to build one in every one of its homes in order to protect its citizens.

Point 2: BBC journalists and others decry the lack of medical services in Gaza. Now this is compounded by Hamas fighters using ambulances for transport. On the other hand, how is it possible that Israel has managed to establish a field hospital for Gazan citizens during the battles (as it has done for Syrians), while Hamas officialdom is nowhere in sight?

Point 3: Hamas relies on UNRWA to provide a schooling system. And yet the facilities are abused to store weapons. (I understand that UNRWA has since returned the equipment to the government)

The war could have been avoided. As Egypt’s foreign minister said last week: “Had Hamas accepted the Egyptian (ceasefire) proposal, it could have saved the lives of at least 40 Palestinians.”

The pathetic reality is that while Hamas leaders are safely closeted in the tunnels that they have erected for their own means, far more than 40 lives have been lost. The true cost of the Gaza tunnel network, for both sides of the diplomatic divide, has to be measured in terms of emotional loss, a horribly unnecessary evil.

Two days ago, I questioned  what would have happened if Hamas had invested its capital from the tunnel economy in human resources and social infrastructure rather than in military might. Where would the Gaza economy stand today and would Hamas still thus feel the need to support the frightening cycle of violence?

By way of a follow up, I spied two headlines almost side-by-side in yesterday’s newspaper. The first questioned how Israel will find the money to pay for the additional costs of war. This is expected to top 3 billion shekels or close to a billion dollars. By way of comparison, the annual budget of the Ministry of Defense, the heaviest in the country, already stands at 51 billion shekels.

Now we know that Israel is no longer a third world country. Outside the EU and America, it is one of the UK’s leading trading partners. Many of the world’s high-tech leaders, such as HP and Microsoft, have set up r&d centres in the Holy Land. The Prime Minister, Netanyahu, owns properties in Jerusalem and in Caesarea.

Compare that to the second article, which considered the growing riches of the Hamas leadership. Proportionally, it appears that the Palestinian Prime Minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, can match the largess of his Israeli counterpart. Back in 2010, Haniyeh purchased a 2,500 sq meter property for around 4 million dollars.

It is not that I am trying to preach a stringent form of Communism. However, we are talking here about Haniyeh, who claims that Gaza is a financial backwater that demands Western taxpayers to support his flagging economy. Haniyeh practices his Islamic religion on his sleeve, branding himself as a man of modest means. And Haniyeh is one of the key leaders of Hamas, which ousted the corrupt fatcats of Fatah from Gaza.

I detect a whiff of deceitful disconnect. You may call it the triumphal return of the pigs from Animal Farm.

For several years, there has been a growing amount of evidence that the Gaza economy can only be explained in a bipolar manner; the poor who have remained desperately poor and the nouveau riche, many of whom have ties with Hamas. There are now hundreds of millionaires in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian commentators have long looked at “the new class of rich“. New cars have been readily available, at least while Egypt kept the tunnels open.

It appears that Haniyeh is not alone in benefitting from the poverty of his electorate. Khaled Mashal is thought to have stashed away over US2.5 billion, according to Egyptian analyst, Dr Ahmed Karima. Chairman Arafat was no friend of Hamas, but the fundamentalists have clearly studied his financial techniques. Arafat took his fortune with him to the grave, and I suspect that the Hamas leaders are also not interested in sharing their gains with their constituency.

The Gabble from Gaza focuses on the numbers of rockets launched or how many people are displaced. Both, from whatever side of the border you come from, are a tragedy. The truth is that not far behind the bloody headlines are pecuniary considerations and personal interests that Hamas is bound to protect, even at the cost of the suffering of its own people.

As Israel and Hamas slug it out yet again and as thousands are traumatised, killed, displaced, it strikes me how these two tiny bits of land can afford to keep bombing each other? Together, they are barely bigger than the size of Wales, either in land mass or numbers of inhabitants.

The question is particularly pertinent because resonating through the ‘Gaza Gabble” is one Palestinian argument that repeats itself; Israel’s response is disproportionate. (For the record, when discussing causes of war years ago in school, I do not recall anybody in history saying “we will not fight them because they might retaliate heavily and that would be awfully unfair). So, what allows Hamas to join the fight with Israel?

As I have repeatedly pointed out, until the onset of the Intifada in 2000, the World Bank identified the Palestinian economy under Israeli supervision as one of the fastest growing global economies over three decades. Once Hamas had secured its regime by 2007 and thrown out the former Fatah corrupt figures, the Gaza economy slowly began to make up some lost ground.

The previous economic infrastructure, such as greenhouses abandoned by Israel, was rejected. Instead, the focus was on the underground economy, literally. According to Doron Peskin from Info-Prod and quoted in the Hebrew paper “The Calcalist”, the contraband tunnel economy was worth around US$200m per month for the Hamas treasury. Jazeera says US$700m a year. Peskin cites an Egyptian source that estimates the sums at 9 billion dollars annually!

Either way, this is certainly enough to pay for 15,000 Hamas fighters, finance new shopping malls, encourage the import of luxury items, and see hundreds on new millionaires. Maybe only a top elite could afford this new economy. However, factor in how the cement is provided for free by Israel, and it is not difficult to understand how Hamas could afford to invest in factories that manufacture thousands of missiles that are then lobbed in to and all over the Holy Land.

For the record, Peskin believes these production lines are not very sophisticated, especially as the missiles are not smart devices. (After all, they have also landed in Bethlehem, Hebron and the outskirts of Ramallah). They cost about US$500 each. Accordingly, smugglers may demand about ten times that for an anti-aircraft Sam trajectory.

Last year, the new Egyptian ruler, Sisi, shut down the tunnel economy, flat and simple. Despite the severe financial hardships and even though the Sinai border is now also closed, Hamas does not attack Egypt. This leaves it with a problem – to find a way to pay for its 50,00 employees.

On the other side of the border, the Israeli economy is very proud of its achievements since 1986. Then bankrupt and suffering from hyper-inflation, today the country is a member of the OECD and has a first class stock exchange. Annual growth has rarely dipped below 3% since 2001.

Israel’s exports are led by the world of high-tech (eg Intel), diamonds, and military technology. And as the country has invested in these areas, it has found the resources (just) to create bomb shelters for much of the country and hospitals for most people. The electricity plant in Ashkelon also supplies Gaza, as could the new desalination plant, although both are currently under attack from Kassam.

Undoubtedly, the fragile Gaza economy is taking a hammering. It is still dependent on supplies from Israel, which keep coming despite the hostilities. Back in Israel, the commercial sector continues as best it can, and much depends on proximity to the Kassam launch pads. The stock market, which dropped initially, has rebounded. The shekel is fairly steady. Over the past decade of military campaigns, it has been the small business sector  that has suffered, as owners have been called up to the reserves.

So my question is this? If Hamas had invested its capital in human resources and social infrastructure, as its neighbour has done, where would the Gaza economy stand today and would it need to support this frightening cycle of violence?

The current bout of fighting between Israel and Gaza raises old issues of the economic poverty amongst the Palestinians.

And now this week’s bombing, which has resulted in tens of lost lives, makes it easy for outside news agencies to highlight these woes. Sky TV has reported the suffering from a local hospital. The BBC has shown ample footage of the wounded being carried around and other collateral damage. The NGOs are have issued a string of complaints regarding Israel’s actions.

Also this week, at least 50 bodies were found in Iraq. The UN reported that civilian casualties in Afghanistan are up 17%. And the Ebola epidemic in Africa is slaying hundreds. So, if these issues barely rank a mention amongst the educated world media, I begun to wonder if the ‘gabble from Gaza’ had also succeeded in hiding a secondary level of suffering far closer to home.

However good reporters are, we know that they cannot portray a complete story in a two and a half minute clip. Sky omitted to mention that Gaza children continue to be accepted and treated in Israeli hospitals. The BBC has been forced to admit that in its rush to put out stories, facts have become distorted in places. And not for the first time, the NGOs have accepted the sanctimonious rhetoric of the ‘underdog’ in their rush to condemn Israel without due concern for the facts. Again, is there another story?

Lets us accept for now the stats of the Palestinian Ministry of Health that tens have been killed, including women and children. It is not clear to me, how they died.  Do these same figures include Hamas soldiers killed in their own tunnels or taken out by Israeli gunfire? As for the bombings, by whom? It is known fact that up to a third of all Kassam rockets do not make it out of Gaza, falling back on the same population that launched them.  Is that not a crime against humanity?

Next, if the population of Gaza is around 3 million, there are just over 8 million in Israel, of which about 75% is Jewish. Now, the improved Kassam missiles can reach about 80% of the population in the Holy Land. Actually, one landed last night in Beitunia, close to the house of President Abbas!

This means that by attacking Israel, Hamas is waging war against nearly three times the numbers of people in its own territory, highly disproportionate. (And these people have between 15 to 90 seconds to take cover before the rocket lands.) Further, as Hamas leaders boast, the Kassams are directed at civilians, where as Israel is aiming at military targets. Another crime that the International Court of Justice prefers to ignore?

As I wrote last week, Gaza is suffering. While Hamas invested in a large underground (literally) military infrastructure, the leadership has lacked the money to pay its own followers. Resources have been channeled into weapons that kill rather than towards the creation and protection of life. If a different path had been chosen, then

Palestinian firms could be natural partners for Israeli companies – and others – looking to export to the larger Arab markets, notably Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iraq. The nascent Palestinian technology sector would find an experienced and willing partner in next-door Israel, with its highly developed technology industry. Israeli venture capital firms could provide much-needed financing, support, and know-how to export-oriented Palestinian entrepreneurs.

Hamas has chosen a separate path, wrecking havoc on everyone, starting with its own. This is not a story about fighting in Gaza. This is a war inflicted on civilians of all religions by an Islamic leadership whose human values are deformed, putrid and vile.

The fact that the greater media refuses or is unable to recognise this wider picture concerns me. Ben Cohen has written how the Palestinians have hijacked the language of Auschwitz “to maintain their position in the Western conscience as the world’s most downtrodden nation“. Howard Jacobson observes that Israel’s critics have adopted the language of anti-semites without even realizing it. He defines this as the “gradual habituation to the language of loathing. Passed from the culpable to the unwary and back again. And soon, before you know it…….”

Gaza is suffering? Yes, and because of Hamas. And that misery is passed on in disproportional numbers to its neighbours. If only the Palestinians had a leadership that genuinely cared about human morals. And the world press has a duty to all to find a way to convey that message.

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