• Israel's dilemma: How to calculate the risks of getting un-Chosen
  
  Israel's current hard-liner government is now being forced to face a very real dilemma. At what point does its behavior become so outrageous that it risks pissing God off?
  
  How far can the current government in Tel Aviv go before the Chosen People of Israel start running the risk getting un-Chosen?
  
  If the Promised Land keeps getting trashed with too many high-rise condos soaking up all the natural resources in Eden, too much use of questionable eminent domain over the olive groves where Christ walked, too much depleted uranium used too liberally, too many obnoxious settlers committing hate crimes in the Holy Land, too much saber-rattling intimidation of the meek, too many more false-flag operations than even Samson ever dreamed of and too frequent massacres of Arab and Christian Palestinians in a land where Moses preached that "Thou shalt not Kill" seemed like a pretty good idea -- might God begin to start reconsidering His choice?
  
  According to a BBC News report, "The spiritual leader of Israel's ultra-orthodox Shas party, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, has provoked outrage with a sermon calling for the annihilation of Arabs." When one of the most powerful rabbis in Israel is openly calling for wholesale genocide, perhaps it's time for Israel to start worrying that it might be pushing too many of God's buttons?
  
  According to one of Britain's leading newspapers, The Independent, the latest casualty figures in Gaza "list the names of 1,434 dead of whom they say 926 were civilians...." 926 of the 1,434 dead in the recent invasion of Gaza were simply "collateral damage"? How is God gonna feel about that?
  
  According to a recent AFP report, soldiers invading Gaza were told that they were fighting a holy war. "Many Israeli troops had the sense of fighting a 'religious war' against Gentiles during the 22-day offensive in Gaza, according to a soldier who has highlighted the martial role of military rabbis during the operation. The soldier testified that the 'clear' message of literature distributed to troops by the rabbinate was: 'We are the Jewish people, we came to this land by a miracle, God brought us back to this land and now we need to fight to expel the Gentiles who are interfering with our conquest of this holy land.' The [journal of the Yitzhak Rabin pre-military academy], which quoted graduates of the college, also cited the case of an elderly Palestinian woman killed as she was walking 100 metres (yards) from her home. Soldiers also spoke of civilians being abused, acts of vandalism and destruction of homes. 'Those were very harsh testimonies about unjustified shooting of civilians and destruction of property that conveyed an atmosphere in which one feels entitled to use unrestricted force against Palestinians,' academy director Dany Zamir told public radio."
  
  I really don't think that God is gonna be pleased with Israel using His name as an excuse to gun down and/or barbecue innocent women and children.
  
  And then there's that sticky matter of home demolitions. How is God gonna feel about that one? Is it really wise for the Israeli government to use their illegal eminent domain powers and then claim that these illegal powers are used only according to explicit operating instructions from Him?
  
  According to the Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions, "In 1948 and for years after, Israeli governments systematically demolished more than 500 entire [Muslim and Christian] villages, towns, urban centers and neighborhoods, both to prevent the return of the Palestinian refugees and to take their lands and properties. Since the Occupation began in 1967, another 24,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished, including 4000 in the latest attack on Gaza. And in 2004, the Israeli government announced the establishment of a Demolition Administration within the Ministry of Interior; targeted for destruction are 20-40,000 homes of Israeli (Arab) citizens...."
  
  Are the Chosen People being foolish to risk God's wrath by continuing to tear down historic Palestine, the birthright that He granted to His only Son? It might be a good idea for the Israelites to remember what happened when God got pissed off at the Egyptians....
  
  Israel's YnetNews just reported that "research by an Arab human rights group shows a ten-fold increase in Jewish attacks on the Arab population in Israel over the last year." Are those pesky settlers at it again? Someone over in Israel seriously needs to ask God what He thinks about hate crimes.
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  Like a young child constantly testing the limits of its parents' toleration, the current government of Israel seems to be constantly skating on the edge of invoking Divine disapproval. Just exactly how far can God be pushed? And at exactly what point is God gonna have to tell the Israelites, "Go to your room!" And if He doesn't, will He then start to lose respect in Israelis' eyes -- for being too weak? Maybe God should start demanding an eye for an eye -- just to show His children that He's not gonna be manipulated by no uppity kids!
  
  The big debate in the Israeli Knesset right now -- or at least should be -- is this: "Just exactly how much Ugly can we get away with before God starts to notice?" And another big question the Knesset should be considering is whether or not, once Israelis are Chosen, they will remain Chosen forever -- just because they were born lucky? Or do they gotta constantly keep working at obtaining Parental approval?
  
  How far does Israel need to go in order to keep the Promised Land from getting un-Promised? This is a very real dilemma now facing Israel's government.
  
  Guys, might I suggest that you consider re-reading your Talmud?
  
  PS: "But why do you always just keep attacking the United States and Israel?" asked a friend of mine recently. "Why not Somalia, Sudan or Zimbabwe? Or Rwanda? They're just as bad -- or even far worse." Why? Because America and Israel are supposed to be CIVILIZED countries, above and beyond such medieval nonsense as torture, genocide, assassination squads, land-grabs, political prisons and major "collateral damage". We sort of expect that kind of behavior from countries just barely out of the Dark Ages -- but not from so-called western democracies with a tradition of encouraging civilized behavior.
  
  Recently the Berkeley Daily Planet printed the following information about Israel: "An Israeli company has developed a simple blood test that distinguishes between mild and more severe cases of multiple sclerosis.... An Israeli-made device helps restore the use of paralyzed hands. This device electrically stimulates the muscles, providing hope to millions of stroke sufferers and victims of spinal injuries.... Young children with breathing problems will soon be sleeping more soundly, thanks to a new Israeli device called the Child Hood. This innovation replaces the inhalation mask with an improved drug delivery system that provides relief for child and parent.... Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world. Israel produces more scientific papers per capita—109 per 10,000—than any other nation. Israel has the highest number of start-up companies per rata. In absolute terms, the highest numbers, except the U.S., are in Israel, which has a ratio of patents filed. Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies outside of Silicon Valley in the U.S.A. Israel is ranked no. 2 in the world for venture capital funds, behind the U.S.A. Israel has more museums per capita than any other country. Israel has the second highest rate of publication of new books per capita."
  
  Does this description of Israel sound like it is a primitive country run by blood-thirsty dictators? No. This description sounds like Israel is a civilized country that has no business dropping white phosphorus bombs on women and children, destroying thousands of homes solely on the basis of religious intolerance, running what appears to be a medieval Inquisition, and intimidating and terrorizing any of its citizens who do not agree with it.
  
  This description of Israel sounds like it is a country whose citizens should know better than that.