Life in Israel
We returned to Israel after a month in the US and Canada without hearing any news of Israel, it was as if Israel does not exist. Unless there is something violent it doesn't get reported there. Nothing much has changed in Israel, Olmert is still holding onto power, but three events since we returned less than a week ago have attracted some attention.
First, there was the mafia attack in Netanya. Two men on motorbikes wearing helmets rode up to a restaurant owned by the Abutbul gang and sprayed the restaurant and the cars outside with bullets. The leader of the gang, Charlie Abutbul, and three other members of the public were shot and injured. This shows a callous disregard for public safety, unlike previous professional hits. Needless to say the police are protecting the victim in his hospital bed and are looking for the culprit. Members of the rival Abergil family been been brought in for questioning. This morning a member of a rival gang named Cohen (no relative) was fired at and he and his baby son were injured. To all those whom I told that Netanya is a nice quiet town, an apology.
A headline a few days ago stated that the tax code is going to be dramatically reversed in order to help aliyah, particularly from N. America. Several years ago (in 2003) we immigrants from N. America and elsewhere fought a new tax code that would tax all Israelis, including new immigrants, on their total world-wide income. This of course was a drawback for those making aliyah who had businesses and accounts abroad. After much deliberation it was agreed to allow new immigrants to have a 5 year exemption from these changes. Now, after realizing that such a code reduces aliyah, the Knesset has reversed itself and not only extended the exemption back to 10 years, but also orders the tax authorities to ignore all foreign assets of new immigrants for that period. As a consequence the negative tax consequences to aliyah have been removed.
Finally, a sad story, the body of 4 year old Rose Pizem was found in a suticase on the banks of the Yarkon river in Tel Aviv. She had been missing for about a month and although her grandfather had confessed to her murder, the police could not proceed without the body. Then he reversed himself and said that his former confession was coerced. Nevertheless, it appears that her grandfather and her mother were living together and had two children together and had connived in her murder.
To those who think that the Jewish State is unlike any other, these stories might be a rude awakening.
First, there was the mafia attack in Netanya. Two men on motorbikes wearing helmets rode up to a restaurant owned by the Abutbul gang and sprayed the restaurant and the cars outside with bullets. The leader of the gang, Charlie Abutbul, and three other members of the public were shot and injured. This shows a callous disregard for public safety, unlike previous professional hits. Needless to say the police are protecting the victim in his hospital bed and are looking for the culprit. Members of the rival Abergil family been been brought in for questioning. This morning a member of a rival gang named Cohen (no relative) was fired at and he and his baby son were injured. To all those whom I told that Netanya is a nice quiet town, an apology.
A headline a few days ago stated that the tax code is going to be dramatically reversed in order to help aliyah, particularly from N. America. Several years ago (in 2003) we immigrants from N. America and elsewhere fought a new tax code that would tax all Israelis, including new immigrants, on their total world-wide income. This of course was a drawback for those making aliyah who had businesses and accounts abroad. After much deliberation it was agreed to allow new immigrants to have a 5 year exemption from these changes. Now, after realizing that such a code reduces aliyah, the Knesset has reversed itself and not only extended the exemption back to 10 years, but also orders the tax authorities to ignore all foreign assets of new immigrants for that period. As a consequence the negative tax consequences to aliyah have been removed.
Finally, a sad story, the body of 4 year old Rose Pizem was found in a suticase on the banks of the Yarkon river in Tel Aviv. She had been missing for about a month and although her grandfather had confessed to her murder, the police could not proceed without the body. Then he reversed himself and said that his former confession was coerced. Nevertheless, it appears that her grandfather and her mother were living together and had two children together and had connived in her murder.
To those who think that the Jewish State is unlike any other, these stories might be a rude awakening.
posted by Jack Cohen at 8:16 PM
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