Letters To The Editor – November 29, 2024

A (Mostly) Pro-Israel Cabinet

In reference to your recent editorial “President Trump and Israel” (November 22), I agree that President-elect Trump’s recent senior administrative staff appointments, who may not necessarily be qualified for the positions he has appointed them to since they were chosen more based on loyalty than competence, are all (with one possible exception) very staunch supporters of Israel. This should certainly bode well for more friendly and stronger U.S.-Israel relations during the course of the new administration which were unfortunately somewhat weakened these past four years under the Democrats’ control.

However, the one possible exception to these very pro-Israel appointees is Tulsi Gabbard, who for some reason you included in your list of those who will “bring a record of strong and enthusiastic public support for [Israel]….”

Until recently, Gabbard was an anti-war progressive liberal who in a short span of time went from supporting Bernie Sanders when he last ran for president to now Donald Trump – two polar opposites – possibly due to her more sympathetic views of Putin which she shares with Trump.  In fact, because of her more “friendly” stance with Putin and Syrian President Assad (whom she secretly visited several years ago), minimizing how evil they truly are, she has been criticized by many Republicans and Democrats alike as being a dangerous choice to lead National Intelligence (not to mention that she also has no experience within the intelligence community).

Other than that, there is certainly cause for optimism for Israel, which will hopefully be in a better position now to win the current war against Hamas and all the Iranian terrorist proxies. And in addition, hopefully the new administration, by instituting stronger sanctions against Iran, will soon be able to prevent Iran from gaining and utilizing nuclear weapons, which is a direct threat not only to Israel but to our entire civilized world.

Joshua Rosenthal
Queens, N.Y. 

Terror and Tragedy In the U.A.E.

This past Saturday night, after the holy Sabbath, world Jewry lost a holy soul, a rabbi who was an emissary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

As reported on www.jewishpress.com, the body of Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan, age 28, who went missing in the U.A.E. on November 21, was located by U.A.E. intelligence and security services and it was confirmed that he was murdered in an abhorrent and heinous act of antisemitic terrorism (“U.A.E. Exposes 3 Suspects in Murder of Chabad Emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan,” www.JewishPress.com, November 25).

The U.A.E.’s Interior Ministry later said authorities had arrested three perpetrators involved in the killing of Rabbi Kogan, of blessed memory.

Kogan, who went missing on Thursday, ran a kosher grocery store in the futuristic city of Dubai where Israelis have flocked for commerce and tourism since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in the 2020 Abraham Accords. The agreement has held through more than a year of soaring regional tensions unleashed by Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack into southern Israel. But Israel’s devastating retaliatory offensive in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon, after months of fighting with the Hezbollah militant group, have stoked anger among Emiratis, Arab nationals, and others living in the U.A.E.

Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah, has also been threatening to retaliate against Israel after a wave of airstrikes Israel carried out in October in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack. There is concern that there is still a threat against Israelis and Jews in the area, a warning issued by Israel’s government on Sunday said.

The U.A.E. has a burgeoning Jewish community, with synagogues and businesses catering to kosher diners. As the wars have roiled the region, the Rabbi Kogan’s store has been the target of online protests by supporters of the Palestinians. Mezuzahs on the front and back doors of the market appeared to have been ripped off.

Rivky, Rabbi Kogan’s wife, is a U.S. citizen who lived with him in the U.A.E.  She is the niece of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

This revolting act of terrorism will not keep us Jews down.  We are encouraged to speak out against antisemitism in our schools, colleges, workplaces, etc.  Since October 7, it has been rampant more than ever.  Please take on a mitzvah, a good deed, in Rabbi Kogan’s memory, and let’s tell the world that we are not to be intimidated and we’re not going anywhere.

Brian Goldenfeld
Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Biden’s Backpedaling

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo officially recognized Judea and Samaria as Israeli territory. It is irresponsible for Biden to reverse this decision (“Biden sanctions Judea & Samaria Builders for ‘Undermining Peace,’” November 22).  In 2019, Secretary Pompeo traveled to Judea and Samaria to support Israel’s right to development. The Palestinians also agreed to this under the Oslo Accords. Former President Bill Clinton supported the Oslo Accords.

President Joe Biden, by sanctioning developers in Judea and Samaria, has repudiated his own policy in a desperate last-minute effort to punish Israel for not agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza and for expanding its war on terror into Syria, Lebanon, and Iran. Biden’s action will encourage more terror attacks in Israel while inflaming antisemitism in the U.S. and abroad.

Biden, supposedly a foreign policy expert from 40 years in the U.S. Senate, does not understand that reversing the Trump administration’s recognition of Judea and Samaria creates confusion and resentment in the U.S. and around the world. Biden is making life more dangerous for those living in Judea and Samaria.  Biden also makes it more dangerous and costly for developers to work in Judea and Samaria. This means that American Jews will need to sell more Israeli Development Bonds. It also means that the U.S. Congress will need to send more aid money to Jerusalem to cover the extra costs caused by Biden’s antisemitic administration.

President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign slogan was “Trump Can Fix It.” I am confident President Trump and Ambassador to Israel-designee Mike Huckabee understand development and diplomacy. They are seekers of peace and friends of Israel. I believe they can “Make U.S.-Israeli Relations Right Again.”

James Patterson
Washington, D.C.

Congestion Pricing’s Fuzzy Math,
MTA’s Fuzzy Math

Since 2019, the party line was that it would require a $15 toll for congestion pricing to raise $15 billion (“Gov. Hochul’s Congestion Pricing Ping Pong” (Editorial, November 22).  This would help fund the MTA’s $51-billion 2020-24 five-year Capital Plan. Now, five years later, Governor Hochul and MTA chairman Janno Lieber both claim that the same $15 billion can be found with a $9 toll. Hochul proudly boasts that this 40% reduction in the congestion pricing fee will save commuters and taxpayers a significant amount of money.

How do you justify the change in math five years later? No details have been provided by either Hochul or Lieber to explain this. The same was true at the MTA’s November 18th board meeting when the $9 toll was officially adopted. The MTA Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey periodically raise bridge and tunnel tolls. It will be the same with MTA congestion pricing before reaching $15 by 2031. So much for truth in advertising…

There will be $15 billion in congestion pricing-funded capital projects, $5 to $10 billion in ongoing capital projects and programs not funded by congestion pricing from the current 2020-24 Capital Plan, whose work will be carried over into the next five-year Capital Plan, along with new projects and programs under the new $68-billion 2025-29 Capital Plan. It is doubtful that the MTA can complete potentially up to $93 billion worth of capital projects and programs within the upcoming five years. Remember that this does not include billions worth of additional routine maintenance, inspection, and safety-related projects and programs while operating 24/7 NYC Transit, Staten Island Railway, Long Island and Metro North Road service all year around.

The MTA has yet to provide any data to validate its technical capacity to successfully manage all of the above over the next five years.

Larry Penner
Via E-mail

The writer previously served as director for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office of Operations and Program Management.

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