Driving around Jerusalem the other day, my wife and started joking about what we would do if we were given citizen’s rights to give traffic violations. We decided to keep track of the various infractions Israeli drivers are guilty of on a daily basis.

Within a couple minutes, we witnessed one driver speeding up as a traffic light turned red and barreling through the intersection. “That’s a license revoking offense,” I offered.

A couple streets later, a car over on the right shoulder had just evidently mistakenly passed a side street and was backing up against the traffic in order to turn right. I think that should prompt taking their license away and also impounding their car and forcing the driver to take an IQ test. It’s probably the most dangerous thing you can do on the road besides driving blindfolded.

“This is too easy,” my wife said, as we continued to witness one violation after another – cyclists weaving in and out of traffic, drivers making right turns from the left lanes, and someone blaring thumping trance music from their open window – itself a capital offense.

We thought we had seen everything, and had handed out probably 20 tickers during our imaginary shift. However, driving up the highway incline to our neighborhood, a station wagon passed us containing what looked like Palestinian laborers on their way home. A quick glance came up with nine passengers in a six-seat car, and these guys weren’t tiny.

We couldn’t help but laugh at the negligence around us, but one more sight topped it all. Across the median on the shoulder heading downhill, a taxi was pulled over to the side. The driver was standing around the front of the car, facing away from the road and urinating for all to see.

After all we had witnessed on that trip, it didn’t seem to be so bad at all.

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The entrance to Ma'aleh Adumim usually looks like this.

It’s generally a boring place, despite the thousands of cars that pass daily, and the hundreds of construction workers – mostly from the neighboring Palestinian village of Azariyah – who on foot pass through the barrier on the way to their day jobs.

So, it was surprising to find out on Saturday night, after Shabbat came to an end, that a guard at the entrance had been lightly injured in a stabbing attack that morning.

According to The Jerusalem Post report, “a suspected Palestinian terrorist launched a knife attack against a security guard at the entrance to the Ma’ale Adumim settlement near Jerusalem on Saturday. The municipal guard was lightly injured in the assault. He was evacuated to hospital for treatment. Police and IDF forces were searching the area for the suspect.”

It took place on a beautifully sunny, mild winter’s day, less than a quarter-mile from my house, unbeknownst to the families in the neighborhood enjoying the day with their families.

An odd thing about the incident – generally Palestinians aren’t coming into Ma’aleh Adumim on Shabbat, since there’s no building or repair work going on. So either the perpetrator made a special trip to attack, or he had another reason to be coming to the city.

Either way, whether the attack was the result of cumulative anger, hate and frustration at Israeli ‘occupiers, or he had a personal vendetta about a work issue that left him humiliated or enraged, or whether he was mentally unstable and the guard was a natural target, the ‘business-as-usual’ feeling that passes for reality in the West Bank is a tenuous one that can be broken at any time with ease of a knife’s steel blade passing in the wind.

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The robot bomb sapper.

We’ve all heard the old ‘my dog ate my homework’ excuse or something along those lines, and many of us have probably used it at some point in their educational career. But one of Matan’s classmates brought a truly original – and true – excuse to class for not doing her math homework.

She and some friends were waiting after school at a bus stop for their bus home, when they decided to walk a couple blocks to the nearest ‘makolet’ (corner market) to buy some ice cream. They took their leisurely time, until about 20 minutes later on the way back, she realized that she had left her school bag at the bus stop.

By the time they approached to the bus stop, the police suspicious objects unit was already there, treating the school bag as a potential terror threat. And one of their cool robot cop remote-controlled devices was in the process of exploding the bag.

The shocked girl retrieved her knapsack, which didn’t really look like a knapsack anymore. And inside was her math book, warped, burned, and shredded.

The next day, she brought the book to school and presented it to her surprised teachers.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do my homework yesterday,” she said. “My book got blown up.”

When my son finished relaying the story to me, his final comment was, “she’s so lucky, she didn’t have to do her homework.”

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Internationally known Israeli DJ Yinon Yahel was spinning the discs inside, and 1,000 teens crammed the club for one of their last free nights ahead of the school year which begins on Thursday.

Unbeknownst to them, however, right outside a drama was unfolding, as a terrorist, rammed a stolen taxi into the police barrier right outside the club. He then emerged from the taxi and went on a stabbing spree, injuring seven people, five Border Police officers, a security guard and one civilian.

The suspect was tackled, taken into custody, and brought to Wolfson Medical Center in Holon in light condition. Inside the club, Yahel was informed about a terror attack outside the club shortly after it happened, but was asked by management to keep playing.

“The management came and told me that there was an attack outside the club, but told me to keep playing and not to say anything, so that people wouldn’t panic. Everyone was inside by then so they didn’t seem to know what was going on,” Yahel told The Jerusalem Post.

An hour later, around 3 a.m. when the attacker had been subdued and the scene restored to order, the club was finally ordered evacuated and the teens sent home.

For the 33-year-old Yahel, who performs at some of the top clubs around the world, and is an in-demand remix specialist for dance artists ranging from Kristine W and Deborah Cox to Christina Aguilera and P Diddy, it wasn’t a typical evening.

When I talked to him last year for a story, he said that his music usually brings people together, regardless of their origin.

“I get Palestinians and Lebanese attending my shows and coming up to me to talk. In a club, we’re all just people,” he said.

Sunday night in Tel Aviv, his music almost became the backdrop for a horror movie, one that was thankfully averted. While the club goers interviewed by the Post made light of the situation after the fact when they found out about, it’s likely bound to be a back to school event they’ll never forget.

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Orchestrated by a New Jersey rabbi and his wife, the couple lured Yisrael Briskman to their home to discuss work on the rabbi’s book research, but got him into their bedroom where two goons punched, blindfolded and handcuffed Briskman. They repeatedly asked him to consent to his wife’s divorce and then called his father in Israel, telling him to fork over $100,000 to the daughter-in-law’s family, or they would receive a “special gift” of a bullet in Rabbi Briskman’s head.

They then dropped Briskman — the son — at a cousin’s home, told him not to squeal to the cops, and ended up surrendering to the FBI.

A confusing story to be sure, although their motives — getting Briskman, who has been denying his wife a divorce for years, and has been on the run for some time from the Israeli authorities — are sort of understandable, given the grief he has caused his ex-wife.

And from my perspective, seeing this front page of the Post while wandering through the NYC subway system? Bizarre and not what you want to be seeing about fellow Americans who have made aliyah. But is anything surprising any longer?

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Judge George Karra read out the argument for sentencing, and justified the harsh sentencing by saying, “Katsav’s high rank can’t be taken to his credit, on the contrary it makes his acts more severe. The higher the rank, the greater the disappointment.”

Katsav was unrepentant, reportedly breaking down in tears when he received his seven year jail sentence at Tel Aviv District Court, and saying, ” they are wrong. They made a serious mistake it will be proven. The lie won the day, you will all see.”

“The women know that they lied. I was not given a chance to defend myself… you kept interrupting my testimony,” he added.

In a moment of unity, all of the country was glued to their radios and TVs when the sentencing was announced. One Facebook commentator wrote on his status update immediately after the sentencing: ‘A sad day for Israel’s democratic government. A great day for Israel’s democratic system.’

That seems to be the general assessment as Israel’s one-time number one citizen appears headed to prison for a long time. The implementation of the sentencing has been postponed until early May ahead of expected appeals by Katsav’s lawyers, but the end seems inevitable. And the country is breathing a collective sigh of relief.

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Peter Yarrow, who along with Mary Travers and Paul Stookey, entered into American folklore by performing standards like “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” and “Puff the Magic Dragon,” has focused much of his attention in recent years on the innovative education program against youth violence that was developed in the US.

Yarrow is chairman of the international program that has pledged to eradicate violence among adolescents is going to be at the Sheba Medical Center on Thursday to chair a conference on using Operation Respect to combat the rising violence among youth in Israel in schools, homes and the community.

“Israel will be a model that will prove that joining forces from the fields of education and health contributes to a significant decrease in violence,” said Yarrow, who has visited Israel before to tout Operation Respect. Yarrow will also perform at the conference with Israeli musical counterpart David Broza

One outcome of the conference is expected to be the formation of an educational health-care task force headed by Sheba Medical Center and the Israel Government Center for Technological Education (Matach) which will lead to an experimental project uniting experts from both fields to create a new prototype that can be implemented in the effort to prevent and reduce manifestations of violence.

Among the topics to be discussed at the conference – conducted under the auspices of US Ambassador James Cunningham – are implications of violence for health and education; origins of humiliation and violence; the culture of bullying in the educational system and in the community; and manifestations of violence and frequency – Israel versus other countries

Thankfully, raising four kids in the Israeli school system, we haven’t experienced many incidents of violence in the schools, but we have heard horror stories from others. If the seeds are planted here by Operation Respect and Yarrow that will decrease violence among youth in Israel, the US and around the world, then the effort will have been well worth it.

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When things started to go his way and he began to see some money from his labors a couple years ago, Suchard splurged and bought a red Corvette convertible to tool around in.

Unfortunately, soon after, it was stolen and Suchard thought he had seen the last of his beloved vehicle. In reality, though, it began a two-year adventure with the thieves, Palestinians in the Ramallah area, making contact with Suchard offering the car back in return for ransom.

That began a long process of sensitive negotiations, eventually involving the police, and culminating last month in Suchard and his father Eddi driving from Tel Aviv to the Atarot industrial area outside of Jerusalem to pick up the car.

Suchard was aghast that it was painted school bus yellow, but overjoyed to get the vehicle back in his possession. Showing it off to me outside a Jerusalem restaurant later the same day he got the car back, he wouldn’t disclose what he had to give in return for the booty, but acknowledged that he would do it again.

“I just can’t wait to paint it red, though.”

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After all it’s not everyday that a leading public figure is found by judges to be a criminal, guilty of heinous acts. It doesn’t cast a glowing light on the state of our leaders, the neanderthal views toward women by a certain segment of Katsav’s generation of males, or our ability to suss out the bad apples in the barrel.

On the other hand, Katsav’s conviction is a testament to Israel’s vibrant democratic process, in which even the most powerful in the land are not above the law. Most reactions to Thursday’s court findings commented on this dichotomy.

While calling it “a sad day for Israel,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu also said that “the court today delivered two clear messages, one being that everyone is equal in the eyes of the law and the second the right of every woman to be in control of her own body,”

The state prosecutor Ronit Amiel also referred to the sadness surrounding the event but asserted that the verdict represented a “badge of honor for Israeli democracy.”

And Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch said at a swearing-in ceremony for new judges that the verdict “demonstrates the value of equality before the law.”

Speaking at the same ceremony, President Shimon Peres said: “There are not two States of israel. There is only one State of Israel. There are not two justice systems in Israel. There is only one justice system. There are not two types of citizens in Israel. There is only one type of citizen, and all are equal before the law.”

And the Katsav case is not the only example of the good, bad and ugly of Israeli society. Since 2008, courts have indicted former PM Ehud Olmert for fraud, sentenced former finance minister Avraham Hirschson to five years imprisonment for theft and money laundering, and convicted former health minister Shlomo Benizri of taking bribes.

While we Israelis feel the bile and nausea over the realization that our former president committed depraved acts in the very halls which represent the country’s independence, we can also stand tall amid the legal process that brought him to justice. It was indeed, the worst and the best of days.

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The Israel Prison Service isn’t the most popular or glamorous of the country’s defense and security forces. But the important work that it does was brought into sharp focus this past weekend with the Carmel forest fires and the human tragedy of 41 persons, of which 37 were prison guards whose lives were lost when their transport bus was engulfed by flames.

It seems only appropriate to present a short history of this unsung service, whose roots may be found, (often quite literally) in the jails cells of British Mandatory Palestine.

We will be like other nations, goes the saying attributed to national poet Haim Nahman Bialik, “When the first Hebrew policeman brings the first Hebrew prostitute before the first Hebrew judge.” The Zionists who envisioned the modern State of Israel were Utopians who believed they would be able to create a moral society without crime or criminals.

For this reason, Israel Prison Service (IPS) historian Naama Telem writes, “…prisons were not built for many years and old and inappropriate buildings, some dating to the British Mandate, were refurbished and used as detention centers… Prison conditions were harsh and very crowded. So much so, in the early 50s of the last century [the authorities] were forced to release a hundred prisoners, because there was not enough room for them.”

Israel’s first prison, called Ayalon, was built in the city of Ramle – also in a refurbished Mandatory structure – and was intended to house 450 prisoners. A second prison, Shata, was opened in 1952. “But it was on July 31, 1958 that the rules of the game changed. A prisoner revolt broke out, led by a group of Arab prisoners. The rebels took control of the weapons room and waged battle with prison wardens.

Two guards, Sergeant Joseph Shevach and First Sergeant Alexander Jaeger were killed [the funeral is pictured at left - RN]. Prison guards were injured. The exchange of fire killed 11 prisoners and 66 other prisoners managed to escape.”

“The Shata uprising caused a shift in the organization’s priorities. If, prior to the rebellion, rehabilitation and treatment of prisoners was the central issue, security was now awarded a place of honor. More and more funds were allocated to reinforce prison walls along with other security measures. The Age of Innocence, which began with the founding of Israel, ended.”

Two years later in May 1960, the IPS took part in another significant event in young State’s life: the capture and arrest of one of the most wanted Nazi criminals, Adolf Eichmann. The country was in an uproar over the arrest and vigilantism was feared. There’s no little irony in the fact that the IPS was called on to provide special protection so that Eichmann could be brought to trial unharmed. And once Eichmann was sentenced, it was the IPS that carried out the hanging – the first and last official prisoner execution in Israel’s history.

The Six Day War in June 1967 forced the IPS to conform to new realities once again, with thousands of Arab detainees suspected of belonging to organizations hostile to Israel entering the prison system. ”This new and problematic population meant the IPS had to deal with problems not previously recognized as well as a growing mass of prisoners.”

“The situation was becoming complex…. following the first and second intifadas… more and more terrorists were behind bars… The IPS had to find more and more detention facilities to meet the needs of the State of Israel. In 2006, handling of all security prisoners was transferred to the IPS and all IDF detainees held since the Six Day War were transferred to IPS permanent facilities. The tent camps that characterized the military prisons are disappearing and a new law allows soldiers to fulfill their military service prison guards.”

There continue to be high-profile prisoners – Mustafa Dirani, Sheikh Obeid, Marwan Barghouti, Samir Kuntar, Yigal Amir, Mordechai Vanunu, Marcus Klingberg, Nahum Manbar – but in general, like it’s counterparts around the world, the IPS deals with the ills that plague all societies: thieves, violent criminals, murderers, rapists, drug dealers, juvenile delinquents and the like. It is as Bialik predicted.

Over the decades, the IPS has gained in professionalism and now runs 32 facilities housing 25,000 inmates and a staff of 8,000. It emphasizes that social welfare continues to be a priority. “Alongside the establishment of new facilities and development of new treatment methods, three elite units were created to address problems occurring in prisons that reflect what is happening in Israeli society.” In the early nineties, it opened the largest the largest detox center of its kind in the Sharon prison, and special divisions have been opened to handle such issues as alcohol abuse, sexual predators and domestic violence offenders. “In recent years, ten sophisticated new prisons facilities were built and methods have developed for prisoner treatment, education and rehabilitation.” Prisoners can now study in jail, complete their high school education, do their matriculation exams, learn a profession and work in factories.

There has also been a significant change in training guards and improving their level of education.

These efforts have also improved the IPS’ public image. In 2002, the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) awarded the Hermon prison’s ‘House of Hope’ program for violent prisoners with its Offender Management and Reintegration Award.

The IPS website contains a great deal of information in Hebrew. While the site isn’t particularly user-friendly for English speakers, there is an FAQ and other information – this datasheet is a good place to start. Again, it isn’t Israel’s prettiest face but – as evidenced the outpouring of national support to the families now mourning their lost loved ones– it is one whose importance we recognize.

Image: Shata Prison today

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