Mayor Moshe Lion must be confident he is in office for the long haul. At Jerusalem’s recent transportation conference, he announced that once all the work on the extended light rail is completed, he will impose a congestion fine on all vehicles entering the city to encourage more people to use public transportation.
As the work is expected to continue for the best part of a decade, this means that Lion believes that he will be reelected when the next municipal elections roll around. Even if he imposes the fine, there is no guarantee that people will stop using their cars.
What will he do in the case of doctors, hi-tech workers, and university faculty who work in Jerusalem but live elsewhere? Denying them the freedom to use their cars, Lion could be starting a brain drain. Has he thought that far ahead?
And what about Jerusalemites who work in Tel Aviv and beyond? If they use their cars to get to work, will they be fined every time they come home? If that will be the case, many Jerusalemites will opt to live closer to their place of employment, and a lot of the high-rises will have many apartments standing empty.
This past Sunday, Lion must have been more determined than ever to impose the fine, as demonstrators blocked the entrance to the city, causing far greater traffic chaos than usual. Due to all the construction taking place in the area, there are traffic jams for long periods on a daily basis. Several protesters were arrested.
Ongoing hostage plight
In the ongoing efforts to draw world attention to the hostages’ plight, and the urgent need for them to receive medical and other humanitarian aid and to be released as quickly as a possible, the general public tends to overlook the non-Israelis who were abducted by Hamas, and who live in the same inhuman conditions as the Israeli hostages.
However, at official levels, the non-Israeli hostages have not been forgotten. There is constant communication between Israeli officials and the ambassadors of the countries of which foreign hostages are citizens.
Among the most publicized of foreign hostages who are not dual nationals is Bipin Joshi, an agriculture student from Nepal, who had been in Israel for a brief period before Oct. 7 and was abducted from Kibbutz Alumim.
His mother, Padma, and sister Pushpa arrived in Israel last week, when it looked as though there might be a breakthrough in efforts to achieve an agreement between Israel and Hamas. Unfortunately, it was another false straw of hope.
On Sunday, accompanied by Nepali Ambassador Dhan Prasad Pandit, they came to Jerusalem and visited the tent of the hostage families, which is set up around the corner from the Prime Minister’s Residence. The PM’s private residence is a five-minute walk away.
On Saturday night they were in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, where the ambassador said that his country’s government is still uncertain as to what the situation is regarding Bipin Joshi, and under what conditions he is being held captive.
At the Jerusalem tent, 17-year-old Pushpa Joshi thanked all those who have given the family support, and entreated them not to forget her brother.
Mother and daughter then moved on to the President’s Residence to meet with President Isaac Herzog and his wife, Michal, who had just returned from Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.
A tearful Padma Joshi sat clutching a portrait of her son. Herzog, in offering his support for Bipin’s family during its terrible ordeal, said that just as the Israeli public is screaming for the release of the hostages, it is simultaneously screaming for Bipin’s release. He emphasized the humanitarian importance of securing the release of all the hostages.
Bipin’s sister told the president: “It’s too much heartbreak for me and my family. I want to thank Israel from the bottom of my heart for standing with us. I thank God for giving us hope. And it’s my appeal to the international community, please. We can’t imagine how he’s living there. I ask the international community, please, do whatever you can. Please, whatever you can.”
Rise of antisemitism
A panel discussion in English on “The Rise of Global Antisemitism” will take place in the Jerusalem Theatre’s Henry Crown Auditorium on Tuesday, September 16.
Speakers include US Ambassador Mike Huckabee; former MK and ambassador to the US Michael Oren; former government spokesman Eylon Levy; Special Envoy for Trade and Innovation and former deputy mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum; current Deputy Mayor and Hitorerut Party head Adir Schwartz; and award-winning author and journalist Matti Friedman.
Proceeds from the event will be directed to the Lone Soldier Center in Memory of Michael Levin, a nonprofit providing physical and emotional support to lone soldiers and those in civilian community service. Doors open at 5:45 p.m.; the event is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.
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