New Year resolutions

I would like to wish my readers a good year, a year of health and peace, for you and your loved ones.

The fulfillment of some of our wishes for the coming year depends not on us but rather on others who are outside of Israel:

• Stability for the world economy and the US economy in particular. The American Administration has understood at the eleventh hour that only vigorous government intervention can halt the destruction wrought by the unrestrained greed of large private corporations.
• That the democratic countries stand together against the regime of the Ayatollahs in Teheran. A regime whose fascist and anti-Semitic character was again exposed this week in the UN speech of the President of Iran. If these countries impose genuine economic sanctions, if they cease to ingratiate themselves to Iran and court its favor, the need will diminish for a military action to prevent Teheran's Islamist zealots from acquiring nuclear weapons.

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The fall of Lebanon and the rise of the West Bank

Amid the excitement of last week's events - the announcement of  negotiations with Syria and the developments in the latest Olmert  corruption scandal - not enough attention was paid to the most significant event of the week: the fall of Lebanon in oil-rich Qatar.

In negotiations that took place under the sponsorship of the Qatari  ruler, the Lebanese government surrendered to the demands of Hizbullah and Syria: the pro-Syrian military chief General Michel Suleiman was  nominated for the presidency, Hizbullah would appoint a third of  cabinet ministers (11 out of 30), Fuad Saniora would no longer remain  prime minister and Hizbullah's demands for the renewed division of  voting areas which would enhance its Parliament representation in the next election was also approved. Under Lebanese law, a third of government ministers have veto power on every decision. The moment 11 ministers are Hizbullah members, every decision made in Lebanon has to first be approved by Teheran and Damascus.

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2008 defense budget dangerously lacking

Last week, the NIS 305 billion 2008 state budget was approved.  In eleven votes for the  budget, out of sixteen in which I participated, I was a member of the coalition. Last week, for the first time, I voted against the budget in breach of the coalition pact. Why?

It is in the social domain that the Labor faction has made respectable achievements, specifically in the cancellation of the anti-social decrees initiated by the Treasury. I've written previously on the expansion of the 'Health Basket'. May all my colleagues who worked hard for these achievements be blessed.

As a member of the special defense budget commission, in recent weeks, I have focused all my efforts on the matter. Last Monday, a final draft of the defense budget was presented to the commission as well as the works planned by Labor on which the budget was based on.

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