Distribution of Gas Masks

January 9, 2012 – Thanks to Alan Schleider for this updated information:

“I now have better information.  *171 is indeed out of service but *2237 is working but it is a very long wait.  You might have better luck trying the web site, http://www.israelpost.co.il/oref-calls.nsf/callme3?openform“

originally published in the September-October 2011 edition of AACI’s VOICE

The Home Front Command (Pikud HaOref) had announced that you can get your masks delivered via The Israel Postal Courier Service to a convenient address.  

 

Orders can be made by telephone to the distribution center between 07:00-22:00 and on Friday between 7:00-14:00. Dial *171 or *2237 for someone to contact you.

Date of delivery will be determined in coordination with the client. Delivery cost is NIS 25 per household. To leave contact details use this link:

Gas Masks will be provided at no cost for all eligible residents.

Residents who have not returned their old gas masks will be required during the distribution period to return them, or if lost, will be required to pay.

There are plans for a free program for those who are homebound, living in special institutions for health reasons defined by the Home Front Command in cooperation with relevant ministries. 

 

Note to the Public: The above is a service notice and by no means should be taken as a sign of imminent danger and to cause alarm to the residents of Israel

IICC – Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center

With special thanks to our newest contributor, Jack Cohen of AACI’s Netanya branch.

Jack has many talents and interests, and among them, he has a blog called Isblog at http://commentfromisraelblog.blogspot.com/. This is from his December 8, 2011 post. Posted with permission.

    On Tuesday we went on a trip (tiyul) with AACI to the IICC. AACI is the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel, our English-speaking club in Netanya and IICC is the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center. I have lived in Israel for 15 years and had never before heard of this organization, that was established in 1985 to commemorate the Israeli heroes who died in the service of the State while carrying out intelligence operations.

    The IICC was formed by the three arms of Israel’s intelligence services; the Shin Bet (responsible for internal security), the Mossad (responsible for foreign intelligence gathering and analysis) and Aman the Intelligence Corps of the IDF. More than that, the IICC sits in an obscure location on a small side street, which I used as a short cut going home from work and passed it many times without realizing that it was there. It would indeed require information and intelligence to find it.

(click here for video)

    It was founded by former intelligence officers to commemorate their fallen colleagues. The memorial consists of a stone maze with the names of the deceased carved on the walls.

    There is also a small synagogue containing a 120 year old Syrian Torah scroll that was one of over 100 rescued by the Mossad during the rescue of Syrian Jewry, and adjacent is a library containing a file on each individual, that contains official letters as well as material added by family members and friends. It should be emphasized that all this information is now public, although some individuals still cannot be named.

    Part of the Center includes the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center that has a large library on intelligence and terrorism information as well as a tiny museum on terrorism (see www.terrorism-info.org.il) . This is a private organization that has ties to the formal State intelligence organizations and produces reports on various topics that contain only publicly available information. For example they produced the Report that was submitted as the official Israeli reaction to the Goldstone Report.

    We were shown an introductory video on the Center, then a video about one of the successful operations carried out in 1953, soon after the State was founded, in order to rescue Jewish children from Morocco, under the aegis of “Nativ” that was a part of the Mossad given the responsibility to rescue endangered Jews from anywhere in the world.

    For this operation the Mossad recruited a young British Jew named David Littman, code-named “Mural,” who was living in Switzerland with his wife and child. David was anxious to help Jews who were endangered, partly because as a historian he had studied the Holocaust. He was asked by the Jewish Agency to go to Morocco and see if he could rescue 500 Jewish children, but he was unaware that he had been recruited by the Mossad.

    He took his family with him and posed as a British Christian under a false identity. He set up an office in Casablanca that was a charity offering free holidays in Switzerland to children under stress. He made contacts with the Swiss and British diplomats and Moroccan authorities. He was accepted as genuine by them and he then signed up children for the holidays, all of whom incidentally were Jewish. The Moroccan authorities granted him mass visas for 100 children at a time, and he successfully rescued 530, some by boat and some by plane. From Switzerland, from a genuine holiday villa, the children were then transported to Israel. Neither the children nor their parents actually knew that Israel was their destination, although many suspected this. After the success of Operation Mural, the Moroccan authorities, maybe partly out of embarrassment and partly out of the realization that they could not prevent the Jews from leaving, allowed 100,000 Jews to be transported by sea via France and Italy to Israel. The parents of the rescued children joined them in Israel.

    Incidentally, Littman’s wife, Gisele, who was expelled from Egypt with her parents in 1957, writes under the nom-de-plume of Bat Yeor and authored a famous book entitled “Dhimmi,” the Arabic for protected minorities.

     After lunch we also heard a lecture by Prof. Yoram Kahati on “Radical Islam”, in which he described the modern origins of radical Islam from Hassan al Banna who founded the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 and Said Kuttub (Sayid Qutb) in Egypt in the 1940′s to Yussuf Qaradawi, the Muslim cleric who has justified under Islam much of the current terror used against Israel and the West. He also explained the symbolism that is used by the terrorist groups such as Hizbollah and Hamas in their flags and slogans and described their world-view. Altogether not a pleasant subject but very interesting and informative.

(You can expect to hear more from Jack who was born in London, UK, lived in suburban Washington DC area for 30 years, moved to Israel in 1996. A retired Professor. Thanks again, Jack!)

Women, Wisdom, and Wealth

Part II

Originally published in the September-October edition of AACI’s VOICE

In the last issue of the Voice we discussed how women frequently lack confidence and feel insecure and when it comes to financial planning and investments. We also identified five key risks that women face as they move through their retirement years, including (i) Outliving Assets due to longevity, (ii) Loss of Spouse, (iii) Decline in Functional Status, (iv) Rising Healthcare and Medical Expenses, and (v) Inflation.

Against this background, I strongly urge women to become active participants in their financial lives in order to increase their chances of having a comfortable retirement. Here are five steps you can take:

1. Educate yourself. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of reading books and articles, attending seminars and speaking with knowledgeable professionals in order to increase your financial aptitude and confidence.
2. Identify your goals. If you are like most women, you have goals, but haven’t really thought about what it would take to achieve them. Think them through and write them down. The more concrete your financial goals, in terms of magnitude (how much money you need) and timing, the more likely you are to achieve them.
3. Develop and implement a long-term financial and investment plan. No rational traveler would take a trip to a far-off location without a road map and directions. Similarly, no rational investor should jump in without spending time and effort developing a plan to meet her financial goals. The plan provides you with a framework, discipline and accountability. If you are married and your spouse hasn’t taken the lead in formulating your family plan, run with it yourself and involve him as much as possible. The plan should be tailored to your life expectancy, your standard of living, your risk profile and your unique financial goals.
4. Understand the risks. Women tend to err on the side of caution when investing, preferring to avoid short-term loss rather than achieve long-term gain. The erosion of purchasing power due to inflation is one of the major financial risks faced by women. Conservative bank deposits, which will not keep up with inflation, can often be more damaging to your financial well-being than the partial (and often temporary) loss of your investment values due to market volatility. Currency risk, especially for those individuals with income and/or assets in more than one country, must also be considered.
5. Reassess, Rebalance, Reallocate. Even the best financial plan needs to be revisited once a year to ensure that you are still on track to meet your goals. Adjustments should be made and the plan should be tweaked as necessary. And if you have experienced a major life change – the death of a spouse, a divorce, the loss of a job, an inheritance – your plan should be re-worked to reflect your new situation. Planning is not a one-time exercise. As your priorities and goals evolve with time, your financial plan should evolve along with you.

Women are different from men, and historically, have been less exposed to the financial world. But that’s no excuse!  Educate and empower yourself to take control of your financial life. Financial security is not something that just happens – it is something you work toward. And with HaShem’s help, you can succeed.

Debbie Sassen is an independent Financial Planner and Licensed Investment Advisor (US) with the Investment Advisor Alliance, RIA. With over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, Debbie uses her broad background to help people, in particular women, to organize their financial lives, identify their financial goals, and implement strategies to achieve financial freedom. She can be reached at Debbie.Sassen@yahoo.com or 054 842 7638.

Note: The above article is not, nor should it be a substitute for, financial advice relating to any individual’s specific needs.