The oligarch's visit

A nation lives - among other things - in its language. Try to be an american, english or swiss citizen, without speaking the local language, and even undergoing an examination in your proficiency. Nobody speaks about perfect hebrew - just enough to be involved in the local problems and mood directly, not thorugh translations. I can not imagine living in a country without undestanding what people laugh or cry on the streets. And yes, I am an "oleh" - though not a new one, and arrived here without a word of Hebrew and the new words of the "street-slang" I am learning from my grandschildren.

"tactics designed to serve a hidden agenda" doesn't it sound a bit of Protocols of Zion? Well, may be I am wrong , has he been charged in israel with any criminal act? The true it is that a serious attack on Mr. Gaydamak wishes to come into the playground of israeli politics will exposes all the failures of isreli democracies and western democracies in general: low quality of civil liberties and participation in desition making.

Uzi want olims to be well versed in Israeli literature, but he himself is only able to cite Swiss dramatist Durrenmatt. Could not your find sample form Israeli literature Uzi ? Unpatriotic doubleplus crimethink tovarisch!

Look at Gaydamak and remember Flatto-Sharon. Nothing has changed since. Here are a few corrective measures the Israeli legal apparatus needs to undertake ASAP. - Make residency in Israel for an annual total of more than 6 months a year a prerequisite for anyone standing for municipal or national election. - Make fluency in Hebrew a prerequisite for standing for municipal or national election. (A little Arabic wouldn't be a bad thing either for municipalities such as Jerusalem, on which Gaydamak's sights are reputedly set.) - Revise the Law of Return. At the very least this should make citizenship for those with pending court cases abroad subject to application not right. - Review the electoral system for the Knesset with a view to eliminating votes for favors and encouraging votes for promises - the norm in democratic countries.

The current Israeli electoral system needs to be changed. In the 35 years since I came to Israel I have lost count of how many new political parties have come and gone. At present we have the pensioners? party in the Knesset, but when was the last time any one heard about them, and what have they done for the pensioners? But with Gaydamak we have a different situation, for he has a captured electorate of about a million Russian (excluding those Russians under age to vote). They will vote for him no matter what he says or promises as long as it?s of a right wing agender. The Gaydamak situation is symptomatic of what is wrong with Israel, that in all walks of life here there is no order. The law of return must be changed, giving those who enter Israel five years of temporary residence. During that time they must have the rights of all Israeli citizens except the right to vote, not to be drafted, and the full protection of the Law. At the end of the five years they must pass a test on language, basic Jewish history. Those that don?t pass will have to take the test in five years time again. The present electoral PR system should be abolished, and replaced with a two party system.

"he does so in a country where he is a stranger, whose language he does not speak, whose culture and way of life are alien to him. And yet he presumes to be one of its leaders." That's what happens when citizenry is based on one's religious beliefs. I'm not sure if there's a legal requirement that a PM or a President has to be born in Israel, but it seems that Mr. Gaydamak - a recent immigrant - has a much better chance of becoming a PM than any of the over 1 Million indiginous Arab citizens. Talk about equal opportunity!

you said "The fact that he does not ( or does?) speak Hebrew like a native is irrelevant." Perhaps true, but the fact that he does not even speak Hebrew like your typical US suburban Jew who went to Hebrew school just long enough to qualify for Bar Mitzvah and then promptly forgot 99% percent of it may possibly be relevant. Also SHAME ON HAARETZ for not keeping to its own standards for Talkback discussions and allowing Mr. Ariel's response containing such inappropriate vulgarity as his advice to "eat s..t and die of envy!!!" to be posted.

Funny, I thought that Israel was a country about immigrants. Or is it only immigrants that don't make waves. The writer of this article is suffering from severe tunnel vision, and brings Ha'aretz into further disrepute in regards to some of its opinions.

Shame for Haaretz newspaper, it is to be renamed to Meine Schtettle, or Kasrilovka. Olmert is a failure, although he is 'connected' to the country as an Israeli born. Enough of the provincial racism. "He is not one of us" - hu lo mishelanu. Kasrilovka forever! Don't be that scared - he will not harm this country more than his predecessors.

The fact that there are 73,000 millionaires listed as living in Israel is laughable. Sasha (#15)and I have never met but I think we've been reading each other's minds when he cites the 18 families ruling Israel's wealth. Add to it the Russian oligarchs and the international mega corporations, and you get a much truer picture of who rules Israel today. When Ehud Olmert admitted that he would not declare a state of emergency in Israel during Lebanon 11 for fear of detracting investors from the Israeli stock market, he let out the slip of his life. Here lies the fatal flaw, a flaw much bigger than one Olmert and one Gaydemak put together. I hope and I pray that this Achilles heel will be uncovered to reveal what it really is, a cancer eating away at Israel's lifeblood.

Gaydamak has saved lives of Jews, and he was the only one to help (out of his own pocket) where the criminal Olmert couldn't even bring himself to spend someone else's money. Uzi, your fantasizing about literature doesn't bring you any closer to the truth, and you won't cajole us into agreeing with you just because you cite it. The fact remains, whatever his intentions (and as Jews we should give him the benefit of the doubt), he HAS helped people, and in many ways has helped more than the overall corrupt parliament in Israel.

In another era Gadyamak would be considered a philanthropist and a Maverick. But because he isn’t a prestigious banker like Rothchild or a financier & stockbroker like Montifore, he is simply categorized as Russian trash that can be puked on. And #17 Hit it right on the head...Gaydamak Envy.

Benziman wants to rewrite election laws to keep the "foreigner" out. Of course Uzi the leftist doesn't want to acknowledge that his ancestors were foreigners in the Land of Israel once too. He has many caveats and conditions he is proposing to bar Gaydamak. He has all kinds of labels… "oligarch" "foreigner" "dual citizen" "criminal" "passing guest" "swindler using loopholes” buyer of peoples hearts" "illiterate"....yada yada yada...an endless trail of vomit from the pen of Uzi Beziman. Bottom Line: The soon to be extinct Left is scared...shaking in their boots. So scared they have cavorted with their friends at The New York Times to roll out a big sales campaign for Tzipi Livni on the American stage. But fact is the left is scared. Scared that their destructive days of being in power are over. Scared that real leadership which will help Israel climb out of the sewer that was Olso, is on the horizon. Benziman's squawking is just the death rattle because the left is truly dead.

Even most stupid arrogant useless Israelis can speak Hebrew. Uzi Benziman can. Here he even quotes Durrenmatt. Imagine his intelligence! If Israeli voters will think that Arcadi?s Hebrew is important they will not vote for him. However 1 million may think that his Russian is important. And since these are the most productive citizens playing a big role in assuring Israeli security (that speak poor Hebrew) they may deserve a representative with an accent.

Half of the people in Israel,are strangers,whose language they don't speak,whose culture and way of life are alien to them,and yet they feel part of the nation.Gaydamak is no different from any of them. That he is buying his way into Israeli politics is a alot better than stealing his way into politics,like most Israeli politicians do. Almost everyday you read about Israeli politicans involved in either sex scandals or corruption.If Gadaymak happens to be a so called shady character then that's fine since he will be amongs't people of the same ilk. The only difference will be that he gives away money,and they will be taking it away.

Let me remind you that the article appears in english. Most of the readers are olim. I may agree that Gaydamak has a hidden agenda. That his populitic tactics show how awful he could be as a mayor, MK, etc. But, doesn't you think there are enough difficults in the klita of olim to "...limit the desire of Jews who recently arrived here to be included in the country's leadership?". Stanley Fischer yes. He was convenient and saved us. Others no. Is this Medinat HaYehudim or just and only Medinat Israelim. Sharansky was a positive leader in many ways. Should we have limit him too?. Despite his leadership and suffering because of his Zionist ideas and activism in the USSR?. There are many examples. Sadly, there are many compatriots like you- beign born here- think they should have more rights. Keep going. Israeli borns without politeness, protekzia for everything, corruption and lack of good behavior will damage Israel by themselves. Without help of any Gaydamak's.

It is of great interest to know what is the idea for publishing this? 1 mln. Israelis speaking the same language as Gaidamak does and shear the same cultural roots. Well, Arabs are better?

Shame on Haaretz for allowing such a discriminatory anti Russian-immigrant article to be published. It is stupid and sabra-arrogant

Gaydamak's "crime" is that HIS politics do not conform to the politics of HAARETZ. All of a sudden the right of a Jew is a "loophole", "hidden agenda", "crude example". It is time to change the law: only those who are deemed politically acceptable, by HAARETZ, should be entitled to hiddem agendas & loopholes.

This article is long on opinions and short on facts. The author admits that Gaydamak has been an Israeli citizen since the 1970s. How is he then a "recent" immigrant who should, in Benziman's version of democracy, be excluded from politics? Where has he been living since then? Where is his "permanent residence" if it is not Jerusalem where he "has a home"? Does his party or social movement have any policies or plans, good or bad, for Israel?

If you don't live in Israel, you may not know that more than 90% of Israel's wealth is controlled by only 400 families and the vast majority of that money is controlled by only 18 families. Gaydamak is no more of an 'outsider' than any other new immigrant. No Israeli politician or wealthy industrialist, not even Stephen Werthheimer stepped up to the plate last summer to offer aid to a half a million displaced civilians from the war stricken North except for Gaydamak. The Old Gaurd Palmachniks, such as the family who owns this newspaper know that an outsider has the potential of changing the rules of the game - something they now control entirely. They fear foreign banks offering mortgages with normal terms, they fear competition, worse of all they fear that politicians will no longer their be yes men.

Gaydamak is a true Zionist. How many of the recently published 7,300 Israeli millionaires extended a helping hand to the citizens of Sderot and the North under bombing? And what is wrong with the fact that this smart and successful businessman wants to be the mayor of Jerusalem? Does it smell like discrimination simply because he is a Russian Jew? The man is trying to help and the establishment is screaming "he is bying his way in" ! SHAME!

Somebody said that moral indignation consists of 1% morality, 4% indignation and 95% jealousy. Gaidamak is Jewish, citizen of Israel, donated money to good causes and lives in the country. He is NOT a starnger and lives NOT in a stranger's land. He is entitled to establish political party, make himself heard and try and influence Israeli politics. These are his basic rights. No different from Olmert, Peretz, Barak, Ramon or Katsav (all paragons of virtuous behavior!). The fact that he does not ( or does?) speak Hebrew like a native is irrelevant. Be honest: you just envy him: he came to Israel with a single pair of pants and made a ton of money. Ah, but only native-born Sabras( prickly on the outside and sweet inside, my foot!) have a right to get rich and famous. These Russians should know their place! Well, Haaretz writers, eat s..t and die of envy!!!

Of course the political establishment is against Gaydamak entering Israeli politics. He has enough money to be honest. He helped the victims of the Second Lebanon war. He is not beholden to any Israeli political group.

Alex, if a citizen of Israel cannot or will not learn Hebrew, that's his own buisness, and he should not be penalized for that. However, such a person whould not go into national politics and even strive to become a law-maker in the Knesset! There's something phony or funny about such ambitions......

We once were all strangers in a strange land. Sound familiar? Israel has benefited greatly by the contributions of Jews from all over the world. To limit a citizen form running for office, no matter how "new" or influential he is, is undemocratic. If Mr. Gaydamak does not speak the language that will make his appeal to the masses difficult. The law of return should not bar anyone from achieving their dream in Israel, no matter what that dream is. If Mr. Gaydamak wants to run for office, let him, and let the people decide, that is true democratic freedom.

YOUNG JEWISH LIVES IN THE LEBANON WAR. THAT'S BETTER, RIGHT?

let's test current MK's knowledge of Gemarra and see how many of them are OK to seek an office. He wants to require "bonds to the country" - how many arab MKs will pass that one?

Seldom do I read an article that is so senseless as this one

I have to tell you buddy that your point is mildly stupid. Discrimination based on language?? do you mean the author's well made point regarding a mayor who-at best-will have difficulties communicating with his staff and "subjects" concerning the day to day running of his city? You see, I wouldn't have replied were it not for your willy nilly use of the sensitive word 'discrimination'. please, pleeeease don't be a part of that. a rational and logical point does not dissolve just because it may (MAY!!!) not be politically correct. obviously you have managed to tread on a nerve as well.

uses that of his wife's. Gaydamak has helped thousands, Silvan Shalom has only helped himself. Yet, he was a minister in the government.

They're toady to English-speaking and bully to "Russians"... "Lo-magiya." - what can you do?

I would love to see Gaydamak take away the mayoralty of Jerusalem from its present Haredi mayor. Anything to get rid of this Haredi hump on the back of the Israeli body politic.

the Great Writer and Reformator North African Jew who just passed away, unfortunately with no much press: Mr. Andre Chouraqui, called upon Ben Gourion to be his special assitant in regards the Alya of Jews from North Africa. But back to the specificity of Gaydamak: Israel should have built in barriers against abuses with the sad experience of an early oligarch, French version, Plato Sharon. I would love to see a reform on the subject of the Law of Return (half a million of Olim either no connection to the Jewish lineage or a very slim one, have arrive in Israel), and the Political scene is full of future mines to explode in the face of Israel Democracy. What I diserned in today's Haaretz is the inconsistency in its reporting: First they bemoaning the Friedman's long waited Legal "revolution", while when it does not suit their AGENDA, they turn around and demande immediate Reform-Revolution, just because of Gaydamak.....go figure.

Noone should be discriminated by language. I understand if there were humans who are climbing trees and not speeking any language at all. As long as it is not the case it doesn't matter which language someone speaks, it is not a ground for stripping the person of any legitimate citizen rights. With this online newspaper it goes worse and worse, I don't know what I'll see there next or maybe I won't see it at all :)