When I first started this blog back at the beginning of October, I warned my potential reader/listener that I would be musing over a variety of subjects of interest to me, and just hoped that one, or maybe a couple or three people out there, might find my ramblings vaguely interesting.

I've been taken aback by the response in the four months since, and have much enjoyed the words of support, (and occasional criticisms) that have come my way.

Back in October I suggested that I'd be considering the Israeli political scene, jazz, eating out, and horse racing, all of which have been integral parts of my life to one extent or another. 

You may not be aware, but prior to my permanent move to Israel in 2007, I had spent the vast majority of the previous 22 years working as a horse racing commentator and journalist, covering the length and breadth of the British Isles, in front of the camera, behind a studio mike, and in print. 

I had a good career – it might have been a very good career if one or two types who found it unpalatable to have a chap of my background climbing into the upper echelons hadn't placed insurmountable barriers in my path. But that's history, and I suppose if those bigoted individuals (who represented a very small minority of my profession) hadn't succeeded, then I probably would never have decided that Israel (warts and all) would be the place for me and Paz to raise our two daughters.

In hindsight, what a great favour they did me. Despite the not infrequent occasions when I want to scream out loud at some of the ridiculous occurrences here, I love the place – hopefully it will learn to love me back in due course.

So, as a throwback to a previous incarnation I would like to regale you with a few thoughts about a horse I believe will win the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham on Tuesday 16th March.

The Champion Hurdle is the highlight on the opening day of the four-day Cheltenham Festival races, run at a genteel Gloucestershire town which becomes overrun by more than 50,000 people every day attending the finest jumps races in the world. Staged over two miles and culminating in a steep climb to the finish, competitors have to negotiate eight flights of hurdles along the way. The horse and jockey, plus the winning trainer and owner, will be lauded and applauded till the cows come home.

Last year, a bonny bay horse with a big white face was a surprise winner. His name was Punjabi, and even though he's been beaten in every race since then, I believe he will return in mid-March to repeat his success of 12 months ago.

Writing the occasional article for race fans in Britain, Ireland and further afield under a nom de plume, I have been encouraging those wishing to have a bet (we racing sorts like to refer to the transaction as 'an investment') on the Punjabi creature, to step in at odds of around 16/1 – that, for those not familiar with such terms, would represent a profit of 1600% should the old boy win the race. When considering the somewhat miserly 1 1/2% being proffered by the old savings account at present, it does sound tempting, doesn't it?


Of course the only problem in the equation is the not unlikely occurrence that Punjabi (owned by a gentleman who answers to the slightly implausible name of Mr Raymond Tooth – I wonder if his family are referred to en masse as 'The Teeth'), might not win, in which case, the hard-earned disappears into the ether. 

Just a minute, isn't that exactly what happened at Lehman Brothers, the Icelandic banks (a personal tale of woe for another blog, no doubt) and to 100's of other financial institutions around the globe over the last few years. If my money is going to do any disappearing I at least want to have a say in the matter, to choose my own destiny and get the indescribable buzz of roaring on my selected horse, whether it wins or not.

I know most people daft enough to listen or read my blog will have little or no connection with the 'Sport of Kings' and may even find the notion of betting on horses or any other sporting event, mildly or even profoundly distasteful. That is a perfectly reasonable opinion, not one I share of course, but one that I respect. In a democratic society it is the choice of the individual to do what he or she wants with their money, whether it be to buy a flashy polluting car, gaudy jewellery, a membership of the local health club, invest in hedge funds or fill in lottery tickets day in, day out.

During my time around the British racing scene I met people across the whole spectrum of society, from the royal family to billionaires, movie stars and sporting heroes, down to petty criminals, fraudsters and villains. The funny thing is, that no one group was any more interesting than another, and indeed on closer inspection, there were often many marked similarities!

One racing guy I admired immensely was Sir Clement Freud, who sadly passed away last year. A grandson of the legendary psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, a renowned wit and raconteur, restaurateur, journalist, politician, television and radio celebrity, and with a face that looked not unlike his famous bloodhound companion Henry, with whom he made some legendary British TV adverts in the 1960's and '70's, I was having lunch with him at York racecourse and was puzzling over a way to gain some inside information about a horse Freud owned that was running at the track that very day. Unlike me, not everyone offers racing information so easily.

Eventually, after beating around the bush for half an hour or so, I plucked up the courage and thought I'd found a way to hint that I wanted to know was what was expected of his horse.

'Well, Sir Clement, have you got any tips for me today?'
Freud put down his knife and fork, dabbed his mouth with a napkin, looked directly at me through those famously bloodshot eyes, and said. 'Yes, try the cheese board!'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcC51rkQjms
(Click on the link above to see the BBC obituary for Sir Clement Freud)

Back to Punjabi. The seven-year-old gelding (that means he won't ever be a daddy horse), is due to have his final preparation run before the Champion Hurdle, at Wincanton in a few weeks time. If he comes back to form (as I believe he will, having been prepared like an Olympic athlete to peak for the big occasion), then suddenly everyone will be quoting the old nom de plume, saying 'what a good judge he is'.

If not, then it'll be back to the drawing board - again. But, as anyone residing in these parts will confirm, hope springs eternal.



 

 
 
Today I was dismayed to read of a $1million dollar business deal done between an Israeli hi-tech company and the Tehran Chamber of Commerce.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm all in favour of free trade and am an advocate of doing business with our neighbours in the Arab world. It just seems to me to be far beyond the pail when facilities are being provided to a regime that has stated its absolute determination to wipe Israel from the face of the map. No prizes for guessing what the punishment was during the Second World War if British or US firms or individuals were found to be selling 'support systems' to Nazi Germany?

In an attempt to take control of the impending media storm, a spokesperson for the company in question, DaroNet, said that his software had been sold to the Iranians through a third party in Holland and that the Israelis knew nothing about it until being asked to produce a version that supported the Farsi language. Maybe that should have been the point at which he and his colleagues should have said. 'Well maybe we shouldn't be supplying this product to these people'.

It appears that this thought never crossed their collective minds, as he went on to crow to the Jerusalem Post: "The deal is signed and delivered. They can't go back on it now." Possibly not, but maybe you can, mate!


I don't know very much at all about the Tehran Chamber of Commerce. I'd like to think that it is similar to such organizations anywhere in the world, a jovial bunch of local shopkeepers doing their best to support each other and promote their businesses as a combined unit and using the forum as an opportunity to catch up on the latest gossip and grumble about the impending rent increase imposed upon them by their landlord.


Then again, there might well be people amongst this august body who have businesses that supply the national government with facilities that could be used to jeopardize the safety of the State of Israel and other countries in the region.

Because of this, it seems ridiculous to me that any Israeli business should be able to act legally in supplying goods and services to Iran. Going back to the DaroNet spokesman, he went on to point out that, "Lots of Israelis do business with Iran. From cherry tomatoes to high tech, it's a $250m trade."

How much more proof does the government need that, given the chance, Ahmedinajad and his cronies would do something very nasty to the general Israeli population (both Jewish and Arab) if he could get away with it? Why aren't they clamping down on these business deals in the best interests of the Israeli public?

It might very well be that behind the scenes Israeli agencies are doing what they can to try and limit the potential damage the Iranian president might cause; there's certainly no end of posturing taking place in public. If he starts to feel that his grip on power is slipping, for instance, if the anti-government protests gain strength once again, Ahmedinajad could well reckon he has nothing to lose in letting rip against Israel.

I'm sure that the overwhelming majority of people in Iran just aspire to being able to live their life in peace, make a living have a comfortable home and possibly a holiday once or twice a year. Recent riots have shown that many people are being brutally repressed by this despicable regime. 

I have a personal interest in the suffering of the many moderate Iranians (most of whom refer to themselves as Persians), as they didn't support the Islamic Revolution.

One of my best friends at primary school in England was a girl from a Persian family called Nicky Nersessian. We'd been in the same class since the age of 5. In early 1979, aged 11, she and her parents went over to Tehran to visit relatives for a two-week break. I never saw her or her family again. Only days after the Nersessian's landed in Tehran, Ayatollah Khomenei returned and the Islamic Revolution took place. Many of our friends tried to contact the Nersessian's but to no avail. Their house stood empty and untouched for more than three years. One day, I passed by and saw it had been sold. By whom, I don't know. 

Every time I see the demonstrations, read of the torture of opposition supporters and of the 'disappeared', I wonder if maybe Nicky, possibly now (as time has marched by) even her children, were part of the protests. I am certain that she and many like her would love to see an end to this awful regime.

Iran's plight highlights the extreme dangers in combining politics with religion, a mistake that I hope here in Israel, we don't end up making as well. We're already at the beck and call of nutty religious minority parties who, because of our warped electoral system, end up as the tail wagging the dog. Going any further down that particular path would be a disaster.


As for those Israelis and those from the many others countries lining their pockets in trading with Iran, I'll let their conscience – if they've got one - be their ultimate judge.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
For those unaccustomed to flying to and from Israel, a first experience of air travel in the presence of a predominately Jewish clientele can be something of a shock to the system. So, here's something of a 'heads up' of what you might expect.

I consider myself to be a fairly worldly sort of a guy and have experienced air travel and enjoyed uplifting conversations in the company of passengers on airlines as varied as Finnair, Pakistan Airlines, Royal Jordanian, Indonesia's Garuda Airlines and even Ryanair!

As almost certainly the only Jew amongst more than 300 Muslims on a flight from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur, (it's funny, I couldn't find any sign of an ElAL flight on that route!) I was left 'stranded' when en masse nearly everyone headed to the rear of the plane shortly after take-off to say a prayer in the direction of Mecca! It was a little strange being one of only two or three non-Muslim passengers on board and I remained seated whilst prayers took place. I was more concerned though about the jet listing to one side and only being able to go round in a circle due to uneven weight distribution, than I was about being the only Jew on the journey.

The exodus to pray was however an orderly affair, and the return to seats was carried out with the minimum of fuss and just in time for the arrival of one of the best vegetable curries I've ever had!

Contrast this with the embarrassing shenanigans of passengers on ElAl, Jet2, EasyJet, British Airways or any of the many other carriers plying the route to Tel Aviv. If you've never endured the palaver, then let me briefly guide you through what to expect.

Without wanting to sound overtly prejudiced against the ultra-Orthodox or Haredi Jewish communities, the overwhelming majority of the problems encountered seem to stem from the fact that most followers of these sects have a built-in system for ignoring each and every instruction given by the captain and crew. Simple tasks like sitting in your seat for take-off, or stowing overhead luggage seem beyond the understanding of the vast majority.

Much of the difficulty (in my opinion) comes from the fact that the 'Men in Black' seem to get away with a far greater hand luggage allowance than most secular people, almost always as a result of insisting on carrying on one or more hat boxes that overfill the on-board luggage sections in moments.

Given a choice between finding the most desirable place to stow your black hat or missing your take-off slot because of a refusal to sit down and then having to experience a two-hour delay, these people invariably seem to believe that finding a place for their hat is far more important. It is no exaggeration that there have been a number of occasions when I, and a number of passengers like me, have almost come to blows with people refusing to sit down and who repeatedly ignore the pilots pleas.

When eventually you do manage to get away, it's only a question of time before the seat-belt sign goes off and the 'grand walkabout' begins. Seemingly everyone wearing a black hat or black kippa (the religious women are rarely as troublesome) seem to want to head off and collect in groups of 10 or more in the middle of the aisle, almost always barring entrance to one of the trolley dollies who are trying to bring me my lunch.

I often feel pretty sorry for myself at this point, but I feel particularly sorry for the air crew on the budget airlines who even under normal circumstances have to work very hard in cramped conditions. Their task is made nearly impossible by the roaming throng, and I'm sad to report that I have witnessed numerous incidents when they have been on the point of screaming to be noticed.

On one Thomsons flight to Manchester a couple of years ago I happened to overhear two attendants (whilst warming up the breakfast omelettes), agreeing that they would never volunteer for the Tel Aviv run again and that they intended to make sure that none of their friends "got lumbered with the booby prize route". Most Thomson flights I ever took were virtually full, so I was particularly surprised when they pulled out of the Israel line. Could it possibly be that their staff had had enough of the customers?

Imagine the impossible task they faced trying to dish out kosher meals to allocated seat numbers when the occupants had decided to play musical chairs and had given no notice as to where they had gone, only later to complain that they hadn't been served their food?

I know I'm not the only one out there that finds flying to and from Israel an ordeal. If it wasn't for the fact that Israel is such a fascinating and enjoyable place to visit, I'm sure there'd be many people prepared to look elsewhere after enduring the travails of the organised chaos that is flying to the 'Holy Land'. I must admit though to having found a way to minimize the potential stress and shame I often feel, and that is to fly on Fridays, Saturdays or Jewish festivals, when most religious people are not present.

This is a solution that I personally am happy with, but not one that I am pleased to have had to reach, as we are but a small nation whose people really should try and stand together. There are times though when you simply have to raise your hands and accept, if not defeat, then solutions that make life a little more bearable.

I'm afraid that I give Easyjet (the new boys on the block), not much more than 2 years before they go the same way as Thomsons, BMI and others, who choose to fly to other less stressful and traumatic destinations.

Let me know of your experiences via the comments link at the top of this blog.
 
 
I doubt that there has been very much international media coverage of the sudden spate of rocket attacks on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, but it is definitely a worrying trend and one that could yet light the touch paper for another conflict in our region.

There has been significant investment by the Israeli authorities in the Iron Dome missile defence system, but even this is not foolproof. Today's news that a rocket fired from Gaza had hit Ashkelon is a a particularly worrying development.

A group called the Popular Resistance Committee claimed responsibility for the rocket, one of at least 10 to be fired over the border today. It's very convenient for this group to be 'responsible' as it allows Hamas, (who control virtually everything anyone does in Gaza) to claim they had nothing to do with it and therefore escape direct blame.

Anyone with even half a brain knows that the truth of the matter is that this is almost certainly an organization created by the terrorist government in Gaza. It's task is to hoodwink naive journalists, television viewers and those reading their daily papers around the world, into believing that Hamas' hands are 'clean' and that they are powerless to stem the ratcheting up of the pressure in the region.

Accepting that premise would be akin to believing that Hizbollah are in no way connected to Syria or Iran - it just is not believable and should be treated with the contempt it deserves.

Unfortunately, there are many people who will believe whatever is likely to conveniently fit in with their own anti-Israeli sentiments. The real facts don't matter, just look at the Goldstone Report.

Whenever a governing body begins to lose popular support or feel that its grip on power might be slipping, the most successful way to rally people back to the cause is by stoking up nationalistic feelings. Having a war is the ultimate way of playing that game and could well be the reason behind the worrying developments in the south.

This time around I am sure that Israel will not sit back for five years and allow 8000 rockets to hit the country before retaliating.

As a moderate, centre-left thinking person, even I (and many others like me) believe that the Israeli government must act decisively and without hesitation should the trickle of rockets turn into a major barrage.

The world will condemn Israel (it nearly always does), but if there is any justice in the world, the Hamas regime's vile tactics will surely rebound on them in the end.