Last Thursday morning I wrote about the upcoming appearance of Nick Griffin on the BBC's 'Question Time' and of my disgust that a confessed Nazi sympathizer and Holocaust denier was being given a platform to pedal his malicious, hateful propaganda.

As it happens, Griffin's performance on the show was dire. He was clearly very nervous, fell foul of some tremendous audience responses and was also roundly exposed by his fellow panelists for the racist thug he is.

When asked by David Dimbleby if he denied the Holocaust, Griffin replied with a laugh, 'Well, I haven't been convicted of Holocaust denial'. He went on to enthuse about the Ku Klux Klan, spouted a tirade about homosexuals, and also passed some snide comments about handicapped people.

The generally accepted view was that Griffin had performed poorly and had been exposed for the racist, unpleasant excuse for a politician that he is.

What a shock then to read that in a poll of 30,000 British viewers taken the day after the show was aired, an astounding 22% said that having seen the BNP leader in action the night before they 'would consider' voting for his party at the next election!

I'm afraid that my fears of Thursday morning may well have been realized. Granting a platform to present his warped policies to an audience of up to 10 million viewers (under the banner of free speech and democracy), the BBC could well have done more damage to the democracy and the freedom of speech of minority groups across Britain, than in any other instance in living memory. Shame on them.

This evening the BBC's 'Question Time' programme returns with a bang to the screens of British terrestrial TV viewers.

Back after the summer parliamentary break, the producers of the top-rated show clearly believe they have landed something of a coup in persuading well know political figures to sit down around the table with Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party, a man whose racist, anti-Semitic views proved popular enough for him to unfortunately be elected (earlier this year) as an MEP (Member of the European Parliament), representing the North-West of England.

"I am well aware that the orthodox opinion is that six million Jews were gassed and cremated and turned into lampshades. Orthodox opinion also once held that the world is flat." - Nick Griffin.

Another BNP candidate, Andrew Brons, was also elected MEP for Yorkshire & Humberside, the region where I lived until moving to Israel a little over two years ago. Time might well prove (sadly) that I 'got out' just at the right time.

Back to tonight's Question Time. In its wisdom, the BBC has, for the first time in British broadcasting history, given a mainstream platform to a confessed Nazi sympathizer, Holocaust denier and rabid Islamaphobe, under the banner of being a society dedicated to free speech etc, etc.

It's not the first time in the recent past that a British broadcaster has done such a thing. Many will remember with great disgust, Channel 4's 'open mike' granted to Mahmoud Ahmedinejad on Xmas Day 2007, a broadcast that was framed to coincide with The Queen's Christmas message. It won't come as much of a surprise to learn that the content of the two messages could hardly have been more different.

Because Nick Griffin was democratically elected - his party received an alarming 9% of the national vote - the BBC feel he is morally entitled to spout his vile hatred to an audience that could number as many as 10 million people. Pitted against Griffin will be Justice Secretary Jack Straw and leading Liberal MP Chris Huhme, along with African American playwright and activist Bonnie Greer and Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion and Social Action, Baroness Warsi, a British Muslim.

If the BBC were looking for a powder keg debate, they look most likely to get what they wanted. In their defence, the BBC has said that open debate will show the BNP for what they are and open them to ridicule. But, with some supporters guaranteed to be in the audience, and on a platform of jingoistic claptrap that includes having hijacked the image of Winston Churchill as their 'spiritual' leader, it is quite likely that Griffin will, at times, receive significant applause and convince a certain number of weak, racistly inclined white viewers, to rally to his cause.

We don't need reminding that Hitler was seen as a joke figure after his first political forays in the mid-1920's, but, of course, proved no laughing matter once he managed to get his message across to a wider audience at a time of economic crisis, rapidly rising unemployment and simmering anti-Semitic feeling. Sounds familiar, doesn't it.

Tonight's debate may well be viewed retrospectively as a crucial turning point in the rise of the far-right in British politics. I hope not, I really, really hope not, but I fear the worse. Nick Griffin might be wholly despicable, but he is a capable debater and like many fascist tub-thumpers, has a knack of aggressive oratory that does appeal to a 'certain kind of person'.

In its quest for perceived even handedness and freedom of speech, the BBC may well have gone too far this time, and be ultimately responsible for letting the ugliest of genies out of the bottle.

It's something of a Friday morning tradition that Paz and I meet with two other couples for breakfast at any of a variety of good eateries in the Binyamina/Zichron Yaakov area, whilst the kids are in school.

Alon and Esti are fairly quiet but often have a tale to tell, whilst Yael and Arnold are invariably effervescent and  full of good stories. This morning's offering was, without doubt, the 'piece de resistance'.

Earlier this week Yael decided it was time to give her Mazda 5 its monthly clean, so she went (as usual) to the car wash close to her home in Binyamina. A friendly, outgoing sort, Yael stood chatting with the staff (as usual) and rolling her eyes at the state of the car after her three kids had been in it regularly during the previous week's Succot holiday.

The workers looked the car over, Yael signed for the amount to be paid on her company account, and went to drink a coffee whilst the work was in progress

She watched as the car passed through the external wash and moved to the section for 'interior cleaning'. Moments later, the manageress of the car wash appeared like a dark cloud over Yael's shoulder.

'Your car is very dirty inside" said the manageress.
'No more so than virtually every other visit here for the last five years' smiled Yael.
'It's too dirty and will cost you another 20 shekels' the manageress insisted (with a face like thunder).
'If it wasn't dirty, I wouldn't bring the car here in the first place' said Yael, beginning to get just a little exasperated.
'If you don't pay the 20 shekels you'll be barred from coming here again' growled the manageress.
'Pardon!'
'You'll be barred' the doberman repeated.

At this point in the telling of the story my mind spun away to the famous episode of 'Seinfeld', the one where Elaine is barred from buying soup at the local Chinese take away because her order is always complicated. Over the following days she sends Gerry, Cosmo, George and even Newman to try and buy the soup, but the Chinese manager always figures out that it's actually for Elaine and refuses to serve them.

As Yael told her story I started laughing at the similarities with the 'Seinfeld' episode.

'Who do you think you're talking to?' Yael snapped back at the car wash manageress.

Turning away, the manageress shouted across the forecourt to the cleaning staff, instructing them to stop working on the interior of the car.

'You can't leave my car half finished!' Yael shouted.
'Pay the 20 shekels and they'll finish the job' growled the doberman.
'Are you serious. You must be out of your mind'

The bemused cleaners hesitantly slowed to a halt and shrugged their shoulders. Yael stormed out of the cafe and told the manageress she hadn't heard the last of this, before jumping into her car and heading off - at speed.

The whole table was in uproar. I couldn't stop laughing. To be barred from having you car cleaned because it's dirty is just great. Only in Israel!

Epilogue - Yael telephoned the owners of the car wash and explained what had happened. They apologised (knowing that she and her company are very good customers) and told her she would not be charged for the wash and that the manageress would be 'spoken to'.

'If I were her boss, I'd be that close to firing her" Yael suggested. 'What a way to treat a regular client - it's not as if the cleaning staff were complaining. She probably was having a bad day and decided to take it out on me, but you can't do that in business.'

The boss agreed, and apologised again.

Watch this space to find out what happens when Yael returns there next month for the 'car wash and interior clean'.

Yesterday, the news broke that racehorse extraordinaire, Sea The Stars, has been retired to stud and will not grace the turf again.

Already there has been an outpouring of tributes to this equine superstar who won six of the world's greatest races during the 2009 flat season. He really was something special. It is quite likely that we will never see his like again. Let's hope that the baby Sea The Stars', who will arrive on racecourses for the first time in 2012, inherit something of their father's awesome ability.

Of course, the argument now rages over whether he was the greatest ever. My late Grandpa David would, I'm sure, have told me that Mill Reef was better. Grandpa loved his racing and would regularly have 'a few bob' on the gee-gee's, but in the case of Mill Reef in 1971, he made an exception - he had a few pounds on!

I suppose when set against legendary millionaire gamblers such as Harry Findlay, Alex Bird or 'Teasy Weasy', Grandpa's wager isn't really worth a mention, but it is the tale behind his winning bet that I'll always remember.

Nana and Grandpa were on their annual holiday in Blackpool in early June 1971, accompanied by their lifelong companions Uncle Dave and Aunty Betty. Like 'The Four Musketeers' they would descend on the same hotel at the same season, year after year after year.

On the fateful day in question, Uncle Dave (the driver of the party) decided to motor down to Southport Beach, where the tide goes out for about four miles, I believe. It was a glorious day and they parked the Austin Allegro on the sands and went for a stroll to blow the cobwebs away.

Arriving back at their vehicle, the quartet jumped in but were soon dismayed (and sensing 'trouble at t'mill') as the sand had softened and the wheels were spinning furiously in ever deepening circles. To make matters far worse though, the Irish Sea had decided to revisit the shore and was racing towards them at breakneck speed!.

The foursome, far from 'spring chickens', were in no state to start pushing, so Uncle Dave, Aunty Betty and Nana leaped out and tried to flag down passing holidaymakers to help. After a few minutes of desperate pleas and with the tide bearing down on Uncle Dave's beloved motor, a group of four young German lads (Nana swore she didn't know they were German - she thought they sounded as if they came from Newcastle!) put their backs into it and, straining every collective sinew, started heaving the car out of the sands.

"Just a minute" cried Nana, 'where is he?" Not sighted on the sands around them, their attention turned to the front passenger seat where Grandpa was appearing particularly animated and refusing to get out.

"What the hell are you doing in there?" bellowed an exasperated Nana Doris (through clenched teeth). "These lads are pushing for all they're worth and you're just sitting there weighing the car down!"

"Come on Mill Reef!" screamed Grandpa from inside the car, craning his neck to listen to the Derby commentary on the radio, "Keep going!"

Mill Reef did keep going, and was later hailed as one of the greatest horses of all time. The exhausted Germans managed to extricate the car (and the ecstatic winning punter) from the mire in the nick of time, and by all accounts, Nana, Uncle Dave and Aunty Betty refused to talk to Grandpa all the way through dinner.

"What a knockout that horse was" Grandpa used to tell me time and time again, having been prepared to risk being washed away (not to mention the wrath of his beloved wife) rather than miss hearing such a great sporting moment.

Does it really matter if Sea The Stars is the greatest ever? I don't think so. You can't compare between generations, but the memories live forever.

Like all Israelis, the overwhelming majority of Jews around the world, and millions unconnected with this tragic drama, I can't wait for the day when hostage Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is released by the despicable Hamas regime.

Shalit's incarceration has dominated the news and the thoughts of so many for more than three years now, since he was kidnapped on the Gaza border in 2006. His plight is the nightmare of every family here, families who see their sons and daughters join the Israeli army and who, regardless of whether they are religious or not, pray in whatever way they see fit, that their children will come back safe and sound.

Gilad Shalit's fate therefore resonates with everyone in Israel as we are all in this struggle together.

So today, when I sat down to watch the local Israeli news and saw a trailer for an article about a small group of Israelis opposed to negotiating his release, and vehemently opposed to offering a prisoner swop for Shalit (a process of negotiation that if suspended would almost certainly cost the 22-year-old his life), I prepared to be disgusted at this small-minded, selfish and misguided interest group.

The story though, raised a number of significant questions that I had, thus far, failed to give sufficient consideration.

The protest group came from an organization representing the families of victims of terror - parents, brothers and sisters, widows and widowers, and the children of people blown up by fanatical Palestinian suicide bombers, and those murdered in drive-by shootings or random attacks by terrorists over the last 20 years.

Their argument is that (much as they too want to see Shalit returned safely to his family and friends), the handing over of up to 1000 Palestinian bombers, murderers, aiders and abettors to murder, and others who have committed heinous crimes against Israel and Israelis, is too high a price to pay for the return of just one man.

They warned that if these 1000 prisoners are handed over, a significant number will return to bomb and kill again and that, tragically, the members of their organization (the families of victims of Palestinian terror) will grow significantly in number.

Put in such terms, the Israeli government is clearly on the horns of a real dilemma. If they don't do everything possible to bring Shalit home alive, the majority will surely turn against them and the willingness of parents to offer their sons and daughters to the army will be seriously challenged.

However, if they choose to give up 1000 Palestinian terrorists and murderers to secure Shalit's release, the government is setting a precedent that (i) could encourage more kidnappings of Israeli soldiers, and, (ii) could rebound disastrously if any of the released prisoners return to wreak havoc and death on the streets of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa etc.

Tonight's television news report has left me struggling to come up with a satisfactory solution to this awful dilemma.

What price freedom?

The last few days have seen the kids off school for the Succot holidays. The weather has been perfect - around 28 degrees - and we have twice been down to the beach.

I hate swimming. I've tried time and again to gain confidence in the water but am totally useless. The moment I sense my feet not touching the ground/sand I start to panic. The thought of the water sweeping over my head is quite terrifying.

Today, Paz, Tami, Maya and I toddled along to Herzliya, where our friends (Dr) Ed and Nicole Leigh, attended by their gorgeous twin little girls and bouncing baby boy,  were staying at the family holiday home along with Nicole's parents, Perry and Loretta.

We sat by the pool (I, of course, didn't go in) and left it to my daughters to avail themselves of this excellent facility. Whilst chatting with Perry and Loretta, I watched out of the corner of my eye as my older daughter Tami (age 9) walked over to the deep end and then elegantly, and seemingly without any effort, performed a near perfect dive. I almost wanted to jump up with a scorecard offering 9.8, regardless of whether she had piked (whatever that is ) or not.

Then Maya (age 7), spurred on by her big sister's success, fearlessly strode to the same spot and prepared to sight the water. I'm not sure if the water moved or not in the moments between her 'sighting' it and the sprawling belly-flop and ear-splitting splat that followed, but undaunted she hauled herself out of the pool and then had another go. Her second attempt wasn't pretty, but a considerable improvement. I'd award her 4.2 for style, but 10 out of 10 for effort and perseverance.

Isn't it wonderful to see your children achieving things that you can only dream about.

'Arc' day.

Further to Friday's posting, I spent an hour this morning toying very seriously with the idea of having a 'large wedge' on Sea The Stars, but in the end circumstances conspired against me, so I didn't.

In brief, my sister, Eleanor, is visiting these shores this week, and the only time she could slot me into her breakneck schedule was this afternoon at 1500, an hour or so before the big race.

Not wanting to cause a family rumpus, I agreed to drive down to Herzlia beach with Paz, Tami and Maya, to spend a few hours watching the girls and their cousins build sandcastles, gaze at the sunset, and of course, listen to the commentary relayed by telephone - even if it meant suffering the abysmal call of old crone Robin Gray (he must be 100 if he's a day - and he wasn't any good when he was 50!) on the French racing channel.

Being unable to see the great horse go to post was the deciding factor. Two years ago, when Authorized was a very short-priced favourite for the same race, I decided to lay him after seeing him go to post looking like a duck with gout! This time, I didn't want to have my 'hard earned' sail down the Swanee before the gates opened without being able to lay-off, so it was a very reluctant 'no bet'.

The rest is history. Sea The Stars absolutely hosed up. He is (in my eyes, and apparently in those of nearly everyone else I've spoken to since the race itself) the best horse since Nijinsky (1970) - and possibly the best ever.

I let the betting opportunity of the season (and 80% profit for 3 minutes risk) pass me by - again!

Nice sunset though.

I'm beginning to get a little twitchy!

I promised myself some time ago that I would not be getting seriously involved in betting for the forseeable future. But it's 'Arc' weekend, and the best horse to set hooves on a racecourse in the last 35 years is set to crown it all by running away with Europe's finest race, in Paris, on Sunday.

I rarely if ever have bet odds-on, ever since I steamed into Shardari at 10/11 in Chester's Dee Stakes (quite some years ago) and watched in horror as the going changed (following a monsoon-like storm), and the ground came up heavy. My 'unbeatable nag' got beat a short-head by a 33/1 chance called Brunico, trained by Rod Simpson.

Sea The Stars though is different gear. At 8/11(or thereabouts) you can make 72% profit on your money in 3 electrifying minutes. At current interest rates you'd have to wait 50 years to get the same return!

Surely, he won't be beaten. He's amazing, certainly the best horse I've ever seen. Only another monsoon would prove his undoing.

I really am getting twitchy (don't tell 'er indoors). I'm off to lie down in a darkened room and see what the weekend brings.

PS. Thanks to 'Mr Shalom Sham' for his remarks to yesterday's blog. There's nothing like a nice burger...

New month, new website.

I decided to put together this site to bring together various threads of my career under 'one roof', so to speak. As far as blogging goes, well this is something new and we'll have to see how it shapes up.

One thing's for sure - I won't be talking exclusively about horses, racing and betting.

I'm involved in the greatest sport in the world, but there are many other things in life worthy of a mention. I'll be touching upon them over the next few weeks and months.

Thanks for dropping in.

By the way, if you want to reply to anything on the blog, just click on the comments tag (above) and let me have it!