Grapevine July 17, 2026: Birds of a feather

Through their Jordache enterprises, the Nakash brothers own a 70% stake in Arkia, while the airline’s employees have a 22% stake. The three Nakash brothers - Joseph, Raphi and Avi - were born in Israel to Syrian parents and grew up in impoverished circumstances. In 1962, Joseph went to America, where he worked in menial jobs until he saved up enough money to bring his brothers to join him in New York in 1966. By 1974, the brothers had managed to accumulate sufficient funds to buy a small appliance store, but soon realized that they could do better for themselves financially by selling designer jeans under the Jordache brand name.

Business boomed and expanded, and the brothers began investing in real estate, banking, and tourism, including the purchase of several hotels. Though they chose to live in the US, they never forgot their origins and invested heavily in Israel. From barely being able to afford their travel expenses, they became billionaires.

Rabbi Ezra Unger, a Brooklyn Hassid from Boro Park, also grew up in an economically challenged household, and as a young yeshiva student, sold baked goods out of his home in order to add to the family’s sparse income. The 36-year-old rabbi ventured into real estate, did well, and is now an extremely wealthy man, so much so that he can afford to buy an airline.

Neither he nor Arkia has confirmed that they are in serious negotiations for the ownership of the airline to change hands. Meanwhile, Arkia has announced that due to demand it is increasing its flights to New York over the coming two months.

If reports of the negotiations are true, especially those in the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) press, Arkia may become the first haredi airline in the world, serving only glatt kosher food and remaining grounded on Shabbat and other Jewish holy days.

This could have a significant effect on El Al, which has a large haredi clientele and has been involved in disputes over seating arrangements and blocking of aisles for prayer services. Such problems would not exist on a haredi airline, where all the female passengers would be modestly attired.

If Unger does buy the airline, it will be a boon to those ultra-Orthodox men who annually go to spend Rosh Hashanah in Uman so that they can pray at the grave of Rabbi Nachman. Although Arkia does not operate commercial flights to Ukraine during the war, it does operate regular flights to Poland, from where passengers heading to Uman could cross the border into Ukraine.

For instance, Deputy Communications Minister Israel Eichler has 14 children and Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Tradition Minister Meir Porush has 12.

Although Porush did serve briefly in the IDF, he has publicly stated that none of his sons will ever do so. Eichler did not serve in the IDF, but his father Menashe Eichler fought in the War of Independence.

The big question in the controversial request to President Isaac Herzog by Defense Minister Israel Katz to expunge the record of Elor Azaria, who fatally shot a wounded Palestinian terrorist who had already been overpowered and incapacitated, is whether it will be a like father, like son situation.

President Chaim Herzog prevented an embarrassing investigation when he pardoned Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Chief Avraham Shalom and three other  Agency operatives for their role in the deaths of two Palestinian terrorists who had hijacked a busload of passengers. He also commuted the life sentences of Menachem Livni, Shaul Nir, and Uzi Sharabaf of the Jewish Underground who had been convicted for murdering Hebron university students.

Both cases prompted sharp differences in public opinion, thereby defining the great divide between ethics and emotions. If President Isaac Herzog opts to reduce the period for which Azaria has to wait to have his record erased, he will cast a blot on his own family’s illustrious reputation. Aside from that, the reasons given by Katz are poppycock.

He claims that Azaria cannot find employment while having the prison term on his record. If this is true, what has Azaria been living on for the past ten years?

Even if the record is erased, the case remains documented in newspaper archives and the internet.  It will never actually go away.  As for not being able to find a job, Azaria has plenty of supporters who saw nothing wrong with his shooting of a terrorist. They could surely arrange a job for him.

The Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) has long been advocating for a lean constitution, which it contends is better than no constitution, especially at a time when  the citizens of Israel are so polarized in their beliefs and their loyalties. On July 19, JPPI will hold a conference on a lean constitution at its premises on the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Academics from various universities and other institutes of higher learning, together with present and former senior staff of the President, will discuss ways of influencing the President and the need to adopt a lean constitution in an era of polarization. The concept behind the promotion of a lean constitution is that it should be formulated with a broad consensus and in partnership with the public, with the aim of forming a basis for a national constitution of the State of Israel.

Presidential staff who will be among the speakers include Orit Corinaldi-Surkis, who was the legal adviser to President Reuven Rivlin; Michal Tsuk-Shafir, the legal advisor to President Isaac Herzog; and Naomi Toledano-Kandel, who was strategy manager and spokeswoman for President Rivlin.

With just a little over three months to go before the Knesset elections, major daily newspapers in Israel, as well as some Jewish publications abroad, are running stories of Israeli expats who plan to fly into Israel to cast their votes. Some of these expats, living in different parts of the world, are also interviewed on Israeli radio and television networks. Most say that even though they have chosen to live in the countries of their domicile, what happens in Israel will always be important to them, and that’s why they want to come home to vote.

Transport Ministry officials have denied that such measures will be taken, but have also made the point that Israel’s international airports will not permit more incoming flights than they are able to handle. Of course, there is always the possibility of flying to Egypt or Jordan and taking a bus across the border. Presumably, this is one of the options that is being considered.

Israel imitates America in so many ways that it’s surprising that it does not follow the US example of absentee voting. How much more convenient it would be financially and time-wise, not to mention employment and family obligations, if Israeli expats could present themselves with ID cards and passports at Israeli consulates and embassies abroad, cast their votes during the week of October 27, and have them sent in bulk to Israel, just like those of Israeli officials and IDF personnel serving abroad.

Many expats are not registered with the Israeli embassies in the countries in which they reside, but once they come in to vote, they would be registered and would provide Israeli authorities with a better idea of how many Israelis there are around the globe, and in which countries they prefer to live.

It seems that Israelis are everywhere, judging by the number who are interviewed by Israeli broadcast outlets in countries experiencing wars and natural disasters; an upsurge in antisemitism; pro-Israel demonstrations; major sporting events and numerous other newsworthy incidents. There are also many fluent Hebrew speakers who are not Israelis - particularly in South America.

Eliezer Ben Yehuda, who is credited with being the father of the revival of the Hebrew language as a daily spoken tongue, would be thrilled to know the extent to which it has surpassed Yiddish and Ladino as the most common language of the Jewish people.

Every country is interested in encouraging incoming tourism. Taiwan is offering an incentive that goes beyond culture, cuisine and exquisite sites. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry, headed by Lin Chia-lung, is offering a prize of NT$ 200,000 (roughly equivalent to NIS 18,550) in an international competition for a short film under the title of Finding Taiwan. Second prize is NT$ 80,000 (some  NIS 7,456) and third prize NT$ 50,000 (NIS 4,685).

Israel does a lot of business with Taiwan, which entails frequent two-way travel. Even if Israeli business representatives are not bona fide tourists, they still spend a little time doing some of the things that tourists do. From a culinary perspective, Taiwan is a great place for vegans and vegetarians with an incredible variety of mouth-watering dishes, often presented buffet-style to enable diners to taste many palate-tantalizing foods.