Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sharply reprimanded Israeli Arab Ra’am party leader MK Mansour Abbas late Saturday night in response to his call to recognize a Palestinian State.

“As long as I am Prime Minister, no Palestinian state controlled by Iran will arise, not in Gaza, and not in Judea and Samaria. Period,” Netanyahu declared in a statement on the X social media platform.

“The price of a left-wing coalition with the Muslim Brotherhood has been exposed once again,” Netanyahu wrote.

Netanyahu’s fierce reply followed a statement earlier in the day by Abbas, whose Israeli Arab Ra’am party has been linked to the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist network, which spawned Hamas in Gaza.

AFSI Insight
AFSI strongly welcomes Netanyahu’s clear reaffirmation that there will be no Palestinian state west of the Jordan River. After October 7, the danger of creating another Iranian-backed terror entity on Israel’s doorstep should be beyond dispute. Mansour Abbas and Ra’am’s push to join the anti-Netanyahu “change bloc” while advocating Palestinian statehood demonstrates why Israel’s next government must stand firmly against another dangerous territorial concession. AFSI believes the lesson is clear: security requires Israeli sovereignty and control—not another Palestinian state.

Source:
Netanyahu Reaffirms ‘No Palestinian State’ as Ra’am Works To Oust Right, by Hana Levi Julian/The Jewish Edition, August 23, 2026

Regavim Movement filed an administrative petition with the Jerusalem District Court on Sunday against Defense Minister Israel Katz, Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich, the IDF Central Command chief, and the deputy head of the Civil Administration, demanding that the authorities immediately fulfill their legal obligations and enforce the law against two illegal permanent structures built on declared state land in Area C, adjacent to the Bar Kochba community in the Gush Etzion Regional Council.

“This is a blatant criminal encroachment built in the heart of the area designated for the community’s expansion. It effectively blocks the planned access road and poses a tangible security threat to motorists and the entire surrounding area.”

AFSI Insight
This story is another troubling example of the Palestinian Authority’s quiet, systematic campaign to seize control of Area C through illegal construction and facts on the ground. In the heart of Gush Etzion, illegal structures are being used to block access to the strategically important Bar Kochba community—while the Israeli government, despite recognizing the community’s national and security importance, fails to enforce its own laws.

AFSI believes there can be no Israeli strategy for Judea and Samaria without decisive enforcement on the ground. If Israel allows the PA to determine where Israelis can build, travel, and establish communities, it is effectively surrendering sovereignty one piece of land at a time. The government must act immediately to remove the illegal structures, restore access, and make clear that Judea and Samaria will not be lost through bureaucratic inaction.

Source:
In the heart of Gush Etzion: PA blocking access to village, government dragging its feet, by Uzi Baruch/Israel National News, August 23, 2026

Minister of Settlements and National Missions Orit Strock revealed Friday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seriously considered a request to hold this year’s 8 Elul prayer inside the Gaza Strip but ultimately decided not to approve it.

Strock made the remarks during a prayer service and fast held at Migdal Kissufim, overlooking Gaza, marking 21 years since the burning of the synagogues in Gush Katif. The event was organized by the Gush Katif Residents’ Headquarters and Prof. Yoel Elitzur and was attended by rabbis and public figures.

According to Strock, about two weeks ago, following a meeting of the Security Cabinet, she handed Netanyahu a letter signed by 20 senior Religious Zionist rabbis requesting that this year’s 8 Elul prayer be held inside Gaza.

AFSI Insight
AFSI sees this revelation as significant because it highlights the continuing debate over Jewish sovereignty and Jewish presence in Gaza. The fact that Prime Minister Netanyahu seriously considered allowing Jewish prayer inside Gaza—and that 20 prominent Religious Zionist rabbis supported the request—demonstrates that the idea of returning Jewish life to areas abandoned in the Gush Katif expulsion remains very much alive. AFSI prays that Israel will not repeat the mistake of abandoning Jewish communities and will ultimately restore a permanent Jewish presence in Gaza as part of Israel’s long-term security and national strategy.

Source:
Strock reveals: ‘Netanyahu considered permitting prayer inside Gaza – then said no’, by Hezki Baruch/Israel National News, August 21, 2026

The Israel Lands Authority, which manages most of the lands in Israel, on Tuesday announced it would market to contractors and entrepreneurs the first 1,400 housing units of E1 (“East 1”), a strategically significant area in Judea and Samaria. Contractors who win the bids will construct the units.

The importance of E1 lies in its location. The 12-square-kilometer (4.6-sq.-mile) area sits between Ma’ale Adumim, a Jewish city of about 40,000 in the Judean Desert, and Jerusalem.

Once built up, E1 will connect Ma’ale Adumim to the capital, forming a larger metropolis, preventing the Palestinian Authority from surrounding Jerusalem with its own metropolis, which would include Ramallah, eastern parts of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. (The P.A. intends to wrest from Israel eastern sections of Jerusalem for its own future capital.)

Israeli security analysts have long warned that Jerusalem will become a border town if the surrounding Arab settlement is allowed to continue unhindered. The answer, they say, is E1, which would protect Jerusalem, drive a wedge through the nearly contiguous Arab settlement enveloping it and ensure Jewish territorial contiguity eastward to the Jordan Valley.

AFSI Insight
AFSI welcomes the marketing of the first 1,400 housing units in the E1 corridor, a strategically vital area connecting Jerusalem with Ma’ale Adumim. This is more than a housing project—it strengthens Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria, reinforces Jerusalem’s security and territorial continuity, and prevents the creation of a Palestinian corridor that could threaten Israel’s capital. AFSI has long advocated for development and sovereignty in this critical area, and views moving E1 from planning to actual construction as an important step toward securing Israel’s future.

Source:
Israel markets first 1,400 units in strategic E1 corridor, by David Isaac/JNS, August 19, 2026

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is preparing a broad operational overhaul of policing in Judea and Samaria once enforcement powers, Border Police command and administrative-order authorities are transferred from the defense establishment to the Israel Police.

According to a report by Channel 14 military correspondent Hallel Bitton Rosen, Ben Gvir’s plan includes immediate administrative orders against far-left activists, renewed Border Police operations inside Arab cities, weapons searches in Hebron, new Border Police bases inside Areas A and B, and joint training with civilian security squads in Israeli communities.

The plan would mark a substantial change from the current arrangement, under which Judea and Samaria Border Police operates under IDF operational command and many enforcement authorities remain in the hands of the defense establishment.

The first step in Ben Gvir’s plan would be the issuance of 20 administrative orders against far-left activists, particularly activists operating in the southern Hebron Hills.

AFSI Insight
AFSI welcomes the move toward stronger, more independent Israeli policing throughout Judea and Samaria. If Israel is serious about security and sovereignty, it must have the authority and the forces on the ground to enforce the law—not remain dependent on the Palestinian Authority or constrained by the Oslo framework. Establishing Border Police bases in Areas A and B and preparing local communities for mass-infiltration scenarios are important steps toward greater Israeli control. But AFSI believes these measures, while a step in the right direction, should be part of a broader policy of asserting Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and finally moving beyond Oslo, rather than simply reorganizing enforcement under the existing arrangement.

Source:
Ben Gvir’s Day-After Plan for Judea and Samaria Policing: Arrest Orders, Border Police Raids and New Bases in Areas A and B, by The News Desk/The Jewish Edition, August 18, 2026

Finance Minister and Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich called Sunday for Israel to fully conquer the Gaza Strip, establish a military government there, renew Jewish settlement and encourage voluntary emigration by Gazans who wish to leave.

Smotrich said full Israeli control was necessary to fulfill what he described as the central war aim established after the October 7 massacre: the destruction of Hamas militarily, civilly and as a governing force.

“The State of Israel must agree to take responsibility for Gaza,” Smotrich said, according to Olam Katan. “To conquer it completely, establish a military government there, establish Jewish settlement there, and afterward encourage the emigration of those who want to leave.” Smotrich also rejected the idea that an international force could be relied upon to disarm Hamas and take responsibility for Gaza in Israel’s place.

AFSI Insight
AFSI sees Smotrich’s call for full Israeli control of Gaza and renewed Jewish settlement as a serious recognition that Israel’s security cannot be entrusted to international bodies, Palestinian Police, Hamas, or other outside actors. After the October 7 massacre and years of terrorism from Gaza, AFSI has long argued that Israel must retain the security freedom necessary to prevent Gaza from again becoming a terrorist stronghold. Smotrich’s position also correctly recognizes the historic error of the 2005 Gaza disengagement and the danger of repeating it.

For AFSI, however, the essential question is what guarantees Israel’s long-term security: Hamas and other terror organzations in the Strip must be completely disarmed and eliminated as a military force. Civilains working with terrorists must also be completely disarmed and Israel must maintain enduring security control. Any discussion of Gaza’s future must begin with those requirements—not with pressure on Israel to withdraw before the terrorist threat has been removed.

Source:
Smotrich Calls for Full Israeli Control of Gaza and Renewed Jewish Settlement, by The News Desk/The Jewish Edition, August 17, 2026

Following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with US administration officials and members of the Board of Peace Monday, an Israeli political source said that “it was agreed that there would be no withdrawal without Hamas disarming.” In other words, the first condition for any future move in Gaza will be the disarmament of Hamas, effectively under US supervision rather than that of mediating countries such as Turkey and Qatar.

“Hamas will hand over its weapons for destruction under the supervision of US Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers,” the political source said. At the same time, “the IDF will be granted and will retain freedom of action to eliminate threats, including Nukhba terrorists,” referring to members of Hamas’ elite commando force. This differs from the Board of Peace’s initial document on the issue.

Earlier, Netanyahu met in Jerusalem with US presidential adviser Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Board of Peace High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov. The sides discussed a practical framework for governing the Gaza Strip and disarming Hamas. It was agreed in the meeting that the Board of Peace would carry out sanitation and public health work throughout the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu reiterated that as long as Hamas’ weapons had not been destroyed, the Israel Defense Forces would remain along the Yellow Line and defend Israel from there.

AFSI Insight
AFSI sees this latest agreement as another statement of what should have been obvious all along: Hamas must be disarmed before Israel withdraws from Gaza. The problem is that this has been discussed repeatedly, while Hamas remains armed and capable of threatening Israel. AFSI believes there must be action—not more promises or diplomatic formulas. No IDF withdrawal should take place until all Hamas’s weapons, terror infrastructure, and military capability have been verifiably eliminated.

Source:
Israel, US agree Hamas must disarm before IDF withdraws from Gaza, by Shirit Avitan Cohen/Israel Hayom, August 17, 2026

Following the refusal of many fighters of the Golani fifty-first battalion to act against settlers in Qusra, the battalion will be replaced on Sunday by the Sayeret Haruv special force, which is being deployed to the area, community activist Elisha Yared reported Saturday night.

The “settler violence” campaign has found its latest cause célèbre last week in the Arab village of Qusra, south of Shechem, and this time, even US Ambassador Mike Huckabee appears to have been taken in by the narrative.

Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir refused to be disheartened, writes Yared, noting, “At the end of last week, the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade was deployed for an operation against settlers on two hills in Samaria, just before it was supposed to cross into Lebanon.

“The decision to use the fighters as a police force against Jews sparked severe criticism within the battalion, and dozens of soldiers informed their commanders that they would not take part in such an operation that contradicts the basic values ​​they were raised on.”

AFSI Insight
AFSI sees this as a troubling test of Israel’s priorities. IDF soldiers should be defending Israel and fighting its enemies—not being diverted into a police force targeting Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. The reported refusal by Golani soldiers to participate in such an operation reflects a deeply held understanding that Jews living in their historic homeland should not be treated as the enemy.

At the same time, law and order must apply to everyone, and genuine violence should be dealt with appropriately. But AFSI strongly rejects the broader “settler violence” narrative when it is used to delegitimize Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria. The IDF’s primary mission must remain defending the Jewish state and protecting its citizens from terrorism—not enforcing policies that place Jewish residents in the crosshairs.

Source:
Golani Replaced after Refusing to Attack Jewish Settlers – Will Haruv Consent?, by David Israel/The Jewish Edition, August 16, 2026

Defense Minister Israel Katz has instructed the IDF to prepare a plan transferring civilian law-enforcement responsibilities involving Israeli communities and the Israeli population in Judea and Samaria to the Israel Police—a significant further step in separating ordinary Israeli civilian life in the region from the military framework.

Under the proposed arrangement, Israel Police would establish a dedicated force to handle civilian enforcement in Judea and Samaria and receive the necessary authorities and budgets. The IDF would concentrate more fully on security and counterterrorism.

On its face, this is a change in the division of responsibilities between the army and the police. In the broader context of recent government policy, however, it is also another practical step toward normalizing Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.

AFSI Insight
AFSI welcomes the move to transfer civilian enforcement in Judea and Samaria from the IDF to Israel Police as an important step toward normalizing Israeli sovereignty. Civilian matters should be handled by civilian authorities, allowing the IDF to concentrate on its primary mission of protecting Israel from security threats. AFSI views this as another practical step toward establishing Israel’s permanent sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.

Source:
Next Step To Sovereignty: Police to Replace IDF in Civilian Enforcement in Judea and Samaria, by The News Desk/The Jewish Edition, August 14, 2026

Twenty-one years after the Disengagement from the communities of northern Samaria and following a Cabinet decision led by Minister Bezalel Smotrich to legalize dozens of communities, families from the Ganim group arrived on the ground Thursday morning and reestablished the community.

Dozens of caravans have been placed at the site to house the families, as well as a branch of the Bnei David institutions established there.

Alongside the return to Ganim and the reestablishment of Homesh and Sa-Nur, the community of Kadim is also expected to be reestablished soon, completing the reversal of the disengagement from northern Samaria.

Minister Smotrich said Thursday morning, as the families returned to Ganim: “Twenty-one years after the terrible sin of the disengagement from Gush Katif and northern Samaria, we are finally erasing the disgrace of the expulsion from northern Samaria. This morning, we returned to Ganim, one of the four communities that were evacuated, with a wonderful community from the Bnei David institutions in Eli.”

AFSI Insight
The return of Jewish families to Ganim, 21 years after the disastrous 2005 Disengagement, is a historic correction. AFSI applauds these pioneers who are rebuilding where Jewish families were once forcibly uprooted.

The lesson is clear: disengagement brought neither peace nor security. Reestablishing Ganim—and ultimately all the communities of northern Samaria—strengthens Israel’s security and affirms the Jewish people’s historic connection to their homeland.

Ganim is back—and this time, it should be here to stay.

Source:
Historic moment: 21 years later, first families reestablish their homes in Ganim, by Israel National News, August 13, 2026