Israel celebrated another two significant diplomatic achievements over the weekend when the Kingdoms of Morocco and Bhutan became the fourth and fifth countries to announce the full normalization of relations with the Jewish state in just five months. More countries are expected to come.

Morocco announced on Thursday evening that it was reestablishing full relations with Israel.Under the agreement, Morocco will renew official relations with Israel, allow Israeli aircraft to pass through Moroccan airspace, and allow direct flights between Israel and Morocco. Morocco and Israel will open diplomatic offices in Tel Aviv and Rabat and later open official embassies. Under the agreement, Morocco and Israel will promote economic relations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he has “always believed that this historic day would come, I’ve always worked for it.”

Next came the Kingdom of Bhutan, a small Buddhist country in Southeast Asia, bordering India and China.Bhutan has full diplomatic relations with only 53 countries, and it was Bhutan that gave the world the ‘Happiness Index’.

The signing ceremony was held at the residence of Israel’s Ambassador to India Dr. Ron Malka on Saturday. Malka held an official exchange of notes ceremony with his colleague, the Ambassador of Bhutan to India, Major General Vetsop Namgyel.

Source:
Morocco and Bhutan: The 4th and 5th countries to announce full relations with Israel in five months, by by Aryeh Savir – TPS. J-Wire, December 13, 2020

Steve Postal’s Arutz Sheva OpEd is one we like as it puts the Chanukah story in correct context with Judea and Samaria at the forefront.

An inconvenient TRUTH for the foes of Israel is that the real story of Chanukah is the Jews’ re-gaining autonomy in their ancestral homeland of Judea and Samaria, this time from the Greek Seleucid Empire. The Hanukkah story represents nothing short of the religious and national emancipation of the Jewish people.

To put Hanukkah in context, the Jews had Sovereignty or partial Sovereignty/autonomy over Judea and Samaria during numerous periods throughout Jewish history.

Source:
This Hanukkah, the Jews return to Judea and Samaria, by Steve Postal. Arutz Sheva, December 13, 2020

The United Nations is being accused of funding illegal infrastructure projects for Palestinians in an area where Israel exercises exclusive functional control as envisioned by current peace agreements.

The allegations come in a week when UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres criticized Israel in remarks for undermining prospects for “a viable, contiguous Palestinian state,” due to, among other things, ‘settlement’ building in Judea and Samaria.

Regavim, an Israeli organization dedicated to the protection of Israel’s natural resources, told Fox News that it had exposed at least five illegal projects built with UN funding since last year. A few years ago, the same organization exposed the UN for illegal building at the headquarters of a UN agency in Jerusalem.

Naomi Kahn, the group’s international spokesperson, told Fox News that the UN has violated international law and the Oslo Accords for years by “pouring millions of dollars into projects that support the Palestinian Authority’s systematic program to unilaterally establish a state.”

Kahn said the UN’s financial and diplomatic support of construction projects puts peace plans in jeopardy, such as the one envisioned by the Trump administration. She said the UN targets “the open spaces that form the basis for division of the territory under President Trump’s Vision for Peace and Prosperity.”

Thank you to Naomi Kahn, Regavim’s Director International Division, for bringing this article to our attention. We also appreciate that Fox News, a well-known US news outlet, has exposed this illegal activity to the American public.

Source:
UN accused by Israeli group of flouting international law by funding construction in Israeli-controlled areas, by Ben Evansky. Fox News, December 5, 2020

Settlement Minister Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud) today toured the community of Beit El in Binyamin and pledged to assist in the transfer of the Binyamin Battalion IDF base to enable construction of hundreds of additional housing units.

The Minister began the tour at the Jacob’s Ladder site together with Ministry Director Dr. Yosef Dresnin, and Beit El Council head Shai Alon. He received an extensive explanation from Tanach expert Dr. Hagai Ben-Artzi, who told about the place’s past and how it was discovered upon Israel’s return to Judea and Samaria.

Source:
Minister Hanegbi in Beit El: ‘I’ll ask Prime Minister to promote construction’ ~Rafael Levy, Arutz Sheva, December 8, 2020

We like Allan Richter’s blog in the Times of Israel and agree that it is long overdue that Judea and Samaria be put in its proper place in the news.

AFSI also refers to this as educating the public on the truth about Israel.

Richter states that the style addition of ‘Judea and Samaria’ alongside ‘West Bank’ or other Palestinian-friendly language would serve readers with objectivity and context missing in Middle East coverage.

Omitting “Judea and Samaria” in news stories is the linguistic equivalent of ridding the land of all Jews and an exercise in revisionism, particularly when “West Bank” carries no historical weight beyond reflecting the illegal occupation by Jordan.

Source:
Give ‘Judea and Samaria’ its place in news coverage, by Allan Richter. Times of Israel, December 7, 2020

Samaria Regional Council chairman Yossi Dagan visited Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, accompanying wine and honey producers from Samaria in order to create business ties between the UAE and Samaria.

This resulted in companies from Samaria signing an agreement to export wine, honey, olive oil and tahini to the UAE, through the Emirates company FAM, which was selected by Forbes magazine as one of the 100 leading growth companies in the Middle East.

The Samaria Regional Council is the first municipal authority in Israel to succeed in signing export agreements to the UAE and was also the first to travel to the UAE with a delegation of businessmen to promote economic ties through export agreements.

Dagan said, “We are making history. We are opening a new economic page between the most excellent companies in Samaria and FAM. I am very excited and happy with how things stand. Samaria strives to lead in all areas, and also in the field of export and business development. This is a historic moment. The Samaria region that I am proud to represent is located in the heart of the State of Israel, and is the most demographically growing region in Israel and economically it is also growing.”

This historic agreement is a huge win for Samaria and AFSI couldn’t be happier. We pray that this new business tie will be one of many in the coming year that begins to chip away at so much of the anti-Israel agenda that many of the Arab countries and the world at large continue to hold by.

Source:
Historic agreement brings Samaria to Dubai, by Hezki Baruch. Arutz Sheva, December 7, 2020

The Knesset may hold an initial vote this week to require a national referendum prior to any evacuation of communities in Judea and Samaria.

“I intend to bring forward this bill this week,” said MK Tzvi Hauser (Derech Eretz) who chairs the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.The private members bill was filed with the Knesset in August and can be brought forward at this juncture if Hauser should so choose.

If approved, it would still need to pass three readings before becoming law.

The proposed legislation would extend the 2014 Knesset basic law that requires a public referendum or approval of 80 parliamentarians for any Israeli withdrawal from territory in Jerusalem or the Golan Heights.

While AFSI appreciates this proposal to protect Jews in Area C, the fact that this even has to be on the table is an outrage. Jews living on legally owned Jewish land should not even have to face the possibility of being expelled from their rightful homes. Declaring Sovereignty NOW would put a stop to this.

Source:
Knesset may require referendum for West Bank settlement withdrawal, by Tovah Lazaroff. Jerusalem Post, December 6, 2020

Minister of Settlement Affairs Tzachi Hanegbi spent the day last week on a fact-finding field tour and seminar in Gush Etzion and Mount Hebron. The purpose was to learn about the challenges facing Jewish communities in the area and to take a closer look at the extent and impact of the large-scale illegal Palestinian Authority land seizure projects, funded by foreign governments, that are changing the map of Judea and Samaria.

Minister Hanegbi commented at the end of the tour, “The beauty is to see an organization of idealists that works without a government budget and without state funding, and in fact spurs the state to act against the Palestinian invasion and takeover of Area C. The sad thing is that this situation was allowed to come into existence in the first place, and that the state did not take command or responsibility for this situation. We are lagging far behind an opponent that is acting with force, with violence, illegally, to take over our homeland and the land of Area C.”

Source:
Regavim Report, December 3, 2020

The Knesset on Wednesday passed a bill to dissolve, setting the stage for the fourth round of national elections in two years. Defense Minister Benny Gantz and his Blue and White party broke from the coalition and voted in favor of the measure.

The bill passed with 61 MKs voting in favor and 54 against.

Gantz’s support for the opposition bill will likely spell the end of his ill-fated power-sharing partnership with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, some six months after agreeing to join a unity government in order to deal with the coronavirus crisis

The measure must still go through committee and pass three more readings in the Knesset before new elections are called, likely for sometime in the spring or summer.

It pains us to think that the Israeli people may have to go through the election process again. We believe this does not bode well for moving the country forward, economically, socially or spiritually. The Israeli people deserve a stable and fully functioning government NOW.

Source:
Knesset advances motion to disband, moving toward 4th elections in 2 years, by Michael Bachner. Times of Israel, December 2, 2020

The Norwegian government has decided to ignore the United Nation’s “blacklist” – of over 100 companies across the globe said to be complicit in violating Palestinian human rights by operating in Israeli “settlements.” Now allowed will be a tourism company that appears on the list to provide services to government and other organizations inside Norway.

The decision deals a harsh blow to the anti-Israel boycott, sanctions and divestment movement and its attempts to financially harm Israeli companies and companies doing business in Israel.

Attorney Yifa Segal, director of the International Legal Forum, called Norway’s decision “an important step in the war on the injustice known as the ‘blacklist.'”

She added: “The Norwegian government’s decision helps downgrade the status of the ‘blacklist.’ No country in the world bases its commercial policies on this list. We told the Norwegians that the UN Human Rights Council acted in a politically hostile and biased manner. Additionally, the UNHRC is interfering in international economics in a harmful way and didn’t work according to accepted and objective standards.”

Source:
In blow to BDS movement, Norway to ignore UN ‘blacklist’, by Ariel Kahana and ILH Staff. Israel Hayom, December 3, 2020