While the media has been questioning President Trump’s “fitness,” AFSI’s Chairman, Mark Langfan, has written his latest article for Arutz Sheva. His diagnosis:President Donald Trump is the real-life James Bond!

Mark’s insightful writing states that President Trump has pulled off one of the most successful intelligence coups in the history of intelligence spy-craft.

This coup involved no budget, no sleeper spies, no secret drops. Thumbs only and Twitter.

The tactic Trump employed was a brilliantly executed “tweet-trap” that “…smoked out the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un and psychologically forced him to expose the true state of North Korea’s nuclear and missile technology.”

READ HERE for the full – and fascinating – article.

Helen was on the scene on Tuesday, January 17, 2018 at 3:30 pm at Arlozoroff Station in Tel Aviv, with hundreds of women and children gathered to organize a march to the Kirya. With the theme of “No More Widows and No More Orphans”, the organizers had prepared red balloons with the slogan, “Children want to live”, many posters decrying the terrorism on the roads of Judea and Samaria, and Israeli flags which flew proudly over the crowd. It was the brutal Arab terrorist murder of Rabbi Raziel Shevach of Havat Gilad that spurred the demonstration. The roads of Judea and Samaria are endangered by Arabs who come from neighboring villages to stone Israeli cars, shoot at them, and kill innocent Israelis.

Helen was interviewed by I24 and was asked about how to control the terrorism. She suggested that the Arab villages that are near Havat Gilad, from which the terrorists probably came, and to which they probably returned, should be destroyed. The interviewer looked shocked, and will probably not air the interview. Helen believes that if harsh measures are taken against terrorists so that it no longer becomes a profitable business for them, it might end the daily violence against Jews.

Wednesday evening, January 17, 2018 in Petach Tikva, Israel, another greatly successful Sovereignty Conference was held, under the leadership of the amazing Women in Green duo, Nadia Matar and Yehudit Katsover. Videos featuring Governor Mike Huckabee and Geulah Cohen followed the inspiring words of Nadia and Yehudit. Hananel Durani, head of the YESHA Council and the Kedumim Council, was the first to be interviewed by Yoni Kempinsky, who served as moderator. Éran Bar Tal, economic editor of Yisrael HaYom followed, stressing the economic benefits of Sovereignty. Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Betsalel Smotrich was the final speaker. All the speakers supported Sovereignty for Judea and Samaria with Smotrich unwilling to divide up Areas A, B, and C, and against giving the Arabs voting rights. He stated, “The Arabs should not win through “democracy” what they couldn’t win through war.”

The Sovereignty Conferences will continue, and hopefully the dream will become reality very quickly. Helen Freedman was proud to be there, underscoring AFSI’s support for Ribonut, which has been a pillar of AFSI’s belief from the beginning.

Supreme Court Visit

The Israel Independence Fund, led by Aharon Pulvér, finally, after waiting two years, had their Temple Mount case heard before three judges of the Supreme Court. The IIF has claimed that Jewish civil rights have been violated for years by the Israeli Police in their discriminatory treatment of Jews at the Temple Mount.

To everyone’s shock, the district Commander of the Israel Police, Superintendent Yoram HaLevi, denied the two different lines – for Jews and tourists – and denied any form of profiling or discrimination.

AFSI visitors to the Temple Mount know this is not true. Helen Freedman, present at the appeal, spoke to Arutz Sheva about the discriminatory practices the AFSI Chizuk missions regularly encounter. We hope the Court will accept the appeal and restore Jewish civil rights on the Temple Mount.

Dr. Joseph Frager’s blog in yesterday’s Arutz Sheva, Time for Complete Reclamation of Jewish Holy Sites, comments that President Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, has been paved the way for further discussion on reclaiming Jewish Holy sites in Israel.

For example, the Tomb of Joseph in Samaria, is at the top of the list. In April 2002 Joseph’s Tomb was retaken by the IDF as part of Operation Defensive Shield. Despite this, Jews visit the Tomb only at night with a heavy Army presence and visits are limited to once a month.

In 1995 the Tomb of Rachel was saved only through well attended protests and a fierce outcry from the people. It’s time to raise our voices once again and take back what rightfully belongs to Israel.

We encourage everyone to help support the family of Rabbi Raziel Shevach, which includes his wife and 6 orphans. An online crowdfunding platform has now been adapted for English language and dollar donations. CLICK HERE to support the Shevach family.

Back in November AFSI reported that the Israeli government destroyed the Aharonowitz family’s carpentry shop in Netiv Avot. This was the opening volley for the additional destruction of a number of homes, slated to take place this coming March. This destruction is totally senseless and must be stopped! Naftali Bennett has asked Netanyahu to halt the destruction. Many other Knesset members feel this way and are embarrassed at their lack of power when going head to head with the high court of justice.

Unfortunately, to date,all they can offer are words of support.

Who was born in Palestine? Remember, Israel was Palestine before the state was declared Israel in 1948.
Some people say that Arabs are “native Palestinians,” while Jews are “invaders” and “settlers.” But reading the biographies of Israeli and Palestinian political leaders, it is clear who are the natives and who are the invaders.

ISRAELI LEADERS
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Born 21 October 1949 in Tel Aviv
EHUD BARAK, Born 12 February 1942 in Mishmar HaSharon, British Mandate of
Palestine
ARIEL SHARON, Born 26 February 1928 in Kfar Malal, British Mandate of
Palestine
EHUD OLMERT, Born 30 September 1945 in Binyamina-Giv’at Ada, British Mandate
of Palestine
ITZHAK RABIN, Born 1 March 1922 in Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine
ITZHAK NAVON, Israeli President in 1977-1982. Born 9 April 1921 in Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine
EZER WEIZMAN, Israeli President in 1993-2000. Born 15 June 1924 in Tel Aviv, British Mandate of Palestine.

ARAB PALESTINIAN LEADERS
YASSER ARAFAT, Born 24 August 1929 in Cairo, Egypt
SAEB ERAKAT, Born April 28, 1955, in Jordan. He has the Jordanian
citizenship.
FAISAL ABDEL QADER AL-HUSSEINI, Born in1948 in Bagdad, Iraq.
SARI NUSSEIBEH, Born in 1949 in Damascus, Syria.
MAHMOUD AL-ZAHAR, Born in 1945, in Cairo, Egypt.
So, Israeli leaders, born in Palestine, are “settlers or invaders, while Palestinian Arab leaders who were born in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Tunisia are “native Palestinians”?

WE THINK NOT!

AFSI likes the reporting of David Bedein, MSW, who has devoted 30 years of research into examining UNRWA policies.

In today’s Arutz Sheva OpEd, Bedein writes that if UNRWA loses roughly $369 million in funding from the US it doesn’t guarantee UNRWA will collapse.

Bedein reports that the Saudis are third in line with the highest amount of funding and when figures for 2017 are released, the numbers may show the Saudis coming in as the number one funder, which could replace the US budget altogether.

An opportunity for the 68 UNRWA’s donor nations to work together and adopt an “UNRWA Reform Initiative,” with reasonable demands is needed. Read more HERE

Havat Gilad was created on private land owned by Moshe Zar in 2002, in response to the murder of Gilad Zar by Arab terrorists in 2001. Labeled an “unauthorized outpost” by the Israeli government, it has existed all these years struggling to buy water and electricity, since the government would not supply these humanitarian needs. We are aware that if these basic requirements were denied to Arabs in Gaza, the world would be up in arms, but somehow Jews in the Jewish state could be treated this way.

Now that Rabbi Raziel Shevach, a 35 year old father of six and mainstay of the community has been murdered by Arab terrorists, the government is ready to supply electricity. We hope they will also remember the water.

Artuz Sheva reports today that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has ordered that the community of Havat Gilad in Samaria be connected to Israel’s national electricity grid immediately, days after Rabbi Raziel Shevach, z’l, was gunned down by Arab terrorists just a few hundred yards away from his home.

While we can appreciate this important development for the residents of Havat Gilad, we simply CANNOT accept why it took so long for electricity to be connected. Moreover, we are angered by the fact that a death prompted action to be taken.

Remember – Donations to the Shevach family are sorely needed. AFSI members and friends can send checks to AFSI, 1751 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10128. Checks should be made out to AFSI, but EARMARKED for the SHEVACH FAMILY.

AFSI’s Co-Executive Director, Helen Freedman, will be leaving for Israel on Sunday, bringing with her duffel bags filled with clothing and toys for the six fatherless children, all donated by an anonymous donor. She will be offering condolences to the family from the entire AFSI family, as well as giving them funds that have already been raised for them.