19 years ago today, on August 15, 2005, Israeli forces began implementing the Disengagement Plan formulated by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The date was changed so as not to coincide with Tisha B’Av and the preceding periods of mourning.

Israeli residents held a series of protests against the process, some of which turned violent. In many of the towns that were emptied, residents barricaded themselves inside buildings and fought the security forces with improvised weapons and projectiles. Over the weeks that followed, thousands of soldiers and police officers would make their way through the Gaza Strip, assisting Israelis who wished to leave willingly and removing those who resisted by force. Four towns in northern Samaria were emptied in a similar fashion. By September 22, 2005, Israel’s withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip to the 1967 “Green Line,” and the eviction of the four communities in Samaria, were completed.

In a lengthy write-up in the Times of Israel last December, Return to Gush Katif: A determined movement emerges to resettle Israelis in Gaza, Shlomo Elyashiv Fendel, son of Rabbi Dovid Fendel was among many community members interviewed. He accurately summed up why there needs to be a return to Gush Katif: “Resettling there will be a deterrent to future terrorist attacks and will strengthen Israel’s security. Eliminating Hamas is the beginning, but what will give us long-lasting security is settlements.”

Sources:
Today in History: Beginning of the disengagement from Gush Katif, by Israel National News, August 16, 2024

Return to Gush Katif: A determined movement emerges to resettle Israelis in Gaza, by Mati Wagner/Times of Israel, December 3, 2023

On Wednesday, COGAT (Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories), a.k.a. the Civil Administration, which is now firmly in the hands of the Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich, completed its professional work and published a new blue line that delimits and defines the community of Nachal Heletz in Gush Etzion.

Nachal Heletz is one of the communities that the Netanyahu cabinet decided upon as part of the five new communities to be erected in response to the PA’s measures against the State of Israel and the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state by several countries.

Smotrich stated, “No anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist decision will stop the continued development of the settlement enterprise. We will continue to fight the dangerous idea of ​​a Palestinian state and establish facts on the ground. This is my life’s mission, and I will continue it as long as I can.”

Source:
New & Improved COGAT Publishes Plans for Nachal Heletz in Gush Etzion, by David Israel/Jewish Press, August 12, 2024

Nearly three thousand Jews (2,958) ascended the Temple Mount on Tisha B’Av earlier this week.

One of the Jews was National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir who said, “We are here on Tisha B’Av, on the Temple Mount, to commemorate the destruction of the Temple. But we also have to say honestly: there is a very big progress here in governance, in sovereignty. Pictures of Jews praying here. As I said: our policy is to allow prayer.”

PM Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Ben-Gvir for determining policy on the Temple Mount. Ben-Gvir then released a subsequent statement, presumably in response to Netanyahu: “The policy of the Minister of National Security is to allow freedom of worship for Jews everywhere, including the Temple Mount, and Jews will continue to do so in the future as well. The Temple Mount is a sovereign territory in the capital of the State of Israel. There is no law that allows racial discrimination against Jews on the Temple Mount, or anywhere else in Israel.”

Source:
Ben Gvir Ascends Temple Mount on 9 B’Av, Jews ‘Break the Rules’ by Praying, Prostrating and Singing, by David Israel/Jewish Press, August 13, 2024

https://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/temple-mount-har-habayit/ben-gvir-ascends-temple-mount-on-9-bav-dozens-break-the-rules-by-prostrating/2024/08/13/

Officials have told American media that it is feared that Iran will attack Israel within the next 24 hours, Fox News reported.

Last week, Western intelligence officials stated that Iran may have been planning an attack on Tisha B’Av, the day of mourning for the Holy Temples that begins tonight and lasts through sundown tomorrow. If Iran attacks within the next 24 hours, it would attack on Tisha B’Av.

Iran has been threatening to attack Israel since the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran nearly two weeks ago.

American officials have stated that they believe Iran may have been deterred from its attack following international pressure and the movement of American naval assets into the region.

That Iran’s desire to attack Israel “may have been deterred” is not good enough. Until Israel’s intelligence has 100% assurance that Iran won’t attack. the country’s defense forces must be ready at any given moment to defend itself against this axis of evil.

Source:
Report: Fear Iran will attack Israel in the next 24 hours, by Israel National News, August 12, 2024

Israel faces a growing threat from Islamist terrorists in Judea and Samaria, Israel’s foreign minister warned Monday, accusing Iran of expanding its support for the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups in order to open a “new eastern front” against Israel. Katz warned in a post on X that this is a “serious and dangerous situation” as Tehran “works to establish a new eastern terror front against Israel’s major population centers.”

Katz stated that Israel “must take terror hubs like the Jenin refugee camp and carry out a thorough operational campaign to dismantle the terror infrastructure in the camp. This is a shared interest of Israel, many regional states, and the entire free world – to halt the spread of Iran’s axis of evil.” Construction of the eastern barrier along the border with Jordan must be expedited to prevent the smuggling of weapons from Jordan into Israel, which threatens both the Jordanian regime and the State of Israel, Katz said.

His comments come as the IDF mulls forming a new army division to secure the border between Israel and Jordan, following a deadly shooting attack in the Jordan Valley on Sunday. Yehonatan Deutsch, aged 23 from Beit She’an, was murdered in a drive-by shooting attack on the road leading to the village of Rotem in the Jordan Valley.

Source:
Iran now dominates refugee camps in Judea and Samaria, Israeli minister warns, by World Israel News Staff, August 12, 2024

As part of Israel’s diplomatic blitz on Norway following its unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced on Thursday that Israel is revoking the status that allows the Norwegian diplomatic team to operate in the Palestinian Authority (PA). This effectively halts all representation by the Norwegian embassy in Israel concerning the Palestinian governing body.

Norway’s chargé d’affaires was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, where he was handed a diplomatic note informing him of the decision. The Norwegian embassy in Israel had been operating with a team of eight diplomats whose sole responsibility was representing Norway to the PA.

“There is a price for anti-Israel behavior. Instead of fighting Palestinian terrorism after October 7 and supporting Israel in its battle against the Iranian axis of evil, Norway chose to reward Hamas murderers and rapists by recognizing a Palestinian state. But they didn’t stop there—they also joined the baseless lawsuit against us at the ICC,” Foreign Minister Katz said.

Norway has proven itself to be the most hostile European country to Israel. Since it’s blind to the consequences of the evil axis of terror it supports, it’s high time they paid a price.

Source:
Israeli blitz on Norway: Tel Aviv diplomats barred from Palestinian affairs, by Itamar Eichner/Ynetnews, August 8, 2024

A legal challenge to the US administration’s sanctions policy was initiated this week in a Texas federal court by Texans for Israel, Professor Eugene Kontorovich reported in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday (Biden’s Unconstitutional Sanctions on Supporters of Israel). The lawsuit cites concerns over free speech, due process, and equal protection. Kontorovich, an expert in international law, is a member of the plaintiffs’ legal team.

Texans for Israel is an American Christian Zionist nonprofit headed by Michael Isley, which filed the lawsuit with American Jews living in Israel ( Regavim, A.R.; Meir Deutsch; Yosef Ben Chaim; and Ari Abramowitz). They argue that the Biden administration has been using an executive order to impose unprecedented sanctions on Israelis who disagree with Biden’s policies.

Americans for a Safe Israel applauds Texans for Israel for taking this bold legal step to pursue action in the fight to disseminate the truth about Israel.

Source:
‘Texans for Israel’ Sue Biden over Sanctions of Israelis, by David Israel/Jewish Press

UAVs launched by Hezbollah terrorists exploded early Tuesday afternoon in various locations in northern Israel. 18 people were injured in the explosions, including a man of about 30 who was critically injured.

According to one report, at least three UAVs infiltrated Israel. One of them was intercepted, while a second exploded near Mazra’a. Hezbollah took responsibility for the launches, saying, “We launched a stream of UAVs and attacked a Golani Brigade command center and an Egoz Unit base in the Shraga Camp near occupied Acre (Akko).”

The IDF clarified: “Following the sirens that sounded over the past hour in northern Israel, a number of hostile UAVs were identified crossing from Lebanon. One of the UAVs was intercepted. Several civilians were injured to the south of Nahariya during the incident.”

Terror attacks are increasing in the north and to make matters worse, not all areas in this region have shelters. Those that do have often do not have enough of them to turn to for safety.

Source:
18 injured, 1 critically, in UAV explosion in northern Israel, by Israel National News, August 6, 2024

As the threat of an Iranian attack on Israel hangs over the Middle East, Israelis remain determined to go about their ordinary lives.

Potential missile and drone attacks from Iran and its proxies have prompted Israelis to stock up on food, water, batteries and more. The run on stores was reminiscent of the days leading up to Iran’s barrage of hundreds of missiles and drones in April.

“I know that if Khamenei says he’s going to do something, he usually follows through,” Yael Sasson, a 56-year-old homemaker from Ashkelon told The Press Service of Israel. “The question is just what form the attack will take, and in my opinion, the news channels have overreacted a bit to this whole situation.”

Nick Gottlieb, a 26-year-old US immigrant who works at a tech VC firm in Tel Aviv told TPS-IL that life continues in Tel Aviv. “If there’s a war, someone forgot to tell Tel Aviv. It’s business as normal — the beaches, shuk, and bars are still full.” Gottlieb is fully confident in Israel’s defensive abilities. “To put it into just two words, Bring it.”

In the southern town of Gan Yavne, Noa Halifa, a youth movement educator said the ongoing state of alert is more grinding than specific threats from Iran. “By and large we’re stuck in a state of anxiety since October 7th, and everything that’s happened since then just perpetuates that and pours gas on the fire. The fear isn’t because of the Iranian threat exactly, it’s something perpetual,” the 24-year-old told TPS-IL.

Halifa said she sensed the anxiety from the children she has worked with during the summer. “We usually do the camp in the woods, but this year, for the first time, we did it at a youth center, so that the kids would have access to bomb shelters,” Halifa explained. “The kids were stressed, they had panic attacks, and they were less independent overall.”

But she added, “Life still goes on, but we’re all needing to adapt ourselves to the current, difficult situation.”

Source:
‘Bring It’: Israelis Shrug Off Iranian Threats, by Noah Michaeli/TPS, August 5, 2024

For the second time in months, Israelis are sitting, waiting, and twiddling their thumbs, as Iran and its proxies have promised to exact revenge on the Jewish state in response to the deaths of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and the killing of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr.

Where and when this grand act of revenge will occur is proving challenging to estimate. Western intelligence sources told Sky News Arabia that they had evidence that Iran plans to attack Israel on Tisha B’Av next week. Other reports quote US and Israeli security officials as saying that the attack may come as early as today, leaving Israelis in limbo.

This is a genuinely worrying time for Israelis. Under normal circumstances, people could expect to look to their leader to provide strength, guidance, and cohesion, but that is proving to be a damp squib. So, if we cannot look to the present for inspiration, what about the past?

Sunday marked Jabotinsky Day, a national holiday celebrated annually to commemorate the life and vision of the Zionist leader. But what, if anything, can be learned from the former chief of Revisionist Zionism during these trying times?

Source:
Drawing on the legacy of Ze’ev Jabotinsky is critical in fighting Iran – editorial, by JPost Editorial, August 5, 2024