Prime Minister Naftali Bennett departed to Bahrain today in the first visit of its kind by an Israeli leader to the Gulf kingdom.

Bennett will meet King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and with Crown Prince/Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

Speaking to reporters before take-off, Bennett said he hoped the visit would be a “message of goodwill … and a shared stance against common threats.”

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Bennett and his counterpart will talk about ways to build on the normalization deal and on “the importance of peace, development and prosperity in the region, particularly in advancing economic and diplomatic matters, with a focus on technology and innovation.”

Bahrain and Israel agreed to normalize relations as part of the Abraham Accords in September 2020. Bennett’s historic visit to Bahrain is another building block on the path toward peace with Israel’s Arab neighbors. We are grateful to the Trump administration for initiating a lasting legacy that clearly is moving forward in developing positive relations for Israel and the Middle East.

Source:
Bennett embarks on historic visit to Bahrain, says two nations ‘shared stance against common threats’, by ILH Staff and Ariel Kahana/Israel Hayom, February 14, 2022

During the Likud faction meeting today, Opposition leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the police violence against MK Itamar Ben-Gvir in the Shimon Hatzadik neighborhood of Jerusalem. He called on the police to protect the Jews living in the neighborhood.

“I strongly condemn the act of violence against MK Itamar Ben-Gvir,” Netanyahu said. “This is not ‘Sheikh Jarrah’ – this is Jerusalem, this is our capital. “We are united in our demand from the police to maintain order and security for the residents of the Shimon Hatzadik neighborhood, just as we demand that peace and security be maintained everywhere in the State of Israel.”

This is particularly egregious as eyewitness accounts by reliable sources from Shimon Hatzadik (Sheikh Jarrah) and Lod confirm that the police stood by and took no action to protect the Jews during the May riots. Another instance of selective enforcement against Jews?

Source:
Netanyahu: It’s not Sheikh Jarrah, it’s our capital Jerusalem, by Israel national News, February 14, 2022

 

Any Unilever plan to restrict Ben & Jerry’s ice cream sales solely within the pre-1967 law would run afoul of the county’s anti-boycott law. This declaration was made on Sunday by Avi Zinger the CEO of the Israeli franchise of the global ice cream company. “There is no legal possibility to continue selling in Israel without selling in Judea and Samaria,” Zinger stated.

Zinger has pushed for Israel to apply the anti-boycott law to Unilever. Israeli anti-boycott legislation from 2011 is designed to prevent action against Judea and Samaria taken by companies like Unilever. Critics of the government point out that 35 US States have instituted anti-BDS legislation while the state of Israel has not enforced its own. The matter needs to go before the Knesset’s Law and Constitution Committee, a step that could happen in the coming weeks.

Judea and Samaria belong to Israel – a Whole and Sovereign Israel. Any company that allows a boycott of any part of the country is violation of Israeli law. This a law that must be enforced!

Source:
Unilever can’t side-step country’s anti-boycott law – Israeli Ben & Jerry’s, by Tovah Lazaroff/Jerusalem Post, February 13, 2022

A new Jewish community was established in the Negev Wednesday night, near the Bedouin town of Rahat and Kibbutz Shoval called Ma’ale Paula. it is named after Paula Ben-Gurion, wife of Israel’s first prime minister.

Residents said they built “Ma’ale Paula” in response to the state’s refusal to deal with illegal Bedouin construction in the area.

Yesterday, Regavim called upon the Israeli government to evacuate Ma’aleh Paula. They urged the government to “act quickly and resolutely to evacuate ‘Ma’aleh Paula,’ the outpost established in the Negev last night, along with all of the other illegal clusters in the Negev, where some 3,500 new structures are added each year.” Meir Deutsch, Director General of Regavim, added: “Today, as we do every day, we remind you that the only thing worse than no enforcement is selective enforcement.”

With only four people who established Ma’ale Paula, it’s laughable that an “evacuation” in just 24 hours was necessary. However, it illustrates a government that seems hell-bent on maintaining a lack of governance and employing tactics that prevent only Jewish development and growth on legally owned state land. Nevertheless, we say, “Bravo,” to the brave foursome and all others who stand up for Israel’s legal right to build up its land and the application of Sovereignty.

Sources:
Right-wing org calls on government to evacuate Jewish outpost, by Israel National News, February 9, 2022

Welcome to Ma’ale Paula, Population 4 MKs, Some Zionist Activists, on the Outskirts of Bedouin Town, by David Israel/Jewish Press, February 8 2022

The Land of Israel is not a chessboard where soldiers are moved from square to square and where you give up an officer to save a rook.

The Land of Israel is one essential value unit and is not subject to deals; we do not surrender one part in exchange for another.

Homesh and Eviatar are ours.

The People of Israel are privileged to have within it strong and courageous heroes, the pioneers of our generation, who are willing to live in Homesh and revive Homesh, whose contribution to the security and history to the People of Israel is invaluable.

We are also privileged to have families and yeshiva students who are willing to devote themselves to the existence of Eviatar, which symbolizes, in addition to being a shining point of settlement on the map of Israel, the level of loyalty for the Israeli government.

A government that does not keep its promises is a weak government, internally as well as externally.

The Land of Israel is not a political game piece. We must apply our sovereignty over it, to preserve it and the dedicated people who are willing to sacrifice a comfortable life for the cause, to live and be pioneers at the front of the camp.

Do not touch the Land of Israel and her emissaries and the majority of the Jewish People, who support them!

Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar
The Sovereignty Movement

CONTACT OFFICIALS – DEMAND THEY KEEP THEIR PROMISES

Prime Minister’s Office (overall website has a contact form and phone number)
https://www.gov.il/en/departments/prime_ministers_office

Ministry of Defense (email and overall website)
pniot@mod.gov.il

https://www.gov.il/en/departments/ministry_of_defense/govil-landing-page

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (email for Yair Lapid, Ayelet Shaked, Benny Gantz)
pniot@mfa.gov.il
Overall website:
https://www.gov.il/en/departments/ministry_of_foreign_affairs/govil-landing-page

“Whoever thinks an agreement will increase stability is wrong,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said.

The Iran nuclear deal that world powers are negotiating in Vienna will make it harder to stave off a nuclear Iran, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned at the opening of Sunday’s cabinet meeting. “Foremost among the threats to the State of Israel is Iran,” Bennett said. “We, as the cabinet, are responsible for taking on the Iranian nuclear [threat], and are closely following what is happening in the talks in Vienna.”

Bennett’s remarks came as Israeli officials are concerned that the renewed deal with Iran will maintain the regime’s time to nuclear breakout at less than six months. One of the flagship goals of the JCPOA in 2015 was to keep Iran a year away from nuclear breakout. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has a true understanding of the Middle East mentality and knows what a danger this will be to both Israel and the US.

AFSI commends Prime Minister Bennett for his consistently strong stance working to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. However, we question why in his recent conversation with Biden, Bennett did not initiate a stronger conversation. There was praise for the US strike on ISIS. Bennett and Biden also discussed the growing Iranian aggression, and the steps to block the Iranian nuclear program. The situation between Russia and Ukraine also came up. However, there were no reports of pressure on the US to dismiss any idea of removing sanctions on Iran which it appears poised to do. We pray that the dangerous position that the United States persists in taking will turn-around. It is foolish to give Iran something for nothing and that’s what appears to be on the agenda.

Source:
‘Damaging’ Iran deal is on the way, Bennett warns, by Lahav Harkov/Jerusalem Post, February 6, 2022

 

 

 

 

Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett have ordered the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria’s supreme planning council to halt discussions on the authorization of construction to connect Maale Adumim to Jerusalem in the E-1 corridor.

The committee began to discuss the plan, which had been frozen for years, toward the end of the previous government under Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Bennett and Gantz intervened at the fourth of six authorization stages after most of the Palestinian objections to the move were heard.

“The claim that E-1 cuts off Palestinian continuity is not true,” Kashriel said. “Anyone familiar with the area knows it. It’s just an excuse to prevent us from developing and growing.”

Mayor Kashriel emphasizes that this would not signal an end to the possibility of a two-state solution. Even if it did, Israel must take the stance that a two-state solution is an existential threat to Israel and needs to be taken off the table.

Source:
Israel freezes plans to connect Jerusalem to Maale Adumim due to US, Meretz pressure, by Nadav Shragai/Israel Hayom, February 7, 2022

 

 

In his final hours in office as he retired on Tuesday, outgoing attorney general Avichai Mandelblit gave a green light to a deal between the government and Judea/Samaria community. This would retroactively authorize Evyatar without the need for a legal reason. The next step toward the establishment of a permanent yeshiva in Evyatar is the declaration of its land as state land.

A reminder: Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, in the early days after his government’s formation, had reached an agreement with Evyatar residents by which they would evacuate their homes in exchange for his promise to authorize a yeshiva and a “settlement” there.

The move pushes forward the plan, which still needs a final green light from Defense Minister Benny Gantz. Yair Lapid warned Bennett that going forward with this could damage Israeli relations with the Biden administration and provoke a harsh response from the international community.

Israel should exercise its Sovereignty and never bow to political pressure. The Land of Israel is the Nation State of the Jewish people. Evyatar was settled on legally owned land and Israel has every right to build it up. We are cautiously waiting to see Bennett not bowing to any foreign or internal pressure and fulfilling his promise.

Sources:
Coalition Crisis Brewing as Lapid Warns Bennett Against Keeping Promise to Evyatar Jews, by David Israel/Jewish Press, February 3, 2022

Mandelblit said to have okayed illegal West Bank outpost just before retiring as AG, by AP and TOI Staff, February 2, 2022

On Sunday morning, Religious Zionism party Knesset members toured western Samaria, focusing on areas in Area C that are de facto being taken over by Palestinian Arabs. Accompanying them was Samaria Regional Council Head Yossi Dagan, who told the MKs about the efforts being made to counter Arab encroachments.

At the start of the tour, Dagan noted that Arab encroachment includes the paving of new roads, erection of buildings – illegally constructed – and other actions. Also visited were State-owned lands near the industrial zone in Alei Zahav which Arabs have infiltrated. The group was also told about infiltration into the area around Bruchin.

Dagan added, “We will never give up on this land. This is our land – we are responsible for it on behalf of the Jewish People. If the government and other authorities are not fulfilling their obligations then we will be the ones to preserve this area. We will prevent this encroachment and put an end to this shameful situation.”

Local residents remain strong as they continue to wage a fierce campaign against these illegal takeover attempts. Now it’s time for Israel’s government to do the right thing and step in to protect its residents, its legally owned land – and SOVEREIGNTY. Prime Minister Bennett, what are you waiting for??

Source:
‘Area C falling into Palestinian hands while govt does nothing’, by Hezki Baruch/Israel National News, January 30, 2022

 

 

 

 

This morning there was rioting in the Negev and an attack by Bedouin on police forces and inspectors at the IDF’s Tze’elim Base. As these attacks continue, Regavim warns that the new five-year plan for the Negev, which the government is expected to approve, contains no budgeting for law enforcement and will cause long-term damage to the already dire state of governance in the Negev.

In the Knesset ministers are embroiled in a tug-of-war over the government’s new five-year plan for the Negev. Meir Deutsch, Director General of Regavim, notes that “increased enforcement activity in the Negev over the past year is the result of government decisions and budgetary allocations legislated in 2017. As it now reads, the new Negev Five-Year Plan will cut the oxygen supply for enforcement, and the results will be felt over the coming years. Under no condition should this plan be approved; all ‘carrots’ and no ‘sticks’ is not a plan, it’s a recipe for disaster.”

Source:
Regavim: Government’s plan shuts down governance in the Negev, by Israel National News, January 31, 2022