Author: AFSI Staff

They make headlines for “price tag” hate crimes against Palestinians or for clashing with Israeli troops at outpost evacuations.

In fact, the so-called “hilltop youth” — who seek to settle every corner of the biblical land of Israel — have long been identified as a national security threat placed under the jurisdiction of the highest levels of law enforcement.

But in recent years, some government officials have begun shifting their approach, considering the root causes that have led hundreds of teenagers to abandon their homes for the West Bank hilltops and recognizing that tackling the phenomenon also requires an education-based approach.

Source:
Program for rehabilitating ‘hilltop youth’ sees them as dropouts, not criminals, by Jacob Magid. Times of Israel – February 14, 2020

The Trump administration’s recently released “Peace to Prosperity” plan has proved to be controversial, but it includes one provision on page 16 that gets to the core of the Middle East conflict it seeks to solve: “People of every faith should be permitted to pray on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif.”

Whomever disagrees with this stipulation is very simply put, not interested in a genuine and lasting peace.

AFSI agrees 100% with this. Petra Marquardt-Bigman’s article in The Algemeiner this week says the 1941 alliance between Adolt Hitler and Haj Amin al-Husseini has left a “poisonous legacy.” She covers this issue quite well and it is today’s suggested reading.

Source:
Analysis: Poisonous legacy of ‘Hitler’s Mufti’ makes peace impossible, by Petra Marquardt-Bigman. The Algemeiner – February 12, 2020

Earlier this week, the United Nations Human Rights Council issued a report on companies it blacklisted due to their business ties to Israel’s “settlements” in Judea and Samaria.

As expected, Israel’s condemnation was swift. President Reuven Rivlin stated, “Boycotting Israeli companies does not advance the cause of peace and does not build confidence between the sides. We call on our friends around the world to speak out against this shameful initiative which reminds of dark periods in our history.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Whoever boycotts us will be boycotted. The UN Human Rights Council is a biased body that is devoid of influence. Instead of the organization dealing with human rights, it only tries to disparage Israel. We strongly reject this contemptible effort.”

An emergency meeting of Barkan Industrial Area representatives was held this morning, together with Samaria Regional Council Chairman Yossi Dagan and with the participation of MK Eli Cohen, Minister of Economy.

Decided on were a list of steps to be taken by the Samaria Regional Council together with the industrialists to combat the UN decision and to assist the factories. Among the many steps to take, they voted to file a class action against the UN in accordance with the BDS Law.

AFSI reminds everyone that the UN Human Rights Council is made up of many member nations who are among the worst offenders of human rights abuses in their own countries.

Sources:
Israel Denounces ‘Shameful’ UN Report on Companies Active in West Bank Settlements, by Algemeiner Staff and Agencies. The Algemeiner – February 12, 2020

Samaria council to file class action suit against leaders of UN Human Rights Council, by Arutz Sheva Staff. Arutz Sheva – February 13, 2020

More agricultural theft and destruction in the Gush Etzion area, this time in the Migdal Oz plantations. Tzvika Klein, the cherry orchard owner who absorbed the destruction, tells of the incident and says local Muslims are responsible for the act. “Jews don’t come there and our neighbors are Arabs,” he says.

“We’re there every day. Because of the bad weather we didn’t get there for two days. When we arrived this morning we saw the damage: About 30 young cherry trees uprooted and a computer panel with a solar cell that charges the irrigation center batteries was stolen. In the process, they also damaged electrical wires and broke a cabinet.”

Source:
Agricultural warfare again hits Gush Etzion, by Shimon Cohen in Arutz Sheva. February 11, 2020

Today we are a little more than one week from President Donald Trump’s presentation of his Vision for Peace.

In that week, people have proclaimed him and his team anything and everything from the Messiah to Judas. The truth is he and his team are neither. President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner and Ambassador David Friedman are loyal patriots to the United States and the greatest friends Israel has ever had in the White House.

Let’s remember where we were as recently as December 2016. We were abandoned at the UN and were dictated the terms of a UN/EU style peace plan from then Secretary of State John Kerry. That was certainly a low point in international relations for our great state of Israel.

Read the full letter in Israel Hayom, February 6, 2020 HERE

Someone in the Palestinian Authority should get President Mahmoud Abbas a map — because he seems to be lost and confused. You’d think he’d respond to President Trump’s “Peace to Prosperity” plan by traveling to Jerusalem or Washington to negotiate ­directly with Israel. Instead, he’s coming to the Big Apple.

On Tuesday, he will speak before the UN Security Council and seek a vote condemning the American plan. This isn’t the first time Abbas has taken a very wrong turn.

Editor’s note: A late breaking Arutz Sheva report today states: PA withdraws request for UN vote on US Mideast plan: diplomats

Source:
Mahmoud Abbas makes noise at UN again rather than try to negotiate peace, by Danny Danon. New York Post – February 9, 2020

In what was the third terrorist attack in less than 24 hours, an Israeli soldier was lightly wounded in the Binyamin region following a drive-by shooting.

The soldier was manning a guard post in a junction in the area, not far from Jerusalem, when he was hit. According to first responders, the Israel Defense Forces member was treated at the scene and was fully conscious.

The attack comes just hours after a similar incident in the Old City of Jerusalem. A Border Police officer sustained mild injuries on Thursday in that attack, which took place not far from the Temple Mount. Other troops stationed at the scene engaged the terrorist, who was shot dead.

The incident followed another terrorist attack in the capital, in which 12 soldiers were wounded, one seriously, in a ramming attack that took place shortly before 2 am on Jerusalem’s David Remez Street.

It’s been a little over a week since The White House announced its “peace deal” and in that time frame continued violence has been carried out against Israel. Israel must take every measure to protect and secure its citizens, its borders and its country.

Source:
Israeli soldier hurt in third terrorist attack on Thursday, by Efrat Forsher. Israel Hayom – February 6, 2020

The leaders of the Judea and Samaria councils set up a protest tent on Tuesday outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, demanding that sovereignty be applied in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley before the Knesset elections.

“We are here out of great concern,” Samaria Council Head Yossi Dagan told Arutz Sheva. “We came to strengthen the PM, but warn against missing a historic opportunity, it would be a serious mistake.”

Source:
‘Without sovereignty, right-wing government is in danger’, by Hezki Baruch. Arutz Sheva – February 4, 2020

Less than 24 hours after the European Union’s Foreign Minister, Josep Borell, declared that “steps towards annexation [of the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank], if implemented, could not pass unchallenged,” European threats have been turned into action.

On Tuesday, the European Union announced a special grant of 6 million euros to illegal outposts established by the Palestinian Authority as strategic tools for territorial annexation in Area C.

“The absurd claim that Beit El, Hebron, the Tabernacle of Shiloh, the Hasmonean palaces, the Herodion, the aqueduct system built to supply water to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and a host of other world-heritage treasures that cover the landscape of ‘Area C’ were ever Palestinian holdings that have been “occupied” by the Jewish State is a thin disguise for old-fashioned European antisemitism,” said Meir Deutsch, Director General of Regavim.

“It is deeply rooted antisemitism that motivates the European Union to support the illegal Palestinian takeover of thousands of dunams of land and the construction of tens of thousands of illegal structures in Area C. It is antisemitism that emboldens the Europeans to violate Israeli law, to violate international law, and to violate the Oslo Accords. The funding provided to the Palestinians by the Europeans has one purpose only: To seize control of territory that is under the sole jurisdiction of the State of Israel.”

The European Union repeatedly turns a blind that serves to justify terrorists and their illegal activities while it continues its campaign of anti-Israel destruction. We think its high time the EU was held accountable.

Source:
EU issues special grant to illegal PA outposts, by Arutz Sheva Staff. Arutz Sheva – February 5, 2020

The IAF struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Sunday after rockets and explosive balloons were launched throughout the day toward Israel.

On Saturday night, sirens warning of an incoming rocket were activated in Nahal Oz and Alumim in the Sha’ar Hanegev region while Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and members of his party were visiting the area. The rocket fell harmlessly.

The targets hit by the IAF in retaliation included underground infrastructure for Hamas’s military arm Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip.

Source:
After relative calm with Gaza, four days of rocket fire towards Israel, by Anna Ahronheim, Jerusalem Post Staff. Jerusalem Post – February 3, 2020