Author: AFSI Staff

At an event on Tuesday marking the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Embassy move to Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that the Jewish people are “the only people on Earth who live in the same land where they lived 3,000 years ago, with the same capital, the same language and the same religion.” What makes the feat even more extraordinary, he added, is that the Jews were exiled from the land and came back to it.

3,000 years old and 71 years young! AFSI is thrilled to be celebrating Israel @ 71. It was this time last year that our Chizuk Mission Trip had the privilege to be in Israel and join in the festivities for Israel @70. In a little over two weeks our group will be travelling to Israel and looks forward to visits throughout the land, meeting with the people….and the enjoying the food!

Watch the Independence Day Flyover from the great big blue skies front row seat HERE.

“We support Israel 100% in its defense of its citizens.” ~President Donald Trump

“The Israeli’s have every right to defend themselves.” ~ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

This past weekend, Israelis living in the south of the country woke up to yet another barrage of rockets from Gaza. Between Saturday May 4 and Sunday May 5, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas terrorist groups launched over 600 rockets and mortars at Israelis from Gaza (as of May 5th at 6 pm). Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs report HERE.

The 4 Israeli civilians killed were: Moshe Agadi (58), Ziad Alhamada (49), Moshe Feder (67) and Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Pashwazman (21).

Netanyahu: Gaza Campaign Not Over, Requires Patience and Judgement ~Herb Keinon

Haley: Why Should Israel Sit Back? Former US ambassador to the UN blasts international community’s double standards as Israel is attacked by rockets. ~Arutz Sheva Staff

We at AFSI support Israel’s right to keep its citizens safe by any means it deems best. We hope in the next round, and unfortunately it appears there will be one, that Israel will not hesitate to use whatever means necessary to insure its people a safe homeland.

The Israeli Air Force carried out a series of strikes north of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday night in response to hundreds of incendiary balloons that Hamas launched at Israel earlier that day.

Sirens were sounded early Thursday morning in the Shaar Hanegev and Sdot Negev regional councils in southern Israel.

The IDF confirmed that two launches had been identified from Gaza toward Israel.

The rockets appear to have exploded in open areas, without causing injuries or damages.

The IDF responded that, “Hamas bears full responsibility for all that is taking place in the Gaza Strip, as well as all things coming out of it.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu promised community leaders in 2017 that his government would build bypass roads at key locations in Judea and Samaria.

Today that promise has been kept. Plans for paving bypass roads in Judea and Samaria allowing Israeli residents to avoid dangerous Arab villages have been approved.

Over 500 people gathered in front of the NY Times building on 8th Avenue @ 40th St. in NYC to protest against the vile, obscene cartoon that had appeared over the weekend in the International edition of the NY Times. It depicted a blind Trump, wearing dark glasses and a yarmulke, being led by a dog with the face of Netanyahu. The outrage over this Der Sturmer type of hatred prompted grass roots organizers, Jeff Wiesenfeld, Hillary Markowitz, Helen Freedman and Judy Kadish of AFSI, to quickly call for the protest at the Times. Starting time was scheduled for 5:30, but hundreds of people had gathered by 4:30. Jeff Wiesenfeld, the MC, opened the program with a denunciation of the Times for its 120 year old campaign of slander and bias against Israel and the Jews. Although the Times attempted to lay the blame for the cartoon on one careless editor, we know that the entire newspaper and its owners are responsible.

The impressive roster of speakers, including Assemblyman Dov Hikind, Prof. Alan Dershowitz, Rabbi Elie Abadie, and Alex Landsman, all sounded the same note in different ways. The shameful record of the Times, the evil words leading to evil deeds such as the latest terror attack in Poway, CA, the Times’ support for the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel Congressional trio of Omar, AOC, and Tlaib, and the need to actively combat the rising anti-Semitism in America and world wide, were all laid out in detail.

Another theme that the crowd seemed to enjoy was that of the duplicity and uselessness of our Democratic elected officials. Where was the “Shomer Yisrael” – Schumer, on this issue? Where was Nadler? Engel? Any Democrats? There was only disgraceful silence. It was agreed that they would have to be voted out of office if possible. On the other hand, the crowd was urged to contact President Trump and PM Netanyahu, expressing concern about their depiction in the blasphemous cartoon and offering full support to them.

AFSI’s Charlie Bernhaut again made powerful signs accusing the Times of having blood on its hands and finding it guilty for its 120 year record of anti-Semitism. Hillary Markowitz did an amazing job preparing professional signs and arranging for the sound and stage. A large contingent of the press was present, due in part to the superb efforts of our PR professional. The protest was covered prominently in the New York Post and major Israeli media outlets. It will be interesting to see if it gets covered in other US or international mainstream media or whether the fake news philosophy will prevail.

Watch the video of the protest courtesy of Ido Siman Tov HERE.

Israeli Envoy Calls for Criminalizing Anti-Semitism After NYT Cartoon ~Tovah Lazaroff

Israeli Ambassador Calls NYT ‘Cesspool of Hostility’ ~Ron Kampeas

NYT Publishes Another Anti-Semitic Cartoon, Days After Global Outrage ~Hagay Cohen

“We came from fire to fire,” ~Israel Dahan, father of 8-year old Poway shooting victim, Noya Dahan

Dear Readers:

What happened in Poway, California this past Shabbat is what the residents of Sderot, Israel experience on a regular basis. SHEER TERROR AND A FIGHT FOR THEIR LIVES.

It happened again in America. On Shabbat morning, around 11:30 am Pacific time, when a lone gunman entered the Chabad of Poway in California and began shooting. One woman, Lori Gilbert Kaye, aged 60, was killed trying to protect the Rabbi (she’s pictured here). Some are saying she’s the heroine who took a bullet for everyone. Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, leader of the Chabad of Poway, pleaded with the gunman to stop but was shot at. Goldstein lost one finger on his right hand and had surgery for a finger on the left hand. Almog Peretz, 34 years old, and his 8-year old niece Noya Dahan sustained non-life threatening injuries.

Sderot resident Peretz was visiting his family in Poway for Passover. Before moving to Poway, the Dahan family moved to Mira Mesa, CA from Sderot, Israel. In their new home in American, they experienced anti-semitism in 2015 with swastikas spray painted on their home. See HERE. It’s ironic that Dahan and her family moved from Sderot to American in order to get away from the rocket attacks on Sderot.

AFSI has never advocated for a “two-state” solution and now The White House is saying it too as they begin to share comments on the forthcoming peace plan. Along with old terminology used in trying to forge previous attempts at at bringing about peace, the term “two-state solution” is being dropped by the White House. Time to change the thinking.

Jared Kushner, White House Senior Advisor, discussed the much anticipated, upcoming “deal of the century” and said that if people focus on the old traditional talking points, we will never make progress.” In an interview at the recent TIME 100 Summit, Kushner mentioned the Arab peace initiative of 2002 and called it: “…a very good attempt. But if that would’ve worked, we would’ve made peace a long time ago on that basis,” and added that the current peace team decided to put out a different plan.

We like Herb Keinon’s piece in The Jerusalem Post: ‘Deal of the Century’ Will Set New Baseline for Mideast Diplomacy. Keinon offers that the Trump peace plan may be less about reaching a final settlement now, and more about setting down new parameters for a changed reality.

In a move that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised, the Trump administration said Monday that it will no longer exempt any countries from U.S. sanctions if they continue to buy Iranian oil. This move steps up pressure on Iran and primarily affects the five remaining major importers: China and India and U.S. treaty allies Japan, South Korea, Turkey.

With the aim of preventing the Ayatollah regime its main source of income, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “We will no longer grant any exemptions. We are going to zero, we’re going to zero across the board.”

Read the official White House Press Release HERE.

Arranged at the initiative of the White House, the most friendly and pro-Israel White House ever seen, a meeting with dozens of Jewish community leaders from across the United States was convened.

In addition to the many issues of concern Jewish leaders brought to the table, the hottest topic was how to combat Anti-Semitism.

Whether anti-Semitism is in the United States or abroad we must be vigilant in pursuing every effort to combat it. AFSI expresses enormous gratitude to President Donald J. Trump in not being afraid to tackle this issue head on and with honesty.

Tuvia Tenenbom, Israeli writer and friend of AFSI filmed an anti-Semitic tirade at a local bar in Northern Ireland last year said recently that he had never before witnessed so much Jew-hatred as he saw during his visit to the region.

Universities and Colleges are Failing to Protect Jewish Students. It Must Stop. ~ Carly Pildis

PA: Anti-Zionism Cannot be Antisemitism Because Zionism Itself is Antisemitism ~Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

“Friends, let me go on record: Anti-Zionism IS anti-Semitism. The Trump administration opposes it unequivocally and we will fight for it relentlessly.” ~Secretary of State Mike Pompeo