Author: AFSI Staff

Israel’s new government is committed to strengthening the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria and is therefore contesting a Supreme Court order to evacuate Homesh.

“The government is changing directions and supports the yeshivah in Homesh. As we promised, we will do everything in order for the communities in Judea and Samaria to grow and flourish,” Finance Minister and Minister within the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich said.

Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, this week gave the new government a three-month extension to explain why the Homesh Yeshivah in northern Samaria should be allowed to remain intact, despite previous court opinions stating that the community of Homesh was built on private Arab land.

Minister of National Missions Orit Strock told JNS, “The new Israeli government 100% supports correcting the injustice and idiocy of the uprooting of the northern Samaria communities during the disengagement. We intend to quickly amend the Disengagement Law in order to allow the yeshivah to remain in Homesh and maintain an Israeli civilian presence in northern Shomron [Samaria].”

We trust that Homesh will be among the first community of many to see a full reversal of the ongoing nefarious and destructive intentions to wipe it from Israel’s map. The reconstruction of Homesh and other developing communities in Judea and Samaria deserve no less than the proper regulation they’ve been denied for too long.

Source:
Smotrich: Government will fight to prevent dismantlement of Homesh Yeshivah, by Josh Hasten/JNS, January 4, 2023

Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in for his third time as Prime Minister of Israel last Thursday following the country’s fifth election in less than four years. Netanyahu is forming what experts say could be the most right-wing government in Israel’s history. His Likud Party formed a governing coalition with several nationalist, religious Zionist parties which, in recent memory, have not been in the inner circle of the government of the Israeli political system.

Netanyahu presented his agenda to the Knesset plenum, which included: stopping the Iran nuclear program, developing state infrastructure, and restoring internal security and governance.

During his address, which was interrupted by opposition members, Netanyahu said “Losing elections isn’t the end of democracy – it’s the essence of democracy. In a democracy, we don’t climb the fences of the Capitol, and we don’t climb the fences of the Knesset.”

We trust that Israel can look forward to the long overdue changes in so many areas that MUST happen. In order to truly move Israel forward we trust that Netanyahu will begin the mandatory process of applying Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria NOW.

Source:
Netanyahu swears in new government, begins 6th term, by Yehuda Shlezinger, Amir Ettinger and i24NEWS, December 29, 2022

Americans For A Safe Israel/AFSI responded to the open letter coordinated by Lori Lowenthal Marcus that 300 reform, conservative, reconstructionist and “renewal” Rabbis made public demonizing the new Israeli government.

Proud AFSI signers of this letter are:
Judy Freedman Kadish, Director
Dr. Jonathan Gold, Board of Directors
Helene Fragman Abramson, Advisory Board Member

We are Zionists who believe that when the people of Israel exercise the sovereign right to vote, the result should be respected by all, by non-Jews and Jews throughout the world, and by Jews within Israel.

After years of attacks on Israel’s right to exist voiced from the lofty halls of academia, left-wing social movements, church associations, unions, “human rights” groups and oh-so-many others, now comes a gaggle of American Jewish clergy and leftist Jewish leaders claiming that democracy is threatened by recent choices of Israeli voters who do not mirror their political views.

Source:
We Support Israeli Democracy, by Lori Lowenthal Marcus, January 2, 2023

On Monday morning, the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, under the auspices of the Defense Ministry, uprooted a vineyard near the Yitzhar community in Samaria. This was following a petition submitted by PA Arabs to Israel’s High Court of Justice,

The petitioners did not provide a smidgen of proof of ownership of the land on which the vineyard had been planted some four years ago, and yet the vineyard’s Jewish owners were handed a “Disruptive Land-Use Order,” a unique military order permitting the removal of agricultural assets even when no conflicting claim of ownership is submitted or proven.

To date, laws have not been enforced against the constant violations committed by PA Arab encroachment on legally owned Jewish land. This vineyard uprooting is but another example of how severely out of control and unaccountable the Civil Administration has become. It’s now up to MK Bezalel Smotrich to reverse these ongoing travesties of justice and thoroughly unjustified attacks against innocent Jews in Judea and Samaria.

Source:
Final Acts of Nasty: Civil Administration Uproots Jewish Vineyard near Yitzhar, by David Israel/Jewish Press, January 2, 2023

Ariel Dahari, a resident of Samaria, received a detention order Monday morning signed by the Head of the Home Front Command, forbidding him from leaving the Samaria community where his parents reside.

Attorney Adi Kedar of the Honenu legal organization representing Dahari sent a letter to the Head of the Home Front Command, Rafi Milo, who signed the order, demanding that it be canceled immediately. “As you know, my client is making final preparations for his wedding planned for January 26 in Jerusalem,” opens the letter. “Last night at midnight the restraining order issued against my client expired and we were hoping that the prolonged harassment of my client and his family members would come to an end. We were hoping that he could now look toward the future and get married with the peace of mind he deserves.”

Dahari’s wedding, the Sheva Brachot, where he and his bride will live, all of it will be tracked with extreme detail because he has been identified as a substantial threat to Israel’s national security. He is in the same category as an Arab terrorist. The difference is that the Arab terrorist will barely get a slap on this wrist. This treatment is appalling and obviously intentional. We hope that under the new government attacks like this against Israel’s own will stop and justice will be executed evenly according to the law.

Source:
Samaria youth confined to parents’ home 3 weeks before wedding, by Israel National News, January 2, 2023

Americans For A Safe Israel congratulates Israeli Prime Minister-Designate Benjamin Netanyahu and the entire pro-Zionist bloc on their successful formation of a new government.

Netanyahu phoned President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday evening just 18 minutes before the midnight expiration and proclaimed, “I have succeeded in forming a government.”

The first party to reach a final agreement with the Likud was the Religious Zionist Party. Among the clauses in the agreement with the Religious Zionist Party: Promotion of a significant reform to amend the justice system, appointment of a National Religious Chief Rabbi, amendments to legislation considering the difficulties and loopholes created by the so-called “grandson clause” of the Law of Return, and a new kashrut law.

To date the only party to sign an agreement is Agudat Yisrael. It is expected that today Religious Zionist Party will sign their agreement.

Smotrich and Netanyahu agreed on a government decision, to be approved within 60 days, to regulate the young communities, the regulation of the yeshiva in Homesh by amending the Disengagement Law in northern Samaria and the immediate implementation of the Evyatar plan.

To make daily life easier in Judea and Samaria, it was agreed on the regulation of crossings, the development of roads and infrastructure and a solution to the issue of cell phone reception in Judea and Samaria.

Among the many things we look forward to with this new government:
1) That Israel builds a strong pro-Zionist government that will be able to take appropriate action to stop the alarming number of terror attacks against innocent Jews and others.

2) Stop the disturbing and intensifying trend of the European Union and left-wing NGO’s that align together to ensure that the Arabs takeover 100% of Area C. Israel must clearly communicate its policies to the entities that seek its undoing.

3) The declaration of SOVEREIGNTY over Judea and Samaria. It is only through SOVEREIGNTY that the Jewish residents there will be afforded the security, stability, and peace they rightfully deserve and no longer be treated like the terrorists that they are not.

We trust that the new government, through any means necessary, will not hesitate to enforce Israel’s sovereign and legal rights. Israel must remain the issuing authority by which the country is governed. Without this, Israel will continue to remain threatened by those who seek to eliminate it. Without it, the advancement of the Zionist legacy will die. We are counting on you Prime Minister Netanyahu to restore to Israel the security, safety and sovereignty that it should rightfully have.

Sources:
18 minutes before the deadline | Netanyahu informs Herzog: I have succeeded, by Hezki Baruch/Arutz Sheva, December 22, 2022

Despite Netanyahu’s claim of imminent gov’t, only one final agreement signed, by Eliav Breuer/Jerusalem Post, December 22, 2022

Two weeks ago, Arab rioters climbed the hill to the Nahalat Zvi, blocked the sole access road, and threw rocks at the young men living there. Since that day, those harassing the Nahalat Zvi community have been Israeli Border Police officers, not local Arabs.

On that day in late November, it took an hour for residents and soldiers to chase the Arabs back to their village. Shortly afterward, the commander of the Binyamin Regional Brigade, Colonel Eliav Elbaz, arrived at the scene and was approached by the worried victims who came to him looking for answers.

“Where are you from?” Colonel Elbaz asked, to which the residents replied that they were from Nahalat Zvi. Claiming he never hear of Nahalat Zvi, Elbaz threatened to return with a D9 bulldozer and “demolish everything.” In addition, residents report they are being subjected regularly to “an unprecedented campaign of harassment” along with violent raids and arrests by Border Police.

This is exactly what we hope to see come to an end with Israel’s new government and we expect no less than a complete stop to treating Jewish residents like terrorists.

Source:
Border Police vs. outpost: Twice-weekly raids reduce Nahalat Zvi to torn fabric & rubble, by Israel National News, December 22, 2022

A document drafted by the European Commission in Eastern Jerusalem calls for helping the Palestinian Authority actively take control of land in Area C, which is supposed to be under full Israeli control under the Oslo Accords.

A report by Channel 13 News revealed the document from which it appears that the EU will work to map land to prove Palestinian Arab rights to it – without leaving traces of its activities. The document appears to point to the EU’s use of left-wing organizations in Israel for this purpose.

The EU also calls for “following and monitoring Israeli archaeological activity in the area” – on the grounds that it is being used as a pretext for settlement building in Judea and Samaria.

The document also states that there is a need for a common European vision and a more coordinated approach between the parties in Europe in order to maximize the ability to expand involvement in Area C.

Chairman of the Religious Zionist Party, MK Bezalel Smotrich, responded, saying that, “the fight against the Arab takeover of open areas in Judea and Samaria is one of the most pressing and important challenges that the next government must address and one of the main reasons for my demand to receive authority for this in the Ministry of Defense.”

This is an outrage but nothing to be shocked about. The European Union’s evil intentions are on full display with the revelation of this document. The Arab plans to takeover Area C, along with the forces that align with them, are the biggest strategic threat Israel faces. As the weeks pass, the number of illegal land grabs by the PA increases. It is pressing now more than ever for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to take full control of and put a stop to this problem. Israel’s sovereign and legal rights must be asserted NOW!

Source:
Secret document reveals: EU will help Arabs take over Area C, by Israel National News, December 19, 2022

Israeli visitors who want to walk in the footsteps of the Maccabees and see one of the remnants of their seats of power are also forced to navigate the geopolitics of the Israeli-Palestinian “conflict.”

That’s because the site of the palaces of the Maccabean High Priest Yohanan, also known as John Hyrcanus, and his son Alexander Jannaeus are located on the edge of the Palestinian city of Jericho.

The remnants of the palaces, with their ritual baths and the ancient Hashmonaim synagogue, which King Herod converted into his winter palace, are located in Area C of the West Bank, which is under IDF military and civilian control.

At present, Israelis can only visit through organized tours that are coordinated with the army. However, foreign tourists can enter through Jericho to see the palaces of the ancient Jewish warriors who were at the heart of events upon which the Hanukkah holiday is based.

“We expect that the new government will turn it into a national park and open it to the general public,” said Binyamin Regional Council deputy chairman Raful Engel. The ruins are located within his council’s boundaries.

The Religious Zionist Party’s plans to transfer aspects of Israeli civilian life in Judea and Samaria now under the IDF’s Civil Administration to relevant ministries could help them in their battle to preserve the site by placing it under the Antiquities Authority.

Source:
West Bank’s Maccabee palaces must be Israeli national park, settlers say, by Tovah Lazaroff/Jerusalem Post, December 18, 2022

Alex Selsky went up to the Temple Mount for the first time a few days ago. He says, “On the one hand, I received a boost to my national and traditional Jewish identity. However, at the same time, I felt humiliated. We were accompanied by policemen, our own Israeli policemen, who led us like prisoners, not allowing us to stop or deviate a few meters.”

Worse than that, a dress code was recently imposed on visitors to the Temple Mount by the Wakf, which is handing out clothing with a yellow stripe on it. This is certainly no coincidence. Yellow was the color imposed on Jews and Christians in Islamic countries that symbolized their lower status, known as dhimmi.

Jews were forced to wear a yellow patch as a sign of their inferior status beginning in the ninth century in Muslim countries, and it is not a coincidence that it was adopted by the Nazis during the 20th century.

Selsky concludes, “This sign shows that we have yet to properly assert our sovereignty on Zion itself, the symbolic center of Zionism. This means that our full independence has yet to be won and, in fact, with the handing out of clothing with a yellow stripe, it is another reminder that symbolism matters.”

Source:
To win the War of Independence, we must govern the Temple Mount, by Alex Selsky/JNS, December 18, 2022