Author: AFSI Staff

Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter jets bombed several terror targets in Lebanon on Wednesday night, for the first time in several years, in response to a rocket attack on Israel’s north earlier in the day.

The IDF stated that the attacks hit areas from which the three rockets were fired, and “the infrastructure used for terrorism.” “IDF attacks will continue and even intensify in the face of terrorist attempts against the State of Israel and its citizens,” it stated, placing the onus on the state of Lebanon, which “is responsible for what happens in its territory. The IDF warns of continued attempts to harm Israeli citizens and their sovereignty.”

“Not only is rocket fire from Lebanon at Israeli civilians an act of terrorism, it also is indicative of the Lebanese government’s lack of governance of terrorist organizations operating in Lebanon. The Lebanese government is responsible for all attacks from Lebanon,” the IDF underscored.

The military action was Israel’s response to a rocket attack on the upper Galilee in which two rockets exploded in open spaces near the city of Kiryat Shmona, injuring no one, but causing mass blazes that burned throughout the night.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price stated that the US “absolutely condemns the rocket attacks from armed groups based in Lebanon that were fired into Israel. As the President has said, as Secretary Blinken has said, that Israel has the right to defend itself against such attacks.”

We appreciate the US’s stated support for Israel’s right to defend itself. However, if Hezbolllah, which controls Lebanon, keeps getting “humanitarian” financial aid how can attacks against Israel stop? Biden said to a UN-sponsored donor conference for Lebanon which was led by France, “Today I’m announcing nearly $100 million in new humanitarian assistance. But no amount of outside assistance will ever be enough if Lebanon’s leaders do not commit to do the hard but necessary work of reforming the economy and combating corruption,” he added. Humanitarian assistance to Lebanon equals continued funding of terror attacks against Israel.

Sources:
IAF Bombs Targets in Lebanon in Response to Rocket Attacks, by Aryeh Savir/TPS, August 5, 2021

Right After Attacking Israel, Biden Vows to Give $100 Million to Hezbollah, by David Sidman/Israel 365 News

Ninety-nine percent of stoning and firebombing attacks in Judea and Samaria in 2019 resulted in plea deals and lenient sentences, according to new research on thousands of violent attacks on Jews in that year.

According to the research data, published by Lavi, a nonprofit that works for civil rights and good governance, and Zionist NGO Im Tirtzu, fewer than a third of those involved in stonings, 408 out of 1,283, received a prison sentence. A majority of such incidents ended with the perpetrators either being put on probation or made to pay a fine.

Of the 865 firebombings reported in Judea and Samaria in that same time year, just 285 resulted in a prison sentence, despite the offense carrying a potential maximum sentence of 20 years.

By contrast, Lavi and Im Tirtzu noted that of the 15 indictments filed by the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office against Arab residents of eastern Jerusalem for firebomb attacks, just five resulted in a plea deal, while 10 ended with convictions and sentences.

“We refuse to accept a situation in which the lives of residents of Judea and Samaria are threatened time and again by rioters, and when those rioters are finally arrested, they have an open door in the form of a lenient plea deal waiting for them at the Military Prosecutor’s Office. We call on the military’s prosecution system to get its house in order as far as the Military Prosecutor’s Office’s wholesale signing-off on plea deals with defendants on security offenses is concerned,” said Lavi chairman Avichai Buaron.

In a statement, representatives for Im Tirtzu’s Policy and Research Department said: “The Military Prosecutor’s Office is on the frontlines of the legal fight against terrorism, and as such, it must lead an unrelenting battle against those who initiate and carry out terrorist activity. The picture revealed by the data analysis is incredibly bleak. Instead of being the spearhead in the war on terrorism and striving for contact and victory, the Military Prosecutor’s office prefers to reach plea deals with the terrorists.”

Plea deals and lenient sentences for terrorists do not sit well with AFSI. A molotov cocktail thrown at a Jew with the intent to kill is an act of terror against all Israel and must be punished accordingly. Period.

Source:
Palestinian firebomb terrorists ‘get a plea deal in Judea and Samaria,’ says Israeli non-profit, by Hanan Greenwood/JNS, August 2, 2021

Israel’s State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman’s report published Wednesday morning suggests that the state authorities do not know the size of the Bedouin population in the Negev, nor do they know how many residents live in each of the various Bedouin localities.

According to the Comptroller’s report, there are huge gaps in the data on the number of Bedouin residents in the Negev according to the Population Authority compared to the Authority for the Development and Regulation of Bedouin Settlement in the Negev and the various government ministries.

Regavim issued a report on what appears to be a loss of governance. Meir Deutsch, Director General of Regavim stated: “This is a comprehensive and thorough report that touches upon the core problems at the heart of the dire situation in the Negev, the critical issues that impact the future of the region. Many of the issues raised by the State Comptroller have been at the top of Regavim’s agenda for years, and the report’s findings bear out all of our claims: ‘Whitewashing’ or ‘legalizing’ illegal construction in the absence of prior planning perpetuates and exacerbates the loss of state land in the Negev. The State Comptroller’s report must not be allowed to languish on a shelf and collect dust; the government must distill operational decisions from this important study and take action without delay.”

Photo courtesy of Regavim

Sources:
State Comptroller: No One Knows How Many Bedouin Live in Israel, by David Israel/Jewish Press, August 4, 2021

The State Comptroller’s report on the erosion of governance in the Negev is a red alert, Report by Regavim, August 3, 2021

 

 

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett blasted Iran’s “cowardly” denial of involvement in an attack on a ship that claimed two lives, warning that Israel knows how to deal with the aggression. The attack took place off the coast of Oman.

“In recent days, the world has received another reminder of Iranian aggression, this time at sea, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement regarding the maritime attack on a ship linked to an Israeli billionaire on Friday.

“I state here absolutely: Iran is the one that carried out the attack on the ship,” Bennett stated Sunday at the weekly security cabinet meeting.

He added, “The Iranians, who attacked the ship Mercer Street with unmanned aircraft, aimed to hit an Israeli target. Instead, their pirate act resulted in the deaths of a British citizen and a Romanian citizen, Bennett said, adding his condolences to the families of the victims. Iran, in a cowardly way, is trying to evade its responsibility for the incident, they deny it. So, I state here absolutely: Iran is the one that carried out the attack against the ship.”

Bennett warned, “The intelligence evidence for this exists and we expect the international system to make it clear to the Iranian regime that they have made a grave mistake. In any case, we know how to convey the message to Iran in our own way.”

Source:
We will respond ‘in our own way,’ Bennett warns Iran after attack on Israel-linked ship, by World Israel News Staff, August 1, 2021

Mercer Street is a global wakeup call to the Iranian threat – editorial, by JPost Editorial/Jerusalem Post, August 1, 2021

 

 

 

 

The Supreme Court on Monday will hear the appeals of Arab families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem who are facing eviction from their homes. The families petitioned for permission to appeal the district court’s decision ordering their removal. If the petition is rejected and the Arab residents are unable to appeal, their eviction will get the green light to go ahead.

The Shimon Hatzadik neighborhood, a.k.a. Sheikh Jarrah, is located in north Jerusalem, near the Shimon Hatzadik Cave and the Nahalat Shimon neighborhood. The neighborhood was established by Jews in 1890, and its Jewish residents were forced out by the British mandatory government during the War of Independence. In the early 2000s, after a long legal battle, Jewish residents started to come back to Shimon Hatzadik.

In the 1950s and ’60s, King Hussein of Jordan plied the Arabs of Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem under his rule with real estate to maintain their loyalty to the crown. Among those properties were those vacated Jewish homes in Sheikh Jarrah.

In 1967, Israel liberated the eastern part of Jerusalem. Israeli law is very clear regarding allowing Jews to ask for and receive homes they had been removed from in what was briefly known as the “west bank.”

As of this morning, the court was weighing a last-ditch appeal from the residents. The court suggested a compromise that would give them “protected” status. The deal would protect them from eviction for many years while paying a nominal rent, but leave the question of legal ownership unanswered, said Ahmad Amara, a consultant to the residents’ legal team.

We pray the Supreme Court will do the right thing, the legal thing, and follow Israeli law. To do otherwise betrays the victory that Jews fought and died for.

Source:
Supreme Court May Compel Israel to Evict Arab Squatters from Jewish Homes in Sheikh Jarrah, by David Israel/Jewish Press, August 2, 2021

Israel’s High Court Floats Proposal To Solve The Flash Point That Sparked War In Gaza, by the Associated Press, August 2, 2021

 

Most social media platforms are not taking action against anti-Semitic content even when it is flagged by users, according to a new report.

The Center for Countering Digital Hate, a UK and US nonprofit organization, said that over a six-week period earlier this year it used official complaint systems to report hundreds of incidents of anti-Jewish hatred it found on the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok platforms. However, 84 percent of the time nothing was done about it.

The findings show a “serious and systematic failure to tackle antisemitism,” the Center for Countering Digital Hate said in a statement accompanying its Failure to Protect report, which was released Friday.

“This is not about algorithms or automation; our research shows that social media companies allow bigots to keep their accounts open and their hate to remain online, even when human moderators are notified,” said Imran Ahmed, CEO of the CCDH, in a statement.

Social media platforms must be held accountable and the public that avails themselves of these outlets must be vigilant in reporting and exposing anti-Semitism.

Source:
Top social media platforms fail to act on reported antisemitism, study finds, by Stuart Winer/Times of Israel, August 2, 2021

 

 

The Knesset voted Wednesday afternoon to reject a bill which would apply Israeli sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria.

The bill was introduced by Likud MK Mikki Zohar, along with cosponsor MK Shlomo Karhi (Likud).

In the preliminary vote in the Knesset plenum, the bill was rejected, with 50 MKs voting in favor and 64 against.

The Bennett government voted against the bill, ensuring its failure in the plenum. Zohar excoriated the government for voting down the bill, calling the coalition an “evil, left-wing” government, and lambasted it as “opportunistic”.

This bill was expected to get voted down (as we reported last week) for political reasons. The goal was an attempt to embarrass Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government. We believe that it has embarrassed at least the right wing of the Bennett government. It’s obvious that Sovereignty is not receiving the seriousness it demands and that leaves the Jewish residents in Judea and Samaria in an unacceptable position.

Source:
Bennett government votes down Judea and Samaria sovereignty bill, by Hezki Baruch/Arutz Sheva, July 28, 2021

The state informed the High Court of justice earlier this week that it intends to evacuate two homes in the Eli community in Samaria, where four families live. The announcement is stirring up a storm in the Knesset among the right-wing parties, especially since Eli is a legal town and not an “illegal outpost.”

The state made this commitment as part of its response to a petition by Arab residents of the villages in the area, which was filed in 2011 against about 20 Jewish homeowners. The Blue Line team of the Civil Administration, which more than ten years ago conducted a survey of lands that may be settled in Eli, determined that two homes in the Neot Ilan neighborhood are not within the boundaries of declared state lands. As a result, they also remained outside the locality’s master plan.

Four Jewish families in two homes will be asked to leave some time in 2024. The state representatives who responded to the High Court petition were not sent there by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, but by the Attorney General’s office.

The heads of the Eretz Israel lobby in the Knesset, MKs Orit Struck (Religious Zionism) and Yoav Kish (Likud) issued a response, saying: “The government of 10 degrees to the right this week informed the High Court of its consent to the destruction of the homes of four families in Eli. Instead of preventing the demolition of Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria, this government is busy settling the illegal construction in the Bedouin sector. It represents the complete failure of this government, which freezes construction, violates all its promises of regulating settlements, and now also demolishes Jewish homes.”

Two may be a small number but when it comes to evacuating Jews from their rightful land, this is two too many. It’s mind boggling that the law in Judea and Samaria is still based on the Ottoman land law of 1858. Without Sovereignty applied across Judea and Samaria Jews remain under constant threat of losing their homes. PM Bennett came up with a creative solution to the Evyatar evacuation, and while it’s not what we would have liked to see, Evyatar residents are happy with it. Will Bennett make good on his word to avoid demolishing Jewish homes? We hope so.

Source:
The Next Big Storm: Israel Commits to Demolishing 2 Homes in Jewish Settlement in 3 Years, by David Israel/Jewish Press, July 28, 2021

A new law was proposed Tuesday by U.S. Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate that would ban funding for UNRWA unless a string of reforms is carried out.

Senator James Risch (R-ID) and Congressman Chip Roy (R-Tx) gave several reasons for introducing their UNRWA Accountability and Transparency Act. “When UNRWA was created, its specific purpose was to provide relief for refugees of the 1948 Arab-Israeli Conflict. More than 70 years later, the organization has employed individuals affiliated with Hamas, a U.S. designated foreign terrorist organization (FTO), and its schools have been used to promote anti-Semitism and store Hamas weapons.”

“It is unacceptable that U.S. taxpayer dollars are being used to fund this agency, which is why I’ve introduced legislation to cease U.S. contributions to UNRWA unless the administration can certify without a doubt that the agency has no affiliation with U.S. designation FTOs and does not support anti-Semitic rhetoric.

Transparency on where funding to UNRWA goes should have been mandatory from the start and monitored very closely throughout the years. Alas, it was not. We were pleased with Secretary of State Blinken’s recent remarks that the funding should be conditional. AFSI applauds Senator Risch for proposing this desperately needed overdue law. We pray that it will receive full bi-partisan support and pass into law quickly and without delay – and be fully enforced.

Source:
US bill demands reform of UNRWA in return for funding, by Batya Jerenberg/World Israel News, July 28, 2021

Israel attacked Sunday night in the north and south of the Gaza Strip. The reports cited unmanned aerial vehicles that attacked sites used by Hamas, including a compound east of Khan Yunis and another site in northwestern Gaza. The IDF spokesman’s version of the events included fighter jets that attacked a Hamas military camp and infrastructure located near civilian buildings, including a school.

The attack came in retaliation for four fires that had been ignited by incendiary balloons from Gaza in the Israeli Gaza Envelope communities earlier. The fires broke out in the Kissufim forest and the kibbutz’s avocado orchard, after more than a three-week hiatus. JNF firefighters took control of the blaze.

The incendiary balloon attacks are still a form of terrorism and are not in accordance with the recent ceasefire. Israel is within its legal rights to defend itself and protect its Sovereignty.

Source:
IDF Attacks in Gaza in Retaliation for Incendiary Balloon Fires, by David Israel/Jewish Press, July 26, 2021