Author: AFSI Staff

Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to hold negotiations on possibly forming a coalition government. This is their first sit-down since last week’s inconclusive elections. Close sources suggest that Bennett will meet with Ayelet Shaked on Shabbat to discuss options.

Bennett is scheduled to meet Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid on Saturday night, for the same purpose, Yamina said in a statement Thursday.

Both Netanyahu’s bloc of supporters and the anti-Netanyahu bloc are competing for Yamina’s backing, which is crucial to muster a 61-strong majority in the Knesset. Even with Bennett’s support, both sides face significant hurdles.

Source:
Who will he back as PM? Bennett to meet with Netanyahu, then Lapid, by TOI Staff. Times of Israel, April 1, 2021

Attorney Aviad Visoli, who has represented Israeli groups dedicated to opening up the Temple Mount to Jews without any limits, stated on Tuesday, “Today we were privileged to pray Mincha with a minyan on the Temple Mount. A full prayer with a minyan and with a shliach tzibur (the leader of the prayer service) and the Hazarat Ha’Shatz (group prayer that follows the segment of individual prayer).”

Visoli, who did not offer details regarding where on the Temple Mount, and with whose participation the minyan prayer was carried out, registered that “in all the decades I have been ascending to the Temple Mount I did not have the privilege of saying a prayer in the minyan openly.” But this time, he reported, “the policemen looked at us and knowingly allowed the fullest prayer. Including a blessing for the sick.”

“This is the most significant progress in the rights of the Jews on the Temple Mount since the destruction of the Second Temple,” an exuberant Visoli proclaimed. “It is not possible to retreat from this point. The Temple Mount is in our hands!” Visoli declared.

AFSI is grateful to the Israeli policeman who allowed the prayer to take place and applauds Aviad Visoli and the organizations he represents for their dedicated work towards regaining Jewish access and prayer on the Temple Mount.

Source:
Attorney Aviad Visoli: We Held Mincha Prayer with a Minyan on Temple Mount Tuesday, by David Israel. Jewish Press, March 31, 2021

 

 

 

Funding Terrorists Once Again
The Biden administration has informed the Congress that it has approved the transfer of $75 million for projects in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

The funding is being restored to regain the “trust and goodwill” of the Ramallah government, the Congress was told, after the budget cuts by the previous American administration of President Donald Trump. Even while Abu Mazzen reportedly has refused to take calls from Blinken, insisting on direct communication with Biden first, money is being put aside to replenish the coffers of the PA. All this as a predicate to American attempts to revive negotiations based on the impossible Two-State Solution. We at AFSI have always called this the two state dissolution; it should never be revisited.

Having a Conversation with Iran
The Biden administration plans to roll out a new proposal for Iran to return to negotiations “as soon as this week,” in which it would limit some nuclear activity. In exchange, Washington would lower some sanctions on the economically-hit Islamic Republic. By so doing, the administration is turning a blind eye to Iran’s oil smuggling which ignores or certainly circumvents the sanctions.

One of the sources said the proposal was “more than anything, about trying to get the conversation started.” We ask – why try to start a conversation that is predicated on lies?

Human Rights is His Agenda
The US State Department’s annual report on human rights violations published earlier this week refers to Judea, Samaria, Gaza, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights as territories “occupied” by Israel but does not title the chapter “Israel and the Occupied Territories”.

The report does reference “the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem territories that Israel occupied during the June 1967 war.”

Lisa Peterson, acting top State Department official on human rights, said the report’s authors continued to believe it was better to assign geographic names. “We also believe it is clearer and more useful for readers seeking information on human rights in those specific areas.”

A reminder to Biden: YOU CANNOT BE AN OCCUPIER IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY. For a refresher on this, watch our Zoom meeting from last September with Dr. Jacques Gauthier.

All of these developments are deeply troubling to us as Israel’s security is first and foremost on our mind. Anything Biden plans to do only reverses successful Trump era policies that benefited Israel. Let’s not kid ourselves – the man in The White House has delusional plans that are nothing more than a political agenda dictated to him by anti-Israel, left-wing radicals.

Sources:
Biden Administration Transfers Another $75M to Palestinian Authority, But No Word to Israel, by Hana Levi Julian. Jewish Press, March 31, 2021

Biden administration resumes use of ‘Occupied Territories’, by Nitsan Keidar. Arutz Sheva, March 31, 2021

Report: Biden to offer Iran sanction relief for reduced nuclear activity, return to negotiations, by i24 NEWS. i24 NEWS, March 29, 2021

With 100% of votes tallied for the 24th Knesset election, the official results are in. To form a government, a coalition must have a total of at least 61 seats. Here is the breakdown by party:

Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud – 30
Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid – 17
Shas – 9
Benny Gantz’s Blue and White – 8
Yisrael Beiteinu – 7
Yemina – 7
Labor – 7
United Torah Judaism – 7
Gideon Saar’s Tikvah Hadashah – 6
Zionist Judaism – 6
Meretz – 6
The Joint List – 6
Raam – 4

Though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scored his largest electoral victory, he shows no clear path to forming a government majority. At the time of this writing, it appears that Israel may be headed this summer for an unprecedented 5th election in 2 years. In addition to the burden the Coronavirus has thrust upon Israelis, this ongoing political challenge leaves the country’s ability to move forward hanging in the balance. It’s also another delay in progress toward applying Sovereignty throughout Judea and Samaria.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Israeli people as they continue to work toward overcoming this tremendous political deadlock.

Source:
With All Votes Counted, Final Election Results Are In, by Chana Oz. Tazpit News Agency, March 25, 2021

 

Leaders from Judea and Samaria and the political system issued a warning following an expose by the Ad Kan organization on the strategic threat to Area C. Conclusion: Israel is losing the battle for the control of Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority’s grand plan to take it over illegally.

Ad Kan members conducted an undercover operation and disguised themselves as Arabs working for a Belgian news agency. They were successful in obtaining the PA’s grand plan to overtake Area C in Judea and Samaria through illegal construction projects, funded by the European Union (EU) and Arab countries.

“A well-oiled mechanism”
Ad Kan exposed that the PA is operating in the shadows together with the EU and the United Nations that have allocated about 3 billion euros for the construction of a Palestinian state and the construction of a new capital in Jerusalem. The process is in full swing and about 100 programs are taking shape in the field, unhindered. Ad Kan found that the EU “is pushing with all its might,” knowingly operating against the law and in contravention of the Oslo Accords, to build a Palestinian state.

The plan
“Isolate Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem and establish a de facto terrorist state in the heart of Israel.”

Yisrael Ganz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, described the findings as a “national state of emergency” and warned Israel is losing Judea and Samaria.

We remained outraged that we must continue to report on this matter. Israel’s government is still on unstable ground and so is the status of applying Sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. That is unacceptable.

Source:
Leaders Warn Israel is ‘Losing Judea and Samaria’ Following Exposure of PA Grand Plan to Occupy Area C, by Aryeh Savir. Tazpit News Agency, March 25, 2021

 

Thousands of Jews visited Mount Ebal in Samaria today and also visited the altar of Joshua son of Nun, part of which was destroyed last month by the Palestinian Authority. The site is believed to be the place where the Biblical Prophet Joshua built an altar after entering the Land of Israel more than 3,000 years ago.

Last month, a gravel crusher used by the Palestinian Authority for the paving of a new road deliberately removed and crushed stones from the ancient wall around the altar, provoking outrage among the Jewish and archaeological communities. The Samaria Regional Council promoted the restoration of the site and today for the first time held a huge event featuring thousands of people took place at the archaeological site.

Referring to the thousands who came to the first festival on Mount Ebal and the altar of Joshua, Dagan says: “They are destroying and we are building, they are trying to erase history and we are restoring and preserving the world history and historical sites of the Jewish people, the thousands who come today prove that the Jewish people do not forget their roots. A nation that remembers its past will have a glorious future on all its land.”

Source:
Thousands come to Joshua’s Altar after PA desecration, by Arutz Sheva Staff. Arutz Sheva, March 29, 2021

Following a dramatic Tuesday night and after some 87% of the votes had been counted as of Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party appeared close to victory. But, his fate still depends on Yamina leader Naftali Bennett.

The right-wing bloc of Netanyahu supporters currently has 52 mandates; the Center-Left bloc has 56 seats, but Yamina’s seven seats, and now Ra’am’s five seats, could go to either bloc to give it the majority it needs.

Shortly after the exit polls were released, Bennett said, “I will only do what is good for the State of Israel.” He did not elaborate further.

Voter turnout on Tuesday was particularly low – only 66.9% – marking the lowest turnout in the past four elections.

The results after 89% of the votes have been counted on Wednesday morning as of 10am Israel time are shown in the above image.

AFSI is praying that Israel will not have to go to a fifth election!! The country is clearly leaning right, but personalities seem to be getting in the way. We congratulate our many friends, most of whom are now in the government and wish they had all made it in.

Source:
With 89% of the votes in, Likud holds 30-seat lead, Right-wing bloc has 52 mandates, by ILH Staff. Israel Hayom, March 24, 2021

Time for PM Netanyahu to leave the Likud party, make way for right-wing coalition?, by i24News. Arutz Sheva, March 24, 2021

Two of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s top advisers on negotiations with Israel urged in an editorial that Palestinians abandon their campaign for an independent state and instead aim for a “soft” sovereignty that would see Jordan and Egypt take over responsibility for border security affairs.

Writing in the latest edition of Foreign Affairs magazine, Hussein Agha and Ahmad Samih Khalidi said that the normalization deals between Arab states and Israel require that Palestinians rethink their approach to obtaining peace and statehood.

“The prospects of securing ‘hard’ sovereignty, based on nineteenth-century notions of the nation-state, with full and complete control over land, borders, and resources, are remote,” they wrote.

Palestinians may have to choose between the “self-defeating chimera of hard sovereignty” or “adopting softer versions,” they said.

Out-of-the box thinking is clearly warranted here. Palestinian attempts at diplomacy have repeatedly failed, time and again any peace talks have stalled, President Donald Trump brought together numerous Arab states into peace accords with Israel, and the PA keeps getting left behind. We look forward to seeing where this new way of thinking leads.

Source:
Top Abbas advisers urge Palestinian statehood with ‘soft’ sovereignty, by Stuart Winer. Times of Israel, March 23, 2021

The final polls conducted until the Friday before Election Day on Tuesday, March 23, all suggested continued political deadlock. Neither the anti- nor the pro-Netanyahu blocs are expected to receive 61 seats in order to form a government.

Naftali Bennett’s Yamina Party, however, which is currently not committed to either bloc, could give the anti-Netanyahu parties a coalition.

The final poll broadcasted by KAN Channel 11 gave Netanyahu’s Likud Party 31 seats, followed by Yesh Atid with 19 seats, New Hope and Yamina tied for the third largest party with nine seats each, and the Joint List is stable at eight. The ultra-Orthodox Shas Party also has eight, while United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and Yisrael Beytenu have seven seats each.

Labor and the Religious Zionist Party received five seats each, while Blue and White, Meretz and Ra’am crossed the electoral threshold with four seats each.

The above polls, plus a number of other polls done by various outlets, will be the last before the election on March 23 in accordance with Israel’s election campaign laws.

AFSI prays this election is the one that sticks. After a string of many elections Israelis have gone through over the last two years, we trust that the winner will secure the necessary 61 seats needed to form a government. We also look forward to Israel’s new Prime Minister moving the country forward, specifically in applying Sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.

Source:
Israel’s election is heading toward a deadlock, final polls predict, by Cody Levine. Jerusalem Post, March 21, 2021

 

As Beit Shemesh celebrates its 70th anniversary, its municipality has announced a large-scale renovation operation of the old streets of Beit Shemesh and the Haredi neighborhood of Heftziba. The expected cost is tens of millions of shekels and work is expected to start in the coming weeks.

Beit Shemesh, population 130,000, is undergoing a large-scale expansion, with a yet to be approved master plan aiming to grow the city to 360,000 residents. The plan aims to develop the city’s oldest neighborhoods, built in the 1950s. This will include demolition and reconstruction of existing buildings, adding buildings, and giving a facelift to public spaces.

Beit Shemesh Mayor Aliza Bloch said, “This is a historic step as part of the policy of strengthening the old neighborhoods and renewing them, which is one of the anchors of the city’s master plan, which has been formed and will lead to the development of the city in the coming years in transport, industry, and employment. Only implementing these targets will enable support for enlarging the number of residents in the city.”

This is the kind of news that we like hearing! Building, developing, expanding and growing Israel’s Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

Source:
After Years of Neglect Beit Shemesh Gets Major Facelift, 10,000 New Housing Units, by David Israel. Jewish Press, March 21, 2021