Category: Articles

Nikki Haley, former United States ambassador to the United Nations, called on the Trump administration to declassify a report detailing the current number of Palestinian refugees who are receiving aid from the United Nations Works and Relief Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).

Haley tweeted, “Very important that the Trump administration declassify the report that provides a current estimate of the number of Palestinian refugees who are receiving support. This goes to the heart of speaking hard truths in the name of moving peace forward.”

Haley’s tweet linked to last week’s New York Post op-ed authored by Foundation for Defense of Democracies Senior Adviser Richard Goldberg and Senior Vice President for Research Jonathan Schanzer. The op-ed noted that Congress required the State Department in 2012 to produce a report on the number of Palestinian refugees receiving aid from UNRWA that were alive in 1948; the report was completed and sent to congressional appropriations committees years later, but the report remains classified today.

Goldberg and Schanzer wrote that, “The public release of these figures could spark an international debate over UNRWA’s mandate.” AFSI asks the question, What debate? The truth should not be up for debate. No more suppression of the real numbers. We agree with the statement in the op-ed, “…Palestinian refugees are narrowly defined as people who were personally displaced from then-Palestine between 1948 and 1949 and aren’t currently citizens or permanent residents of the Palestinian Authority or any country.”

We look forward to the Trump administration de-classifying the report to expose the real numbers. Let’s put an end to this long-standing falsehood and move on.

Sources:
Haley calls on administration to release classified report on Palestinian refugees, by Aaron Bandler. Jewish Journal, November 25, 2020

How Trump can expose biggest lie in Middle East: Palestinian ‘refugee’ myth, by Jonathan Schanzer and Richard Goldberg. New York Post, November 23, 2020

Brigadier General Ghassan Alian, Commander of the Civil Administration, during a hearing in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee: The Palestinian Authority employs hundreds of people to register real estate in Judea and Samaria – including in areas under full Israeli control, while the Civil Administration has only about 20 people dealing with this issue.

Alian’s remarks were made in the context of this morning’s (Monday) Foreign Affairs and Defense Subcommittee hearing, chaired by MK Gideon Saar. The hearing, initiated by MKs Uzi Dayan, Moshe Arbel, Yitzhak Pindros and Bezalel Smotrich, examined the renewal of land registration and regulation procedures in Judea and Samaria.

Meir Deutsch, Director General of the Regavim Movement, who participated in the hearing, says that the data provided by the Civil Administration reflect the Israeli government’s operational, organizational and moral bankruptcy.

“Land regulation and registration is a complex process that is the responsibility of the sovereign. Aside from the fact that the Palestinian Authority is treating Area C as its own sovereign territory – and there has been no Israeli response to speak of – the shameful inaction of the Israeli government to carry out land registration in Judea and Samaria is a moral failure. In essence, the government is making a statement through this inaction that it is not the sovereign in the area.”
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The Regavim Movement in a protest demonstration at the entrance to the Ben Gurion State Memorial Ceremony in Sde Boker: “85,000 illegal structures – not in Ben Gurion’s vision for the Negev!”

Regavim activists prepared a special reception for Prime Minister Netanyahu, upon his arrival at the state memorial service for David Ben-Gurion in Sde Boker.

At the entrance to the complex, signs were hung indicating that in the last decade, 35,000 illegal structures had been added to the Negev’s alarming tally of lawlessness.

Next to the signs stood “David Ben-Gurion,” who read excerpts from Ben-Gurion’s historic speech of 1948, interspersed present-day data.

“What are we defending? I can not accept the suggestion that we refrain from protecting our interests in the desert – precisely because we must defend Tel Aviv. If we do not take a stand in the Negev – Tel Aviv will not stand.” 

Source:
Reports from Regavim, by Naomi Linder Kahn. Regavim, November 22 & 23, 2020

Thirty-five years after he began serving a life sentence for passing classified information to an ally, former Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard will soon be able to make aliyah to Israel. On Friday, the US Parole Commission formally lifted his parole restrictions.

Pollard, 66, and his wife, Esther, said through their spokespeople on Saturday night that they want to move to Israel “as soon as possible and fulfill their dream of living together in Israel.” First, they said, Esther’s fight against breast cancer requires setting up the proper medical arrangements.

AFSI is thrilled with this positive development. A long standing and grave injustice has finally been reversed. We wish the Pollards well, especially a refuah shlema – a total recovery – for Esther Pollard. We also look forward to the possibility of meeting with them on our next Chizuk Mission trip to Israel – may it be soon.

Source:
Israeli leaders tell ‘Post’: Ready for Pollard’s aliyah, by Gil Hoffman and Celia Jean. Jerusalem Post, November 22, 2020

IDF and Border Police forces were brought in to evacuate the students from the rebuilt Homesh yeshiva in Samaria Monday morning. The yeshiva was part of the Homesh community which was one of the four Jewish communities of Samaria which were destroyed as part of the disastrous 2005 Disengagement.

During the evacuation, Border Police forces acted violently, demolishing the Holy Ark in the yeshiva, destroying the tent built to shelter the students from the rain, and confiscating electrical equipment.

Samaria Regional Council chairman Yossi Dagan who was expelled from Sa-Nur himself, expressed shock at the incident and said: “This is an unusual incident, I want it to be investigated in depth. There have been many evictions in the past and unfortunately there will probably be more until the settlement is rebuilt, however there is no reason and no explanation for such photographs. I expect the issue to be investigated in depth.”

Source:
Shock in Samaria: Border police trash synagogue ark, by Arutz Sheva Staff. Arutz Sheva, November 23, 2020

“May I not be the last Secretary of State to visit this beautiful land,” Pompeo wrote in Psagot winery’s guestbook.

A history making visit to Judea and Samaria by US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo was made today. This is the first official visit of an American Secretary of State to Judea and Samaria since 1967.

Excerpt from the Binyamin Regional Council official statement:
“We consider this visit to be an important message that sees Binyamin as a valuable and significant region for the State of Israel, which it is no less important to visit than other Israeli sites.We are extremely hopeful that representatives from many governments will follow his {Pomepo’s} example and come to visit in Binyamin, to connect to the history and enjoy the wide range of exciting and moving experiences that this area has to offer.”

Excerpt from Remarks to the Press by Mike Pompeo:
“Today I want to make one announcement with respect to a decision by the State Department that we will regard the global anti-Israel BDS campaign as anti-Semitic. …I want you to know that we will immediately take steps to identify organizations that engage in hateful BDS conduct, and withdraw US government support for such groups.”

Source:
Pompeo: May I not be the last Sec. of State to visit Judea and Samaria, by Arutz Sheva Staff. Arutz Sheva, November 19, 2020

Binyamin council praises historic visit, by Binyamin Regional Council. Arutz Sheva, November 19, 2020

Remarks to the Press, by Secretary Michael R. Pompeo and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US Department of State Press Release, November 19, 2020

“This is a historic day. It’s not only a private visit, it’s also a declaration of the historic truth and moral fortitude of leadership in the US that recognizes Israel’s rights to its homeland.”

Director of Regavim’s International Division, Naomi Kahn spoke with Arutz Sheva about US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Samaria.

“We’re here in our neighborhood in the historic heartland of Israel. We’re thrilled, honored and relieved to welcome to Judea and Samaria for the first time US Sec. of State Mike Pompeo, who has proven to be one of Israel’s strongest, most courageous friends.”

Source:
Land of Israel activists welcome Mike Pompeo to Samaria, by Hezki Baruch. Arutz Sheva, November 19, 2020

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Thursday during his visit at the Psagot winery that the US will allow products from Judea and Samaria to be labeled “Made in Israel.”

“All producers within areas where Israel exercises the relevant authorities… will be required to mark goods as ‘Israel’, ‘Product of Israel’, or ‘Made in Israel’ when exporting to the United States,” Pompeo said in a statement.

AFSI is very pleased with this development, which is long overdue. We thank the Trump administration for another important level of recognition for Israel; another official recognition of the truth.

However, we would be remiss if we did not take issue with the statement in the Arutz Sheva article, “…the US will allow products from Judea and Samaria to be labeled ‘Made in Israel.’ It’s not Arutz Sheva itself that we have an issue with. It’s that the word “allow” is used in the context of the statement. The word “allow” is used only because of the politics of Israel waiting for a green light to take action on something – only if it gets a blessing from the US. We believe this type of politics must end.

Reminder:
A Sovereign nation does not need permission
from another country to exercise self-determination.

Source:
Pompeo: Products from Judea and Samaria are ‘Made in Israel’, by Arutz Sheva Staff. Arutz Sheva, November 19, 2020

Marking of Country of Origin, Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State. US Department of State Press Release, November 19, 2020

Sirens were sounded in Israel overnight Saturday, around 2:00 a.m., in Palmachim and the northern industrial area in Ashdod.

The IDF confirmed that two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israeli territory. One launch did not trigger a siren in the Ashdod area in the absence of the need for it. The second launch triggered sirens in the city of Ashdod and in the Shfela region.

In response to the rocket fire, IDF fighter jets, helicopters and tanks attacked underground infrastructure and military positions of the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza.

“The IDF is conducting an ongoing assessment of the situation and acts firmly and decisively against any attempt at terrorist activity against the citizens of the State of Israel and the violation of its sovereignty,” said the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit in a statement.

Source:
Rockets fired toward south intercepted by Iron Dome, by Arutz Sheva Staff. Arutz Sheva, November 15, 2020

Representatives of the European Union touring Givat HaMatos on Monday were chased away by pro-Israel activists led by Im Tirtzu.

On Sunday, the Israel Land Authority issued a tender for the construction of 1,257 housing units in the Givat Hamatos neighborhood, located in south Jerusalem, between the Har Homa and Gilo neighborhoods. According to the full plan, about 2,600 housing units will be built in the neighborhood in the first phase.

Im Tirtzu said in a statement: “EU representatives together with members of radical-left Israeli NGOs came today to tell us where we can and cannot build in Jerusalem, our capital city. We came to tell the EU that Israel is not a colony – it is an independent country that does not take orders from them.”

Im Tirtzu added: “The Israeli government needs to send a similar message to the EU and ensure that these hypocrites stop harming Israeli sovereignty.”

Source:
EU Team Touring Givat HaMatos Chased Away by Pro-Israel Activists, by David Israel. Jewish Press, November 16, 2020

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit the Psagot community in Judea, north of Jerusalem, and travel to the Golan Heights when he visits Israel next week.

It will be the first-ever visit by an American foreign minister to Judea and Samaria, marking a departure from previous State Department policy.

Pompeo will visit Psagot, which is located only eight kilometers (4.8 miles) north of Jerusalem bordering the Arab city of Ramallah. He is also expected to visit the Golan Heights, possibly including the site of Ramat Trump (Trump Heights), the new town being built by Israel to honor U.S. President Trump for recognizing Israeli Sovereignty over the strategic plateau.

Source:
Pompeo to be first Secretary of State to visit settlements, by Paul Sindman. World Israel News, November 13, 2020