Category: Articles

The Washington Free Beacon reports that the European Union is poised to mandate that Israeli products made in what they see as “contested territories” carry consumer warning labels.

The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice recently issued a non-binding opinion arguing that EU law requires Israeli-made products to be labeled as coming from “settlements” and “Israeli colonies.”

We know this is cover-up for anti-Semitic discrimination.

Human rights lawyer Brooke Goldstein said, “The Advocate General’s opinion said that goods produced by Muslims are to be labeled from ‘Palestine,’ and goods produced by Jews labeled as coming from ‘Israeli colonies.’ Both people are living in the same geographic location, and yet Jewish goods are being treated differently.”

Dvir Sorek’s grandfather, Rabbi Binyamin Herling, an educator and Holocaust survivor, was killed in a terrorist attack on Mount Ebal in October 2000.

Today, Israel is mourning the loss of 19 year-old Dvir Sorek, z”l, a yeshiva student enrolled in a combined program of Torah study and military service. Sorek was stabbed repeatedly by a terrorist. The attack took place near Migdal Oz, a community near Gush Etzion.

Gush Etzion Regional Council head Shlomo Ne’eman said, “Israeli sovereignty in Gush Etzion in particular, and in Judea and Samaria in general is the only national response which is necessary.”

Who is the sovereign here?
Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar | The Sovereignty Movement

Another case of murder in the twilight zone, the unregulated zone, the breach – Judea and Samaria, in Gush Etzion, which is within the national consensus, near the yeshiva of Mahanayim, which advocates bringing light and peace to the world.

As long as Judea and Samaria are not under Israeli sovereignty, lacking law and order, the Arabs will continue to attack from the hope and belief that they will become the owners upon our ruins.

It is either us or them! This is a 52-year-old struggle that must be resolved. Sovereignty will bring resolution and will erase the hope of pushing us out of here through terror attacks.

The resolution must be clear and unambiguous – we have returned to the heritage of our fathers, we will bring another million Jews here, we will build dozens of communities. The Arabs are invited to live under our sovereignty as individuals and enjoy a prosperous life as residents.

Unfortunately, the ways of Zion are still accompanied by mourning. Our condolences to the family of the soldier and to the yeshiva of Mahanayim in Migdal Oz.

OOOPPS! The U.S. State Department’s website had a critical omission on its website page that defines anti-Semitism. Thankfully, pro-Israel activist groups pointed it out and the website has been corrected.

Based on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism adopted in 2016, the State Department’s website originally omitted this line, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”

“This can be an important tool against those who make a cynical and horrific use of the Jewish holocaust for the purpose of delegitimizing the Jewish state and promote anti-Semitic sentiments in the general public,” Yifa Segal, director of the International Legal Fund, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, many studies show that this rhetoric is widely used in the U.S. today, and including this legal definition will make clear that this type of comparison originates in anti-Semitism and is not a legitimate discourse.”

Hundreds of acres of land in strategically crucial areas of the capital are legally owned by Jews overseas who by and large have no idea the properties exist, says Jerusalem City Councilman and director of the Israel Land Fund (ILF) Arieh King in a recent interview with Arutz Sheva

Full story HERE.

This Times of Israel article on the development of Shiloh and Sovereignty is such good news.

From a few families and a few hundred Yeshiva students 41 years ago, Shiloh has become a thriving town of 4,000 Israelis and last year attracted over 120,000 visitors to its archaeological site.

There can be no doubt now that it will always be a part of Israel. Israeli leadership talks of “annexation” of the “settlements.” There’s still a long way to go before the ultimate goal of Sovereignty over a whole Israel is reached, but they have come so far. (We notice that no credit was given to Nadia Matar and Yehudit Katsover – the Women in Green – the champions of Sovereignty, but hopefully that will come.)

After seeing Israeli tourists praying at Aaron’s Tomb, Jordan closed it off to them.

Tour guide Roni Ayalon said that the group was subjected to humiliating treatment by Jordanian authorities. “They just stripped down all of us,” he said. “They took off the women’s head scarves. All the boys’ yarmulkes were taken off. They took off everyone’s shirts to see if they had tzitzit (religious fringes) under their clothes and took [the tzitzit] off them. They confiscated any religious symbols they found on us.”

Just imagine the world condemnation if an Arab in Israel were ever be treated in this fashion! Jerusalem Post story HERE.

Plans to build 715 housing units in Palestinian Arab villages in Area C in Judea and Samaria were unanimously approved by Israel’s Cabinet on Tuesday.

It’s unclear if these plans are for building new housing units in those villages, or if they refer to the whitewashing of currently existing illegal buildings.

A joint statement was released on Monday by Binyamin Council head Israel Gantz and Samaria Council head Yossi Dagan in which they sharply attacked the plan: “The report of a Cabinet hearing aimed at approving building plans for Arabs in Area C is particularly alarming. “The Palestinian Authority, by assisting and financing foreign entities, is carrying out massive illegal construction in these areas with one clear purpose – the establishment of a terrorist state in the heart of the country. We hope this does not constitute a signal to the direction of the government which will be formed after the elections.”

Palestinians: We Don’t Need Permission From Israel To Build on Our Land. “The terms A, B, and C no longer exist because Israel has violated the Oslo Accords.” ~ Khaled Abu Toameh & Tovah Lazaroff’s article in the Jerusalem Post gives the PA reaction to the issuance of permits.

AFSI Chizuk Missions have traveled through Judea and Samaria where one sees many large red signs warning that it is dangerous and illegal for Israelis to enter Area A – entirely under the control of the Palestinian Authority. Now that the Arabs have been given permission by Israel to build in Area C – which is supposed to be under total Israeli control – will the prohibition signs come down and will it be safe for Israelis to enter those areas? The Israelis were the ones who put the signs up in the first place and we don’t believe they’ll take them down based on what the PA Prime Minister says. There may be no A,B & C for the PA – but we wonder how a permit application for Israeli building in Area A, or even B would be handled if these terms no longer exist. What would Jabotinsky say? Do you try to meet halfway someone who doesn’t want to meet you?

What do you think?

Ambassador Danny Danon called on the international community to suspend funding for UNRWA following the publication this week of a report that reveals corruption offenses at its top levels.

“The report reveals alarming, but not surprising, findings,” Danon said. “In addition to propagating false information about its refugee population, UNRWA has in recent years worked to redirect world funds to continue this corruption industry that has served its leadership.”

Coming soon: An opportunity for UNRWA policy change ~David Bedein

Switzerland Suspends Payment to UNRWA After Misconduct Report ~ Tovah Lazaroff and Uri Bollag

Earlier this week the Universal Deployment Commission of the Communications Ministry published its proposal that the services of HOT ( a large telecommunications company) be extended to the periphery in Israel. Though 220 localities are slated to be connected to HOT’s television and internet network, Judea and Samaria communities were not included – a decision not based on distance.

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan’s letter to Amsalem said that he wants to see clear actions to counter the discrimination and send a clear message that the entire state of Israel is one. Tel Aviv and the Negev, Raanana and Samaria – are all one.

Communications Minister Dudi Amsalem instructed his general manager to include Judea and Samaria in the localities that will be serviced by HOT.

The New Right has signed an agreement for a joint run with Bayit Yehudi and National Union, ending weeks of speculation and days of negotiations.

Though not finalized, the name of the new party will likely be The United Right.

The deal requires that all parties remain together in the coalition negotiations period after the elections, and critically that all three parties recommend to the president that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formulate the next government. 

“We all need to be in one big party,” Shaked said, vowing “to do everything to unite with even more parties until the last minute.”

AFSI’s overriding mission of promoting Yisrael Shlayma is clearly furthered by the formation of this new united slate. Additional reading HERE.