Category: Articles

Rabbi Uri Pilichowski reports on his first day as Director of Americans for a Safe Israel/AFSI’s IF NOT US program – whose goal is to teach the truth about Israel.

College campuses have become the new battleground for anti-Israel sentiment. Anti-Israel activists demonize Israel with slanderous charges that Israel mistreats Palestinians. They challenge Israel advocates by claiming that they don’t know what’s really happening on the ground in the “West Bank.” Their campaigns argue that American Jews were never told about how Israel really treats the Palestinians. If only they knew about the oppressive way Israel treated the Palestinians, they would abandon their support for Israel. These are lies that must be addressed.

Israel’s best advocates have studied the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and have strong emotional ties to Israel, but they haven’t seen the truth. They haven’t driven through Judea and Samaria and seen fair and secure checkpoints. They can’t say that they’ve seen firsthand that there is no oppression of Palestinians. They become easy targets of those who fabricate stories of Israeli apartheid.

With its program, IF NOT US, AFSI addresses facts on the ground in Judea and Samaria. By taking the most engaged Gap Year students in Israel and showing them the truth, IF NOT US will ensure that when these students arrive on the college campus they can speak with confidence that they have been there and seen the truth. They can answer Israel’s opponents with the truth that Palestinian Arabs are treated fairly and that Israel is a moral country.

IF NOT US takes students on a one day tour of Judea and Samaria. On this trip IF NOT US shows the truth about Judea and Samaria IF NOT US is committed to giving our best advocates not only the facts, the passion, but also the firsthand knowledge to defend themselves against those who knowingly lie about what occurs in Judea and Samaria.

In his second meeting with PM Netanyahu this week, UN National Security Advisor John Bolton stated his highest priority is to see that Iran will “…never get nuclear weapon capabilities.”

Bolton has been a very strong supporter of Israel and an outspoken critic of the Iran ‘deal.’ He also reaffirmed that the alliance between the US and Israel has never been stronger.

Full story HERE.

The Times of Israel sat down with recent high school graduates for a wide-ranging discussion on growing up in Judea and Samaria.

They recognized the impact the security situation had on their youth, but still spoke in unison about how they would not have had it any other way. Repeatedly, the teens interviewed stated that it was the “good quality of life” they enjoyed in their communities.

Israel makes us so proud.

The Israeli Debate Team won trophies for English-as-a-second-language and English as a native language at the 2018 European Universities Debating Championship.

Story HERE.

Not to brag again, but…..

Israel’s Technion Institute of Technology and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem were listed in the top 100 universities in the world by the Academic Ranking of World Universities, otherwise known as the Shanghai Ranking.

“Our demand is clear—a complete ceasefire. We will not suffice with less than this.”

This is what Prime Minister Netanyahu demanded at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting. The full objective is to restore quiet and calm to the residents of southern Israel and the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip.

The current Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and the Gaza Strip was protested by Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi) stating that there can be no ceasefire when someone intentionally comes to kill you.

Education Minister and Security Cabinet Member Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) is calling for a new strategy to deal with Hamas and said, “We must not allow the situation to continue in which Hamas dictates the pace of life of the residents of the State of Israel.”

For the first time a construction crane was seen deep in the Shomron for building a Jewish community. The crane was brought in for new construction at the Chitzim Yeshiva in Itamar.

Itamar is among the many places that the AFSI Chizuk Mission visited on its April trip.

More HERE.

The End Begins

Left-wing NGO and underminder of Israel, Freedom Protection Council, will no longer receive funding from the EU.

According to the EU statement, the decision to stop the funding is a direct result of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “diplomatic efforts.”

Netanyahu stated: “This is only the beginning. We will continue to take determined action against organizations that seek to delegitimize the State of Israel and strive to defame the state and the IDF around the world.”

Story HERE.

On the same subject, Netanyahu recently rebuked Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide when the two met in his office in Jerusalem on Sunday, accusing Norway of overtly funding anti-Israeli activity.

The Israel Defense Forces issued its latest report on the attacks agains Israel.

Hamas began shooting projectiles at Israeli civilians starting at 7:37 pm on Wednesday evening and launched them consistently until early Thursday morning.

In response, IDF fighter jets struck 12 terror targets in Gaza, including a factory used to manufacture parts for terror tunnels and concrete, a maritime terror tunnel shaft along the coast, and several terror sites in military compounds, among them rocket manufacturing facilities and a central logistical military complex.

Read the full IDF report HERE.

19 injured, 1 critical in rocket attacks from Gaza against southern Israel.

Rocket strikes Be’er Sheva for the first time since 2014.

Sderot children in bomb shelters. Hamas comfy in their beds. Read what Yesh Atid MK Yair Lapid has to say about this.

Yarin Shitrit, 16, wounded in the leg while running to a protected area during the attacks. He spoke to Arutz Sheva about the lack of freedom residents of the south have while under fire.

We’re feeling triumphant today.

We’ve learned that reports are now surfacing that Trump administration officials have criticized the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) as recently as this past Sunday. They’ve characterized the UNRWA organization as a fundamentally flawed, cash-strapped organization hampering Palestinian growth.

Full story HERE.