US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was sworn in on Thursday.
Pompeo is expected to visit Israel during his first trip abroad as the United States Secretary of State and is expected to meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Pompeo has chosen to stop in Israel noting its importance as a key ally and partner in the region.
Story HERE.
AFSI demonstrated over two years ago on behalf of Elisha Odess who is still in jail allegedly for the Duma arson crime, although endless interrogation and torture have proven nothing. Our position was,INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY. His case has still NOT come to trial. Now we have a report about the Shabak FRAMING Jewish hilltop youth. This is an intolerable situation which MUST STOP.
Apparently, the Justice Department is unable to override the actions of the Shabak. Although we appreciate the many necessary activities of the Shabak to provide safety to Israel’s citizens, we deplore its subversive, cruel, and destructive actions against idealistic Jewish youth who might live on the hilltops of Judea and Samaria. These young pioneers are working with their parents, or going it alone, in preserving Israel’s hold on Jewish land. The Shabak framing and targeting of the youth must end.
Read the story HERE
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AFSI Chizuk MIssion participants attended a farewell dinner in Ma’aleh Adumim and said goodbye to each other until the next mission.
Below, view more fabulous photos taken on our magnificent trip to Israel!
Barnard College has rejected an anti-Israel referendum proposed by the Student Government Association.
The referendum wanted Barnard to withdraw from its holdings from companies doing business with Israel, however, President Sian Leah Beilock said, “Barnard will not take action in response to this referendum.”
Story HERE
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The media’s coverage of US – European Union relations is focused on efforts to convince President Trump to stay in line with Obama’s Iran nuclear deal.
Caroline Glick in Breitbat reports: “Left largely unreported is that while the European leaders are pressuring Trump to align his Iran policy with theirs, Macron, Merkel, and European Union Foreign Policy Commissioner Federica Mogherini are waging a multifaceted campaign to undermine and discredit one of Trump’s most significant foreign policy initiatives: namely, Jerusalem.”
PM Netanyahu firmly reiterated and stated his policy:
“Israel’s policy has not changed since Begin. Israel will not allow regimes that seek our annihilation to acquire nuclear weapons.”
Netanyahu’s statement was made while addressing Israeli and foreign ambassadors on Monday at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem during an event marking Israel’s 70th anniversary.
Story HERE
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Billboards displayed throughout Israel read “Ridding Israel of the NIF”
The Zionist organization Im Tirtzu has launched a new campaign that calls on the Israeli government to end all cooperation with the New Israel Fund (NIF).
The campaign’s goal is to expose the NIF as a foreign political organization operating as a political opposition within Israel against the government and IDF, while engaging in anti-Israel lawfare by means of its grantees in the Supreme Court.
Story HERE
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Today’s must read is an Arutz Sheva OpEd by Nadia Matar and Yehudit Katsover (Women in Green). Matar and Katsover appear before groups throughout Israel as part of their efforts to promote the vision of Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.
They state that the status quo “…presents a dangerous and stupefying illusion that is allowing a Palestinian state to become a reality right under our noses, with all of the dangers that it presents to the long-term future of the State of Israel. We therefore repeat again that Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria is an urgent necessity.”
Judea and Samaria are INCORRECTLYcalled the ‘West Bank,’ a term given to the land by the government of Jordan after Jordan illegally occupied the land in 1948.
Senior officials say US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman is seeking to be able to say ‘Judea and Samaria’ in official statements instead of ‘West Bank.’
Last week the State Department in its annual ‘Country Reports on Human Rights Practices’ dropped the term ‘occupied territories.’
Read about this development HERE and for the Palestinian response follow HERE
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AFSI was proud to join with Marc Prowisor of the One Israel Fund in dedicating a sophisticated security camera system in Havat Gilad. Yael Shevach, the widow of Rabbi Raziel Shevach, murdered by terrorists on the road outside Havat Gilad, joined the group along with good friend and resident, Ilana Shimon.
