Category: Articles

“We stand with Israel because your cause is our cause, your values are our values, and your fight is our fight.”

VP Mike Pence’s visit to Israel was highlighted by his speech given at the Knesset on January 22, 2018. This is an historic moment as Pence was also afforded the privilege of being the first US Vice President to address the Knesset.

AFIS has listened carefully to every word of his speech. We feel confident that the declaration of support, friendship and commitment that United States has shown Israel is real and sincere. May this renewed relationship between the US and Israel go from strength to strength.

Excerpts from Pence’s speech:

“America stands with Israel.”

“By finally recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the United States has chosen fact over fiction.”

“The Iran nuclear deal is a disaster, and the United States of America will no longer certify this ill-conceived agreement.”

“The miracle of Israel is an inspiration to the world. And the United States of America is proud to stand with Israel and her people, as allies and cherished friends.”

Full transcript of Pence’s speech here and video below courtesy of the Jerusalem Post.

Helen Freedman paid a visit to Yael Shevach, the widow of Rabbi Raziel Shevach, who was killed on the road outside Havat Gilad just a week ago. Yael is an amazing woman, filled with beauty and courage. In addition to raising her six children, she is also a teacher at an Ulpana.

This trip also included a meeting with Ilana Shimoni, the spokeswoman for the Havat Gilad community. Along with Yael, Ilana, is a driving force for the mikveh which is desperately needed by the women of the community.

Anyone interested in helping should write to Ilana.

President Donald Trump said Palestinians disrespected Vice President Mike Pence when they snubbed him this week and threatened to cut off assistance to the Palestinians unless they returned to the negotiating table.

“When they disrespected us a week ago by not allowing our great vice president to see them and we give them hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and support,…” full JTA story HERE

The deaths in the Shavei Shomron Junction of Samaria of Ori and Roi Lipnik at the hands of wild Arab drivers is unbearable. AFSI extends its condolences to the Lipnik family. May they be comforted among all the mourners for Zion and Jerusalem. May they know no more sorrow.

We condemn the Arab road Jihad which threatens the lives of all Israelis.

Arutz Sheva coverage HERE

This week, an honest Jerusalem Post article by Isi Leibler, spells out the challenges of finding the perfect leader in today’s world with and overly obsessed and frenzied media.

Do past indiscretions and scandals – even if they relate to family from years past – need to be taken into account when assessing the performance of a leader? Or should we stop nit-picking at every little bit of minutiea and concentrate on the reason the leader was elected and judge him or her by their performance and accomplishments?

AFSI prefers the latter. What about you?

Mazel tov to Helen Freedman upon accepting the Aishes Chayil Award at the upcoming National Council of Young Israel Dinner to be held March 15 at Terrace on the Park in Flushing Meadows Park, NY. Details to be announced.

At a rally Monday organized by the Sheli movement, grateful Israelis met just outside the Knesset gates at a rally supporting US Vice President Mike Pence to thank him for being a real friend of Israel and for recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. VP Pence spoke at the Knesset and Helen was there representing AFSI.

While the media has been questioning President Trump’s “fitness,” AFSI’s Chairman, Mark Langfan, has written his latest article for Arutz Sheva. His diagnosis:President Donald Trump is the real-life James Bond!

Mark’s insightful writing states that President Trump has pulled off one of the most successful intelligence coups in the history of intelligence spy-craft.

This coup involved no budget, no sleeper spies, no secret drops. Thumbs only and Twitter.

The tactic Trump employed was a brilliantly executed “tweet-trap” that “…smoked out the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un and psychologically forced him to expose the true state of North Korea’s nuclear and missile technology.”

READ HERE for the full – and fascinating – article.

Helen was on the scene on Tuesday, January 17, 2018 at 3:30 pm at Arlozoroff Station in Tel Aviv, with hundreds of women and children gathered to organize a march to the Kirya. With the theme of “No More Widows and No More Orphans”, the organizers had prepared red balloons with the slogan, “Children want to live”, many posters decrying the terrorism on the roads of Judea and Samaria, and Israeli flags which flew proudly over the crowd. It was the brutal Arab terrorist murder of Rabbi Raziel Shevach of Havat Gilad that spurred the demonstration. The roads of Judea and Samaria are endangered by Arabs who come from neighboring villages to stone Israeli cars, shoot at them, and kill innocent Israelis.

Helen was interviewed by I24 and was asked about how to control the terrorism. She suggested that the Arab villages that are near Havat Gilad, from which the terrorists probably came, and to which they probably returned, should be destroyed. The interviewer looked shocked, and will probably not air the interview. Helen believes that if harsh measures are taken against terrorists so that it no longer becomes a profitable business for them, it might end the daily violence against Jews.