Category: Articles

Three people were killed and four others injured in a terrorist attack in the Israeli city of Elad near Petah Tikva towards the end of Yom Ha’Atzmaut last week.

All three victims were men in their 40s. They are Yonatan Habakkuk, a father of five, Boaz Gol, a father of five, and Oren Ben Yiftach, a father of six from Lod.

Some have described the aftermath of the scene of the terrorist attack as eerily similar to the dark days of Israel’s history.

A deadly terror attack was stopped Sunday night when a terrorist was shot after he attempted to infiltrate the Gush Etzion town of Tekoa. The terrorist was armed with a knife but shot and killed by a member of the community’s local security force.

A gunfight between terrorists and the IDF took the life of an Al Jazeera reporter. Gantz has asserted that the fatal shot was fired by an Arab, but who knows what is being reported in the world press. One thing is certain, the fight was initiated by terrorists.

Would things be different, could they be different if all Jews were armed to defend themselves? We may never know. One thing we do know is certain – Israel’s leadership has weakened terribly and its failures are at the expense of the Israeli people. The shedding of Jewish blood must stop!

Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and we pray for the recovery of those wounded. May the families and all of Israel know no more sorrow and be returned to normalcy in their daily lives.

Sources:
3 dead, 4 injured in terror attack in Elad in central Israel, by Anna Ahronheim/Jerusalem Post, May 5, 2022

US condemns killing of Al Jazeera journalist, by Israel National News, May 11, 2022

Terror Attack Foiled in Tekoa, Gush Etzion, by Hana Levi Julian/Jewish Press, May 8, 2022

 

Officials in the Shura Council, the Ra’am party’s religious advisory body, are promoting a resolution to force Ra’am to immediately resign from the coalition. This is while party chairman MK Mansour Abbas is abroad.

According to the report, the move is being promoted following remarks by Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked and MKs Nir Orbach and Yomtob Kalfon regarding the ascension of Jews to the Temple Mount during Independence Day. Additionally, clashes that broke out there this morning between Muslims and the police also caused parts of the council to intensify their demand to withdraw from the coalition.

A party that sits in the Israeli government and is connected to terrorists that instigate violence when Jews ascend the Temple Mount and ultimately seeks the destruction of Israel, should not be there at all. We would welcome to exit of the Ra’am party from the government’s coalition.

Source:
Shura council demands Ra’am leave coalition over Jewish visits to Temple Mount, by Israel National News, May 5, 2022

 

Israel’s High Court ruled late Wednesday night that the Israeli army could evict around 1,300 Palestinians living in eight villages in the South Hebron Hills, after a legal battle lasting more than 20 years.

In a unanimous decision, Justice David Mintz wrote that the Palestinian petitioners had not successfully proved they had lived in the villages as permanent residents before the army declared the Area A training zone in the area in the early 1980s.

No legal rights to the land means no legal rights to the land. The truth and the law about the land was adhered to. We applaud Justice Mintz for his decision effectively ending this 20-year saga. We won’t hold our breath, however, until the decision is enforced.

Source:
High Court greenlights expulsion of 1,300 Palestinians from army firing zone, by Aaron Boxerman/Times of Israel, May 5, 2022

 

 

With the councils in Judea and Samara talking about the government having a policy of a silent freeze on building, Josh Hasten, International Spokesman for Gush Etzion, tells Israel National News that the situation is very serious.

Hasten blames this silent freeze on American pressure and/or internal pressure on the Israeli government which has coalition members from Meretz and Ra’am who are against building.

Source:
‘Silent freeze’ jeopardizing next generation of building projects in Gush Etzion, by Yoni Kempinksi/Israel National News, May 3, 2022

 

A number of lawmakers from Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Yamina party have expressed opposition to demands leveled by the United Arab List in exchange for its full return to the coalition.

Several Yamina MKs are opposing the UAL’s demands and stated, “As far as we are concerned, the UAL party can leave, we won’t tolerate their threats and their irrational demands for them to stay in the coalition. If they want to continue to help the Arab sector, great. If they want more than that, they have no place here.”

Sources reported that Bennett and UAL party chairman Mansour Abbas had reached a compromise under which UAL will end its self-imposed suspension from the government, restoring the 60-60 balance in the Knesset. As part of the deal, Bennett reportedly agreed to some of Abbas’ demands. One condition for the UAL’s return is that Israel consult with Jordan regarding any changes to policy on the Temple Mount.

If Bennett bows to Abbas’ demands it speaks disturbingly of Bennett’s continued willingness to appease the Arabs. Will violence on the Temple Mount cease totally if Abbas gets what he wants? Highly unlikely. This is truly a government in crisis that is not asserting it’s legal right to the Temple Mount. With Bennett’s leadership we could potentially see yet another piece of Israel being dangerously compromised.

Source:
‘United Arab List can leave, we don’t need their threats’, by Hezki Baruch/Israel National News, May 2, 2022

MKs say coalition could fall over Islamic party’s Temple Mount demands, by Batya Jerenberg/World Israel News, ay 2, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

The Hamas terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for the deadly shooting attack in Ariel ion Friday night. The attack claimed the life of security guard Vyacheslav Golev at the entrance to Ariel..

The statement asserted that “this attack came as part of a series of reactions by the Hamas military wing to the “aggression” against the Al Aqsa Mosque.” Planned for weeks, Hamas identified a weak spot in Ariel’s security.

As another Jew falls victim to terror, Prime Minister Bennett will keep appeasing the Arab Islamists, and talking the talk, right?

The Palestinians have a clear goal and that is the destruction and total elimination of Israel. The continued placating of Palestinians seems OK while Jews are punished and deprived of their rights.

Doug Altabef in today’s Jerusalem Post opinion piece says, “Our very sovereignty is at stake. If we are unwilling to assert it, to project and to protect it, we are sending a clear signal that it, our sovereignty, is in play.” We couldn’t agree more. It’s time for Israel to apply and exercise sovereignty in ALL of Israel. The one Jewish country in the world must utilize the one tactic in Israel’s security and defense toolbox that has yet to be enforced. It’s long overdue.

Sources:
If Israel does not assert sovereignty, it will lose it – opinion, by Doug Altabef/Jerusalem Post, May 2, 2022
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-705698

Hamas claims responsibility for Ariel terror attack, by Israel National News, May 2, 2022

 

 

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan held a press conference outside the Security Council hall Monday as discussions took place on the Arab instigated violence in Jerusalem.

Erdan’s speech focused on the lies of Palestinian terrorist organizations regarding the violence in Jerusalem and the Temple Mount and how the UN avoids threats such as Iran and its nuclear program, or its terrorist branches like Hezbollah. “… I say – enough. Stop placing Israel and extremist terrorist organizations on an equal footing with each other. In your actions, you are legitimizing terrorism and only contributing to the escalation of violence,…Wake up. The truth is right in front of you, it’s time to get your head out of the sand.”

Similarly, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, in a Saturday night phone call with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, stated he was disappointed at the lack of U.N. condemnation of the recent rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. The international community “must not serve the agenda of the [Palestinian] terrorist organizations.”

AFSI applauds Amb. Erdan and Prime Minister Bennett for calling out the UN on its consistent double standards and failings when it comes to Israel. We wish the UN would become a truly objective organization and implement the values and principals of its charter evenly and fairly. Until then, we won’t hold our breath.

Sources:
Amb. Erdan presents the truth of the Temple Mount at the UN, by Israel National News, April 25, 2022

Bennett criticizes UN for not condemning Gaza rocket attacks, by JNS Brief, April 24, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

Israeli National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata met on Monday in Washington for a new round of strategic talks with White House NSA Jake Sullivan. Israel has been pushing the Biden administration to set up a Plan B for the two allies to carry out in case the stalemated nuclear negotiations with Iran fail.

Israel Hayom on Tuesday morning reported what it described as a dramatic turnaround in Israel’s assessment of the chances of signing a nuclear agreement between Iran and the superpowers. The newspaper cited two senior political sources in Israel that suggested the chances for a nuclear agreement are low to nil. Those same sources stressed there may still be a surprising reversal leading to the signing of the deal but insisted that “the possibility that the parties will sign an agreement in the foreseeable future is receding at an exponential rate.”

We pray that the longer negotiations drag on, the better a chance we have of seeing this disastrous attempt to negotiate with the number one sponsor of state terror fall apart.

Sources:
US & Israel to Discuss Plan B as Chances for Iran Nuclear Deal Diminish, by David Israel/Jewish Press, April 26, 2022

White House: US ‘listening to Israel’s security concerns’ about Iran, by i24NEWS, April 26, 2022

 

 

 

 

400 youths and adults holding Israeli flags started the march from Safra Square in central Jerusalem toward the Damascus Gate of the Old City.

Police refused to authorize the planned route of the march, citing security considerations and positioned squad cars and trucks at Tzahal Square, between Safra Square and the Old City, to prevent marchers from progressing. Despite efforts by the marchers to circumvent the blocks, they met with no success.

Yesterday, Prime Naftali Bennett Minister decided to bar MK Itamar Ben Gvir from the site: “We will not permit MK Itamar Ben Gvir to approach Damascus Gate, and from a legal perspective, we are entitled to prevent him from going there,” the police commander said, contradicting Ben Gvir’s insistence that his parliamentary immunity accords him the right to go wherever he pleases.

On Tuesday Bennett decided to close the Temple Mount to Jews – the Jewish people’s holiest site – until Ramadan concludes. Conveniently, the closure also coincides with the first demand by Mansour Abbas and his Islamic Ra’am party as a condition for their return to Bennett’s coalition. That demand is the end to all Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount.

Even though it has been the norm over the last few years to close the Temple Mount to Jews during the last days of Ramadan, it’s been done to pacify the Muslims, who would only resort to violence if Jews were to ascend. Such routinized violence cannot be rewarded with sole access to the Mount. If that’s all they know then they shouldn’t be allowed there to begin with. Jews who wish to pray or march – in peace – on their rightfully owned land are being denied their legal rights.

It certainly sounds like Bennett is enforcing a zero tolerance policy against the Jews and maintaining the division of Jerusalem. His continued appeasement of Arab Islamists is damaging the very heart of Israel. What more will he sacrifice to stay in power?

Sources:
Flag March commences: Hundreds of marchers attempt to bypass police blockades, by Oheyva Sharabi/Israel National News, April 20, 2022

Bennett Closes Temple Mount to Jews Until the End of Ramadan, by Jewish Press News Desk, April 19, 2022

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was interviewed yesterday by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. She grilled Bennett on the latest wave of violence and its implications for his and his government’s political future.

Asked to explain why he allowed IDF soldiers to enter the Temple Mount, given the fact that the footage is then broadcast over the world and inflames tensions, Bennett replied, “As usual, you’re starting in the middle of the story.

Amanpour grilled Bennett on false facts, such as, “The West Bank has been occupied since 1967, settlers are allowed to be there … they are there and they are violent, this minority, and it is generally deemed illegal by the rest of the world,” to which Bennett pushed back saying the statement is “blatantly false.”

Bennett staunchly defended Israel in this interview and it’s not the first time he has done so, now or before becoming Prime Minister. He defends Israel so well; it’s becoming clear that instead of his current position he should take on a new public relations role that disseminates and defends the truth about Israel across worldwide media outlets. There is much needed PR to counteract the endless false narratives against Israel that we don’t see coming from Israel itself. If the world is to know the truth then Israel must be the one to disseminate it.

Benjamin Netanyahu, in his 1993 book, “A Place Among the Nations”, was right to point out that the one thing Israel must do is to mass communicate to the world. “Having rediscovered its military capabilities, Israel is now in the midst of discovering the political capacities it needs to survive in a swiftly changing world. These capacities require, I believe, a major overhaul in Israel’s abilities to present its policies before world audiences.” ~~A Place Among the Nations, Page 386.

Sources:
PM Bennett to CNN: ‘I object – these are not occupied territories’, by Israel National News, April 20, 2022

Deactivating Palestinian dog whistles, by Douglas Altabef/JNS, April 20, 2022