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Responding to aggressive lobbying by the Beyadenu movement, the Knesset Education Committee on Tuesday debated the place of the Temple Mount in the country’s education system.

In 2018 Tom Nisani, together with Ofir Dayan, led Students For the Temple Mount. Today, Nisani heads Beyadenu, which is funded by The Israel Independence Fund. Beyadenu means “In Our Hands” – a reference to the immortal declaration “The Temple Mount is in our hands!” That phrase was uttered in June 1967 by Mordechai “Motta” Gur, commander of the paratroopers who liberated the Temple Mount.

Coalition and opposition MKs alike agreed that the Israeli education system is failing to convey information about the Temple Mount to students.

Committee Chairwoman MK Sharren Haskel (New Hope) said that the education system does not mention the existence of the Temple Mount in a national and religious context, despite being one of the most important places for the Jewish People.

Former MK and Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick participated in the Knesset Education Committee’s discussion: “We as Jews should make it clear that this is our center and the desire of the Jewish people and therefore every student, soldier and citizen must visit there. The Education Minister should recommend it and every parent should decide for his child. We have failed educationally because we have taken that value out of its place and must return it to the place it deserves,” Glick concluded.

Thankfully, the committee determined that the study of the Temple Mount and the Temple as a holy place for the Jewish people should be included in the curriculum for History matriculation examinations.

AFSI is encouraged by the committee’s decision that teaching about the Temple Mount must have a regular place in Israeli schools. With the Bennett government doing so much to appease the Arabs, Israel needs its youth to be educated on the truth about Israel and its glorious history. It is one of the primary things that can combat poor decisions affecting Israel’s Sovereignty.

AFSI visits the Temple Mount on every Chizuk Mission.

Sources:
Knesset Education Committee in Historic Statement: Israeli School Children Must Visit Temple Mount, by David Israel/Jewish Press, November 17, 2021

Former MK: State must encourage visits to the Temple Mount, by Hezki Baruch/Arutz Sheva, November 16, 2021

 

With the Knesset debating what is known as the “Electricity Law,” Arutz Sheva spoke to Meir Deutsch, CEO of Regavim, who attended the committee hearing on the issue.

“As of today, the law in Israel says that illegal structures cannot be connected to the main electricity line of the electricity infrastructure,” Deutsch says. “The original law, which is a bad law, says that illegal structures built until 2018 will now be able to be connected to the electricity infrastructure.”

When asked if the “Electricity Law” will apply to Jewish non-official communities, Deutsch says that as it stands it will not. “As of today, this law will not be implemented in Judea and Samaria for no good reason. There is no reason illegal structures built by Arabs will be connected to the electricity while Jewish structures built illegally will not be able to connect to electricity.”

Lack of electricity is not the only issue that communities in Judea and Samaria face. Water is another basic need that is also being ignored by the government, states Nitzan Zoran, a resident of Mitzpe Abigail on Mount Hebron. Nitzan says, “Each day we are confronted with a different challenge – one day a power outage, one day a shortage of water, trouble from the sewage pipes and more.”

It was AFSI’s hope to be able to report on better things coming from Prime Minister Bennett’s government. This is another example of how Prime Minister Bennett is ignoring – and totally forgetting – basic rights for Jews living on legally owned Jewish land. By doing so, the Bennett coalition continues to put Jews in harm’s way as it increases benefits to and builds up illegal PA developments throughout Judea and Samaria. It also bolsters the PA’s continued efforts to demonize and delegitimize Israel. Remind us again…who is the Israeli government supposed to be working for?

Sources:
The ‘Electricity Law’ is not for Jews?, by Yoni Kempinski/Arutz Sheva, November 16, 2021

Resident of Abigail settlement: We have no water, by Arutz Sheva Staff, November 16, 2021

 

 

Americans For A Safe Israel mourns the loss of Dr. Erich Isaac who passed away on November 5. Erich was one of the last of the Jewish Fighters for the Freedom of Israel (Lehi) and first chairman of Americans for A Safe Israel.

Dr. Erich Isaac, born in Mainz, Germany and grew up in an Orthodox Jewish home. At around the age of his Bar Mitzvah, he became involved in the pre-state, underground Fighters for the Freedom of Israel, or Lehi. He left his birth country with his parents for what was then Mandatory Palestine in 1938. Although he was only nine years old on arrival, he never forgot seeing the countryside on fire as the train took them to Tel Aviv. The conflagration was part of the ongoing 1936 Arab riots.

Many years later, when Isaac’s wife Rael was writing a dissertation on the Land of Israel movement — opposing the land-for-peace movement — which became the book Israel Divided, he assisted her and accompanied her to meetings. His own sympathies were with the Land of Israel Movement, and at one of their meetings he suggested there should be a counterpart organization in the U.S. to lobby for retaining the territories liberated in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Erich was pursued by Shmuel Katz, a former member of the Irgun’s high command who was active in the Land of Israel Movement, (which was remarkable at that time for bringing together well-known figures from every part of the political spectrum.) Katz brought together a number of people who formed the base of the new organization, and thus Americans for a Safe Israel was born, with Isaac serving as chairman. A few years later he turned over the reins to Herbert Zweibon who led the organization until his death in 2011. Isaac would often say his greatest contribution to AFSI was recruiting Zweibon.

May the family be comforted among all those who mourn for Zion and Jerusalem. May his wife Rael; four sons, Gamaliel, Gideon, Raphael, and David; and five grandchildren, know no more sorrow and may they know only simchas.

Source:
Fighter for Israel’s independence, Zionist activist and prominent geographer passes away, by Atara Beck/A World Israel News, November 15, 2021

The “Ad Kan” movement is initiating an investigation and inspection system that will monitor the transfer of funds of the United Arab List (Ra’am) party, in order to ensure that the funds are not transferred to terrorist organizations or to support terrorism.

In an interview with Arutz Sheva, Adv. Yosef Ackerman, director of the movement’s legal department, emphasizes that he welcomes any investigation and any journalistic investigation that is conducted and which examines the facts.

In his remarks, Ackerman emphasizes that the main argument of his organization is the demand to understand what the Ra’am movement is ideologically, and on the other hand to understand who its chairman, MK Mansour Abbas, is and what his goals are. In this context, he mentions the “Aid 48” organization, which rolls in fifty million shekels a year and transfers money to Gaza while its leader arrives in Gaza and meets with Hamas members.

“Funding the families of terrorists is money that goes to terrorism, and if a Hamas government ministry concentrates money and directs it to certain families, it is a funnel to terrorists. It is also a violation of the law. It is money that serves Hamas,” Ackerman said.

Source:
‘Ad Kan’: We will ensure Arab party’s money does not fund terrorism. How will this work?, by Yoni Kempinski/Arutz Sheva, November 12, 2021

 

 

 

Israel “loaned” the Palestinian Authority hundreds of millions of shekels that were supposed to be deducted, by law, from the taxes and customs collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority to avoid having this money go to jailed terrorists’ salaries, Palestinian Media Watch reported. The report is based on the analysis of an official report the PA sent to Western countries.

According to the report by PalWatch legal head Attorney Maurice Hirsch, last September, shortly after the August meeting in Ramallah between Defense Minister Benny Gantz and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Israel transferred NIS 500 million ($170 million) to the PA in addition to the taxes and customs Israel collects and transfers every month.

Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories argued that the NIS 500 million is a loan based on future collections, so, in a way, the half-billion shekels did not come “from the public coffers of the Israeli taxpayer.” That’s not true, the loan certainly did come from the Israeli taxpayer, even if it will be paid back someday.

But worse, the loan violated the 2018 Freeze Terrorist Funds Act. Also, Gantz was apparently extremely generous with promises of future Arab construction in Area C. And he also reportedly gave his consent to installing G4 communications inside the PA.

Where is Gantz’s concern for Jews in Judea and Samaria who still live under Ottoman law? What does Gantz hope to accomplish by caving in to terrorists? PMW’s report is yet another in a series exposing Bennett’s coalition bestowing gifts to the PA Arabs and this leaves us deeply concerned for Israel.

Source:
Report: Gantz Gifted the PA Half a Billion Shekels to Cover Shahids’ Salaries, by David Israel/Jewish Press, November 12, 2021

Several weeks ago, the Biden administration, led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, announced plans to open a Palestinian consulate in the heart of Jerusalem. Prior to the United States Embassy move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem during the Trump administration, the building was used as a consulate and had a consular services office in Eastern Jerusalem that primarily served the needs of the Arab population. The consulate the Biden administration would like to open to serve the Palestinian population is located on Agron Street in the heart of Western Jerusalem.

Yesterday morning a large group of dedicated activists gathered together across from the Israeli consulate in midtown Manhattan to show solidarity with our Israeli brethren who were simultaneously staging their third vigil with 20 other organizations to halt the opening of the Agron Street mission.

The New York City vigil was initiated and organized by Americans For a Safe Israel’s Director, Judy Freedman Kadish and joined by Yad Yamin New York’s Karen Lichtbraun as well as Liz Berney and Alan Jay from ZOA. The group held a vigil simultaneously with Jerusalem to “Just Say NO” to a Palestinian Authority Consulate in Jerusalem.

Kadish was simulcast to the group in Jerusalem, appearing on a wide screen there to a large and enthusiastic audience in attendance. Our friends in Israel need to know that they have our absolute support on their position on the unlawful consulate.

The essence of Kadish’s message was:

Shalom Jerusalem!

We are here holding a vigil in solidarity with You!

We ask the Israeli government to hold firm in its denial of the US desire to open a consulate in the middle of Jerusalem to serve the PA.

In Israel this past Saturday evening, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, supported by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, stated that the US consulate for the PA should not be placed in Jerusalem.

We have yet to hear an acknowledgment from the Biden administration of Israel’s position. Under international law the US MUST have permission of the host country to open any type of consulate.

The Biden administration MUST STOP TRYING TO DIVIDE JERUSALEM!

Given the stated position of the Israeli government, The Sovereignty Movement and the New York group will hold off on further vigils while they await developments in Israel and the US. Stay tuned!

 

The United States is developing an initiative to form a Palestinian unity government that the Americans hope will end the split between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas and bring calm to the “West Bank” and Gaza Strip, i24NEWS has learned.

An Israeli government source told i24NEWS that the government has not taken a position on the plan being worked out by the administration of US President Joe Biden.

The US hopes that the initiative will lay the groundwork for tor the economic rehabilitation of the PA and become the basis for long-term peace and stability in the “West Bank” and Gaza Strip.

The proposed unity government would include Hamas representatives, Fatah and economic professionals who are not affiliated with a political party.

“The Palestinian Authority will not respond to any American initiative as long as there is no decision regarding the opening of the consulate,” PA Minister for Social Development Dr. Ahmad al-Majdalani told i24NEWS.

The last Palestinian elections in January 2006 saw Hamas win a majority in the now-disbanded Palestinian Legislative Council and resulted in a bloody civil war between the rival parties.

Source:
Exclusive: US initiative to form Palestinian unity government, by i24NEWS, November 9, 2021

Israel has told the Biden administration that it is opposed to any plan to reopen the US consulate-general that services the Palestinians in Jerusalem because the city is the undivided capital of the Jewish state, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told reporters on Saturday night.

“My position, which has been presented to the Americans by myself and by Foreign Minister Lapid, is that there is no place for an American consulate that serves the Palestinians in Jerusalem,” Bennett said.

“We have expressed our position [to the US] determinedly, quietly, without drama, and I hope it will be understood. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel alone.”

The Sovereignty Movement stated, “The prime minister’s statement that Jerusalem is the exclusive capital of the Jewish people is completely accurate. With these words, the prime minister has blocked a dangerous attempt to erode Israel’s sovereignty over the eternal capital of the Jewish people.”

While it has been troubling to see Prime Minister Bennett give too many concessions to the PA in recent weeks, AFSI applauds PM Bennett for holding strong to this critical position on Sovereignty over Jerusalem. Now his words must be met with and consistent with action.

We remind everyone to join us and show your support for an undivided Jerusalem at our Urgent Vigil this Wednesday to make it clear to Biden – NO PALESTINIAN CONSULATE IN JERUSALEM. Information follows below.

Source:
Bennett: There’s no room in Jerusalem for a US consulate for Palestinians, by Tovah Lazaroff, Jeremy Sharon/Jerusalem Post, November 6, 2021

After three and a half years if you count from the passing of the last budget, or two and a half if you start from the expiration of the 2018 budget, Israel finally has a new budget to carry it through 2022. The new budget was passed around 3:00 AM Friday, with a 59 to 56 vote, at the end of a 66-hour debate that began at 9:00 AM Tuesday.

So, what’s in the 2022 budget? According to the Finance Ministry, the 2022 state budget will be NIS 452.5 billion ($145.56 billion). The biggest overall spending will be on Education: about NIS 70 billion ($22.5 billion). Second biggest—although it will likely be amended for unexpected emergency spending, Defense: about NIS 60 billion ($19.3 billion). Health: NIS 45 billion ($14.4 billion); Transportation development: about NIS 36 billion ($11.6 billion); Welfare: about NIS 15 billion ($4.82 billion); Higher education: about NIS 12 billion ($3.86 billion).

Did we miss something? Where is money allocated to build in Judea and Samaria?

The approved budget includes more than $9.6 billion for the Arab sector—a prize for Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am Party, part of the governing coalition. Bennett’s coalition once again appeases the Arabs and neglects Israelis.

Those that cast the 56 votes against were less jovial. MK Shlomo Karhi (Likud) said: “This is an abusive budget against the weak and against Judaism and against the Jewish character of the state.”

Religious Zionism Chairman MK Bezalel Smotrich was also combative, declaring: “We lost this battle but we will win the war, because we have a path, and values, and truth, and we have not sold nor will we sell them for any fortune in the world. And the truth will win in the end.”

Sources:
Lapid-Bennett Coalition Passes 2022 Budget; Smotrich: We Lost this Battle But Will Win the War, by David Israel/Jewish Press, November 5, 2021

Israeli budget, set to increase funding for Arab-Israeli sector, would boost Islamist Party, by Ariel Ben Solomon/JNS, November 4, 2021

 

 

 

When a war begins with an undulating siren, people are terrified, unite and mobilize to take up arms and stand firm in the face of the onslaught of the enemy. However, there are wars that begin with the sound of silence—wars that imperceptibly insinuate their way into people’s consciousness. While they are steeped in a lack of awareness, facts are established on the ground with no apparent resistance, without any rallying in defense of the homeland.

These days, Israel is in the midst of a war on Jerusalem. This is a war that is difficult to identify, as there is no shelling by tanks and cannons or bombing by planes. However, if we continue to close our eyes, we may awaken to a reality in which the heart of the Jewish people, its eternal capital, Jerusalem, is no longer in our hands, God forbid.

Source:
The battle for Jerusalem, by Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar/JNS, November 3, 2021