Category: Articles

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

The Lapid-Bennett government on Wednesday approved the establishment of a new Bedouin city and three rural Bedouin settlements, the purpose of which is to gather the dispersed Bedouin who are squatting illegally around the Negev desert into permanent, regulated settlements.

The decision is the outcome of demands made by Ra’am during negotiations to join Naftali Bennett’s coalition. The Regavim movement said on Wednesday that the decision was reached despite heavy pressure from coalition partner Ra’am to change key elements of the plan.

The Islamist Ra’am party enjoys great support among Bedouin voters the Bedouin in the Negev are about 10% of Israeli Arabs. Despite the pressure from Ra’am, the wording of the proposed resolution is almost identical to the proposal promoted by the previous government headed by Netanyahu, Regavim pointed out. The agreed wording was formulated based on the work of Regavim staff in cooperation with Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked’s office over the past few months.

Regavim CEO Meir Deutsch said, “…the government must prove that it intends to implement the move to the end, including the evacuation of the dispersed and the return of the land to the state – and not continue with the wrong policy of expanding the territories given to the Bedouin sector.”

Source:
Regavim: New Bedouin Settlement Plan in Keeping with our Demands Despite Ra’am’s Fierce Objection, by David Israel/Jewish Press, November 3, 2021

The Ad Kan organization, together with the Choose Life forum for bereaved families, revealed over the weekend on Channel 13 how elements in the Islamic Movement acted to transfer funds to Hamas through the nonprofit Aid 48. Elements within the Movement are also senior members of the United Arab List (UAL) party and helped draft the party’s coalition agreement. This revelation suggests that Ra’am is transferring funds it receives from the Lapid-Bennett coalition to the Gaza Strip.

The investigation shows that Razi Issa, a senior member of the UAL party who serves, among other things, as chairman of the Islamic Movement’s general assembly that sets the UAL’s list for the Knesset and is a member of the Shura Council, visited Gaza in his position as director of the Aid 48 organization. The investigation shows that during his visit to Gaza, he met with Razi Hamed, a senior Hamas official who even publicly thanked the organization for its contribution to Gaza. It was also revealed that the director of the association is Azhar Shaharur, the sister of the terrorist who in 2002 attacked the Park Hotel and that her husband and son are part of the Islamic Jihad terror group.

Ad Kan director Gilad Ach, whose organization conducted the investigation, commented: “For the first time in the history of the State of Israel, the Israeli taxpayer is funding a terrorist organization responsible for the murder of Israelis. The state budget must not be passed in its current form in which it injects billions into the Islamic movement. We call on the Zionist elements in the coalition to stop this deal with the devil and take action to rectify the situation. It’s not too late.”

AFSI applauds the important investigative work of Ad Kahn (incubated and funded by our activist colleague organization, the Israel Independence Fund). There is no transparency on the actions of the Bennett-Lapid coalition but it does appear to us that they are secretly appeasing the PA at the expense of the Jewish Nation State. With that said, and based on the next article in this newsletter, appeasement of the PA Arabs leaves us troubled, deeply worried, and remains our worst nightmare.

Sources:
Investigation shows senior United Arab List members working with Hamas, by Arutz Sheva Staff, October 30, 2021

Report: Israeli Government Funds Funneled to Hamas through Ra’am, by David Israel/Jewish Press, November 1, 2021

Defense Minister Benny Gantz informed the High Court of Justice last week that he was canceling the defense establishment’s initiative to allow Jewish residents to privately purchase land in Judea and Samaria. The move, reversing what had been a growing consensus in the Defense Ministry in the past few years, was intended to avoid friction with the Palestinian Authority since the repeal of the existing law would have led to an accelerated expansion of Jewish communities.

The law in Judea and Samaria is openly sided against Israel: only Jordanians, Palestinians, or “foreigners of Arab descent” are allowed to purchase land as private entities in the “west bank.” In 1971, the IDF amended the Jordanian law to allow Jews to purchase land in the liberated territories through companies, and ever since that correction, Jews are allowed to carry out real estate transactions only through companies and with the approval of the Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration.

In a separate but related story that shows Israeli citizens are not prioritized, Israel on Monday authorized some 1,300 Palestinian homes days after advancing plans to build more than 3,000 housing units for Jewish residents. The Israeli government says it is adopting a moderate approach with the aim of minimizing friction with the US – which is opposed to “settlements” – and tensions within its ruling coalition, which includes parties from across the political spectrum.

The laws in Judea and Samaria are outdated and nothing is being done to change them. As Bennett’s coalition appeases the PA Arabs, it demonstrates that Jewish residents in Judea and Samaria – living on legally owned Jewish land – are not a priority for the government. Additionally, the government is not exercising its rightful claim to Sovereignty. The application of Sovereignty over Judea and Samaria is critical now more than ever. The government’s actions mentioned here are insulting to Israelis and proves the point of how urgent it is that Sovereignty be applied NOW.

AFSI will continue to advocate for Sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and prays that it becomes a reality sooner rather than later.

Sources:
To Appease the PA, DM Gantz Kills Initiative Allowing Settlers to Purchase Land Privately, by David Israel/Jewish Press, November 1, 2021

Israel authorizes over 1,000 Palestinian homes in Judea and Samaria, By AP and ILH Staff, November 1, 2021

US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Brian Patrick McKeon has confirmed that the US needs Israel’s approval in order to open a consulate on Jerusalem’s very central Agron Street. The sole purpose of opening this consulate would be to service Palestinian Authority Arabs.

In a tweet, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) wrote: “Important question from Senator Hagerty: Does Israel have to agree before the US could open or reopen a consulate to the Palestinians in Jerusalem?”

Responding to a tweet by another organization asking if Israel needs to agree to a reopening Deputy Secretary McKeon responded: “That’s my understanding—that we’d need to get the consent of the host government to open any diplomatic facility.”

Meir Deutsch, Director General of Regavim, said, “We have been warning for a decade already that the Palestinians are creating a de facto state disconnected from the State of Israel. Wherever they open a consulate will be the capital of the Palestinian state (This consulate would, unlike others in most countries, report directly to the US State Department and not to the US Embassy thereby making it a de facto embassy – ed) It would be very worthwhile for the State of Israel to wake up and put a stop to this.”

US OFFICIALS MUST IMMEDIATELY ABANDON ALL EFFORTS TO OPEN AN ILLEGAL AND ILLEGITIMATE CONSULATE FOR THE PALESTINIANS IN ISRAEL’S ETERNAL CAPITAL OF JERUSALEM. CONTINUE TO TO PUT THE PRESSURE ON WASHINGTON! TELL THEM NO PA CONSULATE IN JERUSALEM. CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION.

Source:
Confirmed: US needs Israel’s consent to reopen Jerusalem consulate, by Arutz Sheva Staff, October 28, 2021

According to a publication by Channel 12 News Correspondent Amit Segal, “Not only MKs from the outskirts of Meretz but also the Labor party chairman, Merav Michaeli, met with the prime minister and made it clear to him that Evyatar will not be resurrected. The Labor party will not lend a hand.” Nahala chairwoman Daniella Weiss responded to the report in an interview with Arutz Sheva.

Weiss regrets that “people in the Knesset of Israel, and I am not talking about the Arabs, I do not expect Zionism from them, people who live in Israel and are supposed to care about Israel’s interests are expressing themselves in such a way that harms, by definition, Israel’s interests. When the settlements in Judea and Samaria began, there were positive consequences for the establishment of observatories in the Galilee, if only that could continue.”

“It seems to me that there is no safer prescription for overthrowing the government than establishing a settlement,” Daniella stated. Judy Kadish who was there with the recent Chizuk Mission and spent quite a bit of time with Daniella over the last few weeks, understands that Daniella’s motives are to preserve and protect the State of Israel.

Evyatar is strategically located for Israelis who want to ward off terror. We pray that the government confirms – what we know to be true – that Evyatar is found to be on state-held land and that the Jewish presence there will be regulated with no delay.

Source:
Settlement leader: Minister’s Anti-Zionist opinion will not stand, Evyatar will be rebuilt, by Arutz Sheva Staff, October 26, 2021

On October 28, 1948, the State of Israel formally adopted the Israeli flag as we know it today to be the nation’s official flag.

The Israeli flag with its two blue stripes and a Star of David in the middle is a variation on the flag that had been used by the World Zionist Organization since 1897.

The blue stripes were inspired by the tallit, used during prayer. It also had the Star of David and the word Maccabee on it. The idea for the design is traditionally believed to have come from David Wolffsohn who came up with the idea during a Zionist meeting with Theodor Herzl in Basel.

We always need inspiration for a good result at work or in relationships. Healthy relationships can only be developed from understanding yourself from the inside, and also through self-knowledge, you can learn more about this read this article

Source:
On This Day: The Israeli flag is formally adopted, by Jerusalem Post Staff, October 28, 2021

An Israeli defense official on Saturday disputed American claims that the United States was not informed of a highly contentious decision by Jerusalem to label six Palestinian rights organizations as terror groups. Israel insists Washington had been told in advance.

“Officials in the American administration were updated in advance of the intention to make this declaration and they received intelligence information about the matter,” the defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

On Friday afternoon, Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced that half a dozen Palestinian civil society groups — including highly prominent ones with significant backing and oversight from the European Union and other international bodies — were being designated as terror organizations, asserting that they worked on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group.

“Those organizations were active under the cover of civil society organizations, but in practice belong and constitute an arm of the [PFLP] leadership, the main activity of which is the liberation of Palestine and destruction of Israel,” Gantz’s office said in a statement. According to the Defense Ministry, all six organizations employed senior PFLP members, “including activists involved in terror activity.”

These six NGO’s have also previously been exposed by Regavim and The International Legal Forum, are among the many NGOs that have been after these “humanitarians” for years. For too many years now they have been actively working to destroy and harm Israel. AFSI applauds Minister of Defense Gantz for this much needed move in labeling and banning these “humanitarian” groups for exactly what they are: Terrorists.

Sources:
Israel disputes US claim it wasn’t told of plan to outlaw rights groups, by Judah Ari Gross/Times of Israel, October 23, 2021

Regavim Report, October 24, 2021

Construction of a total of 3,144 housing units throughout the areas of Judea and Samaria is expected to begin approval or be approved next week by the government of Israel.

At the same time the government will also approve the construction of almost 200 new homes housing for Palestinian Authority Arabs who live in Area C, where the residents are considered part of the PA, but where Israel is in complete control of security and local civil law enforcement. The planned PA Arab homes in Gush Etzion next to Alon Shvut, Khirbet Beit Zakariyyah, were removed from the list.

The news comes two months after a plan to build just 2,200 new homes was delayed because it did not get the official green light from the Civil Administration as the administrative body did not convene due to a workers’ dispute.

Similarly, the Jewish Community of Hebron last week celebrated the news that construction has begun in the historic Hezekiah (Hizkiyahu) quarter in the ancient city. The new neighborhood will be called “Hezekiah Quarter – Nachalat Chabad” and is being built on Jewish-owned property that belonged to the original Hebron Jewish community. It’s the first time in 20 years that Hebron has seen new construction for Jews.

Let’s keep in mind that actual initial and final approvals show that the Israelis will get 3,144 housing units. In the end, the PA Arabs in Area C will get 1,473 housing units. Area C is being given away to Arabs and scores of illegal housing are still not being taken down. Innumerable PA Arabs homes have gone up in Area C and there is no apparent attempt to stop it or demolish.

We appreciate Israel is moving forward with building up its legally owned land and exercising its Sovereign rights but the issue of PA Arab land grabs has not been dealt with.

Sources:
Report: More than 3,000 New Homes to Be Approved for Construction in Judea and Samaria, by Jewish Press News Desk, October 21, 2021

Construction Begins in Hebron’s Historic Hezekiah Neighborhood, by Hana Levi Julian/Jewish Press, October 24, 2021

MK Bezalel Smotrich, Chairman of the Religious Zionist Party, said Sunday that Arab Knesset members who support terrorism have no place in the Knesset of Israel and the State of Israel.

During a discussion on the immigration bill last week in the Knesset, MK Smotrich told Knesset members of the Joint Arab List: “You are here by mistake – because [former Prime Minister David] Ben-Gurion did not finish the job and did not throw you out in ’48.”

“I did not exaggerate at all,” MK Smotrich told Sharon Gal on Galei Israel today. “Arab Knesset members, anti-Zionist terrorist supporters, are debating the Basic Law of Immigration, provoking us [by claiming] that we are all immigrants here and we have no rights in this country, and we are racists and fascists and who knows what else. There is no place for such people in the Knesset or in the State of Israel.”

Smotrich also clearly stated “We do not hate anyone and do not want to expel anyone, except those who hate us and want to destroy us and expel us.”

Source:
Smotrich: ‘Bennett will cave and build consulate’, by Arutz Sheva Staff, October 17, 2021