I never understood why the ongoing ‘investigation’ of PM Netanyahu is broadcast every night by TV ‘exposés, regarding Yediot Ahronot & Israel HaYom. The continual ‘shmear’ of our PM, undermines Israel’s government while spreading ‘bad & fake news’. When people continually read this “fake news”, they begin to believe it & distrust the government & PM. Caroline Glick, as usual, dissects. explains & makes clear WHY this is being done. It’s political power not journalistic forensic investigation for ‘truth’. #3 All the very best, Gail/Geula/Savta/Savta Raba x 2/Mom Our Website: WinstonIsraelInsight.org

1.The IDF’s Judicial Empire In Judea & Samaria By Moshe Dann

2.Deputy FM Tzipi Hotovely: This term will decide Judea & Samaria’s fate

3.Netanyahu’s Shameless Opponents By Caroline B. Glick

4.Bennett congratulates Trump, responds to Bibi

5.President Trump vs. the Department of State by Yoram Ettinger

6.Goodbye, two-state solution By Gideon Saar

7.Inaugural Tears Of Joy By Ruthie Blum

8.Particularism before Universalism By Ted Belman

9.Europe’s Jihad against Israel by Salim Mansur GATESTONE

10.Trump tells Jewish son-in-law, ‘If you can’t make Mideast peace, nobody can’

11.ZOA Horrified: SJP Student Leader Supports Murdering Israeli Jews

1.The IDF’s Judicial Empire In Judea & Samaria By Moshe Dann

JPost.com 1/21/17 21:52

A Palestinian Beduin village near Jericho. Disputes over land in the West Bank often end up decided by a military-run administration.. (photo credit:REUTERS)

In response to calls from the international community and anti-Israel organizations to “end the occupation,” referring to the presence of Jews in Area C of Judea & Samaria, aka “the settlers,” supporters of Israel respond: “We are not occupying someone else’s land; this land belongs to Israel & the Jewish people by law & by history.”
But the IDF’s judicial system in Area C, aka “the occupied territories,” which represents the state, composed of the Military Advocate General (MAG), the IDF Prosecutor’s Office & the Civil Administration takes a position in line with Israel’s critics & the international community. As MAG’s website states, Area C, in which all settlements are located, is “subject to belligerent occupation,” which means “the occupation of territory belonging to another country.”

According to this law, territory gained as a result of a war, any war, including a defensive one, is not legitimate. It implies that “the sovereignty of the occupied territory is not vested in the occupying power and is essentially provisional” but it does not assign sovereignty to any country.
Israel’s High Court also takes the position that Israel is in “belligerent occupation” of the “occupied territories.” Although it maintains the status of the territories is unclear, it has never ruled on the question. This issue is examined by Prof. David Kretzmer, in his study, “The law of belligerent occupation in the Supreme Court of Israel” (International Review of the Red Cross, 2012).
To whom, then, does Judea and Samaria belong? According to MAG, which applies Jordanian law, it seems to be Jordan. This is strange since Jordan invaded Judea & Samaria in 1948 as part of genocidal war against the newly established state, committed war crimes & established an illegal & brutal regime – not recognized by the international community. It then attacked Israel in 1967 & was defeated in the Six Day War. Moreover, Jordan relinquished all claims to the area 30 years ago. Yet, MAG decided that Jordanian law prevails in Area C, as it does in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas. MAG’s decisions not only deny the rights of the Jewish people to their homeland, they seem to be contrary to what most of the Israeli government believes.
In addition, the application of Jordanian law contravenes Israeli administrative law as well as Ottoman land law. The problem is that the Israeli government has never clearly stated its position.
In the absence of a government decision to extend Israeli law to Area C, therefore, the “rule of law” is whatever MAG & the High Court decide. MAG has sole & exclusive power & jurisdiction. It dictates what rules apply in disputes over land ownership. Its decisions are absolute, non-transparent & cannot be challenged; it reports only to the defense minister. Since it represents “the state”, its decisions are accepted as law by the High Court. When cases involving land disputes are brought to the High Court, its decisions cannot be appealed since it the court of last resort.
Ironically, even bizarrely, the IDF’s legal system in Area C, the High Court & thus the Israeli government are legitimizing the claim that Israel is occupying Palestinian territory, and that Israelis/Jews are stealing private Palestinian land. When cases are brought against Jewish farmers, homeowners, or even IDF security measures, MAG provides misinformation to the High Court, which orders the destruction of Jewish property & changes in security infrastructure.
MAG’s decisions have led directly & indirectly to the murder of Israeli Jews. For example, the community of Itamar complained that the fence protecting it was weak & inadequate. MAG refused to allow repairs & reinforcement because it decided – without proof – that the fence was built on “Palestinian-owned” land. As a result, Arab terrorists were able to infiltrate the community time after time. Three teenagers playing basketball were murdered in 2002; 5 members of the Shabo family were murdered that same year; Shlomo Miller, Itamar’s security officer, was killed in 2004; & 5 members of the Fogel family were murdered, including an infant in 2011.
A year ago, an Arab terrorist breached a flimsy perimeter fence around Kiryat Arba, near Hebron & stabbed to death Hallel-Yaffa Ariel, an Israeli teenage girl, in her bedroom.
The recent wave of Arab Palestinian arson attacks in places such as Neveh Tzuf, could have been contained if MAG had allowed Jewish communities to build protective infrastructure. MAG ignored the vulnerability of these communities.
In a number of places in Judea & Samaria, IDF military facilities were turned over to local Arabs by order of the IDF commander. In several instances, Women in Green organized protests & were able to stop or limit such transfers, for example at Shdema, between Efrat & Tekoa in Gush Etzion. MAG opposed their efforts, but today it is a small IDF base.
Instead of protecting Jews, MAG seeks to destroy Jewish property & Jewish communities, such as Amona parts of Ofra, while promoting fraudulent & non-existent Arab land claims. MAG squanders millions on destroying Jewish property, while allowing Arabs & Beduin to take over state-owned land, aided by the European Union & other anti-Israel organizations. The IDF’s legal system in Judea & Samaria is directed by high-ranking officers who oppose the settlement movement.
According to Israel National News, for example, a few weeks ago, Brig. Gen. (ret) Dov Tzedakah, “was dismissed from his position as the head of the IDF Civil Administration’s negotiations with the Bedouin in Judea & Samaria following allegations that he is a member of an extreme-leftist organization funded by the European Union (EU).” Except for Israel National News (Arutz7), this story was not reported by the media. Another officer has ties to left wing NGOs, according to news reports. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
Israel proudly proclaims that it is “the only democracy in the Middle East.” The IDF’s biased judicial establishment in Area C of Judea & Samaria brings that claim into question. Israel cannot claim to be a democracy as long as nearly a half-million of its citizens are under the IDF’s anti-settlement judicial dictatorship.

We are being stabbed in the back by our own. We need to “drain this swamp.”

2.Deputy FM Tzipi Hotovely: This term will decide Judea & Samaria’s fate She speaks about US President Trump’s inauguration and the proposed law to apply Israeli sovereignty to Ma’ale Adumim. By Hezki Baruch 1/21/17

Tzipi Hotovely – Flash 90

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) spoke on Saturday night about US President Donald Trump’s move to the White House.

“It’s important to have a friend in the White House, who cares about Israel’s interests,” Hotovely told Channel 10. “I believe he will help America turn over a new leaf, and we will see significant changes in many areas.

“We’ll be very happy to have David Friedman as Israel Ambassador. He and the Trump administration are very pro-Jewish settlement in Judea & Samaria.

“We have a presidential promise that Trump will move the US Embassy. I hope he’ll keep his word despite the enormous pressure from the Arab world. I am sure this will be an act of leadership & bravery, & we will obviously stand behind Trump when he does it.

“This term will decide the fate of Judea & Samaria. We need to work together with the new US administration,” she concluded.

3.Netanyahu’s Shameless Opponents By Caroline B. Glick

Jerusalem Post Opinion 1/19/17 22:59

Channel 2 has opened its primetime news broadcasts nearly every night this past week with selected minutes from their recorded talks.

Copies of ‘Israel Hayom’ & ‘Yediot Aharonot’ are displayed in Ashkelon l. (photo credit:Reuters)

Over the past week, Israel was subjected to the diplomatic equivalent of a lynch mob in Paris. It received unexpected assistance from Britain, which twice in two days departed from its traditional anti-Israel stance & blocked the Paris conference’s anti-Israel declaration from being adopted as the official position of the European Union.
Also over the past week, outgoing US President Barack Obama, outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry & outgoing UN Ambassador Samantha Power used their final appearances in office to blast Israel.

On the other hand, President-elect Donald Trump & his team played a key role in bringing about Britain’s change of heart toward Israel.
While these events have been widely covered by the foreign media, they have barely been mentioned in the Hebrew broadcast media, from which the majority of Israelis receive their news.
Instead, led by Channel 2 with its monopoly ratings share, the local media spent the past week covering almost nothing but the criminal probes being carried out against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu is the subject of two probes. The first, which police investigators dubbed Affair 1000, involves allegations that Netanyahu improperly received gifts from his friends.
That probe seems to be withering on the vine. Consequently, over the past week, most of the media’s attention has been focused on what the police call Affair 2000.
Affair 2000 involves conversations Netanyahu conducted two years ago with Israel’s most powerful media mogul & Netanyahu’s public nemesis, Yediot Aharonot chairman Arnon Mozes. Mozes is Netanyahu’s bitter foe because for the past 20 years, Yediot’s coverage of Netanyahu has been virulently hostile.
Affair 2000 itself, the media coverage it has garnered and the way the police are conducting their probe all raise deeply troubling questions about key institutions that are supposed to safeguard Israeli democracy and our rule of law.
To understand the affair & concerns it raises, Affair 2000 must be placed in proper context.
In November 2014, the government fell & the Knesset voted to go to elections barely a year after the previous elections were held.
Whereas generally a government falls because the opposition gains the votes to bring it down in a no-confidence vote, in 2014, Netanyahu caused his own government to fall and precipitated early elections.
Netanyahu took the drastic step, which placed his own future in jeopardy, because the heads of three parties that were members of his governing coalition colluded against him in a host of common actions that made governing impossible.
The straw that broke Netanyahu’s back was when the three rebellious ministers – then-justice minister Tzipi Livni, then-Treasury minister Yair Lapid and then-foreign minister Avigdor Liberman – decided to support the passage of the draft “Israel Hayom law.”
The bill, which was sponsored by Labor MK Eitan Cabel, would have outlawed the free distribution of national newspapers. It was dubbed the Israel Hayom law, because the paper founded in 2007 & owned by Netanyahu’s supporter US casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, is free. The goal of the draft legislation was to shut down Israel Hayom. Thanks to Livni, Lapid and Liberman, the bill passed its first reading in the Knesset with a vote of 43 in favor & 23 opposed.
Netanyahu vociferously opposed the bill. He and his Likud party voted against it.
With that context in mind, we can return to Affair 2000.
Netanyahu’s conversations with Mozes took place around the 2015 elections. Fearing Mozes intended to extort him, on the advice of his personal attorney, Netanyahu surreptitiously recorded the discussions.
The police discovered his recordings in the course of a separate probe of Netanyahu’s former adviser who had a copy of the recorded conversations on his mobile phone.
Channel 2 has opened its primetime news broadcasts nearly every night this past week with selected minutes from their recorded talks.
Netanyahu’s conversations with Mozes related to the Israel Hayom draft law. From Channel 2’s excerpts, we learned that Mozes offered Netanyahu to improve Yediot’s treatment of the premier if Netanyahu would convince Adelson to substantially curtail Israel Hayom’s distribution & if Netanyahu would agree to limit government advertisements that run in the daily paper.
Mozes told Netanyahu that if the premier accepted his offer, he would see to it that Netanyahu remained in power for as long as he wished.
The flipside, although unstated – at least in Channel 2’s excerpts – was clear. If Netanyahu rejected Mozes’s offer, Yediot would continue its campaign to bring down Netanyahu.
The end of their discussions is public knowledge.
Netanyahu brought down his own government & disbanded the Knesset rather than allow the legislative process to continue. His 2015 campaign centered on Netanyahu’s opposition to Mozes & Yediot.
The opposition’s campaign against Netanyahu on the other hand, was based largely on negative articles related to Netanyahu & his family that ran daily in Yediot.
In other words, Netanyahu rejected Mozes’s offers & the two went to war.
Although Yediot supports the Left and Israel Hayom supports Netanyahu, Mozes’s opposition to Israel Hayom wasn’t ideological.
His willingness to skew his paper’s coverage in favor of Netanyahu showed that Mozes’s attempt to destroy Israel Hayom stemmed solely from financial considerations.
In 2006, Yediot had a monopoly share of the print media market on weekends and dominated the weekday editions as well. Its closest competitor, Ma’ariv, had half the sales that Yediot had.
Israel Hayom ended Yediot’s monopoly & lowered its advertising revenues. So if Israel Hayom were to close, the most direct & significant beneficiary would be Yediot Aharonot. Everyone knew this.
As justice minister, Livni chaired the Ministerial Committee on Legislation that controls in large part which bills will be brought before the Knesset. Ahead of the committee’s discussion of the Israel Hayom bill, then-attorney general Yehuda Weinstein issued a legal opinion which reasonably argued that the bill was unconstitutional because its aim was to specifically target one business for bankruptcy, because it harmed consumers & the economy & because it sought to undermine the free press.
During the 2015 campaign, Livni acknowledged that she spoke with Mozes about the bill before it was discussed in her committee. Mozes, she said, also furnished her with a legal opinion authored by his private attorneys. Predictably, that opinion argued the bill was constitutional, was not prejudicial and would be great for the economy.
Livni rejected Weinstein’s opinion and enabled the bill to go forward. Yediot supported her lavishly during the election campaign.
AFFAIR 2000 is troubling first and foremost because of what is not being investigated.
Netanyahu, who refused to make a deal with Mozes, is being investigated as a criminal suspect for speaking to him.
Livni, who also spoke to Mozes, as well as Liberman, Lapid and 40 other members of Knesset who may have spoken with him, and who voted in favor of the bill that Mozes worked so hard to pass into law, are not being investigated.
How is it possible that police investigators aren’t interested in finding out if Mozes made any offers that were accepted? Why aren’t investigators checking whether there were changes in the volume of positive coverage that Livni, Lapid, Liberman and their colleagues received after they announced their support for his bill?

This brings us back to the media. Night after night, television viewers have been subjected to saturation coverage of Affair 2000 that distorts more than it reveals. Netanyahu is presented as a corrupt politician willing to destroy a newspaper to advance his own career even though he did nothing of the sort.
The 43 MKs who actually did something to destroy the paper are given a pass.
The distorted reports have clearly had an impact.
In a poll conducted by Channel 2 to check effectiveness of its reporting, a majority of Israelis said they believe Netanyahu behaved dishonestly in relation to his conversations with Mozes.
At least as far as Channel 2 is concerned, the way to correct the problems Affair 2000 exposed is obvious.
Just as Israel Hayom broke Yediot’s market monopoly so Channel 2’s broadcast monopoly must end.
The government must deregulate the broadcast media. It needs to sell broadcast licenses to anyone who has the funds to purchase one.
The problem with police investigators is unfortunately more difficult to contend with. According to independent investigative journalist Yoav Yitzhak, Netanyahu decided not to turn his recordings of Mozes over to the police despite the fact that they contained apparent evidence of extortion, or at a minimum the offer of a bribe, because he doesn’t trust police investigators.
Yitzhak reported on his website that Netanyahu told his close associates this week that he found out that the police’s senior investigators, Asst.-Chiefs Manny Yitzhaki & Ronny Ritman, had close relationships with hostile journalists from Channel 10, Haaretz and Yediot. He was concerned that if he brought them the evidence he had gathered against Mozes, the investigators would use the evidence as a means to open new criminal investigations against Netanyahu with the aim of destroying him politically.
The Prime Minister’s Office has not denied Yitzhak’s report. Assuming it accurately reflects Netanyahu’s thinking, it means that the PM believes the police are corrupt & politically motivated.
Certainly the police investigators’ selective investigation of Netanyahu since Affair 2000 broke seems to back up his feelings.
Police Commissioner Insp.-Gen. Roni Alsheich promised this week that the probes of Netanyahu will be concluded shortly. But even if Netanyahu is cleared of suspicion, the concerns raised by Affair 2000 will linger and grow if not dealt with.
Israel is on the precipice of a major shift in its international position. Trump’s rise, along with the weakening of the EU with Britain’s Brexit vote, means that Israel faces opportunities it hasn’t enjoyed in 50 years.
The concerted effort by the media with the apparent collusion of the police to undermine & overthrow Netanyahu at the dawn of this new era isn’t merely unjust. It is anti-Zionist, anti-democratic & dangerous for the future of the state.
www.CarolineGlick.com

4.Bennett congratulates Trump, responds to Bibi By Ido Ben Porat, 21/01/17 19:40

Israel’s Education Minister congratulates US President Trump on inauguration, responds to Israeli PM’s Saturday night Facebook post.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett – Reuters

Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) congratulated US President Donald Trump on his inauguration & move to the White House.

“We’ve entered a new era,” Bennett wrote on Twitter. “For the first time in fifty years, our Prime Minister has a choice whether to create a Palestinian state or to apply israeli sovereignty in Judea & Samaria.

“If we choose to create a Palestinian state, we will regret our choice for generations to come. We will work to apply Israeli sovereignty.”

Responding to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Facebook post, in which Netanyahu said Iranian civilians are our friends, Bennett said, “Iran is an important topic, but preventing a second Iran in the heart of Judea & Samaria is no less important.

“We must not allow the ‘Iran threat’ to be used an excuse to miss an historical opportunity to prevent Palestine from developing on Israel’s Route 6.”

Route 6 is one of Israel’s main north-south highways, crossing much of the country.

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“I will fight for you with every breath in my body – and I will never, ever let you down,” Trump said in his inauguration speech. “We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world – but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first.

“We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to follow.

“We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones – and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the Earth,” he promised.

Yoram will be in the US in March, May and August, 2017, available for speaking engagements.