Friday, May 12, 2017
Gail WinstonWinston@winstonglobal.orgGaza War Diary 1 Thu. May 11, 2017 Day 1348 1 1am Dear Family & Friends,
Wonderful day today. Heat wave broke (called ‘sharav’ in Hebrew). Still a full moon. I sorted some thousands of photographs from the whole year of memory card buildup to printing. Now to ‘book’ them for each family.
Have a lovely, peaceful Shabbat. All the very best. Gail/Geula/Savta/Savta Raba x 3/Mom
Our Website awaits you. WinstonIsraelInsight.org
1.Author of controversial ‘Jewish State’ bill insists it’s unprejudiced & fair
T. Belman.There is no such thing as equality of values. Sooner or later a choice has to be made preferring one over the other. Israeli courts have long considered the value of democracy sacrosanct. They will continue to do so long after we have a Basic Law saying they are equal. The new law must establish the supremacy of the Jewish value. I see no problem in holding that the Jewish character of the state is the highest value. The whole idea of Zionism was to establish a Jewish state as opposed to a state of all its citizens or a democratic state. Being democratic should not be on an equal footing with being Jewish.
Avi Dichter has been working for six years on legislation to define Israel as a Jewish state. Now, with government backing, he says the controversial proposal is on its way to becoming law
BY RAOUL WOOTLIFF, TOI Times Of Israel
Avi Dichter
[..] “This time, it’s going to pass,” he insisted, a day after the Ministerial Committee for Legislation voted unanimously in favor of throwing coalition support behind the proposal.
Judaism is already mentioned throughout the country’s laws, and religious authorities control many aspects of life, including marriage. But the 11 existing Basic Laws deal mostly with state institutions like the Knesset, the courts or the presidency, while Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty defines Israel’s democratic character. The nation state bill, proponents say, would put Jewish values on equal footing with democratic values.
According to the language of the bill, the law is needed “to protect the status of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people in order to anchor in Israel’s Basic Laws the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence.”
Read: The full text of MK Avi Dichter’s 2017 ‘Jewish State’ bill below this story
Growing opposition
Despite vehement opposition from Arab and liberal-leaning MKs, the “Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People” bill began squarely in the political center. While Dichter’s abortive 2011 bill was the first to be proposed by a Knesset member, it was not the first draft of the proposal.
The Institute for Zionist Strategies, a small Jerusalem think tank made up of professors & former security officials, produced the first draft of the bill. In 2009, IZS published a paper on the subject & in the 2009 elections, the call for a nation-state bill made it into Kadima’s official platform.
After the election, IZS scholars met with Dichter, who adopted the initiative eagerly. From the summer of 2009 through 2010, Dichter and the IZS worked to craft a final version of the bill before finally presenting it in the Knesset in the summer of 2011.
In the years since it was first proposed, however, it has been taken on as an ideological mission of the Israeli Right and been derided by the Left as the embodiment of insensitive and even segregationist policies toward the county’s Arab minority.
After Dichter’s 2011 legislation was shot down by Livni, and following his subsequent ousting from the Knesset in the 2013 elections, several attempts were made to revive the proposal, but all fell short of garnering full coalition support.
In 2014, after hardline versions of the bill were presented by Dichter’s fellow Kadima-turned-Likud MK Ze’ev Elkin and MK Yariv Levin (Likud), along with Jewish Home’s Ayelet Shaked, who is now justice minister, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed his own draft. Arguing that the state lacked “adequate expression” of Israel’s “existence as the nation-state of the Jewish people,”the Prime Minister presented the cabinet with 14 principlesthat were to form the basis of the legislation.
Although Netanyahu’s draft gained cabinet support, then-ministers Livni and Yair Lapid strongly opposed the bill and threatened to bolt the coalition over the issue, preventing the proposal from advancing to the Knesset.
After his reelection in March 2015, Netanyahu vowed that his new government would pass a softened version of the bill. But the proposal was again shelved after Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who chairs the coalition party Kulanu, reportedly expressed his opposition to it.
‘Jewish and democratic’
According to Dichter, the new version passed on Sunday includes several changes aimed at “widening the basis of support” for the bill and removing any suggestion of prejudice.
The first draft, he points out while holding both the original and updated versions, identified Israel only as “the national home of the Jewish people.” Democracy, however, did not constitute part of the state’s identity, but merely, in the words used by the bill, “its form of government.”
Passing the law would ‘constitute an overwhelming response to all those who deny the deep connection between the Jewish people and their land,’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says
“Some legal experts said it made the Jewish element seem more important, so we wrote it together, on one line, so neither will have preference over the other,” Dichter said. The new text, he stressed, is based the language of the 1992Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, which, for the first time in Israeli law, described Israel as a “Jewish and democratic state.”
“We have deliberated over every letter of this bill,” Dichter said, noting a months-long debate that resulted in changing the clause on the state calendar from “The Hebrew calendar is the official calendar of the state” to “The Hebrew calendar is an official calendar of the State.” It is a phrase that is more comprehensive but still gives preference to the Jewish element, Dichter said.
And the changes seem to have worked: Kahlon dropped his original opposition and Kulanu ministers voted Sunday in favor of advancing the bill.
Netanyahu threw his own support behind the new bill on Monday, telling his Likud faction meeting that it “flies in the face of everyone who tries to deny our right to Israel.”
Passing the law would “constitute a decisive response to all those who deny the deep connection between the Jewish people and their land,” the prime minister said, adding that it would be brought to the Knesset within 60 days and he “expects all the Zionist parties to support it.”
According to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation decision, the bill will not go forward as a private member’s bill, but will instead be formulated, within two months, as a government proposal, a move that will ease its passage through the Knesset. Dichter said he had been in regular contact with Netanyahu over the proposal and the prime minister had given his go-ahead for the bill to be presented now.
‘Declaration of war’
Responding to those who have said the proposal is discriminatory toward Israel’s Arab and other minority populations, Netanyahu said Monday that “there is absolutely no contradiction between the Jewish state bill and equal rights in Israel.”
‘Discrimination has received a legal stamp. The danger in this law in that it establishes two classes of citizen — Jewish and Arab, says Joint (Arab) List chair Ayman Odeh
Critics, however, say that the bill still gives preference to Jewish Israelis. Joint (Arab) List chairman Ayman Odeh issued a harsh condemnation of the legislation, calling it a “declaration of war” on Israel’s Arab citizens. “Discrimination has received a legal stamp. The danger in this law in that it establishes two classes of citizen — Jewish and Arab.”
According to the language of the proposal, while every individual has the right “to preserve his culture, heritage, language and identity,” the right to realize self-determination “is unique to the Jewish people.” In another controversial clause, Arabic is changed from an official language to one with “special status,” which would ensure its speakers the “right to language-accessible state services.” Notably, that clause was left out of Netanyahu’s 2014 version.
Dichter rejected the notion that his bill is discriminatory.
“It does not give preference to Jews over non-Jews. It gives preference to the Jewish state by preventing it from becoming something else,” he said emphatically. “It will not be Muslim and democratic, not Christian and democratic and not Hindu and Democratic. It is a Jewish and democratic state and everyone knows that.”
A sign in Jerusalem bears the name of the Emek Refaim Street in Hebrew, Arabic and English (Flash90)
Slamming the criticism of the Hebrew language clause, Dichter said it was “bullshit” to suggest his bill downgraded Arabic.
With no legislation defining the status of either Arabic or Hebrew, Israeli law relies on a British Mandate ruling defining both as official languages of Mandatory Palestine. “So we said, let’s just go with the current reality,” Dichter said. “Hebrew is the language of the state but Arabic should have a special status above other languages. And that’s exactly what we wrote.”
Garnering support, again
Despite Dichter’s assertions, the bill still has a distance to go before its final approval.
While Kulanu may have voted in favor in the Ministerial Committee, party spokesman Omri Arush told The Times of Israel that its lawmakers would only support the final government proposal if it “met the standards they required.” According to Arush, who declined to elaborate on what those standards were, Kulanu did not give the proposal a blank check and would have input into the final version.
If Kulanu were to withdraw support, Dichter would need once again to turn to his Left-leaning colleagues on the opposition benches in order to gain a majority in the Knesset.
But opposition leader Isaac Herzog said at a press conference Monday that the current version of the bill “tramples on the delicate balance between Jewish and democratic.” Similarly, Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid said he supported the idea of a nation-state bill to define Israel as a Jewish state, but could not back the law in its current form.
Lapid and Herzog both said they supported aversion of the law presented by Likud MK Benny Begin, which is just a short, paragraph-long declaration of the Jewish nature of the state.
Begin’s draft, which was presented in June 2015 and is based on a proposal by former Yesh Atid MK Ruth Calderon, strikes a more moderate tone than the original version, stating that “Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people, based on the foundations of freedom, justice and peace as envisioned by the prophets of Israel, and upholds equal rights for all its citizens.”
It also asserts Israel as a democracy and calls for the anthem, flag and national symbol to be a matter of law. According to the legislation, the text is based on the 1948 Declaration of Independence and aims to embed Israeli symbols into Israel’s Basic Laws, giving them constitutional backing.
“If the coalition is serious and it really wants to pass a nation-state bill with wide support, then we will support it,” Lapid said.
On the specific changes required for Dichter’s bill to receive the support of the party, Yesh Atid MK Yael German told The Times of Israel that it would need to enshrine, in writing, “equal rights for all citizens.”
Dichter, responding directly to Lapid’s & Herzog’s statements, said Begin’s bill reminded him of an Arabic adage that says “there is no point telling people there are fish in the sea.”
“Just to declare Israel as a Jewish state and nothing more — in my eyes it doesn’t say anything at all,” Dichter said.
Asked if he would be willing to incorporate any further changes to the bill during the government and Knesset deliberations, Dichter said that while he was happy with the current version, he has always sought a text that can appeal to as many people as possible.
“For six years I have been changing and softening this bill where I think it appropriate in order to widen the base of support,” he said. “This not Avi Dichter’s bill, it’s the State of Israel’s. At the end of the process it will not be in my bookshelf, it will be in the book of laws of Israel.”
The latest version of the proposed ‘Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People’BYRaoul WootliffMay 10, 2017, 1:35 pm
The Knesset, Israel’s parliament building in Jerusalem. (Orel Cohen/Flash90)
Raoul Wootliff is The Times of Israel Knesset correspondent.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation voted unanimously in favor of throwing coalition support behind Likud MK Avi Dichter’s Jewish state bill, which, for the first time in Israeli law, would enshrine Israel as “the national home of the Jewish people.” If passed in the Knesset, the law would become one of the so-called Basic Laws, which like a constitution guide Israel’s legal system and are usually more difficult to repeal than regular laws.
Israel’s national identity is mentioned in a number of the country’s laws, but the 11 existing Basic Laws deal mostly with state institutions and Israel’s democratic character. The nation-state bill, proponents say, would put Jewish values and democratic values on equal footing. Critics, however, say the bill effectively discriminates against Israel’s Arab and other minority communities.
According to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation decision, the bill will not go forward as a private member bill, but will instead be reformulated within two months as a government proposal, a move likely to ease its passage through the Knesset.
What follows is a full translation of the bill as presented by Dichter to the cabinet committee:
Basic Law: Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish People
1 — Basic principles
A. The State of Israel is the national home of the Jewish people, in which they realize their aspiration to self-determination in accordance with their cultural and historical heritage.
B. The right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people.
C. The provisions of this Basic Law or any other legislation shall be interpreted in light of what is determined in this paragraph.
2 — Purpose
The purpose of this Basic Law is to defend the character of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, in order to anchor in Israel’s Basic Laws the State of Israel’s values as a Jewish and democratic state, in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel.
3 — The symbols of the state
A. The state anthem is “Hatikvah.”
B. The state flag is white with two blue stripes near the edges & blue Star of David in the center.
C. The state emblem is a seven-branched menorah with olive leaves on both sides and the word “Israel” beneath it.
4 — The capital: Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
5 — Language
A. The state’s language is Hebrew.
B. The Arabic language has a special status, and its speakers have the right to language-accessible state services in their native language, as will be determined by the law.
6 — Return
Every Jew has the right to immigrate to the land [of Israel] and acquire citizenship of the State of Israel in accordance with the law.
7 — Ingathering of the exiles
The State shall act to gather in the exiles of Israel.
8 — Connection to the Jewish people in the Diaspora
A: The State shall act to strengthen the affinity between Israel and the Jewish people in the Diaspora.
B: The State shall act to preserve the cultural & historic heritage of the Jewish people in the Diaspora.
C: The State shall stretch out a hand to members of the Jewish people in trouble or in captivity due to the fact of their Jewishness.
9 — Preserving heritage
A. Every citizen of Israel, regardless of their religion or nationality, has the right to actively preserve their culture, heritage, language and identity.
B. The State may allow a community, including followers of a single religion or members of a single nationality, to establish a separate communal settlement.
10 — Official calendar
The Hebrew calendar is an official calendar of the State.
11 — Independence Day and memorial days
A: Independence Day is the national holiday of the State.
B. Memorial Day for the Fallen in Israel’s Wars and Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day are official memorial days of the State.
12 — Days of rest
The established days of rest in the State of Israel are the Sabbath and the festivals of Israel, during which no employee shall be employed except under conditions set in law. Members of [religious] community groups recognized by law may rest on their festivals.
13 — Hebrew law
Should the court encounter a legal question that demands a ruling and be unable to find an answer through [existing] legislation, legal precedent, or direct deduction, it shall rule in light of the principles of freedom, justice, integrity, and peace contained in the heritage of Israel.
14 — Protection of holy site
The holy sites shall be protected from desecration and all other harm, and from anything that may hinder access to their holy places for members of a religion, or that may offend their sentiments toward those places.
15 — Immutability
This Basic Law shall not be amended, unless by another Basic Law passed by a majority of Knesset members.
3.Mr. Trump, on Jerusalem just do nothing by Ariel Kahana & Friday at Oz veGaonDear friends, Below please find: 1) Details about tomorrow’s lecture at Oz veGaon 2) Ariel Kahana’s article Shabbat shalom, Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar
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**Friday Talk at Oz veGaon with Prof. Moshe Koppel & congratulations on the passing of the law
This coming Friday, the 13th of Iyar, May 12th, Prof. Moshe Koppel, who is head of the Kohelet Forum and a member of the Department of Computer Science at Bar Ilan University, will give a lecture at Oz veGaon at 9:00 am.
The Kohelet Forum is a research institute that acts to ensure the future of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish People as well as to strengthen representative democracy, expand individual liberty & deepen free market principles in Israel. He prepares position papers for decision makers to guard and maintain the identity of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish People.
Topic of the lecture: Legal aspects of normalization & annexation
**Congratulations!
This week, the Nationality Law, which was promoted among others by the Kohelet Forum, was approved by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation. Kudos for the vigorous and persistent activity in achieving the approval of this important law. Special congratulations to Prof. Moshe Koppel, the driving force of the forum.
We are all coming to the lecture! (Despite the bicycle race in Jerusalem & the Gush Etzion – Efrat marathon.) We will all be there!
For transportation: Renee Margolis 052-3294194
Yehudit Katsover 050-7161818 Nadia Matar 050-5500834
www.womeningreen.orgwww.ribonut.co.il
============================================= 3A.Mr. Trump, on Jerusalem just do nothing by Ariel Kahana May 10, 2017
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/mr-trump-on-jerusalem-just-do-nothing/
We are one step away from what might be a historic moment without us realizing it. Near the end of this month, President Donald Trump will visit Israel for the first time. Also at the end of this month, Israel will celebrate its 50th anniversary of the liberation & reunification of Jerusalem. At the same time, President Trump will have to decide whether or not to execute the “Jerusalem Embassy Act”.
This 1995 legislation that was approved by the vast majority of Congress says the following:
(1) Jerusalem should remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected
(2) Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel
(3) The United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem
Although the wording clearly mandates the embassy should be relocated from its current position in Tel Aviv, Presidents Obama, Bush & Clinton broke their campaign promises and signed waivers to suspend this act every six months during their terms, for a total of 36 waivers so far. The Washington establishment had told them that recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital would harm the peace process. None of the three former presidents executed the “Jerusalem Embassy Act”, nor did they bring peace.
Many US presidents have launched Middle East peace initiatives during their terms, including Obama, G.W. Bush, Clinton, H.W. Bush, Reagan and Ford. All of the initiatives collapsed. Peace was only made when the two sides sat down together without using brokers, namely the peace deals with Jordan and Egypt. Not only did those respected US presidents not make history in the Middle East, they also failed to do right by Israel.
But doing right is exactly the tremendous opportunity President Trump now has. It is up to President Trump whether or not he wants to secure his place in history. He can continue the unsuccessful legacies of his predecessors. Alternatively, he can try doing something different, an
option that will put him in the same position as President Truman, who recognized the State of Israel eight minutes after it was established.
Just as everybody remembers the president who recognized Israel, they will remember the president who recognized Jerusalem. If President Trump upgrades the status of Jerusalem, he will be remembered as a great leader for many years to come.
As Jews, we remember certain foreign leaders favorably for the good they did on behalf of the Jewish people throughout history. Cyrus the Great allowed us to build the Second Temple. Although he conquered the world, Alexander the Great treated all nations equally and respected
the Jews for their religion. Napoleon wanted our people to come back to their homeland. Lord Balfour established the diplomatic basis for creating the State of Israel.
In all those cases, advisors and experts urged them not to do what we know today surely had to be done. In fact, all those historical figures went against the stream. And that is why President Trump is the right person at the right time for the job of moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, thereby recognizing Jerusalem as a united city under Israeli sovereignty.
It’s not only the Jews who want this to happen. Hundreds of millions of people around the globe are desperate to see Jerusalem in the hands of its rightful owners. Such a move will send a clear message to the entire world that this president stands for what is right; he stands by his word; he is unafraid to do what he believes should be done (such as ordering the missile strike in Syria) even if it means going against the Washington establishment or swimming against the stream.
This action will also clarify to the Islamic extremists that the United States backs countries that grant true religious freedom to all people and respect all religions (unlike the Palestinian Authority
which pushes Christians out of its territory). Such a move will put President Trump on the right side of history.
It’s well known that Arab countries might not like the decision. Then again, they didn’t like the establishment of the State of Israel, either. And when it comes to the peace process, it is clear that a
deal with the Palestinians is unobtainable in any case. So why not do the right thing in the meantime? It’s better both for the president and for the US to use the bird in their hand now rather than chasing after the elusive one in the bush.
In order to make history, all President Trump has to do is…nothing. He should simply not sign the waiver, thereby enabling the legislation to come into force. In this context, the other option, that of actively signing the waiver that will once again prevent Jerusalem from receiving the status it deserves, is inconceivable. Mr. Trump, on Jerusalem just do nothing by Ariel Kahana PM calls on all Zionist parties to support Nationality Law, says response to visits by German politicians necessary to gain respect. Arutz Sheva Staff,08/05/17 16:15 Share  PM at Likud faction meeting – no credit Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opened the Likud faction meeting on Monday afternoon to congratulate the faction members on the occasion of the opening of the Knesset’s summer conference today. The prime minister made it clear that the Likud will continue to advance the Nationality Law at the Knesset’s summer conference. “We continue to lead the country in our own way, in the path of the Likud.” “There is no contradiction between the Nationality Law and equal rights for all Israeli citizens,” he said at the opening of the meeting. “I expect all the Zionist parties to support the bill.” The Prime Minister also referred to the visit of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Israel and hinted at his decision not to meet with representatives of radical Leftist organizations during his visit, “I highly appreciate not only his meeting with me but also the way he conducted his entire visit to Israel.” “The countries of the world respect those who respect themselves. I’m not sanctimonious and I don’t just bend over, so I acted [as I saw fit] and will continue to do so,” Netanyahu said. 5.‘The Trump administration needs to think outside the box’ Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked: US needs to understand that we won’t agree to 2 states. ‘They shouldn’t be captive to paradigms of the previous administration. By Eliran Aharon, New York, Arutz Sheva May 11, 2017 e Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked – Eliran Aharon Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, who is at the moment in New York, spoke with Arutz Sheva about the planned visit of US President Donald Trump to Israel. “It’s nothing new that the 2-state solution is completely out of the question as far as we’re concerned. I hope the Trump administration will think outside of the box,” she said. “When they talk about a ‘deal,’ it’s not necessarily a political deal, but maybe regional economic peace which could be interesting. I hope that Trump will think outside of the box and that this administration will not be held captive to the paradigms of the previous administration.” She noted the significance of Trump’s arrival in Israel at the time of Jerusalem Day. “I don’t know if it was planned that way, but it’s certainly symbolic,” she said. “There’s a new administration and a positive atmosphere and I think a lot of good things can come out of it,” she said, adding that she is to meet with the US head of the Justice Department and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “We will speak about cooperation that we can have and the struggle against incitement on the internet and the funding of terror. I think that the Attorney General is a great friend of Israel and that it will be possible to work together on matters important both to Israel and the US.” ‘The Trump administration needs to think outside the box’ |
6.Trump visit for Jerusalem Day is incredible’
US pro-Israel activist says President Donald Trump visiting Israel close to 50th anniversary of Jerusalem’s reunification is momentous By Eliran Baruch, Arutz Sheva 10/05/17 17:46
https://youtu.be/wyk-MdK8QSY Dr. Joseph Frager’s YouTube
https://youtu.be/wyk-MdK8QSYttps://youtu.be/wyk-MdK8QSYharehttps://you
tu.be/wyk-
Arutz Sheva spoke with American pro-Israel activist Dr Joseph Frager about US President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to Israel.
“I think it is incredible that the President of the United States wants to come to Israel on [what is] probably one of the happiest days in Israel’s existence, the 50th anniversary of Yerushalyim’s (Jerusalem) reunification, liberation,” Dr. Frager said.
“He (Trump) knows how important it is to the Jewish people,” he added. “I think you have to give the president a lot of credit for wanting to be in Israel at this momentous and propitious occasion. It says a lot. And I guarantee you that our enemies are taking notice.”
Dr. Frager said that Trump is more pro-Israel than previous administrations. “It’s an incredible step forward, and compared to the last eight years, we’re seeing a sea change in the presidency and in the administration.”
However, he does not believe that Trump’s efforts to restart the stagnant peace process will be successful. “Mahmoud Abbas to me is a terrorist and someone who you really cannot make a peace deal with. I give the president credit for trying. You got to try, but I don’t think that it will succeed.”
Dr. Frager said that he does not believe that Trump will apply undo pressure on Israel to save the peace negotiations as past administrations did. “I don’t think he’s going to push Israel to do a deal if Israel doesn’t think it’s going to be helpful or beneficial or bring peace. I don’t think he’s the type of president who will apply pressure the way President [Barack] Obama did.”
‘Trump visit for Jerusalem Day is incredible’
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said the Arabs teach their children to love peace – but video footage shows a different picture.Channel 20, May 10, 2017 Share https://youtu.be/rbyrPUP218Q 
This is how Arabs teach their children to destroy Israel – Channel 20 screenshot Special footage received byChannel 20from the Center for Near East Policy Research gives viewers a glimpse into the classrooms and hallways of UNRWA schools. “I am in favor of stabbing attacks, because they scare Jews,” Ahmad Diamiya, a student at an UNRWA school, told his interviewer. “We are fighting the Jews so we can get our land back, and we fight using terror attacks such as stabbing, ramming, shooting, and stone throwing,” another student said. Mohammed Qashur of Jerusalem’s Shuafat neighborhood said, “I am in favor of stabbing attacks, and I support anyone who stabs them (the Jews). I am thinking of stabbing them, and I want to be a halal (shahid).” In UNRWA’s Lata school, near Shechem (Nablus), the teacher can be seen indoctrinating the children on the subject of “Palestine’s” ideal future borders – which do not include a place for Israel. Leading the students in a chant, the teacher says, and the students repeat after her, “Arab Palestine from river to sea!” and “Return Haifa and Akko (Acre)!” You can watch the Hebrew-language video here: Video Player 01:35| 02:07 Here is a similar video in English: Tags: Incitement,UNRWAShare Related Stories· ‘The Palestinians must teach their children peace’ · ‘The UN is no longer the Palestinians’ playground’ · Trump raised issue of terrorist payments with Abbas · ‘Reporter who pulled anti-haredi stunt must be fired’ · UNRWA staffer out after alleged Hamas ties · ‘Don’t advertise in Haaretz!’ · ‘A betrayal of the Palestinian narrative’ · ‘Ha’aretz newspaper surprises with new low’ Jerusalem Arabs enraged by idea of Passover on Temple Mount 8.Arab planned to blow up military court Arrived at Samaria military court checkpoint with two concealed pipe bombs.By Mordechai Sones, Arutz Sheva May 10, 2017 Share 
Pipe bomb – Stock An Arab arrived Wednesday at the Samaria military court near the village of Salem, with two pipe bombs hidden in his clothes. The Arab arrived at one of the military court’s checkpoints seeking to enter. He claimed that he did not have an identity card and aroused suspicions of the soldiers there. In their search, two pipe bombs were found hidden in his clothes. An initial investigation revealed that the Arab apparently wanted to explode the devices inside the military court to harm the security forces there. The terrorist, a resident of the Jenin refugee camp, was arrested for further investigation by security forces. Border Police sappers neutralized the charges. 
??????? – ?????: ?????? ?????? Arab planned to blow up Samaria military court 9.‘There are no settlements’ Israeli Ambassador to Brazil Yossi Shelley tells Brazillian newspaper there are no settlements, but ‘areas under war.’JTA, 10/05/17 19:30 Share 
View from Tekoa in northern Judean desert-Nati Shohat/Flash 90 Israel’s new ambassador to Brazil, whose nomination replaced that of a former leader of the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria, which was rejected by Latin America’s largest country, declared that the Jewish state does not have settlements in Judea and Samaria. Yossi Shelley, a Likud party activist and former businessman, assumed the ambassador position in January, putting an end to a yearlong diplomatic standoff. “Israel has no settlements, but areas under war,” Shelley said Tuesday during an interview with O Globo newspaper, the first of his term. “We do not recognize the occupation, as journalists and politicians say, but rather the international law. Of course we want to solve the problem.” Brasilia took several months to rebuff ex-settler leader Dani Dayan as Israel’s choice to succeed Reda Mansour, a much criticized strategy of former President Dilma Rousseff, whose Worker’s Party had an openly anti-Israel platform. Rousseff was impeached and removed from office in August. Shelley said he wishes to focus on economic ties with Latin America’s largest nation and expects a more amicable relationship with President Michel Temer in order to boost bilateral trade. “It was sad that politics influenced the relationship between two democratic nations,” he said. “Israel did not send a criminal or someone illegitimate. Sometimes one may not to judge whether he lives in the settlements, as they call them, because international law stipulates that these are not occupied territories but rather in dispute. There can be no discrimination. “I am here to protect Israeli interests: against the Arab countries that, instead of building themselves as we are, have been going to the U.N. all the time to say that the Israelis attack, they are bad people and do not know how to deal with human rights.” On Sunday, Shelley joined some 2,000 people during a celebration of Israel’s Independence Day in Rio, including the city’s pro-Israel mayor, who spoke up for the Jewish state. Brazil is home to some 120,000 Jews, Latin America’s second-largest Jewish community after Argentina. ‘There are no settlements’ 
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Steven Emerson, Executive Director | May 8, 2017 |
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10.Palestinians Use Deception for Greater Acceptance by Noah Beck, Special to IPT News, May 8, 2017 https://www.investigativeproject.org/6100/palestinians-use-deception-for-greater-acceptance 
Screenshot: President Trump Meets with President Abbas – whitehouse.gov |
The two main political groups that claim to represent Palestinians – the Islamist terror group Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) – have embarked on new campaigns of deception in order to gain greater international acceptance. PA President Mahmoud Abbas met with President Donald Trump last week to discuss the peace process. He blatantly lied throughout his public remarks. Speaking before Abbas, Trump said that “there cannot be lasting peace unless the Palestinian leaders speak in a unified voice against incitement to…violence and hate…All children of God must be taught to value and respect human life, and condemn all of those who target the innocent.” Abbas then made statements that seemed intended to allay Trump’s fears: “I affirm to you that we are raising our youth, our children, our grandchildren on a culture of peace,” Abbas said. “And we are endeavoring to bring about security, freedom and peace for our children to live like the other children in the world, along with the Israeli children in peace, freedom and security.” Apparently anticipating that Abbas would promote such falsehoods to Trump and the American public, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared a video on his Facebook page exposing the extent of Abbas’ lies. The video montage shows several examples of Palestinian incitement to violence – including by Abbas himself – and the indoctrination of children to hate and attack Jews. “Our strategic choice is to bring about peace based on the vision of the two-state,” Abbas declared alongside Trump. “A Palestinian state with its capital of East Jerusalem that lives in peace and stability with the state of Israel based on the borders of 1967.” But Netanyahu’s video shows Palestinian children being taught that “Palestine is an Arab land from the river to the sea,” effectively brainwashing them to reject the territorial compromise required by the two-state solution Abbas claims to accept. That anti-peace, anti-Israel message extends far beyond the classroom. “Every grain of soil in Palestine is ours… Haifa, and Jaffa, and Acre,” (all cities in Israel), Najeh Bakirat, a religious leader and the head of the Waqf’s Al-Aqsa Academy of Heritage and Antiquities said last June. “Therefore it is forbidden to relinquish a single grain of its soil,” Bakirat continued, in his remarks titled “Palestine in the Quran,” which were broadcast on official PA TV. While the Fatah-affiliated PA likes to present itself as more moderate than Hamas, its rejection of Israel is essentially the same. “The Fatah Movement never demanded that Hamas recognize Israel,” said Fatah Central Committee member and Commissioner of Treasury and Economy Muhammad Shtayyeh, on official Palestinian Authority TV last March. “To this moment, Fatah does not recognize Israel. The topic of recognition of Israel has not been raised in any of Fatah’s conferences.” Abbas also didn’t let truth get in the way of his breathtakingly false statement, made before Trump and the U.S. media, that the Palestinians “are the only remaining people in the world that still live under occupation.” The Tibetans, Kurds, and Cypriots are just a few of the many groups who would disagree. Trump “raised concerns about the payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails who have committed acts of terror,” said White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. But a senior PA official rejected the idea as “insane,” claiming that PA payments to imprisoned terrorists are like salaries paid to IDF soldiers. Just days before Abbas met Trump, senior Fatah leader Rawhi Fattouh even argued that donor countries should welcome PA payments to terrorists because this practice promotes peace by keeping the Palestinian terrorists from joining “ISIS or any other extremist party.” A few weeks before the Trump-Abbas meeting, the Palestinian Information Center called Tel-Aviv a “settlement” in a tweet, implying that even Israel’s commercial capital – considered well within Israel proper by international consensus – should be part of a future Palestine. Josh Block, head of The Israel Project, uncovered the tweet, which was released on Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Palestinian Information Center tweet referred to the “so-called Holocaust.” The other major Palestinian faction, the Islamist terror group Hamas, has also launched a new campaign of deception to improve its fortunes – this one targeting Muslim powers. Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal unveiled a “document of general policy principles” at a press conference last Monday that appeared to moderate its anti-Semitic and genocidal charter. But, as journalist and Mideast expert Avi Issacharoff reported, it included no substantive changes (as confirmed in this more detailed analysis) and was designed merely to improve “public relations during one of the terror group’s lowest points.” “Gulf states are closing the funding taps one by one and income from inside Gaza is dropping,” Issacharoff wrote. “It is for this reason that the need arose to present a ‘friendlier face’ to the world via this document of principles.” Issacharoff calls it “a masterful example of verbal acrobatics in the Arabic language … There is no direct call to eradicate the state of Israel, but recognition of the Jewish State is prohibited and liberated Palestine is to stretch from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.” The Israeli government swiftly dismissed Hamas’ charter revisions: “the group is trying to delude the world but it won’t succeed,” said a Netanyahu spokesman. “It builds terror tunnels and launches rockets — that’s the true Hamas.” Hamas also is trying to win hearts and minds in the European Union, which designated the Hamas military and political wings as a terrorist group in 2001 and 2003, respectively. As Issacharoff reports elsewhere, throughout Europe Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood have created a network of schools, mosques, charities and other civil organizations. That network includes “student associations in every well-known university in Europe. Recently, Muslim ‘human rights’ groups have been established that work to strengthen support for the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.” Issacharoff notes that Britain is “hosting more of this semi-official activity by Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood than any other country in Europe.” Despite the EU’s terror designation, Hamas also has a foothold in Germany, which reportedly harbors some 300 “members and supporters” of Hamas (along with 900 members of Hizballah “activists and members”). Its verbal and organizational deceptions aside, Hamas’ actions confirm that nothing has changed about the group’s bloodthirsty, fanatical, and cynical nature. Last month, the group used a girl with cancer to smuggle explosives into Israel for a future terror attack. Hamas accuses Abbas of “crimes against humanity” for his refusal to pay for Gaza’s electricity as part of Fatah’s struggle to regain control of Gaza. But Gaza’s water and power crises are a direct result of Hamas’ corruption, mismanagement, and diversion of humanitarian funds for terrorist purposes. Nearly three years after Hamas launched its disastrous 2014 war with Israel, thousands of homes damaged in the conflict – estimated at 60 percent of the total – remain unrepaired because of Hamas policies. Hamas has proven repeatedly that its commitment to jihad against Israel matters more than the welfare of the people it rules. So when Abbas or Hamas appear to be moderating for an audience with President Trump or others from whom support is sought, the focus should be on deeds, rather than words. Noah Beck is the author of The Last Israelis, an apocalyptic novel about Iranian nukes and other geopolitical issues in the Middle East. |
Palestinians Use Deception for Greater Acceptance
11.’We should tell the truth: There will be no Palestinian state’
Jewish Home chairman says Israel should welcome peace negotiations but refuse preconditions. By Eliran Aharon,08/05/17 01:07 Share
https://youtu.be/tSywn8kt4b0
Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett said on Sunday that Israel should make clear to U.S. President Donald Trump, during his upcoming visit to Israel, that while it is open for negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA), it opposes preconditions.
“President Trump is certainly a great friend to Israel and we’re very happy to have him over in Israel, and we’re always open to negotiations, but what we will not have is preconditions or pre-concessions,” he told Arutz Sheva on the sidelines of the Jerusalem Post conference in New York.
“We’re not going to give up territory. We’re not going to give gifts for the huge opportunity to talk to the Arabs. I think it’s important that we focus on building a powerful economy, high tech entrepreneurship and co-existence with our neighbors, but everyone knows we’re not going to form another Palestinian state,” added Bennett.
“I did a lot of business in America. I lived in Manhattan for five years and did dozens of deals. What Americans appreciate is candor, is honesty, integrity, and to tell the truth. And we are telling the truth. And the truth is that we will not divide Jerusalem. The Arabs don’t want Israel. It’s not about a Palestinian state. It’s about our very existence. We’re going to have to learn to live together, but we’re not going to found another Palestinian state beyond the one in Gaza,” he reiterated.
“Unfortunately, the Prime Minister’s perception is different. That is legitimate. This is his position. I think that ultimately, the Prime Minister should adopt our perception that between the sea and the Jordan there will not be a Palestinian state. A Palestinian state will flood the State of Israel with refugees and will also constitute a security disaster,” warned Bennett.
‘We should tell the truth: There will be no Palestinian state’
Banning US and Israel aircraft from the airspace of a Palestinian Arab state is a realistic outcome of the 2-state solution. 5/11/17 Share
Mark Langfan is Chairman of Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI) and specializes in security issues, has created an original educational 3d Topographic Map System of Israel to facilitate clear understanding of the dangers facing Israel and its water supply. It has been studied by US lawmakers and can be seen at www.marklangfan.com.
Imagine that, with the wave of Putin’s hand, Iran, Turkey, and Russia trilaterally “decide” that the United States is banned from all the western Syrian “safe spaces.” So with the international “legal” backing of the genocidal mass-murdering Syrian President Assad, Russia has disallowed the United States from entering the western areas of Syria. What now? Is Russia going to shoot down an American fighter jet that strays into Russia’s declared “safe areas”?
That is just the predicate example of what “airspace” really means. Applied to a Palestinian State in the so-called “West Bank”, if Israel commits self-suicide and allows the creation of a Palestine-West Bank state, what’s to stop Mahmoud Abbas, as Palestine’s future “President” from inviting Russia, Iran, Turkey or Pakistan into its territory and declaring his airspace “off-limits” to Israeli and or American planes? Nothing.
First, if Russia has the chutzpah to declare western Syrian airspace “off-limits” to the world’s largest superpower, the United States of America, then Pakistan or Turkey or Iran either individually or in concert could and would declare a Palestinian Arab State “off-limits” to Israeli planes. Whether or not Trump promptly and properly disregards Putin’s red-line in Syria, America is a super nuclear power with thousands of nukes, Israel is Israel, and doesn’t even sit on the UN Security Council, let alone is it armed with an absolute veto-power. Would little tiny Israel risk starting a war with Pakistan, a nuclear-weapons’ state, over the “West Bank” Palestinian State’s Airspace? Somehow, I don’t think so.
Russia’s banning of the United States from Syrian air-space makes mockery out of PM Netanyahu’s 2009 Bar Ilan Two-State speech “condition” that in any Palestinian Arab State deal, Israel had to retain control of the “West Bank” Palestinian airspace.
The Israeli demand is impractical on its face. How is Israel going to give up virtually the entire “West Bank” (Judea and Samaria) land mass, and then succeed in keeping the “West Bank” airspace? It’s well-nigh ludicrous to imagine Israel’s control over Palestine’s airspace lasting more than 10 nano-seconds. And that’s assuming the Palestinian Arabs would ever agree to that condition in the first place, because any Palestinian Arab leader who agreed to allow Israel control over Palestine’s airspace would soon be a very dead leader.
What does the airspace of the “West Bank” look like? From my 1993 graphic illustrations, there are several schematic drawings of what Israel looks like without the airspace of the “West Bank”. (Figures 10 and 11 It’s pretty gruesome. Tel Aviv is essentially cut off from Ramat David to the north, and defenseless from the East.
Israel or America’s concern? – Mark Langfan
MK EREL MARGALIT
UNDER the slogan “The Leftists are coming back” and backed by a YouTube video attacking Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for “shattering to smithereens the fragile mosaic of Israel’s society”, Erel Margalit, a member of parliament, last month launched his campaign for leadership of Israel’s Labour Party. The message was security-orientated, focusing on how Israel’s “leftists” had built the Jewish state, its security forces and its nuclear capabilities.
But Mr Margalit is not a former member of the security establishment, one of the generations of retired Israeli generals who once made the easy transition to politics. As the founding partner of Jerusalem Venture Partners, he was a central figure in the Israeli venture-capital sector which helped finance the thousands of tech startups that have revolutionised Israel’s economy over the past two decades.
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Margalist is one of a handful of high-tech entrepreneurs now vying for national leadership. The group includes Jerusalem’s mayor, Nir Barkat, who entered local politics after a successful career as an investor in technology companies and is now planning his own bid for the leadership of the ruling Likud party. Another tech man with prime-ministerial ambitions is the leader of the Jewish Home Party, Naftali Bennett, who founded one successful software firm and ran another before entering politics.
For over half a century, the Israel Defence Forces’ high command was a breeding-ground for Israel’s political leaders. The first of dozens of retired generals to enter politics was Moshe Dayan, less than two years out of uniform, in 1959: he went on to serve as defence minister and as foreign minister. Since then 11 of the 20 former chiefs of staff of the Israeli army have gone on to serve in the Knesset. Most reached senior ministerial positions; two, Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak, became prime minister.
But Israeli politics has changed dramatically in recent years. The main parties’ leaders and candidate lists are no longer decided in smoke-filled rooms, but in party-wide primaries. Senior officers, used to having thousands of soldiers carry out their orders unquestioningly, are ill-equipped for the media circus and patient lobbying that accompanies political advancement. A series of popular generals who left military service in recent years and were expected to become political stars have remained outside the fray. For a year now, and for the first time in nearly six decades, there has been not a single ex-chief of staff in the Knesset. Only one retired general serves in cabinet; just two more sit on the backbenches.
Labour, the party which basically founded the Jewish State, is going through yet another period of bloodletting. Since the last Labour prime minister lost power, Ehud Barak, another general, in 2001, it has changed leaders seven times. Trailing badly in the polls under the lackluster leadership of Yitzhak Herzog, nine candidates are running in the leadership election to take place on July 4th, including Mr Herzog. Only one of them, Amiram Levin, is a former general, and he retired from service 20 years ago. None of the younger generation of military leaders seems interested in trying to salvage the old party of power.
“The army is still an admired institution in today’s Israeli society but it’s no longer immune from public scrutiny,” says Yagil Levy, an expert on Israel’s military-political relationship at the Open University. (There have been a number of scandals, as well as growing criticism of military behaviour in the West Bank.) “This has scratched the generals’ image and the high-tech entrepreneurs are now the shining Israeli success story and it could be their moment.” They also have independent sources of income to finance glitzy primary campaigns. But they also have a lot to lose. “We succeeded in business by detaching ourselves from the old establishment and learning a new way of doing things. Going into politics means taking on that establishment again,” says Mr Margalit. Only a few have braved the waters so far; more might make for new ways of thinking about economic problems like poor labour participation rates and political ones such as the deadlock in the occupied territories.
Businessmen start to replace soldiers as Israel’s political heroes
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