www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

T. Belman. I posted this a couple of days ago before reading it. I made it current because I want every one to read it. Bennett expounds on his governing philosophy, deal harshly with bad Arabs and support the good Arabs, He continues to advocate for better education for Arabs, for integrating them into the workforce and for improving their infrastructure.  As for J&S he wants to forget about the peace process, to annex area C and to make life better for Arabs in A and B and never leave J&S.  Sounds good to me.  He would make an excellent Prime Minister.

The Jewish Home leader says Israel must retain the West Bank ‘forever,’ should do more for its Arab community, cannot allow Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount

BY DAVID HOROVITZ, TOI

Naftali Bennett has a bit of a cold when he sits down for an interview with The Times of Israel in his Knesset office on Monday. He may have caught it a day earlier, when he led a solidarity run through central Tel Aviv — designed to show that the streets were safe, even with Friday’s Dizengoff Street killer still on the loose.

Education Minister Bennett’s athletic response to the Dizengoff attack, which was allegedly perpetrated by Arab-Israeli Nashat Milhem, made for quite a contrast with that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who came to the scene of the crime on Saturday night and issued a bitter denunciation of lawlessness, disloyalty and incitement against Israel within Arab-Israeli society. And in our interview, Bennett was strikingly upbeat about Israeli Arabs. “Israeli-Arab society is in a very positive trend,” he said, calling Friday’s attack “an anomaly” and stressing that the Israeli-Arab “mainstream wants to be part of Israeli society.” Read more…

In three-month wave of Arab terror, close to 1,000 attacks have been reported; 29 Jews have been killed and 491 injured.

ARUTZ SHEVA

The current wave of Arab terror has continued for over three months, and has kept up a steady pace of attacks which often occur multiple times per day.

So far there have been close to 1,000 security incidents since the middle of September when the attacks began. Of those, 296 incidents included injuries or fatalities. 29 Jews have been killed and 491 injured, of whom 342 have been civilians.
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By JTA

A prominent Israeli campaigner for Palestinian rights was recorded saying that he helps Palestinian authorities find and kill Palestinians who sell land to Jews.

The recording was aired Thursday by the television program Uvda of Israel’s Channel 2. In it, Ezra Nawi, a Jewish far-left activist from the Ta’ayush group, is heard speaking about four Palestinian real-estate sellers, whom Nawi said mistook him for a Jew interested in buying their property.
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By Shoshana Bryen, AMERICAN THINKER

With legitimate state authorities unraveling in the Mideast, the big winners are ISIS and Al-Qaida, as well as Iran, the former CIA director says. But even with chaos in the region, Israel should institute confidence-building measures vis-a-vis the Palestinians.

By Amir Orin, HAARETZ

When David Howell Petraeus was writing his doctoral thesis at Princeton University, on how the lessons of the Vietnam War shaped the relations between the military and civilian echelons in Washington, he came across a remark by his father-in-law, who also happened to be superintendent of West Point Military Academy when Petraeus was at the outset of his U.S. Army career there. “Those who ordered the meal,” retired General William A. Knowlton reminded young officers in 1985, about that war, “were not there when the waiter brought the check.” Read more…

by David P. Goldman, ASIA TIMES

^{Excerpt of article originally published under the title “Saudi Arabia Stews in Policy Hell.”}

Last week’s mass executions in Saudi Arabia suggest panic at the highest level of the monarchy. The action is without precedent, even by the grim standards of Saudi repression. In 1980 Riyadh killed 63 jihadists who had attacked the Grand Mosque of Mecca, but that was fresh after the event. Most of the 47 prisoners shot and beheaded on Jan. 2 had sat in Saudi jails for a decade. The decision to kill the prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr, the most prominent spokesman for restive Saudi Shia Muslims in Eastern Province, betrays fear of subversion with Iranian sponsorship.
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The fate the next Lebanon war spells for Iran’s troublesome regional proxy.

By Ari Lieberman,FPM

On January 4, Iran’s Shiite Lebanese mercenary force, Hezbollah, detonated a large explosive device on the Lebanon-Israel border in the Mount Dov region. Their target was a pair of Israeli D-9 armored bulldozers clearing the area of brush and other obstructions. There were no Israeli casualties.

Israel had anticipated an attack from Hezbollah following its liquidation of Samir Kuntar – the notorious child-killer turned Hezbollah commander – and other senior pro-Assad mercenaries in a Damascus suburb on December 19, 2015. Israel’s Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot warned Hezbollah of “harsh” consequences if the group decided to initiate a terror attack to avenge Kuntar.
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IDF’s Stance on Palestinian Authority Could Trigger Discord With Netanyahu, Ya’alon

By Amos Harel, HAARETZ

Israeli security officials: Abbas cracking down on violence, gestures to PA are urgent.

Jerusalem car-ramming attack shows Israel still cannot thwart lone assailants
A change in Israeli policy: IDF returning Palestinian assailants’ bodies to families
Very quietly, with little media coverage, the Israel Defense Forces this week returned dozens of bodies of attackers killed in the West Bank over the last three months to the Palestinian Authority.
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Mike Nichols passed away a few months ago.

Op-ed: Studies clearly show that Israel’s Arab citizens play a minimal part in terror, despite collective feelings that have a potential for radicalization and revolt; the government must encourage their adaptation processes.

By Ronni Shaked, YNET

It’s hard to be both an Arab and a Muslim, as well as an Israeli citizen. It’s hard to be a citizen in a state which is your people’s enemy of your people, in which institutions discriminate against you, many groups among its majority see you as a danger, and the government places you at the bottom of its list of priorities. It’s hard to live with complex identities and a dilemma of loyalties.

Make no mistake: In their ethnic national identity, Israel’s Arabs are Palestinians just like their brethren in Nablus, Hebron and Gaza, or those living in Jordan and Lebanon. The reality of their lives as Israeli citizens was forced on them in 1948 as a result of the State’s establishment, and the Oslo Agreements imposed their future within the State of Israel, as the PLO’s recognition of Israel set the borders of the Palestinian political battle to the 1967 lines and excluded them from the diplomatic-political solution of their national movement. They remain part of the conflict problem but not part of its solution.
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By Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, JINSA

Russia’s engagement in the Syrian Civil War is nothing new. Since the very beginning of the conflict, Russian experts have been present on the ground and advanced Russian weaponry, including SA-17 and SA-22 surface-to-air missiles, has been flowing into the country. Russia has also provided the Assad regime with light arms and ammunition. Without this support, Assad would already have fallen.

So what sparked even greater Russian involvement in Syria? Why did the Russians change their strategy, to include such major undertakings like deploying their air force and using submarine-launched cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea?
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By Shlomo Cesana, ISRAEL HAYOM

Not afraid to make far-reaching decisions. Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely

On the face of things, Israel’s standing in the international arena has never been worse. The media and other outlets, mainly from the left side of the political spectrum, are telling us that the world actively wants us to settle the conflict with the Palestinians and that the international arena is getting behind the Palestinian demand that Israel withdraw to the 1967 borders. They constantly remind us that there are no international embassies in Israel’s capital — Jerusalem. They note that the U.S. and the EU consistently condemn Israeli construction and sovereignty in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. Certain organizations talk about imposing sanctions on Israel and blast our policies as a matter of routine.
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Nashat Milhem tracked down in Wadi Ara, opens fire on forces and is killed, a week after he killed 3 in Tel Aviv; five people arrested

BY ADIV STERMAN AND JUDAH ARI GROSS, TOI

Nashat Milhem, the gunman who killed three Israelis last week in Tel Aviv, was shot and killed by Israeli forces in an exchange of fire in northern Israel on Friday afternoon.

He was located near his home in the Arara area. Initial reports said he had been “neutralized.” It was later confirmed that he had been killed at about 4.20 p.m.
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Troops at junction of Etzion settlement bloc thwart attack by trio from nearby village; another Palestinian tries stabbing near Hebron, is killed

By SUE SURKES, TOI

Israeli reservist soldiers on Thursday shot dead three Palestinians as they tried to carry out a stabbing attack near the junction of the Etzion settlement bloc in the West Bank.

“Three attackers, armed with knives, attempted to stab soldiers guarding the Gush Etzion junction,” the IDF said in a statement, and confirmed that all three attackers had been killed. No one else was wounded in the incident.
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T. Belman. I find this alarming. I do not want Israel to become a state of the Hareidi but to remain a state of all the Jews. The Hereidi are already too powerful and are not pulling their economic weight. Besides the Hereidim have some trouble with the state of Israel and are not committed to the state keeping Judea and Samaria..

Why the two-state solution is even less likely today

BY PADRAIG O’MALLEY, NEW REPUBLIC

Many obstacles stand in the way of a two-state solution to the conflict in Israel and Palestine.

At the moment, negotiations are a nonstarter for all parties.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has only a razor-thin majority in one of the most right-wing Knessets in Israeli history. President Barack Obama has tossed the ball to his successor. Recently, accounts have emerged of the U.S. administration giving up on there ever being two states and beginning to focus on what a one-state solution looks like. And then there’s the ongoing violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank that has been called “a leaderless intifada.” This violence has cemented additional layers of distrust of Palestinians to the ones Jewish Israelis already harbor. The hatred is calcifying.
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Unification of Israel and Judea & Samaria

By Dr Michael L. Wise (Original November 2003)

THE POLITICAL DIVIDE 

The political division within Israel was highlighted in May 2003, Prime Minister Sharon said, “You cannot like the word, but what is happening (in Gaza, Judea & Samaria) is an occupation — to hold 3.5 million[i] (sic) Palestinians under occupation I believe that is a terrible thing for Israel and for the Palestinians.” With much fanfare and protest, in a first step to end the occupation, in 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza.

The political divide of Israel has a long and ancient history. Tribal conflicts in the time of Joshua to the division of the country between the Kingdom of Judea and the Kingdom of Israel to the destruction of the second Temple in 70 CE to the Bar Kochba revolt weakened the nation. The political disputes of modern Zionism between Weizmann and Ben Gurion and the revisionists reflected deep divisions within the Yishuv.
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The attempt to equate Arab terrorism against Jews with Jewish “terror” against Arabs is playing right into the hands of Israel’s most vehement detractors.

By Martin Sherman, JPOST

The cumulative feeling left by this [Duma] case is… something that ought to worry every Israeli citizen. – Haaretz, January 5

The house had been set on fire by men who… are believed to be Jewish settlers.… Eyewitnesses saw FOUR men, who fled to the settlement of Ma’aleh Efraim. – Amy Davidson, “A Toddler Dies in the West Bank,” The New Yorker, July 31

Two witnesses said they saw TWO masked men outside the house watching as the family burned. – Jodi Rudoren et al, “Jewish Arsonists Suspected in West Bank Attack That Killed Palestinian Toddler,” The New York Times, July 31
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T. Belman. Savir is wrong to write, “Israel is exploiting the status quo to prevent Palestinian statehood through massive settlement expansion”.  If only. In fact the opposite is true. The Arabs are building more houses in Area C, illegally, I might add than Israel is building units for Jews.  This article also ignores that this is an election year in the US.  If the PA was serious about doing this, they would have done it during  Obama’s presidency rather than wait for a potential Republican administration.  In any event they will wait to see who gets elected.

by Uri Savir, al Monitor

In the West Bank these days, one thing is clear: The current status quo of random terror by individuals and a Palestinian Authority (PA) cooperating on terror prevention with Israel will not be maintained for long. The Palestinian street buzzes with rumors about a third intifada, the downfall of President Mahmoud Abbas and the collapse of the PA. All this speculation is grounded in realistic analysis of where the current Palestinian despair may lead.

The Palestinian leadership has a tentative strategy in place for the dismantlement of the Palestinian Authority and the establishment of a state under Israeli occupation.

A senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Fatah Central Committee told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Abbas may be forced to make good on the warning given in his speech to the UN General Assembly Sept. 30 and pass responsibility over the West Bank to Israel as the occupying power.
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AMEN TO THAT

Sources reveal Cairo has been worriedly asking for clarification over reports that Israel will lift Gaza blockade, let Turkey into Gaza.

By Ari Yashar, INN

Egypt recently contacted Israel requesting clarification over the rapprochement talks Jerusalem is holding with Turkey, it was revealed on Thursday.

Senior clerks in Jerusalem told Haaretz on condition of anonymity that the Egyptian government expressed its displeasure with the notion of Turkey being given an official role in Gaza, and further asked to clarify Israel’s intentions regarding Turkey’s demand to lift the naval blockade on the Hamas-run enclave.
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