Settlers claim pending construction freeze beginning; Peace Now says building is still going on.

By Tova Lazeroff, JPOST

Judea and Samaria construction dropped sharply, by 62.4 percent in the first three quarters of 2014, even as the international community has increased its verbal attacks against such building that it believes prevents the resumption of the peace process.

Data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday showed that ground was broken on 935 homes in Judea and Samaria from January to September of this year, compared with 2,487 during the same period in 2013.
Read more…

Elkin: The Coalition Won’t Dissolve Over Jewish State Law

Coalition chairman says he is open to talks about rewording the Jewish State Law, says it’s up to Lapid to change his behavior.

By Arlene Kushner

Prime Minister Netanyahu is pushing hard for passage of Basic Law legislation that will declare unambiguously that Israel is a Jewish state. And the furor that is on-going with regard to this is incredible. He is accused of being “undemocratic,” which is patently nonsense.

The Elder of Ziyon blogspot has put up the full draft version of this legislation. This is the draft Netanyahu prefers, although it may change. It says that its goal is:

“Defining the State of Israel as the national state of the Jewish People, and anchoring the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state in the spirit of the principles of the Declaration of Independence.”
Read more…

Strategic Assessment, Volume 17, No. 3  is now available on line.

In this issue:

The “Special Relationship” in the Test of Time: US Policy during Operation Protective Edge
Zaki Shalom

This article reviews and analyzes the Obama administration’s positions and policy toward Israel during Operation Protective Edge.

Hizbollah and the Next War with Israel: Experience from Syria and Gaza
Benedetta Berti and Yoram Schweitzer

This article explores the question of a possible “next war” between Israel and Hizbollah, highlighting relevant lessons the Shiite organization might draw from Operation Protective Edge and its own ongoing involvement in Syria.
Read more…

T. Belman. Abrams asks the wrong questions. Why is the US supporting UNRWA rather than dismantling it. What good can come from keeping these “refugees” in camps? Surely the US doesn’t believe that all 5 million of them will be resettled in Judea and Samaria if Palestine is created there? Is it because UNRWA keeps them out of the western world? Is it cheaper to keep them in camps than to resettle them? And so on.

By Elliott Abrams, ISRAEL HAYOM

Business as usual is nicely defined as “persistence in the ordinary course of events despite difficulties, morality, and other hindrances.”

This month, the State Department published its “Framework for Cooperation Between the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and the Government of the United States of America for 2015.” Near the top, it states:

“The United States and UNRWA have been working in formal partnership through a Framework for Cooperation since 2005 to provide humanitarian assistance to UNRWA’s beneficiaries in accordance with its mandate as approved by the United Nations General Assembly. The United States and UNRWA review their Framework for Cooperation annually to advance shared objectives. It is understood that this document, in its entirety, constitutes policy commitments by UNRWA and the United States, and is therefore not ?intended to be legally binding.”

Read more…

Move comes after Likud MK calls for affirmative action for minorities that serve state

BY LAZAR BERMAN, TOI

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Sheikh Muwaffak Tar?f, spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, in Jerusalem on November 26, 2014. (Photo credit: Kobi Gideon / GPO)Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Sheikh Muwaffak Tar?f, spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, in Jerusalem on November 26, 2014.

The proposal will see more funds dedicated to education, infrastructure, and employment, Netanyahu said, “in order to close the gaps and advance the towns.”

The announcement was made days after Netanyahu met with Druze community leaders last Wednesday and expressed condolences on the recent deaths of two Druze police officers in recent terror attacks.

On Thursday, Likud MK Danny Danon said he was seeking to have an addendum added on to the controversial “Jewish state” bill calling for affirmative action for minority communities who take active part in defending the state.
Read more…

By Dr. Robert Sklaroff and Dr. Sherkoh Abbas

Shakespeare’s “King Lear” paid dearly after he mistakenly willed his estate to two daughters due to their voiced sycophancy, forsaking his youngest daughter who truly adored him. Similarly, Obama’s America is cow-towing to the whims of Iran and Turkey, rather than directly helping the Peshmerga in Kurdistan. The desired boots-on-ground are directly underfoot, yet he refuses to acknowledge the urgent need to assist the Kurds; instead, he keeps “tripping” over their presence.

Obama’s apologists alternately aver the situation is hyper-complex and freedom-seekers are ultimately doomed. To the contrary, the key-players reveal their motives through their actions (even if utterances are occasionally cryptic) and the pathway to a quality outcome is readily apparent (even if Obama would have to ‘fess-up regarding the existential threat of the global Islamist ideology). Because the goals of contiguous countries are averse to those beneficial to America, Kurds must urgently be empowered to champion Western Civilization’s value-system, to perpetuate the Judeo-Christian Ethic that has underpinned American Exceptionalism for centuries.
Read more…

By Ted Belman

I recently posted  The Israeli Relinquishment of the Temple Mount originally published by the JCPA. In my preface to the article I included a comment by a lawyer.

 Israel Medad, who blogs at MyRightWord and Zion’s Corner wrote to me to tell me the lawyer didn’t get it right. He is the Information and Content Resource coordinator for the Begin Heritage Center. I asked him to provide me with some links which he did. I was so impressed with the content of these articles that I wanted to share them with you.

For anyone who would like to know more about the history and controversies regarding the Temple Mount, they are indispensable.

The Temple Mount in Court: Will Israel’s supreme court prevent the destruction of ancient remains?

Jerusalem’s Temple Mount: A Jewish-Muslim Flashpoint by Yisrael Medad in 2000.

The “Status Quo” on the Temple Mount by Nadav Shragai, JCPA (Nov 2014)

He also recommended The Temple Institute as an excellent resource on the laws pertaining to the Temple Mount.

While reading these article I realized how woefully uninformed I was on all matters relating to the Temple Mount.

Will sharia conquer the United Kingdom by stealth?

By Robert Spencer, PJ MEDIA

Last May, I wrote an article titled “The 5 Latest Signs of Britain’s Imminent Demise.” These were, unfortunately, not anomalies. In Britain these days, galloping toward ruin is a more popular sport than soccer, and so an update is in order. Here are ten of the latest indications that Britons can look forward to a society that is both more authoritarian and more dangerous than any free nation can long endure.

10. Another British Muslim killed fighting for Islamic State
It was revealed last Tuesday that a British jihadist who called himself Abu Abdullah al-Britani had been killed while fighting in Syria for the Islamic State. Al-Britani, a convert to Islam whose birth name was William Hasmou Clinic, was the eighth Muslim from Britain to be killed while fighting for the Islamic State. Read more…

By Yoram Ettinger, ISRAEL HAYOM

The assumption that Israel’s economic growth depends on peace accords, and that Israel’s economy cannot withstand BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) pressure, are inconsistent with reality.

In fact, Israel’s unique economic growth — from $1.5 billion GDP in 1949 to $300 billion in 2014, from $50 million in exports in 1949 to $97 billion in 2014, and from no foreign exchange reserves in 1949 to $92 billion in 2014 — has been driven by aliyah (Jewish immigration), fiscal responsibility, brain power, cutting-edge commercial and defense technologies, exports, military deterrence and (most recently) the discovery of natural gas reserves. Not by the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, or by the Oslo Accords with the PLO.

Israel’s GDP surged by 8-14 percent annually in the years following Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War (1967-1972), and by 9 percent after the aliyah wave of a million olim from the Soviet Union in 1990. On the other hand, the post-Oslo (1993-1996) economic growth of 4-7 percent was triggered mainly by the aliyah ripple effect, but was marred by rapidly deteriorating budget and trade deficits.

Read more…

MK Struk slams Ya’alon over bevy of unjust practices in Judea-Samaria favoring illegal Arab activity, changing facts on the ground.

By Ari Yashir, INN

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (Likud) had no choice but to essentially concede to figures presented against him in a question session at the Knesset on Wednesday by MK Orit Struk (Jewish Home), which reveal the unfair practices against Jews in Judea and Samaria.

The exchange between Struk and Ya’alon, in Hebrew, can be seen here:

Struk began by responding to Ya’alon’s plan to heighten criminal enforcement of construction crimes, noting there is enforcement on only 2% of construction crimes inside sovereign Israeli territory, with percentages much higher in Judea and Samaria.

I received this letter from Ezra Levant a prominent advocate for Israel and against Muslim antisemites.

Today I lost the lawsuit against me brought by Khurrum Awan, the former youth president of the Canadian Islamic Congress.

You can read the full ruling here. The judge awarded Awan a whopping $80,000 plus legal costs.

I am reviewing the technical aspects of the ruling with my lawyer. But there is something terrifying, buried in this ruling, that I already know I simply must appeal — all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.

On paragraph 166 of the decision, the judge ruled that calling Awan an anti-Semite is defamatory, and that’s one of the reasons I lost, and have to pay him so much money.

Read more…

A body politic barred from determining who may dwell within its boundaries is not a free, democratic society.

By Carolne Glick, JPOST

Following last Tuesday’s jihadist massacre of four rabbis and a police officer at the Bnei Torah Kehillat Yaakov synagogue in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered law enforcement bodies to act immediately to destroy the homes of the two terrorist murderers who carried out that attack. He also directed them to destroy the homes of the terrorists who carried out the three other recent attacks in Jerusalem.

The following day, police destroyed the home of one terrorist murderer. Two more homes were supposed to be destroyed in short order.

But then the EU-funded radical leftist NGO Hamoked – Center for the Defense of the Individual petitioned the Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, opposing the orders.

Wednesday the court issued an injunction prohibiting state authorities from carrying out the house demolition orders.
Read more…

If the Jews are to prevail in the Arabs’ war against them it is essential that they accurately differentiate misleading red herrings from real root causes.

By Martin Sherman, JPOST

Our forces are now entirely ready not only to repulse any aggression, but to initiate it ourselves, and to destroy the Zionist presence in the Arab homeland of Palestine. The Syrian army, with its finger on the trigger, is united. I believe the time has come to begin a battle of annihilation.

– Hafez Assad, then Syrian defense minister, later president, May 20, 1967 We will not accept any… coexistence with Israel.

The existence of Israel is in itself an aggression…against the Palestinian people.

– Gamal Abdel Nasser, president of Egypt, to the international media, May 28, 1967

The existence of Israel is an error which must be rectified. This is our opportunity to wipe out the ignominy which has been with us since 1948. Our goal is clear – to wipe Israel off the map.

– Abdul Rahman Arif, president of Iraq, May 31, 1967
Read more…

By Rachel Avraham, Jerusalem Online

MEMRI noted that Jasser Al Jasser furthermore wrote in the Saudi newspaper Al Jazirah: “Several analysts, if not all, regard Obama’s letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader as indicative of a pro-Iranian bias and as a continuation of Obama’s negative policy towards the Arabs. This because it allows Iran freedom of action in the Arab region despite all the suspicions about the Iranian regime’s complicity in terror! This American and Western bias in favor of Iran and against Arab interests refutes everything that has been said about the nature of the U.S. alliance with the Arab countries. The agreement that the Americans currently want to sign with the Iranian regime places the Arab interests ‘on the negotiating table,’ after the concerned Arab countries have been kept away from the negotiations. The absence of the Arabs from the negotiations has led to the expected results: Iranian interests may grow stronger and gain precedence in the Arab region, at the expense of Arab interests.”

Diplomats say Canada and Australia are also helping Israel exert pressure on Switzerland and other states to thwart confab on conditions in West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.

By Barak Ravid, HAARETZ

Israel and the United States are trying to dissuade the nearly 200 states that are party to the Fourth Geneva Convention from convening a special session in mid-December to address conditions in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, Israeli and Western diplomats told Haaretz Wednesday.

Government officials believe that convention sponsor Switzerland has come under strong pressure from the Palestinians and Arab states, and is expected to issue invitations to the conference within days.
Read more…

With help of IDF, investigation of Hamas terror cell in West Bank yields mass arrests, uncovers series of plots to attack Israelis.

Yoav Zitun, YNET

A Shin Bet operation, with the aid of the IDF, exposed a Hamas terror cell and thwarted its foreign-trained members from executing a number of attacks on Israeli destinations, it was cleared for publication Thursday.

The terrorists were receiving orders from Hamas’ Turkey delegation. During the investigation, more than 30 suspects were arrested; explosive devices, M-16 rifles, and ammunition were confiscated.

The Hamas terrorists were ordered to undertake a number of operations against Israeli destinations in the West Bank, including infiltration attacks, kidnapping attacks, car bombings, an attack on Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem, and an attack on the light rail train in the capital.
Read more…

I JUST RECEIVED THIS EMAIL.

Your everything will be hacked
Hey fucking ted!
Be ready for a new war between you and me! I hacked your pc & other secure properties that you don’t know! If you recover I’ll hack again! You don’t know my programming power for hacking!! Be ready…

I’ll hack your everything day by day; everything! Fucking israeli bitch!

If any of you were kind enough to make a donation in the last week please make sure the money went to my Paypal account.

I had an old gmail address that I never use namely, tedbelman90@gmail.com

It was appropriated by the hacker and he then altered my Donate buttons on Israpundit but not the Daily Digest so that donations which used those buttons went to his Paypal account using my old address.

He sent the email above from that address

See also: Court Steps in to Prevent Terrorist’s House Demolition

Temporary legislation formulated by MK Yariv Levin calls for harsh punitive measures against terrorists, their families and supporters.

By Cynthia Blank, INN

Matters of Life and Death

By Michael Ordman

When the regular news is full of distressing events, such as the recent terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, I try to focus my weekly positive news feature on the many life-affirming stories from Israel that barely get any attention in the international media.

Israeli scientists at Tel Aviv University stumbled onto a discovery that can help bring new life into the world.  Whilst researching the protein Interleukin-1 (IL-1), they discovered that its genetic deletion actually improves fertility.  It could help increase the effectiveness of IVF treatment.  If a baby is born prematurely and needs to be placed on a ventilation machine, Israeli medical device manufacturer, Pneumedicare, has developed a potential lifesaver.  The Pneumonitor detects the common dangerous condition pneumothorax, in which the preemie’s tiny air sacs can over-inflate and burst.  Pneumonitor’s alarm sounds an hour before any problem arises. Read more…