The Telegraph UK

As Jerusalem erupts in violence yet again, what makes Jewish settlers move into one of the most troublesome neighbourhoods in the conflict?

The battle takes place house to house and door to door.

In the middle of the night, Israeli settlers steal into dark, rubbish-strewn alleyways, and silently turn the keys in the rusty locks of local houses. The homes have been purchased using funds from abroad, with the help of Israeli organisations, foreign straw companies, and third-party brokers, or seized from the Palestinians using legal action authorised by the state.

Once inside, the settlers, armed with guns, and surrounded by security guards in riot gear, barricade themselves within, reinforcing the doors with steel and immediately putting up barbed wire and iron bars in the windows. Pistols hoisted at the hip and wearing helmets, they cautiously peer out of the windows on to the dark alleyways below.

I have no intention of telling Jews they can’t buy apartments in East Jerusalem – Benjamin Netanyahu
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The policy of pretending to pursue an unobtainable ‘peace’ with the PLO plays directly into their hands. It enables Israel to be caught between the pincers of Arab terrorism and Western pressure to make concessions to the same terrorists (which the US and Europe pretend are not the same). The intention is to chip away at Jewish sovereignty. Other tactics include legal and media pressure from EU-funded NGOs, various UN activities, interference in Israeli internal affairs, etc.

By Vic Rosenthal

You don’t win wars until you know who the enemy is or what you are fighting for. Sometimes it’s not clear, even when the war you are called on to fight is one of self-defense. We are presently engaged in what could be called Israel’s second war of independence, or as I prefer, the War of Survival. We are fighting in at least two different theaters of warfare.

In one we are confronting Iran and its Hizballah proxy. This is hard to do but not hard to understand: they have lots of missiles and will have nuclear weapons. We need to destroy these capabilities while protecting ourselves. This will be a painful and difficult struggle, but it is a struggle whose dimensions our leaders grasp and are preparing for. It is job for the IDF, and we can only provide it with resources and hope that it succeeds.
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By Yoel Meltzer, The Times of Israel

With tensions still high in Jerusalem and throughout the rest of Israel, the latest buzzword being bantered around the regional and international media is “status quo”. More specifically, Israel is accused by the Arabs and their supporters of trying to change the status quo on the Temple Mount while senior government officials in Washington praise Israel for easing restrictions to Muslim worshipers on the Temple Mount in order to preserve the status quo.

Similarly, within Israel itself various Jewish MKs criticize other Jewish MKs who insist on ascending the Temple Mount with charges that they’re aggravating an already tense situation with the Arabs while the chief Sephardic rabbi of Israel goes even further and blames Jews who ascend the Temple Mount with provoking Arab terror and causing Jewish blood to flow (a charge which is akin to blaming the raped rather than the rapist).
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By Zvika Fogel, ISRAEL HAYOM

The massacre in Jerusalem was the result of compromises and pressures, both external and internal. There is no need to run and find someone to blame and there is no one to hang in the public square. This is not an intifada or an individual initiative, but rather it is an intermittent war of attrition. It has been going on for many years and it has one main long-term goal — to drive us out of here. This is a war we must win, as Israelis and as Jews who seek life.

Israel’s borders, both its official and disputed ones, are burning in a number of spots and we are trying to control each of these fires in accordance with their scope. In the 21 years since the first suicide bombing, which took place at the Mehola Junction in the Jordan Valley in 1993, we have not been able to completely put out any fire. Even in places where we thought the fires were extinguished, the wind of compromise and concessions, combined with Islamic incitement, reignited the flames, which then spread elsewhere, including the heart of the country. Read more…

By Ted Belman

MOSAIC has been publishing a number of articles dealing with the ramifications of the PEW Study on American Jewry. I published one of them namely, The (Un)Importance of Jewish Difference

And now, they have published another.  The Ever-Renewing People, Jewish life in America is actually flourishing, thanks in part to the energy of children of intermarriage.  In it they show that the participation in Jewish things by Jewish youth are growing exponentially. But the obvious rebuttal is what’s Jewish about it as they are counting non Jewish kids or Jewish kids whose father is Christian.
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Analysis: It’s not easy to deter terrorists like those who carried out the deadly attack at Kehilat Yaakov synagogue, so Israel must act to contain the threat by all means available to its defense establishment.

By Ron Ben-Yishai, YNET

The Jerusalem synagogue massacre was meticulously planned in advance. The terrorists deliberately selected a distinctly religious target. Their timing, too, was designed to yield a particularly murderous effect – morning prayers, during which the synagogue building was full of people.

And there was nothing random about their choice of weapons either; they could have perpetrated the murders with the handgun in their possession, but they also brought along butcher’s knives, with the intention of adding a ritualistic-Islamic component to the attack, and probably in an effort to mimic the killings that are being carried out by Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

The bottom line here is that this was a terror attack sparked by religious-Islamic motives and the result of incitement on two planes – regional incitement inspired by the videos released by IS and its affiliate organizations; and Palestinian and Arab incitement revolving around claims about Israeli efforts to harm the Temple Mount mosques and take control of the entire site.
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To deliver a decisive blow against Islamic State militants, fighters would require more APCs, helicopters and artillery, says president of Iraqi Kurdistan.

By John Irish, HAARETZ

REUTERS – The president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani, accused Western countries on Wednesday of not providing enough heavy weapons to help his ‘peshmerga’ forces deliver a “decisive blow” against Islamic State militants.

Islamic State (also known as ISIS and ISIL) has caused international alarm by capturing large expanses of Iraq and Syria, declaring an Islamic “caliphate” that extends across the border between the two.

Western powers see the Kurds as a vital bulwark against further IS advances. France, Britain, Germany and others have begun arming the Kurds, whose Soviet-era weaponry has proved ineffective against insurgents flush with hardware plundered from the Iraqi army after it abandoned its posts in June. Read more…

Ted Belman. The purpose of determining if the terrorist acted alone is to arrest his instructors if any. This desire should not detract from the bigger issue, namely, how do we change the atmosphere generated by the PA and Mahmud Abbas. While the government is focussing on defensive moves it is ignoring the necessity to change the rules of the “game”. It should outlaw incitement emanating from the PA and Hamas leadership in Judea and Samaria, from religious preachers and from the PA media. And I don’t care if doing so violates Oslo or free speech. It should mount a campaign to get the US and the EU to prevent their money from going to “martyrs” or their families and to demand an end to incitement as a condition of receiving aid.. It should greatly reduce the country club atmosphere in the prisons in which terrorists are contained. Prison time should be hard time.

Plus there should be collective punishment. All government stipends to Jerusalem Arabs should be denied to all of them until such time as they stop their children from rioting. Rioting should not be tolerated, it should be stopped.

Treason and subversion laws should be strengthened and enforced.

Everytime I read about how we are going to protect Jews better, it upsets me because we are not focussed on these things.

By Yaakov Lappin, JPOST

The latest terrorist atrocity in Jerusalem appears to be the most recent in a series of unorganized Palestinian attacks, with no visible guiding hand of a larger organization directly behind it.

The perpetrators, two cousins from the Jebl Mukaber neighborhood of east Jerusalem, have no affiliation to terrorist organizations, and no background of security offenses. They do have a record in property crime, according to initial checks. The PFLP’s claim of responsibility at this stage appears to be unfounded.

In other words, once again, incitement to violence in the Palestinian media, incitement to religious violence based on baseless conspiracy theories regarding the Temple Mount, and previous attacks are igniting subsequent terrorist incidents, in a domino effect of deadly violence.
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Associated Press

The UN human rights chief called Tuesday for a campaign led by Muslims to undermine the ideology of the Islamic State terrorist group, saying this may ultimately be more effective than airstrikes.

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, a Jordanian prince and the first UN human rights chief from the Muslim and Arab world, told the UN Security Council that by calling for a caliphate, or Islamic state, the group is exploiting “a general yearning” shared by many Muslims the world over.

But he stressed that many Muslims are opposed to the terrorist group for the crimes it has committed in enforcing its ideology, which likely amount to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Zeid implored the Security Council to support efforts to overturn the Islamic State group’s “ideology of violence and death, for the sake of the rights of all in Iraq.” He also urged the new Iraqi government to join the International Criminal Court so the Islamic State group’s leaders can be prosecuted.

In law school I learnt a truism, namely, you can’t suck and blow at the same time. But Abbas can. He incites to terror but all his policies and statements. It makes little difference that when called upon , he condemns it.

See: Abbas’s PA and Fatah Celebrate ‘Heroic’ Jerusalem Attack

While Netanyahu points accusing finger at Palestinian president, Yoram Cohen says MKs going on Temple Mount, vengeance killing of Palestinian teen Abu Khdeir main factors behind Jerusalem violence.
Attila Somfalvi, YNET

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly points an accusing finger at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the head of Israel’s top secret security service said Tuesday he did not believe Abbas was responsible for the current round of terror and violence.

Earlier, Netanyahu and many of Israel’s leaders, including centrist Finance Minister Yair Lapid, blamed Abbas for the attack on a synagogue in Jerusalem, slamming PA incitement and insinuating he was working with Hamas to incite violence against Israelis.
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Five people are dead and thirteen people are injured Tuesday morning, after twoArab terrorists entered a synagogue on Agassi Street in Jerusalem’s Har Nof neighborhood bearing guns, axes, and knives.

The terrorists began attacking worshippers, stabbing them, before opening fire.

Initial footage of the attack has now surfaced. Shots can be heard fired in the background.

Police who arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting began shot both attackers dead, it has now been confirmed.

Medics are currently at the scene treating the wounded, as photos from social media show.

By Ted Belman

Federica Mogherini, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs said, regarding the leaked document reported yesterday

“It certainly was not on the ministers’ table today and it was not at the heart of today’s discussion,”

“There was certainly no question of isolating or sanctioning anybody, rather how can we re-motivate people to get into a dialogue again, how to start a positive process with the Israelis and Palestinians to re-launch a peace process.”

“Recalling that settlements are illegal under international law, the EU and its Member States remain committed to ensure continued, full and effective implementation of existing EU legislation and bilateral arrangements applicable to settlement products,” read the announcement. “The EU closely monitors the situation and its broader implications and remains ready to take further action in order to protect the viability of the two-state solution.”

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If Abbas yeilds to this pressure it will buy us time. But is there anything to discuss in negotiations if they get started again. Either Netanyahu has indicated he will accept Kerry’s framework or Kerry has no illusions that a deal will come out of it and simply wants to fill the diplomatice space with negotiations. Also negotiations allows greater pressure on Israel to accept the demands of the world. T. Belman

Sources tell London-based newspaper that Kerry has threatened PA with financial and political sanctions.

By Elad Benari, INN

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry threatened to impose sanctions on thePalestinian Authority (PA) if it goes ahead with unilateral moves, such as asking the United Nations Security Council to set a deadline for Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samaria, the London-based al-Araby al-Jadeed newspaper reported on Monday

Speaking on condition of anonymity, official sources confirmed to the newspaper that Kerry called PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and warned him against taking any unilateral measures, threatening to impose financial and political sanctionson the PA. He said the most effective way forward would be to resume negotiations.

The sources added that “Kerry stressed the importance of calming the situation in occupied Jerusalem to avoid serious consequences.”

The sources said an Arab committee would meet in Cairo on November 29 to put the final touches on an Arab draft resolution to be submitted to the Security Council to recognize the Palestinian state.
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Egypt announces it will double the depth of a buffer zone along border with Gaza, after discovering more underground tunnels.

By Ben Ariel, INN

Egypt will double to one kilometer (0.62 mile) the depth of a buffer zone it is clearing on its border with Gaza, Reuters reported on Monday.

“A decision was taken to increase the buffer zone along the border in Rafah to one kilometer. The decision…came after the discovery of underground tunnels with a total length of 800 to 1,000 meters,” the state MENA news agency said.

The decision on the buffer zone was made following two deadly attacks in El-Arish, which killed dozens of soldiers and were claimed by Egypt’s deadliest terrorist group, Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis.

As part of the buffer zone plan, the Egyptian military is seizing and evacuating homes belonging to Gazans.

Residents of Sinai, who complain they have long been neglected by the state, say they rely on smuggling trade through the tunnels for their living and the creation of the buffer zone has stoked resentment. Egyptian authorities see them as a threat and regularly destroy them. Read more…

Everyone’s talking about the ‘status quo’ on Judaism’s holiest site. There’s just one problem – if it ever existed, it doesn’t now.

By Hillel Fendel, INN

By Riv-Ellen Prell, MOSAIC

For several decades, Jack Wertheimer and Steven M. Cohen have been calling on American Jews to pay attention to the social, cultural, and demographic realities of their life as a community—and to how those realities have begun to endanger the future of that community. A high rate of intermarriage, a falling birthrate, and a steep decline in either religious or secular affiliation have placed at risk the ability to maintain a vital, pluralistic center, anchored in a strong middle ground between assimilation on the one hand and ultra-Orthodoxy on the other.

Wertheimer and Cohen’s latest essay, “The Pew Survey Reanalyzed,” offers a social-scientific version of the classic jeremiad, the prophetic lament over the imminent failure and downfall of a people. Unlike most examples of the form, social-scientific or not, theirs does not delve into the realm of ultimate causes or present a large-scale explanation of the tribulations that beset American Jews. But it does do something else: in a welcome turn, it offers glimmers of hope in the form of concrete suggestions for communal or philanthropic investments that, they believe, might yet help retard the downward slide.
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By Vic Rosenthal

Israel does not have a constitution. The role of a constitution is taken by several “Basic Laws,” which define the structure of the Knesset and how it is elected, the budget, the relationship of the state to the military, a partial ‘bill of rights’, and other things. But they do not (yet) describe the nature of the state that they regulate.

A constitution normally starts with a preamble or initial articles which define the nature of the state and the authority by which sovereignty is asserted. It is usually followed by statements about the national languages, state religions (if any), etc. This proposed Basic Law would do this for Israel.

Unlike states which were formed by accretion, conquest or colonial fiat, the state of Israel was created in a conscious act as a concrete realization of the philosophy of Zionism. This is expressed in Israel’s Declaration of Independence, but that document doesn’t have the force of law. Read more…

By Ted Belman

Publishing Israpundit is a full time job for me and has been for 13 years. My time is spent searching for the best articles I can find on sites in Israel the US or the EU. I also spend considerable time moderating the comments and attending to technical problems. Occasionally I write articles which are published by American Thinker, Canada Free Press, Israel National News and others, in addition to Israpundit.

In addition I attend conferences and lectures weekly to keep informed and to network.

This year has been particularly difficult as my host server was illegally entered and my former domain name stolen. Luckily I was able to purchase a new domain, israpundit.org, and reconstitute the site. Of course I couldn’t have done it without employing my technical expert. If that wasn’t enough, I had to retain a new host server to host my email program and mailing list. A few months later this host server crashed and all was lost. Luckily my technical expert who set it up for me was able to set me up on another host server.

Needless to say, it all costs money.

Many people tell me that they look forward to receiving my Daily Digests and very much appreciate the message I am delivering.

I invite you to be a partner in delivering that message by making a donation, large of small. It will help to defray my costs, ease my financial burden and ensure the continuance of Israpundit. Use the donate buttons under the banner above.

Checks may be sent payable to Theodore Belman, Hagdud Haivri #1, Jerusalem, 92344, ISRAEL.

By Sam Sokol, JPOST

PA President Mahmoud Abbas must be held accountable for inciting violence against Jews, a senior American Jewish leader declared Thursday.

Speaking with The Jerusalem Post, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations executive vice chairman Malcolm Hoenlein stated he believes that the disorder that has gripped Jerusalem in recent weeks, subsequently spreading to Judea and Samaria, can be traced back to both PA incitement and the failure of authorities to respond to less severe incidents, emboldening those perpetrating violent attacks.

While not the only, or even the primary, factor contributing to the increase in violence against Jerusalem residents, dubbed the “car intifada” by some Palestinians due to the use of cars as weapons against crowds of pedestrians, some of the blame for what is currently happening can be traced by to the “police failure to respond effectively” to the ongoing desecration of graves on the Mount of Olives and recurring stoning attacks against Jewish drivers in the vicinity, he asserted.
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By Ted Belman

Yesterday Min Lieberman reportedly said to the German Foreign Minister, “We will never accept the definition of building in Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem as settlement activity,’

I commented that according to Israel’s official policy, all of Jerusalem is part of Israel and she will not agree to its partition. Lieberman pointedly omitted Arab neighborhoods. He should not have made the distinction.

You know also that his party is backing the anti Israel Hayom bill because he wants to support its rival Yedioth Aronoth.

Yesterday they returned him the favour in reporting on his Jewish neighbourhood remark under the title, “Lieberman: Israel will never limit East Jerusalem settlement building”. The opening sentance was “Israel will never agree to limit its construction activity in East Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday.”

How blatant can you get?