If we will be in power we will not transfer money to settlements - the time has come to organize a new set of priorities in the State of Israel... The time has come to bring the money back to the working citizens, to the working communities and neighborhoods.. Smotritch Economics needs to come to an end..

Settlement creates security. The soldiers do not protect the people living somewhere, the people living there are the security strip of the State of Israel. We have seen that where there is no settlement, there is an October 7 massacre.

The march to Evyatar today, to pressure the government regarding the issue of legalizing this, and other, settlements, is interesting.

Pursuant to my previous post about the proposed law that could be used against the people proposing it, I find it ironic to see coalition members of the Likud, Hatzionut Hadatit and Otzma Yehudit parties protesting and criticizing the destruction of the illegaly planted vineyard this morning.

Remember the law being proposed by Minister Itamar Be Gvir that would make interference with an IDF soldier and preventing a soldier from carrying out a task a crime punishable by up to 3 years in prison?

Reuters is reporting that the Bahrainian Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed bin Rashid al-Zayani announced today it would not distinguish imports from Israel between products made from settlements in occupied territories and those made within the Israel (ie within the green line).

The settlement of Yitzhar is well known for its strong anti-Arab sentiment, as well as a strong anti-government sentiment. One might also say the converse - the government and local Arabs have strong anti-Yitzhar sentiments.. The residents of Yitzhar have come into violent conflict with government and IDF representatives more than once, and the people of Yitzhar have always stated that Arabs are not welcome and they use only Jewish labor in the yishuv. Recently an incident hit the news where a COVID testing team from MDA was refused entry to Yitzhar because one of the team members was an Arab.

Meet the Nearot Hagevaot! (TOI)

on Thursday, President of the United States Donald Trump released a press release, in response to the announcement of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the building of a new community in Judea and Samaria along with the beginning of construction of thousands of new homes in existing communities in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria..

People, and especially the press, began touting Trump's press release in the form of Trump saying no to settlements, Trump turning his back on Israel, etc.

Here is the actual text of the press release from the Whitehouse website:

There are a couple of points I would make from reading this press release:

1. Trump did a full turn from the policy of previous US presidents by saying "we don't believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace".
Trump is fine with the settlements, in general. That is new. Israel now has US recognition of the settlements as basically being ok and not a contradiction to peace efforts.

2. his criticism of the announcement is that new settlements "may not be helpful". nothing definitive there.

3. "the Trump administration has not taken an official position on settlement activity and looks forward to continuing discussions..".. nothing definitive there, and nothing that shuts Israel down and rejects settlements or turns Israel away or puts a divide between Israel and the United States (under Trump).

Will it happen at some point? It might. Anything can happen with Donald Trump, in the blink of an eye. One day he can be a friend and the next he can be upset at something Israel did or did not do, said or did not say and then oppose whatever Israel does or wants to do. We are not yet there.

I think Donald Trump is simply letting Israel know that he is still in charge and Israel cannot just go do whatever it wants and expect full support from Trump. he is saying, take a breath, take it easy, let's wait until we meet later in the month and coordinate things and figure this out. I think this press release shows not what was portrayed by the media but that Trump is changing US policy on Israel and the settlements, but Israel cannot just go do whatever it wants.

I am not sure whether to laugh or cry about this...

Netanyahu, when talking about the uptick in violence, rejected the claim, made by John Kerry, that the increased housing construction in the West Bank is the cause for the recent violence.

Netanyahu showed the numbers and said that since he has become Prime Minister there has been a decrease in construction in the areas of Judea and Samaria (for reasons that he said would be discussed at another time). According to the numbers, Under Netanyahu's recent terms (since he came back to office), there have been only 1500 housing starts per year in these areas. Under Olmert, Sharon and Barak these numbers were significantly higher. During Netanyahu's first term, in 1996, the number was at 3000. By Barak it went up to 5000, then under Sharon it was down to 1900, and under Olmert 1700. With Netanyahu pulling the last 6 or 7 years at 1500, he is building much less than his predecessors.

And this is the guy who ran on a right wing platform, who spoke about building in Judea and Samaria, who the right wing voters elected.

I have already said Netanyahu should announce this is his last term, if not be replaced now by a courageous politician willing to take down the government. His right wing voters should not accept these numbers. The right wing keeps putting Netanyahu back in power just to be disappointed by him.

In the past, whenever there was discussion of the possibility of peace negotiations leading to a withdrawal of Israeli presence from territory to be given over to Palestinians, Haredi leaders would justify the Haredi presence in such territories as being different than the style of the presence of the general settler community.

While the settler community is largely found in towns and villages throughout Judea and Samaria out of ideology, the haredi towns and villages are there not out of ideology but due to the low cost of housing. They would then use this justification with both the government and the Palestinian leadership to try to ensure that Haredi areas would not be included in any withdrawal.

All that is changing now. The haredim are so upset with the Habayit Hayehudi people, for their involvement in the shivyon bnetel law which will presumably bring about the drafting of yeshiva bochurim, that they are willing now to even give up their own houses in order to promote the idea of an evacuation of the Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria.

"Hundreds" of residents of Haredi towns such as Beitar Ilit and Modiin Ilit have drafted a letter and sent it to the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in which they voluntarily offer to be evacuated in the event of a peace agreement. They explicitly say in the letter that they offer this support for a deal and would voluntarily evacuate because of the "decrees" and the criminal sanctions imposed upon them.
source: Kooker and Kikar

While they think they are taking out revenge on Habayit Hayehudi, they somehow do not realize that Habayit Hayehudi does not own the country - their offer is to give up Eretz Yisrael because they are upset at one group of people. If this was their ideology, peace at all costs, that would be consistent and fine. However, because it is not their ideology, it is just spiteful stupidity.

MK Ahmad Tibi (Raam Tal) refused to be interviewed by a radio station connected to Ariel University. Tibi said that he will not agree to an interview for a station in the settlements.



This is an outrage. Some think it is the worst thing possible.

It is an outrage, but I see it as progress.

Mk Tibi refusing to be interviewed by a radio station located in the "Occupied Territories" of Judea and Samaria is not at all surprising. In the past Tibi has said he would boycott products from the "Settlements", so this is really nothing new. However, the way I see it, Tibi limiting his ban on only the "occupied territories being a very specific area, rather than all of Israel - he interviews to regular Israeli stations, and he buys produce and products from regular Israeli companies - means Ahmed Tibi accepts Israel in the Land of Israel.. he only has a problem with a small part of it.

In the past, Ahmad Tibi has supported boycotting companies from all over Israel. As well, Tibi called for the allowance of the return of Palestinians to their homes all over Israel, even in pre-1967 Israel. Tibi has called Israel an occupier not just for the settlements, but also for Israel proper. Tibi even wrote an op-ed in the New York Times just a few short years ago saying these very things.

Now that Tibi is only boycotting a small part of Israel and only has a problem with small sections of it - to me that looks like progress.

The solution to the Middle East peace situation has finally been discovered. This would include peace between Palestinians and Israelis, as well as peace between left-wing Israelis (from Tel Aviv) and settlers.

Besides for the impression this Ynet News article gives over by depicting "settlers" as druggies, marijuana growers easily avoiding the law due to minimal police presence and ease of keeping the pots secret... it depicts a peaceful relationship between left-wingers from Tel Aviv looking for marijuana, as there seems to be a shortage in Tel Aviv, finding new meaning in the name "Green Line" and heading out there, developing relationships, and getting high with the settlers they generally so despise. Even Palestinians get some of the action in the article.

The solution to the never-ending peace process that seems to just continue making the conflict worse may just very well be getting high. If enough of us all get high, together or separate, the Peace Process just won't be quite so important any more. Of course I only advocate getting high legally and am not telling anyone to break the law - I think marijuana should be legalized... And now it should be legalized not just for medical reasons or for increasing tax revenue, but also for the sake of peace and neighborly relations..

Omri Padan, the owner of the Israeli franchise of McDonalds, has decided that he will not open a branch of McDonalds in the new mall planned for Ariel. His decision has created a ruckus - that he is boycotting Ariel, helping the anti-Zionists in their fight against Israel, etc..

The turth is that this is nothing new. Padan is not just a businessman, but is a leftist activist and he refuses to open his restaurants in towns over the Green Line, and he has used his business to promote his policy in the past as well. He has refused to open McDonalds before in towns and locations he disapproves of, regardless of whether or not it would be a good business opportunity. His rejection of Ariel should not have surprised anyone.

I personally do not eat in McDonalds, and made such a commitment, albeit only a loose one, when Padan refused to even consider closing on Shabbos his branch of McDonalds located in downtown Jerusalem. He did not just not close it because it generated so much Shabbos business. When he was petitioned to close it, or to at least consider closing it, he spoke very harshly against Shabbos observance in his business and, while I don't remember the exact quote, basically said that he would never close that branch on Shabbos even if from a business perspective it makes sense. he wanted that store to remain open on Shabbos, by hook or by crook even if he would have to take a loss for it.

I get when someone has a business that is successful on Shabbos so he won't close it. I don't agree, but I understand. The person does not believe in Shabbos observance, and acts accordingly. I feel bad for him, I hope one day he might change his mind,  but God gives free will, and there is nothing I can do about it. When it becomes a crusade to attack Shabbos, when it is no longer a simple business decision but a crusade against Shabbos, that is something I will oppose. As a matter of fact, and this is the converse, I just recently heard a rosh yeshiva say that he eats Rabbanut hechsher specifically because anybody in this country who is moser nefesh to close his restaurant on Shabbos must be supported.

The best response I heard about Padan's decision is MK Eli Yishai's. Yishai said that when it opens he will order a hamburger from the Burger Ranch that will open in Ariel instead and have it delivered to Padan's office so that he will eat a "blue and white" hamburger and learn the updated borders of Israel..

According o the European Union, residents of Modiin are not living in Israel proper, but are "settlers". I congratulate them on acheiving this new status.

 The EU has decided that products manufactured in Modiin-Maccabim-Reut will no longer be considered to have been made in Israel, as Modiin was built on what was in 1948 a strip of no-mans land. So, while it is not "occupied" territory, Israel still does not have the right to it. The EU, by doing this, is saying that anything from that area will not be granted the tax-free status when imported into Europe.
(source: IH and INN)

Being that Modiin is now considered a settlement, residents need to make a decision whether to stay and accept their new status as a settler, or whether to leave to avoid being a settler. Staying in Modiin will require a change in lifestyle to one more commensurate with the settler lifestyle and appearance. We also now will begin to await the day when the Israeli government will decide to evacuate Modiin of its Jewish reidents and disengage from the entire area.

Thank you European union for your attempt to bring sanity, or even just balance, back to the Middle East.

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Ladaat has this great story from Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld that I just have to share with you.

Someone told over this story, and it makes one wonder what Rav Sonnenfeld would have said to do in a situation similar to that of the Ulpana of Beit El (it's a "what if" discussion in regards to today, but it is a story that really happened back then).

The story goes:
An Arab Siekh living in Lifta in Jerusalem owned the land that has since become Mea Shearim. A group of Jews decided to join together and buy the land to build for themselves houses. 100 families got together to form the group and buy the land (ergo the name "Mea Shearim), purchasing 170 dunam of property upon which to build the 100 homes.

When planning the construction, they realized the land they had purchased was still not large enough for the number of homes they had planned to build. So, they came up with a plan. Every night a few people would go out and move the fence, sometimes to the west and sometimes to the south.

the Siekh did not realize, as he did not live there. he never bothered measuring, and he did not notice the fence being moved little by little.

One of the Jews in the group thought it might be wrong to do that and decided to ask Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, the rav of Yerushalayim at the time, if it was allowed to steal the land in that manner from the Arab.

Rav Sonnenfeld's answer was that "we are not stealing the land, but we are redeeming it. We paid the Arab, but that is because we are in exile and have no choice. But the land is not his!" He thereby justified the activity that led to the building of Mea Shearim.



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When the Disengagement passed, Shas and UTJ took a lot of heat from the more nationalisticly inclined people, as if they should have supported the fight led by the Dati Leumi leadership and other right wing Zionist groups.

They should have supported the anti-Disengagement group more, I am not denying that. However, it the attacks were coming from a political discussion, of not coming to "our" side, not adopting "our" position, as if they had no right to decide on their own what their relationship is with Eretz Yisrael and with the State of Israel. I disagreed with their decision, but I did not like the way they were attacked, both in the way it was made to appear that they were solely to blame for the entire affair as well as if they have no right to make their own decisions.

After Shas and UTJ came out disappointing much of the right wing public again with their [mostly] lack of support for the Ulpana bill after having been threatened by Netanyahu, again the talk is beginning that they are at fault, they weren't there to support us, etc.

I don't want to debate whether the bill was good or bad. I don't know, I dont have a definitive opinion on the matter. On the one hand, 5 homes of 30 families or so is being traded for 300 homes in Beit El and I think 850 overall. So maybe it is not so bad. On the other hand, it's never good to throw people out of their homes, especially when they went there with government support. And if Netanyahu has this ability (from a legal and a diplomatic perspective) to build all this new housing in the settlements, why hasn't he done so until now, or why can't he do so with absolutely no connection to cutting down and moving these other existing homes?

So any party can decide for themselves based on their platform and their members beliefs whether that bill fit their worldview or not.

However, I do find it to be the ultimate chuitzpah for people on the right wing, generally in the National Zionist camp but also others, to demand the haredi parties support their position on this and other land of Israel issues, when for the past 6 months or 2 years (or some would say 64 years) the haredi parties positions have been under attack (sometimes rightfully sometimes wrongfully) and none (that's hyperbole, so maybe let's say "very few") of the Dati Leumi stood by the side of the Haredim in their time of need. Just like in those instances they found it unnecessary to stand by the side of the Haredim but rather to act upon their worldview or upon taking advantage of the current political currents of the time, so now the haredim should be able to make their own decisions on issues like this and not automatically be expected to come to anybody's side.

That being said, it is not helpful when people like Minister of Housing Ariel Attias say things like he said this morning when he blamed Netanyahu for these decisions and deflected blame from Barak and anybody else. Sure, he and his party were under pressure of being fired, so they had to vote against the bill (or abstain), but at least don't throw around blame afterwards. just lay low. As much as Netanyahu is to blame, those who did not oppose it are also to blame. We do not live in a dictatorship. Maybe if enough MKs and Ministers  opposed him instead of caving, perhaps he would not have been able to fire them all. You chose to change your position at the last minute, for whatever reason, so you are to blame as much as anybody else.




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I only have one problem with the new arrangement upon which the Settlement Regulation Bill was knocked down.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu opposed the bill  and insisted all his partners do as well, claiming that the Supreme Court cannot be opposed. In it's place, in what he said will follow the law but also strengthen the settlement community, he will build 300 units elsewhere in Beit El (military property, yadda yadda yadda), and will also create a new committee that will deal with construction in settlements that will bypass the Defense Minister (Ehud Barak). And, he himself, Netanyahu, will head the new committee.

This new committee sounds like a great idea. My only problem with it is that it is going to be led by Netanyahu. I can see an environment in which he will never (not including throwing a few small bones to the settlers initially) approve new settlements or new housing/construction in existing settlements using the excuse of the International Community not accepting the idea, or any of the diplomatic issues.

If he created this apparatus by which to circumvent the current Defense Minister, who is a declared leftist in regards to settlement construction, the apparatus should be led by somebody who will be more inclined to approving new housing plans - even if not every plan, but at least his, or her, method and inclination should be towards approval. Otherwise he might as well just leave it in the hands of Barak the way it is now.

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When it comes to Jewish villages without appropriate permits, also known as illegal outposts or illegal settlements, the government has worked on evacuating the residents and dismantling the village. When the government delayed doing so, or when the government was reluctant to, the courts forced the issue, insisting the law must be applied.

It seems that the law must only be applied in certain situations, but is not really a value of it's own in other situations.

Just yesterday the governments plan to dismantle an illegal Bedouin village in the Negev was blocked by the courts. It was not blocked because the courts decided the village was legal or that the government had not gone through due process. It was blocked because the courts decided that there was nothing pushing the government to destroy it. The needs of the residents, even though they have been living there illegaly for many years, need to be considered.
(source: Haaretz)

In Hebrew that is often called "Ayfa v'ayfa" - a measure and a measure, meaning they use one measure for one person, and another measure for another person.