Friday
29 Tishrei 5781
17 October 2020
Quote of the Day
“This is an historic and highly emotional occasion. This peace treaty is the realization of vision of Jabotinsky, who insisted that peace would be achieved via strength and not via concessions.
Everyone knows of my criticism of the failed policies of the Prime Minister with regard to the coronavirus crisis, but I am not part of the national obsession – the Lapidism, if you like – that only knows how to cry, ‘Anyone but Bibi.’ Neither am I part of the national obsession that cries, ‘Only Bibi.’
Instead, I congratulate Netanyahu for this historic achievement. The Jewish People thanks you, but I have to add that the cancellation of plans to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria is deeply painful to me. Even if the Prime Minister does not end up applying sovereignty, we will do so. We will base sovereignty on Jewish settlement of the Land of Israel. We will strengthen the settlement enterprise and we will not give up so much as a millimeter of the Land of Israel.”
Naftali Bennett, leader of the Yamina Party speaking in the Knesset yesterday just before the vote on approving the UAE-Israel Agreement. In that vote, the Agreement was approved by a vote of 80-13 with 27 “not voting.”
On the one hand, we admire Bennett for his even handed approach to Lapidism (“anyone but Bibi”) and Likudism (“only Bibi”).
However: the realization of Jabotinsky? Peace without concessions? Who is kidding whom?
As Bennett pointed out in contradicting himself, it is peace based on cancellation of an Israeli declaration of sovereignty over Area C of Judea and Samaria. As Bennett did not point out, it also peace based on a major U.S. weapons sale to the UAE as well as major Israeli concessions on the Temple Mount which we do not yet know about.
We here at OneIsrael hope that Bennett stays true to his word about continuing to fight for sovereignty and not giving up one millimeter of land.
Photos of the Day
Representatives from the UAE and Bahrain on the Har HaBeit yesterday. In the picture in the upper left, they are standing in front of the Kipat HaSela (Dome of the Rock), in the picture to the right, they are inside the Kipat HaSela–in front of the Foundation Stone–the holiest place in Judaism, the third photo shows how they arrived at the Mount.
It was less than a month ago that the Imam of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in coordination with the PLO decreed that no representatives of the UAE or Bahrain would be allowed on the Mount.
So what happened yesterday? Flanked by a cordon of Israel Police, representatives from the UAE and Bahrain were escorted onto the Mount through the Mughrabi Gate which is normally used by non-Muslims. They went straight to the Kipat HaSela where they posed for the photos you see above.
In the process, a number of Muslims who attempted to disrupt the visit were arrested.
What this portends for the Har HaBeit remains unknown as Netanyahu refuses to reveal what secret deals he has made with the UAE.
The News On the Israeli Street
The daily Corona (Covid-19) update . . .
There are 300,201 confirmed cases—an increase of 1,701
257,226 of these confirmed cases have recovered—an increase of 5,515
742 are in critical condition—a decrease of 13
246 of the most critically ill are on ventilators—an increase of 5
2,127 have died–an increase of 29
There are now 42,975 active Corona cases in Israel.
Another day in which reduced testing led to a lower number of confirmed cases, however, the Home Front Command is warning that the number will spike upward in the coming days.
Why? Children in kindergartens and the low elementary grades will be returning to school, and tens of thousands of older yeshiva students will be returning to their Torah studies. The religious schools have been one of the major sites of Corona infections.
Israel shows some cajones . . . not really . . .
It was announced yesterday that Israel has decided not to renew the visas of 9 out of 12 foreign staff workers of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
This action was taken after the OHCHR published a blacklist of 112 companies doing business in Judea and Samaria, east Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. After the publication, PM Netanyahu promised that Israel would no longer permit the OHCHR to operate in Israel.
Despite the refusal to issue visas to the nine workers mentioned above, the OHCHR continues to operate here with 26 full time Israeli and Palestinian workers. Another Netanyahu promise made, another Netanyahu promise not kept.
TODAY’S BLOG:
A “Mess” Of Numbers In Judea and Samaria
Your humble servant has fond memories of growing up in rural Georgia and eating the food grown in my grandmother’s “garden”. That “garden” was about four acres, was worked with a tractor, and contained okra, tomatoes, corn, collards, watermelons, and turnip greens to name a few items.
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Whenever the turnip greens, okra, or collards were picked and brought to her house to be cooked, my grandmother would announce that we would be having “a mess of corn”, or “a mess of okra”, or a “mess of collards” for lunch or dinner.
“A mess of” meant “a bunch of”. Combine that with the usual meaning of the word “mess”, and you come up with “disorganized bunch.”
When it comes to housing construction for Jewish communities in Area C of Judea and Samaria, what we have is a mess of numbers.
But before we go through them, let’s consider the arcane and confusing Israel construction process.
Perhaps we should begin with the Civil Administration which basically controls construction. Despite its name, the Civil Administration is under the aegis of the Minister of Defense and the IDF. This is the chain of authority:
Prime Minister–>Defense Minister–>Defense Ministry (IDF)–>Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT)–>Civil Administration
This chain of command alone indicates how difficult it is to get any construction approved in Area C of Judea and Samaria.
Back to the Civil Administration.
The overall purpose of the Civil Administration is the carry out bureaucratic functions in Area C. One of those functions is construction of housing. It is supposed to remove illegal Palestinian construction which it almost never does, and it removes Israeli construction that the Israel Supreme Court rules “illegal.” It also must grant approval for new construction in Jewish communities.
But wait . . . there is a subcommittee of the Civil Administration that all construction must pass through first: the Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria (known in the West as the Higher Planning Committee of the “West Bank”).
Before a residence can be built, it goes through numerous steps basically summarized as follows:
It must be “deposited” (a plan must be submitted).
It must be “advanced” to the consultation phase (the plan is considered by various authorities).
It must be “approved“.
Now we finally come to the mess of numbers. Just consider the last two weeks:
5,400: This is the number of residences that Netanyahu “approved plans for” earlier this month.
4,430: This is the number of residences that were scheduled to be approved by Israel’s Higher Planning Council (HPC) of the Civil Administration.
2,106: This was the number of residences that were supposed to be advanced or approved yesterday by the Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria.
3,122: This is the number of residences that Israel “advanced and approved” yesterday by the Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria.
5,288: This number includes the 3,122 and is the number of residences approved or advanced in the last two days by the Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria.
4,948: This is the number of residences that Peace Now claims was approved yesterday.
2,260: This is the number of residences that Peace Now claimed were “advanced”.
2,688: This is the number that Peace Now claimed were “approved.”
9,333: This is the number of residences that Peace Now says have been advanced or approved this year.
474: This is the number of residences that Peace Now says actually began to be built this year–a number that is correct.
Did you follow all of that? Your humble servant most certainly did not. Everyone has a different number.
What’s the bottom line? Deposited, advanced, and approved mean that nothing has been built.
Not only that, but even at the end of the deposit, advance, and approve process, PM Netanyahu can still freeze construction and he usually does.
The last number from Peace Now is what counts. During this entire year, only 474 new residences have “begun” to be built.
There are more than 450,000 Israelis living in Area C. Natural increase alone means tens of thousands of new Israelis each year, and yet only 474 new residences have begun to be built.
It is beyond outrageous.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.