Yom Rishon
Sunday
29 Sivan 5783
June 18 2023
The Quote of the Day
“At the end of a difficult week, I am more determined than ever to continue and do everything to pass the necessary reform to fix the judicial system. Thank you all for the important support in the moves I lead for a just justice system.”
Justice Minister Yariv Levin in a Facebook post last night.
On Friday, we posted a message from Tali Gotliv expressing her opinion that the reforms are over–and we agreed.
However, allow us to backtrack a bit this morning and just say they are on life support. If Levin is determined to fight on, we should do everything to support him.
The Photo of the Evening
Does anyone know why they are protesting anymore?
This group of anti-government protesters from Ben Gurion University were in Beersheva last night. As perhaps you can see from the flags it was a combination of LGBTQIABi activists and your garden variety Israeli-flag waving people purporting to support “democracy”–all under the banner “there is no pride without democracy.”
Specifically the LGBTQIABi activists were protesting the horrific murder of Sharit Ahmed, a young Arab-Israeli lesbian woman whose family killed her last week in an honor killing–one of many such killings take place each year. What Ahmed’s murder has to do with yelling against the government is mystifying--given that the government has supported the gay community at every opportunity from authorizing gay pride parades to disavowing any and all anti-gay statements.
The News on the Israeli Street
The war in Israel, on the Gaza border, Judea, and Samaria.
Forces from Shin Bet and the IDF captured a Palestinian terrorist in Lata just before he was going to carry out a suicide attack in Israel.
IDF scanners detected two terrorists attempting to infiltrate Israel from northern Gaza. They were captured by our soldiers.
A Palestinian terrorist was captured at the security fence of the Yapit community in the Jordan Valley.
Shooting attacks:
Palestinian terrorists fired on IDF soldiers in Jenin.
Palestinian terrorists fired on IDF soldiers in Tulkarm.
IED, Molotov, and “rock” attacks:
Palestinian terrorists attacked Israelis throughout Judea and Samaria at such locations as Al Abud, Tarkumiy’ya, near the Gush Etzion Junction, Luban Al-Sharqiya, and in the vicinity of Marda.
Israel’s irresponsible Attorney General . . .
Israel’s Attorney General, Beharev Miara, is doing everything she can to thwart every initiative by Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir.
In her latest broadside, Miara expressed her opposition to the idea of using administrative arrests to try to tackle the scourge of Israeli-Arab criminal gangs which are running amok in Israeli-Arab towns and cities.
Ben Gvir had this to say this morning:
“Her opposition to carrying out administrative arrests against senior members of crime organizations in the Arab sector is outrageous.
Already a month ago, the police submitted a request for administrative arrests to several high-ranking officials in large criminal organizations, some of whom were themselves involved in murder incidents, which could have been prevented if Miara had not thwarted their arrests.
The ease with which the adviser approves administrative arrests for boys suspected of disorderly conduct in Hawara, in the face of her opposition to administrative arrest for mafia leaders, with blood on their hands, is irresponsible.”
Irresponsible and indecent. Miara has no problem chucking young Jewish men in Judea and Samaria into the jail for months at a time in administrative detentions, but cannot condone going after Israeli-Arab criminals.
Another Bidenite comes to “Israel” . . .
Barbara Leaf, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, will visit “Israel” this week.
Your humble servant puts “Israel” in quotation marks because after a perfunctory visit to Israel, she is heading to the two great loves of President Biden: King Abdullah in Amman and Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
TODAY’S BLOG
The 4500!
Excellent news from Judea and Samaria where the planning council approved the 4,500 new apartments that we specified in this blog last week. These 4,500 are in addition to the 9,500 already approved.
More new apartments have now been approved in Judea and Samaria since January 1 than in any other six month period in the last 15 years (or more).
Finance Minister Smotrich rightly said afterwards:
“The construction boom in Judea and Samaria and in all parts of our country continues. As we promised, today we are advancing the construction of thousands more new units in Judea and Samaria. Judea and Samaria residents are ceasing to be second-class citizens and the natural development in settlements is being reflected in construction and expansion.
I thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for their cooperation. I would also like to thank the staff of the Settlement Administration at the Ministry of Defense and the Planning Office for their hard and determined work. G-d willing, we will continue to develop the settlements and strengthen the Israeli hold on the territory.”
The Coalition government has backtracked on and frozen many items included in the Coalition Agreements, but construction approvals in Judea and Samaria are not one.
Kolakevod to Finance Minister Smotrich for holding the government’s feet to the fire to keep its promises! Now we want to see the apartments actually built.
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.