5 Tishrei 5778
25 September 2017
The News On the Israel Street
Palestinian terrorists on the attack . . .
*In the last 48 hours, Palestinian terrorists attacked with “rocks” and Molotovs near the Avraham Hasno Junction south of Hevron, beside the Yakir Junction, at the Beit Anun intersection north of Kiryat Arba, on Route 55 near Azzun, at Beit Ummar, Abu Dis, Askar, Al-Fawwar, El Arub, Shechem, Al Khader, A-Tur, Beit Sira, Yitav, Tekoa, the north Efrat Junction, Meitar, Issawiya, Silwan, Turmusayya, Nabi Saleh, Deheishe, Kafr Aqueb, and Hevron to name a few locations.
*A terrorist who tried to throw an IED at Rachel’s Tomb was shot in the knee by the Border Police; terrorists in al-Bireh fired bullets into Pisgat.
*There were a total of some 40 terror attacks over this period. The above information was taken from hakolhayehud, Rescue Samaria, and Rescue 443.
What in the world is the government thinking of? . . .
Khan Al Ahmar: a hodgepodge of buildings put up by the European Union to create a settlement for Beduin herders.
In what can only be described as one of the most bizarre scenes that your humble servant has witnessed here in Israel, lawyers representing the government were at the High Court yesterday asking that the illegally built 52-family Palestinian-Beduin settlement of Khan Al-Ahmar be relocated from its current location in the unbuilt area of E1 beside Ma’aleh Adumim to Jahalin West, an area of Area C near Abu Dis.
The whole scheme is outrageous.
In the first place, no one questions that the settlement is illegal. What happens every time an “illegal Jewish settlement” appears anywhere? It is immediately razed by the government. No questions asked: government workers appear in the middle of the night and destroy everything in sight.
So why in the world does the government now feel compelled to go to the High Court? The answer is simpler than you may think. Most of the buildings in Khan Al-Ahmar are courtesy of the European Union as part of the EU plan to move the Palestinian population out of Areas A and B. Apparently, the government is terrified that the EU will raise a stink about moving the illegal settlers out.
In the second place, where is Jahalin West? In Area C! The government wants to move these illegal Palestinians into Area C–which is supposed to be completely controlled by Israel. Again, the apparently bizarre thought is that by moving the Palestinians there, the EU will be pacified. But by moving them into Area C, Israel is as much as saying that in any future agreement with the Palestinians, we will be turning over Area C to the Palestinians.
Disgusting, nauseating, unbelievable. Pick your own word to describe this absurdity.
A new train’s a coming . . .
March 2018 is now the projected date that the express train from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv will go into operation. The train will pass over 8 bridges and go through 5 tunnels on its 57 km route which will take about 30 minutes reaching speeds of 160 km per hour. Its maximum capacity will be 1000 passengers at a time.
Much of the tunnel and bridge work has been finished, and Israel Rail released this picture today:
A sight never before seen in Israel: railway bridges and tunnels.
New Pew studies are out about Jews in America . . .
Some relevant details:
2.3% of Americans identify themselves as Jews (about the same as four years ago)
28% of American Jews identify as Reform Jews (down from 35% four years ago)
14% of American Jews identify as Conservative Jews (down from 18% four years ago)
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So what groups are increasing in identification among American Jews identify with?
The largest increase was in the group that identified itself as belonging to “no group”. These are Jews that are only tangentially related to Judaism with little commitment to Israel.
However, among the young (aged 18-29), 15% now identify themselves as orthodox. Just as here in Israel, the orthodox have the highest birthrate among American Jews, and their proportional representation will increase in the coming years.
TODAY’S BLOG:
The Trump Peace Plan Begins To Take Shape: Where Does Israel Stand?
Trump negotiator Jason Greenblatt is due in Israel again on Thursday, and who knows what he is bringing with him this time?
However, a sketch of the Trump peace process has surfaced in the last few days that looks something like this:
1. Israel and the Palestinians agree on economic gestures to move the process forward.
2. Israel will agree to freeze settlement construction outside of the main community blocks in Area C.
3. Israel agrees to turn over complete control over Area B to the Palestinians (Israel currently has security control of the area.)
4. At some point, after confidence has been established, a summit will be held in Cairo which includes the Jordanians, Egyptians, Palestinians, Israelis, Americans, and possibly the Saudis. At this point, the hard issues of Jerusalem, Palestinian “refugees”, etc. will begin to be discussed.
Realizing that it is dangerous to analyze a sketch, your humble servant will confine himself to a brief analysis today.
From the looks of things, this plan is a disaster for Israel.
Economic gestures? This means that the Palestinians will get something for nothing, as always.
Construction freeze? This has already apparently taken place. Any new construction is being put off until next year. In the meantime, the Palestinians announced today that they will be taking Israel to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Once again, Israel is giving something for nothing.
Israel turns over security control of Area B? This is absurd on its face. Already, Palestinian terrorists from Areas A and B are assaulting Israelis in Area C everyday. So now we will put more guns in their hands?
A Cairo summit? To resolve Jerusalem? “Refugees”? and who knows what else? Jerusalem is ours; what are we going to negotiate? 5,000,000+ so called “Palestinian refugees” will not be permitted to ever come to Israel. What is there to negotiate about?
To your humble servant, the entire process seems ill-conceived and dangerous. Let’s hope that our government can show a little spine and stand up to the pressures now coming from Washington.
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.