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1. ‘Skip Florida Condos, Buy Homes in Israel,” US Jews Say
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Fifty American Jews on a unique visit to Israeli areas claimed by the Palestinian Authority are advising investors to skip over buying condominiums in Florida and to put their money in “our historical homeland.”
“Our objective is to send a clear message to Washington and to U.S. President Barack Obama that Jews will continue to live in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria,” New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind said on the first leg of a four-day visit to those areas on Sunday.
Dov Hikind
“Instead of investing in properties in Florida, we must consider buying homes in our historical homeland," he said. "We will show the Obama administration that Israel and Jews in the Diaspora will never accept [out orders where to live or where to build in our homeland. American Jews have an important obligation...to buy houses in these areas to secure their security and growth.”
President Obama has been trying to pressure Israel into enforcing a building freeze for Jews, as demanded by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The Netanyahu government has unofficially honored a partial freeze by not approving new projects.
However, thousands of previously approved units are being built in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. In addition, work also has begun on the infrastructure and the first stage of 800 new homes in areas within legal borders of towns where public tenders for construction are not necessary.
The America delegation is to visit the city of Ariel on Monday as well as the Jewish communities near Shechem in the center of Samaria.
On Tuesday, they are scheduled to visit the Gilad Farm outpost, Amona, where the government three years ago carried out a brutal expulsion with mounted police officers on horseback trampling young girls and boys, and Shdema, an area near Bethlehem which nationalist activists have prevented the government from handing over to PA Arabs.
The delegation will wind up its tour on Wednesday with a ceremony to lay a cornerstone at the Nof Etzion Jewish community in eastern Jerusalem.
Shomron (Samaria) Regional Council Chairman Gershon Mesika, who will welcome the visitors on Monday, said that he “hopes that their buying homes is only the first step towards their making aliyah [immigrating to Israe.
David Ha'ivri director of the Shomron Liaison Office noted, "Our office is fully prepared to follow through with all aspects of building and managing these properties for foreign investors and supporters. The homes built and owned by Jews who currently live in the Diaspora will be rented out to young families who are now on waiting lists to join our communities because of lack of available homes. We are currently working on a project with the Jewish community in Australia and expect to sell several before the end of the year."
2. Peace Talks Must Include Jewish Refugee Demands
by Hillel Fendel
The Knesset has passed an initial reading of a proposal, stipulating that negotiations on Arab refugees must include demands for compensation of Jewish refugees from Arab countries.
Hundreds of thousands of Jews from Arab countries made Aliyah [immigratio to Israel in its early years, after being banished and forced to leave behind property and asset worth billions of dollars. A legislative proposal on the issue by Knesset Member Nissim Zev (Shas) passed its preliminary Knesset reading on Sunday.
The bill stipulates that in any negotiations with the Palestinian Authority on the rights of Arabs who left Israel in 1948, the government of Israel would be required to present its own demands for reparations for the Jews of Arab countries.
Echoing a Congressional Resolution
MK Zev says his proposal is anchored in both a United Nations resolution and the U.S. Congress. “The Jews from Arab countries are defined as refugees by the United Nations,” he emphasized. “It’s not something we made up, but rather a U.N. definition. In addition, the American Congress itself resolved, in 2008, that the rights of these Jewish refugees must be recognized in the course of the negotiations.”
The resolution, passed by the House of Representatives in April 2008, recognized Jewish refugees from Arab countries who were forced to flee their homes in the aftermath of the creation of the State of Israel. It requires U.S. officials involved in any Middle East peace negotiations that deal with the Arab refugees to "also include a similarly explicit reference to the resolution of the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab countries."
More Jewish Refugees than Arabs
One Congressional co-sponsor said at the time that “it’s not just the Arabs and Palestinians in the Middle East, but also Jewish people who themselves were dispossessed of their possessions and their homes, and were victims of terrorist acts.” Another said there were more Jewish refugees than Palestinian refugees, and “their forced exile from Arab lands must not be omitted from public discussion on the peace process."
The American Sephardi Federation reports as follows:
“The expulsion and exodus of over 850,000 Jews from Arab countries is among the most significant yet little known injustices against humanity of the past century… Between the 1940s and 1980s, the Jews of Arab countries endured humiliation, discrimination, human rights abuses, organized persecution and expulsion by the governments of the countries of their origin. During this time, Jewish property was seized without compensation, Jewish quarters were sacked and looted, and cemeteries were desecrated. Synagogues, Jewish shops, schools and houses were ransacked, burned and destroyed, and hundreds of Jews were murdered in anti-Semitic riots and pogroms. Of the over 850,000 Jewish refugees who left Arab countries, approximately 600,000 sought refuge in the State of Israel and were resettled there at great expense. Arab states have refused to acknowledge these human rights violations and provide relief to the hundreds of thousands of Jews who were forced to abandon their homes, businesses and possessions as they fled those countries.”
MK Zev said that his mother remembers that in 1941, “180 Jews were slaughtered in Baghdad, and the Jews, including my uncles and other relatives, left behind property worth millions. So it has just disappeared? In many countries, their citizenship was revoked, their bank accounts confiscated, and the money used to finance the war against Israel. Other laws stipulated that Zionism was a crime and the property of activist Zionists was confiscated.”
The proposal has the support of the government. “Prime Minister Netanyahu did not agree with the original proposal,” MK Zev said, “that would make any future peace agreement contingent upon reparations for the Jews from Arab countries. So we toned it down, and required only that the issue must be raised during the negotiations.”
“It’s about time that the Government of Israel, as well, reach the same conclusion reached by the U.N. and Congress, and demand these reparations,” Zev said.
3. PA Demands UN Recognize 'Palestine'
by Hana Levi Julian
The Palestinian Authority is claiming it has received a "positive response" to its demand that the United Nations Security Council recognize a new Arab state within Israel's current borders, according to lead PA negotiator, Saeb Erekat. The negotiator told the Al Ayyam newspaper on Saturday that the PA has demanded the U.N. recognize the so-called new Arab state of "Palestine" in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, with eastern Jerusalem as its capital.
Erekat claimed that PA representatives discussed the plan with diplomatic contacts and members of the U.N. Security Council -- including the United States -- and received "positive reactions."
Senior Obama administration officials, however, were quoted the same day by the A-sharq al-Awsat newspaper as saying the U.S. is not rushing to push final status talks between Israel and the PA. The current situation has lasted for decades, the American sources told the newspaper, and no one is expecting quick results; a great deal of patience and forbearance is required, they said. The sources noted that the U.S. government is not willing to engage in negotiations for the sake of talks alone, in a process that could simply lead to more failure. Instead, it is essential to create the "appropriate conditions" for negotiations, according to the American government.
On the PA side, however, impatience appears to have led to the language of threats, with PA negotiators moving ahead with plans to issue a unilateral declaration in the hopes a new Arab state will simply be recognized as a fait accompli by the U.N.
The new country, Erekat said, would be formed along the borders of Israel that existed on June 4, 1967 -- prior to the 1967 Six-Day War, in which Israel was attacked by its surrounding Arab neighbors. At that time, Judea and Samaria were occupied by Jordan, and Gaza was occupied by Egypt.
Erekat added that the program is clear and simple, and that the world's recognition of "Palestine" within the June 4, 1967 borders would deny Israel the legitimacy of its settlements in the regions. The Palestinian Authority, he said, is now working to raise support for the initiative from the Arab Monitoring Committee, which has convened in Cairo.
However, with the Palestinian Authority government in disarray and its upcoming legislative and executive elections scheduled for January 24 now postponed indefinitely, it is unclear precisely with whom any negotiations could be conducted, nor with what certainty any agreements might be relied upon. The stability of the current PA government -- let alone that of any future PA state -- is seriously in doubt.
PA Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas recently announced that he would step down at the end of this term and not run again for re-election. Nevertheless, Abbas remains in control of the government for the time being, although it is impossible to say how long a period that might be. As head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), his approval is needed in order to reschedule a new date for the elections, which the rival Hamas terrorist organization has vowed to sabotage. Since Hamas, which controls the Gaza region, has refused to allow Gaza residents to vote in the PA elections, the legitimacy of the polls would be called into question regardless of who wins.
4. Netanyahu Warns PA Not to Undertake Unilateral Moves
by David Lev
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday evening that the only way the Palestinian Authority would achieve anything was through negotiation – not unilateral action.
Addressing threats that the PA was planning to declare a Palestinian state unilaterally in the areas of Judea, Samaria and Gaza that it controls, Netanyahu told the Saban Forum in Jerusalem Sunday that "there is no substitute for negotiations between Israel and the PA. Any other method will just render useless the framework agreements we already have, and will only lead to unilateral actions on the part of Israel. The way to peace is through negotiations while sitting around the table together," Netanyahu said.
The Prime Minister dismissed declarations by senior PA officials that they would soon declare a Palestinian state without a final-status agreement. "We are prepared to take important steps in order to achieve a true peace to bring an end to the conflict and of course to ensure Israel's security," Netanyahu said.
Peace, he added, would be good for Arabs living in PA-controlled territory. "The Palestinians will have a life of honor, national independence, and unprecedented progress in many areas. In an era of peace we will see towers shoot their way up instead of missiles. The Palestinian economy will produce thousands of jobs, drying up pockets of poverty and hopelessness, and marshalling the inner strength to oppose terror," Netanyahu said.
Earlier, former U.S. President Bill Clinton spoke at the event, telling attendees that they should not think of President Barack Obama as an enemy. "You mustn't think that Obama is your enemy, and you know that Hillary isn't either," Clinton said. "The United States cannot force you to do something you don't want to do. We are committed to your security. I don't think you should be negative about the Obama administration," he added.
5. MK Chides Netanyahu for Syrian Feelers
by Hillel Fendel
Netanyahu’s broaching of the Golan/Syria withdrawal/negotiations channel has aroused objections in Syria, Israel, and his Likud party itself.
Tzipi Hotobeli, a rookie Knesset Member in the Likud party, says she plans to ask for “clarifications” at Monday’s Likud Knesset faction meeting about reports that Netanyahu has agreed to withdraw from the Golan Heights. "The Prime Minister must remember that most of the Likud opposes a withdrawal from the Golan," she told Arutz-7, “and the proof is the strong support in the Likud for the latest Golan bill.”
Hotobeli, whose candidacy for the Knesset Netanyahu himself personally recruited, was referring to legislation that would require a Knesset majority of 80 MKs – and not just 61, as the current law demands – for any diplomatic agreement that includes a withdrawal from the Golan Heights. The bill passed its first reading in the previous Knesset, and supporters intended to proceed with its final readings in the current Knesset. However, a left-leaning Likud member, Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister Dan Meridor, was able to thwart this bid, and the bill may have to restart its legislative trek from the beginning.
Referendum Still Needed
The 1999 law requiring a national referendum on any government decision to withdraw from the Golan Heights still stands.
MK Hotobeli told Arutz-7, “There is no reason at all to start talking with Syria when it is clear to all that the price that we would have to pay – the Golan Heights and its 20,000 Jews – is simply not worth it. At present, and ever since 1967, our border with Syria has been very quiet, and there is a de facto peace. Neither is Lebanon under Syrian control any longer, so there is nothing to gain there. So what do we need negotiations with Syria for?”
Hotobeli did not mention that Syrian control of the Golan would also bring along with it Syrian “participation” in the waters of the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret), Israel’s largest – and often diminishing – natural reservoir.
When Do You Want Peace?
Arutz-7’s Shimon Cohen asked the MK, “If you are not willing to make an agreement because the border is quiet, and you’re also not willing to make peace when there’s terrorism because then you say that we would be giving in to terrorism, then when are you willing to make peace?”
Hotobeli responded, “There is one principle, and that is that the Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel. The Land of Israel is not something over which we wage negotiations. That is the basis for my diplomatic stance. On top of that principle, we have seen over the past 16 years that withdrawals do not lead to peace, and therefore it is clear that my principled stance is the correct one in realpolitik as well."
She also reminded the listeners that Netanyahu himself promised, before the elections, that he was committed to retaining the Golan Heights under Israeli sovereignty.
Netanyahu and Syria
Arab news sources reported over the weekend that Netanyahu had relayed a message to Syrian President Bashar Assad during his recent meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy that Israel was willing to withdraw from the Golan. The Prime Minister's Bureau said in response that the report was totally groundless and that nothing of the sort had happened.
At the same time, Assad rebuffed Netanyahu’s offer of direct peace talks with Syria, saying he was ready for peace but not direct negotiations. He said that Israel and Syria should resume indirect negotiations via Turkish mediators. Relations between Turkey and Israel have been strained in recent weeks, in light of Turkey’s support for Iran, cancellation of military exercises with Israel, anti-Israel declarations, and more.
6. Google Earth Tracks the Battlefield Miracle of Chanukah
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Google Earth is helping Jews in Israel and all over the world understand the miraculous victory of the Jews over Greek invaders 2,000 years ago thanks to the initiative of a rabbi who brings history back to life on the computer.
Jews soon will celebrate the two miracles of Chanukah, the battlefield victory and the ritual burning of the discovery of pure olive oil in the Holy Temple that the Greeks had desecrated. The High Priests at the time found one container of oil that had been prepared according to Jewish law, and they used it to light the Menorah (candelabrum) in the Temple. Miraculously, it remained burning for eight days, even though the amount would normally have lasted only one day.
In addition, the Jews also enjoyed a military victory, which can now be followed via a Google Earth presentation prepared by Rabbi Shlomo Hecht. He related that during a recent visit in San Diego, California, he realized the difficulty in explaining to the Jewish community what really happened in the war between the Jewish forces, led by Yehuda (Judah) the Maccabi, and the Syrian-Greek army.
With a press of the button, Rabbi Hecht toggles between a contemporary map and the historic routes and points of conflict that allow viewers to follow maneuvers day and night.
He incorporates the topography as well as modern names of the communities to get across his message, which is embellished by emphasizing Zionist values. “This makes it easier to understand the challenges and difficulties in decision-making by Judah the Maccabi,” he said at a recent demonstration at the Jewish community at Maaleh Levonah in Samaria.
The small town is slightly north of an important battlefield, where the rabbi’s Google Earth presentation shows how the Maccabees waited in hiding for the overwhelming Greek force to arrive at a narrow passage, now known as Highway 60. After the Greeks were forced to change their course because of the narrow road, the smaller Jewish army attacked.
His lecture and 3-D presentation also illustrate crucial decisions and tactics over which modern historians still argue.
After Chanukah, Rabbi Hecht hopes to use the same modern technology to teach about the battles of Kings Saul and David.
7. New Hope for Katif Families
by David Lev
The government decided Sunday to continue subsidizing day care centers for children of families who were thrown out of their homes in the 2005 disengagement. The decision, which was approved by the government at the behest of Science Minister Daniel Hershkovitz (Bayit Yehudi), chairman of a ministerial committee on the treatment of former residents of Gush Katif and northern Samaria, will extend funding for the day care and after-school centers attended by children of families who were thrown out of their homes by Ariel Sharon's government in 2005.
The decision was made at a meeting where the name of the Sela agency, which was set up by the government to help families who were victims of the disengagement, was changed. The agency is now known as "Tnufa," or "momentum." Officials say that the name change will reflect a change in attitude and focus by the agency, in which the agency will try to parley the crisis faced by Israelis thrown out of their homes in Gush Katif and northern Samaria into a force for "a momentum for the future," officials said.
Hershkovitz said it was important to continue aiding families who were victims of the disengagement; even though more than four years have passed since the government threw the families out of their homes in order to hand over Gush Katif and four communities in northern Samaria to the Palestinian Authority, 80% of the former residents of these areas still live in temporary housing.
"The decision to continue subsidizing the centers is an exceptional one, designed to help the families of those who were thrown out of their homes, who are still in great need of assistance," Hershkovitz said. "The current government brings with it a change in attitude and greater momentum in dealing with the families, and I hope the government will be able to bring all the families to permanent housing within the next two years, so we will not have to make any more exceptional decisions to continue extending government aid for these families," he said.
The centers are located in communities where disengagement families currently live in temporary housing, waiting for a permanent housing solution. Families with parents who are working or studying, or who are receiving unemployment benefits, are eligible to send their children to the centers.
