Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Israel News Analysis: The Price of Life


[Based on article by Assaf Mishnayot, originally published in Hebrew in Besheva, edited and translated by Hillel Fendel]


The IDF plans to cut 70 positions in the civil security framework in Judea and Samaria during the course of 2019, continuing the trend of previous years. These cost-saving measures mean simply that "we won't be able to protect the Jewish communities," says a senior Shomron Regional Council official.

These are difficult times for the security sector in Judea and Samaria. Last month saw several fatal and near-fatal terrorist attacks, and just this past week, the civilian emergency squad of the community of Adei Ad suffered a near-deadly ambush by hundreds of Arab rioters. The team was then taken to task in the media by radical elements for opening fire and killing one of the attackers – a terrorist who has served time in Israeli prison.

From Congo to Samaria: The Story of Ariel and Eliana Limania


by Tzurit Fenigshtein, originally published in Hebrew in Eretz Binyamin, the journal of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, edited and translated by Hillel Fendel


After meeting and talking with Ariel and Eliana Limania-Limbo, two new immigrants to Israel from Belgium, I realize that the life choices I have made in my lifetime pale in comparison to those they have made. They are "settlers" living in Eli, just north of Shilo, they are religious, and they are black-skinned – and they still laugh whenever they see the looks of surprise of those who hear their French-accented Hebrew for the first time.

Ariel was born in Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Belgian Congo and Zaire), to an Ashkenazi-Jewish family. He immigrated as a lad with his family to Belgium, where he studied law and served as legal counsel for the Belgian Electric Company. He met Eliana, then a Christian and daughter of a former Belgian Parliament member, in a memorable encounter:

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Interview with Yedidya Solomon

10th year Bet El Yeshiva student and cancer survivor
On coping with hardship through emunah (faith)

 Yedidya Solomon is 28 years old and lives in Bet El with his wife. He has been learning at Bet El's Yeshiva of Higher Learning for 10 years and is almost finished completing a B.A. in Special Education. He works in education, consulting, and therapy.

[Interview conducted by Sharona eshet-Kohen]

Monday, January 14, 2019

Israel News Analysis: Growing Larger and Greater!

by Yaakov "Ketzaleh" Katz

[Based on an article that originally appeared in Hebrew in Arutz Sheva, and translated by Hillel Fendel]




449,297. That's the number of Jews who reside in Judea and Samaria, as of this past Dec. 31, according to Israel's Interior Ministry. Practically 450,000 - a 3.25% jump in one year, nearly twice the growth rate of Israel altogether. And it doesn't even include the 325,000 Jews living in the 24 new neighborhoods built in the parts of Jerusalem liberated in 1967, such as Ramot, Pisgat Ze'ev, Gilo, and more.

When the Israeli nation is in Exile, it becomes, most unfortunately, a blind people. Even the signs and wonders of Moshe Rabbeinu in Egypt made no impression on the leaders and the majority of the Israelites at the time. Today as well, after 140 years of settlement in the Land of Israel and 70 years of independence politically, militarily, and economically, there are still many too many Israeli political leaders and IDF generals who have not yet been cured of the diseases of these terrible 2,000 years of Exile. The worst sickness of them all is "Jewish Ghetto Disease."