Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Peace for Peace? Or Peace for Planning Freeze?

by Hillel Fendel

Trump meets with UAE president Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (Credit: Reuters)

In light of worrying "construction freeze" indications from the direction of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the Yesha Council is taking action. Responding to his apparent signals to effectively freeze Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria, the Council announced this month the launching of a special campaign to pressure him and his government to issue building permits. Such permits can only be done by the Planning Council, which the prime minister has not convened in over six months. 

Monday, September 21, 2020

Open Letter to Friends of Judea & Samaria

Originally published in myesha.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel

Jordan Valley

To our residents in Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley, and to the friends throughout Israel and the Diaspora supporting the enterprise to return the Jewish people to this land -

Monday, September 7, 2020

Celebrating "Temporary" Sovereignty Loss

by Hillel Fendel

Netanyahu and Trump
While the Covid-19 crisis continues to occupy most news pages, shows, and websites, critical developments in other areas are liable to be overlooked. Who remembers, for instance, that the formation of the hostile entity of a Palestinian state, an acute danger to the welfare of the State of Israel, was basically averted – for now – by a savior who came out of the blue totally unexpectedly?

What happened was that while the nationalist camp was divided on whether to concentrate on the full or the empty half-cup of the Trump Deal of the Century, and while Prime Minister Netanyahu himself couldn't seem to decide whether or not he favored sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, the decision was made for us: The signing of a peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates all but took sovereignty off the table, as the UAE made this a condition for signing.

Learning Torah in the Time of Corona

Bet El Yeshiva students learning in "Kapsulot" during Corona

The Bet El Yeshiva is back in session! With 60 new students (about 370 in total!), meeting the proper health requirements has been a challenge that the administration and student body have been happy to meet.