Containment is Not a Recipe for Victory

by Michael Sparber, member of the Judea & Samaria forum, translated by Hillel Fendel.

===Translator's note:
While the world, and particularly American public opinion, focuses on – and exaggerates unrestrainedly – supposed "settler violence," Israel continues to suffer from equally unrestrained murderous terrorism. Our newsletters have featured articles on the truth of the myth of "settler violence" – which we hope our readers disseminate widely – and we plan to continue to do so. In the meantime, please note that on Yom Kippur eve, a Jewish father of six and resident of the Shomrom community of N'vei Aliza was brutally gunned down by a Palestinian terrorist. The victim, in his last moments of life, was able to warn his 16-year-old son and thus save his life. This article deals with the manner in which Israel must wage the ongoing war against terrorism.

The question as to whether Kadri Samara, may his name be blotted out – the Palestinian terrorist who murdered Netanel Shukrun – should be executed (according to a new law passed in the Knesset mandating a death sentence in such cases) is an important one. But it once again puts the spotlight on our reaction to terrorism, instead of on the security and governmental faults that enabled the murder in the first place.

We would be advised not to ask only what to do with the murderer, but what do to prevent another one.

Here is the recent news item that so sadly and perfectly illustrates this failure: an announcement and warning by our Defense Minister, Yisrael Katz. He revealed that Israel has "information" on the possibility that Hamas will try to kidnap an Israeli soldier or citizen. Minister Katz then issued a threat: "If this happens, all of Gaza City will be evacuated and will be dealt with just as we dealt with [the terrorist-headquarter cities of] Rafah and Biet Hanoun."

Note the order: The intelligence exists, but our actions will happen only after the intelligence proves to be true: "If they abduct an Israeli, then we will take the strongest action. If they murder someone, we will execute. If they attack us, we will exact a heavy price."

There is nothing wrong with deterrence, or with threatening. The problem is how and when. Deterrence must happen before, not only after. We find ourselves having turned our threats into policy: The enemy takes the initiative, and we respond; he determines the attack, and we then set the punishment.

This is not the way to win. It's a way of managing the conflict, but it leaves no room for ending it.

Almost sixty years after the Six-Day War, the State of Israel has still not defined the situation it seeks to create in the face of Palestinian terrorism. Israel possesses a strong army, intelligence, the Shin Bet, and elite units. It knows how to arrest wanted persons, thwart terror cells, demolish houses, and find and kill or arrest terrorists almost anywhere and at any hour.

But these are tools. They are not policy.

Over the course of years, we have become accustomed to measuring success by the number of attacks thwarted, instead of by whether we are changing the reality that necessitates our preemptive actions. Another wanted terrorist is arrested, one more cell is thwarted, additional weapons are seized. A terrorist attack is committed, followed by a military operation, followed by some relative quiet – followed at some point or another by another attack. The cycle continues. And the responsibility to break it is not of the IDF or the Shin Bet. It is the responsibility of the political leadership.

And here we must point our finger directly at our current government, headed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. After Oct. 7 (Simchat Torah 2023), it no longer has the privilege of simply "managing" this conflict and its threats. The massacre of three years ago was the worst exemplification of the price to be paid for a policy that seeks to deter the enemy, to thwart him, and to exact prices from him – but to leave the threat that he represents still intact.

We can argue about the methods: about the PA, about sovereignty, security control, or whatever. What can't be done is to not decide. Because inaction and indecision is in itself a decision – to continue the same policies that have failed us in the past. 

And this is precisely what is happening when the government continues to threaten what it will do "if" and "after" – after the enemy murders and kidnaps and attacks. Our reactions are taking the place of ensuring that the enemy cannot continue its attacks.

If there is intelligence about a planned or intended kidnapping, then the first issue that must be dealt with is how to counter the enemy's ability to do so [which is, hopefully and presumably, precisely what our security organs were doing even as Minister Katz issued his threat - HF]. The infrastructures that produce terrorism must be dismantled before, not after, the next attack.
And if it is not only an infrastructure that must be taken down, but the entire reality that is enabling the terrorists to attack again and again, then the government and all its branches must deal strategically with how this reality is totally changed.

Containment is not a policy, but merely a way of gaining time between calamities. Similarly, capital punishment for a given terrorist is not the heart of the matter; it simply distracts us from actually changing the situation - and winning.

After October 7, we can no longer say that we don't know the potential cost of containment. A government that knows, understands, warns, and threatens – yet still continues to manage the same enemy threats, instead of deciding what to do with them, cannot be surprised when it repeatedly receives the same bitter, painful results.

Defeating terrorism begins where containment ends.

The Year that Changed Israel

by Yehuda Vald, Director-General of the Religious Zionism party.

We had an amazing insight while in the midst of anti-Hizbullah combat just a few days ago. We were waiting for the Oketz elite K-9 unit (which uses dogs specially trained to sniff out weapons, ammunition, or volatile chemical vapors from explosives and booby traps, and then sit in place to alert the fighters without detonating the explosives) to scan a house for explosive devices before our entry. I stood there, in the courtyard of a house in the heart of Lebanon, enwrapped in dust and sweat, on a mission to destroy terror infrastructures deep within the territory. I caught the eye of the fighter standing next to me and asked him: "Can you believe what's happening with us right now?"

He just looked at me, and I continued: "If I had told you three years ago that we would be 13 kilometers deep inside Lebanon, marching wherever we feel like, moving between houses and fields almost without fear, opening an operational position in a destroyed village – one of many dozens all along the border - and that on the route back, we would see Israeli flags waving along the roadsides with the city of Tyre in the background, what would you have said?"

It took him a few long seconds to change his perspective. I could see the magnitude of the historic event gradually come through to him – and then we received the order to move into the house and prepare it for destruction.

In the middle of battle in Lebanon, looking around at the big picture as the year of 5786 was drawing to a close, it must be said wholeheartedly: Israel's security situation has never been better. The reality created on the ground over the past year is nothing less than a strategic revolution.

Let's start here in the north: IDF forces have complete control deep inside Lebanon and are able to act freely all along the long border. Hizbullah, the terrorist organization that sat on our fences for decades, looming threateningly and murderously over our northern towns, has been systematically decimated. Thousands of its terrorist operatives have been killed, and the rest have been distanced tens of kilometers towards the north.

On our northeastern sector, Israeli outposts are stationed deep within Syrian territory, and the critically strategic Mt. Hermon Crown has become a strong built-up Israel outpost, fortified and protected.

In the south, Israel holds 60% of the Gaza Strip, from which so many murderous attacks emanated over the decades, and of course especially in 2023. Our brave and courageous soldiers man the Yellow Line (the north-south line that divides Gaza into IDF territory and that which is still controlled by Hamas), systematically gunning down anyone who nears the border, or who took part in the Simchat Torah massacre three years ago.

And of course, we cannot forget the head of the terror octopus seeking to attack Israel from every angle: Iran. Israeli forces carried out unbelievable missions precisely in the heart of Tehran; dozens of leading Iranian officials and military figures have been liquidated, including the leader himself, Ali Khameini. Working in tight cooperation with the United States, our forces destroyed infrastructures and headquarters, killed many terrorists, and landed a very heavy blow against Iran's nuclear installations.

Israel's recent strategic revolution is not confined merely to the security realm. In the realms of construction and the settlement enterprise as well, there has never been a Jewish presence as broad, deep, and significant in Judea and Samaria as there is today. Dozens of new communities, and over 100 farms, have been established throughout the territory, and we have even returned to the northern Shomron communities from which our fellow citizens were expelled during the days of the Disengagement 21 years ago.

In the north, often very close to the Lebanese border, new homes are being built and dozens of young families are joining these veteran pioneering communities. Kindergartens in Metula and Zar'it are once again teeming with life and children playing. To the south, in the Gaza envelope and the Tekuma region, hundreds of new couples and families are settling down, construction is in full swing, and the waiting lists only continue to grow longer.

The Israeli economy has revealed strength that surprised all the analysts. Despite nearly three years of difficult and complex war, unemployment is at a historic low, the stock exchange is climbing, hi-tech stocks are taking off, foreign investments flow in at a record-breaking pace, and the shekel is strong against the dollar and other foreign currency. As predicted in the Talmud, at the time of the Ingathering of the Exiles, the Land of Israel is giving forth its fruits ever so generously.

But of all the miracles, the biggest one is taking place in our life spirit. Despite the futile attempts, morning and evening, to convince us how terribly divided we are, the truth on the ground is diametrically the opposite: Israeli society is experiencing one of its greatest moments of unity in its history.

Hundreds of thousands of reservists and their families eagerly put their entire daily routines on hold and enlist to protect the homeland. Thousands of volunteers embrace our many bereaved families, medical teams act with endless sensitivity and compassion to rehabilitate the wounded, tens of thousands of youths volunteer in their communities, and businesses donate equipment and food on an unprecedented scale. All of this is happening across the political spectrum: right and left, religious, secular, and haredi. This is the unconditional love (Ahavat Chinam) of and within the Nation of Israel.

I'm not coming to whitewash the terrible prices that we have paid since Oct. 7, 2023. My eyes are not closed to the hardships, the pain, and the heavy crises we have undergone since then. We have paid in our must expensive currency: the lives of our best sons and daughters. The tears of the mothers, widows and children continue to sear our hearts. Not for naught do we pray on Rosh HaShanah, "May this year and its curses come to an end."

But alongside the pain, as the year of 5786 ends, it is incumbent upon us to view our nation and people, and G-d's blessings, in a generous and positive manner. We must and want to say Thank You with all our hearts for all the many miracles and great abundance of good that G-d has showered upon us this past year.

A moment after we completed our mission deep inside Lebanon, while wearing our uniforms filled with dust and sweat, we stood and prayed together: "So many great thanks for all the good and all the kindnesses, o dear Father in heaven."

Yes, we need many more of them, many more salvations and consolations. We pray that the new year be filled with blessing.

Hunger in Gaza? Obesity is on the Rise

by Hillel Fendel, former editor of Arutz-7's IsraelNationalNews.com.

UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) has released new statistics showing that the famine in Gaza that Israel is widely accused of precipitating has now given way to a new trend: obesity.

According to the new report, malnutrition among children in Gaza is actually much lower than previously reported – a rate of 0.5 percent, one of the lowest rates of acute child malnutrition in the region. This, according to an analysis by The Free Press of data from the World Bank and the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN–affiliated hunger-monitoring system. The data were collected by the Gaza SMART Survey, conducted by the State of Palestine [sic] Nutrition Cluster, led by UNICEF; 1,335 children under five years old were included in the survey, conducted from May 31 until June 15 of this year.

A year ago, Gaza was officially declared a famine-stricken area, leading to widespread accusations against Israel. Israel maintained that it was allowing hundreds of truckloads of food each day into the Gaza Strip, but that Hamas was commandeering the supplies and selling them to the highest bidders or giving them to their own people.

The new report raises the question as to whether the original report was ever correct, or whether it was the results of distorted statistics, purposefully or otherwise.

The latest report shows that the rate of "wasting" – a medical term referring to extreme thinness indicating malnutrition – is "low across all [Gazan] sectors, indicating that acute, widespread malnutrition does not exist at the population level."

Not only do the figures show one of the lowest rates of acute childhood malnutrition in the entire region, researchers also found that only about 12% of children in Gaza suffer from stunted growth due to poor nutrition - less than half of the regional average, which stands at 26%.

"To be honest, I thought the figure [of stunted growth] would be much higher," admitted Elena Naumova, Chair of the Division of Nutrition Data Science at Tufts University in Boston.

The new UNICEF report reveals that Gaza is now facing a completely different challenge: obesity and overweight, which together affect about 4% of children under age five in Gaza. An astonished senior researcher who previously supervised data collection teams at the Africa Foundation noted that she had "never seen" the emergence of obesity in a place that had been declared a famine-stricken area just a year prior.

Hamas Steals and Diverts Aid

According to a report by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), "Delivering humanitarian assistance during an active armed conflict is extraordinarily complex... [In Gaza], one of the greatest challenges has been Hamas itself. Throughout the war, Israel, the United States, and numerous independent observers have documented instances in which Hamas stole, taxed, diverted, or otherwise exploited humanitarian assistance intended for Palestinian civilians." 

Just last month, COGAT – the Israeli Defense Ministry body charged with coordinating Government Activities in the Territories - remaining market distortions inside Gaza are now driven less by shortages than by Hamas's continued influence over commercial distribution mechanisms.

Hamas still diverts humanitarian aid, according to many Palestinian civilians, Israel, and numerous reports. The AJC report states: "Israeli intelligence, videos released during the war, statements from Palestinian Authority officials, and testimony from aid workers have all pointed to Hamas's efforts to control humanitarian assistance as a means of financing its operations and maintaining political authority inside Gaza."

Good News from Israel

by Hillel Fendel, former editor of Arutz-7's IsraelNationalNews.com.

** Two earthquake-plagued areas in Central and South America received major rescue and humanitarian aid from Israel this summer.

IsraAID, Israel’s largest non-governmental humanitarian aid agency, is currently in Colombia, responding to a devastating earthquake there. While multiple nations offered aid to Colombia, the government explicitly restricted physical search-and-rescue teams to only four countries – and Israel was one of them. IsraAID has had an active presence for more than five years in the country, working hand-in-hand with communities to address long-term humanitarian challenges and acute crises.

The earthquake, the most powerful in Colombia in at least a century, struck only days after newly inaugurated President Abelardo De La Espriella took office, promising reforms that include reversing his predecessor’s hostile diplomatic stance toward Israel.

** In July of this year, Israel sent a rescue delegation to Venezuela after that country suffered double earthquakes – and remained there for three weeks. The quakes, 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale, respectively, claimed over 6,000 lives. Despite having no official diplomatic relations with Venezuela since 2009, Israel sent a technical aid delegation alongside IsraAID teams to provide immediate medical assistance, psychological first aid, and water infrastructure relief.

These two rescue missions, which followed two similar missions just this year alone – see below – are not only life-saving and diplomatically beneficial; they are also a form of fulfillment of Biblical prophecies. For instance, the prophet Tzefania (3,20) foretold that when, in the future, the Lord returns the Jews to the Land of Israel, He will "make [them] a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth."

** Similarly, in recent months, Israel has targeted humanitarian relief to vulnerable displaced populations in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the former, organized a widespread distribution of emergency food and sanitation supplies to roughly 2,000 families suffering from severe food shortages, and in the Congo, Israeli teams worked alongside local partners to combat a spreading Ebola outbreak.

“As you know, we have experience in Israel,” the IDF’s Spanish-language spokesman, Maj. (res.) Roni Kaplan, told reporters in Colombia. “Sometimes, unfortunately, our enemies launch missiles at densely populated civilian areas, leaving civilians under the rubble. And today we are taking the knowledge in this field developed by Israel and making it available to Colombian citizens. Hopefully, we can contribute our small part here," Kapan said. "Hope in Judaism is not something that we have to wait for in the future; it is something that we have to work toward. And that is what we are doing; we are working."

Concern for Human Life and Dignity

** Just this week, Israel proved also that it spares no efforts to find and return its own people – dead or alive. Today (Aug. 18), Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that Israel had recovered, after 44 years, the remains of IDF tank officer Yehuda Yekutiel Katz, who was killed during the Battle of Sultan Yacoub in Lebanon during the Peace for Galilee War. The remains were recovered in a joint operation by the IDF and the Mossad. For many years, the remains of two other missing fallen soldiers from that battle were also missing, until Israel succeeded in finding them and having them returned to Israel.

Across the Globe

** In another show of Israel's concern for human life, an Israeli mother and daughter, in their 50's and 20's, respectively, went missing in Austria for a full week – until they were safely located in Argentina by Israeli police three days ago. No foul play is suspected, but Israel showed that it spared no efforts in order to bring the case to closure for all concerned.

** In other good news, though on a totally different plane, senior political and economic analyst Dr. Guy Bechor presented today what he termed a "historic" piece of data regarding Israel's economy. "Israel's GDP (gross domestic product) surged in the second quarter of the year to an annualized rate of 15.4%, while growth in "Western" economies is hovering around zero." He notes that Israel's economy grew by only around 10% over the previous two years combined – which is largely due to the war conditions since the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7, 2023.

"Phenomenal!" and "a world-class achievement" is how Dr. Bechor described this accomplishment. He credited Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich for this quarter's historic growth: "This man is insanely talented, with diligence the likes of which we have never seen. He has scored tremendous achievements in the economy and in Judea and Samaria. He hasn't rested for a minute for four years."

"Full disclosure:" Dr. Bechor continued. "I have never met Mr. Smotrich, I have not had any connection with him or anyone on his behalf, and I need nothing from him – other than that he remains Finance Minister for another four years."

Illusion in Lebanon: The Lebanese Army is Not the Solution, but the Problem

by Anna Slotzkin, among the founders of the Uri Tzafon (Awaken, O North!) movement, translated by Hillel Fendel.

Israel's political and military establishments seem to have a frighteningly short memory. In fact, we are witness to a dangerous governmental attempt to revive the same old murderous "conception" that brought upon us terrible calamities in the not-so-distant past.

The latest plan for our northern border currently on the table, known by the laundered term "pilot plan" (as if it was not meant to be permanent), proposes the same old recipe that has been tried, with tragic results, in the past: The IDF is to withdraw from the areas it captured in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Army will take its place there, and the Americans will "supervise" from afar, giving all of us a dangerously misleading sense of security.

In practice, hiding behind the word "pilot" is a very bitter reality: a bona-fide retreat of Israeli forces and an abandonment of strategic pieces of land that the best of our sons, brave IDF warriors, captured with their blood and heroism over the course of almost three years. (Nearly 160 Israelis have been murdered by Hizbullah during this period, including about 40 in 2026.) Two large areas of land have already been turned over to the Lebanese, who this week proposed that two more territories be included in this "pilot." This, despite the fact that the Lebanese Army has never displayed any ability – nor even willingness! – to effectively clash with the Hizbullah terrorists controlling their country. 

Those who try to pass off the Lebanese Army as a "solution" are simply throwing sand into Israeli eyes, and particularly of those of who live in the north. The reality on the ground is becoming more and more obvious, and that is that the Lebanese military is not simply ignoring Hizbullah activity, but is actually actively cooperating with it. Its army is not a sovereign, independent force that can enforce law and order, but rather one that lives and breathes the terrorist organization with which it works hand in hand.

The Lebanese Army refrains from any and all clashes with Hizbullah. Instead, it grants them an umbrella of protection and enable them to remain the true bosses in southern Lebanon. To expect that such an organization will suddenly become a defender of Israel's Galilee is somewhere between stupidity and a downright security disaster.  

We've already gone through this before. We saw what the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL was worth after UN Resolution 1701 was adopted in 2006. The resolution stipulated the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, and the establishment of a buffer zone manned only by the Lebanese military (which cooperated with Hizbullah) and UNIFIL (which became live shields for Hizbullah terrorists). We must not allow our control in southern Lebanon, achieved with blood and tears, to be replaced by another "been there, done that" experiment on the backs of the tens of thousands of Israel who have been displaced from their homes for over a year.

The Uri Tzafon movement seeks to say as clearly as possible that which many are afraid to say aloud: True security for the Galilee and all of Israel will come not from the Lebanese Army, collaborating with Hizbullah, and certainly not from UNIFIL disguised as peacekeepers. It will come only from settlement.

All of Zionist history teaches us this one simple lesson: Where the Jewish plow passes, there's a border and there's security. Withdrawals and understandings will not bring peace. The only solution that is real, ethical, and safe is one that involves complete military control of the areas previously occupied by terrorists – and then wide-ranging Jewish settlement there; yes, there in southern Lebanon. Only land that is settled by Jews can be a true living and breathing security zone, guaranteeing that no other threat will ever arise against the residents of northern Israel.

In fact, steps are being taken in this direction. Families in northern Israel have been crossing the border once in a while, seeking to set some facts, if not on the ground yet, then in our consciousness. Yes, our forces broke through the old border-fence and replaced it with a wall, but in truth, there is no need for either: The best will be that instead of terrorists crossing over into Israel while we tremble passively by, it should be us pioneer settlers who should be crossing northwards, to conquer the inheritance of our forefathers.

These pioneering families are calling upon our government to Wake Up! Instead of investing millions in the construction of walls and fences and new conceptions that simply harm our security and create false illusions of safety and protection and cooperation with the Lebanese Army, let us settle north of the border and grant genuine security to our State.

The time has come to internalize that only settlement in southern Lebanon will bring true security!

Twenty Years After: Legendary Hero's Final Moments Remembered

by Hillel Fendel, former editor of Arutz-7's IsraelNationalNews.com.

The IDF Censor still does not permit his photo to be published, but Lt.-Col. Emanuel Moreno was remembered this week on the 20^th anniversary of his death during the Second Lebanon War. He served in the IDF's most elite unit, Sayeret Matkal (the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit), and is credited with having taken part in the greatest number of operations in the unit's history. 

He is publicly acknowledged to have participated in only two of them: the 1994 abduction of Lebanese terrorist commander Mustafa Dirani, who had held missing Israeli navigator Ron Arad, and the 2003 rescue of taxi driver Eliyahu Gorel, kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists and held near in a village north of Jerusalem.

It was reported this week that one of the few occasions that Moreno considered a personal defeat was shortly after he discovered where kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was being held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Emanuel prepared a plan for Shalit's rescue, presented it to the Chief of Staff and Prime Minister – and they turned it down. Their fear was that its price in soldiers' lives might be too high, but Moreno was sorely disappointed and frustrated at what he felt was a lack of leadership and courage.

Arutz-7's Shimon Cohen, who studied with Moreno in the pre-military academy in Eli, wrote this week:

"It's impossible not to dream what 'could' have been. If Emanuel's plan had been carried out and succeeded, like others that he led and initiated, we would not have had to release 1,027 terrorists in exchange for Gilad Shalit – including hundreds with blood on their hands, especially Oct. 7^th mastermind Yihye Sinwar. We can only imagine how Israeli history over the past 15 years would have looked had Sinwar and his cronies not been released then.

"It's true that the architects of anti-Israel terrorism knew how to pull its strings even from with prison wall, but there is certainly no comparison between a terrorist leader in prison and one who is free of constraints...

"Yes, there is great disappointment with our leaders of then, whose fears apparently cost us so much more than the price they were afraid to pay. But it is incumbent upon us to remember at the same time that our there is much that we do not know and probably never will know. How many massacres and mass terrorist attacks were prevented, with G-d's help, in the merit of the dedication and initiative of dedicated fighters such as Emanuel Moreno and others in elite units, air force squadrons, infantry, armored units, intelligence, and more! Our thanks to all."

Another Arutz-7 correspondent, Dvir Amar, reports that at a 20th memorial this week for Lt.-Col. Moreno - whose photograph is still censored for reasons that can only be surmised – a medic who attempted unsuccessfully to save Moreno's life told of his short but meaningful acquaintance with the hero:

"I was one of Emanuel's underlings at the time, a new, young combat soldier. But I well remember the sense of security and optimism that his presence conveyed to everyone there… Shortly before the incident in which he was killed, we were on our way back from a successful mission, and Moreno's happiness was clear to all. His emotions were felt by everyone. He was really in the clouds, just overjoyed at the results and at how our unit had worked together. And he remained that way up to the final seconds – because then we realized that something was going down. Emanuel was the first to realize it, and he abruptly and firmly said, 'Something is happening here.'"

In fact, on their way back from the secret mission to prevent the smuggling of Iranian and Syrian weapons to Hizbullah, they had fallen into a murderous Hizbullah ambush in southern Lebanon - even though a ceasefire had been declared shortly beforehand.

The former soldier said at this week's memorial, "I was a medic, and after Emanuel was hit, I was the one who took him out of the jeep and started life-saving operations. But I soon saw that it was too late… I remember seeing his eyes still open, but realizing that he was no longer with us. I closed his eyes, and said, 'Dear brother, you're now in a place that's all good.'"

The soldier recounted that he has never told that story publicly before, because of its personal nature. "It took me 20 years to tell this… His final minutes left an amazing impression. The strength that he gave all of us, even then – that was truly Emanuel."

For more information on Emanuel Moreno, see https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/122213

From a collection of stories about Emanuel Moreno:
The Value of Five Seconds (from a letter to Emanuel's family)

I would like to share with you a conversation I had with Emanuel on Friday, just a few hours before we boarded the helicopter. I don't remember the exact words, but this is the gist of it. We sat and talked about different things that could happen to us, and what we would do in each case. This was just two weeks after the sad incident in which a helicopter was hit by a rocket and five soldiers were killed, and so there was a general vague apprehension regarding flying in helicopters over Lebanon.

Emanuel asked me, "So what would you do if, G-d forbid, our chopper is hit by a missile and you have five seconds left until it crashes?" I answered, "I don't know. I guess I would be very sad and scared, and I would close my eyes and wait for it to end as quickly and painlessly as possible." Emanuel thought for a moment and then said, "What I would do, and this is what you should do too, is to say 'Shma Yisrael.'" I looked at him and said, "OK, you'll say Shma Yisrael. But what will it give you? No matter what, a second later, the crash will come and we'll all die."

And then he answered me something that has remained with me until now, and I'm convinced it will remain with me all my life: "If a person has five seconds left to live, and those seconds still have significance for him and aspiration for what comes afterwards, that means that his whole life had meaning. But if the person has five seconds left and he doesn't realize their importance, then apparently his whole life had no meaning. For we don't live just to satisfy our desires, or just for momentary pleasures; our lives are rather a step on the way to the next stage."

This sentence has been with me from the moment of the terrible incident, and it helps me, in that I know that as far as Emanuel was concerned, his life did not end with that terrible wound that killed him. Rather, just one stage ended on the way to the next stage, one that is even more important than this one - a stage that can be reached only by living this life. I am not a religious person, but I believe that Emanuel's strong faith helped him get through all the difficult times of his life calmly and serenely - and especially from the time he was hit until he died. For me, this is something very strengthening.

Wanted: Retrial for Amiram Ben-Uliel

based on an interview by Shimon Cohen of Arnon Itiel in Arutz Sheva, translated by Hillel Fendel.

The latest public figure to call out the injustice of the conviction of Amiram Ben-Uliel, author and columnist Arnon Itiel, says that his confession of murder would not serve as an acceptable confession in Western countries, given that it was extracted under torture.

At the very least, Itiel says, the public debate surrounding Ben-Uliel's conviction in the Dawabsheh family murder must be reawakened.

Ben-Uliel is a young Israeli husband and father serving three life sentences in jail, including years of solitary confinement, for a murder he confessed to only after being severely tortured. He has maintained his innocence for years, and many claim he was framed simply because of the political need to prove that "Jewish terrorism" was being dealt with.

It is also alleged that he was framed to cover up a feud between two families in the Arab village of Duma. No fewer than ten homes in the village were reportedly set ablaze in a similar manner over the course of several months prior to the Dawabshe deaths as part of the internal strife there.

Itiel concluded by saying, "When Joshua conquered the Land of Israel, he suffered a defeat when Achan acted unethically and took booty from the vanquished. Today, as well, our redemption will not happen if the truth behind the Ben-Uliel case is not uncovered and rectified."

"Every minute that Ben-Uliel remains in prison," Itiel said, "is a is a stain on the conscience of every believing Jew." Western countries do not accept confessions extracted under torture, Itiel said, even if they are accompanied by reenactment, and murder convictions require additional evidence.

"Let's imagine that his name was not Amiram Ben-Uliel, but rather Yossi Ulilevitz," said Uliel, "and he was actually imprisoned in China or what used to be the USSR after confessing under torture. Our entire nation would be up in arms demanding his release! But when he is locked up here at home in a Jewish prison, by Jews, then everything is OK?"

Other prominent Israelis who have spoken out against the injustice to Amiram Ben-Uliel include Law Prof. Boaz Sangero (author of Convicting Innocents in Israel and the World and similar books, who has called the Ben Uliel case the worst example of an unjust conviction in Israel), Professor Yoel Elitzur (member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language), Prof. Talia Einhorn, the late Rabbi Chaim Druckman, Nobel Prize winner Prof. Shlomo Aumann, journalist Arnon Segal, Jonathan Pollard, Moshe Feiglin, and defense lawyer Avigdor Feldman.

Working against Ben-Uliel are his confession and re-enactment of the crime – but Itiel notes many cases in which the accused confessed and re-enacted, and yet the conviction was later overturned. In Israel alone, he says, "there have been Roman Zodorov, Amos Barness, Izat Nafsu, Sliman El-Abid, and more."

Among the many difficulties in the case against Ben-Uliel is the fact that an Arab eyewitness testified that he had clearly seen two arsonists that night, yet the indictment against Ben-Uliel charged that he had acted alone. In addition, two different types of Hebrew graffiti were found at the site, yet expert testimony stated that neither of them were written by Ben-Uliel.

The Shabak's Jewish Division denied that there had been any torture leading up to the confession – though the District Court in the case ruled straight out that there had indeed been torture.

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) said the decision to uphold a confession based on torture showed a “glaring oversight” in the legal system: “… it would have been appropriate for the court to have given decisive weight to the fact that before Ben Uliel confessed to the acts, interrogation methods involving severe and prolonged torture were applied to him."

See here for a detailed analysis of the what should have been the inadmissibility of Ben-Uliel's confession:

At the time, the Haaretz newspaper noted that the evidence against Ben Uliel included no objective evidence other than confessions obtained under duress and his own reenactment – which he later retracted, saying it was given based only on what the Shabak interrogators wanted to hear.

Itiel finds some reason for optimism in that "the new director of the Shabak, David Zini, is a man of integrity. The key is in his hands, because the real murderer is living in the Arab village of Duma. I call on Zini to do everything he can to find the real murderer. It shouldn't be hard; the Shabak is one of the most effective secret police entities in the world."

The Victim's Blood Cries out: Stop Stalling and Win!

by Michael Sparber, member of the Judea & Samaria forum, translated by Hillel Fendel.

"Bnayahu Melet, father of two and a member of his local military response team, was a man of truth, a fighter and a visionary. He was guided by truth, and was busy reclaiming for the Jewish People dunam after dunam of the Land of Israel. Bnayahu was a 'warrior of David' of our generation – a man forged of concrete [melet, in Hebrew], in whose merit, among others, we are all able to live here. Every conversation with him was a lesson that filled one with optimism and strength. For me, he always represented Trumpeldor and his comrades. How sorrowful is your passing, my beloved brother and teacher."

I wrote those words immediately upon learning that this great man, among the sons and builders (bane'ha ubone'ha, in Hebrew) of Eretz Yisrael, may G-d avenge his blood, had been murdered by ruthless Palestinians on his way to save lives. I did not write them by rote to console his family, or myself, but rather out of deep conviction of their utter truth. He was of that very rare type that combined vision and responsibility, faith and action, humbleness and strength. He was a walking lesson in love of the Land, in true comprehension of the security situation, and in deep faith that Israel will defeat its enemies if it simply believes in itself and stops seeking to merely "contain" them.

This is precisely why Bnayahu's death is not just a personal tragedy for his family and friends. It is of national proportions, and essentially presents a national test: Will we get stuck on trying to ascertain on how exactly he was murdered, or rather on whether the State of Israel will learn the lesson for which he lived and acted?

Bnayahu did not believe in "managing" the terrorism that engulfs us, but rather in vanquishing it. He did not accept the army's usual post-attack announcements that "we will pursue the murderers and bring them to justice," but insisted that the army must totally wipe out the ability of the entire terrorist mechanism to carry out further attacks.

Bnayahu's Blood Cries Out Not for Vengeance, but for Victory

Here precisely begins the responsibility of the Government of Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu's response to the two terrorist murders and other terrorist victims of that dark day was strong, but quite familiar: Destruction of the terrorists' houses, reinforcement of military forces, checkpoints, cancellation of work permits, collection of enemy weapons, and approvals for more Jewish farms. These are steps that are certainly important, operationally, but they still rely on that same old "conception" of responding to what is done to us. They do not initiate victory and the destruction of the enemy's infrastructure and ability to fight and kill us.

The recent chain of terrorist attacks demands a fundamental shift in perception. We can no longer rely on chasing each individual attacker. We must launch a continuous offensive against the entire terrorism-manufacturing system, until it breaks. Mr. Prime Minister, members of the Cabinet – you who are entrusted with the security of Israel's citizens - this is exactly the conception that we thought and hoped was shattered back on October 7th, nearly three years ago!

For years we told ourselves that we could contain Hamas, manage it, and control the "height of the flames" – and the price we ended up paying was the most terrible in the nation's history. How can we even consider repeating that same mistake in Judea and Samaria!?

As long as it is the terrorists who choose the time and place, manipulating Israel into responding according to the terms they have set, they retain the initiative. When we simply react, we are not striving for victory; at most, for attrition. The equation must be reversed. Israel must once again be the side that takes the lead and forces the other side to figure out how to respond. The terrorists must no longer be those who surprise the State of Israel, but those who wake up each morning with fear as to what Israel has in store for them today.

Mr. Prime Minister, the list of operations you announced following the recent murders is not a recipe for victory, but rather a routine inventory of actions that have been tried already thousands of times. If this is the response even after four terrorist attacks in just one day, it clearly means that nothing has changed - other than the amount of murdered Jews.

This is precisely the moment at which a country is tested. We know that we are good at responding, but now we have to see if we can free ourselves from the conception that has brought us to where we are.

Oct. 7^th was not just an intelligence failure. It was a collapse of an entire worldview that falsely held that we can manage a murderous enemy and keep it at bay according to our dictates. We learned that we cannot – and if this mistake continues to guide us today in Judea and Samaria, Heaven forbid, we will simply be reenacting the conditions that enabled the Gaza massacre. This would mean that we are not only desecrating the memory of those who fell, but also preparing the way for the next victims.

Bnayahu Melet's blood is crying out not for another checkpoint or house demolition, but rather to change the equation, regain the initiative, and win! 

Thinking Big: Seven-Fold Growth in the Shomron by 2050

based on an article by Haggai Huberman, Israeli journalist and author (written for the religious zionist periodical - Matzav Haruach), translated by Hillel Fendel.

Generally we report here on the establishment - or the announcement of the establishment - of new communities, housing starts, neighborhoods, or outposts in the hills of Judea and Samaria. This time, however, given that such reports have happily become commonplace of late, the real news is this: The public response to the news of the 18 new communities about to be built in the northern Shomron has been of unprecedented proportions!

The Shomron Regional Council's campaign, together with the Amanah Settlement Movement, to recruit families to join in building these pioneer communities has seen more than 3,000 families request to join up!

The current program involves the reestablishment – which has already begun – of the four northern Shomron communities that were destroyed in the Disengagement of 2005: Ganim, Kadim, Sa-nur, and Chomesh. The other 14 will be built, beginning in the coming weeks and months, in strategic locations throughout the northern Shomron. For information's sake, current well-known communities in the northern Shomron include Elon Moreh, Shavei Shomron, Kedumim, Maskiyot, and more.

The released statistics show that nearly 30% of the interested parties consider themselves secular or traditional, while the rest self-define as national-religious. Half of them already live in Judea and Samaria, another 15-20% are from central Israel, and slightly less than that hail from Jerusalem. There have also been 12 requests from families currently living abroad, including from Miami and Cincinnati in the U.S., Cyprus, Great Britain, Canada, and Switzerland. New immigrants from France and Ukraine have also filed applications.

Half of the families who are considering taking part in the challenge of Making the Shomron Great Again are young couples in their 20's, and some 20% are over age 60. The applicants from a diverse range of occupations: About 40% of them work in education and therapy, 25% in engineering, high-tech, and liberal professions, and the rest in construction, agriculture, and manual labor.

The emerging picture shows that the nuclear pioneer groups for the "Big Four" - Kadim, Homesh, Sa-Nur, and Ganim – as well as for the new town of Noa are already full, with only a few spots remaining. The first pioneers of Har Eval moved to the new site just this very week, alongside a branch of the Elon Moreh Yeshiva that is already operating at the site.

The new-old community of Ganim will be initially established by families of graduates from the Eli Yeshiva, just north of Shilo; families of graduates from Tel Aviv's Yeshivat Maaleh Eliyahu are set to kick off Kadim; and in Emek Dotan, a branch of the Bruchin Yeshiva will be established with families from Tiberias, Lod, and Bruchin.

Other communities in the formation stages are Shalem (near Itamar), Maayanot, and Merom Gilboa, all expected to move with their already-full core groups right after the High Holidays.

The establishment of the 18 towns – a program that has been termed the Connection Plan, in contrast to the Disengagement that destroyed Gush Katif in Gaza and the above four Shomron towns 21 years ago – is a fulfillment of a Cabinet decision led by Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz.

It is also part of a broader plan to increase the Shomron's Jewish population to more than one million (!) by the year 2050. Though this population currently stands at approximately 150,000, this brainchild program of Shomron Council head Yossi Dagan has been developed based on natural growth, high-rise construction, and more. Geographic engineers and a broad team of professionals in various disciplines worked, and are working, together on the program.

The program, of course, does not even include the new community of Zibda that was announced just this week – because this will be established in the Yesha area south of Shomron, not far from Modiin. Its goal is to help strengthen the seam-line area of western Binyamin. The new families are in the process of preparing their ascent to the land.

Other plans for the Shomron include a new city, currently known as East Rosh HaAyin, designed to house over 130,000 residents on what is currently agricultural land in the western Samaria highlands. Rosh HaAyin itself has a population nearing 81,000. The new city is being promoted as a security belt and strategic buffer for central Israel. In addition, the western Shomron community of Karnei Shomron, with a population over 11,200, is slated to triple in size with the addition of 6,000 new homes.

At the same time, a community "envelope" is being planned, including a branch of the Bnei David pre-military Yeshiva academy (main branch in Eli), and other and yeshiva and pre-military institutions as well.

Shomron Council head Dagan – who himself, with his family, was expelled from Sa-nur during the Disengagement, moved to Shavei Shomron, and now lives once again in the "new" Sa-nur – says: "The numbers warm our hearts and speak for themselves. They prove that the People of Israel has not forgotten its roots. The Connection Plan aims to reconnect our People with itself, its values, its roots – and with the fundamental values of the State of Israel."

From Hevron to Shomron: Quietly, Gradually, and Tediously, the Deed is Done

by Adi Mintz, former Director-General of the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria, translated by Hillel Fendel.

A dream is coming true in the city of Hevron these days: Far from the spotlights, the roofing project in the Cave of the Patriarchs (Me'arat HaMachpelah) is advancing rapidly. The area often used for Jewish prayer services (weather permitting, which it generally does not, especially in boiling summer heat and cold rainy winter days) will be fitted, for the first time in history, with a roof being manufactured in a specialized factory, while tractors and heavy engineering vehicles prepare the access routes on the site for the cranes and trucks to complete the job.

For the more than 700,000 Jewish worshipers who visit the site annually (nearly 100,000 more than the amount of Muslims), this is the realization of a long-held dream: the ability to pray in the site's central courtyard, between the tombs of Avraham and Sarah on the right and Yaakov and Leah on the left, protected from the elements. New electrical infrastructure, air conditioning, drainage, and lighting will be installed as well.

The logic behind this secrecy is obvious. In today's complex international political context of Yesha (Judea and Samaria), every bombastic declaration or untimely publication is liable to mean the end of a project. To its credit, the Religious Zionism party, headed by Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, understands that the way to make the long-overdue vital strategic changes in the demographics of Yesha is precisely the opposite of a PR approach. It is rather found in the tedious maze of governmental apparatuses. 

The most recent move led by Smotrich and his party colleague, Settlement Affairs Minister Orit Strook, illustrates this perfectly: the passage of a dramatic cabinet decision that transfers all urban planning authorities in Area H2 (the part of Hevron that was allocated for Jewish settlement under by the 1997 Hebron Agreement) to Israeli planning authorities. With this quiet administrative step, a primary millstone of the Hebron Agreement was effectively removed, and the zoning barriers that had blocked Jewish settlement in Hebron for nearly three decades were eliminated. 

But, as significant as this project is, it is only an example – a major one, granted – of the consistent, systematic modus operandi that has led, during the nearly four years of the current Israeli government, to an unprecedented revolution in the entire Judea and Samaria settlement enterprise. This is a strategy based on acting quietly and discreetly, with painstaking, tiny-step by tiny-step work to dismantle bureaucratic and legal obstacles while trying to avoid headlines and flaunt achievements. This is of course not the usual manner in which projects like this are carried out… 

The process wondrously mimics how a sapling becomes a tree. In its first years, the sapling is lovingly and modestly irrigated and protected from dangerous elements; its fruits, if there are any, are orlah and may not be eaten. Only in the fourth year may they be consumed, with certain restrictions, and then in the fifth year, after years of quiet work, the fruits sprout forth in full bloom, to be heartily partaken of.

Similarly in the administrative/legal sphere in Yesha. Minister Smotrich and his colleagues stubbornly waged a long political struggle for the establishment of a new "Settlement Administration" in the Defense Ministry (which has overall responsibility for Judea and Samaria), with Yehuda Eliyahu at its helm. After it was put together, it was no simple matter to contend with then-Defense Minister Yoav Galant – who has since been replaced by the much more sympathetic Yisrael Katz – over the boundaries of its authorities. The structural changes that were made with the establishment of the new Administration included the appointment of a Deputy Administration head for Civilian Matters, and the transfer of broad authorities from the head of the IDF's Civil Administration and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) to civilian hands. One of the most significant changes was the transfer of the authorities of the Legal Counsel's Office of Yesha to the Defense Ministry Legal Counsel, who reports directly to the new Administration. For years these authorities had been governed by the Chief IDF Prosecution, headed most recently by the now-disgraced Tomer Yerushalmi. This effectively neutralized one of the primary legal barriers that long blocked and delayed Jewish development in Yesha.

For many long months, the new Settlement Administration operated below the radar. It fundamentally changed the methods of supervision over and enforcement of laws against illegal Arab construction, and brought about a dramatic revolution in the workings of the Supreme Planning Council, the top planning and zoning body in the Civil Administration. It also led to the declaration of many thousands of dunams (1,000-square-meter tracts of land) as State Land, amidst very close cooperation with the IDF Central Command. 

At the same time, Finance Minister Smotrich allocated the necessary resources and budgetary sums for this civilian revolution; the faction's MKs led the way to pass the historic legislation nullifying the 2005 Disengagement Law from northern Shomron; and Settlement Minister Strook led the ongoing Agricultural Farms enterprise – hundreds of strategic points throughout Judea and Samaria that watch over and preserve our national lands. 

Speak Little, Do Much

This quiet, calculated activity began to ripen significantly only in the last year and a half. Suddenly, whoever travels in Judea and Samaria today immediately notices the changes in the landscape. The construction momentum, the paving of roads, the new, white light-construction houses dotting the hills, and the establishment of new outposts are all now "facts on the ground." We learned this lesson of speaking little and doing much from our Patriarch Avraham: When the angels arrived at his tent, he promised them, "I will fetch [you] a morsel of bread" - but in practice, he rushed to bring them flour cakes, cattle, and a variety of delicacies. 

The European Union, the American administration, and even the extreme left-wing organizations in Israel did not recognize the scale of the structural change in time, because it was done behind the scenes, in dry legal discussions and administrative orders. They panicked and began to exert political pressure only when they discovered the final result, when the revolution had already taken shape and became irreversible.

Editor's Note: Peace Now released a 65-page report this week summing up, very satisfactorily in nationalist eyes, the progress made in Judea and Samaria from 2023 to 2025. It states that 185 new Jewish outposts were established during this period; plans for 40,064 housing units were advanced (two-thirds of these during 2025 alone), and 102 new communities were approved. Nearly 26,000 dunams were declared state lands – almost 50% of the entire amount declared as state lands ever since the Oslo Agreements were signed. At least 223 kilometers of new roads were paved.

Israeli Hasbara is Dead, Long Live American Hasbara for Israel!

by Boaz Lieberman, Strategic Crisis Management Advisor, translated by Hillel Fendel.

Over the past years we have grown accustomed to analyze American politics via "sides:" Trump or Biden? Republicans or Democrats? Israel supporters or opponents?

But behind the daily headlines hides a much more complex reality than that, and whoever doesn't understand this is liable to wake up in a few years and find that Israeli-American relations stand upon weaker foundations than they thought – and dangerously so.

The biggest mistake that Israel can make today is to believe that our strategic relationship with the U.S. is guaranteed forever, simply because of inertia. This is not at all certain; the relationship requires maintenance, investment, and deep understanding of the changes that American politics is undergoing.

For years, the Democratic party has been in a clear process of distancing itself from some of its traditional policies towards Israel. A new generation of activists, Congressmen, and media personalities is now adopting positions that view the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the glasses of balance of power, colonialism, and ethnic identities. For them, Israel is no longer a small country fighting for its survival, but a strong state that they see as part of the network of Western powers.

On the other hand, there is certainly no need to eulogize Democratic support for Israel. Many parts of the Democratic establishment still see Israel as a vital American ally. They may be using different terminology and even tones, but they are not all enemies of Israel.

At the same time, within the Republican Party too, a deep change is taking place. The conservative right of Ronald Reagan was an international, activist right that was very willing to activate American force around the world when necessary. The movement that Donald Trump is leading is not the same thing; though not necessarily isolationist, it does make sure to constantly ask before every decision: Does this directly serve American interests?

This is where two names come into the picture – the two most significant figures in the post-Trump era: Marco Rubio and JD Vance.

Secretary of State Rubio represents the more traditional conservative viewpoint. He sees Israel as a strategic asset of the first degree in the struggle against Iran, China, Islamic terrorism, and anti-Western axes.

Vice President Vance, on the other hand – 13 years younger than Rubio – is a man of the new generation of Republicans. He is not anti-Israel, but views the world from the vantage point of the typical middle-class American, and primarily wants to know what he or she would like.

Israel cannot afford to take sides in this succession struggle.

With Rubio, we must speak the language of national security, technology, intelligence, and the struggle against Iran. With Vance, we must speak an entirely different language, and present the position that Israel is not a burden on the United States, but rather an asset that saves it from fighting wars, losing soldiers, and spending money. Israel does not ask for American troops, but rather fights on its own against forces that threaten, inter alia, American interests.

Yet alongside the political challenge, Israel also faces an even greater trial: the loss of influence in the arena of public opinion. And this brings us to the part that Israel still refuses to understand: The old-style Israeli Hasbara (PR and image-building) is dead.

For years, we thought the way to convince the world was to send a spokesperson to a studio, present a map, show a video, and explain why we are right. This method worked in the era of institutionalized media, when the public received information through a limited number of television channels and newspapers. The world of 2026 looks completely different. America's Gen Z does not learn about Israel via CNN or Fox news, but rather through TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and podcasts. They don't listen to official spokesmen, but rather to people they trust from social media.

Israel must therefore shift away from traditional Hasbara, to "diplomacy of influence."

Instead of sending Israelis with perfect English to talk on TV, we must invest in forming a broad coalition of Americans who will speak for Israel, in American. No longer must there be Israeli hasbarah; there must be American hasbarah for Israel!

The voices that should lead this campaign need not necessarily be Israeli ambassadors or politicians. They must rather be former American combat soldiers or officers, influential conservatives, Evangelical leaders, hi-tech personalities, parents who are concerned about campus anti-Semitism, professors, conservative Hispanics, and moderate Democrats.

When an American explains to another American why Israel is important for U.S. security, the message is heard ten times louder than when an Israeli explains this.

And our second mistake is this: focusing on Washington, D.C. exclusively.

The real battle for the future of Israeli-U.S. relations is taking place today on university campuses: at Harvard, Columbia, Berkeley, the University of Pennsylvania, and the like. It is there, and not in "traditional American support for Israel," that the consciousness of the coming decade's journalists, judges, members of Congress, and governors is being shaped.

If Israel does not invest its efforts there now, this year, it will discover in ten years that the problem is not who sits in the White House, but what the American public itself thinks.

For this reason, a new pro-Israel strategy is required, based on three principles: strengthening bipartisan support for Israel, among both Democrats and Republicans; building a deep "network of influence" within American society in its entirety and not just in the political system; and replacing traditional Hasbara sources with authentic American voices.

Israel need not choose between Vance and Rubio, or between Republicans and Democrats. It must simply choose America – all of it. Maintaining that broad alliance with America in general was historically one of Israel’s greatest strategic successes ever since its establishment. In the current polarized, raucous, and rapidly changing world, our strategy for the decades to come must be the return to that comprehensive approach.