Free Republic

Amichai Jackson, a bar mitzvah boy from the Gush Etzion community of Elazar, decided that in place of a party to celebrate his milestone event – his parents should use the money earmarked for the occasion and treat IDF soldiers to dinner. Amichai was slated to celebrate his bar mitzvah a month after the breakout of Operation Swords of Iron. He was called to the Torah but decided to push off his party to quieter times. His mother Ilana said "After deliberating, Amichai decided to do something meaningful for the soldiers. Instead of having a party with family members and...

Three Israelis were injured in a ramming attack on Saturday evening in Gush Etzion south of Jerusalem. According to MDA, two of the wounded are in serious condition, and the third is in moderate condition. The terrorist was eliminated. .....

Four-and-a-half years after the destruction of 15 homes in Elazar's Netiv Ha'avot neighborhood, this morning (Wednesday) the Civil Administration's Higher Planning Committee greenlighted 433 housing units in the neighborhood. In addition, over 1,000 units were approved throughout Gush Etzion, while the eastern Gush community of Pnei Kedem was officially registered within the Israel Land Registry (Tabu). Back in 2018, Israel's Suprme Court ordered the demolition of 15 Netiv Ha'avot homes, which was carried out in June of that year. The court ordered the entire houses destroyed despite the fact that only a tiny part of the buildings, about two percent,...

Beit Ummar: Arabs waved a large Nazi flag. The video shows an IDF soldier removing him by shooting it down.

An Arab terrorist who arrived in Nahal Heletz in Gush Etzion Wednesday, began starting fires in several forest locations between the community of Har Gilo and the Tunnel Road. A Gush Etzion resident who recognized what was happening reported the incident to the Gush Etzion Regional Council’s Land Authority, who called security forces. After a chase which lasted around 90 minutes, the suspect was apprehended. He had a gasoline canister, a knife, and a tear gas canister stashed in his car. Gush Etzion Regional Council Head Shlomo Ne'eman commented on the incident: “Today we received further proof that our war...

Israel's Annexation Plan of the Jordan Valley European thinking, Abdullah’s reaction, and Israel’s rights. Thu May 28, 2020 Joseph Puder The new Israeli government is considering extending Israeli law and sovereignty to the Jordan Valley, which is within area C of the Oslo Accords. The Accords, which gave Israel both military and administrative control in the area, also contains a large bloc of Jewish-Israeli communities. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on a short visit to Israel (April 22, 2020) told reporters: “As for annexation of the (Jordan Valley) West Bank, the Israelis will ultimately make those decisions.” He added,...

Residents of Bat Ayin in Gush Etzion say police committed a provocation today when two police officers disguised as Arab technicians arrived. According to a report by the Honenu legal aid organization, the secret police were wandering around the kindergartens in the center of the locality, awaiting reactions by residents. The presence of the "technicians" reportedly aroused the suspicion of two boys passing by, who approached them in an attempt to understand their actions. The secret police did not provide any clear answers increasing the boys' fears and at one point, pushing started between one of the boys and a...

Two days before American voters head to the polls for this year’s mid-term elections, there are growing signs the long-awaited “Blue Wave” could fail to materialize, says the leader of the Republican Party’s overseas office in Israel. A US-born attorney now living in Gush Etzion south of Jerusalem, Marc Zell, 65, is Vice President of Republicans Overseas, and chief of Republicans Overseas Israel. […] “When it comes to mid-term elections, the traditional wisdom in the United States is the party in power loses seats in both the Senate and the House. Because the difference between Republicans in the Senate, for...

Ari Fuld, the American Israeli man who was stabbed to death in a terror attack on Sunday, was mourned in an outpouring of social media tributes throughout the day, with friends and ideological opponents alike eulogizing the Israel advocate and former karate instructor as an unflinching champion of the Jewish state and fearless fighter to the end. Fuld, a 45-year-old American-Israeli father of four from the Efrat settlement, was stabbed in the back by a Palestinian terrorist shortly before noon on Sunday outside a shopping mall at the nearby Gush Etzion Junction. Despite his wounds, Fuld pursued and shot his...

Federal Judge Rosemary Collyer refused the Fraenkel family's request to reconsider the low compensation imposed on Iran and Syria as those responsible for the kidnapping and murder of their son Naftali, along with Eyal Yifrach and Gil-Ad Sha'ar. The verdict set a compensation of $ 4.1 million, while the suit demanded $ 340 million, an amount that was common in previous similar suits. The suit was based on the fact that Naftali's family had American citizenship. The judge explained her decision with an outrageous statement that also imposed responsibility on the Fraenkel family, which she asserted had exposed itself to...

Embedded Video, no You Tube link Over a thousand people from all over Israel participated on Saturday night in an event supporting the residents of Elazar's Netiv Ha'avot neighborhood. Participants called on the Israeli government to legalize the neighborhood and prevent the upcoming expulsions and destruction. Gush Etzion Regional Council Head Shlomo Neeman said, "The best of our youth has come to support Netiv Ha'avot. Hundreds of youth have come to dance and eat a melaveh malka (Saturday night meal) organized by Ofra's youth. Come support us!" A spokesperson from Netiv Ha'avot Headquarters said, "Our struggle continues, and approximately a...

One person was lightly wounded in a ramming attack at Tzomet haGush – the Gush Etzion Junction, on Wednesday afternoon just after 4 PM. The man, age 60, suffered a head wound and is listed as light to moderately wounded. He was taken to Sharei Tzedek hospital. The terrorist was shot and neutralized. Update: The terrorist is in critical condition and was also transported to Sharei Tzedek Hospital. Update; 5:15 PM: The terrorist died in the hospital. The terrorist had a large knife in the car, which he did not get a chance to use. Yossi Hess, a senior EMT...

In response to Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon's (Likud) announcement last Wednesday that a strategic 40 dunam compound is being officially added to the Gush Etzion region in Judea, the US lost little time in condemning the move. The land that is being added was purchased by American millionaire Irving Moskowitz and his wife, and is referred to as "Beit Bracha." Jerusalem Councilman and Israel Land Fund (ILF) Director Arieh King covertly obtained the abandoned church complex adjacent to Highway 60 three years ago according to reports, and worked to renovate the compound. On Friday, US State Department spokesperson John Kirby...

The IDF and Border Police carried out a large-scale operation over the weekend that led to the discovery of illegal military equipment in Judea and Samaria. As part of an effort to prevent terror attacks, the IDF's Etzion Brigade and Maglan unit, along with Border Police, entered the village of Beit Ummar, in Gush Etzion. While there, they uncovered dozens of pipe bombs and a handgun that were hidden underground and intended for use in attacks. The objects have been taken for explosives testing. In addition, the Rotem Battalion arrested a Palestinian man with two knives in Huwara, near Shechem....

Three people - two Israeli and one Palestinian - have been murdered and another seven wounded on Thursday afternoon in a shooting attack in Gush Etzion region, ten minutes south of Jerusalem. Of the victims, several are reportedly citizens of the United States. A critically wounded 18-year-old victim died of his wounds inflicted in the attack shortly after, as did a 50-year-old victim who was evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem with bullet wounds in his upper body. He had been classified as very seriously wounded and was unconscious. A third victim killed in the attack was a...

Generic video unrelated to the event A complicated surgery was completed Wednesday night on the woman who was stabbed in the back by an Arab terrorist in Gush Etzion earlier in the afternoon, and in it the knife's blade was removed from her spine. After being stabbed and moderately wounded, the woman was evacuated to Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem with the knife still in her back, and there she underwent the surgery. In the operation, the knife was removed from where it was stuck in her spinal column. She was then given additional checks to estimate the extent of...

..... Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W97qV5Cgl0 Ben-Aharon, a resident of the town of Meitzad in Gush Etzion, suffered wounds to his face when the terrorist hurled a rock through his windshield, and then stabbed him at least twice. Yet he still found the strength to grapple with his assailant, knocking the knife out of his hand before shooting and injuring the terrorist. Incredibly, due to the lack of cellphone coverage...Ben-Aharon was forced to drive roughly half a kilometer before he could call the police. The attack appears to have been a planned ambush; a tow truck blocked Ben-Aharon's way, and when he stopped...

After experiencing numerous terror attacks on its roads in the past weeks – the most recent one on Sunday morning – officials of the Gush Etzion Regional Council were demanding full cellphone coverage on all roads, in order to enable victims of terror attacks and those threatened with violence to call for help, without having to search for a signal. Earlier Sunday, an Israeli man was stabbed by an Arab terrorist near the haredi community of Metzad in Gush Etzion. Security forces and Magen David Adom teams were immediately dispatched to the scene. The injured victim was taken to hospital...

Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMRk3jJyMVE Nearby CCTV cameras captured the moment an Arab driver slammed into Jewish pedestrians waiting at a hitchhiking post at Gush Etzion Junction, south of Jerusalem. The attack on Tuesday afternoon left two people injured. Soldiers at the scene shot the terrorist dead as he emerged from the car armed...

Likud Central Committee chairman Danny Danon, who is challenging Binyamin Netanyahu for leadership of the party, on Saturday night called on Israel to respond to an expected UN recognition of the Palestinian Authority (PA) as the "state of Palestine" by declaring sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. "We must clarify in the clearest terms to the world that every unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state will bring Israeli sovereignty," declared Danon in a meeting with Likud activists in Judea's Gush Etzion region. Prime among the attendants at the meeting were Kiryat Arba Regional Council head Malakhi Levinger and Deputy Gush Etzion...