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The state is looking to authorize four West Bank outposts, including Givat Assaf that had been slated for demolition, according to a response it submitted Tuesday to the High Court of Justice as part of an ongoing Peace Now petition. Until Tuesday it had been assumed that the Givat Assaf outpost on Route 60, in the Binyamin region of the West Bank – would be demolished because it had been built on private Palestinian property. But last year the Givat Assaf residents told the court they had purchased much of the land on which their outpost, of some 30 families,...

As Independence Day celebrations were winding down Tuesday night, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made a guest appearance on Channel 2's left-wing satire show Eretz Nehederet. One of the final questions that the show's host Eyal Kitzis asked the premier was how he would like to be remembered after he leaves office. Netanyahu thought a moment and said, "I'd like to be remembered as the leader who preserved Israel's security." On the face of it, Netanyahu's stated aspiration might seem dull. In a year he'll be the longest-serving prime minister in the state's history, and all he wants is to...

IDF soldiers opened fire on Wednesday night at two terrorists who approached an IDF position near the community of Einav in northern Samaria. As the two terrorists approached the soldiers, they hurled a firebomb at them. The soldiers returned fire, killing one terrorist and wounding the other. PA officials told AFP that the killed terrorist was a 16-year-old teen, identified as Amer Nassar. The latest attack comes after two days of unrest in Judea and Samaria, as Palestinian Authority Arabs rioted over the death of an elderly terrorist who was serving time in an Israeli jail. The terrorist, 64-year-old Maissara...

...in my view, the most significant aspect, which we have not yet experienced out of the West Bank, will involve the capability to launch steep-trajectory munitions at Israeli towns in the Judea and Samaria sector as well as at Israeli cities in the inner plain, the coastal plane and northern Samaria. Tamas (Steep-Trajectory) instead of Hamas During the anticipated confrontation in the West Bank, Palestinian steep-trajectory fire will replace suicide bombers as the preferred method for attacking Israel's homefront. Col. (Res.) Atai Shelach addresses the challenges facing the IDF in this particular theater Atai Shelach IsraelDefense 30/3/2013 http://www.israeldefense.com/?CategoryID=483&ArticleID=2038 Tamas (Steep-Trajectory)...

After his trip to Israel, it is clear that President Obama’s strategy in regard to Israel has changed but his goal remains the same. He is still trying to convince the Israelis to take suicidal risks and agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the pre-1967 borders, which includes dividing Jerusalem.It is true that we are a nation that feels isolated, unaccepted, and hated in our neighborhood and are condemned and boycotted almost daily by the world. But are we so psychologically damaged and insecure as a people that after one speech and two days of flattery, adoration...

About 200 Arabs from the village of Urif in the Binyamin region took advantage of the snow last weekend to penetrate into the perimeter of a Jewish outpost near Yitzhar. The outpost only held a small number of boys at the time. Video ..... "In accordance with instructions for all of Judea and Samaria's hot spots," he added, "security forces must only use riot dispersal gear against the rioters, who are not afraid to throw back the gas canisters that were fired at them, alongside with rocks."

The United Nations says Israel must withdraw all of its citizens from the regions of Judea and Samaria. The recommendation came in a report issued Thursday by the U.N. Human Rights Council, which has a history of passing numerous biased resolutions condemning Israel for various alleged ‘crimes’ each year.

Here is an old story with a new twist: Arabs and Jews claim the same land. IDF separates the two sides, tells them nobody will work the land - and then protects the Arabs as they plow. Video .....

..... “Not only would it be the only useful response,” he added, “but first and foremost, it would be the morally and historically right thing to do. Judea and Samaria are the heart of the Jewish people.” ..... “Over the years the state of Israel has been the only one keeping the accords, while the Arab terrorist entity, imported from Tunisia, has regularly ignored it. But the appeal to the UN means the declaration of the accords’ death… Therefore the state of Israel has nothing to stop it from annexing all the communities it has established in Judea and Samaria,...

The wonderful village of Migron is laid waste. Is there a next one? Givat Assaf? Amona? Then what? The police made Migron “jüdenrein”. The tragic lesson of Gush Katif has proven to be correct. The settlers’ public has been so traumatized that in Migron it looked impotent and mute. Dozens of heroic families lost their homes and the state retreated from a strategic peak. The surprising thing is that it was all very easy. The Palestinian Arabs could not have done it better. After Migron, some fear that everything else in Samaria risks going down in a slow process. The...

Residents of Migron face expulsion and are being pressured by the government to leave peacefully and by neighboring communities to protest. Migron has been the victim of the same type of government policies that uprooted Gush Katif Jews from their homes after years of government support and promises they would never be forced out of their homes. Promises from the Netanyahu administration to back Migron fell, one by one, even when investors bought a number of land parcels from alleged Palestinian Authority owners. The High Court did not deny the recent purchases were legal but ruled the change in property...

Residents of the community of Migron told Arutz Sheva on Sunday that they did not understand why the State was demanding that they leave their homes right away, particularly when the Supreme Court has not even yet discussed their case and is not scheduled to do so until Tuesday. Video .....

"Official" name change ceremony held. Residents: If we were Arabs, we would not be treated this way. Video .....

Levy's committee has restored Israel's legal narrative about its rights in the "West Bank". There is a huge difference in how a compromise will look if Israel comes to the table as "foreign occupiers," or as a party that has just territorial claims. In January 2012, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yaakov Neeman, the justice minister, turned to former Israeli supreme court justice Edmond Levy to head a panel of legal experts that would look into questions of land ownership in the "West Bank" (biblical Judea and Samaria, located west of the Jordan River, ed) . The initiative came...

A fascinating development this week in Israel was the release of the report of a governmental commission whose assignment had been to define the legal status of the “occupied territories” for purposes of government policy. The commission was headed by Edmond Levy, an interesting former Supreme Court justice and one of the only ones who is not a judicial activist leftist. The Obama people are upset with the report (an indication of how good it is) and Israel’s moonbat Left is positively wetting itself in anguish. Basically the report says that the West Bank – Judea and Samaria – are...

Mahmoud Abbas Flash 90 Officials in Ramallah on Wednesday slammed the Netanyahu government's plans to accept the conclusion of the Levy Commission report on Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria. "We will not sign any peace agreement if there is a [single] settlement on Palestinian Land," Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rodier said. The Levy report concluded Israel is not an occupying power in Judea and Samaria, and that Jewish communities in the region are therefore legal under international law. .....

Flouting international opinion, an Israeli government-appointed commission of jurists said Monday that Israel’s presence in the West Bank was not occupation and recommended that the state grant approval for scores of unauthorized Jewish settlement outposts there. The committee’s legal arguments, while nonbinding, could provide backup for the government should it decide to grant the outposts retroactive official status. But such a move would inevitably stir international outrage and deal a significant blow to prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement. “The report relates to the question of legality and legitimacy of the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria,” Prime Minister Benjamin...

In the late hours of Saturday night, the Chief Rabbi and other high-ranking officials from Russia visited Joseph's Tomb in Samaria. Chief Rabbi of Russia Rabbi Berel Lazar and close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin made a special trip late Saturday night to visit the Tomb of Joseph in the Samaria city of Shechem, in Shomron. The delegation was hosted at the tomb by Shomron Regional Council head Gershon Mesika, regional Rabbi Eliyakim Levanon, and IDF Chief Rabbi Brigadier-General Rabbi Rafi Peretz. The small group did not hide their joy at having the privilege to be present at the...

To give up the 5,000-square-kilometre “West Bank” - roughly 50 kilometres wide and 100 kilometres in length - would be to put Israel in a totally indefensible position by giving up military advantages in four critical areas. Yitzhar is probably the most hated, headlined and demonized “settlement” in Samaria. Only passionately convinced people would visit this Jewish town. But anyone visiting it would also understand what would happen to Tel Aviv and Herzliya if, instead of Jews, the PLO-Hamas regime would be controlling Yitzhar. From Yitzhar, located high up in the hills near Nablus, the Biblical city of Shechem, you...

The Prime Minister's Bureau has contacted all ministers and deputy ministers and made clear that the government opposes the proposed Regulation Law that will come up for a vote Wednesday. The law would make it possible to compensate land owners who were wronged in construction of communities in Judea and Samaria, without having to hand over the land or tear down homes built upon it. Channel 2 News reported that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's men made clear to the ministers and deputies that if any of them vote in favor of the Regulation Law, they will be fired from the...

Palestinian Authority Arabs’ claims to land in Judea and Samaria are often meaningless, says Moshe Zar, one of the main land salesmen in the region. The reason goes back to King Hussein’s distribution of land decades ago, he said. “Hussain wanted to compensate the Palestinian families whose relatives he had murdered, so he gave them free land,” Zar told Arutz Sheva. “In reality, the distribution of land cannot be considered to be in effect, because it does not match the conditions on the ground.” The land was given out randomly by drawing lines on a map, he explained, and many...

In light of a wave of attacks and carjackings on Judea and Samaria highways, civilians in the area have begun taking over from the IDF. A newly established group of Binyamin-area Israelis aims to protect the roads where the military has failed, Tatzpit reports. The group conducts routine patrols and has its own vehicles on the road to show a stronger security presence. The volunteer guards expressed hope that they would not permanently replace the IDF, but rather, would serve as a temporary back-up while the army prepares to handle the threat itself. “The army is obligated to protect the...

Lag Ba’Omer celebrations overlapped with political protest in northern Samaria on Wednesday night. Residents of the Israeli town of Avnei Hefetz and neighboring towns lit their traditional Lag Ba’Omer bonfires in the middle of the street this year in protest of discriminatory policies regarding travel in the region. The main road to Avnei Hefetz has been opened to Palestinian Authority traffic, as have many other roads that for years were Israeli-only due to terror concerns. However, PA-only roads have not been opened to Israelis. “If the security situation is so good, why don’t they open roads for Jews?” one resident...

France and Jordan on Tuesday condemned Israel's decision to normalize the status of three communities in Judea and Samaria. The communities of Rechilim, Bruchin, and Sansana were built in the 1990's with government approval. The Foreign Ministry in Paris issued a statement that the move "sends a negative message, which is an obstacle to peace." According to France, all Israeli construction in Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem is illegal. Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh also condemned Israel for "legalization of three settlements and unilateral activity." Nonetheless, a special Ministerial team appointed by the government to determine the status of Israel's...

The government will stand or fall in the next two weeks depending on what happens in the Israeli community of Beit El, north of Jerusalem. Ministers have informed Netanyahu that if the Ulpana neighborhood of Beit El is destroyed, his coalition will follow. The warning came during a cabinet meeting in which the timetable for Judea and Samaria demolitions was revealed. Ulpana is scheduled to be demolished on May 1, the Givat Assaf community several weeks later, and Migron on August 1. Ministers told Netanyahu that the timetable is irrelevant, because if the May 1 destruction of Ulpana were to...

The town of Itamar in Samaria has been particularly hard-hit by Palestinian Authority terrorism over the past decade, losing 20 of its 1,000 residents to various attacks. The Fogel family, five members of which were massacred brutally by terrorists as they slept in their beds, lived in Itamar. But in a bizarre twist, residents of the town found themselves accused of being perpetrators of terrorism by Haaretz journalist Neri Livneh in a televised appearance by her last year. Livneh termed Itamar “a settlement populated by particularly violent people,” and claimed, “Someone there commits murder roughly once every two years.” Livneh...

I never thought I would say this, but those of us on the Israeli Right owe a debt of gratitude to Mahmoud Abbas. I never thought I would say this, but those of us on the Israeli Right owe a debt of gratitude to Mahmoud Abbas. By forging a unity agreement with Hamas earlier this month in Doha, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority president has inadvertently corroborated one of the central tenets of our political philosophy: the Palestinians cannot and must not be granted a state. Ever since the signing of the Oslo Accords in September 1993, we have warned against...

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beitenu faction, said Monday that the attacks against Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria (Yehuda and Shomron, or Yesha) are wrong and hypocritical. "There is no justification, and no excuse can be accepted with regard to hurting IDF soldiers," he said, in reference to the incident a week ago in which Yesha youths allegedly vandalized an IDF base. "Between that and shooting protesters – and it doesn't matter if they are Jewish or not – there is a great difference." "In the media frenzy regarding the outposts, too, the media is not...

Germany called on Israel to refrain from publishing construction tenders in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem saying it sends a "devastating message" for peace efforts. "The Israeli government must be aware that the continuous announcements of new settlements convey a devastating message with a view to the current efforts and resumption of peace negotiations," government spokesman Georg Streiter told reporters. "We strongly urge the Israeli government to refrain from inviting tenders for housing units," Streiter added. Israel's housing and construction ministry said Sunday it would publish tenders for the construction of more than 1,000 housing units to meet natural growth needs...

The Ministerial Committee on Legislation on Sunday will discuss a bill proposed by Minister of Welfare and Social Services Zevulun Orlev (Jewish Home) seeking to normalize the status of most Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of third-party petitions filed by left-wing NGOs seeking to destroy Israel's settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria by demanding the destruction of communities and neighborhoods they claim were built on privately owned Arab land. The Justice Ministry, Civil Administration, and Supreme Court have maintained the exclusive remedy in these cases is the demolition...

A video uploaded to YouTube on Saturday reveals an Arab attempt to lynch a Jew near the village of Asira al-Qibliya in Shomron. The video, which was filmed by the Arabs, shows a group of Arabs surrounding the Jewish man and begin to pelt him with rocks. The Jew is shown tripping and falling on the ground, while the Arabs continue to beat him until several other Jews with rocks in their hands come along and cause the Arabs to run off. video .....

Government forces set out after dark Monday night to destroy five budding Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. Residents of the central Samaria outpost of Ramat Gilad received a message late in the evening that Israel Police officers and IDF soldiers were "on the way" to their location first. The residents told Arutz Sheva they believed "the army will attempt to throw us out of our homes and demolish them." Residents of nearby Karnei Shomron and other towns in the area were alerted to the situation and reportedly began to make their way towards the site. Michal Shoham of Ramat...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday accepted the recommendations of Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch and Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman for dealing with disturbances in Judea and Samaria. The ministers formulated the recommendations after meeting with ISA, IDF, Israel Police and State Attorney's Office teams, which were: The immediate issuing of administrative detention orders against rioters; Immediately increasing the number of those barred from various areas; Trying rioters in military courts; Giving IDF soldiers the authority to detain people; and Increasing both the number of special ISA, Israel Police, IDF and State Attorney's Office investigation teams and the resources for...

Swarms of refugees from Iraq and Syria, along with the rising Muslim Brotherhood, may bring the Arab Spring to Jordan. A growing reality of the nightmare of refugees from Iraq, from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and from Syria swarming across the borders to Jordan, along with the growingly influential Muslim Brotherhood, threaten the kingdom’s stability, researchers report. “Within the Kingdom and across three of its borders, unfolding developments carry far reaching implications for the region in general and Jordan’s stability in particular,” according to Oded Eran of the Institute for National Securities Studies (INSS). King Abdullah faced minor but unusual...

The security officer of Hevron area community foiled am apparent terrorist attack at dawn Tuesday morningt and held an armed Hevron Arab until the IDF arrived and took him into custody. The 30-year-old suspected terrorist was carrying a 4-inch knife when he was spotted and caught by security officers at the southern Hevron Hills community of Otniel, located between Hevron and Be’er Sheva. Sources at Otniel told Arutz Sheva the suspect tried to resist but was quickly overwhelmed by the first response team. .....

The government claims to be in favor of allowing Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria to grow “naturally,” expanding incrementally to ensure that children and grandchildren are able to remain in the towns where they grew up, if they so wish. In reality, though, no practical steps have ever been taken to ensure this minimum growth in Yesha, with the result being that many Yesha towns are experiencing severe housing shortages, since the government will not allow wide-scale expansion in these towns, despite the huge demand for housing by young couples. MKs Ya'akov Katz (Ketzaleh), chairman of the National Union,...

The Civil Administration, an arm of the IDF, plans to solve charges of bias in favor of illegal Arab buildings – by defining them as legal. Jewish leaders in Judea and Samaria have complained for years that Civil Administration, under the command of Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the IDF, destroys Jewish homes that do not have Barak’s required signature for approval but ignores thousands of illegal Arabs structures. The High Court also has questioned whether the government is illegally discriminating against Jews. The Civil Administration has come up with a way to solve the problem with one stroke of...

Palestinian Authority Arabs warned on Friday that they will personally stop any ‘price tag’ operations by Jews residing in Judea and Samaria. A report in the PA-based WAFA news agency said, “The popular committees set up by Palestinians in the villages near Shechem in order to protect their property and the lives of citizens from the settlers, were able to arrest nine settlers who tried to enter the village of Kusra which recently suffered from harassment and arson of its mosque.” The report was referring to the torching of a mosque in the village last week. The attack on the...

Firebrand lawmaker Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) plans to introduce a bill in US House of Representatives expressing congressional support for Israel’s right to annex Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria. The move comes as Palestinian Authority officials move forward over US objections with a controversial request for a declaration of statehood at the United Nations. Walsh's resolution, modeled closely on a bill introduced in the Israeli Knesset, is the latest effort by Congress ahead of the proposed UN vote. Lawmakers from both parties returned from stints in Israel last month warning that Congress could seek to cut aid to the PA...

The Shomron Residents’ Council filmed a video on Sunday night as security forces in large numbers marched into the community of Migron and demolished three homes. The security forces can be seen as they are marching into the community while residents are wondering why they were not wearing any ID badges. Prior to the demolition, the residents held Selichot prayers, the prayers traditionally recited during the Jewish month of Elul which leads to the high holy days. Videos, Pictures

Jordan closed Bethlehem to Christians from 1949 until 1967 when Israel opened the gates. Now the Palestinian Authority, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, prohibited a Jewish guide from attending a Congressman’s tour. Florida Republican and Tea Party member Allen West wrote his constituents after touring Israel earlier this month, “When we went to Bethlehem to visit the birthplace of Jesus- a Jew- our group was not allowed to have our regular Jewish guides or bus drivers because Israeli citizens are not allowed in Bethlehem or the ancient city of Jericho where the Bible teaches us that Joshua blew down the wall...

Jews in the village of Esh Kodesh in Samaria who planned a Torah class on Friday found themselves facing off against an angry Palestinian Authority mob instead. IDF soldiers managed to prevent bloodshed. The mob, made up of roughly 100 men and youths, was armed “with whatever they could find,” recalled Rafi Fischer, who spoke Sunday to Arutz Sheva. Among the makeshift weapons were metal pipes and clubs, he said. The small group of Jewish villagers could hear the muezzin (Muslim prayer leader) calling on residents of the nearby PA town of Kusra to join in the attack on Esh...

Attorney Adi Kedar met, Sunday evening in Petach Tikva, with people from the Samarian Jewish community of Yitzhar, who have been detained by the Shabak Israel Security Agency. He said the two still have not been told the reason for their arrest. One is a 17-year-old resident of Alon Moreh who studies at Yitzhar's Od Yoseph Chai (Joseph is Still Alive) yeshiva who was arrested at the entrance to the school. The other is a Yitzhar resident who was arrested while in a car on the Geha Highway, east of Tel Aviv. They face a remand hearing, Monday, in the...

Dozens of Yitzhar residents came together for a spontaneous show of affection for a dozen residents of the town who were forced to leave their homes after police handed out administrative restraining orders banning them from Yitzhar. The event was also attended by Samaria Council chairman Gershon Mesika, who praised the dedication of the twelve for their work on behalf of the Land of Israel. He promised that the Council would do whatever it could to help the group, and their families. “The Shin Bet has done a disgusting thing which just should not be done, reminding us of actions...

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/145262 and also previously, http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/139163

Some right-wing activists announced on Sunday that they plan to set up three new outposts in the Judea and Samaria region in response to U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech.

Will US Christians settle in Samaria? About 1,000 Americans have signed a document requesting to convert to Judaism, move to Israel, and settle in Samaria. The group members are seeking to serve in the IDF and later establish communities based on the Kibbutz movement model. The document was presented to Yisrael Beiteinu Knesset Member Lia Shemtov, who met with the group's representative last week and promised to offer her help in facilitating the initiative. The Christian group's representative, Baruch Abramovich, said he was hopeful that MK Shemtov would be able to elicit the government's support for the initiative. Ironically, the...

Soldiers at an IDF post near the Samaria town of Yitzhar – not far from Itamar, the site of the murder of the Fogel family just weeks ago – detected an attempted invasion of Arab terrorists on Friday night. The two terrorists who were attempting to get into the town escaped after a chase by IDF troops and the town's security brigade. Soldiers detected two suspicious looking characters outside the town's security perimeter fence at about midnight Friday. The two were detected when they were about 150 meters from the fence, and were continuing to advance towards it. Troops focused...

The IDF and Border Police are on special deployment near the Arab villages around Shechem, in order to forestall any Jewish attempts to demonstrate in the Arab villages or damage property in what are often referred to as "price tag" attacks. The deployment is described in a military document that has reached the hands of Samaria residents. About 100 soldiers are have been carrying out dozens of patrols and observation missions on about ten jeeps and on foot since Monday, when pneumatic guns were used to shoot at Jews in Havat Gilad, arousing the wrath of Samaria residents. Forces from...

The dehumanization by MSM "news" - Itamar massacreHow does the "objective" MSM report / react to the Arab-Islamic aiming at infants in Israel? Itamar Massacre: Bloggers Get It, MSM Doesn't | IsraPort.org Source: HonestReportingBackspin http://www.israport.org/itamar-massacre-bloggers-get-it-msm-doesn’t Jewish Family Massacred? Not Big News for World by Gil Ronen As five members of one Jewish family were being laid to rest, news of their sadistic massacre had all but disappeared from the world's leading news websites. As of 11:00 AM EDT Sunday the item was completely missing from CNN's homepage, while appearing in a low spot on both the BBC and FoxNews websites....