Author: Ben Packer

Originally from Petersburg, Virginia, Ben Packer moved to Israel in 1999, where he served in the IDF's Givati Brigade in the Gaza Strip. Ben served as a Rabbi on campus at Univ. of North Carolina and at Duke Univ. Ben now serves as Director of the Jerusalem Heritage House (www.heritagehouse.org.il) and Co-Director of Young Jewish Conservatives (www.youngjewishconservatives.org). He lives in the Old City of Jerusalem with his wife and 6 children.
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PACKERS CORNER: Purim, Bibi, and the Trump Peace Plan

Its been a very hectic week in the Middle East and especially in Israel. So its Purim tonight and by tomorrow and if you’re celebrating correctly then you won’t remember anything, so let’s get right into it.
In Syria, things continue to get crazier and crazier. Turkey is doubling-down in Afrin (northwest Syria) and now sending in special forces. The Kurds continue to hold tough and now have some help from Syrian Government forces. Meanwhile, in the northeast of Syria, America went for the full Purim attack on Russian mercenary forces and Syrian/Iranian forces, killing at least 200 and wounding something like 200 more – out of a force of approximately 500. The short story is that the US and their primarily Kurdish allies have carved out an autonomous region east of the Euphrates River. For some reason, the Syrians/Russians/Iranians decided that now would be the right time to try and seize some of those areas, especially where there is oil. It turns out that now was not the right time. Remains to be seen if there will be further effects from this incident that reverberate throughout Syria. Important to keep in mind that Bashar Assad, the President of Syria, still only controls about 50% of Syria, the rest being held by rebels and Kurds (with US backing). This one ain’t nearly over. Over 600 people killed near Damascus (the capital!!) in just the last week and a half!
Turning to Israel. Everything fell apart and then it didn’t, but it still could.
-The FOUR investigations against the Prime Minister continue with no end in sight. The fourth investigation (“case #4000”) was reported to be quite serious and then the judge and investigator were proven to be secretly coordinating their efforts. Big legal no-no. This one may be a dud as well. Too soon to say. Endless.
-Coalition trouble. Big fight between the Haredi parties and Avigdor Lieberman and his goons. The reason – a new draft law. When the Haredi parties joined the Government it was on condition that a new draft law be passed (previous one was struck down by the Supreme Court) that would protect yeshiva students from having to go to the army. Lieberman thinks the army should decide the perameters of the law. So far, no one has quit, or even threatened to quit, the Government. Theoretically, the Haredi-proposed law can pass without Lieberman and his party’s support and that’s likely what will happen.
-The Supreme Court today ruled to delay the destruction of the 15 houses in the Jewish Community of Netiv Ha’Avot in Gush Etzion (Judea/Southern West Bank) for another 3 months, giving time for temporary houses to be built for the families to live in until permanent houses are built nearby. How many permanent houses will be built? A new government decision has ordered the legalization of Netiv Ha’Avot and the building of 350 more homes there. The point of the “Peace Now” lawsuit was to destroy the Jewish Community there but it was switched around and the Community will now (legally) thrive!  Coincidence that it happens near Purim – not bloody likely.
Finally, just tonight reports are coming out supposedly revealing details of the Trump Administration’s soon-to-be-released peace plan. Already there are those condemning it and those saying the reports are not accurate. Could go any which way. Who knows at this point. Nothing new in the plan, at least how’s its being reported. More of the same and will most likely end up the same as well – dustbin of history.
And as it was then, so should it be now:
“Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have rule over them; whereas it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;” (Esther 9:1)
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PACKER’S CORNER: Building in Israel Continues and There is Nothing the Left Can Do

The drama in Syria just gets better and better.  At least 2 major developments this week. President Assad and his government forces are agressively massacring sunni muslim rebel supporters (maybe) just outside of Damascus in an area called Eastern Gueta. The area has been under siege for a few years and now Assad is attempting to clean it out completely, ie. kill every man, woman, and alot of children. You’ll excuse my language, but the world doesn’t seem to give a flying…. He’s killed at least 250 civilians (a good number of them children) over the last two days. #arablivesmatter? Not even close.
Meanwhile, Turkey continues their bloody cross-border attack into Syria in the northwest and have begun to make observable progress against the Kurdish defenders. Consequently, the Kurds have apparently made a deal with the Syrian Government to have them send in reinforcements to theoretically defend the “sovereign borders” of Syria. This has thrown all the alliances up in the air with Syria/Hezbollah/Iran/Russia now allied with American supported Kurds against NATO member Turkey and sometimes America supported Sunni rebels. Quite a masterpiece here. Much more exciting than that new movie about Black superheroes.
Two important developments happened in Israel just today – and we’ll get to Prime Minster Netanyahu’s legal troubles soon, but first something that is quite real and not fabricated. Significant progress was made in the establishment of 2 new LEGAL communities in the “West Bank” – Amichai in the Binyamin region (just north of Jerusalem) and Netiv Avot in Gush Etzion  (just south of Jerusalem). Amichai is intended for those Jewish residents who were expelled from Amona a year ago and the new area of Netiv Avot is meant for those Jewish residents whose houses are scheduled to be destroyed in the current community of Netiv Avot by Supreme Court order at some point in the next 3 months.
We aren’t talking about that many people here – just a few hundred. Why is this so important? It’s important because it shows how incredibly worthless the efforts of the extreme left in Israel have been. Every time they succeed in getting their fellow ultra-leftist self-hating friends at the Supreme Court to knock down a few Jewish houses in the “west bank” for dubious “legal” reasons, the Government responds with large-scale development in a nearby location. Both Amichai and the future Netiv Avot will be exponentially larger than their predecessors and unlike them – WILL BE TOTALLY LEGAL!!! While Netiv Avot’s existence strengthens the Jewish presence in Gush Etzion, Amichai’s very strategic location is a much more serious victory for the overall settlement enterprise. The still-not-legal neighboring communities of Achia, Adei Ad, Yishuv HaDaat and Eish Kodesh must be ecstatic at the establishment of a legal community that physically links them back to the also legal communities of Shvut Rachel and Shiloh (see map pic). The Shiloh Bloc is a crucial area, for historical and religious reasons as well, for preventing the expulsion of the Jewish presence in the area between the cities of Ramallah and Shechem (Nablus). BIG BOOST for them right here. HUGE LOSS for the left. Wait for the pics of the families moving in and dedicating the synagogues. Alot of #winning.

We had to get here eventually. Things appear to have gone south for Prime Minister Netanyahu on the legal front. More of his close associates have turned into state witnesses against him – at least according to the press. There is now a fourth official investigation and many are saying this is the most serious. Yes, even more serious than cigars. Objectively, all these accusations appear pathetic and irrelevant, however, legally (Israeli legally) things aren’t looking good for Netanyahu’s political future. Its hard to understand why the Israeli police would make deals with witnesses who themselves appear guilty of crimes without good reason. But as we’ve said before numerous times, the Israeli police has a solid reputation for a special kind of stupid. With that said, Bibi may finally actually be in trouble, but its the lucky Jewish month of Adar so anything good for the Jews is possible!
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PACKERS CORNER: Jewish Population in Samaria Needs to Grow

Something happened this last week that hasn’t happened in DECADES to Israel – an Israeli Air Force fighter jet was shot down by enemy forces, specifically Syria in this case. Thank G-d, both pilots were able to eject over Israel and are now recovering from injuries sustained during their escape from the damaged aircraft. In short, this could have been a lot worse – A LOT WORSE!

The downed aircraft was involved in operations over Syria because of an earlier incident that day when an Iranian drone penetrated Israeli airspace through Jordan. The drone was promptly shot down and recovered by Israel. This is a serious escalation in the conflict between Israel and Syria/Iran. After this incident, the Israeli Air Force inflicted significant damage to both Syrian and Iranian forces in Syria.

So as of now, things have somewhat stabilized. It’s hard to understand why Iran would think its a good idea to start up, but then again, its iran. Its kind of their thing. Someone forgot to educate obama on that before he gave them billions to spend on terrorism. whoops.




Continuing with recent developments in the Shomron (Samaria) area. Again, why is this important? It’s important because one of the longstanding (very misguided) ideas for establishing stability in Israel/the Middle East is the creation of separate state for arabs in the “West Bank”. A large part of this State would need to come from the Shomron. Additionally, and maybe more significantly, in the absence of the creation of this terrorist entity, there are prominent Israeli political leaders that propose evacuating areas of the West Bank of both civilian and military presence. A large part of the proposed retreat would be from the Shomron. Why? The short answer is: the Jewish population is not high enough. What is being done about this? Three significant developments in the past week:

1) Ariel University (in Ariel) had its status upgraded to now be on the same level as all the other universities in Israel – even though it’s physically located in the Shomron. This will have many effects, but the primary one is to allow the establishment of a state-of-the-art medical school.

2) The re-establishment of the outpost called “Evyatar” just to the east of the Tapuach Junction. The location is a former army base. At least seven structures have been built and a constant Jewish presence has been in place for the past 2 weeks. Remains to be seen how the Israeli government will react. I can say as someone who has visited the site, ITS INCREDIBLY STRATEGIC!! You can clearly see all the other Jewish communities in the area from its high perch.

3) After the terrorist murder of Rabbi Itamar Ben Gal, Israeli Government representatives told his widow and family that they are strongly considering allowing the construction of 800 housing units in Har Bracha – the community in which the Rabbi lived. This would more than double the size of the community and increase the Jewish population is the entire area significantly.

May of area – important to focus on area between the cities of Ramallah (at the bottom) and Shechem (at the top).

A disturbing incident took place this week, also in the Shomron, when 2 non-combat Israeli soldiers mistakenly entered the palestinian authority-controlled city of Jenin. The soldiers were nearly lynched and were able to escape from a large crowd with only a series of flesh wounds. The worse part about this incident is how not at all surprising it is.

And finally, the Israeli police have recommended that Prime Minister Netanyahu be indicted for bribery and some other related charges. As we have mentioned numerous times and wherever possible, respect for the Israeli police and their “competence” is very low in Israel, putting it mildly. Their recommendation has no legal authority and the Attorney General will decide whether or not to bring charges. Until then, there is no reason in the world for Netanyahu to resign. Actually, his approval rating has gone up. Nobody has left the government coalition or even threatened to leave. The Israeli “legal” system vs. the Jewish people is becoming quite the recurring theme.

We have entered the month of Adar when we are commanded to increase joy! However, our thoughts and prayers go out to the folks in Florida who have suffered from this most recent school mass shooting tragedy. Thankfully in Israel teachers are allowed to be armed so its one less thing we have to worry about.

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PACKER’S CORNER: The Middle East is a Mess

Just when you thought the Middle East couldn’t get any messier – it does! So far this week:

-Turkey continues to attack the Kurds in northwest Syria, but the Kurds seem to be hanging tough. Additionally, the Syrian rebels shot down a Russian fighter jet and then killed the pilot on the ground (because why not?). And then the American forces in Syria killed approximately 100 Syrian soldiers as they were trying to conquer areas previously liberated from ISIS.

– Another civil war has broken out in Yemen. How many civil wars does it take to stabilize Yemen? Apparently 3 isn’t enough. Now a group has broken off from the “official government” and is fighting for a southern Yemen independent entity. Surely this will be the solution to all the problems. Meanwhile, death continues to be Yemen’s #1 commodity.

– Reports emerged that Israel has been bombing ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula – part of Egypt. How many times? Like 100! This is actually not very surprising given the dramatically changing dynamics of the region that are pushing moderate sunni muslims and Israel together to combat Iran and sunni extremism. The large number of attacks is a bit surprising. Although not many Egyptian soldiers have been killed recently by ISIS, so I guess it all makes sense now.

Speaking of Israel, let’s continue with what’s going on there!

Nearly a month after the murder of Rabbi Raziel Shevach, hy’d, of Havat Gilad, there have been serious developments. The Israeli Government has declared that Havat Gilad will be LEGALIZED! As mentioned in previous pieces, this is a very big deal (and quite rare). Additionally, the leader of the terrorist cell that committed the murder was just now killed by Israeli forces. It would seem that all involved have either been killed or captured at this point – this is a good thing.

Unfortunately, in another terrorist attack in the Shomron (Samaria) region this week, another Rabbi was murdered. This time it was a stabbing and the killer remains on the run. The Rabbi killed, Itamar Ben-Gal, hy’d, lived with his wife and four children in the community of Har Bracha. Since the murder, there have been statements by right-wing Israeli politicians calling on the Government to approve significant numbers of housing permits in Har Bracha – upwards of 800. This would not only change Har Bracha (more than double it), but the entire region! A strengthening of the Jewish Presence in the area would pressure the Israeli Government to take further, bolder steps like returning permanently to Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem (nablus) and the former Jewish communities of Homesh and Sa-Nur farther to the north. (map of the area)

There have been a few other terrorist attacks since these, thankfully, much less successful. Remains to be seen if this is a new trend or just more of the same.

In less important news, leaks are leaking out of the Israeli Police (this is about the only thing they can be depended on to do) that they plan to recommend indicting Prime Minister Netanyahu on bribery charges next week. However, its only a recommendation, the Attorney General will be make the actual decision. There are reports that he thinks the whole thing is going nowhere, but we’ll have to see what happens. Regardless, its remarkable how similar the situations with Netanyahu and Trump are – on so many levels! Fascinating!

On the “diplomatic” front, President Trump’s emissaries, Ambassador David Friedman and Jason Greenblatt, are verbally sparring with the Palestinian Authority (PA) pretty regularly at this point. One can only imagine where this will lead President Trump, but its unlikely it will go well for the PA. I’d expect a vitriolic tweet sometime soon.

Israeli Government and Economy are totally stable!

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PACKERS CORNER: Time to Legalize Havat Gilad

Tonight is the Yahrzeit of my Grandfather, of beloved memory, Huna Leib (Lionel) ben Aharon (Packer). Anything good that comes from this installment is dedicated to the spiritual elevation of his precious soul. He was a wonderful man and an even better Grandfather!

Speaking of death, the carnage in northwest Syria continues and seems to only be getting worse. While the Turkish army is making slow but steady progress against the Kurdish defenses, it seems more attention should be focused on the Syrian “rebels”. They are not only fully participating in the fighting, but many videos and pictures have emerged of terrible atrocities they are committing. If this surprises you, I suggest you move from Antarctica to somewhere with access to some form of worldly information. Its difficult to envision the Kurdish forces hanging on, but we can hope and pray. No country is currently more involved in attacking the Jewish Presence in Jerusalem than TURKEY! That my surprise some folks, but evidence is everywhere here in the Old City.

The saga of officially recognizing Havat Gilad as a legal community continues for another week. Now the Defense Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, promises there will be a final cabinet vote on Sunday. To help understand the significance of this potential move, I have included a picture of a map of the area. If one looks closely, Havat Gilad sits in between the Jewish communities of Kedumim and Yitzhar.

On this specific map and in most “peace plans”, the yellow and black line is that of the proposed security fence/possible future Israeli border. Kedumim in inside the line, but Havat Gilad and Yitzhar are outside. By recognizing Havat Gilad, everything gets closer to Yitzhar. Yitzhar sits on the north side of the arab village of Huwara. This is quite a hostile area for Jewish motorists to traverse to get to the nearby Jewish Communities of Yitzhar, Bracha, Itamar and Elon Moreh. Similar to the Hevron area farther south, there is no real possibility for a contiguous “palestinian state” if the Jewish presence remains in this area. The current Israeli Government has promised to build a bypass road around Huwara. If that happens, based on previous similar examples (think/google Tekoa and the “Lieberman Road”), development should skyrocket. Starting to understand why Havat Gilad is so important? If not, pm me. I love the attention.

Investigations of the Prime Minister continue and the Government Coalition remains obscenely stable.

This week, Poland is claiming not to be historically anti-Semitic and not to have been involved in the killing Jews in the Holocaust. Not really sure what to say about this other than to simultaneously think of every dumb polack joke I have ever heard. Those folks got a real talent.

Finally, there’s a whole to do about the planned upcoming deportation of African infiltrators from Israel back to Africa. Personally, I don’t see why the black hebrews can’t be thrown in (out) as well. In short, people who live far away from and are not personally affected by them think we should let them all stay, because why the hell not?  And those who live with/interact with them, vehemently want them to go. Seems to be a recurring pattern. I would like to make a suggestion: those advocating for the infiltrators to stay should threaten to go to Africa with them, in real solidarity, if they get deported. Even better, they should sign legal paperwork guaranteeing it. Or would they prefer to wax self-righteous all the while preaching from their exclusively ashkenazic high income ivory towers. I guess we’ll have to wait to see what they decide.