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Orit ben Tzvi

Orit is Israel Rising's regional and threat analyst. She has a degree from IDC in Middle East Diplomacy and has served both intelligence related activities for the IDF as well as advised privately for firms doing business in the region.

Politics

JERUSALEM FALLOUT: Haley Scolds United Nations over Attempted Repeal of Trump’s Jerusalem Recognition

by Orit ben Tzvi
written by Orit ben Tzvi




Nikki Haley said the following at the United Nations in relation to both the one year anniversary of the passage of UN Resolution 2334 and the UN attempt at repealing the United States’ decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem.

“The United States refuses to accept the double standard that says we are not impartial when we stand by the will of the American people by moving our US embassy, but somehow the United Nations is a neutral party when it consistently singles out Israel for condemnation.

For decades, Israel has withstood wave after wave of bias in the UN and its agencies. The United States has often stood beside Israel. We did not on December 23, 2016. We will not make that mistake again.”

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BordersPolitics

JERUSALEM FALLOUT: Arab Students at Tel-Aviv University Call for “Intifada”

by Orit ben Tzvi
written by Orit ben Tzvi

Arab students at Tel-Aviv University called for”Intifada” against Israel during a protest held last week at the university’s campus in response to President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“With spirit and blood we will redeem you, Al-Aqsa; We will fight and teach them a lesson via the sword and force; We will school them through the ways of Intifada; Israel is a terror state; Resist, resist,” were among the slogans chanted by some 50 Arab students who gathered at the university’s Entin Square to protest.

A counter demonstration was held by activists from the Zionist organization Im Tirtzu, who waved Israeli flags and sang Israeli songs including “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem, and “Jerusalem of Gold.”

Last week, Arab students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem held a protest where they issued calls including “Zionists leave, our land is Arab and free” and “Palestine is Arab from the river to the sea.” The protest was joined by Joint List MK Yousef Jabareen who told the protesters to be “proud of our struggle.”




Similar protests were also held last week by Arab students at Ben-Gurion University and Haifa University.

“What we have seen take place on Israeli campuses over the past week is disgraceful,” said Im Tirtzu Chairman Matan Peleg. “On campus grounds, students are openly inciting violence and are calling for the destruction of the State of Israel with impunity. This is a dangerous precedent that will result in violence if not stopped immediately by the heads of the universities.”

“The writing is on the wall and we cannot ignore it,” Peleg added.

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Politics

President of Turkey: “Israel is a state of occupation”

by Orit ben Tzvi
written by Orit ben Tzvi

In an unhinged reaction to President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday described Israel as a “state of occupation” which used “terror” against the Palestinians.

“Israel is a state of occupation,” Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul. “And now they are making use of terror and are bombing young people and children,” he continued. 

Erdogan was referring to Israel’s response to the firing of rockets into civilian areas from the Gaza strip.  He conveniently left out the fact that one of the rockets destroyed a kindegarden in the Israeli city of Sderot.

Interestingly enough, while Erdogan labels Israel an “occupier” it is Turkey that far outweighs most countries in the world in that category.

Turkey currently occupies half of Cyprus, Northern Kurdistan with its 20 million Kurds, and West Armenia. Turkey was also responsible for the Armenian Genocide that saw more than 1.5 million Armenians killed at the hands of the Turks from 1915 to 1917.

Under Erdogan’s watch, Turkey has grown into an Islamic centric country that eschews minority rights and champions Jihadism.  It was afterall Erdogan’s Turkey that was a key backer of ISIS in its early days by allowing thousands of foreign fighter to traverse the border between Turkey and Syria.  Erdogan’s children were behind medical supplies specifically destined for ISIS. It was Turkey’s backing that lent a hand to Obama’s decision to help prop up ISIS in its early days.




By allowing Turkey to take the mantle of leadership of the Muslim world and thus the “Palestinian Cause” proves the very point that Israel supporters have been careful to make over the past decades and that is the existance of a “Palestinian Nation” is nothing but a hypocritical trojan horse designed to destroy the Jewish State from the inside.

It would be best for the Arab and Islamic world to clean up their act before chastising the only country that may be able to save them from their moral and ethical morass and yes the coming crisis with Iran.

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Arab Students at Hebrew U Call to Expel the “Zionists” from Israel

by Orit ben Tzvi
written by Orit ben Tzvi

Arab students at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University called to expel the “Zionists” from Israel during a protest held yesterday at the university’s Mount Scopus campus.

“Palestine is Arab from the river to the sea; Zionists leave, our land is Arab and free; We will not give up, Israel is a terrorist; Raise up your hand and scream, death is better than humiliation,” were among the slogans chanted by the Arab students affiliated with the Joint List.

The protestors were joined by Joint List member of Knesset, Yousef Jabareen, who told the protestors to “keep on fighting for coexistence. We should be proud of our struggle.”




On the other side of the barricade stood students from the Zionist organization Im Tirtzu, who organized a counter demonstration. The students waved Israeli flags and sang Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem.

The protest was called in response to a clash yesterday between Arab and Jewish students over a memorial erected by students from Im Tirtzu for Sgt. Ron Kukia, who was murdered last week in Arad.

Arab students responded to the memorial by approaching it while waving a Palestinian flag in protest, prompting an altercation.

“What we have seen in Hebrew University over the past few days is disgraceful,” said Tom Nisani, national branch coordinator for Im Tirtzu who was present at the protest. “Under the guise of free speech, Arab students are calling for the destruction of Israel and are inciting violence. The university must take this incitement seriously and immediately discipline those students responsible.”

Last month Arab students held a similar protest over the Israeli presence in the Golan Heights, during which they chanted slogans including “Zionists, out” and “There is no solution, but to get rid of the occupier.”

In May, Arab students staged a protest in solidarity with Palestinian security prisoners where they waved photos of convicted terrorists and called for “Intifada.”

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Politics

Is Bibi Losing His Grip on His Government

by Orit ben Tzvi
written by Orit ben Tzvi

Whether or not Health Minister Yaakov Litzman’s resignation and subsequent reinstatement after a last-minute agreement with Prime Minister Netanyahu solves the current coalition crisis, one thing is clear, Bibi is beginning to lose his grip on his coalition.

The Prime Minister has always done an excellent job in balancing various interests of sectoral parties within his coalition by explaining to the factions that all would lose with new elections.  While there is still some truth to this, Likud’s falling poll numbers suggest a different story altogether.  Couple this with Avi Gabbai’s rise as Labor leader and the paradigm which saw Likud as the right wing and traditional anchor for those religious parties has fallen away.

This doesn’t mean that Bibi will be dethroned if elections were to be held, but he is no shoe in anymore and what is increasingly becoming apparent is that self-interested ministers within his party are beginning to sense he is weak.

MK Eichler from UTJ claims that it was in fact Transportation Minister Katz who created this crisis.

“There is no explanation that the Likud government will expand the work done on Shabbat except for the attempt by the Transportation Minister and Welfare Minister to topple the government. The traditional Likud voters will not forgive them if Netanyahu’s government falls apart,” Eichler was quoted as saying.

This may be in the realm of rumor, but the facts are in.  The construction took place with the approval of Minister Yisrael Katz who had to know that this would create a crisis.

None of this is important other than to point out that Bibi is finally being seen as weak and this perception is from within the Likud itself.

With a rising Jewish Home and UTJ on the religious right and a revamped Labor under Avi Gabbai who is religiously traditional as well as a centrist when it comes to security and “settlements,” Likud is finally beginning to worry that Bibi has lost his touch and thus his grip.

Once again, none of this means that the Prime Minister’s days are numbered, especially since he has been counted out plenty of times before only to surprise. However, the younger generation in Israel, which has grown up and matured after the Second Intifada, Gaza Withdrawal, and Second Lebanon War has discarded the mistakes of breaking Israeli politics into a polarized relationship revolving around the Two-State Solution and Religious-Secular relationships.  The younger generation has come of age and appears to see things far differently than the elder statesmen of Bibi’s generation.

Time will tell if the current flare up with the Chareidi UTJ is the beginning of the end for Bibi or a tremor of a far bigger earthquake to come.

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