Author: 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.
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Israeli Security Forces Uncover an Arms Smuggling Cell Connected to French National

(Communicated by the ISA)

The following has been cleared for publication:

The Israel Security Agency (ISA), in conjunction with the Israel Police, has uncovered a cell of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem that – in recent months – smuggled weapons from the Gaza Strip to Judea and Samaria via a French national, Romain Franck, who worked at the French Consulate in Jerusalem.

Roman Franck (ISA)

Franck smuggled weapons five times in recent months in a vehicle belonging to the French Consulate, which received lighter treatment at the border crossing security check, as is customary for such vehicles. Franck thus smuggled approximately 70 pistols and two assault rifles.

Franck received the weapons from a Palestinian resident of the Gaza Strip who was employed by the French Cultural Center in the Strip. The smuggled weapons were delivered to a Palestinian in Judea and Samaria who sold them to arms dealers.

Among those arrested for their involvement in the smuggling are a resident of eastern Jerusalem who works as a security guard at the French Consulate in Jerusalem and Palestinians from the Gaza Strip who were present in Judea and Samaria without permits. Nine suspects have been arrested so far, six of whom have been indicted by the State Attorney’s Office (Southern District).

The investigation clearly shows that Franck acted for financial gain, of his own accord and unbeknownst to his superiors. It was also learned that several of the suspects were involved in smuggling funds from the Gaza Strip to Judea and Samaria.

A senior ISA officer states, “This is a very grave incident in which the immunity and privileges granted to foreign missions in Israel was cynically exploited in order to smuggle dozens of weapons which could have been used in terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and members of the security forces.”

The foregoing investigation was conducted in coordination with the Foreign Ministry; the French authorities were updated regularly.

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Saudis to Go Nuclear?

In an interview with CBS 60 Minutes, Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman (MBS) inidicates that although his country is far superior to Iran they would have need of nuclear weapons to countrer Iran if the Iranians were able to build their own.

This of course is not new, except this time the message was delivered by MBS who many say may take over the Saudi Kingdom this year.  MBS has taken a very strong approach to long time conservatives in his country in hopes that his moves begin to open up Saudi Arabia.  The 32 year old would become the youngest Saudi King ever.

The architect behind the Qatar crisis, Yemen intervention, and much applauded reforms appears to be taken a no holds barred approach to Iran.  With the Syrian crisis and Yemen civil war at the forefront of issues in the Middle East, MBS has little room to maneuver with an ascendent Iran.

MBS told CBS, “Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but without a doubt if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible.”




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The Next Destruction: Homes in the Community of Tal Binyamin will be destroyed in 4 months

In the next four months, 15 buildings are slated for destruction in Tal Binyamin (Tapuach West), in Samaria. So far, the residents don’t know where they will be going or if they will be able to build new homes in the areas allotted to them in a High Court decision.

Twenty years ago, young families moved up to the “Tal Binyamin” hill (named after Talya and Binyamin Kahane HY”D, who were murdered in a shooting attack in 2001), just west of Kfar Tapuach, with the assistance of the Settlement Division, in accordance with decisions made by the State. One of those families were Rivka and Moshe Herzlich. Moshe is the brother of Talya Kahane HY”D, after whom the outpost is named.

There are currently 10 families there, and many children. Three years ago, Palestinians from a nearby village petitioned the courts to claim ownership of the land.The State’s decision was that some of the homes deviated just tens of meters outside of State land. As a result, the family homes in Tal Binyamin were declared to be outside of State lands. In the meantime, the Court ruled that the 15 buildings on the hill, including 9 homes and 6 buildings used for agricultural purposes, sheds, etc. must be evacuated, destroyed and rebuilt – moved to within State lands. Some of the mobile structures will be rebuilt only 50-100 meters away (from where they are now). The evacuation is to be completed within 4 months (until 22 June).

In the State’s response, it was said that the State is moving to legalize the area by officiallydeclaring it  State land. The State is moving to prepare an area of about 1000 dunam near the settlement, to be allocated to the local council to build a neighborhood. At the end of the process, the long-awaited legalization is to take place, and hundreds more residential units will be able to be built on the site.

The problem is that the road that links the neighborhood and the settlement, passes through land under survey. The State has until 22 April to present an affidavit to the Court that the survey procedures have ended and that the land can be declared.

The home of the Herzlichs, who have 8 children, is slated for destruction because it cannot be replicated. The family has to prepare and build an alternative home only 50 meters away from its present location. In practice, however, the proposal has yet to be realized due to bureaucratic problems. This is despite the fact that the Ministry of Defense is making every effort to complete procedures as soon as possible.

The Director of the Samarian Regional Council this week informed Herzlich that according to a new decision, there are changes that have been made to the agricultural areas, so that not all the structures involved in agriculture can be moved to the new area.

The Herzlich family is presently conducting a mass fundraising campaign via the crowdfunding platform JGive    ,to replicate their home in its new location. According to them, within a week they will start construction of their new home, which will be done simply and quickly in order to meet the deadline.

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Bibi Netanyahu to Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales: “Thank You for Recognizing Jerusalem”

Prime Minister Netanyahu, met with Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales today (March 8th) as part of his trip to Washington. Netanyahu said began his meeting with the following statement:

“Thank you for everything you’re doing, for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. I hope soon you will move your embassy to Jerusalem; we hope.”

In response Morales said: “It is an honor and it is the right thing to do.”

On December 25th, just after President Donald Trump decided to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, President Morales did the same with this now famous Facebook post:

“Dear people of Guatemala, today I spoke with the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. We are talking about the excellent relations that we have had as nations since Guatemala supported the creation of the state of Israel.

One of the most important topics was the return of the embassy of Guatemala to Jerusalem.

So I inform you that I have instructed the chancellor to initiate the respective coordination so that it may be.

God bless you.”

During their meeting Prime Minister Netanyahu President Morales discussed deepening bilateral ties and cooperation between Israel and Guatamela. Guatemalan President Morales invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to visit his country. The Prime Minister thanked him for the invitation and also invited him to visit Israel.

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ISA Arrests Three Israeli Arab Islamic State Supporters for Planning a Shooting Attack on the Temple Mount

(Communicated by the ISA)

The following has been cleared for publication:

The Israel Security Agency (ISA), in conjunction with the Israel Police, has, in January-February 2018, arrested the following three Israeli Arab residents of Um al-Fahm, some of whom support the Islamic State terrorist organization, on suspicion of planning a shooting attack on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem:

  • Muhammad Masoud Jabarin, 20;
  • Amad Lutfy Jabarin, 20; and
  • a minor (at the time the offenses were committed)
Muhammad Jabarin (ISA)

The ISA investigation shows that the three planned to carry out a shooting attack at the Al Aqsa Mosque similar to the 14 July 2017 attack in which two Israel Police officers – Kamil Shanan and Hail Stawi – were murdered.

The attack was thwarted thanks to precise intelligence information that led to the timely arrest of the cell members even before they managed to procure weapons.

It was also learned that some cell members also considered attacking sacred buildings (synagogues and churches) and security forces, carrying out vehicular attacks, and carrying out attacks over the Christmas holiday.

The ISA investigation revealed that two cell members support the murderous ideology of the Islamic State terrorist organization and sought to perpetrate attacks in the context of this support.

The ISA views Israelis that support Islamic State as a grave threat especially those who are in contact with the organization and operate on its behalf inside the State of Israel.

The ISA will continue to monitor suspects and take the necessary enforcement measures to thwart both the spread of Islamic State ideology in Israel and the carrying out of any actions whatsoever that harm the security of the state.

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Israel Keeps Excelling

(Communicated by the Prime Minister’s Media Adviser)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning (Sunday, 25 February 2018), at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting, made the following remarks:

“Over the weekend we learned that President Trump has decided to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, on this coming Independence Day. This is a great moment for the citizens of Israel and this is an historic moment for the State of Israel. We will celebrate it together, all citizens of Israel. This will have significant and historic long-range implications. On behalf of the entire government and people, I would like to thank President Trump for both his leadership and his friendship. President Trump, you are a great friend of the State of Israel and we all thank you.

Today, the Cabinet will approve a budget for the Netiv Ha’avot outline. The residents of Netiv Ha’avot have been waiting for a long time for this. I would like to thank my colleague, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, for the joint work, especially with two people, chief-of-staff Yoav Horowitz and Ronen Peretz from my office, they did outstanding work on both this matter and placing the first homes in the community of Amichai last week – this is a double blessing.




Today the Cabinet will be briefed on the ministries’ working plan for 2018. This work by the ministries is characterized by great budgetary certainty because we passed a biannual budget. The working plan includes very many areas, but here is the main thing I think – our effort to reduce the regulatory burden by 25%. We are adding more and more areas to the preferred regulatory cut and the fight against bureaucracy. This is showing results.

I can tell you that we will continue with the consistent policy that we have followed for many years. It has brought about unprecedented growth in the Israeli economy, in GDP, in an almost unprecedented decline in unemployment that has just about reached the lowest level of all time, and in a constant decline in inequality. It is not just that per capita income is increasing – inequality is declining. Another thing that is not recognized is that relative middle class and lower class wages have risen very impressively.

You have seen the impressive growth in net income in 2009-2016. This is a very, very significant average annual increase that is almost unknown in western countries. There are several countries where the complete opposite is happening, but they all grew. You see that the middle class has grown very impressively. This is a correct policy. And the government ministries, in their working plan that we will present today, are continuing it for the good of the State of Israel and the citizens of Israel.”

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“Whoever hurts us – will himself be hurt”

(Communicated by the Prime Minister’s Media Adviser)

Following is an excerpt from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks, today (Tuesday, 20 February 2018), in Ashkelon, at the opening of Barzilai Medical Center‘s fortified emergency room:

“We are fortifying the hospital because this is our basic obligation – to ensure the security of our citizens. While this is the first obligation of any government, defensive actions do not obviate the need for offensive action when it is necessary.

When we left the Gaza Strip some people still had an iota of hope that the other side would choose to rise to the path of tranquil life; however, it became clear very quickly that the concerns were based in reality. The Hamas regime and the other terrorist organizations turned the Gaza Strip into a powder-keg. We build hospitals while they build terrorist tunnels and missiles.




We have no desire to harm the daily routine of the residents of Gaza but they must know that it is not Israel which is responsible for their plight. It is the extremists leading Gaza that are completely responsible.

We do not intend to ignore the attempts to violate our sovereignty or harm our soldiers and residents and we have proven this time and again. Any act of aggression by the terrorist elements will meet with a strong and determined response on our part, by the IDF and the security sources. We will not accept trickles or bombs on the fence such as we saw last weekend. Whoever hurts us – will himself be hurt. Whoever does not act to calm the situation but instead chooses to fan the flames – will bear full responsibility.

For our part, we will continue to defend the south and strengthen Ashkelon.”

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New Bill Calls to Establish National Day of Recognition for Jewish Underground Organizations

A new bill calls to establish a national day of recognition for the Jewish underground organizations that operated in Israel prior to the establishment of the state.

The legislation, submitted by MK Amir Ohana (Likud), aims to recognize the contribution of the pre-state underground organizations to the establishment of the state and the IDF.

The day would include a special discussion in the Knesset plenum, a national memorial ceremony, and programs in the education system focusing on the Palmach, Irgun, Stern Group, NILI, Hashomer, Bar Giora and Jewish Resistance Movement.

According to the proposed legislation, the day will be marked on the 25th of the Hebrew month of Shvat, the day on which Avraham (Yair) Stern, founder of the Stern Group, was murdered by the British Mandatory police.

“The story of the Jewish underground is taught far too little in our educational institutions,” said MK Ohana, “and as a result their tremendous contributions to the state have been mitigated.”

“These are the founding fathers of us all, those who not only dreamed but who acted: they built settlements, smuggled Jewish immigrants, fought battles, defended the Jewish community and gave their lives for the country. This law will preserve their heritage and will thank them on behalf of all the citizens of Israel.”

Matan Peleg, Chairman of the Zionist organization Im Tirtzu that has been advocating for this national day of recognition, said that showing appreciation to those who fought in the Jewish underground is a historic and moral duty.

“The underground organizations were the shield of the Yishuv, and were crucial in bringing about the establishment of the state after 2,000 years of exile,” said Peleg.

“These people were visionaries without whom we would not be here,” continued Peleg. “It is our historic and moral obligation to show them thanks and appreciation, and it is astounding that such a day has yet to be established.”