Category: Borders

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PACKERS CORNER: Did the PA Kill Rabbi Raziel Shevach?

As most are probably aware, the big news this week in Israel is quite tragic – a Father/Husband/Rabbi/Mohel/Paramedic was shot and murdered by arab terrorists near his home in Havat Gilad – an unauthorized community in the Shomron/Samaria/Northern West Bank.

I want to spend a little bit of time on this because it encompasses alot of different aspects of the current political situation.

-The terrorists have yet to be apprehended, but there is good amount of speculation that they are somehow connected to the Tanzim/Palestinian Authority. The main reasons being the quality of the weapon used and the quality of the shooting (unfortunately). This indicates that the terrorists were able to obtain quality weaponry and train to use it. This is very difficult for the more extreme groups, like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, in that area. More potentially damning, this attack could have come at the direction of PA leadership in response to how poorly things are going for the PA diplomatically as it concerns Israel and the US, under President Trump. One might question how they could be so stupid to think this would help things, however, its pretty much par for course. When diplomacy fails or stutters, terrorism is their default response.

-Havat Gilad: Havat Gilad is an extremely strategically located Jewish community. The community sits on privately-owned Jewish land but has not received official authorization from the Government. It would fit the category of an “illegal outpost”. (However most “illegal outposts” are on state-owned land, and this is privately-owned). The community sits right off the highway in between the Jewish communities of Kedumim and Yitzhar. Without Havat Gilad there would be a long stretch of hostile highway without any permanent Jewish presence. In short, the future of the Jewish presence in the Shomron relies greatly on the existence and development of Havat Gilad. Since the tragic terrorist attack, many government officials have pledged to work to recognize Havat Gilad as an official community. This would be a big deal. Remains to be seen if these promises will be kept (many are not). In the meantime, the victim of the terrorist attack, Rabbi Raziel Shevach, hy’d, was the first person to be buried in the outpost. I’m not aware of any other such situation in which someone is buried in an unauthorized community. Its a bold move and likely significantly strengthens the chances of the community continuing to exist in that location.

In other news, some not-so-important legislation has been passed in the Knesset and much actually important legislation has been further delayed. This continues a long-running trend and yet, as I have stated pretty much every week, the current Israeli Government coalition continues to be incredibly stable. (Today, Minister Kahlon stated that he wouldn’t bring the government down for any reason – that’s a pretty extreme thing to say).

There are published rumors that Saudi Arabia is considering buying weaponry from Israel. Not so surprising under the current sunni-shiite regional conflict.There is talk of President Trump pulling out/sabotaging the Iran nuclear deal. And there is talk of Prime Minister Netanyahu promising a state to the “palestinians” in northern Sinai in exchange for Israeli annexation of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).

In short, there is a lot of talk. Not so much action. There is supposed to be an announcement soon about newly approved building in Judea and Samaria. Let’s see what is decided and discuss what it really means next week.

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Does the Terror Attack at Havat Gilad Mark the Beginning of Another Intifada?

Yesterday’s terror attack at Havat Gilad in which 35 year old Rabbi Raziel Shevach father of five was murdered seems to gave caught the security services off guard.  With none of the attackers found and the IDF scrambling to shut down the immediate area around the city of Shchem, calls have gone out from Israel’s right and many leaders in Judea and Samaria to clamp down hard on the Arab population to snuff out any thoughts of using this attack as a way to inspire more.

Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel said the following on Channel 2:

“These things are in the hands of the Defense Minister. These are his instructions to the military and Civil Administration. Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) spoke in the past about ‘carrots and sticks.’ We are waiting for the Defense Minister to use the ‘sticks’ and maybe he should have done it before now.”

“We can exile the families from their homes, we can destroy the homes of terrorists who carried out attacks – and I trust that the Defense Minister will take action. He has widespread support from the Israeli public. No one agrees to or is ready to accept this terror.”

“We can exile the families from their homes, we can destroy the homes of terrorists who carried out attacks – and I trust that the Defense Minister will take action.”

With increased incitement by the Abbas regime since Trump’s Jerusalem announcement and the slashing of US funds to UNRWA many are worried that this attack if not responded to in full force may lead to another intifada.

The Derech Chaim Movement which focuses on imbuing Israeli government with Torah leadership released the following statement regarding the murder of Rabbi Raziel:

“The spilled blood of Rabbi Raziel Shevach screams out for revenge against the murderers, their emissaries, and their supporters. The blood of thousands of victims murdered since the Oslo Accords screams, ‘It is our obligation to dismantle the Palestinian Authority, which is the embodiment of murderous enemies in the heart of our land.'”

“Instead of speaking about allowing the death penalty for terrorists, it’s time the security policies included elimination of terror organizations and effective deterrence, born of the recognition of our rights to this land.”

“We feel the family’s horrific pain, which is the pain of the entire nation. G-d will put an end to our sufferings, and give us true leadership.”

“Instead of speaking about allowing the death penalty for terrorists, it’s time the security policies included elimination of terror organizations and effective deterrence, born of the recognition of our rights to this land.”

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman who has often touted his tough guy persona as way of ensuring the public that security will remain in place may be pushed against the wall after this attack.  His tepid response that the IDF is looking for the terror cell coupled with the possibility of legalizing Havat Gilad appears more of the same as opposed to the fresh approach he promised.

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Israel Strikes Near Damascus

According to Syrian sources, the Israeli airforce attacked targets just outside of Damascus early on Tuesday morning (Jan. 9th) .  The official statement by the Syrian government said “that at 2:40 local time Israeli warplanes launched few missiles at targets near Damascus from the Lebanese airspace. The missiles were intercepted and one Israeli warplane was targeted by air defense forces.”

Despite damage to the military base in Syria, the government was able to utilize its new Russian made defense systems and intercepted most of surface to surface missile strikes.

Following the initial attack, at 4:00 local time, two surface-to-surface missiles were launched from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. They were also intercepted.

At 4:15 local time, Israeli forces launched 4 other missiles from the Golan Heights. One missile was intercepted and the others hit a target causing damage to positions of Syrian force

The damaged base was a known warehouse of scud missiles and other deadly weapons the Israeli government has vowed to keep from being used against its citizens.

The Israeli government has yet to issue an official response.

Despite this, the attack demonstrates that either Putin is allowing these sorts of pinpoint strikes according to his personal agreement with Bibi Netanyahu or the Israeli military has continued to find a soft spot in the upgraded Russian defense system.

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Iran Infiltrates Israel’s Heartland

The Shin Bet officially confirmed that an advanced Iranian espionage network has been operating in Judea and Samaria, Israel’s Biblical heartland.

Iran enlisted the help of Muhammad Maharma, 29-year-old computer science student from Hebron. Despite being the lead in Israel, the Shin Bet said Maharma received his directions from an Iranian operative in South Africa.

The network had two other members named Dia’a Sarahnehand  Nour Maharma, both 22 and both also from Hebron.

“The operation demonstrates the Iranian involvement in encouraging terror attacks against Israel and also shows the forces being sent by Iran to countries around the world, in order to advance enemy activities against Israel,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.

“The operation demonstrates the Iranian involvement in encouraging terror attacks against Israel.”

According to the Shin-Bet, Muhammad Maharma was enlisted to work for Iran in 2015, by his cousin, Backer Maharma. Backer Maharma moved to South Africa from Hebron where he started working for Iranian intelligence.

“Backer even introduced Muhammad, on a number of occasions, to Iranian officials, some of whom visited [South Africa] from Tehran in order to meet him,” the Shin Bet said.

The Shin-Bet’s  investigation uncovered that South Africa has become  a “significant front for finding, enlisting and deploying agents to Israel and the West Bank” for Iranian intelligence.

The Iranian network based in Hebron was given a various directives by Iranian intelligence servises.  These included recruiting people to carry out shooting and suicide bombing attacks.

Most shockingly, the network was supposed to recruit Israeli Arabs specifically high level journalists to spy on and take pictures of sensitive locations.

Three were charged in a military court for attempting to join an illegal organization. Maharma was charged additionally with contacting an enemy agent, and receiving money from an enemy nation.

The Shin-Bet’s report comes at a sensitive time in the Palestinian Authority’s relationship with the Israeli government.  As the PA shops around for new benefactors due to the Trump administration’s threat to cut them off, Iran becomes the most likely address.  Of course the Iranian people might have second thoughts on their government wasting even more money on failed Arab initiatives.

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Iran Says the Protests Are Dying Down, but these Tweets Suggest Otherwise

The regime in Iran is now trying to suggest the protests that had been sweeping the country are now dying down. While there is certainly an ebb and flow to the protests as well as a lack of cohesion and leadership to the growing movement, protests are still raging and more and more people are joining.

The regime in Iran has been trying to put a confident face on about the situation and has even suggested that the worst is over.  The problem for the Ayatollahs is that the protests are not going away. Here are some Tweets that suggest that the protests are growing.

While the continueing protests do not have the energy level the first protests had, they show that the opposition to the regime is widespread and turning into a a permanent feature. This may make the movement far more dangerous than originally believed.