Tag: Im Tirtzu

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CHAOS IN THE NEGEV: “The south of Israel has turned into the wild west”

A petition signed by over 2,000 IDF reservists was sent last night (Saturday) to IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot, calling on him to prevent the theft of military equipment from IDF bases and training grounds in the Negev.

According to the petition, the theft of military equipment in the Negev by members of the Bedouin community is a widespread phenomenon that occurs on a regular basis and endangers the well-being of IDF soldiers and the citizens of Israel.

The petition was initiated by Sergeant First Class (res.) Alon Malik, who experienced the thefts firsthand last month while serving in reserve duty in the IDF’s Tze’elim base in the Negev.

The petition, signed by IDF reserve soldiers and high-ranking officers including captains, lieutenant colonels and colonels, states: “We, thousands of soldiers and officers in active reserve duty, turn to you with the request to stop the dangerous, outrageous and shameful phenomenon of equipment theft from training grounds in the south, which poses a substantive risk to the State of Israel’s security. In recent years, this phenomenon in which members of the Bedouin community steal from IDF bases and surrounding training grounds has intensified. Almost every week, and at times on a daily basis, thieves arrive on ATVs to training grounds and loot everything they can get their hands on: tactical vests, binoculars, night vision goggles, sensitive maps and combat equipment, which is then sold to hostile elements and used to harm soldiers and the citizens of Israel.”

The petition continues: “The day is not far off when one of these thieves will not be satisfied by stealing personal and military equipment, and will decide to take it one step further, heaven forbid, which will claim the lives of the training soldiers and/or of the citizens of the country.”

Matan Peleg, CEO of the Zionist organization Im Tirtzu that joined together with the reservists, said: “This is an increasing and troubling phenomenon and we are calling on the Chief of Staff and the IDF chiefs to work immediately to change military policy on this matter. Appropriate tools must be provided to the soldiers in order to prevent the recurrence of these serious cases.”

Peleg added: “The south of Israel has turned into the wild west and this free-for-all must be stopped immediately. Im Tirtzu will continue working to strengthen and defend IDF soldiers with all the means at its disposal.”

Alon Malik, the initiator of the petition, said: “Us reservists who stop our daily routines in order to defend the country, find ourselves helpless in the face of procedures and orders that make it clear to us that the IDF prefers not to deal with this plague of thefts.”

“Thefts from bases in the south occur on a regular basis,” continued Malik. “With the absence of a clear and significant change in IDF policy, this phenomenon will only intensify and it won’t be long until this ability to roam free in IDF training grounds will lead to the loss of life.”

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[watch] Far-Left and Arab Students Disrupt Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat’s Hebrew U Lecture

Video credit: David Kozlovsky

Far-Left and Arab students disrupted Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat’s lecture last night (Wednesday) at Hebrew University, holding signs and shouting derogatory slogans at the mayor.

Once the lecture began, a number of protesters stood up and began to shout at the mayor, referring to Jerusalem as an occupied city.

“We will not bow our heads to the violence and incitement of the radical Left,” said Barkat. “It is unfortunate that those who claim to promote the values of freedom of expression try to silence those who don’t agree with them.”

Once the protesters were removed, Barkat delivered his speech as planned and added: “There is one law in Jerusalem – for Jews and Arabs alike. We will continue to work, without prejudice or exemptions, to ensure law and order in Israel’s united capital.”

Barkat’s lecture was delivered within the framework of Im Tirtzu’s Seminars for Zionist Thought, the largest Zionist academic extra-curricular program in Israel.

The Seminars for Zionist Thought is the flagship academic program of the Zionist advocacy group Im Tirtzu, which was established to impart pro-Israel and Zionist knowledge to Israeli students and to combat the growing phenomenon of anti-Zionism in Israeli academic curriculum.

Im Tirtzu CEO Matan Peleg said that this hostile disruption crossed a red line and called on the Education Minister Naftali Bennett to demand from the university president to take action against the protesters.

“What happened tonight was a disgraceful attempt to silence free speech,” said Peleg. “Im Tirtzu has never been deterred by the radical-Left and will never be deterred by them in the future. We will continue running the Seminars for Zionist Thought on campuses throughout the country and will continue to provide students with pro-Israel knowledge from the leading Zionist lectures in Israel.”

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Outrage after Arab MKs Equate Chemical Attack in Syria to IDF Operations in Gaza

MK Zoabi: Israel “slaughtered children and babies in Gaza”

MK Haneen Zoabi (Joint List) was booted off a radio program the other day after a stormy interview in which she equated the recent chemical attack in Syria to IDF operations in Gaza.

The heated exchange took place on Israel Radio’s “HaMaznon” program, after host Yoav Krakovsky asked MK Zoabi for her views on the world’s inaction in Syria.

Zoabi responded by asking Krakovsky if his “conscience and professional integrity only exists in a case when discussing children that the IDF didn’t kill,” and proceeded to accuse the IDF of perpetrating war crimes in Gaza.

“Why didn’t you interview me when you slaughtered children and babies in Gaza?,” asked Zoabi. “[Assad] has been a criminal for five years since the start of the revolution in Syria, but there is another criminal – the Israeli army, and their place is in the International Court of Justice in Hague.”

Zoabi’s remarks sparked outrage from one of the show’s guest hosts, who said that he can no longer remain silent when MK Zoabi is lying and turning the Israeli army, which is the most moral army in the world, into the army of Assad’s murderers.

“Don’t you dare preach about morality,” retorted a livid Zoabi, “I don’t want to hear you.” Zoabi was soon kicked off the program after shouting at the hosts to “shut up.”

Zoabi’s remarks came a day after Joint List Chairman Ayman Odeh drew sharp condemnation for drawing a parallel between the situation of the murdered children in Syria and the children in Gaza.

“My heart aches for the children murdered in Syria in the same way that it feels shame for the children murdered in Yemen and in Gaza too,” Odeh said yesterday from the Knesset plenum.

Im Tirtzu CEO Matan Peleg responded to the comments and said: “The radical remarks of Joint List MKs Zoabi and Odeh against the State of Israel and IDF soldiers prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a party that seeks to damage the relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel.”

Peleg added: “These MKs are fueled by hatred and extremism and have no interest in serving the needs of the Arab sector, and this has always been the case.”

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No More Free Breaks for Anti-Israel NGO’s

A new bill seeks to cancel the property tax discount provided by the Israeli government to organizations that receive the majority of their funding from foreign governments.

The bill, proposed in the closing days of the Knesset’s winter session by Internal Affairs Committee Chairman MK David Amsalem (Likud), seeks to end the phenomenon in which organizations that act against the state by means of foreign government funding receive government benefits.

According to the bill, the exemption of property tax is a benefit that the state grants to organizations that work in service of the public, and these organizations “clearly represent foreign interests that are contrary to Israel’s interests.”

There are some 25 organizations registered in Israel that receive the majority of their funding from foreign governments, including the far-Left NGOs Breaking the Silence and B’Tselem, which accuse the IDF of committing war crimes and call for international pressure on Israel.

Other such NGOs include Zochrot, which accuses Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and works to eliminate the Jewish character of the State Israel by promoting the resettlement of millions of Palestinians in Israel, and Israel Social TV, which provides a platform for the BDS movement.

The bill was drafted in cooperation with the Zionist organization Im Tirtzu, which has been one of the leading voices opposing the intervention of foreign governments in Israel’s internal affairs.

Should the bill pass, the State of Israel is expected to save millions of shekels, which according to Im Tirtzu could be used for worthy causes that would benefit the Israeli public.

MK Amsalem said that “it is inconceivable that organizations acting deliberately against the State of Israel should receive gifts from the state that are then used to harm it.”

“If they want someone to pay their property taxes, they can turn to the foreign governments that funnel them enormous sums of money. We will use the tens of millions of shekels that will be saved to assist the weak sectors of society.”

Im Tirtzu CEO Matan Peleg, who was involved in promoting the bill, welcomed the proposal and said that it is absurd for the Israeli taxpayer to subsidize the property taxes of anti-Israel NGOs that serve the interests of foreign governments.

“This bill conveys an important message to those seeking to harm the Jewish and democratic identity of the State of Israel by means of foreign government funding,” said Peleg. “We will work to see to it that the State of Israel will not fund or subsidize those seeking its destruction.”

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Outrage over Israeli High School’s Simulation of IDF Soldiers Abusing Palestinians

A classroom exercise at Tel-Aviv’s historic Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium high school sparked controversy after it was reported last Thursday that students were forced to participate in a simulation of IDF activities at checkpoints in which “Palestinians” were abused by “IDF soldiers.”

According to the report published by the Israeli news outlet Walla!, students in the school’s 11th grade International Relations track were met at the entrance to their floor with two makeshift checkpoints manned by students simulating IDF soldiers. The students were forced to wait on long lines while “soldiers” proceeded to verbally abuse and refuse entry to some of the students.

The simulation drew sharp criticism from IDF reservists, wounded IDF veterans and pro-IDF activists who, by the initiative of the Zionist organization Im Tirtzu, organized a demonstration today (Sunday) outside the school.

The demonstrators were joined by MKs Oded Forer (Yisrael Beiteinu) and Oren Hazan (Likud) who voiced their opposition to the “anti-IDF” simulation.

“This simulation is outrageous,” said MK Forer. “It is time for Education Minister Bennett to end this situation in which some principals go about doing whatever they please. Red lines have been crossed a long time ago.”

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman also came out against the simulation during a live question and answer session on his Facebook page and said that such content is “fitting to be taught at a school named after [Hamas founder] Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and not in the Herzliya Gymnasium.”

Adva Zeltzer, head of the school’s International Relations track and activist in the far-Left Israeli NGO Zochrot that works to “promote acknowledgement and accountability for the ongoing injustices of the Nakba,” said that the simulation was voluntary and was initiated by the students.

However, students have come out and said that they were forced to participate in the simulation or risk receiving poor grades.

The school’s principal Dr. Zeev Degani backed the simulation and said that it was a “wonderful lesson that presented both sides. I am proud of my students.” Degani made headlines several years ago after forbidding students to wave the Israeli flag on school grounds and advocating to refuse IDF service.

Liran Baruch, a wounded IDF veteran who lost his eye during an operation in Kalandiya, was present at the demonstration and wore his uniform for the first time since his injury. Baruch said: “I was wounded because ‘human rights’ organizations instigated riots and violence in Kalandiya that resulted in me losing my eye. I didn’t shoot because I didn’t want to accidentally harm innocents.”

“It pains me to see the school’s administration blackening the name of IDF soldiers,” added Baruch.

Im Tirtzu’s National Branch Coordinator Tom Nisani took part in the demonstration and said: “We are here today protesting this disgraceful act of contempt towards IDF soldiers. We are calling on the Education Ministry to act immediately to end this political exploitation of students.”

“This is inappropriate and certainly not educational,” concluded Nisani.