RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/is-americas-visa-waiver-carrot-a-stick-in-disguise-opinion-683395

The statement on Tuesday by US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorka that Israel is among four countries being considered for inclusion in the US State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs visa-waiver program has led more than a few would-be travelers to say they will believe it when they see it.

Whether the other three – Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania – are equally weary of having that particular privilege dangled in front of them every few years is unclear. One thing is certain, though: Israelis of all socioeconomic backgrounds are afflicted with wanderlust and take every opportunity to flit around the globe, whether or not they can afford to do so.

This tendency has always been a source of curiosity on the part of foreigners, many of whom rarely or never venture beyond their own shores. Americans are often shocked to encounter Israelis who have crossed the US, coast to coast, returning with photoshoots from every national landmark, from the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas to Disneyworld.

The desperation to fly somewhere – anywhere – has been especially noteworthy during the pandemic, when air travel is such a nuisance. Deciphering the coronavirus regulations for exiting and reentering alone would seem to be a sufficient deterrent. Yet it has not been one.

On the contrary, Israelis of all stripes are pouncing on plane tickets for low-cost stints in an Airbnb or luxurious vacationing at five-star hotels in every location imaginable.
Claustrophobia could have something to do with it. Living in a state that can be traversed by car from North to South in six hours, and east to west in less than two, might have that effect. Coupled with the closures and quarantines that came with the onset of COVID-19, the sense of being cooped up became magnified.

October 28, 2021  —  Conference of Jewish Affairs spokesman, Rabbi Aryeh Spero, issued the following statement today:

“All friends of Israel and historic truth should be horrified by the recent betrayal of Israel by the Biden administration insisting on creating an American consulate for Palestinian Arabs in the city of Jerusalem.  Inasmuch as the United States already has its embassy in Jerusalem, the formation of a special American consulate indicates that the Biden administration plans to make Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian Arab state.  

“It is unheard of for a foreign country to designate the capital of a particular nation as a future capital of another country. It is also the height of audacity to disrespectfully communicate to an existing country that an outside force plans to usurp its capital and hand it over to an aggressor. The Biden administration has gone beyond any norm of respect and civility by insisting that the Palestinian Arabs have an official consulate in both East and West Jerusalem.

Rabbi Spero stated, “The Biden administration’s insistence on this scheme displays a handwriting on the wall that it has already determined the outcome of negotiations before they have been negotiated, to wit, that there will be a Palestinian Arab state with Jerusalem as its capital and, God forbid, the expulsion of the Jewish State from the Old City of Jerusalem. 

https://www.jns.org/opinion/the-bigger-picture-behind-the-narrow-gantz-ngo-controversy/

When Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced on Friday that he is listing six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist groups, all hell broke loose on the left. The outcry, which emanated not only from Washington and Brussels, but from the halls of the Knesset in Jerusalem and Muqata in Ramallah, could have been anticipated.
There’s no sacred cow as holy as a self-described “humanitarian organization,” especially when it’s associated with and financed by equally untouchable foundations. Thus, though the impetus behind Gantz’s move was perfectly reasonable, he was promptly attacked, including from within the government of which he is a prominent member.
The groups in question—Al-Haq, Addameer, Defense for Children International-Palestine, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees—have, according to Gantz, been “active under the cover of civil-society organizations, but in practice belong to and constitute an arm of the [PFLP] … the main activity of which is the liberation of Palestine and destruction of Israel.”

Most of Gantz’s critics don’t dispute that the Iran-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a terrorist organization. In fact, it is officially designated as such by the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia and Israel. Naturally, the thugs in the Palestinian Authority have a different view, as they consider the indiscriminate murder of Jews and enemies of other stripes to be a legitimate form of political, ideological and religious protest.

The controversy, then, has focused not on the PFLP, but rather on a number of different issues, each more disingenuous (and revealing) than the next.

Let’s start with U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price’s stern reaction to the news, telling reporters that Israel hadn’t given America “advance warning,” and stating that the administration “will be requesting more information regarding the basis for these designations.”

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17880/palestinian-prisoners-no-one-talks-about

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad prisoners, who have been convicted of terrorism against Israel, received wide coverage because they are being held in Israeli prisons. They are being held in prison because many of them were involved in major terror attacks against Israel, including murder. The international media and the Palestinian Authority (PA), however, refuse to call the prisoners terrorists. Instead, they call them “militants” or “political detainees.”

While the world’s attention remains focused on the Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, there is hardly any mention of prisoners and detainees held by the PA security forces in the West Bank

A Palestinian who goes on hunger strike in a Palestinian prison can only dream of being noticed by a foreign journalist or a human rights organization in the US and Europe. A Palestinian who declares a hunger strike in an Israeli prison, on the other hand, has nothing to fear. He or she knows very well that within minutes the whole world will learn about his “grievances.”

A report by the Committee of the Families of Political Detainees revealed that the Palestinian security forces committed 217 “violations” against Palestinians just during September.

If Abbas cares so much about Hamas and PIJ prisoners, why is he ordering his security forces to arrest and beat Palestinians for being affiliated with the two groups? If he thinks that these prisoners should be released from Israeli prisons, why doesn’t he first release those who are being held in Palestinian prisons?

A final, damning question: Why are the Palestinian security forces arresting or interrogating prisoners shortly after their release from Israeli prisons? How can the PA condemn Israel for arresting these men, but later arrest them on suspicion of belonging to Hamas or PIJ?

In public, Abbas demands that Israel free all the prisoners; but when Israel complies, he rushes to arrest them for “security reasons.” The Palestinian prisoners were lucky when they were in Israeli prisons: they attracted the attention of human rights organizations and journalists around the world.

Those who are now being held in Palestinian prisons are undoubtedly wishing that they could be sent back to Israeli prisons, where they would be better treated and win international sympathy.

A recent hunger strike by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) prisoners held by Israel caught the attention of many journalists and media outlets. Reports about the hunger strike appeared in newspapers around the world and were included in dispatches by major news agencies.

https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/why-the-us-really-wants-a-palestinian-consulate-in-jlem/

The US Embassy in Jerusalem already provides consular services to the Palestinians. Why do they need an independent consulate in the same city?

The Biden administration is trying to partially undo one of Israel’s greatest diplomatic achievements of recent decades – the recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over all of Jerusalem by the US, followed by numerous other countries. The good news is unlike many diplomatic attacks, the Israeli government has the power to stop it.

The US is pushing to open up a new diplomatic office in Jerusalem – one that would be directed to the Palestinian Authority. The US Embassy in Jerusalem already provides consular services to the Palestinians. It is unheard of to have an independent consulate in the same city where a country has an embassy. The point of creating a separate consulate is to undermine former US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem. But under international law, the US would need Israel’s permission for this move.

The US does not want to open a consulate merely to have a place for diplomatic liaisons with the PA. If that is all they wanted, they could easily do this by opening a mission in Abu Dis or Ramallah – where most other countries conduct their relations with the PA. Or they could reopen the Palestinian mission in Washington, DC, which Trump also closed. But by instead demanding that Israel accede to a consulate in Jerusalem, the administration is showing this is not just about having a convenient place for coffee with PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

Indeed, the purpose of opening the consulate is to recognize Palestinian claims to Jerusalem. If the PA has no legitimate claim to Jerusalem, there can be no reason to have a consulate there. To be sure, this is why opening the consulate is the main Israel-related policy demand of radically anti-Israel Rep. Ilhan Omar. Point of fact, former US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro made clear before the last US election that opening a separate consulate to the Palestinians would be designed to signal US support for a Palestinian capital in that city.

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/the-governments-assassination-of-israels-character-opinion-682760

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid outdid himself on Monday evening. Yes, the “alternate” premier slated to replace Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at the helm in September 2023, took the opportunity of a special parliamentary session commemorating the 26th anniversary of the assassination of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin to insult the national camp.

“There is a [direct] line between Rabin’s murder and the past year,” he said. “Both are part of Israel’s great struggle, not between Right and Left, but between those who believe in democracy and those who are trying to destroy it.”

Rabin, he continued, “wasn’t murdered by the Right – the true right wing is democratic – but by anyone who isn’t willing to accept Israeli democracy. Anyone who tells himself that the majority doesn’t rule isn’t really in the national camp; he’s a dangerous, nationalist extremist. Instead of loving the country, he hates anyone who doesn’t think the way he does.”

He went on to claim that the “ideological heirs” of Yigal Amir – Rabin’s assassin, who is justifiably in prison for life – “are sitting in the Knesset today, and if not for the miracle of the change government, they’d be sitting in the government.”

“Do you mean the Joint [Arab] List?” heckled Religious Zionist Party leader MK Bezalel Smotrich, referring to the members of Knesset who openly oppose the Jewish state.

“Aren’t you ashamed?” added Smotrich, who knew full well that Lapid had been pointing a finger at him and his political allies. When he and a few other MKs from Shas and Likud exited the premises, Lapid resumed his inexcusable tirade.

“The coalition that we formed isn’t left-wing or right-wing,” he announced. “It’s a coalition of the majority of Israel’s citizens who decided to rescue Israeli democracy.”

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17866/palestinians-peace-israel

The Palestinian Authority, which is largely funded by American and European taxpayers’ money, is imprisoning Palestinians for even trying to engage in real estate deals with Jews.

The Palestinian public seems generally supportive of the death sentences and extrajudicial killings of suspected “land dealers” and informants. Even Palestinian human rights organizations appear to be extremely careful when they mention such issues.

As far as Hamas and many Palestinians are concerned, peace with Israel or any form of “collaboration” with the “Zionist enemy” is an act of treason punishable by death.

Mahmoud Abbas is already facing accusations of being a traitor because of the security coordination between the PA security forces and the Israeli authorities in the West Bank.

As long as the PA and Hamas punish Palestinians who work with Israel or are willing to sell real estate to Israeli Jews — frequently by issuing sentences of hard labor or death — the hope of reviving the “peace process” is, unfortunately, a pitiful waste of time and effort.

The verdicts passed against the “land dealers” in the West Bank and the suspected “collaborators” in the Gaza Strip show that Palestinians remain as far as ever from accepting Israel, let alone making peace with it.

The verdicts are yet more proof of how Palestinian leaders continue to radicalize their people against Israel — to the point that no Palestinian who wishes to stay alive would ever claim that he or she seeks to make peace with Israel or recognize all of the land as anything other than totally Palestinian in every way.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas have again shown that peace with Israel is not only extremely ill-advised and most likely doomed from the start but critically dangerous as well. The two Palestinian parties, both the PA and Hamas, do not want Palestinians to engage in any real estate transactions with Israeli Jews; they also do not want Palestinians to assist Israel in the war on terrorism.