December 26, 2023

Illegal West Bank outpost of Sde Yonatan evacuated and demolished, 10 activists detained

The illegal outpost of Sde Yonatan in the West Bank was evacuated and demolished by Border Police and Civil Administration forces, the second such demolition of an illegal outpost in the territory in less than 48 hours.

A rudimentary residential building and a goat pen were destroyed by the Civil Administration forces during the operation, reports say.

Settler activists state that the Border Police officers were violent when evacuating the residents of the outpost, punching and kicking the residents and throwing them to the ground. Three people were injured during the incident, the activists say.

A Magen David Adom ambulance was called to the area but was prevented from reaching the outpost, the activists allege. Paramedics from United Hatzalah also arrived at the scene to treat one person who was lightly injured during the incident and needed stitches on his hand.

Activists say that the area was declared a closed military zone before the evacuation began and phones belonging to the residents and activists at the site were confiscated.

Ten people were detained at the site during the enforcement operation, three of whom were taken to the local police station. The other seven were released after the demolition had been completed.

The outpost, close to the settlement of Michmash northeast of Jerusalem, was built on private Palestinian land, the Civil Administration says.

It has been built and demolished several times in the last two years and was most recently reestablished shortly after the beginning of the current war with Hamas.

The Border Police declined to comment on the incident.

Source : https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/illegal-west-bank-outpost-of-sde-yonatan-evacuated-and-demolished-10-activists-detained/

_________

Whatever President Biden is doing behind closed doors is working .
He is 100% correct that the only solution is a two state solution .
Ive been saying that since I joined here years ago .
You are supposed to be a Democratic forum .....have some faith in your elected leader he knows what he is
doing .
Bibi and Trump are one and the same ........neither of them give a damn about us or the Palestinians or the hostages
its all about ego and power and money .

December 13, 2023

Israeli leaders are ignoring our calls for a ceasefire. You shouldn't

We are being held hostage by politicians who have no plan and only know how to bomb. We need the world to step in — now.

It is now clear to any person with common sense that Israel will not stop its massive bombardment and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip without serious external pressure. I am not a radical. I am not a traitor. But you would have to be delusional to trust the same people who led us into this disaster to take the proper steps to lead us out of it. Our government has no answers and no limits.

I have attended the few small protests in Tel Aviv in recent weeks calling for a ceasefire. We leftist activists are a tiny minority in our society, and we are currently having to choose our words carefully. We are scared for our own safety amid the crackdown on dissent within Israel since Hamas’ October 7 massacres, which is forcing us to tone down the visibility of our rage. If we are completely silenced, who will be left to protest for an end to the war and the release of the hostages?

During the speeches by the hostages’ families, many have stated in no uncertain terms that their calls are being shunted aside to allow the Israeli army to continue its aggression in Gaza. If our government is not even listening to them, who will listen to us? The fear is numbing, like everything could blow up in our faces, and Itamar Ben Gvir’s police could lock us up with ease. We feel frustrated and powerless.

There is no ceasefire because the only way Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows how to survive politically is through blood and tanks, satiating a fascist base thirsty for ever more settlements and resources to achieve their messianic dreams. He is fueling division even in our grief, now even suggesting that the October 7 massacres were enabled by army reservists refusing to serve in opposition to the government’s judicial coup.

While polls currently indicate that a majority of the Israeli public wants Netanyahu gone as soon as the hostilities are over, we know this war criminal far too well to expect him to exit the stage quietly. He will surely find some way to pit us against each other again to try to remain in office.

continued @
https://www.972mag.com/ceasefire-israeli-leaders-gaza/

October 9, 2023

Heavy rocket fire on central, southern Israel; 300,000 reservists mobilized in 48 hours

Source: The Times of Israel

5 injured by barrages in Ashkelon, Ashdod; IDF sees fastest call-up of reservists in its history; IDF claims control of all border towns, but says terrorists may remain

By EMANUEL FABIAN and TOI STAFF
Today, 2:05 pm

Five people were wounded on Monday, two of them seriously, as heavy barrages of rockets were fired by terrorists in the Gaza Strip at towns in southern and central Israel, including one that exploded near Ben Gurion International Airport.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it treated four people wounded in Ashkelon by rocket impacts, including a 75-year-old man in serious condition, two men aged 55 and 30 in moderate condition, and one person who was lightly hurt.

Sirens were heard in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ra’anana and as far north as Baqa al-Gharbiyye.
It was the first time sirens were heard in many of the locations since Saturday.



Read more: https://www.timesofisrael.com/heavy-rocket-fire-on-central-southern-israel-300000-reservists-mobilized-in-48-hours/

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October 9, 2023

'The state abandoned her,' says Israeli whose grandmother, 85, was kidnapped to Gaza

As the war in southern Israel rages on, and the death toll already reaching 700 and counting, Israeli officials have obtained information about at least dozens more Israeli citizens who have been kidnapped and are being held captive in Gaza. Among the captives are dozens of American citizens, Thai workers employed in greenhouses in Gaza border towns, as well as citizens of Great Britain, Germany and Russia.

Three of the captives are 34-year-old Adi Koplon - a Canadian citizen and a resident of Holit; Liri Elbag – an IDF observer in Nahal Oz and Yafa Adar - an 85-year-old woman who was filmed being taken into the Gaza Strip by armed terrorists.

Yafa's granddaughter, Adva Adar, wrote a post on Facebook and included a photo of her kidnapped grandmother next to armed terrorists. "This is my grandmother! She was captured and transferred to Gaza. Her name is Yafa Adar, she is 85 years old! My grandmother, who founded the kibbutz with her own bare hands, who believed in Zionism, who loved this country that abandoned her, is kidnapped, probably thrown out somewhere, suffering from severe pain, without medication, without food and water. Scared to death, alone."

Adva also wrote that "no one talks to us, no one knows a thing. We obtained the information through videos that have been circulated online. I want this picture to be engraved in the minds of all members of this disgraceful government. Let them understand that there are people here, elderly and children, women and men, with names and families. I want them not to sleep at night and do whatever is necessary until these people return home."

Adi kidnapped to Gaza, her kids left at the border

Adi Koplon was also abducted by terrorists from her home on Saturday alongside her two children, one is four years old and the other is only six months old. However, the toddlers were found abandoned at the border.
Her father-in-law, Yondav Koplon, said that "Adi was at home alone with her children, because her husband, Benny, was with his brother at a party in Nirim. My two sons were besieged after the party. The partner of one of them was murdered and Adi was kidnapped by Hamas, along with my two grandchildren, from their home. At the border, they separated the mother from her children and Adi was taken into Gaza, while for unknown reasons they abandoned the children at the border in the dead of night."

continued @
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1iej9lwa

August 15, 2023

Ex-IDF general likens military control of West Bank to Nazi Germany

Amiram Levin accuses the IDF of being a ‘partner in war crimes’ when it stands by as settler extremists attack Palestinians, says situation in West Bank is ‘absolute apartheid’

By TOI STAFF
13 August 2023

A former IDF general argued that Israel’s control of the West Bank has similarities to discriminatory policies under Nazi Germany, and expressed fear that soldiers will not be motivated to defend the country if the coalition succeeds in shackling the judiciary.

Amiram Levin, who headed the IDF Northern Command, commanded the elite Sayeret Matkal unit and served as deputy director of the Mossad spy agency, told Kan radio on Sunday morning that the military is not only suffering harm to its preparedness because of reservists’ threats and refusals to serve amid the government’s judicial overhaul, but is also “rotten to its core” due to Iarael’s ongoing presence in the West Bank.

“It stands on the side, looks at the rioting settlers, and begins to be a partner in war crimes,” Levin told the public broadcaster. “It’s 10 times worse than the issue of [military] readiness… and I say honestly, I am not angry at the Palestinians, I am angry at us. We are killing ourselves from the inside.”

Recent months have seen a rise in settler violence, with the United Nations earlier this month reporting close to 600 attacks on Palestinians and their property over the past six months. The Israeli defense establishment recorded similar numbers during that period.

According to official data provided to The Times of Israel, there were 680 incidents of stone-throwing or assault of Palestinians by settlers in the first six months of 2023, compared to 950 in all of 2022.

The interviewer asked Levin if he agreed with a May 2016 speech by former Meretz MK Yair Golan, who was IDF deputy chief of staff at the time, in which he said that processes in Israel were similar to some in Europe in the years leading up to the Holocaust.

(snip)

Levin also assailed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s appointment of “draft dodger” cabinet members such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who was not accepted for mandatory military service by the IDF because of his extremist activities.

The prime minister is being exploited by “a messianic group of criminals, former ‘hilltop youth,’ people who don’t even know what democracy is,” he charged, referring to extremist settler activists.

“They come from areas where there is no democracy, from the West Bank, where for 56 years there hasn’t been democracy there,” said Levin. “There is absolute apartheid

Continued @ :

https://www.timesofisrael.com/ex-idf-general-likens-military-control-of-west-bank-to-nazi-germany/

August 10, 2023

Peace Now: Israel approved more settlement development in 2023 than any previous year .

The Peace Now organization says Israel has approved more settlement construction and development in the seven months since the start of 2023 than in any other previous year.

Under the hardline right-wing government, authorities have advanced the approval of 12,855 homes, passing the previous record of 12,000 in 2020, the organization says.

It has also retroactively legalized 22 illegal outposts, another unprecedented number, the group notes.

Source :

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/peace-now-israel-approved-more-settlement-development-in-2023-than-any-previous-year/

For more info see :

https://peacenow.org.il/en

July 19, 2023

Biden warns 'special relationship' on the line in absence of consensus on overhaul

US president tells NY Times’s Tom Friedman that ‘vibrancy of Israel’s democracy’ is at heart of ties between the 2 countries, but threatened by unilateral moves to weaken judiciary

US President Joe Biden said that Israel’s leaders need to slow down their divisive overhaul of the judiciary and instead strive to achieve a broad consensus with opposition parties on the issue, reportedly warning that the “special relationship” between the two countries could sustain irreparable damage.

Biden made the comments to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, whom he sat down with in the White House Tuesday after meeting earlier in the day with President Isaac Herzog, who is visiting Washington.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and its allied far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties have been barreling ahead with their overhaul plan, which has been met with months of mass protests from critics who say it will weaken the court’s power to act as a check and balance against the Knesset, and dangerously erode Israel’s democratic foundations.

Continued @
https://www.timesofisrael.com/biden-warns-special-relationship-on-the-line-in-absence-of-consensus-on-overhaul/

July 12, 2023

NY Times's Friedman: US Netanyahu gov't is making rethink of US-Israel ties 'inevitable'

Columnist says Biden administration believes Israeli coalition is using judicial overhaul as cover for ‘unprecedented radical behavior… that is undermining our shared interests’

By TOI STAFF
Today

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman penned a column Tuesday warning that the Biden administration is reassessing its ties with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, amid growing American alarm over the actions of the hard-right Israeli coalition.

Friedman said US President Joe Biden believes the government is using its judicial overhaul push as a smokescreen to engage “in unprecedented radical behavior… that is undermining our shared interests with Israel, our shared values and the vitally important shared fiction about the status of the West Bank that has kept peace hopes there just barely alive.”

Continued : https://www.timesofisrael.com/ny-timess-friedman-netanyahu-coalition-making-rethink-of-us-israel-ties-inevitable/

July 10, 2023

Biden: Israeli cabinet has some of most extreme members I've seen; Saudi deal far off

BEN GVIR: ISRAEL NO LONGER ANOTHER STAR IN AMERICAN FLAG

US president says Jerusalem shares blame for recent violence due to cabinet ministers who push settlement expansion while rejecting Palestinian rights

By JACOB MAGID

US President Joe Biden said Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government has some “of the most extreme members” he’s seen in Israel, and that cabinet ministers who back settling “anywhere they want” in the West Bank are “part of the problem” in the conflict.

In addition to offering rare comments during a CNN interview on his thoughts about the Israeli government, he provided an update on his administration’s effort to broker a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, saying, “We’re a long way from there.”

Biden was pressed on what it would take for him to extend an invitation to Netanyahu to visit the White House, but he dodged the question, noting that Israeli President Isaac Herzog will be coming to Washington next week.

Source : https://www.timesofisrael.com/biden-current-government-one-of-most-extreme-ive-seen-in-israel-saudi-deal-far-off/

June 27, 2023

Ex-Shin Bet agents call for halt to overhaul as military reservists renew rebellion

Veterans warn pushing ahead with contentious judicial changes will tear ‘irreparable rift’ in society after members of elite units say they won’t volunteer for reserves

By TOI STAFF
26 June 2023

A group of hundreds of Shin Bet veterans called on Monday for the government to immediately halt its freshly revived push to overhaul the judiciary, citing the “critical damage” it will cause to the country’s security.

The protest came a day after the coalition renewed its plan to advance the contentious legislation, whereupon reservists in elite IDF units said they would stop volunteering for duty if it was passed, in the latest revolt by members of the defense establishment.

“Continuing with the legislation will tear an irreparable rift in Israeli society and will critically damage national resilience and the Israeli security system,” read the letter from the Shin Bet veterans, according to Channel 13 news.

(snip)

“Reservists from the Special Operations Division, Unit 8200 and military doctors have announced an end to volunteering for the reserves if the government does not immediately stop the coup d’état legislation,” the group wrote, referring to elite combat units, the secretive cyberwarfare unit, and the medical corps. “We are hearing about additional reservists from other units who are going to join [the protest].”

(snip)

“Without democracy, there will be no army, there will be no security, and this will be the end of the State of Israel,” the reservists said. “We will defend with our bodies and souls — in a nonviolent way — democracy and the gatekeepers of Israel.”

Source : https://www.timesofisrael.com/ex-shin-bet-agents-call-for-halt-to-overhaul-as-military-reservists-renew-rebellion/