Great essay Joshua. Keep up the good work. As I wrote in a recent post, "The Jewish story, properly told, isn’t about what was done to us — it’s about what we’ve built since. And until we teach that story — unapologetically, proudly, relentlessly — we’ll keep ceding moral ground to those who mistake destruction for justice." https://jewnewsreview.substack.com/p/the-jew-news-review-november-1-2025
When MSM refuse to call Hamas 'terrorists', it's unsurprising they refer to 'settlers' as 'violent'. They just can't help their antisemitism; it's intrinsic to their whole makeup. It's in their DNA.
Add too that Israel is a massive bulwark against the Totalitarianism of the re-emergent Nazis and the Communist Left, and the Extremists of both sides know this. Thus, we have earned our keep amongst the righteous spectrum of Nations.
Bravo Joshua !!!!.....Thank you so much for your brilliant essay, it's so true what you said " partner needed to achieve PEACE " .......You are right about everything ..... I had the privilege of meeting Menachem Begin when he came to the UN in 1977, and love his reply to Biden.......I think it's about time we drop " The West Bank " and call it by it's name Judea and Samaria......
Nice article Joshua. Bit long. Bit defensive. No worries. Jews have been discriminated against forever. Being defensive to justify your existance is probably in your genes. Next time write something which signals power, we are here, not going away, and combine it with a warning that if you attack us again we will annex your land. Thankyou.
To paraphrase an individual from history who shall not be named, "Here I stand with my IDF and there you stand with your linguistic absurdities. Which one of us do you think will prevail?" The covenant is with G-d. Am Israel chai!
Exactly. 💯. I don't even want to repeat any of these phrases to discuss them. There is a Land of Israel. There is a sovereign government. There is an army. There are laws and the Israelis do their best to run a good country.
I would add that discussion about the holocaust in Europe is a discussion among Jews, not a talking point with others. It happened and we will go forward. We have had other holocausts in our history. Other peoples have gone through similar. It seems to be a feature of humanity, not a bug. If we want to live good lives, then it's best to be productive in the present and not obsess about the past or weaponize it. Nobody cares about other people's problems or histories, other than to weaponize it against someone. And we don't want or need anyone's pity, as Menachem Begin said and the author quoted.
Israel has outlived all of its enemies from the Pharoahs on down. Yes, word games are meaningless to a people who have survived and thrived in spite of historical attempts to erase them. As a Catholic I understand longevity and surviving throughout history.
Bravo, Joshua. Of course you're right, and those who advocate for telling the Jewish story are right too.
But: we need to cross the line into attack. Only attack constitutes an effective defense. We need to expose and use every means to publicise that exposure.
Expose Islam as been itself Islamist.
Paste and poster cities with quotes from the Quran. Their hatred, violence and supremacist goals.
Expose European politicians' cowardice and acquiescence whilst their continent is conquered.
Expose American extremes who both crucify Jews.
Expose self-hating mentally ill Jews.
Expose sheer immorality bursting from the depths of the West itself and how scapegoating the Jews and projecting on them works.
Psychological group studies.
Studies of collective mental illness.
The lost college generation educated by Qatar and their " professors" .
The need of the West to de-evolve.
And much more. We must get out of ourselves and out of the box. We need an attack vocabulary, with incriminating sound bites.
The haters don't want to hear of our success , rights, history or good points. It's one of the major causes for their hatred.
The United States was questioned about it's "right to act" after 9/11. Now the mantra is we the USA killed hundreds of thousands of innocent peace loving Muslims in our unhinged neo con(Jewish) driven rage. Iraq had no wmd's ...it was all a big ruse by the USA to attack and murder ....Abu Ghraib ....not the exception but the rule. This I figure is what kids learn in HS and in universities such as courses taught by Mr. Mamdani senior. Israel's right to exist is now NYC foreign policy going forward. NYC will arrest its war criminal PM and divest from everything that has the taint of Israel on it. So what to do....a big eff u to our new jihadi mayor. Dershowitz says to us "stay and fight, don't flee" even he lives part of his time in Florida. But he is a warrior at 87. Yeah what to do...my nightmare began with Ocasio cortez elected to the house for part of Queens where Iive. Is it true than 600 hundred thousand Israelis live/ have emigrated to other countries like LosT Angeles....when I used to visit there.....aside from going to an occasional rally and my letters to various personalities at the NY Times....most writers won't accept e mail....so I write to the circular file. But I write all the same. Just like here...to hear myself.....
Joshua, you’ve done it again with another phenomenal piece! I will never, ever understand why anti-Zionists feel the need to re-litigate something that has long been settled. It’s not up for debate whether Israel has a right to exist or not, it just DOES exist! The Jewish people’s indigenity to the land of Eretz-Israel is not to be questioned. They have a history there stretching back over 3,000 years. Anti-Zionists clearly are not familiar with names like Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, King David, King Solomon, and Jesus of Nazareth. Anti-Zionists clearly are not familiar with the Cave of Patriarchs, Rachel’s Tomb, the Wailing Wall, the Mount of Olives, and the Temple Mount. They also claim Jewish ethnic identity isn’t real and is an incoherent concept because Ashkenazi Jews are more related to Italians than Sephardic Jews and the two are more closely related to Palestinians than they are Mizrahi Jews and that only a minority of their ancestry came from the Levantine region.
Well maybe that’s because…THEY LIVED IN A DIASPORA AND SPRED OUT AROUND THE WORLD! That doesn’t mean that Jews aren’t a real ethnic group but rather a reflection of the fact that most were forced out of holy land due to an economic recession, a series of failed rebellions and Roman repression. Also, yes contrary to what a conman like Shlomo Sand will tell you, there IS evidence for the Jewish exodus from the holy land. He’s a total hack fraud and his book is nonsense. All the talking points you mentioned and brilliantly debunked the media uses Joshua, are spot on! Israel’s existence is NOT up for debate! The Jewish people have the Bible, the Koran, history, and archeology to prove their case. Not to mention how they turned a desert into a garden, revived the Hebrew language, fought the Arabs and the British to regain their land, and rebuilt their state from the ground up and made it a regional power with a booming economy and a world leader in technology, science, medicine, agriculture, water, and environmentalism.
Yes, Israel is aloud to defend itself like another country. Again, this is not up for debate and there is no nuance involved at all. No one questions whether Ireland, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Romania, or Bosnia and Herzegovina have the right to exist. Nor does anyone say Australia or New Zealand or Albania have a right to defend themselves because both are just a given. So why do we always say that about Israel? Israel’s “far-right government?” No it’s just the current elected government and it doesn’t speak for all Israelis.
Antizionism is antisemitism, period. Are all anti-Zionists antisemitic? No. But many are misguided and misinformed even if they aren’t bigoted. But all antisemites are antizionist, I think we can all agree on that. If you believe that all people have right to self-determination accept the Jewish people you are singling out a certain group. Riddle me this: why is it the Irish, Italians, Poles, Czech, Slovaks, Greeks, Bosnians, Albanians, Serbians, Croats, Algerians, South Koreans, Ghanaians, and Vietnamese get to have a state and no one complains but when Jews do it, all of a sudden it’s a problem?
There is no “conflict” between Israel and Hamas its a war to defend the Jewish state from constant terrorism and the threat of genocide. The occupation of the West Bank is legal under international law. Also, Jews living on their native land isn’t an occupation if one is referring to the settlements. Violent Israeli settlers? Are we talking about Israeli settlers defending themselves from Palestinian aggression or actual Jewish extremists? Funny how the press never makes that distinction!
I agree most of what you wrote, except the issue of "violent settlers": some really are violent, and although they constitute but a small part of the Israeli citizens in the West bank, they enjoy the protection of the IDF as Israelis on the one hand, but the IDF does not stop them from attacking Palestinians on the other. So it is disingenuous to compare it to any other country that has its violent elements: here, they carry out their depredations under the protection of the Israeli army, making the country complicit. And that is because Israel does have, in fact, a "far-right government" - or at least one where the far-right gives the tone.
So while much of the hatred directed at Israel is just a new form of Jew-hatred, one must acknowledge that some of the criticism is justified, and could - and should - be honestly addressed.
I agree, Danny, but actually the Left commentariat do not actually care for the Arabs of The West Bank. The issue is just another stick by the Antisemitic Left to beat Israel with. How do we know? Because these same voices are silent in their moral tone about the Horrors when it comes to the whole of the rest of The Middle East, like Sudan and Yemen and Iran.
I agree that coming from Israel's opponents, criticism of settler violence is disingenuous. That's on them. But some people who level this criticism are strong supporters of Israel. And they are right.
In any case, this isn't even a question of external criticism. That violent Israelis commit violence unchecked by the authorities - that's on us.
The Cantonisation of The West Bank which is coming, will acknowledge the rights of The Arabs of Judea and Samaria to the farmland they presently work, plus the Arab towns of Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Hebron, and parts (and only parts) of East Jerusalem. The reason they cannot have a state is that this would give rights to both an army and to borders to traffic arms across, and most Arabs support Islamist Terrorism dressed up as self-defence.
I have suggested a confederation with the "moderate" Hashemite Kingdom in the east of this so called "historic Palestine" Pal will have its seat at the UN, like Byelorussia SSR had, an Olympic team, a Eurovision rep, it's own Oscar awarded films, all the jazz they have now. Israel's latest play for an Oscar is an Arabic language film. Good luck to Israe.
Cannot be done your way, Ryan. Any border with Jordan, or a UN seat, would be used to traffic arms to Islamist Terror Gangs in The West Bank, with the inevitable resumption of The War of Genocide against Israel and The Jewish People.
Israel cannot be annexing Nablus, Jenin, Tulkaram........ Hebron....I'm not sure what happens there but if we leave no JEw will ever be allowed in Machpelah....so what is the solution? I figured in a confederation where the security is Jordanian....and Israeli...they cannot do what you write.
I believe you're unwittingly becoming a participant in anti-Israel propaganda. Israeli settlers are punished just like anyone else who breaks the law. They are arrested for crimes and for their preparations. There's a Shin Bet department that deals with Jewish settlements, and it's no less strict than the others.
The Israeli army is in Judea and Samaria not to "protect settlers," but to maintain order and acts against any violation.
Yes, you're right, criticism is necessary, but what you wrote isn't criticism. It's disinformation and demonization. You've generalized all Israeli settlers and portrayed the IDF as "protectors of crime." This isn't criticism; it's (perhaps in your case, unconsciously, and influenced by myths and cliches) bias.
Unfortunately, I'm factually right. No disinformation, no demonization. I did specify that the violent settlers are but a small part of the West Bank Jewish population. I know from eyewitness testimony how they terrorize Palestinian farmers and Israelis that come to interpose themselves, with drone surveillance and by coming into the orchards, pointing rifles at them, and shooting in the air. This is done in direct view of IDF soldiers who, when asked why they don't remove the settlers, just shrug. In other instances, when the army is absent, they brutally beat them up with sticks, and no efforts are made to find the perpetrators.
The Shin Beth Dept that deals with Jewish extremists has been considerably weakened by interference by Ben Gvir and his acolytes. In fact Ben Gvir has long claimed that there is no such thing as "Jewish terrorists" and has reportedly intervened with the prison service to ameliorate the conditions of imprisoned Jewish terrorists and worsen the conditions of the Arab ones. This is our reality also.
If we demand from Israel haters to stop lying, to stop spreading blood libels, then we can't lie either.
I really don't like telling anyone they're wrong, so I'll just say I disagree with you.
And I have good reasons for that. I used to think similarly to you and relied on eyewitness accounts. But it so happens that my work often requires me to travel all over Israel and visit the territories. About five years ago, I simply became interested in how accurately the media reports on settler life, how Israelis view settlers, and who these settlers are.
About half of the residents living in the settlements can hardly be called either religious or Zionist. They are ordinary people who have chosen to live in Judea and Samaria. They can be religious, or they can be secular and traditional.
Most settlements are generally problem-free. Many local settler municipalities reach agreements with Arab local authorities or elders and live without conflict. Of the rest, about half also prefer to negotiate, and although relations are tense, a balance is maintained. Only about a quarter of them (this is not an exact division and is only my opinion. I could be wrong). These are those who believe that Arabs either have no right to live in Judea and Samaria or, due to their intransigence and inability to live with Jews and constant attempts to kill Jews, transfer, resettlement, or other measures are necessary. (I can't even say roughly how they are divided.) And of this approximately quarter of settlers, only a tenth are radically inclined and ready for some kind of action. And it is precisely this group that Ben Gvir represents. I haven't even mentioned that only a small portion of these radical settlers actually cause riots.
Besides, I don't even know how to respond to reports of "breaking in and threatening with weapons" or to stories about Ben Gvir "weakening the Shin Bet." No, I often encounter such statements, but my experience suggests that this is not the reality. Furthermore, my experience suggests that there are a very large number of far-left activists in the territories (and Israel is short of workers in construction, agriculture, infrastructure, and elsewhere) who act as "witnesses." They provoke soldiers at checkpoints, organize fashion mobs of "settler attacks," and portray even minor altercations during car accidents as "attacks," spreading this narrative in hundreds of media outlets. Activists like Ofer Kasif or Andrei Krzhanovsky don't seem like sane people at all. And there are many of them, and they violate Israeli laws on a daily basis.
I'm not suggesting you believe everything I say; I could be wrong myself. I'm simply presenting my different opinion. Although I explained this quite well in my previous post.
I agree about your description of the different kinds of settlers and of settlements. In fact I emphasized that the violence comes from a small fraction. But what I described regarding their violence and the unwillingness of the authorities to intervene - this is directly from the mouth of close friends who won't make such things up and who, importantly, certainly weren't going there to provoke anyone. The incidents they told me about weren't even reported in the media. The altercations they saw were provoked by the settlers. You don't have to believe me, but I believe this is true and therefore I can't brush it under the rug.
Jews need to police themselves and not request or even discuss it outside of our country and people. Want to do something about it, go to Israel. Talk to the Israeli government, talk to the people you disagree with, talk to Israelis who do agree with you and police fellow Jews with other Jews and Israelis. Leave the international 'community' out of this. Why do Jews invite people who hate them to comment and boycott and attack?
You sound as if we're talking about the goings on in the shtetl of Anatevka that nobody cares about if you don't talk about it, rather than about Israel, the country that - whether you like it or not - is under constant obsessive scrutiny by the international community.
I think that we have to understand Israel and our discussions about Israel with an eye - both eyes - to the reality that Israel has been singled out as distinct from all other sovereign countries. We need to talk and act accordingly. I wish it could be as you say.
It's like we have been arrested - anything you say can and will be used against us. Yes, everybody else is speeding, but we are the only people arrested.
Using public forums to make changes to the Israeli government and other internal issues appears to be suicide - look around. It isn't working, anyway, to accomplish what you want to accomplish. The Israelis will take you much more seriously if you are a citizen and take your issues directly to them. Not to the public forum.
I am a citizen and am speaking with other Israelis. But everything is public, there is no private forum. If you are going to denounce the blood libels against Israel because they are lies, you can't lie yourself to defend the despicable conduct of some Israelis and some Israeli leaders. Every honest person will take you much more seriously if you are willing to call out the failings of your side. And it is the right thing to do anyway.
There's a lot I agree with you about. I don't know how to implement my point about public forums in a way that doesn't shut down our necessary discourse. That I brought up this public discourse point regarding your initial comment is perhaps inappropriate. Not the substance of my comment but its attachment to your comment. I think that when we 'call out the failings', we need to be aware of our audience. We are special - even if we don't want to be, our enemies obsess that we are special. Thank you for being a citizen and speaking directly - in country - to enforce our values.
Great essay Joshua. Keep up the good work. As I wrote in a recent post, "The Jewish story, properly told, isn’t about what was done to us — it’s about what we’ve built since. And until we teach that story — unapologetically, proudly, relentlessly — we’ll keep ceding moral ground to those who mistake destruction for justice." https://jewnewsreview.substack.com/p/the-jew-news-review-november-1-2025
When MSM refuse to call Hamas 'terrorists', it's unsurprising they refer to 'settlers' as 'violent'. They just can't help their antisemitism; it's intrinsic to their whole makeup. It's in their DNA.
Add too that Israel is a massive bulwark against the Totalitarianism of the re-emergent Nazis and the Communist Left, and the Extremists of both sides know this. Thus, we have earned our keep amongst the righteous spectrum of Nations.
Another wonderful article from you Joshua ,with the arguments laid out so beautifully like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Thank you .
Perfectly stated, as usual. I don’t need anyone to tell me “Israel has a right to exist.”
GOD BLESS ISRAEL AND ITS PEOPLE
Discussing the issue of "violent settlers", not many are aware of the daily attacks that Israeli citizens living in Judea and Samaria are facing.
Please circulate this report:
https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/over-6300-terror-attacks-against-jews-in-judea-and-samaria-in-2024/
Bravo Joshua !!!!.....Thank you so much for your brilliant essay, it's so true what you said " partner needed to achieve PEACE " .......You are right about everything ..... I had the privilege of meeting Menachem Begin when he came to the UN in 1977, and love his reply to Biden.......I think it's about time we drop " The West Bank " and call it by it's name Judea and Samaria......
How fortunate you are!
I would have loved to meet Menachem Begin, it would have been the high point of my life!
Every time I read his reply to biden, I get the chills, it could never have been said better.
Nice article Joshua. Bit long. Bit defensive. No worries. Jews have been discriminated against forever. Being defensive to justify your existance is probably in your genes. Next time write something which signals power, we are here, not going away, and combine it with a warning that if you attack us again we will annex your land. Thankyou.
To paraphrase an individual from history who shall not be named, "Here I stand with my IDF and there you stand with your linguistic absurdities. Which one of us do you think will prevail?" The covenant is with G-d. Am Israel chai!
Exactly. 💯. I don't even want to repeat any of these phrases to discuss them. There is a Land of Israel. There is a sovereign government. There is an army. There are laws and the Israelis do their best to run a good country.
I would add that discussion about the holocaust in Europe is a discussion among Jews, not a talking point with others. It happened and we will go forward. We have had other holocausts in our history. Other peoples have gone through similar. It seems to be a feature of humanity, not a bug. If we want to live good lives, then it's best to be productive in the present and not obsess about the past or weaponize it. Nobody cares about other people's problems or histories, other than to weaponize it against someone. And we don't want or need anyone's pity, as Menachem Begin said and the author quoted.
Israel has outlived all of its enemies from the Pharoahs on down. Yes, word games are meaningless to a people who have survived and thrived in spite of historical attempts to erase them. As a Catholic I understand longevity and surviving throughout history.
Bravo, Joshua. Of course you're right, and those who advocate for telling the Jewish story are right too.
But: we need to cross the line into attack. Only attack constitutes an effective defense. We need to expose and use every means to publicise that exposure.
Expose Islam as been itself Islamist.
Paste and poster cities with quotes from the Quran. Their hatred, violence and supremacist goals.
Expose European politicians' cowardice and acquiescence whilst their continent is conquered.
Expose American extremes who both crucify Jews.
Expose self-hating mentally ill Jews.
Expose sheer immorality bursting from the depths of the West itself and how scapegoating the Jews and projecting on them works.
Psychological group studies.
Studies of collective mental illness.
The lost college generation educated by Qatar and their " professors" .
The need of the West to de-evolve.
And much more. We must get out of ourselves and out of the box. We need an attack vocabulary, with incriminating sound bites.
The haters don't want to hear of our success , rights, history or good points. It's one of the major causes for their hatred.
Agreed....with all of this essay.
The United States was questioned about it's "right to act" after 9/11. Now the mantra is we the USA killed hundreds of thousands of innocent peace loving Muslims in our unhinged neo con(Jewish) driven rage. Iraq had no wmd's ...it was all a big ruse by the USA to attack and murder ....Abu Ghraib ....not the exception but the rule. This I figure is what kids learn in HS and in universities such as courses taught by Mr. Mamdani senior. Israel's right to exist is now NYC foreign policy going forward. NYC will arrest its war criminal PM and divest from everything that has the taint of Israel on it. So what to do....a big eff u to our new jihadi mayor. Dershowitz says to us "stay and fight, don't flee" even he lives part of his time in Florida. But he is a warrior at 87. Yeah what to do...my nightmare began with Ocasio cortez elected to the house for part of Queens where Iive. Is it true than 600 hundred thousand Israelis live/ have emigrated to other countries like LosT Angeles....when I used to visit there.....aside from going to an occasional rally and my letters to various personalities at the NY Times....most writers won't accept e mail....so I write to the circular file. But I write all the same. Just like here...to hear myself.....
Joshua, you’ve done it again with another phenomenal piece! I will never, ever understand why anti-Zionists feel the need to re-litigate something that has long been settled. It’s not up for debate whether Israel has a right to exist or not, it just DOES exist! The Jewish people’s indigenity to the land of Eretz-Israel is not to be questioned. They have a history there stretching back over 3,000 years. Anti-Zionists clearly are not familiar with names like Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, King David, King Solomon, and Jesus of Nazareth. Anti-Zionists clearly are not familiar with the Cave of Patriarchs, Rachel’s Tomb, the Wailing Wall, the Mount of Olives, and the Temple Mount. They also claim Jewish ethnic identity isn’t real and is an incoherent concept because Ashkenazi Jews are more related to Italians than Sephardic Jews and the two are more closely related to Palestinians than they are Mizrahi Jews and that only a minority of their ancestry came from the Levantine region.
Well maybe that’s because…THEY LIVED IN A DIASPORA AND SPRED OUT AROUND THE WORLD! That doesn’t mean that Jews aren’t a real ethnic group but rather a reflection of the fact that most were forced out of holy land due to an economic recession, a series of failed rebellions and Roman repression. Also, yes contrary to what a conman like Shlomo Sand will tell you, there IS evidence for the Jewish exodus from the holy land. He’s a total hack fraud and his book is nonsense. All the talking points you mentioned and brilliantly debunked the media uses Joshua, are spot on! Israel’s existence is NOT up for debate! The Jewish people have the Bible, the Koran, history, and archeology to prove their case. Not to mention how they turned a desert into a garden, revived the Hebrew language, fought the Arabs and the British to regain their land, and rebuilt their state from the ground up and made it a regional power with a booming economy and a world leader in technology, science, medicine, agriculture, water, and environmentalism.
Yes, Israel is aloud to defend itself like another country. Again, this is not up for debate and there is no nuance involved at all. No one questions whether Ireland, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Romania, or Bosnia and Herzegovina have the right to exist. Nor does anyone say Australia or New Zealand or Albania have a right to defend themselves because both are just a given. So why do we always say that about Israel? Israel’s “far-right government?” No it’s just the current elected government and it doesn’t speak for all Israelis.
Antizionism is antisemitism, period. Are all anti-Zionists antisemitic? No. But many are misguided and misinformed even if they aren’t bigoted. But all antisemites are antizionist, I think we can all agree on that. If you believe that all people have right to self-determination accept the Jewish people you are singling out a certain group. Riddle me this: why is it the Irish, Italians, Poles, Czech, Slovaks, Greeks, Bosnians, Albanians, Serbians, Croats, Algerians, South Koreans, Ghanaians, and Vietnamese get to have a state and no one complains but when Jews do it, all of a sudden it’s a problem?
There is no “conflict” between Israel and Hamas its a war to defend the Jewish state from constant terrorism and the threat of genocide. The occupation of the West Bank is legal under international law. Also, Jews living on their native land isn’t an occupation if one is referring to the settlements. Violent Israeli settlers? Are we talking about Israeli settlers defending themselves from Palestinian aggression or actual Jewish extremists? Funny how the press never makes that distinction!
I agree most of what you wrote, except the issue of "violent settlers": some really are violent, and although they constitute but a small part of the Israeli citizens in the West bank, they enjoy the protection of the IDF as Israelis on the one hand, but the IDF does not stop them from attacking Palestinians on the other. So it is disingenuous to compare it to any other country that has its violent elements: here, they carry out their depredations under the protection of the Israeli army, making the country complicit. And that is because Israel does have, in fact, a "far-right government" - or at least one where the far-right gives the tone.
So while much of the hatred directed at Israel is just a new form of Jew-hatred, one must acknowledge that some of the criticism is justified, and could - and should - be honestly addressed.
I agree, Danny, but actually the Left commentariat do not actually care for the Arabs of The West Bank. The issue is just another stick by the Antisemitic Left to beat Israel with. How do we know? Because these same voices are silent in their moral tone about the Horrors when it comes to the whole of the rest of The Middle East, like Sudan and Yemen and Iran.
I agree that coming from Israel's opponents, criticism of settler violence is disingenuous. That's on them. But some people who level this criticism are strong supporters of Israel. And they are right.
In any case, this isn't even a question of external criticism. That violent Israelis commit violence unchecked by the authorities - that's on us.
The Cantonisation of The West Bank which is coming, will acknowledge the rights of The Arabs of Judea and Samaria to the farmland they presently work, plus the Arab towns of Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Hebron, and parts (and only parts) of East Jerusalem. The reason they cannot have a state is that this would give rights to both an army and to borders to traffic arms across, and most Arabs support Islamist Terrorism dressed up as self-defence.
I have suggested a confederation with the "moderate" Hashemite Kingdom in the east of this so called "historic Palestine" Pal will have its seat at the UN, like Byelorussia SSR had, an Olympic team, a Eurovision rep, it's own Oscar awarded films, all the jazz they have now. Israel's latest play for an Oscar is an Arabic language film. Good luck to Israe.
Cannot be done your way, Ryan. Any border with Jordan, or a UN seat, would be used to traffic arms to Islamist Terror Gangs in The West Bank, with the inevitable resumption of The War of Genocide against Israel and The Jewish People.
Israel cannot be annexing Nablus, Jenin, Tulkaram........ Hebron....I'm not sure what happens there but if we leave no JEw will ever be allowed in Machpelah....so what is the solution? I figured in a confederation where the security is Jordanian....and Israeli...they cannot do what you write.
I believe you're unwittingly becoming a participant in anti-Israel propaganda. Israeli settlers are punished just like anyone else who breaks the law. They are arrested for crimes and for their preparations. There's a Shin Bet department that deals with Jewish settlements, and it's no less strict than the others.
The Israeli army is in Judea and Samaria not to "protect settlers," but to maintain order and acts against any violation.
Yes, you're right, criticism is necessary, but what you wrote isn't criticism. It's disinformation and demonization. You've generalized all Israeli settlers and portrayed the IDF as "protectors of crime." This isn't criticism; it's (perhaps in your case, unconsciously, and influenced by myths and cliches) bias.
Unfortunately, I'm factually right. No disinformation, no demonization. I did specify that the violent settlers are but a small part of the West Bank Jewish population. I know from eyewitness testimony how they terrorize Palestinian farmers and Israelis that come to interpose themselves, with drone surveillance and by coming into the orchards, pointing rifles at them, and shooting in the air. This is done in direct view of IDF soldiers who, when asked why they don't remove the settlers, just shrug. In other instances, when the army is absent, they brutally beat them up with sticks, and no efforts are made to find the perpetrators.
The Shin Beth Dept that deals with Jewish extremists has been considerably weakened by interference by Ben Gvir and his acolytes. In fact Ben Gvir has long claimed that there is no such thing as "Jewish terrorists" and has reportedly intervened with the prison service to ameliorate the conditions of imprisoned Jewish terrorists and worsen the conditions of the Arab ones. This is our reality also.
If we demand from Israel haters to stop lying, to stop spreading blood libels, then we can't lie either.
I really don't like telling anyone they're wrong, so I'll just say I disagree with you.
And I have good reasons for that. I used to think similarly to you and relied on eyewitness accounts. But it so happens that my work often requires me to travel all over Israel and visit the territories. About five years ago, I simply became interested in how accurately the media reports on settler life, how Israelis view settlers, and who these settlers are.
About half of the residents living in the settlements can hardly be called either religious or Zionist. They are ordinary people who have chosen to live in Judea and Samaria. They can be religious, or they can be secular and traditional.
Most settlements are generally problem-free. Many local settler municipalities reach agreements with Arab local authorities or elders and live without conflict. Of the rest, about half also prefer to negotiate, and although relations are tense, a balance is maintained. Only about a quarter of them (this is not an exact division and is only my opinion. I could be wrong). These are those who believe that Arabs either have no right to live in Judea and Samaria or, due to their intransigence and inability to live with Jews and constant attempts to kill Jews, transfer, resettlement, or other measures are necessary. (I can't even say roughly how they are divided.) And of this approximately quarter of settlers, only a tenth are radically inclined and ready for some kind of action. And it is precisely this group that Ben Gvir represents. I haven't even mentioned that only a small portion of these radical settlers actually cause riots.
Besides, I don't even know how to respond to reports of "breaking in and threatening with weapons" or to stories about Ben Gvir "weakening the Shin Bet." No, I often encounter such statements, but my experience suggests that this is not the reality. Furthermore, my experience suggests that there are a very large number of far-left activists in the territories (and Israel is short of workers in construction, agriculture, infrastructure, and elsewhere) who act as "witnesses." They provoke soldiers at checkpoints, organize fashion mobs of "settler attacks," and portray even minor altercations during car accidents as "attacks," spreading this narrative in hundreds of media outlets. Activists like Ofer Kasif or Andrei Krzhanovsky don't seem like sane people at all. And there are many of them, and they violate Israeli laws on a daily basis.
I'm not suggesting you believe everything I say; I could be wrong myself. I'm simply presenting my different opinion. Although I explained this quite well in my previous post.
I agree about your description of the different kinds of settlers and of settlements. In fact I emphasized that the violence comes from a small fraction. But what I described regarding their violence and the unwillingness of the authorities to intervene - this is directly from the mouth of close friends who won't make such things up and who, importantly, certainly weren't going there to provoke anyone. The incidents they told me about weren't even reported in the media. The altercations they saw were provoked by the settlers. You don't have to believe me, but I believe this is true and therefore I can't brush it under the rug.
Today, I read something Gordis wrote. I understand your concern in יהודה שומרון.
Jews need to police themselves and not request or even discuss it outside of our country and people. Want to do something about it, go to Israel. Talk to the Israeli government, talk to the people you disagree with, talk to Israelis who do agree with you and police fellow Jews with other Jews and Israelis. Leave the international 'community' out of this. Why do Jews invite people who hate them to comment and boycott and attack?
You sound as if we're talking about the goings on in the shtetl of Anatevka that nobody cares about if you don't talk about it, rather than about Israel, the country that - whether you like it or not - is under constant obsessive scrutiny by the international community.
I think that we have to understand Israel and our discussions about Israel with an eye - both eyes - to the reality that Israel has been singled out as distinct from all other sovereign countries. We need to talk and act accordingly. I wish it could be as you say.
It's like we have been arrested - anything you say can and will be used against us. Yes, everybody else is speeding, but we are the only people arrested.
Using public forums to make changes to the Israeli government and other internal issues appears to be suicide - look around. It isn't working, anyway, to accomplish what you want to accomplish. The Israelis will take you much more seriously if you are a citizen and take your issues directly to them. Not to the public forum.
I am a citizen and am speaking with other Israelis. But everything is public, there is no private forum. If you are going to denounce the blood libels against Israel because they are lies, you can't lie yourself to defend the despicable conduct of some Israelis and some Israeli leaders. Every honest person will take you much more seriously if you are willing to call out the failings of your side. And it is the right thing to do anyway.
There's a lot I agree with you about. I don't know how to implement my point about public forums in a way that doesn't shut down our necessary discourse. That I brought up this public discourse point regarding your initial comment is perhaps inappropriate. Not the substance of my comment but its attachment to your comment. I think that when we 'call out the failings', we need to be aware of our audience. We are special - even if we don't want to be, our enemies obsess that we are special. Thank you for being a citizen and speaking directly - in country - to enforce our values.