Meretz MK invites Breaking the Silence and other far-left NGOs to speak at Knesset about “occupation” on national holiday commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem.

By World Israel News Staff

A lawmaker from the far-left Meretz party, which is currently part of Israel’s governing coalition, announced that he would co-lead a Knesset caucus commemorating 55 years of “occupation” on the Jerusalem Day holiday, which celebrates the liberation and reunification of Israel’s capital city.

MK Mossi Raz, who attended a left-wing protest at the Homesh outpost over the weekend, partnered with anti-Zionist Joint List MK Aida Touma-Suleiman for a meeting on Sunday that focuses on Israel’s alleged wrongdoing.

“For 55 years, we have ruled, contrary to our own morals, justice, and both our and their interests, another people,” Raz said in a statement.

“This rule harms all aspects of Palestinian life and costs both peoples lives and security. This is probably the most important issue affecting our lives here, and this is why it needs to be raised and discussed in the Knesset as well. Thank you to the important human rights organizations and those struggling against the occupation set to take part in the event.”

Far-left groups including Breaking the Silence, Yesh Din, the Committee Against Torture, HaMoked, Fighters for Peace, Physicians for Human Rights, Gisha, Emek Shaveh, and Rabbis for Human Rights were invited by Raz and Touma-Suleiman to speak during the caucus, Israel Hayom reported.

Despite billions of shekels in funding to the Arab community, retroactive legalization of previously unrecognized Bedouin settlements and the connection of those illegally built communities to Israel’s national electricity grid, Touma-Suleiman bemoaned what she sees as a far-right government.

“Land grabbing, settlement expansion, settler terrorism, arrests without trial, the killing of protesters, and a criminal blockade, these are the faces of the occupation. These are all the faces of Israel under the ‘change’ government,” she said.

“From the Knesset, it is our obligation to remind Israel and the world that the cycle of horror will not stop as long as the Palestinian people live under occupation and blockade. Only the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel will ensure freedom and security for both peoples,” she added.

Touma-Suleiman’s characterization of Palestinian terror as being triggered by the “occupation” does not acknowledge the extensive history of Arab violence towards Jews in the region, long predating the establishment of the State of Israel.

In the years preceding Israel’s creation, Arab locals regularly attacked Jewish civilians. In 1929, for instance, some 70 Jews were tortured and massacred in Hebron, marking the end of a centuries-old Jewish population in the municipality, which is considered one of the holiest cities in Judaism.

Later that same year, an additional 40 Jews were murdered by Arabs in Tzfat, another holy Jewish city with hundreds of years of continual Jewish presence.

The Palestine Liberation Organization was founded by arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat in 1964, three years before the “occupation” of eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.

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Last year’s deal to set up a yeshiva at Evyatar, found to be built partially on state land, can now go forward.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

As his last act in office on Wednesday, outgoing Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit approved a deal struck between the government and settlers in 2021 to allow a yeshiva to open at a controversial site in Samaria.

The nascent village of Evyatar was first set up close to the Tapuach Junction in 2013 in reaction to a terrorist murder nearby. Over the years it was destroyed several times by Israeli forces.

It was regenerated last May after 19-year-old Yehuda Guetta was murdered there by a Palestinian terrorist in a drive-by shooting. Some 50 families quickly moved to the site, which then became the focus of violent protests by Arabs from a nearby village who claimed that the land was theirs.

In a July compromise, the families agreed to leave if the army would guard spot while the government surveyed the land. If found to be state land, the government promised, they would be allowed to return to build a yeshiva  and eventually establish an officially recognized village.

A survey, completed in October, proved that 60 dunam (15 acres) of the site consisted of state land.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, who struck the deal with the families, have reportedly been pushing Mandelblit hard in recent days to give the necessary green light after months of his inaction.

With legal approval in hand, the government can officially declare the site as state land, enabling the Defense Ministry to issue the building permits.

Shomron Regional Council head Yossi Dagan expressed satisfaction at the ruling.

“This is a correct…and fair decision – agreements must be respected,” he said. “We have advanced another significant legal step on the road to justice and the establishment of a permanent settlement in Evyatar.”

Left-wingers were furious.

“The intention of the [Bennett-led party] Yamina government to approve the establishment of a yeshiva and settlement in the criminal Evyatar outpost is a violation of the spirit of the coalition agreement and a total surrender to settler violence,” said Meretz MK Mossi Raz.

“It is unfortunate that there are those in the government who, instead of fighting against violence, work for those who are violent,” he alleged.

Since Meretz is part of the coalition, it remains to be seen if the government will manage to fulfill its side of the bargain and pass the next stage of designating the site as state land.

Once building permits are issued, the public has a right to file objections, which then must be heard and ruled upon by the relevant committees. Since there is no doubt that critics of the settler movement will make use of their legal rights on the issue, there is still a long way to go before any construction would take place on the Samarian hillside.

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Betsalmo filed a police complaint against Haim Shadmi for incitement to violence.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Right-wing groups and MKs slammed Monday’s comments by an extreme leftist, who demanded guns from MKs to protect Palestinians from what he deemed “settler violence.”

Yesha Council head David Elhanai requested that the police detain for questioning activist Haim Shadmi for threats and incitement to murder after he spoke at a Knesset side session entitled “Stop Settler Violence.”

Shadmi had slammed the left-wing Knesset members who had convened the session for just talking but not doing anything concrete to stop what he called “the civilian arm of the occupation” that is allegedly harming innocent Palestinians.

“Please, give us permission to use weapons,” he demanded. “We’ll do the job for the Palestinians.”

When a murmur of protest greeted his words, he wagged a finger in the air and declared, “We won’t hurt anyone.”

He then immediately followed those words with a possibly contradictory statement, saying, “If you aren’t capable of doing the job, we will protect people’s lives.”

“A red line was crossed today,” Elhayani said. “A man was given the authority to incite terrorism in the Knesset against Jews. We call on Knesset members and ministers to condemn the incident and ensure that such conferences no longer receive a stage in the Knesset.”

Pro-Zionist NGO Betsalmo also filed a police complaint for incitement against Shadmi.

“The true face of the extreme Left has been revealed,” said CEO Shai Glick. “They speak of brotherhood, coexistence, and peace, but act with hatred. Had Shadmi been a rightist, he would have already been arrested.”

Shadmi’s words, he said, “are clear incitement to violence and danger to human life. There is no doubt that as long as there are weapons in Shadmi and his friends’ hands, there may be harm caused to the lives of the area’s Jewish and Arab residents. We have all learned that words can kill.”

The conference was chaired by MKs Mossi Raz (Meretz) and Ibtisam Mara’ana (Labor) of the coalition, and Osama Saadi (Joint List) from the Opposition. Extreme leftist groups Breaking the Silence, Yesh Din and Peace Now were also among the organizers.

During the session, when referring to Sunday’s murder of Eliyahu David Kay by a Palestinian terrorist, Raz said, “The amazing thing is that the same people who jumped yesterday and demanded condemnation from everything that moved have never thought to condemn violence by settlers.

“The army does nothing. The police do nothing, for all practical purposes it almost doesn’t exist,” he added, and even decried the media for not doing its job properly in covering the alleged acts.

Still, the organizers afterwards distanced themselves from Shadmi’s statements.

“The remarks made at the end of the conference by Haim Shadmi do not represent our stance in supporting a non-violent struggle and calling for ending the occupation peacefully,” they said.

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In a letter obtained by The Jerusalem Post, Meretz MK Mossi Raz told European lawmakers that Israel should suffer “robust consequences” for its alleged mistreatment of Palestinians in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem.

By World Israel News Staff

A Jewish left-wing Israeli lawmaker has lobbied European politicians this week to punish Israel for what he claimed were Israel’s violations of international law, The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.

In a letter sent to hundreds of European MP’s, Meretz MK Mossi Raz – together with MK Aida Touma-Sliman of the Arab Joint List – alleged that “widespread displacement and forcible transfer of Palestinians” were taking place in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and eastern Jerusalem.

In the letter, they requested that the European parliamentarians sign a statement demanding Israel suffer “robust consequences” for its alleged actions, the Post reported. Once a sufficient number of signatories is received, the letter will be presented to the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, various European foreign ministers, and published in media outlets, the report said.

The letter, obtained by The Jerusalem Post, was originally sent earlier this year, the report continued. Raz sent a follow-up email on Tuesday reminding the MPs to sign.

According to Raz, the letter has 300 signatures to date.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett declined comment, the Post said. Meretz leader and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz has not yet responded to a request for comment.

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