We are happy to present you with our 6th Sovereignty bulletin, sent to members and supporters of our Sovereignty Movement. You are invited to read, get updated and join:
Dear friends,
The visit this week by American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the formation of the new government have once again put the Deal of the Century on the agenda and we see how, in practice, the Americans are weakening on the sovereignty clause in their plan.
This is the time to remind ourselves and the world that the Jewish People’s right to its Land does not derive from the White House, but from the ancient, divine promise. If the American administration chooses to support the promotion of sovereignty, it will do so to take part in the privilege of driving the wheels of history in the correct, ethical and just direction.
The various political reports remind us again that it is only American interests that drives the American government. When Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the White House in January, they announced that in a few days sovereignty would be applied, but Kushner immediately blocked it. A week ago, Ambassador David Friedman reported on the possibility of promoting sovereignty on the 1st of July. On Wednesday of this week, Pompeo stated that he did not come here from the U.S. to promote sovereignty, meaning that sovereignty can wait, the urgent topics are China and Iran.
The U.S. has its own considerations, that’s understood, but Israel also needs to act according to her own considerations and push for sovereignty. We have the opportunity not to follow the dangerous Trump plan and apply sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, for which there is a broad national consensus.
It is disappointing to see that a clause on sovereignty is not included in the guidelines for the new Israeli government, despite this matter being included in the Prime Minister’s election campaign. It is disappointing that the Prime Minister did not include Yamina, which emphasizes the matter of sovereignty, in the government. Yamina could have been another significant reinforcement for the Land of Israel faithful among the members of the Likud to push for taking a step toward sovereignty.
This is the time to act to realize the opportunity to promote the step that is accepted by both leaders, Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, and by most members of the government – the application of sovereignty over the Jordan Valley as a first step, independent of any connection to the American Deal of the Century, without the danger – Heaven forbid – of establishing an Arab state on 70 percent of the territory of Judea and Samaria.
We shall continue to act energetically together with you and with your strength to realize the vision. At the bottom of this newsletter we again call on you to join the Friends of Sovereignty Movement and give us the strength to continue together to the goal that the People of Israel has longed for, for thousands of years.
Our hearts are with the Ben Yigal family
The Sovereignty Movement expresses its sorrow and condolences to the Ben Yigal family over the murder of their son, First Sergeant Amit Hy”d, by Arab rock-throwing terrorists. The sorrow and mourning of the family are the sorrow and mourning of the entire Jewish people.
Each year, there are more than 4,000 incidents of Arab rock-throwing in Judea and Samaria. The media disregards it and the attorneys bind the hands of our dear soldiers.
We call for increased enforcement and deterrence in the face of the various forms of Arab terrorism. Once again, Israel reveals that rocks can kill. The Israeli security establishment and its branches must declare that the legal status of a rock is like that of a firearm. This is the time to change the rules of engagement and to enable soldiers and civilians to defend themselves as dictated by the principles of morality and the aspiration for security.
Llaw and rewot (or in English, Wall and Tower, but backwards)
People who travel the roads of Judea and Samaria these days can see more and more Arab building starts appearing on the hills and on the sides of the roads. In the absence of Israeli sovereignty, the Arab illegal takeover of the area has taken on worrying and disturbing dimensions.
While there are restrictions (and freezes) placed on Jewish building, Arabs continue to build and determine facts on the ground.
This Arab trend of construction has been increasing during the Corona period, when all attention is turned to focus on coping with health issues. These Arab facts on the ground are growing rampantly, perhaps especially in the area that the American President’s Plan of the Century views as territory belonging to the State of Israel. It turns out that the Arabs analyze the political situation and act accordingly, while Israel lags behind and hesitates, postponing the resolution for sovereignty.
Read the important and concerning article that was published on the 0404news site (in Hebrew)
Sovereignty for me is…
Our guest this time is Member of Knesset Dr. Shlomo Karai of the Likud:
For me, sovereignty is the realization of the Jewish People’s dream, the realization of the vision of the prophets of Israel and the fulfillment of the Zionist dream. Applying sovereignty in your home, in the Land of our forefathers. “Again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria… and thy children shall return to their own border” (Jeremiah 31).
A moment from history
In these political days of suggestions to agree to concessions, Heaven forbid, on the heart of the Land of Israel and the concern over the idea of applying sovereignty over only 30 percent of Judea and Samaria, in exchange for agreeing to establish an Arab state on 70 percent of the territory, we recall the words of Menahem Begin, both to his successors in the Likud and outside the Likud, during his days as leader of Etzel, when he was presented with a proposal to divide the Land.
Aviezer Golan and Shlomo Nakdimon, in their biographical book, Begin, relate that in October ’44, there was a meeting between the commander of Etzel, Menahem Begin and a representative of Ben Gurion, Moshe Sneh. The discussion continued until 3:00 in the morning and dealt with efforts to come to an agreement between Etzel and the Hagana.
“Sneh had secret information that the Prime Minister of Britain was planning to cancel the White Paper at the end of the war and establish a Hebrew state in a significant part of the western Land of Israel. Begin was not impressed, and was not even pleased when Sneh quoted to him the words that Churchill said to Weizmann, “You can be sure that when the war ends, you will receive the biggest plum”, words that Weizmann interpreted as a promise for a “good distribution”. “We reject any division”, said Begin, “good or bad; the homeland cannot be divided!”
Historian Hagai Hubermna tells us about the community of Masua
At the beginning of the week we celebrated Lag Ba’Omer – the day that marks, among other things, Bar Kokhba’s war against the foreign occupier. According to one of the traditions of Lag Ba’Omer, this was a turning point in favor of Bar Kokhba’s army in the rebellion against the Romans, and beacons of fire were lit to transmit the news of the victory.
On the 7th of Kislev, November 17th, 1969, a new Nahal outpost was established in the Jordan Valley along the Jericho-Beit She’an Road, at the foot of Qarn Sartaba. General of Central Command Rehavam Ze’evi (Gandi) gazed from the outpost toward Qarn Sartaba above, and was reminded of the beacons that were lit on the hilltops in the days of the Second Temple to declare the new moons, as told in Tractate Yoma. It was in remembrance of those beacons that Gandi called the community Massua (Beacon).
The Israeli government’s concept of settlement in those years under Yitzhak Rabin was consistent with the Allon Plan. The Jordan Valley was considered an area for settlement of the highest priority, according to the Allon Plan.
This Shabbat 46 years ago, on the 22nd of Iyar, the 14th of May, 1974, Massua became a participating civilian community of the Zionist Worker, which was aligned with the liberal-independents politically. Minister of Tourism Moshe Kol, who was a “dove” in his political ideology, said in the ceremony converting the community from a military to a civilian one, that the communities in the Valley form the basis of the security border for the State of Israel, and “We are establishing and peopling these communities for them to remain there forever. Because the map of communities is the future map of the State”. Thanks to this step, the government can now work toward applying Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley – as the first phase in completing the application of sovereignty in the entirety of the Land of Israel.
From Parasha to Parasha
The Torah portion of Behar is an encounter with the world of nature. The commandments of Shmittah remind us that we are not the owners of the world of nature. Agriculture and commerce are not ours. They are divine and belong to the Master of the world. Regarding the relationship between man and nature – a person viewing the sunset can see it in several ways. A scientist might examine the angle of the sun’s rays at this hour because this is his internal world. A person who deals with Halacha would discuss the question of the exact timing of the sunset and its Halachic implications. A romantic person might murmur ‘the sunset is good for the sad at heart”. There is no reason to ask which of the three is correct because all three are correct. Nature, which is around us, uplifts us in all parts of our personality, the scientific aspect, the Halachic, spiritual aspect and the emotional aspect.
King David relates to man’s relationship to nature in two seemingly contradictory ways. On one hand he says, “What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou think of him?” – man, who is nothing and has no true ability in this world. We hardly exist in this world; we are transitory and ephemeral. However, King David also writes about man “Yet Thou hast made him but little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour”, man is the master of nature, who rules nature and gives meaning to reality.
David is trying to tell us that the correct relationship between man and nature is a balance between two extremes, one extreme is the extreme of humility, of understanding that it is not I who is the master, but the Master of the world. However, there is also the other extreme, the world of nature is neutral and meaningless and it is man who gives it meaning, it is he who gives names and essence to the animals and his surroundings, it is he who gives divine and ethical meaning to the natural world.
The Shmittah year and the commandments that entail the natural world restore us to man’s correct relationship to nature. Man is dominant in nature but has great humility toward creation.
Rav Kook explains that contrary to the diaspora, in the Land of Israel the natural world is not contrary to holiness and Torah. In the diaspora, viewing nature may lead to concern and the need for caution since this natural world might make me become more lustful and lower my spiritual level and I will be drawn to the secular world, which is antithetical to the holy. In the Land of Israel, in contrast, the everyday world is not only a challenge but is itself, holy work.
The air of the Land of Israel not only grants us the ability to breathe and live but it is air of meaning that joins man and to G-d and between and man to the nature that surrounds him.
Sovereignty Membership
The political-diplomatic stumbling expressed by the integration of the Left in the government at the expense of a significant part of the Right, the erasing of the clause on sovereignty from the government’s guidelines; the American postponement of the first steps of sovereignty, all of these things obligate us to mobilize ourselves anew for hasbara and practical activities to promote the vision of sovereignty.
We need the tailwind from you and because of this, our movement again calls on you to join the Friends of Sovereignty initiative to expand the ranks of the movement including thousands of supporters from all parts of the Land while giving economic support to Judea and Samaria.
To join, click here