We are happy to present you with our 7th Sovereignty bulletin, sent to members and supporters of our Sovereignty Movement. You are invited to read, get updated and join:

Dear friends,
 
Hag Sameah to the Land of Israel! Hag Sameah to Jerusalem!
 
When we celebrate Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day), we cannot forget that we are actually celebrating Yom Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel Day), when the People of Israel returned not only to its eternal capital, but also to Judea and Samaria, to the cities established by the forefathers of our nation, to the landscapes that they saw, to the ways and paths that the prophets of Israel walked and in which they prophesied and foresaw also the redemption of the People.
 
53 years ago we returned to the heart of our source in the miraculous Six Day War, and now the mission of our generation is the seventh day, when we will complete the People of Israel’s return to its Land in the spirit of the Zionist vision and in the spirit of the longing of generations to return to the Land of Zion and Jerusalem. The seventh day of the war is the day when sovereignty is applied. Looking back, we see how far we have come toward deep awareness and how the vision that no one engaged in or believed in then, is now on the table for discussion.
 
This is the place to bless  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the honorable place that he gave to the resolution of sovereignty in the swearing in ceremony for the new government and for its being a necessary expression of historic justice. We will, however, remain vigilant, together with the faithful to the Land of Israel, both within the government and outside of it, to block any step in the process of applying sovereignty that would entail the establishment of an alien state in the heart of our homeland, Heaven forbid.
 
‘Sovereignty cannot be compensation for establishing a terror state’
 
Our movement strengthens the hands of  the key leaders of the settlement enterprise who declare on every media and political platform, that sovereignty is not common currency for trade and that diplomats, whether in Israel or abroad, cannot offer it as part of a deal where, Heaven forbid, we would be required to consent to an alien entity in the heart of our Land.
 
Here are a few poignant and clear citations of our friend, the head of Samaria Council, Yossi Dagan, one of the leaders of the vision of sovereignty in the Likud, in an interview that he gave to Arutz 7:
 
“I totally reject the idea that applying sovereignty must entail our consent to establishing a terror state. Moreover, I reject the idea that the application of sovereignty should depend on the agreement or approval of any other state, even the U.S.”.
 
Menahem Begin and Eshkol, who first applied sovereignty in the Golan and in Jerusalem, acted in total opposition to the position of the U.S….  even PM Olmert, when he decided to bomb the Syrian nuclear plant, did so. There is an unknown and unpublished story that I heard from an American source who was in the room. This source told me that Olmert phoned President Bush and told him that we were about to bomb the Syrian plant. Bush objected and said that we should work through diplomatic tools but Olmert said that with all due respect, these are our interests and he (Olmert) is the one that must decide how to deal with it. The person who was in the room told me that Bush himself said to his people ‘Olmert is a courageous person and I respect him’”.
 
“Also, sovereignty is not worth the price of recognizing a terror state in the heart of the Land and separating communities into blocs, especially when such consent is not necessary. We are an independent state… in the coming weeks we will hear a lot of from politicians and from naïve sources within the settlement enterprise. I call upon the Prime Minister to stand strong and apply sovereignty next month as he promised. It would pass with a large majority and the U.S. will join in, and even if it does not join, it would not be terrible. That’s how it was with the Golan and Jerusalem. It took decades for the U.S. to recognize it. So what?”.

Read more excerpts from the interview:

 
The truth behind the threats

Threats by King Abdullah of Jordan are echoed by the Israeli Left and even among senior figures in the Blue and White party, who view his warnings as grounds for freezing the steps toward sovereignty. Read excerpts from an interview that was held with Middle East expert and researcher Yoni Ben Menahem, who tells of the motive behind the threats and the conversation that he revealed during his days as a reporter for Kol Yisrael, when the king explained  to Arik Sharon why there was no need to take his warnings seriously.

 Click here
 
To me, sovereignty means…



And this time, we host Member of Knesset Ofir Sofer (Yamina):

“To me, sovereignty is the continuation of the People of Israel’s return to its Land, it is an expression of national courage and recognition of: “He hath declared to His people the power of His works, in giving them the heritage of the nations”  (Psalms 111:6). And when I refer to sovereignty, I am not referring to any parallel recognition of an Arab terror state in the heart of our Land”.
 
 
The youth celebrates Land of Israel Day
 
This coming Sunday will mark the day when the City of the Fathers, Hevron, was liberated in the Six Day War. For this special day, Land of Israel Day, members of Sovereignty Youth prepared a full day of  videos, riddles and a lot of important information. Tehila Hadad, one of the leaders of the Sovereignty Youth movement, and one of the initiators of the project, says:
 
“Land of Israel Day is designated to mark the liberation of the Golan, Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley. In preparation for this day, we gathered a team of super activists who volunteered to join a special team to turn this day into a special, educational and enjoyable experience.
 
We worked for about two weeks on collecting material, photos and videos. We created WhatsApp groups to send interesting items on the liberation of Jerusalem, the Jewish settlement enterprise in the Land in general and in Jerusalem and Hevron in particular, every hour this coming Sunday. We also created fun quizzes for the general audience and a special, original  Kahoot riddle for our youth’s enjoyment.
 
Thanks to Nava, our champion animator, an animated video will also be sent, illustrating the history of the Jewish settlement in Hevron”.
 
You are invited to add your young people to this special celebratory initiative that will take place, please G-d, this coming Sunday. Send us an email at [email protected] with the names and telephone numbers of youths who are interested in joining and we will add them to our WhatsApp group.
 
We are parting from Hananya, the leader of Sovereignty Youth




The Sovereignty Youth movement is parting from Hananya Ben Shimon, who has been leading the movement and will soon begin his army service on  behalf of the People of Israel as he enlists in the IDF.
 
Hananya, the Sovereignty Youth and the entire movement thanks you for the past and encourages you for the future. We are convinced that you will continue to be a faithful ambassador for the vision of sovereignty wherever you turn, and we expect to meet with you from time to time.
We wish you great success!
 
How it all began - video

As we commemorate 53 years since our return to the heart of the Land, get yourself a glass of tea and cookies (or maybe some cold watermelon) and watch Menorah Hazani’s film, Ruah Aheret, meet Menorah and the leaders of the settlement revolution in Judea and Samaria (there is a nominal fee to watch)

 
Memories from 53 years ago

Three years ago, when we commemorated 50 years since the liberation of Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Golan, we published a special project in the Sovereignty website, that included a number of articles and interviews on the early days of the settlement enterprise. We invite you, whether you have already read it or not, to recall the beginnings of the realization of the dream:
Turn all of the following lines into links clickable to the addresses under the written text:

The time was two o’clock in the morning, when a group of women and children boarded a truck on the way to the renewal of the Jewish community in the City of the Forefathers. Yehudit Katsover tells the story.
      
 
When Rav Levinger, z”l, and Rav Waldman, who came to consult with Minister Yigal Alon, were met with an unexpected reprimand and a pointed lesson in practical Zionism.

 
Eight times the members of the Elon Moreh kernel went up to Sebastia and were brought down from there, and then there was a turning point. Not before several moments of anxiety and even concern for the safety of the Defense Minister.

 
American pressure for a construction freeze is nothing new. Israel Harel recalls the first freeze and one tense encounter which ended in an abrupt change of approach:

 
Why did Rav Goren shoot the lock on the Cave of the Patriarchs? Why were especially heavy benches built? And how Atty. Haetzni convinced the defense minister and prime minister to allow the Jews to sit in the cave.


Rav Menahem Felix recalls the upheaval days that began with Defense Minister Peres’s announcement of his intention to evacuate the pioneers, but ended with the first step of the settlement enterprise.

 Shabbat Shalom,
Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar
The Sovereignty Movement