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Friends, Local diplomacy: Rumors are flying that the White House has a peace plan. We welcome ideas with open arms, of course. Ideas that are responsible and protect the lives of those under discussion. The Oslo Accords seemed like a good idea at the time (not to all of us naysayers) but brought devastating terrorism for Jewish Israelis. We shouldn’t be caught desperately grabbing at anything that looks like reconciliation if it’s dressed up well and talks the talk. It must also walk the walk. So, dear friends in Washington, as lovers of Israel you would be wise to stay on top of your leadership and keep up the pressure for real peace. Demand, within any talks, that the Palestinian Authority take the very real steps to show good will: Stop paying terrorists for perpetrating terror against Jewish Israeli targets. Stop paying their families long after their loved ones have blown themselves up or sit in jail after killing Jews. And second, stop educating hate and death in PA schools and textbooks. Encouraging generations of terrorists and then compensating their families is surely a path towards destruction, not peace. Enough is enough. Last Friday morning I woke to gunshots and sirens – quickly calculating their distance and pattern to understand a terror attack had taken place about 500 yards from our home, outside the guard’s gate but still, too close for comfort. An Arab had taken a car and run over first a 70 year old, leaving him with a gaping head wound, and continuing on to critically injure a 35-year-old father of six, standing on the sidewalk. This hate must stop. And you have the power to do something about it. Rumors of peace plans? Terrific. Always welcome. But make sure it comes with clear demands to first stop terrorism and its institutionalized hate-machines in the PA. Otherwise, we’ll continue to face the fact that we don’t have a partner with whom to talk, at all. |
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No boycott here: Despite our tenuous relations with some of our neighbors, here’s a report of Israel’s mind-boggling moral compass, continuing to provide goods and allow the flow of merchandise in and out of Gaza. Follow @cogat_israel for daily reports on this exemplary fact, and share it in your speeches and meetings, so that Israel’s higher standards become clear to all. |
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On a regional level: We’ve had the pleasure of hosting many of you on our missions here in Israel. Some have flown with us by helicopter up to the northern border, and viewed the very close fighting still ongoing in Syria. We heard the shooting and met the IDF doctors on a mission to save lives quietly, despite the border in their way. So if you’re asked to explain why Israel is firing on Syria today, click here Sarah Paley, our director of missions at the Yes! Israel Project for Jaffe Strategies, is in DC next week for two days. With best regards from Israel, where the blessed rains are falling this week and we welcome the mud left behind 🙂 – Ruthie |
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Holding the PLO (and the State Department) accountable Is the PLO’s long vacation from accountability coming to an end? How about the State Department’s? In 1987 the US State Department placed the PLO on its list of foreign terrorist organizations. The PLO was removed from the list in 1994, following the initiation of its peace process with Israel in 1993. Walking In The Path of Our Ancestors Netiv Ha’avot. You’ve probably never heard of it, and yet you know its story well, because it’s a story that is engraved in the Jewish consciousness and the Jewish soul and has been for thousands of years. Netiv Ha’avot is a place in the Judean hills that has been in the news lately, because the Israeli Supreme Court has inexplicably ruled that 15 homes and 2 extra structures in the community out of a total of 40 homes should be destroyed. |
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Israel is Beautiful! |
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Please share comments and upcoming Middle-East focused activity so we can weigh in and provide insight that can help better inform and advocate for our joint interests… |