Israel news from within Israel

[Shammu]

Israel readies for 'emergency aliya'
Aug. 11, 2008
Herb Keinon
THE JERUSALEM POST

The government started preparing Monday for emergency aliya from Georgia, even though at this time only some 60 Georgian Jews have filled out immigration papers following the fighting that began there on Friday.

Immigration and Absorption Minister Eli Aflalo convened an emergency meeting Monday at which it was decided that Georgian Jews desirous of making aliya would be eligible for an expanded immigration package reserved for emergency immigration and immigration of entire communities.

Jewish Agency spokesman Michael Jankelowitz said that while 60 Georgian Jews have filled out immigration forms and opened aliya files, the Agency's emissaries in the country have been "inundated by scores of requests for information."

Aflalo's spokesman, Zvi Avisar, said that Israel was gearing up for two waves of Georgian immigration. The first wave, which could begin arriving within the next two weeks, was expected to include "dozens of immigrants," he said.

A second wave, he said, was expected even after the current fighting dies down. "The tension will remain," he said, "and in another month we are expecting a second wave, a bit more organized."

Avisar said it was decided at Monday's meeting to send additional emissaries to the region to spread the word about the immigration possibilities, and to deal with the not inconsiderable logistical problems that are involved in bringing people from a conflict zone.

One problem that has already arisen, he said, was that many of those who might be interested in immigrating do not have a valid passport or visa to leave the country.

In addition to Aflalo, the meeting was also attended by Ze'ev Bielski, the head of the Jewish Agency, Shmuel Ben-Shmuel, the foreign ministry's deputy director-general in charge of Diaspora affairs, representatives of the Georgian Jewish community in Israel and other government officials.

Ben-Shmuel, according to one participant at the meeting, said that the Foreign Ministry was looking into overland routes to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey to facilitate those who may want to immigrate if the conflict spreads and it becomes impossible to leave Georgia by air.

Bielski said that if there was a demand, the Jewish Agency would provide a special plane to take the Jews to Israel.

The representatives of the Georgian community said that some of the Georgian Jews were hesitant to leave everything and come to Israel because they were concerned they would not find jobs or places to live upon arrival.

Aflalo, according to his spokesman, said that the enhanced immigrant basket that the Georgian Jews would be provided was intended to ease their passage, and that they would be given additional rental money and opportunities for job re-training.

One of the reasons that it was decided at the meeting to send additional emissaries to Georgia, Avisar said, was to spread the word among the Georgian Jews that Israel was gearing up for their arrival.

Israel readies for 'emergency aliya'

[Shammu]

The war in the region is sending them back home.

I'll be praying for the safe travel of any Georgian Jews moving to Israel. These precious souls who are fleeing this troubled nation to go 'home' to Israel. May God go and travel with them.

[Shammu]

Russia to get disputed J'lem property 
Aug. 14, 2008
Etgar Lefkovits , THE JERUSALEM POST

The government plans to transfer ownership of the land on which the capital's St. Sergius Church stands to Russia in the coming weeks, a Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday.

The issue, which has been under negotiation since then-Russian president Vladimir Putin claimed the site in Jerusalem's Russian Compound and others nearby as property of the Russian Orthodox Church four years ago, is extremely delicate as Israel is concerned over the precedent that might be set for other churches' properties in the capital.

For example, the Greek Orthodox Church owns the land on which the Knesset and the Prime Minister's Residence are located.

The premises of St. Sergius, which are currently used by the Agriculture Ministry and environmental protection organizations, will remain in Israeli possession for the next few years, with the exact period to be determined in ongoing negotiations with the Russians, said Foreign Ministry official Eitan Margalit, who headed a ministerial committee on the issue.

Negotiations continue over the handover of a second property that is already listed as Russian-owned and houses the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, Margalit said.

The decision to transfer ownership of the St. Sergius site comes after a Jerusalem court approved transferring ownership of the property from the Custodian General to the government, the last legal move required ahead of the transfer to the Russians, officials said. A few more properties are reportedly being claimed by Russia as well.

The government's decision was condemned this week by Jerusalem opposition leader Nir Barkat, as well as by an attorney representing the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel, which aims to safeguard a Jewish presence throughout Israel. The forum has vowed to petition the High Court of Justice to stop the move.

"I believe that this move represents a dangerous precedent of transferring properties in the heart of Jerusalem and is in violation of the city's interest, since this is not the only property being contested by foreign sources," Jerusalem mayoral candidate Barkat wrote in a letter to Olmert on Tuesday.

"It is unclear what the purpose of such a move is, how it advances the national interest and strengthens Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, and what the government of Israel is getting in exchange for such a large and central piece of property in the capital," Barkat wrote.

He added that the legal status of an exchange of telegrams between the two governments on the issue was uncertain since the Olmert-Putin agreement was never approved by the Knesset.

Attorney Itzhak Bam, representing the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel, said Wednesday that the agreement was illegal.

"This is not an ordinary real estate deal, but an international agreement, done for diplomatic reasons," Bam wrote in a letter to Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on August 5.

He added that the "near-secret" agreement had neither been ratified by the government nor presented to the Knesset.

"This is not permissible in a democratic society," Bam said.

The two church properties were bought by Israel from the Khrushchev government in 1964 for a shipment of citrus fruit, in what became known as the "orange deal." However, the validity of that agreement was later disputed by the Russan government.

Russia to get disputed J'lem property

[Shammu]

Terrorists Building 16-Mile Range Rockets During Ceasefire
14 Av 5768, August 15, '08   
 
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

(IsraelNN.com) Gaza terrorists are building a 25-kilometer (16.8 mile) range rocket, dubbed Nasser-3, despite the temporary eight-week-old ceasefire, according to CNN, which visited the factory run by Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) terrorists. The Nasser rocket's maximum range includes Ashdod, a large port city dotted by oil refineries. A rocket explosion at one of them would cause a mega-disaster and severely cripple Israel's economy.

Israel acknowledges that the production of more weapons violates the ceasefire, which already has been broken by 40 rocket and mortar attacks. However, when asked by CNN to comment, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev limited his remarks to saying, "If the ceasefire is just a front for extremists in Gaza to rearm and regroup, of course we have the right to act. Any arms buildup is a direct violation of the calm that was achieved."
 
The media network said its reporters were blindfolded on the way to the factory.

Gaze-based terrorists have attacked the western Negev with nearly 7,000 Kassam and Grad rockets and mortar shells since the Oslo War broke out just under eight years ago.
 
Israel has held Hamas accountable for all of the attacks since the Islamist organization's victory over rival Fatah forces in last summer's militia war in Gaza. At least 16 different terrorist organizations are active in the Gaza area, and the PRC threatened that the truce will come to an abrupt end if Israel does not agree to open the Egyptian-Gaza border crossing dividing Rafiah.

Israel has maintained that the truce calls for the border to be re-opened only after kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit is returned, but Hamas is insisting that the barrier come down before talks advance. It has demanded the release of hundreds of Hamas terrorists, including those with "blood on their hands."

An Islamic Jihad terrorist spokesman told the Chinese news agency Xinhua Thursday that the ceasefire was "fragile and was expected to end at any time." Al-Quds Brigade terrorists accused Israel of breaking the truce agreement 20 times the past week by targeting Arab fishermen. Israel has said it fires on fishing boats only when then encroach on forbidden zones and ignore warnings to keep away.

Terrorists Building 16-Mile Range Rockets During Ceasefire

[Shammu]

Dome of the Rock 'erased' from Temple Mount

Religious movement’s Tisha B’Av pamphlet shows Temple Mount minus Muslim sites; group chairman says hopes al-Aqsa will be obliterated altogether, not just through Photoshop software

Kobi Nahshoni
Published:    08.15.08, 08:08 / Israel Jewish Scene

"On the eve of Tisha B'Av the serious question is raised whether we should take the opportunity and ascend to the Temple Mount as it stands empty, inviting us to build our dream house on it."

Whoever read this caption which appeared on the cover of the Maayanei Hayeshua movement’s latest pamphlet might have thought that this was a symbolic expression of the expected redemption on the eve of Tisha B’Av. 

However, those with a keen eye noticed that the huge picture of the Temple Mount which was spread on the cover page was missing the Dome of the Rock, and that the pamphlet “cleaned” the mount of all Muslim signs

The Islamic Movement’s northern branch did not like the graphic design work and is attributing the “infiltration of inciting material calling for the obliteration of al-Aqsa in all synagogues in Israel” to this Zionist movement.

On the right side of the photograph, which was taken from the steps leading down from the Jewish Quarter to the Western Wall square, the wall is seen and above it the Temple Mount.

Instead of the mosque and the dome, old Jerusalem houses are seen, “with the goal of expressing the yearning for something else on the Temple Mount,” according to the pamphlet’s editor.

Islamic Movement: Worried, yet not surprised

The northern branch of the Islamic Movement claimed in response that the graphic manipulation of the picture was incitement.

The movement’s spokesman, Attorney Zahi Nujidat, told Ynet that he was worried that all the synagogues would adopt this kind of material which implicitly calls for the erasure of the al-Aqsa Mosque.

Moreover, Nujidat said he was not surprised to see the refurbished picture.

View the picture before it is gone!!
Real picture to the left, recreation to the right

“It is no secret that the State and the nation of Israel have an arrow pointing in one direction, building a Third Temple at the expense of the al-Aqsa Mosque,” said the spokesman.

“Just today, I, along with members of the movement took a tour and we were exposed to shocking maps and documents signed by official Israeli bodies. Detailed plans for the construction of synagogues on the western side of the Temple Mount... as if they were public yards, are seen there." 

Nujidat added that some public institutions saw the picture of the Third Temple placed “on al-Aqsa’s territory,” and concluded by saying that “in my opinion and in the opinion of all Muslims, the Temple Mount is a mosque and we do not recognize anything else being planned to be built there.”

The chairman of the Maayanei Hayeshua movement told Ynet in response that “Jews throughout the world hope for a day in which the al-Aqsa Mosque will actually be obliterated from the Temple Mount and not just by means of Photoshop software.

“We have been waiting for this day for too long. When it happens, Jews from the entire world will come to Jerusalem in order to build the beloved Temple, and no Muslim will dare open his mouth against it. I hope that Israel is indeed ready for this day.”

Dome of the Rock 'erased' from Temple Mount
~~~~~~~~

Something tells me the muslims aren't gonna sit by idly. But it's not like the muslims have tried to erase Israel from the map.

[Shammu]

Israelis: War With Hezbollah Inevitable

Monday, August 18, 2008 10:03 AM

The Israeli army says Hezbollah has re-armed with 40,000 rockets — triple the number it had at the start of the Lebanon War two years ago. Therefore, many Israelis believe another war with Hezbollah is inevitable.

"The war set the stage for a more comprehensive Middle East conflict," said Israeli analyst Michael Oren. "It set into motion a dynamic in the Arab world, where much of the Arab street believes that Hezbollah won that war, and there is tremendous expectation on Hezbollah to continue the struggle."

Hezbollah fired 4,000 rockets into Israel during the 34-day conflict. But a massive Israeli air and ground assault failed to deal a knockout blow to 5,000 Hezbollah guerrillas in South Lebanon, prompting an official Israeli inquiry to describe the government's and army's handling of the war as a failure.

Oren says there were failures, but also achievements.

"Israel wreaked tremendous havoc in Lebanon in 2006," Oren said. "We destroyed all of Hezbollah's infrastructure, much of its civilian headquarters, we killed about a quarter of their fighters, that is a prohibitive number of casualties for any modern fighting force, and yet perception is everything in the Middle East and the perception was, in the Arab world at least, that Israel was bested in that conflict."

Under the U.N. ceasefire resolution that ended the war, about 13,000 international peacekeepers have deployed in South Lebanon. But Israel charges that they have failed to fulfill their mandate of preventing weapons smuggling to Hezbollah from Syria and Iran.

With a bristling new arsenal of rockets, Oren believes a Hezbollah attack on Israel is just a matter of time.

"Israel would then have to reply into Lebanon, possibly drawing in the Syrians and ultimately the Iranians," Oren said.

And with the possible involvement of regional superpowers, the next war could be much worse than the last one.

Israelis: War With Hezbollah Inevitable

[Shammu]

Israel to send aid to Georgia

Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik announces MKs will visit battle-stricken region soon in order to assist in post-war rehabilitation. 'As member of Jewish people, when I see convoys of destitute refugees this war has left behind, I can't just sit by,' she says

Amnon Meranda
Published:    08.20.08, 17:31 / Israel News

Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik said Wednesday during a Knesset meeting that a number of MKs are scheduled to leave for Georgia soon, in an attempt to assist the ailing country in its post-war rehabilitation. The aim, Itzik said, is to concentrate on the battle-stricken areas without racial discrimination.

"A new war has entered the ever growing list of pointless wars," she said. "Shocking images of killing, maiming, destruction, and convoys of refugees have once again come back to us. As a member of the Jewish people, when I see convoys of destitute refugees, thousands of people that have remained homeless and disheartened, when I see images of the impoverishment and destruction this war has left behind, I can't just sit by."

The Knesset speaker promised to send aid to Georgia following an appeal made by MK Avraham Michaeli (Shas).

"The State of Israel, a symbol of the rehabilitation of a shattered people and a record of proven capabilities, is ready and willing to donate its vast experience in aiding the rehabilitation process. We will do this without being sucked into the conflict, and because it is our way, to help a friend in need," she said.

Despite a ceasefire agreement signed between Russia and Georgia almost a week ago, vast Russian forces are still operating within Georgian territory, in cities and central roads, and strategic areas within the country. The agreement calls on both of the sides to withdraw to pre-war borders.

Earlier this week a UN convoy gained entry to the Georgian city of Gori for the first time since the battles began. A UN statement said soldiers had seen signs of looting in stores and private places of residence. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that only about 50 to 60 people remain in Gori, the rest of its residents having fled. Around 158,600 people had to flee their homes during the war in Georgia.

Israel to send aid to Georgia
~~~~~~~

Need to keep an eye out on how Russia reacts to this news.

[Shammu]

'Israel defiled Al-Aqsa Mosque'

Tens of thousands flock to annual fundraising event held by Islamic Movement in Umm al-Fahm. Movement leader Sheikh Raed Salah delivers fiery speech calling on Arab world to fight 'Israeli occupation of Jerusalem'

Sharon Roffe-Ofir
Published:    08.22.08, 23:11
Israel News

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Umm al-Fahm on Friday evening for the annual organized by the Islamic Movement under the banner 'Al-Aqsa is in danger.' The event is intended to help raise funds for the famous mosque in Jerusalem.

The audience greeted the leader of the Islamic Movement in northern Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, with chants calling for "the redemption of al-Aqsa with blood and fire."

Salah vowed the movement would continue sponsoring the event annually, until it is able to hold it in Jerusalem.

"The enemy must be asking for how long do we intent to hold the Al-Aqsa festival. I say, till the occupation is lifted from Jerusalem and the mosque, then we will have the festival in the mosque itself under a banner of victory."

"I say to the Israeli occupation, and those representing it, to (Prime Minister) Olmert, (President) Peres and (Defense Minister) Barak, after 40 years that you are occupying the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and digging all sorts of ditches and building synagogues under the mosque, and building an Israeli museum under the mosque, I say to you that you occupation will be removed from above Jerusalem and from the mosque."

The sheikh told the crowd that the Israeli occupation has defiled the mosque, and that Israelis drank alcohol in it and engaged in sexual acts on its grounds.

"We say to you on behalf of all the people here, that your plan, which we exposed, despite your dream to

destroy the mosque, your occupation will not last for long."

Salah also had a message for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh ahead of the upcoming month of Ramadan. "What we are asking from you both for this holiday, a gift for every Muslim and every free man, is to renew the dialogue and reconcile."

To the Arab world, he said: "Where is your manliness? For 40 years the Al-Aqsa Mosque calls to you and asks where you are. Do you accept that we, the besieged, must ask permission from the Israeli occupation to enter the mosque? Must ask for permission to pray in the mosque?"

Moussa: Arab media must focus on Jerusalem

One of several keynote speakers, Umm al-Fahm Mayor Hasham Abed al-Rahman, called on the leaders of Arab nations to dedicate themselves to working for the Al-Aqsa Mosque and ending the occupation of Arab countries.

"Our hands are outstretched in peace, but at the same time we say: Stop the occupation in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine," he said. Al-Rahman also called for unity between the warring Palestinian factions, and said "there will be no peace until there is peace between these movements."

A telegram sent by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa was also read to the crowd.

"We are saddened by what is happening in Al-Aqsa and by what the Israeli occupation is doing in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is at the center of the Arab League's agenda, and the Arab media should focus on what is being done in the city and in the mosque."

Prominent figures from the Islamic Movement took part in the event, as well as numerous guests from various locations worldwide. Representatives of the Islamic Movement in South Africa were also in

attendance at the rally, which corresponded with a similar event in their own country.

The arrival of the South African delegation was not with incident, as Israeli officials barred the entry of the movement chapter's leader, Sheikh Maulana Ihsan Hendriks.

However, other representatives from the delegation, speaking at the rally on the Sheikh's behalf, called on the audience to be patient.

"Know that the wheel turns, and that the sun will yet shine. We say to you, be patient, in the end victory will belong to Islam. We hope that soon we will pray together in Jerusalem, in Al-Aqsa," said Sheikh Ibrahim Ibrahim, one of the South African delegates.

'Israel defiled Al-Aqsa Mosque'

[Shammu]

I thought a satanic house like that mosque was already defiled. Their worship of a the pagan moon god allah would cause immediate defilement of that building..............

[Shammu]

Bnei Menashe Permitted to Move to Israel
08/20/08
by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) In a decision that is being called "historic," the government has resolved to allow the remaining 7,232 members of the Bnei Menashe Jewish community in India to immigrate to Israel.

The decision comes ten months after another Cabinet decision demanding Cabinet approval each time a group of ten or more Bnei Menashe wished to immigrate to Israel. That decision was called "immoral" and "post-Zionist" by Bnei Menashe supporters.

The welcoming decision was made over the past few days by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, after Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit was finally convinced to remove his objections.  It was Sheetrit who led the original decision of last October, voluntarily transferring to the Cabinet his authority to approve immigration - and thus essentially preventing Bnei Menashe from arriving.

Background
The Bnei Menashe claim descent from the tribe of Menashe, one of the Ten Tribes exiled from the Land of Israel by the Assyrian empire over 2,700 years ago. They reside primarily in the Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, along India's border with Burma and Bangladesh. In recent years, over 800 members of the community have made Aliyah, thanks largely to the efforts of Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based organization that assists “lost Jews” seeking to return to the Jewish people.

The Bnei Menashe in Israel reside mainly in Kiryat Arba, Beit El and Ofrah.

300 Each Month
With the new government decision, it is hoped that all the remaining Bnei Menashe will be brought to Israel within a two-year period, at a rate of some 300 per month. This, in order not to antagonize the Indian government, and apparently to ease the immigration process as well.

Community is Jewish, Individuals Must Convert
Michael Freund, head of Shavei Israel, has been working for over 15 years to provide Jewish and general education to the Bnei Menashe in Israel, and to persuade the Israeli government that they should be allowed to immigrate. Their aliyah [immigration to Israel] is complicated by the fact that though the Jewishness of the community is now a recognized historical and religious fact, each individual must formally convert to Judaism on his own.

Approximately 100 Bnei Menashe used to arrive in Israel each year, until approximately 2003, when then-Interior Minister Avraham Poraz, of the extreme-secularist Shinui party, ordered a freeze on further immigration to Israel from India, Ethiopia and Peru. He explained openly that immigrants from those countries undergo only Orthodox conversions, and that many of them choose to live in Judea and Samaria.

Freund countered at the time that the reason why most of the Bnei Menashe live in Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) was because those localities actively welcomed them, while others did not.

Rabbi Amar Rules
Freund later achieved a breakthrough in the matter when he succeeded in having Israel's Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar send two rabbinical court judges to visit northeastern India.  Based on the findings of that visit, the Rabbi ruled in March 2005 that the Bnei Menashe were, in fact, “descendants of Israel.”

The remaining 7,232 Bnei Menashe members in India comprise an exact list of those whose immigration to Israel the government will allow.  The government and the Jewish Agency wish to avoid a situation, such as in Ethiopia, where apparent non-Jews "jump on the bandwagon" and demand to be brought to Israel as well.

Post-Zionist Decision Replaced by Welcoming Hand
Regarding last year's decision, Freund told Arutz-7 at the time, "The Chief Rabbinate is willing to convert them, but the government is saying it does not wish to allow these people to be candidates for conversion.  This is an unconscionable act... Requiring full cabinet approval every time a group of people wishes to move here and undergo conversion is a recipe for bureaucratic inertia, as there is little chance of getting such an item onto the busy agenda of the entire government. Hence, by creating a virtually insurmountable obstacle to approval, [Sheetrit] hopes to bury the issue once and for all."

"Why, you might be wondering, would Sheetrit and his cabinet colleagues do such a thing?" Freund wrote at the time. "The answer is really quite simple. It is post-Zionism of the ugliest sort, tinged by prejudice and sheer ignorance."

If so, the government's latest decision has replaced its "ugly post-Zionism" with a warm and welcoming hand to Jews the world over.

Bnei Menashe Permitted to Move to Israel

[Shammu]

Given that there are only 12 tribes, and Manasseh is supposed to be one of the lost ones, then there can't be many more. I wonder if the full number of the Gentiles has anything to do with the full number of Jews who return to Israel?

Watching Biblical prophecy unfold is amazing.

[Shammu]

Hamas leader: We'll retrieve Jerusalem only by way of jihad

'Jerusalem will be returned to the Palestinians not by way of negotiations or hugging and kissing the enemy, but through blood, ubgone19s and resistance,' Haniyeh says, adding 'Muslims must protect Al-Aqsa Mosque'

Ali Waked
Published:    08.21.08
Israel News

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said Wednesday that the Islamist group will not accept any future peace agreement that does not include the return of Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley to Palestinians hands and the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes in Israel.

Speaking at a ceremony marking 39 years since the fire at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City, Haniyeh said "no one can cede Jerusalem, the city from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to the heavens.

"Jerusalem will be retrieved to the Palestinians not through negotiations or by hugging and kissing the enemy, but by way of jihad, blood, ubgone19s and resistance. With Allah's help, Jerusalem will be returned," he said.

The Hamas leader added that "the Israeli-Arabs are safeguarding the Al-Aqsa Mosque; it is as if they are inside the belly of a whale. They represent the Islamic nation. We send them our regards, especially to Sheikh Raed Salah (founder of Islamic Movement in Israel)."

Haniyeh said that "according to most all reports on secret peace talks or agreements, Israel is refusing to relinquish Jerusalem and the West Bank, refuses to accept the right of return of Palestinian refugees, refuses to dismantle the settlements and deems the Jordan Valley vital to its security.

"On behalf of the Palestinian nation and Muslims everywhere, I say that we will not accept any such agreements," he said.

The Hamas chief continued to say that Israel is looking to damage Al-Aqsa and called on all Muslims to "protect Jerusalem".

Hamas Leader: We'll Retrieve Jerusalem Only by Way of Jihad 

[Shammu]

Are they going to be surprised when they find that, God has other plans for Jerusalem. And that mohamed died just like everyone else........ And it does not include Hamas or Palestinians. The Holy City belongs to God.

[Shammu]

IDF Begins Major Move to the Negev
25 Av 5768, August 26, '08   
by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) A Hercules jet will take off Monday afternoon from central Israel to the new Nevatim Israel Air Force base in the Negev, marking the start of the herculean IDF move to the Negev.

The move marks today's closing of the IAF's main transport base, in Lod, and its replacement in Nevatim.  The new base will be formally dedicated later this week in the presence of President Shimon Peres and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi

At the same time, infrastructure work is beginning on the new army city in the Negev, to be called Ir HaBahadim, or City of the Training Bases.  Construction was long delayed because of environmental concerns.  Defense Minister Ehud Barak is in attendance for a ceremony marking the construction.

The new town is set to be built on an area of 1,065 dunams (263 acres, just over a square kilometer), and will house the IDF's Armaments School, Logistics Training School, Military Police, and more.   Ir HaBahadim will also include an inn for visitors, a shopping mall, a country club and theaters, and is expected to provide a welcome economic boon for the sparsely-populated area - as well as boost for the IDF, technologically and manpower-wise.

The move to the Negev, called "Project IDF Ascent to the Negev," is being termed by security network personnel "one of the largest and most important military projects in the history of the State of Israel."  Some 11,000 soldiers, both in the standing army and career officers, will serve on the technological campus of the 4CI Branch - the army's Command, Control, Computers, Communications and Information Branch.  Another 9,000 soldiers will serve in other branches there.

Ir HaBahadim (Bahad is an acronym for Bsis Hadrachah, or Training Base) has long been in the planning, and will feature state-of-the-art elements in the training and preparation spheres. 

IDF Begins Major Move to the Negev

[Shammu]

Jews in the Temple Area: A "Mount"-ing Controversy
25 Av 5768, August 26, '08   
by Ze'ev Ben-Yechiel

(IsraelNN.com) Several of Israel’s leading rabbis have fired the latest shot in one of modern Israel’s longest-running halachic disputes—whether a Jew may enter the Temple Mount nowadays. Rabbis Ovadia Yosef, Shalom Elyashiv and Chaim Kanievsky recently sent a letter to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, the rabbi in charge of the Western Wall area, asking him to repeat a 40-year-old decree prohibiting Jews from entering the Temple Mount.

The decree was originally signed by most leading rabbis upon the Mount’s capture by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War.

The Temple Mount is the area upon which both Holy Temples stood, in which the priests offered sacrifices, and where thrice-yearly convocations of the whole nation of Israel took place during the festivals of Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Weeks) and Sukkot (Tabernacles).

In the center of the Temple complex stood a Holy of Holies that guarded the Holy Ark—once containing the original Tablets of the Law given to Moses by G-d at Mt. Sinai—and the Foundation Stone for the creation of the universe.  That spot is the holiest point in the world and the place that the High Priest entered only once a year to offer the most important atonement sacrifice of the year.

The modern debate centers on whether or not there is enough information from classical rabbinical sources to identify the location of the Holy of Holies, as well as the layout of the Temple, which articulated specific areas accessible to different categories of Jews. The biblical prohibition against a person entering an area in the Temple complex forbidden to him carries with it the severe Divine penalty of karet.

Rabbi Yosef is regarded as Israel’s foremost Sephardic authority on Torah law, Rabbi Elyashiv is considered to be the leader of the hareidi-religious community, and Rabbi Kanievsky is a world-renowned rabbi and authority on Torah law.

A Change in the Tide as Dissenting Ascenders Grow
The letter sent by the rabbis follows a firestorm of controversy that erupted last month when a prominent rabbi, Rabbi Moshe Tendler, was photographed ascending the Mount. Rabbi Tendler is the son-in-law of the late Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, considered the leading halachic (Torah law) authority in America in his time. Rabbi Tendler climbed to the plaza in the center of the Mount, upon which the Muslims built the Dome of the Rock, considered by many to be the location of the Inner Temple itself.

In recent years several other prominent rabbis have ascended the Mount, keeping the flames of the dispute burning.

In the latest letter, the three rabbis demand a complete ban on Jews entering any part of the Temple Mount on the grounds that the ritual purity of the area might be violated.

"A time passed, we have lost knowledge of the precise location of the Temple, and anyone entering the Temple Mount is liable to unwittingly enter the area of the Temple and the Holy of Holies,” the three wrote in the letter.
"Entrance to the Temple Mount, and the defilement of the Holy of Holies, is more severe than any of the violations in the Torah," wrote Rabbi Kanievsky.

Signs were first placed around the area in 1967 warning Jews that they would be incurring a divine decree of death if they ascended the Mount. The signs enjoyed the support of most rabbis at the time. However, with the passing decades many religious leaders, especially from the religious-Zionist mvement, began to question the validity of the decree. Among them are Kiryat Shmona’s chief rabbi Tzephania Drori, Kiryat Arba’s Dov Lior, and Rabbi Nachum Rabinovich, head of the Maaleh Adumim yeshiva, who have all called for a review of the ban.

Torah Ammunition for the 'Opposition'
Rabbi Yehuda Kreuzer is the head of the Jewish town of Mitzpeh Yericho, northeast of Jerusalem, as well as head of the "Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea" and founder of HaTnuah L’Kinun HaMikdash (the Movement to Re-establish the Temple). He is one of the growing number of rabbis who believe that Jews should be allowed to enter onto the Temple Mount, and in an interview with IsraelNationalNews, he cited a well-known rabbinical source:

“In short, the Radbaz [a leading halachic authority from the 1500s] ruled that the Dome of the Rock is the Foundation Stone in the Holy of Holies…. He wrote that without a doubt this is the identity of the place. He wrote in a definite way the definite identity of the place,” Kreuzner reiterated.  “If so, it’s possible to do the measurements."

Rabbi Kreuzer noted that in Tractate Midot (Measurements) as well as in works by the Rambam (Maimonides, considered by many to be the greatest articulator of Torah law after Moses), the measurements of all parts of the Temple and the Mount are laid out in detail and agree with each other.

The Rabbi continued, “According to those [measurements], we can do all the calculations,” correlating all the areas of today’s Temple Mount to their original delineations.

“This is the essential source on which people who visit the Mount rely,” summarized the rabbi.
 
'Unclear Why It's Forbidden'
Responding to the recent letter calling for a renewal of the ban, Kreuzer said: “To this day, it’s unclear why it’s forbidden from a halachic perspective. What is the prohibition against someone going up? There’s no clear answer given [by those rabbis].”

Kreuzner continued with an admonition to his opponents: “He who knows [of the permission], knows; he who doesn’t, doesn’t. He who doesn’t know needs to learn. The problem is that he who doesn’t know doesn’t sit down and learn” why it’s in fact permitted.

The rabbi added that there have been numerous attempts made by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel to create a commission to resolve this issue, all of which failed to materialize. “We should all sit down” to explore this issue, he said, but “the problem is that they don’t want to.”

Jews in the Temple Area: A "Mount"-ing Controversy