Olmert Just Can’t Bring Himself to Declare Unequivocal Nullification of “Convergence”…

Olmert Announces Policy Shift to Gain Support

Full Text;

A war-battered prime minister, Ehud Olmert, has signaled his Realignment Plan is “no longer relevant,” seeking to increase popularity.

In his first briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee since the war in Lebanon, the prime minister on Monday spoke to committee members for three hours.

According to MK (Meretz-Yahad) Ran Cohen, a committee member, Olmert made it clear in his briefing that the Realignment Plan is no longer relevant, the plan calling for the removal of most of the communities throughout Judea and Samaria. read more

Tuesday War News…

Fatah’s Elite Force 17 Terror Commander Arrested

Full Text;

Security sources revealed a short time ago that the Ramallah-based commander of Force 17, the personal militia of the Fatah leadership, has been apprehended. An elite border guard unit carried out the arrest of Mahmoud Damra, wanted by Israel for six years, in Bir Zeit.

Damra, on Israel’s most-wanted list for a series of deadly attacks, was appointed to head Force 17 by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas two months ago. Since September 2000, Damra has led a terror cell that has carried out shootings at Israeli vehicles, attacks against Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and the planting of roadside bombs. Damra was among those offered shelter in 2002 in Yasser Arafat’s compound in Ramallah, the Mukata. read more

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Convergence “Put to Bed”: Exist Left, Stage Right; Talks with “Palestinians (sic)” …

PM Says Unilateral West Bank Pullout Now Off the Agenda

Excerpt;
MK Ran Cohen (Meretz): Realignment is dead, “understood from Olmert that the idea had been put to bed.”

Liberman Sets 5 Conditions for Israel Our Home to Join Emergency Government

Excerpt;
“Establishment of a national commission of inquiry, commitment to take realignment plan off the government’s agenda, Kadima support to switch to a presidential system, removal of the evacuation of outposts from the agenda, and passing a civil marriage law.”
read more

‘New Jews’: Neither Help Their People, Nor Fix the World…

Breach in the Dam, By Ariel Beery (Jerusalem Post)

Excerpts;

Sociologist Steven M. Cohen has observed, there has been a marked drop in the obligation young Jews feel to put their fellow Jews first: Only one-quarter of Jews aged 35 to 44 strongly believe they “have a special responsibility to take care of Jews in need around the world.”

This trend was taken to an extreme at the recent Wexner Foundation seminar for its graduate student cohort, a group hand-picked by the established Jewish community to cultivate its future leaders. The Wexner fellows ranked causes related to the Jewish community or Israel significantly lower than more general causes such as the American Jewish World Service’s efforts in Africa. read more

Parsha Ki Tavo –The Scales of a Mitzvah – Revisited…

Parsha Ki Tavo — The Scales of a Mitzvah – Revisited

By Moshe Burt

Parsha Ki Tavo continues in the same theme track with last week’s Parsha Ki Teitzei, as well as the string of previous Parshiyot in discussing Mitzvot which teach kindness, compassion and attentiveness to others.

Ki Tavo begins with the Halachot of Bikkurim — the first fruits which were brought to the Kohen as both thanksgiving and rememberance of Pharaoh’s cruelty and Hashem’s deliverance of B’nai Yisrael from Mitzrayim to a land flowing with milk and honey. Our Parsha then enunciates the laws concerning Ma’aser and it’s declaration regarding the required tithes. read more

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Banks Began Implementing “Convergence” Prior to Lebanon War…

Prior to War, Banks Began to Refuse Yesha Mortgages
Israel National News

Prior to the Re-Engagement War in Lebanon and Gaza, banks began refusing mortgages to people wishing to build in Judea and Samaria (Yesha) due to PM Olmert’s Convergence Plan.

Following a recent Arutz-7 report on the matter, and now that PM Olmert has reportedly shelved his Convergence Plan, the Finance Ministry has stated that none of its directives had changed, and that any refusal to grant mortgages was the decision of the banks alone. read more

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Going Through Olmert’s Mind[???]: [$$$ Saved] No Need to Help Next Time, They Can Cope…

Olmert in North: I See You Can Cope

Excerpts;

The children of the north attend school again: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday morning opened the new school year at Moshav Meona in the Galilee, where kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit studied.

“I see that you know how to cope,” he told the students who had spent long weeks in bomb shelters. “I am not degrading what happened,
but I admire your will, firmness, optimism, and love for this enchanting area where you live.”

Olmert promised that “together we will make a real and serious joint effort so that our Galilee will become a place of joy, a place of pride and a place in which the life and future of the State of Israel flourish. read more

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Motsei Shabbos, Sunday War News…

Gush Etzion Area Truck-Jacking

Full Text;
“Palestinian Authority residents car-jacked a truck from an Israeli driver near the Gush Etzion district community of Betar Illit on Sunday. Police reported that the truck was located, adding the driver was not harmed in the incident.”

Rock Attacks on Israeli Motorists in Eastern Gush Etzion

Full Text;

“Israel motorists traveling near the Arab village of Kfar Tuqwa were attacked by stone-throwers on Sunday morning. No injuries were reported. Tuqwa is situated near the Jewish community of Tekoa.” read more

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Ari Shavit: Courageous Journalist of Integrity, or Voice of the Left; Olmert Hasn’t Delivered Withdrawal from Yehuda, Shomron?

Commentary;

This week, Manhigut Yehudit’s weekly updates offered 2 timely articles, this one and the one directly beneath it, which this author
endorses as must reading.

Before we rush to judgement and fete Haaretz Journalist Ari Shavit as being courageous, visionary and of great professional journalistic integrity, it’s imperative that we stop and think and analyze Shavit’s writings against the Left’s agenda and the media role of Haaretz in it.

The breast-beating by some segments of Israel’s mainstream media may just be camouflage to make a readership, already angry with the bumbling, bungling and corruption of the politicians and the government, believe or percieve that the media at long last is doing t’shuvah, mending it’s ways. read more

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